living up in the trees

Tuscany Oct 2011

2011-11-19T06:13:00.014+08:00

We flew from London Gatwick to Pisa, looking down on snow-capped mountains on the way.

It really does lean!! A lot!!

This is the ceiling of our hotel room in Pisa. Michelangelo had obviously popped in for a bit of a practice before heading off to the Sistine Chapel.
Below is the Pisa Duomo (cathedral).

This is the Leaning Gill.

Next day we took a train to Florence (Firenze) and we could see the Ponte Vecchio from our hotel window.

There are lots of artists around the Uffizi Gallery, painting on the paving or sitting with easels.

The Ponte Vecchio is all shops - jewellery shops.

The very narrow streets means everyone travels on two wheels.

These would no doubt be American tourists.

The view from our hotel window.

We took a bus to Siena and it took us about 20minutes to walk to the Piazza Del Campo which is the town square. Just as we sat down at a cafe table there was a downpour. That was the only rain that fell during our five day trip.

We discovered in Pisa (or should I say Gill discovered) that you order "cafe latte" rather than "coffee" otherwise you get a cup of black liquid that blows one's head off!

Not only did we have another wonderful view from our B&B room window but Mick had popped in here also!!

Siena is a 800 year old walled city.

The Gaia Fountain in the Piazza Del Campo.

Gill browsing at the local supermarket.
Dinner at Il Campo on our last night in Italy.

Mickey aka Tiger

2011-05-08T10:56:00.005+08:00

I bought this dear sweet little dog a toy.
It had a squeaker.
Yes, "had". Does not have a squeaker anymore.

So I bought him one of those "Kongs".
They are TOUGH toys for TOUGH dogs.

He ripped the end off that too!
And it didn't even have a squeaker!

Now he's got his eye on Woody's Kong.
I think I'll have to purchase a "Kong Extreme"!
(Just a little one.)

New Zealand Trip 2011

2011-04-09T13:15:00.067+08:00

(click on images to enlarge)

It's March 2011 and Glenn decides it's time to drag himself away from his rocks and take a holiday. Shall we go to New Zealand? he asks? I say, Yyyyyyyessss! So, with dogs and cat suitably ensconced in kennels and cattery, we hop on an Air New Zealand flight direct to Auckland. What an excellent airline! One of the best and I'm glad to give them a plug. Once landed in Auckland we go and collect our prearranged motorhome, except that they have a slight hiccup and have to upgrade us to a slightly better one. Terrific! It would have been perfect had the central locking worked. Second day and in neither of the cab doors would open. I wondered if people thought we loved playing cubby houses so much that we preferred entering and leaving by the little door on the side like it was a Wendy house! Apart from that, it was fine.

Coming from the drought-ridden state of Western Australia, the greeness of New Zealand is so absolutely stunning and refreshing. During the whole two weeks we were there we 'soaked it up'.

Our first day there and we found a walk trail down to a bay. Daylight beat us, unfortunately, so we didn't get all the way to the bay but the steep climb back up was good practice for what we had planned in a few days' time.

Next was Rotorua. I'd heard of it but had no idea how amazing it would be and we didn't really spend enough time there to do it justice. However, what we did do in the short time we had showed us what Rotorua is famous for. As you near the town the smell of sulphur greets you. I didn't find it unpleasant, just part of Rotorua.

A visit to Te Puia was a chance to experience the geothermal activities that have attracted people here since the 1800s. The Maori tour guide proudly shows us around the warm steamy park, with its explosive geysers, bubbling mud pools, steamy crater lakes and hot springs. With the recent tragedies of Christchurch and Japan in mind it was slightly unnerving standing on such "active" ground and imagining what's going on beneath your feet. We looked around at fellow tourists who were probably thinking the same and wished we had a paper bag... blow it up and "Bang!"

To think, people actually live here!

White Island

Off the north coast of the North Island is what they term as the "only active marine volcano in the world!" We had booked the tour before we left and were looking forward to it. There was quite a swell as the tour boat powered its way to the island. It takes an hour and a half to get there and twenty minutes in I was asking for sick bags. I had no idea I would get sea sick but the crew were ready with their pockets full of paper bags for anyone that was going green - like me! Five bags later we arrived at the island. We were loaded on to rafts for the short ride to shore.

From there the tour guides took us in small groups around the island - hard hats on heads and gas masks hanging around necks ready for when the sulphurous steam became too much. What an amazing place! Bright green sulphur rock at our feet, bubbling mud pools and fumeroles steaming all around us. The tour of the island takes about an hour and includes walking up to the edge of the crater. Luckily, as we stood there and looked down, a breeze blew the steam away and we were able to see the crater in all its glory.

And the return trip? ...I slept all the way back. Phew!

Later that afternoon we needed to find somewhere to camp. We were in an area marked on the map as "Thermal Valley" and drove down a gravel track until we found a secluded spot. As we stepped out (of our cubby) there seemed to be steam rising from the bushes all around us. The sun was going down and it was all very eerie. Hearing water trickling nearby we walked through the bushes to find a stream and looking closer could see thermal vents hissing up through the water in various places. Glenn took his shoes and socks off and waded into the warm water and said in some spots it was really hot and he had to get out quick!

While I grilled chops in the van, Glenn heated up the cans of vegetables in the stream! Maoris have been doing this for generations and still do!

Sunday lunch was by Lake Taupo where we took a stroll along the watersedge. I thought I was looking at pebbles but picking one up found it had no weight. It was pumice.

Sunday night we had to be in Tongariro National Park ready for our marathon walk the next day. The bus picked us up at 7am to take us to the starting point. This is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and thousands of people do this every year. It is 18.5km and starts at 1150m and rises to 1900m in two steep climbs then has a gradual decline back down. They recommend "average to fit" walkers only and to take rain coats, good footwear, food and water.

Yes, I did have a slight problem with the height at times.

However, Glenn doesn't have a problem with heights and enjoyed taking photos!!

I'm actually hanging on to a rock here (left). There were three craters down there and we had lunch sitting next to one of them. Beautiful, blue, clear spa-like pools but you wouldn't want to go in one!

It was like being on top of the world. The trail is well built and well maintained and doesn't take you around the peak (Red Crater), it takes you up and over it! How I managed it I have no idea but feel it was an achievement! For Glenn, it was just a walk in the park:)

It took us just over 7 hours. Needless to say we slept well that night and for the next two days our legs were everso slightly aching.

Next day we drove towards Wellington and the scenery was breathtaking. The roads often follow the rivers taking us through valleys where cattle and sheep graze in lush green pastures and the neat fields of crop often have hedges of tall trees. Then up, up on a zig zag road then over a "saddle crossing" between mountains then down into yet another panoramic scene.

At Wellington we took the Interislander Ferry to Picton on the South Island. We made a few friends on the way. Baa...

And, no, I didn't get sea sick. It's quite calm through the Cook Straits and very beautiful. In fact, it was less of a ferry crossing, more of a luxury cruise!

From Picton we took a road called "Queen Charlotte's Drive" which runs along the edge of a cliff for miles; high in some spots and low in others. One of many locations used in "Lord of the Rings".

Glaciers!
When I was a little girl I remember being given a "Fox Glacier Mint". It was a white, clear boiled sweet and on the wrapper was a picture of a polar bear standing on a large ice cube. I always wondered why there was a bear on a sweet called Fox Glacier Mint. This is a photo of the Fox Glacier in New Zealand:)

We saw this glacier from the air when we flew from Queenstown to Auckland and it's much bigger than you can imagine.

As you can see, we found some stunning places to camp.

Another walk we did was "The Invincible Mine Trail" which is in the Otago Goldfields. It was a 2-3hour round trip, initially through temperate rainforest then quite a steep rise to the top where there are views of Mount Earnshaw and the Rees Valley.

What a great place for lunch!

Photo below shows the Berdan pans used to smash the rock in the process to extract the gold.

Next was Milford Sound in the "Fiordland" of New Zealand's South Island. The approach to the Sound was spectacular as the falling rain was creating hundreds of waterfalls to team down the towering rock faces each side of the road.

We booked in for the cruise and were waiting in the terminal when I thought maybe I may not be allowed on! "No Bags" ??

We'd enjoyed seeing rain but no more so than on this cruise as it continued and Milford Sound which actually has only two permanent waterfalls, teamed with water, for our pleasure!

The skippers of the cruise boats enjoy 'parking' under waterfalls for the fun of the passengers.

The height of these rock faces are difficult for the eye and the brain to comprehend as you look up. We were told some are one and a half Empire State Buildings high!

Next was the cruise on Doubtful Sound. Said to be not quite so dramatic as Milford but much much bigger (x 10) and therefore worth an overnight cruise.

Doubtful Sound was named by Captain Cook who was worried about entering it as he thought once he sailed in there may never get out. Incidentally, these waters were misnamed "sounds" by Europeans who knew no better. Sounds are formed by running liquid water whereas fiords have been scoured by glaciers.

And the rain continued...

...And verily my bag was suitably packed.

At 9am we are taken by boat across Lake Manapouri to the West Arm then by bus across the Wilmott Pass to Deep Cove. Here we boarded the "Seafinn" which belongs to Deep Cove Charters, a small cruiser that takes no more than 12 passengers.

The rain cleared and we could not have asked for better conditions or nicer cruising companions. Our skipper (and owner of the business) pointed out all the interesting features of the sound as we wended our way through the peaceful waters.
Lunch was a crayfish salad; crayfish caught in the skipper's own pots the day before. In the afternoon some of us went kayaking and some fished. Some had an early red wine.

Chris, the skipper, showed us around the Sound like it was his lounge room.

Call this work?

Dinner that evening was venison, (cooked by his assistant, Kirstie) also caught locally. And freshly caught fish, our fish!

The evening was spent sitting on the deck looking up at a navy blue star-studded sky, satellite spotting.

After a very peaceful and comfortable sleep in the adequate cabins we arose to a beautiful morning.

As we made our way back to Deep Cove the dolphins joined us, as they do!

Our last day there and we found a 10km walking trail we could do, through a temperate rainforest and beside a lake. We'd seen many of these traps on our walks and met a man that was checking them. He said they are for stoats and rats and have been very successful. The bird life in the forests was suffering badly from these introduced pests but since the Dept of Conservation have been laying these traps birdsong is again heard in the forests.

