Sheep Truck Accident

We sent some sheep off on a truck today. I hope ours got safely to their destination. Some other sheep were on a truck that rolled over not far from here. I went and took some photos (sent some off to the local paper) and I was pretty horrified by the damage to the sheep. Thankfully the driver (from Esperance) was OK. He managed to climb out of the truck before any passers-by arrived on the scene.
The four-deck road train (8 decks in total) was carting 977 sheep from Esperance to Bunbury when it rolled over after a series of bends in the Coalfields Highway near Boolading, ten kilometres west of Darkan.
Many of the sheep were dead instantly but many others suffered horrific injuries and had to be destroyed. Neighbouring farmers were quickly on the scene with dogs and motorbikes to round up escaped sheep, and to shoot those that could not be saved. The police arrived as soon as they could to direct traffic and to assess the accident. The local volunteer fire brigade also sent people to help with the emergency situation. Local truck owners were bringing their trucks to load up any sheep that had survived. A crane came from Collie not long after I left to get the truck upright. There were lots of sheep still trapped inside.
As horrific as the accident was I was glad that it was only sheep involved, and not people.

Seniors' Luncheon

 

 

This morning both Sophie's class and Odette's class performed for the older members of our community at the annual Seniors' Luncheon. They sang Christmas songs. Not Carols, but songs like "Christmas Boogie", "Aussie Jingle  Bells", Susie Snowflake" and "Frosty The Snowman".

After the performance the children gave gifts (which they had made) to the seniors.

Dirty Boys

Yannick spent the day in the sheep yards. Hugh spent the day playing. They both ended up with filthy faces!

Did you notice Yannick has less hair than he did on the weekend? That's because I gave him a complimentary hair cut!

There was quite an audience...

Saturday Night French Restaurant

Oscar managed to get a picture of Yannick in the kitchen 

Yannick is French and he is a cook and he has been staying with us for what seems like ages (actually it is eight weeks - he originally intended to stay two weeks so he must feel at home!)  He met the local cafe owners and was invited to prepare a French meal for the locals. He did a Sunday lunch first, and then on Saturday night there was a French dinner at Rarebits on Burrowes. So I booked a table for three and took Candy and Oscar, our other helpXchangers out to dinner.

 

Me with Candy and Oscar.

We had a lovely meal and a fun night, finishing off with some fun photos in the Anita Jean Photography studio (which is next door to Rarebits).

Who do you think enjoyed this photo the most??

The cook!

Shearing at Wattle Creek

The shearers started shearing at our other farm today. The shed at Wattle Creek is pretty good for taking photos, because it is open on the east side.

 

 

I noticed some new fashion trends in the shearing shed today. There were some staff I hadn't met before, and I'm not sure how informed they are about workplace health and safety. A couple of them were wearing bare feet, and one shed hand had that teenage boy look with the jeans hanging down past his underwear. It is a wonder he could work and keep them up at the same time. All the shearers wear elastic belts, but this guy obviously doesn't even own a belt.

The traditional shearer's moccasin 

 

 The bare foot approach...

You may remember that in August we transported the house from Wattle Creek and it has become Wattle Cottage, our guest accommodation at home. And because there is now no house at Wattle Creek, there was no toilet there either. So Roger had to build a "dunny" and put it up on what was the veranda so that it could be plumbed into the existing septic tank.