Under the Welkin

pixie hat

2011-01-28T20:00:00.020+11:00

The wool arrived in a hank, haven't seen one of these since I was a small child and was required to stand with a hank of wool stretched between my arms while my mother wound the wool into a ball.

I used two chair back to stretch the wool out.

Then started knitting using this (vintage) pixie hat pattern. It was a style popular in the 1940s and 1950. Not having much knitting expeirence I had no idea how the pattern would turn out, there were no pictures but somewhere it says "a knitted rectangle is folded in half and grafted together" but my piece of knitting ended up this shape:

and holded in half

I had to do some homework before attempting the grafting together - in kitchener stitch. There are squillions of online knitting help sites. I used this one and did a trial first with a different colour grafting wool so I could see the mistakes, the first trial had a couple. This is the second:
Now for the pixie hat...

The wool barely reached the end of the grafting but once I'd pulled the stitches tighter there was plenty.

Polar bear models the finished article but isn't really a good substitute for a 4 month old baby head.

Instead of trying to follow the instructions for a neckband with knitted buttonhole I made a
tie neckband using Sew Liberated instructions

And there's still some wool left over...

stop the web, i want to get off

2010-03-06T12:11:00.002+11:00

Termite on a rain drop, on a cobweb, wafting around in the breeze.

More antics

foreign parts

2010-03-02T14:37:00.002+11:00

New Zealand November 2009

airport

2009-10-10T17:36:00.005+11:00

Recently I had to spend several hours waiting around at Dusseldorf airport - it was interesting, there were flying dogs and....

live music.....

pup & pineapple

2009-10-02T20:29:00.001+10:00

road dragon, blue tongue and snake

2009-09-29T08:49:00.005+10:00

A bearded dragon who chose the road as a good place so soak up some Spring sunshine, not a good place even with the small amount of traffic around these parts. Yes, that stoney ground is a road, an all-weather dirt road, we're just waiting for some rain to test it out. This pose is his response to a vehicle, he puffs himself up and tilts his body towards the threat (me this time). The warmer weather has brought other lizards out (and a brown snake at the back door but the snake didn't pose for a photo) including this blue tongue lizard displaying his method defense - his scarey blue tongue, also he was hissing. Both of these types of lizard can be kept as pets but these two are definitely wild and free.

rusty old vauxhall velox

2009-09-26T18:00:00.002+10:00

we have lemons...

2009-09-26T07:26:00.002+10:00

So I made Lemon Meringue Pie... it was yummy.

mystery bug

2009-09-22T18:06:00.001+10:00

This the the fungus I found when I turned over a log while moving it and when taking a photo of the fungus saw this snazzy yellow and black bug which turns out to be (fittingly) a fungus-eating ladybird - not a very co-operative photographic subject. She (he) kept running away, or dropping off the stalk in an escape attempt, then the wind would blow the stalk and ladybird away.

something different for the vegetable garden

2009-09-16T22:29:00.002+10:00

The next decision will be were the vegetables should be grown this summer as there may be no water (for gardening anyway) at the house where the garden would be most convenient...the garden may have to be two miles down the road, close to the bore.

Watch out!!!

2009-09-08T08:35:00.001+10:00

dethridge wheel

2009-08-30T21:29:00.006+10:00

In 1910 John Dethridge invented an irrigation farm water metering wheel - used in the United States, Africa and Israel as well as Australia. They weren't very accurate and could be 'tampered' with (so water was delivered unmetered) but must have been the best thing around to have lasted for nearly 100 years. Mr Dethridge's wheels are being replaced by a solar powered, remotely operated flume gate.

This wheel has grown some interesting rust.....

donegal flowers

2009-08-22T17:00:00.002+10:00

Daisies near a derelict mill.

A man walking the other way said these pink flowers are orchids,

and the flowers below were in the very exotic and well maintained gardens of Glenveagh Castle.

Bucyrus Start Up

2009-08-18T17:03:00.014+10:00

Every two years Coleambally holds a Vintage Machinery Rally and one of the highlights is the start up of the Bucyrus Erie Class III Dragline. Two Holden car engines are used as starter motors and they make a lot more noise than Bucyrus itself when it finally gets going.....

the black smoke only lasted for a few monents then it putted along very quietly.

Sign on Bucyrus:

"BUCYRUS ERIE CLASS III DRAGLINE

This machine is one of four imported from the U.S.A. in 1935 & used to excavate the main channels in the Murray Valley & the Coleambally Irrigation Area.

They were "walked" to Coleambally from Deniliquin following completion of the Mulwala Canal & commenced work here in 1958.

In 1978 the machine was driven to this site & is still in working condition.

Specifications: Weight - 130 tonnes; Speed - 3kph; Bucket Size - 4 cu mtrs

Engine: 275 hp Rushton Hornsby 5cm Diesel Started by compressed air - 300 p.s.i.

