Coughing Up

We, that is Lib, Gord and me, all have head and chest colds. Gord's is the worst, he's had it for many weeks and his cough that must be driving him crazy. Lib and I aren't so bad and have only been overcome this past week or so but the cough is irritating and detracting from good sleep.

I heard on the radio that it's been the best snow season since 1981. I remember 1981 well; we came to Gembrook in July from Wangaratta to a house without carpets and curtains and indeed no electricity for two weeks. It was freezing and I would say this winter has been the worst since for prolonged cold and wet. We've had lower temperatures and more thick frosts in other years but this winter has been cold and wet for a long period. Hard on man and beast. I was fortunate to have a good stock of firewood including some really old dry stuff.

The days are stretching out a little now and birdsong in the mornings is building. The temperature was a little warmer yesterday and today with some sunshine, even a few blowflies down the chimney to buzz and bang on the windows. it'll  be 4- 6 weeks till I close the chimney vent and finish with the open fire till into next autumn when the cold returns. I'm gathering some wood for next year as I prune and remove some trees at the farm and tidy up here.

Cough and splutter we may well and suffer aching muscles and crook backs, but the work goes on. As does the paper work. I've spent late nights catching up on three months book work to do the BAS and end of year collation.

I'm not complaining. To use a popular saying going round at the moment, it is what it is. I picked wild violets today and some daphne and geranium. It was total pleasure. I'm proud of my work and my family's work, especially Lib.

PS. I heard today that Tony Abbott said any Australians going overseas to fight in conflicts would be punished.
Surely he doesn't mean ADF people, so he means, I suppose, depending on his endorsement or condemnation of the conflict, Australians are lauded or punished accordingly.

Violence is violence, it is what it is. Murder is murder.