Amazing Rural Beings
I’m lucky to live in rural regional Victoria where there is plenty of sunshine, wide open spaces and great people. This page is dedicated to the wonderful people living in my part of the world who have kindly shared their story with me.
Learning about life with pets
“Animals teach you about life. You learn about beginnings and endings—and that nothing is forever.”
These profound words are from Ashleigh, a teen who has created her own mini-zoo and is the perfect example of how we can benefit from having pets in our lives.
Pets can enrich our lives and homes in so many ways. They offer company when we feel lonely, teach us to live in the moment, offer us a distraction from modern life stresses, provide a sense of security and help us to build better relationships.
The journey through adolescence can be a time of constant change and adjustments. Trying to navigate your way through the teen years can be challenging. Ashleigh has found her pets to be a source of stability and calm in her life. “Most days feel like a weekend. I don’t feel isolated or trapped. There is always something to do.”
Ashleigh has ten pets in total, including Blade the horse, Lexy the German shepherd, four rabbits (including an expectant mother), a turtle duo named Des and Troy (Destroy), Fredrick the bearded dragon and Goliah the galah.
Spending time with Ashleigh and her pets is invigorating; she has built her very own sanctuary that is such a happy place to be. Ashleigh has an incredibly positive outlook on life. She is motivated and organised and has a clear plan for her future. Ashleigh is a huge fan of the TV show Heartland, and her goal is to one day have her own ranch with a beautiful house that overlooks her horse paddocks.
“You learn a lot from your animals,” says Ashleigh. Through pet ownership, Ashleigh has developed an awareness of money. “You learn maths and budgeting. Especially for horses, you have to compromise things to make sure you can have what they need.”
Pets can teach us fundamental people skills, including the importance of being empathetic towards others. “Pets teach you how to trust. You become less selfish. You have to consider someone other than yourself,” explains Ashleigh.
Throughout the COVID-19 lockdown, Ashleigh, like many of us, experienced life in isolation, where she was unable to do her normal things like go to school and spend time with her friends. Fortunately, because of her pets, isolation was not that bad for her. “I was never bored during the day. They always gave me something to do.” She found that her pets offered her a fulfilling sense of purpose as she still had to attend to them. “They gave me a reason to get up each day.”
When I asked Ashleigh what her life would be like without her pets, she was very keen to answer. “I’d be inside on my phone all day. I wouldn’t have the vast and wide friendships. I have made a lot of new friends. Especially through having horses.”
If you are a parent of a teen or someone who is approaching this age and are considering getting them a pet, Ashleigh has some solid advice for you: “Definitely get the pet!”
Keep pushing through because there's always a better day ahead.
“Giving up, would have been giving in”, says retired Mallee farmer, Lex Spry reflecting on the property in the Victorian Mallee town of Culgoa that has been in his family for three generations. The family continued farming through both World Wars, mice plagues that ravaged the crops and harsh droughts. These tough times created a determined spirit and a think outside the square attitude, to allow the family to keep their farm. ‘Never say die Spry’ stands as the family motto.
The Spry family settled in Culgoa at the turn of the 20th century. Trees were cleared, and grain was grown. Post-World War 1 in the 1930s, William (‘Digger’) Spry made the brave decision to commercially farm poultry. “The cost of growing grain was outweighing the profits, and with a family to support, he was forced to think outside the square to generate an income and ultimately remain on the farm,” says Lex.
Most farms kept chickens for eggs and meat, but ‘Digger’ decided to commercially farm poultry. To improve his profit, he fed the poultry the grain he grew on the farm. This venture kept the farm afloat and allowed the next generation, his son Pat to commence his farming career in the late 1940s, after serving in the Air force in Darwin.
In 1967, Pat encountered one of the worst droughts on record. ‘1965-1967 This drought, having impact on Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, ranked with the 1902 drought as one of the most severe on record’[1] With a family to support, Pat was faced with the ultimatum to think outside the square or lose the land. Whilst many farmers were forced to participate in off-farm schemes funded by the government; laying rail sleepers, and other community improvement projects, Pat attempted to generate income from intensive pig farming. ‘Dad also used the grain produced on the farm [fed to pigs] to boost profit,’ Lex recalls.
