My Dad and Claudia - busy taking time out
Life is just so kind to me...I always seem to have plenty to do and just enough time to get all the important stuff done.

The global financial crisis is certainly providing me with ample opportunity to fill my days. The life of a Banker is certainly full of things to do - really important things too...like revamping strategies that were perfectly fine six months ago that are now no longer quite so promising. Trimming (that means slashing in bank terms) expenses and creating ingenious ways to secure this years forecast revenues. Such delightful days spent in the big smoke, doing my bit to be optimistic about an economy that seems destined to grind to a halt.

Then there is the host of hours spent fixing flood gates, keeping calves branded up, buying cattle, keeping the book work up to date, fixing flood gates again (not complaining we love the rain) and generally making sure that all the bovine, ovines and equines are happy and healthy. As luck would have it the farm work is just growing by the minute with my vegetable garden sprouting weeds daily. Unlike the world of finance, the farm is definitely in summer growth period. No downturn here.

Of course, this time of the year, I have the promise of covering school books, labelling pens and uniforms, organising lunch boxes and school bags/hats/drink bottles and the list goes on. Back to school really should be translated as the best reason of all for me to have plenty to do! Haydn will be in Year 1 and the big girl, Claudia in Year 4.

Add to the above mix, the start of our brand new business, www.qldnaturalbeef.com.au and I am brimming with jobs to do.

Instead of complaining I am relishing my luck that I get to be busy - the opposite is far worse.

I hope your life is busy too.

all the best
Farmer Bub

The Sunset for me is the start of many new imaginings

This is the rich red sunset, moments before setting on Christmas eve....

Haydn, with all his six year old wisdom, announced that it was God painting the sky as a special present for us.

For me:

1. Down to Sydney tomorrow to face never ending meetings where inevitably there will be some blood on the dance floor (hopefully not mine). The colours feel a bit angry.

or

2. Strong. Signalling my strength and ability to burst thru the doors of tomorrow's dawn.

or

3. The background hills are so peaceful and rolling - reminding me of a common picture I drew when I was little.

or

4. Rain coming. Millet that we dry planted about to get a good soaking and then strike. YEAH!!

or

5. Just magical. My brother's life. Uplifting, courageous and inspiring but too fleeting. Simply brilliant and then simply gone. Forever.
Yep - this sunset mostly reminded me of him. Ten years does nothing to dim his memory.

all the best
FarmerBub

IDA - The Wonder Horse

I havn't blogged in the longest time and its all because of Ida (My Wonder Horse). I bought her earlier this year and for many months she wouldnt even let me pat her. I fed and rugged her thru the winter and slowly, ever so slowly she let me pat her. She returned my friendship in spadefulls as the weeks wore on (I think she realised persistence is my middle name) and we really bonded as only an arab mare and her owner can.

I could catch her out in the paddock and everytime I was out and about she would look up and come over to be near me if she could. I was pretty sick earlier this year and Ida really gave me the physical and emotional outlet I didnt know I needed. She was my Wonder Horse - giving me strength I didnt know I had. In addition to all her loveliness mixed with a fair amount of aloofness, she also turned out to be pretty handy around cattle and on my last ride with her, I was pretty impressed.

Dad found her dead in her paddock on the 27th of November. We dont know the reason though it looks like snake bite. She was only six year old and in perfect health. Her death has hit me hard. Horse lovers will appreciate the connection we develop and the 'mind reading' that your horse does with you and you with them. I miss her too. I feel a bit lost without her.

Ida I have decided came into my life for a reason to help me cope with a loss of my own and to show me how much I missed the freedom of riding and the love of a horse. She also pricked my memory of the other really special horses I have been lucky enough to love: Lizard, Miss Prim, Joker, Red Spur, Red Silk, Fab, Master - all of them have left an indelible impact on my life.

I would love to hear from you about the animals you have loved and lost. What was it about them that wormed its way into your heart like Ida did with me?

