Challenges of Farming - 10. CoF Ch 10

The following day, I made sure that I had completed all of my chores, and that the house was ready for Myles to arrive, which included a quick trip into town to do some added shopping, and to collect the two bikes from the mechanics. I had also bought a new front door lock set to replace the current one, since I was expecting June would soon be arrested for her involvement with the breaking into my property, as well as the attempting to break into my computer in the study.

On the way back home I left the front gate closed but unlocked, so Loretta can get in and drive to the house, and the first thing I did was to replace the front door lock, so June can no longer get into the house. I had also left an envelope in their roadside mailbox, with the last payment for cleaning, as well as a note notifying her that her services as a cleaner were no longer required.

I was just doing a check of everything on the tractor, when I heard a vehicle approaching, and recognised Loretta’s car, as it pulled up near the shed. I watched as Myles stepped out, he was looking a little pale, and he was going slowly as he climbed out and walked over to the shed with Loretta.

“Hey mate, it is good to see you back on your feet again, no doubt Ms Loretta informed you about the cottage, and that all your belongings are safe and sitting in the guest bedroom of my home, where you are welcome to stay,” I said to the lad.

“Thanks boss, I was a bit shocked when I heard that the cottage had burnt down. Do the police know who did it?” Myles responded, “They have an idea, but I have a very strong suspicion on who organised it, but that is up to the police to prove,” I replied. “Right, I will let you get this young man settled, and the doctors said he is to have total rest for at least one more week,” Loretta informed me.

“I was planning to make sure of that anyway, thanks for collecting him Loretta,” I replied, “Not a problem; will I see you at the markets on Saturday?” Loretta asked, “Not sure, with everything happening, and with your visitors still here, I am reluctant to go anywhere just yet.

Can you let your husband know that I would like a meeting with him at the earliest possible convenience,” I answered. “I will do that, bye,” Loretta replied.

Grabbing Myles’ backpack, I helped him to walk over to the house at a slow pace, and once inside, I showed him his room and the bathroom next door, and I let him get settled, while I prepared some lunch. For the rest of the day, I kept close to the house, not going any further than the milking shed to milk the cow and feed the goats and poddy calves.

Soon after getting back to the house, my mobile rang with Malcolm calling. “Hello Malcolm, how may I help you?” I said answering the call. “Hello Mitchell, you could come and unlock the gate so I can come to the house to speak to you,” Malcolm replied.

I laughed, “On my way,” I replied before ending the call, “Just going to let Malcolm in the front gate,” I called out to Myles before leaving the house, and jumping onto the quad bike at the shed, to ride down to the front gate, and after letting him in, I locked the gate, and followed Malcolm back to the shed.

“I was not expecting a personal visit, but since you are here, I wanted to speak to you about some ideas in regards to the farm. With everything happening lately, I have made a decision.

I want to lease out the rest of the farm, except for the 54 acre paddock that contains my home and shed. This means putting the plans for holiday cabins on the riverbank on hold, as well as putting a stop to my plans fort he cheese making project,” I announced to Malcolm.

“I see, in a way I think it is a very good idea, so I am presuming that this would mean that you would removing all of the security cameras located around the farm?” Malcolm responded, “Yes, all except the ones that are monitoring this part of the farm. So would you be able to organise the leasing of the farm land that does not include my home paddock?” I asked.

“Yes, I will be happy to do that for you, and I can inform you that you have plenty of income coming from the lease of the other farms to keep you living fairly comfortably,” Malcolm replied.

“That is good to know, as I am not sure what I want to do in the immediate future, but you can be assured that I will also be taking good care of our your friend, so he has no problems about been homeless at all, as I plan to offer him a permanent home here,” I said to Malcolm.

“I am sure that Loretta will be very pleased to hear that,” Malcolm replied. “The old part of the farm is 1,184 acres, the corner block is 32 acres, and the land between that and my home paddock is 136 acres, so it is a total of 1,352 acres,” I said to Malcolm, who agreed to organise the leasing of the land.

When my mobile rang with a private number, I nearly directed it to voicemail, but changed my mind, “Hello, Mitchell speaking,” I said as I answered the phone, and I indicated to Malcolm to stay. “Mr Watkins, this is Sam speaking, I am terribly sorry, I had no idea that my wife was involved in all of this terrible stuff,” the caller said to me, and I moved closer to Malcolm so he could listen.

“Ok, what terrible stuff are you talking about?” I responded. “She… she organised a gang to do all of those terrible things that have happened on your place, the cutting of the fences, the shooting of the stock, and the burning down of the cottage next door to my place.

It was all of her doing… I had no idea that she was so… spiteful, she has been ranting on and off for the past few months, and I had no idea that she would take any action on her words… I understand if you don’t want to allow me to renew my lease,” Sam said to me.

I looked towards Sam, and he shrugged his shoulders, “I would too if it was someone else, but I am not that revengeful, you can renew your lease, but there will be one condition, and it doesn’t matter what the outcome is with her legal troubles.

The moment the lease is renewed, your wife is banned from entering any part of my land, including your home and vineyards, and I will be seeking a court order to that effect,” I said to Sam, “That is understandable, and I agree with this condition, as I feel so hurt by her actions, so much so, that I have no feelings for her any more, even after so many years of marriage,” Sam replied.

“I am sorry that it has come to that, but that is up to you to sort out. Now one last thing, I am about to have the remainder of my farm, not including the 54 acres that is my home base, which totals 1, 1352 acres, and I am giving you the first option if you are interested,” I announced to Sam.

“Yes, I would be very pleased to take up the lease of that land,” Sam said to me, “Good; I have Malcolm here with me, and he has heard everything we have just discussed, go to his office next week and he will sort out the lease agreement,” I responded.

After the phone call, Malcolm and I had a bit of a chat, before he headed back to town, and I went and opened and closed the gate for him, before heading back to the house, where I briefed Myles on what has been decided. “So what will I do now that there is no farm work to do?” Myles asked me.

“Until I sell the stock that is on the farm, we will continue as normal, and after that I was thinking of you joining me for a holiday, and after that we will look into you attending college somewhere so you can get a better education,” I replied, “Wow, that sounds fantastic, thanks for that,” Myles replied.

A month later, with all of the leases renewed, and having relocated all of the cameras from the original part of the farm and the entry points to that farm and the corner block, to all along the boundary of the home paddock, as well as all around the shed and the house, Myles and I set off to Perth, where we will stay for a few days, with Loretta giving us a lift to the Albany airport.

“Your didn’t say where exactly that we are going for our holiday, except that it is overseas,” Myles said to me as we finished checking in our luggage at the Perth airport a few days later, and I smiled. “Hold on to your hat my young friend, as we are off to see the world, on a agriculture tour of many nations,” I replied.

“Wow, awesome, that is absolutely perfect,” Myles replied excitedly, “Yes it is, and I will need you to take heaps of photos and write plenty of notes for me,” I said, “But I…” Myles didn’t finish his question as I revealed a brand new laptop computer and a digital camera from the extra bag that I was carrying.

Over the next three months we travelled to man countries all over the world, Including Canada, Chile, the Falkland Islands, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and a few others, where we saw lots of different kinds of farming operations.

Each night in our hotel rooms, Myles would type up a detailed report on what we had seen at each farm, with plenty of photos included, and we had a wonderful time exploring all of the tourist sights on the way. By the time we arrived back in Western Australia, we were both happy to be back home.

We managed to catch a lift with some backpacker tourists, who were at the airport to collect some newly arrived friends, and they dropped us off on at the Hay River Bridge on the South Coast Highway, just a short 3 kilometre walk away from home, which we didn’t mind considering all of the walking we had done in the Swiss Alps and the Scottish Highlands.

Four days later, while I was in the office looking at the accounting books, Myles entered with a big smile on his face, and he placed a huge stack of A4 pages in front of me. I could see that it was at least 2000 pages or more, by the thickness of the stack.

“What on earth is this?” I asked, “Your full report on our farming tour, in total 3728 pages, including photos,” Myles replied. “Wow, I didn’t thick that it would be this big, it is going to take me a while to get through it all, and maybe we can present it to the local district branch of the WA Farmer’s Federation,” I replied.

“That is fine by me boss, I actually found it quite rewarding, and enjoyed producing it, and the trip has made me want to be a farmer as my career,” Myles replied before he returned to the lounge room. I smiled as I watched Myles leave the office, and I stared at the stack of papers in front of me, pleased that I had made a small difference in the young man’s life, and hopefully he will have a bright and rewarding career in farming.

The End.