Lex remembers his father as a ‘conservative optimist’ who didn’t shy away from hard work. His plan was a success, and he remained farming, which led him into the ‘Successful 70s’. Aussie grain was making a big impression on the global market, he was reaping the rewards from diversifying into intensive pig farming, and this enabled his son Lex to work alongside him on the farm.
Everything was going well for the father-son team, until the 1982 drought. Cash was tight; however, the farm now stood reasonably drought tolerant, having diversified into intensively farming pigs and now sheep. The farm continued to grow until the 1990s when Pat was forced into retirement for health reasons, grain prices had dropped, and unfavourable weather conditions forced Lex to take his generational turn of divergent thinking to keep the family farm.
With a growing family of his own to support, Lex had to think fast. Following in the footsteps of his Grandfather, ‘Digger’, he took the family farm back into commercially raising poultry. He purchased an already established poultry shed and raised thousands of day-old chicks up to laying stage. Life for Lex was now growing grain, tending to pigs, sheep and poultry. Ambitious yes, easy no.
When I asked Lex if he ever thought about giving up, he promptly answered ‘No, you just have to go with the flow and adapt to the times.’ The quote from Malcolm Fraser, Australia’s 22nd Prime Minister, ‘Life wasn’t mean to be easy’ sums up this generational farming story. Over the decades, there were many opportunities to walk away. But each time passion overcame the struggles, and the family decided to fight the good fight each time.
Consequently, there were three generations of happy families raised on this farm. Luckily for me, this is where I commenced my life. I’m so grateful for the strength and determination of my Great Grandfather, Grandfather and Father. Thanks to them, I was able to grow up on this progressive farm and deeply entrenched in me is the ‘Never say die Spry’ attitude.
There’s no doubt that life is tough, and sometimes things spiral out of our control. But as my family history proves, the metaphor of thinking outside the square can change your direction in life and lead to a brighter future.
Negative thinking will take us nowhere but being positive and seeking ways to move forward can take us anywhere. We’re always learning, from our first breath to our last; we’re forever discovering things. How we choose to travel through life defines who we become. Undoubtedly, Lex [my Dad] and the generations before him had to face the harshness of reality regularly, ‘But there’s always a better day ahead,’ Lex reassures.
[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics, Year Book Australia, 1988, No. 71, Issue 65; Issue 1981
One stitch at a time with Beryl.
My friend Beryl is a lovely grandmotherly figure like the one you have or wish you had. At 84 years she’s bubbly, always ready for a chat, and to top it off she knits amazing items for people near as well as far from her.
I’m a long-time admirer of the self-taught Beryl’s knitting. However, when I recently learnt about how beneficial knitting can be for one’s mental health, I gained a deeper appreciation for Beryl’s knitting skills.
The repetitive motions of knitting trigger the reward center in the brain to release dopamine. Dopamine helps regulate movement and emotional responses, and it enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them. Hence why knitting is believed to be motivating and good for the soul.
Beryl knits for hours on end every day “It keeps my brain working”, she says. She knits everything from tea cosies and socks to jumpers and even blankets. Tucked away in her little cottage, she produces vibrant items for many people, including her great grandchildren, friends and even strangers.
Through Beryl’s lifetime she has experienced some tough times; growing up in the depression, losing family members and her husband. “Knitting keeps you calm,” says Beryl.
Beryl is loved and adored by her peers. You’ll always find her in good spirits, which is infectious for those around her. She’s living proof that knitting makes you happy. She loves to uplift and involve people. “I cut out the jokes from the paper [each day] to share with my friends.”
People who knit not only benefit personally, but often so do the wider community, as many individuals and knitting groups donate their handmade goods to needy charities. Beryl donates her knitting to babies admitted into Royal Children’s Hospital-Melbourne, Bendigo Ambulance Station and Swan Hill District Health. She makes blankets, booties and beanies for premature and stillborn babies. I began to imagine how grateful these parents, must feel to put an item on their baby knowing that it has been made with so much love.
The benefits of knitting are profound. It’s wrongly been labelled a grandmother’s hobby for too long. It’s undoubtedly a powerful practice and we should all consider taking it up.