Weird, Random Happenings of Late

Life in a 100 year old country house - Sounds so idyllic, doesn't it? At times, I admit, this countrified life on the land is bliss. At other times I want to scream and pull out my hair by the handful. It's all part of the colourful tapestry of life here at Crumbleton Manor. Rather than a blow by blow account of recent happenings which would border on the tedious, I will give a brief overview of the weird and wacky bits:

1. Sleepless at 2am, I accidentally set off the fire alarm in the kitchen making raisin toast. Hubby came stumbling in, unimpressed.
2. A bird of prey (possibly a kestrel) decided to roost in our big shed one night then flew in agitated but graceful circles before slipping out under the roller door the next morning while we stood agape, watching.
3. On a glorious Autumn afternoon we had tea in the garden, with silverware and tablecloth while wrens splashed in the birdbath, sending up sparkling droplets.
4. In order to plant our first lot of trees (yay!) we first had to figure out how to attach the large, very heavy auger to the tractor. Took over an hour. Then started drilling and CLUNK! SCRAPE! Discovered the concrete floor of a very large shed which once stood exactly where we wanted to plant the trees.
5. Drove flat out for 90 minutes to get to the airport on time and ended up spending three hours in the gate lounge as the flight was delayed. Read the paper - useless gossip and scaremongering written by barely literate Melbournians.
6. Woke one morning to see the entire valley covered in thick white mist. It slid up the hill towards us, shrouding the house and garden. Lovely, mysterious.
7. While moving sheep from one paddock to another several escaped. We chased around in gumboots, brandishing sticks almost breaking our necks on the rocky ground. But we got them in!
8. Hubby finally got the go ahead to burn off and promptly set fire to the inside of a large and beautiful tree.
9. The first seeded paddocks came up with their tiny tufts of green and then a flock of white cockatoos descended.
10. Attended the local ANZAC service thinking there'd be about 10 people and was surprised to find a large gathering with distinguished guests (including Jacqui Lambie), a WWI re-enactment group, Scouts, Girl Guides and farming families. Afterwards we all had a delicious afternoon tea in the hall. 
11. Our neighbour Rob couldn't get his fancy new tractor to fit his seeder. The only tractor that fit was our clapped out ancient International which he sheepishly drove back to his farm.
12. Harry, my gorgeous British Shorthair, continues to charm us all but is yet to enjoy lying on his back for a tummy scratch.You'd think we were threatening murder the way he panics and struggles for his life. It's a submission thing.
13. My favourite aunty visited for a week and made (among other things) a most delicious minestrone soup with what was in the fridge and cupboards. Yum! Then birthday cake on Sunday. Double yum!
14. I found a gluten free cookie recipe. They were absolutely scrumptious. The batch of 18 cookies didn't last 24 hours.
15. No winds for ten whole days, just sunny, warm, calm weather which we thoroughly enjoyed. But now we need rain for the newly seeded paddocks. Fingers Crossed.
16. The Portuguese Millipede invasion has all but disappeared. Finally! No more daily vacuuming up 1000s of the smelly blighters.
17. I have joined the local library book club.
18. Went along to a local writers group. They have booked me to run a workshop teaching them blogging  and facebook this month!
19. Kidlet reckons she saw a young Tasmanian Devil on her walk from the bus stop this afternoon.