Rotherwood journal

Rotherwood Journal – Various diary entries

Started Rotherwood Station – 10/7/82 Arrived 4 pm

Sunday 11/7/82

Got up at 7:00 am. Fed the cattle 2 mixes, spoke with Anthony Martin, lifted compressor and pump into Nissan, killed two pups, 1 ˝ hours cleaning Duke, Lunch – bread, jam, apple, Tea – Irish stew on toast. Lit fire in stove.

Monday 12/7/82 – Milked. Feedlot – 8 mixes. 3 stud bins, 5 mixes fatteners. Milked.

Tuesday 13/7/82 – Mixed 8 mixes.

Thursday 15/7/82 – 8 mixes. Worked on water troughs

Friday 16/7/82 – Milked Cinnamon 9 mixes. Worked on road around hayshed. Played tennis.

Tuesday 20/7/82 - Johnno’s 21st birthday party – gave him a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon

Thursday 22/7/82 Laid pipe between pump and woolshed tank

Friday 23/7/82 Milked Cinnamon. Put foundations in for pump shed in cattle cultivation. Played tennis 8:00 pm – 2:00 am Served a few aces.
Sunday 25/7/82 Met Sarah – spunk, Emma – scrubber, Emily, Lisa.
Wednesday 28/7/82 Milked Cinnamon ˝ bucket Feedlot work. Worked on pump shed. Watched vet complete last stage of autopsy on dead bull calf – diagnosis – Pulpy Kidney. Unloaded oats at Dalkeith. Dinner at Barbs.

Thursday 29/7/82 Feedlot – 1 – 2; 2 – 1; 3 – 1; Mix 3 Urea, 2 Lime, 1/3 additives, 1 salt, 1 bag meatmeal, 2 mins oats, 2 mins Dalkeith mix, 10 minutes Sorghum. Fixed gate in Boundary paddock. Fixed airstrip fence, greased tractor and mixall, oiled mixall and chain. Unloaded Urea, Salt & Lime. Beef Stroganoff dinner. Letters from Kerry, Mum & Dad, Deb, Bill & Sue. Wrote to folks and Kerry.

Sat 31/7/82 Cattle broke out of feedlot 1

Tuesday 3/8/82 Mustered Top Vale on Tosca. 10 calves, 14 cows. Fed calves and bull. Blue mare – Onyx. Fixed No 1 trough. Tinkerbelle – Barb’s black mare, Bronco – bay gelding, Smokey – Ces’s mare, Anita – Bay mare.

Wed 4/8/82 Milked Cinnamon ˝ Fencing. Mustered and paddock drafted feedlot from No 1 studs.

Thurs 5/8/82 Killed beast. Made 3 gates, spent 3 hours fleshing hide. Repaired Barb on feedlot 1.

Fri 6/8/82 Milked Cinnamon ˝ bucket (15 minutes). Dug up 3 gates for electric fence, Cattle cult, airstrip & graveyard paddocks. Feedlot – 1-1, 2-1, 3-1. 1 in the Mixall. Adjusted main bearing drive on Mixall Folks came up.

Sat 7/8/82 Showed folks feedlot, troughs, fencing demo, water pipe junction box, dogs, pup, sheep, dairy, milkers, shearing quarters, room, tennis court, graves, whipping tree, jail, convict area. Mix in 3. Mix in Mixall. Salted skin, cut bulk firewood, cooked Roast Lamb dinner for the folks.

Sun 8/8/82 Went to Church in Coolah. Wrote to Kerry, Leidreiters, Bill & Sue, Tim & Cathy. Moved cattle from feedlot to yards. Drafted 60 fats. Dragged trough in for bull calves. Dragged dead steer out of feedlot 2 to dump. Salted hide. Put into tanning bath.

Mon 9/8/82 Ask Ant about Star Wars coming up. Remind Ant to burn 2 dead calves off Jersey & Angus heifers. Sent letter to Leidreiters. 7 mixes 3 – 1, 1-2, 2-3, 1 in Mixall. Cleared back of Silo. Killed beast, salted skin. Strung silo extension lead up. Greased tractor & Mixall. Washed tractor. Cleaned feedlot troughs. Milked – ˝ bucket.

