Why that's a Woolly Fence you've got there

I just learned in part how to repair fences on the farm.
The sheep escaped and they had to put new fencing up to keep them in. It's kind of funny because whatever part of the fence they escape through, they leave wool behind all over it. I should have taken a picture.

I spent the weekend with Dave in Sydney. I met 6 of his friends from Ireland and they were all super nice. We went out on Friday to a lounge called The Argyle. Saturday afternoon I went to yoga for an hour and a half and then for dinner at his friends place and had amazing food, lots of wine and a big game a scrabble. Big Saturday night on the town, I know. It was actually a lot of fun. Sunday we went to the markets and that was awesome. I got to drive part of the way home as well! Driving standard, it's intense but I'm sure it's fine once you are used to it. I'm getting better. :)

I have 16 days left on the farm. Maybe even less but I'm not sure. Can't wait to get back! Also, my roommate who is a singer/songwriter is shooting a music video on the beach and he asked me to be in it. That should be pretty kool. If it's a success I will put the video up on facebook. hahah

Shake Shake, Shake...

Your bloody clothes out after they have been hanging outside to dry in Australia because if you fail to do so you will find a black spider crawling on the inside of your shirt and down your tummy.


It is a most unpleasant sight and sensation. Gah!!! Also me and my trying-not-to-kill-things way is difficult to manage here. I don't like killing things: one because it's killing them, and two because it's not a nice feeling when they go squish but damn, there are sooo many bugs with this heat that it's almost impossible not to resort to killing shit. Luckily at the cottage I have Dave to kill shit, but he was not here when the spider was crawling along my tummy. I know I have really white skin but nothing makes you realize just how white like having the blackest of black spiders set against it. I actually didn't so much feel it at first as see something that looked a little off in the mirror. What is the huge moving black spot? *Looks down* "Oh, yep... that would be a spider... better get it off and put it outside..."

Who am I kidding, if only my reaction was that calm. It was more like this giant panic of thoughts inside my head that resulted in a verbal "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" The thoughts that went through my head after realizing that there was a spider crawling on me were something like (do you use quotations for thoughts?) "There is a spider on me! There is a spider on me!! Oh my god!! Is it poisonous? Spiders here are so black... Ah there is a spider on me. Get it off! Get it off!" That was accompanied by a yip of fear and disgust and then I knocked it to the floor with my hand. Afterwards I have to say that I did pick it up with a book and throw it outside. I didn't actually kill it. Well I may have in picking it up with the book cover and throwing it outside, but if I did, it wasn't intentional.

I realize I have to stop this though. At home maybe I had the luxury of being kind and compassionate to all beings, but that was because none of them could actually kill me. Spiders here can kill me and so maybe I should be more of the mentality 'it's them of me'.

Last night we had ants in our kitchen among the flies and moths attracted to the light. I then saw what I thought was a cockroach and that was it, bam, time for a MAJOR kitchen clean-up! The kitchen wasn't even bad, there were some crumbs and dirty dishes in the sink but now the kitchen is glistening, spotless, and beautiful. Poor Dave for having to entertain my somewhat neurotic ways, but I could almost feel bugs crawling on me and I couldn't stop thinking about a full bug invasion. Waking up, heading into the kitchen for breakfast, and finding human-sized cockroaches eating my oatmeal while sitting at the table type of bug invasion. You know how it is...
So everything was whisked off of every cleanable surface, all surfaces were sprayed and thoroughly wiped down, chairs, table, garbage bin, recycling and table were moved out to completely clean the floor, all dishes were washed twice and inspected (naw only washed once, now I'm just exaggerating), and anything that could contain a bug such as a box, bag or shoe was put outside.
I feel better about the world.


I'm definitely going to have to find someone that will not only put up with but that will also part take in my crazy clean-ups... this is a must.


(ps it's been 30 days that I've been on the farm!!!)

