Alice - Through the Looking Glass (Window)

... (with apologies to Lewis Carroll)

These are the views I could see through my kitchen window this morning - actually, they were taken whilst standing just outside the window rather than have a flywire mesh across all the photos.

A Very Formal Purple Giraffe

Tanya in her recent blog mentioned that one of her favourite colours is teal green, but with reservations about her Year 10 Formal dress. Naturally, that gave me the idea to post a photo of her on that big night in 1987. I thought she looked lovely, although this is not a good copy of the photo. She agreed to me posting the photo on condition that it was so tiny that no-one could see it, but I know that you will all avert your eyes and not look at this one ...lol.

Show Time

Bungendore is a small town of about 2000 people some 20 minutes drive from Canberra. Today was Show Day. For such a small place they put on an excellent show featuring alpacas, cattle, dogs, rabbits, horses, goats, poultry, snakes, sheep, a farmyard nursery, craft and produce, including vegetables, cakes & biscuits, and beer. There was the usual collection of sideshows, stalls, and fun for the kids. Whilst the number of entries was relative to the population, the quality was very good. Congratulations, Bungendore.

Craft,


Flowers,


and Beer.


Not sure who is the more entertaining, the dogs or their owners.


Old engines running on good care and love.


The man needs a cuppa (and two of the three scones).


Jerseys.


Herefords.





Galloways.


Horses, horses and more horses.


Angora Goats.





Children enjoying the Farmyard Nursery.


Sheep.


Sideshow Alley.

Clouds

One of the joys of living in the country or close to it is being able to 'steal' the landscape, clouds and all. I know that urban dwellers appreciate clouds too but sometimes there are too many surrounding buildings to be able to 'incorporate' them into their garden vista.

Ivybridge, Devon, England

It's been too hot to work out in the garden so I've had fun sitting at the computer looking at photos of England. Although we took 3500 photos in the 10 and a half months that we lived there in 1993, none of these photos were taken by us.

Ivybridge is a village of about 11,000 people ten miles east of Plymouth, Devon. It isn't the prettiest English village, but the location is wonderful. Built right on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, it is only a short drive to Plymouth and about 30 minutes from the coast. Only a few minutes walk from our house up on to Dartmoor and we could see the ferries leaving Plymouth destined for Brittany, France. We were fortunate to find a neat, comfortable, detached house in a lovely cul de sac. Sara was only 10 years old and within a few hours of our arrival she had met the 14 or so children, ranging in age from 5 - 13, who also lived in the cul de sac, and with whom she spent almost every waking moment for the next 7 months.

They played in the woods at the end of the street or on the green at the other end, and often they just played in the street which was quite safe as there was no through-traffic and all the houses looked down onto the street. We all loved living in Ivybridge.

The main street of Ivybridge (also known as Fore Street or High Street).


The bridge after which the village was named.


The River Erme flowed under the road at this point. I spent much time watching the water rushing by, especially after heavy rain. Salmon could also be seen leaping from the water.


The River Erme.

More on Worms ...

Kerri sent me this great link about worms http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworms Some really interesting information, especially about how they actually turn garden rubbish and vegetable matter into the most wonderful fertilizer around. Thank you very much, Kerri.

Wondering about Worms

While spreading compost this morning and watching the hundreds of worms at work, I wondered what will become of them. I know that compost worms are a different species to earthworms, but what will happen to those worms spread on the garden with the compost? Will they move down into the earth, and change species and become an earthworm? Wouldn't that be a bit like expecting a horse to become a cow just because it was put in the same paddock? (For overseas readers, a paddock is a field or a meadow.) I surely hope all those worms don't die after having served me well in the compost heap.

Come to think of it, I've never actually put compost worms in the heap, so perhaps they are just small earthworms?

Arrived safe and sound.

Sara sent an SMS message last night to say that she had arrived safe and sound in Amsterdam. Didn't mention the weather - I just hope she was wearing more clothes than when she left here! Next week the team will be off to Barcelona to play a few practice games before the competition resumes in earnest. Thank you for all your good wishes to her.