Tues 10/8/82 Chainsaw down. Mix for studs. Studs – 2, 1-2 3-1 1 in Mixall. Partly put gate in between Woolshed & Top Lucerne paddocks. Pushed steers back into feedlot, and around to the back of the yards. Put milkers in, put bale of hay out. Caught up on mail. Salted new hide. Made a tanning beam and breaking stake for hides.

Wed 11/8/82 Mixing 2 – 1 3 – 1 Worked on strainer fence. Unloaded 2 mixes from John’s truck. Wrote seven letters.

Thursday 12/8/82 4 mixes. Unloaded a truck load of cotton husks. Unloaded 2 tons of cement. Moved four wethers from drafting race to horse paddock. Brought milkers up. Wrote three letters.

Fri 13/8/82 Milked Cinnamon ˝ bucket. 10 mixes. Bled tractor injectors after running out of fuel. Brought Fiat 540 & post hole digger up from cattle yards. Pulled roof of Suzuki.


Sat 14/8/82 Went shopping in Mudgee. Garbo $6.50 Salt 50 kg $6.80 2 Litres Super TT $5.30 2.5 ltrs Leather Lube - $15.50 2.5 ltrs Tanning formula $15.50 LAND 40c QLD Country Life. Packet Alpine smokes. Cut up fore quarter of beef. Played tennis. 2 mixes. Fleshed joey skin and made tanning mix and put skin in.

Sun 15/8/82 3 Mixes. Did a load of washing. Went shooting. Got a young doe and took the skin 1 hr including removing most of the flesh membrane. Roast rib for dinner. Letter to folks. Salted doe skin. Helped Johnno put the pump on. Fed the bull calves. Went through Norfolk, Ridge, Worung, Narrowneck & Hospital paddocks.

Mon 16/8/82 Milked Cinnamon ˝ bucket. Turned pump off. Worked on cattle yards. Put Suzuki in cotton shed. Started fire and cut firewood. Terry worked on truck at Sherwood. Put washing out and got it in at night.



Tues 17/8/82 Worked on cattle yards. Dug post holes, cut posts. Burned off in Ridge paddock all morning. Pushed stud feed down. Fed Destiny. 4:30 pm Went out and pushed logs up in fires in Ridge paddock. Good ride on the bike. Steak sandwich for dinner. Bulls – Elkom in yards. Coryo in Airstrip. Hampden in front paddock. Squire in woolshed. Mail received from Kenny, Tim, Matthew, folks, Cathy Spellman, Leidreiters Cattle pamphlet.

Wed 17/8/82 Worked on cattle yards. Took plough back to Tony McMaster on Toyota. Went to Ridge and did some burning. Met Chad Martin. Barb bought me some gloves. Dinner with Barb. Coffee cheesecake, met Pip. Loaded two truck loads of cattle in the dark. One truck broke down – steer tyre and muffler.

Thursday 19/8/82 Worked on cattle yards. Mixed cement for the posts. Had smoko at 11:30. Bought some new 34” strides. Fixed fence between feedlot laneway and Top Lucerne/Woolshed gate. Took exhaust pipe muffler off Massey. Lit fire near cattle yards. Put cement in cottage. Asked Ant about using the bathtub for tanning the cattle hide – NO. Put milkers in. Fed bull calves three bales. 5 bales on top of feedlot 2 trough. Dug post holes for wing on new cattle yards. Rang home. Dad sent tax return in Got $500 back.

Friday 20/8/82 Milked Cinnamon – 1/3 bucket. Turned pump off and put belt back on. Fixed barb wire netting on creek on Bounty/Airstrip fence. Fixed gate on airstrip/Cattle Cult fence (made the bolts myself). Put the milkers back. Moved No 1 to yards. Drafted off finished steers for trucking to market on Sunday. Pushed No 1 back to feedlot. Pushed Leopard into dairy. Tail tagged 42 steers on my own. Pushed them back to No 2 feedlot. Sloppy tag on Hereford with upswept horns. Played tennis. Lit fire and cut firewood. Got paid $424.



