Saturday...29 March 2014

Think that I should sit quietly somewhere and brew me a scam. Seems everyone else does it. No I have not been caught by one, just as there are so many of them out there right now, I am beginning to feel left out! And who knows, I may come up with a winner and get rich quick like the other scammers do. It is probably easier to get money that way then to wait until I win the lotto. Just saying!
So after the horse minding we went to Melbourne to visit some very dear friends. I had a wonderful time. We went to a Jane McGrath Foundation fundraising event and I really enjoyed watching the interaction of a group of women all interested in the same thing. Been a while since I sat with a group of any sort. We also caught up with other friends from the North West and had lunch with them one day. And today after lunch we will be visiting with friends in this district. It is so good to see old friends and to catch up on the happenings in their lives. I miss that interaction which is rather hit and miss while we are travelling so much.
On Monday we are going to begin the northwards trek. We will pack and leave my brother's place and head north to.....wait for it.....my sister's place! They have had some rain over her way and we are hoping that the big puddle in her yard evaporates and leaves us a nice firm patch to park on.
Update on the headache: still got it! Grrrr.

Wednesday...26 March 2014

Have a headache! NOT a happy camper. Five days now and nothing is touching it. Running out of options in the pill cupboard. In Melbourne visiting with friends and this headache is not allowing me to enjoy the visit.
We went to have a look at Cosco yesterday. Quite an experience!
Today we are lunching with other friends that we last saw in Perth as they were travelling in their caravan. Ok that is all, I will write more on a day when my head is not pounding and making me twitch and yelp like a turrette's sufferer.

Wednesday...19 March 2014

Well our time here is nearly up. The owners return tomorrow and we must leave. Still we have lived the good life and recharged our souls with the sounds of nature. It is very quiet here.
Himself reminded me that the camera has a removable card (silly me, I forgot!) so I have been able to download those photos I took. Here is one of those views I have previously mentioned. This is looking back towards town.

And this is looking away from us. Would love to come back after it rains and see it all lush and green.

Some of the pregnant mares waiting for their afternoon feeding. They are lovely placid creatures always ready for a chat and a pat.

We will miss them all especially the dear old dog. From nipping at my ankles she now lies at my feet as much as possible and I have had to be careful turning around in the kitchen in case she is behind me. God Bless Maggie, I hope we meet again.

Tuesday...18 March 2014

The date is ringing bells but I cannot remember why and I do not have my calendar handy. Oh well, I suppose it will come to me eventually.
Still looking after the horses. It has been interesting watching their daily activity. I doubt I would have bothered to take this much notice of them normally, but being responsible for someone else's animals tends to make you look at them more often to make sure they really are alright. All animals are precious of course but these are valuable and some of them are carrying potentially valuable cargo so they warrant special attention. And the dear old dog gets a lot of attention, where we go she follows. Very affectionate.
We are enjoying the country life. We love the views and the quietness and the space around us. I did bring the camera with me to show you the beautiful scenery but sadly I forgot to pack the computer lead, so no pictures until we return to our caravan in a few days time.
The weather has been typically Victorian. Fine and sunny with a chance of showers!! Oh and did I mention cold, really really cold?
We have worn shorts and sleeveless tops in the morning and then been cold enough for jackets and long trousers in the evening with extra blankets on the bed. It has rained hard enough to need a Drizabone to feed the horses and it has blown hard enough to make all the windows of the house rattle and whistle, and sometimes it has all happened on the same day!!!
Even my companion spider, a rather large and hairy huntsman that has been wandering around the room I have set the computer up in and continues to live so long as he keeps to his half of the room, has been finding the weather to be fickle, especially as his hiding spot is inside the split system which I have turned on a couple of times!

Saturday...15 March 2014

We are minding a friends place for a few days. There are ten horses and a not so young blue heeler dog. Himself says the horses are turbo charged food processors. You put high quality lucerne hay and oats in one end and get high volume poop from the other end! The horses do not mind who feeds them just so long as they are fed and have lots of water in their troughs. They alternate quiet grazing with the occasional spirited frolic and gallop around the paddock. No wonder humans are so taken with the horse. A horse galloping free across an open paddock is a magnificent sight. Pure poetry in motion.

The dear old dog misses her humans when they go away and is a bit clingy with the replacements! She is also a touch deaf and is given to dozing off at regular intervals and then jumping awake with a rather startled expression on her face.

We have quickly settled into a routine of getting up early and feeding the horses before breakfast, then doing a spot of housework before gently walking the old dog around the outside of the house paddock. She shuffles and snuffles her way along a route known only to her which involves the checking of last nights rabbit diggings and any unsavoury deposits from other nocturnal visitors.  Himself has seen a fox and rabbits and kangaroos so far as well as lots of different birds. There are magpies, pink and grey galahs,  red breasted robins and very colourful grass parrots.

With afternoon tea over, it is time to feed the horses again and walk the dog again if she is so inclined and then we have happy hour sitting on the back patio in the quiet of the late afternoon where for a little while we can pretend we are the owners of this lovely place.

We could never tire of the views here. The vista from the front verandah reminds me of the view from the back door of the property I grew up on. You can see forever across the slightly undulating paddocks towards a distant mountain range. We have a similar outlook from the back deck. Very easy on the eyes.

Monday...10 March 2014

Last day of a long weekend. Plenty of things happening all over Victoria. Did not manage to go to any of them as Himself was still busy doing little jobs on my brothers house. Today he has gone to a mates place to fix a small thing on the ute. It is the sort of job that should take an hour, but if anything does not work right, then it will probably take the whole day!

Tomorrow we begin horse minding. Looking forward to all that country peace and quiet. Lets hope the animals are of the same mind and that our visit is trouble free!

We went out there on Saturday for a BBQ and it was wonderful sitting out on the patio overlooking the valley listening to the horses neighing to each other over the fence. There was a whole chorus of neighs as if they were all saying goodnight to each other. I wonder if they were?

Wednesday...5 March 2014

Today I was playing around with our photo collection and as I was bored I changed my profile picture on Facebook. The reaction from my friends and family was most heart warming. Many kind words were used to show their delight in my appearance. It helped that the picture I used was taken a couple of years ago!
I got to thinking that perhaps I could have a facelift. You know, make me look like I did back then.
This idea kept me occupied for a couple of hours while my frivolous mind said why not and my sane mind said you have got to be kidding! Amazing what direction a mind can take when it has no prior instructions. Will I or will I not? Not blooming likely!
Right so that's filled another day, next?

Monday...3 March 2014

Horses, horses and more horses. Where ever I go I see horses! It's a conspiracy I say! This town is over run with horses. It has a racing track and a trotting track. Every second place has horses in the back yard or the front paddock or their very large horse stud. And I am about to find myself in the middle of it all by house sitting for a friend who breeds  horses and currently has ten on the property. Now all I know about horses is that one end kicks and the other end bites! This could be interesting, stay tuned......