Howdy from Tumbarumba!
Mainly, I realized sometime my last few days in Sydney that I’m not a big city girl and Sydney is not ~my~ home. I no longer want to be a part of the rat race, especially if that means becoming one of the teaming throngs to scurry to work through hordes of traffic and people, constantly bombarded by noise of trains, buses and cars as well as the constant jostling of those anxious to go somewhere but missing the journey.
Who’s this girl, I wonder. The one who was only living to make it through the day, rather than taking each precious moment seriously? In the midst of grief, I had no clue I had changed that drastically.
My time in Sydney was filled with the fog of grief, the haze of melancholy, the ache of uncertainness, the utter fear of the future. I knew when I made my decision to come to Oz that it was to get away and heal. As much as I love my daddy and my friends, I knew that it was an unhealthy place for me. Little did I realize that being in the bosom of my family was both a blessing and a curse. While I did enjoy most of the time spent with family, the undercurrent as to why I was in Australia was quite acute.
Something had to change… I just didn’t know what.
It was odd circumstances that lead to the job offer to work on a Thoroughbred breeding ranch in the middle of the Snowy Mountains. The very same mountains I dreamed about as a young girl whose visions of the future included being surrounded by horses, cats and dogs. Mainly though, horses. Those dreams soon fell away as the reality of life set in and I grew up. Horses stopped being part of my future years ago… never in a million years would I have thought to have seen my fortunes turn full circle to find myself surrounded by some of the most beautiful creatures on this great earth. Life is funny like that sometimes.
To be honest, when I accepted the invitation I saw it more as running away again. I couldn’t see it from the point of view of those closest to me: stepping out on my own. The actual offer came through a friend of a friend. Funnily enough, the gentleman who runs the place also found the job through a friend of a friend. Of all the people in the world, two Texans, who’ve never met yet lived just around the corner from one another for the last 20+ years should suddenly meet on the underside of the world… just by happenstance. Again, funny how life seems to work out that way, eh?
The train ride to Wagga Wagga, New South Wales (NSW) took a shockingly long time, almost 8 hours, and yet my journey wasn’t done yet and I still had to completed another 2 hours by car to Tumbarumba, NSW. Jason met me at the train station, and I was so relieved to see a familiar face, even if I’d only seen a photo of him on his blog. A quick shopping trip proceeded the two hour drive to the small town of Tumba through terrain that reminds me a great deal of the Texas Hill Country. Just switch out the mesquite tress for gum trees, the armadillos for wombats and the deer for kangaroos and one would swear that it’s not on the far side of the world.
The property is almost idyllically situated. Just a short 10 minute drive into Tumba (about the size of Wimberly) or, in the other direction, 40 minutes into Tuma (about the size of San Marcos). Tumba is a wonderful, thriving community that smack dab between a large lumber factory and the southern hemisphere’s largest paper mill. There are several “main” roads, however only one that seems to give off that old world small town vibe. With two grocery stores, an Alamo Drafthouse like cinema, a butcher, post office, chemist (i.e.: Walgreens), and ~three~ pubs. Now, one would assume that it’s a color-less town; however, it’s a surprisingly multi-cultural community with folks from several Asian countries as well as several Sudanese. It seems that during the harvest season, droves of these immigrants come through town.
Anyway, we arrived at the property a few hours before dusk. We roll into the driveway, on the right side lined with gum trees, to the left stacks of hay. Through the main gate and past a “dam” (a small man-made tank), empty because the soil’s unable to sustain water. The idea, I’m told, is to till clay or lime into the bed of the would-be pond so it can hold water, then to add fish and ducks. Up the slight incline, above the dam, is an old white-grey dairy barn, worn and dilapidated from years of unused. A quick turn to the left and we’re at the gate for the main house. As we drive in, the main paddock is just off to the right with the barn/shed just in front of us with several older cars sticking their noses out.
