Our 2011 edition - foal

I just realised that during my slack hiatus aka all day "morning sickness" of 5 months I hadn't posted anything about our 2011 edition foal!

Well we were blessed on 18 September to have our mare deliver another magnificent colt.

Our lovely 2011 colt

Unfortunately the mare had a bit of a torrid time, she retained some of the placenta, and got an infection in her uterus, we ended up having to send her to the Vet Clinic, after a week of the vet treating her at the farm, she wasn't improving quickly enough.

It was touch and go for both mum & colt, with them both having very high temperatures and infections, but after another week of (expensive!) treatment, they were both fine.

Our 2011 colt at about 3 weeks old, with milk splatter on his face!

The colt also had a few issues with his legs, with Thoroughbreds, especially if you want to sell them as a weanling (9 months) or yearling (12-18 months), having straight legs is the goal.  Buyers are looking to buy a horse with as few conformation issues as possible, and having wonky legs will cut the price you achieve dramatically.

A friendly fella

Mum & Bub, healthy and happy to be home from the vets!

We had the farrier do some corrective work on his hooves, and we're continuously monitoring his progress, and thankfully with the colt now being 5 months old his legs are just about spot on!

We weaned him off his mum in early Feb, and he's currently enjoying life as a kid with a gang of 7 other weanlings, bucking their newly aquired brands off morning & night, tearing around the paddock, playing chasey and pretend fighting for dominance and just fun!

Not a great photo - from my phone - this is at about 4 months of age

At this stage we'll be selling this bloke at the June Weanling Sales in Sydney, where we sold his brother last year, and his sister the year before.

2010 edition

2009 edition

I'll hopefully get some good photos of him soon, before I go on maternity leave!


Till next time,

Friday On My Mind - 14 - our lovely lad

On my mind this Friday, is our lovely lovely lad, Gatto (nickname), the 2010 foal from our mare.

Gatto's mum, fat as a fool 8 months pregnant

I took Gatto's mum for her 'date' back on 8th October 2009, when she was covered by the stallion, I nervously waited 3 agonising days with fingers & toes crossed until the vet confirmed she had ovulated.  Then waited 11 months, until 20 September 2010, when she produced our magnificent Gatto. We were so happy to have a colt, as in the Thoroughbred world, unfortunately, colts are generally of much higher value than fillies.

Gatto at 4 hours

I kept Gatto company when he was weaned from his mum, and reassured him that he was ok on his own.  I taught him that a headcollar, and lead, and brushes weren't scary monsters to be fearful of. I taught him that walking with me, nice and calm, was a lovely place to be.

Gatto at 8 days

I visited him out with his mates and singled him out for a bit of extra TLC and scratches.

Gatto at 6 months

I picked the brand he would have (6 for good luck), and held him while he was branded and microchipped. Then taught him that a rug was his best friend to keep him warm and clean, not to devour him whole!

This week I spent from Sunday to Thursday midday with him at least 12 hours a day, showing him off to interested buyers, we were hoping for around 60 inspections, we ended up with 87!

Gatto at the sales complex

I asked industry experts to come and have a look at him and give me their opinions, they loved him, and he showed himself off like an old pro.

Gatto showing himself off a treat

We got him ready for his salesring appearance, I'm not sure if I will put the butterflies down to nerves, or sadness, as I knew it meant the end of our story together.  Gatto paraded beautifully in the sales ring, I video taped his sale, through tears of pride, joy and sadness.  Pride that we had helped produce and raise such a special colt, joy that he was showing himself off to his best ability, and sadness that I was losing him.

In the end, our trading business, is just that a business, but I'm a horse lover through and through, I know some in the industry can just treat their horses as an asset, but I can't, and I'm not ashamed to say so.

We got a terrific price for him, much more than we were hoping, and a hell of alot more than we were expecting, in the current depressed market.  But goes to show, the cream will always rise to the top!

Gatto you were a joy to know, own, and educate, we will follow your career with much interest.  Good luck big boy!

Till we next meet, when I visit you in NZ in 2012, take care sweetpea.

Thanks to Rhonda from the Down To Earth blog for her 'Friday On My Mind' idea, it's a gem, I've clicked through comments on numerous blogs on Rhonda's list, and on my own, and found some great blogs which I'm now following, and looking forward to discovering many more!