Social Event of the Year

Yesterday I went to the horse races. Oh boy, was it ever an event. People get all dressed up and many wear hats as if they were on their way to a royal wedding. I've never seen hats like that up close. I wore a hat myself. A designer straw hat probably worth at least $200. Crazy!! Social events and fashion is quite different out here although there are similarities, such as teenagers dressing as skanky as they possibly can. I remember that phase. You are just trying to look sexy but you don't really know what's up or how things should fit or how you appear to others. hahah It was kind of funny for me to see and think about yesterday. There was a fashion show and everything! Besides the fashion, there were other similarities, such as drinking. :) Everyone was drinking and we were invited to stay in this big tent with a few other families. There was a lot of wine and a lot of food and that pretty much makes for good times. :)
I bet on a few horses. One had the most incredible name of Captain, my Captain so of course I had to bet on the one. I think it had a bad start and didn't even cross the finish line though. I made my horse bets based on name alone. So I also bet on Kittens got Claws, Tha Hab, Old Mystique, and I wanted to bet on Strike Me Happy but didn't. Of course Strike me Happy was the big winner. There were about 6 sets of races with different horses in each race. Pretty kool. There were like at least 10 tables of bookies there and you got to see the odds written up either electronically with the fancier bookies or by hand in chalk or on white board with the less technology incline bookies. It was my first time at a horse race and my first time betting on horses. Very fun but I ended up losing money which is a lot less fun. However, it was "play money" given to Dave and I from the family so that made losing hurt a lot less. Dave and I lost $97 dollars between the two of us. It was an experience I will remember for a long time. Don't think I will ever turn into a gambler though. Betting is just fun and it makes watching the races a lot more interesting. I advise people with addictive personalities to stay away from shit like that though. Probably for the best.
Oh and I think I've made somewhat of a decision when it comes to vegetarianism. I will limit my meat intake to 2-3 times a week and I will eat only free-range animal meat. That means that I won't eat any beef or chicken that has been kept in a box or cage with 30+ more chickens and god knows what kind of treatment. I won't eat animals that do not get any decent standard of living. At least free range animals get to chill all day out in the sun on the farm and are fed properly and treated well for the most part. Unlike the mass production of meat that goes to supply McDonald's and KFC and all that. So products here in Oz tell you if it's free range. Chicken is clearly labelled and virtually all beef out here is free range. I will have to look up what the standards are back home and how the labelling works. Free range is more expensive but at least I know I am not supporting horrendous cruelty and animal mistreatment. That will make me feel a hell of a lot better about eating meat. Maybe one day I will become a full veggie but for now I think that this is a great start. :) I would also like to encourage others to do the same where and when possible.

Mulching (Day 8.5)

Working with Al this morning went well. We did some animal yoga, some multiplication tables, a science experiment and report, a spelling "test", and a blog entry. I am starting a blog with him to keep record of some of the things we are doing as well as to teach him to blog and to get him writing. Should be good.

After my morning with Al, I spent a few hours with Trish in the garden. She used to work for Rupert Murdoch actually, learning to garden at his cottage. Pretty awesome! I don't know much about the guy but I know he owns a lot of the media. Pretty controversial stuff I would say. People seem to have strong opinions about him. I can't say I know much about the guy or what he owns. Anywho, I learned about mulching today and I mulched. Mulching is covering up the earth with hay, wood chippings, or a few other things I forget, so that you keep the moisture in and reduce the amount of weeds you get by at least 50%. Pretty kool huh? It gives the garden a nice look as well. I really will have to get out and take pictures of all these things like the rock patio, the garden, George the calf, and the chickens and baby chicks.
Gardening is tough work physically but much more enjoyable than castrating calves or lifting heavy stones and digging holes to put them in. The garden here is beautiful! Again, I will have to take pics. There is this wooden walkway/gate you walk through and all along the posts there are roses growing. I really like it there. I did a bit of yoga standing there but it's not like at home where you can chill in the grass and not worry. You never know when I snake might be around and you want to take caution not to be bitten. If you are bitten you need to wrap the bite and get yourself to the hospital asap where they have the anti-venom. All hospitals have snake and spider anti-venom. I've only seen one snake in all my time so far in Australia though so it's not like a common occurrence but you do have to be aware.
I will be spending more time gardening with Trish, probably twice a week so I am looking forward to that. Hopefully I will learn enough and be able to apply it once I start my own garden. Who knows when that will be but it's knowledge I would like to have. One day I will probably have a house and I would like to have my own garden. More a vegetable garden I think but it wouldn't hurt to have some nice flowers around the front and back of the house. They are pretty and smell nice. :)

