One spotty dog.

"Even the tiniest Poodle or Chihuahua is still a wolf at heart." - Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, Dogs: The Wolf Within

We have only ever owned one dog; a dalmatian named Christy. Well actually she was officially named Island Cooler but she was my son's dog & he was 5 so not only was it not a suitable name for a child's dog it was a real mouthful. Try shouting that after a bolting Dalmatian.

I have yet to own a completely sane animal & Christy was no exception. From the very first what she liked best to eat was Dearest's underwear. Yum.

Now I didn't enter into the purchasing of a dog lightly. I'm a cat person. Always have been. Dogs mystify me but the kid wanted a dog, you know, & little boys should have a dog a least once in their lives so I began researching dogs. Lots of people wanted to tell me how great labs are but I have serious issues with labs. For starters I think they are incredibly dumb. I'm sure there are exceptions & I'm assured they make wonderful pets but I never got over the lunatic dog that lived beside us in Sydney & insisted on grabbing me by the wrist & escorting me home. Having my hand held by an overgrown bird dog was never my idea of fun.

If I was sane I would have gone for something smallish & manageable. Our neighbours had foxies & kept assuring us they were wonderful pets & never bit. Their dogs bit all my kids at one time or another & they were yappy as well. No yappers for me. I'd have gone for an Irish wolfhound but have you seen the size of those things? The thought of the food bill put me off. I like setters but Sydney friends had one. They saw an awful lot of Sydney because they were always getting calls from complete strangers to come pick up their escaped dog.

I wanted something smart enough to train. Dearest wanted something smart enough to keep an eye on our lunatic kids. Yes, the dog was smarter than my kids. What we got was Christy.

There's lots dog owners don't tell you about dogs. Dalmatians, I read, were carriage dogs & good if you had a fire because they were strong enough & smart enough to drag you out if you were overcome with smoke. No~one mentioned they were also once used as hunters: bird dogs, trail hounds, retrievers & in packs to hunt boar & stags. I got a dog that would suddenly stop in the middle of nowhere & go to point! The first time it happened I thought the dog had lost what little mind she started with. And stubborn. Once on point nothing could distract her. I'd be dragging a dog down the road still trying to point.

Dalmatians are thought to be the first dogs bred selectively for specific traits & they are the only pure bred dog to come with spots ~ not that being spotty is any recommendation in & of itself. They were depicted in paintings as much as 2000 years ago & as guard dogs patrolled the borders of their original home in Dalmatia [now part of modern day Croatia].

Hunters, dogs of war, carriage dogs...so why did no~one ever mention these dogs smile. I am not referring to the usual doggy smirk common to many breeds. Happy Dalmatians lift the upper lip in a serious grin. It was quite handy on unwanted visitors. They'd approach going, 'Good doggie,' Christy would lift her upper lip in happy anticipation, the visitor would freeze then hastily retreat. Only the chooks were more effective.

The thing with dogs is they are all descended from the wild. One of the most fascinating documentaries I ever watched was on a breeding program for Russia's Black Arctic Foxes. The breeders were looking at how wild dogs got to be tame so began breeding for just one trait: friendliness. What happened wasn't what they expected. They got friendly foxes but they also spawned a whole plethora of mutations: colour changes, coat changes, eye colour variations, curly tails, straight tails, short tails, long tails. You name it they got it. Weird isn't it?

Christy was really good with my kids. They used to ride her like a horse but she got her revenge. Waiting till the boys were standing in a close huddle she would sweep through their centre swinging her hips left, right left, sending them flying then stand & grin at them but she would put herself between them & any snakes they stumbled across, rounding them up & herding them homewards out of harms way.

Eventually on Easter morning she presented us with 9 puppies. I had 4 overexcited kids trying to feed chocolate to newborn pups. I had my hands full. Dalmatian pups are born pure white so we had to wait a couple of weeks before we knew how spotty our pups were but Christy was an excellent mother & all 9 survived to eventually go to new homes.

Christy met an untimely & sad end & we never got another dog. I don't think we are good dog owners but we have been lucky with our cats. They have all been happy to parade down the road with our boys & laze beside them while they fished. Mind you they didn't necessarily come home with them & come cat meal time I would have to go look for them & carry them home drugged with sun & satiated on stolen bait.

