Garden Matters

It's been a while since the garden had a bit of attention so it's getting an early Spring clean in this unseasonal bout of warm weather.The vege garden has been restyled and lettuce, beets,marigolds and alyssum planted, the beans and peas under a frame made from an old Futon base.


The entire crop of NZ Yams (Oca) was put back in the ground although I was sorely tempted to roast them in the oven. They are not a pretty vegetable, looking like fat pink grubs, but they have that special sharp nutty flavour. I'm a bit concerned this Summer is going to be very hot but the Mandarin tree may give them some shade.




After all the hard labour is done for the day the workers relax in the hammock under the giant River Peppermint gum and read Dirk Gently.

Melbourne

Federation Square

I like Melbourne - a lot.

It's like a rich chocolate cake compared to a Sydney Sorbet. The past 5 days have been spent exploring the laneways and tramways of the Melbourne CBD. We visited Salvador Dali, Pompei, the wonderful Melboune Museum, penguins at the Aquarium, the Bendigo Wool and Sheep show, the Yarra river, the Docklands and Pelligrinis - several times, the State Library and lots of restaurants and eateries.

As soon as we went it seemed to be over - it was only a 56 minutes flight from Mascot to Tullamarine but it was enough to give the lad an experience of flying in a jetplane - a compact little 737, and for us to experience living with Room Service for a week.

I came back with lots of photos, very sore feet from all the walking, several skeins of wonderful yarn and a desire to go back - maybe next year.

Orange Grove

It's been a long week at work seeing out the last few performances of "When the Rain stops Falling" so I needed a bit of time away from the inner city and the dark angst of the theatre.
We went orange picking at Penrith Valley - that's the groves in the distance with the mist-covered Blue Mountains in the background and a very cosy horse on the side.

We picked and ate lots of juicy oranges and took enough home to ward off colds and flu, and to make some Marmalade. I had to return to the city that night unfortunately but I felt a bit refreshed and cheered by the fresh air and green fields.

In the packing shed this object was hanging on the wall and it was immediately labelled as the world's largest Knitting Needle Gauge.
I think we need to get out more.







(It's an Orange Sorter - big to small)

New Year 2009

After staying away from the crowds and chaos of New Year in the city for several years we ventured down to experience the fireworks close up. We were able to get access to the coolness and quietness of The House and so miss most of the crowds.

I didn't feel up to staying for the full midnight experience, stunning though it was, so we decamped after the 9pm show - working our way up MacQuarie street against the tide of merrymakers heading to the Domain and Botanic Gardens. It was a perfect night for it - balmy weather and a gentle breeze. We walked to the back streets of Darlinghurst and had a coffee at Bills before catching the bus home.

New Years Day was a swim and snorkel at Clovelly with a bit of sandcastle building on the side.

A great way to start 2009.

Social Events

The past few weeks have (once again) been busy but this time it hasn't all been work. It is the time of year for social occasions but most of mine have centred around family and the odd bit of knitting.

Just looking through Picasa (the only way I seem to keep track of what I've been doing) I've found our day at the Zig Zag Railway;
We travelled on the last trip of the day and they let us ride in the cabin while they shunted - Big thrills for the whole family. Because it's only 30 minutes away I've joined up with them - the whole organisation is run by Volunteers and they do a damn fine job - as well as being a lot of fun.


Then there was the Star Wars exhibition at The Powerhouse; we arrived very early and left before the crowds became too much.


It was a great display of Props and Costumes and it showed the amount of detail required before the days of CGI and Green Screens.I loved the costumes while The Lad was more into the robots and the villains.

On the same day we caught the last performance of The Umbilical Bros. These two guys are the most talented and funny performers I have seen for a long time. Despite rushing to catch a taxi to the airport after their last show they still managed to find time to sign an autograph for a 10 yr old fan and his pushy mother. (Dave was still in the shower but signed it as he packed up the props)

Is it any wonder I yearn for the green tranquillity of the back verandah after a few weeks of this?

The 39 Dips

Silverton has wonderful light - it's on of the reasons it is often used as a location for inumerable ads and a lot of Australian Films . The horizon is vast and the landscape dramatic - perfect for those long panning shots of 4wd's raising dust down empty roads against stirring sound tracks.

It was quiet when we briefly visited on the last day of our Outback adventure but we managed to visit at least three of the four or five buildings that make up this little town. One pub, three art galleries and the information centre/gallery called "Beyond the 39 Dips"


I thought this was a quirky name but didn't get the true significance until we were heading back along the Highway and saw the "DIP" roadsigns. We tried to count them but lost track when we were distracted by the camel grazing by the roadside. The halter gave a big clue as to its origin .

Broken Hill and beyond

I like Broken Hill - it has big wide streets, (speed limit 40k - oops) most named after mineral type things like Argent, Oxide, Iodide, Bromide, Kaolin and Silver; and lots of dirt.

The town is centered on the Line of Lode - a massive deposit of silver/lead/zinc ore that transformed a boundary rider into a very wealthy man. It took me a while to realise that the hills around the city were mullock and slag heaps from the years of mining activity and that the 'Broken Hill' was part of those heaps.
Art galleries and Mineral museums and Industrial landmarks are everywhere as are references to the town's strong Trade Union history.

The fact that it was the middle of 'winter' when we were there did make the visit a lot more pleasant than it would have been in a 38C Summer, the accommodation was reasonable and not overpriced and there was even a Local Yarn Shop to visit.

