Category Archive

What a fascinating discussion that turned out to be! Thanks everyone who commented. There is one thing I would like to clarify. My comments were not about all traditional quilts, but rather about a particular type of quilt that, to my mind, seem to be made for the purpose of competition. Also, I would like to stress that these quilts are amazing, I admire the effort that they require and I am glad that they are made. We need excellence in all things. My point was that they fail to move me. One of the things that I most love about quilting is that there is room for everyone and every style. As for my lack of participation in the discussion - I didn’t just lay low, honestly! I’ve actually been away for a little holiday.

This is where I’ve been:

This is Cape Tribulation, a World Heritage listed rainforest in Far North Queensland ( a couple of hours north of Cairns).
It is the last remnant of Gondwanaland and one of the most magical places I have ever been. It felt like a privilege to be there (let’s face it, it IS a privilege to be there!). I kept expecting to see a dinosaur! But, no, we only met these guys…

Oh, and him…

On a crafty note, more knitting and crocheting coming soon to this blog…

Jess and Meggie and Molly and Mary and heaps more of you have been writing these amazing statements. I believe it started here with Suse. They have intrigued me and I have found myself writing my own in my head for days. Mine became further removed from the original concept as I went along. But it made me cry. Time to put it here…

I am from Strong Women. Land-owning, moko-chinned women. Far-from-home, desperate-for-a-new-beginning women. Women who worked hard, physical work, who created, who birthed and buried. Maori and Pakeha, New Zealand women.

I am from Weetbix and Marmite and Vogel bread. But also Mum and Dad making jam in a steamy kitchen, measuring sugar, cutting plums and peaches. From duck and pheasant, plucked by Nanna, shot by Papa, making his own cartridges on the back verandah; from flounder and crayfish, caught by my uncles, drying and cleaning their nets in the sun. From whitebait, feijoas, plums and mandarins. I am from sun-ripened strawberries growing safely under old fishing nets.

I am from a sandpit, huge and deep - built by Dad, digging with my brother; Mole Holes and tunnels to China, shared baths and sandy feet.

I am from freesias, grape hyacinth and roses. But also bracken, ponga and moss. From damp bush tracks, swinging vines, tuis, fantails and bellbirds. From cold, bare legs and sweaty wool-clad torsos; from home-knitted hats and Swan-dris; from canvas packs and scroggin.

I am from a river, deep and dark. The Waikato. Forboding, menacing, comforting, home.

I am from immigrant Presbyterian straightforwardness, threat, control; softened by years to simplicity, inclusiveness, morality. I am from whakapapa, so that my family includes all things and everyone and is everpresent. I am from karakia, prayer for all things - welcome, recognition, gratitude, farewell.

I am from Christmas indulgences. Ceiling-scraper trees that leave sap on the plaster, wooden crates of soft-drink bottles, present-opening that lasts all afternoon (one at a time so everyone can see). I am from my Papa, roasting assorted fowl all morning, revelling in the luxuriousness of our lives.

I am from Nanna. From crochet and knitting, from sewing needles dangerously parked in the back of the sofa, horse racing on a transistor radio. From bags stuffed full of wool and patterns and magazines. The New Zealand Women’s Weekly.
From Choysa tea, arrowroot biscuits, 20 cents to buy yourself a creamy. I am from you.

I am from barefooted primary school days. Hand stands, four-square, school journals, muddy playing fields, thick Education Department crayons. From kids who smelled funny and boys who played rugby and girls in Grandma-knitted cardigans.
I am from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer and boater hats and school ties and timetables and Latin verbs and Chapel and matron and The Bursar and The Headmistress. I am from naughty boarders, brothers at St Pauls, sneaking hone early.

I am from wet, foggy mornings with the washing machine sloshing and my mother’s red hands.
I am from homemade clothes, Holly Hobbie-embroidered and pin-tucked. I am from Singer sewing machines, forever patient Teacher-Mother with needle and thread, hours spent looking a patterns and fabric in shops, pinking shears, pins in foam-topped plastic boxes.

I am from rides in the wheelbarrow, a Daddy with strong arms; piggyback rides, a Daddy with a strong back. Wrestling on the lounge floor, pinned in The Scissors hold. Laughing, laughing, laughing. I am from my parents cuddling in the car, flirting in the kitchen, dancing in the lounge. I am from kissing and cuddling and love.

Ko Taupiri te maunga
Ko Waikato te awa
Ko Aotearoa te iwi

Taupiri is my mountain
Waikato is my river
New Zealand is my people

We just had the Best Weekend EVER! Saturday was my birthday. I was 103. OK, 43. Peter took me and Ali to Cairns for a birthday weekend. I was very clever when I chose my husband - I made sure he was Australian. My birthday falls on Australia Day, so my husband never forgets my birthday and I get a long weekend.
We stayed here again (I love the bathrooms. And the soap.), ate out for every meal (Cairns is smothered in gelataria. I think we ate the best coffee icecream in the world) and bought new clothes and shoes(Ali got natural, I got red).
We saw two movies (how I love movies! I have promised myself that this year I will go to more movies). Ali and I are big Tim Burton fans and we had been hanging out to see Sweeney Todd. The music was a bit much in places (but that’s Steven Sondheim’s fault) but the costuming and Tim Burton’s dark and seething aesthetic was wonderful! Johnny Depp was eleven shades of brooding; Helena Bonham Carter was brilliant. Her character had lovely subtlety. If you haven’t seen it, go!
And then go to see Juno. I loved every single second of this one. Sweet, funny and full of love.

