Today was a very relaxing day for me, though I don't know that the weaners can say the same: in the morning we microchipped and branded them. I had the very difficult job of reloading the microchip gun.




All beef cattle in Australia are required by law to be mircochipped, so that they can be traced back to their origins in case of infections. Australia has never had a case of mad cow disease, and they aim to keep it that way. Each chip costs three dollars, and Jet says whatever they may say, the real reason for the tags is to make the government money.

We branded all the cattle with JJ3, Jet and his dad, Jack's, brand, and all the heifers were also branded with a '0,' signifying the year 2010. Traditionally, all the calves would be branded with their year of birth, but they no longer bother with the steers since they are eventually going to the feedlots, and the microchip also tells their age.

After lunch, Jet and I took the weaners out so that they could have lunch. I've been riding in a big western saddle that Jet has, but today Jet gave me an Aussie saddle to try out. I am informed that that very saddle was used by the Character of Clancy in a scene of The Man From Snowy River. How it went from Clancy's bum to Jet's shed, I do not know, but I do know that it is going to take me some time to get used to those Aussie saddles: I felt like I was going to fly right over the horse's head ever time we broke into anything faster than a walk.



All in all, a good day...

Jet and I spent today tailing his weaners back 'home' in Pentland, which is to say, we sat on our horses in the winter sun and talked about life, the universe and everything while we watched the yearling calves munch away on fresh green grass.

I suppose that should tell you that quite a lot has happened since my last post. ...I'll start where my last post left off, though.

Jet and I spent our week off lounging around. We went into Normanton a few times, where I got my photo taken with a rather badly done representation of the (regionally) famous Krys the Savannah King:



Krys, who was 8.63 metres long (more than 28 feet), was shot by Krystina Pawlowski in 1957.

On our last day off, Jet shod my horse Vincent, and taught our friend 'Ding' how to shoe. When they had finished, I rode him bareback back to the yards. Or rather, I rode him a ways and then Jet pulled up beside me in the pickup and told me that Vincent could find his way the rest of the way on his own. I slid off Vincent's back and watched him trot off.

When we got back to camp, Lee asked us if we wanted to go fishing. We piled back in the truck again; the inside was full, so Jet and I sat in the back, with the sun beating down on us and the wind whipping my hair around. Jet put together a line for me, but he quickly clued in that I was less than enthused with the whole fishing thing. While Jet fished, I sat and took pictures of freshwater crocodiles sticking their eyes above the water.

The only fish caught was a 'smiley fish,' which we all took pictures with. Jet said he was scared I was going to strangle the poor beast, I gripped its neck so hard. But really, can you blame me?



Anyhow, as much as I enjoyed living the back of a truck in the middle of nowhere, Jet and I have decided to look for something a bit more settled -- possibly even with a house involved. We decided to head back home to help Jet's dad with some work, and to apply for some new jobs (which is much more easily done with internet and a phone).

It is very nice to be home. As we drove up the lane, we could see Jet's dad on his big horse Hagar, amongst the cattle. He rode up to the fence and shook hands with Jet, and gave me a nod and a 'Kathleen,' then we headed up to the house for tea. Jet and his dad sat down and talked cattle and horses, while I curled up and took a much needed nap.

We brand the weaners, tomorrow.

I'm excited for the future... Onward to the next adventure!

May 7, 2010

LOOK at what was in my kitchen yesterday!



That, my friends, is a yellow bellied python. Jet tells me that this is what happens when you have too many frogs in your kitchen. Jet has been on my case for a few days now to let him 'relocate' some of my froggy friends. Alas, three of them have now been relocated to Mr. Python's stomach (if you look closely you can see the bumps in the snake). Most of the rest made a mad dash for safety, which was actually pretty funny to see. Don't worry -- it's not a dangerous snake. Unless you're a frog, that is.

Here's a picture in memory of my froggy friends:



We have a few days off, starting tomorrow. It's time to move camp to Milgara station. I have been promised a much nicer kitchen setup at this next station, but I have also been told the internet is much spottier. I promise to update as soon as possible, though!

May 4, 2010

Not much to report today. I baked cookies, baked quiche, and made a roast.

Here's a picture of a sunrise:



Jet thinks I am very silly for taking pictures of sunrises and sunsets. He says I now live in a land of beautiful skies, and that there is no point in taking a picture of it, since there will be another just as nice the next day. I wanted to share it with you guys, though.

