Spring 2023

Hiya family and friends. The season has changed once more which prompts me to catch up on my blog writing!

Our weeks have varied between busy and busier and the weekends have mostly been spent working in Blackall on the house. Ugh, I’m sick of talking about the house, you must be sick of reading about it! We have made progress though. The kitchen has gone in, the floors are prepped for tiling and Matt is on his way home with a load of wall sheets so we can finish all the rooms off. We’ve painted about half so far. We have found a builder to help Matt get things done quicker, conveniently he lives right behind the house. I have now put a deadline on its completion and I don’t want to be back up in the New Year!

The girls have had a few weekends out and about on their horses, including Alpha gymkhana, Blackall gymkhana and a 2 day youth clinic in Tambo. They came away with plenty of ribbons at Alpha and Blackall and had lots to learn from the clinic. They continue to swap horses and Indigo has stolen Matts big bay mare, looks like Dad will need to find himself a new one. They are riding well and their horses are very forgiving and patient with their riding. Sometimes one throws a pigroot or shows their frustration but overall they are very kind. They are all spelling at the moment, they are all a bit sore and need a good massage.

We have just finished mustering here the past few weeks, which is always a busy time. We were lucky enough that my Mum was visiting and was able to help me with the kids, which in turn allowed me to get on a horse and go mustering. Yippee! I was able to ride a few different horses and see a few paddocks I’d never mustered before. I have a green horse here that I brought a few months ago so it was good to get on her and start putting some miles on her. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a green horse, it’s done me good to have to think about different ways to help them think and keep me on my toes. Bloody hard work though. I am slowly gaining some confidence and definitely feel more capable than I did 12 months ago. I can now bring small mobs in by myself and move them around a bit. I am definitely at a disadvantage not having dogs, they do so much of the work for you, it’s all up to me to keep everything together without dogs…so much more risk to blow the cattle. When Matt and I are in the yards I mostly work the back, bringing the cattle forward to the crush or at times I’ve been up the front drafting different weights into different sides. I am competent on the hydraulic crush now, lots of levers for doors and gates to draft different ways. I did blow one last time though, oops! That means we have to run the whole mob back through to catch the one I missed. 🫣 I try to ride the motorbike as much as everything else so I can get better. I’ve always been able to ride but mustering and moving mobs is another thing. Still so much to learn about everything!

I think poor Mum needed a holiday after her ‘holiday’. We had her mustering in the ute, on smoko duties, truck driving, babysitting and even preg testing! Unfortunately there wasn’t much down time to go out for lunch or dinner but we sure enjoyed having her in the house and being part of our days. We all loved having her stay with us for 2 weeks and were sad to say goodbye.

Following Mum’s visit we had Matt’s parents arrive for a week. The girls were on school holidays and things had settled down here a bit by then, so it was a bit more casual. It was lovely catching up with them and the kids enjoy having someone else to share their time with.

I have been busy with off station tasks too, including managing the social media and organising the homewares and gifts for the coffee shop, doing some book work and a few treasurer duties here and there. And there’s ALWAYS the Mum duties and the never ending house work!

Matt has been as diverse as ever. He finished the big shed build in town and is currently at one of the other properties on the Darling Downs building yards for the new feedlot going in. He has been away for 10 days sleeping in his swag and living like a bushy. I’m sure he’ll be pleased to get home and see the kids! He has got his working dogs going very well and with some fine tuning he will have a handy little team. Me on the other hand are ready to shoot the lot! They have been particularly naughty while he’s been away and I’m totally over the lot of them (insert an eye roll and heavy sigh)! The best thing about Matt using dogs is he usually goes in the buggy with a load of dogs to where the cattle are, which means he can take Ashton and I can get on a horse. He’s been pig chasing a few times too, and has caught some good pigs. The kids and I went with him a few weeks back, Ashton loved it, he often talks about pig chasing and wants to go with Dad.

The months leading into Christmas are moving at a rapid rate and our calendar is filling fast with end of year and local social events. The kids are back into swimming lessons now, so my weekly trip to town cannot be avoided. We’re heading into storm season now too, hopefully we get some decent falls. It has certainly dried off out here, as has everywhere and the cattle market has reflected the conditions, but we remain optimistic despite the el nino announcement. 🤞

Until next time, farewell! Talk soon.

P.S. I’ll pop some links below of some youtube and Facebook videos I’ve uploaded. Fingers crossed they work!

https://youtu.be/DAbjeIVHJBo?si=_b48U4oDpvLXYxye

https://youtu.be/eyMJs9Qsixo?si=_0B0yNx70JmtHac9

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02idm5pk5i4fqG35yiAxy6VDTuF58z3GbYotuFBrV3AqYekhYR9eP4KTVanVgfnk7kl&id=1235457442&mibextid=j8LeHn

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1021149985979163/?mibextid=r5uJeJ