It's not surprising that we saw many places marked on the maps that were locations used in "Lord of the Rings". Only Mother Nature could create beauty such as is seen in New Zealand.

Trip to England Nov 2010

2010-11-21T16:04:00.005+08:00

Can you believe these flowers are embroidered?
Work of my very clever sister.

This is Gill's favourite place for walking, The Trundle,
the site of an ancient Iron Age hill fort.

Oh! A ride in the car. My favourite!

I saw these berries in a local park and would love to know what this shrub is.

I used to work in a hotel on top of Richmond Hill.
Above is the view of the River Thames from the Terrace Gardens .

Richmond Park and its wildlife.
You can see London in the distance.
And after tea at Pembroke Lodge we walked to King Henry's Mound and from here is a protected view of St Paul's Cathedral.

Home grown blooms

2010-10-01T08:49:00.003+08:00

Stocks and bluebells. It must be Spring!

Sojourns

2010-09-22T07:47:00.002+08:00

Trek the Trail walk from Parkerville to Swan View.
We had a perfect day to walk the 8.4kms through forest,
beside waterfalls and through an old railway tunnel.

Relaxing at home.
And I have the honour of washing his clothes!

Hidden treasures

2010-09-22T07:34:00.002+08:00

A jug orchid growing in the centre of an old burnt out tree stump.

Yellow cowslip orchids Caladenia flava.

September orchids

2010-09-19T15:41:00.003+08:00

I found this tiny Pink Fairy Orchid right in the middle of the firebreak (clearings around the property). It is so tiny, smaller than a 5c (sixpence).
Caladenia latifolia

This is a Silky Blue orchid. Not so many of these this year, so far anyway.
We received only half our average rainfall this winter so
maybe it will make a difference.
Cyanicula sericea

And here is the amazing Jug Orchid.
Pterostylis recurva

First orchids of the year!

2010-05-16T09:57:00.005+08:00

It is fifteen months since the fire and the native bush has recovered well.
In fact, it is greener than we've ever seen it.

Since the cat arrived on the scene last year Woody has had to get used to him accompanying us on our morning walks. He likes to whizz past us, climb trees, pounce from behind bushes and generally play "scary cats".
The ultra-cool Woody is completely unfazed.

In amongst the bright green new growth of various shrubs and trees we were delighted to discover bunny orchids, lots of them!
Eriochilus Dilatus

These flowers are the size of my smallest fingernail.

A walk on New Year's Day morning

2010-01-01T07:12:00.003+08:00

It's wonderfully cool. It is 6am and the sun is shining on the bright green new leaves bursting from the blackened tree trunks. I thought all the flowers and orchids had finished; we have, after all, had 40 degree days recently and no rain for weeks. But lo and behold, two blooms I don't remember seeing before.

Christmas in Sydney 2009

2009-12-28T14:17:00.011+08:00

We left the horrendous heat of Perth behind when we went to Sydney for Christmas.

The remains of a Western Australian cyclone had moved across the country and dropped gallons of rain on dry New South Wales farmland. Sydney, however, protected by the Blue Mountains only received cool drizzle. But this suited us all.

This strange dog sitting with Doug is a hairless Dachsund called Mechant (French for naughty). He belongs to Matt and they have a love/hate relationship: sometimes they love each other, sometimes they hate each other. Mechant loves Doug.

No, they aren't rats under the table. They're dogs.

Christmas Eve we had a BBQ. (As you do.)

Doug had made his place so comfy and Christmassy.

Buzz Lightyear. (tee hee)

Buzz put up some solar lanterns.

What a great Christmas present!

We played a very entertaining board game called "Cranium".

It puts the imagination and spelling skills to the test.

Matt and Doug won, of course, but it was nothing to do with being able to spell!

This is Matt's other dog, Mickey, on floor cleaning duty.

The men, comparing bellies. I think Gerard wins, hands down.

King Street Wharf.

Boxing Day Doug had bought us tickets to have lunch on a cruiser on the harbour and watch the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Wine and champagne was free, so we got stuck in!

Going under the Harbour Bridge. (Doug's going to climb it next year Matt's Xmas gift.)

It's a spectacular sight when all the spinnakers are raised and they start racing towards the heads.

Sunday Glenn went to America and I came home.

I returned to 40degC and the air con broken. tut!

And all the repair men are on holiday, of course.

A silver lining

2009-12-13T12:02:00.013+08:00

It has been ten months since the bush fire (Feb 2009) on our block.

This is what it looked like immediately after.

The zamias and grass trees were the most resilient as they are built to withstand fire.

Despite the flames and heat green centres remained.

This photo below was taken in July 09.

The photo below was taken last week, 9th Dec 2009.

There is a carpet of green shoots from the huge variety of native shrubs and plants that covered the ground before the fire. Few spring flowers appeared this year but there is no doubt they will be back next Spring - probably stronger than ever.

By October the majority of the grass trees had grown a flower stalk.

We had never seen so many produce a stalk at the same time and believe it must have been a result of the fire.

When they flowered they were constantly covered in bees from the two hives on our block.

What we missed out on with Spring flowers we gained in orchids.

We have never seen such a variety of orchids on the block.
Below: Blue Fairy orchids

Little Pink Fairy orchids

Bunny orchids

Jug orchids

Leaping spider orchid Calendenia attigens

Cyanicula ixioides

Yellow China Orchid

These only occur after a bush fire so quite rare.

Cyanicula gemmata

Sun Orchid

Snail orchid

Microtis Mignonette

White China Orchid

These also only occur after a fire.

Isn't this wonderful?

From a blackened and seemingly dead tree bursts bright vigorous growth.

Most of the burned Wandu have bright green shoots erupting from charcoal-like bark.

It's an uplifting sight after such devastation.

Sun Orchid

2009-10-17T10:32:00.003+08:00

I was just hanging out the washing when I looked down and saw the sun orchid near the washing line that has been in bud for weeks has finally opened. Glorious! It must have known the temperature is going to climb to 35degC today!!

WA Orchid Society

2009-09-22T17:27:00.006+08:00

We were privileged to have people from the WA Orchid Society visit our block recently in search of interesting orchids. Each year they scour areas of bushland that have had a fire go through during the summer months as it creates the right conditions for rare orchids to bloom.

Above is a rabbit orchid - we have not seen on our block before. It is tiny and may have been there but we were unaware of their presence.

This a Blue China Orchid.

Russell

2009-09-22T17:07:00.004+08:00

Tiptoe through the bluebells. How long will he be "cute" for, I wonder.

Already he has walked across my laptop keyboard and altered something that took me some time to un-alter!

Joining us in bed came to an abrupt end when we realised we were losing sleep!

A few thwacks and he got the message.

However, he appears to have got 'control' in the lounge room!

New Addition

2009-09-19T14:18:00.004+08:00

Glenn found this little furry thing on the doorstep yesterday morning.

He or she is not a feral cat. He or she doesn't mind being picked up, uses a dirt box and has made his or her presence known to all inhabitants of the house in no uncertain terms.

We googled "cat sexing" and looked closely at the diagrams.

Then we put on our glasses, shone a very bright light to the area in question...

and not finding this terribly interesting, enlightening or pleasant,

thought we'd leave it until later.

Hence, he or she is still unnamed.

Who's sleeping in MY bed?

And who's playing with MY tail?

We all slept well last night. Yep, all four of us slept well, together!

Good thing we have a king size bed.

Give me more orchids!

2009-09-13T19:06:00.004+08:00

This little 'garden' is in a tree stump.

There is a Jug Orchid and two mysterious buds. What will they be?

Woody is certainly fascinated!

(click on image to enlarge)

There are dozens of Silky Blues.

These snail orchids are so tiny.
These are the Yellow China orchids that only appear after a fire.
They are actually a pale yellow - like primroses - but I seem to have lost their colour
with my photo.

Below is a Fringed Mantis.

A Rare'un

2009-09-05T16:52:00.004+08:00

This little yellow orchid is rarely found unless there's been a burn.

Thanks to an arsonist, we had a burn back in Feburary.

Every cloud...

It's a Yellow China orchid.

(complicated people call it ixiodes, tut!)

These are silky blues.

The Woodster thought orchids grew underground so dug huge holes, ripping out roots with his bare teeth! Bless...

Orchids after the Burn

2009-09-03T10:28:00.004+08:00

Here is living proof that bushfire encourages growth. We have all sorts of orchids blooming now and in amazing numbers!

These are all quite small.

We have to tread carefully as we walk.

August 2009

2009-08-08T09:25:00.004+08:00

Our morning walk after the rain was a delight.

The scent of the eucalypts rises from the earth where the sap has dripped.

Months of dust has been washed off the foliage. Everything is bright.

Orchids appear amongst their burnt surroundings.

Shoots appear from the base of charred trees.

The Grass Trees (Xanthorrea) are well on the way to recovery.

Although, let's face it, fire doesn't destroy them, only gives

them more reason to live.

And the Zamia Palm in the foreground is better than ever.

And we have an addition to the family...

if he lives!

As you can see Woody is extremely interested in this little being.

Glenn and his girls brought "Billy" (no, not very original but never mind) back from the bush.

He had a brother but he died.

When Billy walks around the house Woody 'escorts' him, everywhere, drooling.

He has even been seen to place his jaws around Billy's neck! But he didn't clamp them (not like he did with a certain hamster!) So we are keeping an eye on things.

Rottnest for the Day

2009-06-07T17:41:00.009+08:00

Rottnest Island is 19kms off the coast of Fremantle. I have lived in Perth for over 20years but never been there! tut tut. So we decided to take the ferry over there, but not direct from Fremantle which is only 30minutes; the enjoyable alternative is to take the ferry from the city. This means you cruise up the Swan River which takes about an hour, then out to the island.

There are no cars on the island except for service vehicles so most people hire bikes. There are some lovely old buildings on the island and the wildlife seem to treat them as their own.

There are perfect beaches all the way around the island.

We weren't quite sure why this snake was laying in the middle of the road.

Rottnest Island is famous for its population of Quokkas. They are sweet little marsupials who wander around the island like they own it. Well, they do!

This is where Helen discovered she had her hat on back to front.

May 2009

2009-05-12T20:24:00.004+08:00

A couple of weeks ago we had a storm and the air turned yellow.

Looking out from the balcony at the burnt side of the block the bush went a rusty orange colour.

There's no 'photoshopping' here!

