The Purple Giraffe

IF YOU'RE AT THIS SITE...

2008-06-07T16:19:00.002+10:00

IT'S PROBABLY A MISTAKE.

THIS BLOG IS OLD.

FOR UP TO DATE STUFF, GO TO www.purplegiraffes.wordpress.com

Only two weeks

2008-01-22T21:35:00.000+10:00

Until I go to New Zealand.

Just bragging.

I'm back

2007-04-01T11:05:00.000+10:00

Have just spent three fabulous weeks in Vanuatu. Where the water really does look like this all the time. And the people smile at you and say hello all the time (not like Australia where, if you make eye contact with someone, you're usually treated to a glare). And the weather is fabulous, even during cyclone season (ok, it rained a few days). There are more pictures over on Flickr and more tales over at my other blog.

Where I've been

2007-02-25T17:16:00.001+10:00

Okay, so there is a lot of white there that needs to be filled up (though some of the dots in the Caribbean and South Pacific are too small to see). I am working on putting more red on the map....

create your own visited country map

Wallaman Falls, Queensland

2007-02-11T15:12:00.000+10:00

Wallaman Falls, Queensland, originally uploaded by Purple Giraffe.

ATTENTION ALL AUSTRALIANS WHO EAT FOOD!

2007-01-16T22:43:00.000+10:00

Whether you usually shop at Woolworths or boycott them for whatever reason, listen up. The CEO of Woolies has pledged that all profits made on 23rd January will be donated to the Country Women’s Association to help farming families struggling through the drought. Let me say that again: ALL their profits from that day will be donated to the CWA. So if you were planning on shopping at Coles the day before, why not wait a day, shop at Woolies and help those who are struggling. It shouldn’t cost you any more than it normally would to do your weekly shop.

Tell everyone you know - call them, email them, write them a letter (and when you do the grocery shopping on the 23rd, maybe take a book for when you’re standing in a queue that resembles a pre-cyclone panic).

2006-12-27T00:05:00.000+10:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY.

I'M STILL BLOGGING OVER HERE A FAIR BIT...

Photograph taken by me at Lake Barrine (Atherton Tablelands) on 24 December 2006.

2006-11-04T13:14:00.000+10:00

My regular posts can be found over here.

Another film

2006-10-30T19:17:00.000+10:00

Make an online slideshow at onetruemedia.com

The crocodile. He looks like he's being carried through the water, but it's an illusion created by the wind whipping up the water combined with my poor cinematography skills. The croc was about two metres long (from where I was standing - which was a very safe distance away). Apologies for the poor quality and the background noise.

Film

2006-10-29T11:10:00.000+10:00

Make video montages at onetruemedia.com

Hopefully this works... This is a short piece of a wallaby and I sharing afternoon tea. A tortilla to be exact. The wallaby turned down the olives so I had those to myself. I apologise for the occasional sounds of wind - it was a really windy day, as is often the case in Cooktown. And the camera operator should be fired (that's me). But I love the sounds of the birds in the background as much as anything else. Enjoy.

I will be writing more about the trip soon - most likely over here. And there are load of pictures over on Flickr now.

2006-10-27T20:56:00.000+10:00

Have just returned from a whirlwind week away - Atherton Tablelands, Chillagoe, Cooktown, Daintree Village, Cape Tribulation, Port Douglas, Cairns and home again, with many stops in between. Am exhausted and will write all about it tomorrow once I've slept...

Just tried to post one measly picture of the trip (of the >500 I took) but Blogger is being it's usual self. There should be some up on Flickr now (or really soon).

Edited to add: I have written about it over here if you want to check out the saga and some more pictures.

Update

2006-10-18T22:46:00.000+10:00

I guess I'm updating here because I don't want to completely abandon this site.

And because I like making work for myself.

News?

Have been to Brisbane (for work).

Have been playing sport.

Have injured myself playing sport (see here).

Have been caught in the rain cycling home.

Have been pottering in the garden.

Have been quilting.

Have been eating at the annual Greekfest.

Have been swimming.

And have been buying books. In Brisbane. All very cheap - so in this instance I have judged a book by it's cover (or title - "swimming with the jellyfish" just sounds like an awesome book).

What have you all been doing?

Hope everyone and everything in blogland is great :)

Edited to add: I tried to upload a photo and of course, Blogger is being it's usual temperamental self. So I won't. But there are lots of pictures on Flickr. And I still hope everyone is well.

Edited again to add: Thanks, Kerri - link should now work.

Edited yet again to add: Tried again to upload a picture and it worked. These are books I bought in Brisbane and was talking about.

2006-09-24T08:14:00.000+10:00

Now that I'm getting the photo issues sorted, I've been posting a few posts over here. You should go see. If you want...

Thursday Thirteen

2006-09-20T21:15:00.000+10:00

Yes, I am back doing the Thursday Thirteen again. It has been close to a month since the last time I took part. So much has happened in that time. And yet, nothing has happened. I have no decent excuses, so here are thirteen lame reasons why I haven't played the TT in so long. I have not provided explanations as to why these excuses were valid - mainly because they are so pathetic that I would be lying if I were to expand on them in any way. And this is a list of what happens on Wednesday nights, so should really have no bearing on what happens on Thursday (except for the fact that I generally prepare my TT on a Wednesday). But hey, it's a list of 13 and I must ease back into TT mode gradually...

I play volleyball most Wednesday evenings.
House is on on Wednesday nights and I must watch it.
I cooked dinner (this is monumental - I don't cook)
I've started sewing stuff again.
Friends came over to my place.
I was out of town (this excuse is a fair dinkum one).
I was washing my car (inside as well as outside).
I got my hair cut.
I went grocery shopping.
I was working.
I was painting.
I was watering the garden.
I'm lazy.

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The day has arrived

2006-09-19T21:40:00.000+10:00

I decided that there are entirely too few public holidays in this country, so I remedied that by making Monday my very own public (private) holiday. And first stop on my day off was the Grand Opening of Townsville's newest Spotlight store. It seems that my little holiday caught on before I knew that the word had got out - and everyone else was celebrating the same way. At the same time. In the same store. I knew it would be bad before I left home. Then when I saw people directing traffic waaaay before I got to the store, I knew it would be worse. But I was ready. It was my day off and I had all the time in the world. Just as well....

This was taken just at the entrance. Most of the store was just one big queue. And really, they didn't have that much on sale. Oh, they had pillows for half price, and rugs for 60% off, and dinner sets for something stupid. None of which I needed. I walked ever so slowly through the massive store (I would defy anyone to move quickly, though many tried) drinking in the things that I appreciated about this Spotlight store compared to all others. Joy number 1: It was clean. I couldn't see a spilled drink or ball of fluff anywhere. The carpet was unstained. And the shelves were freshly painted and glowing. Joy number 2: I was offered a trolley by one of the dozens of staff working that day. I must have looked a sight carrying two bolts of fabric, two pillows and a book. I gratefully accepted said trolley and (here is where the joyous part comes) it moved where I wanted it to move. With minimal force. To wheel a trolley where I didn't have to aim it at a 45 degree angle to where I wanted it to go was just heavenly.

I made my selection oh so carefully. I did two laps of the store before I was satisfied that I had what I wanted to purchase and I wouldn't find any other "must have items" anywhere (that day). I grabbed a magazine that I had no intention of buying. And then I happily settled into the 45 minute queue that snaked around the store. I chatted with some other people in the queue. I smirked at the men who were dragged into the store and didn't have enough backbone to say they'd rather eat glass than go to Spotlight's opening. I tutted at the heavily pregnant woman who insisted on chatting with friends in the middle of the aisle with a full trolley, a double stroller containing two screaming, pissed off infants and curtain rods spread out in all directions. I didn't say anything, just thought to myself, "have some courtesy lady and get out of the way. And consider birth control!"

This picture depicts a surprising calm in contrast to the picture above. Make no mistake, this was but a brief lull in the patchworking chaos. And if I had recorded video, the noise would have hurt your ears. But look, look, look - floor to ceiling (well, about 4 metres or so - the ceiling extends another 15 metres, I'd say) quilt fabric. Yum, yum, yum. All colour coordinated and a much greater improvement that the pathetic supply they had at the old store. And not hideously expensive, either (though I am still banned from buying too much until I do something about what I have unfinished.

Speaking of which:

This was a log cabin quilt top. Which I hated and tore apart after I had finished piecing it together. It's a series of 9-patch and 25-patch blocks (as you can plainly see). It's in flannel and is about 1m by 1.2m. I'm going to use bright blue flannel on the back (I couldn't match any of these colours). And I'll finish it before it gets too hot to quilt up here. I hope.

Eco-burials

2006-09-16T02:31:00.000+10:00

Have you ever stopped to consider what happens to us after we die? I’m not talking about spiritually, but physically. Would you be surprised to know that preparation of a body for burial (including embalming and placing the body in a decay-resistant coffin) can often be highly toxic to the living? I came across this article today and found it fascinating reading. I had always said that when I died I wanted to be cremated, my reasoning being that burning me would take up less space than burying me. But even that seems to be somewhat harmful (though that’s still what I want). But now there are eco-burials at certain places (in Britain and Tasmania, but catching on around the rest of Australia, and the world). I think that how we are “disposed of” is something we should all think about while we can do it objectively - not left for when we’re an emotional wreck trying to do what is best for a loved one who has just passed on. So, read the article - it’s not long. And then maybe consider talking about what you want to those who need to know. And tell them that you’d like to donate your organs to someone who could actually use them because Australia's reputation for organ donation is shamefully bad. Not that I'm telling readers what to do or anything.....

Updated because Val raised some good points:

Embalming is only required in certain circumstances (repatriation interstate, if burial is to be delayed, in the case of infectious diseases, etc.) and most funeral homes (should) ask if the family wants embalming to take place.
Enviroboard coffins by Lifeart are cardboard coffins that meet industry standards and should be accepted everywhere. They're strong enough to be treated like regular coffins are, but decompose quickly.
And as far as I can tell (yes, I checked) there are no council by-laws (that showed up in Google) that restrict the possibility of an eco-burial.

And I agree with Lee - maybe I'll just go for the world's longest scuba dive after I'm gone.

SPOTLIGHT IS CLOSING DOWN!!!

2006-09-14T19:40:00.000+10:00

This is such bad news. A friend has decided to make a baby quilt for her friend and she needs some expert assistance. Since she doesn't know any experts, she asked me to help. So last night I helped her work out a pattern and the amount of fabric she'd need. Tonight we headed for Spotlight after a game of tennis (that's another story) to find the store practically empty. All they had were empty shelves, bargain bins of junk - you know, picture frames with broken glass, table runners with lipstick stains on them and other useless crap that has been hidden on their back shelves since 1956. They also had ugly fabric - the evening fabric that no-one would ever want to wear, curtain material (kids designs only) and glass beads that were just yuck. Oh, and free quilting magazines - BARGAIN!! But my point is, THEY WERE CLOSING DOWN! They sure got away with that one - no closing down sale or anything. What will I do? I'll be buggered if I'm going to pay $30 for a metre of quilting fabric.

Good thing for me they're having a Grand Opening Sale starting Monday at their new premises - an old hardware store - think, the size of a couple of football fields. Yay!! But knowing Spotlight, that doesn't mean there will be two football fields worth of excellent crafting bargains. Oh no, it will be two football fields full of disorganisation, headaches and dirt. And maybe one or two crafting bargains.

Search engine terms

2006-09-11T19:31:00.000+10:00

For those that loved the sunbird pictures, I have more. Many, many more. I started taking pictures and the bird just wouldn't leave. We had a stand-off and she won: I gave up and walked away the most weak willed. The male is a little more flighty and doesn't linger when he sees the camera. And for those that asked, they're not much for singing. It's generally the male that sings, I believe, so it's been pretty quiet. Still they're so nice to look at that I don't mind if they don't have much to say.

I'm still posting both here and there and one of the things I love about blogging over there is that I can find out what terms people used in a search engine that led them to my site. You can probably do this at Blogger as well, but I don’t know how. I’ve only had this site for a week or two but still, there have been heaps of hits from people using the strangest search terms. I love checking these out - it can be very entertaining. Here, in bold, are some of the most colourful:

pictures of someone tripping. Now I don’t know if they’re referring to a drug trip or a drunken stumble, but I don’t think I have any pictures of either. But one of my categories for posts is “tripping around” which implies travelling - not a drugged or drunken stupor.

pictures of piecing of the penis. I think this person may have meant “piercing.” Whether the spelling mistake led them to my site or not, I can guarantee I didn’t have what they were looking for.

how do style my hair home like salo. I think they ran out of space and there is supposed to be an “n” at the end. Still, wrong place to find those answers (glad nobody can see my regular hairstyle - eek)!!

images of fairy floss. Hmmm - have I even written about fairy floss in a post? Or fairies? Ever? Hell, I don’t think I’ve even written about flossing (I’m saving that one up for when I’m really bored).

photo of giraffe penis. Again, giraffe - yes, understandable. There were a lot of terms that contained the word giraffe. But giraffe penis - WTF?

cheetah and teal bedroom stuff. Mmmmm, lovely combination. Teal is one of my favourite colours - I liked it so much that my Year 10 formal dress was teal with black polka dots and lots of ruffles and frills and bows and patent (vinyl) high heels with bows at the back and black stockings with polka dots that matched the dress and IT WAS THE 80s, LEAVE ME ALONE!!! But no, no teal or cheetahs in my bedroom at any time, I’m afraid.