Moroccan 1 night, Japanese the next!

This week I'm in Sydney for work, arrived on Sunday, and will be here until Thursday afternoon when our horse (a weanling) sells at the Inglis Weanling & Broodmare Sale at Randwick.

I had planned to get through alot of the fabric prep for my DIY Bunting for our wedding, bringing along a big box of fabric, scissors, cutter, etc.

Well so far, no luck!  Sunday night we were treated to dinner by the boss, at Moroccan Feast in Randwick, I had never tried Moroccan but knew I would probably love it, as I really like Turkish food.

Very happy to report that the meal was delicious, and the service was top notch.

We started with a combo of 4 salads :

- Homemade Moroccan Pickle mix
- Tangier Beetroot, seasoned with Chef's spice mix, served cold
- Chickpea salad, with special spice mix
- Eggplant dip, seasoned with garlic, lemon and salt

served with moreish pita bread

I followed with a very yummy Chicken Kourdass (seasoned chicken breast, stuffed with mince, cooked in homemade preserved lemon & lime leaves, with fresh mushrooms & a touch of saffron).

Luckily we walked to the restaurant and back to our hotel, otherwise I think I would have spent the night walking round the room, as I was sooooooooooo full!

Last night we were invited by another sales crew for Japanese, at Monkey Magic, Surry Hills.

We started with a bowl of Miso soup, feels so healthy & clean. Then rice paper rolls with chicken, caramelised onions, julienne vegetables, sesame-miso sauce, so scrumptious!

Main was Slow-Cooked Pork Belly, apple-lime puree, spicy kimchi, salad of pickled vegetables.

A great dinner with good company, a treat on a week that will be very busy.

The miso soup turned out to be VERY cleansing, both myself and workmate spent a bit of time in the bathroom overnight!

Hopefully I'll be posting about a good sale result come Thursday, wish us luck!

Our colt at 4 hours old, he's now 9 months and sells on Thursday!

Till next time,

Our foal - an update - 3

Our 'little' foal has certainly grown up, he's now 8.5 months old, and getting so big and strong it's amazing.

Gatto @ 8.5 months - 3rd June 2011

Gatto @ 8 days - 28 September 2010

We have bred him as part of our business, our horse trading, so in 2.5 weeks he will go to auction in Sydney.

It will be our second weanling to go to auction, and it's so hard, I planned the mating that produced him, I cared for his mum leading up to conception, I drove his mum to meet her 'date' (yes I feel a bit like a pimp!), I cared for his mum for the 11 months of her pregnancy, was there when he was born, helped him have his first drink, cleaned his mum up after he was born.

Almost every day since he was born I've seen him or had something to do with him, be it a pat as walking through the paddock to collect another horse, or when his mum had to come in for vetting.

I comforted him at weaning time when his mum was taken away, I got him through his first feel of a head collar, a  lead rope, a rug.  I taught him how to lead and trust humans.  And in the next 2 weeks I'll be teaching him how to show himself off to his best potential, in the hope he will find a good great home at the June sale.

Yes it's hard, very hard, but I have almost resigned myself to the fact that my 'job' with Gatto is to get him through his first 9 months, so he has the best chance he can have to become what his destiny is, a racehorse, hopefully of the highest order.

So for now I will relish my time with Gatto, and in 2.5 weeks time I will no doubt shed a tear as the auction hammer falls and he goes home with someone else.  I'm so not going to think of that part for now, makes me sad.

Till next time,

Our foal - an update - 2

It's been a while since I've updated on our foal, the last post being back in Dec 2010.

Well our boy is now 6 months, 3 weeks old, and is growing into a lovely lad. He is a big strong lad, with plenty of bone, and quality, we just need to keep our fingers crossed that he keeps on the track he is currently on for the next 2 and a bit months, as we'll be selling him in Sydney on 22-24 June!

He was weaned off his mum in early Feb, and was turned out into a big paddock with 6 other weanlings, however he is proving to have a very very good appetite, a bit too good for this stage of his life.

With Thoroughbreds, if you're raising a foal to sell, you have to be ultra conscious of the leg development.

