Monday 7 April 2014

The man from Snowy River part 2



OMD …. You wouldn’t believe the rain we had last night. It POURED!!  ALL NIGHT LONG!!   Someone said there was a Tsunami heading toward Australia because of the earthquake off Chile but we didn’t get any Tsunami from the ocean.  Instead we got a Tsunami from the sky.  Fair dinkum!!  That was a whole heap of rain we got here at Cudgewa and we heard on the news that other parts of Australia got even more than we did. Broken Hill (as outback as all get out and almost desert country) got HEAPS. A place called Bowral got 2 inches in 15 minutes and lots of other places copped it too. Crikey I hope some of the places in drought got some. Probably not though. There will still be some happy farmers around. They always seem to like a bit of a rain. Not so good for the festival here though.
There was a short break in the rain and Mum and I headed off for a walk. The three mad farm dogs gave me a hard time again until Mum told them to leave me alone, which they did, and the little spaniel tagged along for the walk. Crikey it was exciting. There were horses and sheep and THEN …. Cows!!!!!!!  I got VERY excited ….. Mum had my straight jacket on but only my stretchy lead.  She didn’t lose me but she came mighty close.  I was dancing on my hind legs and going off like an idiot. I STARTED A STAMPEDE!!!!!!  And that’s fair dinkum!!  Those cows took off like they had a herd of wild bulls after them. I was going nuts but by this time Mum had hold of me good and tight. It took a while for her to calm me down but calm me down she did. Crikey ….. I love cows ….. they are real good entertainment. Funny but the little spaniel took absolutely no notice of them. What’s with her??  No sense of adventure, aye?? It started to rain again and there was no cover anywhere in sight but good old Dad came to the rescue. He picked us up in the car and we headed off to the poets breakfast. The little spaniel had to make her own way home but I’m sure she was ok. After all she does live there. 
How come she can go in there and I can't ... not fair!!

I'd like to chase that bloke!!

The poets breakfast was good. Lots of really good poems and some of the recitals were very brilliantly done. It is a big weekend for poets. There is a bush poets championship of Australia event on so there are heaps of real good poets in town.  It’s Banjo Paterson’s birthday today  so there was a lot of Banjo’s poems being recited. That always makes Mum happy. After the poets brekky we headed back to the main arena to see what was happening there.  OMD … what a mess!!  Mud, mud, mud.  Everyone was doing  their best to keep the show on the road but …  Crikey … it was hard. Mum and I went for a walk around and watched some of the horses and riders doing their stuff. Dad was feeling a bit crook …. He still isn’t over his upper respiratory infection and he stayed in the warmth of the car and listened to his favourite radio programme whilst sipping on a coffee that Mum bought for him. We heard some real hard luck stories from lots of the store holders etc.  Shelters collapsing with the weight of water all over the place and goods ruined. The grounds were bad yesterday but with all the rain during the night everything was just one big bog.  It must have been a dreadful night for all of the campers. I don’t think much sleep was had by anyone but there was still a lot of good humour around. They are made of tough stuff these country blokes. 
Pretty tough, aye?


Well she was pretty little. Up there for thinking, aye??

I get an awful lot of attention from the farmers.  Apparently we whippets are real good farm dogs. Better than ALL THOSE (think your sooooooo clever) WORKING dogs, AT … would you believe … catching rabbits. I’m going to give those blokes back at Elmstead cottage heaps when I get back. Try and hump me, aye???? I’ll show ‘em!!  Crikey … Mum and I got WET.  We both had rain gear on but we still got awful wet.  All the farmers wear drizabones and big boots and hats but Mum just had an ordinary old raincoat and it didn’t take long for her to get a bit cold and damp. Me too. I had my raincoat on but I started shivering so Mum decided it was time to head back to the car and home to dry off. Well dry off we did and as Dad was feeling a bit better we decided to go back and watch one of our favourite country singers, Pete Denahey, do one of his shows. 
Pete ...he can sure play that fiddle!!
What a disaster!!! Just to get to the marquee where he was performing we had to walk through mud almost up to my armpits. Dad carried me so I was ok but one of Mum’s shoes got stuck down in the mud and she walked right out of it. Crikey …. She had to dig it out and walk into the marquee with one shoe on and the other one in her, very muddy, hand. She had socks on. You should have seen her sock. Well you couldn’t really it was just a brown soggy mess as was both her shoes. The bottom of her jeans was a sight to be seen also. Not to be deterred Mum just put her messy shoe back on, wiped her muddy hands clean on her, by now, VERY dirty jeans and proceeded to sit down and watch Pete as if all was right with her world. Too funny! After that little disaster we decided to give it a miss for the rest of the day and went back to our cottage where Mum and I went for a big long walk around parts of the property. Mum reckoned she was already so muddy and wet that a bit more couldn’t do any harm.
That's the view from our window. Those buildings you can see is the village of Cudgewa.