In case you think the whole weekend was Hedonism-Without-Ceasing, we also walked through the rainforest to see this…The Boulders at Babinda
These rocks are immense. It’s impossible to give you a sense of scale with this photo but they are huge. It’s quite a spooky place. Many people have died here swimming in the pools. There are warnings everywhere not to swim. Some bodies haven’t ever been recovered.

If you ever get to Kuranda, visit the Butterfly Sanctuary. Very hot and steamy inside, but full of butterflies. If you wear something light or bright they will land on you. And make sure you charge your camera battery before you go so that it doesn’t go flat after ten photos… grumble grumble…

That weekend was so good, I think I’ll have another birthday next month.

Last week was nasty. It was hot. It was humid. It was FERAL.
Then it started to rain.

We have downpipes on our house that are 8″ in diameter. For 360 days of the year they are bone dry.
But not today. Today there is a Niagara Falls ripping through them.

There are frogs. Heaven only knows where they came from, but their voices are louder than the average two year old in a supermarket and they are shouting for lovers ALL night.

The main highway is cut by flood waters south of Townsville. That means that it’s time to race to the shops and buy milk. If you are too slow and don’t join in the Mass Supermarket Panic, you will miss out and be forced to suffer with UHT or even *blech* powdered milk. While you’re there, stock up on tinned baked beans, too, because by Wednesday there will only be the yucky flavours left. I can’t understand why, but rain seems to cause hysterical milk and bean hoarding.

This is the Wet Season.

Edited to add: I’m no longer the only Official Nutter in the house. Peter has been infected by Townsvillism and has turned into Manic Milk Man. There are three of us living here and it takes us about two days to consume a litre of milk. We now have eight litres in our fridge. BRING IT ON, RAIN! BRING IT ON!!

*ahem* Quiet please, everyone! There are quite a few notices this morning so I’ll try to be quick.

Construction work at The Office is now complete and Peter and Kirsty are slaving over hot computers every day. Peter has written Kirsty’s job description to include “making coffee”. She has to remind him frequently that He Is NOT The Boss Of Her. He counters with “Oh, yes I am” but usually backs down quickly. Even the Managing Director should know his place.

There has been a steady stream of emails over the past week inquiring after Kirsty’s health and general well-being. Thank you all, for your concern ONE of you, however (and YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) (Vel*cough*cro) sent the following impertinent message : “Oi Where are you?”
Young ladies are reminded that the use of casual language is unbecoming.

(HEY, VELCRO!!!! I’m OVER HERE *whistle* !!)

Last weekend, Peter, Kirsty and Ali had a weekend escape to Airlie Beach in The Whitsundays. A lovely time was had by all…

Activities included feeding crackers to cockatoos that visited their apartment balcony, shopping, eating out in a luxurious restaurant with very cute waiters and cruising out to the Barrier Reef on a catamaran. On board the boat, K and P were massaged while floating on the Reef (how awesome is THAT??) and Miss D had her first scuba dive…

She was so excited that she couldn’t stop grinning and laughing. A Monster has now been created and investigations have been made at the local dive school so that the activity can continue.

Excuse me, 4B. Can someone please wake up Miss O’Connor?

It has been decided that regular breaks will be required in the following years and that The Whitsundays, given their close proximity to Townsville, are excellently located for this purpose. It is heartily recommended that those of you who have never been to the Barrier Reef should avail yourselves of this opportunity should it present itself. It truly is one of Life’s Great Gifts.

Monday evenings have been declared to be The Night For Quilting, by a new sewing group. It is pleasing to see students choosing to spend their free time productively (!!) in wholesome activity. I am assured that there is definitely NO loud talking, laughing or chocolate-eating in this group and that they are models of good behaviour. Well done. I can only say that it must be the influence of Tracey, Tanya and Florence.

I am aware that in my absence there have been a number of Unfortunate Events. Some of you have been unwell, suffered bereavement and other sorrows. You have my wholehearted ((hugs)) and love.

We will now all stand QUIETLY and turn to page 47 in your song books.
Hit it, Mrs Feesh…

*sings* In the Garden of Eden, baby, doncha know that I luuu uu uuve you…

We are home. I wish I could say I am pleased, but this was one of those holidays that you don’t want to end. Yes, it was THAT good!
I have been greatly enjoying the wonderful lies that so many of you have been telling, inspired by Tracey who, I must say, is the most unlikely of liars! Instead of doing her meme, I am going to tell you about my week - you can decide which points are real and which I’m lying about…

1. We stayed at this place. It was beautiful, had spectacular views over the sea and delicious soap and shampoo (lemongrass and eucalyptus).

2. Ali and I spent a morning standing three metres from lions and a tiger as they tore into huge chunks of raw meat and crunched through three inch thick bones. Did you know that when the lionesses are in heat they bonk up to ninety times a day for three days straight??

3. We ate crocodile at a teppanyaki bar.

4. Peter was in need of new clothes and we found a wonderful menswear store where we bought him a beautiful suit, pants, jacket, belt and shoes. The suit cost more than my wedding dress (Hell, the jacket and the SHOES each cost more than my wedding dress!!) and he hyperventilated when it was time to pay but he looks thoroughly gorgeous and lustworthy.

5. We were in Cairns primarily for Peter to attend a conference and the Gala Dinner was a wonderful surprise for me - the entertainment included legendary Australian band, The Black Sorrows. They were superb. Consummate musicians. If you haven’t seen Joe Camilleri perform live, you should. I think I will marry him next. Who can resist a man in a linen suit? Certainly not me.

6. On Thursday night a priest was talking to us and when he turned around his cassock was completely open down the back and he mooned us with one of the prettier boy-butts I’ve seen.