If a foal gets too heavy, it can cause his legs to deviate through their knees, which if you imagine a horse leg, the bone should be aligned above and below the knee, when they deviate, the bone below the knee misaligns from the bone above.

A foal being too heavy can also put unwanted pressure on his developing legs, and cause the lower leg to turn.

Both of which are not looked upon favourably by buyers.

When you're selling a foal as a weanling, alot of buyers are looking to buy a horse they can sell as a yearling the following year.  So they're looking for a young horse that is growing well, and one that looks like it will continue to grow well.  Any problems in the legs as a weanling can get get significantly worse a year later as a yearling.  Saying that though sometimes mother nature looks after it and any issues can right themsleves.

However it's a punt and when buyers are spending 10's of thousands, sometimes 100's of thousands on wealings to pinhook (resell) as yearlings, it's a punt most don't want to take.

So back to our colt, he was starting to get a bit top heavy, which would, if left unchecked, have started to put undue pressure on his growing legs.  So we have moved him and his best mate into a smaller paddock, where they don't have access to as much lush grass, and where we can ration his feed a bit better.

When he was in the paddock with the other 6 weanlings you would often see him going from one feeder to the other, cleaning up leftovers, and at times bullying the smaller fillies off the feeders so he could keep eating (little piglet!).

He is like his dam and will always be a solid lad, but happy to say at this stage he is on track, and we're keeping the extra weight off him.

Our 2010 colt - Gatto

Curious boys - Gatto at right, his best mate Jesty is left

Hasn't he grown! The day he was born

While it will be very sad to see him go come 22-24 June, I'm happy that we have given him a great start to life, and he will hopefully go to good owners who look after him and give him every chance to fulfill his destiny on the racetrack!

Plus if we don't get some $ coming into our horse business again, our accountant may string me up!

Till next time,

Our New Venture!

Mr Mel and I have been in the Hunter Valley for a couple of years now (Mr Mel permanently from Feb 2010, myself from July 2007), and we absolutely love the Valley.  Having 120+ vineyards, world class restaurants, producers, on our doorstep, leaves us very spoilt for choice.

Last year we were trying to find things to do with our extended family that were kid friendly, and found that the info, what was there, was hard to find.  So we decided we'd start a blog for the Hunter, on things to do, see, things we'd done, with honest, non airbrushed content.

We registered domain names, sent in a business name to the government, to include under Mr Mel's business ABN, and continued to mull over the concept for a few months.

This past month or so we have setup the website, as a blog to start with, and have some intial content online.  We're in the middle of writing up more content from our travels around the Valley, and will be posting them online shortly.

We're still tweaking the format, so bear with us!

Hunter Valley Grapevine - come and say Hi!

Our new venture - Hunter Valley Grapevine

We're hoping down the track our site will be a valuable resource for people wanting to come to the Valley, we'll have reviews online, good, bad & ugly of alot of places, and will happily go check out locations for non Hunter people to give them the real deal, rather than the photoshopped content on alot of websites.

I will probably take a few older stories from this blog and rewrite them on the grapevine also.

We're always open to any suggestions/comments/feedback, so feel free!

Till next time,

Friday On My Mind - 8

Another Friday, another week gone, 8th April, how has that come round so quickly?   And Friday means another photo for the lovely Rhonda from the Down To Earth blog Friday Photo Feature - 'On My Mind....'

So what is on my mind this  Friday?.............................

The evidence of a lovely afternoon in the Hunter

No we don't have a drinking problem, the above bottles were from 12 people :)

A couple of weeks ago Mr Mel & I went to a Members Lunch at a vineyard we're members of, Ernest Hill Wines, what a lovely day of decadence and great company, we blogged about it on our new blog - Hunter Valley Grapevine.


Till next time,

Can We Do It Update - Mar 2011

31st March, huh?  How is it 31 March already?  New Years seems like a couple of weeks ago!

So now that a quarter of 2011 has gone, a time to assess where we're at with our goals perhaps.

Wedding - Everything is getting on track for our Surprise Wedding in July.  Since last update we picked up our engagement ring (yay), booked a venue, celebrant, caterer, lady to help with decorations.  Even my DIY invitations debacle has been fixed with the help of a friend of Mr Mels, who kindly offered to print what I'd designed, for free! There's still a heap to do but getting there.  