All ready for our walk!

This is where I stampeded the cows this morning. They're not game to come back. I scared 'em good, aye?

I got to get up close and personal with a VERY big black cow. Crikey they are a bit scary, aye? They stare at you and they are awful big. I don’t like being stared at too much. I barked at him! I’m not a big barker but I sure had a big bark at that cow bloke. You blokes would have been proud of me. He didn’t stop staring at me though. I just had to stop barking and walk away. He would have stared at me all night,  I reckon. What’s with that????   We got back and Mum threw her shoes in the bin and we both got cleaned up and then we all went for a drive up to a hill where we sat and contemplated the beauty of the place for a while. It was so wet and slippery that we had to use 4 wheel drive to get up the hill. We wouldn’t have made it if we only had a regular car. Crikey it is a pretty property. I can imagine how beautiful it would be if it was sunny. Mum, Dad and Harri have stayed here before, in good weather, so they know what it CAN be like.  
The view from the hill. The little white dot straight ahead is where Elmstead cottage is.

Me, Dad and the car on the hill.

Can you see me? I'm pretty well camouflaged, aye? Can you see Dad's finger? He thinks that's going to stop me from moving away. Hahahahahahahahaah! Is he mad, or something?

See ... I was there!

If it rains any more tonight there is talk that the rest of the festival will have to be cancelled. Mum and Dad are already thinking that it will be cancelled for us anyway. Dad’s not too well still and I don’t think all this getting wet is helping his cause any. I think Mum could do with a bit of drying out too.  Dad said we’ll make a decision in the morning. I don’t want to leave this place and nor does Mum but maybe it will be for the best. We’ll see tomorrow I guess.
Wanna run … Love, Charlie!!

29 comments:

  1. Wowee!
    Sure hope you all don't turn into mud puddings, BOL!

    What a beautiful countryside you are in right now!
    Lovely pictures, makes growlmy think she was right there!

    Hope you get some drier weather.
    Its raining here right now, too...crikey!
    Well at least it isn't snow...

    Woofs!

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    1. The rain is pretty when your in the bush Mr JF Sir. We don't mind it really. It was just no good for the festival. If it was cold and wet it would be unpleasant but it's not cold. Glad your snows all gone. Loved the crikey. I'll make Aussies out of you blokes yet, Dood!

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    2. BOL, Charlie...I already sport a few nationalities...American by birth, Canadian by way of growlmy's heritage, and Dutch from growlmy as well, her pawrents came from the Netherlands...and pawppy's heritage is Danish/German!...and jrt's, aren't we British?? BOL!

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    3. Crikey Mr JF Sir .... no wonder we get on so well. We have a LOT in common. Listen to this .... I'm from American semen. My 4 legged Mum's from British stock. My Mum's Aussie from Scottish stock but her very best friend in the whole world is Dutch. She lives in the Netherlands now but she was in Australia for lots of years. And .... wait for it ..... My Dad's heritage is Danish/German. How alike are we????? And yes JRT's are British and so are whippets I think. Too funny, aye??

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    4. It be a small world!
      We are salad fur sure, my unfurs have dual citizenship on account of growlmy...I think my late grandgrowlmy on pawppy's side had some Irish, German and English all mixed together.

      When growlmy looks at my long legs and speedy sprints and all the faces of whippets and JRT's she thinks I have some of that heritage as well!
      I am not a shorty at all, like most think of us as being.

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    5. Crikey ..... maybe you are part whippet, aye?? Long legs do come in handy. Your unfurs are lucky to have dual citizenship. I've been told that can be a real handy thing to have.

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    6. Yes, they can work there with no issues and they could have gone to school there, too if they wished...but they stayed here in Michgan, BOL!
      They could go and live there too, and no immigration troubles to deal with.

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  2. Oh barkin cows are a lotta fun, aren't it?? Ya know what momma's sister, Ally, calls cows?? "Dinner on the hoof!" BOL BOL!

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    1. Dinner on the hoof,aye?? Too funny ... poor cows though!! I thought barkin' at ANYTHING was a lot of fun to you Whitley but barkin' at cows ... yeah ... a lot of fun until they do that starin' at you thing. VERY creepy!!

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  3. We think you were good to stick at it that long! We've had some rain up here, everything is green at the moment and there are a lot of happy farmers. But nothing like that. don't you get stuck in the mud, mate.

    XXXOOO Bella & Roxy

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    1. I managed not to get stuck in the mud Bella and Roxy but crikey ... Mum got stuck good. That stuff really sucks you in, aye? I didn't think she'd ever manage to pull that foot out. Fair dinkum ... it was the funniest thing to watch.