7. We snorkeled at Green Island and I swam amongst a school of coral trout that were each about 40 cm long (16″).

8. Ali and I saw a green turtle.

9. I saw a whale.

10. I got seasick on the way to Green Island and the only thing that stopped me chucking my breakfast in front of a hundred strangers was pride.

11. I ate cherry flavoured gelato for the first time in my life.

12. Peter can use an espresso machine and froth milk and I never knew it.

13. We watched Blazing Saddles on TV two days before we gave it to Peter on dvd for Fathers’ Day.

14. Sept 1 was the 26th anniversary of Peter proposing to me. Legend has it (i.e. Peter’s version of events) that we were in a terrible restaurant and he offered to “take you away from all this”. Next thing he remembers is walking down the aisle…
Of course, that IS a lie - a colossal lie - we were in a fabulous restaurant and He Proposed Properly. I know because I was there.

15. Cairns is full of tourists. FULL of tourists. I walked along the Esplanade and was the only person speaking English. It was lovely hearing so many different languages.

16. And FUNNY to see all the English tourists sunbathing in Winter!!

17. Yesterday was Peter’s brother’s birthday. Happy Birthday and kisses from Queensland!!
Peter’s brother designs Porsches.

18. A Japanese man glanced up at Peter as we walked past him on the beach and exclaimed “OH! Very strong!!”

19. Ali and I shopped until our feet ached. We had to stop and go back to the hotel because we couldn’t take another step.

20. I sat next to a man at the Gala Dinner who was Sir Les Patterson in a slightly cleaner suit. He gleefully informed me that key note speaker who addressed Life/Work Balance had said that “we should have intercourse three times a week”. The room started swaying at that point and my seasickness returned.

So, where are the lies??

I’ve been tagged by Jade to list my Top 5 Eating Spots. After Tracey’s post about Top Ten Lists, it will be a challenge to stick to five so I’m limiting myself to eateries in four places I’ve lived.

1. Fifteen years ago Pete and I went to The Walnut Room in Brisbane. I am STILL talking about it. It rates as the absolute-no-competition-alltime-best restaurant I have ever eaten at! The food was good, but the service was outstanding. We had our own exclusive waiter and he was so discreet that he managed to refill my glass without me even noticing. Superb.

2. In Townsville we like to eat breakfast at a cafe called C-bar. The food is nice/average but we like it because we can walk there and it is right on the sea. There is nothing between us and the water. Here’s a photo that Katja blogged a while ago. Wouldn’t you love it too?

New Zealand is FULL of excellent restaurants! I’m not kidding. If you love good food, then you need to book a holiday in New Zealand NOW and go on a restaurant crawl.

3. Palmerston North is not a big place but it is chock full of great places to eat. My favourite is Bella’s. The menu is good, the food is fantastic but, again, what makes the place extra good is the service - it’s one of those lovely places where you feel truly welcomed.

4.Hamilton (my home town) is also overloaded with choice. You can’t beat Scotts Epicurean for breakfast. They make amazing homemade crumpets (nothing like the supermarket kind!) and salmon that I’d walk a hundred miles for (mind you, I seldom meet a salmon I don’t adore).

5. And a few doors down is Metropolis which is practically a Hamilton Institution. And so it should be! It’s impossible not to love the place.

If Peter and I had every dollar we have eaten in restaurants over the years, we would be able to laugh about my dying car!! But we do love a good meal
Where do you like to eat??

Here’s a question for you. Would you rather live here (A) Outback Queensland…
…or here (B) The BEACH (North Queensland)?

Strangely enough, I don’t find that difficult to answer. So this coming weekend I’m packing up my stuff and my daughter and moving to (B) The Beach (my son is already there, at university). It is fraught with grief and pain, however, because my darling husband has to stay in (A) for work. So for a while to come we will be living in two different places and seeing each other on weekends (waaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! *sniff*). We hope that it won’t be for too long.
This isn’t an easy decision to make. But, ultimately it seems the better choice for both of our children (although the Boy Who Will be Giving Up His Freedom would beg to differ!!) and I am nearing the end of my rope living in the bush. I like the community out here very much, but I find the remoteness and smallness gets me down. I said I’d come for two years and those were obviously powerful words - I was fine for two years but since February I have been restless and wriggling. It was soooo hard to leave Sydney when I went to stay with my friend, Robyn, in March. To be in the city and then have to come back here was just an agony…
So this week is all about packing things up and wondering how on earth we are all going to squeeze into our little townhouse in Townsville! A shoe horn may be in order…

ps Thank you all very much for The Birthday Wishes

teal mosaic, originally uploaded by twolimeleaves.

Peter fly fishing in New Zealand.

I’m home. And my friend Robyn’s baby is still firmly ensconced where he is obviously happiest - in utero! I’m a little bit disappointed that I didn’t get to meet him, but happy that he is where he needs to be for a little while longer.
As promised here are some photos I took in Balmain. I wish they were better but it felt a bit funny standing on the path taking photos of other people’s houses without their permission. So they were taken at speed, with a weather-eye out for irritated homeowners!

balmain mosaic, originally uploaded by twolimeleaves.

