I had no idea until I saw Fiji cuddling with a keeper the other day. He laid his head on her shoulder and she stroked his neck. I thought he was going to go to sleep. I now have an appointment with Fiji next time I work with the birds! That would be a cool picture to have.
It had a GREAT day with the animals last week.
I actually saw a koala joey in the pouch. Never expected to see one of those. I tried for a picture but by the time I got my phone out, Mum had moved her leg and that was that.
I learned kangaroos will swim in the pond. Haven't seen it yet but still hoping to. They don't seem to be designed as graceful swimmers. They must roo paddle (somewhat like a dog paddle). Apparently, they swim in the surf also.
Well, who wouldn't?
While cleaning bird enclosures, one of the Corellas donated a feather for me to take home. I carried it in my pocket with my leather work gloves all day long. Sturdy feather as it still had its' shape at the end of the day.
And to top it off, while feeding the Tawny Frogmouths cockies (cockroaches), I held my fingers too close and was nipped. More surprised than anything. Of course, after that I dropped each cocky and had to dig around for it in the much. Each Frogmouth gets 18 cockies for dinner. Yum!
Yesterday, I worked in the barn area. While we had the miniature ponies out for a graze, one of the kind tourists let four of the sheep and Lewis the goat (see previous post on June 26) out of the petting zoo area. They were all standing around near the fence, munching on fresh grass when, all of a sudden, they realized there was an entire paddock they could go run in.
Whoosh - there they go - full tilt to the other side of the pasture.
Well, except for Lewis. He TRIED to run with the sheep but had a mouth full of eucalyptus branch and had to stop and finish his snack before resuming his run. Always safety first!
There was no way we were getting them off of the grass for at least 30 minutes. Of course all of the other sheep were standing at the fence bleating their disgust at the favoritism towards the escapees.
SO we let them all out and:
Whoosh - there they go - stampeding off to the other side of the pasture.
Needless to say the petting zoo was somewhat empty for the afternoon show...
Monday, December 16, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
A GREAT day with the Macropods!
What a wonderful day with the Macropods! Weather was perfect for being amongst the animals.
Our supervisor paired the two senior volunteers together and we whipped through the typical cleaning and food prep.
There was enough time left before lunch to hand feed the kangaroos and wallabies. :)
We took big, white buckets of food out to the paddock.
Now...I know the roos come to the brown sacks of food visitors typically have.
It can't compare to the interest white buckets generate. Even the little timid wallabies came to get some.
We have lots of joeys right now that are just coming out of the pouch to check things out. They are so much fun to watch and are just like little kids only they hop around at top speed instead of running. Roo mums must be extraordinarily patient to have a joey going zipping around and suddenly dive into the their pouch.
There was one full grown roo sucking on the tip of her tail like a pacifier. Hadn't seen that before.
After lunch, we fed the animals. Wallabies are adorable eating corn and sweet potatoes with their little paws. I also hand fed the blue winged kookaburras. They get 1/2 of a chick each and some other raw meat. FYI - Kookaburras can be very intimidating with their big beaks when you have their food and they are hungry.
I love my current office!
Our supervisor paired the two senior volunteers together and we whipped through the typical cleaning and food prep.
There was enough time left before lunch to hand feed the kangaroos and wallabies. :)
We took big, white buckets of food out to the paddock.
Now...I know the roos come to the brown sacks of food visitors typically have.
It can't compare to the interest white buckets generate. Even the little timid wallabies came to get some.
We have lots of joeys right now that are just coming out of the pouch to check things out. They are so much fun to watch and are just like little kids only they hop around at top speed instead of running. Roo mums must be extraordinarily patient to have a joey going zipping around and suddenly dive into the their pouch.
There was one full grown roo sucking on the tip of her tail like a pacifier. Hadn't seen that before.
After lunch, we fed the animals. Wallabies are adorable eating corn and sweet potatoes with their little paws. I also hand fed the blue winged kookaburras. They get 1/2 of a chick each and some other raw meat. FYI - Kookaburras can be very intimidating with their big beaks when you have their food and they are hungry.
I love my current office!
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
Right Place, Right Time
I love it when I stumble into a great experience! Walking along the river today, I made two new friends.
Meandering down the path, I noticed a fellow walker had a Lorikeet sitting on her shoulder. I love these birds - they are so very colorful! I have been trying to feed them at our house since we arrived. Our lack of vegetation makes it difficult though.
Of course, the bird caught my attention and me being who I am, I had to stop the lady and ask about him. It was on her shoulder eating an apple from her hand and I had visions of me starting to carry an apple when I walked around just waiting for the birds to come and see me. :P
She promptly handed him to me and the little guy jumped up on my shoulder. He hopped around, checked out my sunglasses, poked my ear and then wouldn't go back to her. :)
I was surprised as other pet birds I have been around (such as my sister's African Gray) tend to bite their non-owners. This Lorikeet was very friendly and happy to be out and about. Just learning some words. He is about 18 months old and she got him when he was 8 weeks old.
What a great way to start a Thursday!
Meandering down the path, I noticed a fellow walker had a Lorikeet sitting on her shoulder. I love these birds - they are so very colorful! I have been trying to feed them at our house since we arrived. Our lack of vegetation makes it difficult though.
Of course, the bird caught my attention and me being who I am, I had to stop the lady and ask about him. It was on her shoulder eating an apple from her hand and I had visions of me starting to carry an apple when I walked around just waiting for the birds to come and see me. :P
She promptly handed him to me and the little guy jumped up on my shoulder. He hopped around, checked out my sunglasses, poked my ear and then wouldn't go back to her. :)
I was surprised as other pet birds I have been around (such as my sister's African Gray) tend to bite their non-owners. This Lorikeet was very friendly and happy to be out and about. Just learning some words. He is about 18 months old and she got him when he was 8 weeks old.
What a great way to start a Thursday!
Friday, September 06, 2013
Elections
We had the opportunity to watch (not participate in) the election process in Australia this year. As with many things, it's different from the process I am used to.
Mid summer, prior to this election, the then Prime Minister's Party became disillusioned with her actions and policies. The Party got together, had a meeting at 7pm on a Tuesday and replaced her with in the hour-ish.
The "replacement" PM (Prime Minister) called for the election to be held on September 7th. (There is no set election date. It is different each time they hold elections.)
Two weeks before election day, the various party campaigns kicked off.
That's TWO WEEKS ONLY. NOT TWO YEARs. (We could learn from this practice.)
There were some great commercials but some of the best stories came from the news shows. All of them participated in showing the best candidate gaffs. (And to think, in the US only the late night TV shows point these things out!)
Another difference - compulsory voting. If a citizen doesn't go to the polls, they are fined.
Then there's the ballot. For the last three days, I have seen commercials explaining how to mark ballots. An Australian citizen can vote straight party line or for individuals. However, if they vote for an individual, they must rank every person running for each office in order of preference. For example, there are at least four people running for PM. Each of the four has to be marked in order of preference - 1, 2, 3, 4. If they make a mistake, they can get another ballot. (I've never tried that in the US...)
Just one more interesting thing to make comparisons about!
Mid summer, prior to this election, the then Prime Minister's Party became disillusioned with her actions and policies. The Party got together, had a meeting at 7pm on a Tuesday and replaced her with in the hour-ish.
The "replacement" PM (Prime Minister) called for the election to be held on September 7th. (There is no set election date. It is different each time they hold elections.)
Two weeks before election day, the various party campaigns kicked off.
That's TWO WEEKS ONLY. NOT TWO YEARs. (We could learn from this practice.)
There were some great commercials but some of the best stories came from the news shows. All of them participated in showing the best candidate gaffs. (And to think, in the US only the late night TV shows point these things out!)
Another difference - compulsory voting. If a citizen doesn't go to the polls, they are fined.
Then there's the ballot. For the last three days, I have seen commercials explaining how to mark ballots. An Australian citizen can vote straight party line or for individuals. However, if they vote for an individual, they must rank every person running for each office in order of preference. For example, there are at least four people running for PM. Each of the four has to be marked in order of preference - 1, 2, 3, 4. If they make a mistake, they can get another ballot. (I've never tried that in the US...)
Just one more interesting thing to make comparisons about!
I got a dolphin!
After watching for about 4 hours over 2 days and taking approximately 742 pictures,
I got a dolphin!
And a couple of Galahs posed for me!
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Pictures taken around Gladstone, QLD boat harbour.
I got a dolphin!
And a couple of Galahs posed for me!
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Pictures taken around Gladstone, QLD boat harbour.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Roos and Wallabies!
Every wildlife park I have been to in Australia has an area with kangaroos and/or wallabies tame enough to walk among and hand feed and Monday was my rotation with the Macropod group at Lone Pine.