Just off to the left and surrounded by flower gardens and quite a few flowering and fruit trees. It’s a beautiful old Queensland style home is situated just off the road; however, there’s so little traffic on this road it’s almost private. There’s so much rosemary and lavender in the garden, I’m in love! In fact, we’ve got rosemary, lavender, several types of roses, lemon-mint and a multitude of other plants that I’m clueless about.
My first night was absolutely magical in so many ways. A quick dinner of quickly purchased Tumbarumba pizza was followed by an absolutely spectacular show of stars that was put up specifically for me… or so I’ve been told. It wasn’t just one or two stars or sets of constellations, but the entire the entire Milky Way Galaxy. You could see each individual cluster of stars, dark matter… the sky went on forever. I swear I could have lain out there all night long just stargazing, but sheer exhaustion drove me to bed. I’m really looking forward to being here to see the new moon and seeing how very black it gets out in the country!
Since being here, my days have revolved around the horses, chickens and repairs around the ranch. Almost every morning I get up to drive the tractor to get hay, followed by feeding the horses and chickens. I’ve been learning about well pumps (we have our own well, and the water is beautifully cold and tastes fantastic right from the source!), how the tank and trough systems works, “helping” to chop down trees, hauling stones, throwing mounds of hay, building fences and coops, and on and on! Some city girl I am!
After learning how to build fences and building a chicken run, we chased the chickens and ducks into the enclosure and we’ve got make them stay put until they learn that this run and coop are “home,” instead of out in the bush. No eggs yet, but here’s to hoping! So I’ve been doing the chicken’s work in the paddock by scattering the horse’s poo all over the place. Not as bad as mucking out a stall, that’s for sure! I’ve also been a very generous monkey since I’ve been bringing the fowl a load of poo because they’re so spoilt on fat-bugs that they don’t eat the grain and scratch we’ve been giving them! Aren’t I a nice monkey? ;)
Anyway, the house is beautiful for being 100 years and, and in pretty darn good condition, all things considered. Most would consider this roughing it. Heck, in some cases I would too, but I’m finding such solace and energy here that this is just one of the many differences I’m embracing. Anyway, there are four bedrooms: two of them (NE and SE corners) are bedrooms w/ the SE corner designated at my personal space, the middle room (E side) is the conservatory/library/to-be computer room and the room across from mine (SW corner) is the lounge, with a damn fine modern TV room set up. Like any typical bathroom (W side), it’s got all of the modern amenities, it just also happens to have a washer/dryer included in the room. The main hallway runs from N to S, with the kitchen being at the far north end and taking up a majority of the house’s real estate. It’s really pretty decent to cook in (though we’ll be moving the fridge here soon enough to maximize the most effective stove-sink-fridge triangle), not that I’ve been doing a lot of cooking, mind you.
One expectation I had was that I’d to the majority of the cooking. Now assumptions and expectations mostly lead to disappointments; however, in this case I really lucked out! Not only does he repaint the night’s sky every evening but he’s also a damn fine cook! Quite the Chef… but then I’ve noticed most folks who seriously into cooking have a tendency to be “Chef” like rather than just the cook. Good thing I’m flexible and am an excellent sous-chef, in my not so humble opinion!
Over the few weeks I’ve been here, I’ve met so many fantastic people. Jason took me out to the Camp Draft (a smaller version of a roping contest) where I met Jack and Ann. While they own the local discount store they also have their own horses. He’s a big Aussie bloke and she’s the small little thing next to him, but boy she’s a sharp one and can really put him in his place. The affection is definitely still there after 40+ years of marriage!
There’s two guys who’ve been helping us out at the ranch, Nat and Ashely. Now Nat’s this fantastic guy with a happy demeanor and relaxed personality. He’s also the guy who sold John (the owner) all the chickens and ducks. Nat really is very knowledgeable when it comes to animals of all kinds. Ashely’s a younger kid who’s pretty much the grunt on the property. He’s a total smart ass, but it’s all in good fun and we make a fantastically good team.
