What do you think of this ....

I have been feeling very honoured to be tagged as a "Thinking Blogger" by Roxie (maybe I don't have Alzheimer's after all ...), but I've also been feeling a bit bemused by it - I'm new to these games and am not sure how they work - if I tag other people, how do they know? What happens if I want to tag someone who's been tagged already? What happens when I don't tag people - will they still love me (I have "need to be liked issues"!)? Can I tag the tagger? I guess not ... The responsibility is weighing very heavily on my shoulders! Oh well, here goes.

The first person I'd tag as a Thinking Blogger is Marilyn, the Knitting Curmudgeon. The very first time I did a google for knitting in an internet cafe (before I had the internet), the Knitting Curmudgeon's site came up. I fell in love with her in-your-face style, the way she takes no prisoners, and her honesty (I have "dealing with anger issues"!!). Her 'honest to god serious writing' is gut wrenching. Grandpa Flea had cancer ten years ago and I know how I felt then - 'Essay: 25 April', taps deeply into my soul.

Next is Yarnstorm. This blog has changed the way I look at the world. I have never been "artistic" or good with colours and design, but looking at Yarnstorm's photos has stimulated me to try other ways of looking at the world - and I love it!

Then, Franklin - his blog is always interesting to read, it covers a wide range of topics, he has a cheeky, wry sense of humour, and again, a sense of honesty comes through to me.

This is so hard!

Then .. My Name is Heather - always full of beautiful photos, colour and from-the-heart writing.

So many blogs, so few in five .. so Ree of Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. I'm not sure why I enjoy reading this blog so much - maybe because it's so removed from my daily life, yet the daily dramas across the world in another family take me back to the time when our family was young - you know, the old "the more things change the more they stay the same" or something - there's a wonderful French saying that I can never remember, that sounds much more impressive. Beautifully written, honest (again), beautifully photographed and Malboro Man lurking in the wings. Who could ask for anything more?

There's a number of other blogs I'd like to add, but I've run out of numbers. So here are the rules for you thinking bloggers:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme, http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/02/thinking-blogger-awards_11.html

Publish and be damned!

Saturday Sky

We were at La Perouse yesterday - it had been a beautiful day - sunny and warm and we'd had a wander on the beach at Congwong Bay before checking out the location of various things that Grandpa Flea needed to know for a Probus outing that he is organising. Late in the day the sky was filling up with cotton wool clouds and the sun was sending out long rays of "God's light" . Flocks of sea gulls and crows were circling around, riding the thermals and looking for scraps left by litterbugs. I was trying to catch the sun's rays in a photo - without a lot of success, but the silhouette of the birds against the sky really appealed to me.

While we were wandering around I became very conscious of how little I know of the geography and history of this land that I live in. La Perouse is on a bay at the end of the bus line in the south eastern suburbs of Sydney. The link above to Wikiipedia has a good summary of it's history. Named after Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse, and traditionally an area with a large aboriginal community, it is still a relatively unspoiled waterfront suburb, but signs of the great middleclass sprawl are showing. Just up the road, the magnificent site of the now defunct Prince Henry Hospital has been broken up into small building lots for those with plenty of money, and high rise apartments are starting to encroach on the once unbroken view of Little Bay.

Fortunately, some historical parts of the site will be protected and retained. One of these is the Nursing and Medical Museum. We are going there for a Probus outing in June and will have a conducted tour by one of the nurses who worked there in the fifties and sixties. Prince Henry was known as "The Coast Hospital" and had originally been a quarantine hosptal for infectious diseases. A friend of mine studied medicine when we left school and one of her placements was at Prince Henry. At that time there was still an operating "leprosaurium" there. We were both amazed (and very young!) to think that there were people with leprosy living in Sydney - we'd only ever heard about it in the context of overseas countries. The leprosaurium was closed in the mid-late sixties after the advent of antibiotics that controlled the disease.

Just as well Janette isn't holding her breath - knitting content - SOON.

Time Warp: Wildlife Wednesday - on Thursday

So - autumn is definitely here when the spider webs become cities suspended in the air - we have lots of golden orb web weavers (Nephila (Tetragnathidae)) here and in autumn they are prolific. In this first photo you can see a small spider above the large female - it's the male, waiting for an opportunity to mate with the much larger female. I had always thought that the male was killed and rolled up in a little cocoon after he had performed his duty, but the Australian Museum site indicates otherwise. Have a look at it if you want more information and better photos!