Sat 21/8/82 Went shooting – many roos in ridge and ran one down. Made a rack for the skins. Made groundsheet support for tanning cattle hides – swimming pool style. Fleshed doe skin and tanned.
Sun 22/8/82 Fleshed cattle hide. Mixed tanning solution. 140 litres water, 2 litres tanning formula, 8 kg’s salt, 340 mls battery acid. Put hide. Made a fleshing beam. Fleshed doe and into solution. Salted ridge doe and hung in the dairy. Went shooting in Ridge – no luck. Nelgowrie and Ridge. Watched Ant bleed pump.

Mon 23/8/82 Fleshed cattle hide. Milked Cinnamon ˝ bucket. Fed cattle feedlot.

Tue 24/8/82 Put posts in for cattle yard wing. Mixed and fed cattle. Cleaned No 2 feed trough. Helped Ces push wethers into sheep yards at lunch time.

Wed 25/8/82 Mixed. 27 new cattle in No 2 feedlot. Ant gave me a Poll Hereford heifer (Green Tag 20) Mixed all day. Cleaned water troughs. Fleshed cattle hide. Fleshed doe skin. Pegged joey out in woolshed. Dinner at Barbs. Fruit salad, papaw and roast.

Thurs 26/8/82 Mixed. Unloaded semi.

Fri 27/8/82 Milked Goldie – full bucket. Unloaded two semi loads of grain. Mixed. Field days. Computer selling Limousin cattle.

Sat 28/8/82 Racked doe skin out. Painted Leather lube on doe skin. Put 2nd doe skin into tanning bath. Did 5 mixes – 5 hours. One steer in No 3 died of bloat. Killed a sheep. Picnic in Junction paddock with Ant & Barb, Jean & Chad. Went shooting – 3 roos, rabbitsand hares.

Sun 29/8/82 Fleshed 2nd doe skin and put in bath. Broke first doe skin. Rang Darrobee stud about dog. Mixed all day as follows.

Mon 30/8/82 Milked Polly 6:30 am 1 bucket. Lamb marking Worung mob. 638 lambs 610 ewes 106%

Tues 31/8/82 Lamb marking. Busby mob. 501 lambs 538 ewes 93% Catching for about 300. Burned tails. Drenched about 200 lambs. Cooked – Mince & Rice casserole and mashed spuds for dinner. Good gear. 13 Chelsea buns for smoko. Rang folks but party line congested.

Wed 1/9/82 Lamb marking Shelter mob. 573 ewes 599 lambs 104% Pulled yards down and loaded up Porta yards. Burned tails and two dead lambs. 1 Mophradite – both sexes. 1 ewe with prolapsed uterus and badly blown.

Thur 2/9/82 Milked Polly 2/3 bucket. Lamb Marking Shelter mob. Did most of the catching. 2 pens of drenching. 466 ewes 361 lambs 77% Burnt tails. Moved yards. Ordered black & tan kelpie pup from Darrobee Stud. Best to feed them milk and eggs, meat, no offal, pal during puppy hood. Will be wormed, keep worming it regularly.

Fri 3/9/82 Lamb Marking – Finally got to do some mulesing. 96 lambs 103 ewes. 93% 80% total for Shelter paddock. (Maidens) White face bull sale in Coolah. Drove Ant’s Mercedes Benz with Sarah.

Sun 5/9/82 went shooting in Ridge paddock with Ken. Shot 4 bucks, skun and salted one. Went to Coolah Uniting church. Cooked onions, chops, spud and peas.

Mon 6/9/82 Bought milkers up. Bill’s block fence kaput. Mixing. Put new terminal on Fiat battery. Jed is scared of the goats. Dinner at Barbs. Sarah cooked a banana and caramel cheesecake. Goats – twins born and died. 2 more nannies died. Alex, Deb & Ken left at lunch time.

Tue 7/9/82 Milked Polly 1 bucket. Took Jed to bring in one steer escapee in and took him with me to do the troughs. Vet gave Jed distemper shots. Fed Jed 4 chop bones.

Wed 8/9/82 Shaved beard off.

Thur 9/9/82 Milked Polly 1 bucket. Mixing. Field day at Rick Arnett’s Burnham Woods. Goats eat blackberries, briars and dogwood. If they like a particular aspect about a paddock they will stay there.

Mon 13/9/82 Moved water trough into new cattle yard. Mustered Worung on Tosca. Fed bull calves.

