The day has finally arrived.....

The day that Albert Einstein feared has finally arrived! Having coffee with friends. A day at the beach. Cheering on your team. Having dinner out with your friends. Out on an intimate date. Having a conversation with your BFF A visit to the museum Enjoying the sights     That day has arrived…… "copied from an email....no copyright infringement meant. ~ jackyrelle"

Just Mucking round

My version of saddle boy,
Played on a Blueridge Guitar, with no pickup or mic.
Comments welcome.

Turned up like a bad penny...lol

No I haven't fallen off the face of the earth... just been busy & slacking at posting....anyway back for now :) 

Through May & June, I was working to jobs in town plus helping on the farm,

1 was a 6 week contract entering data etc, in an office,

the other was deli assistant at an iga supermarket, which I recently quit after 16 months....time for a change,

Currently I'm unemployed and on the job hunt, and am also enrolling in "Certificate II in Animal Studies" as a stepping stone to the goal of being a Veterinary Nurse....

In other words we had good rain this last month of June tallying out at 156.5 mls or approx 6" inchs,

exceptional rain for winter,

Jasper is growing up now just a touch over 12 months....still a mad crazy pup at the moment though,

 The other dogs are doing well, Sheena, Snow & Candy.

                                                     

With the absence of Roxy who is now sleeping peacefully. 

Jardine & the Cows are all going well, no resent photos, I should get some soon.
these two blog posts introduce the cows & last years calves,
animal-introduction-no-2-cows.  the calves
Of Currently I'm milking Lozzy, who is also rearing her bull calf Flashie, & Bugsie's heifer calf Priscilla.

In the photos below, we have Flashie, (Black & White Steer, ) & Priscilla (Red & White Heifer) with Lozzy,  Priscilla is our first Guernsey x Jersey heifer

              

We sold Bugsie & Rosy some months back, as neither were performing good enough, bugsie wasn't making enough milk to rear her own calf, let alone anything else, but she was as fat as.....

Dasiy is due to calve this month, and at a guess, I'd say twins again.

Lucy & Toffee are Due to calve in Jan 13

Twinkie & Heidie are cute as ever :-)

    

 

Think that probably sums it all up for now....catch ya round :-)  

Lest We Forget.... Anzac Day 2012

Warning - Caution - Notice

Farm Kids

Warning-One kid's 4-H dairy project can and will accelerate the aging process of the parents by several years.

Caution-Farm kids' clothes pockets will be filled with straw, bugs, bolts, mud, live frogs, and cow teeth. 

Notice-Farm kids will learn lessons and work ethics on the farm that money can't buy and these will mold their character forever.

Farm Dogs

Warning-This dog rolls in all road kills and eats cow patties for dessert.

Notice-You've never experienced loyalty until you receive it from a farm dog.

Farmers

Warning-Approach with caution after wet weather in the spring has kept him out of the fields for a week. Especially if he has 300 acres of corn left to plant.

Warning-Failure to feed at regular intervals causes irritation.

Caution-This man cannot coordinate clothing unless John Deere green and farm product logos are involved.

Notice-When a farmer says economize this does not mean a moratorium on machinery purchases. What it does mean is stop making so many long distance calls to the kids and let's not buy the TV Guide at the grocery anymore.

Farm livestock

Caution-These animals will escape confinement on a regular basis. Be prepared for the chase.

Warning-City kids who visit will fall in love with your farm animals.

Farming

Caution-Farming will bring frustrations with weather, markets, livestock and constant interruptions.

Notice-Farming is addictive. Once you're hooked, you wouldn't trade it for anything.

Country Music Tour, March 2012

Country / Bush Balladeer Music Tour in Queensland & New South Wales

With Golden Guitar Winners,  Dean Perrett & Jeff Brown! 

Don't miss it, if you like aussie country or bush ballad music..... this is true blue!
www.deanperrett.com  www.jeffbrown.com.au 

Facing The Parting

Snow hasn't been very well lately, &  I have a hunch that her age is catching up on her, only time will tell. 

But in the mean time, it's brought the parting very near, 

and with it the question of weather we should make the move to put her at rest, 

She is a least 14yo maybe older, we were sold her as a 6 month old pup, 

but experience with Maremma's has told us that she was at least 2yo when we got her,  

She is a dog that I have been very close to, & she has been by my side through a lot of hard & painful experience's. 

Hence the poem that I put together just now, 

Facing The Parting

As I stood by your side, at the crack of dawn,

And watched while it swiftly brightened to morn.

I pondered the question, of what I should do?

Of would be the best for you?

Should I hasten the blow? That I know has to fall!

The one that someday will fall on us all!

Snow, your gaze chills me with very fear,

As you try to tell me, what I don't want to hear.

