It’s here
BUGGER. Before new year, I knew two people that have had COVID; my brother and his wife.
Since new year I have lost count of how many people that I know who either have it, or are isolating until they get their results.
Wear your masks, disinfect your hands and you may put off getting this thing for a while.
We will all get COVID eventually.
Either you get it vaccinated or unvaccinated.
The choice is yours.
Happy Hooker
OUR mate Hooker had a great week.
Won the A grade championship in our Moulamein Bowling Club.
Did ok in the Champion Of Champions competition.
He may have been put off a bit because he played one of our mates from Manangatang.
All our mate could talk about was the feed of yabbies that they will get one day soon.
Then on Sunday, Hooker and his mate, Mark, won our tournament in Moulamein.
If that is not a Happy Hooker, nothing is.
Our ladies club champion, Dorean, got to the grand final on Sunday in the Champions of Champions, but the heat got to her and could not get over the line.
Well done to you both. You did our club proud.
Every town needs a Happy Hooker and we have got one.
Birds of a different feather
NORMALLY in my rice I have ducks, and plenty of them. Bugger all this year.
I also get Turbo Chooks. Not a sign of them this year.
I spotted a couple early in the season but that was it.
Just when you almost get your rice across the line, bloody Baldy Coots turn up.
They can take a 10-tonne rice from a success to bare water in no time.
Not a sign of them yet, but I have heard of a few out the Swan Hill Road. Let’s hope they stay there.
At the moment, I think I have got one of the rarest water birds in the world in my rice crop.
Unfortunately, they are also one of the most elusive, the Australasian Bittern.
They have been there the past few years that I have grown rice. But this is the first time for rice for five years because of the water situation.
I managed to get a very dodgy video of one tonight, but will be about the quality of a Lock Ness Monster video.
I will get close enough soon to get proof of them. They will not beat me.
They seem to fly only early mornings or just on dark.
For those of you that know me, early morning videos are out of the question.
So, it is a brief appearance in the evening or nothing.
They do call out with a booming call, but I have never heard them.
Will have to turn my hearing aids up and sit quietly.
Lightning strike
MY neighbour rang me up this week to tell me that her place was on fire.
I thought she was joking so I said something like. “Ring 1800WHOGIVESAS*IT and I will be on the end of the line”.
“No,” she said. “The place is on fire, and it is where your sheep are”.
I have a few sheep on agistment over there.
“I am on my way,” I said. It was then I noticed the plumes of black smoke.
Sticking to the speed limit, I was on my way.
After Beck had called the fire brigade, she rang me back.
“It is in the hill paddock,” she said. “That is where your sheep are.”
All I could see was plumes of black smoke and the wind was getting stronger.
Sticking to the speed limit I got to the paddock just as the rain hit. Luckily.
The lightning strike was on the down wind side of the paddock that my sheep were in and only looked so bad because it got into a creek full of cumbungy.
It would have only burnt about a hectare or so,, but because cumbungy burns with black smoke, it looked very serious.
By the time I got there, Beck had opened all of the gates to get the sheep out if we needed to.
She was on one of those side-by-side things with no windscreen and she was soaking wet. Thanks for that, Beck.
It would have made it easier to get the sheep out if we had to.
Our Moulamein Fire Brigade almost got bogged getting into the fire site.
They had to keep coming because there were a few logs on fire and they had to be blacked out.
After the brigade arrived, Beck asked what she could do to help.
I told her to go home and get dry as she must have been freezing by then.
Our town brigade blacked out all of the logs and stumps and we thank them for that.
I have my best sheep that I own over there and it was a bit stressful making the trip over there. Especially at the speed limit.
All’s good. Sheep are all ok and the feed is still plentiful.
Gallery closed
OUR girls at our Moulamein Gallery opened last week.
But how can I put this. They are all getting a bit long in the tooth and our friend COVID is ramped in our town and district.
They are a mob of volunteers that cook the best cakes, serve good coffee and do the odd bit of art work that is always for sale.
They are looking to open up again in February sometime depending on our friend COVID.
But, just a hint, if you do see one of our gallery girls with a runny nose, this could be a good time to buy a bit of their art work.
Always worth a bit more when you know. Something happens to them.
Bowls
BOTH teams are away next week at Murray Downs.
This should make it a great bus trip to start the last round of the season.
Hopefully, I will get to come home on this trip.
Get to training team. We are both in the four at the moment and it would be good to stay there.
If the Happy Hooker and his mate, Mark and Dorean, can keep their form going, that will be one or two rinks up.Rain
I JUST started to notice burrs dying and we finally got that rain that was forecast a week ago.
There is no average drop out of this rain as it depends which cloud you were under.
Anywhere between bugger all and sh*tloads seems to be the report.River levels
THE Edward is still around 2700 megalitres at Moulamein and has levelled.
With what is coming down our Billabong Creek, our river will stay good for a while yet.
