Monday 21st

Well we have been busy over the last few days.

1st many trees (well lots for us anyway)

 The start of our grove of fruit trees.

12 trees make up the first grove.

Then 6 natives.

10 Clumping bamboo trees as well. Fast growing and look great.

 And also a willing helper at all times.

 1st day. some trees done, more done on Sunday afternoon.

 Early shot taken just a few days after Dong-Feng arrived.

Have a look at the foreground grass and wait-a-while bush.

 

 Area in-front of the house now done.

Does not look much but 6 hours with both of us working on it.

The fences from the old farm are now all but gone.

Looks so much more open now.

Friday 18th May 2012

The last couple of days have been busy ..... and this morning we are still recovering from planting trees - the land is now dotted with trees - not with the hundreds that you would suppose from this so far but with about two dozen - my only thought at the moment is..... OH MY GOD!!!!!!We still have hundreds to still plant - will I survive???!!!!!!

We have started our first grove of citrus trees - conveniently close to the dam for watering - we still have not finalised the type of watering system that we are going to put in so at present we are watering by hand - the hard way is not the best way but at least it is getting done, but can not continue this way for long - the sheer amount of time that it takes will stop it happening.

This morning we are hoping that Ken Pearce will be coming to take out the internal fences on the property thus opening it all up for easier access. We are also hoping that the neighbourhood slasher will be here to slash the rest of the grass.

We have organised for Ken to be here for the next few weekends - it will give us a boost to the amount of work that needs to be done for us to be able to stand back and completely see the lay of the land for the final plan of the golf course to be set in cement!

We have already mown two of the fairways down and can see their layout but seeing is believing and seeing more of the contours of the land has inspired Tommy to change his plans for some of the fairways - therefore the quickest route to clearing the land will give him the easiest chance to complete any changes that he wants to make.

We have my sister Karen and her husband, Leith visiting this morning for morning tea so a full morning all around. They are coming from Kingaroy on their way to a nice quiet weekend on the Sunshine Coast before going back to work after a holiday that was curtailed due to the weather in Victoria and South Australia. Spring is probably a less cold option.

Well bad boy is working like a charm.

Tis funny with the zero turn but now I have the hang of it and it is fun. Ken has done a great job cutting the grass for me and at the same time giving me some hints on this tractor thingy.

 Speaking of which here are a few bits of wood that I have managed to either go over of just miss.

 The 9th fairway is much better now. tomorrow will give it a little rip with a stick rake that our next door naighbour gave is to borrow/keep. Ken has added a huge chunk of concrete to weigh it down. will see how it goes tomorrrow.

Apart from a stuffed back feeling good with all this manual work. And the land is looking much better. Pity the moo cows have such big feet to put such big holes in my lovely 12th fairway, oh well, we fix.

 And had to test out the 9th this afternoon. 210 mtr drive 20 mtr's past the ant hill. (the dog leg).

Would have left a 120 mtr approach in to the green.

Sunday 13th May 2012 - Mother's Day

Firstly - Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there - I was lucky enough to hear from both my kids today and it was great to hear from them - as always.

Today was a bit of a bludge day for me - up at 6 this morning to go to the markets and get some more trees - I have been promising myself to plant all of the trees for several days have still not finished - however tomorrow is another day. Planted some of the plants today but none of the trees.

While Tom and Ken busily worked at getting the grass down today I stayed inside and plodded around getting housework and small chores done - you know - the ones that sneak up behind you and by the time you turn around they amount to days of work - none of them huge time in itself but there were a multitude of them - and more to come. So I am going to be house bound for a few days while I work on them and have the house and yard looking respectable again.

The back paddock is starting to look somewhat bare after a few years of being covered in long grass. The neighbours are sending up a collective sigh of relief that the snake haven is finally being dealt with. Talking of which..... yesterday when I stopped on the John Deere to give Ken Pearce some water and ginger beer to drink there was a black snake that went under both Johnny (the John Deere) and the tractor (Dong Feng) or 'The Dong'. That was a surprise and not a nice one - we have all been wandering around in that self same grass for a last couple of weeks secure in the knowledge that it is too late in the season for snakes to still be around! OOOPS!!!

I stayed on Johnny until I found a nice clear space - no more wandering around the long grass for me thank you very much!

Tom came in tonight and is tired as - he has been steadily working his butt off and is starting to feel the effects of it quite a bit. We are both hoping that the continual work will be good for us and improve our health - if it doesn't kill us in the meantime.

Another foggy morning. Needed to wait till 10am beforewe could start.

Well work has gone well today. The 9th fareway has been cut and cut. Grass is now about 2" long, and we have taken so much grass of this fareway. Two huge piles just on this one fareway. Thank goodness we have only 4 par four holes to do. The rest will be easy. The rough will have to wait for a bit tho.

Getting used to the zero turn mower as well. Will upload some pics tomorrow.

Friday 11th May 2012

We are still adding to our list of equipment - today's addition was a 4 stroke blower for getting rid of the grass our of the engines etc of the two ride on mowers - much needed as they are clogging up on a regular basis at the moment. Will also be of help to get rid of the excess grass etc out of the sheds - quick and easy clean up.

Reading the instruction book is a surprise - you would think that you are handling a lethal weapon with all of the safety instructions that they give you - and you would end up being kitted out like a space cadet into the bargain. While I am all for safety - I am not for spending half the day getting in and out of excess clothing just to blow away some grass!!

Tom spent most of his day out in the sunshine working on the fairways - it is very slowly starting to come together - this weekend the pace will be quicker with an experienced tractor driver in charge giving us some much needed help. After two days of three of us working our buns off we should be able to see some real progress.

