Expect a high level of interest in high-rainfall properties | Rural Notebook

The holdings, "Westbrook", llambie", and "Thisleton", cover almost 3500 acres in a high rainfall part of our tablelands.

Stewart Murphy and Sam D'Arcy are marketing these three properties for auction sale on Friday, August 11.

They are not adjoining properties, but each has been the home of some very productive livestock and "Westbrook" produced top quality Merino wool when in the hands of previous owners.

SOME good rainfall across western Queensland, the Gippsland and Mallee in Victoria and parts of our state are giving us hope that the present El Nino event may not be as severe as feared.

A reader sent these pearls of wisdom that give us a different perspective:

None of those happened, but all resulted in more taxes. (Thank you JB.)

And almost every night we see films of raging floods in towns and cities that are north of the equator. We live in interesting times.

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CONGRATULATIONS to Bill and Rosemary Dawson in Trinity Heights who are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary very soon.

They are a very well-known couple in Bathurst and Oberon and are still busily involved in local community affairs.

THE family and many friends of the late Russell Carrig must be delighted to see the signage along a concrete footpath that winds its way between new houses and Saltram Creek at Eglinton.

Russell was at the forefront of early Landcare projects along the creek and was the first president of that Landcare group.

Thank you Bathurst Regional Council for the support that was needed for the naming and signage of the Russell Carrig Walkway.

A LOT of Bathurst men should doff their caps to the team at Vanessa Pringle Floral Designs, who have won the Florist of the Year award from Sydney Markets.

This is a prestigious award and a credit to Vanessa and her staff who have built their business in one of Bathurst's premier sites - on the main thoroughfare to Mount Panorama.

The flower arrangements from this florist have saved many a Bathurst man from sleeping rough when family plans have gone astray.

NEWSPAPERS and car magazines do regular road tests of the passenger leading dual-cab utes from Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux and the other big sellers in the category, including Isuzu, Mazda, Nissan and VW.

These vehicles are favoured by tradies with young families and the four-wheel drive version with traybacks are loved by farmers.

Many a true love affair began in a dusty farm ute.

A car magazine describes the city dual-cab drivers as "concrete cowboys".

DO you have six good friends that you discuss politics, religion and health issues with?

If you do, you must be grateful and value each of those friends.

My advice to friends is to be sure to have a yearly check with your GP, a PSA blood test for prostate cancer for men and a breast cancer check for ladies.

These tests will help doctors identify these problems before they get away and early treatment is often successful.

Those who avoid these annual tests would be wise to change their approach to life.

Our farm community is renowned for being strong and resilient, but we are being mugs if we don't check our health problems.

THEY say these comments came from actual employee evaluations:

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MUM and dad were having computer problems, rang the helpline and were still battling.

Dad got hot and shouted to the helper: "Could you explain that simply to me as though I was a four-year-old."

The helper said softly: "Son, could you please put your mummy on the phone."

SONG for the week: Mary, The Girl From Botany Bay.