The Autumnal colours of rust caramel and honey throughout Tenterfield lift our spirits amidst the dry dusty landscape that currently surrounds us here at the farm. Whilst what little rain we did receive the other day was very much appreciated it didn’t do much to settle the dust. Our beautiful dams that were at full capacity just before Xmas are now getting precariously low with not much more than a dirty big puddle in the largest one.

Flowing creeks are now dry and dusty save a few sacred spring fed spots here and there. Dragonflies have disappeared and the sounds of the frogs are long gone. Hungry wildlife forage for food while the cattle trucks keeping rolling past emptying the neighbouring paddocks.

Amidst the death and the dust life rolls on and after our mid life crisis overseas holiday, buying, renovating and selling an old beach shack in Yamba we are finally back at Fatty Boy Run getting ready to build our new home. We had forgotten about the long drawn out process of designing, drawing and submitting plans, but Jason dusted off his pencil and paper, braved the online portal and after several hair pulling out changes everything has been submitted and we should have our construction certificate very soon🤞

In the meantime somehow hours have completely disappeared with online browsing of tapware, tiles, lighting, doors, windows, kitchens, curtains, fireplaces and everything else in between. Exciting but tiring at the same time.

Braving the dust and prevailing winds we have started the long awaited building of our shed hoping to get it up and finished before the ground works begin on the house slab. And aren’t we lucky enough to have not only a site supervisor but also a very cheeky work place health and safety officer!

Now the real fun begins, building, creating mood boards, planting more trees, eagerly awaiting quotes, choosing colours and of course there is always fencing to be done..

Word to the wise, wait until it has been raining for some time before putting up a new fence! The ground here is currently as hard as a rock and we certainly felt every year of our age by the end of it😳

As the temperature plummets the misty mornings arrive and the sunsets become even more stunning, reminding us that we are definitely still living our best lives, not just Chilli and Taco😊

Exciting times ahead, stressfull times ahead and very busy times ahead. All will be worth it to be able to relax back on the lounge in front of the fire with a glass of wine and enjoy the amazing view🍷

A new chapter begins…