I forgot to ask how many roos live at the sanctuary but there has to be at least 75. Most of these animals have spent their life at the Sanctuary and are very used to people. When you are the first person in the paddock in the morning, they all charge toward you, fully expecting breakfast to be served immediately.
There are four different kinds of macropods in the reserve: Red kangaroo, Easter Grey kangaroo, Red-necked wallaby and the Swamp wallaby. I think my favorites are the little swamp wallabies because they have a cute little mask on their face - much like a raccoon. Unfortunately, they are the most skittish and very few will allow you near them. The big reds and greys come right up looking for handouts and some of them like their neck, ears and chest scratched just like a dog.
We also have three emus (who are very tall with VERY pointy beaks) that live in the reserve with the roos. While sweeping old hay and putting out fresh, the emus have no problems coming over to the wheel barrow and helping themselves to the pile. They make the biggest mess. One of the emus is pretty forward and I had to push him away multiple times. But, just like a small child, I wear out before they do in an argument. They don't understand "because I said so". He got some hay and I had to pick up stuff twice.
As a bonus, a huge flock of corellas (60-70) flew over while we were out working. Of course, they weren't headed to the sanctuary and I didn't get any pictures of them.
I had the opportunity to feed the Laughing Kookaburras. (I did ask why the Kookaburras were in the Macropod group...just worked out that way.) They get whole mice (which is better than feeding the Tawny Frogmouths mice pieces). It was GREAT. You toss them a mouse and they beat it against the branch as if it was a fresh catch in the wild. (It's also fun to watch the tourists during feeding times. Some really don't appreciate the show.)
The best of the day was this little guy. His mother wasn't producing enough milk and she abandon him several weeks ago. The keeper decided to try bottle feeding and the little one has done fantastic. Being hand raised, he came over and was nosing my hand when I first walked in...he knew it was time for a bottle! He gets 2 a day and will for another two-ish weeks. Then it will be down to one a day...
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However, the VERY BEST of the day was having the opportunity to go into the animal hospital and seeing the really tiny little roo that is still on milk only. He gets a little bottle every 4 1/2 hours and goes home with the keeper at night. (Yes, he has an insulated lunch bag for traveling.) His mother had to be put down and they are trying to keep him going. They have quite a contraption built up to simulate hanging in a mother's pouch when he is not being carried around. We weighed him and he was up to 999 grams...almost two pounds. He is putting on about 75 grams a week and has another 600 grams to go before starting solid food.
What a great way to spend a Monday!
I forgot to ask how many roos live at the sanctuary but there has to be at least 75. Most of these animals have spent their life at the Sanctuary and are very used to people. When you are the first person in the paddock in the morning, they all charge toward you, fully expecting breakfast to be served immediately.
There are four different kinds of macropods in the reserve: Red kangaroo, Easter Grey kangaroo, Red-necked wallaby and the Swamp wallaby. I think my favorites are the little swamp wallabies because they have a cute little mask on their face - much like a raccoon. Unfortunately, they are the most skittish and very few will allow you near them. The big reds and greys come right up looking for handouts and some of them like their neck, ears and chest scratched just like a dog.
We also have three emus (who are very tall with VERY pointy beaks) that live in the reserve with the roos. While sweeping old hay and putting out fresh, the emus have no problems coming over to the wheel barrow and helping themselves to the pile. They make the biggest mess. One of the emus is pretty forward and I had to push him away multiple times. But, just like a small child, I wear out before they do in an argument. They don't understand "because I said so". He got some hay and I had to pick up stuff twice.
As a bonus, a huge flock of corellas (60-70) flew over while we were out working. Of course, they weren't headed to the sanctuary and I didn't get any pictures of them.
I had the opportunity to feed the Laughing Kookaburras. (I did ask why the Kookaburras were in the Macropod group...just worked out that way.) They get whole mice (which is better than feeding the Tawny Frogmouths mice pieces). It was GREAT. You toss them a mouse and they beat it against the branch as if it was a fresh catch in the wild. (It's also fun to watch the tourists during feeding times. Some really don't appreciate the show.)
The best of the day was this little guy. His mother wasn't producing enough milk and she abandon him several weeks ago. The keeper decided to try bottle feeding and the little one has done fantastic. Being hand raised, he came over and was nosing my hand when I first walked in...he knew it was time for a bottle! He gets 2 a day and will for another two-ish weeks. Then it will be down to one a day...
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However, the VERY BEST of the day was having the opportunity to go into the animal hospital and seeing the really tiny little roo that is still on milk only. He gets a little bottle every 4 1/2 hours and goes home with the keeper at night. (Yes, he has an insulated lunch bag for traveling.) His mother had to be put down and they are trying to keep him going. They have quite a contraption built up to simulate hanging in a mother's pouch when he is not being carried around. We weighed him and he was up to 999 grams...almost two pounds. He is putting on about 75 grams a week and has another 600 grams to go before starting solid food.
What a great way to spend a Monday!
Thursday, August 08, 2013
On a Roll!!!
TWO...
COUNT THEM...
TWO!!!
Projects done in one week. (Quilt AND recipes)
I may have to go back to work!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
COUNT THEM...
TWO!!!
Projects done in one week. (Quilt AND recipes)
I may have to go back to work!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Sunday, August 04, 2013
A Typical Expat Day in My Life...
Today was a prime example of a typical expat day in my life when my hubby is away...
First and foremost, do not get up to the alarm. (Unless, of course, there is something I WANT to get up for...such as going to see koalas.)
Have a bite of brekkie.
Off for a walk.
Chat with hubby on the phone.
Remember car is almost out of gas.
Head to local cafe for a mug of long black coffee.
Play with the dog that lives down the street.
Drive to gas station and fill up.
Read a book.
Get a snack.
Read the news on my computer.
Hear unusual music coming through the windows. Very cheery tunes...something with a kind of Greek-ish flair to it. Definitely not the neighbors' genre. Wonder where that is coming from.
Oh...maybe it is a free concert in the park. A perfect day to the park with a book (...and people watch!).
Meander by the river towards the park. Lose the music.
Side track over to the Italian club to make sure they aren't having something I should be at.
Music once again in the air in the direction of the Valley. Go towards the valley with the expectation of NOT having to walk all the way to the Valley in the bright sunshine and heat of the day.
Stumbled across it! The Macedonian Church is holding a Macedonian Folk Festival. Not a huge crowd but the music is fun and there are a few dancers.
I love discovering little treasures like this I never expect to find. It happens a lot here in Brissy.
Head back towards the house and get an invitation to dinner with friends.
Now...if only hubby was here...it would be the perfect day!
First and foremost, do not get up to the alarm. (Unless, of course, there is something I WANT to get up for...such as going to see koalas.)
Have a bite of brekkie.
Off for a walk.
Chat with hubby on the phone.
Remember car is almost out of gas.
Head to local cafe for a mug of long black coffee.
Play with the dog that lives down the street.
Drive to gas station and fill up.
Read a book.
Get a snack.
Read the news on my computer.
Hear unusual music coming through the windows. Very cheery tunes...something with a kind of Greek-ish flair to it. Definitely not the neighbors' genre. Wonder where that is coming from.
Oh...maybe it is a free concert in the park. A perfect day to the park with a book (...and people watch!).
Meander by the river towards the park. Lose the music.
Side track over to the Italian club to make sure they aren't having something I should be at.
Music once again in the air in the direction of the Valley. Go towards the valley with the expectation of NOT having to walk all the way to the Valley in the bright sunshine and heat of the day.
Stumbled across it! The Macedonian Church is holding a Macedonian Folk Festival. Not a huge crowd but the music is fun and there are a few dancers.
I love discovering little treasures like this I never expect to find. It happens a lot here in Brissy.
Head back towards the house and get an invitation to dinner with friends.
Now...if only hubby was here...it would be the perfect day!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Lamington National Park
We recently spent a day at Lamington National Park south of Brisbane. It is a beautiful area of old growth forest with some of the biggest tress (mostly strangler figs) I have seen in Australia.
Getting to Lamington is a challenge. It is a nice drive until about the last 25k when you start up the side of the mountain. The GPS map looked like a giant paint splat. All hairpin curves, blind corners and one lane road most of the way. I am thankful we went on a weekday and only met one other car on the drive.
The trails are well groomed and it is very relaxing to walk along them looking for birds, roos and pademelons. (OK - you didn't expect a pedemelon to look like that did you!)
Of course my favorite thing was feeding the wild birds. For a mere $4, I bought a tray of birdseed to feed the Crimson Rosella and the king parrots. The birds are unafraid of humans and have no problems perching on your head, shoulders, etc. I TOTALLY got $4 worth of entertainment... :)
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Not only will they eat from a tray you hold, they have no qualms about stealing french fries off of your plate at lunch time and walking all over your ebook readers. One cheeky bugger took off with a sugar packet reserved for my long black coffee. This was MY kind of bird watching!
