Friday 31 March 2017

PARADISE LOST AND A FAREWELL

Hello my lovelies

Oh dear!  Next week, Auntie Emma had organised for Papa and me to go down and spend time with the boys while she and Uncle Michael took some 'time out' to spend a weekend together at Hamilton Island.

Their weekend away had been planned for some time.  She telephoned them today to double-check everything was still all right, especially after the cyclone, and no, everything was not all right.

Here's a couple of photographs of the island at the moment.






Would you look at these poor palms.  I think we'll have to change the name of the island to PARADISE LOST.

After a bit of thinking they have decided to forgo their holiday to Hamilton Island - actually they didn't have much choice as the people there said all bookings are now cancelled until further notice. Instead, they will spend a weekend at Noosa which will be just lovely.

It is a lovely sunny day today, so Papa and I have been cleaning up after the deluge.  We had over 100mls of steady rain which has been wonderful.  Brisbane unfortunately has experienced quite a bit of flooding.  Schools are all closed again today and when I spoke to Auntie Emma this morning she said that unfortunately there has been quite a bit of flooding in and around her house.  But it's sunny again down there too and so, won't take long at all to dry out.

On the sad news front, wee Debbie the cockatoo died.  Here's an article on her.


Debbie the cockatoo dies after cyclone

MARCH 30, 20172:32PM
David SigstonAustralian Associated Press
·        The battered cockatoo who became a global star in the wake of Cyclone Debbie has passed away.
Rescued by a Townsville Bulletin photographer on Tuesday, Debbie was found lifeless in her box on Thursday morning.

Debbie, who warmed hearts across the globe, has been buried in the same forest she was found in.

Rest in Peace Debbie.

Love Nanxxxx



Thursday 30 March 2017

SCHOOL'S OUT AND WELLIES ARE IN



Hello my lovelies.  Brisbane is looking pretty wet and as you can see from the river, there has been quite a bit of rain.

All schools have been cancelled and people have been advisd to stay home if at all possible.

Here's a link showing some recent photographs of the cyclone as it wanders its way down south.

Love Nanxxxx

DEBBIE THE COCKY WHO SURVIVED A CYCLONE AND A PROPOSED BOOK WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY AUNTIE EMMA



Hello my lovelies

Auntie Emma thought you might like this article which continues the saga of Debbie the Cocky who Survived a Cyclone.   

As you can see from the rain totals, the system hadn't quite reached Brisbane when they were taken.  It has today.  It has been raining all night and is still pouring as I type.  Everything feels very damp and as you can imagine, it is very humid.  Lovely though to get the rain before heading into our dry winter.  The trees will be loving it. "Yum! Yum!" say the trees.

I think there may be a children's book in this somewhere.  C'mon Auntie Emma!  You can write it, and illustrate it too!

Send me some rough drafts and I'll forward to the girls for their approval.

Love Nanxxx

Wednesday 29 March 2017

QUEENSLAND'S SADDEST BIRD





Before the cyclone...



after the cyclone.


Rescued cockatoo settles in for the night as Queensland's saddest bird waits for cyclone to be over and help to arrive.

There was someone on the news this morning who says it looks as though the bird will survive.  Sleep tight Debbie.

Monday 27 March 2017

THE SHIPPING NEWS



On the news last night they were saying that thousands were being evacutated from Queensland, between Bowen and Mackay because of this cyclone which will be causing quite a bit of damage in the next day or so.

Often these warnings and evacuations become a bit of a fizzler as the cyclone diminishes in ferocity by the time it hits landfall.  When we listened to the news, Papa and I looked at each other and remembered the movie THE SHIPPING NEWS.




In the film a journalist who is finding it difficult to find news to write about for the local paper goes for a walk along the beach with the editor of the newspaper.  The editor wants to teach the journalist how to find news that he can write about.

As they are walking along the beach, the editor says to the journalist, "Look over there!  What do you see?"

The journalist looks out over the sea to the horizon and sees some cloud.  "I see some cloud." says the journalist to the editor.

"No you don't!" says the editor.  "What you see is a storm approaching our town.  You see a storm that is going to cause havoc among the citizens of our town.  You see that we may need sandbags for the flooding that will ensue.  You see that we may need to call out the army to help with evacuations."

"But what if there's no storm?" asks the journalist.

"In that case," said the editor, "the headlines on the front page of the newspaper will say, "Storm bypasses town and thousands saved from evacuation and flooding."