A project by the Lions Club as a memorial to all those who made Coleambally a reality."

On show at the Rally were old tractors, old cars and trucks, old machines of all sorts

furphy

2009-08-09T20:23:00.004+10:00

Last weekend at the Coleambally Vintage Rally I finally got to see a Furphy water cart close up. I heard the water carts have a message in shorthand on them and sure enough it did have, (it's the line of squiggles across the middle of the tank end) and Pitman shorthand too which I learnt at school. I have a certificate to say I can do 120 wpm but found that not many of the people I worked for could compose a letter at that speed (not actually very fast) and now I can sort of read it but don't write it at all. The mysterious message is here. These water carts were designed by John Furphy who set up his foundry in Shepparton in 1871. They were so successful that during WWI the Australian army bought many water carts for camps in Australia and in Palestine and Egypt.

Furphy is also a word meaning rumour, absurd story or downright lie and it seems to have come about because of gossip around the water cart (as these days round a water cooler). Coincidentally an American term, scuttlebutt, originated from a water-butt for sailors to drink from.

two windmills

2009-08-04T19:47:00.004+10:00

This really big windmill was made in Sydney in 1910 and brought by rail and bullock waggon to Goolgumbla (sheep) Station in the Riverina where it pumped underground water to the homestead, ram sheds and dams up until 1977 when it was wind damaged beyond repair. The windmill was given as a historical exhibit to Jerilderie town. It was restored and from 1979 has been in Luke Park, where it pumps water (when available) from the Billabong Creek into the lake. Steel Wings technical information and a photo .

This is a much more common site, a Southern Cross windmill.

skellig michael, ireland - early medieval monastic settlement and world heritage site

2009-07-30T20:09:00.000+10:00

Our boat left with 12 passengers from Portmagee, along with about eight others boats, for the 12km trip out to Skellig Michael (Sceilg Mhichil). It took about 45 minutes. The sea was "lumpy" rather than rough, the sun shining, we had sea spray flung at us (the skipper handed out waterproofs) and it was an exhilarating ride.

The boats don't actually tie up at this jetty, just pull in as close as they can with a rope round the red jetty rail and passengers jump across as best they can. When we landed waves were still washing across the jetty and a bag which was thrown down so the owner could help people off the boat, was nearly washed into the sea.

The walk up starts off gradually with a wide well paved track (when we were leaving supplies were being driven up on a small motorised cart) and a gentle slope . Once the track reaches the lighthouse people and Skellig guides' cabins (and helipad) it turns into a path, then at the foot of the first serious flight of steps there is a sign which I'm sure warned potential step climbers that it was a steep, strenuous climb, children has to be supervised at all times, everyone must keep to the path, not annoy the puffins etc.

The monastic settlement of St. Fionan at the top is spectacular. The Skellig Guide gave a very good informative talk about the history of the settlement (founded around 600AD), the beehive huts (still in original condition and rainproof), how all heating fuel had to be brought in by boat. The monastery was abandoned in the 12th century possibly because of changed climate with an increase in the number of gales when trips to the mainland were not possible.
Little Skellig in the distance is a bird sanctuary and closed to the public.

Below is one of the alternative routes to the sea - this is the 'aerobic workout' path straight down from the settlement, just handy for nipping down the 670 steps to catch a fish for breakfast - then back up again. More photos of the monastery here and here.

The photo below shows how the settlement is built on terraces, a wall is built and soil brought in to fill the terrace - see the walls top left, that terrace holds the beehive huts.

I visited Skellig Michael about 35 years ago. There were no Skellig Guides or any organisation looking after the place. It is now neater (steps in good order) but seems about the same though some want a hand rail of some sort following a tragic incident early in May this year, before the official visiting season. I go along with the "leave it as it is" camp, it should be without railings or rope.

midwinter (back in australia)

2009-07-26T18:57:00.011+10:00

Our frosty foggy winter mornings usually turn into very nice sunny but cool days, some have the bonus of a colourful sunset too.

A frosty spider web with ground frost and fog in the background and below frost on a dead tree. It can get to -5 degrees C (23 degrees F) but it will never snow - we are 100 m (320 ft) above sea level.

cliffs, mountains, the burren

2009-07-23T10:05:00.014+10:00

Slieve League, County Donegal - the highest sea cliffs in Europe.

After a visit to Ireland's northern most point, Malin Head, we headed to the west coast, visiting Glenveagh National Park and

Joyce's Country in County Galway.

The Burren, County Clare. The criss cross cracks in this limestone pavement are the home for a very wide variety of plants (75% of Ireland's flora grows here). (more Burren photos)

And below, the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare.

we went north

2009-07-18T20:41:00.009+10:00

Cows and calves cause a traffic jam in Antrim.