Don’t you think this is a cute suburb? I think I will miss it now that I’m in the Outback again. Sort of from the Sublime to the Ridiculous…

I wish I could say I’ve been to all those places, but really I’ve only been to Balmain! In fact, that’s where I am right now (visiting my friend Robyn and waiting for her new baby to arrive). Balmain is a suburb of Sydney - a beautiful one. I love it here and, although I’ve said a million times that I could never live in Sydney, I think I’ve changed my mind. I can imagine living here very easily. It’s pretty, it’s busy (in a good kind of way), it’s fun and it’s quiet enough to cope with.
I have been fantasising about buying one of the cute little terrace houses that are jammed in tight rows on every narrow lane. I wouldn’t care how ramshackle it was - I’d fix it up. I wouldn’t care how many rats lived in the laundry - I’d get a cat. I wouldn’t care that it didn’t have a garage - I’d buy a baby car. I wouldn’t care that it still had an outside toilet - I’d… WTF??? You mean there are still houses without indoor plumbing? Well heck yes! There are! And those are probably the only ones I could afford.
One of these days I’ll post photos and show you just how lovely it is here. I guarantee you’ll start dreaming about living here, too. Maybe if twenty of us got together we’d be able to afford a house with an inside bathroom. Have a look here and see what you can find for us …

I’m back in town and my head is spinning with new ideas and plans for this year. To celebrate I’ve spent the morning creating this cool new home for twolimeleaves.
For a couple of days during my last week in New Zealand, I stayed at a beautiful beachfront holiday house with my mother, sister and her two little girls. What could be more perfect? Private beach (a rocks throw from the house), no neighbours, no cars and only ten minutes drive to a cafe. Don’t hate me. Just blogroll my new address and in days my posts will be back to their old whiny selves.
I’m hoping that with the new, friendly, easy-to-reply-to commenting system, it will be much easier for me to reply to your comments in a timely manner (sorry about the past eight weeks - it’s been tricky!). I’ve really missed the interaction with you which, after all, is the best part of blogging.
A moonlight photo taken from our beach house deck…

Yes folks, I was really there. It didn’t suck.

ps don’t forget - new address on the blogroll xxx

Today is my last day in New Zealand. The past few days have been fantastic. Mum and Dad and I have been scooting around doing Holiday Things. We visited Zealandia on Saturday. Fabulous and rather other-worldly. Ate dinner here (Salmon. Suffer, Peasants!). And…

…wait for it…

…yesterday, we went to Cirque du Soleil. Yay us! It was way cool. But you know that already (unless you’ve been on another planet for the past few years).

How about an R list?
R is for
Rivers: I’m a river and lake person. I love fresh, cold water. Makes living in a place like North West Queensland an interesting experience I’ve begun a collection of water photos…Ripples…
Remembrances and Recollections: little snippets of life saved for another day that recall the smell and sound and touch of where we were.
Real stuff: who wants fake? who wants faux? Gimme real, baby. I want Attar and Essence, not Smells Like and Suggestion Of.
Red Red Red Red Red: like a fire engine. (But, no Gary, not Brick)
Reflections: all kinds - thoughts, images. In water and glass…Risotto: I’m good at making risotto. Except when we have guests, and then it always turns to glue. My favourites are mushroom and pumpkin.
Respect: essential and all too often lacking. Hard to quantify but it’s absence is always obvious.
A short list - time to pack.

R words that are fun to say…
refuge, reef, recluse, ragamuffin

The last few days have been sooooo relaxing! Symposium was great (as always) but left me very tired (as always). I love teaching. Love it. Five days back to back wears me out!
So I’ve been back at Mum and Dad’s since Friday night doing N O T H I N G and I feel gooooood.

Cool quilts at Symposium. Lots of them. After I get permission from the quilters, I’ll post a few images. In the meantime, here are some pics I took on the journey there/home. New Zealand is beautiful everywhere you look. It is a photographers paradise.

This is Huka Falls. This is the birthplace of the Waikato River, very near the point where it first leaves Lake Taupo. This chasm is only about 10 metres wide. The colour and the noise are equally incredible…

These mountains are the volcanoes of the Central Plateau (middle of the North Island of New Zealand). The perfect cone is Ngaruahoe (Perfectly Unexploded!!!) and the one with snow sprinkled on top is Ruapehu (where we go skiing in Winter). It erupts on a fairly regular basis and New Zealand is currently holding it’s breath and watching the crater lake levels, waiting for the next lahar. Do I sound too fruity if I say that these mountains have such a presence that I can almost feel them breathing? They are so alive.

Thank you all soooo much for the Birthday wishes. It warms my wrinkling heart to know that you all think I’m still young! To put the record straight, so do I. I still feel like I’m sixteen and I don’t think my face is too ravaged yet

Poor Peter! He shivered his way through three weeks of New Zealand “Summer” and has now gone back to work. So, of course, just one day after he left to return to Queensland, Summer finally arrived here. The cicadas are almost singing, some of us have sunburn and dinner is being eaten later and later. One of the absolute best things about Kiwi summers are the loooong evenings. The sun goes down about 9 pm and the twilight lingers til 10 pm.We are definitely in holiday mode. We sleep until nine in the morning (some of us even later. cough.) and drink coffee all day, except for when we are shopping (clothes, shoes, earrings) , reading or watching movies. (Watched “Borat” a few nights ago. Oh My. We laughed SO hard. I thought my son was going to CRY he was laughing so hard. But I was glad that Mum didn’t come - it swings between the Hilarious and the Nauseating). Life is good.
Except that I have Flickr Woes! My cookies were deleted off the computer four weeks ago and I haven’t been able to log in to Flickr ever since. I sent an email. HAH!!! What a jokette! Got a reply three weeks later, saying,”Do you still want a reply?” Ah, yes. I’m sure I’ll get one eventually, but in the meantime I enjoy A Year of Colour vicariously ONLY Which also reminds me… sorry for the one-way communication of late. I still can’t send any emails. But I have been receiving them fine. Thanks for the comments! I love love love comments!!