But then Papa and I looked back at the television news again and realized that this just might hit landfall and cause a lot of damage.

I've just been on to the weather map and here are the warnings.



Uncle Aaron and family are down in Victoria at the moment so I'm hoping that Janet's family will check their property up in Mackay today and make sure there are no tables, chairs, toys etc lying around the place that could cause damage if they are picked up by the wind and thrown all around the place.

Thankfully, we will be fine here.  The forecast is for some heavy rain over the next few days but I don't think the winds are going to be too bad.

Will keep you up to date with all the happenings.

xxxNan

DFAT CHILDREN'S POETRY COMPETITION





Hello my lovely girls

Mummy sent me your entry for the poem competition Freya.  

 I have decided to post it here on the blog for posterity.  I've just looked up the meaning of that word:

posterity
noun
  1. all future generations of people.

Family and friends.  Here is Freya's poem.




Young and Free and Searching for Peace

Australians all let us rejoice
for we are

going to Singapore girls!      
It will be hot and sticky and we will make new friends who are

Young and free

Will we really be able to swim in the pool every day?

We've golden soil and wealth for toil

It's time to pack up girls
back to

Our home is girt by sea

We will see our family and

Our land abounds in nature's gifts

and the bush

Of beauty rich and rare

kangaroos, koalas and cockatoos

In history's page let every stage

wattle, gum trees and bottle brush

Advance Australia Fair

look at the big blue sky!

In joyful strains then let us sing

We're home!

Advance Australia Fair

   

Beneath our radiant southern cross

We will fly

We'll toil with hearts and hands

and go to Switzerland girls!

To make this Commonwealth of ours

the flight was long
but we survived

Renowned of all the lands

for cheese and chocolate

For those who come across the seas

Skiing or skating today?
Je veux faire du ski Papa!

We've boundless plains to share

Since
every
single
friend
at my birthday party
was from a different country

With courage let us all combine

to find a way to live in peace

To Advance Australia Fair

Trouver de la paix

In joyful strains than let us sing

I miss Australia

Advance Australia Fair

La Suisse me manquera

Advance Australia Fair

et trouver de la paix.

                Freya Alblas 2017

Photograph taken last year at the dress-up station in Stirling Castle.



Sunday 26 March 2017

NOT TRAVELLING, BUT VISITING AND WATCHING



Hello my lovelies.

The plan today was to go for a wee drive, perhaps south and have a picnic or morning tea at Allora.  However, we have since discovered that today is the Felton Food Festival.  "David!  Do you think it's the Felton Food Festival tomorrow?" I asked yesterday as we were planning our wee outing.

"I think it might be." he said and proceeded to check things out on the Internet.  And sure enough the big day at Felton is today.

Papa and I went to the Festival last year and said "Never again!"

The dust!





The cars!



 The smell of hamburgers frying!


What is it with Toowoomba and the Darling Downs?  Everyone, but everyone heads out to these events and end up clogging the highways and bi-ways.

However as much as I don't really like these events I must admit that the environment will probably look fantastic after all the rain we've had.  I remember when we went last year or the year before, the dust was so bad that while we were driving, we couldn't see far behind or in front for the dust.

There are a lot of dirt roads to get to the Felton Food Festival.

We reminded each other that we are retired and don't have to do anything on a weekend when it's busy.  So, we will go south for a picnic through the week.

Today though, we have other plans.

We are going to pop up and see Roger and Anne for morning tea.  We haven't seen them for ages. Roger has been in Japan ski-ing for a week so it will be interesting to hear how that went.  Also their son Alistair, his wife Wendy and their children Tucker and Quinn will be moving in with them soon as they are about to start a big renovation on their home not far from where we live. They live just off Campbell Street.  In fact they may have moved in with Roger and Anne already, so we may catch up with them too.

We watched the very last episode of Call The Midwife last night.  I have so enjoyed the episodes which chronicles a world I lived in as a child.  My mum gave birth to five of her seven children at home just like this - cot in the corner all ready.  Although I remember my mum had a basket for her newborns and it was called a Moses basket.


Love Nanxxxx


Saturday 25 March 2017

WASHING CLOTHES, WASHING MOLLY, IRONING, LIBRARY AND PERHAPS A DRIVE


After all the rain we've had over the past week or so, I was way behind with my washing.  Verandahs too felt it was time for a clean-up what with wet towels all over the place to soak up some of the rain from the sudden downpours and to stop Papa and me slipping whenever we walked out on to the verandahs.

