Whilst we have a postcard pretty white weatherboard house complete with pink climbing rose wrapping the veranda, life in the country isn’t all freshly laid eggs and homemade jams. Life and death is much more obvious when you have animals and when you are surrounded by them too. Whereas it’s easy to buy steak when it’s all cut and packaged in the supermarket its much harder when you see the young steers that have been grazing in your back paddock for the last few months being rounded up to take to market. The reality is making me feel more and more guilty about eating beef as cows have to be one of the loveliest animals. They are so quiet, gentle and curious and often playful and they have the most divine eyelashes – none of which helps my meat-eating dilemma!

Our lane is surrounded in a horse shoe shape by a farm, previously a dairy farm, and now more for grazing the young cows to get some good fodder into them before they become Mums (or steak). For the past few months we have been driving up and down our lane where there is a mature bull on both sides, each with their own ‘girls’ to look after. They make me laugh as they both stand right at the fence opposite each other pawing the earth and stamping their feet and letting out the odd bellow. Just typical male bravado I’m sure as they both seem perfectly happy with their lot. They may even be brothers just doing what brothers do? Or perhaps they are akin to human neighbours just hanging over the fence gossiping about what’s happening in the lane! Their whole life is about eating and reproducing and hanging out with the herd – no deep philosophizing or goal setting for them, although I’m sure there is a basic sense of being happy or unhappy especially when the weather is revolting. The farmers are good, checking on them and always one step ahead of us if we notice something wrong and let them know. Farmers mostly all really love their animals and try to ensure they have the best possible life.

Today we woke up at dawn to the strident crowing of a rooster. It was prior to 5am and NOT my favourite way of waking up. It also sounded VERY close and as neither us or our immediate neighbours have a rooster we were perplexed. Then around the corner swaggered a HUGE rooster crowing to all and sundry to announce his presence and we realised we had an interloper! After checking with all the people in the lane to see if they had lost a rooster it seems apparent that he may have been the subject of a “dumping”. Our neighbour saw a car come down our end of the lane last night at 9pm with no lights on which is always concerning but it seemed to leave within a couple of minutes so she didn’t worry until this morning with the arrival of Foghorn Leghorn and she put two and two together. Sadly there are always a surfeit of roosters in our area and people are always trying to give them away. Unless you want baby chicks they are far too much hard work as far as I’m concerned. The noise is the number one factor and also they can become a bit aggressive (as with our Atticus back in the day). This chap was bigger than the little one year old next door and she was understandably scared. He was very friendly, running up to us and even climbing up the stairs onto our deck! Poor bugger has no idea what has happened to him, there are little groups of rogue chickens and roosters up and down the coast and in the odd paddock or park that somehow seem to survive but it’s all a bit ad hoc and not very kind if they have always been fed by humans and then just left to get on with it in the outside world. A quick message to a few of my chook lovers but no one was up for a new rooster so we’ll just see where he ends up in the next day or two which may govern his fate…..with chickens and cows it is always best to be born female…..

One of the loveliest parts of being in a country community is the local agricultural show which happens here at the beginning of February every year. A chance for the locals to show off their equestrian skills, their best cows, sheepdogs and poultry as well as their woodchopping skills and the perennial favourite with the kids – the petting nursery full of the cutest baby animals. Of course a show wouldn’t be complete without sideshow alley with its games and rides and fast food treats and plenty of scones and jam, tea and beer to keep everyone else happy! The Pavilion gives everyone a chance to show off their produce – flowers, cakes, fruit and veg and art. For the second year running I entered a couple of art pieces (seen at the top right) but no luck this year, however I enjoyed the challenge and the two winners were worthy recipients (bottom right).

The weekend prior was Australia Day and as we had the grandsons down for the weekend we went BIG – proudly wearing Aussie tattoos and flags big and small as we trotted off to the Showground where Rotary were putting on an Australia Day breakfast. The band played and there were some great old fashioned games – hoopla with horseshoes, gumboot throwing and the old ‘throw the balls into the clown’s mouth’! Fun for young and old before heading home for a swim and an icecream – how much more Aussie can you get?

The week prior to that we had Cooper to stay as he was finally deemed old enough to stay with us solo and we had a wonderful week together! Having the grandkids one on one is so different when they are not vying for attention with their sibling or in cahoots with them or fighting with them! He was the best little house guest and we had lots of adventures together. Beach trips, feeding the horses, Lego and playing Mousetrap (who remembers that game from being a kid?) fishing and driving with Papa, movies with Rara, swimming in the pool (the side breathing is coming along nicely) and bathing and walking Bailey, the skate park and icecreams and pizza all made for lots of fun and we look forward to having each of them here solo at some stage.

A couple of BIG birthdays were celebrated and we love that Sydney is now coming down to the coast rather than the other way around! Some Sydney friends rented a great house in Gerringong and we had a lovely dinner at Bangalay at Shoalhaven Heads to celebrate our girls 70th.We are grateful for friends where you can just pick up from whenever you last saw them no matter how long ago that was and grateful that we are all still here to celebrate together!

The other birthday was celebrated at our friends lovely house with people from all their different eras bound by a mutual fondness for the birthday boy and family. Looking across the fields as the sun went down listening to good music, eating delicious paella and enjoying new friends was another moment to savour – we are so lucky to be living this country life!

So it is that the summer of 2024 is coming to an end. We’ve had a lovely mix of travel and family and friends and enjoying our little part of the world. Its been hot, then wet and then hot again so the poor MOTH has been kept VERY busy mowing his lawns and we’re quite glad that things should start slowing down soon as Autumn approaches. Good timing as he is having a knee replacement in a month and will be out of play for a while. Despite being in the country we have a couple of wonderful hospitals near us and many Sydney doctors do a couple of days down here a month giving locals lots of choice and a relief that we don’t have to go to Sydney and be away from our familiar things and animals to receive treatment. We really do have the best of both worlds!