I have just come back to the blog after an enforced
sabbatical and can’t believe that we last posted in July last year! I just didn’t
have time last year – my days were taken up with studying for my Masters (in
Strategic People Management), and we are still spending what time we can on the
house. Toward the end of the year we thought that we might have more time to
dedicate to the build, but then were thrown a curve ball with notification that
I had been nominated to deploy to South Sudan in support of the UN as of the
end of March this year.
The immediate impact was a mad flurry of activity on my part
to meet the passport, visa, medical and training requirements whilst dealing
with the military bureaucracy. Finally that is all complete, and I am ready to
go. All I am waiting on now is my entry visa from the Government of South Sudan,
and I should fly at the end of March… This does mean that this will be a
solitary post, as I will hold the posts from the deployment until I get back,
and probably publish that offline (as I did with my Afghanistan deployment).
What we have missed since last posting was (in no particular
order):
- Hugo’s first snow trip, and MacK learning to ski
- Hugo’s second birthday
- My graduation from UNSW-ADFA
- Jane’s 41st birthday on the farm
- The launch of “Red Bowl” catering, and
- Building, building and more building!
We now have most of the hebel and all of the straw in the
house, and Jane is loving playing in the mud. I am sure there is a part of her
that is a little sad that we don’t have more straw for her to coat with clay,
and am keen to now see the finished (rendered) product.
Jane’s 41st was an epic event, being the weekend
immediately preceding Christmas. We pre-planned the menu and ordered a piglet
early enough to make a porky spit roast the star of the party. We had a great
weekend, and most of my side of the family made the trek to the farm and then
stayed on for Christmas. It was true glamping, made even more enjoyable by
Tyson’s work in designing and building the slightly more permanent outdoor
shower. We had a lot of fun, and I can only imagine what it will be like in
years to come with the benefit of shade and insulation in the house!
Whilst we had hoped to finish the house this year, the
deployment has slowed things up a little and we now think a more realistic
timeframe will be toward the end of 2020. Our other option is to finish the
flat and move in to that end of the house while we finish off the rest, but
Jane (rightly) would like to get it all done in one hit. If you are around,
there are plenty of opportunities for rendering parties over the next few months
though…
As far as Red Bowl Catering is concerned, we are doing the
ultimate soft launch! Catering is something we have identified as a potential
long term income stream post Army. Having said that, when opportunities come up
we really need to look at them, so have done a couple of functions on the farm,
and another for Marist College in Canberra. We have also had to turn down some
others as we are just not ready yet. Nice to know we might be able to establish
an effective micro-income stream in the future.
The boys are growing at a ridiculous pace… MacK has moved
into Grade Three at school, and is shining at maths. His current long term
career ambition is to be a robotics engineer, join the rural fire service as a
volunteer and live on the farm while doing it all. Hugo has hands the size of
dinner plates, so we are a little scared at how big our little ‘great Dane’
might get to! It may be just as well we are planning a significant food
enterprise, just to keep those two fed!
I plan to be much more regular (with my posts) on return
from Africa, particularly as we finish the house.
