Early December, my lovely neighbours asked me to do a photoshoot for them so they could print some as xmas gifts to grandparents. Rochelle had picked the perfect spot with this lovely long grass and just as I'm about to do the shoot, they told me that they had never even had wedding photos before...... Talk about "no pressure". Anyhow, I guess I was a little bit nervous because I put my camera onto an auto setting and I was so sad to discover when I went to edit them, that a lot of my images were too slow and had some blurr in them (see above).... they just weren't all perfectly sharp as I had hoped.
Luckily, they agreed to do it all again for me a few days later. So I got to do two shoots and I think there are a couple that are really lovely.
I really love these two (above and below), but they just weren't as sharp as I would normally like, I was so sad. Such a good reminder to have more faith in myself. I can usually hear when my camera is too slow but I think we were talking too much lol. Julie and I don't seem to draw breath when we see each other, we have a lot of years to catch up on it seems.
As I drove into home, my pyro family had decided to light the turkey's nest on fire... so I got this photo, which is such a cracker! What a poser! We had all been busting to burn stuff, but were still waiting on some more rain before we were game to light it, so this was enough to satisfy us temporarily.
I have been wanting to take better food photos, but I'm afraid it's just not something I'm winning at, at the moment! You should have seen the amount of coconut that I had all over the kitchen floor trying to make it 'snow' in this photo. On another note, I feel like gingerbread doesn't match with my personality type! It's very precise and exacting kinda work and well.... I'm kinda .... not!!!
From my phone:
Even time I would visit the swamp I would take photos thinking "this will be the last time I see it this dry this year". Anyhow, I am pleased to say that it does have some water in it now. I should have went and took some drone footage so I could compare with the wet and dry. I also had a photo of me chest deep in water with kaka on my back, I should have tried to recreate it. Not complaining at ALL we were very grateful for the rain we've had. We got 100mm for December in many different small falls and another 65mm this month with the biggest being 32mm in one fall. So we are yet to get some real running rain.
I did see the sea eagle once, but maybe he decided to move on again.
We swapped out our swans and pelicans for a massive group of brolgas. But I think they have moved on now and the pelicans look like they are coming back. I need to get out and about for a look around but it has been so bloody hot.
Kids had their end of year swimming carnival and awards night. Hard to believe that we only have 2 weeks of school holidays left!! Insert sad face!!
PnC dinner had a free face painter which was a bit cute!
Rat bag!
Who would give a kid slime?
Some of the afternoon storms have been very colourful and we've had lots of lightening but I've not been out to photograph any as yet.
This change happened in a matter of minutes.
One day I will have grass here! I'm just getting before photos!
I decided that this year we needed to have some Santa photos, considering that we had not had any since Garrett was a baby and now that the covid restrictions have passed, you can now actually give santa a cuddle which is a but special.
Probably my favorite photos of us from 2024.
OMG we went to see the "radiance" light show in Rocky. It was so cool. I kinda wish I had longer, but the kids we just marching through it in such a hurry! I think next year, we will have dinner first and do a later show.
This was so much fun!
The Japanese Gardens were so lovely.
Back home again and we had some of our neighbours over for some nibbles and a catch up before xmas, as a lot of them were going away. This is little Ruby, Hammo and Hannah's daughter. Isn't she just the cutest little button! Reminds me of kaka when she was that big! Loves her frogs too!
Then our other neighbours, which takes about 5 minutes to fly and an hour to drive decided to pop over for a catch up.
Because; just AFTER xmas, Justin and I would have to muster our heifers and truck them for sale, we just wanted to check BEFORE xmas that all the fence of the paddock they were in was up, just to make sure that they should all still be in there. Anyhow, this is a horse job, as the bike won't make it up the mountain. I can tell you for sure that Schultz, who is usually my skitz mix horse and never needs kicking, does NOT like going up mountains. At one point we got half way up and he's like "nope, nopety, nope, nope, we're going back". I really had to push him the whole way and I'd never heard him panting so much. The photo doesn't really convey just how high up we got.