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Getting to Lamington is a challenge. It is a nice drive until about the last 25k when you start up the side of the mountain. The GPS map looked like a giant paint splat. All hairpin curves, blind corners and one lane road most of the way. I am thankful we went on a weekday and only met one other car on the drive.
The trails are well groomed and it is very relaxing to walk along them looking for birds, roos and pademelons. (OK - you didn't expect a pedemelon to look like that did you!)
Of course my favorite thing was feeding the wild birds. For a mere $4, I bought a tray of birdseed to feed the Crimson Rosella and the king parrots. The birds are unafraid of humans and have no problems perching on your head, shoulders, etc. I TOTALLY got $4 worth of entertainment... :)
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Not only will they eat from a tray you hold, they have no qualms about stealing french fries off of your plate at lunch time and walking all over your ebook readers. One cheeky bugger took off with a sugar packet reserved for my long black coffee. This was MY kind of bird watching!
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Saturday, July 27, 2013
Birds
You haven't lived until you turn around and see a big, black cockatoo perched on a limb, bent over, head down, crest raised, one moment away from attacking you.
Apparently, I was too close to the nest box and Momma was NOT happy.
Needless to say, I moved away and they didn't get that part of their aviary cleaned during morning
I did have the opportunity to hand feed the tawny frogmouths their mouse parts. Other than the "ick" factor, it was fun. Not really an active bird during the day but still large.
Another great day!!!
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
I'm Back! And I have a new project!!!
OK - honestly, I never left Brissy...just took a break while we had guests for a few weeks. I could have been a tour guide, if only it didn't involve interacting with the general public. With family and friends, I love it!
But on to my new project!
For years, we have used a summer quilt my mother made. I has to be 20 years old at least...if not older. Of course, the only time it was truly a "summer" quilt was during our time in Alaska. In Houston and Australia, it has been the "all year" quilt. It has become soft and supple with age. No more stiff fabric. Much used and loved.
And now it is starting to wear in a couple of spots and unfortunately, the fabric is so thin, I can't sew it together with any hope of saving it.
I consulted a fellow quilter who suggested sewing fabric on top of the existing pattern. That way all I have to do is match the fabric. There's a long shot...as old as the quilt is...the fabric is at least 3-5 years older. I have no idea the pattern name or even which state Mother found it.
After much internal debate, I've decided to stick with the pattern but turn it into a patchwork quilt. I am going to get a much used and loved t-shirt with a cool design on it and patch the one quilt block. Nope the colors won't match and nope the fabric pattern is nothing close to the existing pattern. But I decided Mom would be OK with that. It is an heirloom but now it will have not only her touch but mine also. And if it really looks bad or I stumble across the fabric someday, I can always undo it.
The next problem is getting started. My last big project (moving my recipes online) has blazed along at approximately one a month and that's only because I want to use a specific recipe. I have quilted before but it has been a long time and my eyes aren't as good for small stitch work as they used to be. Plus, I sew/quilt when it is cold or rainy or gloomy, etc. It's an inside affair. Not something to be done on beautiful, sunny, 70 degree weather days. (Down in the low 40's this week at night...Perfect!)
So far, I have postponed it by doing both normal and unusual chores around the house. For example, Tuesday I vacuumed the inside of the car. Yesterday, I sacrificed and had a delicious lunch of beer and chips with a friend in CBD and people watched. Today I washed the car by hand and had coffee with the girls. Alas, I am running out of things and will have to start soon.
Maybe there's some laundry...
But on to my new project!
For years, we have used a summer quilt my mother made. I has to be 20 years old at least...if not older. Of course, the only time it was truly a "summer" quilt was during our time in Alaska. In Houston and Australia, it has been the "all year" quilt. It has become soft and supple with age. No more stiff fabric. Much used and loved.
And now it is starting to wear in a couple of spots and unfortunately, the fabric is so thin, I can't sew it together with any hope of saving it.
I consulted a fellow quilter who suggested sewing fabric on top of the existing pattern. That way all I have to do is match the fabric. There's a long shot...as old as the quilt is...the fabric is at least 3-5 years older. I have no idea the pattern name or even which state Mother found it.
After much internal debate, I've decided to stick with the pattern but turn it into a patchwork quilt. I am going to get a much used and loved t-shirt with a cool design on it and patch the one quilt block. Nope the colors won't match and nope the fabric pattern is nothing close to the existing pattern. But I decided Mom would be OK with that. It is an heirloom but now it will have not only her touch but mine also. And if it really looks bad or I stumble across the fabric someday, I can always undo it.
The next problem is getting started. My last big project (moving my recipes online) has blazed along at approximately one a month and that's only because I want to use a specific recipe. I have quilted before but it has been a long time and my eyes aren't as good for small stitch work as they used to be. Plus, I sew/quilt when it is cold or rainy or gloomy, etc. It's an inside affair. Not something to be done on beautiful, sunny, 70 degree weather days. (Down in the low 40's this week at night...Perfect!)
So far, I have postponed it by doing both normal and unusual chores around the house. For example, Tuesday I vacuumed the inside of the car. Yesterday, I sacrificed and had a delicious lunch of beer and chips with a friend in CBD and people watched. Today I washed the car by hand and had coffee with the girls. Alas, I am running out of things and will have to start soon.
Maybe there's some laundry...
Monday, July 15, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
A Visit Home...
We just spent two weeks in the States. Robert had to work and I was on holiday.
I know...how could those two weeks be any different than any two weeks here? I didn't have to cook and clean. :)
Anyway, this was the first time back "home" on U.S. soil in a year. I couldn't wait to see family and friends and have some of the foods we can't find here. Once again, first restaurant we hit after getting off the plane was a Mexican restaurant. YUM!
The best part of the trip though was seeing family. We were lucky and were able to squeeze in a lovely dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. I also spent two days with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and great nephew. They dropped everything, took vacation, worked overtime, worked weekends, etc. in order to be able to spend time with me. I can not thank my family enough nor explain in words how much it meant to me or how much I enjoyed spending time with them.
As for "home", home is where my bed is. While we saw lots of friends and had a good time, this was like every other holiday I have ever taken and I was glad to come back to my house when the time was up.
As for the food...it was OK. I guess I have gotten used to our diet in Australia. And apparently the excitement of traveling internationally has now worn off...about 4 hours into the flight, I was ready to get off of the plane. :P
Finally...the Houston humidity and heat...Y'all can keep it!
I know...how could those two weeks be any different than any two weeks here? I didn't have to cook and clean. :)
Anyway, this was the first time back "home" on U.S. soil in a year. I couldn't wait to see family and friends and have some of the foods we can't find here. Once again, first restaurant we hit after getting off the plane was a Mexican restaurant. YUM!
The best part of the trip though was seeing family. We were lucky and were able to squeeze in a lovely dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. I also spent two days with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and great nephew. They dropped everything, took vacation, worked overtime, worked weekends, etc. in order to be able to spend time with me. I can not thank my family enough nor explain in words how much it meant to me or how much I enjoyed spending time with them.
As for "home", home is where my bed is. While we saw lots of friends and had a good time, this was like every other holiday I have ever taken and I was glad to come back to my house when the time was up.
As for the food...it was OK. I guess I have gotten used to our diet in Australia. And apparently the excitement of traveling internationally has now worn off...about 4 hours into the flight, I was ready to get off of the plane. :P
Finally...the Houston humidity and heat...Y'all can keep it!
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Let's talk about Lewis...
Lewis is a goat.
A full grown goat that, if he were human, would push every button known to man regardless of the signage. I would have taken a picture but didn't have time and thought he might eat my phone before it was over...
I worked at the barn again Monday (after a holiday back to the States!) and Lewis was a busy busy goat. Early on, I felt something tugging at my cargo pants and there was Lewis chewing on the zipper pull where the lower pant leg attaches.
He nibbled at my leather gloves hanging out of my pocket...
Checked out my rain coat...
Ate the grass harvested for the guinea pigs...
At one point, a visitor asked me if Lewis was supposed to be right next to the enclosure I was working in. I said no and called Lewis...
Off like a shot...Lewis realized he was a free goat and the grass is greener over there. By the time I caught up with him with a cup of food, he was on the other side of the paddock beyond the birds of prey show seating area. I was able to entice him back to the barn yard and not 10 minutes later, someone else let him out. Luckily, he fell for the cup of food twice.
The best though was getting the animal snacks ready for the afternoon kids encounter. I had a tray full of cups of chaff for the kids and he, along with his goat friends, blocked my path, herded me the direction they wanted (who knew those cute goats could be so strong) and then stood on his hind legs, put his front legs on my shoulder and tried to attack the tray of snacks. One visitor on the other side of the fence took pity on me and held the tray enabling me to get through the gate before Lewis could push me over.
