Meeting Glenn McGrath!

In early April this year Farmer Phil and I were invited to a McGrath Foundation dinner and fundraiser presented by the Commonwealth Bank.  Glenn McGrath met everyone as they arrived with a handshake or kiss and hug.  He spoke for more than an hour on everything from his upbringing on the family farm, to his illustrious cricketing career, meeting Jane his wife, then Jane's devastating cancer diagnosis and treatment, the setting up of the McGrath Foundation, the birth of his children through to Jane's very sad death, and then the meeting of the new love of his life Sarah.  He posed for a photo with everyone there on the night and a considerable amount of money was raised to fund more breast care nurses in the community.  It was a fascinating insight into his life and distinguished career. And what a wonderful, caring man he is - we all have a bit of a crush on Glenn McGrath now!!

Ganmain Show

Last Saturday was our annual country show.  It was a cold, wet day but there was still a large crowd there. 

The show has the usual displays of prize-winning sheep and poultry, sheep dog trials, large art and craft pavillion, horse show ring events, Miss Showgirl competition and side-show alley.  However it is a little bit different to other shows in our area. 

Because Ganmain is known as the "haystack" capital of Australia, the show holds a haystack building event.  Ganmain is also renowned for their famous meat pies, so there is a contest to see who can eat 3 pies in the shortest time.  Our friend Farmer Jason has won the event the last 2 years in a row!!

Emma was asked to entertain the crowd for an hour or so before the fireworks display started.  She was perched up on a truck trailer protected from the wind and rain, which was much better than us freezing our bums off!  

Marrar Ag n Chat

Jump over to Marrar Ag n Chat's blog to see what we've been up to this year, and what charities we've been supporting.

Our main one is lending to Kiva to distribute microfinance loans to women in agriculture in Africa.  We are currently financing two loans.

Faith - a tea grower from Kenya

Millicent and her group - maize growers from Kenya

Last year we also decided to donate money to the Birthing Kit Foundation (Australia) to buy supplies for these very important kits.  The kits are then distributed to developing countries to help reduce the number of deaths attributed to pregnancy and childbirth - "every 90 seconds a woman dies of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth".  For less than a cup of coffee you can buy all the supplies needed for one kit - a plastic sheet, soap, 2 gloves, sterile scalpel blade, 3 cords and 5 gauze squares.  Funds are also made available for training women on how to use the kits.

Country Hall "Flood Raiser" Tour

After ten years of drought and two years of severe flooding, the small communities of the Riverina have suffered a battering. In true rural spirit Fanny Lumsden and her Glorious band have decided to leave the city streets behind and throw a series of old fashioned country hoe-downs in Halls in flood affected towns of the Riverina.

Fanny and her band will be playing at Tallimba Hall on Friday the 27th April, at Ganmain Hall on Saturday the 28th April and at Boree Creek Hall on Sunday the 29th April.

A competition is being run in each area for a local singer-songwriter or band, 25 years and under to play at each of the gigs. All they need to do is send in a recording or a youtube clip and the reason they think they should play in 250 words to fanny.lumsden@gmail.com by 5pm Wednesday the 18th of April.

GUESS WHAT!!

Emma is the local singer who will be performing at the Ganmain Concert on Saturday night!!

All money raised will go to Blaze-Aid which you may remember was set up after the devastating Victorian bushfires a few years ago to help farmers get their fences re-built.  Well, after the recent floods in our area, Blaze-Aid is restoring farm fences washed away.

Powerful Stuff!!

Debutante's Ball

Last week Farmer Phil and I were invited to a Deb Ball to support the daughter of our very good friends Janice and Greg. We had not been to a Deb for 16 years so it was lovely to see all the gorgeous young girls and boys dressed up in their finery.

I took some photos to show Emma to see if she would be interested in doing her Deb next year. After seeing the photos she's very keen to participate.

Anyway, we had a really great night after Farmer Phil had the week from Hell work wise! Let's just say that it was a very unproductive week with everything that could go wrong, DID!!

Has Mother Nature Gone MAD??

