Holy Cow!

Every day I go for a walk and every day I feel the eyes of dozens of black cows watching my every move. I can't imagine what kind of entertainment I am really providing, but I've never seen such attentiveness. If only I could have turn that field of cows into a field of hot, nice guys. Ah, now that would be a Field of Dreams.

My horse/house sitting stint comes to an end today. Mixed feelings about this - I have loved the peace & quiet, the relaxing routine and, above all, the endless opportunities for personal development that I've been afforded, thanks to Jo and her many DVDs & books. On the other hand, I am really looking forward to some 'backpacker' style travelling - you know, hostels, tours, trying new cuisines, meeting fab people, etc, as well as seeing some of my fav friends from Sydney - Sara, Craig & Amo! Also, as much as I like the country life during the day, I have to admit the nights here on the farm were sometimes a bit scary - between the animals and the howling wind my nerves were a bit frazzled.

Anyways, the past week has gone really well, here are the highlights/lowlights:

Tuesday the prime in the water line went down - basically air got into the pipe, therefore, the suction required to draw the water from the dam went. This meant that the horses' water troughs which are self-filled, were going to go dry..aka disaster. So I hauled myself out of bed super early (what the heck, I hadn't slept anyways, cause I'd discovered the problem just before going to bed the night before). I hiked to the back of the property, opened the valves and started the fire hose pump as Jason had instructed. I waited about 15 minutes, but it didn't seem to be working, so I figured I'd have to call the plumber, but when I got back to the house I discovered, lo & behold, that I had fixed it after all!! I swear that's the first time I've been successful at fixing something mechanical :)

Anyways, Tuesday night I had my neighbour over for dinner. He gave me some good tips on driving the Ocean Road and also ate 3 1/2 hamburgers and a lot of mashed potatos. Oh, and he asked me to check in on his cat while he was away Thursday night - apparently I am becoming known in the area as the animal-sitter. No probs, I would check in on the kitty cat who, poor thing, had one of those ridiculous plastic funnels around her head so she wouldn't lick a sore she had.

Hmmm...Wednesday I had another visitor, a friend of Jo's who'd asked me to review the draft version of an e-book she was writing. Again, no probs, I was happy to help. Jo also has me writing a little book of tips on 'How to Write', which I find quite amusing because I am almost finished and have used virtually none of the advice I've provided in actually preparing the piece. It turns out I'm great at giving advice, not so great at taking it - especially my own.

Thursday the freaking prime on the line went again, so I called in the plumber for some professional assistance. I ended up going into 'town' twice, the first time to do some grocery shopping, the second time to have dinner with Jason's parents. You just know you are in a small town when you go to the grocery store and see the plumber who just fixed your pipes AND a friend of the McInnes family whom you'd already met twice previously during a five minute period. And then, of course, during those walks where all the cows stare, there are also the friendly neighbours who are driving by in their pick-up trucks. Always get a wave from them too.

Um..so yah. It's Sunday now, I've just done some cleaning and am debating on going for a walk - love to if it's not too hot, but that's a big IF as it's been hellishly hot most of the time I've been here.

So, Thursday I land in Tasmania. Between now and then I don't know where I'll be - hopefully here for a couple more days then in Melbourne for a quick stopover to pick up some necessities.

I'll try to upload some pics when I have high-speed wireless....whenever that might be!