2011: It's a Wrap

Our 2011 started as a wet one.  Thankfully, unaffected by floods which encompassed much of our state, we enjoyed 195mm of glorious rain in January, though with all roads to our local town cut other than our own, a toilet paper deficiency was our greatest concern.

Mangoes were enjoyed,

and kids spent the final days of their school holidays playing in freshly filled dams.

A combination of flooded creeks and impassable bogs, saw us walk fat cows from Chabo to the neighbour's yards to make the first kill of the year.

My four returned to school, Years 1, 3, 5 and 7, the final year they'd all be together.

Don't get me started.

February was not so wet (67 mm only).  In line with my attempts to fill lunchboxes with only home-baked morsels,

I seemed to spend a lot of time in my kitchen.

My two big girls

were presented with leadership roles at school, making their parents very proud.

Jessie turned 10, and as we do

we celebrated with cake.

March was our wettest month of the year (259mm) and we welcomed pig-a-lets.

The local show ball was held

with a black and white theme.
The most exciting news of April was our deal on "Bottle Tree", a beautiful Buffel block adjoining my parents' property "Chabo".   With plans to move there in early 2015, we will spend the next few years readying Rock Wallaby for sale.

Both Interhouse and Interschool Sports Carnivals were held in May.

Has anyone heard the saying "big fish in a little pond"?

We'll enjoy it while we can.

A lot of time was spent at Bottle Tree with cattle to be cross-branded

and creeks to be explored.

Wallace learnt to drive in June,

we preg-tested

and the big girl turned twelve.

Some weaning took place in July, of both the porcine

and bovine varieties,

and the vege garden continued to thrive.

In August we headed to Brisbane for the Ekka

to offer Dad moral support while he judged the Brahmans,

and this baby of mine turned seven.

How does it happen.

September heralds the start of calving, with these little tykes popping up all over,

some prettier than others.

Molasses was fed to calving cows, with no rain falling during September, October or November.

I completed the Couch to 5K running program and found a new love.

Bull sales came and went in October with our sale results very pleasing in what was a rather volatile year for the beef industry.



Both Mama Pig and Socks provided us with another round of piglets,

nineteen in total.  If only our calving rate was so high.

I celebrated

yet another birthday.

While we enjoyed Melbourne Cup festivities

on the first Tuesday of November, our big girl was in town participating in a 'residential transition period' at her boarding school in readiness for next year.

Don't get me started.

We enjoyed an Interhouse Swimming Carnival,

welcomed some new steeds

and this big brute, whose stay was rather short-lived.

We made what felt like a ton of pork sausages

and wished that pig had never arrived.

The kids spoilt Matthew and I on our sixteenth wedding anniversary

and made us feel particularly blessed.

Which brings us to December,

a time of birthdays for big and little boys in this family, as well as Christmas celebrations and a little fishing,

and a little branding thrown in.

And as this last day of this year comes to an end, I can hear kids on pushbikes laughing, the old dozer rattling over some suckers in the horse paddock, and I can smell sticky pork ribs in the oven.
Life's sweet.
Wishing everybody a wonderful 2012.  We're ready.