I hope y’all had a great Christmas and New Year! We have eaten ourselves into a stupor, unwrapped a kazillion presents and generally exhausted ourselves. But we have also been going for lots of walks, so I don’t feel quite as guilty as I should.
Here in New Zealand it’s supposedly Summer. Yeah, right. It is SO cold! And it’s not just us Australian tourists who are complaining - even the locals are rugged up in Winter clothes and whining. Nevertheless, we have had some sunny moments. We’ve been catching up with friends (and “conveniently” visiting them at their holiday houses!). This is a river that feeds into Lake Taupo, next door to Wendy’s place. Cool, eh?

Peter bought a new camera on his way over here, so I’ve been taking hundreds of photos. My dad has worked for the local council for forty years and has been instrumental in the creation of many beautiful parks, walkways and gardens in my home town. So I’ve taken heaps of photos of his endeavours.This is in the Italian section of the Hamilton Gardens…And the rose garden is amazing.It’s just so very very beautiful here. I’d forgotten how bright green can be!

AAAAAGH!!!! I wish I could get this layout looking better, but I haven’t got time to mess around and there are so many more photos to be taken. Bye…

Here are my Year of Color pics for the week. And, in keeping with the gray theme…

Yesterday the heat well and truly broke. On Saturday night we had a big electrical storm. Lots of spectacular lightning and thunder, but the rain was paltry. Even I could probably have dodged the raindrops. But yesterday afternoon the clouds built… and got darker… and darker… and we got a cracker! So much rain that I started to worry about flooding and being unable to get out of town on Friday. The wind was screaming, the rain was horizontal and we (and a number of other people in town) discovered that our houses are not waterproof! We don’t have any damage at all (just water that poured under the front door and some leaking windows) but several buildings in town were de-roofed and there are broken trees everywhere.
But at least it’s cooler now.

This is a post I’ve been intending to write for a couple of months. Some time ago I posted a photo similar to this on flickr…
…and Kirsten left a comment saying,”So this is what Australia looks like!”
Well, sort of. As we left to drive to the Sunshine Coast for our holiday, I kept thinking of Kirsten and, as we watched the scenery changing, I took photos through the windscreen.

So the first few hours of our journey, travelling south to join up with a main west-east highway, looked mostly like the photo above with a bit of this…
The areas that the farms cover here can be so vast that frequently there are no fences, so you need to watch out for stock. Having said that, you can also drive for a hundred kilometres without seeing any stock, because the land is so poor that there are relatively few animals (the ratio varies considerably from area to area but often they can only farm a couple animals for every acre).The funny little bird is called a Bustard. Then, after we join that highway and head East toward the coast, the land begins to change. There is more vegetation and even hills (of a sort!). When Australians talk about “the Bush” this is what they mean. The closer you get to the coast, the more trees and hills there are. But now I’m sure you can see why 90% of Australia’s population lives along the eastern coastal strip! Inland there just isn’t much of anything. It’s a landscape that people seem to either love or hate. Those who have been born here can’t imagine being anywhere else and those of us who started life somewhere else seem to find it pretty inhospitable. What you can’t experience in photos is the intense, dry heat; the countless thousands of small, sticky flys that attempt to invade your eyes, ears and nose; the dust that coats everything you own. But also the wonderful silence; the air at night that is so warm it feels like velvet on your skin and the constant presence of life - birds, animals, and, bless their creepy little hearts, bugs.

This is the second time in my life that I’ve lived “Out West” and, while it will never be an environment that I enjoy being in, this time I’ve appreciated it’s good qualities much more. Well, I’ve tried, anyway.

By the way, if you are interested in seeing more stuff about this weird place, I thought these links were pretty representative…
http://www.lakeeyrebasin.org.au/tour/tour_start.html (this is like a slide show tour of an enormous area called the Lake Eyre Basin. We are on the Northern edge of it.)
http://www.outbackholidays.info/places_to_visit/north-west.cfm

I just got off the phone from a friend of mine. Someone who, as she reads this, will be SQUIRMING IN HER CHAIR!!! She reads this blog every day and I had NO IDEA because she has NEVER commented. Shame on you! It’s a good thing you’re so cute, Wendy, or I would have to drop you from my Friend List.
as if…
I was thinking of Wendy because this afternoon I did a page for The Daughter’s scrapbook about a wonderful day that we spent with Wendy and her lovely family at their bach (New Zealand term for a holiday house. Pronounced like batch). It was a superb day, the water was clear, the company was terrific. Wendy and I have had lots of great afternoons together. A few years ago when my days were logistically and often emotionally challenging (clashing finishing times for kids at different schools 40 km apart, son who sometimes started the day at school and ended it in hospital, etc - you know how it is) Wendy was an angel. One of those dear friends who can make you laugh as they pick up the shards of your difficult day. Whose cups of tea always taste ten times better than anyone elses and whose cakes you would walk over hot coals to eat. Who you trust enough to give care of your child to.

Wendy, I still don’t think you know just how much I appreciate the help you gave me. You are honestly one of the best people I have ever known. Hugs and kisses. Can’t wait to see you this summer!

These parrots were in the tree under which we ate our lunch on the last day of our holiday (dangerous to eat under them, I know!). They are rainbow lorikeets and they were in a lilly-pilly tree, eating the little pink fruits. I also saw some beautiful big parrots which I’ve never seen before. They were bigger than cockatoos and were predominantly a luscious azure blue. I have no idea what they are. If I find a link, I’ll edit to include it. Couldn’t get any photos - I only have a little digital camera with a 5x zoom, so I can’t usually get close enough.

