Holy Cow, Big Bulls… and who ARE you people?
Hello … I’m back.
Did you even know I was gone?
See… schedule a couple of posts, use a very dodgy broadband connection at a motel for about 10 minutes each night and no-one is the wiser. How I love modern technology and Scheduled Posting for the Lazy Blogger (henceforth known as SPLB, that’s how lazy I can be!).
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You may already know that we had packed up and taken off (Pagi, SSB, me and the kids) to do a little bull sale-ing. Hmmm. That came out wrong. What we did was we travelled for a number of hours (in a dodgy vehicle, post on that particular adventure to come) to attend couple of bull sales near a major Central Queensland town/city over a 48 hour period.
And I learned a couple of things.
I’d like to share them here (if I may):
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1. It’s WAY easier to attend a bull sale as a BUYER rather than a VENDOR (tension factor about 10% doing the former over the latter). I am seriously considering never holding a sale and being a professional bull buyer. It’s fun. I just need a little bankrolling!
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2. One must always ensure that one’s offspring are sufficiently entertained in the thoughtfully-stocked sandpit near the sale arena prior to bidding on a bull. It’s quite tricky bidding and answering urgent questions about sand in your child’s underdaks at the same time. Possible, but tricky.
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3. Always ensure that one’s father hands over the bid card prior to the sale commencing.
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4. Always ensure that one’s father has both hands sufficiently immobilised during the sale (after securing the bid card) in order to prevent what I like to refer to as rush-of-blood-itis. Those bulls always look soooo much more tempting in the sale ring than they did in the yards out back. It’s a little known fact. Just in case you ever need to know.
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5. While it may be entertaining to watch a very lean, very spry (very wry) man in his 60s leap through the rails of the sale ring when one extremely large, fast-moving bull gets a bit close for comfort (he was heard to crack as his hat stayed behind in the ring: That’d be right, damned thing is the biggest part of me!)… it is NOT so entertaining to see a 20-something girl get butted by a different large bovine beast. The fact that, within a minute of limping out to catch her breath, she returned to the sale arena to show the next lot of bulls through , very nearly had me on my feet applauding. Except it’s way not cool to applaud that kind of thing in Australia. But on the inside I was clapping til my hands peeled!
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6. Two bull sales in two days is quite enough for two children under the age of 7. It’s pushing the boundaries of the relationship asking them to sit quietly, play nicely, and not kill each other (or any other children in the vicinity) for approximately three-hour periods of relatively unsupervised time over two consecutive days. They deserve medals really.
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7. Don’t freak out if one child befriends a man in a wheelchair with a snappy little pooch on the fringes of the sale ring. Said man might just be a fabulously successful cattleman with lots of amazing knowledge of this complex and sometimes difficult industry. And said man might be really, really lovely and patient as one’s son lights up while gaining the nervous little dog’s trust. (And it’s that last bit that really impresses this mum!)
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8. Don’t freak out when one returns finally to Granite Glen to log into blog and see that HUNDREDS of you have been visiting while I have been away!!!! Eeeeekkkkkk!! What happened? Seriously. Jeanie, in all her blogging wisdom, taught me how to find my “stats” on Statcounter a little while ago, and I can kinda see who is visiting… and over the past 3 days this humble little blog has had over 400 hits and 280 unique visitors. Gads… I feel a little shaky!!
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As you know, I’m no Pioneer Woman, Dooce, or Bossy (and about 8 months ago didn’t even know of these talented, funny and sometimes downright crazy people who steal precious time from my day with their popular antics!) and to be honest have no real ambitions to go there in the Biggest Hits Department… I love my little friendly group who visit and comment and giggle and chide me for my silliness.
But who are the rest of these people?? Should I say YOU people?
Hellooooooo…
*looks over shoulder, wide-eyed*
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I tell you: I’m a bit nervous.
What’s going on with all you lurkers out there?
Have one of you got a bid card?
Or is there a bloody great bull somewhere behind me, about to bring me back down to earth with a thud?
And how come I got “popular” while I was actually AWAY?
Totally bizzaro… think I might give up Statcounter and stick to SPLB.
I’m still such a greenhorn at this game!
