They are able who think they are able

This female galah with only one leg, visits occasionally and I marvel at her cheerfulness and wonder how she manages to do all the things galahs do like hanging upside down playing and perching....and wonder at her endurance when her leg was taken from her.

SOUTH BANK, BRISBANE

IMG_5613, originally uploaded by cnlizziebns.

CLEO THE CATTLEDOG

Cleo is getting a little old and dare I say it a little fat to do a hard days work but she is ready sitting on my saddle...telling me she can do the job only have to say the word.

BACK TO THE MOUNTAINS

FROM THE FREEWAY TO THIS RANGE CROSSING ....20 MIN

Paid my Christmas respects and cheer to the Grandchildren in the city, dropped off three ponies on Tuesday for them to enjoy.

I live not far from a major city in a forgotten pocket of the state, which is biodiverse and beautiful.

25th December, 2008

For those who believe in Christmas and for those who do not have a safe and happy day.....

What the kids used to do in the Heat

This is how I am feeling about the local waterhole at the moment...used to yell at my boys get off those rocks...it's OK Ma.....GET DOWN I SAY....plunge splash...when is that kid ever going to come up...my heart rabbiting out of my chest..on one occassion swimming to the base of the waterfall telling the child, teenager, if you do not get off those rocks I am dragging you off......As if...
These days

A HOT DAY FOR US IN THE MOUNTAINS 37 DEGREES C (98.6 F*)

I carted hay today really used my brains on the hottest day thus far this summer and loaded at midday....
Blisters on the hands, forget to take the hay handling gloves and was absolutly out on my feet. I think the night shifts are doing my head in....

day had a strange feel about it and think I am losing touchas thought the birds were acting a little weird or was it I ??


This old home is slowly being taken back by the elements...I will now go and finish an ice cold Carlton Mid Strength Beer....aaaah on a hot evening near Christmas nothing better....

PET PROFILES

Dragon graphic property of walrus 2332 (glitter graphics)



Read a notice board at the local store...dog shampooing, clipping, groomimg...great I thought saves me getting wet all over....and will take three dogs one not mine...made the appointment, waited half an hour operator not there, took four minutes each to shampoo the dogs, sorry clippers broken, sorry dryer broken, sorry fleas stay on... Forty five dollars later with still dirty dogs, and I handed over the money, took them home, and said to Rose I'll clip the dog, out came the humongous horse clippers and off I went, Rose took the dog home and shampooed and brushed him and he looked great. I think I need to give up work and shampoo dogs, and I would even take their photograph afterwards. Perhaps a smaller less noisy set of clippers may be needed for the job...and I do not have a clue on the correct clip for a Maltese terrier in the tropics. Considering the size of the clippers and the small size of the dog we were quite pleased with ourselves.

Not so pleased handing over the money without saying a word and putting my wet and not cleaned, flea ridden dogs back on the ute. I guess the feet will do the talking in the future.

AN EARLY MORING DRIVE

An early morning drive this morning is enough to lift a heavy mood.....

From "Barefoot in the Bush" to the "City" 2

Many a dry gully and ups and downs, worked in the NT near Arnhem Land in the escarpment country and was Secretary of the Boorooloola Race & Rodeo Club for three years, rode in a couple of the early races for women and ended up training racehorses, the second licenced women trainer in Australia, I understand. Women were not given the privaleges they enjoy these days in the official world......Many stories tragic and humourous along the way and may get to some of them but am a little sick of the me me story at the present.I always rode my own trackwork and gallops and was fortunate to have good horses winning in the city and the bush...unfortunatly suffered an accident and destroyed my knee. Thus I lost heart as could no longer ride the gallops which was to me an integral portion of my enjoyment of training these superb animals, poetry in motion.
I loved coming around the top turn on the training tracks with a handful of horse the wind whistling around my head, the emerald green turf, the thunder of the hooves in my ears, adrelin coursing through my and the horse's veins, easing off the brakes and coming to the line with still a gear to go.I was fortunate that rode trackwork on some magnificent horses for other trainers.


I will never forget the first day I had a runner in the city.....did not win but ran a respectable race
......it is all in the journey not the end.

This horse I bred in partnership....he would dink along behind the field and then a whirlwind finish...he was a heartstopper, New Zealand staying bloodlines and won heaps of country cups with him and convinced the other partner to take him to the city where he won first up and was a big big betting coup, not my money was never a punter, and he went from strength to strength and was an open handicap horse in Brisbane....His dam, Sail on Sally, cost $350.00 in foal and Sovereign Sails was the resultant foal.

Photographs....Alan Peach & Three-Way Photography

Not forgetting.......Happy Holidays and Best Wishes Rudy if you are still dropping by occassionally...when I go to the racehorses I think of you....I am not mentioning the other rollercoaster...

HORSE RACING-From "Barefoot in the Bush" to the "City"

My beautifl Hurley Town, winning The Easter Cup at Eagle Farm, Brisbane. I use the term "my" falsely as was not mine at the time, trained her for Clients.



I have been trying to sort out my junk and came across some of my past and have revisted....

I was born in Normanton on Melbourne Cup day on the banks of the Norman River in the old hospital with a tetanus outbreak at the hospital, and won the local cup sweep when only hours old...my destiny was sealed.