Tue 14/9/82 Milked Polly ˝ bucket. Drove Deutz over to Dalkeith. Loaded oats onto semi. Moved auger twice. Came back with Ant & Barb in Hi Lux. Checked water level in Top Deep Gully Tank at Dalkeith. Tightened bolts in cattle yards. Taught bull calves how to lead. Elroy (21) gave heaps of trouble. Fed bull calves 5 bales of hay.

Wed 15/9/82 Asked Ant about Ken coming up to stay for a week – Yes. Brought milkers up. Tied bull calves up. Got fuel for Mercedes and bikes and pump. Started pump – sounds like big end is on the way out. Jed fell off Suzuki and cut his nose.

Thur 16/9/82 Ties bull calves up. Went to Dalkeith and washed Jupiter, Mercury and Judo. Mustang was already washed. Tied netting onto wing gates. Untied bull calves.

Fri 17/9/82 Tied all the bull calves up on my own. Went to Cassillis with John, then to Dalkeith. Ran out of fuel, and got another flat tyre. Untied bull calves. Pushed steers from feedlot to yards, tail tagged 120 steers. Fed Elkom, Hampden and bull calves. Played tennis. Showed slides off, gave one of Sophie to Barb. Mac & Angela came for dinner. Watched Easy Rider.

Sun 19/9/82 Went to Merriwa show with Chad & Jean Martin, and Sarah, Sophie and Charlie. Led Jupiter in Grad Parade. Ant & I had a shout. Angela and Mal were there and Ian Sutton and the Gilder family. Went home with John (stud groom) Unloaded Mercury, Mustang, Judo and Jupiter. Judo did well – got a Champions ribbon. Weiss won the Grand Champion Poll Hereford bull ribbon.

Mon 20/9/82 Milked Polly 1 bucket. Mixing. Dinner at Barbs. Roast beef and apple pie. Killed sheep. Worked on pump motor. Got three electric shocks in the rain from the fence.


Tue 21/9/82 Mixing. Unloaded cotton. Greased mixall. Had a ball doing donuts while bringing the milkers up. Elkom went crazy when he saw the cows, but he’s not allowed to serve cows in case he ruptures himself. Led bull calves. Fed bull calves 5 bales. Terry cooked chops, peas, gravy, I wiped up, cleaned fridge, mopped floor and started fire. Put leg of mutton in the oven.

Fri 24/9/82 Mixed. Unloaded cotton. Went to Driscoll’s bush dance. Danced with Shevaughn, Donna, Barb. Met Janette, Ashley, Rod & Cindy. Came home with Ant, Barb, Paul & Janey. Bought 2 dozen cans $20

Mon 27/9/82 Milked Polly right out. ˝ bucket. Ant tried to rego Suzuki but Cassillis was out. Ant & Sarah left for Sydney. Met pump bloke for submersible pump installation. Worked with bull calves all day. Elroy was the best. Put the bull clip on all calves.

Tues 28/9/82 lamb Marking Paul Bettingtons. Went to town about truck. Tried to rego Suzuki but copper out again. Shot many steer and cut up legs for dogs. Ken arrived at 6:00 pm.

Wed 29/9/82 Milked Leopard at 6:30 am. Tied bull calves up and led them around outside yards will bull clips on. Bulk trouble – smashed index finger of my right hand in cattle crush. Happened at exactly 7:30 am and had the whole day to work with a throbbing right hand. Ken pushed milkers over to Oats. Ran barb between creek tree and Pump paddock fence. Put Pump paddock/Hospital paddock gate up.

Thur 30/9/82 Barb’s birthday. Tied bull calves up. Led bull calves around. Drafted fats from Dalkeith cattle. Brought milkers up 6:45 am. Got fuel for auger (grumble, grumble)

Fri 1/10/82 Tied bull calves up. Milked Leopard – 1 bucket. Washed 18 bull calves in preparation for Dalkeith sale. Ken got Suzuki regio’s.

Sat 2/10/82 Went to Dubbo. Got a flat between Leadville and Dubbo after running over an echidna. Went to golf club social instead. Had a ball.

Sun 3/10/82 Trangie Rodeo. Ken left for home. Sent cattle hide home with Ken. Worked on Ducati. Put ignition switch in. Led bull calves. Brought milkers up.

Mon 4/10/82 Long weekend. Milked Leopard. Led all the bull calves. P37, R35, R08. Tied up for the first time: R42, R18, and a clean skin. Ear tattooed 5 small calves to be sold at foot. Repaired fence graveyard/horse paddock after bulls Elkom and Corio had a fight. Kibbles came on heat. Dinner at Barbs.

Tues 5/10/82 went to Dalkeith. Set up grand stand and 3 Marquees Drove Dalkeith truck. Met Dalkeith stockmen Toby & Doug. Doug will be barman on Friday. Tied up 3 calves at foot and led R20 – Randall, R35 Ronald and R08 Robot and then led all 3.

Wed 6/10/82 Milked Leopard 1 bucket. Training bull calves to lead all day at Rotherwood.

Thur 7/10/82 went to Dalkeith in Suzuki and washed led bulls, bull calves and unled stud bulls. Went to Cassillis bowling club with Jim from Dalgety’s

Fri 8/10/82 Dalkeith Bull Sale Left for Dalkeith at 7:00 am. Elroy, Randall & Priceless got out and took off up about 200,000 miles up the road. I caught them – they were stopped when they couldn’t cross a stock grid in the road, and brought them back in the horse float. Led stud bulls out of sale ring. Directed sold cattle to various yards. Led stud bulls back to stud shed. First beer out of keg. Had a good rave with Lawrence and Bronwyn. Party at Dalkeith homestead.

Tue 12/10/82 Mixed 6 mixes. Sprayed briars in Busby. Went to Cassillis bowling club. Put No plates on Suzuki. Milked Leopard 1 bucket.

Thur 14/10/82 Mixed. Sprayer briars in Boundary paddock. Changed oil and washed tractor. Fed 11 bales hay to bull calves. Dinner at Barbs. Chinese. Talked to Ant about studs for an hour. Sarah left Rotherwood. Long paddock cows came in.

Fri 15/10/82 Mixed. Repaired broken key way on hammer mill. Fixed flat tyre on mixall. Led bull calves and heifers. Untied Rod – wild mate.

Tue 19/10/82 Tied bull calves up. Fed 12 bales to bull calves. Freed Sage from apple tree. Fed him 1 bale of hay and heaps of water. Vet’s visit – 450 for a 5 minute look at Hampden. $68 autopsy. Stud cow and shots $86 Travelling 45c/km. Brought milkers up. Drafted stud calves. Dinner at Barbs.

Tue 26/10/82 Drenched Shelter ewes and lambs. Unloaded 220 bales of hay. Repaired feedlot 2/3 fence. Mixed. 582 ewes 10 cc Valbazen. 594 lambs 5 cc Valbazen Led bull calves.

Thur 28/10/82 Drenched Worung mob. 620 ewes. 648 lambs. Marked 28 lambs. Mixed. Led bull calves. Tied 4 heifers. Almost mortally wounded by a rogue heifer.

Fri 29/10/82 Milked Leopard 1 bucket. Mixed. Greased mixall. Led calves. Marked 58 lambs. Tied 16 heifers up. Grossly wounded by rogue heifer.

Sat 30/10/82 Star Wars came up. B&S.

Mon 1/11/82 Milked Leopard 1 Ľ bucket. Tied 5 heifers up. Pushed bull calves and heifers out of road paddock. Drafted fats. Tail tagged and loaded cattle. Tied calves up. Tightened bolts in wing yard. Tattooed clean skin calves. Put tags in.

Tue 2/11/82 Tied heifers up. Cut horns off bull calves. Did crook eyes with Ant and John Davis (stud master)

Wed 3/11/82 Leave for coast camp 5:30 pm on the dot. Stayed at Riverside Park in Wello.

Thur 4/11/82 Went round to Kerry’s, Inalls and Jim Christensen’s. Johnno resigned for Christmas ’82.

Fri 5/11/82 Went round to Kerry’s. Saw Scrooge and Darcy at lido Restaurant in Mall. Fixed Generator on Suzuki. Got to coast 8:30 pm. Raved late with Alex & Kerry in kitchen.

