A virtual horn?

Little boy blue Come blow your horn. The sheep's in the meadow The cow's in the corn. Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?

He's under a haystack fast asleep. Will you wake him? Oh, not I, For if I do, He's sure to cry!

Cotton grows on cows

I have returned to images of the Royal Easter Show, to discuss a story that ran here in the media in March. There was a survey of Year 6 children (roughly aged 12) to determine their understanding of where common products come from.

Three-quarters of those surveyed thought that cotton came from animals. To compound the problem, they thought yoghurt came from plants and just under half of the twelve year olds did not know that cheese, bananas and the ingredients for bread came from farms.

The survey was obviously funded by a primary producer group.


Belying its reputation for wide, open spaces, Australia is one of the more heavily urbanised countries in the world.

So where does wool come from?

Royal Easter Show - In black and white

The top of the auction pavilion at The Royal Easter Show grounds out at Homebush, the home of the 2000 Olympics.

This is my contribution to the Weekend in Black and White community.

Royal Easter Show - Woodchopping

For mine, this is the highlight of the Royal Easter Show. I was delighted a number of years ago to discover that the sport of woodchopping commenced in Australia and has spread to New Zealand, Canada, USA, Wales, Ireland, England, and Spain. Although this event is the highlight of their competition calendar, there are many events all year round, through each of the states of Australia.


The sport includes: Underhand chopping, Standing Block Chopping, Treefelling, Single and Double handed Sawing, and Axe throwing. I watched the first four events of the 18 days of competition. This involved axemen from NZ, QLD, NSW, WA, and Victoria. The top photograph shows a competitor in the Standing Block, and the lower photograph shows a competitor in the Underhand Chopping.

I'll have you know that I risked life and limb to clamber to the uppermost tier of the arena to bring you the wide-angle shot!

Royal Easter Show - Fun

Faces - Facets - Facades ... there are so many aspects to this premier agricultural show within our state, New South Wales. It started as the country coming to the city to 'show' off. And there is still this facet to the show. But there is a commercial aspect, and a fun aspect, not to mention side-show-alley.

I was there for five hours today, and did not go anywhere near SSA. My interest was with the animals, and life in the country. But let's start with the fun ...