Be back in a week

Kiera made it safely to the cattery this morning

All that grizzling during the week was just for show

I opened the carry box and she walked straight in

Had a sniff

Settled down and curled up

Not a murmur from her as I drove up the road  

Next thing to do is for us to load the car

6 am tomorrow we are on our way

Theres about 700 kms/450 miles to drive

Along the Western Highway to the border

Then on to the Dukes Highway

Look out Adelaide - here we come

National Canoing Championships are on at West Lakes

Dh has a job to do and I'm going to have a rest

Weather is going to be good so there will be lots of beach walks 

  See you in a week or more

Similar but not the same

Its strange when you are travelling and you happen to come across a familar sight, but even though its similar its not the same.  We were in Newfoundland last year and driving round a bend  I suddenly yelled 'stop'  There in what seemed a very small farm yard were some sheep - not many of them but sheep just the same. 

Where I live in the suburbs east of Melbourne there aren't any paddocks with sheep in them - but I don't have to go too far up the road to find some.  Not the same as these - similar but not quite the same

These are Newfoundland Sheep - seemingly a rare breeed

Not a huge sized sheep - and one that seemed to be all different shapes and colours

Very placid looking - unconcerned with me being near the gate - that or they were wery well fed and it was post lunch siesta time lol

This one made its way over to see what was going on

but found something far more interesting on the way over

All of a sudden this big white dog which I think is a Pyrenean Mountain Dog / Great Pyrennes comes bounding over barking like crazy.  Didn't disturb the sheep one little bit - and even tho it was behind a fence it made me feel a bit uncomfortable.  

As you can see I stepped back a little:)

Reading up about these dogs I found out that they are a guardian dog rather than a herding dog so he was there to keep an eye on the sheep and protect them rather than say a Border Collie that gets them to move on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyrenees

To see more critters from around the world

Click Here

Whats on Kiera's mind

Not sure whats she's thinking

but it could be along the lines of

'I can hear every word you are saying'

'I just choose to ignore you'

She'd heard me mention 'going away' and 'ringing the cattery'

And ignore me she did lol

On my mind is remembering to check I booked Kiera into the cattery for the time we are away next week 

Vist Rhonda for more On My Minds

Folk Club - March 2011

Second Tuesday in the month means Folk Club guest night

All I can say is that last night we had a fabulous turn out - a full house
and if you came late - it was hard luck, you had to stand lol

Last night the guest performer was Martyn Wyndham - Read. 
I definitely can't describe him as well as this does

Martyn is one of our best known and respected singers, with a laid-back, hypnotic style which never fails to relax and enthrall his audiences; he is also an acknowledged expert on Australian song

You can read the full article here
http://www.folkmusic.net/htmfiles/inart366.htm

He has been 'on the road' for many many years playing lots of large venues and festivals   We really enjoyed his visit to the Victorian Folk Music Club   and we were 'honoured' to have him come and perform in a small wooden hut in Ringwood East.

Asking for no flash to be used mean't rather dark photos

February Newsletter

Perhaps you'd like to see listen to some of these youtube videos

Jackeroo

Moreton Bay

My Eldorado

I dreamed of Phoebe

The Black Swans

Broken down squatter

And these are the dates for performances on Martyn's 2011 Tour
for all you know he might be playing near you

Martin's 2011 Australian Tour

So that was last night
Next month we have another coming who is sure to please
Ted Egan

Moonlight and Poetry

Theres something special about a winter's night when the moon is full - especially when its cloudy and everything has an eerie look about it.  Its a look, just like in these photos I took last winter, and its times like this when I remember a particular poem written by Walter De La Mare called Silver.

We had to learn it at at school, we also had to learn it well enough to recite in class but until quite recently I could only remember the first two lines - honestly this aging process has its drawbacks lol -  however thanks to our trusty friend G*oogle and the Internet, here it is - and I wonder why I’ve never searched for it before.

Silver

Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy cote the white breast peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.


Walter De La Mare (1873 - 1956)

As I read this now it all comes back to me, standing there in the class room feeling quite confident, one of the few times I did so, reason being I knew every line. I never ever did well at written exams but sailed through anything oral.