Mortgage - We bought our home in July 2009, We're aiming to have our mortgage paid off in 7 years from starting out, which would make it July 2016.

Update - We're on month 21 of our mortgage, and we're on track, we've got 59.24% equity in our home. We may reduce our repayments as the bills start coming in for July!

Other debt - Our total non mortgage debt includes a car loan (as part of mortgage package, at same interest rate), and a VISA we've since closed. Our aim is to have all of this debt paid off by mid 2015.

Update - Compared to when we started back in July 2009, we're sitting at approx 64% non mortgage debt gone, which is great. We have paid off the VISA, and are still happy with having our money in the offset against the mortgage, not sitting in the car, however are always reviewing. Looking like we'll have it paid off well before aim of mid 2015.

Weight - As per other updates, my weight covers a few areas, getting healthy & fit, getting my body in the right place to conceive (and fit in a near 'normal' wedding dress!!). 

Update - I joined Curves a few weeks ago, and Mr Mel and I started on the 'Great Australian Diet', this week. So far I'm down just on 3kg, Mr Mel 2kg.  It's happening, yay!

Business - In Feb 2010 Mr Mel gave up his job in Sydney to have a go at turning his hobby into a business. We also launched a new blog/site Hunter Valley Grapevine, which we're hoping we can slowly grow.

Update - We have the Hunter Valley Grapevine blog/site up and running, need to dedicate a bit of time to it, to get more posts/info going, but at least it's operating!  And we're getting a few visitors yay.  Will ramp that up significantly after July, happy to potter along till then.

Till next time,

Why it so hard to say YES?

For as long as I can remember I've never been one to either ask for, or accept offers of help.  I'm sure Freud would have a field day explaining the myriad of reasons why, but at the moment I'm not sure what the answer is.

Mr Freud - what do u reckon?

I moved out of home at 19, moved 300km+ away to Melbourne, and rented a house on my own, it was tough, I was paying off a car loan, paying rent, and was a Trainee, where I worked 3 days and went to school 2 days, needless to say my pay packet was miserly.

Even though I had virtually no 'spare' money and would often have cereal or toast 3 meals a day for days on end, I could never bring myself to say 'yes please' when my parents would offer to deposit extra funds in my bank account, my answer was always 'no I'm fine don't worry about it'.  I would then lay awake in bed calculating how much it would cost me to get to work until the next pay day.

At work I would, and still do, stay back ridiculously late after work to get through my workload, when bosses or colleagues would ask if I needed a hand I'd fob them off saying I was fine.

When I was at school, I would be walking home in the pouring rain, friends parents would pull up and ask if I wanted a ride, I'd refuse with a smile.

I moved house about 17 times in 15 years in Melbourne, only twice in those 17 moves did I have anyone help me, once because I was moving out of a house i shared with friends and I helped them move, and the other because my Mum insisted.  The other 15 times I slaved away, staying up till all hours packing, doing hundreds of trips in my car to move whatever would fit, then co-ordinating with the removalists for the bigger items.

Now in my late 30's I seem to have alot of balls in the air, full-time job 5 days a week, managing house & personal finances for Mr Mel & I, managing finances for Mr Mel's business, setting up new business for Mr Mel & I, trying to lose weight and get fit at the gym, and now getting our wedding together.

On the weekend, Mr Mel suggested we hand over the wine sourcing to his Dad (wine buff and wants to help), and my immediate answer was 'no it's fine I'll sort it', meanwhile in my head my brain was going 'great yes please', but that's where it stayed.

So last night I was up till 2am trying to design & make the invitations for our wedding, I was up at 5.45am to go to the gym, and then to work at 8am, will be home at 6pm tonight, and no doubt tonight, as has happened every night for the past 2 weeks I'll be up till after midnight getting through my To Do list.

This isn't a whinge or a woe is me post, nor should it be read as a negative about Mr Mel, he does more than his fair share around here, and continues to offer help with my load, which as you would expect I refuse!! I'm not looking for a pat on the back, just curious.

Is it a female thing, not wanting to admit we need help, or not wanting to be seen to be weak?

Is it a control thing, not wanting to relinquish control in case not done right?

