Snowy Mountains

by astridvaagen

I’ve been back in the little house by the gully far up in the Snowy Mountains for over a week. Again it’s not the lack of interesting stories to tell that is the reason for me not blogging, rather lack of time and internet connection. Autumn has arrived since I was last here. The willow trees by the dam are beautifully yellow. Because it’s colder we see about hundred kangaroos grazing every time we go for a ride up the paddock. We even had frost last night, not quite what I expected from Australia. Most of the twenty horses need to be rugged during night, and the dogs curl up in front of the wood fire, refusing to go outside.

The last weeks have been school holidays here, which means extremely busy days. I have been grooming and saddling horses all day long (and sometimes even having to ride the horses to warm them up for costumers). Just as the days became calmer Rosemary came down with a flu, at the same time as I managed to injure my foot (sprained from stumbling over a log with my arms full of hay). Mark is already waiting for knee surgery and is having enough trouble getting around on his feet as it is, so suddenly no one was really able to take care of the horses easily. I’ve done my best limping around trying to push the wheelbarrow in front of me to clean the yards, and carrying hay while walking with a stick. Today we lucky enough to get help. Hopefully I’ll be able to walk around more easily tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll also be back in the saddle on Katy’s back, the mare I’ve been riding lately, so she can teach me a few more things!