Gone Again

Once more Sara is winging her way to Amsterdam. This time to complete her hockey contract with the Amstelveen Hockey Club, which she began last September. It was so lovely to have her home for nearly two months over Christmas and the New Year. She is enjoying her time in Amsterdam very much, although it's always a wrench leaving home and she's not looking forward to a European winter. Still, she has Europe in all its summer spendour to look forward to. Her contract ends in late May and she is hoping to be able to spend a few weeks travelling Europe after that.

For Sandy and Others

A few of the more than 50 varieties of Banksia, which belong to the Protea family. 

At Random

Acanthus 


Phormium


Daisies, Silver Cineraria, Cotinus 'Grace' 


Banksia 


Hebe 


Penstemon and Alyssum 


Callistemon (bottlebrush) 


Grape leaves 


Gaura 

4 Favourites

Zoey had this one on her site today and I thought I'd try it. I may scrap it before I get to the end, in which case you won't be reading this anyway...lol.

4 Jobs I have had.
Sewing Mistress at a Primary School.
Working on home dairy farm.
Sales Assistant in G.J.Coles in Melbourne.
Managing English Language testing program.

4 Movies I could watch over and over.
Goodbye Mr Chips.
Witness.
Shawshank Redemption.
Travelling Birds.

4 Places I have Lived.
On a farm in Gippsland, Victoria.
Caramut - a tiny town in Western Victoria.
Plymouth, Devon (England)
Canberra, ACT.

4 Favourite TV shows.
'To Serve Them All My Days' - English TV Series about 20+ years ago, starring John Duttine
'As Time Goes By' - English Series, starring Judi Dench & Geoffrey Palmer
'Gardening Australia' - Peter Cundall
'A Touch of Frost' - David Jason

4 Places I have been on Vacation.
New Zealand
Switzerland
England
America

4 Favourite Foods
Fish (even though it never tastes as good as it did when I was a kid)
Roast lamb and vegetables.
Salad.
Christmas Pudding.

4 Places I would rather be.
At the coast.
Under a big shady tree in a beautiful garden.
Sitting by a log fire with the rain and wind outside.
Back on the farm with ALL of my family.

4 Sites I visit every day.
All of my LINKS plus some more on my FAVOURITES list.

Anyone need a Pocket?

How about 54 of them? This is a set of hanging pockets I have just finished making for my friend's pre-school. The children will put their hats, jackets, drink bottles, etc. in them and the teachers put in notes that need to be taken home, etc. Each pocket will have a child's name on it, possibly photo as well. There are 27 mauve pockets on one side and 27 red ones on the other side. My friend did say to make them any colour I liked - I hope she meant it!

Grovelling in the ground.

Whilst still quite warm, it's been a fairly overcast day with a light, cool breeze. Just right for getting stuck into the garden, and I've been emptying pots and planting out like there's no tomorrow. Petunias and bedding begonias, both of which were bought in September (shame, shame!) have finally been planted out, and a variety of other perennials that have been languishing in pots too small for them have found a new home. It's such a delight to scrape back the mulch, dig in the soil and find that it's lovely and dark and damp. Just itching to delve my fingers into it - except that I cut my finger again yesterday. Never mind, lots of sticking plaster, and away we go.

Overgrown garden a couple of weeks ago ....


... now cleared, composted, mulched and lots more new plants.


Some more grasses that I had forgotten that I had.

Forgotten the name but is very strikingly coloured.


A somewhat nondescript plant with 'flower heads' like barbed wire.


Miscanthus zebrini (see horizontal stripes)

Where did they go?

Four days at the coast, I mean. True, we didn't arrive until mid-afternoon on Monday, Russ came down Tuesday morning and left Wednesday afternoon, we went shopping Thursday morning and relaxed in the afternoon, and arrived home at 10.30am Friday. Gone, in a flash!!

We had a lovely few days, with beautiful weather - not too hot and a cool breeze. Russ and Richard played golf twice and I walked the course with them the second time. We took several long walks along the beach and river, went swimming on almost deserted beaches twice, had fish'n'chips and salad by the ocean one evening and went to the local Sports Club for dinner on another. Also looked at Real Estate brochures and agonised over whether to buy a beach house or not - still haven't decided, of course.

