Pol guarding his bone and watching wallabies

Pol has caught sight of a wallabie in the next field as well as rabbits.

He has a large marrow bone in front of him and won't get up, so that is fine with us.

A month ago this view looked so different, I know I am going on about the grass, but it is the water we need and Val has goats to keep the grass down. Only two weeks ago we nearly ordered food for them, as the grass was fading fast, now it looks like they will be fine for some time before they go onto other food.

Boring aren't I?

Caz with his Saturday bone

Caz is enjoying his Saturday bone and we are filled up with lavender scones and a toastie of cheese and asparagus. Brian is reading The Australian which is similar to the Saturday Telegraph.

More than anything we are going to miss these dogs. They are so gorgeous.

Brian checks the paddocks regularly and they follow him around, sniffing and barking.

Today we watched the wallabies in the field next to where the goats are but can't get close enough to take a picture. On the road we saw six - on the way back from Pottique, diving into the bush beside the track.

Pol in the garden with a bone

We brought the dogs down this afternoon for a change, they have been holed up in the paddocks with the goats and the rain for four days.

This is the first time Pol came into the garden, he is very shy and is also a good working dog.

As you can see the grass is green and long even though Brian cut it last week! It rained for four days non-stop and Brian says, after looking in the tanks, they are full to brimming over.

Pol always has a quizzical look about him but he likes my soft voice (!) and is used to me speaking to him. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get him back into the paddock when Brian puts the chooks away, but I opened the gate, he dropped his bone, and went in after Caz.

On average we have five eggs a day. There are five hens. We lost one the first weeks and Brian was most upset about it, a black one, pretty little thing. We don't know why she died but Val was informed.

Most of the eggs we give to neighbours and Gayleen. Then we have pancakes, quiche and try not to eat too many - but there is nothing like a new laid egg from a free range chook, is there?

A camel ride and no it isn't us

I suppose I have to put some pics on from the festival, the ones I took of the dog training and the others didn't look too great but this was OK.

The festival was very small and not at all as we thought it might be, but then we did go food shopping first, and might have missed half of it or at least most of it.

There was also an antique fair on the showground but nothing of any note or interest to us. A big hall on stilts in need of repair and only two blokes trying to sell the stuff. We, instead, made our way to Pottique for a Devon Tea with scones and watched the planes above us giving pleasure flights.

Bust Ya Nuts -QLD Strong Man Games

This will go in the Guinness Book of Records, so we heard over the tannoy.

Another sunny day and hope it stays that way too.

Our Time Here

I am afraid there are no pictures at the moment unless you want wet paddocks, goats hiding in sheds and damp dogs...

I have taken advantage of the cold. wet weather to make piles of soup - carrot and parsnip, beef stews and cottage pies. Dave has joined us some evenings and we have had a great time sitting around our log fire - thank God for that.

It is very much like winter in Menorca and the rain falling on the corrugated roof sounds also like the wet season in Nigeria - so we feel at home here.

We ventured out last Saturday to the Nanango market again and managed to pick up two sauce tureens. We bought loads of veggies too and the man said, it will rain on Tuesday, he wasn't wrong.

Brian has been keeping a keen eye on our tanks and they are brimming over with water. All our water to the house comes from these tanks. Trouble at the moment is the solar isn't working cos the sun aint shining. That supplies all the hot water.

This weather has been a good boost for me to put words on paper and that is what I have been doing. Brian has a supply of books from the library and he is busy getting through those.

We have visits from Bob our neighbour and he fills our ears with lovely Australian tales and keeps us amused of an afternoon or late morning when he goes walkabout.

Jeff and Pauline have gone back to their other home and it is quiet now without them. They had a BBQ their last night and we had a super time with Jeff cooking the steaks and even ballroom dancing in their house!

Their son is a musician and singer and we had his CD on full pelt and had a dance. Well they did!

Gayleen our cleaner (Val's really) is promising to take us up to her place and around on a trip. She is a lovely woman and we get on really well. They have 350 acres with some cattle. Their son who is 17 rides bulls and she is saying we might go watch him if he is doing it local. Are they bulls? Don't suppose so. Put me right someone?

Haven't seen all the neighbours, the ones nearer to us, are all out at work or school and don't see them at all. The son has a car he races around a track, normally at siesta time - ugh!

We met a couple at The Bell Tower on Brian's birthday, from Nanango, and we are going to see them this coming week. They say they have a British friend who looks and sounds like Brian!