And these goats are NOT starving by any means.
How did I miss Lewis last time I worked??? He must have been having an off day.
In a different part of the sanctuary, the dingo pups had their third birthday.
I love working there!
A full grown goat that, if he were human, would push every button known to man regardless of the signage. I would have taken a picture but didn't have time and thought he might eat my phone before it was over...
I worked at the barn again Monday (after a holiday back to the States!) and Lewis was a busy busy goat. Early on, I felt something tugging at my cargo pants and there was Lewis chewing on the zipper pull where the lower pant leg attaches.
He nibbled at my leather gloves hanging out of my pocket...
Checked out my rain coat...
Ate the grass harvested for the guinea pigs...
At one point, a visitor asked me if Lewis was supposed to be right next to the enclosure I was working in. I said no and called Lewis...
Off like a shot...Lewis realized he was a free goat and the grass is greener over there. By the time I caught up with him with a cup of food, he was on the other side of the paddock beyond the birds of prey show seating area. I was able to entice him back to the barn yard and not 10 minutes later, someone else let him out. Luckily, he fell for the cup of food twice.
The best though was getting the animal snacks ready for the afternoon kids encounter. I had a tray full of cups of chaff for the kids and he, along with his goat friends, blocked my path, herded me the direction they wanted (who knew those cute goats could be so strong) and then stood on his hind legs, put his front legs on my shoulder and tried to attack the tray of snacks. One visitor on the other side of the fence took pity on me and held the tray enabling me to get through the gate before Lewis could push me over.
And these goats are NOT starving by any means.
How did I miss Lewis last time I worked??? He must have been having an off day.
In a different part of the sanctuary, the dingo pups had their third birthday.
I love working there!
Monday, May 27, 2013
My day at the Barn
Also known as the petting zoo.
It was very similar to being in Kansas again, meeting up with some friends at their farm. Only I had to clean out the stalls instead of just playing with the animals.
And the stalls were for 5 guinea pigs.
Yes, the 5 guinea pigs had two stalls big enough for a horse each. That's a lot of mulch and saw dust to move and replace for 5 guinea pigs. They were very happy when it was all done. Yesterday was more physical than any other day so far at Lone Pine and I won't be able to walk upright tomorrow. :)
I had a goat escape the fenced enclosure. Luckily, he escaped into the barnyard where the children could pet him so it wasn't that large of a crisis. He actually spent the rest of the day happily prancing around the barnyard in front of all of the animals still locked up.
The other goats were especially ticked at the unfairness of it all. The sheep were somewhat annoyed but didn't vocalize quite as much as the goats.
I took the Shetland ponies for a walk around the pasture on leads. The kangaroos weren't exactly sure about them. Of course the ponies wanted to stop at every blade of grass and eat.
There are 2 giant hogs, Oink and Doris, who received fresh fruit rinds and lettuce. They were also treated to the old mulch out of the guinea pig stalls and were very happy. Both of them stood right under where I had to toss it and they were covered it eucalyptus when I was done. Oink absolutely loves eucalyptus branches and for a treat, she gets 3 or 4 of them to go make a bed out of. It is fun to watch here take them into her stall and arrange just so.
Before the Birds of Prey show, we needed to lock up the fully grown chickens in the barnyard (to avoid distractions for the raptors) and close the barnyard and pasture because that is the birds demonstration area. We were also responsible for keeping people out of the pasture during the show. Part of the time I was on my own because the Sea Eagle doesn't like men in general and also doesn't like the barn keeper I was working with yesterday. She had to go inside when Eiluca was flying to avoid an attack.
Another fun filled day with more hands on animal encounters than any other so far. :)
It was very similar to being in Kansas again, meeting up with some friends at their farm. Only I had to clean out the stalls instead of just playing with the animals.
And the stalls were for 5 guinea pigs.
Yes, the 5 guinea pigs had two stalls big enough for a horse each. That's a lot of mulch and saw dust to move and replace for 5 guinea pigs. They were very happy when it was all done. Yesterday was more physical than any other day so far at Lone Pine and I won't be able to walk upright tomorrow. :)
I had a goat escape the fenced enclosure. Luckily, he escaped into the barnyard where the children could pet him so it wasn't that large of a crisis. He actually spent the rest of the day happily prancing around the barnyard in front of all of the animals still locked up.
The other goats were especially ticked at the unfairness of it all. The sheep were somewhat annoyed but didn't vocalize quite as much as the goats.
I took the Shetland ponies for a walk around the pasture on leads. The kangaroos weren't exactly sure about them. Of course the ponies wanted to stop at every blade of grass and eat.
There are 2 giant hogs, Oink and Doris, who received fresh fruit rinds and lettuce. They were also treated to the old mulch out of the guinea pig stalls and were very happy. Both of them stood right under where I had to toss it and they were covered it eucalyptus when I was done. Oink absolutely loves eucalyptus branches and for a treat, she gets 3 or 4 of them to go make a bed out of. It is fun to watch here take them into her stall and arrange just so.
Before the Birds of Prey show, we needed to lock up the fully grown chickens in the barnyard (to avoid distractions for the raptors) and close the barnyard and pasture because that is the birds demonstration area. We were also responsible for keeping people out of the pasture during the show. Part of the time I was on my own because the Sea Eagle doesn't like men in general and also doesn't like the barn keeper I was working with yesterday. She had to go inside when Eiluca was flying to avoid an attack.
Another fun filled day with more hands on animal encounters than any other so far. :)
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Mammals...Oh My
Last Monday was Mammal Group Day on my work schedule. I had a blast!
I started the day freshening one half of the Dingo enclosure and came extraordinarily close to wearing a Golden Orb spider for decoration. At first I was sure it was 2 foot in diameter but after backing up, realized it was more like 4 inches. That's what happens when working in the foliage. While the Dingos are wild animals, they seem a lot like great big cuddle puppies. Samson has learned how to open the door to his enclosure. And no, I didn't find that out the hard way. He tried but it was locked. Lone Pine has 3 dingos: a white senior at 11 years old and 2 pups about 3 years old.
Then it was time to wake up the Platypus and listen to him run through his labyrinth of PVC pipes and watch him jump into his tank. He sleeps in a wooden box on a little blanket. He eats yabbies (really big crayfish) during the day and when the keeper tossed some in the tank, it was a swimming frenzy. VERY happy platypus. (Don't worry, the yabbies are farmed - not from the wild.) I also fed the yabbies...they get protein pellets.
Next it was off to the feed shed to fix the daily fruit salad for the flying foxes (bats). We spend a lot of time prepping animal food!
Fifteen or so large bats eat a LOT of fruit salad. I cut up a dish tub full of fruit that included pears, oranges, bananas, mango, rock melon (cantaloupe), honey dew melon, grapes, apples, kiwi and guava plus other fruit. It looked pretty tasty except for the serving container. Once again, quality control told me I needed to change the size of the bites. They needed to be flying fox mouth size and I was making it a little too big. Who knew?
After finishing the fruit salad, I made the dishes up for the wombats. They like corn, carrots, sweet potato, hay, oats, kangaroo food and some other grains. They also like perfect apples (with no bad spots) cut into quarters.
Then I was off to the wombat enclosures to help freshen up their areas. Apparently, it was feisty wombat Monday. No moving from enclosure to enclosure easily and Boris was very loudly telling everyone what he thought of the entire process.
Back to the dingo enclosure to finish the other side...they look at you with such intelligent eyes.
The mornings fly by.
After my lunch, it was back to the feeding shed where I had the pleasure of mixing the shredded carrots into the raw meat and making "meatballs" for the Tazzie Devils. As with some kids, keepers have to hide the veggies or they won't eat them.
Off to feed the animals!
First up was the timid little possum. We had to coax it out of it's log burrow with a piece of broccoli. It had flowers for a treat.
On to the Dingos! They get a mix of mince (ground meat) and dingo bikkies (biscuits). They are properly trained to sit by a hand command and wait for their food to be put down. I had one behind me and didn't realize he was sitting, waiting patiently for his food until the other one already had his.
We took 10 bowls of food for delivery to the 5 wombats. My job was to keep the bush turkeys out of the wombat food as we went to each enclosure and to warn the keeper if the wombat was up and heading toward her. From my limited research, looks like wombats love corn on the cob.
Wombat Phil was exceptionally uncooperative and actually went into a different enclosure where he wasn't supposed to be (who left the gate unlocked???). The off limits enclosure did not have any animals in it but did have a "deadly" watering can and rake. Phil immediately attacked the gardening tools. I happened to be standing at the fence right above watching the show and the keeper told me to be careful because Phil could actually jump high enough to reach me. I backed up to avoid a claw encounter. The keeper was finally able to get Phil back to his pen by using the offending rake and having him chase it.