I didn't even need to tie him up, he wasn't going anywhere.
Found this really cool rock "slide". I'd love to go there when it's raining. Would be really cool.
With the fence all checked, I had time to do some xmas preparations and I had completely forgotten about the gingerbread, so we had to get on with that as I feel like it's a tradition now. Although I did a truck this year instead of a house and I think I like that better.
Kids had fun decorating.
Mum might have added some bits at the end.
That time of year again we were get to have some prawns. Yummo!
And wet cake, aka trifle. We were trying to outdo mum's fancy creation, but I think we failed... it was funny though. I didn't even take one photo xmas day, how slack. We did have fun and loads of good food. My in-laws came over which was nice, would have been a bit sad without them, I don't think I've even really spent a xmas without family.
Santa brought some board games.
We discovered a new glass dump.
I've been paying a lot of attention to the erosion around at the moment and a lot of the gullies seem to be filling as opposed to, washing which is kinda cool.... although it does lead me to believe that we may be in for some massive rain dumps that will just wash it all out again.
Grandpa George bought the kids some 'pop up' lights for xmas! They have come in very hand for the many power outages we have had.
After boxing day, in a flurry of action, we got all this years weaner wags in and drafted off the steers giving them all fly tags and drench so that they could be taken to replace the steers being sold from our agistment country at Capella.
The next day we mustered the wagyu heifers from our school paddock, which involved a helicopter muster and then taking them across the highway AND railway line while hoping that it wasn't a scheduled train time. We enlisted our lovely neighbours to help us across the road and with the aid of helicopter, buggy, four-wheeler, plus a car on highway with hazards on and the four of us on a horse... you may imagine that it was a bit of a an overkill to get the 65 heifers across the road. I had been a bit worried that everything could go pear-shaped as they had, had very minimal handling and were literally jumped out of the truck into the paddock. But they all walked along beautifully back to the yards to be processed.
The day after that, Justin left for Capella to muster the steers being sold, while I stayed to load the 4 decks of cattle. The first 2 decks were the weaner steers being unloaded at Capella and the second 2 decks were the sale wag heifers going with the steers being muster from Capella to go to Charters Towers. Then we followed the truck to Capella to swap the steers over and help Eric load some of his cows to truck out as well.
So if it sounds like we had a bit to juggle.... we did. We had a lot of balls in the air and everything had to line up. But.... we managed to get it all done with the help of neighbours to get across the road and my in-laws to help with mustering and drafting at Capella, we managed to get it all done in time just before the storm quite literally chased us out.
This is the lovely paddock at Capella that our weaner steers were going into. I didn't get to take many photos, which I guess shows just how busy and tense everything was, to get it all to go into place without the weather messing everything up. We were so very lucky, because just after we got everything trucked out and sorted, we had storms every afternoon and it would have stopped everything in its tracks if it had been any sooner.
This was the afternoon we got home from Capella. Mum had only arrived an hour before us with their caravan to stay for the week. I was a bit surprised because next door had, had a massive storm with loads of wind and even small hail, and I was expecting my washing (which the kids had hung out) to be strewn everywhere and my knickers up a blue gum. But alas, we did not get what was only 5km over the hill.
After the few storms we had Justin was finally game enough to go and burn some of the rubbish that was desperately in need of burning. He took this cracker photo.
My two nieces and nephew were due to arrive the following day, but a very sad incident where their beautiful horse died, delayed them. We were all very sad here and I was glad when they decided they would still come out the next day.
Above photo was us all trying to go out and muster the cattle so we could get the bulls out, but the storm behind looked like it was heading straight for us, so we decided to go and have an early lunch and try again later.
Old girl still got it! Love getting out on a horse with my mumsy. I'm so grateful for Carlos who just looks after her so well.
With the bulls in, and a storm that afternoon, Justin and I sludged around in the yards the next day to try and get them all sorted. I was a bit wounded with a sore hip, so Justin did most of the work. Took some drugs and Justin, mum and I did the big ride to turn out the 3 into our mountain paddock across the road. Again I'm surprised by my lack of photos. But we were just kinda busy.
