The paddocks are ablaze.
Today’s Adventure: Burning off – with me watching from afar.
Jam Fact: I need a camera that takes good night photos.
The annual burning season opened here last Friday. We were one of the many people in B.H, who took advantage of that. We burnt most of our paddocks and so were partly responsible for the smoke haze in the district the next morning but we didn’t get any complaints from our neighbours [forewarned that we would be burning off, there would be some dust… a lot as it turned out…take your washing off the line etc,] so all good on that front.
G &T, who lease our paddocks for cropping, were the lighters of our fires. MY J and his mate, both wearing fire masks and each driving one of our fire trucks, prowled the paddocks to make sure nothing got away whilst G&T did the actual setting alight. I think MY J secretly would’ve liked to have been in charge of that process; still, being in charge of prowling for spot fires was a pretty good task nonetheless…most excitement we’ve had on the property since lockdown began.
A mild, easterly wind was blowing so the set mini fires spread slowly but surely across the dry summer pastures [mostly weeds], the whole thing taking just a few hours. It was a typical ‘slow burn’ but nevertheless an impressive sight to see. When nightfall finally moved in and MY J did his final check, all that remained were one or two smouldering little spots, so a very successful burn was done and dusted for another year.
The paddock burning was followed by some light ploughing and levelling. It was a two tractor job and MY J was delighted when asked if he would like to take a couple of turns on the ‘levelling tractor’ – well no second guesses as to his answer to that request. He jumped at the offer and had a wonderful time driving around creating some minor dust clouds, in air conditioned comfort, with his CD’s playing away. A pretty good afternoon for him I’d say.
So all is in readiness for the first lot of decent rains to come and they are coming. I know this because not only does ABC TV [Nate national and Irena local] say so, the little weather machine in the kitchen says so, my phone weather app says so, the RAC RED alert says so, the sky says so, my aching knee joint says so [all mod con weather alerts found here] but my VERY best indicators are that the Black, White Tailed Carnabys were here by the dozens yesterday and today and the day before that, very loudly squawking away in the trees by the house … they truly are in this neck of the woods, the best rain predictors one could have, so 100% guaranteed that it is going to rain here today.
I was confined to the house for both processes over the weekend – the verdict being I am too much of a risk and given I am still recovering from upending myself, I had to admit – yes I needed to stay in the house. Hopefully though, can’t keep a good woman down as they say, I will be invited to be MY J’s Assistant when our annual bonfire/burn up of all the rubbish we’ve collected and accumulated over the summer months occurs later this week because I just so like to be a part of a good, clean burn up when the fire season opens.
Until tomorrow – be kind to yourself.
MY J is in amongst the dust.