Hubris

Hubris - a great word. It appeals to the Pessimist and annoys the Optimist in me. Just when one is getting along nicely and thinking all one's affairs are being managed, along comes The Fates/God/Life and sticks a stick in the spokes.

I thought I was managing our household accounts very efficiently, juggling credit cards and savings accounts to make sure no excess account fees or interest were being incurred, looking for the best deals when buying the new consumer item, keeping a watch on statements as they came in.

I obviously wasn't paying the right amount of attention when I filled in a monthly payment slip and instead of $xxx.10 I wrote $xxx.01. The credit interest vultures were circling and when they saw my 09c mistake they swooped to the kill. Two months later I see my little error cost me several hundred dollars in debit interest charges but was this obvious? Was the failure to pay off the full statement amount highlighted in the next communication with the bank - of course not! That's how those big billion dollar profits are made.

I'm going to put this slip of the digits down to my current slodgy brain which I attribute to hormones. My get-up-and-go is on a go-slow so there isn't much happening on many fronts. The knitting sits in its basket looking forlorn and unfinished and the pile of books beside the bed stays unread.


The only success I can claim is finishing Neal Stephenson's brick of a book Cryptonomicon. I can't say I understood all the math or the code unscrambling but I did enjoy his complex story line and interwoven plots, especially the reference he made to Athena as the goddess of weaving (and by association Knitting). The book wasn't as pacy as Snowcrash but maybe it was just right for my present mental state - not particularly focused and prone to wondering off on complex bits of interesting distractions without any real outcomes.

Sculpture by the Sea

We made it for the very last day of Sculpture by the Sea on a brilliant blue sunny day. There was over one hundred sculptures along the 2km of cliffside walk between Tamarama and Bondi beach and double that number of people walking the track to see them.







The sculptures were so varied in size, shape and composition and were placed up cliffs or over banks and down on the sands of the beach.

Since moving up to the mountains I have missed the last two years of SbtS and I had been a regular patron from way back in 1997 when it first started.















It's a big deal now with lots of big names in the art world and it draws thousands of people from all over the world over the several weeks it's held.

It was interesting to see that 7 days away from the Federal election both the major parties made an appearance for the final prize giving.
Peter Garrett MP and Malcolm Turnbull MP were both pressing the flesh, though not together. I didn't stay for the full Media event though I hear The Chaser team turned up to poke fun at them.

The Snow

The final destination - the Snowy Mountains. One of the few places in the Australian continent that snow falls to a decent depth.

At 2,228m, Mount Kosciuszko is the highest peak on the Australian mainland but we didn't see see any proper snow until we reached Perisher Valley at 1680m.

As soon as we could we stopped and threw a few snowballs then built a snow man.





It was my first time in this ski bunny capital and I made the mistake of heading for the Village centre to maybe get a cup of coffee while snowballs were thrown.

It was worse than Central Station on Grand Final day; crowds of people inside and shooshing past outside on skis and snowboards.

I was totally disoriented until I found the sanctuary of the local hotel's very empty public bar. Over a gourmet lunch and a quiet ale in front of a roaring fire I relaxed and knitted while Tubetown was explored. Each to their own.

Tharwa to Cooma

The magic continues - after we left the pretty village of Tharwa we travelled via a roundabout route to Cooma - our overnight destination. Little did my travelling companions suspect that I had a slight detour planned. The Past Times Craft Centre had been highly reccomended to me by Sandra at SSK. I knew there was a craft shop in the vicinity but what a shop, what a wealth of fibre goodness.

It was a feast to the eye and all the other senses and I had a lot of trouble deciding what to look at first, the beautiful Ashford Tekapo Yarn, (gorgeous colourways) the Needle Felting, the Rainbow Slivers, the spinning wheels, rag looms, Knitters Looms, Wool Dyes, Vegemite Tea Cosies, cute postcards, Buzzy Bee and on and on...

I wasn't the only one to be captivated by all this and when we finally left I was amazed that my shopping bag only contained 2 balls of Tekapo yarn, 3 Ashford patterns and 1 Buzzy Bee key ring. It was a lovely shop and the sales person was extremeley helpful. Her patience in explaining the Knitter's Loom to the young lad was commendable - I'm not sure if he is into the whole weaving thing but it kept him distracted long enough for me to scout around both floors of this lovely shop.

Tidbinbilla to Tharwa

Tidbinbilla is home to the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, a marvelous place to take a 9 yr old (and his Dad).
This is DSS 43, it was tracking Voyager 2 when we were there and we watched it slowly and gracefully set itself into position.



There were moon rocks to admire, a life size replica of the Mars Rover vehicle, the latest images from Mars, spacecraft models, and real, flown space hardware. We saw the foods that astronauts eat on the space shuttle and space station, (not very appetising) movies on the history and future of space exploration, and detailed models of the Solar System.

The Moon Rock Café had gourmet pies and "the best coffee in the galaxy".

A few kilometes down the road is Tharwa, a pretty little village on the Murrumbidgee River, once accessible from Canberra via a timber bridge, now isolated by the bridge being closed for repairs.
Sadly this resulted in The Primary School also closed last year despite a brave attempt by the community to save it and the Preschool.

The General Store and Post Office is still going strong. Inside it is an Aladdin's cave of of knick knacks, antiques, jewellery, buttons and books.

Room after room of neatly labelled treasures. We came away with a Button Person, several vintage knitting pamphlets and accessories and souvenir spoons.

I hope the little village can survie and thrive into the future.