We discovered our first Bunny Orchid last week. They are tiny and stand only twelve inches high. there must have been hundreds previous years but were in amongst the bush. The fire has left the ground black and bare and we can see these sweet little blooms popping up everywhere. Glenn found this little fellow under a drum the other day.

Don't worry, he put him back where he found him after the photo shoot.

Woody found him VERY interesting!

Talking of Woody... took a snap the other day just before he left to go to the gym.
There is a definite likeness, don't you think?

New growth

2009-03-31T20:45:00.005+08:00

It's just over four weeks since the bushfire claimed half of the property. It is still all black and covered in ash and it still smells burnt too. But...

The Zamias will not be beaten! Bright green growth is appearing from the centre of many of the plants!

I have read that Zamias have much of their stems underground, which means it is protected from fire. Hence the new growth appearing so quickly!

And we've had very little rain!
When I looked closely at this grass tree I can see new spines in the centre that are all green, no brown tips like the surrounding spines!

Another large tree fell down yesterday, unfortunately. The fire must have got into the roots.

Bushfire !

2009-03-15T10:11:00.015+09:00

We had been out all day; we were unpacking the shopping; it was a fine day with a gentle breeze; we were standing in the lounge that looks out into the treetops; then we looked at each other wondering why the air in the room looked 'yellow'. We both looked out across the balcony - FIRE !

A wall of fire was racing up the hill toward our house; fierce, crackling, roaring! I picked up the phone and Glenn ran down the steps with keys to vehicles parked under the house. "The Fire Service is already on its way!" I was told.

I grabbed the list I had made of things I would want to save if a fire was to come. Within minutes I had four boxes of photo albums, documents, etc in the car, with the dog and my bag. Then I grabbed my camera (as you do!). Glenn had gone to get his backhoe and join the fire crews now arriving.

My head kept saying, "No, this isn't real!" But the Victorian bushfires were still very vivid in mind and I could just imagine how those people must have thought just the same thing.

I took this photo looking from the side of the house and you can see the flames through the trees and the black smoke above. There were soon three helicopters and two fixed-wing aircraft dumping water as fast as they could refill from a local dam. One of the fixed-wing planes took a dive only 50metres down the hill from the house dumping water in an effort to save the house, very successfully. It was like something out of World War II! The noise of the water bombers, their sirens as they were about to dump, the fire trucks, their radios, and the fire itself was frightening; I felt like I was on a movie set. Four fire units had arrived too and were finding their way around our firebreaks which encircle the 17acres of native bushland on which we live.

The police arrived at the house. They advised me to leave. I drove down our track to the road which was the opposite side to where the fire was raging. Woody and I sat there wondering what we would go back to.

Fortunately, the wind had dropped. Had it increased I may not be sitting at this desk right now - more likely sitting in the shed next to my swag!

About an hour later the policeman came by and said he was pretty sure our house would be ok so not to worry, but to wait. When I eventually drove back to the house I could see how lucky we had been. The fire crews had done a magnificent job, saving us and the house on top of the hill also.
That night when we looked from the balcony we could see numerous little spot fires burning around two sides of the house and the smell of smoke was still in the air. We could hear the odd tree falling; first a cracking noise and then the inevitable "CRASH!"

In the morning we took a walk to see the reality of it all.
Poor Woody knew something was very wrong during the fire; the noise, the panic, me rushing around and keeping him close. He wanted to bark at someone or something in an effort to join in and help in some way. So he barked at the helicopters. Bless... Above in this photo I see now that his ears were down as he looked around, wondering what the hell has gone on here?

This is what the grass trees (xanthorrea) should look like:

This is what the burned out half of our 17 acre block used to look like:

And now...

It's not politically correct to call these grass trees "Black Boys" as they used to be called - but it has to be said that they do look like little black people with their little top-knots left poking out their heads.

There is no doubt these wonderful beings will come back. Grass Trees can live for up to 600 years and they only grow 1-2cm a year. So this one in the photo above has to be about 180years old!

I was pleased to see that the heart of this Zamia Palm, the only one I could find, was still green. The only evidence of the numerous Zamias that used to grow throughout our bushland were short, scorched spikes sticking out of the blackened ground.

Unfortunately, the side of our property that has been burned was the most colourful side in Spring. The variety of Spring flowers that appeared from what seemed to be nowhere every September was magnificent. And the orchids... But I must not be morose and negative. The Australian bush is used to fire; it was built for it and it thrives on fire. It is a proven fact that the smoke causes seeds to germinate.

So now we have the pleasure of watching the regrowth and regeneration. All I need is patience! and some rain would be nice!

This fire was started by an arsonist, as was a fire in Kings Park in December 2008. I was so pleased to see tucked on to the end of the ABC main evening news just last week a report from Kings Park that new shoots were appearing. Considering we have had only a day or maybe two of rain since that fire, it just shows how resilient the Australian bush is.

This beautiful Shingleback Lizard however, was not so resilient. He cannot regrow. The crows had feasted on his innards. We did not, I'm glad to say, come across the burnt carcass of Eric (or Erica) our resident echidna though. So maybe he or she was out shopping at the time.

New tenants in the Penthouse

2009-01-17T15:18:00.004+09:00

I have just met our new tenants (mud wasps) who appear to have built on top of the geode on the front deck. (Click on link to learn more.)

Having looked up the above link, I learn that it is the female that builds the nest. Well, no wonder it's built in such an excellent location... location... location. Not only has she chosen a position that has spectacular scenery but also a veritable lake only metres away.

I mean, how much should I charge for such a location? A "des. res." if ever there was one, don't you think? What a panoramic view! Nearby recreational area; plenty of 'supermarkets'; what more could a wasp want?

If you click on the photo it will enlarge and you can see her sitting next to her new home.

CSIRO advise that.. "They are part of Australia’s native fauna and should be left alone if possible. If a mud nest is considered unsightly it can be knocked off, which is probably best done when the owner of the nest is not around." How sweet.

Christmas Morning

2008-12-28T15:06:00.004+09:00

Christmas Morning and our little tree is quite impressive!

Well, I think so anyway!

For $9 it did the trick for me - not only put me in the festive mood but gave me somewhere to place our presents!

Woody was in a quandry with his present.

It smelt good and he was dying to rip into it but his good manners didn't allow him to.

It smelt like a pig's ear but didn't look like one.

Shall I? Shan't I?

He needed some encouragement.

My sons would be mortified if they knew I dragged this out, yet again.

A primary school effort.

Three pine cones, wrapped with tinsel of various colours; stick a parrot on the side and Bob's yer uncle!

My bauble; gift from the Blood Bank!

Critter comes to Stay

2008-12-24T15:19:00.002+09:00

This may appear to you to be a dog.

It isn't.

She's A PERSON!

She's the first dog I've come across who doesn't like liver treats.

That's because liver treats are for dogs - and she ISN'T A DOG.

When she goes to bed she nestles into her covers until she has her head out one end and her feet out the other. Like I said, she's a PERSON!

She tried her best to manipulate the 'man of the house' (our dog) but to no avail. (Although he did allow her to share a 'clean up'; see below.)

He had back up as they say in The Bill.

Three attempted mountings and three reprimands from ME later, she gave up.

She didn't give up, however, on trying to join us on the lounge suite and bed.
"But that's where PEOPLE sit!" she cried.

"You're A DOG!" I said.

She thought wearing nail varnish would impress.

It didn't!

Trip to the Eastern States

2008-12-06T20:02:00.013+09:00

What a great place to have lunch!

The train ride from Sydney to Orange is wonderful.

First you go through the city with its colourful graffiti and spectacular Jacarandas in bloom.

Then you climb up into the Blue Mountains where the views are spectacular.

Below is Orange; a large town in the Central Tablelands District of New South Wales. Orange is nine hundred feet above sea level. Originally known as Blackman's Swamp 'Orange' was so named by Surveyor-General Thomas Mitchell in honour of the Prince of Orange, who later became the King of Holland.

November and the next morning we woke to snow! Two days later it was warm and sunny.

I don't think I have ever seen so many lovely gardens in one town. No one seem to have any problem creating a colourful and healthy garden but this may be due to the soil. Twelve kilometres west of Orange is Mount Canobolas and millions of years ago this was a volcano; hence the good soil for hundreds of miles around Orange.

I haven't seen holly growing in Australia before!

Orange has a couple of dams for its water supply but is on strict water restrictions.

We went up to the top of Mount Canobolas and found some remains of the snow that had fallen two days previously. Not enough to make a snowman, unfortunately.

This is the picnic table at the top of the Mount and it was covered in lichen. I've only seen lichen growing in a temperature rainforest.

We went for an hour's bush walk and would have gone further except it was getting dark.

We spent a day in Canowindra (said: Canoundra) which is about 25mins drive from Orange. Back in the mid-fifties a chance discovery during road building revealed an extensive fossil bed dating back 360million years ago.

"From 12th to 22 July 1993 the original Canowindra fish site was excavated using the same Caboone Council excavator and driver. The project received full support of the Canowindra community - business people, farmers, truck drivers, teachers, students and local residents etc.
Results exceeded expectations! Some 70 tonnes of fossil slabs were recovered, some weighing more than 2 tonnes. The slabs, now stored in Canowindra on 100 pallets, contain over 3000 fish specimens. Almost all are complete and represent at least 6 specimens, some new to science."

"The recovery of these remarkable fossils is only part of the link of in a unique chain of events which began 360 million years ago when a large lake or river, with tens of thousands of fish living in it, dried up during a severe drought.
The fish tightly concentrated in a small area were rapidly but gently covered with sediment soon after death and before their bony scales and plates fell apart.
Buried deep underground, the sediment turned to rock until some 360 million years later, this unique record of mass-mortality event was brought to the surface again by natural erosion. This happened where a country road intersected the fossil layer, it was pushed aside by the bulldozer driver and then its significance recognised and reported by a sharp eyed apiarist.
One wonders how many other such finds are never seen or reported and are lost to science!"

We visited the "Age of Fishes" museum to see these wonderful plates.

Orange has some lovely parks, one of which was "Cook Park" dating back to the 1880's. They planted Sequoias and Oak which now tower above the park.

Are these really Buttercups?

And a beautiful old Oak Tree!!

From Sydney I flew to Melbourne to see Matt and his new house.

A proud man!