Big disappointment was that I had loaded all this wonderful music on the iPod, so that I could listen to it at leisure, but by the time we arrived it had switched itself off and I couldn't restart it without a computer. (I think perhaps I had never charged the battery fully and that's why it keeps shutting down. It's plugged in now and hopefully, after a 3-hour charge, it should start behaving itself.)

I didn't take many photos - well I did, but they are all of the same thing, water. But hopefully a few of them will make you feel cooler or warmer, depending where you are.
Father and Son (Richard and Russell)

Fun on the Tomago River.


Into the setting sun.








Historic town of Braidwood.

****************************

By the way - Blogger loves me again. My blog has been reviewed and now 'whitelisted' to indicate that it is NOT a spam blog! How nice.

"Spit the Dummy"

Since Blogger doesn't love me or my blog, I've decided to 'spit the dummy' and go to the coast for a few days!

Okay, I admit it ... we had been planning to go anyway.

So, just as soon as I can tear myself away from this computer and go and pack a few clothes and some food, we'll be off to the South Coast, where we'll laze around for a few days.

Trouble is, I'm not good at lazing on holidays (find it real easy at home!!). I can't sit around for hours just reading or watching TV.

If I go somewhere and pass a nice garden then I immediately want to go home and work in mine.

I loathe shopping - unless it's for plants.

I thought of taking the sewing machine and making myself some more shirts, but I like to finish them on the overlocker and I don't want to take that, too.

I told Richard that we're not going near any nurseries (he wants that in writing) since we haven't planted out what we bought in November, or maybe even the time before.

Perhaps I'll buy a small piece of tapestry or cross-stitch on the way down and have a go at that. I've loaded the iPod with several hours of music.

And I might even go in the water!!!

So, hopefully Blogger will love me again by Friday, when I'll be back to read what you've all been up to during the week. I hope it's a good one for everybody.

Word Verification on Edit Posts

Has anyone else suddenly been lumbered with Word Verification, not just on Comments now, but also on Edit Posts? Or am I the only 'lucky' one? There seems to be little reason to have WV on Edit Posts as no-one else can access them, and it's certainly driving me crazy when I want to cut and paste photos so as to have them all appear on the one posting.

Supposedly, "they" have identified my blog as a 'spam blog' (how insulting is that). I have asked "them" to remove this new hindrance, and I hope they do it pretty darn quickly.

Grasses and others

Val referred to the Miscanthus sinensis, and a desire for more drought tolerant grasses. That's something I also want to grow much more of as I only have a couple of others at the moment.

Swamp Foxtail Grass


Ornamental grass. I can't remember its name and I've lost the label. It's a beautiful plant with deep gold and green leaves which shimmer in the breeze.


Miscanthus sinensis





Variegated Abelia (although I notice that many of the leaves have become all green).


Variegated Virginia Creeper.

Thank You!

Thank you one and all for your greetings and good wishes for my birthday. I sincerely appreciated every one. Do you know what is amazing? This time last year I didn't know any of you, except ShellyC and Tanya, of course. Yet now I can't believe that there was a time when I didn't 'contact' you on a daily basis. Blogging has certainly become an enjoyable part of my day.

Now that I've confused several ladies by revealing my real name - relax, I'm still quite happily 'Alice' here.

Someone asked if I still like scones. Yes, I do, but not the ones I make on rare occasions; they are never as good as the ones Mum could whip up with her eyes closed almost.

Perhaps my birth story may have stirred some of you to consider writing down some of your own stories? If so, that would make my birthday even more special as I'm a bit passionate about family histories (can you be a 'bit' passionate about something?). Of course, the older we get, the more history we have, so the sooner we start, the better.

Happy Birthday to ...

... ME.

This story, relating to my birth, is the first story I wrote when I began writing my life history a couple of years ago.

The World was at war in the summer of my birth in 1944, with Peace yet another 20 months away. The effects of the war were felt even in the small community in Victoria’s South Gippsland, into which I was born. Families were missing relatives and friends, some never to return from battle, whilst even at home the rationing of petrol and food and nightly blackouts were felt by everyone.

