Big Weekend

Wot a big weekend!

Friday, went to the city with mum and dad.....all scary too start with...thought we were going to miss the train in and have to drive in together in the one car instead....

Lucky we caught the train! As we waited, the gods were kind and gave me a nice cold water that I had wished for earlier.... (long story...)

Got to the city about 12 pm and then jumped onto a ferry across to Manley.






The ride was a bit scary as the waves were HUGE around the heads...Mum took off into the cabin of the ferry due to fear of sinking whereas dad took off due to fear of getting wet (well, that was HIS story!). Anyway, it was an exciting ride and we made it across in one piece.




Once at Manley we found a nice harbourside restaurant and had a gorgeous lunch. Mum had chicken schniztel, I had tuna noicesse salad and dad had a very unhealthy german sausage platter. We over looked the Manley harbour whilst relaxing and chatting...it was very nice!



We watched the parasailing and dad started getting nervous since he will be going up there next week!

After a long lunch, we hurried back to the ferry. On the way back to circular quay there was some sail boat meet - sail boats were absolutely EVERYWHERE! Mum and dad were like kids in a lolly shop - they were very excited to watch all the sail boats from the ferry!!





After a long lunch, we hurried back to ferry and got back to circular quay and caught train to wynard for our dental appointments. Dad got a filling, I got a clean and scale and an appointment for a filling, and mum just got an invitation to never come back lol.

Then we jumped on the train and went home for drinks and tea and sleepies.

Saturday, I went to doctors in the morning and then rushed over to Al Ve Pos HVincents where I bought 2 green handbags (I couldn't decide between them!). Rushed home and threw a dress and hat on, and Sandra claimed one of my green bags, and we took off to the Rosehill races. Only 1 hour late. Lucky the blokes at the entrance let us park in the VIP entrance because of our good loooks and Sandra's declared trainers' license.


Met up with Dee and her Mum and had a great afternoon betting, drinking, watching horses and chattin. The races were interesting, i haven't been for a long time, but I enjoyed the buzz and excitement. It was particularly fun seeing the nice horses looking all posh and pretty. And all the people looking posh and pretty too!

We put some bets on; I think Dee easily won in the betting stakes - won something on nearly every race. I won on one race, but still ended up $2 behind! Mum only lost about $2 and Sandra's winning formula didn't really help her win but she was just having fun watching all the pretty horses!

We all had fun putting bets on with the bookies. Pretty weird cos your winnings can vary depending on what bookie you choose. I particularly liked the bookie that shoved an extra $10 in my hand because we couldn't decide whether we just paid for my bet with a $20 or a $10 note~!

It was also fun to get all dressed up for once. Too bad they didn't have fashions on the field or we would have taken out the prizes! Our natural beauty and style were obviously a magnet for all then men that went past....



All up we had a fun day and Dee enjoyed herself. It was great to be part of the buzz.

We were home by 8:30 pm and, after winding down and recovering from our sore feet, were in bed relatively early.

Today, we cleaned a bit of the cellar out, and then had a big fry up with everyone including Bonnie and Cassie before heading off to Preston's markets. Me and Dad had a bit of a looksie and bought a bit of junk. Went home, had lunch, packed and then headed off on the big haul home, ready for work tomorrow!

Wot a weekend!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Well, it has been an interesting start to the new year.
Bonnie has found a male friend (aka Buddy next door) and probably now has lots of little buns in the oven.
The sheep have been nothing but trouble, running through every one of my neighours fences, resulting in many unhappy phone calls.
And the rains have finally come - we've had about 160ml since xmas - this is about 6.5 inches in old terms. When I left before xmas all my paddocks were dust and i had no choice but to sell all the sheep and cows when i got back.
But now!.....





THE GRASS IS SO LUSH AND SOFT AND GREEN AND THICK!! THERE ISN'T ANY ROOM FOR BINDIES!! :)


a nice start to 2010

Xmas Cheer

the christmas tree is up, with all the tinsels, balls, stars and LIGHTS!!!
wow...so pretty and xmassy! a huge THANKS to the fossil that POSTED me a whole xmas tree to rejuvenate my xmas spirit!

xmas lights around the house too!



and even xmas lights around bonnie's bed!



she was dog tired after all of xmas decorating!....



MERRY XMAS EVERYONE~!

Dusty Dooms Day

Woke up yesterday to Darrin saying I have 2 things that I needed to know. Firstly, I had to look outside the window. I noticed a quiet, eeeeerie red glow outside my window and leapt out of bed. Imagine my shock horror when I saw this armegeddon like dusty dooms day outside!...