Sat 6/11/82 Coast camp. Top surf. Stayed up until 4 am raving with Alex – just friends.

Sun 7/11/82 Great surf in the morning. Got back to Rotherwood at 12 mid night.

Mon 8/11/82 Milked Polly & leopard 2 buckets. 10 mixes. Slaughtered steer – 6-7 pm. Dinner at Barbs. Beef & strawberries & cream. Did water troughs.

Thur 11/11/82 worked on Dodge truck feedout ticklers. Mixed 8 mixes. Pulled calf out of Dalkeith heifer in feedlot laneway.

Fri 12/11/82 Milked Leopard 1 bucket. Polly Ľ Calf stole the rest. Cinnamon ˝ Ant milked Goldie. 8 mixes. Cut back legs off dead heifer and hung in meat house. Dragged carcase to dump. Did water troughs. Burst water pipe. Wrote Kerry a heavy letter. Went to Cassillis and talked with Bronwyn and Lawrence until 4 am.

Mon 15/11/82 Dehorned heifers. Briar spraying Busby paddock.
Tues 16/11/82 Dalkeith – dipping Ewes and lambs. Stud ewes and rams. Briar spraying. Checked pump at Worung. Brought milkers up. Practised Chrissy carols with Barb and had a sing song.

Wed 17/11/82 worked on woolshed floor. Moved cattle hide rack out of woolshed. Fixed barb on feedlot 2/woolshed. Fixed diesel pump. Fixed door to woolshed.

Thur 25/11/82 3 mixes in truck 3 out 1 in. Greased mixall. Towed Bedford truck from Coolah road to Tuckwells with Norm Tuckwells big tractor. Dinner at Barb’s – pavlova. Talked and drank tea on verandah.

Sat 27/11/82 Lawrence’s party – slept in. Ant fed cattle.

Sun 28/11/82 Lawrence’s – car ran out of fuel. Got to work late. Walked home. Ant’s ultimatum – more responsible, no grog on the place.

Wed 1/12/82 Milked Leopard 1 bucket – had to put the calf on to get her going. 40 points rain. Briar spraying Busby. Killed black snake. Cleaned sheep manure out of under woolshed.

Thur 2/12/82 Briar spraying Busby. Took Jed out and he followed me everywhere. Terry shot a roo and Jed got both front paws. Johnno came off his bike going to briar spraying and cracked his head open. Went to Merriwa hospital. Brought milkers up.

Fri 3/12/82 Terry’s last day. Unloaded a semi of hay 480 bales.

Sat 4/12/82 Moved into Terry’s room.

Wed 8/12/82 Started Tim milking Polly. Fed sheep Worung. Started Tim briar spraying in Bounty.

Thur 9/12/82 4 mixes feedlot. Worked on Nissan clutch. Replaced blade and 2 split pins mixall. Unloaded 780 bales Lucerne hay. Unloaded 3 feeders from truck. Ran 2 mixes out. Replaced screen in mixall. Brought milkers up.

Fri 10/12/82 Ces’s horse Smoky freaked out about mixall – Ces handled it like a craftsman.

Fri 17/12/82 Milked Leopard ˝ bucket. Topped up Bounty cattle feeder. Fed 50 bales of Lucerne to Hospital paddock. Worked on truck to finish it off. Went to Lower & Top Vale to drop feed blocks off. Johnno’s farewell party.

Sun 19/12/82 Johnno left and flogged my cassette recorder.

Mon 20/12/82 Milked – Polly ˝ bucket. Leopard 1/3 bucket. Fed Yagaburne Hampden 2 bales of hay, 1 Lucerne, 1 grass. Cleaned water troughs in feedlot. Checked feeders. Fed 32 bales of Lucerne hay to Hospital paddock. Fed full oats feeder to Hospital paddock. Put 24 bags feed to Bounty feeder. Cleaned stock block rubbish out. Drafted 47 fats off for market. Fed 4 bales grass hay to steers for futures market in yards. Liver for dinner.

Thur 23/12/82 Fed Hosp oats. Worung oats. Fixed netting No 1. Fixed gate No 2. 2 loads to Bounty feeder. Another load bagged. Fixed water trough No 2. Moved auger for Dan. Brought milkers up. Dinner at Barbs. Roast and rum trifle. Got Chrissy pressies. Talked about studs. Unloaded 2 semis of barley.