Claudia is the young lady who used to own this house/property before selling it to John several years ago. She and Nat have been taking care of the garden and she’s planted tons of fruit trees all around the house. She can talk the hind leg off a herd of donkeys but she’s got a wicked sense of humor and seems genuinely nice. She and her boyfriend, Randall, make a very cute couple, always touchy-feely.
There’ve been a ton other folk I’ve met, but these are the folk that have made a lasting impression, thus far.
Now since I’ve been here, I’ve had to really face a lot of my deepest fears. Insect rank right at the top of the list and, being in the country and all, one’s gonna come face to face with these devils on a regular basis. I’m not so keen on snakes either, though at least the Texan variety has a little rattle to warn a person. Australia, on the other hand, is the land of some of the most poisonous creatures on the planet: brown snakes, red-bellied black snakes, funnel-web spiders, the red-back spider and the white-stripe spider. Luckily, I haven’t seen any snakes; however, there are spiders in abundance. And I do mean in abundance! Thankfully no sign of the red-back (though Jason’s seen plenty here) or the white-stripe (they tend to like cool places like clothing and sheets, etc). Both take a lot of shaking out of clothing and shoes, or even checking the sheets before climbing into bed. However, there are a multitude of funnel-webs. TONS of them all around the veranda at this house! I stopped counting after 15, lemme tell ya! Then there are the huntsman spider, similar to the tarantula; however, not poisonous though their bite will hurt like an SOB. I’ve found several of them in the house and it’s taken all my willpower not to freak out hysterically (which is what I’ve been known to do in the past). Instead, I gasp then (mostly) calmly get Jason to take care of the issue, all the while he’ll tease me unmercifully. I suppose I deserve it, a bit… but still.
There are so many other small anomalies that amaze me. Like, after a decent rain the mist that rises off the pasture completely obscures the mountains in the distance. Also, when walking through the pasture, suddenly there will be a pocket of cold or warm air… just out of the blue, all of a sudden. It’s like swimming in Barton Springs and swimming through a patch of warm/cold water. There are so many amazing sounds here also. The multitude of colorful birds make is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced, even in Sydney. The hilarious laughter of the Kookaburra at dawn/dusk; there’s a distinct difference between the call of a White Cockatiels and that of a Black Cockatiels; the chatter of the Crimson Rosella, as they chatter and play on the wind. We’ve got Blue Fairy Wrens which come and play in the garden almost every morning. I finally got to see a Willy Wagtail, attempting to drink out of the “duck soup” (ie: the pan of water that we have for the ducks to paddle in).
We’ve got lots of other critters around the place, other than the normal rats and mice. Supposedly there are kangaroos, wallabies, wombats and foxes, but I haven’t seen them on the land yet. Unfortunately one of the ducks met a fox several days before I arrived. There’s a feral cat, but it keeps a wary distance from us. We’ve been putting out scraps for the foxes and cats in the hopes that they’ll come eat more rabbits. Speaking of rabbits… there are hundreds upon thousands of these little bastards. Sadly, this country has no good way to deal with this infestation. Trapping them is illegal, even if one uses humane methods. Owning a gun is nigh to impossible here, so going hunting happens rarely. The only other option is poison; which I find to be cruel to the rabbits as well as any other animal that may eat what’s left behind. Not only that, you use poison carrots… and what do horses eat? Exactly! Anyway, Jason had an idea to block off each of the warren holes and release a few ferrets into the tunnels. Still looking into that one.