Derry is a walled city. The walls were built 1613-18 and form about a 1.5km circuit of the inner city.

The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. For over 350 years fishermen have strung a rope bridge 30m above to sea to allow them to access the best places to catch migrating salmon.

The Giant's Causeway was interesting and busy.

A nice peaceful waterfall.

The pounds sterling in Northern Ireland aren't like English pounds, at first I thought I had a forgery, the portrait of the Queen looked very odd, then realised it wasn't the queen at all but an imposter. In Northern Ireland the banks issue their own banknotes.

dublin

2009-07-09T18:37:00.006+10:00

Fuchsia thrives all over the place in Ireland.

A little 'corner' shop still survives despite large supermarkets not far away.

A garden snail goes for a wander, all that rain keeps everything damp and green.

An hour or so drive out of Dublin is Newgrange. It's a Megalithic Passage Tomb built about 3200 BC (so it is older than the pyramids at Giza). The 19 metre long inner passage leads to a cruciform chamber with a corbelled roof. It is estimated that the construction of the Passage Tomb at Newgrange would have taken a work force of 300 at least 20 years. The passage and chamber of Newgrange are illuminated by the winter solstice sunrise and we visited at summer solstice so nothing exciting happened but we did get rained on while the guide was giving us a brief history of Newgrange. For winter solstice a shaft of sunlight shines through the roof box over the entrance and penetrates the passage to light up the chamber. It lasts for 17 minutes at dawn on the Winter Solstice and for a few mornings either side of the Winter Solstice.

around about now...

2009-06-16T06:30:00.004+10:00

I should be doing this, coming in to land at Dublin airportand then meeting up with the evilmooses for a mystery tour of Ireland and a reunion.

Update: the plan went a bit off course - the flight into Manchester was late, the flight to Dublin left on time and I missed it so I arrived a day late but the sun is shining and everything looks lovely and green.

longhorns on the way to deni

2009-06-11T18:30:00.002+10:00

First we came across a plastic bullock team pullling a log buggy at a roundabout in Deniliquin

then the new entrance for the Deni Ute Muster, an event held each October just outside Deniliquin, NSW. In 2008 a record 7,242 utes attended, other records are attempted each year - utes with a dog in the back, utes driven by a blue singlet wearing driver etc. and a competition for the best "you beut ute" (most ariels, lights and shiny gismos) amongst others.

Above is the longhorn scuplture, the other is a ram's head with curly horns.

clouds and fire extinguishers

2009-06-04T22:15:00.000+10:00

The rain has just about gone, our three days of drizzle came to a very welcome 92 points (23mm) of rain but there are still lots of interesting clouds around. This was taken on the way home from a fire extinguisher training course.

Fires were lit and...

successfully extinguished, several times and with different types of extinguisher.

dew drops

2009-05-28T11:52:00.004+10:00

The casuarina tree sparkled with dew drops after the sun cleared away the fog clouds. Some more dew drops.

stroppy cow

2009-05-20T18:45:00.001+10:00

Cows are like human mothers, they vary from the highly protective to the... well, casual. This morning B24 decided to be over protective with her new calf (second for her) so the ute was needed for tagging and weighing the calf. The calf was caught quite easily and hauled up on the tray of the ute. The lassoo (rope over the side of the ute) wasn't needed and though B24 was concerned, watching very closely the things being done to her calf, she wasn't as incandescent with rage as some cows in the past have been. With luck she won't make a habit of being over protective or her card will be marked.

Calf returned safe and sound with new yellow eartags, E16 (the London postal district of Victoria Dock by the way so the calf may grow up to be Vicky), she weighs 43kg (95lb) and below, several cows came rushing up to see what all the noise was about. The calf squawked a bit.

All the lush green grass is thanks to irrigation, though we did have some rain three weeks ago which helped, we are still waiting for the follow-up.

an aussie battler

2009-05-14T20:15:00.001+10:00

November 2005: this boree tree on Bundure Station (next to the irrigation area) has lost a branch but looks reasonably upright. The fence is festooned with blow grass which grew following the spring rain that year, then got blown away.

and by March 2007 it looks like this, leafier but leaning over the fence a little.

May 2009 and it looks like the Boree tree is on its last legs, not a leaf to be seen but..

having a closer look I find the reason for the leaflessness is this bag moth (boree moth) - the caterpillars live comunally in a silk bag when they aren't eating every leaf on the tree. This tree actually has some new green leaves appearing. I hope it gets some rain to help it recover from this attack and the caterpillars have finished eating leaves.Campers and picnickers should not use the shade of a boree that has bag moth caterpillars in residence - they shed hairs that can pierce the skin and cause severe pain.

the horse has bolted

2009-05-09T18:40:00.000+10:00

Jerilderie has a special relationship with Ned Kelly - Australia's most infamous bushranger - and because of this was given the Ned Kelly Horse which appeared in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games opening ceremony.