Walkies

2008-10-19T15:38:00.014+08:00

When are we going walkies? Lucky old Woody is getting quite a few walks at the moment.

Not only are there still a huge amount of wild flowers blooming but there are orchids too.

Above - Cottonheads

Quite a few "bob tail lizards" about too.

Above - Looks reptilian but is in fact the remains of a grass tree (Xanthorea)

I still can't stop taking photos of these beautiful flowers!

Click on the images to see them up close.

Above - Coral Vine

Below - Little Pink Fairy Orchids

Below - Scented Sun Orchid
(Thelymitra Macrophylla)
These Sun Orchids are the reason Woody is getting extra walks.
We usually walk mornings and evenings and the Sun Orchids always seemed to be closed. So we went to look at them in the heat of the day and lo and behold the flowers were fully open. (Hence the name dummy!)

And this one is called Blue Lady Orchid
(Thelymitra Crinita)
We thought all the Cowslip orchids had finished but came across these.

Oh, and Woody made a couple of new friends. But he won't be seeing much of them. They are living at the bottom of the pond now.

They are gilgies, freshwater crayfish.

We'd gone looking for some tadpoles and came back with these.

(We haven't named them yet but one suggestion came up... Gill and Mike?)

Not sure how to attract frogs to our pond but had this idea.
We're going to put a sign up down at the local creek:

Come and view this beautifully landscaped pond:

alfresco dining;

multiple lilly pads provide extensive games area;

three storey reeds with valley views;

five small fish and two gilgies leasing at present but willing to share...

Be quick! Don't miss out on this one!

Back to the Beach

2008-10-12T11:43:00.009+08:00

I am wondering where we're going.

For the last six months all the trips in the car have ended up at the vet's!

Not the park, not the beach, not friends' places - THE VET'S!

There, I had pins stuck in me, a Number One (short hair cut) on both back legs and dreadful things done to them!

And I'm SICK OF IT!

Yyyyyyyyyyyyesssss!

The BEACH ! At last!!!
I can dig holes without getting into trouble!

I can bark at absolutely NOTHING!
And best of all... I can get completely and utterly WET!

So many bums to sniff and so little time!

If she calls me I'm not coming! Throw that stick and I'll show you what a marvellous swimmer I am!

Mum couldn't take her eyes off me (understandably) and oops!

Didn't see that wave coming in .. two 'booties'.

Shoes, socks and jeans all wet and squelchy!

Very funny.

So that's it, eh?

It's all over, Rover.

Why can't we stay all day?

Why can't we live here?

I will make it quite plain that I am extremely unhappy, in a deep deep depression and only a really lovely treat will cheer me up.

I'm tired and depressed - LIFT ME into the car please.

Canine Crooner

2008-10-05T16:23:00.003+08:00

It's Sunday afternoon and Glenn and Woody

decide that it's sing-song time.

Here is Woody's rendition of "Moon River"...

Sexy orchids

2008-10-02T11:35:00.009+08:00

Click on the photo and zoom in..

if you dare!

There is something very sexy about orchids.

They are so stylish, so feminine, so graceful and elegant.

How can an insect not be attracted to such beauty?

But then, that's the whole idea I suppose!

Colours

2008-10-02T11:02:00.004+08:00

Went for a long bike ride on the Kep Track near where we live last Sunday.

I can't help myself but take photos of the wildflowers.

So much variety and colour - it takes my breath away.

The Leschanaultia is one of my favourites.

It is such a vibrant blue - sometimes rich and dark,

sometimes fairer but always the colour of the sky.

The Kangaroo Paw seems to pop up from nowhere and there's lots this year.

This Alpaca looked up at me as I passed. He'd been 'chewing' on the sheep's wool

for some strange reason!

Orchid walk

2008-09-20T20:16:00.005+08:00

We went for a glorious walk this morning. We usually respect the natural bush and keep to the firebreaks but today we wanted to look for orchids.

You have to step so carefully.

There could be a tiny gem just where you are about to put a foot.

The main part of this Fringed Mantis orchid is less than a centimetre across.

They stand up to 20cms high.

We have quite a few Cowslip Orchids (above).

Such dear little things.

Exquisite.

When you are walking and suddenly there in front of you is one of these little gems it is like finding treasure.

But I'm English so I had to grow some of these.

They are in a pot on our front step.

And I love them.

Visitors!

2008-09-19T14:25:00.019+08:00

When visiting Perth, Western Australia, Kings Park is a must to all visitors.

The park covers one thousand acres and includes natural bushland, grassed parkland, botanical gardens, a tree-top walk, and this time of year a stunning show of Western Australia's wildflowers.

This is as close as Gill got to the tree-top walk!

The photo is very slightly blurred owing to her nerves making the board walk

all of a quiver!

As we stood taking in the magnificence of the wildflowers we were

surrounded with the superb fragrance of Boronia.

There is a wonderful view of the city and the Swan River from Kings Park.
Above are the Everlasting Daisies which always give a stunning show.

Gill and Mike enjoyed walking into town most days.
It's a pleasant bush walk into town which takes about 20 minutes to half and hour depending how fuelled up one is on chocolate coated dates, Cherry Ripes, Freckles, or whatever was in the fridge that took one's fancy!

It has been known for a Cadbury's Flake to magically 'appear' in one's coat pocket!
Amazing!

It's funny how you can live somewhere for years and it's only when you have visitors that you actually get to see the interesting places you've always wanted to see!

One of the places I have always wanted to visit was Araluen.

It must be the best time of year for these gardens. Not only were the tulips in full bloom but we were surrounded by camelias, magnolias, rhododendrons, and blossom.

We took a drive out to a country town called Toodyay (said 'Toojay'). This is a town I have always wanted to have a good look around.

Below is a typical Australian country pub where we had a delicious lunch. Oh, and a very cross beer! That'd be a 4XXXX then?

We did lots of walking around our own property as it is full of wildflowers and orchids this time of year.

Below is Mundaring Weir - considered one of the World's greatest engineering projects and is located 39km from Perth. The Mundaring Weir is the start of a water pipeline that distributes water to agricultural towns in the wheatbelt area, Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie. The water is distributed a total of 700 kilometres in all.

C Y O'Connor initiated plans for the Mundaring Weir in 1895 but these were fiercely opposed in Parliament and the approval was not granted until 1898. O'Connor was a victim of vicious campaigns and his plans were subject to vigorous criticism. In March 1902 O'Connor took his own life, partly as a result of the pressures involved with his role in the Mundaring Weir construction. The Mundaring Weir was completed in 1903 and the water scheme changed central Western Australia forever.

We had lunch at the Mundaring Weir Hotel which was built in 1898. Do click on the link as they have a wonderful website.

Mike couldn't get over the fact they have a "Lamb on a Spit" every single Sunday!

The local parrots (above) joined us for lunch, at the table, and are obviously partial to butter!

Another very yummy lunch was enjoyed at Lake Charlotte - our local winery.

Here we had a "Hot Rocks" meal which means your meat or fish is served on a square of volcanic rock which has been heated in the oven. It stays hot enough to keep cooking your meat or fish for 45 minutes and the idea is to cut and cook each piece to your own liking.

Woody enjoyed the company and soon had them

wrapped around his little paw.

(He wears his ears back for special occasions.)
All packed and ready to go, having a rest before the long haul home.
Woody cuddled up and was maybe hoping he could make her stay. Bless.

Orchid time!

2008-09-02T21:12:00.003+08:00

Orchid hunting Jug Orchid.

We found quite a few varieties last year but this year it all seems so different.Orchids can appear in the most unlikely places; on rough bare ground where you would think nothing would grow, especially such a fragile, exquisite flower such as an orchid.

Spider orchids

Leaping orchid.

Silky Blue orchid.

Donkey Orchids

August

2008-08-24T16:43:00.004+08:00

As we walk we look for tiny spots of colour.

August in the Trees

2008-08-01T09:29:00.004+08:00

It's lovely to see my Australian Native Hibiscus in full flower for the first time since planting it.

Daffodils and bluebells. I wonder if anything will come of them? I've had a word with them all - not threatening, just encouragement. I realise this isn't English countryside but, hey, the past few weeks we've had some very "English" weather so what more do they want? It's been grim, lots of rain and quite cold up here in the hills. Surely they feel at home? Watch this space.

With so much rain all sorts of fungii has appeared from the damp earth.

What's happ'nin' up in the trees lately? TLOML is away mining - digging beautiful rocks out of the ground. He's digging Crazy Lace Agate at the moment. One of my favourites.

Meanwhile, we are back at the ranch, holding the fort (me and Woody, that is). But it's just tooooooo cold. For me, anyway. Six degrees Celcius outside at present and ten inside. I've put the gas fire on to defrost my fingers.

Poor Woody is recovering from surgery on his cruciate ligament. This is his second one, mind you, and my wallet is glad he only has TWO! Anymore and it would have been wheels!

The first six weeks after surgery are crucial for the healing process so only very short walks allowed for the "necessaries". Then, after xrays to ensure all is going well, we may be able to extend walks by five minutes per week. It's a long haul, especially for a dog whose sole purpose in life it is to chase anything that moves.

Woody and The Tramp

2008-07-15T20:01:00.002+08:00

These are the stars of Lady and the Tramp - one of the Disney classics.

This is my dog - Woody.

Quite obviously a reincarnation!

Fragrant Crispy Winter

2008-06-23T16:09:00.003+08:00

I am sitting in my work room with the window wide open.

The profusion of wattle bushes up on the hill is in full bloom and its

perfume is drifting down the slope and wafting in through my window,

filling this room with its sweetness.

The mornings are crisp and bright.

The sun shines on the moisture and clouds of steam

can be seen rising.

The vegie patch is thriving with the winter rain.

Although, it took some hours to discover the seedlings

amongst the weeds last week. I must keep on top of it!

Colour is coming back to the bush.

This sundew above is the size of a large coin.

Spike

2008-04-25T11:26:00.003+08:00

Woody and I were out on one of our daily walks yesterday around our rather large 'garden' when we came across "Spike".

This is an echidna.

Isn't she/he beautiful? I couldn't get her/him to look at the

camera (in my phone); obviously very shy.

The website I have created a link for has just informed me

that a baby echidna is called a "puggle".

How cute is that?

I also learned that the female lays a single egg in her pouch.

After ten days the "puggle" is born; blind and hairless and

consumes milk from a gland within the pouch.