Teaching on the Farm (Day 7.5)

I've started teaching Al and it's going well so far. He is 8, and although super duper smart, he is still an 8 year old boy. Getting him enthused about yoga is not the easiest thing in the world but I will find a way. Maths are pretty easy to do with him and we are working on English. English is where most work is needed I believe and that's a good thing because English happens to be what I like best. We are also going to do a bunch of kick-ass science experiments and we go rock collecting and jogging outside all the time. Teaching in the country certainly has it's perks.

Aside from teaching, I feed a calf named George whose Mummy died and I feed the chickens and baby chicks everyday, twice a day. I definitely need to start taking pictures but I left my wire to connect my camera to my computer at my place back in Melbourne like a dummy. So there is no rush on the pictures because I won't be able to post them till I get back in Melbs anyways.

The other guy I am living in the cottage with is named Dave. He is 28 and from Cork. That's the same place where my friend Steve, who I went to visit in Ireland, is from. Dave is pretty chill and we are actually building a patio together. That's right, I am building a patio. How you ask? Well we collect rocks from the fields (which used to be glaciers, the rocks I mean), we load them into the back of the truck, and then we dig and fit the stones together like a jigsaw puzzle to make the patio. I will take pictures of this as well. Who knew I could make a freaking patio? I've never really done anything like that before in my life. It's a hell of a job BUT it's kool to actually make something. I always wonder how people build houses and buildings, like how you actually start, and while this is by no means a building, it's at least building something from scratch and therefore pretty awesome. The family is going to use it in the summer to eat on I think. We have to make the stones level so the chairs and table won't be all over the place and so people won't trip. It's a tricky job but interesting and I get to use a chisel sometimes. I've never used a chisel before this! Ha-ha okay, all that being said, I worked for like 4 hours today on the stone garden patio and I don't really want to see it again for a while :P

Moving on to my next topic. I think time and distance are good indicators as to whether love is true. It definitely gives you perspective on the difference between infatuation and love. I thought I was kind of in love with Florian but now that I don't see him, I don't think much about him at all. I mean he was a nice enough, decent, good looking guy and he seemed pretty kool, but I don't think it was love. Maybe there was the potential for that to develop, but it so was not there yet. I jumped the gun on that one. That being said, with distance and time, I am thinking a lot about one of my roommies. It's only been a week really since I've left Melbourne, but it feels like it's been ages. One, it feels like ages because I'm on a bloody farm doing hard work, but two, I miss him heaps!! So two months is sure going to be a long time. Time is my friend though I realize and we'll see what happens. :)

William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be
taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and
cheeks,
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Holy Castrating Calves Batman!