When the structure was opened out the "horse" looked like the photo below

and soon after it arrived it still looked like a horse but upside down

But something has rearranged the head so now it looks like nothing recognisable at all (I tried to get a better photo but the sun will not be shining on it again till next Spring .... and then last week it turned into this:

Nobody seems to know where the horse gone, maybe the Council knows.

The special relationship is because of the bold and cunning raid Ned Kelly made on Jerilderie and The Letter now known as The Jerilderie Letter.

camouflage?

2009-05-05T20:26:00.004+10:00

Almost works if it wasn't for the rusty bit - a nearly invisible gecko.

rice harvest

2009-05-02T20:55:00.000+10:00

I saw this Gleaner header on my way home from work just after Easter, harvesting one of the very few rice crops grown in the Riverina this year. The rice crops were eaten by locusts and ducks, damaged by the very hot weather (rice likes it hot but not too hot) and it was generally not a bumper year. That's rice dust not smoke around the header.

two birds and a bone

2009-04-29T21:15:00.001+10:00

On the left, a Pied Butcherbird and his rival for the bone, an Australian Magpie, size each other up...

the magpie is definitely bigger but the butcherbird more determined and he wins the bone - luckily the dog is asleep.

pink sky morning

2009-04-24T19:58:00.001+10:00

Just before sunrise the sky was like this in the east and the western sky had a double rainbow, the outer rainbow is very feint but it is there. As I set off for work I had to do something very usual - put the windscreen wipers on to clear away raindrops - only on intermittent but it was actual rain.

I would have taken photos of the puddles when I got home but it was a bit dark. We had 63 points of rain today (63/100ths of an inch or 15.75mm).

drought casualties

2009-04-19T18:00:00.001+10:00

Now all I have to do is drag the chainsawed trees away to the winter bonfire site then find some frost and drought tolerant trees replacements that like living in sand.

a storm

2009-04-13T18:15:00.002+10:00

It just passed us by, again. The rain fell to the south of us while we had interesting clouds formations and dramatic lighting.

At last, the hardy roses that have survived on minimal watering have produced a few flowers, this yellow one is Friesia - and I realise that I miss the rose perfume in the garden we used to have when we had masses of roses flowering.

shady characters

2009-04-09T22:00:00.000+10:00

Two bulls in the paddock next to the house keeping cool in the Rosewood tree shade, close to water in the trough. The tree has a level 'bottom' because the bulls keep it trimmed and there is another flat bottomed Rosewood in the distance on the right of photo. But the cattle below, agisted on a farm where Pepper trees are planted along a track, enjoy the shade but don't eat the trees at all. I've seen Pepper tree avenues trimmed up as though a full time gardener is constantly clipping (but is actually cattle trimmed). Our cattle haven't acquired the taste or learned to eat pepper trees - yet.

Rosewoods are native trees, botanical name recently changed to Alectryon oleifolius, which I've been told are remnant rainforest trees - it's hard to imagine this was ever a rainforest but could be the reason they flower well but don't seem to produce seed, just grow from suckers particularly when a root is damaged.

catheads cleanup

2009-04-06T15:30:00.002+10:00

They are known round here as catheads, also bindiis or caltrop (like medieval anti horse weapons) and thrive in hot weather with just a whiff of rain - a couple of drops and they germinate like lightning, flower (innocent looking pretty yellow buttercup like flowers) almost immediately and set seed the next day.... and the seedheads impale themselves in whatever walks or rolls across them thanks to very fine hard points.So we have been trying to get rid of some, the seeds that fall off ensure that there will be another bumper crop next summer when the conditions are right for them.
The green looking seedhead above is fresh and the points not so hard as the dried out darker seeds. In the past I have had trouble with catheads - bicycles round here need to have extra thick 'thornproof' innertubes and flatproof goop for added protection.

pineapple

2009-04-02T21:00:00.001+11:00

In the first 25 years of my life (in the UK) pineapple came out of a tin - it might have been possible to get a fresh pineapple like this one I bought yesterday, but we were a tinned pineapple sort of family. It was amazing to see them growing during a trip to Queensland. They looked a bit like a triffid nursery.

Glass House Mountains, Queensland, June 2007.

rabbits beware!

2009-03-29T12:30:00.001+11:00

The new pup is completely ruthless with bean leaves, so rabbits, hares, feral cats, foxes, kangaroos etc. had better take heed - this is a serious hardworking farm dog.

garden colour

2009-03-25T18:30:00.002+11:00

The roses are struggling to produce a flower but the vegetables are doing well in the cooler late summer weather. Capsicums smell and look lovely - I gave these away to my walking buddies though, there are lots more ripening.