Germaine “The Stain” Greer. I can see how this one reached me. All I can say is, “The Stain? I agree.”

turtles breathing butt. I did talk about Steve Irwin discovering the butt breathing turtle, but didn’t think someone would use similar terms in a search engine to find it.

why so much purple in paint. That’s the question we all want answered! I hope this person found the answer to this existential dilemma.

pictures of clean homes. And they got sent to my site. Hilarious!!!!!

crocs with pantyhose. This is probably my favourite. I can only assume they’re talking about the shoes, rather than the reptile. And for anyone who is wondering, crocs (the shoes) and pantyhose are NOT an acceptable fashion statement!

picture of bird poop. Yeah, I think some of my photos are bad too, and sometimes I even call them crap, but to call them bird poop is just rude!

The sunbirds are back

2006-09-09T16:35:00.000+10:00

I was sitting at my computer just now when a little female sunbird decided to pay me a visit. She was very obliging in posing while I snapped picture after picture (these were the clear ones, taken through the dirty window). I even took a bit of film, but that turned out pretty crap, so I won't subject you to that. Isn't she sweet? She's about 7cm high in real life. Yes, that's my washing in the background. She was sitting on the clothesline.

OH MY GOD!!!

2006-09-08T17:53:00.000+10:00

What is with this week? I just heard on the radio that Peter Brock was killed today in a rallying accident in Perth. Two Aussie icons in one week? This is just awful, awful news. There is an article about it here. I just don't have words...

A lighter post

2006-09-07T22:06:00.000+10:00

Monday and Tuesday I was travelling around the Burdekin, yet again. This time we did a marathon trip covering over 1000 km in two days, stopping in three towns to present our work to the community. Much of the trip back from Clermont was on dirt road, in the rain, at 120 kph. Don't worry, I had complete faith in the person driving the car and lets face it, he was going twice as fast as I would have dared. I saw masses of animals - none that I could take a decent picture of, travelling at said speed on said road in said conditions - but there were birds of all descriptions (including emus), wallaroos, wallabies, kangaroos (one which, thanks to the driver's quick reactions only came within inches of my door - no road sense whatsoever), a bandicoot (squashed on the road, but it was still a bandicoot), and a wombat. There were also roadworks along the way that necessitated a stop light. This was my only opportunity to snap a picture out the window during the whole trip.

Oh, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Germaine Greer is a bitter old bitch.

Grrr to Germaine

2006-09-06T22:00:00.000+10:00

Will Germaine Greer ever shut up?? I heard today that she had some unsavoury things to say about the Croc Hunter and his passing. Then I saw an interview with her tonight on tv where she came across as a bitter, ugly, old cow. And when I say ugly, I’m not talking about her appearance. Just now I found this article about her thoughts, highlighting her gross insensitivity. She has completely missed the point of what Steve Irwin stood for, and she’s misjudged his compassion and intelligence. And I, who once had a reasonable amount of respect for her, now just feel disgust. How dare she say these things at this time??

I have heard many personal stories about Steve Irwin and his family (the husband of a work colleague did a lot of research with Steve over the past year) and I was moved to realise that a lot of his work was groundbreaking research that was not done for the cameras. Did you know, for example, that Steve discovered a turtle (Elseya irwini) that lives in the Burdekin and breathes through it’s cloaca? Yep, a butt-breathing turtle!! Not sure how it does it, but it does. And he’s authored several scientific papers and put all his “Crocodile Hunter” earnings back into conservation. I guess what I’m trying to say is, “crawl back under your rock, Germaine Greer. No-one* wants to hear what you have to say.”

Which kind of makes me wonder why I put that link in there, but maybe it’s to get you as pissed off at her as I am.

*When I say no-one, I mean me. And when it comes to this blog, my opinion is all that matters.

FAREWELL

2006-09-05T22:03:00.000+10:00

What more can be said?

2 more pics

2006-09-03T17:23:00.000+10:00

Just wanted to add another lorikeet picture from yesterday. I like how this close-up captures all the texture in the blue feathers.

It's been raining all weekend - the perfect time to finish the second block for my aunt's quilt. After I had sewn all those small (1") squares too large and had to re-sew them. Grrr. I love the rain, and I love the cool weather, and wish there was more of it - I might get more quilting done...

The cane fire

2006-09-03T01:43:00.000+10:00

For perspective, consider that the cane (the dark grassy-looking stuff below the fire is at least 2 metres tall. Then you see the flames are about 10 metres high. Was very spectacular. And noisy.

Edit video online at onetruemedia.com

What? Moved?

2006-09-02T21:06:00.000+10:00

Who said I'd moved? What an awful rumour that was!! Well, I'm back (maybe temporarily, maybe not) because I have lots to tell - visually - and I know how to do the photo thing on Blogger - haven't got time (patience, more likely) to deal with photos and Wordpress right now. Anyway.

Today I planned a weekend away - but it was raining and I didn't much fancy camping in the rain, so came back this evening. I took a friend to Ayr, then I kept driving. This weekend the direction was south. To Bowen and beyond.

Incidentally, did you know that Hugh Jackman is filming a movie in Bowen? Not sure if he's been and gone or yet to begin, but he's agreed to do the film (no idea what it's about) and has talked about it. And has said that he thinks Bowen will be the next big tourist destination. Now, because he actually said that, I don't think he has actually visited Bowen. Because, tourist destination? PLEASE! Don't get me wrong, the beaches are stunning, but the town is just awful (apologies to any Bowen-ites, here). I have been to Bowen on at least four occasions now. Every time I go, the place is dead! Stores are closed and there is nobody around. Even on a Saturday morning. The roads are a concrete-bitumen-gravel-weed-glass mosaic, filled with cracks and potholes and lumps and dips. Most of the houses look as though they were built any date up to the 1970s (which is fine) and then left to the elements (which is not fine) so they're rotting, or the paint is peeling, or the roof is caving in, or all of the above. And preparation for cyclones is one thing, but to have windows permanently taped in case of breakage is both ugly and lazy. Yes, Hugh, a fabulous tourist destination.... But the beaches are exceptional (see below). And they are even more exceptional when the sun is shining.

After Bowen I headed to Hydeaway Bay. This was my study site for my Honours project a couple of years ago. I'm glad to say they have now sealed the road (it used to be dirt for a lot of the way) and am sad to say that there are many more houses going up (that was inevitable). I took some pictures of the site, and even noticed that the survey pegs that I had hammered into the dunes were still there, waiting for someone to start another project.

After Hydeaway Bay I headed back north, and came across a paddock of burning cane. I posted a picture of Burdekin snow a few posts back. The fire was spectacular and intense - flames leaping twice as high as the cane. And it was over so quickly - less than half an hour from first firing to smouldering ashes. I took a mountain of photos and video - the crackle of fire in the cane was like nothing else.

Enough ramble - on to the pictures. Be warned - there are many.

The Burdekin delta - lots and lots of cane fields. This is the best time of year in the Burdekin, because the cane is being harvested and you can actually see the scenery as you drive instead of a wall of sugar cane.

Kapok flowers. You'll get sick of these - I took heaps of pictures.

More kapok flowers.

Brolgas

Gulls

Jonathan Livingstone?

Remember the bottlebrush picture I posted last week? This is very similar - but a lot noisier, thanks to the lorikeets.

Lunch for the lorikeet.

Gymnastics...

Horseshoe Bay, Bowen.

Bowen beach

More kapok trees

Murray Bay, Bowen

Hydeaway Bay

Rosella at Hydeaway Bay

My study site - Hydeaway Bay

The road to the beach

Guinea fowl (yes, I am fast becoming a bird nerd)

Cane fire

Cane fire again

And again

Can't get enough of those flames!!

All gone

I'VE MOVED...

2006-08-31T08:36:00.000+10:00

Or am moving. The move is still underway (and will be until I can fully understand my 'new digs'). Some things are still to be sorted - like why most of my photos didn't transfer perfectly. But so far, so good. The new site - do, do, DO check it out - is at http://purplegiraffes.wordpress.com. See you there.

BTW...

2006-08-29T07:40:00.000+10:00

I didn't really get fired...

FIRED!!!!!

2006-08-26T17:30:00.000+10:00

For the last company picnic,

management had decided that

due to liability issues,

we could have alcohol,

but only one (1) drink each person.

...

I was fired for ordering the cups.

...

2006-08-24T07:24:00.000+10:00

Am in a hurry to get to work (not that I want to get to work, just that I have so much to do). I've been in a hurry all week. Haven't got anything done. Wasn't going to do the TT today, but I haven't done one in so long. So, this is short, but it's thirteen things that I must do - but will I ever get them done??

Vacuuming. Oh, my God - my house is so full of dirt and dust.
Quilting. Just a few blocks, but it is important that I do them this week.
Clean the bathroom. I remember doing that once...
Wash the dishes - that have been in the sink a day or two.
Dusting. Does that chore ever end??
Buy some food to eat - there is almost nothing in the house.
Pay bills - if I still want a phone and power and all the other conveniences/necessities.
Clean the car - it's still covered in bulldust from last weekends trip.
Fill the car with petrol - should I continue to wait for petrol prices to come down?
Email all the people I have been neglecting to email.
Iron all the clothes that are piling up all over the spare room.
Wash all the clothes that are piling up all over my bedroom floor.
Put it all off until tomorrow...

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I can grow stuff

2006-08-23T19:30:00.000+10:00

This is the orchid that my mum gave to me as a graduation present a while back. It has been through some ups and downs - wet season, dry season, neglect season (inflicted by me and never ends - sort of like winter in Narnia but here it's more of a constant drought). I even had one stem come out of the pot so I just left it on the pumice stones in the pot to die, but it's still growing - with no support from any root system at all (those clever epiphytes!!). Makes me smile when I think of all those passionate orchid growers who have greenhouses and fertilizers and fume cupboards and lighting and heating techniques - and all my orchids need to thrive is abuse.

paint and flowers

2006-08-22T19:05:00.000+10:00

I'm glad everyone liked the drawers. Or everyone who commented at least. If you didn't like the drawers, you can leave a comment too. I was a little wary about the colour (but hey, the drawers cost me $2 - I couldn't really lose, no matter what I did). The colour I was aiming for was a really deep blood red. So I bought Taubmans brand "red siren." But as I only wanted a sample pot, I got the salesman (with the Billy-Ray-Cyrus-mullet, but that's another story) to mix it in Wattyl paint because Wattyl have 500ml sample pots whereas Taubmans only give you 200ml pots and I thought I would need more than 200ml to cover the drawers several times over. Anyway, the colour didn't come out as deep as I wanted and in real life it's actually a very deep pink. Which does look fabulous in the right circumstances. But not with my red quilt. So I'm thinking of doing a "Jackson Pollock" to it - in darker colours. I might mix some dark brown with it to get the right colour. I'll show you the result.

In other news, Blogger has been driving me nuts lately, and WordPress is looking more and more attractive. Stay tuned and be prepared for a diversion in the future. Or not. I am just all talk at this stage.

And finally, a picture taken on my walk home from work this evening:

Hmmm...

2006-08-21T18:45:00.000+10:00

Nothing to talk about today. Except...

I made some microwave popcorn about a week ago. Anyone have any suggestion of how to get rid of the popcorn smell that emanates from the microwave each time I open the door?

Oh, and here is the latest garage sale find. From this:
To this:

Guess I did have something to say, after all.

The longest post ever

2006-08-20T10:29:00.000+10:00

So, I told my boss on Tuesday that I felt an illness coming on that would probably peak on Friday and I wouldn't be able to make it in. This was my way of requesting a day off. Friday morning I figured that I should really do something with my long weekend, so at about 10:00 I threw a heap of random stuff in the back of the car (painting stuff, thermal clothing, esky, tent, sleeping bag and such) and headed off. I got three blocks away then turned around and came back for my computer. I thought that I would take heaps of photos of the trip and would run out of space on my memory card (since the 2GB card I ordered won't arrive before the end of the month) so I could download pictures while I was away. I filled the car with food and petrol and headed west, deciding along the way to visit Ravenswood.

Ravenswood is a lovely little mining town which had it's heyday around the early 1900s. It now has a permanent population of 100 people and another handful of miners working at the nearby gold mine. It is the closest thing we have to a ghost town around here (and almost every building is said to have it's share of ghosts). It's a very beautiful, very historical, very dry and dusty town - good for a visit but what sane person would want to live there???