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BB Question/s:
How did you first find me?
And how long did you lurk for before you ‘came out’ and commented?
C’mon… share! The water is warm and the people are friendly…
25 Comments
rhubarbwhine
Yay! Glad you’re back.
I have a question for YOU. Do YOU know how I found you?
(If you do, please let me know, I’ve forgotten!)
Kate
Ha! I found you through PW and commented right away, couldn’t help myself! Sometimes i check Google Analytics and get a bit freaked out too. Every once in a while 50 people will hit my site in one day and it makes me a bit nervous. You should install Google Analytics on your site then you can see numbers of visitors plus where they come from in the world, how long they spend on your site and how they got here. It tells you everything! Which is scary sometimes 🙂
Andrea
I heart Google Analytics. It really does tell you a lot.
But I think I found you about 5 months ago, or maybe longer, I am not sure. I think you might have commented on PW’s site and I had commented below you and I just clicked in your name. And here I am. I don’t always leave comments but I always read. I have you on my Google Reader!! I like your photos and your funny story telling!! Plus it’s neat to see farm life from an Aussie’s point of view!! Wonderful Blog!!
Jenni
I think I found you through someone else’s comments. Could be PW, could be Raising Country Kids, though I think I may have found her blog close to the same time as yours. It could also be through Remudamom who I know from a message board. I think I commented on my first or second visit.
Muddy Boot Dreams
I think that I found you through PW site also. Have been commenting right from the beginning. Glad that you are gaining in popularity! That is good news, you have a wonderful blog, and I have had you signed up in reader for quite a while.
Jen
Jenni
BTW, forgot to say that your title had me singing, “Oh, we’ve got big bulls, we’ve got big bulls…” LOL
Wrensong Farm
It was PWs site for me. I DREAM of visiting Australia someday and LOVE reading everything that goes on in your life…..have been a complete lurker…up to now. 🙂
A Novel Woman
Gosh, I think it was PW’s site for me too.
And I checked out that bleeding gum tree photo thingie (had to go back and correct my typo – wrote bum tree) and that sure gives my naughty mushroom a run for its money.
Canada and Australia rule when it comes to crazy plants!
H.R.
Hi, Lady-When my daughter Erin started her blog I checked out the commenters to see what kind of company she was keeping and there you were. I come back from time to time-your life is so different and yet so much more like ours. And to quote my Father “It’s amazing how those dumb kids can have such good grandkids.” You and Erin are a lot alike, I think. Keep up the good work. HR
Debby
I wandered over from PW’s site, and then I ‘met’ your sister. It may be like a virus. It just spreads from one person to another. Have to ask Jeanie about a stat counter. Is that what I have already that counts hits? Dunno.
I'm Julie
I can’t remember how I found you – Must have been through PW, like everyone else, or Bossy. I’d say I lurked for a month or so and then started commenting.
Or maybe I found Jeannie first and then found you?? Oh, hell, I can’t remember. All I know is I love to check on what is going on in your lovely land!
Pencil Writer
BB-I guess PW (Ree) gets credit for helping me find you, too. I liked one of your comments–don’t remember how long ago–and clicked to find out what makes you tick. I’ve liked what I found and continue to, and think I probably commented the first time I visited.
Like the rest of us “lurkers” or viewers, or sisters, I enjoy the exchange, the education and the sisterhood of sorts that we seem to enjoy through the magical world of blogging. I know I found Jeanie through you–go figure!
Keep up the good work. Oh! And you can hardly be called a lazy blogger if you plan, write, upload pictures, etc., while running off to buy/sell bulls, watch two small children, one husband, father, etc., etc., and manage to schedule from afar frequent posts! Are you kidding? If only I could be half so smart and lazy!
Scotty
Got here via a link from Debby’s place and I think this might be my first comment.
Bush Babe (of Granite Glen)
Well hello y’all!!! Really interesting to see how you found me (or I found YOU as the case may be!)… Welcome to Scotty!!! (Nice to have another bloke around here! You need to tell me how I can make it a bit more guy-friendly… my boy visitors stay lurking a LOT!).
