OGP and dam ride

A couple of nights ago we watch On Golden Pond on television.  It made a wonderful change after some of the second-rate movies we've seen in recent times.  Mind you, Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda didn't look as old as they did to us back in the early 1980s!

Early this week we went for a ride to inspect the dams after October's rainfall and the top-up that Cressbrook Dam has received from Wivenhoe Dam. It was great to see Cressbrook looking better than it has for some years. It was a perfect day for a picnic at Crows Nest National Park and we agreed that we should keep the bike for a little longer. We've always had bikes and guess that we are not quite ready to end that era of our lives.

The spring flowers around Toowoomba have been replaced by summer flowers.  Jacarandas were starting to look beautiful (until today's heavy rain) and the perfume of star jasmine is everywhere. They are such hardy plants. This one was planted in our garden about 25 years ago and has been totally neglected and has survived all extremes of weather.

Disruption to Plans

This week is not going to plan but is rewarding in a different way because I am having to rearrange my planned activities!

Last week was just lovely.  I caught the bus to Brisbane, went to the Valentino Garavani exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art, had dinner with my daughters, slept over and spent the following day at the Craft & Quilt Fair before coming home. The facilites and infrastructure at Southbank are magnificent and I shall return to enjoy them some more.

Over the last couple of months we have been making an effort to walk each morning and we set off bright and early (5.30am!) on Sunday.  I was chattering happily about my trip to Brisbane and demonstrated the "Valentino model walk" - for a very short time only because I hurt my hip doing it!  I'm sure I looked funny but some sympathy would have been appreciated. So: no markets, no gardening, no yoga class, no walking for a few days. I'm sure rest is the best thing but it is hard to turn over in bed at night and I do confess to being grumpy when I don't sleep well.  However, I have been able to attend to a few things that were further down on my "to do list" including writing on my blog so I am feeling good about that. Plus the pain is lessening.

We've had some busy times. After some wonderful rain our block has sprung to life -  you can see the grass & weeds growing - so that has demanded some attention. We have appointed several new staff members and, somehow, that ended up being my job ( and I'm supposed to be retired!)  The QCAT case continues after numerous adjournments over the months although we don't get as upset as we did initially. During August we had a couple of wonderful weeks away at Wooli where the weather and fishing were so fantastic that my reading and sewing activities did not eventuate as planned.

Since then I have attended the Toowoomba Quilters annual retreat at Perservernce Dam and was delighted by the progress I made there.  My "stack & whack" quilt top is completed, although the quilting has yet to begin.  I found our 2010 exhibition (see previous link to blog) very inspiring and have taken advantage of the strong Aussie dollar to buy fabric from the USA with vague plans in mind.

I count my blessings. My poor sister has had her life thrown into turmoil by the earthquakes in Christchurch, NZ, where she lives.  It seems to have dropped off the news radar here but even in the past week they have experienced strong aftershocks.

My next sedentary activity (when it's my turn to use the computer) will be to organise the many photos I've have taken in recent times.  I may even get to load some to my blog. I should also change my profile picture: I have just noticed my red hair, and I've been blonde for over a year now!

Swan Lake

On Friday Night I saw the Queensland Ballet perform Swan Lake at the Empire Theatre.  It was absolutely fantastic.  I have long been a fan of the work of Francois Klaus, the Artistic Director of the Queensland Ballet, and this production with its divertissements was amazing. It was also great to see a full house at the Empire Theatre, a venue we are so lucky to have in Toowoomba.

End of Financial Year, and other things

Welcome to the beginning of a new financial year and the accompanying work. 1 July is our wedding anniversary and for the first time ever we celebrated by going out to lunch! I was sooooo surprised to receive the invitation although I chose our wedding date as I thought I was a good investment and R might remember the occasion because there was some association. We had a lovely lunch and I can hardly wait until next year!

Our posties of 20 years left us on 30 June because Australia Post decided not to renew their contract. Now they can take a well-earned holiday together but they will be missed by people in our area.

Another business that we will miss is Walsh's Nursery which closed down at the end of the financial year. A sign of the times I guess.  Where will I go for the sort of expert advice that they have given to me over the years?

Goodbye Trees, Hello Winter

It saddened me to have to get two of our big gums chopped down but one was dangerously decaying, as in likely to drop even more big branches and cause damage, and the other had put its more recent energy into lifting the pavers at the back of the house.  The result is not as horrendous as I anticipated and has, in fact, inspired me to establish another small garden bed when the weather warms up.

Winter is finally here after a magnificent autumn. I took this photo of our coral vine one sunny autumn day. It's a plant that comes up every year and never gets any attention.

Another plant that is continuing to please me is my tomatoberry.  Even at this time of year I am able to pick 12-20 small tomatoes every day although the bush is starting to look a bit sick.  It's a variety that I've never grown before but I will be looking for it next next summer.

And, the winter solstice has passed! It's a date I always seem to note.  The temperature may continue to drop but the days will start to get longer.  There never seem to be enough daylight hours for me and I've become 'not good' at getting up in the dark.

It's not often that I am there when our two daughters go out together. Rachel was a bridesmaid recently and Emily was at the wedding.  The other bridesmaid was the bride's sister and she was Emily's friend at primary school so I was delighted to get a photo of the four girls together.

Q: How do you eat an elephant?

Answer: Chew one mouthful at a time! ( Words of wisdom from a school teacher.)
This advice has served me well in recent months as there seem to have been many overwhelming times.

We travelled down south on a fishing trip, caught up with family, celebrated a few family birthdays and Christmas, worried about family health issues, immobilised myself for a week by falling over, enjoyed visitors from interstate and have just returned from New Zealand. Over this period I spent days working and arguing with my husband as we prepared information for solicitors for a pending court. Plus, on behalf of residents in our street, I have pursued an infrastructure issue with our regional council. While all this was happening we bought a new computer (we were waiting for Windows 7) and during the installation process an external hard drive, to which I had transferred heaps of data files, crashed.

It's weird that I am now looking forward to some routine in my life. I have for a few years viewed the random opportunities and challenges that presented themselves as manifestations of freedom after resigning from full-time paid employment. Right now, I want my life to be a bit more structured. (I might change my mind next week!)

It was depressing to return home shortly before Christmas as it had been so hot and dry that a number of plants had curled up their toes. I almost decided to stop trying to keep things alive but am so glad that I didn't because, more recently, we have had some great falls of rain and heaps of trees and shrubs have come back to life! I'm eagerly waiting for the mud to dry so that I can go "play outside".

We hate Indian Mynas

..because.. ABC article... and that is only one of many articles detailing these problem birds. We had regarded them as undesirable for a couple of years and understood that they had a preference for mowed lawns and tidy gardens (not like ours.) However one was recently spotted aggravating the galahs that are nesting in one of our trees for the fourth consecutive year and I was prompted to read more about them.

The galahs are now feeding their young and my male magpie that I have been feeding for twenty years has brought his sole baby this year to our back door. The ground is so hard because of the dry weather that it must be difficult for the birds to find sufficient food, so I am glad that they have only one baby this year. We have a couple of bird baths at the front of our house and the variety of birds that come in for water confirm what we already know: that there's not much water lying around the area.