After a few hours in Ravenswood I jumped back on the highway and headed south - to Burdekin Falls Dam. My line of work has a lot to do with this dam but until Friday I had never seen it. The good (though late) rain we have had up here meant that water was spilling over the top of the dam up until about a month ago. The significance of that didn't really register until I got there and realised that if you want to keep going south from the dam, you have to drive over a road at the bottom of the dam. Which might prove a bit hair-raising when the dam is over full. And impossible since the road is gated and locked when this happens. There is nothing at the actual dam except a caravan park. Not even a shop. It is very pretty, but it felt quite desolate. This was where most of the wallabies were found (I took many, many wallaby photos).

By this time it was about 4:00 and I decided to head home - back the way I came. Cattle grids are on the road to the dam spaced about 5km apart. So the cattle between these grids are not fenced from the road. I'm not sure what age a cow is when it develops road sense, but calves sure don't have any. They'd see or hear the car approach and fly into a major panic, running off, then on, then off the road again. I started to suffer a bit of cow (as opposed to road) rage! There were also the little peaceful doves that take their road sense cues from the calves. They didn't seem to mind that a car would race at them at 100km/h. Sometimes they would reluctantly fly away with only moments to spare. One decided it was perfectly happy where it was. Don't know how happy it was after I saw a mass of feathers in the rearview mirror. I felt both bad and angry that I'd just killed a peaceful dove - but it was unavoidable. So then I started honking the horn (and slowing down a lot, of course) as I approached the animals - which just freaked them out more. It was at this time - coming on to dusk - that all the animals were coming on to the road for warmth. As well as the birds and cows, there were reptiles and wallabies - and roadkill, with hawks on the road eating said roadkill. It was like driving through a minefield. I got back to Ravenswood and was heading to Ayr when I realised it was going to be a few hours on dirt road in the dark with unfenced animals. This was when I was thankful that I had packed the tent and sleeping bag and such. I turned around and went back to Ravenswood to camp for the night.

The next morning, after chatting with the caretaker of the campground (which doubled as the town's cricket pitch) I headed east - to Ayr. I stopped off at White Blow - a huge quartz outcrop. This was meant to be really interesting and unique and the geologist in me would have been fascinated. But while there, I realised that the geologist in me was long dead because I just thought it was a big white rock. I also went to check out the gold mine - a huge open cut hole in the ground with miners working 24 hours a day. The trucks were big, the noise was loud (especially in the middle of the night) and the slag heaps were long. Again, the geologist in me was not resurrected and and I am now comfortable with the fact that rocks bore me.

I continued east, slowing down for dopey cows and stopping now and then to take pictures. After about an hour, the car suddenly started to move with an occasional - but regular - thud . I thought I should pull over and make sure I wasn't dragging a cow that I had unknowingly run over along the way. But what I found was worse. A flat tyre. My first response upon seeing this was to whine, "Oh, man?" My second response was, "I gotta get a picture of this."

Now I know the theory of changing a tyre. I've seen it done many times. I unloaded the boot, got the shiny spare out and the even shinier jack (which I had to take out of some packaging, indicating that this was the first time at changing a flat tyre for both of us). I chocked the wheels to keep the car from rolling, I set the jack in place ready to raise the car after I had loosened the nuts. Then I tried to loosen the nuts. I tried to loosen the nuts again. And again. I got out the manual to see what I was doing wrong. I was doing everything right. But I am SO WEAK!!! The nuts wouldn't budge. The manual did say that because the wheels were alloy, they had locking nuts and I needed a nut key, but they looked normal to me, and there was no nut key anywhere. I sat in the dirt and pondered. The last cattle station I had seen was about 5 km back. There was no mobile phone reception and even if there was, I hadn't charged my battery. I got up and tried the nuts again. Then I tried turning them the other way. Nothing. I think I may have sworn. I took more photos. Then a van showed up. I flagged it down and in it was an elderly couple. The woman didn't get out of the car. She spent the whole time glaring at me. The man did get out and had the same problem with the nuts. Which I must admit that, in a sick way, I was a little glad of. He must have been about 80 and I would have felt ultra weak if he could move the nuts and I couldn't. He then got out his own super-4-way-nut-loosener-thing-that-has-a-special-name-but-I-don't-know-it. And loosened the nuts with ease. I then jacked up the tyre. And neither of us could get the bloody wheel off the car. We stood scratching our heads for a while. I'd have sworn more, but I was now in company and I didn't want this man to drive off in disgust at my foul mouth. We tried pulling and pushing and kicking but nothing got the wheel off. Then a couple in a 4WD towing a boat came from the other direction. They got out (this time the lady smiled instead of glared - the other lady was still sitting in the van) and the man used brute strength to yank the wheel off the car. I felt like saying, "thanks very much, I can take it from here," but the "boys" decided that they both needed to put the spare on. So I stood there chatting with the lady about fishing while the men fixed my tyre. I don't think I have ever felt like such a helpless, pathetic girl in all my life. The old guy then said that he'd follow me all the way to the bitumen (which is the direction he was going anyway) another hour away. So, tyre fixed, I thanked them all, reloaded the car and took off. Slowly. With no music. Listening for a second flat. I couldn't stop and take any more pictures because I had the old man and his scowling wife following me. But I got to Ayr and saw a tyre place so pulled in. They repaired the flat and changed the wheels back and spent forever trying to get the jack and spare tyre back in the car the way they were meant to be. And they charged me $20, which I thought was nothing and next time I have a flat I'll go back to them because they were really nice, even though they are an hour from town. But hopefully that won't happen for a LONG time.

After all that, I drove home totally exhausted (but not too exhausted that I couldn't post pictures yesterday) with an aching back and vowing to steer clear of dirt roads for at least a week.

Now the pictures. First, yesterdays shots were, from the top:

Rusted cars outside of the (haunted) Imperial Hotel in Ravenswood.
An old chimney at Ravenswood.
A butterfly at Ravenswood.
A pelican at Burdekin Falls Dam (I'm really stating the obvious with these captions, aren't I?).
The lower Burdekin - taken from atop Burdekin Falls Dam.
A wallaby near Burdekin Falls Dam.
Ditto above.
Sunset between Ravenswood and Ayr (this was when I decided to turn around and not risk hitting cows/wallabies/hawks on the dirt road to Ayr).
Typical northern cattle (Brahmin) - they do better up here in the heat than the regular cows you find in the south).
Gumnuts.
A cane train at the mill, queued up ready for processing. The smell of molasses was heavy in the air here.
The flat!!

And todays pictures:

A windmill at Ravenswood.
A thistle at Ravenswood.
A baby magpie warbling away - Ravenswood again.
Another Brahmin cow. Don't you love those droopy ears?
Burdekin snow (ash from burning the sugar cane).
One carriage of sugar cane waiting to be processed.
The spare tyre on the car (this was taken at the tyre shop while the flat was being repaired).
Fire on Castle Hill as I drove back into town. I still don't know what was going on, but the city was pretty smoky.

2006-08-19T15:57:00.000+10:00

I went for a drive yesterday (day off) and ended up spending the night camping in Ravenswood as it was getting pretty late after visiting Burdekin Falls Dam and Ravenswood. Had a great time and am now exhausted. Will talk about it later but, in the meantime, here are a few random pics of what I saw.

And yes, that is my tyre, covered in bulldust and flat!!

In the hope that this puts an end to the bat debate...

2006-08-18T03:16:00.000+10:00

A message to Val and Kerri and all those others who can't stand the bats:

This is what I'm talking about when I refer to bats. Fruit bats. Flying foxes. They're one and the same (to me). Yes, I have seen them in the Botanic Gardens in Sydney. And I saw them in Charters Towers last week and I see them electrocuted on the power lines all the time here in Townsville and I can even hear a couple fighting with each other in the trees outside my window right now. It is, after all, 3am. What am I doing blogging at 3am??? I have the day off tomorrow. But I digress. I know the bats can be destructive, and I know they can crap everywhere. But come on. Look at these faces and just dare to tell me that they're not cute!!

www.smh.com.au_fruitbat.jpg

2006-08-17T18:38:00.000+10:00

Remember this? I sliced the top off it and it became this:
A glorious mixture of pumpkin, mushrooms, beans, corn, onion and marinated tofu. With noodles thrown in afterwards. Yum.

MUST SEE!!!

2006-08-15T20:43:00.000+10:00

I have been meaning to post about this for a while. A few weeks ago I saw "Ten Canoes" at the movies with friends. This is a film that should be a MUST SEE for every Australian. Nay, a MUST SEE for everyone that reads my blog. I insist. It is fabulous. One of the best films I have seen in a long time, even though I slept through the middle of it.* I won't go into an extensive review of the film, but you can read about it here. And here. And even here and here. And do you know what? They even had fart jokes thousands of years ago in Australia!!

This picture is a little dodgy - it's a photograph of the brochure I picked up at the cinema when I saw the film. GO SEE IT!!

*Note that the sleeping through the movie had no bearing on the entertainment factor: I should just not go to a 9:30pm viewing after a large meal, several glasses of wine and being one of only four people in the audience.

Meme

2006-08-14T19:27:00.000+10:00

Miss Eagle tagged me for a meme. I'm very excited (I like being tagged). But this one is a tough one. It's a garden meme adapted from a book meme. And "Tanya" and "garden" are not often uttered in the same sentence (unless it is to say something like, "Tanya doesn't own a garden and should never have a garden because she is not the best when it comes to gardening."). Anyway, I'll have a go.

1. Name one plant that changed your life.
Anthurium – the first time I discovered that flowers could be more interesting than roses and carnations. Though my mother has always referred to anthuriums as “a penis on a plate.” Think I’ll leave that statement alone…

http://facultystaff.vwc.edu/~presslar/CultivatedAnthurium/page1.htm

2. Name one plant you've planted more than once.
I bought a plant (I’m crap here – have no idea what it’s called but is really common as an indoor plant down south, and up north it does well inside or outside) several years ago at a market for a dollar or two and it just grows like crazy. I’ve re-potted it about four times, have split it and now have this thing growing in AT LEAST eight places around the house. It’s insane (but I love it).

3. Name one plant you'd want on a desert island.
A mango tree. Or a coconut palm - all your sustenance in one big seed. And coconut milk can be substituted for plasma (no kidding) so I could perform operations on myself while I’m stuck on the island. Okay, maybe not. I’ll stick to the mangoes.

http://www.molliekatzen.com/images/mango_tree.jpg

4. Name one plant that made you giddy?
Not sure about giddy, but gymea lilies give me conjunctivitis. And tiger lilies are my favourite flowers ever – I love them. And the scent of frangipanis is heavenly.

www.portstephens-multimedia.com.au

www.alanbauer.com/.../Tiger%20Lily-Vert.jpg

http://www.abc.net.au/brisbane/downloads/wallpaper/frangipani_1024x768.jpg

5. Name one plant that wracked you with sobs.
Apart from cactus? Or stinging trees in the north? The big red cedar that was destroyed in Cyclone Larry – it was hundreds of metres tall and hundreds of years old and was one of the last red cedars in the rainforest in north Queensland and now it is no more. I didn’t really cry over it.

rainforest-australia.com/Redced.jpg

6. Name one plant that you wish had been grown.
A money tree (derr!!). Seriously, my backyard isn’t big enough for anything that I would truly love – but an avocado tree that bears huge delicious fruit is always on my wish list.

www.fotosearch.com

www.neville1.com

7. Name one plant you wish had never been grown.
All the pests that are threatening our native vegetation – lantana, siam weed and prickly pear are all problems up this way.

plantanswers.tamu.edu/.../lantanacamaraIrene.jpg

http://savanna.ntu.edu.au/publications/images/FloweringClump.jpg

www.ics.uci.edu/.../pix/uhfall/PricklyPear-m.jpg

8. Name one plant you are currently growing.
Looking outside my window right now I see a birds eye chili plant. Self sewn and very productive – am never short of chilis.

http://www.organicdownunder.com/Birdeye_Chilli_1.jpg

9. Name one plant you've been meaning to grow.
That big avocado tree.

http://www.madamax.com/img/tsarasoa/avoca.jpg

10. Now tag five bloggers.
I can’t think of FIVE – so anyone who wants to take part, feel free.

My sister has started something

2006-08-13T10:15:00.000+10:00

When my sister visited a couple of months ago, she was very much into looking at houses for sale and visiting open houses and such. This has rubbed off on me and, though I'll not be in the housing market in this lifetime (will house prices ever drop??), whenever I see a sign saying "Open House," I take a look. Yesterday I saw such a sign and took a look inside and was quite impressed. The agent then sent me to another open house around the corner. I saw this one and fell in love. It is EXACTLY me. It is adorable. It is here. Does anyone have a spare $350,000??? There are pictures on Flick (I uploaded until my quota was reached, so there are more pictures but I'll have to upload them next month - blame me for being cheap and just going for the free Flickr account) as well as some on the website, but they only go a small way to explaing why I adore this place so much. So yeah, if you've the dollars, let me know and I'll send you my details and a big thank you :)

More on the road train

2006-08-12T07:30:00.000+10:00

I'm kinda glad we came upon these 3-carriage road trains (at the same time) when the highway had just changed to two paved lanes instead of one paved road with a bit of a shoulder either side. They don't even slow down for each other!!