In total we’ve got 13 horses: seven broodmares and six foals (three each fillies/colts). The alpha female is Little Decisions. Now she became quite ill and lost her role in the herd for a few days, but she was up to her normal antics this morning. Her glands are still swollen, but she looks to be feeling much better. The biggest horse, at 18 hands (that’s a very large horse for those of you in the non-horsey world) is Danish Culture. She’s got the sweetest disposition of them all and seems to enjoy our company. Sapphire Coast, our only dark bay, is the most reluctant to be touched or caught. It normally takes two of us to get a halter on her. All horse whispering techniques completely goes out the window with this one! The horse that’s got the most interesting markings, Lots of Class, has a backwards question mark all down her forehead almost down to her muzzle. She’s the odd-mare-out since she doesn’t have a foal; however, she’s taken a liking to Cavalina, the oldest horse on the ranch. Now, Cavalina just had her foal about 7-8 weeks ago, and he’s turning out to have quite a personality. At first he wasn’t holding his own with the other foals, since they were so much older and bigger than him; however, now he seems to be giving as much as he receives. He hurt himself a few days back and we had to do an emergency halter breaking on him in order to fix him up, inject him with antibiotics (which I did!) and then drench him for worms. It was quite an afternoon and the poor little man was just exhausted once we were done. Anyway, the two other horses, who I’m still trying to familiarize myself with are Pas Duex and Bachelor Girl.
The house itself is just beautiful, albeit it filled with massive amounts of crap (none of it more than 6-10 years old, so nothing of decent historical value)… and I do mean massive. The owner is just a pack rat. As an Air Force Brat, that’s not something I really can comprehend. Old Tina would have been utterly freaked out over the clutter and disarray; new Tina seems to be taking it in much more stride, though I’ve found I’ve made more than a few passive-aggressive comments. Still, I’m not going to slip back into old habits, especially as long as I’m doing my best to be constantly aware of a personality trait I’m in the process of changing. Honestly though, I don’t know what is more difficult: changing a habit or constantly being aware of one’s actions.
I have to express that for as much I am loving being around horses, out of the city and just enjoying the country, this has been no picnic. Every day brings new challenges and new learning opportunities, all of which I’m so very grateful for! Every night I fall into bed, utterly exhausted and extremely thankful for this amazing opportunity. Sleep’s becoming so much easier for me, once again. The constant nightmares I used to plague me have dissipated greatly from all night long to one every other night or so… at least the ones I remember. Every morning I awake with purpose and joy, something I haven’t experienced in years, if I’m going to be completely honest with myself. Overall, I’m doing my best to live in the moment and just enjoy everything I’m experiencing.
Who’s this girl, I wonder. The one who was only living to make it through the day, rather than taking each precious moment seriously? In the midst of grief, I had no clue I had changed that drastically.
My time in Sydney was filled with the fog of grief, the haze of melancholy, the ache of uncertainness, the utter fear of the future. I knew when I made my decision to come to Oz that it was to get away and heal. As much as I love my daddy and my friends, I knew that it was an unhealthy place for me. Little did I realize that being in the bosom of my family was both a blessing and a curse. While I did enjoy most of the time spent with family, the undercurrent as to why I was in Australia was quite acute.
Something had to change… I just didn’t know what.
It was odd circumstances that lead to the job offer to work on a Thoroughbred breeding ranch in the middle of the Snowy Mountains. The very same mountains I dreamed about as a young girl whose visions of the future included being surrounded by horses, cats and dogs. Mainly though, horses. Those dreams soon fell away as the reality of life set in and I grew up. Horses stopped being part of my future years ago… never in a million years would I have thought to have seen my fortunes turn full circle to find myself surrounded by some of the most beautiful creatures on this great earth. Life is funny like that sometimes.
To be honest, when I accepted the invitation I saw it more as running away again. I couldn’t see it from the point of view of those closest to me: stepping out on my own. The actual offer came through a friend of a friend. Funnily enough, the gentleman who runs the place also found the job through a friend of a friend. Of all the people in the world, two Texans, who’ve never met yet lived just around the corner from one another for the last 20+ years should suddenly meet on the underside of the world… just by happenstance. Again, funny how life seems to work out that way, eh?