FYI… I do seem to get lots of hits from my comments on PW’s amazing, amazing site. The majority of my mega-hit (228 in one day!) a couple of days ago were from there (her very funny ‘spelunking’ post… can’t even recall what I said!). And some from the lovely Deb in USA and Pam the Novel Woman in Canada. My sister Jeanie, of course, got me up and running and sent through my very first visitors!
But even more peoples’ referal link (about 70%) says “no referring link” which I guess means they already have my address somehow. It’s a mystery best left unsolved perhaps? Too much naval-gazing is bad for the neck!
Anyway, love to hear from more of you lurkers (some I know: Hello Gill, Jeni, Gwen, Jacqui, Leonie and Linda, and many I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting!).
BTW – Statcounter says 37 people have visited me today – nice to hear from 13 of you (so far)!!!
Hugs
BB
dykewife
i have no idea whose blog it was where i found you on the blog roll, but i did and voila, there you were. so i started reading and the rest is history.
i get between 25 and 30 hits a day, except for when i was linked to by someone else because of a significant betrayal of readers by another blogger. then i got over 100, but that’s the most i’ve had and it’s not been that high since. well, except for something someone on a polish forum wrote and then linked to me, but i don’t read polish so it’s moot.
Anonymous
I found you just this week through a post you had put on PW’s blog. I enjoyed reading the Aussie Lingo section. BTW, I’m a Canadian and I can tell you we don’t mind being referred to as Canucks. We tend to be a fairly mild mannered lot. I’ve enjoyed the insights into life in Australia, and rate your blog right up there with PW’s. I’ll be visiting regularly. I think it will be a wonderful “Diary/Journal” for your children to treasure when they are older. Keep up the good work! It’s a pleasure to know you.
Bush Babe (of Granite Glen)
HR – welcome (is this Erin’s Mum or Dad?)… thanks for the compliment (thinking I am like your lovely daughter!).
Anonymous – hello, lovin’ the Canadians here at BB. You are a sweet lot! And thanks for getting the “journal for the kids” bit, cause that’s really why I started. And kept going. Heh.
DW – love your visits too. You (Deb and Pencil Writer) are among my very first internationals… made me feel like the world was happy to look at my silly snaps!! Thanks!
Meant to say welcome to Wrensong Farm too (can I call you WF?? I’m lazy… did I mention that?)
I should have mentioned that some of you I think I sought out through PW comments section… who knows now!
*sighs nostalgically*
Thanks for makin’ me feel special!
BB
HR
Hi again-I am Erin’s Dad,but after realising that you bloggers reduce everyone to initials I quickly found something else to go by.
Your dry,wry wit and ability to use language as your own personal playtoy are just a couple of the similarities I see.
Be well-HR
Scotty
BB – it’s guy-friendly enough as is – I’m a country boy at heart and I was married once…
🙂
steviewren
I followed breadcrumbs from Debby’s blog to yours and I’m glad I did.
Mikey
I think I came from Debby at Life’s Funny Like That. I think I commented right away, because your pictures were so good I had no choice but to say so!
Also, looking at your cloud header. I think you need to lay down on that gorgeous red dirt road, on a hill and shoot that on a nice cloudy day, just sky and red dirt, half and half. I can totally see that picture in my mind… you’ve posted something like that before and it was a breathtaking photo.
jeanie
Hmm – well, I actually came to your blog because I helped set it up but I had known of you all my life.
Kate
Oh! I meant to tell you…I first clicked on your name in PW’s comments cuz what you said was really funny AND cuz of your name. I’ve been a bit of an Aussie nut since i first saw Man From Snowy River almost 20 yrs ago. Deep down i still think i’m going to marry Jim. Do you know him? 😉 Oh! And then i saw Quigly Down Under adn totally fell in love with Tom Selleck. And well, he isn’t actually an Aussie in the film and the Aussie guy is the bad guy but still i count it as an Aussie movie. i hope that’s not bad… And then there was Crocodile Dundee (LOVED IT) and the Croc Hunter, oh wow. hmm, okay i’m rambling now. Good night!
Pony Girl
I have no recollection, you were one of my first 15 or so blogs that I ever read (now it’s like nearly 100!) I know it was through another blog. I added you to my favorites and you’ve been there ever since! 😉
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