Faktisk har vi været færdige i et par dage, men jeg har bare ikke fåret skrevet noget før nu. Vi startede en gang først i November, og her halvanden måned senere er samtlige 3500 hektar nu reduceret til stubmarker og mad til fårene.
Høsten har dog været noget ringe. Jeg tror at vores bedste udbytte var noget af byggen, der gik 1,6-1,8 ton per hektar, hvilket er lidt under normalen. Det værste var nok rapsen, hvor vi ikke fik meget mere end 300 kg per hektar. Vejret har vekslet mellem sol og overskyet/spredte byger, hvilket i sidste ende gjorde Bruce i tvivl om vi ville blive færdige før jul. Det nåede vi dog heldigvis.
Arbejdsdagene har været lidt længere end normalt. Typisk er vi gået i gang omkring kl. 7.30, og fortsat til 8-9 om aftenen. Grunden til at vi ikke har kørt i døgndrift er at det er for fugtigt.
Og så har jeg ellers fået kørt mejetærsker. Meget mejetærsker. Det er sjovt nok den første uges tid, men derefter bliver det ret hurtigt kedeligt. Og egentlig er det ikke så svært. Det handler mest om at køre lige, sørge for at kø alle aksene med ind i tærskeværket og så ikke ramme nogle sten eller trærødder. Når man først har gjort det nogle dage, er det ret ligetil. Af og til, for at bryde monotonien, har jeg også kørt kornvognen.
Og så blev det i øvrigt jul. Sådan da.
Jeg har ikke helt forliget mig med at vi er sidst i december og at temperaturen ligger på mellem 25 og 35 grader. Det er ikke særligt julet. I morgen, d. 24., kommer Bruce- og Petas børn hjem til middag, og d. 25. tager vi alle sammen hjem til Bruces forældre til frokost. Derefter har Ole og jeg den 26., 27. og 28. fri. Vi har ikke helt besluttet hvad vi skal med de feriedage, men de skal i hvert fald bruges et andet sted end på farmen!
Opsummering for dovne/travle læsere: Vi er færdige med at høste, og det er snart jul.
~*~
English for the Danish Impared:
Well, bite me if we didn't finish harvest!
Actually, we have been done for some days now, I just haven't written anything before. We started out sometime in early November, and about a month-and-a-half later, all 3500 hectares are reduced to stubble and sheep feed.
It has been a bad harvest, though. I think our best yield was some of the barley, which went 1.6-1.8 tonne to the hectare, which is slightly belov the usual yield. And the worst is probably the canola which was about 300 kg per hectare. The weather has been changeing between sunne, hot days and overcast with the occational drizzle, which made Bruce doubt if we would finish before Christmas. We did, luckily.
The workdays have been a bit longer than normal. We've typically started out at around 7.30 and kept going until 8-9 in the evening. The reason we haven't gone around the clock is that it is too wet. Oh, and I have been driving the header. A lot. It's all shits and giggles the first week or so, but then it rather rapidly becomes quite boring. And it's really not that hard. It's mostly about driving straight, getting all the heads into the thresher and avoiding whatever rocks and roots you may encounter. When you've done it for a couple of days, it becomes pretty straight-forward. Occationally, to break the monotony, I have driven the chaser bin.
Oh, and it's Christmas. Sort of.
I haven't quite got used to the fact that it is the end of December, and some 25-35 degrees outside. That isn't very Christmas-y. Tomorrow, the 24th, Bruce and Peta's kids will come home for dinner, adn the 25th we'll all go to Bruce's parents for lunch. After that, Ole and I have got the 26th, 27th and 28th off. We don't quite know what we'll be doing with those days off, but we certainly aren't going to spend them on the farm!
Summary for lazy/busy readers: We've been harvesting and it's Christmas.
Well, bite me if we didn't finish harvest!
Actually, we have been done for some days now, I just haven't written anything before. We started out sometime in early November, and about a month-and-a-half later, all 3500 hectares are reduced to stubble and sheep feed.
It has been a bad harvest, though. I think our best yield was some of the barley, which went 1.6-1.8 tonne to the hectare, which is slightly belov the usual yield. And the worst is probably the canola which was about 300 kg per hectare. The weather has been changeing between sunne, hot days and overcast with the occational drizzle, which made Bruce doubt if we would finish before Christmas. We did, luckily.
The workdays have been a bit longer than normal. We've typically started out at around 7.30 and kept going until 8-9 in the evening. The reason we haven't gone around the clock is that it is too wet. Oh, and I have been driving the header. A lot. It's all shits and giggles the first week or so, but then it rather rapidly becomes quite boring. And it's really not that hard. It's mostly about driving straight, getting all the heads into the thresher and avoiding whatever rocks and roots you may encounter. When you've done it for a couple of days, it becomes pretty straight-forward. Occationally, to break the monotony, I have driven the chaser bin.
Oh, and it's Christmas. Sort of.
I haven't quite got used to the fact that it is the end of December, and some 25-35 degrees outside. That isn't very Christmas-y. Tomorrow, the 24th, Bruce and Peta's kids will come home for dinner, adn the 25th we'll all go to Bruce's parents for lunch. After that, Ole and I have got the 26th, 27th and 28th off. We don't quite know what we'll be doing with those days off, but we certainly aren't going to spend them on the farm!
Summary for lazy/busy readers: We've been harvesting and it's Christmas.
Oh. And here's a Christmas song, for good measure:
Jingle Bells - Aussie style:
1.
Dashing through the bush in a rusty Holden ute,
kicking up the dust, Esky in the boot.
Kelpie by my side, singing Christmas songs,
it's summer time and I am in my singlet, shorts and thongs.
Chorus.
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day.
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut'.
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden ute.
Chorus.
2.
Engine's getting hot, we dodge the kangaroos,
the swaggie climbs aboard, he is welcome too.
All the family is there, sitting by the pool,
Christmas day in the Aussie way, by the bar-b-que.
Chorus.
3.
Come the afternoon, grandpa has a doze,
the kids and Uncle Bruce are swimming in their clothes.
The time comes 'round to go, we take a family snap,
and pack the car and all shoot-through
before the washing-up.
/EMO
Jul under de himmelstrøg er uden tvivl en anden julestemning men sikkert ok at prøve. det er også bleveet moderne her at stege an e webergrill trods det meget lidt sommerlige. Håber du får en rigtig god tur med din mor.
SvarSletkh
randi