Skye Cam

Oh...the puns just get worse...Finally a few photos.
2.6kg (5 pound 13 ounces), 52cm long
Yes, she is a little jaundiced.

Yabbies

Sean & Kirk set yabby traps in the dam last night and this morning reaped their huge haul! 2 yabbies. Oh well - they still tasted good - laid on a bed of smoked salmon, cheese and lettuce. (Cue "poor people" cliche).

Kirk is learning that babies cry and has been trying to keep Skye's dummy in place.
"She keeps spitting it out!"
"She doesn't HAVE to suck on it."
"But when she spits it out she cries!"

This Cheezburger cartoon says it all.

The Skye Channel

Tuning in again for another update?

Today we reached a maximum of 36.7 and a low of 36.3.
High pressure systems in the bladder and bowels created plenty of wet and dirty nappies and the occassional squall. A low in the great Australian bite ensured the continuation of sore nipples.
And while the UV (Ultra Visitation) rating today was very high, creating great conditions for games like Pass the Baby, the sun only emerged a few times during the day - mostly during feeding hours.

Expect a similar pattern tomorrow and for the the next month.

Skye's Progress

All is well. Skye wishes no more than to eat and sleep and cries only when she is hungry or wet.
Mum says this is all I did as a baby but while she may have my early habits I appear to have lucked-out genetically once again. Currently she has a fine tonsure of dark hair, muddy blue eyes and long spindly limbs. Oh well...there'll never be any question of paternity.

Midsummer's Child

Our daughter, Skye Kelly, was born an hour before the summer solstice, 4:57pm 21st December. She is very small but healthy and let's hope she thrives.

RAIN

A signifcant fall has finally arrived. This should get the grass growing and hopefully there will be sufficient follow up next week to keep it growing. We shall have to destock next year to allow the paddocks to recover.

My mum also arrived with the rain, bearing gifts which have made Kirk a very happy boy. She has also spoiled us with far too many presents! She will be here for a few days and will return home for xmas with my brother's family.

Oh I wish I'd looked after my feet

With apologies to Pam Ayres

Oh, I wish I'd looked after me feet,
And spotted the skin cracks beneath,
All my nails unhued,
And the open-toed shoes,
Oh, I wish I'd looked after me feet.

I wish I'd been that much more willin'
When rough around I was runnin '
To pass up barefootin,
From respect to me cloppers
And to buy proper shoes with me dollars.

When I think of the rocks I kicked,
And the foot creams unslicked,
Salt water, deep and shallow,
All those rough paths of gravel,
My conscience gets horribly pricked.

My Father he told me no end,
"Shoes and sox are a foot's best friend. "
I was young then, and careless,
My footsies were shoeless,
I never had much money to spend.

Oh I showed them the scourer all right,
I flashed it about late at night,
But scrapin' and scrubbin'
And pokin' and fussin'
Didn't seem worth the time... I could fight!

If I'd known I was paving the way,
To cracks, shame, and decay,
The murder of feeling
That uric-acid peeling
I'd have thrown all me thongs away.

So I lay in the pedicurist's chair,
And I gaze at her expression of despair,
And her sharp-bladed hoof knife,
Carves off those heels of strife,
While unbelieveing onlookers stare.

How I laughed at my Father's hard feet,
As he sanded them with relief,
But now comes the reckonin'
It's me they are beckonin'
Oh, I wish I'd looked after me feet.

#######

Normally I would wear shoes and sox to work but this 40 degree summer brought a new fashion; elegant plastic sandals which I could wash beneath the hose. Moreover Kurgen conspired with the Callous Gods to eat every pair of house thongs forcing me into the moon-dust-on-baked-terracotta-yard barefoot HENCE my shamefull situation.

My sister could not stand their sight. She pushed $40 and a brochure into my hands crying, "Get thee to a pedicurist!".

The pedicurist was horrified for such feet are found only on farmers' shanks. I apologised profusely and she bravely activated the massage chair, filled the foot bath with water, grimly scoured and filed the nails, picked clean the cuticles, washed, massaged, carved, pummiced and moisturised the feet and THEN she painted my tonails!

It is a constant surprise to see clean, electric-blue toenails winking at me and reasonably smooth heels. They're not perfect yet but at least maintenance has begun.