After about four weeks "puggle" develops sharp spines..

then mum says, "Hey, out of here!"

The main reason he or she didn't look up at me, of course, was

because Woody had had a good old sniff and the echidna's

natural defence is to curl up using its spines to protect itself.

"Bob"

2008-03-20T20:43:00.002+09:00

Say Hello to Bob. A few weeks ago our neighbour, Shane, (over the hill) came over and asked Glenn if he'd seen a tame Galah around the area. Some time ago Shane had been driving along in his truck when he saw a bird being attacked by other birds on the side of the road. He pulled over and rescued "Bob" and Bob had been living with them ever since. Unfortunately, he had taken off after a fright. Someone obviously hand reared this friendly parrot.

Then Bob turned up at our place swooping about in Glenn's workshop one day but didn't stay too long.

Just yesterday he seemed to be swooping me. I continued pottering about in my vegie patch and watering plants and then he landed nearby. We had a bit of a chat and then, when he sat on the edge of the balcony, I offered my hand and he hopped on and was glad to sit on my shoulder for a while.

And this is the best bit - He says, "Hello, Bob!" and... yes, the inevitable, "Pretty Boy!"

(I took this photo with my mobile phone that I keep tucked down my cleavage when I'm working. Well, isn't that what your cleavage is for??)

Summer

2008-02-07T19:52:00.000+09:00

For the past few weeks I have been up early every morning watering everything in the garden and all my pot plants.

Temperatures have been in the high thirties for what seems like forever.

We have swealtered.

I've come home from work and either hosed the dog down or taken him to the river where he has swam and swam, round and round, cooling himself down.

As a result of this weather (plus some good fertilizers and watering) the vegie patch is producing magnificent specimens! So much so that I am giving them away.

I find this very satisfying.

Then came the rain! I was woken at 4.30am this morning to the sound of what

I thought was the wind. Then realised it was rain falling on the tin roof!

It has rained all day. Wonderful. Woody and I went for our usual morning walk and I took my umbrella. The bush had gone from being dry and dusty to bright, vibrant and fresh. The fragrance of the eucalyptus oil that the rain has helped release is so invigorating.

The weatherman said Perth received its average rainfall for February in one day!

To think, for weeks now I've had the hose dripping into the pond constantly to keep

the level consistent for the water lillies. Now it's overflowing.

Christmas in Canberra

2007-12-30T09:20:00.000+09:00

I finished work at 2pm Christmas Day and Glenn took me straight to the airport. I arrived in Sydney at 10.15pm and got a taxi to Doug's place. Their cottage is looking really good, especially as it's Christmas.
Next morning we had breakfast nextdoor with Jonathon and then left for Canberra. We left about 7am and must have got there about 10ish I think. Micky was there to greet us in his new hat. I can't believe I didn't take any photos of Mechant. He's always the centre of attention.

We went for a walk and a coffee at Lake Burley Griffin and as you can see Doug was still "post op". And kept reminding us constantly. Especially when there were chores to be done.

Glenda and Andrew's house is so homely. It's right next to a park so great for doggy walking. Renee is laying the table in this photo. You walk out these doors on to a partly enclosed deck where they have a large dining table. The roof is covered in creeper, there are numerous plants in pots and there is a water feature on the wall of huge jugs pouring water into a large bowl.

As you can see (below) Matt bought Renee some underwear for Christmas. And wanted to try it on for size!

Doug decided that the ribbon from the Christmas wrapping would be good for pigtails on his mother! The red box is something Matt made me for Christmas. Good thing I brought a large suitcase this time. Inside the box was a digital photo frame they also gave me and I'm looking forward to loading it.

Next day we decided to go to the lake again. The boys hired the bike and Renee and I walked. Unfortunately, we did not heed the weatherman's warning and we'd only been going about 20minutes when a storm broke right overhead. The four of us clambered aboard the bike and pedalled like mad back to the bike shed. But we might just as well have stood out in the rain because the four of us were soaked to the skin. Hilarious!

The following day, however, was glorious and we all went to the botanical gardens.

There was wildlife everywhere. Not just these delightful ducks but huge lizards and lots of birdlife.

OK... Here are some archived photos of Mechant. How could I possibly leave this "person" out of this blog?
And here he is, all dressed up for a bbq.

The Young Ones

2007-12-13T17:13:00.000+09:00

We can't believe these vegetable seedlings were only planted four weeks ago!

They were literally only a couple of inches high. If I remember to keep the gate shut so the wildlife can't get at them and insects don't get them what on earth am I going to do with it all?

Woody's biggest problem in life at the moment is

how can he get into the compost? He circles it like a vulture!

Since we revamped the pond there seems to be more birdlife about.
I saw a small flock of birds all busy around the pond, sitting on

the rocks and popping in and out of the water.

Another morning I saw a bird that looked like a kingfisher taking dives

into the pond, purely for the bathing or the fun of it. We have no

fish in there yet. I can't remember seeing so many birds around the pond last year so I think the birds feel safer with this slightly bigger

and more natural looking pond.

This magpie took his time having a drink from the nearby bird bath and I was able to get a snap.

Yesterday, the young kookaburra that we have been watching since he left the nest near the house came and sat on the balcony. We've seen him flying about with his parents never far away but he's quite brave now and sat there watching us through the glass door.
He has the cutest fluffy head. He sat there for ages while we talked to him

and took photos. Woody needed a lot of persuasion not to chase him and

sat nicely, staring back at him.

It wasn't long before the parent came to a nearby tree to keep an eye

on the young one. If you click on the image and enlarge it you can see

mum or dad behind "Kevin" to his right.

(Hey, how do we know he's a boy?)

Gardening

2007-12-02T16:52:00.000+09:00

We've been busy! Tree felling, gardening and wildlife watching. The last one you can't help but do on this property. It's wonderful. But first of all this tree had to go as it was leaning over the house. Glenn's felled a few trees in his time but bringing down a tree this size still gets the ol' adrenalin running!
Then we decided to rip up the lawn (that wasn't a lawn) with a view to transforming it into a garden of some sort. As my friend said, "Eeeee, what ye can do with a back'oe!" Beats the garden fork, especially when it's rock hard clay as this is!

The other evening we'd let Woody out to do what he had to do and when I went to see where he was, he was laying on the front deck looking up. Can you see a tail hanging over the cross beam there?
Isn't he absolutely gorgeous? A brush tail possum, I believe!

While I was away Glenn had been watching a pair of kookaburras tending a nest in a tree hollow near the house. As the back balcony is on the same level as the tree tops we have a good view of the birds. A few days after I got back the baby was out and learning to fly. We watched the parents feeding him (or her).

Once, while Glenn was watching, the parent landed on a branch next to the baby with something wriggling in its mouth. The baby was facing the other way. The parent waited for a couple of minutes, gave up, flew away and came back facing the same way as the baby and fed it the food.
They often come down to the pond and bird bath. The other strange thing they do, or one of them anyway, is crash into the windows and glass doors. I've pulled blinds but it makes no difference. And often, between 5 and 6am we hear the crash at the glass sliding door to the balcony, and this is followed by banging. Glenn got up once to see the kookaburrra actually sitting on the deck by the door banging on the glass??
This (above) is what the pond used to look like. It sprung a leak, unfortunately, or perhaps it was fortunately because we decided to make a new one!!! (Again the backhoe comes in handy!)

The surrounding rocks are Mookaite and a few Dragonstone over the back.
And today we transplanted some native plants over the back.

Brooklands

2007-11-15T11:31:00.000+09:00

One place I visited whilst in England was Brooklands Museum. "The cradle of British Motorsport and Aviation". This was where Hugh Locke King built the world's first motor racing track with his own money and on his own land. It was opened in June 1907. Read about its fascinating history here.

All sorts of records were set at Brooklands including the Land Speed Record and the first ever Grand Prix was held here in August 1926. Motorcycle racing was also held here from 1908.

Read about Brooklands' aviation history here. One of Britain's first aerodromes was built in the middle of the racing track at Brooklands. In 1910 The British and Colonial Aircraft Company, later renamed The Bristol Aeroplane Company, took premises at Brooklands and offered flying lessons.

By August 1914, with the declaration of war on Germany, Brooklands and all its services including the race track were taken over by the war office and a Military Flying School was formed which employed instructors and aeroplanes from many of the existing schools. Over the next 20 years up to the outbreak of World War II, the Vickers factory at Brooklands produced a broad range of military and civil aircraft types. Brooklands Aerodrome was a regular venue for aviation events with air races, flying displays, dawn patrols and open days staged.

On August Bank Holiday Monday in 1939 the last ever motor race meeting had taken place on the famous track and later in the month the final Brooklands Flying Club event was held before all civil flying ceased. Everything was subordinated to the priorities of wartime aircraft production.

Of the 11,461 Wellingtons built by Vickers by 1945, 2,515 were built at Brooklands. The Wellington was Britain's most numerous and successful twin-engined bomber of World War II.

In the 1950s Brooklands produced the Vanguard, powered by four Rolls-Royce Tyne turbo-props, and in the 60s they entered the jet age with the Vickers VC10. This four-engined long-range passenger transport was the largest airliner ever produced in quantity in the UK and required the construction at Brooklands and Wisley of vast new aircraft assembly hangars. The VC10 was powered by Rolls-Royce Conway engines mounted at the rear beneath a distinctive T-shaped tail.

The VC10 pictured above is open for viewing at Brooklands. This aircraft was donated by the Sultan of Oman who had the interior designed for comfort! (As you would.)

There were two double bedrooms, a huge bathroom and a luxurious lounge. Slightly better than business class!! The buckle on the bed's safety belt is gold, by the way, as were the taps in the bathroom.

Then came Concorde. Although a number of factories in Britain and France were involved in its manufacture, together with many subcontractors, more of Concorde was actually designed and manufactured at Brooklands than at any other site.

The first meeting between BAC and Sud-Aviation in Britain was held in Sir George Edwards' office at Brooklands in July 1961. Concorde entered commercial service with British Airways and Air France on January the 21st 1976.
Sadly Concorde flies no more but places like Brooklands are acquiring their own Concorde for exhibiting.

Although a production aircraft, G-BBDG, or 'Delta Golf' as the aircraft is more affectionately known, never saw airline service but, along with Concorde F-WTSB (c/n 201), she did the bulk of the flying that allowed the final certification of Concorde for airline service. Having accumulated 1282 flying hours (of which 514 were supersonic), DG last flew on Christmas Eve 1981.