12 years of my 20 you've been my complete pride,

 12 years you've stood steadily by my side.

Through every test that we've faced 

And every hill and gully, where we've paced.

There is a bend ahead in the road,

That we must walk together.

No matter how heavy be the load,  

For it's a bend that'll part us forever. 

To me, you have always been true,

And now it is my turn to stand by you,

Snow,

How can I? How can I?

Take the step that I fear to take

Yet what I feel is best for you?

Dedicated to Snow, My sweet maremma dog

Australia Day 2012

Happy Australia Day!!!  

Below is a collection of songs by slim dusty that are a fitting tribute to Australia Day & tell the story as it is. 

Waltzing Matilda  -Slim Dusty-

Australia Is His Name  -Slim Dusty-

She'll Be Right Mate -Slim Dusty-

Give it a go mate -Slim Dusty-

G'day G'day -Slim Dusty-

We've Done Us Proud -Slim Dusty-

A Picture Of Home -Slim Dusty-

Australia Day  is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of New Holland.

Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808, with the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales held in 1818. It is presently an official public holiday in every state and territory of Australia and is marked by the presentation of the Australian of the Year Awards on Australia Day Eve, announcement of the Honours List for the Order of Australia and addresses from the Governor-General and Prime Minister. With community festivals, concerts and citizenship ceremonies the day is celebrated in large and small communities and cities around the nation. Australia Day has become the biggest annual civic event in Australia.

(Info Copied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Day) 

Proud to be Australian

We will stand true to our country & those who settled this land & fought to keep it free!!!   

You Might Be A Farmer If

Your dog rides in the truck more than your wife 

You have driven off the road while examining your neighbour's crops

You have used a chainsaw to remodel your house 

You have buried a dog and cried like a baby

You have borrowed gravel from the country road to fill potholes in your 

driveway

You always look when a vehicle passes your house, even at night

You have used something other than paper as toilet paper 

You have animals living in buildings more expensive than your house

Your family instantly becomes silent when the weather comes on the news 

You don't bother to clean up the dog's mess because it's just fertilizer, and the dog knows to stay out of your way

Your husband drives a friend home from the bar when he only lives 3 houses away 

You have enough caps to match every shirt you own, but you only wear one so you don't get the others dirty 

You convince your wife that an overnight, out of State trip for parts is a vacation

You've never thrown away a 5 gallon bucket 

You have ever had to wash off in the backyard with a garden hose before your wife would let you in the house

You have used baling twine or barbed wire to attach a license plate 

You can remember the fertilizer rate, seed population, herbicide rate, and yields on a farm you rented 10 years ago, but cannot recall your wife's birthday

You have used a tractor with a loader as scaffolding for painting or roof repairs 

You have fibbed to a mechanic about how often you greased a piece of equipment

You've used the same knife to make bull calves into steers and peel apples 

You wave at every vehicle whether you know them or not

Your wife agrees to observe Mother's Day after the beans are planted 

Over 50% of your clothing came from feed or seed dealers

You give directions to your farm by using area landmarks, not road names or number 

You refer to farms by who owned them 50 or more years ago

You've been stopped by the cops for a cluttered dashboard 

Family weddings and special events are planned around spring planting and fall harvest

The rusted out areas of your truck are sealed off with old tee-shirts or duct tape

You can eat an ear of sweet corn with no utensils in under 20 seconds 

You can tell the difference between the smell of a piggery and the smell of a feed-lot

The meaning of true love is that you'll pose for a picture with both him and his favourite tractor 

The meaning of true love is that you'll ride in the tractor with him

You know you should listen to the weather forecast before picking out an outfit

You know cow pies aren't made of beef 

Your excuse for getting out of school is that the cows got out

You can tell it's a farmer working late in the field, know who it is, what they're doing, and not think it's a UFO 

Your nearest neighbour is in the next parish, and you know what a parish is 

When you were little, you got into a fight with another kid on school bus arguing over the colour of tractors 

Your other vehicle is a tractor

If you were given $1,000,000.00 you would keep right on farming. 

You'd farm differently, but you'd keep farming because that is who and what you are

Metric?????

A farmer goes into a store to buy chicken wire.....

Farmer: I'd like 10 yards of chicken wire.

Clerk: Haven't you heard? We've gone metric. We sell things by the meter now, not the yard.

Farmer: (Thinks about it) OK, I'd like 10 meters of chicken wire.

Clerk: Right. Is that with the half-inch or quarter-inch holes?

Farmers Wisdom

A wise old farmer went to town to buy a new pickup truck that he saw

advertised in the paper for a certain price. After telling the

salesman which truck he wanted, they set down to do the paperwork.