I love this last photo - I'm sure spiders were the first knitters - how wonderful it would be to knit such a fine, strong shawl.

We arrived home a few days ago from our rushed trip around the world (well, not quite - it just felt like it!). We had one night in Canberra with GrandPa Flea's brother - there are 5 "boys" in the family and brother Noel is what you'd call a dinky di Aussie - his speech is peppered with the metaphors and similes that used to mark the speech of the true blue Aussie. Unfortunately, this mode of specch is becoming less common as we become more educated, more exposed to other influences (especially American TV programs and advertising) and more multicultural (which compensates by bringing other interesting things to our culture). Once I even had to consult The Macquarie Dictionary when Noel said he'd been "flat out like a lizard drinkin' " - extremely busy to you and me! I took particular note, the next time I saw a lizard drinking - and the tongue movements were indeed very, very fast.

The next three nights we spent with my brother, Mr Mooney, at Tumbarumba in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains. Mr Mooney lives in Canberra but has a small hobby farm - off the beaten track, seemingly miles from the nearest neighbour, surrounded by a creek, acres of trees and a national park. Wild brumbies range through the bushland and across the meadows. Those who are fortunate - or unlucky - enough to come across them have to be careful, as I've been told that the herd disperses quickly, while a large black stallion turns to confront the intruders. Call me a wimp, but I didn't go looking for them. Mr Mooney's house was built of mudbricks and found materials by the original owner. It is delightful with white painted walls inside, slow combustion stoves, and a larder which has been built to stay cool in the hottest weather. Little leadlight windows appear in unexpected places, the floor is mud brick and the the house has a wonderful warm, tranquil feel.
There is even a tiny dog - Snooky - to keep watch from his sunlit spot on the day bed.
The only draw back is the "long drop" - a pit toilet across the yard away from the house, to those of you who are city born and bred! Long drops are just not on as far as I'm concerned. I spent far too many of my formative years having nightmares about children who slipped into the pit, redback spiders under the toilet seat and boogey men waiting in the dark as you made the long trek across the yard in the night. So Grandpa Flea and I stayed at the local bed and breakfast "The Lazy Dog" - it has a website "www.thelazydog.com.au" but for some reason my computer tells me it can't find the server. We were very comfortable - warm beds, attentive hosts, Margaret and Peter, and a beautiful, placid dog - a big black labrador called Ebony.

So after three days of sunlight, family, food and wine we headed down to Melbourne for three days with an old neighbour of ours, and three days with our youngest flea - Ms Katie, her partner Ms FeeFee and their two delightful teenage fleas - Mr Lex and Ms Mary, three dogs, three cats, two axelotls and one guinea pig. It was another six days of sun, family, friends, food and wine. We caught up with our friends, The Captain and Tenille, who live near our daughter - it was good to see them again. I don't have enough time to go into details of our Melbourne visit, except to say that we didn't need wheels on the car to come home - we could have rolled on our spare tyres!

Oh, and I visited a wool shop in Melbourne - Wondoflex Yarn Craft Centre - where, surprisingly! I bought some Zhivago and two pattern books. The range of wools was good, but I still prefer my LYS, Cherryhills - it's a smaller shop, but the range of yarns is wonderful - I could be biased of course, but I don't think so.

I had lunch today with my knitting pal, Janette. It was good to catch up and to see the latest photo of her twin grandbabies - they are beautiful. My next post will be devoted to knitting - hold your breath!

Gone Again ... Gone Again ...

I'll be away for a few days - back on the 15th - safe and happy Easter wishes to everyone.

Wildlife Wednesday .........

While we were away, we saw this fruit bat colony - there were hundreds of them. Someone else had walked in closer to take some photos and they were screeching and flapping around.



The bats are often called flying foxes, and these cropped photos show why - the males (I think) have beautiful russet brown fur. I love the way they fold themselves up under their wings. This bat was settling itself after flying from another tree. Their wings make me think of leather and it's easy to imagine Batman hanging from a tree too! Though I'm not so sure about Robin!




Last, but not least, is our old friend the pelican - a wonderful bird is the pelican; its beak can hold more than its belly can! Do you remember that rhyme from childhood? If you are able, bring this photo up to full screen - the larger it is, the more unreal the proportions become - I'm absolutely fascinated by the size of this bird's beak - and that beady eye - following me wherever I go!



