They seem to have a calming effect on the man’s driving! 😂😂
Getting it done on way to work. Chauffeur driven style!
Kat xo
P. S. More on this one soon!!
Category Archives: Love My Life
ANZAC Day
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old, Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.”
Remember our fallen soldiers from Gallipoli and all campaigns. For those who have served or are serving – thank you, thank you for your service.
Kat xo
Easter Wishes
As this weekend brings many various blessings, meaning, reason to their lives, Jack and I would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter.
Spent at church, family gatherings, kids Easter egg hunts, or with cowboy family shooting may all your Easter blessings be realised.
Kat xo
Happy Birthday Mum and Jackson!!!
Rework Red
“If you’re happy with the red, nod your head…if you’re happy with the red, nod your head…if you thought the cherry was best, then you really needed a rest…if you’re now lovin’ this red, nod your head!” 🤣🤣
Twit! When redoing work turns out for the absolute best. Not only was I not happy with the red, and clearly now I’m one happy seamstress, but after waiting and waiting for it to arrive back here I found I wasn’t happy with the colour of the zip and the machine hemming was atrocious too!
So new zip in, everything pulled apart and new piping done, everything back together, waistband back on, vest back together, hand stitching to hem, embroidery on right red done again, buttery soft deer skin leather cut (there goes a full day) and now the pièce de résistance – bling added to punched holes…ahhh onto the next.
You don’t get to see the whole lot until it’s wearer has it on! 😉
Kat xo
Nearly!
Just as well we had the right colour at work the other day!!
Only one small patch left and have run out. Lucky I made the smart decision to buy one juuuuust in case.
Kat xo
Trans Tasman – Duel Downunder
‘The Special Breed’ that’s what us cowboys and cowgirls are. The Gamblers, Deslaredo had written a spectacular poem of this and so it became the theme for the Trans Tasman this year.
The Trans Tasman – Duel Downunder is a southern, across the ocean, challenge between Australia and New Zealand and alternates at a range on either continent every other year.
The Gamblers again hosted the Trans Tas and it wasn’t long before everyone arrived for the match held over 14-17th March.
It was great for Jack and I to catch up with many that we hadn’t seen for some time.
We had been busy in the weeks leading up to the match helping with match confirmations, prep and more!
What a great weekend we had! It started Thursday with the Pat Garrett match and Posse 4 – Bones, Carter Moss, Coyote Baz, Deadly, Doit Daily, El Rio, Fox, Meggs, Mad Dog Morgan, Painted Mohawk, Rick O’Shea, Two Gun Kate, Trigger Happy, Willy Avashot, Jack and myself.
That afternoon was spent doing speed events before we retired for Ex Sighted and I to get into the scoring and the rain set in.
Main match started on the Friday and we had a great lot of folks on Posse 5 with Alvira Sullivan Earp, Big Bad John, Bones, Boots and Spur, Chiquita, El Hombre, Etta Place and Doc Cummins, Coyote Baz, Meggs, El Rio, Curly Wolf, J P Remington, The Deadwood Gunslinger, Legend Lyn and Short Shot (both from NZ), Lucky Luke, Willy Avashot (with Narelle kindly doing the scoring all weekend) Jack and myself.
Six stages done, rain again that evening, scores done and it’s an early night. Well, early to retire home with Charlie Wagon and Pearl Starr coming to stay for the evening. Rain putting a dampener on the hawk and knife throw side matches.
Saturday and it’s just a few spits of rain taking us into the final 6 stages of the match.
I wasn’t clean by any means which put me very close with the other ladies BUT managed to hang on and clinch it by just 1.30sec’s! 6th overall, 1st lady and 1st in Lady Wrangler, with a few side matches thrown in.
Jack finished with just a couple in 5th overall and 1st place Elder Statesman. Good one man!
A great weekend! Great gathering! Good fun that ended all too soon.
See you down the trail.
Kat xo
Whats Happening?!
Plenty apparently! We had a great club match with The Gamblers weekend before last. It was hot, sweaty but still fun unlike our Winter Range cowboy’s and cowgirl’s who were competing for the US National Championship this week. They endured thunderstorms, hail, rain and freezing temperatures from snow falls in surrounding hill areas.
Suffice to say that despite us really wanting to be there for it, perhaps it was just as well. We couldn’t be happier for all those who finished well and survived this year. Congratulations to you all, and to Holy Terror and Cody James for taking top mens and ladies overall!!
I’ve finally got into a ‘normal’ routine. Don’t laugh, y’all know I’m not normal. Back into exercise, sewing and finding a purpose. Have been assisting The Gamblers with a new website and the upcoming match. Jack’s been reloading and building our outdoor table in between coughing up a lung this week. I finished a corset and am set for some more!!
Our gear is almost here from Oklahoma, which means treasures await with my machines!!! Its in port and just waiting for it to get out of quarantine.
Cyclone Oma appears to have been and gone, leaving some awesome waves for surfers but destruction of the beaches. Winds were high but all in all, we got bugger all rain out of it and she seemed to pass on without a care.
View from the Mermaid Beach Surf Life Saving Club last Thursday.
Bottom pic is a panorama view of Surfers Paradise around to Coolangatta from the centre of Mermaid Beach.
Speaking of last Thursday, landed my self a little job outside the house! Yep, first shift tomorrow and raring to go.
