Dear Aisha, Brioni and Calista,

This is another letter from your Uncle Roger. I hope you liked my last letter. This time I want to tell you about my work here on the farm. I have been cutting firewood and getting ready for the cold winter which will be coming soon. It can be very cold and frosty here in New South Wales, and so I must prepare for the cold weather and get a good supply of firewood ready. 

First, I must sharpen my chainsaw and put some petrol and oil in the tank. Next, I have to go out to the bush with my car and trailer and cut some wood with the chainsaw. When I have cut enough wood, I must load it onto the trailer and bring it home. Then the next thing to do is to cut the wood up into short firewood blocks with my circular saw which can be used in my stove to keep the house nice and warm during the winter. I have included some pictures of me cutting firewood so you will see how I cut the firewood for the winter.

My garden is still growing nicely but I found some caterpillars eating my fresh spinach. So every morning I must check my spinach garden and pick the caterpillars off the leaves. My tomato plant is still growing but it is now as high as my verandah roof and cannot grow any higher, but the tomatoes are growing nicely and some are starting to turn red and nearly ready to eat. Do you like tomatoes? – They are very good to eat.

What have you been doing lately? – Are you still reading your books and learning new words? – When I write my letters to you, sometimes you may find a new word which you don’t understand. If you find a new word which you do not understand, it is best to ask your Mummy or Daddy to explain the new word to you. When you learn the meaning of a new word you can understand the message in the letter, and increase your – VOCABULARY. - Vocabulary is a big word for little girls to understand. Let me explain the meaning of the word – VOCABULARY.

It means all the words which we can understand. It is like a list of the words we know.

If we have a large vocabulary, it means that we understand a lot of words. So every time we read a book, or receive a letter from someone who writes, we must look for the new words which we do not yet understand, and learn the meaning of the new word. You ask your Mummy to explain the word – VOCABULARY – and how to say the word correctly. The best way to learn how to say a new word is to break up the word into little pieces which are easy to say. Vocabulary seems to be a big word, - but if we break it up into little pieces it is easy to say. – VO – CAB – U – LARY – Can you see that a big word is just little pieces all put together?

Brioni – I heard you can write your name now! - I’m very pleased to hear that. 

This is the end of my letter now, but I will write to you all again and let you know about my life here on the farm. Remember - I love you all very, very much.

Uncle Roger