The picture above shows the laundry all nice and clean after all the washing this morning.  The last load of towels still washing in this photograph was after Molly disgraced herself.  Just as I thought I had finished the last load, Papa came out to me and said "I think Molly's been digging in the garden."

"Oh no!" I said; quite loudly.

I walked into Papa's office and there she was sitting on his couch, with an absolutely filthy face.  She knew she had done something wrong but probably wasn't quite sure what it was.  So to fill in the time until she did work out what the problem was, she lay down on her back allowing us the privilege of giving her tummy a scratch while she continued to ponder the situation.

She soon knew what was happening when I lifted her up and took her collar off!

Here's some of the washing around the place just now.



Bedding and bibs and bobs on the line.


Quilts and pillows airing in the garden and on the line Papa has strung out for me when I run out of space on the main lines.


Some things already dry and ironed.



Dusters and cloths on rack.  Bras too by the look of it :)



More stuff folded on the table.

After washing Molly, I took her a walk around the block to dry her off a bit and noticed that Mary-Kate who lives around the corner has started a street library.  She has put two posts in the ground beside her gate.  On top of the posts is a table-type top and on top of that, she has the most gorgeous, blue glass cabinet.

I picked Molly up and gingerly stepped over the grass to the cabinet - the ground is still very wet and muddy, opened the door and had a wee poke around.

Here is a book I brought home.



After we've read it, I'll take it back and borrow another one.  Perhaps I'll have a look through the books we have here and add some to the library as well.

To finish off the washing theme, here's a close up of part of a drawing I have in my laundry.  It's called MOTHER, THE ROCK.


I think this is me with both of you when you used to visit Papa and me at Summerfield.


Well I'm away to have a cuppa.  I've been thinking of suggesting to Papa that we take a drive out Allora way and perhaps have some morning tea there tomorrow.  It will be lovely to drive through a green countryside now that we've had all that rain.

Love Nanxxxx



Friday 24 March 2017

WHAT I WORE TO QUILTING TODAY, MY LUNCH, SOME STITCHES AND A RABBIT



Here I am about to head off to quilting this morning.  I thought you would like to see that I am actually wearing the dresses we bought together while you were here.  I even put on some make-up AND blow-dried my hair.

While I was doing all that, I shouted down the hall to Papa.  "David!  Would you make me up a sandwhich to take with me to quilting?"

"Will do!" shouted back Papa.

"Pardon?" I shouted back down the hall.  And then with a very loud voice he shouted "Will do!"

"Oh!  OK." I said, and went back to drying my hair.

When I was ready to go he presented me with a lovely lunch.  My sandwich was even sitting on an ice brick and he had thoughtfully put in a knife for me to peel the fruit.  Lovely Papa!



All the other ladies and I had a great time at Robyn's.  Robyn taught me the coral stitch, a stitch she thought would look good for the fencing on my Hebridean quilt.

I practiced for a wee while on a scrap of material, took a deep breath and began on my own quilt top. Even if I say so myself, I'm quite pleased with the result.  Haven't quite finished but will do this weekend.  Just realized this photograph doesn't show my lovely stitching, just the chalk marks.  You will have to contain your excitement until tomorrow, when hopefully I will have finished stitching the fence.



We also discussed a border and with the input of Robyn and the other ladies we decided on a navy blue border which I hope to do this weekend as well.  Then it's all go to start the quilting process.

Here's a photograph of a gorgeous rabbit on Bonnie's quilt.



Good news on the rain front.  Last night we had over 50 mls.  On my way to quilting I could see that the creek on Kitchener Drive had flooded.  Bob popped in today to see Papa about something and he said that sadly, Meringindan received not a drop.

Well my dears I shall away.

Love Nanxxxx



Thursday 23 March 2017

A NEW PLANT AND AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH



Do you like the new plant Papa planted up for me for the kitchen?  I love it and have been putting it here, there and everywhere to see where it looks best.  I think Chooky looks lovely beside it, but Chooky has flown the coop since I took this photograph.  She is now up on top of the cabinet you can see above the plant.

And this photograph, can you guess who the man is?



Yes!  It's Uncle Angus from Glasgow.  Doesn't he look funny?  Do you like the gorgeous curtain behind him.  I think Auntie Mairi bought it in France.  And his sun hat!  And the lovely bricks...and what's on the shelf behind him?  And what about those socks!

Tomorrow I'm off to quilting at Robyn's.  My goal for the day is to embroider a fence on my Hebridean quilt and discuss with Robyn whether to put on borders or not.  Actually I've made the fence already.  It's the wire I have to learn how to embroider.



