PLANS

Happy New Year, and what a new year it is turning out to be! Our plans and directions have taken a huge turn, and we are all excited about the challenges ahead. For many reasons we have decided to finish our bus trip, it has been a great experience for us all, but 10 months solidly together is about enough for us. We have made it around the Massive Stone and will catch up with the western side of the country some time in the future, possibly without the kids!! So what’s next?? We always talked about going to live in Scotland for a year or so before the kids were too old, and it was going to possibly be when we had finished the bus trip. So that is what Helen and the children are going to do. I am not quite ready to head over to Scotland just yet and am going to stay for a while, tie up some loose ends and work towards having an exhibition of my work mid year, before heading over and catching up with them all. It is all systems go on the farm here. The lack of rain, and subsequent shortage of feed has forced Matt to buy $35,000 worthy of hay to feed the 150 cows. Each morning, a huge round hay bale is loaded on the back of the ute and the tractor spikes and lifts a couple more and are driven to the cows. Placed on a downward slope, the bale is given a push and unrolls itself over a length of about 30 metres, normally collecting some unsuspecting beast along the way, ending up with a face full of straw and a dazzled expression. While we were feeding the cows this morning there was one standing at the bottom of the field by herself and not with the rest of the hungry, mooing lot. When we were closer we could see a red baloony thing was hanging out her behind. She ran off with the afterbirth swinging from side to side, we followed in the ute until she stopped and gazed at us with eyes full of emotion. She was standing over her dead calf that the flies were busy buzzing over and many questions were being asked by her in her silent stance, it was so sad. Matt reckons she might be carrying twins so we will keep an eye out for another new born tomorrow. The dry conditions up here remind me of a clever poem written by Banjo Patterson many moons ago, it goes something like this; “How can it rain”, the old man said, “with things the way they are” “Youv’e gotta learn off ant and bee and jackass and galah”, And no man never saw it rain, not for fifty years at least, That is of course when the parakeets were flying to the east. Well the weeks went by, the farmer wrote to tell his bank the news, “It’s still as dry as dust out here we’re feeding all the ewes” “The overdraft would sink a ship, but put your mind at rest” “It’s alright now the parakeets are flying to the west”. The Gellibrand River which snakes through the flats at the bottom of the hill is a great place for the kids to swim and canoe. A layer of warm, fresh water covers the colder salt water beneath. We were having a nice swim the other day when it started pouring with well needed rain and it was quite a surreal experience, the large rain drops hammering the surface, looking like it was boiling. I met the local tiger snake in the shed today, Dan told me he had seen one about. I walked past it and only noticed it when I heard some rustling behind me, glancing around to see the last half of its stripy body slithering into an old box. It has made me a bit nervous…… Matt was correct in his thoughts that the cow yesterday was carrying twins as he met and patted her new calf this morning, I am very glad for her. So there are some challenges ahead for all of us and we are looking forward to seeing what happens from here. PS, It poured with rain last night, filled up the water tanks and relieved some hard, dry times.