Secondly he said, I think there is something wrong with your dog's leg...

No idea what was wrong with Bonnie's leg except that she couldn't walk on it. Maybe she tripped over some dust.

It turned out there was a duststorm over the whole state. Here is a shot of my poor lil house...



and i tramped all the way to the top paddock to get this shot

cough splutter cough

everyone was whingeing about it all day, but i sort of thought it was pretty cool :)

Nundle dog race 2009

Bonnie comes dead last...

Too bad. Well she might not have made the finals for the Great Nundle Dog Race, but she DID qualify for the event for the Consolation event.

Darrin and bonnie are in the far right of the field - near the white ute.

Don't know which makes this movie more exciting -dad's photography or mum's commentary....

Busy Quarter

Well, I haven't updated this blog for 4 months! I guess that makes more than a quarter. It makes it Busy Third. But that doesn't quite sound the same.

Gosh, time has flown. Will have to do a quick summary of what has been happening on the farm.
After Bonnie's Xmas party, we went and purchased a flock of sheep. 18 in all - 16 ewes, 1 ram and 1 baby ram. They are dorpers, which is a breed that is low maitenance because they don't need shearing (shed they're wool) and don't need crutching (have bald bottoms). They are hardy, eat anything and are great mothers. Have one purpose in life and that is to be on our dinner plates (*sniff*).

Bonnie loved going to pick them up. She thought they were an early xmas present. She looked over them all the way home.
The farm looks a bit farmier now with sheep.


Bonnie is learning to become a sheep dog. She is a bit ditzy but is most defininately getting better. Sheep are actually quite annoyingly dumb - they do what they like and go where they like. And often can't get back again. They are keeping Darrin very busy because he has needed to upgrade all the fencing since we've had them.

We have tried to get them into the shed to drench them, but haven't had much luck. After chasing them around for hours, we all (including Bonnie) give up.

Over December we had a lot of rain. Everything turned very green and lush, and the place just looked amazing.



My first attempt of gladiolii went well with all this rain and I had a nice garden bed full. This was most exciting!



Unfortantely I was not so lucky with our vege garden. After many hours of nurturing seeds to seedlings and then watering, weeding and digging, our harvest was a tiny few pieces of corns and couple of tommy tomatoes, and one tomato (not pictured). This was quite devestating, thank goodness we weren't relying on my farming skills for survival.




The calves are starting to look more like cows now. They also loved all the green lush grass. They particularly loved being let into the top sorghum paddock.



Summer bought a number of breathtaking sunsets at Cockburnie. Here are a few shots I took.






Mum did a suprise sabotage on me over summer. She could tell I was suprised because my house was a mess! She caught the train and Darrin picked her up. It was a great suprise. She stayed for a couple of days. In that time, we sort of chilled out - did some shopping (bought some barstools and a new lamp), did some gardening, watched a bit of kath and kim, went to the river, and went to the local swimming pool (mum learned how to do tumbles!!). And Darrin taught mum how to ride the quad bike. No points for speed, but heaps of points for giving it a go and staying on!



Darrin built a new fence at the entrance of the property. It took him all weekend in 40 + deg days, largely by himself. Here is a before and after shot....

Before...

After...

Looks amazing now.

The neighbour helped for a little bit, so afterwards he helped the neighbour fix his bore as well!

We had an infestation of frogs after all the rain. They were everywhere, including our shoes, Bonnie's humpy and the toilet.

Bonnie got a fat head again (same thing happened this time last year). Thought it was a horse kick at first, although it probably was some sort of sting. Her head got soooo fat.

Speaking of injuries, Darrin got a sore eye for a few weeks, but he never did anything about it, and it eventually got better, I think!

Bonnie got a friend for a few weeks. Another border collie called Kallie. Although Bonnie was a bit antisocial to start with, they ended up getting on great and having heaps of fun and getting into heaps of mischief together.

Kallie loved lying in the water troughs.

A few weeks later we also minded another dog, a little Jack Russell cross called Wally. Bonnie didn't really get on with Wally, especially at dinner times....



Sandra came up and visited a little while ago. She did more of our gardening, and did cooking and cleaning for us too! She even did our lawns whilst she learned how to use a ride on! We also went for a horse ride at Oakhampton which was fun.

Sandra just visited again, along with Karen. And Kiara. It was a full house for a few days. Kiara had fun playing and riding the quad bike (until she stacked it!). On the Sunday we all went to Oakhampton (other side of Manilla) and went for another horse ride (including Darrin). We were riding for 2 hours, and helped muster their cattle. Heaps of fun. Kiara loved the deer and bunnies after the ride. Don't have any photos of this weekend yet (on Darrin's camera). Will post them soon.