Note to self: buy a hoof knife....

Waiting

I really should do something useful while I wait for the tomato salsa to reduce. 10 green bottles...

A good day

I hit lucky. We had an intelligent, well behaved bunch of kids turn up for the last day which was a long way from my expectations which I previously mentioned. They did a great job with the science and then we enjoyed movies, internet games and spider drinks. Finally we topped the day with a water bomb fight - which was just great in 40 degree heat. Nobody needed to card wool today!

Tomato season

My neighbour, Mickey, works at an orchard/drying factory. Yesterday he brought home a pallet-sized crate full of tomatoes. The cows are going to be very grateful to have a change from dry hay an we'll be eating a lot of pasta in the coming months.

The last day of school

I was hoping to have finished school but I can't resist scoring the last day because it means I can do whatever I like with the kids who turn up. Last year 15 came and I made the mistake of making it far too fun. So this time I plan to make them work all day on science and anyone who refuses to join in can pick and card greasy, daggy wool (I intend to make them sorry for turning up).

This is what we're doing...a few months ago Anita, tongue-in-cheek, emailed me one of those pseudoscience articles about all the things you can do with cucumbers (apart from the obvious ones). So over the last two days I have turned it into a series of 13 experiments to prove or disprove the claims.  Here is the original article, which is not surprisingly on Snopes (DO read some of the more creative emails further down the page). Email me if you want a copy of the experiments. Remember they are aimed at a low science-literacy level to be attempted within a limited time by poorly behaved children.

Mangos anyone?

Ow! Ow! Ow! ANOTHER B-Double bit the dust tonight at Gin Gin. We heard the wheels jump the gutter then the banging as it took out the railings, an electricity pole ripped off its bodyshell as it rolled and the first mangos of the season spilled everywhere.

The driver got out quickly and wandered around dazed once he determined there was no fuel leaking. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) the police were having their xmas party at the pub on that corner and attended immediately. (Un) Surprisingly the driver lost his job almost as quickly. 

I showed the truck to Kirk and explained that this is what happens when you drive too fast. He seemed to be quite shaken so I hope I have not frightened a little boy who is already very cautious by nature.

There are 2 or 3 truck rollovers annually there. A couple of years ago a driver and his son were burned to death but how many accidents and petitions will it take before the government fixes the corner instead of just promises to fix it?

Echidnas

Last night I saw on the  road a dead echidna but there is something about them I really like so I hauled the car around and collected him. I did not want to see him mashed into the bitumen and I thought Kirk could have a close look as they are shy and nocturnal. Why do I like echidnas so much? They're very tough and strong for their size. They mind their own business yet have a very determined personality. Keeping an echidna is very difficult - I knew a wild life carer who discovered her fridge had been shifted across the floor by an escapee. And of course there is always Dad's story about a night out shooting when they discovered 2 echidnas having sex. He tells me the echidna penis is very long and is used with great caution (see NewScientist article). A pity the National Geographic video has been removed - I'm sure it would be very educational. Note also my grandfather, Gordon Cartwright, and the the local people regard gubbi gubbi as a delicacy - I am told it is fatty and a little like pork. Mmm...tempting. Nevertheless, this afternoon Sean buried him with Sammy so he will make great fertiliser for the coffee trees and bird of paradise.

New Toys!

Dad visited this week and brought up a massage table and a smoker. I'm delighted with both as they seem to be of good quality in spite of their very cheap price from Aldi. I christened the table this week with one of my clients who happily helped me unwrap and construct it. The smoker will wait until next week when I do my final shop of the year. I think I will buy some chicken and fish to try out first, then perhaps a little piggy...

This little piggy went to market,

this little piggy got smoked,

this little piggy begat rolled roast,

and this little piggy was well done,

and THIS little piggy went wee wee wee

all the way home because

we're fattening him for later ....[evil grin]

On Tuesday night Josh told Michelle he needed a beret by Thursday 6pm for his school concert. The recycle shops yielded nothing so at 2pm Thursday I made one from a black woolen jumper that someone accidently felted. I was fairly pleased with the results and later will give it a better head band so it can be worn with Tudor garb. While looking for a beret pattern I discovered some great felting lessons and have decided I will will give that a go with the wool from Michelle's sheep.