Also, I have an appointment with the dentist to check everything is healing in my mouth the way it should.  I'm still feeling quite unwell with it all.  Getting quite fed up if the truth be known.  I went and did a big pantry/laundry shop this morning and by the time I drove home and realized that Papa was next door chatting to the Builder and I probably had the task of bringing all the shopping in myself, I just about fell on the ground crying.  "Yoo hoo!" shouted Papa over to me in a very happy voice.  "Could you please come over and help me with this shopping." I replied.  He came over very quickly.  I think he could detect from my voice I was a bit at the end of my tether.  He helped me in with the shopping, sat me down, put the fan on and made me a nice cup of tea.

I am now quite recovered and starting a list for when I feel able to get going again.

Quote from the wee doggie book.

"A friend is someone that won't talk behind your tail when you leave the room."



Love Nanxxxx

Wednesday 22 March 2017

THE SHEEP AND THE DOG



Isn't this the most gorgeous looking sheep?

When I was at quilting today, Kerrie K was telling us all about this sheep and dog her family had.

The story begins quite a few years ago in Brisbane where Kerrie was a student.  She and a number of girls were living together in a house in Park Road.  One of the girls bought a dog and when Kerrie saw the size of the puppy's paws she said to her friend, "That is going to be a very big dog!"  And sure enough, as time passed the dog grew bigger and bigger and bigger.  So big in fact that one day when they were out walking the dog jumped on to the roof of a car.

The day finally arrived when it was decided that the girls could no longer look after Rex and they needed to find a new home for him.  As Kerry's parents lived on a farm up in Northern Queensland near Mackay it was decided to contact Kerrie's dad and see if he would be agreeable to Rex moving to the farm.  Kerrie's dad said that would be just fine and the girls organised for Rex to fly to Mackay where Kerrie's dad would collect him from the airport.

It didn't take Rex long to settle in on the farm and Kerrie said he just loved going to town on the back of Kerrie's dad's ute and doing what a good farm dog does - herding the sheep and keeping them safe.

One day though, the family noticed that Rex and his favourite friend the Sheep whose name has been forgotten, disappeared.  The weeks passed and everyone began to wonder what terrible end had come to Rex and his friend.  Perhaps a dingo had attacked Sheep and Rex had gone into rescue mode.  Perhaps the sheep had fallen down a ravine and Rex had gone down after it to rescue it, couldn't, and had stayed with his friend until death had overtaken them both.

And then one day who do you think wandered through the farm gate?  Yes!  It was Rex and his friend Sheep.  The picture above is a picture of Sheep and if Kerrie's dad can find a picture of Rex, I'll forward it on to you both.

Doesn't Sheep look naughty?  It looks as though it's looking out of that gate and asking itself, "Where to now?"

xxxxNan

WORLD POETRY DAY


Yesterday was World Poetry Day.  No-one told me but apparently Katyboo1.wordpress.com knew.  She posted this fantastic poem which I think is very appropriate what with it being the Spring equinox in the northern hemisphere.


Spring Cleaning

de Lord is my shepherd
I shall not want

an she scraping
de las crumbs
aff de plate
knowing ants will feed

maketh me to lie down
in green pastures
leadeth me beside de still
waters

and she han washing clothes
spotless
lifting dem outa de water
drying she han careful slow
pon she apron

restoreth my soul

she mixing
sugar
water
lime
she filling she favourite jug
de one wid de cool palm pattern

yea though I walk
troo de valley of de
shadow of death

she opening de fridge
de cowl stapping her breath
for a motion

I will fear no evil

she put een wah she want
tek out wah she want
shut de door

for thou art wid me
thy rod an thy staff
dey comfort me

an she looking wid a far eye
pon de picture a de children
side a de almanac
pon de wall

surely goodness an mercy
shall follow me

she pick up de broom
an she sweeping

all de days of my life

an she sweeping

an I will dwell
in de house of de Lord

she sweeping out
sweeping
out

shake de broom
in de wind
dus fly
she beat it gains de fence
dus fly
she cup she han
unda de pipe
an she sprinkle water
roun she
stan up
hans akimbo

she watching
all de dark spirits
departing wid de dus

sunrise in er eyes

forever
an ever


Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze



TUESDAY MORNING AT 9.42AM

Hello my lovelies! Here are Wayne and Papa leaving for Geham to put the cross up.  Can you see wee Molly and Spotty Boy looking u...