Week six was spent with Heidi and Perry in Spreyton. Heidi lives next door to her parents in her grandmother’s old house on a section of land that has been passed down through generations beginning originally as an apple orchard. Although there is still an orchard in existence, due to the change in economy, their main business is cool storage for potatoes and hops. It was fun to spend time listening to she and her dad share stories and show pictures of her family history and feel the loyalty that they share to the other farmers in the state.
For the first two days I laid pretty low after coming off an eventful several days at the Pieman and having Ag Fest just around the corner. One of the evenings four of us got together to see the latest Fast and Furious movie. I just so happened to be riding in a rather fast ute after the movie and warned the driver if the movie gave him an itch to please not kill me on the way home. J
Perry, Heidi’s partner, also comes from a farm that has been in his family for ages. He let me tag along at the sale barn on Thursday. I laughed because for years my Dad has been trying to get me to go to a sale with him and usually school or basketball got in the way. I will now have to go home and attend a sale to have a compare session. The sale here consisted of several rows of small pens outside containing anywhere from 6-30 cattle, mostly black angus (a few red). The auctioneer and his help stood up on an elevated walk and worked to sell the cattle at the highest price they could. I struggled to understand them but I didn’t want to get to close in fear that I would scratch my head or move in the wrong way and they would think I was trying to bid. J The drive from the sale was entertaining – Perry found a radio station that just so happened to play a punch of my favorite songs and I was jamming in the back seat. He turned to his front seat passenger and told him “you don’t have to sing!”….and it was totally me. J He put his foot in his mouth. Thursday nights is traditionally fish and chips at Heidi’s parent’s house so we dined with them, her grandfather, and one of her three sisters. I was introduced to lemon lime bitters and thoroughly entertained by Dayna’s animated stories of her trip with her sisters and their encounters with the many different kinds of people there. I rode on the back of Perry’s ute up the hill on the way home and he decided to take me under every low hanging branch he could find but we arrived back safe and sound.
Friday Heidi and I went to shoe her horse. We intended to take a ride but it didn’t quite work out that way. Instead we went inside for some good conversation and amazing vegetable lasagna that I will be making at home. Jessica owns the property we were at and is also a teacher and she introduced me to the idea of “non-rubbish” lunches and a program that she is working towards establishing at her school. I hope that when I begin teaching in my own classroom, after I get a few years under my belt, to be able to encourage school wide programs as she does to help not only her school but also the world. ---As we were leaving we hooked the float up to what we would call a station wagon at home and it pulled the trailer like a champ and headed back to unload the horse, have a shower, and head to another member’s house for the royal wedding. A few of the girls got decked out in “royal” wedding attire and we sat down to a bunch of fancy snacks and a punch made from England. All went well except for Lisa losing the tail of her fox…..:)
Heidi is a teacher at a very low income school in Tasmania and as much as I wished to have spent a few days at work with her she was on holiday so it was not possible. Heidi is one of those teachers that very rarely uses a book and really strives to reach every kid in any way possible – even if it means spending years making games and activities to teach the curriculum. After a trip to the mainland with her sisters she had a few new CDs to rip to help the kids with literacy and a few things to do here and there so Saturday I spent the day helping Heidi with some school stuff and finishing the Heartland series that I had become addicted to at Lisa and Matt’s. Heidi’s partner was gone on a shooting trip so with the convenience of Heidi’s parents down the hill we went there for dinner again but this time her youngest sister was there. Dinner discussion ended up bringing up things we didn’t like to eat and I said vegemite, beets, and brussel sprouts. Heidi’s mom laughed- apparently she had snuck in some brussel sprouts into the other green veggies and I had eaten it and not complained a bit…..guess that teaches you to try things in different ways before saying you don’t like them. J Once again the trip home was interesting – Heidi and I walked - it was pitch black outside and she obviously had taken the trip hundreds of times winding through here and between this building and so and so. I was busy trying to use the light of my phone and just as we hit the opening to her house we were greeted by the guys jumping from behind the garage. I nearly dropped to my knees in fright. I have learned that Perry, Heidi’s partner, is usually up to jokes and trouble ALL the time. ;) Saturday night I went to sleep in my extremely comfortable bed at Heidi’s for my last night of good sleep for a very fun-filled exciting sleepless week ahead. J
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