Nathan & Deb's - Learning about farm life

Today Nathan had to round up some of the cattle - so he set off on horseback with the working dogs clipping at his heals, and Chris, Deb, me and the kids followed behind in the car. We were very excited about watching him herd the cattle and watching the dogs work. Jack had lots of questions - so it was a good thing that Deb was in the car with us to answer them all.

The cattle were spread out throughout a couple of paddocks, so it took a bit of time, and a lot of bumps in the car to lead them all back to the yard. Once they were back at the yard, Nathan separated the ones he wanted to brand and castrate. It was at this point that I thought I had seen enough of the "farm life", so Lexie and I headed into Bileola with Deb and Cassidy to do some shopping.

On our return I asked Chris how it all went and whether the boys watched it or not. He said they watched it all and Jack even had thousands of questions about it all - of course - he is the original "how?" and "why?" kid. The cattle were put into a machine that would close in on them on both sides and then flip the cattle on their side - therefore making it easier to brand and castrate. Jack was amazed when Nathan started and then flicked this round looking thing on the ground. "What's that Dad?" asked Jack. Now Chris puzzled over this question for a minute or two - should he just tell Jack what it was or should he change the story slightly so it didn't sound so bad - he decided to tell him straight. "It's his nuts" he told Jack - who surprisingly only shrugging his shoulders and continuing to stare at it. "Pick it up and throw it to the dog", Chris then suggested, not really thinking Jack would do it - but he did. The dog loved it and Jack let out a big "yuck".

Logan was not as interested as Jack in the castrating - which I could understand - so instead he found something else to amuse himself. He had found a long stick and was getting lots of enjoyment out of poking the cow paddies with it. Chris said he would poke it and laugh, poke it and laugh. "I'm not really sure what is so funny about cow paddies but he was certainly enjoying it" he said. At one point he even called out "Jack, come and look at this" - he would show Jack how he poked it and both the boys would fall into hesterics. Chris said he even ended up laughing at the boys laughing at poking the cow paddies.

In the next couple of days, Lexie's dream came true - she got to have a ride on Harley the horse. She was so excited she could hardly stand still. Chris lifted her up into the saddle and Nathan led the horse around the yard. She looked so little sitting on top of this huge horse - but she was grinning from ear to ear. All the kids had a turn at having a ride.

It had been great fun seeing Nathan and Deb again as it had been years since we had last seen them. I know the kids had lots of fun on the farm too, but our time here had come to an end. We had to pack up and head of to see more of the country. So we said our goodbyes and we were off again to the next adventure.