As one chapter closes another begins...I have finally got the courage to begin my own business selling beef direct from our farm. Check it out at www.qldnaturalbeef.com.au

I am a "CRYER"

For a long time now I have spent an inordinate amount of time & money on trying to solve a problem that I have. You see when I am in a situation, I cry. And once I start I just dont stop easily. It has become almost an infatuation of mine to stop myself doing this. I find it debilitating, uncomfortable and embarassing to cry this way.

My boss rang me a little while I ago to tell me he was paying me a bonus...now most people would be thrilled and show it accordingly. Not me...what did I do...well I cried. Not just little tears but big fat ones streaming down my face and I couldnt talk very well. It was all I could do to chokingly thank him and hang up. I then got distressed (like I always do) that I hadnt been able to maintain a professional image.

I have decided though that I am a "cryer". Just going to accept it as part of the wonderful jigsaw that is me and get on with it. Life is for living and I have worried too much about being emotional. So what if it doesnt fit with the image of a high powered executive...I have never felt I am that anyway.

*******************************************************************************
Busy on the farm....Dad is flat out planting before the rain comes; new calves everywhere and Claudia and Haydn had a head on collision yesterday on their motor bikes! No human damage but the bikes dont look so good.

All the very best
Farmer Bub

Let children have a childhood

I have recently finished an excellent book, The House in Fez by Suzanna Clark - (http://riadzany.blogspot.com). In the book Suzanna highlights the issue of child labour in Morocco. I think a lot about my experiences working overseas and in particular the plight of working children in countries such as Cambodia - forced into prostitution as early as five years of age...it makes me feel physically sick to think about these issues but I know that ignoring the issue is not within me either. I worry about what I can do, how I can contribute. Raising awareness is my current answer - doesn't feel enough of an effort but it is a start.

Recent figures from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) show that:

• Globally, 1 in 6 children work
• 218 million children aged 5 - 17 are involved in child labour world wide
• 126 million children work in hazardous conditions
• The highest numbers of child labourers are in the Asia/Pacific region, where there are 122 million working children
• The highest proportion of child labourers is in Sub Saharan Africa, where 26% of children (49 million) are involved in work.

What types of jobs do children do?

PROSTITUTION
A UNICEF survey concluded that 35 percent of Cambodia's 55,000 prostitutes are children under the age of 16. You can read

"I was tricked and sold to a brothel when I was only 14. Everyday, I would have to provide services to 10 men against my will."
Srey*, a Cambodian child sex tourism survivor, spoke these words as she shared her story with an audience of high-level government representatives — members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Taskforce. Source: www.worldvision.org

CHOCOLATE
"It is estimated more than 100,000 children work in the Ivory Coast's cocoa industry under "the worst forms of child labor," and that about 10,000 are slaves.

As the Ivory Coast produces 43 per cent of the world's cocoa, it is likely almost half the chocolate products sold in Australia could be linked to child slavery." Source: www.theage.com.au

MINING
"About one million children work in mines and the number is increasing." Source: www.ilo.org
Children are involved in mining for diamonds in mines near Koidu Town, the capital of the Kono district in Sierra Leone. Other children (some as young as 6) in India are involved in cutting or polishing diamonds which are used in cheaper engagement rings. Source: www.anti-slaverysociety.addr.com

How can you help?
1. Be better informed on the issue of Child Labour - what is it; where is it happening; what industries are involved; statistics
2. You dont have to march the streets or protest but you can raise awareness by helping your friends and family understand the issue of child labour
3. You can boycott products that use child labour
4. Support organisations who support the cessation of child labour
5. Subscribe to a newsletter to keep you up to date. www.globalfundforchildren.org has an excellent one that I enjoy and share with Claudia & Haydn.

The end of my rant...
Reading The House of Fez somehow sparked within me the need to speak out about this horrible issue. Staying silent just isnt an option. My own two children enjoy the most delightful life of freedom and love and I feel a tad guilty that I have done so little to help those little ones who do not have parents/guardians that ensure they have a childhood.