Tripping around

2006-08-11T18:30:00.000+10:00

I'm back after a week tripping around the Burdekin. I had a heap of fun (even if I did have to work now and then during the week), mainly because I got to see places I haven't visited before. And now you get to see them as well. These pictures are slightly out of order because, well, I suck. But anyway...

Eungella Dam. The dam is down to about 12% capacity. We drove down to the bottom of it, where I took this picture - my guess is it should be about 20 metres above it's current level.

The view from Eungella Historic Chalet. I am in the picture, sitting on the hang gliding ramp. Which, surprisingly, hasn't been used much since a girl jumped off and died about a year ago. I can only assume she was wearing the appropriate gear. The view from this place was stunning. It was, however, freezing!!!!! It was very rustic (read: no insulation, so very cold rooms and a whisper could be heard in the next room) but was nice to stay at once the wood fire was roaring and the red wine was flowing. Eungella is in the rainforest and is lush dairy farming country (or it was until deregulation forced most dairy farmers in the area out of business). Over the ridge there is very little rain (and is where the dam with no water is (above)).

Eungella is famous for platypus. Is the plural platypi or platypuses? Either way, we saw several. This was the best shot I could get of one (they're not all that accommodating for tourists with cameras, but they're cute all the same).

In the same river, the cockatoos were making one hell of a racket. It was evening and they were screeching in the trees and occasionally coming down for a drink.

This jabiru was between Eungella and Collinsville (back in the dry country). The road, a shortcut, was a 4WD track and the bird was standing by one of the few waterholes in the area. Around here there were a lot of parrots too, but they were too fast for me to take a decent picture of them!!

Charters Towers. This building is now a cinema but was once a bank. Famous for a murder that occurred there in the early 1900s. The (very simplified) story goes that the manager of the bank had his pay cut and no-one was willing to tell him why, so he shot the chairman of the board. There is a room upstairs (not open to visitors unless you ask to see it) with a painting of the scene. The real attraction, though, is the table that all the board members were sitting around at the time. It still has a blood stain in the wood where the victim fell. I took a picture of it, though I'm not sure whether to believe that the stain is actually blood or not.

Charters Towers cemetery. This town is renowned for gold and at one time was about ten times the size that it is now (maybe not ten times, but it was much bigger - that's a fact - and ten times bigger sounds impressive). There were (and still are) many mines around the area. If a miner was killed in a mining accident, his headstone would look as though it had a corner taken from it to indicate it was a life cut short. It took a while for us to find these headstones, but once we found one, we saw many of them. This was a grave of a father and son - the son died several years before the father. They both died in mining accidents. The wife/mother died soon after the father.

On the way to Belyando Crossing - a town that consists of a roadhouse and a tennis court. And is the only place of significance for at least 100 kilometres. For much of the way the highway is one lane. And the road trains don't get out of your way if they approach - they only show a small courtesy to other road trains. This was one that we were following for ages. It was pretty small - only three carriages (not sure if that is what they are actually called). The biggest I saw had five carriages!!

The last of the sunset (and a power line) at Belyando Crossing.

A very bold bird. Not sure what type. Maybe a wattle bird? Whatever he was, he wanted my cup of tea!!

Bougainvillea. Just coz I thought it looked nice.

Another Riverway episode

2006-08-06T21:38:00.000+10:00

Tonight was another part of the Riverway opening. Yes, the River Festival was a few weeks ago, but this "fire and water" display was postponed due to rain. Maybe they waited three weeks until they were sure that the weather would be ok. No matter, it worked for me - if it had been a few weeks ago I probably wouldn't have gone. Anyway, here are a few shots of the evening (in reverse order, because Hello and I still have our differences).

The fireworks (some of). This is what happens when you don't have a tripod. And this was the best of a bunch of pictures (until I ran out of space on the memory card - need to get a bigger memory card, I think).

There was some story about a river monster (that was good) and some other monsters (that were bad) and a dragon that breathed fire (which you can see from all the orange light in the picture). Ok, I'd had a few drinks and wasn't really paying attention. But it was good.

I think this is the good monster.

A shot from the distance (before I decided to go sit in the garden to get a closer look at the action).

Earlier in the evening - people waiting for the fireworks to start. The blue light is where all the dancing and fire twirling and fire breathing (from a fake dragon) and stuff (in the earlier shots) was to happen.

So many posts

2006-08-06T12:15:00.000+10:00

Have you noticed the increase in the number of updates I have made? It's only partly due to the fact that I have no life. Until recently my internet plan gave me a limit of 200MB per month. That was fine last year. Then I started blogging. I soon increased my limit to 400MB per month. That was fine too. Until lately, I find that my internet bill just keeps getting bigger and bigger. So I've now gone to unlimited internet use. Hence, I'm on the computer more, checking out more blogs, and posting more. And, as I mentioned, I have no life. So be prepared for a lot more posts and many more visits to your blogs. For now. I may just get a life. Having said all that, I'm travelling around the Burdekin next week, so you won't hear from me for at least a week.

And now, changing the subject, I'd like to take the time to curse my brother-in-law. I'm not a big chocolate fan. And when I do eat chocolate, it generally has to be dark chocolate. Cherry Ripe is okay, Lindt is better. Milk chocolate is foul and is not much good for anything. And then my brother-in-law arrived from Malaysia. Straight off the international flight. Straight from duty free. Now he did bring enormous bottles of gin and campari (I think there might be enough gin left for one g&t) for which I am ever grateful. He also had a package of three of the biggest Toblerone's I had ever seen. Now I've never been a Toblerone fan. When they brought out the dark Toblerone, I thought that was alright, but still nothing special (and I don't think that is available anymore, anyway). But a milk chocolate Toblerone is not a chocolate I would ever deliberately buy. Anyway, my sister and I opened one of the mutant Toblerones while they were still here a couple of months ago. I was SO disappointed. Because I liked it. A lot. It fast became addictive. I have now gone through all three huge packets and find myself making special trips to the supermarket - for chocolate!!!!! This is a picture of all the Toblerones I have eaten in the past two months (two more mutant sized boxes should be there as well, but I had already thrown the boxes away). All the other bars have been purhased in the past week. And there are only two bars that remain unopened. This is huge for someone who is not a chocolate eater. I now feel ill. And very fat. Can I blame the brother-in-law - is that fair? It's time to go and play tennis, I think.

2006-08-05T17:41:00.000+10:00

You Belong in London

You belong in London, but you belong in many cities... Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sidney. You fit in almost anywhere.
And London is diverse and international enough to satisfy many of your tastes. From curry to Shakespeare, London (almost) has it all!

What European City Do You Belong In?

Says me in response:

"BUT I DON'T WANNA LIVE IN LONDON!!!"

A change

2006-08-05T00:07:00.000+10:00

You will have no idea how long it has taken me to change that banner (it's 1:15am - does that give you a clue?). And now that I have changed it, I don't think it's quite big enough. But me and my computer literacy as it is, it will have to stay that way for a while. Sigh. But I like that it's a little more personalised now. After all, this shows where I live...

And the winner is...

2006-08-04T18:22:00.000+10:00

Ok, so here is what the "cappuccino/banana" actually was. Dad was right. My dad is so clever. I had used half of this butternut pumpkin (it cost me 80c, by the way... is that expensive - I have no idea) in a meal and then left the other half sitting on the counter for a day or so. Why I didn't put it in the fridge is a mystery. No it's not, it 's because I was just too damn lazy. When I saw the first spores of mould, I was intrigued by how pretty they were. Who ever stops to look at the how amazing mould can be? Last time I did something like that was in a science class at uni, when we had to grow E. coli in a petri dish. And then count all the little colonies. Which wasn't really fun.
I'll try and refrain from posting ugliness again. But should I really call this ugly? Because after all, most people thought it was either a coffee or a banana, and when has anyone ever said that they were ugly???

2006-08-03T17:36:00.000+10:00

This was found somewhere on the internet and has probably done the rounds a few times, but it always brings a smile to my face. Here are thirteen questions to God from random kids.

Dear GOD:If we come back as something else, please don’t let me be Mary Horton - because I hate her. - Denise
Dear GOD:Did You mean for the giraffe to look like that or was it an accident? –Norma
Dear GOD:Who draws the lines around the countries? – Nan
Dear GOD:I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church. Is that okay? –Neil
Dear GOD:What does it mean You are a Jealous God? I thought You had everything. –Jane
Dear GOD:Did You really mean “do unto others as they do unto you”? Because if You did, then I’m going to fix my brother. – Darla
Dear GOD:I didn’t think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset You made on Tuesday. That was cool. - Eugene
Dear GOD:Are You really invisible or is it just a trick? - Lucy
Dear GOD:It rained for our whole vacation and is my father mad! He said some things about you that we are not supposed to say, but I hope you will not hurt him anyway. - Your friend (but I am not going to tell you who I am)
Dear GOD:Please send me a pony. I never asked for anything before, you can look it up. - Bruce
Dear GOD:I bet it is very hard for you to love all the people in the world. There are only four people in our family and I can never do it. - Dan
Dear GOD:My brothers told me about being born, but it doesn't sound right. They are just kidding, aren't they? - Marsha
Dear GOD:Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother. - Larry

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, please use the auto-link. And comments are always much appreciated. Only if you leave a comment will I visit your Thirteen and leave a comment in return....

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Guess what this is...

2006-08-01T18:28:00.000+10:00

2006-07-31T17:58:00.000+10:00

What else could lunch have been....???

Lunch

2006-07-30T17:29:00.000+10:00

2006-07-28T18:28:00.000+10:00

Val recently announced that Boomama was organising an annual (or once only) bloggy tour of homes for Friday. That's today. I thought it might be fun, so am taking part. Visit Boomama for all the details - but be quick. As I said, Friday is today.

Okay, here I go. Be warned that I didn't clean the house before doing this (so if any pictures show a clean house, be impressed, because that was not the intention.

The front door. And plants either side that I have bought from garage sales. The one to the right was looking worse than this when I bought it. But it cost me $5 complete with the pot and it's a bit happer (it seems) now than before. The plant on the left is looking decidedly worse than when I bought it. The darn things seem to need water all the time. Sigh.

I recently got the security screen fixed, so I can lock it without using the key. You've no idea what a joy this is. I like to lock myself into my house when I am here alone.

Where I blog. I know, it's just a shot of the desk - but the rest is too hideous to see. I have another picture almost the same as this one (but with a cleaner desk). There is a bed opposite the desk with a stack of pillows on it (no pillowcases), a clothes airer and that black blob in the lower left corner is the crappy students chair I sit on. The clock has read 11:45 for the past three months. I should change the batteries some time. The ironing board is permanently set up (who can be bothered to do all their ironing in one go - I iron as I need to) and there is a bookcase full of books I haven't read behind it. Other items in the room: a sewing machine (changes place with the computer regularly), a basket of ironing, a vacuum cleaner, four paintings that need to be hung on the walls and lots of fabric all over the place!!

2006-07-28T18:20:00.000+10:00

Excuse me while I strangle Blogger.... Okay, back to where we were.

This is my living room. The quilts I made myself. The paintings I made also. That's about where my creativeness ends. This is one of the few almost clean area of my home right now. Behind me looks like a tornado just passed through.

The kitchen in all it's glory. Under the blue tea towel is homemade bread (probably blue also, as I made it about a week ago and nothing lasts long in the tropics). Also visible are several bottles of wine at various stages of depletion. And dishes in the draining rack (putting them away just means taking them out again later...). What you see here is the sum of my counter space. I do live in a unit...

Last picture. I couldn't choose, but this one came out alright. And hopefully it will taste more than alright in a few weeks. It's my first tomato of the season. Yum, yum.

The good, the bad and the ugly

2006-07-27T18:02:00.000+10:00

No Thursday Thirteen today. My mind is a blank and I can't think of 13 cool things to say. So here are some pics instead.

Some things arrived in the mail over the past couple of days. One was this fabulous top created by my beautiful sister. Actually, the top was already mine (I had wondered where that had gone) but the funky creation was Michelle's. So purple. So giraffe. So ME!!

The top arrived with this cute bunny. Is it a bunny? It is illegal to keep real rabbits up here in Queensland (something about them being considered a Class 2 pest...) so this is as close as I get. Not that I want a real one... This little guy was made out of 10c remnants Michelle picked up from Spotlight while she was here. I think.

So that was the good. Now we get to the bad. Remember how I mentioned I had run a red light? And how I hoped there was no film in the camera? No such luck.