Below: Capsicums and beans - we ate the beans.

a classic holden?

2009-03-21T20:56:00.009+11:00

This ute has been rusting quietly away for nearly 40 years, it was here when part of Yamma Station was resumed to be turned into irrigation farms in 1970. It looks as though someone has done a "Basil Fawlty" on it - though with an axe rather than a tree branch.

Through extensive research I find it is an FB Holden, built in 1960-61.

channel mowers

2009-03-17T08:30:00.000+11:00

The 'girls' are doing a good job of cleaning up the dry channel and banks before the watering starts in a few days time. Then after watering all the brown pasture should turn green again.

emus move in with the bulls

2009-03-14T08:30:00.001+11:00

When the two dams on the main farm dried up we moved the cattle next door to where there is something to drink and the odd bite to eat. The emus - don't know how many altogether - on the farm need a drink too so the smart ones have walked out the open gate or jumped the fence. Four have found their way into the bull paddock next to the house, here's one emu making use of the facilities.

and demonstrating back-to-front emu knees as he walks away. More emu photos here.

Emu trivia: it is the male who incubates the eggs then looks after the chicks for several months. He is very protective and will tackle dogs or farmers on motorbikes who get too close.

another outing!

2009-03-11T17:20:00.004+11:00

The day started with a colourful sunrise (we had 8/100ths of an inch, or 2mm if you prefer, of rain during the night). We didn't buy anything at the sale but on the way home stopped at the fruit man outside Howlong.....

and bought a bucket of peaches for $6.00. Behind the fruit man are the ruins of the Howlong Flour Mill built in 1867 - they didn't do a very good job of it.

country road

2009-03-09T22:21:00.001+11:00

old tractors and uncomfortable seats

2009-03-02T11:03:00.009+11:00

Field Marshall tractor rusting quietly away - this was new technology in the 1940s, it was started using a shotgun cartridge and the seat....looks like it was designed by a chiropractor to generate customers.

This is the old Fiat tractor, more modern than the Field Marshall and the seat looks ... rusty.

Giovanni, the less old Fiat tractor, was still working a few years ago, digging post holes mostly but I have driven it at rice harvest back in the late 1980s when we had wet autumns and boggy harvests. I can't remember how uncomfortable the seat was (I expect I had the luxury of a couple of hessian bags to sit on) I just remember driving with white knuckles hoping not to get stuck in the mud.

evening walk

2009-02-24T20:47:00.007+11:00

The sun shining through a gap in the clouds and below an unusual sight, a full channel of water.

And even more unsual - this mailbox... I don't know what it's all about.

cows at the health farm

2009-02-16T08:07:00.006+11:00

The cows come to the yards to get a drink at the trough, the only water on the farm, then they just chill out (now the temperature has dropped nearly 20 degrees C from the extreme heat of late January and early February it's easier) until it's time to go and hunt for something to eat up the far end of the farm. Be useful if they could eat flies.

bushfire smoke

2009-02-12T13:11:00.006+11:00

Since the bushfires started in Victoria and the wind changed to a southerly, we have been getting lots of bushfire smoke up here (350km north) so we have had smokey sunrises, smokey sunsets and just generally smokey days. It is beginning to clear today.

Smokey sunset with emu, two crested pigeons (on top of the gate, lower left side of photo) and a mail box.

clouds

2009-02-05T07:43:00.001+11:00

The sun usually rises quite uninterstingly but this day we had clouds which make all the difference. The two photos were taken about 50 minutes apart. What would be nice now is the sort or clouds that make rain - and a drop in temperature.

and the heat goes on

2009-01-31T10:41:00.006+11:00

So hoards of galahs come to drink at the water trough in the bulls' paddock. I tried to get closer but the galahs saw me hiding in the bushes and stayed away from the water, shrieking noisily about me, till I had gone - they are not that easy to fool.

the big heat and the big wind

2009-01-27T08:24:00.006+11:00

The big wind came last Thursday night/Friday morning. The Brolga tried to fly away but is now safely back on his perch. We are having some warm weather just now, we have to expect it - it is summer after all.

sick cicada

2009-01-23T20:37:00.007+11:00

He must be sick, he was resting on a pink chair outside the Doctor's surgery. The pink chairs are in the centre of the photo below - useful for people who prefer to wait in the fresh air rather than the germy air inside maybe.

I tried to identify this cicada and searched through 200+ Australian cicadas with names like Roarers, Clangers, Twangers, Screamers, Dingers, Clickers, Tree Creakers, Drummers, and Scrub-buzzers but couldn't find one that looked like this one that should live in this area. If it happened to be a Golden Knight his song would look like this (it's an oscillogram):

bicycle touring the Aussie way

2009-01-17T06:47:00.006+11:00

The cyclist pushed his bicycle and trailer into town on Friday.