Fri 24/12/82 Dolly 2/3 Leopard 2/3 Fixed hole in netting No 1. Let heifers out for exercise. Took a bag of feed and fed heifers. Fed Hampden 1 Lucerne and 1 grass. Took wheat down for chooks. Ran milkers out. 3 Lucerne, 2 grass and 2 feed bags for Poddy calves. Oats to Talbragar. Fed oats to hospital lambs. 48 bales to Hosp. 1 load to Bounty feeder. 8 bales grass hay to shelter. Feedlot Mix in Mixall.

Sat 25/12/82 Went shooting – got 2 roos and one Wallaroo skin

Wed 29/12/82 Left for Canberra.

Thur 30/12/82 Stayed at Star Warts place.

Fri 31/12/82 Got home at 2:00 pm. BBQ at lake Ginninderra. BBQ at Noelly’s. Party at Cliff Manleys. Left at 7:30 am.

Sat 1/1/83 Went to Brindies.

Wed 5/1/83 Arrived at Rotherwood at 1:00 am

Thur 6/1/83 Milked Leopard ˝ Judy ľ Tied heifer calves up. Led them around the yards and took P16 outside. Helped Tim shoe Tosca. Clipped her mane. Brought yellow bike up from laneway and fixed gear change lever. Took clutch cable out of blue bike.

Fri 7/1/83 Tied horses up outside yards. Brought horses up. Led heifers P16 OK.
Tue 11/1/83 5:30 am start for Mudgee abattoir. Watched Dalkeith steers get killed and weighed for dressed weight. Mustered Talbragar, mustered Hospital. Drafted Talbragar ewes off lambs. Prepared woolshed. Fed heifers. Damaged auger on truck.

Thur 13/1/83 Drenched 472 Talbragar ewes. Classed culls 136 Tops 336. Took 16 Lucerne bales to hospital. Jed starting to eye sheep well. Drenched Talbragar and Ridge lambs. Drenched ridge ewes. Took Talbragar ewes to Angle. Helped Tricky Dick pen up. Jetting motor cracked inlet manifold. Tim went to town with it. Steve fed oats and studs.

Sat 16/1/83 Proposed to Alex.

Tues 18/1/83 Asked Papa for Alex’s hand in marriage. Rang my folks and asked them “how would they like to be grandparents?” Announced engagement to Ant & Barb.

Wed 19/1/83 Milked Judy Ľ bucket. After she kicked me in the head. Kicked the bucket over – stroppy! Classed young ewes and ear marked 131 out of 467. Counted out. Classed rams. Steve drenched and jetted all arvo. Splinted broken leg on ewe. Shedded and penned rams. Did some skirting. Took cull ewes to woolshed. Knocked off at 7:15 pm.

Mon 24/1/83 Spoke with Ant about leaving – no married quartes on property. He said don’t exaggerate for interviews and don’t lose interest here.

Tue 25/1/83 Unloaded semi of wheat. Unloaded 2 truck loads of cattle and helped dehorn a detag feedlot steers. Stud mixes to Bounty, Lucerne, Cattle cult, Boundary, Bills & Pump.

Sat 29/1/83 Dinner with Nions. Wedding planned for 3:00pm 16th July 1983. Had dinner at Old English Restaurant $21.50 per head.

Tues 1/2/83 Dug post holes. Tied heifers and led them all. Glory good A10 and P16 and A80 all good. Drafted culls off studs and moved studs around. Corio and cow with calf to Bills. Cow kicked my bike 3 times and charged it and pushed me back three feet! Fed wheat to Talbragar, hay to Hospital, drafted fats off No1 feedlot steers. Took fire fighting unit off Bedford and helped Hector start it. Fed hay to heifers and Hampden. Let heifers out. Half killed black snake in stables. Moved crook lamb from hospital to Pump. Checked ewe with broken leg in Talbragar.

Wed 9/2/83 Milked Jean 1 ˝ buckets but the clod kicked the ˝ bucket over. Finished wind mill. Finished Shelter/Gibber fence.

Tue 15/2/83 Rode Anita and Onyx.