And now to the ugly. Some may think. I actually like these pictures. I bought an easel the other day and have gone exploring the countryside and painting...

...Jackson Pollock-style.

My weekend.

2006-07-23T16:51:00.000+10:00

Green stuff.

I'm not a horse fan, but this guy posed, so I had to take a pic...

Mount Stuart.

Mango trees are in flower now.

Tree trunk.

A creek running through Oak Valley - near Townsville.

Bad for the waterways, but looking pretty anyway (wish the same could be said for the water, which I think is a stagnant oil slick at this time of year).

Mt Elliott in the distance - near Townsville.

Some kind of bird of prey at the rubbish tip (no, I am NOT an ornithologist - can't you tell?).

Yellow flowers (nor am I a botanist!!).

2006-07-19T18:21:00.000+10:00

Thursday Thirteen

Today's thirteen are being posted really early (Wednesday evening). Because I have to go to Ayr tomorrow morning at 6:45am. For a meeting. Shall I say that again? 6:45. The things I do for my job. The meeting starts at 8:00am and I am giving myself 15 minutes "getting lost time." Since the address of the meeting is "Roy's Shed." I kid you not. Anyway, back to my Thursday Thirteen. I was surfing the internet last week and decided to do a purple giraffe search. I typed "Purple Giraffe" into Google Blog Search to see what came up. There were a few posts of mine, and a few references to my blog (which made my ego soar, I do have to say). But I found some hilarious references to purple giraffes in other peoples blogs. I was so engrossed in this, I looked at 50 pages (or about 1000 hits) of links to something saying "purple giraffe." I then copied my favourites for this weeks TT. I hereby apologise sincerely for not referencing the blogs that these came from, but I do thank those 13 people who have contributed to this post...

Thirteen blog references to purple giraffes...

1. Libra, this is a good week for you to relax. Too bad you won't be able to, after a rabid purple giraffe destroys your backyard in a fit of cocaine-induced rage. Also, lay off the peyote.

2. I'll just have to use a bit of common sense, which is unfortunately in short supply due to the strange effects the hyper-strength antibiotics are having on my brain. Luckily, the purple giraffe who camps next to my bed is always on hand ...

3. My brain was so far in orbit that I understood every word when they were speaking "jive" and so did the purple giraffe sitting next to me eating a corndog.

4. And just as I rode into the sunset I saw a team of “animal control” burners dressed in red coveralls chasing a purple giraffe with a life sized net. Apparently the purple giraffe was caught successfully, inoculated with vodka.

5. This is one one-eyed frog you don’t want to mess with! Oh no! A report just came in that says the frog does not act alone. He has an accomplice! It is none other than PURPLE, the purple-purpliest giraffe of them all!

6. Vader gripped the gorilla horns and threw Jeff the purple giraffe out the window, which damaged his self-esteem quiet a lot.

7. Somebody kill it before it kills my purple giraffe! Don't just sit there and look at me like I'm crazy! Do it or I'll have my army of living ear wax soldiers annihilate you when I'm president. Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhh"

8. Hermione now had the giant orange Garfield and a giant purple Giraffe clutched in both arms. Her face was flushed but she looked very cheerful. “You won’t get sick on this one, I promise,” she said to Ron in a soothing voice.

9. Since I'm here I will tell all that read this that my purple giraffe named Stewie has been taken from me by ninjas. If you have any information concerning his disappearance, please inform me or your local authorities.

10. That purple Giraffe just would not stop nagging.

11. We are to them as a man crying out that purple giraffes are in the garden, when no one else can see purple giraffes. Nothing could be plainer but that such a man is not fit for self-government, let alone participation in the government.

12. The purple giraffes are speaking their nonsense to me once again, while the clouds above are leaking… Whiskey? That or I’ve been drinking, but while I’ve done all this talking, I’ve been soaked by the whiskey-rain...

13. Could you nice people pop into the florist, whenever you walk pass one, and check if they sell any purple giraffes? Those who are colour blind or do not know what a giraffe looks like are excused.

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Riverway, again.

2006-07-15T18:17:00.000+10:00

More shots from Riverway (don't worry, the Riverway Festival is over tomorrow!!). A spur-of-the-moment decision to go there today - in the rain. Baby Kai (who is coming up on 3 months, though is the weight of the average 6 month old) didn't get too wet, and didn't seem to care when he did. As long as he's in his sling, he doesn't care what goes on - he's asleep in minutes.

We went to the multicultural food fair to try some delicacies from the far reaches of the globe. But then I remembered that this is Townsville and whenever there is some multicultural food event, it's the same old stuff: a choice of Thai, Greek, Indian, Italian or Fijian food. And, of course, meat pies, pluto pups, fairy floss, steak sandwiches and chicko rolls. We are in Australia, remember. We went for Indian - it was the only animal-free choice that was remotely appetizing. These shots were taken from the cafe/bar by the pool where we had a cup of coffee. I can only imagine how great this place will be during those long, hot summer evenings: a swim, then maybe a cocktail, followed by a swim... I still can't believe this place is free!

2006-07-15T08:23:00.000+10:00

Am experimenting with background colours - obviously. Is this better than the yellow ick of yesterday?

2006-07-13T15:58:00.000+10:00

Thursday Thirteen just rolls around so fast... Today's theme is thirteen things I discussed with my boss on the trip to Ayr (1 hour) and back (1.5 hours - we had to stop at the home of a farmer/irrigator/ concerned citizen/man who grows coriander and gave me a heap of it to take home today, yum!). Note that making small talk with my boss filled me with trepidation this morning when he picked me up.

His new boat, which he has anchored in the river close to my house (we had to swing by there and check it was still safe). He's close to retiring and is buying lots of toys.
The weather. Sigh. But it has been raining here, and it's winter!! For those who don't realise, we don't really have summer and winter here, we have wet season and dry season. The wet season came late and we're now supposed to be in the middle of the dry season .
What we were going to do once we arrived at the meeting.
His new phone, which he got yesterday and doesn't know how to use. I tried to put it on hands-free for him for the car. I clearly don't know how to use it either because hands-free wouldn't work and I had to play secretary as we drove down (driving and talking on a mobile phone is illegal here).
The sugar cane (it's harvesting time).
Whether the rain would be a problem for harvesting (it's not - as we drove past the mill there was an amazing number of cane train carriages full of cane waiting to be processed and the mill was billowing smoke and steam).
Water levels in the creeks and rivers (water IS our job).
Lychees, longans, avocadoes, mangoes and other related tropical fruits.
Coriander - his distaste for it, my love of it. And all the regions of the world that use copious amounts of it (we identified Mexico, Thailand and India). He decided that India is now another place that he can't visit because of the coriander issue. BTW, coriander is what some northerners (Americans) call cilantro.
The stench (to him) / aroma (to me) of the coriander filling the car.
The stench (to both of us) of the dead kangaroo we passed on the side of the road.
A mutual friend who has cancer. He had to tell doctors for a year that he was ill before anyone would believe him and run the tests to identify what was wrong.
The near accident we were in when a kid sped through an intersection where he was supposed to give us the right of way. It was a close call.

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Oops

2006-07-12T19:00:00.000+10:00

I think I just got nabbed by a red light camera. I KNOW I shouldn't have been going through the red light - I swear it had only just changed to red as I was half way through the intersection. But there were two flashes and I'm now pretty sure they were for me, though I was a little confused about it at the time (am a running-a-red-light virgin). I only hope there was no film in the camera (does that happen - that the flash goes off, even if there is no film in the camera?) because I don't really want to pay the fine. Nor do I want any demerit points. Again, I KNOW I shouldn't complain about this as it is my fault and I will pay the fine if I have to - I just don't want to. Since it happened - about half an hour ago - I've been getting madder and madder at myself. But I feel better, now that I've told the internet. And I really should feel grateful (and I am) that I didn't cause an accident.

Riverway

2006-07-11T22:58:00.000+10:00

Townsville's newest attraction is Riverway. Michelle, you should have put your trip back two weeks. Riverway opened on the weekend and a ten day festival is happening to celebrate. Everything is free - the bbq's, playground, even the pools. And check out the pools!! This is one of those flash infinity pools where the water drops over the edge to form a waterfall, but it looks like the river is part of the pool. There is a shallow wading pool that actually has sand at the edge - a real(ish) beach - and it goes to 2 metres deep.

I'm not sure what the big building is, but to the right of the photo is a restaurant/bar. This pool is above the lower one in the previous pictures (the lower pool is to the lower left of this picture).

The top pool at night. Each big tree has lights underneath, shining into the canopy. The white things are chairs and tables, the orange things are witches hats. Please ignore the big Amcal sign - I know it doesn't do much for the scenery (damn sponsors...).

The bottom pool at night. A friend and I had a picnic by the pool while listening to a free jazz concert (sponsored by Amcal chemists, of course). The local high school performed (and they were very good), followed by a contemporary jazz trio from Brisbane called Misinterprotato. They were very, very good, and are travelling to jazz festivals all over the world (have been to Canada, Japan, Melbourne and more). So if you hear of them playing, go see them.

Lastly, a contradiction, no? Why would you have a playground with signs all over it saying, "No climbing please"??

All Townsvillians - or people headed to Townsville - go check out Riverway. It's great.

This was NOT a paid advertisement, but I think Thuringowa City Council should pay me...!

My blogging drought is officially over, I guess...

2006-07-09T16:28:00.000+10:00

I think I must be making up for the recent blogging drought.

The first picture is of a flower I saw near the beach today.

The second and third pictures are two of the plants I bought at a garage sale yesterday - aloe vera and a pineapple plant (I don't expect it to fruit, though).

And the last two pictures are my Jackson Pollock-inspired (though about 1/100th of the size) latest artwork. My legs and arms are covered in paint and I will remember next time to do this kind of painting outside instead of on the carpet. Just kidding, it was done by the river.

My current pride and joy

2006-07-08T14:18:00.000+10:00

Okay, just to attempt to hide the picture of myself in the previous post (oh, I am modest and shy) without actually deleting it, I'm posting a picture of the toy of the moment. It's the new washing machine (quite obviously). I just love it. It has flashing lights and it beeps when it's done. So I know it's finished washing but it doesn't have the buzzer of old machines that used to scare the crap out of me. Yes, I know, small things and all that.....

And I can't post a picture of that without posting a picture of this - the old washing machine. It's still sitting in the living room waiting for the son of a friend to come and buy it for a bargain, take it away, fix it, and sell it for as much as I paid for the new machine... Problem is, I don't know this guy and his phone is always engaged so I can't get hold of him and I want this old machine OUT of my house very soon.

Other news: I just went garage sale-ing again and bought six plants and fifteen books for ten dollars. And a straightening iron for twenty dollars (not from a garage sale). And petrol for an insane price, before it becomes more insane later this week due to oil company profiteering (don't tell me it's not, unless you can explain how the North Korea missile issue should affect how much I pay for petrol in regional Australia). And I forgot to buy orange juice.

The new 'do

2006-07-08T00:04:00.000+10:00

I don't usually (read that as ever) post pictures of myself, and it's really not normal to smile at a camera and snap away when no-one else is in the room (I took about fifty photos trying to get something that looked almost natural - and the left was "my best side"). So ignore me and look at my new hair cut, which was done last night. It looked fabulous in the salon, when Tara - the genius who cuts my hair and the first hairdresser to whom I've felt comfortable saying, "do what you want" - showed me four different ways to style my hair. She's so cool - she'll style it, mess it up and then make me do it. Of course I can't and I just end up looking like I have some muscular impediment when I try to twist my hair, then stick bobby pins in backwards while looking in the mirror when I do it - and who can do anything the correct way when looking in the mirror. Anyway, the picture here is the product of the "messy look" plus wearing a bicycle helmet while cycling home from the salon. Tara put a colour in too, though it didn't come out too well in the picture. It's called "coffee shop" and there are about four or five different colours in there, including blonde, caramel, chocolate and mocha.

This morning - my hair looked nothing like this. Or the three other styles I was shown. I think I need Tara to visit me every morning before work to do my hair.

2006-07-06T00:07:00.000+10:00

I'm back in the world of blogging and back into Thursday Thirteen. I've spent the past couple of weeks with my sister and her family while they escaped the cold and headed north. This picture was taken in the rainforest during their visit.

This week is thirteen of the highs and lows of my break.

