for Helen

we've just finished the harvest for this year - bumper crop for the district and the weather held out til the last day. We've had a friend staying with us (Brenda) and she and John managed to get the crop off the trees in time. Brenda is travelling around Australia, working as she goes.... She's going to paint 'our' house and Shirley's too while she's here. Since picking finished on Thursday, we've had over 3 inches of rain in the last 3 days... Anzac Day was appalling - we stood in the rain and listened to the service. I don't know why they don't issue the servicemen on duty with a rain coat?

I'm slowly settling in to life on this farm. I find it hard that I can't go and visit Lincraft at lunchtime... I have to drive an hour and a half to Spotlight, or ring Mum and wait a week for the parcel to be delivered in the mail. Takes a bit of organising. Last night we ran out of soap and I nearly had kittens... That's a once a week drive to the supermarket... but I found a spare cake in my travel bag...phew!

While Brenda and Rosie (a friend of Brenda's daughter, Kylie) are here we have been cooking up a storm... homemade bread (for which I won First Prize at the Batlow Show this year), pumpkin soup, ham and cheese muffins, blueberry muffins, stir fry's and thai dishes... lasagne is next.

I also won First Prize for my greeting card at the Batlow Show and Second Prize for my ATC in the section "any craft using paper"... I'll post photos when I find the cord to connect the camera to the computer...

M