Next, we fed the sugar gliders, Tasmanian Devils and the bats. The sugar gliders are very timid but did come out for food. The devils wanted to be hand fed their meat but the keeper tossed the mixture into various locations in the enclosure making sure they had to work for it.
The bat food was initially left on the floor and the hungry foxes started to climb down to it, but before they could reach it, the keeper finished feeding the devils and hung the buckets from the roof. Climbing back up the cage wall, one bat promptly "walked" upside-down across the top of the cage toward the fruit salad, stopping first to check out the keepers hair. Then he (?) went to the bucket and dug out a piece of banana. He rolled it around in his mouth like he was checking the texture. I now have an idea of the size of a bats' mouth. :) While flying foxes make a shrill, chalk board grating type of noise, it is really uncomfortable listening to it when you are only 10 feet away from the argument.
Another wonderful day at Lone Pine. You should visit!
I started the day freshening one half of the Dingo enclosure and came extraordinarily close to wearing a Golden Orb spider for decoration. At first I was sure it was 2 foot in diameter but after backing up, realized it was more like 4 inches. That's what happens when working in the foliage. While the Dingos are wild animals, they seem a lot like great big cuddle puppies. Samson has learned how to open the door to his enclosure. And no, I didn't find that out the hard way. He tried but it was locked. Lone Pine has 3 dingos: a white senior at 11 years old and 2 pups about 3 years old.
Then it was time to wake up the Platypus and listen to him run through his labyrinth of PVC pipes and watch him jump into his tank. He sleeps in a wooden box on a little blanket. He eats yabbies (really big crayfish) during the day and when the keeper tossed some in the tank, it was a swimming frenzy. VERY happy platypus. (Don't worry, the yabbies are farmed - not from the wild.) I also fed the yabbies...they get protein pellets.
Next it was off to the feed shed to fix the daily fruit salad for the flying foxes (bats). We spend a lot of time prepping animal food!
Fifteen or so large bats eat a LOT of fruit salad. I cut up a dish tub full of fruit that included pears, oranges, bananas, mango, rock melon (cantaloupe), honey dew melon, grapes, apples, kiwi and guava plus other fruit. It looked pretty tasty except for the serving container. Once again, quality control told me I needed to change the size of the bites. They needed to be flying fox mouth size and I was making it a little too big. Who knew?
After finishing the fruit salad, I made the dishes up for the wombats. They like corn, carrots, sweet potato, hay, oats, kangaroo food and some other grains. They also like perfect apples (with no bad spots) cut into quarters.
Then I was off to the wombat enclosures to help freshen up their areas. Apparently, it was feisty wombat Monday. No moving from enclosure to enclosure easily and Boris was very loudly telling everyone what he thought of the entire process.
Back to the dingo enclosure to finish the other side...they look at you with such intelligent eyes.
The mornings fly by.
After my lunch, it was back to the feeding shed where I had the pleasure of mixing the shredded carrots into the raw meat and making "meatballs" for the Tazzie Devils. As with some kids, keepers have to hide the veggies or they won't eat them.
Off to feed the animals!
First up was the timid little possum. We had to coax it out of it's log burrow with a piece of broccoli. It had flowers for a treat.
On to the Dingos! They get a mix of mince (ground meat) and dingo bikkies (biscuits). They are properly trained to sit by a hand command and wait for their food to be put down. I had one behind me and didn't realize he was sitting, waiting patiently for his food until the other one already had his.
We took 10 bowls of food for delivery to the 5 wombats. My job was to keep the bush turkeys out of the wombat food as we went to each enclosure and to warn the keeper if the wombat was up and heading toward her. From my limited research, looks like wombats love corn on the cob.
Wombat Phil was exceptionally uncooperative and actually went into a different enclosure where he wasn't supposed to be (who left the gate unlocked???). The off limits enclosure did not have any animals in it but did have a "deadly" watering can and rake. Phil immediately attacked the gardening tools. I happened to be standing at the fence right above watching the show and the keeper told me to be careful because Phil could actually jump high enough to reach me. I backed up to avoid a claw encounter. The keeper was finally able to get Phil back to his pen by using the offending rake and having him chase it.
Next, we fed the sugar gliders, Tasmanian Devils and the bats. The sugar gliders are very timid but did come out for food. The devils wanted to be hand fed their meat but the keeper tossed the mixture into various locations in the enclosure making sure they had to work for it.
The bat food was initially left on the floor and the hungry foxes started to climb down to it, but before they could reach it, the keeper finished feeding the devils and hung the buckets from the roof. Climbing back up the cage wall, one bat promptly "walked" upside-down across the top of the cage toward the fruit salad, stopping first to check out the keepers hair. Then he (?) went to the bucket and dug out a piece of banana. He rolled it around in his mouth like he was checking the texture. I now have an idea of the size of a bats' mouth. :) While flying foxes make a shrill, chalk board grating type of noise, it is really uncomfortable listening to it when you are only 10 feet away from the argument.
Another wonderful day at Lone Pine. You should visit!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
To Moore...
The loss and devastation breaks my heart.
For those that lost loved ones, although I wish it did, nothing I can write will help ease your time.
For those that lost homes, schools, faith...I can only hope you find some of your treasured pictures, heirlooms, that which is most important to you.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
For those that lost loved ones, although I wish it did, nothing I can write will help ease your time.
For those that lost homes, schools, faith...I can only hope you find some of your treasured pictures, heirlooms, that which is most important to you.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
AH...the beautiful birds!
Monday at Lone Pine, I was assigned to work with the birds. I had the opportunity to get in several different aviaries with:
Princess parrots
Lorikeets
Rose crowned fruit doves
Electus Parrot
Pheasant Coucal
Tawny Frogmouth
and the Major Mitchell Cockatoos.
There is nothing like going in and out of an aviary hoping the birds don't choose that moment to make a break for it. And as an FYI, apparently aviary doors are shorter than a standard door. This may not mean much, but for someone who had NEVER had to duck for an opening, I banged my head more times than I care to count. And I successfully banged it HARD.
In some of the enclosures we switched out the mulch and some just scruffed the mulch up a bit. One cheeky cockatoo talks non-stop when you are working near him. Of course, I chattered right back at him. The electus parrot was excruciatingly loud when he was displeased with the work.
I also changed their seed boxes at which they came flying down to the fresh seeds. BTW - sunflower seeds are very popular and sulphur crested cockatoos can be coaxed into a small holding pen with them. :) At one point, the Pheasant appeared to be nesting in his seed box. Or at least hiding in it...protecting the seeds from anyone else! Most of the birds get a mix of parrot feed, finch feed and parrot training mix plus their fresh fruits and veggies.
Which brings us to the feed shed.
One building is dedicated to prepping daily meals for the animals (except the koalas who get branches). I had the pleasure of mixing up emu food. They like corn, peas, pears, carrots, sweet potato, apples, beetroot leaves (no stems) and lettuce along with some kangaroo feed pellets. At first I cut the potato too small...then too large. Picky birds.
Then I got to feed the emus. Nothing like standing at the feed box dumping in their food when they come charging over. (Emus are big.)
Of course, the Sanctuary goes through a lot of bowls in a day and the dirty ones have to be washed. I was waiting for the next assignment and decided to go see if the stack of dirty dishes had started up again. Then I found all of the mice that had been prepped for dinner. I opted to go back outside and just watch the koala joey who was starting to explore on his own. Yes - a perfect day for joey pictures and I didn't have my camera.
On the second food run, we took fresh veggies AND some mouse parts. I had some pine branches of some type for bird treats and a co-volunteer was carrying the box of bowls and the keeper said to be on the lookout for the kookaburra. There is one who has no qualms about swooping down out of the sky and taking a mouse part. No incidents this time.
The pheasant was at the door waiting on his mouse chunks....so excited...pacing. Just like a little kid with ice cream. The tawny frogmouth took his third of a mouse and proceeded to smack it around as if to kill it. Fascinating and yet disgusting to watch.
As I was sitting on the couch Monday evening, reviewing the day, a question came to mind: How many snakes live in the mulch pile I was digging around in? Luckily, that didn't come to mind until I was well into my glass of wine.
Once again, a wonderful day at the Sanctuary. Who wouldn't love working there???
Princess parrots
Lorikeets
Rose crowned fruit doves
Electus Parrot
Pheasant Coucal
Tawny Frogmouth
and the Major Mitchell Cockatoos.
There is nothing like going in and out of an aviary hoping the birds don't choose that moment to make a break for it. And as an FYI, apparently aviary doors are shorter than a standard door. This may not mean much, but for someone who had NEVER had to duck for an opening, I banged my head more times than I care to count. And I successfully banged it HARD.
