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I HAVE been making a quick
trip in and out of town, for I had a neighbour's daughter to drive out, and
I did not want to be obliged to stop the night on the road. It was rather
rough on my pony, but she managed it well; she is really invaluable, and I
was very lucky in getting her. It's wonderful what these ponies can do; they
trot capitally in harness almost any distance, only when you are on their
back you can't get a trot out of them, it's all canter and gallop. The heat
has been terrific. It is getting a little cooler at night. We are short of
water; our well gave out, and as I had no time to dig it deeper, I dug a
small water hole, but it is not pleasant drinking, tadpoles and mosquitoes
fail to give it a good flavour, and just now flying ants are a perfect
plague. I wonder what the next one will be?
I have got a good quantity of
hay stacked, and I have been helping the neighbour who helped me. I have
made a sort of shed for the pony and cattle. It consists of poles with hay
thrown over them. It is warm enough for now, and at all events keeps out the
rain, and must suffice till my stable is finished.
I am going to take my wife
and child into town in a week or ten days before it gets too cold for the
drive, then I shall come back and stay out on the homestead till the end of
November, so as to get my regulation six months in this year, that is if it
does not get too cold; I want to do some breaking, so as to have some land
ready to crop when I am able to come out in the spring. At present I have
about 6 acres broken, and I should like to break another six before it
freezes up.
I want to put in plenty of
oats, and potatoes, and flax next year, but there is such a lot to do, and
my racehorses take such a time to do anything, that time goes by, and
although I am at work all day and every day, I don't seem to have made much
progress at the end of the week. It takes me a whole day to go for a load of
wood, only 8 miles there and back, so you, see that a team of horses would
be a great boon. |