Lately I'm of the opinion that Mother Nature really has gone mad!! After the devastation of the QLD and VIC floods and Cyclone Yasi, now she unleashes absolute carnage on beautiful Christchurch in the form of a devastating earthquake.

So many precious lives lost, so many people injured and mentally scarred for life! The only positive thing to come out of this tragedy is the way people from all over the world have come together to help in the rescue and recovery of victims. The re-building of Christchurch will take many, many years but it will never look or feel the same.

I can clearly remember standing in front of the Christchurch Cathedral back in January 1982 when my family did a 3 week tour of the South Island. I can't believe that on Monday I blogged about my time living in NZ, and the next day a huge earthquake hits - I hope I wasn't a jinx!

Queanbeyan Rodeo

We spent the weekend in Queanbeyan and all of Saturday at the Queanbeyan Charity Rodeo.

We were there to help good friends at the BBQ tent to raise money to send their girls Jenna and Jayme to the Waterski Nationals in Perth at Easter.

It was a very long day on your feet and I don't want to see another bacon and egg roll, sausage sandwich or steak sandwich for quite a while!!

After the dinner rush was over Farmer Phil and I watched the final hour of the rodeo featuring the steer roping and the bullriding.

Our Day With Sam and Jenny Bailey

Wow, what a whirlwind week we had last week which culminated in over 350 people crammed into our little hall to listen to Sam and Jenny Bailey tell their story. We had a huge response to the night with people coming from miles around to listen. There were many comments at the end of the night that we need to do it all again next year!!



We asked Scott Reardon to speak to the crowd about his latest water skiing achievement of becoming the World Overall Disabled Water Ski Champion after the World Championships held in France in September this year. Scott has overcome great adversity just like Sam after losing his right leg in a farm accident when he was only 12 years old. Scott is now focusing on an athletics career and is training hard with the ambition of becoming a member of the Australian Paralympic team for London 2012. He is a very determined and talented young man and we wish him all the best for his future.

Sam had us all enthralled as he told his story from his childhood raised on a family farm, to his jackarooing experiences in the NT, to his tragic accident which left him a quadriplegic, to his long rehab in hospital and then back home with his parents, to learning how to farm from a wheelchair, to finding and falling in love with Jenny, to his remarkable life of travelling and speaking now. He truly is an inspiration! We certainly have nothing to complain about!!!


Jenny spoke about how her relationship started with Sam and how much she enjoys her life now even though it's not quite what she'd envisaged for herself.

I had to make a speech as I was the person who thought of bringing Sam and Jenny to speak at a community event for our little town. All the other Ag n Chat ladies were on stage with me for moral support as I was shaking like a leaf reading my speech!!

Sam and Jenny posed for a photo with us Ag n Chat ladies when the night was over. It was a huge relief for us when the night was declared a huge success.

Sam spoke to the school students from the 4 small schools in our Shire. He donated a signed copy of his book "Head Over Heels" to each school library.

Farmer Phil and I took Sam and Jenny to Yanco Ag High School where Ryan and Emma are students, to speak there. Most of the school population are kids who have grown up on farms and have a rural background. Sam's message about wearing a seat belt and not speeding really made an impact on these kids. He even suggested writing the letter "C" for consequences and "SAM" underneath on the windscreens of their vehicles to emphasise seat belt wearing and not speeding as the consequences of both can be significant on the rest of your life.

Jenny is a tiny little pocket rocket and amazing woman. She and Sam have a wonderful partnership and relationship which was lovely for the kids to see. Sam said he wouldn't change anything about his life because he reckons he's got the best life of anyone ever!!

Yanco Ag had to host Sam and Jenny in the dining hall as the regular hall was being used to hold the HSC examinations. Sam asked 4 boys to lift him and his wheelchair up onto a table so that he could see all the students. Many questions were asked by the students after Sam spoke so it was great to know that the kids had really listened to his story and message.

Sam and Jenny also donated a copy of his book to the library and the newly elected prefects for 2010 posed for a photo opportunity.

Sam Bailey Visit

For the past 12 months or so I've been wanting our small community to host an event for the wider community to come together for a night of fun and laughter, and to forget about the farm/drought for a while and just have an enjoyable, cheap night out with the whole family.