In some of the enclosures we switched out the mulch and some just scruffed the mulch up a bit. One cheeky cockatoo talks non-stop when you are working near him. Of course, I chattered right back at him. The electus parrot was excruciatingly loud when he was displeased with the work.
I also changed their seed boxes at which they came flying down to the fresh seeds. BTW - sunflower seeds are very popular and sulphur crested cockatoos can be coaxed into a small holding pen with them. :) At one point, the Pheasant appeared to be nesting in his seed box. Or at least hiding in it...protecting the seeds from anyone else! Most of the birds get a mix of parrot feed, finch feed and parrot training mix plus their fresh fruits and veggies.
Which brings us to the feed shed.
One building is dedicated to prepping daily meals for the animals (except the koalas who get branches). I had the pleasure of mixing up emu food. They like corn, peas, pears, carrots, sweet potato, apples, beetroot leaves (no stems) and lettuce along with some kangaroo feed pellets. At first I cut the potato too small...then too large. Picky birds.
Then I got to feed the emus. Nothing like standing at the feed box dumping in their food when they come charging over. (Emus are big.)
Of course, the Sanctuary goes through a lot of bowls in a day and the dirty ones have to be washed. I was waiting for the next assignment and decided to go see if the stack of dirty dishes had started up again. Then I found all of the mice that had been prepped for dinner. I opted to go back outside and just watch the koala joey who was starting to explore on his own. Yes - a perfect day for joey pictures and I didn't have my camera.
On the second food run, we took fresh veggies AND some mouse parts. I had some pine branches of some type for bird treats and a co-volunteer was carrying the box of bowls and the keeper said to be on the lookout for the kookaburra. There is one who has no qualms about swooping down out of the sky and taking a mouse part. No incidents this time.
The pheasant was at the door waiting on his mouse chunks....so excited...pacing. Just like a little kid with ice cream. The tawny frogmouth took his third of a mouse and proceeded to smack it around as if to kill it. Fascinating and yet disgusting to watch.
As I was sitting on the couch Monday evening, reviewing the day, a question came to mind: How many snakes live in the mulch pile I was digging around in? Luckily, that didn't come to mind until I was well into my glass of wine.
Once again, a wonderful day at the Sanctuary. Who wouldn't love working there???
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
First day with the Koalas!
Monday I started my Australia career...
I volunteered at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and had a GREAT time. I washed LOTS of koala perches, changed out their eucalyptus and watched the little guys and girls run around. I can tell you they move pretty fast and, as with all animals, they each have their own personality.
Hugo did laps around his pen and stood at our feet while we cleaned. It was almost like he wanted to be picked up and held. I met another young lady that has a joey in her pouch getting ready to emerge any day now. One enclosure came with the warning, they get a little touchy, don't be surprised if they take a swipe at you.
In another enclosure, when filling the water containers, it was feeding time. They love fresh eucalyptus and understand when it is coming. Two of them came running to the door and were waiting...severely disappointed when all I had was water.
I hope to one day graduate to working with the koalas in the picture area. While that does come with working directly with the public, I could hold them during the day. I did get a chance to hold one Monday that was throwing a tantrum and didn't want to be held by anyone. It didn't work out and he he had to go back to his tree.
The only down side to this adventure so far has been the physical labor - 26 years at a desk job has taken it's toll. I am just getting over being sore. :P
I was right next to so many precious animals Monday it was amazing. Can't wait until next week!
I volunteered at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and had a GREAT time. I washed LOTS of koala perches, changed out their eucalyptus and watched the little guys and girls run around. I can tell you they move pretty fast and, as with all animals, they each have their own personality.
Hugo did laps around his pen and stood at our feet while we cleaned. It was almost like he wanted to be picked up and held. I met another young lady that has a joey in her pouch getting ready to emerge any day now. One enclosure came with the warning, they get a little touchy, don't be surprised if they take a swipe at you.
In another enclosure, when filling the water containers, it was feeding time. They love fresh eucalyptus and understand when it is coming. Two of them came running to the door and were waiting...severely disappointed when all I had was water.
I hope to one day graduate to working with the koalas in the picture area. While that does come with working directly with the public, I could hold them during the day. I did get a chance to hold one Monday that was throwing a tantrum and didn't want to be held by anyone. It didn't work out and he he had to go back to his tree.
The only down side to this adventure so far has been the physical labor - 26 years at a desk job has taken it's toll. I am just getting over being sore. :P
I was right next to so many precious animals Monday it was amazing. Can't wait until next week!
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Wonder what this is?
As mentioned before, I have a project going to convert old recipes into digital format. Today I ran across a challenge.
It was a yellow scrap of paper, in my handwriting listing ingredients written in 3 sections with lines drawn between the sections.
Sum total of instructions were:
Section 1 - boil
Section 2 - add
Section 3 - cook 20 minutes.
After all - it was a small piece of paper.
The main ingredient was raspberries so I narrowed it down to our time in Alaska (where we harvested gallons of berries). Since the obvious thought pattern with fruit AND a recipe in our household is pie, cobbler or jelly/jam, I knew this list of ingredients would not have made a good, typical dessert. The milk threw me off...
I must have done it though as I don't take pen to paper unless absolutely necessary because it takes effort (where ripping out a page in a magazine - not so much effort). Besides my penmanship is horrible as evidenced by the 5 tsp or tbsp (? it's one of them) of baking bowder.
After staring at the third section of ingredients, I finally decided it looked like a dumpling recipe et voila! We occasionally made raspberry dumplings for dessert. If I remember correctly, it was pretty tasty. After all I kept the recipe!
Now, if only I had taken time to write a few more instructions.
It was a yellow scrap of paper, in my handwriting listing ingredients written in 3 sections with lines drawn between the sections.
Sum total of instructions were:
Section 1 - boil
Section 2 - add
Section 3 - cook 20 minutes.
After all - it was a small piece of paper.
The main ingredient was raspberries so I narrowed it down to our time in Alaska (where we harvested gallons of berries). Since the obvious thought pattern with fruit AND a recipe in our household is pie, cobbler or jelly/jam, I knew this list of ingredients would not have made a good, typical dessert. The milk threw me off...
I must have done it though as I don't take pen to paper unless absolutely necessary because it takes effort (where ripping out a page in a magazine - not so much effort). Besides my penmanship is horrible as evidenced by the 5 tsp or tbsp (? it's one of them) of baking bowder.
After staring at the third section of ingredients, I finally decided it looked like a dumpling recipe et voila! We occasionally made raspberry dumplings for dessert. If I remember correctly, it was pretty tasty. After all I kept the recipe!
Now, if only I had taken time to write a few more instructions.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Metric slip up
My conversation at the deli today:
"How ya goin?"
"Great!"
"What can I get you?"
"1/4 pound diced ham." (Knowing full well I wanted 1/2 pound which is 1/4-ish kilo.)
"Pound?"
"Kilo!!! - 250 grams. Sorry!"
Another fine example of how, if I don't concentrate, I easily slip into life long habits.
"How ya goin?"
"Great!"
"What can I get you?"
"1/4 pound diced ham." (Knowing full well I wanted 1/2 pound which is 1/4-ish kilo.)
"Pound?"
"Kilo!!! - 250 grams. Sorry!"
Another fine example of how, if I don't concentrate, I easily slip into life long habits.
Monday, April 22, 2013
For the love of a recipe...collection...
I am a recipe hound.
I am notorious for reading a magazine, spotting a recipe that sounds divine, ripping the page out (of course, only in my own magazines!), adding it to my stash of recipes on paper and then almost never making it because I forget I have it.
I have now gone beyond ripping one page and just keep the magazine with the corners folded down thereby reducing paper cuts.
We know THOSE items will be tried! (Previous sentence to be read with sarcasm.)
Since I brought my giant folder of recipes with me to Australia, one of my many projects while on leave is to organize and cull my pile of paper.
Today I started and came across so many memories. My stash includes several hand written recipes from dear friends, many I have not seen in ages. They bring to mind the dinners we gathered for on a weekend and dishes so scrumptious I just had to have the recipe.
In today's electronic world, do people still write out recipes by hand and give someone a copy? Or similar to letter writing, is this becoming a lost custom? For me, seeing their handwriting is what brought back the memories...not necessarily the dishes. For example, I knew instantly Eric and Vicki's pasta recipe and remember the night we gathered at their house to sample because I recognized the writing.
But now I have consigned my copies to the electronic world and will get rid of the paper. There's a better chance I'll make the dish now since I can automatically search for it. (Good thing I have a scanner!)
But in passing...thanks to all who contributed over the years to my collection. I very much appreciate it!
I am notorious for reading a magazine, spotting a recipe that sounds divine, ripping the page out (of course, only in my own magazines!), adding it to my stash of recipes on paper and then almost never making it because I forget I have it.