Sunday Cricket.

Many Continentals think life is a game; the English think cricket is a game.- George MikesWe are not doing well about getting to church on the mainland regularly. I do recall that it was one of the reasons we committed to doing church on the island originally. We will be all organised but I will still be sitting in the car waiting on Liddy appearing when our boat pulls out because, though the shop is open all day, everyone arrives just as they are about to lock the doors & shop till they drop.



Liddy, who is in charge Sundays, gets terribly frustrated. Her girls are always all Juniors [because you don't have to pay them so much] & after the inevitable string of kids who don't show up for their shift, or arrive late & the one who kept dashing to the loo [morning sickness; Liddy rang wanting a *cure* for morning sickness yesterday; I suggested plain potato chips & ginger beer], & the bungling of lunch times & break times she is inevitably spitting chips when she walks out that door. And that is a shocking sentence but I don't think I have the willpower this morning to fix it. I keep telling her that she just needs to accept that the manager can't schedule to save herself & go to work knowing she will have to tweak everything in order to make it work & knowing she will have the inevitable *no shows* instead of getting fraught about something that happens every week.






This week we didn't even try for church. Firstly I have had Dino flat on his back on my couch most of the week with his dislocated shoulder. He wasn't good. He looked like death warmed over & slept most of the time in front of the t.v. I'm grateful we're on holidays because when he does that during school it is not good for Ditz. The girl has no concentration as it is. He's started crabbing again so I guess he's about ready to go back to work & I get my couch back.







Late Saturday Theo arrived with his girlfriend. I am still battling the migraine triggered by waiting up too late to give them a lift home from the party they went to. Mornings I usually have quietly to myself. My girls aren't morning people & if Dino rises he departs on the water after an interim period of noise & bustle. Theo, who doesn't live here any more, couldn't find anything so banged about the kitchen opening & shutting doors, poking about in freezers & enquiring where I'd hidden the food then proceeded to cook up a storm of bacon, sausages, eggs , fried tomatoes & toast. For breakfast. Ugh. All that grease first thing! The smells wafting about dragged everyone from their beds, not necessarily happily, but as Theo pointed out he was taking Dino's place on the cricket team & required sustenance.







My morning then proceeded to run like this: drop the love birds at the cricket oval; drop Liddy at work; take water up to the cricket oval because Theo forgot water; take Dino up to the cricket oval because they needed an umpire; take lunch up to Liddy; grab Ditz & head back to the oval to keep the girl friend company & watch the lad for an hour or so. This is something of a hardship. There are some things duller than cricket [gridiron & baseball come to mind] but not many. Luckily the view from the oval is pretty terrific & it wasn't too hot.

We timed it pretty well. Just as we arrived a batsman got bowled out [that's always exciting] & Theo walked to the crease. That's him hiking across the paddock to do the front & centre let's bang the bat on the crease thing. What is it with that? I'm sure it can't be good for a bat.

He then proceeded to show off for the girlfriend by knocking the ball all around the pitch. That was pretty exciting too. As he'd already scalped the oppositions two most important wickets as a bowler he was having a pretty good day & ended up not out & man of the match. For someone who hasn't played this season he did pretty well.



Meanwhile the opposition's female adherents had spotted Dino [& that he was unattached] & were in hot pursuit. Between the heckling he was getting from his own team & the girls Dino didn't know if he was Arthur or Martha. We relieved his mind & took him away.



Sunday was neither a day of rest nor a day of worship & frankly I'm glad it's over. Next Sunday Ditz & I should be perched quietly beside a waterhole watching for platypus. I can't wait!

Food, glorious food, persimmons, mangoes & ginger.

When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten. In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering ofpraise to the Lord. But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. I am the Lord your God. - Leviticus 19:23-25

Fruit is the glory of the plant kingdom. In bud the trees are a nimbus of delicate blossom. In fruit they feed the hungry with sweetness. The best of them gracefully shed their foliage in Autumn & winter naked reveal a dazzling beauty in simplicity of line. The Persimmon meets all these requirements except edibility. I have only met one other fruit I dislike more. Pawpaws are just gross. Persimmons will grow here in the Mountain hinterlands though I am still trying to work out why anyone would want to. Granted the tress are strikingly beautiful but the fruit is a squishy disaster. Eeew!

