Surprise Visitors


I was just about to leave for the grocery store when lo and behold look what landed in our balcony! Just as I thought he was about to fly off, his/her mate came to say hello too. :) Wow, what an incredible moment!

Don’t be in a hurry

Went to a pub/dance club last week with Cheryl. It became obvious once we got there that we had made a mistake—we were the only ones NOT wearing black, studded jewellery nor spiky hair. Turns out it was “goth night.” Lol. Since it took us 30 mins to get there by bus and walking, we decided to stay & make the most of it. Every time we go out, it’s always an adventure!

On Tuesday night, Cheryl and I had an early Christmas dinner before she left for home. We made turkey with stuffing, sweet potatoes, veggies, rolls—the works. Yummy! Now it’s just me, Buster, and a lot of leftovers. We miss Cheryl already!

Last night, Buster and I were waiting at the light & we witnessed this middle-aged lady get hit by a car. Instead of waiting for the cross walk, she ran across the road with shopping bags in hand in attempts to beat oncoming traffic. The guy hit her leg and she fell to the ground. Very traumatic experience, but fortunately, she pulled herself up and was able to walk again. I was surprised that no one bothered to call the police or an ambulance. To everyone out there: please slow down your lives a little & try to be a little more patient. Life is precious, don’t rush it.

Today, Buster and I have been kind of mopey around the house, so I decided to take him to the park where we fed the ducks and these snakelike fish. Some kind of eels I think. We had fun watching the ducks swim after the bread pieces and the fish splashing water as they slapped their tails to keep the other fish away from their prized food!

Farmer Girl Evy

Ever since finishing my final exams about 3 weeks ago, I’ve been keeping busy completing the remainder of my practical work experience with large animals. I rode a 7 hour train followed by a 1.5 hour bus ride and then a 1 hour car ride to a beef cattle property where I spent a week working with Angus cattle. My jobs included feeding, mustering, grooming, haltering, and doing the dishes. The family was very nice and the husband even had a hearing impairment so we got along really well! He asked me lots of questions about Texas and American history! Was funny because when he’d introduce me to people, he’d say “This is Evelyn, she’s a Texan, and deaf as post just like me!” Lol.

After spending a week with Angus cattle, I spent a week with dairy cattle (Holstein Friesians) only 3 hours from Sydney. The dairy was part of a small agricultural college. Rented a car and dragged Cheryl & Buster with me to keep me company out in the country. The first night, we stayed in a hole in the wall place that looked like one of those places that you rent by the hour…got eaten alive by mosquitos that night. After spending one night there, we ended up spending the remainder of the week at the college student housing. My main jobs at the dairy included feeding, teaching the calves how to drink milk from a bucket, mustering, & lots of milking!! Also did some ear tagging. I liked mustering because I’d get to use a 4 wheeler (or a quad as it is called here) to herd about 200 cows from the paddocks into the milking barn. To teach calves how to drink from a bucket, I’d stick my fingers in their mouth to get the sucking action going & then slowly bring their heads down into the bucket of milk and let them suck the milk & eventually removing my fingers. Once the milk is gone, the calves will try to head butt your crotch or your bum so they can get more milk which can give you quite a shock if you’re not expecting it! Was an exhausting 2 weeks of prac work, but had fun!