My Life

I think my life is awesome. I think there is one other person who's life would be on par with mine and that is my wonderful cousin. She lives on the coast and rides her tricycle every morning and takes photos- AMAZING photos. I really don't have to answer to anyone. I have one day weekly set aside for 'business' matters, the rest of the time is mine. I help Mr Fabulous whenever he needs, don't get me wrong and they are BIG days. However, in general, I can do whatever I want with my time. Its funny how life turns out really. I haven't always had it this easy. I've worked hard to get to where I am in life. I don't really have much to show for it though, but I am not the materialistic type. I do however have wonderful memories and friends. Some people may have a different opinion of me. I believe thats because what I have, I've worked hard for, so its good! I also like to wear nice clothes, perfume, have my hair done and I use fabulous skin care products. Therefore, I may give the impression of materialistic, but really I am not. My day begins with a plunger of freshly ground coffee beans. Every day I start with one of these. My indulgence I call it. I then check the computer, email, facebook, flickr, you know the usual stuff. I sometimes go for a walk with my camera and I love it. I really should go more often. I promised myself I would once the wind dies down. The southerley winds out here are hideous in winter and not at all conducive to a lovely morning walk. I then get to take photographs, edit photographs, upload photographs...This is fun, the taking, sorting and selecting decent photos. I may take over 60 photos in 1 day and only keep 2. I have become very picky and I scrutinise every single image and if it doesn't 'grab' me the moment I look at it on the big screen, its deleted. Simple. I also get to cook. Some of you may think I am crazy, but I love it. I find it therapeutic. I get into a 'zone' and I can block all other 'distractions' out and I can come to some awesome decisions whilst in the zone. I don't find cooking difficult, nor do I find it 'mindful'. Therefore, I can get into the kitchen, start cooking and solve all sorts of quandries. I also have time to spend with our dogs, all 11 of them! I think we have space and time for more, however Mr Fabulous doesn't think so. I know each one of their personalities and their barks. I know each dog's bark and I can tell the differences between each dog's bark for 'intruders' and if there is 'something else' around. Funny how you get to know the subtleties and the inflections of a dog's bark! I used to say that I wouldn't live and work with my husband. Now, I couldn't imagine it any other way. I used to say that I would never live inland, that I would always be a coastal, city girl. Now, I couldn't imagine living any where else. Funny how everything happens for a reason and you always end up where you're supposed to be. I am supposed to be here, and my life is awesome.

how times change!

I am excited! I received my birthday present, a week late, however its here. A food processor and bench top mincer with sausage maker! I chuckle to myself when thinking about how excited I am to try and make my own sausages! Gone are the days of wanting lingerie, shoes, diamonds and perfume... now I want household appliances!
What does this mean? Have I become disinterested in looking and smelling good? Have I become MORE interested in being a wonderful cook than wearing Versace and some diamond droplet earrings? It seems to be a trend however that as we women age, we want to spend our hard earned money on 'practical' items, items that have an intended purpose. I thought that lingerie and perfume and diamonds also had intended purposes, they're just not practical I guess...                                                                                                               

This is what happens with maturity, practicality reigns supreme over frivolity.

Well, as I said, I am excited- I am off to 'attempt' to make sausages.