I'm not sure, but I hope one day I'll learn the answer and say 'yes please/thanks that would be great', alot more often!

Till next time,

Can We Do It Update - Feb 2011

Wow 22 Feb already, what's going on!  Time is flying by way too quickly. So I thought before I forget for another 8 weeks, I'd better do an update on our goals:

Wedding - The big update since my last post of this style is that we got engaged on Valentines Day (yay!). We're planning a big engagement party for July 2011, and will surprise our family with a wedding!  The plans are afoot, getting our heads around the budget is the first cab off the rank!  Oh and an engagement ring, we're meeting with a jeweller who is a friend of Mr Mel's father, so hopefully a lovely (and not to pricey) ring around the corner!

Mortgage - We bought our home in July 2009, We're aiming to have our mortgage paid off in 7 years from starting out, which would make it July 2016.

Update - We're on month 20 of our mortgage, and we're on track, we've got 58.27% equity in our home. 

Other debt - Our total non mortgage debt includes a car loan (as part of mortgage package, at same interest rate), and a VISA we've since closed. Our aim is to have all of this debt paid off by mid 2015.

Update - Compared to when we started back in July 2009, we're sitting at approx 62.90% non mortgage debt gone, which is great. We have paid off the VISA, and are still happy with having our money in the offset against the mortgage, not sitting in the car, however are always reviewing. Looking like we'll have it paid off well before aim of mid 2015.

Weight - As per other updates, my weight covers a few areas, getting healthy & fit, getting my body in the right place to conceive (and fit in a near 'normal' wedding dress!!). 

Update - Have been on the warpath since early Feb, results have been slow, but looking at joining Curves for a 5 month attack leading into our wedding!!

Business - In Feb 2010 Mr Mel gave up his job in Sydney to have a go at turning his hobby into a business. 

Update - Mr Mel's business is growing steadily, we met with our accountant recently and he was happy with progress, which was good to hear.  Looking at another part to the business in early/mid 2011, we have registered the business name and websites, but will get stuck into that again after July.

Till next time,

New Business - on the way!

Finally I got round to sending off the registration form to NSW Fair Trading, to register our additional business name.

We've done alot of the groundwork for the business, registered domains, started researching and sounding out contacts.

So now we just have to wait to see if Fair Trading will give us the name we want!  It will operate under our current ABN, so hopefully, according to our accountant, there won't be 'too much extra paperwork'!  We shall see!!

In any case, can't die wondering, so we're going to have a go and see what happens. Once we're up and running I'll post something online :)

Till next time,

Can We Do It Update - final of 2010

Ok so I've gotten a tad sidetracked off my 'Can We Do It' Goals & Updates, but the fact they're still out there in blogland, gives me the push I need to get back to it.

So 2011 will be the year of converting goals into achievements, I'll be back in early 2011 to set it out properly, but until then, my last Can We Do It Update for 2010:

Mortgage - We bought our home in July 2009, We're aiming to have our mortgage paid off in 7 years from starting out, which would make it July 2016.

Update - We're on month 19 of our mortgage, and we're going quite well, we've got 56.33% equity . 

Other debt - Our total non mortgage debt includes a car loan (as part of mortgage package, at same interest rate), and a VISA we've since closed. Our aim is to have all of this debt paid off by mid 2015.

Update - Compared to when we started back in July 2009, we're sitting at approx 48.65% non mortgage debt gone, which is good, we've got the bulk of our money against the mortgage, not sitting in the car, so we're happy with that situ.

Weight - As per other updates, my weight covers a few areas, getting healthy & fit, getting my body in the right place to conceive (and fit in a near 'normal' wedding dress!!). 

Update - Let's just say I totally lost my mojo, will review in 2011!

Business - In Feb 2010 Mr Mel gave up his job in Sydney to have a go at turning his hobby into a business. 

Update - Mr Mel's business is growing steadily, he's working hard at it and the results are coming in, he's probably at about 75% of his Sydney wage so far, yay!  Combined with my bloodstock investments/business, we're chugging along ok.  Looking at another part to the business in early 2011, but will update later on that.