Up to ‘M’ already…

Massage: Wonderful. Bliss. Heaven on a stick.
Moon: I’m a night person. I love the moon and stars. Not so keen on the sun. Hate being hot and burn easily. Gimme moonlight and shooting stars.
This is the setting moon, taken as we were leaving on our holiday a week ago…
Marilyn Manson: I have to admit that I don’t like this guys music but I love his aesthetic. How a dweeby little guy like that can create such an amazing persona should be inspiration for us all. Why do we live so beigely?? Check out this for a magnificent wedding photo.
Malachite: gorgeous layers of green yummyness.
Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are”.
A.A. Milne: my childhood was filled with Winnie THER Pooh. I still love the poignancy and humour of these great stories and the beautiful drawings by Ernest Shepherd. Disney Pooh has never grabbed me in any way whatsoever.
Music: Music is so important to me. I can’t play any instruments (and don’t feel a need to) but I love singing (only to myself. God forbid I should injure someone!) and I listen to music most of the time that I’m alone. I like a wide range of music - Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Costello, Led Zeppelin, REM, and French and Italian opera (esp. Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Cosi Fan Tutte) and even stuff like Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette Standin’ by Her Man (although Dan Ackroyds version in The Blues Bros was pretty damn spectacular!) and Dusty Springfield Getting it on with a Preachers Son. I also realised recently how much of Dolly Parton’s music has gripped me. I will admit that I was somewhat horrified by that epiphany, but she is just so sweet and gorgeous that it’s easy to overlook what an amazing songwriter she is.
Marcella bedspreads.
The Monkees: I was in love with Micky Dolenz.
M*A*S*H, Malcolm in the Middle, Men Behaving Badly, Myth Busters (how nerdy is this? I’ve been watching this long enough now to start finding Adam rather cute. A.D.A.M. The Ginger One. Cute. ahem)
The Muppets: esp. Miss Piggy, who has been one of my role models in life, and Animal, because he’s wild.
Movies, movies, movies! LOVE movies! Some ‘M’ favourites…
Monsoon Wedding: beautiful, funny and romantic.
My Beautiful Laundrette: sweet love story with two gorgeous boys.
Moonstruck and Mermaids: Love Cher to bits - she is so great in both of these movies.
Misery: Kathy Bates was superbly creepy!
Muriel’s Wedding: if you haven’t seen this one YOU SHOULD!!! It’s brilliant.
My Name is Joe: I always enjoy Ken Loach’s movies, even though this one could have done with subtitles. That Scottish brogue can be pretty hard to follow! (ha!! when I looked for a link to this I found out that it IS subtitled in the USA)
Mushrooms: yummy.
Mohawks: one of the worlds best haircuts when done well, one of worlds worst tragedies when done poorly.
Finally, this photo has nothing to do with’M', but I drove out of town 50 km this morning specifically to take some photos of the land , and I really like this one! It’s tumbleweeds snagged in a fence. In some places the fences are completely encrusted with them!

‘M’ words I like the sound of…
maelstrom, manifesto,Medusa, machiavellian, Mephistopheles.

(why are they mostly evil???)

ps I also like Mummy and Meredith *raspberry*

Prepare yourself for several days of intense JEALOUSY as I tell you about our week away. Peter was attending an engineering conference on Queenslands Sunshine Coast. It has several things going for it - it’s one hour from Brisbane, a Beach from Heaven and, best of all, it’s about ten degrees (Celsius) cooler than here! This is the view from the reclining lounge chairs in our unit……those are my feet, which spent a good deal of the week coated in white sand.
This is the view from the balcony (these three photos form a panorama but I don’t have the techno savvy to put them side by side)…The trees are growing on the sand dunes so, as you can see, we could SPIT ON THE BEACH from our own bedrooms and lounge. The kids even saw whales and dolphins from the Recliner Rockers to which their Butts were Glued. They barely had to divert their eyes from the cable TV and Playstation. Downstairs was a tennis court (yes, we played), pool and cafe with handsome waiters wearing nothing but speedos.

OK, so I lied about the waiters, but there was coffee and cakes.

We had a fantastic time! Shopping, eating, sleeping, walking on the beach, shopping…
And the fellow conference attendees were charming and pleasant company. Phew. I went on three of the partners tours. Two were shopping trips to Brisbane, some local markets and Noosa (preferred beach habitat of the Well-Heeled and Over-Tanned and my favourite beach in Queensland.) and one day was a visit to Australia Zoo (Steve Irwins zoo). I’ll post about that soon- let me tell you that it is SUPERB.
But now, real life beckons and I have to iron my clothes for work…

Aren’t you all nice, worrying about us driving for ten hours?! That’s why I went with Peter - so that we could share the driving. One drives while the other sleeps and that way it’s not too bad. Still, we left at 7:00 am and got home after midnight. This is where we went…this is Mt Isa.

And this is along the road on the way there…

The highlight of the trip was coming across a poor guy whose engine bay was ON FIRE. There were flames shooting up out of that thing and I didn’t think anyone should be anywhere near it. I’ve seen Bruce Willis movies, people, I KNOW! So, after stopping to find out if we could help at all, we were sent on our way to call 000 (911 in Aus.) from our mobile phone as soon as we were in a mobile coverage area. I got to be the person who called emergency for the fire truck. Cor. Soon after, we heard guys discussing it over the radio (CB). Apparently every man and his dog was there to watch. Not us. We were well out of the blast zone!

Five hours driving each way left me with plenty of thinking time to come up with my “I” list:
Ice Age : Such a fun movie. Makes me laugh every time I watch it.
The Importance of Being Earnest: one of my favourite plays. I LOVE Oscar Wilde. So smart, so funny, so dead.
Eddie Izzard: another great wit and still alive- also funny and smart. Very smart. Clever. (Oscar reincarnate? hmm, maybe.)