BTW I fiddled with the settings and comments are now working effectively.

Cumulonimbus Striptease

The clouds and the humidity have arrived and this 7ml will start everything shooting but next week the full hot blast of summer will return and kill the first burst of green stuff.
Note to self: buy more feed.

Captain Underpants

Kirk repeated his big-butt performance the other day and I managed to grab the camera in time.  He has once again donned every pair of undies he owns and jumped around on the bed wiggling his bum.














Kirk playing in the irrigation spray.

Gin Gin Graduation

Jesc Forester and Kayla Kellaway topped everyone by arriving in a BIG white bus which released a heap of purple and pink helium balloons. We were also greatly amused by the arrival of a group of graduates in Merv's icecream van.

This year, every girl managed to chose a dress which made the best of their assets. There was a good variety of colours, the styles were all flattering and nobody dressed like a bride for once! Hopefully I can get a group pic up here soon.

Mmmm...Braaaiiinzz....

Today at Gin Gin SHS we have mathemetician, Dr Rob McDougall, in residence. How cool is that? Usually they are writers or artists. Today he introduced us to some Vedic maths. I am delighted now to have a method for mentally calculating 3 digit x 3 digit multiplications WITHOUT all the columns. WOO HOO!!!

Too little too late

A little rain arrived last night but it has left nothing more than a heavy dew. Sean fixed up the large irrigators on Thursday and I have been pumping as often as possible. It is too little too late but I really don't want to see the trees die. Grass will readily recover but replacing trees takes years. Nevertheless, I complain too loudly, my income is not dependent on farming. Some families here are trucking in a semiload of feed every day. The argument goes they should not overstock but this is an unexpectedly dry year and once the animals have lost condition there is no point in selling them. One can shoot them but what do you use to breed from once the rain does arrive?

On a bright note: Tiffany and Nigel marry today. My best wishes to them.

Joseph Conrad

I am reading Joseph Conrad's story "Typhoon" (1919) and it strikes me forcibly (no pun intended) that Captain MacWhirr is a very accurate portrayal of an intelligent autistic mind. Conrad claims to have used his experience of a lifetime to create a character of "literal mind and ... dauntless temperament". He used this character as a harmoniser to put the "elemental fury in its proper place".

The key to the plot is not the typhoon but "...the financial difficulty of it, presenting also a human problem, [which] was solved by a mind much too simple to be perplexed by anything in the world except men's idle talk for which it was not adapted."

Characters surrounding the captain view him as a technically-able dullard, incapable of comprehending the little nuances and figures of speech within typical conversation. The character himself claims to not know what people talk about all day - surely they simply repeat everything time and time again.

When it occurs to him the barometer indicates a typhoon, his solution is to read a book on storms to extract advise. He rejects the advise on the basis it would put him two days behind schedule and hence not financially viable in spite of having a deck full of coolies. 2nd mate Jukes suggests the captain alters course - head into the swell - to make the coolies (and himself) more comfortable.

"I was thinking of our passengers, " he said, in the manner of a man clutching at a straw. 
"Passengers?" wondered the Captain, gravely. "What passengers?" 
"Why the Chinamen, sir," explained Jules , very sick of this conversation.
"The Chinamen! Why dn't you speak plainly? Couldn't tell what you means. Never heard a lot of coolies spoken of as passengers before. Passsengers indeed! What's come to you?"

Such a compartmental mind; if they are shipped in bulk - they must be cargo. It is so funny! I see this sort of thinking in my nephew and other literal minded people regularly and it pulls me up short, reminding me there are different world views I need to consider. Many teachers knock heads with such students and it is hard not to be offended by their perceptions. I just try to bear in mind that mine is not the only reality and sometimes their ownership of reality may be stronger than mine!

A Gentlewoman

Bronwyn Norman, my neighbour, died last Sunday. Aged 58 or 59 she left 8 kids and 12 grandkids, all healthy and well educated with good memories of her. From what I understand she had refused the option of an organ transfer and went to France instead. Literally a swan song, topping a great life of travel and service to our town. Her funeral was attended and her casket borne by people in positions, not of power, but of responsibility... our old mayor, the current headmaster, the SES captain, the major orchard owner and the like...  Indeed a life well lived and gracefully concluded.