First we took our seats in the airport bus where the tour guide explained the tour and some of the history. Then we walked up into the aft cabin which tells the Concorde story from the 1950s to present day. Next you walk through to the passenger cabin which is very narrow with only two seats each side of the aisle. The windows are tiny to be able to withstand the heat and pressure when flying at high altitude and high speed, as Concorde does. Each window has its own cooling system to prevent passengers burning themselves. The paint for the exterior had to be developed to withstand not just excessive heat but the fact the metal expands. The plane grows eight inches longer when travelling at its highest speed.

We sat and watched a video describing Concorde's journey.

Our guide had himself flown on Concorde and described the excitement of "taking off twice". First you experience the G force of initial take-off then again at 30,000feet when it climbs to 60,000feet and accelerates to twice the speed of sound.

Going home

2007-11-07T21:26:00.001+09:00

I couldn't have timed my trip to England better. It was still relatively warm a few days before I arrived and I was disappointed to see the trees still green and not those beautiful autumnal colours I was expecting. But during the first week I was here there was a light frost and we were scraping ice off the car windscreen. That was all the trees needed to understand that winter approached.

This first photo I took the first week I was here.

I took this next photo two weeks later.

As I walked along I kicked up the dry fallen leaves as we

did as kids (checking around me first to see if anyone was looking, of course!)

And now it's time to go home and I'm going to take Autumn with me!

Autumn in England

2007-10-29T21:32:00.000+09:00

The West Country

2007-10-25T20:41:00.000+08:00

And it's off we go to the West Country (Devon and Cornwall,etc).

The motorways of England frequently carve their way through farmland. Hence the bovine 'flyover' below, enabling the farmer to get his stock from one paddock to another!

The photographer, by the way, wasn't being artistic when taking this shot (black and white) she just didn't realise she'd got it on the wrong setting!

We couldn't resist stopping at Stonehenge on the way. The three of us could remember visiting this amazing place as children. We were able to walk around the stones then and actually touch them. Now, visitors are kept well away and I am glad. It's a national treasure.

This (above) is the Eden Project. Something I've heard lots about and looked forward to visiting. As I walked round, it was hard to believe it hasn't been there for decades. The 'biomes' are full of huge plants and trees. The whole place is so obviously loved and cared for.

Eden is all about man's relationship with and dependence upon plants. Much of our food, our clothes, our shelter and our medicines come from the plant world. Without plants there would be no oxygen for us to breathe, no life on earth.
The Eden Project is a showcase for all the questions and many of the answers. But Eden is not a worthy, over-serious, guilt-ridden place; nor does it preach. It is about education and communication of the major environmental issues of the day, always presented in an engaging, involving, even humorous way.
(click on images to enlarge)

This (below) is a setting in the tropical biome. It has everything - the old motorbike, vegetables growing in the yard, and the building is made of anything and everything from the forest.

As we walked through the tropical biome we climbed higher and higher. Consequently the atomosphere grew hotter and hotter and more humid. Jackets came off, jumpers came off and I started to expect huge, blood-hungry mosquitos to appear.

It's an amazing place and I'd recommend it to anyone, especially people with children.

The it was on to the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

As with the Eden Project, there is a team of dedicated people who love this place.

Our discovery of a tiny room, buried under fallen masonry in the corner of one of the walled gardens, was to unlock the secret of their demise. A motto etched into the limestone walls in barely legible pencil still reads "Don’t come here to sleep or slumber" with the names of those who worked there signed under the date - August 1914. We were fired by a magnificent obsession to bring these once glorious gardens back to life in every sense and to tell, for the first time, not tales of lords and ladies but of those "ordinary" people who had made these gardens great, before departing for the Great War.

Then it was on to Watergate Bay in Cornwall.

And, yes! I did take this photo below. More by luck than skill. But it's one that will go in my album. My happiest holiday memories are of seaside places in Devon and Cornwall. Sandy beaches, rock pools, clifftop walks, castles, oh... when I'm old and can't remember my name I will remember these places.

That's our hotel in the cliffside. It was magical.

And three sisters in one room? It was comical, hysterical even.

And below is a picture of a rock. How could I not take a picture of a rock?

People don't believe you when you try to describe the narrow roads in these parts.

So LOOK! How do cars pass eachother? Well, there are little bulges every now and then where one car can cram itself against the hedge while the other passes.

Aren't we just gorgeous?

Autumn in the UK

2007-10-21T19:45:00.000+08:00

It's time to visit Blighty again and it's autumn. I go to be with my family and friends; to refill my 'tank'. I'm often asked what do I miss about England: obviously, primarily, my family; second, British people (they have the most wonderful sense of humour); third, the 'oldness' of England and authenticity of it all. Not the weather, however. And whatever the weather produces while I'm here - it isn't going to spoil anything we do! 'Cos I say so!

Doggie walks.

(click on images to enlarge)

Doggy wasn't allowed to take this rather large branch home so she took a very large pebble from the beach instead. This is a regular thing so a rockery of round rocks is taking shape in their garden.

I was at home alone one morning and thought I might attempt to get a photo of doggy and me sitting in this chair. She had other ideas.
Got one eventually with the aid of a treat.

Some men buy Harleys. My brother-in-law buys one of these. He's got taste.

(And the ok from 'er indoors.)

And here is dear old Joshie.

My eldest sister has retired from nursing and although she still does a couple of shifts a week she now enjoys embroidery. This is some 'stumpwork' she is working on and as you can see, the bee is about to receive his wings.

More flowers, plus!

2007-10-10T16:49:00.001+08:00

Spring in Wundowie

2007-10-09T19:20:00.001+08:00

This is our second Spring here, living on 17 acres of native bushland and again we are astounded at the colour and variety of the Spring flowers. And orchids!

(click on image to enlarge)

The seem to appear from nowhere. One day there is nothing and the next, blooms that seem so fragile and delicate but survive downpours of rain.
Above is the cowslip orchid. The red dots on the upper petal are sometimes referred to as "landing lights". They attract the insects who unknowingly pollenate the orchid.

Here comes the rain!

2007-07-01T11:59:00.001+08:00

What a wonderful sight! You can click on these maps to enlarge them.

It's Sunday 1st July 2007 and we are watching the rain coming.

It has been raining in various areas for the past week and they are saying the winter weather patterns are finally here. These radar images (taken a few minutes apart) are from the bureau of meteorology showing rainfall and intensity and the movement of the weather front. If you go to this website page at the bureau, click on 'Perth' under 'Weather Observations'. It's fascinating to watch the weather pass over.

Let's hope the farmers benefit, although it is much too late for many.

We live near the town of Northam marked on this map.

We've just rushed out to plant the last of 250 tree and shrub seedlings we bought from a tree farm last week. It is very satisfying to watch the rain coming down and 'watering them in'.

Wet Morning

2007-06-25T09:38:00.000+08:00

Kookaburras say Good Morning

(click on image to enlarge)

Woody and I have been for our morning walk. It has been raining during the night. I woke a couple of times and could hear the heavy drips from the nearby trees falling on our tin roof. (Yes, they're too close and soon to be lopped!)

The sun had been up a couple of hours and the air was warming but still fresh. There was a slight aroma of eucalyptus in the air.

As I walked along our track I looked across at the bush. The sun's warmth on the wet bushes caused a cloud of steam to rise up from them.

I've heard kookaburras frequently this past week around our block and when I got back from our walk and looked from the balcony saw this couple. It always amazes me that despite them being such a large and chunky bird that they can fly so silently.

Conducive to successful hunting, no doubt.

But it's their 'laugh' that lets you know they are around. You can select it here (No.13).

Pink Boots

2007-05-22T21:02:00.000+08:00

After trawling all the pet shops in our nearest large shopping centre and not finding what we were looking for we visited our vet in hopes they would have some boots for Woody. We are off to the bush tomorrow, to start mining rock, and our first location has particularly sharp rock so we need to protect his feet.

They didn't have blue ones like last time so we had to buy him PINK!

I'm sorry but I couldn't resist this photo opportunity....

Dog Leg

2007-05-17T12:36:00.000+08:00

Woody just loves to dress up.

Beach wear....

Baseball cap for when he's feeling "streetwise"...
Sunglasses for poker nights...

And, of course, nightwear...

Then there's the map reading eyewear...

And of course, his favourite, Christmas wear!

And it's a good thing he doesn't mind dress-ups because he's pulled a ligament and has to wear this converted knee brace. Human knees are much larger than dogs' knees so I had quite a time trying to make it fit. This is the best I could do. It had a hinged metal pin down each side so I removed one and trimmed the elasticated 'sock' to fit a dog's leg, added some stretchy bands and velcro and bob's yer uncle, as they say. I'm hoping it gives him some support.
I put it on him in the morning and he wears it all day without any qualms.

Bike Ride

2007-05-09T11:39:00.000+08:00

I went for a bike ride today. It was far too nice a day to stay indoors so I donned my bike hat, filled my water bottle, stuck the little headphones of my radio into my ears and took off!

I am lucky enough to live very close to the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail which incorporates:

- the old Goldfields Road along which fortune seekers trudged
- the reserve for the Eastern Railway along which trains steamed, and
- the maintenance road that runs alongside the water supply pipeline.

You can just see the pipeline through the trees in this photo below (click on photo to enlarge). It keeps you company along the trail.

The trail is 650 km long from Mundaring Weir in the forested Perth Hills, through the golden expanses of the Wheatbelt to a reservoir overlooking the gold boomtown of Kalgoorlie.

I wouldn't be doing the whole 650kms this afternoon, of course, (as if?); just a mere 7.5km to Bakers Hill and back. The nice thing about riding a railway trail is that there are no steep inclines, only gentle ones that locomotives could handle. So on the way to Bakers Hill I was climbing a gentle gradient all the way and above is one of the cuttings I rode through. Very picturesque.

There are interesting little information plaques along the trail and this one is about the train labouring its way up the gradient.
The wattles (below) are just coming into bloom and their fragrance is exquisite. I'm glad I don't suffer with hay fever or asthma. And the Australian bush would not be complete without its prolific eucalypts. But they can be a hazard to cyclists when the parrots have had their fun! They just love to nip off the gumnuts and riding over a carpet of these is like trying to ride across marbles.