So here are some more of the summer fruits we enjoy ~ or not in my case.

Pawpaws will, unfortunately, grow at the drop of a seed. Everyone grows pawpaws. They don't take up much room being a smallish tree that grows palmlike & bunches its fruit along the stem. This is the fruit most likely to be given away. Everyone might grow them but very few people actually like them. I can't get past the smell, which always reminds me of the local tip on a particularly fetid day.

Custard apples also fall into the *eeew* basket. The tress are gorgeous being low & spreading but the fruit is peculiar. The outer skin is rough & coarse like an alligator skin. Cut open the white flesh flakes like certain types of fish. I can't get past that & the big black seeds in the centre.

Mango trees are fantastic. The flush of new leaf growth each year is a deep & vibrant red. A mature tree is a deep pool of cool shadow on a hot summer's day where the mosquitoes like to congregate in dense black clouds. The pendulous fruit glints under the leaves like golden suns. They have a huge seed in the centre & children will happily suck the discarded stones rejected by adults. The fruit is a rich orange colour. They are the smell of a Queensland summer.

Ginger I do like. The smell where it's grown...mmmmm! We pass paddock after paddock of the plants each time we travel to my mother's. There is a large ginger factory nearby & a visit is always worthwhile. I forget how many varieties of ginger can be grown; I have several myself in the garden, but the sweet Sharp taste, the rich heady scent, is delicious. The plants also grow a variety of exotic flowers. I like my ginger pickled & topping grainy toast spread with cream cheese.
The other thing we see plenty of when we travel north is the cane fields. Cane provides the bulk of our sugar plus molasses & syrup. I remember watching the cane cutters harvest, circling inwards round a paddock so that everything that had been sheltering in the fields was huddled at the centre until finally flushed out there would be a swarm of snakes, mice, rats & other small wildlife. At the finish the cane fields would be burnt & the air would smell of the burnt toffee smell of burning cane. The sky glowed like a burning coal, heavy with smoke. The fires would last for days, blackening the sky.
Lychees are something else that grows well here. Each year we used to help harvest the lychees on the farm down the road & always had lychees for Christmas. The outer husk is thin & dry & quite brittle. The white inner flesh is grape like with a huge centre seed. They are a bit too sweet for my taste but I will eat them.

I have saved the best for last; avocados! The little *alligator pears* have a delicate nutty flavour & a smooth, rich texture. The seeds aren't as big & difficult either. There are lots of good ways to eat these: as guacamole dip; with vinegar & cracked black pepper; with sour cream & brown sugar; spread on grainy toast & lightly seasoned with tomato sauce. The really brave spread their toast with Vegemite & top it with avocado. When we first moved to the island there were so many different varieties to choose from, all free on the abandoned farms, that we actually got a little tired of avocados.

Being sub~tropical we get a glut of fruit pretty much all year round but unfortunately I've never really developed a taste for the tropical fruits so readily available all around us. What I like are cold climate fruits: raspberries [my favourites], nectarines & peaches, kiwi fruit & a close second, dark cherries like drops of blood.

Food Houses.

A house that does not have one worn, comfy chair in it is soulless. ~May Sarton
Sienna & I have been learning about the importance of commas. They are needed for clarity when making a list. Clarity is important when you are trying to convey information accurately. For years I thought Americans were the most peculiar people on the face of the earth. Seriously; who in their right mind puts jelly on a sandwich?! O.k, I did finally work that one out but as a kid the only jelly I knew was the sort that wibble~wobbled on your plate & came with custard & icecream.

Not having travelled in America I have no idea how different American houses are to Australian houses ~ or European houses because I have been to Europe. I imagine there are both similarities & differences so this is a hotch~potch collection of the houses in my tiny corner of the world.