The next day, our only foal, who had been wounded a few days prior but we thought would heal on its own, was quite lame. So mum took the boys for a ride while the girls went fencing with Justin (which I daresay they will never do again as I was a big contract). Meanwhile I tried to get a handle on the foal and ended up taking it to town to see a vet.
Jack was a bit excited to be out on a trail ride. This was his first time out of the yards. My brother Stew said we hadn't worked them hard enough because they all want to come back.
Cruisey (is the impromptu name I gave the foal cause he was so easy going), was dealt with very quickly and given some antibiotics and dressings. I wasn't quick enough, but when I got inot the truck he had his head up against the wall of the truck like he had a bad hangover. It looked very funny!
As a last minute decision, I took Justin's black mare in to be treated, which I thought would be very quick, "here's some antibiotics". She was supposed to be in foal, but we now realise that when she was tested, what must have been felt was a uterus full of pus, because she had had this discharge for a long while and when the vet put a tube through her cervix, she got 7L of pus! The poor darling! I felt so awful for her. So she stayed at the vet to be flushed for the next 5 days. Hopefully, she will be better. She's going for another check up next week. Yes, that's a bucket of pus in the photo above! How gross!
The next morning we went to adventure along the 'rock slide'.
Molly splashed in every puddle along the way.
That afternoon I took Hayley for a ride, just the two of us and she did so well. I had given her one of the mares that never went into foal. She would never be able to replace the horse that they lost, but she wasn't a bad horse.
The team were all keen to go for a trail ride with all 5 of them.
Unfortunately not long after this photo, Hayley's horse kicked at Jack's horse and managed to get him in the leg. So after a few tears and a bit of water, we managed to get him back on for a very steady ride home and a steady afternoon.
The next day, Jack was a bit too sore to go for a ride, so the rest of us went over the hill to see how far it was to the neighbour, which wasn't far at all and I feel like the girls will be very soon on their horses and up and over the hill to visit each other! Not unlike my dear friend Sarah Lindley and I used to do.
And then in a whirlwind, they were all gone. Hayley loaded up her 'new' horse Kahlua and their other horse Star and away they all went. Hopefully they can be mates. Always feels a bit empty when everyone leaves. Mum had gone a couple of days before as she had to go back to work and with all the kids gone, it was very quiet.
Look at all my apples and something just managed to put a bite in every one!! So I've ordered some bags to protect them from now on.
Back down to our family of 4 we had to turn out the weaner heifers into school paddock, which had probably benefited from the week spell with a few showers of rain. We managed to get them back across the railway and highway with minimal drama and none of the thoroughfare from the previous mob. Miss thought she was very cool with her spear.
Bird watching the willy wag tail babies.
With the few storms we had, had we decided that the fence needed checking again. Luckily, I only had one tree that had fallen across it and was easily cut and restrained.
Resilience.
Was very funny the change I horse. I decided to take Brumby Max this time and he just bounded up the mountain like it was an everyday thing for him. Easy Peasy. I just had to hang on! At points where Schultz was trying to turn back, he was just bounding up like a rock wallaby.
I just love the rock formations in this country.
We trucked some of the smaller ones to be in a large holding paddock with some extra cottonseed to help them along for a while.
Was so pretty in the afternoon with the smokey sunset. I really need to get back out and about with my camera. I have been so unmotivated.
Our helpers keeping the cattle up.
We got our wagyu breeder herd in this week to be drenched and moved to a new paddock to spell their current paddock. Was a bit bloody hot, but I'm glad we got it done.
Some video snippets from the past month.
And that's a wrap! I have rambled on a lot this blog, but we have had a bit going on. It's only now when I go back over the past month that I realise just how much has been happening. I just did my year photo books and we have had a massive year. It feels like we haven't achieved much, but I think just settling into our new home has been task enough.
I won't waffle on any longer. I hope you are all getting under some rain and nothing too savage.
With Love
