A Foggy Morning in Paradise

The dogs and I, and sometimes DH, go for a walk every morning.  On this morning it was a particularly beautiful walk as the fog formed a glorious halo around everything.  My labrador, Hudson, was very photogenic in this shot.  He and Lily (the collie) are forever searching for little lizards in the long grass, and they bound along in front of us sniffing at everything.  DH says the dogs are "reading the mail".

We walk about three kilometres and it takes us about half an hour.  If I have the camera with me it takes an hour!  We walk as far as the paddock we call Two Tree.  This photo most certainly depicts the name of the paddock.  The two trees are dead and they are huge.  When we muster this paddock we are very careful not to got too close to them for fear that one day they might just fall over!

This is a photo of the dam below the house.  I don't usually take a photo of this because we have high voltage power lines running right behind the dam but this morning, thankfully, you couldn't see them because of all the fog.

A most beautiful flower.....

This is what it looks like before it opens....nondescript

About a month ago, a friend gave me a cutting for my garden.  She said that it was a very rare ginger and the flower had a lovely perfume.  You can imagine my utter joy and astonishment when this magnificent flower emerged.  It is one of the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen and the perfume is  wonderfully heady.   I simply had to cut the flower and bring it inside so that I could enjoy both the flower and the perfume that wafts through the house.

My arrangement

And this is what it opens out to.....Mother Nature at it's incredible best!

Dog Wash Cafe

It's that time of the month again... dog wash day!  As soon as our border collie "Lily" sees the shampoo bottle she puts her tail between her legs.  She looks so forlorn, but the strangest thing is that once we start lathering her up she gets this wonderful look of contentment on her face, ahhhhhh!    

Lily is a working dog.
When the quad bike starts up she jumps on behind DH and away they go to muster the cattle.  She understands most  commands but likes being at the back of the mob or "tail".  It is a rarity to find a dog that likes to go to the lead of a mob of cattle, but most working dogs can be trained for to do that. It just takes patience!






Our other dog is "Hudson", a much loved golden labrador.  He is my dog and extremely loyal.  I take, or rather he takes me, for a long walk each morning.  Sometimes, if DH is also walking, Lily tags along but as she is very loyal to DH  she is wherever he is.
Bath time for Hudson is extremely enjoyable.  The only time he moves is if you get water near his ears.....he doesn't like that much.

To Market To Market

The Malanda Showground Saleyard

We sell our cull weaner heifers and steers at around 12 months of age.  This is a premium market plus I love the fact that they are going to someone else to fatten before being sold to the butcher.  I have always disliked fattening an animal for a couple of years and then having to say goodbye to it.  Yes, I'm a softie! Our market for the weaners is at Malanda on the Atherton Tablelands up here in tropical north Queensland.  We take them over to Malanda the day before the sale to allow them to be feed. watered and to settle.  The day of the market they are brought into the arena, a pen at a time, for the bidding to begin.  Our breed of cattle are Droughtmaster, and they are well liked on the tablelands for their ability to fatten at a fast rate. We were happy with the sale results, but then again quiet cattle always bring a premium.

This is a photo of some of our weaner steers - "the boys"