Narelle Hunter RURAL LIFESTYLE

With only a week to go until Christmas the farm is now busy with straw baling. The windrowing (cutting the straw into rows) is done first - if its not too windy. The baler follows the windrower and ties the straw into bales, if the moisture is right. The straw bales are more complicated to get just right, than hay and the weather isn’t doing us any favors. Over the past month we have had rain, strong wind, extreme heat and even a small fire. Our daughters are all home and ready to get involved in the farm. They learn how to drive the tractor and ask lots of questions. They want to be outside with Howard and not in the office or the house helping me as much, but thats fine. We all cook together in the evening, enjoying BBQs on the front verandah as the sun goes down.  Howard is starting to sound tired after months of long hours, so I join him at 3am for an early morning baling session. My alarm goes off and I reach for a woole

Our 2014 harvest finishes with a shower of rain and a sigh of relief. Everything ticked along very smoothly this year, including dry summer days and machinery that behaved itself. We are now preparing to bale the straw hopefully before the next storm, they say is on its way. The town of Young is coming to life with the Cherry Festival and Christmas shopping moving into full swing. I meet with my dear friends the ‘Rainbow Warriors’ for our annual Christmas lunch. These are the ladies I met when first teaching Deep Relaxation for the Cancer Council. These days we come together for a big old catch up and laugh, sharing gifts, cards, good food and lots of stories. We make plans for getting together regularly again in 2015, with a special request for yoga to be included in our time together. In a funny way, I like that the women are feeling so well and getting on with their lives that they don’t need a weekly relaxation class. It is similar watch

Sunset at harvest time echo’s with the rumble of trucks, headers, bikes, utes, tractors and chaser bins. The men and women work in sync as the grain is cut from the paddock to the header, from the header to the chaser bin, from the chaser bin to the truck and from the truck to storage. In our case the grain ends up at Bribbaree silos or in silos and storage bags on farm. Howard and I look at the grain prices in the heat of the day and decide to sell some wheat while the price jumps a little higher. A big brown snake turns up at the office door and three of the men stop work to try and remove him from the garden to no avail. Howard ducks home late and mows the grass low so we can see the snake on his return, while I be a good farmers wife and attend to the chicken casserole and scones. Its funny how everyone is happy to do huge hours each day, sometimes from 7.30 am until 10pm or later, as long as we are fed well. What is in your lunch box is suddenly of great import

On the surface it would appear I am a terrible farmers wife. Harvest starts and I catch the early flight to Melbourne, leaving Howard, the men working with him and Stephanie, our eldest daughter, to the 11 hour days and 35 degree heat. Getting your own goals off the ground isn’t always easy, in fact the weight of ‘responsibilities’ can offer a lifetime of excuses for putting your dreams in the background. But this idea just won’t leave me alone, I am on a mission to make a difference in an area I know I can, and there is no time to waist. If I can get to the Appster Rapid Start Workshop in Melbourne before Christmas, I will have a great to do list ready to kick-start 2015. I have decided that goals cannot be ‘wishy washy’, they have to be specific, concise, valued and acted on. The message from the last ‘Dru Ignite Your Dreams’ weekend is still ringing loud and clear to me, ‘Those dreams that keep coming into your mind align with your true p