As I approached Bakers Hill I could see what a difference the recent rain has made on the countryside. Green at last!

New Blooms

2007-04-25T10:48:00.000+08:00

More beautiful blooms appear!

I noticed these buds a few days before we were due to leave for

the north and took a photo.

Then took another the day before we left.

On our return they were blooming.

I wonder what they are!

Morning after rain

2007-04-16T13:33:00.000+08:00

Click on these photos to enlarge and hopefully I have captured the beauty of this morning.

It started raining about four o'clock, yesterday afternoon. We've waited so long for some decent rain so it was exciting to watch the clouds forming during the morning and the weather front creep in slowly until the rain finally started falling. And yet, it was so still - no wind - the rain just coming straight down.

The birds went berserk! The black cockatoos went crazy up in the tree tops, squawking and flapping about like young children at the local pool on a hot day. Little tiny Silvereyes hopped madly around in the bushes catching insects and the twenty-eights were even noisier than they usually are, informing the world of the change in the weather, no doubt!

The rain washes the dust off the foliage and it darkens the tree bark bringing a new brightness and clarity to the bush scene.

There are bright diamond-like raindrops sitting on the leaves of bushes and trees everywhere, sparkling in the morning sunshine.

Where did these blooms appear from?? I don't think they were there yesterday!

Living with Rocks

2007-04-11T13:08:00.000+08:00

We dig rocks,

we polish rocks,

we sell rocks....

we live rocks.

So, naturally, our house is full of rocks.

A variety of colours;

All sorts of shapes;

Geometric,

Crystal lined;

Carvings;

Translucent, volcanic;

Landscapes,

contoured,

tumbled,

food for the imagination;

Favourites,

All from the earth beneath our feet!

December 11th

2007-04-03T20:26:00.000+08:00

My mission, if I chose to accept it, submitted to me today by Susan of Herhimnbryn fame, was to "find 3 people who share your birthday, 2 events ditto, 1 death ditto and 1 holiday ditto".

I chose to accept this mission and assuming the details on Wikipedia is correct, this is what I found:

Events

1936 - Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, etc, became effective.

My mother was 15 years old and this obviously had a marked affect on her because she remembered the 'abdication crisis' well and talked about it to us. (I was not a twinkle in anyone's eye at that stage!)

1972 - Apollo 17 became the sixth mission to land on the moon.

I was in my late teens and already had one marriage behind me. (Well, you just don't know how short life is going to be and I had another two to go!!)

Births

I am utterly honoured to share my birthday with Hamish Blake, Australian comedian. He is brilliant. One of those natural comedians who can keep you laughing without even trying.

Also, David Gates, lead singer of group, Bread. One of my favourite bands many moons ago.

Then, it would appear, according to the Wikipedia list, that not one but four Ice Hockey players share my birthday!! Good lord!! Have I missed something??

A Death

Dear Willie Rushton died on this day in 1996. What a character he must have been. He was co-founder of Private Eye and amongst other things appeared on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. If you haven't listened to this, then go to the BBC site and have a listen. Hilarious.

And last but not least... a holiday...

It's in Wales!! Remembrance Day of Llywelyn II - Well, who would ever have thought, eh?? I can't pronounce half the words in that little window of information so I'll leave it to anyone who can!!

There y'go Susan. I've done my homework!!

Brrrrrrrrr

2007-03-28T10:44:00.000+08:00

The last two mornings we have woken up to 6 degrees Celcius!

This is cold to me, so the fire is alight.

Meanwhile, down at the workshop, Woody and Glenn are considering starting up a stump removal business. Woody has been working on this stump for some days now, digging away to get to the root of the problem.

Once Woody has done the hard work, Glenn comes in with the tractor to finish the job off.

There he goes again, such a perfectionist!

Scouting Days

2007-03-24T12:28:00.000+09:00

Rummaging through my photos and memorabilia I came across an account of mine of a three-day scout camp. I don't know how I made time to write it because life was so busy back then. I'm just really glad I did. I just wish I'd taken more photos. We always had so much fun. What a very boring life my sons and I would have led if not for cubbing and scouting.

My sons will just love me for putting these photos on the net!

Cubs!

Scouts!

Three-night camp – April 1994

As usual the troop was off to a late start. Kiara, (yours truly) who arrived 25 minutes late (much to her own sons’ frustration) managed to convince a few that the meeting time was 6.30pm rather than 6pm.

Our first destination was the pistol club, the president of which is Bert Johnson, one of our dads. One terrific bloke. As the troop converged on his pistol club he gathered all together and read the riot act to show his authority and establish some discipline from the outset. The scouts appeared to take no notice anyway and we soldiered on.

Tents went up quickly and efficiently as they do these days and so they should by now – they’ve had enough practice! Then to the first activity – air pistols on an indoor range. Having all signed in they listened to Bert explain very clearly the safety precautions and rules of the club. Then we chose our weapons! All of us were to wear safety glasses in that area as the pellets have been known to bounce back. Some of these glasses were of the black-rimmed type (like “Brains” from Thunderbirds used to wear) and made some of the scouts look quite studious and even, can I say it… intelligent! But something of an optical illusion I feel.

The target for these pistols was 10 metres away and was set up on a mechanised pulley system so that at a flick of a switch the shooter could bring the target whizzing to him for a closer look. This little toy seemed, at times, to be more fun to the scouts than the actual shooting. Targets were to-ing and fro-ing all over the show. Doug was seen bending down so his face was in line with the target and with the flick of the switch was promptly smacked in the face with it! He certainly got a closer look!

Later on, Bert had a surprise in store for the boys. He is the proud owner of a black powder gun and had prepared it for firing on the outside range to show the boys what the early weapons were really like. It was more of an explosion than a ‘bang’ accompanied by sparks and clouds of smoke. The boys were definitely impressed.

Perhaps it was something to do with it being school holidays but it took them ages to settle down that night. After what seemed like an eternity of giggling, laughing, screaming and arguing, they were threatened with “KP” (kitchen patrol) and eventually all went quiet. To be honest, I love hearing them having such a good time but as we explained, if they didn’t get enough sleep they would be too tired to have more fun the next day.

Next morning we were to shoot on the outside range with handguns. Tents came down, all was cleaned up and Bert explained what was coming up next. He had complete control but almost lost his voice in the process. We all had a shoot. They started with five shots in 150 seconds going down to five in ten seconds. You could see by the way they were standing that they all watch far too many movies!! We had Dirty Harry times twelve!! Bert also let them have a shot of the black powder gun which they enjoyed, needless-to-say. They love anything that seems even slightly dangerous and makes a loud noise.

After lunch we headed back to the scout hall. Much to the envy of many developers around the Busselton area, the scout hall sits on crown land right on the beachfront! How lucky are we? Leaders’ tents went up, Dingoes patrol tent went up, Kingfishers patrol tarp was pegged down on the ground. They had insisted they sleep in the open air and to hell with the tent. We said it was entirely up to them and I was thinking “what an excellent idea!”

Then they were given their challenges: Dingoes Patrol had to build a tower for a flying fox; Kingfishers Patrol had to make a raft, pitch a tent on it and sleep in it overnight. And I have to say I was nervous about that one as they were they type of boys who wouldn’t be beaten and rather drown than fail.

They were all totally positive from the outset and on my return from shopping for extra items I was astonished to see a tent… apparently floating on the water! They’d done it! And in record time! It was three canoes lashed together, boards lashed on top and a tent pitched on top of that. I grabbed my camera to get it on record. Unfortunately, I cannot find this photo.

The wind had come up by then and the sea was quite choppy and as a result the canoes eventually filled and we had a bit of a “Titanic” scene. We all agreed that if the water had remained calm they could have slept in it as planned. Hauling it in was quite a challenge in itself but we got there with much effort and laughter. I was just glad it hadn’t happened at 2am. Phew!

In helping to bring it all in I walked along the beach gathering ropes and found the one that was apparently their anchor. They had anchored their raft to the scout hall – 200metres up the beach! They could have used bricks or pegs but quite obviously the scout hall was total stability to them. Admirable!!

After months of encouragement to be adventurous with meals, Dingoes cooked themselves a spaghetti Bolognese to perfection and agreed that it was a sight better than the “snaggers in a bun” that they first suggested (and always had). Kingfishers enjoyed a “Hay Box Stew” as did the leaders which had been prepared during the morning.

After cleaning up the dinner things we all sat round and had a quiet talk and a bit of a laugh reflecting on the day and its events. I have to say that I have very fond memories of these times. Watching young people enjoying each other’s company, loving the outdoors, joking and laughing and doing all the things kids should do (even if some of them are a bit naughty!) Precious memories.

Then it was off to bed. Not surprisingly and much to leaders’ relief, sleep came quicker to all than the previous night. I must admit to being a bit concerned about Kingfishers patrol who were out in the open. Their tarp flapped all night in the wind and it even rained a little but only two of the six scouts crawled into the scout hall.

The following day we took a trip out to the bush, to a place called Barrabup Pool, the name of which none of us could remember so we kept calling it Buggerup Pool. And that was much more fun, anyway. It is a beautiful spot in the Australian bush with only dirt tracks and where there is a water hole that is like a mirror, until scouts invade! They were busting to get into the water but we suggested they got their fires going first. That doesn’t take long these days either (but then aren’t they all potential little pyromaniacs at that age?) That done, it was all strip off (well, almost) and in to the water.

There was a wooden deck built at the side of the water that was fun to jump from although a little too high for Kiara who, even after much self-confidence building, could only dive from the second step. This left Liam in a spot as he had promised to go in if she went in, thinking that she surely would not have the courage to enter such brrrrrrr cold water! He kept his word, as a good scout does. Splash!!

That evening’s meals were “stack burgers” – another scout favourite. Layers of seasoned minced beef and sliced vegetables are carefully arranged in a stack, which is then wrapped in foil. The package is then placed in the hot coals until nicely cooked. There were only a few failures but these are not classed as ‘failures’ as scouts will eat anything they’ve put effort into themselves. And, hey, slop some tomato sauce on top and what’s the difference?

Greg and Murray had an interesting little mishap with their packages apparently. Whilst trying to turn them in the coals with the shovel one got inadvertently chopped in half causing the contents to fall out. The other was sitting on the shovel when Murray stepped on the handle catapulting it out of the fire.

