Flower Power

Thought I had learnt this amazing new way to upload pictures to blog other than laboriously noting the number of each one and unploading backwards to keep them in right order for the writing.... , but no such luck, they have all gone to edit as single items, arrrrggghhh, so, in the spirit of getting laptop to paper, I shall ignore the gazillion wildflower photos, bird photos and dead tree photos that I have done over the past two weeks and will try to paint pictures with words instead.

My last post ended just before the final Mass (unless there are any Sinatra type leave takings in the wings, lol) held for the Brs and old boys current staff and invited guests. Our weekend really began on the Thursday night which we had designated for our staff get together to farewell those leaving after the service on Saturday. We invited all and sundry on site as there were already extra Brs around and ended up with about 30 for barbeque dinner. Yay for the 1/2 44 gallon drums again and a good supply of wood. Meat was supplied by school so the rest of us turned up with salads and desert items and a pleasant time was had by all. As the evening progressed, and several libations were taken on board, the atmosphere became somewhat festive indeed. We had music and as the Brs peeled off heading for more quieter venues, the rest partied on with dancing and singing. Out of the evening came an idea of a choir for the last service as we had the bloke who was organising it in the midst of the revelry and he thought it was a good idea. Practice was set for 10am the next day.

Seven of us made up the choir with two of those playing guitars for music. I had only heard two of the songs before but felt better once I had music to sight read and after several run throughs. Friday was a quietish day for most and then Sat it was all on. The day was not without its challenges naturally. The biggest blow was that the plane bringing over 20 guests up from Perth got turned back at the airport in Geraldton because it was too foggy to land!!!!!! One bloke on board had come back from overseas to attend the day so it was pretty gutting all round. However, the sun came out, fog lifted and we ended up with a beautiful day.

Just before the service began, one of the Perth Brs came up to me and asked if I would do a reading during the service to which I replied, was I the only person whose name he knew, lol (this was to be standing in for someone else who was late). It was only one line so after giving him a hard time, said yes. Then, not long after the service began, I got told that the original bloke asked to read had turned up. Couldn't catch anyone's eye so at the bit when the group was to process up, I hesitated, the bloke concerned didn't move, so like one of Brown's cows, I straggled up to the alter to stand in line for my great moment. So there I was, the only female in the service (Anglican at that, lol), alongside old boys and elderly Brs for my moment in the sun. Got the sentence out without any trouble and managed to depart in a group with appropriate genuflection to the alter almost in unison before resuming my chorister spot, lol.

Once the service finished everyone went outside and wrote their names on on a rock (with permanent markers,) which in turn was placed in a pile to be taken down to Old Camp to go on/around the original cairn and to go over the time capsule that will be buried beneath the rocks. Then it was back into the chapel for speeches and a powerpoint photo presentation done by the WM on the history of Tardun. She had set it to music - one of the songs - 'You Raise Me Up' to which one old Br sang quietly along to while others hummed. That undid more than a few so there were lots of moist eyes at the close of the presentation.

There was a brilliant lunch after the service and then a decision was made to get out the old KFC bus (named for its colours), with the WM at the wheel to go to the Old Camp where the school originally began. One of our current staff, also an old boy, had been down there for two weeks painting all the rocks that outline where the kitchen, stores, and tents were laid out. He also completely redid the area around the original cairn in the emblem of Christian Bros Tardun which was outstanding, right down to the latin words of the school motto. The wild flowers carpeted the surrounding areas so it looked amazing.