Anyhooo, its time to write up the list of things to do tomorrow and head for some shut eye.
Hope you have had a great week too!
Kat xo
Do you have a cowboy in your room?
Having nightmares or dreams? Been woken by a random cowboy standing by your bed?
My eldest sent me this just now. 😂😂
I love it when my kids send me random things pertaining to the old west and cowboy times.
Now let’s go find Rex and have yippee-ki-yay kind of day!
Kat xo
Heading North
From Newcastle to Gold Coast in a day, means around an 8 hour plus trip. Unlike days of old, it’s now mostly double highway, bypassing the coastlines and beach town views.
What would you find along the coast should you go the old route?
Newcastle
Beautiful beaches like Nobbys, Merewether and more.
Bogey Hole is a convict-built ocean bath. Also known as Commandants Baths, the sandstone/conglomerate rock was constructed in about 1820 intended for the personal use of Lieutenant-Colonel James Thomas Morriset.
Fort Scratchley today is a historic site and popular for watchers of whales migrating. Now a museum, it was built in 1882 to defend the city against a possible Russian attack. (Hmmm first time I’ve ever read about that!) The Fort never fired it’s guns in anger however, until 1942 during a Japanese submarine attack.
Seal Rocks
Further North you can find other popular surf spots such as Seal Rocks and Treachery. I frequented that area in another life.
Seal Rocks was originally named for its fur seal colonies that have not inhabited the area for many, many years, apparently they are being seen again in the Port Stephens area.
Popular for some awesome surf breaks, Seal Rocks and Treachery are very much a surfers paradise and still remains very uncommercialised.
Forster-Tuncurry
The twin towns on the coast about 20-25mins East of Mum and Dads at Taree.
Tuncurry is the smaller of the two towns and began around 1875. Tuncurry means ‘plenty of fish’, originally a timber milling area it is a beautiful sleepy little fishing town.
Forster being the larger town of the area, boasts beautiful beaches and surfing spots. It is a very popular Summer holiday spot being only 4 hrs North of Sydney.
Best fish and chips are found in coastal towns where it’s coming in fresh daily! No trip to Forster happens without fish and chips heavily salted and wrapped in paper! Yum!
Port Macquarie
First visited by Europeans in 1818 when John Oxley made it to the coast from his interior explorations.
It became a secondary crime penal settlement for convicts in 1821.
In 1823, the first sugar cane to be grown in Australia started here. Now that is interesting, as a kid, I only ever knew far north NSW and Queensland as the sugar cane country! Well there you go, learn something new ever day!
Anyway, lots of history there and gorgeous beaches also.
Up into further North NSW, the only remaining old section of Pacific Highway still goes through Coffs Harbour. Really don’t think there is anywhere for them to bypass this section but who’d want to miss the Big Banana attraction!?!😂😂
Coffs Harbour
Home to Big Banana, banana plantations (being superseded by blueberries), sugar cane regions, beaches and porpoise pool.
Was named after John Korff when he sought shelter from a storm in 1847, later accidentally changed to Coffs by an administrative error by a surveyor in 1861.
Many resorts and marinas here, very big tourist area.
Further there is Grafton, Byron Bay, Murwillumbah and Tweed Heads before crossing into the sunshine state.
Soooo much coastline to explore and then from Coolangatta up is beach after beach after beach!
Get some sand and surf into ya!
Kat xo
P.S. with Drive thru and a couple quick stops it took us just on 9hours.
Sunday Sightseeing
As we left Mean Mongrel Matt, Sassy Belle and Broken Spur to enjoy the rest of their weekend, Jack and I took a Left out of town and headed for the hills.
Well, hills being the Blue Mountains area; Lithgow, Katoomba, Laura, Wentworth Falls, Glenbrook, then down into the Sydney greater region heading North then to Newcastle.
The Blue Mountains
Aptly named for its haze, a mixture of fine drops of eucalyptus oil (given off from the Eucalyptus trees) dust particles, water vapor and that little thing called light waves cause this beautiful blue hue to the mountains.
The Blue Mountains were inhabited by aboriginal tribes when the First Fleet landed. First Governor of NSW, Arthur Phillip had seen these tremendous ranges from a ridge at Castle Hill some 40-60miles East of them. He had named them Camarthen Hills and thought them to be worthy of government stock.
In 1799 it was the place Gidley King established a town for political prisoners from Ireland and Scotland.
The name was first documented in Captain John Hunters account of Phillip’s expedition up the Hawkes yet River in 1789.
There is a whole other story about who passed over them first and when and the explorers who are actually noted for gaining passage through here but I’m not going into that today.
Suffice to say at its highest point at Mount Werong is 1215m/3986ft above sea level and it’s lowest point on the Nepean River at just 20m/66ft.
It is home to such beauties as;
A quick stop at Echo Point to get our own snaps at The Three Sisters.
Coffee with a view.
And Wentworth Falls
Poets, artists, sculptors and lovers of nature have frequented the Blue Mountains region for years. One of the most notable and one of my favourites – Norman Lindsay.
http://www.normanlindsay.com.au/
So as we continued to wind through the eucalypts, past car shows, reminiscing about visits to the caves, galleries and sights; we eventually came out on the flat plains into Penrith, heading towards the outskirts of Sydney and onto Newcastle.
spectacular, spectacular!
Kat xo
The Adventures of Jack n Kat 