Killer Snakes, Spiders, and....Horses?

Yay! I was going through internet withdrawal and I am so excited I can come online today! I have so much to update you guys...

Tues Dec 16: I met the neighbours Brett and Sasha who actually live about a 10min drive away. Tuesdays are pizza night so they brought over pizza and we ate together. After tea (as Rhys calls 'dinner'), they wanted to catch Rys' new horse. This new horse is about 6 yrs old and apparently not used to humans. She had always been a baby machine and she may even be pregnant now - but no one knows since she won't let anyone near her to do an ultrasound. She is quite wild, really. She is black with some white on her chest and face so her name is Domino. Sasha is the horse expert out of the group so she tried to get close to Domino to pet her. The plan was for the rest of us to surround Sasha and the horse in a circle and we had to stretch out our arms to appear bigger. Of course, me being the smallest the damn horse came right at me when she tried to escape! I saw her galloping my way then stop to decide whether to go left, right or straight. By this point, she was about 15-20 ft away from me. As soon as she started to run again (towards me), I ducked behind a tree to my left and she ended up veering to the right. Second time around, we tried holding big branches to appear even larger. I had something in my eyes and started to tear up so Allison (who also dislikes and is scared of horses) took over my spot while I went off to the side. And guess what....the darn horse ran right at her! Allison let out a blood curdling scream which scared Domino into running the opposite direction! Yep, so I almost got trampled and killed by a horse on a farm in australia -- nope, not a croc nor a snake but a generic horse.

Wed Dec 17: There were many trees planted in the fields on the farm which are surrounded by sheets of felt material to prevent weeds from growing around the plant. These are called weed mats. I looked under these mats and had to remove any weeds that started growing. Under them I saw little frogs, spiders, a baby snake that moved really fast, a a baby mouse! The scariest part was walking in the tall grass because this is where snakes like to roam. The brown snake is common and shoots venom in 1 in 8 bites. Hence, when walking in the paddocks you must stomp to make noise so the snakes know you're around and they get out of the way. That night, I saw a huge spider about the diameter of 3 pennies. This is actually a baby spider and apparently it's harmless - it eats the smaller bad spiders.

Thurs Dec 18: I learned how to start making the banners (medieval flags) using fabric. I will be getting a banner of my own with Domino the horse on it as a reminder of my bravery in the face of death. Hahaha. Speaking of that evil horse, John the horse nail trimmer guy came to try to fix Domino's feet today. This guy has had 30-40 yrs experience and he couldn't get the horse to calm down after 2 hrs! Domino tried to bite and kick and managed to give John a nasty rope burn on his face. Domino did manage to destroy the nearby plastic water container with one of her powerful kicks. John said she's a lost cause andwouldn't recommend anyone to tame her because that would be cruel to the trainer. However, Rhys really likes this horse and believes he can do something with her. Allison hates Domino. I just stay away now and I don't like her either.

Fri Dec 19: I went over to the neighbours Brett and Sasha's place to help them remove old branches from a tree. They live in a beautiful picturesque area with rolling hills and an olive and cherry orchard next door. They have 3 white horses and dogs and a cat. Now, there's some debate on how to deal with a snake bite but this is what Sasha said: you should carry with you a large white guaze bandage at all times. She then demo'd what to do if bitten. If you are bitten on the hand then you should wrap the whole arm snug enough to slow the blood flow, keep calm and call 000 (911). Also, don't clean the bite so the doctors know what bit you. But Allison says that's the old way and nowadays we should just call 000 and we live close to a hospital anyways. Any venom that may be there will take hours to kill you so there's plenty time. Apparently, there's only venom in 1 in 8 bites.

After helping Brett and Sasha clear the tree branches and put up fences, we watched a young woman do her equestrian training. It was cool to watch that.

That evening, we went to the Old Goulburn Brewery where the bartender is an ex-priest. He was not a very expressive man....very stoic. I tried one of the home-brewed beers and he asked if I wanted him to add some lemonade in there since I found it a little too strong. Hehehe, I said it was quite alright. This brewery is also a Bed and Breakfast and they have live bands at night. This is basically the locals bringing whichever instruments they have and just playing together. If there aren't enough musicians, they will pull you up on stage to play something. Thankfully, there was enough players that night so we didn't have to go up. They played accordians, banjos, tube whistle, etc.

Today I also held a chicken upside-down to transport it from the adult coop to the chick dome. The adult chickens need to be there to teach the young ones how to scratch the earth. Once you hold a chicken upside-down, it just hangs there very docile. We're gonna have one of them for Christmas....I can't wait to see how it's all done!!!

Sat Dec 20: We went to the Goulburn Brewery afternoon market. I bought a yummy rasberry & rhubarb jam from a nice old lady and a bag of sesame covered peanuts from a lovely old Italian woman who also sold delicious Italian cheeses. On our way home, we stopped by the donut shop to get some fresh hot cinnamon sugar donuts. Yum! They are like beaver tails back home (or funnel cakes in NY).

In the early evening, Pat (one of the french wwoofers) and I went to play tennis. The cheaps balls that Rys had bought broke after 10 min so we went to Kmart (yes, there's Kmart here!) to get better ones. We didn't play any matches since we both are beginners but it was great exercise that I needed! I'm still sore by the way.

I also mowed the grass on a sit-down mower. This was my first time and it was so much fun! For dessert after tea (dinner), I tried 'coconut ice' which is made of coconut and heaps and heaps of sugar! It was made by Allison and Owen (Rhys' son)....Owen loved it but the rest of us thought it was wayyyy too sweet! It was like eating a block of cake frosting!

Sun Dec 21: We helped Allison clean the houses by washing windows and the kitchen floor. Then I had an aussie lunch of scones (which I helped make) with ham, jams, avocado and cheeses. Yum! For tea (dinner), we went to a Hall across the town church for some snags on a barbie (bbq sausages) and sing Christmas carols. Some were aussie carols which I didn't know. I hear there are other versions like Dashing through the Bush...I want to get a CD of those!