Fri 25/2/83 Milked Jean 1 bucket. Mixed. Mixes to all stud feeders. Locked chooks up. Unload 20 tonnes of barley. Checked electric fence and isolated 5 shorts but still couldn’t get voltage up to 4000 volts.

Tues 22/3/83 Painted cattle yards with Creosote and Sump oil. Cleaned woolshed. Fixed electric fence.

Sat 23/4/83 Counselling session with Ian & Cheryl. Dinner with Mr & Mrs Nions. Engagement Party. Rage at Honey’s with Jenny, Win, Rosey, Kathy, Kerry, Noelly.

Sun 24/4/83 Bought Winchester .22 repeater rifle 450.

Mon 25/4/83 Counselling session with Ian & Cheryl.

Thurs 19/5/83 Feed lotting to help crook Tim. Cleaned water troughs. Fed bulls. Watched butcher Graham Crab cut beast up. Unloaded semi of sorghum. Brought milkers up. Fixed clutch on blue bike. Raved with trucky Dan Holly about dairy farming. Rang Phil but Goodna dairy job still sounds a bit iffy.

Fri 20/5/83 Milked Jeanny ľ bucket. Feed lotting. Unloaded cotton husks with Deutz. Unloaded Sorghum and auger jammed because silo was full. Used small auger and put grain into wheat silo.

Sat 4/6/83 Drove to Wingadee for job interview. Arrived at Coonamble 11:30 am.

Sun 5/6/83 Put truck out ˝ hour. Went shooting – got two roos. Brought 1 back for dogs. Lawrence and Bronwyn for dinner.

Thur 9/6/83 Lamb marking at Dalkeith. Ear marked and 5 in 1 inoculated. 980 lambs out of 950 ewes 103%

Fri 10/6/83 Dinner at Bowling Club at Cassillis. Phil rang and said I’ve got the job on the dairy.

Sun 12/6/83 Showed folks around. Rode to Busby with Alex and Onyx and Tosca. Went for a shot to Narrowneck and Angle. Roast Beef for dinner.

Thur 16/6/83 Mixing. Shed hand/roustabout for 2 ˝ hours. Butchered wether for shearers.

Fri 17/6/83 Milked Jeanny ľ bucket. Shed hand for shearing. Paul Martin classing. Col Haidl and I on the floor. Tom Rawlinson, Lawrence Riley and one other guy shearing.

Mon 27/6/83 Shed work. Spoke to Ant. Leave Rotherwood Sat 2/7/83

Thur 30/6/83 Shedwork. Bottle of Ben Ean Moselle for dinner from Steve. Hassled with Ant about weekend money He finally agreed to pay me 7 days, when he owed me 12.

Fri 1/7/83 Milked Jeanny ˝ Shedwork. Branded up to 165 bales.

Sat 2/7/83 Left Rotherwood at 1:30 pm.

Feedlot Mixes

Feedlot 2 Times based on 3” pencil auger

70 buckets cotton husks
1 minutes barley
6 minutes sorghum
1.5 buckets pre mix
2 buckets Urea
2 buckets lime
1 bucket salt.

Feedlot 1

40 buckets cottons husks
6 minutes sorghum
4 minutes barley
2 buckets Urea
2 buckets Lime
1 bucket salt
1.5 buckets pre mix.

Diary Entries

Lamb marking mob from Busby paddock. 501 lambs. 538 ewes. 93%. Catching for 301. drenched 200 lambs. Tied up a ewe and dropped it off to Long paddock. Fixed creek crossing fence – Ridge and Junction paddocks boundary.
Lamb marking Shelter mob, 573 ewes. 599 lambs. 104%. Pulled yards down and loaded up porta yards. Dropped mesh off at Cattle Yards. Burned tails and two dead lambs. 1 hermaphrodite and 1 ewe with a prolapsed uterus and badly flyblown.

Lamb marking 2/9/82 Balance of Shelter mob. 466 ewes. 361 lambs. 77%.

Lamb marking. I did the mulesing today. 96 lambs 103 ewes. 95%. 80% total for Shelter paddock (Maidens).

Milked Polly – 1 bucket.

Tied all the bull calves up with halters to rails.

Led Jupiter in Merriwa show.

Shot mangy steer and cut legs off for the dogs.