For Ferdie & Ursula…

So much has been happening lately, that I am quite behind with my updating here on the Black Bush Blog (try saying THAT three times fast!). Over the past couple of weeks, Granite Glen has been host to a special couple from Switzerland.

Ferdie and Ursula.  You’ve gotta say their names in heavy Swiss accents to really get the mental picture.  Ferrdeee and Ooosalah. Totally Swiss and utterly gorgeous.  And despite having about 20 words of English between them, they have proven wonderful guests. They brought chocolate and scarves.  I love both (although I have more idea what to do with the former!)

Not that I have seen either Ferdie or Ursula all that much during their fortnight here.

They weren’t here to see me.  (Shocking but true.)

They were here to see this pair:

The one on the right is Lila.  She lives on a house about 5 km from our house, and helps us out from time to time.  The little possum riding the palomino on her left is Ay.  Ay is Lila’s granddaughter and Violet’s best friend.  She’s a minx and we love her.

Lila used to be an equestrienne.  (She will kill me for using this photo, but I think it’s worth the risk!).  But before she moved to Granite Glen, her idea of riding was in a rectangular arena, doing reining and cutting and such.  And she was very good (I imagine) at this kind of riding.  She has trophies and news clippings.

We have thoroughly corrupted her however, in our Man from Snowy River* style of horsemanship.  (*Her words, not mine.)  She has given up the western saddle and settled herself comfortably into a campdrafter.  She lets her horse graze when the cattle rest.  She rides along one-handed every so often and I have even seen a good old fashioned Aussie SLOUCH once or twice.

So you can imagine how it seemed to Ferdie, who doesn’t see Lila very often since she became an Aussie  and who was used to his daughter’s more refined riding exploits, when he saw her mustering and droving Aussie-style.  Almost Man from Snowy River style.  And I know that compared to the teeny tiny Swiss farms picturesquely manicured to within an inch of their Heidi-style lives, this place must have seemed wild and big and just a little chaotic.  We don’t manicure things here.  (Not even our nails…)

Here is Ferdie’s great-grandaughter, leading out the mob.  Not bad for a five-year-old.

He was so keen not to miss a moment of the experience, that the most regular view I got of Ferdie was this one:

Stuck behind his camcorder, documenting every bit of wild unfettered chaos he could find around the place.

Between the two of us, it was like the London paparrazi had hit Granite Glen.  Pagi and Mr Incredible managed to ignore us mostly (after all, they have had lots of practice at the nonchalant pose as someone aims a lens their direction).  But I suspect there was one rider who responded to the filming going on…

Nice collection, love!!  Heh.

Ferdie also documented the opening of the RM Williams Learning Centre last weekend.  It was funny as he and Ursula sat through the endless speeches in the heat and dust (she speaks NO English and giggles sweetly when non-Swiss-speakers try to talk to her – like the lovely lady in the burger queue who struck up a very one-sided conversation and eventually walked away looking bemused).

Tomorrow, Ferdie and the adorable (unphotographed) Ursula fly back to Europe.  With about 25 hours of footage of the Aussie bush in action.  I can only imagine the commentary that will go with each instalment as it gets shared over the fondue and Schnapps and Lindt chocolate.

Au revoir, Ferdie and Ursula!

(Hey it’s French – that’s only a country or two away, right?)