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  4. Yu have had great adventures, rain or no. It is a very purdy area.

    Waitin fur the next chapter.

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    1. Crikey Zoe ... it's nearly over but I might be able to squeeze out a few more episodes. Had a funny Schnauzer experience yesterday. Crikey you blokes are REAL agro when you want to be, aye?? I got barked at ..... A LOT!

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  5. We are enjoying your tour! I saw you on that rock, I knew you were there! Barking at cows is fun. Although, I don't do it, BOL! Actually, I don't bark all that much. Now rolling in cow poo is fun and eating it is even better!

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    1. Crikey Buddy .... you roll in cow poo? Bet you smell REAL good after that. I haven't had a go at rolling in it but I have had a taste. Not bad but I prefer Roo.

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  6. Purdy countryside there, Charlie... and those drovers look a lot like our cowpokes here in Texas.. guess us Texans and you Aussies have a lot in common. My Daddy's aunt and uncle went to Australia for a few years once... worked a cattle station, I think it was. They really enjoyed their time there.
    Hope it dries out fur ya.. we's had some rain recently.. but we needs a lot more.

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    1. COWPOKES ... that's what you call 'em, aye?? We just call 'em bushies. Yeah Finley ... we do have a lot in common with Texas ..... we're a mighty BIG country too. Glad Daddy's Aunt and Uncle liked Australia. It's a pretty good place. Shame it's soooooooo far away!!!

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  7. Oh, and Momma corrected me on da muscular zebras cloggin' up da pipes from Lake Texoma... seems it's zebra muscles... how do the muscles from zebras get in da pipes?? What, Momma??? oh. Zebra mussels, she sez-- some kinda clam thang. Dat aren't nearly as interestin' as 'roided up zebras....

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  8. Zebras of any kind are exciting to me. Muscular ones or mussel ones ..... still zebras, aye?? Bet they've got stripes. Shame they had to jam up the pipes though, aye? 'Roided up zebras, Finley? Too funny!!

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  9. That Finley is cracking me up!!!!

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  10. Welcome anonymous ... I think maybe your're MY special anyoldmouse from your comment. Am I right? That Finley is one VERY funny bloke only he's a Sheila not a bloke.

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    1. Hey .... can I tell everyone who you are. I won't go overboard ... I promise. How about you do a code thing ... like start every reply with "anyoldmouse here" or something just so I know it's definitely you.

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  11. We love reading about your adventures Charlie. You are so funny. I've never seen a cow, but I et it is scary being that big.
    It is very pretty where you are. It is green in Texas now but our summers are hot and not enough rain.

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    1. Those cows ARE awful scary especially when they stare at you. What's with that?? I hope you get to see one sometime though. It's good to have different experiences, aye?? Most of Australia is like Texas ...... our summers are VERY hot and very dry too. It's sure not dry at the moment though. It's still raining.

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  12. It's Charlie's 2 legged sister!! Or anyoldmouse????? You doggy people are HILARIOUS!!!!

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  13. HELLOOOOO CHARLIE! I'm soooo sorrys I haven't been arounds in Blogville recently buts by Hoomans have been SO busy and weren't willings to helps me do my stuff on the internet! I was reallys horrified to see, I missed so many of your posts! I'll be sures to catch up on them in due course. It's so rainy where you are, it coulds be in England, as you probably know, England is always verys muddy and wet! I like them cow blokes too, and woulds chase and barks at them if I coulds buts like your Mum, my Mummy won't lets me either. That Festival looks fun as well (if there wasn't any rain it woulds have been even betters). I miss you so terriblys and wish I was there or you were here so we coulds be together, buts we can'ts, and thats that, aye?? I loves you more than words can say, and hopes you have a wonderful trip.
    Yours always,
    Enid xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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    1. Crikey Enid .... I was getting worried about you .... I thought maybe you had a new beau. I was getting sooooooo sad. Just as well I was on holidays and didn't have time to think about things to much or I would have got awful depressed thinking about you with someone else. I don't have to worry any more, aye? You still love me. Crikey Enid ..... I love you so much. Why do our hoomans have to get soooooooo busy and scare us like that??? Crikey it would be good if we could go and chase some of those cow blokes together wouldn't it?? I'm just going to pretend that you are with me from now on and when you read about it you can pretend that you were here with me too. We'll have such fun, together!!
      I missed you so much, Enid ..... I'm so glad you are still my girl!!!
      Love, hugs and kisses, Your Charlie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  14. P.S
    Sorry this comment is so long
    Enid :)

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    1. Crikey Enid ..... you don't have to say sorry to me ..... the longer the better as far as I am concerned.
      Your Charlie xxxxxxxxxxxx

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