I've manged to crick my back in some way - can't say what I did (anything from digging, wood-loading to running after turkeys) Anyway I woke at about midnight last night with the muscles all locked up and sore, so I haven't done a lot more sleeping - or comfortable sitting. Amazing how much you use your back even when you think you don't. I'm going to shower, Ice gel, painkiller, bed.

I seem to going through a patch of not achieving a hell of a lot - yes, stuff like extra wood is being cut and carted to the woodshed-to-be, and bits for it have been scavenged and it will all go together soon. And it will be faster because everything will be ready. But right now it feels like I'm running on one spot. The same with the little shed - collecting bits, but you really don't want to work on corrugated iron on your own or in the wind. Anyway, hopefully a big leap forward soon. The achievement for the day is a scissor jack I found being returned from rusty ruin to work. I am going to use it on the old wreck that has a complete towbar (as opposed to the $5 tow bracket for which I would need a bar.) trapped underneath it.

The weather continues blustery and iffy, with real waves on the east coast. So more marine misadventures are on hold. So is seafood. I know I need to start planting soon, but we're in sort of hiatus - and not producing a lot either! A bit of broccoli, some silverbeet... James's fiance arrives next Monday and at the moment we have lots of meat (normally lots of fish, shellfish, veg, and relatively sparse meat - now with shooting wallaby we have lots of meat... and 2 turkeys in the freezer.) As soon as Alana leaves we have Paddy and Clare - probably for the last time in some years as Clare doesn't get long holidays. It's going to be truly lovely to see them all, but the self-sufficiency calender says mobs should visit in autumn :-).

Poly-pipe catamaran

Genetics is not always wonderful. I took James to farm dump this morning, where the relics of the last 60 years are lurking in case there is something useful there. The farm has grown broccoli for seed, wheat, cattle, sheep and the owners are commercial divers. They're also - like me - people that battle to throw useful stuff away. We were hunting some treated posts for a woodshed, which took about 10 minutes. The other two hours were spent sticky-beaking through the junk of ages, coming up with increasingly weird ideas of what one might do with XYZ. He was far worse than I was. James is now set on a poly-pipe catamaran. I hope he either sinks within 20 yards of the shore or gets to South America before it does. At least all my crazy ideas are edible or for processing the same.

Madagascar chocolate

I went to the big smoke yesterday (Whitemark - pop. 180 or so.) and cut daan trees an'eat ma lunch with Peter, and then proceeded to the jetty with a jenny and a spotlight. We did catch two huge squid under the light but the rest were caught in the normal way.

However the post did bring us some excitement - one of the kind fans in the US - having heard me mention Madagascar chocolate tracked it down and sent me some! I shall have to get off my dead butt and write some more of his favorite story.

Well, it should ideal floundering weather at about 4.30 AM this coming morning. I don't think I'm going to go, although we need the fish. Barbs is still fighting her cold, and I am too but to a lesser extent. The whole 'man-flu' thing doesn't work with us. I spent too many days sick as kid to ever voluntarily take to my bed now. I did end up a day in hospital having blood tests about 20 years ago, glandular fever IIRC, I gave up waiting and called B and went back to work, they phoned to say I was sick, but I was busy by then, with a farm to run, and spent 1 and a half days in bed when I had Malaria. When I feel not well I'll go and sleep for an hour or two, but I was not designed to be that still. I don't even sleep more than 3 hours at a spell at night, and I seem to function OKay on around 6 hours sleep. Barbs and James both need 8 +, Paddy used to but seems to be adapting to cope with less. I have slowed down a lot with age, but I do feel being married to the energizer bunny must have been enough of a penance to make up for any good points I might have.

I'm busy working my way through an old SA cookbook - most of the food is pretty ordinary pre-war stuff, but it does have the advantage of cooking from a very small, basic set of ingredients. The author assumed you might be on the farm, and have a store cupboard - not a supermarket down the road.

Oops. I just plain forgot to post yesterday. Maybe I need muttonbird oil. If nothing else it can frighten you into remembering (apparently it is good for cholesterol levels too so maybe I better try it. Besides something has to explain the vintage and mental acuity of the islanders. Our 98 year old Scottish dancing teacher has a better memory than most 30 year olds.)

Barbs has a cold and had to work, but loving her job, James is working his socks off too, but doing interesting stuff too. Me I am just muddling along writing. Made more boere wors, and some biltong. Found some dumped poles for wood-shed. However we have made some serious progress in the trailer department as we've been given a little one that was tossed into a shed here on the farm. All that is wrong with it is one flat wheel, but the tyre itself will need replacing. Jamie has offered to do some welding, Peter offered to help with the forms for the boat, and I have a new jockey wheel and a little hand winch to put onto it, so,hopefully for the cost of a new tyre and some lights and cable, we'll have a trailer, which means the Zoo can stay inflated and ready to launch and cut the epic of taking her to sea to a minor circus sideshow instead of the whole three rings, custard pie flinging clowns and runaway elephant.

Oh, I bought two little bits for screwing on the roof and hex inset screws today. I've been putting this off because 1)I'm mean and I hate spending money. 2)I'm mean and I hate spending money. 3)(repeat). And I will protest loudly that I'm no' mean, Ahm jist carefu' I hope you believe me. Seriously, I avoid shopping for tools for the same reason I don't keep games on my computer, because it would be too easy to lose control and buy half the place, and some degree of prudence is required. To my embarrassment they cost just on $5. I was expecting 5 times that.

Tea last night was slow cooked wallaby shanks with ginger jam roly-poly for dessert. When last did you have a roly-poly pudding?

just got a fantastic review