Dogs again

If a 5 month old labrador can remove the top of the food barrel but 5 cattle dogs never have, that does this say more about his intelligence or greed?

Play on fiddler

Another weekend is over.
McIllwraith was entertained.
Tirroan's calcutta enjoyed.
The water truck delivered it precious cargo,
While the native trees died in the dust.

Best laid plans...

Bright and early Kirk jumped up, ran to the toilet and spewed. An hour later he is still heaving...and naturally he is in my bed - for some reason Mummy's bed is a better place to be sick.

Our plan today was a morning of markets and a swimming lesson, then spend the afternoon at McIllwraith State School's 75th Jubilee Fair topped with dinner and a  horse race at the Tirroan Social Club's Calcutta.

I clearly remember moving to the country to slow down but Gin Gin is busier than the Gold Coast. Last weekend there was the ESA Girls' Night In, Hockey Dinner, the mediaeval feast, Mt Perry Truck Pull and the markets were chokkas with stalls travelling to the Colliope monthly market. It may be a a small town but you never lack for entertainment once you have decided which of the 140 organisations you wish to join. It was once said you had to live in Gin Gin 20 years to enter the locals' clique but I have seen none of that. All you have to do here is join a club and your life will never be dull again!

Steve

Sean's boss, Steve, is an interesting man. He thinks about his employees. While Kirk and I were waiting for Sean to finish a job in the office, he emerged with chocolates. Another time he gave Sean a memory stick and last week a day off to say "thankyou" for working so hard. These are not flashy things...merely small and personal. Today he sent home 3 boxes of blocks and lego, and several boxes of kids games. WOW!! Kirk and Sean spent all evening constucting little lego houses and cars. Right now they are fighting over the pieces because Sean has discovered a working canon with gymbal mounting...I suppose the dishes will wait until the morning.

Eat, Drink and be Merry (whoever she is)

Burnfield SCA held a twilight feast last night for the new members. The event started with a bit of biffo, some ladies brought their embroidery and Josiah shared his poi skills. The food theme was Mediaeval German and a surprising success. We took most of our recipes from a 400 year old cook book and it seems people appreciated the subtle taste differences. The little fruit breads were popular. They are simply a teaspoon of finely chopped nuts and dried fruit wrapped in a light bread dough. When made with a higher portion of walnuts and prunes (dried plums) they go well with beer...another good German staple.

Upcoming SCA events: The new Hervey Bay household is planning a seafood dinner in the next couple of months and the members in Gladstone are throwing a pirate party. Garb is mandatory; anyone turning up as Capt. Jack Sparrow will be shot on sight.
 
Article of note: Education Qld has directed its teachers not to communicate with students online outside of the EQ email server. Mmm...we shall see how that one pans out...it's a big ask of country teachers.

Big girls, little boys and dogs.

Yesterday I attended "Girls in the MIST" (Maths IT Sciences & Technology) at CQU which provided a great smorgasboard of activities to give girls a taster of what they might do if they study sciences. The girls really enjoyed themselves and brought home a whole book of robotics activities.

Today has been quite a circus with a friend's car breaking down outside and us about to leave with dogs to visit the vet. No worries - we just pile everyone in the car and drop them all where they want to go. Finally we arrived at the vet and Spook got a check up and his annual vaccinations while Kurgan was microchipped and nutted.

After lunch Kirk made our day. He put on every pair of underpants he owns and waddled around telling what a fat bum he had. Before I could find the camera he declared all these undies were hurting his willy and proceeded to strip them a layer at a time telling me about the colour and pattern on each pair.

Days are never dull here.

GO TO SLEEP!

Years ago my niece, Tara, was an endless talker and I thought it would not be possibe to have another one in the family. Wrong. Kirk has also inherited the talent and can talk non-stop all day and be obnoxious into the bargain. Lacking an audience he will even talk to himself. Sigh... perhaps being an English teacher does have a down side.  His English grades had better be good!

Good dog!

I had forgotten what a pleasure it is to own a retriever (or to be owned BY a retriever).  Kurgan is settling in and while there are still altercations between him and the other dogs it is more due to high puppy spirits and inherent cattle dog nastiness. I trust they will soon establish their pecking order...but  it may not last long because he will be a lot larger than any of them.

