photos

India and I on the Monda tack and India with Ollie back on the farm.

back from the mountains

1.10.2012

What a week!  We drove into the mountains most days to check on India and it all seemed like one long party. India rode from Murrindindi to Monda yards with the two horses on her own and camped up there. We joined her next morning so that I could ride Wally with her to Toolangi.  The first section of the ride was away from the logging road on the National trail and we went up an enormous climb before descending the other side of Mount St Leonard (where the fire tower is).

It was a stunning ride and the weather was good. I worked out that it has been twenty-five years since I last rode that way!  My bad hip was very painful but I was not going to miss this chance for anything. The horses went up the rocky hill enthusiastically, they seem to enjoy trekking now. We conveniently reached Toolangi Tavern for lunchtime and I staggered in for a meal and a very welcome beer. My hip was too sore to move for two days but it was worth it and I am more or less back to normal now.

Beni has not been so lucky. She arrived back from her teaching job in NT finding walking difficult and next week she has to go into hospital for an operation!  India reached the farm on Thursday evening after riding back from Toolangi with Mellissa. We are so impressed with how well she managed the horses and coped on her own with logging trucks and sleeping in the forest. She found that the men driving the logging trucks were actually really kind and helpful, which surprised her. They have an image as red neck tree murders but did not live up to this expectation.

Al and Ti joined us for dinner on Thursday and stayed the night so that Ti could have a birthday breakfast here on Friday. We managed to get four bedrooms quite easily and everyone had a very comfortable night. The house is designed so that it functions can expand into different spaces and it really worked well. Al cooked a pancake breakfast and Bo cooked eggs and bacon as an alternative to berries and cream. Everyone ate well.

Ti was disappointed because his mother phoned and cancelled his birthday go-cart riding treat because storms were predicted. We compensated by letting him ride everywhere on the ride on mower and then take a turn on the horse. He also got the boat onto the dam and rowed his cousins around for a bit too. Even Ollie had a ride and would have been keen to go further. I so enjoy having all the grandkids around and using all the farms possibilities. This house is just perfect for accommodating all our extended family activities.

Saturday was the football grand final and we all met up at Bo’s house to watch the TV. Edd cooked the families’ traditional Cornish pasties so it was celebrated in proper style. Bo’s boys were disappointed when their team lost but no one else cared and it was a good match. We were back again at Bo’s for a family dinner last night to celebrate Sylkie’s fourth birthday. Simon cooked this time and in typical Simon style everything was perfect. His mother was surprised at his skill with the cake, which was marsh mallow and meringue with cream and berries. It is a relief to be just quiet on the farm today. I feel so relaxed it is amazing.

So much to think about

24.9.2012

The weather is improving and people are on the move again. David H came up last week and helped me clear dead trees from the camp sites and David P has phoned up to let us know that he is back from his UK summer, and is ready for the Australian half of his year. On the farm the first batch of goat kids has been sold and Edd has got the tomato plants growing in the polyhouse.

The school term ended last week and on Friday night we went to the Dixon’s Creek primary school concert in the Yarra Glen Hall. Bo has been working with the children and helping them write a musical that encompassed just about all the present paradigm. They started with the big bang and sang through Aboriginal creation mythology and evolution. The kids mostly wore white and James, who also has kids at the school, projected a slide show onto the performers and a back screen.

The kids had worked through the history of art and had made the images that were projected on to them. They then did a dance that romped through the history of music. Finally the kids came onto the stage to act going to sleep whilst the sound track played all their ideas about the future. Robots seemed to get a large rev, but I liked the kids who said “ in the future I’m going to get older”. He was pretty much on safe ground there. The great thing was how involved all the kids were as they sang and danced with out a break. They all obviously enjoyed it and so did the audience. Bo got a bunch of flowers at the end, which she obviously really deserved for all the hours she had put in.

This week India is off in the bush again. We have just come back from the campsite at Murrindindi where she is staying tonight. Today she packed up her camp and managed the two horses on her own by leading one and riding one. This is the new challenge she is tackling, so the ride was a short one. Al rode with her yesterday and we all had a campfire supper in the bush, which was fun. It had been a very long days ride so everyone was tired out. Today Alv has had to go back to work so we were on back up duties.

We have been pretty busy because the Grand designs team sent us tickets for the show in Melbourne and we went in and met up with Sha again. It seemed to me that she had done a huge amount of the work and everyone else took all the credit. Perhaps we don’t see all the other work that goes on in editing and sorting after the filming is all done. The show was good but I felt it would have been better if there had been more exhibits about alternative building materials and techniques. There was a lot of cooking ware and flash electrical gear but nothing I really was amazed by.

What I really enjoyed was going to see the Sapphires film with Merrie in the restored memorial hall in Healesville. In the past you had to more or less take in camping gear to watch a film because it was so windy and cold. Those in the know queued up with doonas and rugs but all that is in the past and the hall is now fit for anyone. The film was fantastic. It really hit a spot with me as the 60’s music was from my own youth and the Aboriginal attitudes were so familiar. I am so happy for all the young girls we worked with in the desert as I think they will get a lot from it.

mountain tracks

9.4.2012

Actually, we had a lovely weekend with India. On Saturday she came over with Al and he taught her how to lead one horse off another. On Sunday she came here again and it was a beautiful day so Edd suggested that we go up the forest, explore trail routes, and take photos for her VCE project. The forest has changed a lot since the bush fires. It was difficult to find some of the historical sites as the under growth had grown back thickly and new roads had been bulldozed.  We did find one old mill site fairly easily. I had never been down that track before and I was as amazed as India to see the massive pile of sawdust that still remained. Standing on the top we were level with the canopy of the tall gum trees in the valley below.

Big excitement came on the home trip down marginal road. We were driving in my little white Toyota hatch back and we came to a stretch in the track that was deep in mud with huge track marks dug through it. Luckily just as we approached it a four-wheel drive vehicle arrived from the opposite direction. They told us that the track was passable the rest of the way and agreed to pull us out if we got stuck in this bad bit. With that back up Edd set off and used his considerable driving skills to get us across the hazard with out a hitch. The blokes in the four-wheel drive were amazed!

It was fathers’ day so we all met up with two of our kids and the 6 grand kids at Bo’s home for an evening meal. Wayne was playing football and of course Josh is miles away in Perth but Bo once again arrived back from work at the last moment and conjured up a delicious meal from thin air. I was tired after a day in the bush and was very happy for someone else to cook because I knew that I would have to start at 6am in the morning to meet Al and get into town. I hope that what ever happens in the future my grand children will remember the happy times we had together as an extended family.