Holidays 2

A North Stradbroke Island inhabitant, worn out by the island's pace

No filters (except for polarising). How's this blue?
 

 

Another worn out inhabitant
 

Brown Lake. Clear as weak black tea. Stained by ti tree leaves. Smelt fabulous. Medicinal swimming encouraged.
 

This fellow sang his approval of our dipping
 

At the beach near Ayr North Queensland. This bloke was having a wonderful time. Free entertainment for us too.
 

This cane machine belongs in science fiction - Mad Max?
 

Irrigation begins. It's dry in Ayr. Hard to believe really.
 

Rail nails are all that remains of this section of the cane train rail tracks.
 

Brisbane

Public art near Southbank. It seems to be made of lino bits and a map.
 

The preparations for the three day celebration of Buddha's birth day festival were extensive
 

A peacock on the run down?
A coat hook?
A candle holder?
 

It's a bird!
 

In the art gallery
 

Nice light.
 

 

Reflections
 

Up up and away
 

Spot the skinny house ... 

Seadog

A lovely review here :)  Less than a week until Seadog hits the shops. Yay!

Graduate Union Family Day

Renee Treml and I were part of today's Graduate Union Family Day in Melbourne 

 Warren from Embiggen Books in Little Lonsdale St (opposite Wheeler Centre) was the able bookseller.

 

Monty, daughter of Warren was happy to have a pic taken, as long as she could keep feeding animals into her paper sailor.

Here Monty is trying to smile-as-instructed, while maintaining the supply of food to Sailor  

Williamstown

Okay, so it was raining and a little chilly. But how cool is the light?
 

Love the panorama feature of my phone 

Oliv-eee-aaa!

My across-the-road neighbour has olive trees. A few years ago, I asked if I could join her next time she was picking/pickling. I was curious to see how the magic happened, and happy to help pick the fruit. 

The last couple of years had produced very poor crops and it wasn't until this year that there was an opportunity to help. On Tuesday, we checked out the fruit. 

On Friday, it was pickin' time. We picked all we could reach from the ground and from a standard ladder. Buckets full.
 

 

Then came the corker. All that we'd picked - probably three full 10 litre buckets full, were for me. She refused to keep any. She already had some pickling and there were plenty more in the higher reaches that her sons would pick for her. So my, I'd like to help you, became her gift to me. Hmm. Not quite the plan. Tricksy people these neighbours!

 

After coffee and divine syrup cake with walnuts, I lugged my load home. (oh okay, she helped me with that too). I delved into the deep, dark spidery recesses of our shed for the pickling and preserving jars that I knew I'd hidden in there more than a decade ago. And after I'd cleaned, boiled and filled them, there were still two full buckets and this large bottle full. Since then I've shared a few with friends, but am hoping to share a few more. Any takers?
 

Guinea Pig Town

 

Yesterday, I caught the train to Woodend for the launch of Lorraine Marwood's new poetry collection, Guinea Pig Town and other animal poems (Walker Books).

 

 The launch was organised by the Goldfields Library and was held in Bendigo and then Woodend.
The weather was just about perfect. Actually, scratch that. It WAS perfect, a glorious mild still autumn day.

There was a great turn out, with many families.
 

Lorraine read some of her poems, competing at times with quite loud truck noise.
 

 

Anyone who is anyone was there, including cats,
 

piglet, 

guinea pigs of course
 

 

and there was even a 'wedding', complete with kiss!

In the train on the way home I read Guinea Pig town, entranced by poems about dogs, cows,cheetahs, narwhals and many many more. After a bit of a poem drought, it was lovely to read some of Lorraine's work (which I love) and it inspired me to begin three new poems of my own.