Leaders’ little packages were slightly overcooked due to an over-zealous fire builder, but they were edible. We even had damper to go with it all that which Moorobo had cooked in the coals also. The scouts who tried the damper said they wouldn’t have added the cheese and herbs; it made it far too healthy and also, didn’t go with the jam and syrup that they put on top (?)

But the best part of the meal was yet to come. Each of us take a banana and split it lengthways but not right through. We prise it open carefully so as not to break it and fill it with marshmallows and chocolate buttons. The banana is then placed very carefully on the hot coals and left for a few minutes until the banana has begun to soften and the marshmallow and chocolate has just started to melt. No accidents here – result is far too precious to lose! Campfires just aren’t the same without this delicious dessert.

We all wished we could have stayed there that night but we had to get back for Anzac Day and we were to march in the parade.

No-one forgot their uniform and all looked very smart. Even our dog wore a scout scarf.

It was Shay’s first march and as we followed the band, war veterans, fire brigade, St John’s Ambulance, etc he turned to me and asked, “How many laps do we have to do, Kiara?” I couldn’t reply for giggling.

The parade marches up the main street of Busselton to the war memorial for the very dignified and solemn ceremony in memory of all those who served in past wars. From there all are welcome at the Returned Servicemen’s League hall for ice-cream and soft drinks. When we realised that some of our scouts were rejoining the queue, round and round, we put a stop to it and gave them strict orders to get back to the scout hall. We had to laugh though.

Other photos:

The garden

2007-03-10T17:40:00.000+09:00

Where did this come from? One day there's nothing... then there's this bloom. I have no idea what it's called but see them often in Western Australian gardens and bleak unwatered places too.
There's no greenery although there was some a few months back, right there where this beautiful flower has popped up from.
There used to be two very tall gum trees here but they were far too close to the house. So they had to come down. The garden bed containing their stumps became a rockery - not just any old rockery - a Mookaite Rockery!! Isn't it colourful? But as you can see, the gum trees are fighting back. The new shoots from the stumps are poking out from under the rocks.
This is what you DON'T plant on an Australian native bush block. It's a Monstera deliciosa and would probably be doing a lot better if the reticulated watering system had been going all summer. But it's far too risky to have a tap turned on when you are going to be away for weeks. So, unfortunately, it is quite thirsty and wishing it was in some cosy city suburb where it was watered regularly and under some shade cloth too.

The Family

2007-03-03T14:49:00.000+09:00

Visiting the family in Melbourne means seeing the grand-dogs too. We don't have 'normal' dogs in our family. How boring would that be??? No, we have dogs with character... and baggage. Dogs that need TLC. Dogs that are 'different'.

This is Mickey - cross Jack Russell. A bright little spark and reknowned escapee.

We've confiscated all nail files and he doesn't get away anymore.

This is Mechant (French for naughty)

Looks like a Dachsund? Yes, but he's half of one of these.

This is a Chinese Crested (I can hear you saying, mm..mmmm). Mechant obviously took on the body of the Dachsund and the coat genes of this little critter as he has very little hair on his body. He has some fine gold hair on his head and feet and some wirey pubic-like hairs down his spine. (more mm...mmmmms!) Describing his character would become a small paperback and not being his owner, only his grandmother, I'm not qualified.

Glenn thinks he resembles a leather lounge suite. I think he looks like a sausage. We all love him.

Like my dog, he loves to dress up. Well, he does need coats afterall, as he wasn't born with one.

Well, wouldn't you wear pearls with pink?????????

Melbourne

2007-03-01T19:44:00.000+09:00

I'm rather ashamed to say that after 28 years of living in Australia I have never been to Melbourne. I've even driven across from Sydney to Perth... and never been to Melbourne!

Well, now I have and now I know what everyone is on about. Yes, it's everything they say it is. Full of style, culture, restaurants, cafes, etc etc etc. What a great city!

The suburb where my son and daughter-in-law live is so leafy and green. The plane trees overhang the roads making light green archways. The houses are all so interesting and full of character - no two the same. The inhabitants appear to be proud of where they live. Wish I'd taken more photos!!

Leaves were falling around us after the hot summer.

The Yarra

Flinders Street Station

My daughter-in-law and I had a wonderful day visiting, first of all; the State Library where there was an exhibition of old and famous books;

These were 'books that changed the world'.

(Click on image to enlarge)

and miniature books.

and we visited the Immigration Museum which is housed in the Old Customs House where you could "discover the dreams and achievements of those who have settled in Victoria from the 1800s to the present day". Today, one in four Victorians were born overseas.

And then we enjoyed the surrounding area where there were large things and....

very small things...

Home again

2007-02-18T11:44:00.000+09:00

After almost two months overseas it was lovely to get back home. There were multiple fires raging in Victoria when we left and we wondered if that would happen here as it is just as dry. But luckily our house in the trees was still here and intact when we returned.

On our first early morning walk we were welcomed back by a Kookaburra and some magpies.

It was extremely hot here for much of the time we were away and being a timber house it must have become an oven. Look at the effect on these candles!

It will always amaze me how plant life survives in these hot, dry conditions. This palm has popped up in the middle of Glenn's working area outside the shed in just the time we've been away. It's about two to three feet high!

All over the block are bushes with this delicate bloom. Stunning!

When Glenn became interested in the wood pile, so did Woody.

It is full of termites!
I'm glad I blogged "Pond Life" because the pond life is now pond death. Everything dead. Gold fish, mosquito fish and yabbies. Such a shame. Our carers came as often as they could to top it up but it would seem there must be a leak.

Glenn went to put on his boots this morning that were on the front deck. He pushed his foot in one of them and felt something bulky and wet inside. Poor frog is hanging around waiting for the pond to refill. We'd better get right on to it!!

Obituary

2007-02-05T00:24:00.000+09:00

The gold fish.
Orange.
Ordinary.
Probably friends.
Inherited from previous owners of house.
We are on the other side of the planet.
Perth enduring temperatures of 35-42degC.
Gold fish pond evaporated somewhat.
Situation beyond carers' control.
Gold fish dead.
RIP.

Missing Home

2007-01-20T10:47:00.000+09:00

We have been away for 23 days now. We're on the other side of the world. And I miss home.
I consider myself an adaptable person. I've lived in various places, environments, climates, situations, and I don't think I've ever really 'put down roots' anywhere, but this evening I am missing this house.
This house is beautiful. Everything in it and around it is wonderful. But most of all my life in this house with my partner is more than I could wish for.
The lawn is not green anymore as in the photo. It has been extremely hot and dry and we dare not leave the watering system going while we are away.
The acreage is thick with tinder dry native bush. One cigarette end thrown out a car window along the road at the bottom of the hill and our house could be no more.
I hope it is still there when we get home.
Twenty-seven days to go.

The Dog Beach

2006-12-25T14:28:00.000+09:00

We took Woody to the dog beach for a treat before he goes to the dog kennels (aka Stalag 13). He absolutely adores water so the dog beach is his heaven.

He is civil with all the other users of the dog beach and sniffs all the important things dogs have to sniff when meeting.

Trying to keep him at heel from the car and down the pathway that leads to the beach is impossible. I do my best for a while but eventually give in and say, "Off you go!" and he's off like a rocket, straight into the water.

He fetches the ball incessantly.

Usually he is a good judge of waves, waiting until he can get out there to fetch the floating tennis ball and back without getting 'dumped on' by a wave. This time he wasn't quite quick enough and you can just see him amongst the surf! But once out of the water, a quick flick of the ears and he's keen to fetch the ball again.

I have never see a dog fight on the dog beach. It's wonderful to see happy dogs, running free, playing, sniffing here, sniffing there, saying 'hello' to each other and generally having a good time. As do the owners. You can smile at anyone here and they will smile back.

Let's play!

Time to go home. Depression sets in.

It always takes some time to get back to the car. He walks his slowest pace and it takes lots of encouragement to get him to jump into the car.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-23T15:21:00.000+09:00

Yes, the fairy lights ARE ON!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!!

(animal lovers be reassured - he LOVES dress-ups!)

Pond Life

2006-12-13T15:20:00.000+09:00

We inherited a pond when we came to this property, complete with pond life (and I use that term with its original meaning).

It's only a small pond and doesn't even have a pump to refresh the water, nevertheless, it's full of life.

There's Tom and Jerry, the goldfish; Yorrick, the yabbie; and numerous "mosquito fish" that eat mosquito larvae (very handy when you live in a place like this!!) No, haven't named them all for obvious reasons!

There is also a lily which has just produced a flower. It is exquisite.

In the hollow of a nearby Wandoo is a bee hive. The temperature these past few days has reached thirty degrees Celcius plus. To keep the hive cool, bees create an amazing air cooling system and for this they need water. They come to the pond in droves, sucking up water and flying back to the hive. Busy, busy, busy, all day, until the sun goes down.

If you look closely you can see a line of bees at the water's edge.

Sometimes, when passing I see a bee who has accidentally fallen in! Aaaahhhgggg! bzzzzglug.. bzzzzzzzzzzglug

I throw him a line and pull him to the nearest lily pad. He takes a breath, waves a feeler and off he goes back to the hive!

Wildflowers

2006-11-22T10:13:00.000+08:00

Living on a block of native bush means you have your own private natural wildflower garden. The Spring is a colourful time and the variety is amazing.

We've moved to paradise!

2006-05-29T11:00:00.000+08:00

We have moved house - from a dark, opressive, smelly, damp house to a huge, light, airy house on acres of land. How lucky am I? I've moved that many times in my life that moving doesn't phase me. I've unloaded clutter on the way each time so don't have too much sorting out to do when I move. I hadn't unpacked quite a few of my boxes at the last place as there wasn't anywhere to put things and I had no inclination anyway.
Last week, my son and I unpacked those boxes and discovered wonderfully sentimental things which we arranged around this beautiful place. Some would call it clutter, or knick knacks. I don't. I need to see these things for the memories and feelings they manifest within me. Things that my grandparents handed down to me, things my sons made for me, things I acquired from places that I never wanted to forget. I look around me and see warmth, love and laughter.
The huge balcony overlooks the block which is natural Australian bush - shrubs and trees. It rained heavily(at last!) this morning and to stand out there and watch the bush soak up the rain and become vibrant with brighter greens was delightful. I hope it rains tonight and we will lay there listening to it on our tin roof. I am so very lucky.