That’s me – never have trouble talking lol

What would be your favourite poems and who are their authors?

Tuesday in Boronia

I had to pop down to Boronia the other day

Its a leafy foothills suburb not far from where I live

I'd ordered a book that could have been delivered closer but I decided to drive over, pick it up and visit a friend at the same time.  We are lucky in that all the outer east libraries belong to the same 'group' called funnily enough Eastern Regional Libraries which means we can borrow and return to any of them.   

Now its quite a while since I'd been to their library so driving in I was quite taken with what they'd done with some of the old trees near the car park

Instead of completely felling them - the council took another approach

Have a look at the wonderfully creative carvings that have been done

Enormous ABC letters and a wise old owl on one of the forks

along with a stack of books and a huge pencil on the others

There were others there but this one certainly caught my eye

Now what also caught my eye on the way home was the way the wind was messing about with the enormous Australian flag on the corner of Albert Avenue

Look at how grey the skies were as they hung low over the Dandenongs

and look at this lovely old gum tree shedding its bark in a reserve near where I'd  parked on Liverpool Road

This was my world on the first day of Autumn here in Melbourne

Tuesday March 1st 2011

all photos enlarge with a click

To see whats in other peoples worlds

Click Here

Slow news day

You can always tell when it's a slow news day

The news bulletins end with weird and wacky items

This came through to us in an email

(one thats be doing the rounds for a while)

but its just the thing that would fit that bill

I call it Free Enterprise

others may say

its a Rip Off Merchant

Whatever, its a funny mystery

Unfortunately its also fake

http://www.djmick.co.uk/laughs/bristol-zoo-parking-attendant-email-funny-but-fake/

Just click to enlarge

Something of interest

Hello there

Some of my readers might be interested in this post from Linda.

Her blog is called Simply Living Modestly and can be found here

Pop over and read what she has to say

also check out the Simplicty Institute and the survey she mentions

Take care

Cathy

How much is that doggy in the window

The little pet shop in Montrose where I get Kiera's fresh meat is on a fairly busy main road

Vince ( the owner) only carries supplies - food and the like - not live animals - so I wondered what was going on when I walked up the street a few months ago

With the direction of the sun and the reflections it looked like he had puppies sitting in the window and thats one thing he won't do

He says you need to see animals in their home environment before you buy them

As I got closer, still looking at the window I could have sworn he was going back on his word

Then I looked closer still and it clicked

These were not real puppies but large photos

and right there next to them was this

A 'for sale' note in the window - he'd obviously vetted the owner and agreed to putting it there

Look at the cost - and these aren't pure bred either

Think I was in the wrong line when I used to breed kittens lol

Hope you enjoyed my virtual Camera Critter

And aren't they fabulous reflections of the traffic!

Real live critters can be found here

Blogger playing up again

For those of you who see and read  the blog in a reader - have to tell you Blogger is playing up again:(

Latest post can be found here - titled Ban the Beep - come over and read

Cathy

Ban the Beep

I'd like to know what we did wrong to be inflicted with the beep - I'd love to know who invented the beep 'cose I'd certainly give him a piece of my mind

Not the bad word beep and not the reversing beep not even the ping beep of a low smoke alarm battery beep but that infernal one thats heard around us more and more these days - the one that seems to be attached to everything electonic.

My Dh has been party to the beep for a long time now, I have resisted for a long time whilst smiling at all those around me who were slaves of the beep. 

Sadly progress wiped the smile off my beepless face - our trusty 25 year old beepless microwave packed up last year and I reluctantly joined the beep society.  There is nothing attractive about a microwave that beeps at you - and I have been known to tell it so across the  kitchen.  Its almost like someone snapping their fingers and expecting you to drop everything and attend to the needs - doesn't happen in my house lol

Christmas time saw me falling more and more under its spell - I entered a new phase of my life by becoming the owner of a mobile phone - yes, up till now if 'they' wanted to talk to me 'they' had to wait till I was ready to speak to them.  Unfortunately this thing beeps when 'they' decide they really need me to know something and text knowing my curiosity will get the better of me

Oh dear, and you know what.....last week another wedge was driven into my desire for a beepless life when the new fridge/freezer was delivered and had the audacity to beep at me when I stood at the door pondering.

