Just never give up

‘You have three torn ligaments, broken your tibia and the knee joint is fractured in three places. Basically you’re never going to walk again without pain so forget about sport’. They said something like that. You’re probably thinking what did she do? Was the then 17 year old in a car accident? Funnily enough a teacher at school asked me that. No, nope it was far more mundane than that but it really isn’t important.

I don’t really like to talk about ruining everything in my knee because it’s boring. And I only remember the most horrible things that happened like the morning two days after the operation I had a fever of 42 degrees and was hallucinating. Later that day I remember when they stuck a needle into my knee from the outer side and I could feel the blood being pulled from underneath the patella.

It was just a freak accident that happened and days afterwards I couldn’t believe it. Almost a year has passed since everything in my knee broke and I have achieved a lot in this short amount of time.

I finished VCE (with a very good ATAR) including every SAC and exam despite missing three entire months in the middle of the year. I competed in the VAS state cattle judging competition at the Royal Melbourne Show. I learnt how to walk again and I can even run if I want to.

It is funny how particular things stick in my mind I remember short conversations with different people. One thing that kept everything in perspective was something someone told me at Melbourne Show about how I would get better, it might take a while but I would.

Since then someone told me no one else would have finished VCE anybody else would have dropped out. Believe me I thought about it, but for some reason I didn’t-I just kept trying.

The only reason I am writing about this is I think others can realise what they can also achieve if they are dedicated enough. It doesn’t matter what you want to achieve just never give up. -Dust and All

Why show cattle?

Most people couldn't see the point in waking up at 4am to wash cattle in freezing cold water. Nor why I relish walking into a big shed filled with the aroma of beef cattle to clean up manure. And why on Earth do I spend hours clipping a cow to perfection when I barely visit the hair dresser myself? It isn’t for the ribbons at the end of the day and definitely not the praise of the judge. The answer is simple, for the love of it and the lifestyle. It is the drive the show gives you for the next one, to breed a better cow and come back next year.-Dust and All

One day...

"Those horses are like a pack of cigarettes. One day you're gonna run out of runs. You better enjoy it while it lasts"-Sherry Cervi.

What a thing to say, this can be related to many aspects of life and I think you only really understand how precious today is after you have faced a few hurdles. Life isn't easy and it is short. I think life is 10% what happens to you and 90% attitude. You can be given all the opportunity in the world and become nothing or you can make opportunities and work hard, everything just depends on you...Dust and All

Life is busy, make time for your aspirations

I  haven't posted in a while and thought I would quickly say what has been happening at the farm. Where to start? Building new sheep yards, selling a steer, taking cattle to a weekend expo, selling a pony, vaccinating cattle and in between all this university. I have realised you can achieve a lot in a day if you really want to, I often think of a Tim McGraw song "Live Like You Were Dying" and this makes me think of aspirations. We all have aspirations or dreams or goals or aims, whatever you call them some of us follow our dreams while others of us, kind of, just live. I think this is boring, I have been told I dream too big and this is when I think of the quote "if your dreams don't scare you they aren't big enough". With this in mind I have decided to follow an old dream of my own and I believe everyone should!-Dust and All

My dog's name is Ted...

My dog's name is Ted, I'm pretty sure he is the most likeable dog in the world, but most days he finds something mischievous or just plain stupid to do...

This morning while getting hay to feed the horses from a round bale, Ted decided to slide down the side of the bale. Now imagine for a second a doggy missile coming at you from a metre above. Hay fell all over me, down my shirt, in my gumboots and flakes of lucerne are still in my hair. While Ted landed beside me on the ground-unharmed and smiling.-Dust & All

Rain...

It came at last...rain! Despite not suffering as badly as everyone up North, we have been feeding cattle daily and the dark clouds brought relief. While rain doesn't change everything over night it is more than just life giving, it gives us hope. A feeling of hope that no one can describe unless they have stood and watched livestock become skin and bone, dams dry up and the life taken from the land.

Imagine having a terrible day-the worst. Lose your phone, late to university, fall down stairs, fill your diesel ute with petrol, your worst nightmare day after day, this is a farmer's day when water becomes scarce.

The consolation a bit of rain can provide is unbelievable and makes farm life easier, from dirt to grass, from nothing to something. All the mental strain can be left behind once the first drop of rain hits the parched earth.

I feel reassured knowing I won't have to load a truck filled with quality cattle and send them to the abattoir. Last year in the middle of summer we were faced with this decision and sadly were forced to load the truck. 

It is amazing how  fast the land regenerates even after just a small amount of rain. I can look over the rolling horizon and see a green hue covering the landscape. The dams over flow and become rivers that flow from property to property. The sunken and starving cattle bounce back to life.

Fingers crossed the rain keeps falling around the country-Dust and All

Country Life

What is not to love about waking up to an ever changing, forever mystifying sunrise? The morning call of a horse as I walk out the back door and a smiling dog waiting to be let out. Driving a late model 1980s John Deere tractor, with a round bale of hay to feed a herd of  beautiful cattle. Waiting for a show heifer to calve, hoping it will become a Royal Show Champion and training a horse that was fearful of people to become calm and quiet. Collecting fresh eggs from the chickens which roam happily though out the farm and watching a pasture germinate and become a luscious field.

I know you must be thinking these are all positive and nothing can be all good. I could have mentioned the fact we feed the cattle daily due to having no pasture because we have not had enough rain, which means we are also lacking water for the stock.

Rather than dwell on factors out of our control we need to view what is in our control, whether you are from the inner city, live beside the sea or on a farm or station, by focusing on the positives of life we keep everything in perspective. Being thankful for what we have is something I believe a lot of us forget to do (I am also guilty at times). Living on a farm has provided me with this idea of loving life for what it is the ugliness and the beauty. 

Country life is not for everyone, but I can't imagine living any other life-Dust and All

A Country Sunset