The first week

The first week has come and gone. A lot of work has been done but not a huge amount to show for it. The trip down wasn’t too bad. We drove in convoy most of the way with pre arranged coffee and food stops along the way. The horses had departed a day earlier and were living in luxury at the Woodville Horse Transport base. They were to stay there an extra night and be dropped off on Friday.

Friday arrived along with the horse truck and off scampered two very enthusiastic horses. They basically dragged me from the front gate to the paddock and, once freed, galloped the perimeter of their new home several times just to get a feel for the place and mess up the grass to make it feel more homely. At the time, Marty and I were busily raking out the sheds and piling debris into the detached trailer in the corner. The horses looked on eagerly but didn’t offer to help.
The same day Mum and Richard arrived and the rest of the night is a bit of a blur. Saturday morning Marty’s family – mum, dad, aunt and brother – turned up and were given the grand tour of the place. The weekend didn’t really turn on the weather but much fun was had.
Once a vague sense of normality returned on Monday morning, Marty and I got to work on the garden. The citrus grove, or ‘Orangerie’, is now complete with Kaffir Lime, Mexican Lime, Tahitian Lime, Clementine Mandarins, an orange tree and a soon to be hedge of garlic along the fence. It is being well fed by the enormous amount of sheep poo and dead leaves that we raked up from the sheds with a good base of blood and bone to get the party started.

The horses followed us around curiously for the first few days making sure that the wheel barrow and other various tools were in order. Brother is particularly interested in black plastic and never misses an opportunity to get his nose into whatever the item may be – wheel barrow, rubbish bag or bucket. Dino, on the other hand is slightly more cautious when it comes to foreign bodies. He prefers to eye them up from afar – except, of course, the bucket which often contains food.

This morning we visited our neighbours – a mere kilometre away – to discuss the possibility of Marty doing some work for them. All is going to plan so far. Marty will wander over there tomorrow morning and I may have a sleep in. Also, the previous owner of our house visited to give us some advice on what we need to do with the vast garden. We definitely have our work cut out for us. And today the internet was set up which will hopefully make my work a little easier and means we can keep in contact with the outside world. Hello world! I also finally got around to planting some tomato and eggplant seeds which are now tucked up in the green house. Hopefully they will sprout.

But now...the time has come, the walrus said, to head to the other room and settle into Home & Away and the news. The walrus was very wise.