First off is our house, which is double storied in part, made of brick & has a tin roof. Tin roofs are fantastic in a thunderstorm. The rain drumming down makes a great tattoo on the tin & echos throughout the house. Lots of places like ours don't have a front fence to give a more open look but in our case we've used the footpath for years as an extension of our garden. Now our area is getting posher we can't do that so much but our veggie garden is still out the front because our house sits at the top of a hill looking over the water & that is the only flat area we have for the garden. My boys use the poinciana to dry their caste net.

Next we have a house that is along the lines of a more traditional *Queenslander*. These are always 2 stories high so the air can circulate underneath & theoretically help keep the house cooler, have 9' high ceilings [because hot air rises], & plenty of verandah space. The walls are usually *tongue & groove* cypress [which white ants don't like.] Originally the kitchen was a separate building built on the coolest corner of the verandah so the wood stove didn't heat up the entire house. I really like them but they have a tendency to get eaten out by termites. My aunt had cedar beams holding up her ceiling by the grace of God alone thanks to white ants.

This is one of the newer style buildings that are going up all over the place. The curved roofs are supposed to be cyclone proof. Jury's still out on that one. Lots of them are being built out of corrugated iron. Not my thing. I like the style but the iron idea is just ugly. The blue house alongside[which I tried very hard to omit from the picture] is an eyesore of a focal point because it can be seen from all over the place it is so ....bright.


I've included this one because this is my favourite house on the island. The owners built it themselves completely out of stone with inner verandahs & lovely natural timber trims. All houses should look as beautiful as this one. I am waiting to see what sort of a garden they now plant.
There are lots of these little one or two bedroom holiday shacks around that have been jazzied up for the modern market. They are very small & hot despite the renovations. This one has lovely views over the water to the west but I bet it heats up like an oven.

There is a two story modern building behind all that greenery but the fence it made of huge chunks of timber from the big trees they had to fell in order to put the house up. I think the fence looks terrific; far more interesting than the house, which is very dull.

Brain of the Year.

"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." - Anonymous My cat suffers from delusions of grandeur. He thinks he can fly. Really. Yesterday afternoon I heard the young male pheasant [who makes the oddest assortment of chirks, clicks, & clucks in his efforts to attract a bride] fluttering through the garden.

Pheasants don't fly very well. They tend to launch themselves & glide from branch to branch, climbing if they want to go higher. We have several beauties hanging around. They look quite stunning in their black, gold & bronzey colouring when the sun hits them but they are definitely bigger than my cat, who is no lightweight himself!

I didn't pay much attention until I realised my idiot of a cat was stalking the pheasant from underneath, branch to branch, along the verandah. Eventually he launched himself off the end of the verandah in a vain attempt to catch the bird in flight. Yep! This one's winning no prizes for *brain of the year*.

Everything I know I learned from my cat: When you're hungry, eat. When you're tired, nap in a sunbeam. When you go to the vet's, pee on your owner. - Gary Smith

Hey, moly! Sandra has given me the purrfect award! I hope you are turning green ;) This is super gorgeous. Thank you sooo much Sandra.

A holiday visit for Sienna.

Did you know The Great Barrier Reef is the only living thing that can be seen from outer space?I am hoping the maps can be enlarged when you click on them. I have chosen the Great Barrier Reef because I have visited it ~ a long time ago :) ~ & because it's one of those places that everyone who comes to Australia on holiday wants to visit.


The first thing you need to know is that you are never going to see all of it. It is huge. It stretches from the tip of Cape York [that's the spiky bit at the top of Australia] all the way down to Bundaberg ~ 2300Kms! It is larger than Victoria & Tasmania combined. {They are our 2 southernmost states, Tasmania being the island right at the bottom} However it does mean you could have lots of different mini holidays inside one big holiday.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the richest, most complex & diverse ecosystems in the world. It is made up of things like corals, algae, mollusks & sponges & in an ideal environment will grow 100cm a year. There are something like 2800 fish species alone. What that means practically is that scientists are still trying to identify & name all the species of things that live here. Some of the things aren't so nice. I'm not fussed on any sort of shark. Lovely to look at; don't want to share my swimming space with one. Box jelly fish aren't nice either. Their tentacles can be 30 cm long & they wrap round their victim leaving nasty stinging welts & they do kill. The pain is that excruciating. They also come out to play in summer when everyone wants to be in the water. Patrolled beaches usually put up nets & have first aide equipment on hand but just the same you never want to meet one up close & personal. However because the reef is a protected area most of the fish aren't frightened of people so when you go snorkeling they will swim inquisitively right up to you & stare at you through your mask. They will sometimes even let you touch them.

