I have discovered with having a farm that there is a phenomenon where nothing works together all the time.  There is always some bit of machinery or vehicle  that won’t work or has broken down or has flooded or conked out.  I am continually on a learning curve with all things mechanical  around the place. This was primarily Pete’s department and I find myself mumbling to him as I peer mysteriously into engines and check batteries about what I should be doing.

In the last two weeks the Ute has had to be taken to the mechanics to be fixed,  the bike won’t start, the ride-on mower won’t start and the  4 x 4 gator’s tilt tray is stuck so I can’t get to the engine under it.  On the plus side, the little quad bike is going like the clappers so that has been a bonus.

I managed to limp the Ute into the mechanics last week and said fix it!  I brought it home and its now going again.  Needed new oil filter, engine mounts….all those things I know so much about!  The guy  from the mower repairs came out from town and managed to get the tilt tray unlocked on the gator (this is like a little 4 x 4 golf cart).  I could never have fixed it myself.  Brute strength was needed!  The battery needed recharging and I knew that but until the tray was up I couldn’t get to it.  He also said the air filter needed cleaning out. The what? I now know what the air filter looks like and how to get to it and how to clean it out!! Another plus! He suggested I use our air compressor to clean it out at the same time that I clean the air filter on the tractor….Riiiight!!   As for the ride on mower, it was flooded and I think it had the wrong fuel in it….hmmm.  I am still trying to decide what to do about the bike.  I think I may have to sell it.  I can’t hold it up, let alone ride it.  The boys may have something to say about that though!

While all this is going on, I noticed that the horse trough in the horses paddock wasn’t filling up.  It has an automatic refill floatation device much like the float in a toilet.  I had a couple of dear friends staying and we went through all the things that it could be.  Was it the pump from the bore not working?  Was it an electrical short to the bore? Was the tank to the bore filling properly? Then I went and checked the round tank in one of the paddocks that was fed from the bore.  That wasn’t filling either.  I rang my lovely nephew-in-law, who is a plumber, and ran through the multitude of things that could have stopped it but we had no success,  so he is going to come up and check it out for me.  I am so lucky to have lovely helpers.

The “crazy moment of the day” was as I was in the midst of the pump problem, I looked up to see all my cows and heifers stampeding across the paddock in front of me and through a gate into the property next door. What the??? I am having the boundary fencing replaced between my property and the next door neighbours.  This has a quad gate that had to be repaired as well and it was open.  The boys were using the tractor and when the cattle heard and saw it they thought, “Hay – Yippee” and went stampeding through the gate to get it. This is usually how we deliver a large bale of hay to them. Unfortunately,  this time there was no hay.  I had to jump in the car and race over there and herd them all up and push them back through the gate into my place.  They weren’t very impressed and weren’t very cooperative about coming back, but eventually I got them all through and had to laugh and was quite chuffed as one of the fencing boys yelled out  “Great mustering Mate”!

Made my day!!!