The trailer has solar panels which power a fridge and freezer inside and everything else he needs to survive is strapped on somewhere... and he has two dogs for company, one harness trained for when he needs help on hills.

His map show some of the places he has visited.

the local library, for local folks

2009-01-10T18:45:00.008+11:00

And anyone else who needs free internet, a book, magazine, DVD, to send a fax, make a photocopy, needs something laminated or a multitude of other services while surrounded by "historic original wood railings and Judge's stand which have been left in place for all to admire while browsing the shelves in a relaxed atmosphere".

It's all a bit cosy (or cramped) packing all this usefulness into an old wooden ceilinged building so a new library is being built.

tomato harvest!

2009-01-07T18:17:00.002+11:00

The first lot of homegrown tomatoes have ripened, only they are a little on the little side. It's not caused by lack of water or too much sunshine - I was given the seedlings so didn't know what type of tomato they were.... it turns out they are grape tomatoes.

flowering gums

2009-01-01T06:35:00.002+11:00

The most spectacular of the flowering gum trees, the West Australian Flowering Gum (Corymbia ficifolia previously Eucalyptus ficifolia) are doing their colourful best - here are some of the trees round and about.

I collected seeds from the dark pink flowering tree above and managed to get some seedlings to grow. One survived long enough to produce flowers, only to find it had very unexiciting off white flowers - I don't have it any more.

gingerbread men

2008-12-27T07:04:00.006+11:00

The gingerbread man ran away so I had to use other cutters - the end result tasted just as good and didn't last long. The kangaroo came from Banbury, England - I've never seen one* here in Australia, a cookie cutter that is.
*Update - kangaroo cutters are now available but the only ones I found were Qantas shaped, not as good as my Banbury 'roo.

RTA Christmas message

2008-12-25T15:10:00.002+11:00

The sign, one of four on our hour long journey through wide open spaces, says "Wear a Seatbelt" and changes to "Double Demerit Points"*. Also "For Traffic Conditions Phone 13xxxx" (can't remember the number), and one about speeding and driver fatigue. The signs work on solar power.

There was other traffic on the road but not much.

*Double demerit points finish on 4th January so then you can do more things wrong before you lose your driving licence.

a pascle of pelicans

2008-12-21T07:21:00.003+11:00

Or a pod, brief, pouch, raft (should be on the water), squadron (flying), scoop (fishing) - hope they fly clear of the power lines.

hail

2008-12-19T08:54:00.003+11:00

There was rain, one clap of thunder then torrential rain and hail. Guttering on the impractical upward angled verandah couldn't cope and rain gushed down shop windows and across the pavement. A few minutes later the sun was shining again.

shiny sparkly curly stuff

2008-12-16T16:33:00.005+11:00

It looked nice, this load of shiny sparkly springy stuff, it could be useful for making parcels pretty, or decorating trees but it was probably sharp and bitey so I didn't try plunging my hand in. The bins of floor sweepings were outside an engineering shop where the tractor's fuel tank hole and radiator holes were patched.

green beans

2008-12-07T14:58:00.005+11:00

I must have planted two of the bean seed the wrong way up - I have tried to show them the light but they persist in hiding in the sand and not putting two leaves up like the rest. They may be has beens.

celestial cheeriness

2008-12-02T07:47:00.002+11:00

The crescent moon is smiling, Venus is the left eye, Jupiter the right. This cosmic alignment will not happen again until early in the morning 21 July, 2036 when it may be cloudy so I wish I had managed a better photo. Or I may not be allowed out at night, or have a camera.

The photo below has been tinkered with a bit showing trees and more stars but the moon now looks round.

and the winner is....

2008-11-30T05:33:00.000+11:00

My Blue Witch bag. I know it's a flower show but the bag was entered in the Craft section, Carry bag/Handbag category where it did have competition, four other entries and one a previous winner on at least one occasion.

kangaroo paws

2008-11-22T10:35:00.002+11:00

Not the hopping kind but the growing in soil kind (also called Anigozanthos and there are lots of varieties). The buds above will open like the flower below.

the river red gums are flowering

2008-11-15T10:02:00.004+11:00

This tree is a mass of little white blossoms

Bees should be busy making river red gum honey while they can.

an angel?

