if not longer, and labour and money was scarce.
Bill has always used sheep as currency and quite a
few people started receiving lamb as payment for
favours rendered.
Bill and Geoff checked out the equipment lining
up outside the shed and assessed what needed
doing. Bill announced that he could weld but
Geoff jumped on this idea: No way, not your shit
cockie welds! He had already lined up Heath, a gun
boilermaker, and talked him into a Saturday stint.
He set about measuring parts so that Heath could
cut and form the relevant bits on a forthcoming
weekend.
As a general rule, Bill carries three pairs of
different-sized Stilsons, a legacy of his windmillfixing days, plus an axe, two killing knives, and a
sharpener and a spade. Now that we were up to
the machinery stage, he threw a box of tools in the
back of his ute and managed all farming matters
with an added pair of pliers and bolt cutters. In
contrast, Geoff had a car with everything that
opens and shuts in it, including a spanner the size
of a large dog and back-up supplies of WD40. He
was clearly the right man for the job.
I brought the sandwiches and the life-saving
thermos of tea.
37