Life in Bendigo.

[Buster121]

Good to see things moving well for murray hope you get all sorted soon, won't be long til end February the days fly by these days, will you be going into any of the 3 stations for bit of work
Shame about the birds but you Know David will look after them and I am sure the member restarting will be delighyted with his birds

[Murray]

Thanks, Buster.
Yep, we are looking forward to our retirement cottage, which has a big shed for me, and fruit trees and all sorts of good things. I am still worrying about how the pigeons will cope with the move, but they simply have to.
Funnily enough, one of the service stations is run by the company I worked for for more than a decade. But no, I will not be wandering in and saying, hey! Guess who?
For me, at 68, it is time to retire.

[Andy]

Good to hear that you have finally sorted your move out. Hope that all goes well for you both.
It would be nice for you to get in with the club nearest to you after your move. I’m sure they would be only to pleased to welcome you. I have to travel 40 minutes to get any racing with my “local” club. I have moved a few times and always moved the birds with me. I’m sure you’ll settle quickly to your new surroundings.
Good luck with it all. Look forward to hearing how things go.

[Murray]

Good to hear that you have finally sorted your move out. Hope that all goes well for you both.
It would be nice for you to get in with the club nearest to you after your move. I’m sure they would be only to pleased to welcome you. I have to travel 40 minutes to get any racing with my “local” club. I have moved a few times and always moved the birds with me. I’m sure you’ll settle quickly to your new surroundings.
Good luck with it all. Look forward to hearing how things go.

Thanks Andy.

[Murray]

Yes just talking to Catherine, I must see if I can race with Maryborough. It's only half an hour away, more or less. In New Zealand I was 25 minutes away from the club, but that was in city traffic. I need to get my head around going 30 miles to the club.

[Devo1956]

So, some news. We have sold our home in Bendigo, and purchased a cottage in a town called St Arnaud, about 70 miles away. It is a nice town, about 2000 people, all the shops and supermarket, 3 petrol stations, a nice botanical garden and everything. Unfortunately we don't take possession until about the end of February, so we have had to rent a house for a short time.
The pigeons are a problem. There's no club out there, so it looks like I will be breeding youngsters for OLR's, and sending them to my mate David to race for me. There is a club at Maryborough, about half an hour away, but they only have three members and race with the Central Highlands Combine in Ballarat. Might look at that.
I have given 20 youngsters to a member of our club who is starting again, and 10 with special money race rings to David to race for me. Still have half a dozen youngsters off the best stock birds which I will keep. Mainly because they are the ones that are bonded onto me. I will keep most of the stock pigeons, a few of the very old ones might not go.
I will have to convert a shed at the rental property to keep them in until we move to St Arnaud and put the lofts back up.
It's all a bit of a performance, but this has been the plan all along. Sell the Bendigo house, pay the balance of the mortgage, and buy something freehold with some left over. I was a bit disappointed about getting rid of the youngsters, but as Catherine said, next year you will breed another lot just as good.
There you go. Everything stays the same until it isn't. My lungs aren't getting any better, so I probably need to have less pigeons to look after.
I will update you all on how it goes.

I hope all goes well for you Murray, and your heath improves. A new home with a new venture may be just the tonic for you. i am sure you will do all to make it happen.

[Buster121]

Thanks, Buster.
Yep, we are looking forward to our retirement cottage, which has a big shed for me, and fruit trees and all sorts of good things. I am still worrying about how the pigeons will cope with the move, but they simply have to.
Funnily enough, one of the service stations is run by the company I worked for for more than a decade. But no, I will not be wandering in and saying, hey! Guess who?
For me, at 68, it is time to retire.

Don't blame you Murray there is only so many years you can work, put your feet up and enjoy your twilight years with Catherine

[Trev]

So, some news. We have sold our home in Bendigo, and purchased a cottage in a town called St Arnaud, about 70 miles away. It is a nice town, about 2000 people, all the shops and supermarket, 3 petrol stations, a nice botanical garden and everything. Unfortunately we don't take possession until about the end of February, so we have had to rent a house for a short time.
The pigeons are a problem. There's no club out there, so it looks like I will be breeding youngsters for OLR's, and sending them to my mate David to race for me. There is a club at Maryborough, about half an hour away, but they only have three members and race with the Central Highlands Combine in Ballarat. Might look at that.
I have given 20 youngsters to a member of our club who is starting again, and 10 with special money race rings to David to race for me. Still have half a dozen youngsters off the best stock birds which I will keep. Mainly because they are the ones that are bonded onto me. I will keep most of the stock pigeons, a few of the very old ones might not go.
I will have to convert a shed at the rental property to keep them in until we move to St Arnaud and put the lofts back up.
It's all a bit of a performance, but this has been the plan all along. Sell the Bendigo house, pay the balance of the mortgage, and buy something freehold with some left over. I was a bit disappointed about getting rid of the youngsters, but as Catherine said, next year you will breed another lot just as good.
There you go. Everything stays the same until it isn't. My lungs aren't getting any better, so I probably need to have less pigeons to look after.
I will update you all on how it goes.

Good to hear you have a buyer for your home and are finally going to be able to embrace your retirement As Buster said the end of February will soon be upon us so don't make the interim shed alterations too fancy for the birds lol I'm sure it is hard to part with this years crop of babies but at least you will still be able to follow their progress. As Catherine said, you will be able to breed another decent crop of babies next season. It will also ne hard for you to say goodbye to your old timers but sadly sometimes we have to make these tough calls.
It will be good if you can get into the Maryborough club, as Andy says I'm sure they will be glad of another member, you could also still send a few to your mate David to race on your behalf
I hope the move goes well for you mate and that the birds settle ok
Hopefully if you can keep the bird numbers down your health will improve a bit too
New year, new start mate, let's hope 2024 is a good one for you both.
All the very best.

[Murray]

Thanks for your kind remarks, Trev.
Yes, I am sure we will be very happy, it is an ideal situation.
I had actually come to terms with the pigeons going when we moved. I don't like making too much fuss over it, but I am pretty buggered. The lungs, they are shot. A few weeks ago I was struggling to keep them cleaned out and fed. And it's not like there's 300 of them or something.
But the thought of all my pigeons having to go stressed me, and when I get stressed I get sick. So, most of this years youngsters are gone, a few of the old stock pairs will be going, but a couple of my old favorites are coming. And Gordon. Of Course.
So I will have the good stock pigeons with me. And when you are forced to pare them back and take another look, boy!, is that a fantastic group of stock pigeons!
I guess I should be 'sensible' and get rid of the pigeons. But I don't know how much time I have left, maybe only a year or three. But I do believe I will live longer if I am happy. And for me, happy is Catherine, the boys, (Banjo, Flynn and Olly), and my pigeons.
Once we get settled I reckon I will contact the Maryborough club about possibly joining them. But we have some serious logistics to contend with before that!

[Trev]

As you say there is a lot to consider and work out but you have time, the main thing at this stage is to get the move out of the way, get settled in and then you can start to plan things. In a way it's quite an exciting time for you as well mate.
Good to hear that Gordon is coming along as well as your main stock birds
I have to admit that I don't think I could be without my birds again now, my biggest issue is I have to get my numbers down to make it easier and more pleasurable.
They do affect my chest too so I know I have to take whatever precautions I can to enable me to carry on keeping them. As you say life is short and we don't know what's around the corner so to stop doing everything we enjoy just incase it makes us poorly will make what life we do have left very dull and meaningless.
I've only ever once since keeping pigeons had to dispose of my birds and I wouldn't want to have to do that again
All the best mate.