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