So last year, as you’ll be aware if you’ve been following us for a while, we welcomed a very precious, much anticipated little boy, Jacob, into our lives. He has been an absolute delight, and 10 months has flown by in a whirl of sleep deprivation, vomit, nappies and spit, but we wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Thankfully the vomit is now reduced to an occasional dollop, and he is sleeping almost 11hrs each night, so we feel human again and have regained some freedom in our lives now that he’s in a good routine. He is currently zooming around our house as I write this, and grabbing anything he can to stand up on, so the busters have started well and truly, often ending in tears for him, and sometimes me too in sympathy on the nastier occasions. (When do those hormones settle down fellow mums? Ever?)
Life has been a huge challenge, trying to maintain a farm, our ever-growing Earlwood Equine business, and a fast growing boy, but it’s a family team effort round here, and there’s no way I could have done it without the support of my amazing husband! (If you receive handwritten bags with ‘not quite as neat’ writing, then you can rest assured he has personally packed your order, as I’m probably in the house with a sleeping baby, whilst he’s in our warehouse working away, but wishing he was on a tractor or doing cattle work instead, ha ha ha.) I’m sure there’s a few of you out there who have had phone conversations with me, and consequently little Jacob at the same time. I’m very grateful to you for your patience when it takes me a while to call you back, and also your tolerance if he’s making noises in the background of our conversation. Sometimes I have laughed at how I managed to sound professional on the phone, whilst simultaneously noticing baby vomit on the floor or myself… at least you know we’re very much real behind the scenes here!
Anyway, what brought me to writing this, was reading back through the journal my mum kept about me when I was born, and reading the adventures I got up to as a little horse mad girl growing up on a farm. I thought I’d share my first major mustering experience with you, as recorded by my mum, and would love to hear some of your earliest memories or experiences with horses in return.
27th December 1989: Helen’s first big mustering day. (I was 6.) She did well. Phill (my dad) lifted her off Boris (the bombproof brumby myself, my sister, and my nearby cousins learnt to ride on), when he and Pete (my uncle) had to take off after rogues. She stood with Boris and blocked the mob, but when the mob moved off, she had to walk behind them with Boris until Pete arrived back and could lift her on again.
What a brave little kiddo I must have been, no doubt in bare feet and no helmet, as was the norm for us in those days. Yes, I shudder to think of it now, but we all survived thankfully, without too many accidents. Amazing, considering the games of bareback tiggy and flat knacker galloping, urging our horses on as fast as we could get the old plodders to go! Life as a kid on a farm, growing up with lots of cousins close by, and more horses, dogs, house cows and wildlife than you could poke a stick at, was just the best. Our little farm we live on now is very small in comparison, however we are incredibly lucky to be here and be able to raise our little boy in the outdoors.
He loves watching daddy on the loader, or going for rides in the tractor, but his all time favourite is buggy rides with the dogs in the back, around the farm to check the cattle. Horses are still a bit ‘meh’ in his opinion at this stage apparently. They’re too big compared to his doggo friends, and being the old retirees that we have here, they don’t move fast enough to be of much interest just yet. Time will tell if he follows Mummy’s love of horses, or Daddy’s passion for motorbikes. Somehow I think I’ll lose out in that regard…
So now that you’ve had an update on our little quiet life of late, and heard an anecdote from my childhood, I’d love to hear your stories! Please share with us and join the ever-growing Earlwood family!