2008-11-10T21:48:00.000+11:00

a nice drop

2008-11-08T07:59:00.004+11:00

Early yesterday afternoon it started raining. At first it was only very light but kept going and got heavier later in the afternoon and into the night. This morning there was (were?) 112 points (28mm) in the rain gauge.... that's the most we've had in one rain event for a long time, nine months infact.

bye bye dialup

2008-10-30T09:04:00.002+11:00

The speed is making me dizzy.

i did a bad bad thing

2008-10-17T12:07:00.002+11:00

The gold pocket watch is not intended to be worn when swimming, surfing, water skiing or showering so it's not surprising the guarantee doesn't cover it for water damage of any sort - especially being in the washing machine. Amazingly, after just a soak cycle admittedly, the brave little watch was still ticking. It hung on the washing line for a while and is now basking in the sun on a dashboard with innards exposed.

snip, snip

2008-10-15T18:05:00.007+11:00

The man pruning the town square wisteria with secateurs had help from two others in the cherry picker with chainsaws.
A few hours later half the wisteria has gone and the prunings put through the chipper.
The wisteria is getting a severe pruning because it is too big and heavy for the timber frame. It's been getting too big for years, it was too big in the winter when it had no leaves.

Not so shady now.

white wildflowers and weeds

2008-10-04T19:59:00.003+10:00

Australian hollyhock above (green in the background is the golden canola crop - the yellow flowers have turned into seeds) and a mutant purple paterson's curse below.

return to the dark ages

2008-09-23T14:01:00.002+10:00

First was the thunder and lightning, then the wind and the orange dust, then the power went off....
for seven and a half hours, the candles were burning very low by the time the lights came back on.

total channel control

2008-09-16T11:40:00.003+10:00

The solar panel powers the computerised cleverness at the bottom of the pole so the cannel levels can be controlled from the office 40 kilometers away. Unfortunately roly polies currently filling the channel will have to be burnt and they need a person to do that so no water coming down the channel yet to fill up the dam for the cows and Basil.

real solid gold'n canola

2008-09-09T18:11:00.006+10:00

This lucky crop is getting a drink of valuable irrigation water but these flowers are happy flowering without any extra help.

fire, fire!

2008-08-21T13:53:00.005+10:00

Back in the land of blue skies, no rain (here anyway) and altitude of about 100 metres. Before the winter ends we have the annual bonfire - this one was mostly trees that didn't make it through the summer, more could have been added to the fire but it was big enough.

paddling down the yukon river

2008-08-04T12:32:00.001+10:00

The contents of the hire car took up lots of space, how were we going to pack it into two of these little kayaks? Luckily we didn't have to, we left most behind in the Up North Adventures' storage dungeon.
This was the view from our island campsite...
and here are the tents looking out on the river.
After eating and stowing food and scraps up high between the trees it was hair cutting time and time for the traditional
campfire of course.

whitehorse,

2008-08-03T09:39:00.000+10:00

Purple dinosaur and a
Log Church so old it is called The Old Log Church

goldensides mountain hike

2008-08-02T17:20:00.002+10:00

We spent the afternoon hiking up Goldensides Mountain.
Walking to and from the Canmore shops must have acclimatised my legs because despite the steep climb (for a flatlander like me) I didn't have sore legs the next day.

tombstone territorial park

2008-08-02T13:35:00.004+10:00

We stopped for lunch at the Tombstone Territorial Park campsite. As we finished the Picnic Table Clean-up Squirrel reported for duty.
He checked everywhere on the table. No crumbs but the cutlery had to be licked to remove the last of the peanut butter, first the knife then the fork.

arctic circle breakfast

2008-08-02T06:51:00.004+10:00

Eagle Plains has interesting containers of colourful annuals. Emma, off in the distance, is carefully carrying coffee back to where the car was when she got out to get coffee - it has now moved and is lurking beside a containers of colourful petunias.
A short drive up the Dempster Highway and we arrive and the Arctic Circle. The sun has come out for our alfresco breakfast only Megan is unhappy not to have a snazzy red plastic origami bowl to eat her muesli out of.
I gathered some arctic circle rocks to build my very own inukshuk and here he is. I shall have to find some arctic circle stone glue as he has a tendency to topple over.
Then we headed back south. These white flowers were in just one large roadside clump and didn't appear anywhere else along the route.

view from the back seat

2008-08-01T23:45:00.004+10:00

Travelling north on the Dempster Highway we saw this moose just a couple of hundred metres away from the first moose sighting in the water at Two Moose Lake.
Not actually from the back seat, this is just a pile of stones on a stony hillside. We came across many inuk shuks on our journey but this pile of stones is waiting to turned into one.
Driving north on the Dempster Highway...
and more gravel highway
Fireweed lines the edges of the road and the mountains have gone not far from Eagle Plains where we camp for the (not particularly dark) night. In the Eagle Plains Hotel we meet another moose - photo taken on leaving at about 10.30pm, note how light it is out the window to the right.

dawson city, heart of the klondike gold rush

2008-08-01T19:01:00.002+10:00

The Dawson City General Store where we stocked up with food for the next few days.
A place so cold it seems that freezers just get really frosty.
In Maximilian's Gold Rush Emporium, for a mere $950 this piece of mammoth scrimshaw could be yours.