About 2 months ago I thought of an idea and put it to our Ag n Chat ladies at a meeting that I hosted in August. I suggested that we bring Sam and Jenny Bailey to speak at a community function. The idea was met with great enthusiasm, so with the help of a couple of ladies we're in the process of organising Sam's visit to us in October.

For those who've never heard of Sam and Jenny, here is a concise version of their incredible story from Sam's website:

Sam suffered a spinal injury in a car accident when jackarooing in the Northern Territory at 19 years of age, leaving his a C6/C7 quadriplegic. Against the odds, he returned to the family farm and fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming a farmer. In 1999 Sam married ABC Radio Rural Reporter, Jenny Black, after proposing to her "live" on ABC Regional Radio. At the time Jenny had spent 17 years as a newspaper and radio journalist. She now helps Sam run their Croppa Creek farm, speaks with him and together they're about to start writing his next book. They appeared in February 2000 on ABC Television's "Australian Story" and their book "Head Over Heals" was published by ABC Books in 2006.

I had seen Sam and Jenny's story on ABC's Australian Story and then I'd read their book and thought what a wonderfully inspirational couple they are. The night is being fully sponsored by local businesses and sporting clubs in our community so that everyone in our area has an opportunity to attend. I received this letter included with a sponsorship cheque, and wanted to share it with you:

"Having viewed the documentary on Australian Story and read their book, it is impossible not to admire this couple. Not only have they achieved amazing feats individually and together, when dealing with their own problems, Sam has reached out and offered an incredible amount of support to others coping with some of the devastating challenged life deals out. A truly remarkable couple who are well qualified to inspire others!"

We're all very excited about the event and can't wait for the date to arrive!

Scott Reardon Charity Bowls Day

Yesterday we went to a Charity Bowls Day to raise funds for Scottie Reardon to help him on his way to the World Disabled Waterski Championship in France in September.

Scott was born and raised on a farm near us and his parents Peter and Carol are very good friends of ours. In 2002, when Scott was 12 years old he was involved in a farming accident when his shoelace became entangled in the PTO on a tractor. His right leg was amputated through the knee.

Scott was a very talented sports person and 6 months after his accident he was back on the water skiing his heart out. He is so determined and talented that he's made it all the way to the World Championships three times! He is an amazing young man and we had a really fun day trying to play lawn bowls for the first time to help with Scott's ambition to become a world champion again.

I'll try and link some of his skiing from You Tube, when I work out how to do it! But for now, here are a couple of photo's of Scott and what he can do on a waterski, and some photo's of the bowls day.

Garden Show

On Easter Monday I went to a garden show around our area. There were some lovely gardens and lots were demonstrating how to be water wise due to the drought conditions at the moment.

This dam is typical of ones in the area because of the lack of rainfall. I bet it's been a while since anybody used the canoe!


This represents a dry river bed.


Some easy care livestock!

Ceramic flowers as garden art, instead of trying to keep the real things alive..

A lovely deck and pergola area to sit and relax or have a meal in Summer.

100 Years

Yesterday our local primary school celebrated it's 100th birthday. It was a huge day for our small town of Marrar. There were ceremonies at the school with morning tea for the masses. A street parade was held in the afternoon and then our tennis club catered for the evening meal at the hall which 280 people attended. Farmer Phil and I have just come home from the clean up at the hall this morning and as you can imagine, everyone in the town is exhausted! Here are some photo's of the street parade.

Marrar Primary School float.

The local carriage drivers.

A vintage Case tractor.

A vintage Fordson Major tractor.

A vintage Lanz Bulldog tractor.

Marrar Tennis Club's float.

The Mighty Marrar Bombers Footbal and Netball Club.

Farmer Phil driving our sowing rig.

My father in law, Noel driving our little 1963 Massey Ferguson tractor.

The original Maple Leaf fire truck from the Marrarvale Rural Fire Brigade.

The local polo crosse club.

Here is the local hall ready for the dinner. The 26 students from the school drew all the place mats.