There were heaps of left overs so all on site gathered back up at school for dinner and then several of us got set up for a campfire at our cook's place which is my neighbour to the back of my abode. The fire had been laid out with a circle of rocks and we had set up with wood at the ready and chairs etc earlier, no big party planned, just a nice chill out and debrief session. It was a full moon so a lovely night. There was some difficulty getting the fire lit so I walked over to get some dried grass from a patch further away from the house. Walking back with two handfulls and into the darkening evening, I completely missed seeing a log on the ground and the next thing I knew, with the greatest of ease I was flying through the air, and whallop, landed half in and out of the fire, hitting my chest fair in the solar plexis on one of the rocks, though the rest of me strangely seemed to hit the ground flat all at once, no time to put arms out to break the fall. FORTUNATELY, the fire had not yet ignited so did not have flames to contend with, but lay very still for several seconds to ascertain pain levels in case I had broken anything. The next thing I had to do was to roll on my side, lifting my knees into my chest as I had winded myself and needed to breathe. How lucky I was to have fallen off a horse at 12yrs old, and being able to recognise that I was winded, than the panic I experienced back then when I couldn't get a breath after hitting the ground. By that time, the WM who had been inside the house had shot out because her boys thought I was dead or dying so it was all very dramatic while I was first told to lie still, and then helped up after I had assured all and sundry I was all right. Great start to the night. I couldn't help laughing thinking that not too many hundreds of years ago some may have just further pushed me further onto the fire, and added more wood, lol. Once up on my feet, I was sat down in a chair and fussed over but surprisingly I was OK (possibly in shock though, lol). Needless to say, no one topped that entrance for the rest of the evening. It wasn't a late night as all in all it had been a big day and once back home took a couple of panadol and a hot water bottle to bed as preventative for what pain may have been on the way. (no bruising ever appeared!!!!)

Sunday, the WM, our office lady and I spent the day getting in touch with the inner creative child, at the old Mullewa railway station making cards. Came away with 7 cards and creative urges satisfied, lol.

Last week we had one of the honchos visiting with his wife to see how we were all travelling with the closing process. We had a shared dinner with all staff still on site up at the WM's place which was fun - we have been having lots of shared meals, morning teas and lunches - its so hard being out of work, heh heh. We decided to take the honcho and his wife out to see wildflowers so picture this, car heading out to where we had been the weekend before, with the kiwi giving directions on where to go!!!!!!!

What can I say about the wildflowers at the moment - they are just simply splendiferous. Those who have been here for the last six years say this is the best they have ever seen them. Picture acres and acres of green wheat, with areas of scrub maybe in the middle or slightly on top of a rise and carpets of white, pink or yellow looking like the froth from the tide all through the scrub, ending at where the green starts. The white has been out for about three weeks and is slightly on the turn, with carpets of pink and yellow coming on behind and in some places purple daisies. At the office lady's farm there was this huge paddock covered in pink and white everlasting daisies so we actually lay down amongst them for one of our photo shoots. I scanned every inch for lurking bugs before being persuaded to get on the ground, lol. Best of all has been finding the bush orchids about the place. Most are tiny so an eagle eye is required. Two days ago, midst assignment procrastination, the DP asked me if I would like to go to Morawa - about 45mins away. The trip took us 4 hours, lol because apart from the stops on the way to Morawa, we took a different road back passing through an old campsite that was carpeted with flowers and then to a dam at Canna where I found donkey orchids and two new varieties, then another stop at the old store where there were more photos to be taken. The DP reckoned he had never been on location with a mad flower photographer before, lol but it was all good.

Got my first assignment away last Monday. It involved a drive to Mullewa to post it as there as mail is neither being delivered or posted on a daily basis from here anymore. I think there is a move to get a post office box at Mullewa but not sure entirely what is happening there yet. So about an hour and a bit trip to post a letter....... got some good photos on the way back though, lol.

Have been playing with my new toy over the last few days - I went crazy and bought an ipod last weekend and a docking station which means I can play it like a stereo!!!! The WMH has a similar set up and took me shopping once I had made up my mind to get one. We priced ipods all over Geraldton and then walked into the Good Guys (like Noel Leemings prob) and they were having a massive sale - 15% off the ipod (as long as it was silver, lol) and 25% off the docking station - my favourite kind of pricing. I got a 120 GB one that I can store photos on as well - woohoo the 21st centuary or what, lol. I had been thinking of getting some sort of sound system so this is portable and small (but loud, lol) so fits all the ticks till I get a sense around sound system again.

Its the Mullewa Show this weekend so imagine at some stage will be going to that, plus the flower show is on as well. There are caravans and motor homes everywhere, (cluttering up the roads, lol) as people are coming from far and wide to see the flowers. This is just the first wave of flowers too so if anyone feels the need to come see them, September should be good as well.
Am in the midst of my next assignment so will try and get some photos up by next post, which hopefully will not take as long as this one to germinate.