I have now gone beyond ripping one page and just keep the magazine with the corners folded down thereby reducing paper cuts.
We know THOSE items will be tried! (Previous sentence to be read with sarcasm.)
Since I brought my giant folder of recipes with me to Australia, one of my many projects while on leave is to organize and cull my pile of paper.
Today I started and came across so many memories. My stash includes several hand written recipes from dear friends, many I have not seen in ages. They bring to mind the dinners we gathered for on a weekend and dishes so scrumptious I just had to have the recipe.
In today's electronic world, do people still write out recipes by hand and give someone a copy? Or similar to letter writing, is this becoming a lost custom? For me, seeing their handwriting is what brought back the memories...not necessarily the dishes. For example, I knew instantly Eric and Vicki's pasta recipe and remember the night we gathered at their house to sample because I recognized the writing.
But now I have consigned my copies to the electronic world and will get rid of the paper. There's a better chance I'll make the dish now since I can automatically search for it. (Good thing I have a scanner!)
But in passing...thanks to all who contributed over the years to my collection. I very much appreciate it!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Dogs & Dogs
If you haven't figured it out, I quite often walk by the river and past the dog park. Recently, I was with a friend and she mentioned she had started recognizing faces when walking. The same people tend to walk at the same time.
Not me.
I recognize the dogs and know some of them by name.
There are the two Great Danes, Bella and Moose(?). The two little pugs. The family of three labs that have adopted a rat terrier. The Staffie Hannah, Mabel and Pepper the Yorkies, Jemma the husky. Chaya and Maya the St. Bernards. The two shelties, and last but by no means the end of the list, Hamish the Bichon (you knew there had to be one).
Some of the owners I recognize but most have to have their dogs with them for me to be sure.
Once again, confirmation I am a dog lady. :)
Not me.
I recognize the dogs and know some of them by name.
There are the two Great Danes, Bella and Moose(?). The two little pugs. The family of three labs that have adopted a rat terrier. The Staffie Hannah, Mabel and Pepper the Yorkies, Jemma the husky. Chaya and Maya the St. Bernards. The two shelties, and last but by no means the end of the list, Hamish the Bichon (you knew there had to be one).
Some of the owners I recognize but most have to have their dogs with them for me to be sure.
Once again, confirmation I am a dog lady. :)
Trade-offs
I was originally going to call this post "Regrets" but I believe "regrets" are saved for the really big things in life. Even with all the learning experiences (ie. mistakes) I have made, I have only one regret...everything else I have classified as trade-offs.
This morning's trade-off was to stay at the house a few minutes longer OR go walking sooner. I kept thinking - need to get going before it gets hot. However, I kept doing this and that - dishes, laundry, etc.
When I finally got out the door it was about 7:40 and a beautiful morning: 15C/59F, bright sunshine. It felt like 70. Perfect walking weather.
I went my normal route and stumbled, once again, into a wedding party. (Who gets married this early on a Friday morning? Must have to catch a flight? Robert and I are in more wedding pictures these days. Almost once a week we stumble into one. During this time of year, it will be 2 or 3 a week. And, of course, we always look spectacular for the occasion - shorts and t-shirts!) If I had been any earlier, I probably wouldn't have seen the celebration.
The flip-side? I missed the crew going to the yacht. There is a big, beautiful yacht that anchors on the river by our house. I have been waiting for the opportune time to figure out who owns it and introduce myself. If I don't get on the boat and go for a ride, how else am I going to know if that is the boat I would purchase??? This boat is big enough to leave for months at a time and would require a crew to sail. It was just pulling away when I walked by them.
I would rather have met the yacht crew than be in the wedding pictures.
Oh well...maybe we will see them when they anchor...
This morning's trade-off was to stay at the house a few minutes longer OR go walking sooner. I kept thinking - need to get going before it gets hot. However, I kept doing this and that - dishes, laundry, etc.
When I finally got out the door it was about 7:40 and a beautiful morning: 15C/59F, bright sunshine. It felt like 70. Perfect walking weather.
I went my normal route and stumbled, once again, into a wedding party. (Who gets married this early on a Friday morning? Must have to catch a flight? Robert and I are in more wedding pictures these days. Almost once a week we stumble into one. During this time of year, it will be 2 or 3 a week. And, of course, we always look spectacular for the occasion - shorts and t-shirts!) If I had been any earlier, I probably wouldn't have seen the celebration.
The flip-side? I missed the crew going to the yacht. There is a big, beautiful yacht that anchors on the river by our house. I have been waiting for the opportune time to figure out who owns it and introduce myself. If I don't get on the boat and go for a ride, how else am I going to know if that is the boat I would purchase??? This boat is big enough to leave for months at a time and would require a crew to sail. It was just pulling away when I walked by them.
I would rather have met the yacht crew than be in the wedding pictures.
Oh well...maybe we will see them when they anchor...
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
In case you were curious, the paper follows
I MOVED to another country and yet the paper still shows up and hits my desk.
Here I sit at my desk at home, knowing I still have 500 pictures to review, name, cull, file, post, etc. and yet what is stopping me today will be the mound of paper that has multiplied over the last couple of weeks. Oh and maybe the 70 degree temps, the light breeze, the bright sunshine, blue sky, the call of the river walk, the call of the park and my book.
Yes...winter is on it's way and winter in Brisbane is beautiful.
So today's goal is to wade through the paper, balance the checkbook, scan and file as necessary BEFORE stepping foot outside or it will be a lost cause.
Wish me luck!
Here I sit at my desk at home, knowing I still have 500 pictures to review, name, cull, file, post, etc. and yet what is stopping me today will be the mound of paper that has multiplied over the last couple of weeks. Oh and maybe the 70 degree temps, the light breeze, the bright sunshine, blue sky, the call of the river walk, the call of the park and my book.
Yes...winter is on it's way and winter in Brisbane is beautiful.
So today's goal is to wade through the paper, balance the checkbook, scan and file as necessary BEFORE stepping foot outside or it will be a lost cause.
Wish me luck!
Monday, April 08, 2013
Where oh Where Did My Memory Go?
And just WHO gave it permission to periodically wander off?
Over the last few years, I saw my mother gradually descend into some type of dementia. She had her good days and her bad days, as most do, but, in my mind, her bad days I witnessed - or the ones that stand out - were predominantly bad memory days vs physically painful days.
I sometimes fear going through the same thing.
I know memory capacity and capabilities change with time (i.e. aging) and I am starting to forget things and it drives me nuts because in my mind I am still a Spring Chicken! Regardless of my age, "old age" doesn't happen for at least another 40 years.
I have once or twice asked the same question multiple times (or so Robert tells me). I blame my failure to listen...but is that really the case? Or are things starting to misfire? Today, I was reminded of an entire conversation. Maybe I just had too much on my mind that specific day. Although, that seems a bit of a hard sell since my schedule doesn't currently include a job outside of our house...
If I hadn't seen what mother went through, I wouldn't think twice about it. But now the thought hovers in the background when I'm reminded I forgot something. I guess on the bright (?) side, if I ever do travel the same path to the extent my mother did, I won't remember it...mostly just the good memories that span a lifetime!
Over the last few years, I saw my mother gradually descend into some type of dementia. She had her good days and her bad days, as most do, but, in my mind, her bad days I witnessed - or the ones that stand out - were predominantly bad memory days vs physically painful days.
I sometimes fear going through the same thing.
I know memory capacity and capabilities change with time (i.e. aging) and I am starting to forget things and it drives me nuts because in my mind I am still a Spring Chicken! Regardless of my age, "old age" doesn't happen for at least another 40 years.
I have once or twice asked the same question multiple times (or so Robert tells me). I blame my failure to listen...but is that really the case? Or are things starting to misfire? Today, I was reminded of an entire conversation. Maybe I just had too much on my mind that specific day. Although, that seems a bit of a hard sell since my schedule doesn't currently include a job outside of our house...
If I hadn't seen what mother went through, I wouldn't think twice about it. But now the thought hovers in the background when I'm reminded I forgot something. I guess on the bright (?) side, if I ever do travel the same path to the extent my mother did, I won't remember it...mostly just the good memories that span a lifetime!
Sunday, April 07, 2013
One of those days...
Well...maybe it actually started off last Friday.
Our primary cooking utensil is the grill. On a good night, I don't get a single pot or pan dirty in the kitchen as everything hits the grate.
Friday was just such and occasion.
Beef Fillets (Australian for filet), corn on the cob, jalapenos with cream cheese, asparagus. A perfect dinner.
And then we ran out of gas and don't own a second bottle.
Luckily, we eat rare steaks. There was enough heat in the grill that everything was cooked and still no heat generated in the kitchen. :)
Of course when we tried to get the bottle filled Saturday, the business was closed and we aren't sure of another place to go for propane. Plus Monday, I take the car in for service and won't be able to fill it until Tuesday at the earliest.
