A new adventure

It is already nearly two months since we returned from our wonderful 11 week trip around Australia. Christmas has been and gone and we are already into 2014. Life is very different for me now.  I am getting used to the idea that I am no longer a working person. I will soon be officially at the end of my public service career. While we were away it didn't really sink in as we were travelling and I was having such a wonderful time exploring and experiencing new things. But now that we are home I am gradually coming to the realisation that life is different now and its up to me to decide what I do, how busy I am and where this next phase of my life will take me. After working full time for 37 years (with the exception of two stints of maternity leave) this is a liberating experience!

Despite always working full time, I have always been a bit of a home body. Living in the Blue Moutains in a lovely street with bush all around has meant that going to work every day has taken me away from our picturesque and comforting surroundings. I travelled to the city for over 20 years and then to Parramatta for about 12 years and some mornings leaving the Blue Mountains was very difficult!!

I now have so much more time to sew. I have some lovely 'quilty' friends and we get together regularly which is great fun. There are so many things to learn and so many quilts to make!

My latest completed project. My first foray into hexagons!

One rather large task that we have set ourselves is cleaning up and improving our property at Mount Victoria. It belonged to my brother, Warren, who passed away suddenly, at only 56, nearly 9 years ago now.

The house through the trees from the big dam.

The fires which raged in Mt Victoria in October, while we were away on our trip, were very close to the property but we were very fortunate that nothing was damaged. The wonderful RFS back burnt all around the buildings and garden so that it is now all clear. The view is slightly better across the valley at the back but the burnt trees are already putting out new shoots and it will soon be all green again.

The view from the edge of the big dam.

Behind the old garden.

Down by the shed.

Warren was a diesel mechanic by trade but had a passion for old machinery. He was very practical and could make or fix just about anything. The 'piece de resistance' of his innumerable 'projects' was his 1908 Marshall Steam Traction Engine. He bought this in 1973 when he was only about 24. It was abandoned in a field on a property near Molong when he bought it and he spent hundreds of hours on and off over the years right up until his death gradually restoring it to its former glory. Sadly, he never saw it completed.

When he passed away three of his friends, Barry Birch, Ray Bent and Bob Miller set about working on it to continue the restoration in Warren's honour. This was a huge job but they achieved great things! For the past three years the engine has visited Oberon each February for the Highland Steam and Vintage Fair which is always exciting. I am so proud of all of them for the work they have devoted to the engine to enable it to operate again and be appreciated by many others. It was a very exciting day indeed when it first came out of the shed, literally, under its own steam.

The Marshall in Oberon in February 2013.

There is still some more work to be done on it but it is mostly complete. Its boiler gets inspected every two years to make sure it's safe and it has conditional registration so that it can travel on public streets.

The festival is on again this February and this year we are hoping the Marshall will take its place in the parade which goes down the main street of Oberon. There are a huge collection of vintage cars, trucks, bikes, traction engines and assorted other vehciles that all participate in the show.

Getting back to the clean up, Warren had collected many other gems for restoration, or just because!

 
There is so much to do there. We just don't know where to start. We certainly won't get bored!