Catch a falling Star

Downloaded the photos over a week ago and then got heavily inundated with ... life, lol. Humble apologies to those who keep regular readership. The title of this post came to me after walking home one night with the moon out and the milkyway so close, it felt like I could almost walk up to it and be in it. I saw 4 shooting stars and was blown away by the immenseness of the night sky that you get out here.

Two Fridays back I went into Geraldton for the night with the WM to watch her girls play net ball. It was a last minute decision as on reflection I decided it was time to do something quite random and not what I would normally do. Those of you who know me well, know that sport is not high on my list of knowledge or practice, lol. I heard netball, but thought basketball (the only games I had attended when we had girls at school) so when the WM said it would be cold, thought, hmmm yes, I suppose the stadiums will not be heated in winter, add an extra layer. Imagine my surprise when we parked the car, and the WM pulled out two folding chairs and proceeded to walk onto the OUTSIDE courts beside the stadium!!!!! She had to explain that netball - in winter- is played OUTSIDE and basketball - is played - INSIDE in summer. I was still having trouble making sense of it all as I am sure I have only ever seen the Silver Ferns and other NZ teams playing on inside courts forgetting completely about school netball in NZ (don't think I ever went to a game in 10yrs of boarding! lol). As there was still a modicum of sunshine just before sunset, we proceeded to set up and make ourselves comfy. As the night drew on, so the temperatures dropped. By the third quarter of the second daughter's game, I was huddled under a jacket, over my leather jacket, jumper, jeans, sox etc, guarding my vital organs from hypothermia, sitting with all collars up, head down, eyes closed and going to my happy warm place in my head, lol. For some strange reason in the 4th quarter, I was able to raise my head to watch the last of the game, because the temperature dropped from Arctic to a mere hoar frost temperature. Needless to say immediately the games were finished we were in the car, heater was turned on to cremate, and a fast dash was made to Maccas for a very hot coffee. Actually stayed the night in town, as another staff member out here leant us her house for the night. It had a HEAT PUMP in the lounge so in a short space of time became suffused with warmth and all was right with the world again.

Spent the next morning poodling round the shops, an unexpected bonus, and then once we had got our groceries late afternoon we headed back. The wildflowers were beginning to come out,

and we were both taken with the colours of canola and wheat growing side by side. The WM kindly stopped so I could take a couple of photos to show you what canola looks like. This is probably about a third of the way back here looking north west of Geraldton.

As we turned off to Dean Rd, (17k long) we passed my favourite pond (that fills up after an amount of rain has fallen and was very excited to

see this Mountain Duck crossing the road. He was part of a flock on the pond, initially flying to the other side of the road as we approached in the car and stopped, while he was

honking to the others, before walking back across the road. There were over 20 ducklings swimming on the pond so we were both out with our cameras trying to get some shots before they swam too far out of range.

Got back to find there was a campfire on that night. I had a few things to do so said I would walk up and catch up with everyone at the campfire (I thought that is what I meant, lol). I walked up past the WM's house and even though I saw the car there, couldn't hear any noise so set off down the track to the air strip where they said they would be. Walked about 1/2 mile down the track, couldn't see or hear anything so thought, hmmmm maybe it is the other side of the air strip, so trip trop, trip trop back I went, turning off behind the Principals house down the track to the other end of the strip. This was all in the dark, but as there was a moon, was totally ok, lol. As I was heading towards the second track, I noticed a car head off down towards where I had just been, then away down towards my place and though I leapt about and yelled, no one heard. I had tried to walk towards the car as it was turning and then thought, I could keep on doing that, or could just go to the fire and wait, so I did. As I lurched out of the dark, the WMH told me the WM and neighbour were frantically searching for me, thinking I may have fallen over somewhere, as they had been to my place and it was empty and had not been able to find me in the meantime. They were about another 20 mins as they went on to visit all the other staff on site to see if anyone had seen me!!!!! All was sorted once they eventually got back to the fire whereupon we settled back for sausages in bread and marshmellows for tea.

