Farm Life

I hope every one's Easter was good. This year we spent it with the Tayler's and enjoyed ourselves. It started off on a sad note. On Good Friday Gaz's father passed away. He was a very sick man and even though it was expected and a blessing that he wasn't suffering anymore it was still hard for everyone. It was all too familiar for me as that was the anniversary of my own mothers passing and it was just hard to watch them have to go through the same thing. Gaz's sister came into town and we all had a huge feast Saturday night and played a game of Phase 10. We had fun and made sure that Charley was celebrated. It's good to be around loved ones during a time like this and I know that Danielle and I serve as a fun and welcome distraction. My heart goes out to them.

Well the potato harvesting has yet to happen. But in its place we have baby sat, harvested wine grapes, tore down an old fence, went to our first rodeo, burned some fires and placed some bets!

Babysitting was fun and exhausting too. A two and a half year old and a one year old demand a lot of attention BUT we had fun and have become very fond of the curly headed beauties. Winnie and Maggie are their names and playing is their game! :) We played at the park and fed the ducks and just enjoyed the intrigue of putting on lids and taking them off again over and over. hahahaha I think it's so funny how there can be a room full of toys and the little tykes will go for the box the toys came in before anything else. They are smart kids and we really enjoy them.

Harvesting wine grapes was a much different task but also very fun. It was just a one day event with only 31 rows to clear and a team full of oldies... and then Danielle and I. We showed up and assumed that we would be joined by other backpackers. Instead we were met with a retired bunch of men that just make you giggle! We walked up and down the rows with our buckets and snipers and listened to the chatter of many years experience. One conversation consisted of one bloke announcing his retirement from grape picking to finally being able to just sit at home and do his own thing. He was met with an angry group of fellow retirees all chanting... "Merv if you stop working you will die!" So harsh! hahahaha they were so serious though. Then the youngest of the group at 65 was being picked on for having a lady friend. The comments are as follows... "Oh that lady knows more than here prayers! She's not the type of woman that I'd want to take home to mom!" followed with... "Bernie, she only wants you for your body!" hahahaha can you just picture it!? Danielle and I couldn't suppress our laughter it was just adorable! They went on to talk about footy, war, money, beer and then homosexuals. Oh the older generation! Some were very homophobic as they self titled and the opposition was trying to educate them by sharing their own experiences and friendships with gays and lesbians. Encouraging them to take a less harsh stance. I must say it was very educational and entertaining!

Fencing work is just plain good physical labor and we can tackle it any time we wish. The Tayler's are so good to us and we like to help them out in any way we can. The most exciting of the jobs offered us is the burning of paddocks! They run a harvesting farm and grow wheat, bailey, canola and oats. After the season is over and everything is cut and sold they are left with stubble in the paddocks. They mulch this down and let the sheep graze and get fat and then they have to burn the areas so they can restart the whole process. The burning helps with regrowth and basically gives them a clean slate otherwise the soil becomes sterile. They also have to make many truck loads to the lime pits to sprinkle on the paddocks to bring up the pH levels. I went with Gaz on one of his trips. We woke at 5:30 am and trekked down to the pits and it was just amazing to see all the machinery and work that goes into it. We drove back and the big semi (of which they call road trains) tipped the contents of lime onto the ground in a huge heap and we went on to work. I'm really enjoying the farm life and getting to know all the inns and outs of things here. Today we get to burn some more paddocks and we have the job of sitting on the back of the fire truck! In my opinion the best place to watch it all unfold! We drive through smoke and flames and spray all the fences with water so that they don't burn up and then move on to the next paddock to do it all over again! What a rush!

Last Friday we attended our first Rodeo... yes I know we are Texans the put our state to shame but at least now we can say we have been to one! It was fun but interesting and a little too much for me. I can see why the sport is so addictive to the participants but it's just a bit too much for me. I must be turning in to a greenie but that's okay. I can be worse things. ;) I can now say I've seen one and experienced the atmosphere but I'm sure I won't venture to one again. One guy was carried away on a stretcher. Yikes!

I found this amazing cafe in Ballarat called Da Vinci's Cafe and it is amazing! Inside it's all decorated with Leonardo da Vinci's art work and sculptures and the atmosphere is just enchanting. Huge canvas paintings, Italian stucco on the wall with more paintings and just an amazing food selection and environment. So Danielle and I decided to shout our new Australian family to a good Italian meal and we made a night of it. We first went to the TAB (where people go to place bets on horse and greyhound races) and Gaz was going to place a bet on his friend Pedro's horse Totally Oro. He called him earlier and just had a good feeling about it. Now you have to understand Gaz is a very lucky man! At the pockies he can slip a dollar coin into the machine pull the handle and walk away with $130. So the more he talked about placing this bet the more Danielle and I adopted the excitement and adrenaline he was putting off. So we decided what the heck we will place a couple dollar bet and if we lose we aren't throwing away too much. It's just for fun and you can't take your money with ya, right!? So we had Gaz help us. We ended up placing $3 to win and $3 to place. Not a lot of money but a fun investment for the novelty of it. We went and ate our wonderfully cooked meal had some gelato and mint chocolate cake and great conversation and then headed back to the TAB. We arrived just in time for Gaz to place one more bet and we watch the race with a new appreciation and interest that we've never shared before. Sure enough Totally Oro came in first place! The odds were in our favor... $20.50 for a win and $4.50 for a place! We walked away with $75!!!! It was so great! We all celebrated and after Gaz collected his pot full of gold we went home pleased as punch!

We are now quitting our gambling career with a winning streak! hahahaha :)