The Show !!

Growing up in our small local town ,one of the big highlights was the annual agricultural show organized by the hard working PAH &I  Association..
I used to look forward to it with such enthusiasm and anticipation.
Our school used to suddenly swell in numbers for a week with the children of the  traveling show people.My mum was always involved with the  behind the scenes activities that revolve around a show.
We used to have many wonderful rides, the flying horses, ferris wheel, dodgem cars, the Octopus, smaller rides for littlies, and a long varied Sideshow Alley as well as food vendors, selling  my favourite  Dagwood Dogs and Fairy Floss. One year I remember winning the "Best Dressed Teenager" award.
There was a full day  of ring events,  lots of  machinery and  equipment displays, a huge pavilion  full of  competition entries in all   possible  areas of interest.
There was a  bar,ghost house , boxing tent  and so many more things that have long been forgotten.
Since being back here the last two years  full time, we have involved ourselves a little with the show,   It seems such a shame that it appears  to have shrunk so much, but the spirit behind the  organizing and running of the day has not. !!!
 An amazing team  of people  behind the scenes start planning this   great day almost a year  before, and what a  wonderful job they do.
While we were there  this time we took an aerial view of the showground.

This year  I was invited to set up  a canning preserving)  display as  popularity in this area has waned a fair bit over the last decade or two and entries in this field  are down  to what they used to be.

Vera, the Steward for the preserving  told me that the display created a lot of interest , and many people stopped to ask questions and  to just have a look.

There were a reasonable number of entries this year in the preserving section.

 I was very surprised at the end of the day to  find I had  placed well in many of the preserving catagories, receiving 6  first place , 5 second place and 5 third place certificates .

Sadly  due to the extreme  weather conditions  we have been experiencing  in this area, the fruit and vegetable and garden produce entries were down  in numbers by a considerable degree.

There was a brilliant sewing /craft section  with some  amazing  entries that won well deserved prizes.

There was a great photographic display, which I think I will enter next year.

Some very  talented artists displayed their work,This is just a peek.

The school and preschool displayed  the children's work,

There were cakes decorated by the  kids,

Outside  there was much to see and do, There were sheep dog trials,

Sheep  and cattle judging ,

Lots of horse events  throughout the day,

 Poultry exhibition, and face painting for the children,

Wood chop competitions,

Vintage car display,

We also had a fellow who endeavored to  show us how wonderful and beautiful snakes are,  I  have to admit , that was one  display that I didn't get up and personal  with.

But the petting zoo with the baby animals was another matter, although I  have to  say , I feel that  this was one area that needs to be rethought for next year.  The animals spent way to much time in the hot sun and there was very little supervision of the children handling them all day long.

There were a couple of  rides for the kids, the dodgem cars,

A jumping castle, and  a  floating ball  ride,

There were  a couple of stalls in Side Show Alley  and of course my favourite one selling those   special Fairy Floss and Dagwood Dogs.( No show would be complete without them).

Our very industrious Lions Club ran the    BBQ stall, supplying steak and rissole sandwiches, kebabs, drinks and the like all day long. The  ladies also did a wonderful job serving morning teas and lunches  to the hungry hordes at the pavilion.

There were many  other stalls located around the showground selling all sorts of produce, and some just  showing community   services , like our amazing Rural fire Service.

 All of them seemed to  be quite well  visited  on the day .
Although our  once much bigger  show has shrunk in size , the community spirit, and  hard work by countless  people  behind the scenes has not, and indeed actually has grown as more work in organizing such an event has now fallen onto  far less shoulders.
The local PAH &I Association should well be proud of themselves, they  planned , organized and executed a wonderful day with a calendar full of  events.
I am proud to be part of this small community that bands together and produces excellence like this.
Well Done Binnaway PAH&I Association, Great Job . !!!
I  look forward in anticipation to next year,
It has been a  massive few weeks here, and I feel like I am chasing my tail trying to keep up, little lone get ahead, so until we meet up again down the track,
take care of you and yours,
Cheers,
Jane. :-) :-) :-)

A new appreciation of our Rural Fire fighters.

