WEEKLY DRY AS A BONE COLUMN IN BUSH TELEGRAPH with Gerard Walsh

MOST Sundays, I phone the Bureau of Meteorology for a weather story for the Daily News and sometimes I feel a bit downcast when the forecast for rain during the next week isn't great.

That is the case for this week but the forecast wasn't much better last week and we ended up with 34mm on the farm at Greymare.

As one farmer said, the 34mm is equivalent to even more rain because of the way it fell. All the rain went in.

Temperatures aren't too hot until Friday and Saturday so we will get some benefit in grass and pasture growth before we are in 30-degree territory again.

I recall Peter Cleary talking about the weather and telling me that the late Kev McDonnell, a long time dairy farmer at Greymare would always say "northerly wind, rain within 24 hours”.

There is no talk at BOM of a wind from the north this week.

No need for shredder

THE CEO in our home found an advertisement for a shredder for $49 and was thinking of buying it for me.

I admit I come from the Hoarders Co-operative, a group of people keen to keep more than we should. I hoard machinery, newspapers and paperwork.

At least I didn't get a shredder for a birthday or Christmas present, which reminds me of one woman I once worked with who was far from impressed when her dear husband bought her a toaster.

I don't need a shredder but have to stick to my 50/50 plan. If you are a hoarder and are cleaning up, you have to at least throw half of what you are sorting out.

I did have a dream of filling one recycling bin a fortnight with things I didn't want. At least then I am putting some of my hard work in hoarding back into the environment by recycling.

With the dry weather, there are only small windows of opportunity to burn some rubbish so paperwork is better chucked in the recycling bin.

I have a large heap of noxious weeds I have picked on the farm but it must be more than a year since I have burnt the heap.

As for the shredder, I have kindly told the CEO, thanks for thinking of me, but no.

Perhaps they are more in need of the shredder in Canberra after they sold some heavy filing cabinets full of important Federal Government documents.

While politicians don't get involved with putting a chalk mark on the filing cabinets to be sold, the mistakes of government employees like we saw with the discovery of the documents puts a bad light on all involved in government.