New car syndrome

Yes...I have new car syndrome.

That affliction where you park as far away from the front door (and other cars) you possibly can to avoid door dings. 

However, it amazes me how many others have "park next to a new car" syndrome. 

Every single time it happens...someone parks right next to me when there are approximately 4255 other empty car spaces...

Back in Texas...

Yes, we have returned from the land down under...and are working on getting a house at the top of the world! 

We are moving back to Alaska!!!  Can't wait!  The view from my  new deck should encompass volcanoes to the south, Sleeping Lady to the west and Denali to the north.  :)

I still have several things to wrap up regarding Australia stories.  I so miss the animals at Lone Pine on Mondays and most of all my very good friends still living in Brisbane.  Oh...and my "local" (the pub).  One day, we will bump into each other again...even if we have to plan it!

In other news, I have retired; my favorite nephew on my side of the family has graduated from college with his degree (so very proud of him); my stepson got married to the sweetest girl in the world...  All in the month of May. 

Rob is getting ready to retire...he notifies me of this daily (sometimes hourly).

Talk about change!!! 

Coountdown!

Our Australian adventure is over...

Two weeks from today we pack up and move back to Houston. 

Sad to say good-bye to new friends here but looking forward to seeing friends and family back home.

Ya Gotta Love Dogs!

Since I now work on Monday's doing physical labor at the Koala Sanctuary, I don't cook on Monday nights.  (Hey...it works for me!)

This last Monday, we wandered down to a cafe / pub to eat dinner.  This cafe is built on an incline and to reach the seating area, you have to go up a set of stairs. 

While we were waiting at our outdoor table, a gentleman pulled up and parked his car directly in front of the stairs.  He walked around the car and opened the passenger door. Out jumped two little dogs who trotted up the stairs and sat down right in front of the big french doors where the bar is.  Their master walked into the cafe and ordered a drink and the dogs never moved nor did they ever go inside the cafe.

The gentleman then joined a table behind us (in the outdoor seating area) and the dogs followed him.  Perfectly behaved...no commands required.

When our food arrived, we started eating and I happened to look down...

There were two little dogs sitting at our feet looking up at us. 

I am pretty sure they expected a taste also.

I still smile at their antics.

By the way...a shout out to all of the dog friendly cafes, pubs and restaurants.  That's one of the best things about Brisbane!!!

Where have I been?

OK - Not entirely sure, but I think this is a record for not posting!  Almost two months. 

Time flies when living in a tropical paradise!

Of course we had a HOT Christmas.  (So not normal for people from the northern hemisphere.)

Our last scheduled company arrived and left.  (Once again- SO MUCH FUN!!!)  Zoo, Koala Sanctuary, shopping, Beach, aquarium, beach, surf lessons, beach, beach...oh yeah...and we went to the beach.  :)

A trip to Melbourne and Sydney (pictures to come)!

However, today is about Australia Day and the Aussie Tucker we had to celebrate. 

The menu included:
Smoked Emu pastrami
Smoked Crocodile
Roo tail and Tasmanian possum sausage

and for the first time in my life...

Camel. 

The Emu and Crocodile were GREAT.  The camel had a good taste but tough.  The roo and possum sausage wasn't my favorite.  I just don't have a real craving for possum. 

My real favorite dish though was the damper (soda bread)...but you can't live on bread alone!!  :)

Did You Know that Emu's Will Cuddle?

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...

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! 

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!

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!

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!

Pictures taken around Gladstone, QLD boat harbour.

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...

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!

On a Roll!!!

TWO...


COUNT THEM...


TWO!!!

Projects done in one week.  (Quilt AND recipes)

I may have to go back to work!


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

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!

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... :)

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!

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!!!

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...

Katmai Bear Cams (This SO Rocks)

I LOVE Brooks Falls!

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!

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!
 

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.  :)