In the mean time, Kurgan is showing all the right labrador traits. He has a basic retrieve instinct, his mouth is very soft and he relinquishes whatever he has readily.  He offers his paw and can follow basic commands (although "Come!" could do with some work).  Also I am surprised how tranquil he is; content to follow me around the house and flop at my feet until I am ready to play with him. I shall definitely be putting some time into this pup.

One jumped over the moon

Actually the bull jumps over the fences, but he may as well jump over the moon for the time we spend chasing him. We share our herd of cattle with the neighbours and since Paul grew up on a dairy he, thankfully, does most of the work...as does his bull :-) BUT the downside is I get the odd 10 pm call telling me he is eating someone's garden and I must retrieve him. If you have ever tried to round up a bull in the middle of the night on a dangerous road with high grass and rough terrain you will understand why I find this frustrating because cattle are very good at hiding.  Nevertheless, it is our own fault because we expect the cattle to forage hard during the winter and naturally the grass is greener...(where?) and it has been the driest year since we moved here. [In fact would you believe it is so dry the chipboard flooring has shrunk?]

Nevertheless, I had some success today; I solved the bucket-eating dog problem (Note punctuation. This means Spooky EATS buckets, not the other way around...although that could be an interesting scenario). I bought 3 metal buckets which I trust to withstand the jaws of destruction. Kurgen merely likes to paddle in his drink like all good water-dogs do.

Renovations

It is odd how long we have been here yet done so little to the house but all it needed was a little money and suddenly I have a list of renovations as long as a council worker's smoko.  My main aim is lower maintainance because the art of house maintainance and I simply do not tango. The next project will be an awning to cover the concrete patio so we are not trapped inside all summer. This house once had verandas either side but the previous owners enclosed two-thirds of them because it is essentially a very small house.  The new awning will be almost one-third the size of the house so the next sensible purchase will be another water tank. This year has been particularly dry and looking at the synoptic chart I expect we will buy water for the first time by the end of the month.

WOOF!

We have a new dog!!! A 4 month old black labrador. He arrived with the name of "Sooty" but I don't think that is suitable so I have changed it to Kurgan (Highlander movie reference). He is very rapidly proving himself and I am hoping we won't be going to the vet for stitches tomorrow. The girls are OK with him but Spook is somewhat upset (read: trying to do him over). Watch this space...

Later: We have met on neutral territory, sniffed and carried on at each other. Pup would like to play but Spook isn't quite ready yet.

Next day: Kurgan has survived 24 hours and so far he seems to be quite a good dog. He slept well last night in the laundry and played all morning with Spooky.  Lets see if he will sleep on the veranda tonight.

It's genetic

Kirk has a large box full of cars which are dirty and damaged. He also has a whole shelf full of cuddly toys which are in mint condition. Today is Bathurst so where do you think Kirk and Sean are ensconced?
Well, they're out of my hair for the day so I'm off to scrub, sand and paint the veranda posts in readiness for railings tomorrow...oooor maybe the garden needs a bit of attention first.

Later: When will I learn?! Small boys with paint brushes need to be watched very carefully. Luckily the dark, green, exterior paint scrubbed off the light, yellow, interior wall. Now we're off to the pub for dinner to celebrate Jordan's 16th birthday. I'm sooo glad not to be cooking tonight. Now let's see if I can get this paint off me.

Aside: You could tie yourself in some fantastic knots doing this sort of research. While browsing the Ig Nobel Awards I found the following award in 2000; Psychology - Presented to David Dunning of Cornell University and Justin Kreuger of the University of Illinois, for their modest report, "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments".   

Furthermore I am very impressed with the ladies this year who have invented a bra which converts to twin gas masks. I could use one of those when the highschool boys walk into class after sport.

Chrispy makes the news

Sean's younger brother, Chris, made the news by shooting a kangaroo (note article in quality reporting newspaper) I kid you not. Some twit states, "It only had a sore paw...It could have been saved." Oh please, wake up and smell the roadkill! Sean and I have hit about 10 animals this year between us. I THINK we have only killed three. One roo did about $7,000 worth in damage to Sean's car and did not stop to leave his insurance details, I ran over a 2m carpet snake last week (damn it) and the cat I hit... ummm... needed to be euthanaised with a black rubber doughnut (can't say I was sorry about that one).