After  seeing all that devastation from the  awful fires that  burnt out huge areas of land and destroyed homes, I had a  heightened  appreciation of our Rural Fire service , but little did I realize at that point that  that appreciation and gratitude would be tenfold before the week was out.
It was late Saturday afternoon  , we had  just sat  ourselves down out on our  the verandah with our neighbor up the road( the  secretary of our local fire volunteer group), when he received  a call to let him know that a fire  on a neighboring property had been  started from a lightning strike   after an electrical storm that had passed over only a short time earlier.

We quickly checked and smoke was visible right behind the hill at the back of our house.. The   men immediately headed off , gathering  other neighbours and equipment .

The smoke increased rapidly  and  we( myself and our son who was staying with us recovering from  surgery) realized  that the situation was deteriorating  extremely quickly.

It was about at this point we started seeing and hearing all the aeroplanes and helicopters  starting to  be buzzing around  and  were starting to see fire truck after fire truck  coming past our place.

We received a Text message  on our phones, advising that we were to  seek shelter as the fire arrives( panic set in !!!)

At this point,   we were  advised to pack some important  and special belongings  and be ready to evacuate at short notice as the fire was heading  directly our way. It is truly  a very difficult  thing to do, deciding what  really is important to you and your family. As I had  a little more time, I started to pack stupid uneccessary things... your mind starts to play tricks. Even the residents of our local town 10 klms away were advised the fire was heading towards them and they may be evacuated.
We heard an almighty roar  , raced outside, just in time to see our neighbours house dumped with a load of pink fire retardant.(  I took this photo later)

We  were the most fortunate people to ever have a big fire,  as all the  air support,  fire trucks, equipment and on ground crews were still in the area from the previous devastating fires and they were directed  straight to us.
All those marvelous people fought  hard and with the combination  of all that air support and ground crews and then  a sudden but  miraculous   wind change,  we were safe. Our men  came by to pass on the message that the immediate danger to our homes  had passed and that the fire had jumped the road and was now   heading in another direction.
Those  wonderful men and women worked all night with graders and bulldozers   and  teams on the ground  and got that  beast  under control and had it contained into a smaller area.
At sunset there was a spectacular  view to the east( the fire was to the west, so the light was spectacular)

Late  that night( around 11 pm or midnight, we called up the road with a message from our neighbors wife(who  was not  home  when all this happened), I was stunned to see at night, how the fires were still burning   in many places and the  volunteers were still guarding  and working on them.

Not a good photo, but were not venturing closer.
Early the next morning,  our men were back on the ground helping the  Rural Fire Service crews to mop up, My next door neighbor Sister in Law and  myself, headed up to the   neighbor up the road  and met up with their daughter who had driven from a few hours away after being notified  of the fires, As we approached the house we were surprised to see that the fire was still active, albeit much smaller and controlled.

Two helicopters were buzzing around with  huge water buckets swinging from them, filling repeatedly from the farm dams.

We  got busy and  made up heaps of sandwiches and food /teas /coffees/cold drinks. ready for all the crews as they came in and were looking for something to eat and drink.
Those helicopters bombed that fire ALL day, they were AMAZING !!!
The fire was finally out. No homes were taken, no out buildings,  and stock losses were  nil or minimal.  Lot's of pasture and fences  were  lost, but that is  minor in comparison to what could have been.
I took a few photos around our neighbors house,( the first one is not mine)

For the following week our men were called out daily , to put out spot fires and  smouldering trees that were spotted as the Rural Fire Service helicopters flew over checking the site.
We took the drone up to take a few photos of the  fire affected area.

After seeing the aerial photos we  truly realized how lucky we were, and can see that the fires really only   were about 600 meters from  our boundary. I am so proud of our men and the neighboring men and women who worked along side all these firefighters.
I just can't speak highly enough  of all the wonderful men and women who give up their time and volunteer to do this  special, dangerous and  caring  job.
I think you are all the most  kind  hearted, amazing, generous people.
Thank you all of you , I owe you so much that can never be repaid.

                                           (Photo courtesy of The Rural Fire Service)
YOU ARE ALL HEROES.!!!!