High - I got to spend fun time with my sister and her gorgeous kids for the first time in six months.
Low - The time was all too short.
High - We got to go places that I don't go to enough - the beaches, rainforest, beaches (oh, I already said that), and even just the nearby waterfront (called The Strand) - a lot.
Low - six people and a five seater car means two trips to places - or just a few people going. Luckily I live really close to a lot of places.
High - Frosty Mango - on the way to the rainforest. The kids said the mango flavour was the best ice cream they had tasted (made from real mangoes, of course).
Low - the effect of Frosty Mango - and all the other over-indulgences - on my hips. I have forgotten what exercise is, but need to remember fast as my clothes are feeling a little tighter.
High - all the fantastic photos I managed to take of the family. It's impossible to get a bad shot of those kids - and I took heaps.
Low - almost losing all of the photos when my computer decided it had had enough and the hard drive went AWOL. A sleepless night and a call to Dell the next morning had it all back on track. Then everything was backed up and I could smile again.
High - the art. The kids have painted six canvases for my wall - and they are fabulous masterpieces that should be worth a fortune (well, they are priceless to me). I just have to decide where to hang them - and get around to actually hanging them.
Low - afterwards, I bought more canvases for them to create (I have another blank wall) but we never got around to painting them. I guess I'll just have to do something to them myself.
High - having brilliant weather the whole time so we could do almost anything. And that also meant that the washing could be done each day.
Low - the washing machine deciding it couldn't handle the extra work and seizing up. Giving me the opportunity to go washing machine shopping that same day. And the machine got delivered today and it is one fun, fancy piece of equipment. And I again have clean towels (yay!!).
High - well, the whole two weeks was a high. I'm just sad it had to end - and that I had to return to work. But even all the lows weren't that low... does that make sense???

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More snaps from our days at the beach

2006-07-04T20:56:00.000+10:00

starfish invasion

sand

Mmmm - the clear waters of Cleveland Bay

Balls of sand produced by the crabs on the beach

Baskets to catch the coconuts

Afternoon at Balgal Beach

We also went to the beach

2006-06-26T11:22:00.000+10:00

And the girls had a great time collecting shells, while Luca had fun throwing the shells in the water - and getting drenched in the process. This may be the tropics, but it's not that warm in the water.

We've also been to the waterpark on The Strand a couple of times, had a bbq, went to a free open air movie last night - some Looney Tunes thing, complete with Bugs Bunny, Tweety, Sylvester and Tas walking through the crowd.

The family are on Magnetic Island today while I stay here and catch up on boring stuff - paying bills, fixing my bike (never cycle with a flat tyre..!!) and backing up everything on my computer. Had a major scare last night as everything shut down and no hard drive could be detected. A call to the Dell tech support solved all my problems, and I am now almost a computer geek myself. Well, I have the direct phone number for support in case something else goes wrong. But everyone, pay attention! BACK UP YOUR STUFF NOW!!!!! I was heartbreakingly close to losing the 200-odd pictures and hours (okay, minutes) of video I've recorded of the kids!

Where we've been

2006-06-26T11:21:00.000+10:00

We went to the rainforest where it was, as you may expect, raining. Hence the foggy pictures (it may have been my fault for getting the camera wet...)

I never thought I'd see a nappy on my chopping board. Don't worry, it was clean!!! Just a sign that there are children in my house at the moment.

Away...

2006-06-25T11:52:00.000+10:00

I'll be out of blog-action for a while. My sister and her children are staying with me for two weeks so I've been having fun showing them around where I live. Will catch up when I can.

It's done

2006-06-19T22:32:00.000+10:00

The red quilt (and white and blue) is finally finished. And just a couple of days before it will be needed (I think). Quilting this one wasn't nearly as painful as some of my other quilts have been, but I was glad to get it finished.

THURSDAY THIRTEEN

2006-06-14T18:22:00.000+10:00

I'd like to put in a fancy title, but Blogger is REALLY making me mad now. I managed to load up thirteen photos, but do you think I can load up the title photo? Of course not. So instead, I give you a long-winded rant about why you have no super-cool TT title. Okay. Rant is over

If you were hoping for the Thursday Thirteen of last week - you know, the phenomenal, change the world, never to be able to live without, seminal and moving Thursday Thirteen that I couldn't load because Blogger was being, well, Blogger - then I'm really sorry to disappoint you. You see, I WAS LYING! Blogger was being a bastard, but I used that as an excuse to not have to sit down and think of said groundbreaking TT for a while. And by the time I was ready to load up it was already Friday (how did that happen??). Anyway, I am now back and refreshed, especially after the long weekend (Queen's birthday holiday was Monday) and have produced, if not a world first, at least a pictoral Thursday Thirteen. This week I present-

Thirteen things hanging from my walls (and ceiling, in the case of #12)

1. A mask that I bought in Swaziland last century (mid 1999). I almost didn't get it into the country (Australia has super-strict quarantine laws). This is hanging in my lounge room.

2. A painting done by my sister. This is actually one in a series of three. It's pretty small - postcard size - and hangs with the other two near the front door.

3. A mirror I bought from a second hand junk sale at university a few years ago. I'm impressed that this shot didn't have glare from the flash in it. I'm not impressed that the reflection is of the ugly air conditioner on the other side of the lounge room.

4. A cork/tile thing that a friend brought back from Portugal for me. I'm not too sure what it's for, but it hangs in my kitchen.

5. A photo hanging in the bathroom. Apologies for the flash in the middle (or could it be a ghost....?). This was taken in Mossman, far north Queensland. I went to Cairns to see a Jack Johnson, Xavier Rudd concert and detoured with a few friends to this gorgeous part of Mossman River. The water was icy cold, but it was the middle of the hot summer - lovely.

6. A calendar full of recipes of Mexican food. This month is Fruit Filled Chimichangas. Do you think I've made any of these recipes?? (The answer is no).

7. My artwork (ahem...). This is hanging in the bathroom. I have recently changed the colours in there from orange (ahem, again) to purples and whites. Which is why the turtle I bought for Luca (see earlier post) is white - I couldn't have a blue or red turtle ruining the colour coordination!!

8. Another photo of a photo (and another apology about the flash). This is Hinchinbrook Island - very close to the mainland, but very secluded because there is only one resort on the island and the rest is national park. It is crazily expensive to get there. But stunning. Many people go there to walk the Thorsburn Trail - it takes 3-5 days and is fantastic, I hear. Apart from the rats that will eat your food if you don't string it off the ground at night!

9. My nieces and nephew. In the spare bedroom. Such gorgeous pictures (such gorgeous kids). And look, no flash glare!!

10. My hairdryer. Well, it IS hanging on the wall. In the bathroom. Actually close to the sink. Very close to the sink. Maybe I should read that warning tag.

11. My artwork. Again. I wonder if this would be worth anything after I'm gone. Nah, I don't think so either. This is actually not quite so blue. It's hanging in the spare room and is part of the purple theme I've got going in there. Not that I like purple or anything.

12. A mobile I made. It also hangs in the spare room. My friend saw this and liked it so I made her a similar one for the new baby. Apparently he likes it, too.

13. Yes, the spare room again. And a clock I bought for 99c off eBay. Postage cost me $4!! I haven't changed the battery in a while so it's been 11:45 for a week or two now.

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weekend project

2006-06-12T17:51:00.000+10:00

I say that this project took a weekend, but really - I bought this coffee table from a garage sale ($5) about two months ago! I didn't take a "before" picture (imagine a two year old went to town with purple paint and something else (!!) under those tiles), so here are the "in-between" and "after" shots. With Hello being what it is, the pictures loaded up in reverse order (no, it was NOT my fault...!!). I sanded, repainted, varnished, and finally finished tiling it today. And now I don't much like the colours....

2006-06-12T17:49:00.000+10:00

Home grown lettuce. Grown by my neighbour, not me...

For Luca

2006-06-10T23:33:00.000+10:00

Please note that today's big purchase did not come from a garage sale. There are some things that I have to draw the line at and a second hand potty is one of them.

Only a week and a bit before the mob arrive. And I take some time off work. I can't wait.

Blame it on Blogger

2006-06-08T22:08:00.000+10:00

I had a spectacular Thursday Thirteen lined up. I set aside time this morning to load up this Thursday Thirteen to end all Thursday Thirteens. I was so excited. I couldn't wait. I was ready to take the day off work just to play Thursday Thirteen all day.

And blogger was down for maintenance.

I can't complain too much about blogger (it is free, after all). But to deprive the blogging world of this phenomenal Thursday Thirteen? Well, that is grounds for a small bit of whingeing. But don't worry, I'm finished now.

My visitors

2006-06-04T12:53:00.000+10:00

Kerri has been posting some amazing pictures of her New York springtime, with many stunning shots of hummingbirds. I mentioned we had something similar in the sunbird and here they are. The first two pictures are actually the first ones I ever took with my camera. A pair of sunbirds regularly visit my front garden and this day the male was very obliging and let me take these shots. Neither he nor his partner have been that friendly since, and will visit the garden and stay until they see the camera - then they're off.

These photographs I got off the web - http://www.birdway.com.au. The one below is the female. The male has a brilliant blue throat that sparkles in the right light.

They're a bit bigger than a hummingbird, and don't hover for as long. They nest around people's homes, with the nest hanging from tree branches - or even a piece of dangling string! And they build about seven nests - six are decoys and one will have the eggs in it. Seems like a lot of effort to me. Or maybe that's just the avian version of affluence - they have one main home and six holiday homes....?

My finds

2006-06-03T08:43:00.000+10:00

So, as I said earlier, I was going to go garage saleing. After two houses, barely any petrol in the car and likewise money in the purse, I wondered what I was doing and decided I'd had enough. So I headed back home, via one last house and found this. A chest and a bookcase for the ridiculous price of $35 for the pair of them. They even delivered them to my house when I realised that I couldn't fit either of them in my tiny car. I've now had to rearrange the living room so that I can fit everything in and it's still a pretty tight squeeze. Pretty soon I'm going to have to have a garage sale of my own.

And the other day I went shopping and found these. Not nearly as fancy as Mar's new shoes, but I've already worn them all around (and outside of) town in the week that I've had them. Every girl needs a pair of red shoes, says me.

They're only cheap and will probably wear out/fall apart fairly soon-ish, but I'll get a lot of wear out of them until that happens, I think.

TT wrap up

2006-06-03T06:17:00.000+10:00

Well, here is the overwhelming consensus resulting from my Thursday Thirteen:

Take the music off your blog.

Unless it is music I like. And unless there is a stop button near the top of the page.

But really, no-one need worry about the content of their blog - you post what you like and if others (me) don't like it, that is their (my) problem - which is what I do with my blog. Am I just now giving unsolicited advice...? Hell, if you can't express yourself on a blog, where can you? There is an official "soapbox" in the middle of town where you can get up and have a rant for half an hour - but if you do, everyone thinks you're nuts and they get up and walk quickly away. And it's Townsville, not some huge metropolis, so your audience is small to begin with. And here, no-one really cares what you think, anyway. But I digress. I meant to say that none of you need worry - if I don't like a blog, I don't comment on it. Simple. So you're all gems in my book. (Though there are some blogs that I do like and don't comment on.... how deep is this hole now, and where are the steps to get out??)

I did want to add that I was really impressed that almost everyone left a comment as well as a tag. Yes, after posting about how I want the tags AND the comments, there were still a couple of tag-and-runners in there. But I am over it, truly I am. They obviously didn't read my seminal post, and their lives will be that much more deprived because of it.

Enough ramble - a shopping centre is having a 4-day shoe sale. And there are a few garage sales I want to check out - I'm thinking if I actually go to some of these early, there will be some cool stuff to snap up.

Thursday Thirteen

2006-05-31T23:22:00.000+10:00

Am being super-efficient this week. Have my TT already written - it was done yesterday. And it's only Wednesday today (almost Thursday). This wasn't done as a result of any forward thinking - I was reading a couple of blogs that were REALLY annoying me - it was the awful music that I couldn't switch off that gave me the inspiration....

Thirteen things about blogs that bug me. And #3 is about unsolicited advice, so my exception to that rule is this: don't do any of these things. Please? Well, it's your blog, do what you will...

1. Music that comes on when you go to a site. And you can’t find where to turn it off. So you’re left listening to something that the blog owner may love, but you find torturous. Worse is when you do turn it off, but go to another link on that blog and it starts again. And even worse is when the music suddenly comes on and scares the crap out of you. I don’t want to have to turn the sound off on my computer, but sometimes it’s all I can think to do to get rid of the noise. Now if they played music I liked…..

2. Bitching. My God, some people can get in all out wars over a person’s point of view. Makes me wonder if blogging turns us from mature, kind, caring, sharing adults into bratty three year olds fighting in a sand pit.

3. Unsolicited advice. If I am told, “you should do this ……,” or “you won’t like that …..,” or “don’t think that, it’s wrong,” then you can bet that I will do just what the advice tells me not to. If someone wants to suggest something to me, suggest it. Don’t tell me how to live/think/feel etc.

4. Maybe this is part of number three – people assuming that they know me better than I know me. I barely know me, so how can you know me so well? Hmmm…what a well structured sentence that last one was.

5. People leaving a link on my Thursday Thirteen but not a comment. Is it so hard? Those of you who do this, you know who you are. And I do too.

6. The word verification when you leave a comment on some blogs. Not only can these be really long, but they’re often in a font that is virtually illegible, so you’re bound to get it wrong because you cant tell if “vv” is two v’s or one w. Why can’t it just be the same basic font all the time?