My Frustrations

Let me premise this by saying that I love where I live. I am blessed with the life that I have, the husband I have, the friends I have. However, sometimes living in a remote, rural area has its downfalls.
I awoke in a fabulous mood today. I donned some comfy clothes, my walking shoes and I went for a 45minute walk. I came back into the house, made myself a plunger (my daily indulgence) and came to the computer. By this stage it was about 8am. It took 10 minutes for my email to open, Facebook needed to be restarted and refreshed about a half dozen times before it would open, Flickr took 4 hours to upload 1 photo and this website, well its now 1.20pm and this page isn't even open properly, but its allowing me to type now. Living remotely means that we rely solely on our computers to pay bills, order equipment for the property, grocery shop, and at times work. We don't get mobile reception, so its not like we can log on using our iPhones. Yes, we live in the 1% of Australia that doesn't receive mobile coverage. Our internet is satellite broadband. When the NBN (National Broadband Network) was first being established, some 3 years ago, we received a new satellite dish and modem and that was supposed to help with the speed of our system. What a joke! If anything, its worse. If there is wind, cloud, fog, rain we can pretty well kiss our internet good bye for the day. However, today is clear, sunny with only a slight northerly blowing. There is no reason for us to have such a slow connection today. As a result, I have had to fax a food order off to a supplier, that I normally email. I have had to ring people to see if they have received important emails from me. All of which wastes time.
Another frustration is that we don't have a permanent doctor in the town near where I live. I think that it is because the town itself is quite unappealing. There isn't much to do, unless you like to drink! For a township of approximately 250people, there are 2 pubs that remain open. There was a third up until earlier this year when a false insurance claim caused it to close its doors.
We have intermittent free to air TV. Since going digital, our free to air has been pathetic. As we live on a property and we therefore don't pay a certain code item on our rates, we were not entitled to subsidy for a free set top box and new satellite dish. We bought our own box and hooked it up to our Austar dish. Apparently, everyone in our district who has done that has the same issue with free to air telly. We ring the provider of the set top box and ask for assistance and we're told to re-scan the box and that is all the technical assistance we can get. They can never tell us when a tachnician will be in our district as we are so remote!
We cannot get our local electrical company to send an electrician to our property. We have been running our septic system by an extension lead now for 4 mths. I've heard that every time you ring to see when you MAY expect someone to come out, your job goes 'to the bottom of the pile'.
I am frustrated that people pay so much for beef at the stores when we only get an average of $1.80 per kilo. Yes, that's right- you read that correctly. We are in the only industry that has a product, that cannot request a price for that product. Imagine going into your local ice-creamery and saying that instead of paying the $5.00 on a double scoop cone, you think its only worth $3. Do you think they would say "OK, sure thing, here's your ice-cream."? No, I don't think so- yet that is how our industry works. Inflation causes the price of everything we need to run a successful cattle property, such as: fencing gear; water facilities; vaccinations; tags; veterinarian charges; freight costs, to increase however the price we get per kilogram has remained constant for years. Consequently, margins are becoming narrower and many people are going bust. Its not right and something needs to be done. But... how? Where do I start? Not having those answers frustrates me!

So this is blogging??

So, I've decided to join the blogging world. Where exactly, or how exactly does one start? Is this where I start... here in this funny little box? I don't really find this funny little box conducive to writing, creating something interesting that others MAY want to read. And then there's the question... what to write about? What should I say that MAY entice people to read what I have written. So, how about I talk about today. Today, the day after my 39th birthday. Today, the 22nd anniversary of my fathers funeral. Today, Wednesday 11th July.

Today we awoke to no water, again. I awoke to no water on my birthday too! There is something wrong with our bore. We live on the artesian basin in Nth West Queensland and we rely on bore and rain water. Bores are essential as we are cattle producers and cattle need water. My husband and our worker are 'puling the bore' as I sit here 'talking' to you! Pulling the bore means, lifting a submersible pump to the surface of the ground, from about 25 m down. These pumps have motors, pipes to carry the water and alot of electrical cords attached and are therefore very heavy. We have 2 submersibles, in case one 'dies', as this one has we can replace it so we have flowing water again. It will need to be sent away for servicing. It is always a tad nerve wracking when a pump has been sent away... "what if the other blows whilst its away?" That could be potentially disastrous! I am hoping that they fix the water issue soon as I need to finish a load of washing and turn the dishwasher on! Luckily, due to the extended wet season we had there is still a fair amount of water still running in gullies so the cattle will be OK. Plus, its winter and cattle drink less in winter, like everyone I guess. It's nearly 5.30pm and I still don't have water...

Today, is a clear, sunny, glorious day. Yesterday was shrouded in fog and cloud and persistent drizzle. We tried to truck some cattle to our other property yesterday, only to get the truck bogged due to the persistent drizzle! So, after trying to pull the truck and trailer out with the tractor, we decided to jump the cattle off and walk them back to a paddock close to our house. We'll have to wait for a few more sunny days before attempting that again!

Today, I joined the blogging world!