Inspector Morse and It Ain’t half Hot Mum: two very different TV shows but both very good. They are both BBC productions - I wonder if you guys in USA have seen them?
Indiana Jones movies : I’m probably over them now, but weren’t they fun at the time??
John Irving: had a love/hate thing with him, too. The Hotel New Hampshire is a wonderful book, but there have been others that I could hardly finish. I suspect the mans ego is getting in the way these days.
I Believe in a Thing Called Love by The Darkness: what a cool song! Makes me want to wear a sequined jumpsuit (In private. In the dark.) But I also go into a trance when I hear Nina Simone singing “I Put a Spell on You“.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time.” Peter must have said this ten thousand times in the twenty nine years that I’ve known him! Fortunately, he is highly principled so it tends to be less of an excuse and more of an explanation of success!

Essentials of life: innovation, inspiration, intimacy, ideals

That’s it, kids. I can’t think of any “I” words that sound good. Go on, tell me what they are…

Kids, what we really need is a montage. Even Rocky had a montage.

… that have entertained me on a wet Saturday afternoon.
Firstly, these photos that I took on my way home from the coast last week. It seems that everything is flowering right now. It was an overcast day and when I opened the car door to get out the scent of the wattle was engulfing. It was a lovely moment, out there in the bush by myself. Dad, I kind of took these for you because I thought how much you would love to see them xxx.Is it a Severe Character Flaw to laugh at the Stupid People? Or is it just a Teensy one?

…And Added Some Strychnine To Her Birth Control Pills

Pharmacist: You should probably re-sign your card.
Woman: Why?
Pharmacist: Well, you signed over the magnetic strip. You’re supposed to sign over the white part down here.
Woman: Then how would the machine read my signature? That doesn’t make any sense.
Pharmacist: No, it’s a magnetic strip. It reads the information, not the signature.
Woman: I don’t think you know what you’re talking about. That’s not how the machines work. You’re a pharmacist, not an electrician.

Then the pharmacist gave up.

–Zitomer, 76th & Madison

Overheard by: Helena

via Overheard in New York, Jul 13, 2006

Whoever would have thought that I would suffer seperation anxiety from my computer? I just can’t believe what a relief it is to be back at the keyboard!
We had a great holiday driving from Townsville up to Cairns, Port Douglas and across the Atherton Tableland (land of a thousand waterfalls). And now I shall bore you all with my holiday snaps. Please take a seat while I turn the slide projector on. Mum, can you flick the lights off, please? Now, this is us on the beach after dinner at Clifton Beach…

And here we are at Hartley’s Crocodile Farm. Oh, the kids loved it. Didn’t you, kids?…

Mater, we took this shot just for you. There REALLY is a place called Bingal Bay, and we went there…

These guys are performers from Kuranda. They were fantastic. Effervessent and charismatic.

Phew, I can’t keep up the slide show commentary. I’M nearly asleep! (Turn the lights back on, Mum.)
One of the most startling things we saw on our trip was the damage from Cyclone Larry. I had not truly fathomed how extensive it is - mile after mile of previously dense rainforest (think Amazon jungle) now looks like this.
The canopy has been destroyed so the floor of the bush is now sunlit. The huge trees have been stripped of their largest limbs and all of their leaves. The growth that you can see in the photo is all recent. I wonder how long it will take before it is restored?
We saw countless acres of flattened banana trees (no wonder bananas are $15 kg) and were surprised by how many houses are still not repaired. Some still have tarpaulins over their roofs. Around Innisfail, which was probably hit the hardest, we saw houses with “N” spray-painted on the doors. We assumed that meant Not Habitable, because they were houses that had obviously suffered major structural damage.
As we drove through these areas I started to realise how terrifying it must be to be caught in a cyclone and thought of all those people who experienced Larry and Katrina. It was very clear to me that there is NOWHERE to go. The evidence of those 300 km winds stretched for hundreds of kilometres.
Gosh, what a cheery “I’m back” post I have written! You must be thrilled to hear from me. As soon as I get the post-hol mess sorted out, I’ll be back with my “C” list…

UPDATE: I’ve been to the supermarket and I am shocked to report that bananas in Hughenden are now $20.50 per kilo. That probably makes them about $5 each!

We’re back. Not a croc in sight. Didn’t even hear any ticking. But we were on the beach at low tide. That way you can see ‘em coming. Not paranoid, just sensible.
I love going to Townsville. It’s so relaxing. I love lying in my bed and looking out into the palm trees. I love that even over night it doesn’t get below 16 deg. I love the fantastic corner store that has yummy things for sale, like baguettes that they make themselves and sweet chilli jam (Yes, I know I said it was too hot. This is poetic license, OK?) and tunisian spices and even a jar of goose fat, although I’m not sure why I would want that.
The only work I did all weekend was to make the hair on these dollies. These are for a new pattern. The pattern includes a very simple rag doll pattern, clothes that are easy for a young child to put on and off and the little bag for carrying it all. I also plan to do a nap-sized quilt with applique blocks similar to the bag. It’s kind of an “afternoon at grandmas” set. Inspired by these dolls and a comment by one of you mummy bloggers (sorry, can’t remember who) that your little one was mad about carrying toys around in a bag.

When it rains here, the whole world feels transformed. Thought you might like to see some images.This is on the road between Hughenden and Richmond. (Jon, do you remember that moonscape??)