My father, who had migrated from England in 1929 and spent several years in the Australian Army Militia, akin to today’s Army Reserve, was trying to eke out a living with my mother and two older brothers on a steep, blackberry-infested dairy farm in the Strezlecki Ranges. The walls of the house were covered in newspapers with hessian pasted over, and for a time, Mum cooked meals over an open fire until they could afford to buy a stove. But it was their first home together since the War began, and offered a place of stability after moving house seven times since then.

I was born in a small private hospital called Cooinda in the nearby town of Warragul. Cooinda, meaning Happy Place, was an old homestead with wide verandas, surrounded by a vast garden of big shady trees, lawns and flowers. Many years later, long after it ceased to be a hospital, I longed to own this beautiful property.

I was named Frances, after my father’s mother, Edna after my mother, and Beverley was added for good measure, which has ensured much confusion ever since. My parents were pleased to have a daughter, though I don’t know what impression I made on my brothers – Geoffrey 5 and Ormond 3½. When just a few days old, Mum told Ormond that it was time to feed the baby and asked, “What should I give her to eat?” He thought for a while and said, “Well, give her a scone.”

Two and a half years later we moved to another dairy farm in West Gippsland, which remained in the family for the next forty years. A boy and 3 girls were added to the family in just over four years. Although money was scarce and today’s mod cons non-existent, I lived a happy, healthy and carefree childhood.

Movie Magic

Just like I jinxed Tanya's computer by asking how it was going, I did the same for our morning rain by taking photos of it. 1.5mm (6 points) won't exactly waterlog the garden, will it? At least the weather was a bit cooler and we didn't have those hot drying winds.

After seeing Tanya off at the Airport, we went to a material shop in Queanbeyan and on our way home through Manuka I suggested that, as we had no need to rush home we could go to the movies. So we did - for the second time in three days!!! We hadn't been to the movies for about a year (I can't actually remember the last time) and now we've been twice in three days. Could it be something to do with the cinemas being air-conditioned? We saw 'Narnia' on Saturday and 'Mrs Henderson presents' today, and thoroughly enjoyed them both. Dame Judi Dench is just wonderful in this movie.

It's WET and COOL !!!

Well, it's not that wet yet, but we keep hoping. It's definitely cooler. I hope the areas where fires are burning receive drenching rain. Seven cars were destroyed by fire in one area - all belonging to volunteer firefighters. How unfair is that?

I know there will be more heat to come but at the moment I am thankful for the cool change.

43C or 109F

Whichever way you write it, it's damn hot. That's what it reached in our suburbs today, and we seldom reach 40C. Still, it was hotter in other areas of the State - I heard that it was 47C in some parts of western Sydney. Glad to hear that it's raining in South Australia, and Chloe had some in Victoria. Actually, we had 5 minutes of rain this afternoon, and then it got hotter after that. I've actually asked Wendy to move over and make room for a few disgruntled mainlanders - she's luxuriating in temps of under 20C.

So, if any of our snowbound friends are feeling a little chilly, we've lots of heat over here to spare if you'd like a trip Downunder.

New Year Thoughts

In the past week we've wished family and friends near and far good wishes for both Christmas and the New Year. Greeting cards tend to put the two together as though they are just a couple of special days in the whole 365 days of the year. We prepare for and celebrate Christmas in whatever way is important to each of us and by December 26 it's already fading into the past.

The new year is another matter. While your New Year's Eve celebrations may be fading (or you hope that headache soon will), you now have a whole year stretching before you like an open book at the beginning of a school year. Remember getting new books, all clean pages, just waiting to be written on? Just like our new year, with opportunities to do or experience so many new things or continue and expand on things begun previously. Will it be a new job, home, location, hobby, family or friends?

Do you start the year with good intentions but soon start slipping back into 'old' habits and feel discouraged? Remember that EVERY new day brings new opportunities, not just January 1. If your good intentions are slipping by January 15, you can always start again on January 16. Marlene has written a very inspiring piece about not aiming so high that we become discouraged, but to start each project with a small step, which will lead on to the next step, and so on until its completion.

I wish each and every one of you success and happiness in whatever you undertake this year, and hope that at the end of the year you will feel a sense of having lived your life to the full.