Proudly bought to you by www.thefarmtrader.com.au

Welcome again

Hello, hello and welcome to another edition of the SLF. I missed last week as I was in Melbourne attending the Cup carnival and I have to admit it wasn’t until Tuesday morning that I remembered that I had to write the SLF for the week. Of course Tuesday morning is to late, hence no SLF last week.

Turning crops

Even through the weather has been on the cool side it is noticeable that the crops are turning and it won’t be long before the canola is cut.

Those were the days

I remember harvest back in the 70’s and 80’s with lots of trucks on the road and the long lines at the Silo’s. Of course, back then we all had small (wheelbarrows) trucks and now most have got the big semi trailers, so there seem to be less trucks on the road at harvest. But this year with all the grain around there will be plenty of trucks on the road as farmers scamper to try and beat any pending rain fronts that are forecast over the harvest.

Who’s that….?

SLF favourite and Hall of Fame member John “Jack” Cameron’s eyesight aint what it used to be and this was evident in the “corner shop” last week when he was squinting at the TV try to get a profile of the bloke he thought he knew. “Is that Terry O’Sullivan” he asked a fellow patron. “no that’s Charlie Sheen” he replied. Can’t think what sort of role Terry would play on two and a half men!!!!!

The Melbourne Cup

The cup carnival is just an amazing event and I haven’t missed a Melbourne Cup in 18 years and the transformation in that time has been amazing. I am actually a VRC membership and use my ticket only once every year, it’s worth it though, we have a great day even if we just stand in a bar and down beers. I didn’t even watch a race live this year.

Who was out and about at the cup???

I didn’t come across many Marnooians at the cup as I know most of you aren’t racing fans as such, I heard that Stewart “Smacka” MacPherson and Brian “Farmer” Healy made it to the Derby and I caught up with Gary “Larry” Cameron on Cup eve and at the Cup. I saw local shearer Shane “Pidge” Pidgeon and everyone’s favourite butcher John “Jumpin” Drum and his adorable wife Angela. I nearly forgot ex local Sandy “The know all” McGregor, I bunked at his Hawthorn mansion for a couple of nights.

Melbourne Cup day diary

This is a recount of my Melbourne Cup Day

6:00am - Rise and shower, hair, teeth etc

7:00am – Jump in the car pick up my wife & son (who was staying at our daughters) and take her to my sisters place for the day.

9:30am – Back to the Hawthron mansion of Sandy “the know all” McGregor’s, don the suit, grab a form guide from the paper, ready to go.

10:00am – The know all organises a car to drop us out to the track, head off and grab a stubby for the trip, snaked through the back streets of Ascot Vale, seemed a quick trip and avoided all the cues.

10:40am – Arrive at the track with the 1^st race run and won

10:50am – Nestle into our position at an outside bar under the old grand stand just near the rails bookmakers. Beers are flowing.

12:00pm – Sneak off to line my stomach with some food, a big roast roll which went down well as all I had for the morning was beer.

2:00pm – Jumpin John Drum took my bet (he finds the best odds), $50 each way on Linton at around 60/1, more beer. This was the only horse I backed

3:00pm – More beers with people dropping in as we were in an accessible spot where many people walk past. Cup about to be run

3:15pm – Cup run and won and nobody had Americain (some had it in the multiples), my horse Linton was well back so I did my dough.

4:00pm – More beers

5:30pm – Car arrives and heads to the Bamboo House where we have dinner, not in bad shape considering the amount of beer we drank. Red wine on the menu and the food is superb. The chop and the duck, a stand out.

9:00pm – Left the Bamboo House and headed to a small sleazy bar around the corner for a few more beers

10:30pm – Head to JJ’s Bar in the casino, it’s the usual spot after the cup for our crew, “the know all” runs a company tab at the bar so we all start hooking into the cabaroscas (don’t know how to spell it) at $18 per glass (glad it wasn’t my tab)

12am – Still partying away at JJ’s, good band has the joint rocking, in very good touch by now.

2:00am – Look at the phone, 2am, time for this little black duck to head to bed. Grab a taxi

2:30am – Bed, asleep before I hit the pillow. Had a great day catching up with lots of people. If you haven’t been to a cup make sure you go……..

Product Tender

My sponsor www.thefarmtrader.com.au says they are struggling to get Marnoo and district people to sign up for the website. Joining is the first step and it’s also free to do. So just go to Join Now and fill out the form, it will take less than 1 minute….

That’s enough from me