When we told our friends in New Zealand that we were moving back to Queensland, lots of them looked up Hughenden in their atlases. A number of people said to me, “I didn’t realise there were so many little towns out there.” There aren’t. Those names on the map are property names (farms). There are so few settlements that, in places, it’s possible to drive for hundreds of miles without seeing anyone or anything. Every now and then you pass a small sign with a name on it that marks the driveway to a property. Some of those driveways are 50 km long (or even more). This sign is on the main highway and shows the distances one needs to travel along that side road to reach the various properties. Many times the people who live there will be stranded during rain. They often home school their children or have a governess or sometimes the kids ride a school bus for anything up to an hour and a half to get to the local school. They don’t have fridges - they have big, walk-in cool stores. Life is certainly different…

Jealousy is unbecoming. I know that. But (and you know what Dr Phil says about But) don’t you think that there are occasions where it’s understandable, if not justified? Alicia has PEONIES growing in her garden. Peonies don’t grow in peoples gardens, peonies are made in heaven and fall from the clouds into the salons of rich people whose homes are being photographed for Architectural Digest.
This is my garden -

And this is after two serious dumps of rain. Usually it isn’t green. Usually it’s brown, sandy dirt with a few prickle patches (right where I stand to hang out the washing). Over the back fence, as you can see, is vacant land and railway lines. The garden shed is on a permanent lean, although the exact angle varies depending on the moisture content of the ground. Being married to a civil engineer, I can tell you that our dirt is an Expansive Clay (not e x p e n s i v e, e x p a n s i v e ) and it does weird things when wet. It either turns to soup in which a sedan can disappear to roof level , slippery slime which can have you driving on your roof in a nano-second or sticky, sticky muck that can clog the wheel hubs to the point where the wheels won’t turn. And that’s why everyone out here drives a 4WD. Big ones. With High Wheel Bases.
It also does nasty things to buildings. One Sunday night we came home from a weekend away and our front door was open. No burglars, just the house moving on the foundations so much that the door could no longer close. One of the real benefits of living in a community such as this, is that we weren’t at risk of robbery - just the house filling up with bugs. Check this baby out -
This thing is FOUR INCHES long. And that’s not even a big one. What’s really scary is that this is just the Scout - there Will Be More. Every year there is a plague of the suckers. I don’t go outside for two weeks (don’t think that I’m joking, people). I HATE THOSE THINGS. They bite and they fly and jump and make nasty clicking noises. I watched Saw and Saw 2 back to back and even that wasn’t scarier than these things. I would rather be tied to a chair and forced to watch the whole Hannibal Lecter series, in the dark and by myself than have these things around.
Well, maybe not in the dark.
And I don’t like being tied up.
Can I watch “Sean of the Dead” instead?

Living in the Tropics is very interesting, what with all the snakes and stuff. We have had rain, at last. It takes a lot of waiting, but when it finally gets here, MAMA MIA! We have mud the consistency of potters clay, roads that become impassable even by 4WD and many deliriously happy locals. The creekbeds even have water in them. Crazy as that sounds, 98% of Queenslands creeks are called Sandy Creek, and I’m sure that’s because all they have in them is sand!! (Mum, if you tried to backstroke your way across Mundic Creek now, you’d drown) Last night the kids and I drove back from our Easter break in Townsville ( very refreshing, thank you). The whole world seems transformed. I took this photo of grass. Ordinarily that would seem a really dumb thing to do, but this grass is two metres high. Two metres! And it wasn’t there a week ago. Just in case you get the wrong impression, this is growing within 100 km of Townsville. Out here it’s green, but in a “everything’s got a layer of something on it” kind of way.
Everything in the house has a layer of dust, so bye bye…

Yay! Holiday time! We’re off to Townsville for ten days. Movies, swimming, the beach, finishing quilts, shopping…
Sadly, no blogging - no internet access - but I’ll be back! xxx

Pete’s laptop has been on all day displaying the most current info on Cyclone Larry from the Bureau of Meteorology. Thank you to everyone who has been thinking of us! We have strong, gusty winds but are completely safe - we are many miles from the cyclone. Townsville has also been spared all but strong winds, so our house is undamaged. I have had the TV on all day, too. There is serious damage in Innisfail, where the cyclone crossed the coast. Some houses have been destroyed, others de-roofed; banana and sugar cane farms are completely destroyed. We can only be grateful that there have been no reported deaths and the cyclone is losing intensity.

The cockatoos are back. Over summer they left. I don’t know where they went nor what made them return. There are probably a thousand or more and every morning they congregate on the vacant land behind our house for an hour or so. They have all been off on their own somewhere and slowly return to re-form the group, arriving in ones and twos, shouting greetings to each other as they arrive. At some point it is decided (I can’t work out how or by whom) that everyone is back and it’s time to leave en masse for somewhere else. These birds are extraordinary. Watching them, I realise how intricate their social structure is and how cruel it is to keep one of them in isolation. They constantly communicate with each other (it can get pretty loud!).
We also get very large groups of galahs and, being parrots also, they behave in very similar ways to the cockatoos. One day I saw the saddest thing. A galah had been hit by a car and was dead on the road (that happens all the time - we’ve hit our share) and, walking around it in circles was it’s mate. These little birds mate for life. I cried the whole way home.

OK so these aren’t the best photos (I took both of them far too close to sundown) but at least you can see a little bit of where we live. On the left is the main street of Hughenden. Some of these old buildings have beautiful pressed tin ceilings. Doesn’t it just look like a cowboy movie? We even get tumbleweeds. I’m NOT kidding!

We are here most of the time, but as you know, we also spend as many weekends as we can at the coast in Townsville and this is the beach that I frequent (check out the REAL COCONUT PALMS!!). It’s just down the road from our place so I go there most days.

So we kind of go from the ridiculous to the sublime… (sorry, Hughendenites)

We are grateful to have had the opportunity to live in different places and experience different communities. I sometimes wonder if either of us would ever have been content to live in one place for the past twenty five years.

Are we destined to be nomads for the rest of our lives?