7. Ads. Okay, some bloggers make money out of their blog through ads. But do they have to have ads that pop up all over the screen all the time?

8. Blogs that take forever to load. I learnt my lesson a few months ago (thank you Blog Olympics Training Camp) – reduce the number of entries on a page and it loads heaps quicker. Heaps quicker… yes, English is my strong suit.

9. Grossness without prior warning. I don’t want to have images of drunken people in all manner of embarrassing positions burning holes into my brain when I least expect it. Let me know there is foulness ahead (and maybe indicate the type and degree of foulness) and let me decide whether to proceed or not through the rest of the post.

10. Stolen images. If you’re gonna pinch a picture off the web and post it, it should be referenced. That way I’ll realise that your photography skills rank down there with mine (poor, but I have a good camera) and the person/site that took the picture gets the credit for it. Fair?

11. To join in with the one above, when I find that someone has stolen something from my blog without letting me know first. Which is kind of flattering in a way. Most people ask or let me know before they paste a post into their site and that’s cool. Let me know and I’ll give you the okay, but don’t steal my words or my images without telling me. This statement makes it look like I’m super-popular and it happens to me all the time. It’s actually only happened a few times that I know of. And these people have not made millions from my genius. But if it ever does, LOOK OUT!!

12. Time wasting. Reading blogs makes time run away from me. And before I know it, I’ve spent an hour sitting in front of the computer. This is especially painful when it’s a gorgeous day outside and I could have spent that time going for a swim. Or, more likely, going to the beach and sitting on my backside and watching people fitter than me go for a swim. But that’s not really an annoying feature of a blog, rather a sign that the blog owner has a fan in me.

13. The fact that the blogs that I love reading all the time just don’t get updated often enough. But maybe that one is my problem.

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Essentially English

2006-05-28T22:34:00.000+10:00

A friend won two tickets to see a concert put on by the Barrier Reef Orchestra here in Townsville. It was called Essentially English and featured the works of ten English (or almost, hence Essentially English) composers. Since my friends boyfriend "would rather die than listen to that crap," I went along. It was an afternoon of decadence, where we had champagne on arrival (and at the interval, and after the show) and pretended we knew all about the music, touted as "a sparkling afternoon of musical gems from England's finest composers, that will remind you of an English summer." I have to say that Greensleeves sounds so much better performed by an orchestra than it does when played by the Mr Whippy (ice cream) van that prowls the suburban streets in summer luring kids out of their homes to demand overpriced pig fat ice creams (but yes, I did love them once). The orchestra's version was even better than the way it's played during the credits of Lassie. We were allowed (or forced) to participate during one piece - some story about the English and Scottish hating each other so they decide to build a big stone wall and as soon as they're finished the Vikings come along so the English and the Scottish throw all the stones that they had just built the wall with at the Vikings, driving them away, but then they have no stones left so decide it would be easier just to live in peace than rebuild the wall. I think it was called The Stone Wall. Anyway, it was all pretty good. Except one fairly new piece that everyone was raving about and I thought it was awful - it just sounded like every instrument was out of tune and they spent half an hour just warming up. I'd say the name of it, but I can't remember it ... unfortunately. There was also a newborn that didn't much like the atmosphere. And a seven year old thumb-slurper (I have never heard/seen someone suck their thumb so loudly/revoltingly) who kept complaining to her mother that "the songs are taking too long." Those three annoyances aside, it was a great evening. Now I am ready, and almost eager (I did say almost) to start the week.

Thursday Thirteen #I-Don't-Know

2006-05-25T19:42:00.000+10:00

My sister and her kids arrive here in less than a month. I am very excited to have some of my family see where I live. I've been thinking of places to show off to the southerners. So here are thirteen suggestions (by no means definite) things to do when the family arrive. Hope I don't sound like a travel brochure.

Go to the full moon drum circle on The Strand (beachfront) that will occur.... at full moon (22nd of June). I think Michelle will be here then. I hope so. It's so much fun for people of all ages - it attracts a couple of hundred people each time.
Visit my old home - Magnetic Island. The beaches are great; there's wildlife galore, particularly wallabies, koalas and possums (hmmm); and it's just half an hour from the mainland.
Visit ReefHQ - an aquarium with a huge coral reef display, and lots of interactive stuff for the kids.
Billabong Sanctuary - a big animal park where you can cuddle koalas and snakes and watch the big crocs - and all the usual stuff you do at an animal park.
Airlie Beach - gateway to the Whitsundays. A huge man-made lagoon is here, perfect for the kids to swim in (and so much better than the mud flat that is the real beach).
Whitehaven Beach - on Whitsunday Island, not far from Airlie Beach. When you picture the Whitsundays (or any tropical Australian beach), you'll picture Whitehaven. Think a couple walking along a beach on a cigarette ad. That's it.
Paluma. This is the southernmost part of the wet tropics (rainforest). Nice and cool with waterfalls and crystal clear water (one of the creeks is actually called Crystal Creek).
Frosty Mango. On the way to Paluma - an icecreamery with icecreams made from tropical fruits. A MUST.
Atherton tablelands. Dairy farming country surrounded by rainforests. Yungaburra has a great Swiss-Australian (??) restaurant. And in Malanda you can look for tree kangaroos.
The Strand waterpark. A big free park with now swimming pools. Just lots of sprinklers and water falling from a huge bucket... I can't explain it too well, but lots of fun for kids (big and small).
Charters Towers. This is really getting towards the outback. It's mining country and cowboy country. I've only been there a couple of times and am not really sure what there is to do there. The rivers are great to swim in - and because it's inland, there's no crocs (well, no salties at least).
Bowen, Dingo Beach area. Lots of sea turtles around here. And not much else to be quite honest. Though lots of mangoes during mango season. Which is in summer. Shame.
Relaxing at home while the kids watch a DVD and Michelle and I have a few glasses of wine and some good food.

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What I've been doing lately

2006-05-24T18:10:00.000+10:00

What I've been drinking

What I've been baking (rye bread)

What I've been sewing (the latest work in progress)

2006-05-18T06:28:00.000+10:00

Thanks to the TT site for the banner.

I don't know what to write thirteen things about. Life here is still mad busy and I never get time to finish anything these days. I guess this could be thirteen things I have to get done before my sister and her family visits towards the end of next month.

ironing - lots of it.
cleaning - more of it.
quilting - need to finish the current quilt.
clean the car - for the first time in a couple of months.
service the car.

book time off from work.

pay the bills - so I have phone and electricity when they're here (and always, I guess).

remove the squashed gecko that is caught in the back door jam.

remove the spider that is living behind the tv.

find some kid-like things to do while they're here.

hope the weather is not too hot (for them) or cold (for me). okay, hoping is not something that I need to do, but I will.

hope the stingers are gone so we can go swimming in the ocean.

hope they love it up here.

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Cyclone Larry update

2006-05-15T18:42:00.000+10:00

Whoa! Where have I been? Helping out with the baby. Working far too much. Driving around the north. I even forgot (yes, FORGOT) about the last Thursday Thirteen. Will try to remember the next and make it extra special.

Yesterday I decided to take a trip up to Innisfail. Cyclone Larry hit several weeks ago now, so I'm not sure if it was catastrophe or recovery I was seeing. I didn't take any pictures of people's homes (I figured they had been through enough and didn't need their personal tragedy plastered across the internet - even if it was on my little blog), though I did notice two that had no roof and no walls. With cars in the driveway as though people were actually living there. There were still tarps on many roofs, though many more had been repaired. This was obvious by the fact that the old, decrepit Queenslanders often had shiny new tin roofs (no, this is not the land of tile or Colorbond roofing). I didn't get many pictures of the rainforest either, though the recovery looks to be happening pretty quickly. Many road signs were twisted pieces of metal on the side of the road, or they just didn't exist anymore. And one thing that I didn't expect were signs all over the place warning drivers to slow down because homeless and disoriented cassowaries had been sighted in the area. Though I didn't see any. Dammit.

Possibly the best thing to happen to a McDonalds sign?

Innisfail hotel.

This tree, in an Innisfail park, would have spread at least 20 metres from the trunk. Now it is just branches with a bit of regrowth. At least it's recovering....

Banana casualties. This picture doesn't show it, but at the base are countless small, unripe bananas, rotting.

Twisted metal on the roof of a huge shed.

I don't think this place was cleaned up yet. Or, if it was, I'd hate to see it just after the cyclone hit.

More snapped branches.

A survivor.

And the dramas don't end yet...

2006-05-07T22:29:00.000+10:00

Baby has overcome his traumatic birth, his blood sugar problems and his jaundice. He went home today. But has to return to hospital on Tuesday to be fitted with a brace for at least six weeks to correct hip dysplasia. His mum said she thought he may have this problem, as she had it in a milder form (it can be hereditary) and she heard/felt his hip clicking in utero. It can be corrected, and they're grateful for all they have, but no parent needs one thing after another like this. On the positive side, mum and dad have said they are doing really well so far and are enjoying their first night together as a family.

The new baby

2006-05-05T21:20:00.000+10:00

Thankyou to everyone for all the good wishes about the new baby. Things didn't really go according to mum's birth plan (which said that in the most extreme case she'd take the gas). She ended up labouring for 22 hours, had every drug offered and ended up having a caesarean. The most effective pain relief was the bath with a high(ish) pressure shower nozzle on her back and stomach. This was more effective than even the epidural, which didn't work. I repeat, she had a c-section and the epidural didn't work. So delivering baby hurt. A lot. My heart goes out to her for all she went through, and all she wanted. But when it was discovered that he was 4.6kg (10lb 3oz) and 51cm long, with a HUGE head, everyone soon figured that this child was never going to enter the world the conventional way.

Many big babies have problems maintaining their blood sugar levels and this little (big) guy is no exception. He's been on a glucose drip since a few hours after birth and, all going well, he'll be off that by tomorrow night. This picture may look nasty, but it's just the canula on his tiny hand. He looks like a mutant in the special care unit because all his room mates are at least half his size. Though this doesn't mean their lungs don't work just as well....

2006-05-04T17:19:00.000+10:00

Thirteen things we should say around the office... and thirteen things we do say instead. Warning: contains swearing.

1.
Try saying: I think you could use more training
Instead of: You don't know what the fuck you're doing

2.
Try saying: She's an agressive go-getter
Instead of: She's a fucking bitch.

3.
Try saying: Perhaps I can work late
Instead of: And when the fuck do you expect me to do this?

4.
Try saying: I'm certain that isn't feasible
Instead of: No fucking way

5.
Try saying: Really?
Instead of: You've got to be shitting me!

6.
Try saying: Perhaps you should check with.....
Instead of: Tell someone who gives a shit

7.
Try saying: I wasn't involved in the project
Instead of: It's not my fucking problem

8.
Try saying: I'm not sure this can be implemented
Instead of: This shit won't work

9.
Try saying: I'll try to schedule that
Instead of: Why the fuck didn't you tell me sooner?

10.
Try saying: He's not familiar with the issues
Instead of: He's got his head up his ass

11.
Try saying: I love a challenge
Instead of: This fucking job sucks

12.
Try saying: You want me to take care of that?
Instead of: Who the fuck died and made you boss?

13.
Try saying: I'm a bit overloaded at the moment
Instead of: Fuck it, I'm on salary.

Oh, and following on from the last TT, my friend had a baby boy yesterday by c-section, after a 22 hour labour. He was 52cm long and 4.6kg (10lb 3oz). Ouch!!

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2006-04-27T16:55:00.000+10:00

I was going to write about thirteen things about waiting for a friend to give birth. I even got to number 12. Then I thought, that's her story to tell (but she doesn't have a blog) and I should come up with something else. Ummmm. How about Thirteen things I have done for this baby already - and it's not born yet. Nor is it mine. (See previous posts if you're confused). By the way, my friend said her waters broke yesterday, but the doctor disagreed. He said that the leakage was backwaters. WHAT THE HELL ARE BACKWATERS??? I think they just invent terms. She got her membranes stripped today, so things should be moving along now. Or soon...

I have made it two quilts. I'm not really happy with either of them, but have run out of time to make a third.
I have made it four burp cloths. They're cute. Too cute for a baby to puke on, but that's okay.
I have bought it a book on baby massage. That is aimed at the baby getting the massage, not giving it.
I have been dragged to baby shops all around Townsville by my friend, because her partner refused to go. I should have refused, too.
I have given vehement disapproval over some shockers of names and the child should thank me one day for that alone.
I have promised to show it's mum how to put a cloth nappy on it (they'll only use disposables in the hospital). And my friend has never held a baby, let alone changed a nappy.
I have had two sleepless nights, waiting for action that never eventuated
I have taken it's mother swimming on several occasions as it's the only exercise she can get now.
I have done two belly casts of the baby's mother and neither of them worked (number two is still in progress). Always use a belly kit.
I have agreed to be there for the baby's arrival. I have agreed to stay there no matter how grossed out I get. I have agreed to hide how grossed out I am (if I am).
I have agreed to miss a day of work to be at the birth.
I have the list of phone numbers to call the families (all over the world) while the new family bond. Though I think the news would be better coming from the new Dad. Maybe that one will change at the time.
I am seriously hoping that this birth does not change my resolve about never wanting children because I just don't want them (reasons are many). Okay, that one isn't really something I've done for the baby, but I'm out of ideas.
...

