School holidays are one of my favourite times on the Rock Farm.  In between days at work, we get to spend time doing various things around the place. Some of the activities are related to the running of the farm, some have the boys learning valuable skills.  Others are just fun.

The young fellows have a couple of projects they want to complete.  Indeed they wrote a list of activities they wanted to tick off these holidays (they must take after their mother)!  They have a couple of woodwork projects to complete – a pair of picture frames.

For me, it is all about hanging with the animals.  The neighbour’s beautiful horses love any excess carrots, whilst the cattle are just curious (and hopeful I will move them to a different paddock).

Of course not all farm jobs can wait until the holidays are over.  Our header tank float valve was leaking, causing the pump to run continuously.  The resultant leaking water might have been a boon for the nearby grass, but it wasn’t good for our dam’s water levels.  Jo volunteered to enter the tank and remove the old valve.  Thankfully it just needed a good clean and fresh lubrication, and was as good as new.  I quite enjoyed offering advice from the sidelines…

We also had a few mechanical issues to deal with. The falcon ute needed a new idler pulley and the young fella broke something on his motorbike.

The falcon was an easy fix. The motorbike needed to go and visit an expert…

An old meat saw on Gumtree somehow ended up in the back of the car.  I re-purposed an old kitchen bench top and some leftover pine into a mount for the saw.  It should make processing our lamb a little easier.

Speaking of lamb – we enjoyed a couple of roast legs of lamb in the camp ovens.  The brick lined fire-pit hasn’t had much use over summer – but we hope to change that now the weather has cooled down a little.

We also made a warning sign to put on the gate 🙂 It is a simple form of security after a car we didn’t recognise drove up our drive and into our property, before leaving.

And on one glorious day we went for a hike.  With some hearty snacks, we put on our hiking boots and walked the boundary of our place and our neighbours.

We loved it, as it was a fantastic opportunity to check out the place and really take time to enjoy the Rock Farm.  All too often there are little jobs to do, but at the end of the day, spending time with this gorgeous family is what really matters.

It was good to recharge the soul. After all isn’t that what school holidays are for?