On the famous olde worlde boardwalks lined with shops, trading posts and emporiums
the boardwalk entertainers were getting ready for a performance just as we left on our relentless quest for "further north" and the Dempster Highway which has "Cautionary notes" saying "it is a gravel road quite narrow in places and rough,......Ensure your vehicle is suitable for the trip. Spare tires, emergency kits, extra food and additional fuel are essential when travelling in this remote area If you are stranded it may be many hours before another vehicle passes by, so plan ahead" etc.

moose creek campground

2008-07-31T07:09:00.005+10:00

The water was a long way down so required lots of pumping before we could wash the breakfast dishes - about fifteen pumps

pump, pump
pump, pump, pump
and finally a gush of water but don't stop pumping or it's fifteen pumps before more water flows.

hoodoos and a mountie

2008-07-30T18:15:00.002+10:00

This is the only Royal Canadian Mounted Police person I encountered, a bit one dimensional. So on the way back home I checked out the intriguing looking and sounding Hoodoos
View up towards the Hoodoos (in the middle of the photo looking like pale towers on green sloping hillside) from the bridge over the Trans Canada Highway. Up close a hoodoo is like an impossible pillar of gravel. Why doesn't it melt? The information board beside the hoodoos says they are formed from glacial till deposited at the end of the last ice age. The hill and the hoodoos are eroding at different rates - a cap of resistant material, rock or just a hard layer protect the hoodoos from erosion.
Further up the hill and looking back towards Canmore, hoodoos bottom right

lake agnes tea house

2008-07-27T19:54:00.002+10:00

Lake Louise, the starting point for our hike up to Lake Agnes...

Lots of colourful annuals, including these poppies, at the Lake Louise hotel along with hoards of tourists and colourful musicians.

This golden mantled ground squirrel came looking for anything edible on the ground around our backpacks but found nothing.
Lake Agnes looking very tranquil. We managed to gather together enough cash (cash only taken at the Tea House, no plastic) to buy a pot of tea (three small cups), a mug of chai and two large cookies. The people with no cash has to sit by the lake and entertain the golden mantled ground squirrels.

camping in the woods

2008-07-26T19:08:00.002+10:00

Big green lockable bins to keep campers' food safe from bears and
huge garbage bins to keep garbage safe from bears.
It is really all in the best interests of the bears as well as the campers

a wildflower walk at sunshine meadows, banff

2008-07-24T15:41:00.002+10:00

There were lot of mountains, many, many mountainy mountains,

and cunningly camouflaged ptarmigan, there are some in the photo below.
Also flowers, the redish one is Indian Paint Brush and

a glacier lily,

ground squirrel watching out for bears
and lovely lakes
but not a single bear.

across the pacific ocean

2008-07-19T21:13:00.002+10:00

Leaving San Francisco and on the way to CalgaryWaking up to an amazing view the following morning at my holiday destination, Canmore in the Canadian Rockies.
More amazing views
A couple of (wild) Big Horn sheep rearrange the gravel on the road near Goat Lake

wednesday walkers

2008-07-13T17:18:00.003+10:00

Returning to the Bus Corner - we made Emily walk in the gutter but she was still a head taller than Zara.

mystery object

2008-07-04T19:30:00.002+10:00

It isn't a spider and it isn't an earwig, maybe it's an ogopogo

40th birthday fun and games

2008-06-09T15:52:00.004+10:00

Kestrel Road billy cart racing with the help of a man-made hill and
some high flyers at the skatepark.

More photos taken by someone else

medieval maid

2008-06-07T19:41:00.002+10:00

A treasure found in the CCS archives.

the second puncture

2008-05-10T17:51:00.002+10:00

The first puncture was quite modest, just a flat tyre which was exchanged for the spare wheel...then the spare got a puncture a day or two later before the first puncture could be repaired so no spare to drive 3km back home. This is what happens when you drive on a flat tyre.

the day before the coldest April day on record

2008-04-29T10:12:00.003+10:00

The highest temperature occurred at 6am (warmer during earlier in the night of course) and just got colder all day apart from a slight blip. During the night it snowed in some places (not here though) and the next day was very nippy.

a miracle

2008-04-25T17:45:00.002+10:00

and it came to pass that the water tower was beatified!

coly knievel

2008-04-22T20:31:00.003+10:00

wisteria wins

2008-04-19T19:01:00.002+10:00

two bulls

2008-04-05T11:34:00.003+11:00

Big Al and Little Jim sorting through the prickles for something to eat, or maybe the prickles are edible too.

bore drilling

2008-03-25T16:42:00.003+11:00

The drilling for water started on Thursday last week and stopped after 30 meters of clay when they reached sand. They should come back on Wednesday with casing so the drill can continue down to good water at about 100 meters - we hope.