WHILE she's out in the long paddock with her cattle, Deepwater cattle producer BRONWEN CAMPBELL puts her time to good use as she writes about here.
THE country is so dry - we’ve been out along the back roads for six weeks looking for grass for our cattle - the cattle must be fed, so out we go each day at 7.30am, seven days a week to find grass for our precious Angus breeding cows.
We have had to sell half our breeders but we need to keep these as we do need them as our income for next year.
I love it; I watch the cattle and their habits - eating for three hours, sleeping for two, not a bad routine for cows or humans for that matter.
Then they want water which is non-existent along the road and won’t be available until they go back to their paddock sometime after lunch. Meantime, I have to sit there and wait for them to wake and start to eat again. This is “my” time.
In “my time” what do I do to keep myself occupied? Well, it’s not a problem for me. As I leave the house I collect my book, newspapers, computer, not to forget the trusty thermos and a few snacks. Never forgotten is my yoga mat and cushion, and next most important, the two dogs Jess and Yappy.
Jess has been with me on several other road sojourns, so she knows basically what to do, but Yappy is a beginner and for her there’s lots to learn.
I can now indulge my passion and practise yoga for at least an hour-plus, mostly standing poses, but lately I have found some soft grass, level ground and a little protection from the wind - there I can follow my dream and not feel guilty. I don’t worry about the passing traffic, and there is plenty of it, especially at school hours or garbage days.
After my yoga practise, I go onto reading and the computer - learning to play bridge. It’s a hard life, but then I know I am out there to do a job; there’s cattle to watch. They’re not always well behaved and on those days I have to tell you I pull my hair out!
I have been teaching yoga for more than 15 years in this area and it has become very popular with many students attending classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights at Garden Court.
I’m organising a Yoga Tent at Glen Innes’s Relay for Life in a couple of weeks to raise money for cancer research. Join me at either or both venues - I look forward to meeting like-minded people. So see you there. Or in the long paddock.