So to pick up where I left off last week, I enjoyed a relaxing Saturday afternoon watching a movie and drinking hot chocolate. I then decided to take myself into town to the pub, which probably wasn't the smartest idea as I wasn't home until 1:30 and had to start work at 6:30. So there I was Sunday afternoon doing some odd jobs around the yard and feeling a little sorry for myself when Perry called and asked me to come to the bull paddock with the tractor because he was bogged. Off I went about 10km to where he was, and when I got out to open the gate I thought to myself that's funny I can smell smoke. Well I look under the tractor and the freaking thing is on fire!!

I immediately panic and there are a million thoughts going through my mind like 'will it blow up?', 'OMG is it going to burn to the ground', 'What should I do!!'. So while these thoughts are racing around in my head I have apparently called out to Perry who was about 200m away (the way he tells it I screamed out frantically but they are minor details we can skim over). Anyway I am not sure if he has heard me or not so I start to run towards where he is. He obviously senses my panic or see's the smoke billowing up because he starts sprinting towards me and I figure he has the picture!!

I turn around to see flames about a foot high reaching up the side of the tractor. I race back and start to flog at the flames with my jacket. This is not an easy thing to do as the fire is kind of underneath and I have to keep going from one side to the other but I pretty much have it under control. Perry eventually arrives and is puffing profusely after his 200m dash, but has conveniently managed to dump his jacket in the slew on his way past. So with the both of us there we manage to get the flames under control and Kristy eventually arrives a little perplexed about what is going on. She quickly catches on and grabs a couple of bottles out of the tractor to fill with water. Eventually the fire is out and we pull all of the hay out from around the drive shaft, which was the cause of all this panic. Apparently Warren has been rolling bales out with the front of the tractor and managed to get it wedged in there. Let's just say he won't be doing that anymore!!

So after all this excitement I was now thoroughly awake and ready to tackle the rest of the week!! Unfortunately Monday was completely and utterly the most horrible day we have had so far. We got up early to go out and pair in the heifers only to find that it was raining and there were 50km wind gusts. Perry was a little concerned about driving the truck in those winds but we went out to the heifers to see what damage we could cause. We managed to pair out about 14 reds whilst freezing our buts off and decided to leave it at that. Perry and Chris took them to adgistment in the gooseneck whilst I spent most of the day inside doing pretty much nothing. By afternoon the weather had improved so Bob and I went back to the heifers and sorted out another 23.

The next couple of days were a great improvement and we spent them pairing, trucking and organising dry cattle. We even had to brand some in the calf cradle which was probably the worst branding experience of my life. I think I offended Chris when I told him that but seriously it was the worst setup I have ever seen. The panels were too big and the calves kept slipping through and their cradle was way too big for day old calves. Anyway the main thing is we got them done and trucked out, in the nick of time it seems as Thursday afternoon brought more storms and about 2.5 inches of rain.

We spent Friday morning branding at Woods' because they didn't have as much rain as us but other than that have just been pairing/hauling cattle when weather permits. There have been lots of storms in the afternoons and rain during the day so it's a case of doing things when you get a chance (like Perry and I going out at 7:30pm to pair out cattle one night, only to be chased home by a storm). Other than that the only other exciting thing to have happened is that I have managed to consume a whole jar of vegemite in a matter of 9 weeks!! They all think I am completely mad for eating it, but they refuse to try it so as far as I'm concerned they don't know what they are missing out on.

It is now lunch time on Saturday and once again it is raining. I therefore have the day off and this morning Perry and I got Kristy's old minivan going for me to use when Candice is here. I am now thinking I will head into town and test out my new wheels!!!