Sale-oh! Sale-oh!

What a month it has been! Travelling, lobbying, partying, planning, listing, selling…  so much to catch up on, here on the blog.

But last things first…

This last weekend was our bull sale – and when I say bull sale, I really mean BULL SALE!  Because, unlike previous years, 2018 saw us hold an on-property sale offering the ‘cream of the crop’ (aka the best of our sale bulls) all in one location. (Usually we take small lots of bulls around to various multi-vendor sales.)

As you might imagine, this major event created quite a bit of work – both in the paddock, and in the office.  I took care of most of the office stuff – with some photography thrown in!  This screenshot gives you a small overview of the work involved.

Imagine EACH of those bull photos took around half an hour to shoot – with many ‘not quite there’ images discarded like confetti along the way. Then imagine about an hour’s editing for each (working on backgrounds, not bulls, I should hasten to point out!).  Then you need to make sure the pedigree, the scans, the facts and the figures on each bull is correct and ready to catalogue. Times that by 40.

Yep.  No blogging for me lately.  It’s been all about the bulls.

This guy was part of the sale – you might recall ‘Moonshine’ from the post I did on Beef 2018?

He’s a massive (and I mean MASSIVE, at 984 kg) pet.  Violet has been quite devoted to him … and if we are all honest, everyone here loves our Moonshine snuggles.

The undisputed star of the show, however, was this dude…

‘Memphis’.  AKA ‘The King – all ‘attitude plus’! Less about the cuddles, more about the devotion from a reasonable distance. He’s quiet enough, and doesn’t mind a scratch, but he believes he owns the joint.

He was our cover boy for the catalogue too… and our advertising.

Blimmin’ poser! Creating the catalogue was a whole ‘nother blog post but if you want to see the finished product, you can check it out here. We think it was a pretty good first effort, and I was lucky to have a great graphic designer to work with.

The fortnight before the sale was a bit of a blur. As inferred at the top of this post, I may have over-committed myself a tad in August.  And despite a gazillion excellent lists, and some incredible help from my cousin and the son of a friend, we were frantically busy right up until gates opened Saturday morning.

Designing layouts, moving portable panels into place, tidying up yards, trying to revive frosted trees, planting flowers in planter boxes, feeding bulls, photographing and videoing bulls for social media updates, cooking, making beds for our dozen helpers, more cooking etc etc.  Not to mention our regular work and dealing with a very dry season!

Then, all-too-soon, it was sale time!

This is how our working yards scrubbed up – gorgeous wattle arrangements by my aunt and neighbour, Bron.  So clever! She spread her great work around and lifted the vibe of the place.  My uncle helped Dash shovel sand in the sale ring.  How lucky are we, with such great support?

You never know if people will actually turn up at these events – many say they will, and then cannot. Some don’t commit and then roll up.  And as drought is affecting so much of this side of the country at the moment, we kept our expectations low.

It was a relief when we saw lots of dust trails coming along our paddock roads, and were delighted with the resulting roll-up of around 100.

All the bulls were pretty happy, with heaps of straw to lie on, hay to eat, water to drink, and humans to watch. Heh!

Then it was ‘Sale-oh Sale-oh!’ time (the call the auctioneer puts out to bring people to the sale ring to commence the selling).

How amazing is this auctioneer’s box?  Created by my husband in the days leading up to the event.  Note the wattle at the base of the corrugated iron.  That is Moonshine in the ring. He loved the sand (as did all the boys, who frolicked around in it like calves!).

Ever seen a tonne of beef frolic? Quite a sight, I can tell you!

It’s weird and exciting and scary and a bit sad watching people bid on animals you have put so very much effort, energy and care into –  I distracted myself by taking iPhone panoramas.  Nice crowd. Nice bull. Pretty cute owner at right.  Nice people bidding in the middle.

Sold. Sold. Sold…

This is a darling young bull called Nugget – he will head out to his new owner at Julia Creek.  I hope they remember to give him the odd cuddle. 😉

After the ‘Live’ auction (with the auctioneer calling bids as bulls get sold one-by-one through a ring) we held the ‘Helmsman’ part of the sale.  This sees all (remaining) bulls up for sale at the same time, with people offering bids at anytime on whatever bull they like.  All bids are placed on a whiteboard beside the lot numbers, and replaced when a higher bid comes in on that animal. It’s lower tempo, but buyers seem to like it because it allows them to consider their purchases and change lots if the bull they are bidding on goes out of their price range.

It was great to see faces familiar and new, and especially great to see our neighbours – amazing how long we can go between catch-ups.  Months at a time can pass without catching sight of each other.

This is Mark with our over-the-river neighbours (young couple, standing) who are expecting a new addition in a few months (exciting!) and our through-the-fence neighbour, Max (who is 102 years old!).

Of course, we fed everyone too.  Lots of baking, lots of sausage rolls, lots of steak burgers…

We also celebrated Mum’s birthday – eighty years young! Such an amazing lady – a city girl who took to the bush and became a great advocate for the cattle industry, as well as an amazing co-studmaster with Dad.  She is a quiet achiever who deserved all the cheers she got from the crowd.

Just love this photo of her laughing (after she FINALLY blew the candles out) with Dad grinning in the background.

It was great to finally relax after the sale – this selfie shows part of our crew who made all the hard work feel like fun!

Workmates, friends, rellies, kids – a fabulous bunch.

Dash and his mate Jeff (left)… 16 going on 36.  Couldn’t have done it without them both!!

Not forgetting my amazing sister (who cooked the YUMMIEST chili and pepper sauces for the day and worked tirelessly in the ‘kitchen’ area). And her girls, who were invaluable with greeting, serving and fetching stuff all day long.  Who can spot the crazy BBQ lady with the steak in the background? My marvelous mate Viv, who has more energy than the ever-ready bunny (this is NOT an exaggeration!).

We are so blessed.

This is Mark and I, on the conclusion of the sale.  We tried to thank everyone – I hope we remembered most businesses and people who stepped up and helped us out…

We were both SO weary afterwards… can you tell?

I need to point out that, as we went over results late Saturday afternoon, we did not actually eat ALL this platter of nibbles!! There were another dozen people around us, handily cropped out of pic!

Of course, that’s not the end of the story… Mark has spent most of this week behind the wheel of our truck, delivering bulls to new homes.  He has around 2500 km under his belt and he’s ready for a ‘normal’ week of work I think.  He has definitely decided he doesn’t want to be a truckie, after all.

It’s been great and a bit bittersweet seeing each bull off.  Violet shed tears for her Moonshine (I have negotiated visiting rights with the new owners!).  And we had to get a decent photo of our top-price sale bull… Memphis, of course!

He really didn’t want to play ball the day before he left… deciding a bit more ‘frolicking in the sand’ was required.

He can MOOOOVE like Jagger (or at least like he’s not 975 kg!).

We finally coaxed him into position in front of the sign with a little bit of hay.

Bull into position. Check.

Husband posing correctly… not quite!

Eventually…

CHECK-CHECK!

All-in-all it was a great day.  A great week.

I am still recovering to be honest… and vowing to lose some weight so my stamina improves!  But, despite both needing a holiday, we are already planning the next one.

Lists, my friends, are being made.

🙂