A big ‘To Do’ list and Holiday Hair
It’s been a little quiet on the blogging scene this week (for me anyway) as a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff goes on to keep our lives running.
After weeks of being unable to get any cattle work done, we will try this week to get a belated start on the branding. We have a family trip in the pipeline and one of the major chores we need to tick off the enormous ‘to do’ list is branding.
It is only JUST getting dry enough to even consider this enormous annual task. We have bogged almost every vehicle on the place at various times – utes, graders, tractors and even horses. THAT is how wet it is here, even though rainfall over the past few days has been reasonably light. Poor Salina was riding Yvette in an attempted mustering expedition this week when she went down the the belly in the saturated ground. Salina was a little shook up – bogging horses has certainly never been an issue around here much in the past 30 years!
Another issue is that we have to cross the cattle through a creek to access the facilities we need. Normally, of course, running water is NOT a hurdle we have to face and the cattle are hardly used to wading through it. (Even though they can do this when push comes to shove or starvation). Lack of water is usually our major problem.
I visited Big Town yesterday (and gave the kids something to look at other than this place) to get supplies for the Brand. As I am pretty involved in the process, I have to make sure we have enough food for breakfasts, lunches, smokos and dinners for a week. And I help muster and record information on our specialised ‘laptop’ and also match up calves with their mothers (mothering up) once all are numbered and tagged. There is certainly no time for more grocery shopping mid-week…
Today is cooking-up day and preparing the tags and tools and getting a mountain of folding sorted out so we have some work clothes!
Our fingers are all crossed that the weather holds off for about five or six days to let us get the few hundred calves immunised, marked, recorded and mothered-up. School starts next week too… I have to admit, I am feeling the pressure a little at the moment.
Whenever I feel a little overwhelmed at the tasks ahead, however, I catch sight of our son…
Dash had his ‘holiday haircut’ a couple of weeks ago, when we finally made it back into town after being flooded in after Christmas. The hairdresser asked what he wanted and he shrugged (he does that a lot) so she said she’d do something a bit ‘Dash-ish’.
I was quite gobsmacked at the fabulous, complex design she came up with for him – some thought they could see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Aztec designs…
I reckoned he just needs some gel-spikes on top to look a like a pineapple…
Definitely good for a smile.
21 Comments
Lori
I love the haircut. I won’t let my boys see the pictures- because they will want one just like it. Since I cut their hair it would deffinately NOT turn out that nice.
Jayne
Floods happening down here now, ground soaked and cutting off most major highways all over the shop.
Love Dash’s hair 🙂
Jayne´s last blog post ..When the Darling flood waters hit the Murray
Nancy in Iowa
Your work never ends! Guess that’s what life is all about. I would never have imagined such a haircut on young Dash, but you know – it’s really pretty amazing! Don’t tell him I said this, but what’s he going to do when it starts really growing out?
ellie k
about how many head of cattle do you run on the ranch? I do like Dash in his new hair cut, he is so grown up.
Jane
Did Mr Incredible get one too?
Bush Babe
LOL – not yet Jane!!!
A Novel Woman
Love the haircut, LOVE it! What fun. He’ll look back on that photo and laugh about it when he’s older and he’ll be grateful for parents who supported such creativity and whimsy!
It’s a lovely bit of lightheartedness in the midst of all that bad news coming out of your country.
A Novel Woman´s last blog post ..Better than Vitamin C
Colin (HB)
Oh Dear! Well I am sure the your husband WILL NOT follow suit with that haircut!!!
Looks like big cattle jobs coming up and I hope the weather holds for you to do it all. E-mail access again down here in Brisbane, pretty annoying, but a “piffle” compared to those who have no homes etc. So I sure ain’t complaining. If you could under the present circumstances BB, just stop the “automatic” updates to me via e-mail on your blog. Thanks. When it went off for 2 days before and then came back for 18 hours, I spent almost an hour clearing and deleting e-mails.
Best of luck with the cattle activities and favourable weather.
Cheers
Colin (HB)
Bush Babe
Just so everyone knows – Dash usually gets a slightly wild hairdo each school holidays (early) and it gets cut out in time for school (he’s normally a short-back-and-sides dude). It’s a little bit of fun for a short time.
🙂
BB
debby
Dylan was a short hair kind of dude when he was small. He had curls that he hated, and he wanted no truck with that. It was the hardest thing to try to explain to the stylists. I’d say, “just a regular haircut. Trim up the sides, etc. etc. One time the girl didn’t get it (for some reason, everyone thought he should have spikes). I said, “Okay. You know Lassie and his little boy, Timmy? He wants Timmy’s hair.” The girl said, “What’s Lassie and Timmy?” I said, “An old television program.” The girl said, “I never saw it.” I squinted and said, “Are you sure that you’re old enough to wield scissors so close to someone else’s face?” I actually thought I was funny. She chose to be offended. I shut up.
debby´s last blog post ..How a Bill becomes a Law
Bush Babe
Kids these days… no sense of humour!!
🙂
BB
diane
love the DO! that is great!!!!
diane´s last blog post ..10 in 10 for 10 – Day Eight- Through The Looking Glass
gramps
Please excuse my ignorance, but what are “smokos”??????
Bush Babe
Morning tea and afternoon tea – used to be a ‘smoke break’ time I suppose, and got shortened (as does everything in Oz) to smoko. Doesn’t involve cigarettes for anyone here though!
🙂
Leenie
Hope the cattle branding goes smooth. Laughed out loud at your pineapple comment!
Leenie´s last blog post ..NOT JUST BULL
Lydia
I hope all goes well with the branding! Love the haircut, how fun is that!!!
Linda
Our grandson loves to do something “different” with his hair every summer. So seeing the art work on your son was not a surprise but a delight.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Linda´s last blog post ..62 and Grateful
Kate
Could that kid get any cuter? Love his crazy hair! And good luck with working the cattle…and the weather…sounds like you are crazy busy.
Kate´s last blog post ..me- me- me
Pencil Writer
Cute post, Dash being his “dashing good self” and all. As the rest have stated, good luck with the cattle work ahead. I pray no one else gets stuck, bogged, slogged, muddied up and all that.
Oh, and thanks for the 2.5 inches of rain we received yesterday. I knew you’d understand my request for it–as a way to help us both out! lol!
jeanie
Wow – that is even fancier than the last – good on you!!
jeanie´s last blog post ..High and dry
A Cajun Down Under
Love it! Laughing about the pineapple. That’s exactly what it looks like to me. Been thinking of you in all this wet. Stay dry!
A Cajun Down Under´s last blog post ..Touristy Tuesdays- Featherdale Wildlife Park