I suppose there was one bit of excitement, but it really had nothing to do with me at all. As I was going about my day, I couldn't help but notice that Sarah's (Lee's fiancée) car kept going back and forth down the road. Seems she was on her way into town to get her ankle looked at when she noticed someone passed out on the side of the road. It was one of the ringers from Magowra (not one of ours) -- we think she had fallen off her horse and hit her head, or else fallen off her horse due to heat exhaustion. Anyhow, Sarah drove her to the hospital, during which time she never regained consciousness. She did come to at the hospital -- Sarah said she could hear her cursing and screaming -- and was flown to Mount Isa (the next ‘big’ town) for care. Sarah never did get her ankle looked at…

May 3, 2010

My ringers didn’t come home until after 7:00 last night. Long day, considering they left at 5:00 am. They came home caked in mud and dust. I guess they spent the day inoculating cattle, and also, at some point along the way hit a pig with the truck. I asked why they didn’t bring it home for me, and Jet told me that wild pig meat was decidedly not good eating. This seems strange to me, as I believe the story with the pigs in Australia is that Captain Cook released them upon intervals along his travels so that any shipwrecked men would have a source of food. These days, there are professional pig hunters whose sole purpose is to ‘control’ the pig problem. Long Island, where I worked in the WhitSundays, had a resident wild pig that was far bigger than I was.

I haven’t posted an update on my toilet in a while… The pipes connecting the tank and bowl are so jammed up with frogs that no longer works at all. For a time, the toilet was working perfectly at around 3:00 am, presumably because the frogs had all vacated it for their nocturnal ramblings. This is very upsetting. The fact that the toilet worked was one of the key benefits to the cooks schedule ( I have to have the fixings for lunch laid out and breakfast ready by 4:30 am).

Today's picture is of a cane toad.



I took this picture under one of our spotlights... The cane toads gather under them because the flies are attracted to light, and they know the eating is good. Some nights you can see as many as 20 of them under one light. Cane toads, much like pigs, are not indigenous to Australia. They were introduced in the early part of the 20th century to combat a beetle that was eating the sugar cane. Unfortunately, they proved to have no interest in eating said beetles. Equally unfortunately, they are extremely prodigious breeders. The government encourages people to kill cane toads whenever possible: they officially advise putting them in the freezer for a couple of days so they freeze to death, and then burying them. However, most people seem to prefer disposing of their cane toads through two sports: Cane Toad Cricket and Cane Toad Golf. Guess how they’re played.

Just to show you how big and ugly these critters are, here's another picture of one I found online.



(Some kids keep them as pets).

May 2, 2010

The ants finally discovered my baking supplies yesterday. I was so upset I started hollering and cursing. I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later, but still, to say I was unimpressed would not be an understatement. Sarah, who was in camp nursing a sprained ankle, came out to see what was the matter: “Oh, is that all?” she said. But it really is kind of a big deal, unless people want to eat ants at every meal. Maybe this is why so many of the older recipes call for the flour and sugar to be sifted? To get the ants out? …And of course the weevils.

Weevils may not be quite so noticeable, but they are also a problem in a bush kitchen. I found my first one in the flour my second day in camp. The cookbook Jet’s mom gave me does have a helpful suggestion for preventing weevils: Put a tin can with a candle in your flour bin, and light it before you close the lid. It extinguishes itself once it has consumed all the available oxygen in the bin, and weevils can’t live in an airless environment.

Here is another helpful hint from the same cookbook: if you are planning on eating an old chicken, chase the bird down while it is still alive and pour a tablespoon of vinegar down its throat -- then wait 15 minutes before chopping its head off. The vinegar makes the meat tender, apparently. I have no intention of trying that any time soon, but if someone else decides to, please let me know how it goes!

And now, my frog of the day...

May 1, 2010
My internet does not appear to be working this morning. After three mornings of internet, I was starting to take it for granted. It’s connected, with a fair to middling signal, but msn won’t sign in, and every page I try to go to online says Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage. Goddamnit.

I think I squished a baby lizard today while making breakfast. I try to keep the light off as much as possible, because the bugs swarm whenever they see light, and when I turned it on, there was a little lizard, separated from its tail, and looking decidedly flat. It had disappeared when I came into the kitchen again, and while I would like to believe that it made a miraculous recovery I think someone may have moved it while I wasn’t looking.

Two girls with me in camp today: Sarah hurt her ankle a few days ago, and Bree has some sort of stomach bug. Jet would say (and has) that they need to take a teaspoon of cement and harden up a bit.

It was just me, Jet, and Ding in camp last night (Friday night). I cooked them up some leftovers, and then we all went to bed. I don’t understand how all the others can go into town and party while knowing that they have a 5:00 am start time the next morning.

You know, when I first came to Australia it was the wet season, and it used to sometimes make me crazy the way Jet seemed to barely be working at all. I understand a bit better now. We work really long days now and I’ve been told we may have a day off in another month or so. I can’t really complain, though: the pay is good, I enjoy my job, and when I get up in the morning I can see the southern cross shining in the sky.

Well, if the internet isn’t going to work I may as well go back to sleep for another hour or so. (It’s 6:30 am right now).

Jet’s days, meanwhile are slightly different than mine… He came home last night with the tale of cutting cancerous testicles off of a calf that were bigger than tennis balls.

I haven't shown you any pictures of my house, have I? Well, here it is: