The last update was at the end of November, when all was going well. Then Ken developed chest/shoulder pain that he initially thought was muscle strain. However, a trip to Bunbury ED confirmed that he had suffered a minor heart attack.  It was a wake up call to us both and during several days of monitoring & tests at St John of God Hospital, Bunbury, we both had time to contemplate our future.

Back home, I had to learn to start the pumps to water the gardens & to ride the quad bike to check the lambing ewes. I also grew more confident  handling the Landcruiser on the road back & forth to Bunbury, which was just as well as I had to drive Ken to St John of God Hospital in Subiaco (Perth) for the cardiologist to insert a stent in his heart & then bring him home the next day. Ken is now almost himself again, except that for the first time in his life, he has a selection of pills to swallow every day. He has been given a good report from the cardiologist, who doesn’t expect to see him again until a check up appointment in December.

As Christmas approached I was busy baking, then an overnight trip to Perth to collect Mother & the Christmas turkey. It was lovely to have the family all together for the festivities, with the traditional English Christmas lunch. Mother thoroughly enjoyed her week with us at Marribrook – the company, the food & watching the ever-changing vista from the back of the house.

We had some very hot days in January, then 120 mm of rain turned everywhere green, refilling the dams. More hot weather in February has killed a lot of the germination unfortunately, but there is enough kikuyu grass in the low areas for the sheep & cattle to graze.

The kikuyu we have planted on the north & west sides of the house is growing well, already having been mown a few times. Shadow’s lawn has also been top-dressed  with sand to improve the growing conditions, a job made so much easier with help from John & his tractor.

The next job to be ticked off the list was to build a chook-yard. Finally we came up with a suitable site, so within a week, it was built, with help from John & Loz. Then 5 Isa Brown chooks moved in & are giving us a good supply of eggs now that they have got used to their new surroundings.