The salesman handed the farmer the bill, and the farmer

declared "This isn't the price I saw!". The salesman went on to tell

the old wise farmer how he was getting extras such as power steering,

power brakes, power windows, special tires, etc. and that was what

took the price up. The farmer, needing the truck badly, paid the

price and went home.

A few months later, the salesman called up the farmer and said, "My

son is in 4- H and he needs a cow for a project. Do you have any for

sale?"

The farmer replied, "Yes, I have a few cows I would sell for $500

apiece, Come and look at them and take your pick". The salesman said

he and his son would be right out.

After spending a few hours in the field checking out all the farmer's

cows, the two decided on one and the salesman proceeded to write out

a check for $500.

The farmer said------"Now wait a minute, that's not the final price

of the cow, you're getting extras with it and you have to pay for

that too".

"What extras?" asked the salesman.

Below is the list the farmer gave the salesman for the final price of

the cow,,,,,,,,,,

BASIC COW............$500.00 Two-tone exterior.........$45.00 Extra

stomach............$75.00 Product storing equipment.........$60.00

Straw compartment.....$120.00

4 spigots @$10 ea.......$40.00 Leather upholstery......$125.00 Dual

horns...................$45.00 Automatic fly swatter .$38.00

Fertilizer attachment......$185.00


GRAND TOTAL $1,233.00

Nope....Never a dull moment in Queensland :)

Never Give Up

You have not failed....until you'v failed to try.

Officials rejected a candidate for a news broadcasters post
since his voice was not fit for a news broadcaster.
He was also told that with his obnoxiously long name,
he would never be famous. He is
Amitabh Bachchan.
-----------------------------------------------

In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record audition
for the executives of the Decca Recording Company.
The executives were not impressed. While turning down this group of musicians,
one executive said, “We don’t like their sound. Groups of guitars are
on the way out.”
The group was called
The Beatles.
----------------------------------------------------------

In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book Modeling Agency
told modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker,
“You’d better learn secretarial work or else get married”.
She went on and became
Marilyn Monroe.
-----------------------------------------------------

In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry,
fired a singer after one performance. He told him,
“You ain’t goin’ nowhere son. You ought to go back to drivin’ a truck”.
He went on to become
Elvis Presley.
--------------------------------------------

A small boy–the fifth amongst seven siblings of a poor father,
was selling newspapers in a small village to earn his living.
He was not exceptionally smart at school but was
fascinated by
religion and rockets.
The first rocket he built crashed. A missile that he built crashed
multiple times
and he was made a butt of ridicule.
He is the person to have scripted the Space
Odyssey of India
single-handedly. He is
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. President of India.
--------------------------------------------------

When
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876,
it did not ring off the hook with calls from potential backers.
After making a demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said,
“That’s an amazing invention, but who would ever want to see one of them?”
-------------------------------------------------

When
Thomas Edison invented the light bulb,
he tried over 2000 experiments before he got it to work.
A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times.
He said, “I never failed once. I invented the light bulb.
It just happened to be a 2000-step process”.
----------------------------------------------------

In the 1940s, another young inventor named
Chester Carlson
took his idea to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in
the country.
They all turned him down. In 1947, after 7 long years of rejections,
he finally got a tiny company in Rochester, NY, the Haloid Company,
to purchase the rights to his invention–an electrostatic
paper-copying process.
Haloid became
Xerox Corporation.
-----------------------------------------------------

A little girl–the 20th of 22 children,
was born prematurely and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old,
she contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever,
which left her with aparalyzed left leg.
At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on
and began to
walk without it. By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk,
which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner.
She entered a race and came in last. For the next few years every
race she entered,
she came in last.
Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day she
actually won a race.
And then another. From then on she won every race she entered.
Eventually this little girl–
Wilma Rudolph, went on to win three Olympic gold medals.
-------------------------------------------------

A schoolteacher scolded a boy for not paying attention to
his mathematics
and for not being able to solve simple problems.
She told him that you would not become anybody in life.
The boy was
Albert Einstein
---------------------------------------------------

“To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did”

Telemarketers

(This is a interesting joke/story I found recently.... Tempted try something like this one of these days :d)

One thing that has always bugged me, and I'm sure it does most of you, is to sit down at the dinner table only to be interrupted by a phone call from a telemarketer.

I decided, on one such occasion, to try to be as irritating as they were to me. The call was from AT&T and it went something like this: (swallowing)

Me: Hello
AT&T: Hello, this is AT&T...
Me: Is this AT&T?
AT&T: Yes, this is AT&T...
Me: This is AT&T?
AT&T: Yes This is AT&T...
Me: Is this AT&T?
AT&T: YES! This is AT&T, may I speak to Mr. Byron please?
Me: May I ask who is calling?
AT&T: This is AT&T.
Me: OK, hold on.