Mind you, I appreciate when people remove their roadkill so as not to create a hazard to traffic and cause collateral scavenger deaths.  Thinking of roo roadkill ....how about a few recipes.

Oh the fun we are going to have when Chrispy arrives next fortnight.

Swimming lessons have begun!

Kirk is delighted to be back in the swim! Mind you it took him over half the lesson to remember what he learned last Autumn. We will go swimming on Wednesday together and hopefully next Saturday he will be quicker off the mark.

This week I will have to get creative with the fruit and veg. I had no time to visit the bank before swimming lessons so I intended to grab what I could with the $10 in my purse but lo-and-behold; Nora who has a brilliant garden wanted to leave the markets early so she gave me a bag full of lettuce and daikon. I LOVE daikon - Sean does not. Mmm...how many ways can I disguise daikon? Then to make this week even cheaper I watered Leverton's garden and harvested all the tommy tomatoes. We're doing well when you consider meat only costs us $2 per kg.

Sean today has repaired the down-pipe which was damaged by the bobcat. YAY!! Better still, he converted it to a clean, dry aerial pipe instead of a stagnant, froggified underground pipe. Admittedly we SHOULD also install a first flush system but that can wait.

Let there be light

Today, two skylights were installed in the lounge to purge the darkness and insulation was stuffed into the cavities above the bedrooms and kitchen. We can't put insulation of any type in the catherderal ceiling because there is merely a 3 inch gap between the tin and the boards so I suppose the next thing will be to apply heat reflective paint to the roof.

By Monday we should also have new iron railings around the verandas. The wooden verandah railings have been gradually disintigrating. Phil asked me what colour I wanted them. I replied, "Forest Green." He then asked, "What colour is that?"... OK - I get the point.

Captain Kirk

Kirk went for his second day at preschool and arrived home complaining the teachers would not allow him to read any books! This is hard to believe because Amy read him a pile of books on his first day. Maybe what he means is, "nobody had time to read any books to him", or perhaps it means, "I didn't ask anyone to read me a book". Oh well, some days you get what you want and some days you don't. He'll learn that in time. Nevertheless, we can read as many as he wants tomorrow because we will be home.

Later we visited Rachel for a cuppa and to play with her daughter Jorja. They are 6 months apart but she is a clever girl and they play really well together - SO WELL that Kirk invited her for a sleep over. This was very charming but I don't think Jorja is quite ready for a sleepover.

Anyway, as I sign off I offer a U-Tube video from a sand artist. Mmm...maybe kirk would enjoy doing some sand art tomorrow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo

In the begining.....

...there was faceplant but it became too painful due to constant errors therefore I have decided to start a blog to give family and friends news when they want it instead of bothering them with emails. Generally I consider blogging self indulgent but for now it is handy and, at the very least, accessible.

Today brings significant news from my home: Venus is dead. She failed to greet me as I gazed across the yard this morning and was doing a terribly good impression of a "free cat". Spooky had finally caught the poor girl. Sigh. Oh well....the coffee trees are doing well this year.

Currently Sean is burning CDs for a class who will be producing radio plays. Most kids have never heard a radio play so Trevor will give them a few classes experiencing The Goons, Dad'n'Dave etc... I'm not sure the kids will get the jokes but at the very least they will enjoy the voices and sound effects. Yes, YOU might have understood it all way back then but the topics have changed since then and kids need to get the listening thing re-engaged. It will be interesting to see how well they understand what needs to be done to convey the action without the help of visuals. I am looking forward to the week we do sound effects :-)

Kirk had a good day, he shot off a few rounds of arrows, dictated a couple of postcards, he did NOT play with Spooky - rather he yelled at him a lot, and finally gave a lot of nonsensical information to Phil. Phil Wedel , welder & son to Donna & Paul, our neighbours, was here today to install new railings on the verandas [happy dance]. To see what Phil does on his time off go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1I9TKFMY6g I'm not sure why he has a shotgun while fishing in the tinnie but as he says, "barra are a big fish". The giggling in the background is Micky, his youngest brother.

Right-o, goodnight all. When something interesting occurs I shall post again.

have fun

Tam