Knocked For Six!

Well! The Morgans defo knocked us for six yesterday...they told us, very kindly but in no uncertain terms, that they were going to retire from the sheep-station business. This, of course, in turn, puts Danny out of business unless he can find another jackaroo/station manager job.

But he has been saying lately that *he* wants to retire from the business. He came in from tooling round in the bush after the sheep with his dirtbike sarvo, and he was just as cross as a frog in a sock. Said the sheep were all bloody stupid twits and that they didn't know enough to come in out of the rain (which of course is just a figure of speech because we haven't had any rain for so long).

Actually we've both been thinking about horses instead of sheep. Oh, not that we would start our own ranch or horse station, but that we could just have a couple of horses. Pearl is old enough to have her own horse -- and would she ever love that! She will take every chance she gets to jump on a horse and start riding. Opal and Jazzie are interested but not convinced yet. 'Course, they've only had pony rides, and that doesn't count for much.

I haven't introduced my little ankle-biters yet, have I? Crikey, I've been so worried about losing our place that I haven't even gotten that far. All right. Here goes!

This is Pearl (our eldest) with her favourite sheep, Duxie. The photo was taken a year and a half back, so she looks older now, but I just love the pic. She looks like her grandma Julie -- cert doesn't take after Danny or me!




















Heeeeeeeeeere's Jazzie (real name: Jasper)! This was taken last month. He is amazingly self-possessed and talky for such a younker, as you may be able to tell from the pic.














This is Opal. (She and Jazzie are twins!!) This is taken from the back because, little though she is, she goes abso starkers if somebody tries to snap her photo. I sneaked up on her yesterday and got the pic before she knew what was what. Tee hee!













There they are, the joys (and trials!) of my life. Speaking of trials, you may be wondering about the title of the blog. It isn't Putt Hey Abbies Back -- it's Put the Yabbies Back! When I was just a little billylid, probably no more than five, I'd always be wandering down to the billabong to play with the yabbies. Yeah, I got bitten, but they were still fun. I'd scoop 'em up into my favourite cup and bring 'em into the house. Then I'd draw some water in the bathtub and plop the yabbies into it. I'd kneel there watching them swim round and try to find something to hide under.

Then, the Voice of Doom -- my mum would come in and say, very deliberately, "Jess. What have I told you about that?"

"Mum," I'd whinge, "lemme keep 'em in here for a tick or two, hey?"

"Outside."

"Mum -- "

"Put them back in the billabong. Now."

I would scoop them back up in my cup, pulling a face all the while, and trudge over to the door. Then usually I'd turn back around and try again.

"No, miss," Mum would say firmly, "you just chuck a yewy and get yourself right back out there! Put the Yabbies Back!"

And hence the title of my blog.

But now...you know what they say -- payback time! First Pearl, then Jazzie, and now Opal all have done the exact same thing to me. Heh, heh. Guess I deserve it.

Well, I suppose I've rambled on long enough. I need to get busy finding us a new place to live. (Crikey, that sounds odd. It'll take some getting used to.) We can't just lob in on the rellies in NSW, so we'll have to start fossicking through all the real estate in the area.

*sigh*

Strewth, I can't even imagine packing up all the stuff we've got. Going to be some bloody hard yakka in the next few months. But then, when have we not had to work hard? This won't be that much different. Give it some time, and she'll be apples. Things always work out.

I'll be posting updates as the house-hunting progresses. In the meantime, if you want to comment, feel free to have a go! :)

Cheers!