It's been nearly a year since my last update on this blog, and what a year it's been! We have had bushfires nearby and a continuing ever-present threat of more, an on-going severe drought, a wedding on our property (our youngest daughter) which couldn't have been better, a funeral, a birth (second wonderful grandson) and of course this wretched virus. In between all of that I've been focusing on improving the infrastructure of our property, generally tidying up, and finishing some projects on my long list!
We built a much-needed new entryway to the property in time for the wedding, but the gates had to wait. They're now in place and I'm extremely pleased with them!
Although our main track through the property was massively improved for the wedding, it has required some fine-tuning to improve it's appearance and really integrate it into our bushland property. So I've been chipping away at that and am very pleased with the progress.
Another project that I've wanted to do for a long time is to construct a suitable fence as a first step towards developing an as yet un-named part of the property further in, and this first step has now been taken! I love all aspects of old machinery, old cars and associated signs etc. and have taken the opportunity to mount one of my signs on this new fence, photographed during a visit of a friend with an appropriate classic car, a Citroën ID19.
The trains and the Trainbarn generally have not been neglected, though progress has slowed a little with everything else taking priority. One of my sons-in-law is a professional photographer and we've had several sessions in the 'barn photographing and filming the trains, which has been very interesting indeed! Here are a couple of close-ups, though the railway has advanced a bit since these were taken.
Although this year has been, and continues to be, an extremely difficult one for so many people, we have largely escaped unscathed so far. Our daughters though are having to contend with various logistical challenges due to the lockdowns and limits on travel generally, but we've had the wonderful pleasure of having our two grandsons unexpectedly living close by and that has been a real blessing. The eldest, now two and a half, is absolutely captivated by tractors and machinery generally, which I enjoy and appreciate very much, of course! If this time has taught me anything it's to enjoy each moment, each day, and to try not to be too concerned about what the future holds, although that certainly isn't easy!