The reef is so big that there are actually islands scattered all along the coast that are within the reef & these are holiday destinations too. Some of the smaller ones are only home to the birds & wildlife. It is a tropical climate so you get a rainy season in summer & summer cyclones, high humidity & high temperatures. It is actually more pleasant to travel in winter when it is not so hot & humid.

I am still trying to convince my mum that she needs to start her own blog because she & my dad holidayed on the reef a lot. They were one of the many sailing boats that cruise the reef during the winter months [winter because summer is our cyclone season] & she knows far more about the reef first hand than I do. My brother & his family are also experienced reef cruisers but they are cruising in Asia at the moment. I don't like cruising because I dislike the way the salt gets into everything ~ your clothes, your hair, your towels & sheets so that you never feel completely dry & always feel scratchy! lol.

My niece homeschools on their boat. When her lessons are done she may go snorkeling, or swimming, or paddle the paddleboard around. It's quite safe. There is no surf inside a reef. My brother also has scuba gear on board so they can do deeper dives. If they want some dry land under their feet they row ashore in their dinghy. Lots of places you can get great shells along the beach. We all have biggish collections of lovely shells. Lots of places also have hiking trails & are designated National Park so there is lots of wildlife to see.The number of boats cruising the reef has really increased. The anchors they have to put out have caused lots of damage to the coral as has the waste products from the boats. A boat's toilet flushes straight into the water & while this is not a problem when numbers are small it becomes more of a problem the more people there are around. Obviously.

Lots of inexperienced people hire houseboats for their holiday on the reef. They come with an anchor & 2 spare anchors. The hire people have got used to getting phone calls on the third night when people can't find any more anchors. Instead of raising the anchor when they want to move on they cut themselves free! They go through a lot of anchors! Duh!

Last year Ditz & I did some marine biology & studied coral. We made these out of cardboard. Cut out your coral shape from good stiff cardboard. Tear tissue paper into small pieces & glue onto tracing paper. Glue the tracing paper [with the tissue paper at the back] to the silhouette & place in a window. With the sun shinning through it it looks just like real coral.

Next week Ditz & I are meant to be going camping at Springbrook, which is in one of our National Parks, so I will keep you in mind & try & gets lots of interesting pictures. Lets hope it doesn't rain. :)

Tag lines.

“The building has all the requisites of a great aunt. She is neither very pretty nor elegant, but she has enduring qualities of character.” Richard Oulahan quotes
I've been tagged! By Ash. Apparently I have to list 5 things I appreciate about someone & 5 things they've done for me. Like most people there are lots of people I could choose from but I'm going to choose my Aunt Shirley. For starters she's dead so I can't possibly offend her. [No! That's not one of the things I appreciate about her.] For seconds I am sometimes more like her than any of us are comfortable with.

1. She knew how to garden with style. I have found chamber pots with geraniums in at her house. Charmed me no end. I thought then & think now, 'what a novel use for a disused item.' I learnt to garden as an extension of myself from her.

2.Faith. My aunt was a woman of great [if conventional] faith. I don't remember her ever making a fuss about it but her faith quietly permeated every aspect of her life.

3. History. My aunt had scant regard for the facts when it came to history but boy, oh boy, could she tell a whale of a story! I love history because I first learnt it from someone who loved it too. She told the best stories about the family & all protestations from those that were there that it just wasn't so were met with a vast indifference.

4.Painting. My aunt painted in oils where no mistakes are irredeemable. Interesting application to the rest of life. Every time I look at one of her landscapes I am reminded of the innumerable people [my aunt wasn't good at figures] who *took a toilet break* in the scrub & never reappeared on her canvasses.

5. Housekeeping. Those who read here & recall my aunt's housekeeping may be a little surprised by this one because: She never did any housework. She would garden all the morning & read in the afternoon. S.Cane I truly appreciate this. Some things in life are more important than housework.