Anyway, thats a quick summary of the last 4 months. Wow. That took ages. Won't leave this blog so long ever again!

Bonnies first xmas party

Bonnie had her first Xmas party yesterday.



She had heaps of fun. She got all dressed up in her xmassiest party costume.




Bonnie modelling a fitted cashmere sweater jumper displaying the festive colours.



She was clearly the best looking and best dressed dog there.

Bonnie blames her restrictive jumper for not winning the next competition. This was a running race where the dogs had to run across a field to their owners. Memories of Nundle came flooding back! And she performed exactly the same -that is- was easily the fastest dog, but then run off the field half way through the race!

She entered the famous annual catch competition and did very well. This involves her staying behind a white line and being tossed a ball from an increasing distance. As the game progresses, the dogs that miss the ball get disqualified. She was focused and calm and continued to blitz every round. In the end it was a stand off between her and another border collie. The pressure was high as Bonnie and the other border collie had a stand off in front of the whole club. There was an excited silence during each round as the dogs which turned into amazed rounds of applause as each dog performed extraordinary catches from impossible distances.

Our nerves grew as the stand off lengthened. At last, I could not stand the pressure anymore, and my toss turned into a girl throw and the ball went whizzing way over Bonnie's head so that she had no hope of catching it.

So unfortunately Bonnie did not win the big trophy this year, although she was happy to be annual RUNNER UP and win a big bag of dog treats! We got our photo taken with the winning dog and were stars for a moment :)

We then had a xmas bbq and got xmas pressies for our dogs from the xmas tree. Bonnie scored a spill proof water dish (that actually looks like a potty!).

We then had a big xmas cake and had our presentations. BONNIE WON HER FIRST TROPHY! She got an encouragement award and got congratulated on her improving agility. Bonnie and I were so proud as we got our photos taken being presented our award :)

Bonnies first trophy

Bonnie had a great time and can't wait for next years party!






Bonnie with her prizes.

WHAT THE...?!?

We have 6 hens and 1 rooster. The rooster ran away from home (the neigbours home) to be closer to his girlfriends here. The hens were free from the poultry farmer down the road who reckons they don't lay.

So 1 rooster, 6 hens.

Mmmmm...We collected all the eggs late on Sunday evening. (We got 2).


The next evening we collected them and this is what we got...

WHAT THE?!?

Maybe the hens didn't lay for him because they were all blocked up?

Or maybe this is proof that the rooster is seeing some other hens on the side?

November storms

The day started off very pretty and noneventful. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining and Bonnie was frolicking carelessly and joyfully through the spring fields

However, the joy stopped suddenly.

There was an eery silence as the skies thickened and darkened. Ugly monstrous black clouds ferociously crawled above the vulnerable earth. The smell of electricity drifted threateningly through the abandoned paddocks. Frightened birds took feeble refuge in lone trees.

The sky brewed. A spectacular show of sheet lightening prepared the setting for a good storm.

Suddenly, angry thunder shook the ground and an icy lash of wind whipped through the grass. We all shuffled inside quickly. The skies opened, and then it rained and rained and rained and rained. The thunder was tremendous, the wind ripped through the hills, the rain felt like it would tear through the roof. Power was lost and we sat anxiously in the flickering house waiting for the roof to leak. The lightening and rain picked up momentum and the roof's skylight become a dancing disco strobe. Flippy hid behind the lounge, Bonnie hid with me, Darrin went to bed. It rained all night and all morning and when we woke up I was delighted by the fact I may get the morning off work. Tragedy struck and I managed to find a way through. However, after work, Bonnie and I went downtown to check out the damage.

This is a picture of the road to Bunnings Warehouse. There are also playing fields around here. Looks like there will be no home improvements this weekend!

Bonnie was excited all those floating sticks in the water! Let me at em! (If only she would let me off this darn leash!!)

This is the Peel river. It is pretty hypnotic to watch the strength of fast moving flood waters!

This is more of Tamworth.

This is the Cockburn River at Kootingal. Normally this is a trickle. (These photos were taken a number of photos after the rivers peaked at 7m and waters had begun to subside).

A lane through farmlands in tamworth under water.

A bit of the carnage after the waters subsided.

Here is some video footage I took:

"Tamworth under water" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxWnrsdtjkI

"Tamworth peel river floods" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS0vrK6yl2g