Mindy On the Farm, Day 2

Forget easing into it slowly, let's just get right in there.
Today I stood in various paddocks surrounded by cows. Cows are really big in case you didn't know. Maybe not as big as bulls (let's hope I don't have to go near them) but they are still freaking big and their moos are loud. Coming from the city, you kind of think "yeah, cows go moo" but it's not so much "moo" as it is MMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
So I watched cows and calves being round up and corralled. Technically I helped because I was in the truck helping to heard them and I got in and out opening gates and closing them. No one else seemed to have a problem with it, but it is pretty freaking scary standing in the middle of a bunch of cows.
Little did I know what was coming up.
Once the cows were rounded up, they were moved into umm the place where they do stuff do them. Vaccines, marking, I guess branding, and of course, castrating. I saw it all except for the branding, which has either already happened or is to come. I helped move cows along and write out the tags and get the instruments ready. I actually felt like a nurse or doctor helping the surgeon. Except for in this case the surgeon was trying to convince me that I could castrate one of the steers myself. Yea... well I'm adventurous and wanting all kinds of experiences in life but I'm not ready to castrate cows. In fact, watching the whole process, I didn't know whether to throw up, cry, or run away. I did not of those things and I just busied myself in whatever tasks I could so I wouldn't have to think about it. But those moos weren't just moos anymore, they were screams of terror. It's not as bad as I'm making it sound, at least not to everyone here, but to me, oh my goodness, way to get traumatized. So marking calves is basically taking two chunks out of their ears (two because there are 3 farms and this farm does two while another does only one, and the other does 3, poor 3 farm cows...) which they likened to ear piercing but I figure maybe if they took chunks out of our ears when they did it then ya, but it's way worse. So they corral them one at a time into this last gate/fence/place where they become locked in, vaccinated, have their right ear get two chunks taken out, and a number tag put in (government regulation), and then if they are unlucky enough to be male, yet not chosen to be a bull, they get castrated. I didn't know what the castration process was but it's basically an elastic that is put around their testicles until they shrivel up and eventually fall off. I guess that is better than them being straight up cut off like I was imagining was happening. But ya, still not a fun process. The worst was the ears though (maybe not for them but for me) because I could see them bleeding and I knew the calves didn't know what the hell was going on, only that it hurt. Anyways, the whole thing just made me feel bad. And I didn't know what to do. I mean it's only going to be like that one other half day but I didn't know what my participation said about me, or about my opinion of farm-life or if it made any different what I thought or not because it was going to happen regardless. If everyday was like that, I would be fruit picking, that is for sure.

Warning, monologue to be or not to be vegetarian debate ahead
So this whole farm-life is making me think harder about being a vegetarian. I've been trying to be one for quite a while, but only half-ass trying. And now I don't know. This farm treats the animals well (in spite of everything I just went through), they have soo much room to roam and be free and frolic, if cows frolic... It gives farmers a way of life, and they cows have a good life as well before they are sent to the slaughter. Well at least from my perspective they have it alright, I don't know how cows really feel about it. I don't know how smart cows even are, they seem pretty stupid to me but I've only spent one day with them and that's judging a little quickly. Then again, does intelligence matter, should I feel less bad about eating things that are stupid? They are still alive after all and maybe the more stupid they are, the more compassion I should have for them. I don't know. I'm a little mixed up. After today though, I don't know if I can eat beef. Like physically, I don't know if I would be able to put it in my mouth, now that I know better what the whole process is about. When I was a kid, I never liked eating meat much anyways, so maybe no one should have made me and then I would have grown up vegetarian. Now, however, there is some meat I like very much, maybe even as a kid I did but ya, I wonder if I can give it up. I would feel better about myself if I was strong enough to be a vegetarian. I can use the whole borderline anaemic line as to why I shouldn't bother or why it's important for me to eat meat sometimes, which might be true, but it feels a lot like a cop out these days. Gah! Can I give it up? I think this experience might be just the thing I needed to become a full fledged vegetarian. We'll see. I know I couldn't kill an animal, maybe unless I had no other choice, so it feels hypocritical to eat them. If I can't do it myself, how is it okay to let someone else do it and eat it ignorantly? That's what I'm thinking atm, I'm open to other opinions. And sorry, I'm kind of using this space to think, probably doesn't make for the best read.

Anyways, who would have thought I'd be a farmer for 2-3 months? I wonder what experience I will have next. I kind of like having all these different experiences and different jobs. Keeps life interesting... Granted I might not be enjoying the day to day here or the castrating stuff, it's still an interesting experience to look back on one day. The lady who runs the farm here with her husband, has never met someone who has never been on a farm before. This way of life is soooo different than anything I've ever known.