That's it for today. Carson I'm glad that you enjoy the wildlife photos - I hope you are feeling better - and thank you for your kind words about my knee. Thank you also Roxie - and a big thank you for the wonderful photos you sent me of the juncas - what beautiful little birds.

Home again, home again ....

We're back home again after a Probus trip - three days on a bus and three days at Ballina - it's a long way. We broke the trip up at Coffs Harbour, but had a ten hour trip on the way home. Not my favourite way to travel, although we did have plenty of stops. I never thought I'd be one of those groups of 'oldies' who get off a bus en masse, all with their little name tags in case they forget who they are (oops! did I say that?) - but here I am and despite myself, I enjoy the trips! We may look like a bunch of old farts, but there are extraordinary lives behind the ordinary faces. We went to the naval Museum at Ballina, and on display was the ship's wheel from a ship sunk in WWII - and in our group was a 90 year old who was on the ship when it went down! He told us the story - absolutely incredible. The women staffing the front desk were overcome with emotion and wanted his phone number so the "boys" could get in touch with him for more details. He is the most delightful person - and amazingly fit - it's a bit humbling to be overtaken on a hill by a 90 year old!!

Saturday Sky - on Tuesday
This photo was taken at the sculpture garden of Thursday Plantation, a tea tree oil company on the north coast of New South Wales (sorry, the link wouldn't work - you can google it). It was a very interesting garden with a tea tree maze, a rainforest walk, and lots of mosquitoes - I think they breed them so you need to buy the tea tree oil to take the itch away!



Saturday Sky in Advance!
We'll be away again next Saturday, so I thought I'd get some credit up! If you look VERY carefully, you can just see a tanker on the horizon on the right of the photo.


Not the best photos, but the best I could do - and here is another not so good photo for Roxie and Carson. I went out on th deck last night for something and saw this little sweetie popping her head out, ready to venture forth for mealtime. She is very shy and I had a great deal of difficulty finding her on the screen as it was so dark - this is the only photo that had her in it - the other ten were of the tree trunk! Enjoy - sorry it's a bit blurry.


I went to the Guild meeting on Monday and was bombarded with baby jumpers for AIDS babies - forty of them! All different colours - and sizes! It's amazing how we can never all knit the same pattern and get the same size! We've given up doing rugs from squares for that reason. We now use strips!

Here's looking at you ....

I can't believe it's over a week since I last posted. We have listed our house for sale again and life has been very busy. I have also had a bad knee - for months - but why go to the doctor when you're in pain? Eventually the chiropracter referred me back to the GP and after x-rays and an MRI I now know I have a Baker's cyst behind the knee which has ruptured - perhaps if I'd had the sense to go to the GP a year ago it might have resolved by now. Fortunately it is improving but I have to wear an elastic bandage thing that keeps rolling over and cutting off my circulation - what do they say about the cure being worse than the disease? We have also had a couple of days off-line after a blackout the other night.


I missed Saturday sky and am in advance of Wildlife Wednesday as we leave in the morning (Tuesday here) for a trip to Ballina with Grandpa Flea's Probus club. We'll be back Sunday, late, but I'll post a Saturday sky next Monday (I hope).

I will miss the possums when we move - I've been fiddling with GPa Flea's camera and having fun. This possum was awake the other day, just lazily peeping out from his house. I can't get Blogger to put the hand and eye alongside each other - probably because they are different sizes - you'll have to use your imagination.We had a visit from a pair of King Parrots during the week - they are very shy birds and hard to catch on camera - the male is much more brightly coloured than the female - who heard the beep of the camera and declined to be photographed!

I disturbed a baby gecko when I was moving some pots outside. We often used to have these inside our house, but when we painted the dark brick walls a cream colour, they moved outside - easier to blend in with the surroundings. The first time I disturbed one of the bigger geckos, it barked at me! It was happily ensconced under a cane basket full of toys in the children's room (40 years ago) - I'd never seen one in the house before and didn't know that they could bark - what a fright.


When will there be some knitting content on this blog? Your guess is as good as mine! I have finished one legging for my grand-daughter; done half the front of a jumper for another GD; knitted a lot of spare cotton into dusters and wash-cloths - straight knitting is all I'm really capable of, at present.; finished a Noro garter stitch scarf for Sue at Cherryhills; and ignored Eloise for the eldest Flea. I have to pack some knitting to take tomorrow so may give Eloise a whirl. One day I'll post some knitting photos - promise.

Thank you everyone for your comments - I'll respond when we get home on Sunday.