Now my aunt was my aunt & I didn't really see all that much of her. Different state & driving with my father from N.S.W. to Queensland was no~one's idea of a picnic in the park. Dad stopped only for fuel. If you wanted the loo you bolted for the rest room as soon as the car stopped moving. My brother John & I would be car sick from the moment we pulled out of our own drive to the moment we arrived safe & sound at my aunt's.

So I appreciate that my aunt, who adored her younger brother & practically raised him gave me her time. Time is important to children. They can do without many things but the value of time can never be undervalued.

She taught me to laugh at myself. I was an overly serious & intense child who made mine & everybody else's life miserable. It took a while but being able to find my dramatics funny has been an immeasurable gift.

When I knew her well my aunt painted for a living. She painted a small dark picture of a New Zealand lake that someone now has hanging in their living room. I hope they appreciate it because I very badly wanted to own that painting. My aunt heard about that painting every time I saw her & eventually she painted me my own. It hangs in my bedroom. It is not the painting I remember. It is not the painting I wanted but it was painted just for me with love & I treasure it.

On the rare occasions she visited us she shared my bedroom. There were advantages to being the only girl in the family. I never found it easy to drift of to sleep & was often awake long after even my night owl of a mother had turned off the lights. In the darkness I learnt to tell myself long winded tales that went on & on & on....& on. My aunt, who must have been tired when she came to bed, would lie in the dark beside me softly reciting poetry. That a lot of it was sentimental tosh doesn't matter in the least. She was a musician & I heard the cadences in her recitations. I love the way language can be manipulated.

She died on my birthday. Charming. Sometime later her oldest daughter, going through her things, found the book my aunt never got around to having published & sent it along to me as being the only member of the family who might be interested. I appreciate that Shirely took the time to write down some of the story of her life. It is a history worth knowing.



Now I have to tag somebody else. Moly; You're it! No returns!

Sharing the love.

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. Eric Hoffer

Mrs Darling has given me an award! I feel so privileged when I get awards. I must have a very frivolous mind. As I am hoping, despite the rain, to be on a boat this morning so I can take Ditz to do some clothes shopping, I will be brief. I can be brief if I put my mind to it. Apparently I am to pass this along to seven other happy [& beautiful] bloggers. I know 7 other bloggers [by the skin of my teeth] so here goes: Molytail, [you are one original lady!] Ash, [At Aventuras Dumas] MrsC at homeschool & etc, MamaOlive, my oldest blogging buddy who is busily moving house yet again & probably needs cheering up about this point! Hugs your way. Sandra, who has lovely pics on her blog & a sick doggie, the Duchess [don't hate me for it :(], who also has amazing pics, & last but definitely not least ~ da~da! The Hojos who can't help being English [they were born that way]. All you lovely ladies have blessed me with your wit & good humour so here's a little blessing in return. Pass it along ladies.

A cooking moment.

“Honest bread is very well - it's the butter that makes the temptation.”Douglas Jerrold (1803-1857)

We are having an incredibly wet summer. This morning it was cool & drizzly, cool enough that I didn't mind turning on the oven for a cooking session. BIG mistake. It mizzled & it drizzled & now it is steaming. Whew! I am dripping wet & I've barely done a thing.

First I made a regular batch of choc chip cookies because just about everyone likes them & my recipe makes a nice big batch. They were barely out of the oven before hands arrived to snatch them away & mouths got burnt. It's been a while since I've baked & the kids do like home made cookies!
And seeing as the oven was hot I went for it & made a batch of melting moments. I rarely make these as I'm fed up cooking before they're done as they are a two step process. First all the individual cookies have to be made. Then the halves are wedgied together with icing sugar & butter. They are so *short* they really do melt in your mouth. These were the biscuits my kids always used to beg me to make because for just one of these they could trade for absolutely anything they wanted in the playground! Seriously. I would have kids coming up to me begging me to make a batch so they could trade off with my kids.
I have taken my car out to have the brake pads replaced. I have dropped Liddy at work & baked & now I am going to have a quiet cuppa & a bikkie before taking Dearest to his doctor's appointment. Mmmmmm. So sorry I can't share.