Descend into crisis mode. What will we eat for the next 3 days???
Time to smoke some meat!
Naturally, we didn't decide to smoke anything until Saturday morning and everything was still in the freezer. But that gave us an excuse to eat out Saturday night.
Sunday Robert tossed on a brisket, ribs, chicken and shrimp. (Come on - you can't fire up a smoker and only do one meal's worth!) Cooked up a pot of black beans and whipped up some Cole slaw and since we had LOTS, we invited great friends over to share with us. A fantastic Sunday evening.
But back to today...
As mentioned before, I had to take the car in for annual service. Keep in mind, I hadn't had any coffee when I left.
Drove to the dealer.
Left the car.
Walked home - a beautiful, 65 degree morning with scattered clouds. Lots of people bundled up. I'm in shorts and a polo.
And then, while waiting for my take away long black to enjoy back at the house, I realized my house key was safely on the kitchen counter.
Normally this isn't a problem but I had no garage door opener either - it's in the car.
As you can tell, I did get back into the house and it wasn't too much trouble, but now I'm just going to go read my book and make no more decisions other than what's for lunch.
Wait - that decision is already made - BBQ!!! :)
Our primary cooking utensil is the grill. On a good night, I don't get a single pot or pan dirty in the kitchen as everything hits the grate.
Friday was just such and occasion.
Beef Fillets (Australian for filet), corn on the cob, jalapenos with cream cheese, asparagus. A perfect dinner.
And then we ran out of gas and don't own a second bottle.
Luckily, we eat rare steaks. There was enough heat in the grill that everything was cooked and still no heat generated in the kitchen. :)
Of course when we tried to get the bottle filled Saturday, the business was closed and we aren't sure of another place to go for propane. Plus Monday, I take the car in for service and won't be able to fill it until Tuesday at the earliest.
Descend into crisis mode. What will we eat for the next 3 days???
Time to smoke some meat!
Naturally, we didn't decide to smoke anything until Saturday morning and everything was still in the freezer. But that gave us an excuse to eat out Saturday night.
Sunday Robert tossed on a brisket, ribs, chicken and shrimp. (Come on - you can't fire up a smoker and only do one meal's worth!) Cooked up a pot of black beans and whipped up some Cole slaw and since we had LOTS, we invited great friends over to share with us. A fantastic Sunday evening.
But back to today...
As mentioned before, I had to take the car in for annual service. Keep in mind, I hadn't had any coffee when I left.
Drove to the dealer.
Left the car.
Walked home - a beautiful, 65 degree morning with scattered clouds. Lots of people bundled up. I'm in shorts and a polo.
And then, while waiting for my take away long black to enjoy back at the house, I realized my house key was safely on the kitchen counter.
Normally this isn't a problem but I had no garage door opener either - it's in the car.
As you can tell, I did get back into the house and it wasn't too much trouble, but now I'm just going to go read my book and make no more decisions other than what's for lunch.
Wait - that decision is already made - BBQ!!! :)
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Fraser Island Dingos
YES - We saw the wild dingos on Fraser Island. Supposedly the purest form of the Australian wild dog left. Fraser is considered the largest sand island in the world. Four wheel drive vehicles are the only vehicles allowed on the island and the sand roads are so deep, take a shovel because you will get stuck. Beautiful rain forests, freshwater lakes and beaches.
Very skinny...
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Warning signs everywhere to not interact with the dingos. This one was willing to help haul in the catch.
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But he ended up leaving...
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75 Mile beach...which in reality is only 73 miles long. No snorkeling due to sharks. Speed limit 80km but drivers must give way to airplanes as it is also a runway.
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This is actually a picture of a stream. The water is so clear though it won't show up in a picture...just looks like sand.
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Very skinny...
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Warning signs everywhere to not interact with the dingos. This one was willing to help haul in the catch.
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But he ended up leaving...
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75 Mile beach...which in reality is only 73 miles long. No snorkeling due to sharks. Speed limit 80km but drivers must give way to airplanes as it is also a runway.
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This is actually a picture of a stream. The water is so clear though it won't show up in a picture...just looks like sand.
I LOVE the Zoo
Australia Zoo is amazing!
Where else can you walk a wombie on a leash AND through the gift shops...
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I believe this one was named MiniBus. She even comes with her own cart in case she gets tired...
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Frisky in their habitats.
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Strolling through the gift shop areas. MiniBus was very interested in shopping but they successfully got her re-routed.
Then there's these guys...defies explanation...
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Where else can you walk a wombie on a leash AND through the gift shops...
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Then there's these guys...defies explanation...
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Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Back From Holiday...
Yes - between vacation and guests, I have been on holiday since about December 28th. Sadly, everyone has gone home and I'm back to my "normal" routine. Now to catch up on the 400+ pictures I've taken, paperwork and various other chores.
However, chores will not get in the way of social outings. ;) This morning was our weekly hike traveling approximately 4K around Mt Coot-tha here in Brisbane. There were 7 of us and we did the Simpson Falls/Eugenia circuit which took about an hour. A good way to start the morning...especially when coffee and chatting follows. Our next big hike will be from Wynnum to Manley along the shore.
Speaking of coffee, I have become more of a connoisseur while living here...only slightly addicted. The days do go better once you have had a stout long black to get the day going. We have also enjoy the neighborhood pub/restaurant and the Queensland beer on tap from various brewers. Since the pub is on our evening walking route, it is very easy to stop off for a schooner...
Over Easter weekend, we learned more about the drinking laws on Good Friday. Some liquor licenses limit patrons alcohol intake to one hour before their meal, during their meal and at most, one hour after their meal. That means the staff was noting what time you ordered, what time you received food, etc. Plus the definition of a meal means you must need a knife and fork. As and example, chips (french fries) are not considered a meal however, potato wedges with toppings would be a meal.
We were able to manage and get our schooner. :)
However, chores will not get in the way of social outings. ;) This morning was our weekly hike traveling approximately 4K around Mt Coot-tha here in Brisbane. There were 7 of us and we did the Simpson Falls/Eugenia circuit which took about an hour. A good way to start the morning...especially when coffee and chatting follows. Our next big hike will be from Wynnum to Manley along the shore.
Speaking of coffee, I have become more of a connoisseur while living here...only slightly addicted. The days do go better once you have had a stout long black to get the day going. We have also enjoy the neighborhood pub/restaurant and the Queensland beer on tap from various brewers. Since the pub is on our evening walking route, it is very easy to stop off for a schooner...
Over Easter weekend, we learned more about the drinking laws on Good Friday. Some liquor licenses limit patrons alcohol intake to one hour before their meal, during their meal and at most, one hour after their meal. That means the staff was noting what time you ordered, what time you received food, etc. Plus the definition of a meal means you must need a knife and fork. As and example, chips (french fries) are not considered a meal however, potato wedges with toppings would be a meal.
We were able to manage and get our schooner. :)
Thursday, February 07, 2013
Auckland...
As mentioned before, Auckland was our rainy port. We went to the Skytower - the view must be better on a clear day...
From the base..
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Our ship (on the right)
Official looking buildings in the distance...
And, just in case you were hungry for Mexican...
From the base..
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And for the adventurous, the opportunity to jump off of the top.
Describing the glass floor panels
Robert tempting fate...at least he wasn't jumping like some
Our ship (on the right)
Official looking buildings in the distance...
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Who Doesn't Love a Penguin
The rainiest day we had in port was at Auckland. It was a rather dreary day...perfect for a visit to Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium...
These guys were my favorites. King Penguins are larger than I expected. (To Do...schedule trip to Antarctica) Some were aggressive and would come right over to where you were standing behind the glass in an attempt to intimidate. That seems to work as they always win and the tourists walk on... :)
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That's a baby sitting under mom.
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Here's a mother turning her egg.
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One of the exhibits was a conveyor belt to ride on with the aquarium built around it. That made for some interesting pictures of the bottoms of things...such as this starfish.
An octopus...
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Crabs
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They had several tanks with sea horses in them.
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These lobsters were well fed and huge...
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And a living coral reef...
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This Aquarium was built in an old sewer and they did an amazing job with it.
These guys were my favorites. King Penguins are larger than I expected. (To Do...schedule trip to Antarctica) Some were aggressive and would come right over to where you were standing behind the glass in an attempt to intimidate. That seems to work as they always win and the tourists walk on... :)
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Here's a mother turning her egg.
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One of the exhibits was a conveyor belt to ride on with the aquarium built around it. That made for some interesting pictures of the bottoms of things...such as this starfish.
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These lobsters were well fed and huge...
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And a living coral reef...
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This Aquarium was built in an old sewer and they did an amazing job with it.
Friday, January 18, 2013
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