A new addition ...

The first Latin noun whose declension I had to memorise (I was thirteen and petrified and hence I can still do the declension quite easily) was 

mensa, mensae, f. -  table

This choice always puzzled me – why “table”?  I now know the answer; tables are both extremely useful and very beautiful – at least our new dining table is. For over a month we have eaten off our laps, a feat which for me is both difficult and uncomfortable. But all this changes tonight when we have our first meal on our gorgeous Tasmanian blackwood-with-Huon-pine-inlay dining table. Cath also picked up some incredibly funky chairs for a song on the internet so we are all set. The table really is a stunning piece of wood and the hint of Huon pine means that it will feel right at home in the Huon Valley.

It was good to be back in the Valley today after a weekend in the north of State looking in on Cath’s mum (who is an incredibly spritely 96). The weather was marvelous with the mercury hitting a balmy 20C on only the 7th day of spring. We celebrated by wacking yet more blackberries and I can confirm that the north eastern corner of the farm has been liberated (at least to the notional boundary). We are now starting to work on two other fronts, namely up the eastern boundary fence and also along the northern boundary where the winter creek is completely overgrown. Both brush cutters were in operation today so the afternoon was passed very companionably, wreaking havoc and making a loud noise. My brush cutter is back in business having been repaired and returned. The bill was pretty reasonable, but I still will not be putting any two-stroke in the tank without first shaking the fuel can to within an inch of its life.

The only not-so-good news is that Covid disruptions to supply lines means that our new tractor is likely to be a couple of weeks away yet. A bit disappointing given the amount of work waiting to be done …