Grew up wild and wooly in the bush with a sense of freedom which I even to this day find difficult to conform...did not have formal schooling but was schooled by correspondence, not School of the Air but by post. I had the process down to a tee...do two weeks work in two days and then roam the bush free......Read books at night with the aid of hurricane lights and carbide flame, did not have the benefit of electricity and the dining room floor was antbed, swept and tampted down each day. The toilet was a huge pit in the ground with a little house built over the pit.

My memories are that of freedom as mother and father largely ignored their children being preoccupied elsewhere, dad droving and mum the cook, which suited me as could roam as far and wide as I chose.

When came to the teenage years through circumstances was fostered in the city, which was a shock to the system but will not go into that at this point. After education at various institutions all over the state, working in the cities, with many adventures, returned to the bush in my late teens and started up again where I left off as a girl. Worked for the American company of Tipperary Land Corporation which owned Tipperary Station in the NT, Lakefield, Laura, Bizant, Silver Plains Stations in the Peninsula. Lakefield is now a National Park and Tipperary continues to be immersed in controversy. I had ridden horses all my life and was a saviour to me in the cities, hung around racing stables cleaning to have the lend of the lead ponies on a Sunday and an occassional walk of a quiet magnificent thoroughbred for afternoon exercise.

On the cattle stations I naturally gravitated to the racehorses and the training of the picnic horses. Picnic race horses in the bush were horses chosen from the stock camps and raced annually. The horses were placed in a paddock six weeks before the races so that they were started on an equal footing. I had the benefit of racehorse stables in the city and the professional approach so trained the horses for three months before the paddocking. To cut a long story short the first horse I trained took all before him at Laura and Cooktown races and the excitement was palative. I was on a roll.

Went to the Amateurs at Cairns won the fashions on the field and represented Queensland in Melbourne .



What a thrill and living in the bush met visiting people from all over the world whom would not ordinarily come in contact with and as a result of this was escorted around the carnival by the premier racecallers of Australia, Bert Bryant, Vince Curry and Cliff Carey
What a week.......Bert Bryant began his broadcast with he had a bush girl beside him and said "would hate to mow where she lived on two million acres!! He was a funny and witty and always saw the ridiculous in everything and I had a face ache from laughing throughout the Melbourne Cup Carnival. After the Cup met the jockeys and connections at the Southern Cross.

continued........off to the shops

KUDOS

I watched a National Current affairs programme tonight with Kerry O'Brien showing the project of Ausaid, where 1000 schools are being built in Indonesia. Makes me proud to know that Australian money is going to education where children have the opportunity and skills to make informed choices whether we agree or not. I have always believed if everyone is treated as an equal our differences will just be that and we can agree to be different and respect and appreciate the differences. I try not to comment on current news items but I find this particular agenda uplifting and non condescending.

THROUGH THE BULLRUSHES

MEET THE NEIGHBORS - Before you use their Garage

THE JUNGLE THAT IS THE BACK YARD IS BEAUTIFUL WITH A MINI RAINFOREST

Up at 2.30 am this morning, leaving my mountain top to help youngest son and his mates move into a house they have purchased in the city whilst working on a construction job. The project will take a couple more years to complete. Rent in the city for them has been around the $350.00 a week so thought it a more wise to invest in a house.



Arrived at the house with half a dozen vehicles piled hight with household goods and... a little town car in the garage ...picture this mob of young men with bloocher boots turn up in a fleet of black SUV's, why they have black cars is beyond me although mine is grey an excuse for silver.......with Ma Baker (if you know who Ma Baker was picture it) me, in attendance with my niece who is a very forthright and intimidating young woman.

The new neighbor, to be, came racing over red in the face his little car hemmed in by SUV's and rough looking young men and a blond Amazon, my niece, the new as yet unmet neighbor stammered "this is my car and did not know someone had purchased the house"...My niece looked him in the eye and said "not now, it's ours, the car that is" For a second the new neighbor was stuck for words and went from red in the face to white, jumped into his little car, started the motor....could move nowhere....The boys politely moved their vehicles and he backed out skidding the wheels......I felt sorry for the new neighbor, did not get around to extending pleasantries as the next door person was so intent on escaping with his car. I went inside and had a giggle....how embarrassing a good story for him in years to come when his heart settles and realizes it was not Ma Baker and her boys arriving to take over the neighborhood...The moral is do not use the new neighbor's garage unless you know when they are moving in!!!



NEEDS A BIT OF WORK HERE & THERE

The house needs a bit of work but the back yard is a mini rainforest ....a scorching hot and humid day today towards the coast, not so bad here with the rain forest very cool under the canopy......

Always compensations when doing this trip, get to use my favourite toilet in Australia on the road. A little beauty with soft toilet paper clean as a new pin, a well kept secret and I leave the door open and.....



ROOM WITH A VIEW, The coal trains come and the coal trains go.....


Had best get a little shut eye am back on nights working.....been away all day today and will not have time to iron my uniform, need sleep more, starting work at midnight so will do rounds in glittery jeans and pink shoes.....you think I jest...nooooo I am so not appropriate....

KANGAROOS IN THE CITY?

A lot of people from overseas think that kangaroos literally bound down the city streets in Australia ...Actually they do, this mob do at least,in Brisbane. My sons work on the new construction into the city and are bush boys and told of the wildlife in the city, Oh right boys this is Mum you are talking to....I travel to the city once a fortnight as look after one of my grandsons for a couple of days and transport him back to the metropolis ....and here are some of the city boys 150 metres away from gridlock.....amazing

THIS BIRD DIANE?

This fellow was quite nervy as well and bribed him with a little honey...Blue-faced Honeyeater...more common in the north.