And then not content with just finishing a wash and coming to a standstill - guess what the new washing machine did - yes the beeping thing beeped at me!

I've had enough.........I've decided I'm going out to protest......I'm going to stand outside the electrical stores with a placard......a large one .......one that says Ban the Beep

Those flying thingies

With the love of my life having spent many years around aircraft and in particular the bit that makes them fly - aka engines - see photo below - its possible at times I am going to be walking around airfields or museums admiring (well looking at) things that go up and down in the air

Last weekend was no exception

One of our daughter's 'in laws' are visiting from England and as Derek has the same interest as Dh. off we go on Sunday down to Point Cook to look at all things flying

Not the best day to be outside watching the skies

but we made the best of it

While the men were trying to convince themselves it was all jolly good fun

Ann and I went inside to the warmth (well relative warmth) of the hangars

Where we saw lots of flying thingies but these are just a few

There were old ones

Some newer ones - but not that new

Please don't ask - 'cose I don't know

and they don't put the really new ones in museums

You wouldn't want to suffer from claustrophobia would you lol

Things designed to go up

Nasty things that were designed to come down

and those who stayed down on the ground

making it safe for those who went up in the air

The one with the stripes could have been Dh many years ago

Had a lovely meal at a newish place down that way

The Brook on Sneydes

 No photos of us all - I think they would prefer not to have them here

all photos enlarge with a click

Is it only mine that does this?

I had the new fridge/freezer and the washing machine delivered Tuesday of last week (February 22nd) and before they arrived we had to move the others out on to the back deck

That left a nice gap and as always happens a grubby floor - can't have the delivery man see that so I set to and gave it and the wall a wash

But guess what I see where the fridge/freezer had been

I think you can see it too - a half finished painting job

Bet he thought I'd never find it

Theres no point in complaining

I do remember him saying the paint had run out

And what I don't see won't matter that much lol

Its a little bit of a squeeze

but I'm sure we will manage

And as for the half finished skirting board

I know it will be fixed next time we paint the laundry

At least I hope it will lol

Any half finished jobs in your house?

Did you notice I hadn't changed the date in the first photo?

That was the week that was

It’s funny how some posts generate interest and others are just run of the mill - I’ve been looking back over last week’s posts and would like to say thank you for all your recent comments and emails.

The little bereavement programme I’m associated with is a support service Sids and Kids Victoria provides – please look at this link - http://sidsandkidsvic.org/bereavement-support/treasured-babies - it will all be explained to you there. Providing ‘right sized’ layettes for these little babes who are born too soon is just part of the range of help available for families who lose a child suddenly – given to them by caring volunteers, staff and counsellors at this organization.

The Christchurch earthquake has been on our minds all week and I’m sure will continue to be so for many more weeks. The awful sadness continued today when we saw the tiniest of coffins being carried from a church – inside was the little baby boy born after the previous earthquake and taken by this one. You’ll be glad to hear Michelle finally made contact with her family.

Now from the comments on the pumpkin soup post I do believe there might be some soup-making going on around the world. You know, I can’t recall ever seeing pumpkin in a can/tin here but I’ll have a look for it - the soup I froze certainly came in handy on a couple of days this week when time got away from me.

Thanks for your advice on planting the bulbs, it’s a while since I had any on the garden – the Iris I do have are all the rhizome (sit on the surface) type and I’d forgotten about the planting as deep as the height tip.  Thanks for that Olive and Lois:)

But I do need to get my finger out where they are concerned as this week is forecast to be damp so it will good planting weather.

My chair post meant that Jan could answer my question about the one I saw in the museum – they were known as Morris chairs thanks to a man called William Morris. Often its not the weird and wonderful and expensive but those everyday things that we treasure - so I’m glad ordinary items bring back memories for others.

Most of us seem to agree that silence is golden when we need to concentrate but doing several things at a time comes easily to us - is that a female thing from necessity:).

And who knew the answer to weight loss was so simple lol
See you again another day
Cathy