The train ride to Wagga Wagga, New South Wales (NSW) took a shockingly long time, almost 8 hours, and yet my journey wasn’t done yet and I still had to completed another 2 hours by car to Tumbarumba, NSW. Jason met me at the train station, and I was so relieved to see a familiar face, even if I’d only seen a photo of him on his blog. A quick shopping trip proceeded the two hour drive to the small town of Tumba through terrain that reminds me a great deal of the Texas Hill Country. Just switch out the mesquite tress for gum trees, the armadillos for wombats and the deer for kangaroos and one would swear that it’s not on the far side of the world.
The property is almost idyllically situated. Just a short 10 minute drive into Tumba (about the size of Wimberly) or, in the other direction, 40 minutes into Tuma (about the size of San Marcos). Tumba is a wonderful, thriving community that smack dab between a large lumber factory and the southern hemisphere’s largest paper mill. There are several “main” roads, however only one that seems to give off that old world small town vibe. With two grocery stores, an Alamo Drafthouse like cinema, a butcher, post office, chemist (i.e.: Walgreens), and ~three~ pubs. Now, one would assume that it’s a color-less town; however, it’s a surprisingly multi-cultural community with folks from several Asian countries as well as several Sudanese. It seems that during the harvest season, droves of these immigrants come through town.
Anyway, we arrived at the property a few hours before dusk. We roll into the driveway, on the right side lined with gum trees, to the left stacks of hay. Through the main gate and past a “dam” (a small man-made tank), empty because the soil’s unable to sustain water. The idea, I’m told, is to till clay or lime into the bed of the would-be pond so it can hold water, then to add fish and ducks. Up the slight incline, above the dam, is an old white-grey dairy barn, worn and dilapidated from years of unused. A quick turn to the left and we’re at the gate for the main house. As we drive in, the main paddock is just off to the right with the barn/shed just in front of us with several older cars sticking their noses out.
Just off to the left and surrounded by flower gardens and quite a few flowering and fruit trees. It’s a beautiful old Queensland style home is situated just off the road; however, there’s so little traffic on this road it’s almost private. There’s so much rosemary and lavender in the garden, I’m in love! In fact, we’ve got rosemary, lavender, several types of roses, lemon-mint and a multitude of other plants that I’m clueless about.
My first night was absolutely magical in so many ways. A quick dinner of quickly purchased Tumbarumba pizza was followed by an absolutely spectacular show of stars that was put up specifically for me… or so I’ve been told. It wasn’t just one or two stars or sets of constellations, but the entire the entire Milky Way Galaxy. You could see each individual cluster of stars, dark matter… the sky went on forever. I swear I could have lain out there all night long just stargazing, but sheer exhaustion drove me to bed. I’m really looking forward to being here to see the new moon and seeing how very black it gets out in the country!
Since being here, my days have revolved around the horses, chickens and repairs around the ranch. Almost every morning I get up to drive the tractor to get hay, followed by feeding the horses and chickens. I’ve been learning about well pumps (we have our own well, and the water is beautifully cold and tastes fantastic right from the source!), how the tank and trough systems works, “helping” to chop down trees, hauling stones, throwing mounds of hay, building fences and coops, and on and on! Some city girl I am!
After learning how to build fences and building a chicken run, we chased the chickens and ducks into the enclosure and we’ve got make them stay put until they learn that this run and coop are “home,” instead of out in the bush. No eggs yet, but here’s to hoping! So I’ve been doing the chicken’s work in the paddock by scattering the horse’s poo all over the place. Not as bad as mucking out a stall, that’s for sure! I’ve also been a very generous monkey since I’ve been bringing the fowl a load of poo because they’re so spoilt on fat-bugs that they don’t eat the grain and scratch we’ve been giving them! Aren’t I a nice monkey? ;)
Anyway, the house is beautiful for being 100 years and, and in pretty darn good condition, all things considered. Most would consider this roughing it. Heck, in some cases I would too, but I’m finding such solace and energy here that this is just one of the many differences I’m embracing. Anyway, there are four bedrooms: two of them (NE and SE corners) are bedrooms w/ the SE corner designated at my personal space, the middle room (E side) is the conservatory/library/to-be computer room and the room across from mine (SW corner) is the lounge, with a damn fine modern TV room set up. Like any typical bathroom (W side), it’s got all of the modern amenities, it just also happens to have a washer/dryer included in the room. The main hallway runs from N to S, with the kitchen being at the far north end and taking up a majority of the house’s real estate. It’s really pretty decent to cook in (though we’ll be moving the fridge here soon enough to maximize the most effective stove-sink-fridge triangle), not that I’ve been doing a lot of cooking, mind you.