I don't know if I have said - but going back to the novel. My editor wants the whole thing. She says to finish it and then send it to her. That is why I am spending so much time on it. Trying to get it done. With time in UK coming up, then Christmas in Sweden and New Year in Germany with Angela and Eberhard it will have to be well on if not completed. I am hoping to meet her while in London. It is not certain that she will take it, the publishing house she works for might decide it is not for them - she has said if this happens she will put me in the hands of a good agent........ fingers crossed.

Peanut Festival

After five days of non-stop rain, wind and overcast skies (of course) it is hoped the Peanut Festival can get off to a good start in the morning.
This more or less what happens :-


Are You A Real Tuff Nutt?
Proud to be Australian! Proud to be Country!
This September Go Nuts With Us in Kingaroy at the inaugural Queensland Strong Man Games!
Kingaroy is located in the South Burnett region of Queensland, Australia just a little over 200km north-west of Brisbane. We're probably best known as the Peanut Capital of Australia - and have been since 1924! The Peanut Festival has been held in Kingaroy since 1959 and it's our way of celebrating the prosperity that peanuts have brought to our area.
This year the family friendly PCA Peanut Festival has a whole new look and a new location - Kingaroy Showgrounds.
Bust Ya Nuts!
The 2007 PCA Peanut Festival will be celebrating Kingaroy’s peanut heritage in a comical way showing off the strength and resilience of the local community. We are challenging the rest of Australia to test their strength in the family friendly Qld Strong Man Games.
The feature event of the Qld Strong Man Games will be the Guinness World Record Setting “Peanut Thresher Pull”.
There will also be three levels of other games for men, women and children: • “Little Peanut Games”, sponsored by the Little Peanuts Early Learning Centre • The Mission Australia Junior Qld Strong Man Games for primary school children, and • The open Qld Strong Man Games for upper teens and adults.
Teams and individuals from all over Queensland and Australia are being encouraged to trek to Kingaroy to try out for the “Tuff Nutt” Awards.
So if you've ever lived in Kingaroy, have friends here or always wanted to visit us, there's never been a better time to do it! Our site will tell you what's on at this year's Festival; how to get here; where to find accommodation; and where to get up-to-date tourist information about all the other great things you and your family can see and do while you're here.
Let The Games Begin!
ENTRY FEE: $5 adults (under 18s free)PARKING: $5 (behind BGA)
The 2007 Peanut Festival is brought to you with the help of our fantastic sponsors:
MAJOR SPONSORS:
• Queensland Events
• Peanut Company Of Australia
• Kingaroy Shire Council
• South Burnett Times
• The Peanut Van
• Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry
OUR OTHER VALUED FESTIVAL SPONSORS:
• Sponsors page

Have You Got What It Takes?
If so ... you'll need a Registration Form and you must also sign a Participant's Agreement.Simply download these (you'll need Acrobat Reader ... a free download off the web) and then mail to:Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and IndustryPO Box 930, Kingaroy, 4610Or fax to (07) 4162-8431.For more information, contact John or Polly on (07) 4162-8466.
Registration Form (188kb)
Participant's Agreement (17kb)
Guide to the Games (49kb)
Thresher Pull Rules (26kb)
Roulette Roars Back For More Aerial Fun
The Roulette display from last year is back again by popular demand! A solo Roulette aircraft from the RAAF's skilled aerobatic team will put on an exciting display over the Kingaroy Showgrounds during the opening ceremony of the Queensland Strong Man Games about noon.This will be followed by a spectacular flag parachute jump by Dave Benson.The day will kick off at 9:00am with the Farmers and Strong Man breakfast and entertainment from The Leaping Loonies, the Kingaroy State School Instrumental Band and the Kingaroy High School Jazz Ensemble plus a display by the Mascot Working Border Collies.
A Very Big Thank You!
The Queensland Events Regional Development Program is a major supporter of the 2007 Kingaroy Peanut Festival! Their support - plus the assistance of our loyal sponsors - is the main reason why the Peanut Festival has been able to go ahead in leaps and bounds in recent years. The QERDP is a State Government initiative designed to take unique and creative regional events to their full potential. Since it began in 2001, more than $7.8 million has been invested in more than 370 events in regional Queensland.
Click here to read more...

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September is early Spring in the South Burnett and if you've ever been here before, you might like to make a full weekend of it!
The South Burnett is one of the State's prettiest agricultural areas. Kingaroy is particularly famous for its rich red soils.
The South Burnett is also the home of two of Queensland's top inland waterways (lovely Lake Boondooma and the sweeping Bjelke-Petersen Dam).
In addition, we're now becoming known as Queensland's Hunter Valley because of our booming wine industry.
And the Bunya Mountains - abounding with wildlife - are just a short 55km away.
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