Tom is getting used to the new way of mowing - the zero turn in vastly different in the steering and it takes some getting used to - his first efforts were like a duck on drugs! meandering all over the place but now his aim is more sure and the tracks he leaves in his wake are starting to show signs of straightness!!!

We have finished most of the initial work on 9 fairway and have started on 12 fairway - much heavier going with the type of grassing different and that is making a huge difference in our ability to get through it and get it under control - more times through it before it becomes properly mown but we are still seeing progress every single day which is great!

Thursday 10th May 2012

Today we went into town again - running errands never ends!!! and went off and bought a Big Dog zero turn mower - Tom was having spectacular fun on it ripping around the field - like a kid with a new toy. He tells me that he accidently found out how to do a zero turn - perhaps at a less frantic pace next time may be helpful!

We are getting the grass down in one area but there is a huge amount of the grass that we have not even touched yet which is why we have enlisted further help on the weekends to get through more of the initial workload so that we can start on the planting out and planning.

Meanwhile the house is looking like a bomb has hit it but you can only be in one place at a time and at this time the place is outside trying to tame the greenery.

Today Tom tried to move logs with the bucket but was unsuccessful - there is a definite knack to doing it and we are hoping that Ken Pearce - who is coming to help on the weekends - will know and show the knack so that we can learn it too. This was always going to be a steep learning curve and has proven to be so - and will continue to do so for some time to come I can only imagine.

We could also be ending up with a trailer soon also - Outdoor Power Centre is where we bought the zero turn and also has the trailer so we will be able to use it on the farm and for getting the machinery to town for servicing. It is sure to become very useful in the long term and we will also be able to bring back bulk buys of trees in it also. All of a sudden our machinery needs seem to have risen expedientially. No doubt in time we will learn how to maximise the use of all of them.

Tom is in the processes of turning a wok scoop into some form of booster for the wifi for the computers - he learnt about the idea from Richard Davies from the Sunshine Coast - many thanks Richard!!!

Tonight is Grand Design night so we will be watching that and then finding the bed early! We have decided that if we are to survive all of this exercise then we should get fitter and healthier than we are at present - so now we are having fresh fruit and vegetable juices and  I and endeavouring to make our meals healthier too. Time will tell if we continue with the health kick but all efforts are to the common good.......... I hope!!!

To make life easier we just bought a Big Dog Zero turn.

It will be delivered this afternoon.

Will have more pictures this afternoon with it working.

Well today was hard yakka.
Started to setup the 9th fareway. Very happy with the result so far but oh so hard on the back for both of us. I did the heavy mowing on the tractor and Lyn used the John Deere.

Then I started picking up the huge amount of grass clippings. The bucket on the tractor does a great job picking up the mulch.

This will give you an idea of the grass we have to trim. lol

Tuesday 8th May 2012

No work done on the farm today - today we went into town and finally accomplished the shopping and bill paying that we had planned for Monday and which remained unachieved due our lack of information re public holidays. So bills paid and shopping completed we headed home for a quiet afternoon in the house. Tomorrow is ALWAYS another day and our tomorrow will be too.
Tomorrow will be finishing the whipper snippering in the corner and planting the citrus trees and mulching, setting up a new composter that we bought today and getting some more slashing done, this time hopefully without the drama of stump jumping which enlivened our day yesterday.

Some pics to give you an idea of what we are up against and the tools we will use to get the job done.

notice the willing helper.. lol

Ready to go

End first day 4 hours work

 That is 8 hours hard work. Along with lots of stumps to hit.

4 hours each day. need to start after lunch when the dew has lifted.

 

Monday 7th May 2012

Today more work has been done on the farm - Tom had a very close encounter with a tree stump and had to hammer the finishing mower on the tractor back into shape before going out and trying again.
I was busy whipper snipering an area that we will be planting some citrus trees
into tomorrow.

We also went into town this morning and had an instant reality check - seems the world went on a public holiday and forgot to tell us about it!!! No shops open however we did find a plant nursery open and increased our supply of trees and fruit trees so not a total loss of a trip to town.
One of our many projects under way is the increase of fruit trees around the house area - we are finding some that we have never heard of before so are willing to give them all a trial.
I have two more finger lime trees to add to my collection - pink this time - wanting to get every colour available so still have a few more to go.
Tomorrow we will be doing more slashing and some planting of trees. There is already a mass of grass clippings laying across the farm and plenty more to come but it already looking good and will continue to improve with the work we are doing. Nice to see the progress and the more time on the tractor the more confident we become.

This is a little demo of the new Wyuna Golf and Stayz.

and how the 12 holes will be placed.

Day 2

Life does begin again later in life - for us - starting a new venture - Wyuna Golf and Stayz - a 12 hole golf course and farm stay venture which will fill our waking hours for some time to come.

To help us on our way we have enlisted the help of a RSPCA inmate - Laila - a Cav King Charles Spaniel x Maltese little miss who keeps us amused.

Yesterday was a big day with the coming of the tractor - a red beast which will make the work load lighter - hopefully.

The first of our labours will be working to establish some outline for the golf course, however we have already ordered a large solar system for the house and will hopefully continue with our green theme as ideas and finances allow.

We have already indulged in some trees and today are off to look for some more - Gympie has local markets every Sunday so we can indulge ourselves and get some of our weekly shopping done at the same time. We are also lucky that today Gympie has a gardening show happening at the showgrounds - so we are off for a full day of fun!

day 1

well the months of thinking about how to create our new life has begun.
and it started with a big red tractor.

but let us start at the beginning.