At this point I put the phone down for a solid 5 minutes thinking that, surely, this person would have hung up the phone. I ate my salad. Much to my surprise, when I picked up the receiver, they were still waiting.

Me: Hello?
AT&T: Is this Mr. Byron?
Me: May I ask who is calling please?
AT&T: Yes this is AT&T...
Me: Is this AT&T?
AT&T: Yes this is AT&T...
Me: This is AT&T?
AT&T: Yes, is this Mr. Byron?
Me: Yes, is this AT&T?
AT&T: Yes sir.
Me: The phone company?
AT&T: Yes sir.
Me: I thought you said this was AT&T.
AT&T: Yes sir, we are a phone company.
Me: I already have a phone.
AT&T: We aren't selling phones today Mr. Byron.
Me: Well whatever it is, I'm really not interested but thanks for calling.

When you are not interested in something, I don't think you can express yourself any plainer than by saying "I'm really not interested," but this lady was persistent.

AT&T: Mr. Byron, we would like to offer you 10 cents a minute, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Now, I am sure she meant she was offering a "rate" of 10 cents a minute, but she at no time used the word "rate." I could clearly see that it was time to whip out the trusty old calculator and do a little ciphering.

Me: Now, that's 10 cents a minute 24 hours a day?
AT&T: (getting a little excited at this point by my interest) Yes sir, that's right! 24 hours a day!
Me: 7 days a week?
AT&T: That's right.
Me: 365 days a year?
AT&T: Yes sir.
Me: I am definitely interested in that! Wow!!! That's amazing!
AT&T: We think so!
Me: That's quite a sum of money!
AT&T: Yes sir, it's amazing how it adds up.
Me: OK, so will you send me checks weekly, monthly or just one big one at the end of the year for the full $52,560, and if you send an annual check, can I get a cash advance?
AT&T: Excuse me?
Me: You know, the 10 cents a minute.
AT&T: What are you talking about?
Me: You said you'd give me 10 cents a minute, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. That comes to $144 per day, $1,008 per week and $52,560 per year. I'm just interested in knowing how you will be making payment.
AT&T: Oh no, sir, I didn't mean we'd be paying you. You pay us 10 cents a minute.
Me: Wait a minute here!!! Didn't you say you'd give me 10 cents a minute? Are you sure this is AT&T?
AT&T: Well, yes this is AT&T sir but......
Me: But nothing, how do you figure that by saying that you'll give me 10 cents a minute that I'll give you 10 cents a minute? Is this some kind of subliminal telemarketing scheme? I've read about things like this in the Enquirer, you know. Don't use your alien brainwashing techniques on me.
AT&T: No sir, we are offering 10 cents a minute for.....
Me: THERE YOU GO AGAIN! Can I speak to a supervisor please!
AT&T: Sir, I don't think that is necessary.
Me: Sure! You say that now! What happens later?
AT&T: What?
Me: I insist on speaking to a supervisor!
AT&T: Yes Mr. Byron. Please hold.

So now AT&T has me on hold and my supper is getting cold. I begin to eat while I'm waiting for a supervisor. After a wait of a few minutes and while I have a mouth full of food:

Supervisor: Mr. Byron?
Me: Yeth?
Supervisor: I understand you are not quite understanding our 10 cents a minute program.
Me: Is this AT & T?
Supervisor: Yes sir, it sure is.

I had to swallow before I choked on my food. It was all I could do to suppress my laughter and I had to be careful not to produce a snort.

Me: No, actually, I was just waiting for someone to get back to me so that I could sign up for the plan.
Supervisor: OK, no problem, I'll transfer you back to the person who was helping you.
Me: Thank you.

I was on hold once again and managed a few more mouthfuls. I needed to end this conversation. Suddenly, there was an aggravated but polite voice at the other end of the phone.

AT&T: Hello Mr. Byron, I understand that you are interested in signing up for our plan?
Me: Do you have that friends and family thing because you can never have enough friends and I'm an only child and I'd really like to have a little brother...

AT&T: (click)

------------------------------------------------------------

( Not sure when this was written as some of the figures are not real correct. however...)

Andy Rooney's Tips For Telemarketers: Three Little Words That Work !!

(1)The three little words are: "Hold on, Please..."

Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.

Then when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you know it's time togo back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task. These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.

(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?

This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone. This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales person to call back and get someone at home.

What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Since doing this, my phone calls have decreased dramatically.

(3) Another Good Idea: When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.

When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.

Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 37cents postage "IF" and when they receive them back.

It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before! the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes. One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas. Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back!

If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them.

You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing!

Eventually, the banks and credit card companies will begin getting their own junk back in the mail.

Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it...Twice!

Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea !

If enough people follow these tips, it will work---- I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore.