Sunday 25 November 2012

Ducks on the pond

I was home at the farm on the weekend to see our canola crop come in. 
Harvest is always a frenetic time, with machinery and trucks thundering every which way, keen to get the grain in before any rain can gather.
I spend the time anxiously pacing, trying to distract myself in the garden, my heart in my mouth as I wait in anticipation for the first indication of yield to come in ...
... waiting for an indication of whether we've done our money, broken even or perhaps even cracked a profit!
I climbed up into the header cab and did a few runs with the contractor. This is always an education! The header driver divided his time between talking to me, with very careful politeness, about the subtleties and nuances of controlling a GPS driven harvester, and raucously yarning to his mates over the 2-way as they fly past in their trucks, laden with grain on the way to the silos in town.
At one point, he uttered nervously to his mate on the 2-way, "Ducks on the pond, mate, I gotta a duck on the pond"! Now most Aussie farm girls will know exactly what that means. This is code among country men that there is a woman present and that all foul language should be moderated immediately! It is a particularly common warning when women walk onto the board of a shearing shed. Funny! I'd love to know if this is a habit peculiar to Australia, or whether there are similar expressions in other rural communities around the world. I suspect it is unique to foul-mouthed Aussies!
The verdict on the crop? It yielded better than expected, but we won't be retiring to Noosa on it!
 
In other news, being at the farm allowed me to spread a new quilt out and take some photos.
I had serious fun making this up, and have a second one to put together using girly flannels from Marally Craft.
More details to come when it returns from 'she-who-works-quilting-miracles', Belinda :)

20 comments:

  1. I love it! That's hysterical! I've never heard it before, but I can just imagine our farming fathers from my school days blushing a little as they said it :-) Glad the crop was a good one - and I adore that quilt - talk about cute! The arrows make it!

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  2. Glad you had a successful crop! I LOVE the quilt! It is really cute.

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  3. As a Canadian Farm daughter, I have never heard the duck on a pond saying...I'll have to ask my brother who still farms our acres...

    What a clever quilt though. I am always on the look out for clever borders and you sure nailed that aspect!

    Good to hear Australia is having a successful farming year. I think my brother did well this year too.

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  4. Love your quilt! And I'm laughing at the "duck on the pond." Glad you guys had a good harvest.

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  5. Cute quilt, love the arrows! Yep I was the duck on the pond when I was a kid, I loved the shearing shed and despite attempts to be polite I did learn a few naughty words! Nice harvest pictures, somehow it doesnt look brown enought must be your lovely green garden!

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  6. Missed you on Saturday Ros but I can see this was your distraction. Love the quilt :) so bright and cute :)

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  7. love the quilt, so bright, it really pops on the white. "Ducks on the pond", that is funny!

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  8. Haha have never heard Ducks on the pond !!!! Lovely quilt :)))

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  9. Your quilt is adorable. Happy that you had a good crop. I have to say, I've never heard the "duck on the pond" phrase before, but it is funny!

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  10. Hi Ros, looking forward to seeing your masterpiece!

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  11. love the saying........missed you Saturday but pleased harvest is done........nice quilt........

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  12. I don't recall hearing that expression before but knew exactly what he meant before you explained. Aussie guys, a funny bunch.
    Love your quilt top and also the vivid greens of your garden.

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  13. Great to see some pics of the farm. Great to hear that all is good with the harvest. Love the quilt....beautiful!

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  14. The only time I have heard the term 'ducks on the pond' used was at a baseball game. When a batter comes up to bat and there are runners on base, the batter is told there are 'ducks on the pond' and it is the batter's job to bring them home. Americans are funny too, apparently.

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  15. I love your quilt.. I've had the same blocks for sometime now, but never could come up with a design I like. You have inspired me! The arrows are clever and middle block too!

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  16. Love the quilt...my boss (Mayor) is a farmer and I often hear the "ducks on the pond" should I walk in the room where only men are present!

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  17. I'm on a farm in WA and never heard the Saying "Duck on the pond" ... even when I entered the shearing shed... might have to ask around about this one (and maybe implement it!).

    Glad to hear harvest is going well... we have only had about a week of harvesting in 3 weeks... blasted rain :( But as we always say there is next year!!

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  18. Oh my goodness - the duck comment made me laugh out loud, I don't recall ever hearing that before! I love your quilt - its beautiful.

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  19. It was particularly used in shearing sheds, as the men would urinate between the slats in the floor designed for sheep droppings. As the shed would be busy and shearers paid per sheep going outside would waste time and money. Obviously, not a good look when the grazier's daughter or wife was about.

    Stumbled across this page looking for the origin of the phrase. No luck on that though.

    Great Quilt by the way.

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