One expectation I had was that I’d to the majority of the cooking. Now assumptions and expectations mostly lead to disappointments; however, in this case I really lucked out! Not only does he repaint the night’s sky every evening but he’s also a damn fine cook! Quite the Chef… but then I’ve noticed most folks who seriously into cooking have a tendency to be “Chef” like rather than just the cook. Good thing I’m flexible and am an excellent sous-chef, in my not so humble opinion!
Over the few weeks I’ve been here, I’ve met so many fantastic people. Jason took me out to the Camp Draft (a smaller version of a roping contest) where I met Jack and Ann. While they own the local discount store they also have their own horses. He’s a big Aussie bloke and she’s the small little thing next to him, but boy she’s a sharp one and can really put him in his place. The affection is definitely still there after 40+ years of marriage!
There’s two guys who’ve been helping us out at the ranch, Nat and Ashely. Now Nat’s this fantastic guy with a happy demeanor and relaxed personality. He’s also the guy who sold John (the owner) all the chickens and ducks. Nat really is very knowledgeable when it comes to animals of all kinds. Ashely’s a younger kid who’s pretty much the grunt on the property. He’s a total smart ass, but it’s all in good fun and we make a fantastically good team.
Claudia is the young lady who used to own this house/property before selling it to John several years ago. She and Nat have been taking care of the garden and she’s planted tons of fruit trees all around the house. She can talk the hind leg off a herd of donkeys but she’s got a wicked sense of humor and seems genuinely nice. She and her boyfriend, Randall, make a very cute couple, always touchy-feely.
There’ve been a ton other folk I’ve met, but these are the folk that have made a lasting impression, thus far.
Now since I’ve been here, I’ve had to really face a lot of my deepest fears. Insect rank right at the top of the list and, being in the country and all, one’s gonna come face to face with these devils on a regular basis. I’m not so keen on snakes either, though at least the Texan variety has a little rattle to warn a person. Australia, on the other hand, is the land of some of the most poisonous creatures on the planet: brown snakes, red-bellied black snakes, funnel-web spiders, the red-back spider and the white-stripe spider. Luckily, I haven’t seen any snakes; however, there are spiders in abundance. And I do mean in abundance! Thankfully no sign of the red-back (though Jason’s seen plenty here) or the white-stripe (they tend to like cool places like clothing and sheets, etc). Both take a lot of shaking out of clothing and shoes, or even checking the sheets before climbing into bed. However, there are a multitude of funnel-webs. TONS of them all around the veranda at this house! I stopped counting after 15, lemme tell ya! Then there are the huntsman spider, similar to the tarantula; however, not poisonous though their bite will hurt like an SOB. I’ve found several of them in the house and it’s taken all my willpower not to freak out hysterically (which is what I’ve been known to do in the past). Instead, I gasp then (mostly) calmly get Jason to take care of the issue, all the while he’ll tease me unmercifully. I suppose I deserve it, a bit… but still.
There are so many other small anomalies that amaze me. Like, after a decent rain the mist that rises off the pasture completely obscures the mountains in the distance. Also, when walking through the pasture, suddenly there will be a pocket of cold or warm air… just out of the blue, all of a sudden. It’s like swimming in Barton Springs and swimming through a patch of warm/cold water. There are so many amazing sounds here also. The multitude of colorful birds make is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced, even in Sydney. The hilarious laughter of the Kookaburra at dawn/dusk; there’s a distinct difference between the call of a White Cockatiels and that of a Black Cockatiels; the chatter of the Crimson Rosella, as they chatter and play on the wind. We’ve got Blue Fairy Wrens which come and play in the garden almost every morning. I finally got to see a Willy Wagtail, attempting to drink out of the “duck soup” (ie: the pan of water that we have for the ducks to paddle in).
