We’ve written a fair bit about our relationship with the decades of farm junk strewn across the property, including our page of curated finds. A couple of months ago, when clearing another trailerload of scrap metal from the gullies, Sophie’s cousin Andrew spotted some treasure amid the trash. It was corroded, missing legs and other bits, but still identifiably a spirit-burning, post-World War II camp stove.

While we don’t make a habit of welcoming back items extracted from the gullies, yesterday mechanical genius Andrew returned to fire up the restored SVEA Companion campstove. Cracks had been sealed, missing legs and arms replaced with bent tent pegs and some artful welding, and in five minutes, there were cups of tea ready.