Farm Day Fun

 

Last year, we registered for Farm Day, and were a little disappointed when we didn't get a city family come to visit us...but this year was a different story.

Say hello to the Stirling Family! Shea, Terri, Aaron and Danyon, who are watching the weaners being yarded. We had a bit of a mishap, and somehow they all escaped into the paddock, when they should have simply been walking from the wire yard to the cattle yards...embarrassing for the cattlemen here, but gave them an opportunity to show off their thundering galloping weaner chasing skills!

   The Stirling's drove all night Friday night to arrive in time for breakfast on Saturday, after which we did our best to give them a crash course in life on the land. We had a little relax down at the billabong though.... a bit of a steep rocky slope to get there, but we all agreed it was worth it - out of the wind down there, and in the sun...perfect spot, really!

Our vast assortment of canines joined us, Maverick and Minnie loving Shae's attentions...

Fin showed us all his form at rock hopping (which, I have to say, wasn't bad!)

After clambering back up the bank, we walked past the weaners... and back to the daily grind of life on the farm. Actually, we went and ate lunch...

But, there's always work to be done...A busted pipe gave Aaron an opportunity to watch an experienced pipe fixer at work (he did a great job with that crow bar, by the way!) The boys had noticed this pipeline had a leak - while it's leaking all over the ground, it's not making it's way to the trough the cattle take water from, so busted water pipes need fixing quick smart.

I was so busy watching, I missed taking a photo of Aaron branding a calf - sorry Aaron! Everyone will just have to take our word for it! We had three truckloads of cows arrive on Saturday night - so after hardly any sleep on Friday night, Shae and Aaron went along with our guys to unload them in the dark (and very, very cold) night. Sunday, all those Cows needed cross branding, so the Stirling's got a full education in cattle yards, crushes, branding and the noise that goes with it.

We even found a cotton bush on the side of the road to use as a cotton growing teaching aid!

We had a great weekend...what I've told you about here is just a taste of the things the Stirling's got up to...they checked out mustering helicopters, fed horses and chooks, oversaw the fixing of a broken fence, had a guided tour of our properties and saw the centre pivot irrigator and dams and hay sheds and silage pits and tractors and equipment and....I don't really have any idea how they kept up and interested - they must have been so tired! But they didn't want to miss a thing.

Thanks to the great people at Farm Day for putting us together, and a special thanks to Terri, Aaron, Shae and Danyon for your enthusiasm, interest and tremendous effort to get here! It was a real pleasure to share our little part of the world with you all.