I promise I'll be back in 2011 to redo the goals :)

Till next time,

Our foal - an update

Back on 20 September our lovely mare foaled a big strong colt - http://canwedoityepwecan.blogspot.com/2010/09/our-new-arrival.html

Well he is now 11 weeks old and continues to impress us.  He is a big strong and correct colt, and lucky for all of us who have to work with him, he has a gorgeous temperament.  We have a few foals on the farm who are shall we say less than cooperative, but our boy is just a gem (so far!!).

This is a pic of him at about 4 hours old

This is a photo of him from today, at about 11 weeks old

As you can see he is growing into a lovely lad, not that I'm biased much!!  :)

Till next time,

Can We Do It - Update 5

Another month down and it's mid September, unbelievable, this year is flying.  This is update 5 on my 'Can We Do It Goals', some movement forward, and a fair bit of treading water unfortunately, but it is what it is!

Mortgage

We bought our home in July 2009, We're aiming to have our mortgage paid off in 7 years from starting out, which would make it July 2016.

We're on month 14 of our mortgage, and we're going quite well, we've got approx 54% equity . 

According to my obsessive excel calculations, if we continue on the same path we'll have the mortgage paid off by mid 2016, even allowing for a couple of years at minimum payments (fingers crossed that becomes reality soon!! read below)

Other debt

Our total non mortgage debt includes a car loan (as part of mortgage package, at same interest rate), and a VISA we've since closed.

We're sitting at approx 25% non mortgage debt gone, which is good, we've got the bulk of our money against the mortgage, not sitting in the car, so we're happy with that situ.

Our aim is to have all of this debt paid off by mid 2015, so we're on track there too.

Weight

As per other updates, my weight covers a few areas, getting healthy & fit, getting my body in the right place to conceive (and fit in a near 'normal' wedding dress!!). I am easily distracted from weightloss, so hoping this blog can keep me on the straight & narrow!! We've been talking wedding options over the past few months (even though Mr Mel hasn't proposed yet!!!! don't get me started!), so have to keep on keeping on!!

A new goal is Xmas, Mr Mel & I are venturing to my old hometown for the first time since I 

moved to Melbourne (1992) and I want to move some pudge before heading home.  So the timeframe is set!!

My goal is:

Lose 15kg by 20th December, that gives me 18 weeks, that SHOULD be do-able, the only thing stopping me, is me!!  C'mon me!

Since this new goal was set on 16 Aug, I've lost the miserly amount of 1.4kg, which is pathetic, but the good part is I was pathetic, little to no extra exercise, and too much naughty food, so at least I still lost while being very naughty.

So on that goal of 15kg, I'm 9% there, it's better than 0%, so that's a start!

The good news is we fixed the treadmill, so this week I've been on the treadmill every morning, after walking the pug.  Results should follow!

Business

Mr Mel's work (majority of our business) continues to grow, he gets frustrated that he's not 'bringing home all the bacon he should' but we'll get there, as long as he's happy in what he's doing that's the main thing, the rest will follow

Our bloodstock side of the business (my part) had it's first profit a few weeks back, so it was nice to make a deposit from the horses, instead of constant outgoings.

I think that's about it for the month.....

Till next time,

Have I Said How Much I Hate BAS?

I don't think I have, so I'll say it again I HATE BAS, HATE HATE HATE IT.

The worse thing of running a business, especially a small business, is all the paperwork, it is just depressing.

I work full-time, and Mr Mel & I have a business that we both work at/in (home based), his working it full-time, I'm doing it whenever I can. I'm also in charge of the paperwork side of it, the evil MYOB & more evil BAS.

I usually work around a 9.5 - 10 hour day at work, and when I get home don't really feel like getting stuck into spreadsheets, MYOB, tax, filing etc, so inevitably I end up a couple of days out from BAS deadline, running around like a headless chook.

So needless to say tomorrow 28 July is the deadline for the next BAS, and I'm one headless chook.

Ahhhhhhh, at least it'll be over soon, for another couple of months!!

I've promised myself, and made Mr Mel keep me to it, that over the next 2 months I'll get caught up on all the paperwork, so next BAS isn't so bleeding painful!

We shall see.
Till next time,



Update 28th July - I finished the BAS last night around 10pm, after 2 coffees, a bit of foul language, and some unappreciated laughing from Mr Mel!!   Till next time we meet evil Bas.........