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...
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2006-04-26T18:37:00.000+10:00

I was going to write this in-depth post about Anzac Day (yes, it is a national holiday, like Memorial Day in the US) and what it's all about. But a good friend has just gone into labour and I am her birth partner so I'm off to play doula. Which I have never done before. Am excited and daunted. Wish me (and her) lots of luck.

But before I go, the Anzac biscuit recipe:

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
1 cup sugar (DON'T forget the sugar)
1 cup desiccated coconut
125g butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1 tbsp boiling water

Set oven to 150C.
Mix oats, flour, sugar and coconut together. Don't forget the sugar.
Melt the butter and golden syrup.
Mix the bicarb soda with the water and add to the butter/syrup mix.
Add to the dry ingredients.
Place a teaspoon of mixture on a greased baking tray. Allow room for spreading.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until they're golden brown.
After taking them out, loosen them while warm and let cool on the tray.
Makes about 35.

Meh, I'm still waiting on the phone call to go and assist the birth - seems nothing is happening right now...

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The best place to find out about the ANZAC tradition is here. And if you can get your hands on the movie Gallipoli (has Mel Gibson in it), watch it. Is one of the best movies my school ever forced me to watch. Basically, on Anzac Day, we remember those who fought for Australia (and New Zealand) from WW1 onwards. The dawn service commemorates the time of day, on 25 April, 1915 that troops came ashore at Gallipoli, Turkey. The service is often very moving, particularly when you hear lines like these:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
(part of The Ode, which is often read out on Anzac Day)

Those heroes that shed their blood
And lost their lives...
You are now living in the soil of a friendly country,
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies
And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side
Here in this country of ours...
You, the mothers,
Who sent their sons from faraway countries
Wipe away your tears;
Your sons are now lying in our bosom
And are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land
They have become our sons as well.
A speech that Ataturk (who founded the Turkish republic) said in 1934.

In honour of Anzac Day...

2006-04-25T21:44:00.000+10:00

...I baked some Anzac biscuits. This first lot are the sugar-free variety. Yes, I know that you can't make Anzac biscuits without sugar. I had a friend helping me. She was meant to mix the dry ingredients. She forgot the sugar. It's all her fault. (She is pregnant and her due date is today, so I suppose I can forgive her for having other things on her mind...)

This is the second batch. These have sugar in them. They're soft and sweet and taste just as they should. And they look as they should as well, not like the crumbly rocks above.

I celebrated Anzac Day (can you actually celebrate Anzac Day?) by going for a long run in the morning. I would have gone to a dawn service, but it was - you know - AT DAWN. My run started at about 7:00 am. Dawn was around 5:00 am. That's two sleeping hours there. I did watch some of the parades on TV. And I made said biscuits. So I feel I have marked the occasion well enough. For a person who couldn't get their lazy ass out of bed to go to the dawn service.

2006-04-22T22:31:00.000+10:00

Remember the nest I saved from destruction? This is whose life I saved. Nothing so exotic as a sunbird or anything. I think this is a baby sparrow. At least it's not an Indian Myna. I took the picture through the blinds - hence the fuzzy lines in the foreground.

I came home tonight to find an intruder. Green and slimy and about 5cm long. But I had the last laugh: my floor is so filthy it got caught up in a strand of my hair!!!

Same little guy, enjoying the baby quilt I finished a few weeks ago. After posing for a few more shots, he let me take him outside, into the rain.

And lastly, another flower from the front garden.

2006-04-19T23:15:00.000+10:00

Thirteen places I really want to visit one day:

India and Sri Lanka. And do (among other things) a tiger safari from the back of an elephant.
The Kokoda Track. Have heard many stories, now need to experience it for myself.
Antarctica. In the summer. Sunshine all day and all night.
Sicily. I went to Italy, but never went further south than Naples. And I wish I had.
South America. Overland from top to bottom. Or bottom to top. I'm not fussy.
The Marquesa Islands. I know very little about them. But I hear they are gorgeous.
West Africa. When it's safe. And when I learn French. Maybe I'll go before either of those happen.
The Galapagos Islands. Have always been fascinated by the marine iguanas. And all the other life that abounds there.
Prague. Was so close and yet, so far. I never made it there and wish I had. There are SO many things I'd love to see.
Paris. For reasons, see number 9.
Gallipoli (in Turkey). But not on Anzac Day. Some time when it's quieter and the Aussie tourist hype is not quite as great.
China. Would like to walk the Great Wall from one end to the other.
Lake Eyre, South Australia. A huge salt lake (when there is water in it). The bird life is (apparently) amazing.

There are many more. But I'm at 13 already.

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TAGGED!!

2006-04-17T21:23:00.000+10:00

Oooooh, I love those words! Melli over at Insanity Prevails has tagged me for a six weird things meme (I don't think it actually has a title, but anyway). I'm to find six weird things about myself and then tag six people to do this too. Fun, fun. But I'm just so normal. How can I find six weird things?

1. I just noticed that it's weird that the word 'weird' doesn't follow the "I before E except after C rule." Okay, I'm not talking about weird things about me here, just how pedantic I am about spelling. Maybe that's weird thing number 1 - bad writing (spelling and grammer) drives me INSANE. Reading a few errors in a blog is fine - who can be bothered to go back and correct a typo once the post has been published? Not me! Often. But if I'm at work and I'm reading a document that hasn't been checked for errors, I start to get palpitations and headaches and an urge to call the author and abuse them. I haven't acted on that ... so far. And those who only use the spellchecker to correct their documents and nothing else (this has particular relevance if a person has used US English throughout their work instead of Australian English because there are SO MANY differences between US and Australian spelling). Okay, spelling rant is over.

2. I have heaps of recipes. Many from the internet. I even have a folder on my computer labelled Recipes. And in that are sub-folders divided into entree, mains, desserts, etc. And I HATE cooking. I think that, of these, the only recipe I used was one for paella - and I'm not even a big fan of seafood. Which leads me to...

3. I recently found out I have a cholesterol reading of 4.1. Which is really normal and healthy and I should be proud of it and all. But my doctor told me I should eat more fish, anyway. I don't like to eat fish (love the taste but have overfishing issues). And I'm not too keen on the doctor. I bought fish oil capsules so I don't have to eat the fish (and hope I am not contributing to global overfishing by doing so). And am changing doctors. Not because of her weird advice, just because I think she's not very nice.

4. I quilt a lot. And started because my brother's ex started doing it and I thought, "anything she can do I can do better." And I can. But I'm not catty, or anything. Really I'm not.... I just started and found it was relaxing. And functional. Well, not so much when you live in the tropics and have a need for a quilt maybe one week out of the year, but still...

5. I can't give away any quilts unless I make them with the intention of giving them away. Consequently, I have a LOT of quilts in my house. So when people come to visit, they'll alway be rugged up and will never get cold. Forget the fact that they won't get cold because it's the tropics and anything below 20˚C starts rumours that the next ice age has begun, and speculation that global warming is just another government conspiracy theory...

6. Even though I lived overseas for seven years, I have an amazing urge to up and leave again. There are so many places I have to see. My next adventure will be a tiger safari from the back of an elephant, followed by wandering aimlessly through Sri Lanka and India. But dammit, I have to work. So am hunting for a sugar daddy. Or a winning lottery ticket.

Woohoo! That's six weird things about me. Trust me, there are SO MANY more. I now have to tag six others. You don't have to answer these, but I chose you guys coz I'd really like to see six weird things about you all. And aside from ShellyC, I don't know much about any of you. The six people I tag will be:

1. ShellyC

2. doubleknot

3. surfing free

4. Sandy

5. Lady Rose

6. Wendy (I really want to know six weird things that happened on your o/s trip...)

Note that I was going to tag Carmen, but she has been tagged eight million (okay, three) times already and I didn't want her to feel TOO popular :)

The new hedge

2006-04-15T16:10:00.000+10:00

And this is the hedge out the front of the house (see previous post). The birds nest is up the top. Yes, it looks ridiculous, but what could I do? I didn't want to knock it down because that would be a few less native birds - and the Indian mynas are doing an excellent job of decimating the native bird population without my support.

Random stuff

2006-04-15T15:19:00.000+10:00

As the title suggests, this will be a random bunch of stuff that has happened over the past week. Last weekend I went to Bunnings for - well, I forget, and it's not really that important anyway - and found this little guy faithfully waiting in the car for it's owner.

Oh, I did buy some seedlings, which started flowering this morning, so I have a little bit of prettyness near the front door. Still need to go and get some vegie seedlings at some stage - now that the weather is starting to cool down a little, some plants might just survive longer than two weeks.

This morning I decided to trim the hedge out the front. The first time I did this, it took forever and my hands were wounded for days. Now, it doesn't take nearly as long, and I'm not quite so delicate (or maybe that's because I just cut off shoots instead of whole branches now). Anyway, I was hacking away, and was close to finishing when I noticed this. The nest was so well hidden, and had I seen it in the beginning I probably wouldn't have started cutting. Now, I did put in a picture to show what the end product looked like but, my issues with Hello being what they are, it's not there. I'll include that in a minute...

And changing the subject completely, I have now banned myself from buying any more fabric. Except when I find stuff I really like. And when there is a sale on. Like here - this stuff cost me $1.50 (there is about a metre of each). Don't know what I'll do with it yet.

And this stuff was on sale also. May be the next quilt. Or, it may be the next in the quilt queue. That keeps growing!!

But I did manage to finish this yesterday morning. Didn't have enough fabric for the binding that I wanted (and only realised this after I had cut out, sewn and ironed the binding and found out I was about 1m short), so I raced to the shop where I had bought the stuff and, of course, they had run out of that fabric. But I was lucky enough to get something that matched. The clamshell quilting on the borders was inspired by the amazing work of Finn (hope you don't mind me borrowing your idea, Finn) and I love it as something different around the edges. I always say that a quilt is not "real" unless it has some mistakes in it. So best not to zoom in too close because, my God, there are some whoppers of mistakes in there. I just don't understand how, when you have pieces of fabric exactly the same size and you sew them with exactly the same amount of seam allowance and then you join the strips of pieced fabric together, you can end up with a 2cm discrepancy. I'm not kidding. But this quilt has taken me months and I'm just glad it's done.

Thursday Thirteen

2006-04-12T23:31:00.000+10:00

This picture was taken at the second-hand shop where I usually buy most of my books. So here are thirteen books I have on my bookshelf that I am yet to read.

Silent spring - Rachel Carson
The sound of one hand clapping - Richard Flanagan
Cry freedom - John Bailey
My brilliant career - Miles Franklin
The unbearable lightness of being - Milan Kundera
Maya - Jostein Gaarder
The grapes of wrath - John Steinbeck
The magus - John Fowles
Self - Yann Martel
The sea - John Banville
Eucalyptus - Murray Bail
The Canterbury tales - Geoffrey Chaucer
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

And that is nowhere near all of them...!

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Look what Larry did!!

2006-04-08T06:32:00.000+10:00

This is the latest Cyclone Larry email making the rounds. I've been sent this twice, so far. Not sure if it's in really poor taste (as opposed to just average poor taste), but it's the only picture of the devastation that I have. To those who were not aware, about 80% of Australia's banana crops were destroyed in Cyclone Larry.

Thursday Thirteen

2006-04-05T22:55:00.000+10:00

A quick Thursday Thirteen (again posting stupidly early - or late on Wednesday night).

This is a picture of The Strand (Townsville waterfront) taken on Monday night with the camera on my phone.

Thirteen reasons why I'm glad summer is coming to an end

The mosquitoes leave.
The sandflies leave.
The box jellyfish leave.
The stinger nets (swimming enclosures to prevent getting stung by the deadly box jellies) get pulled in.
The cyclone threat ends.
The rains stop.
The humidity drops.
The roads open and Queensland becomes accessible again.
The night markets start.
The outdoor concerts do too.
The ocean resembles a glass of water rather than a cup of coffee.
The whales arrive.
My sister and her family arrive.

Note that 12 and 13 are two separate things - my sister's family are not whales.....

Note also that my mum has just started a Thursday 13, so go visit. If you'd like to.

Links to other Thursday 13s

(am not doing the autolink this week, just for a change, so please leave a comment instead. I'll get you all posted sometime soon...)

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Tonight's menu...

2006-04-04T23:02:00.000+10:00

White wine with vegemite sandwiches.

I am all class!!

Townsville Orchid Society Show

2006-04-02T09:35:00.000+10:00