Horses enjoying the morning sun
I got an email the other day advertising Tom Curtain’s ‘Why we live out here’ regional tour and it got me thinking about where I live and why, out of all places, do we live here?
Stillness…
I live here for the stillness that can only be found close to nature. The peace and quiet that comes with being tucked away at the end of the dirt road. The magpie is our alarm clock, and the responding bird song is just one of the sounds that exist to remind us that nature is waking up just as we are. It should be noted however that sometimes there are other sounds that can cut through in the stillness of the morning. Like when the dogs have caught the scent of something and are barking relentlessly; the frogs croaking in anticipation of the rain or my personal favourite… the chickens crowing about their egg laying prowess! Then it can feel like we are witness to an orchestra of sounds, letting us know that another day has begun. The wind whistling through the trees, the low rumble of thunder from an approaching storm – these are just some of the instruments that are the soundtrack of being out in the bush that we are able to hear. Pausing for a moment in your day to listen for the pit-a-patter of raindrops on the roof even before you glance out the window. There are so many sights and sounds to fill your senses, and peace and quiet may not even be the right term as sometimes when you are in those moments of stillness you realise just how much is happening at any one time. Yet it never seems rushed or hurried, never forced, never fake…it is just real and rich in experience; and comforting in its honesty.
Wide Open Spaces
Wide open spaces are another thing about being here that I will never get enough of! To see endless vistas of pasture and bushland stretched out before your eyes is something I feel grateful for every day. To see our cattle roaming in search of their favourite grasses, the horses charging around to shake off the cool of the morning, to watch my kids head off into nature to play and explore…there is nothing like it. Space seems to generate so many possibilities, like it gives us the freedom to try new things, explore new places and to imagine. To allow your eyes to travel over the vastness of the land around you is quite humbling and makes you realise that you are just a small of part of a whole.
No two sunsets are alike
The abundance of animals
The ability and opportunity to interact with all different kinds of animals on a daily basis. Animals bring so much joy and wonder to the world. Here at the farm, we are lucky to be blessed with so many different types of animals that there are so many chances to encounter them. Seeing lambs frolic in the spring sun is to know true joy😊 There is a resident frogmouth owl that lives in our garden and each night you find him silently observing the darkness from a different spot, but he always swivels in your direction and seems to be able to see so much more than just your silhouette. Often there are pairs of wedgetail eagles soaring overhead enjoying the ebbs and flows of the wind…until they all of a sudden plummet towards the earth having spotted their prey. Birds love to catch a ride on the horses back biding their time till something tasty is unearthed and enormous flocks of cockatoos are far more adept than I am at knowing when the fruit on the trees is ready! Though I must admit that my heart still stops when I see the silver gold glint of a brown snake warming itself in the sun! Yet, last year I think I somehow came to an understanding with a red belly black snake though. He seemed very fond of our garden and seemed to take great pleasure in giving me a heart attack whenever I would unsuspectingly come across him. However, he seemed to get the idea that I was just as equally fond of my garden and would lift his head and we would look at each other for a while and then he would glide away to find a new spot for the rest of the day, which I suppose if you think about it was really quite thoughtful.
The cycles of life…
To live so closely to nature, you get to witness the different seasons and cycles of life. The biting crispness of the frost like a white blanket over the landscape, that usually is followed by the warmth of the winter sun. As it creeps over the frozen landscape the earth sparkles like diamonds as you crack through the layer of ice covering the troughs so stock can have a drink. Though perhaps not quite so magical when it freezes the pipes and causes them to burst! One of the best sights from our verandah is to see the rain making its way across the valley and seeing the pasture stand a little taller, waiting in anticipation of what is to come. When the sun goes down at the end of a hot summer’s day and all of us (plants and animals included) take respite from the harsh of the day and usually get out to get some more jobs done…making use of every ounce of day light. There is something lovely about connecting with nature in this way as you can start to see how we are all connected and that your home goes beyond the extent of the walls of your house.
The dark…
It gets dark here and that is ok. Out here there are no streetlights or lit-up building signs to stop the place from being covered in darkness at night. My kids have no hesitation going out in the inky blackness to check on the dogs or get something, as for them, home includes outside and they know where they are going…most of the time! Contrast can be found even in the night sky, from the pitch black, to the illumination from the Milky Way, right through to the full moon where you can see as plain as day. That is not to say that I have not had my fair share of frights in the dark though…one time I was heading down to the shed in the middle of the night when all of a sudden, I felt something push on my shoulders. I am not ashamed to admit that the sounds that came from my mouth would have woken the dead. Only once I stopped screaming did I discover the culprit (who at this point was just as terrified as me), to be our large dog Jack, who was merely just excited to see me and had jumped up for a pat!
So many different animals call this place home
Morning tea…
Morning tea baking. It doesn’t always happen depending on what is going on, but usually we fit morning tea into our schedule every day. It is a great time to sit down for 10-15 minutes with a cup of tea and check in with each other about how things are going, what we need to plan for, what still needs doing, reminders, the weather (of course) and how everyone is going. Morning tea always involves some sort of delightful baking treat and this in itself is a great reason to carve out some time in the kitchen. Usually in one of my great grandmother’s aprons, to fill the cake tins with tried-and-true slices, experimental biscuits and everyone’s favourite cakes! Flexibility is one of the many things I love about living on the land and being able to have this time for planning, to catch up and refuel for the rest of the day is definitely a highlight. You would be amazed what a piece of chocolate weetbix slice can do for a day of chipping burrs in the summer!
The surprises…
The unexpected of each day. Generally speaking, there are jobs that need to happen – each day, each week and each season on a property and while this can be comforting in its consistency, it is by no means routine, as there are often unexpected things that happen. These things can vary from scary, like when one of the horses decides the best way to get to the other horses is to go through the fence. Amusing, like when Boots (one of our working dogs) decided to jump onto the back of the side by side, got too excited and instead shot straight over it completely. Disappointing when all the signs and forecasts are showing rain and it just won’t come. Satisfying, seeing pastures rippling in the breeze. Frustrating, particularly when it seems like everything you are doing or attempting to fix just isn’t working. Rewarding, like just the other day we managed to save both mum and baby when one of the heifers was having trouble calving. There are so many random things that can happen, and so many of them out of our control, that we often need to have Plan A, B, C…….all the way to Z. While this may sound like a nightmare, I like to think that instead it teaches us to be adaptable, to do the best we can with the cards that we are dealt. There is so much capacity to learn and grow and often it is the rabbit holes that present themselves that give us a chance to learn something different or cause us to stop and look at how we are doing things.
The Mulla Mulla Creek runs through a section of the property
It’s our home…
I could go on and on about what it means to me to live out here on the farm, but at the end of the day, this place is our home. It is a feeling of belonging and connectedness that no words could ever adequately articulate. We have experienced so much… from bustling family gatherings which always involve too much food and stunning seasons where the grass grows before your eyes. To watching the landscape disintegrate during the drought and watching raging floods tear across the landscape. Here, dreams are made, inspired, dashed, broken and then reworked and rebuilt. There is barely a section of the farm that does not invoke a memory or form part of a story. This place is so much a part of the narrative that is who we are, what we do and our history. The land reminds us of where we’ve been, lets us know where we are and shows us where we are headed. It is part of us, and we are part of it.