We’ve got lots of other critters around the place, other than the normal rats and mice. Supposedly there are kangaroos, wallabies, wombats and foxes, but I haven’t seen them on the land yet. Unfortunately one of the ducks met a fox several days before I arrived. There’s a feral cat, but it keeps a wary distance from us. We’ve been putting out scraps for the foxes and cats in the hopes that they’ll come eat more rabbits. Speaking of rabbits… there are hundreds upon thousands of these little bastards. Sadly, this country has no good way to deal with this infestation. Trapping them is illegal, even if one uses humane methods. Owning a gun is nigh to impossible here, so going hunting happens rarely. The only other option is poison; which I find to be cruel to the rabbits as well as any other animal that may eat what’s left behind. Not only that, you use poison carrots… and what do horses eat? Exactly! Anyway, Jason had an idea to block off each of the warren holes and release a few ferrets into the tunnels. Still looking into that one.
In total we’ve got 13 horses: seven broodmares and six foals (three each fillies/colts). The alpha female is Little Decisions. Now she became quite ill and lost her role in the herd for a few days, but she was up to her normal antics this morning. Her glands are still swollen, but she looks to be feeling much better. The biggest horse, at 18 hands (that’s a very large horse for those of you in the non-horsey world) is Danish Culture. She’s got the sweetest disposition of them all and seems to enjoy our company. Sapphire Coast, our only dark bay, is the most reluctant to be touched or caught. It normally takes two of us to get a halter on her. All horse whispering techniques completely goes out the window with this one! The horse that’s got the most interesting markings, Lots of Class, has a backwards question mark all down her forehead almost down to her muzzle. She’s the odd-mare-out since she doesn’t have a foal; however, she’s taken a liking to Cavalina, the oldest horse on the ranch. Now, Cavalina just had her foal about 7-8 weeks ago, and he’s turning out to have quite a personality. At first he wasn’t holding his own with the other foals, since they were so much older and bigger than him; however, now he seems to be giving as much as he receives. He hurt himself a few days back and we had to do an emergency halter breaking on him in order to fix him up, inject him with antibiotics (which I did!) and then drench him for worms. It was quite an afternoon and the poor little man was just exhausted once we were done. Anyway, the two other horses, who I’m still trying to familiarize myself with are Pas Duex and Bachelor Girl.
The house itself is just beautiful, albeit it filled with massive amounts of crap (none of it more than 6-10 years old, so nothing of decent historical value)… and I do mean massive. The owner is just a pack rat. As an Air Force Brat, that’s not something I really can comprehend. Old Tina would have been utterly freaked out over the clutter and disarray; new Tina seems to be taking it in much more stride, though I’ve found I’ve made more than a few passive-aggressive comments. Still, I’m not going to slip back into old habits, especially as long as I’m doing my best to be constantly aware of a personality trait I’m in the process of changing. Honestly though, I don’t know what is more difficult: changing a habit or constantly being aware of one’s actions.
I have to express that for as much I am loving being around horses, out of the city and just enjoying the country, this has been no picnic. Every day brings new challenges and new learning opportunities, all of which I’m so very grateful for! Every night I fall into bed, utterly exhausted and extremely thankful for this amazing opportunity. Sleep’s becoming so much easier for me, once again. The constant nightmares I used to plague me have dissipated greatly from all night long to one every other night or so… at least the ones I remember. Every morning I awake with purpose and joy, something I haven’t experienced in years, if I’m going to be completely honest with myself. Overall, I’m doing my best to live in the moment and just enjoy everything I’m experiencing.