On the Sunday it was decided we would all go to the Coalseam for a picnic lunch. Made the famous Bulte family 'Kumera Salad' except had to call it 'sweet potato salad' so the troops here understood what they were eating, lol. Most of the staff on site came for the day and it was great to see the beginning of the wildflowers coming out there.

It was another barbeque with the picnic lunch as the Coalseam has gas barbeques available, and my offering went down a treat - yay. This photo is a shot of what it looked like - many of the flowers were still in buds and not fully out. Lots of yellow with pinks just starting to flower - everlasting daisies mostly.


Two experiences that made the day - we were sitting down eating our lunch, (all took our camp chairs with us), with a beautiful sunny day. Several other people were doing the same thing as us, when the next thing, four kangaroos leapt out of the scrub and right before our eyes, hopped through the park in front of us. How Australian is that,lol.

Also while having lunch, I noticed movement in a tree not far from where I was sitting and managed to get a photo of this robin. Most of the birds in the bush are extremely timid as I have said before and I cannot believe I even got this picture.

I have put pictures in before I think of the coal seam but popped one in again for any new readers. The Irwin river runs through this area at the base of the coalseam. The area was once under a glacier and the coal seam is as a result of extreme pressure over millions of years turning peat and vegetation into coal (if I have read the blurb properly).

Had to take a photo of the moon. The saying once in a blue moon would seem to mean little out here. We had a blue moon for about 4 days and have seen them already this year. So not all that rare I think.




On the way back from the picnic we stopped at Duckkie Dam, on the school property, so named because of all the ducks on it when full. This is the biggest dam on the property and provides a good amount of the school's water. This was taken late afternoon and I loved the reflection on the water.

Last but not least, was very excited to see the first orchids of the season. This is a tiny flower and easily missed until you know where you are looking.

The only down side was by the end of the day the midgies were out in their legions. Even though I was covered in repellent, I have been bitten all over my face, on my legs, on my elbows, and on my scalp. I am starting to look like a third world child again (I know it is politically correct to call it 'developing country' now but it does not have the same ring, lol) as apart from the lumps, I am covered in scars from scratching said lumps - am on antihistamine tabs to prevent the itch to save what little is left of my hide, lol.


I will do another post to tell of the last Service at School last weekend but need to get some shut eye.

Study, what study????

Am in week 2 of a school term without any kids and it is like having one long weekend, except I am feeling I should still be at work, somewhere, lol.

Am in full procrastination mode as three lots of papers have arrived from the Catholic University in Brisbane and the first five assignments have to be completed by 31 August. Hence, my washing is up to date, dishes are done, bed is made, and today I even SWEPT the lounge, lol. I did however sit outside in the sun (20C) this afternoon with a classical CD playing whilst I did one assignment's readings. If I could talk my way through the assignments, I would have had them done, lol, but am having to do some retraining to get pen to paper, so to speak.

Have had an extremely frustrating week regarding communications - I know it has been some time since I have had a Bigpond/Telstra meltdown so shouldn't have been surprised. Wondered why I hadn't heard from anyone up at school the other day and it wasn't until a neighbour called in to see if I was ok, did I realise that my house phone was on the blink. Scrambled under the desk, turned it off at the wall and on again and hey presto, connection. In the meantime, the laptop would not connect to the internet...... tried everything I knew, then gave up and rang bigpond and fortunately got someone who talked me through a convoluted process that worked - praise be. Not only that, I ended up with 4 bars of reception when I usually only get two - small mercies indeed. It doesn't help when trying to write my assignments, that I have the laptop on a slant across the table with the aeriel near the window, with the curtain pulled back, to maximise reception, lol. All good now though.

The first week back here after the holidays has been spent with most mornings up at school. My task last week was to type the names of every child who had ever left the school in the year groups their files had been stored in. Then helped the WM scan photos of days of yore to be added to a host of photos on the computer to make a DVD which will be played at the wind up Chapel Service for the Brs and past pupils/staff etc next weekend. Have seen some amazing photos of the school when it first began. They are a slice of social history when you see the clothes they wore, machinery used on the farm, how they farmed - starting with horses to the modern tractors of today and everything in between. Saw heaps of photos of the construction of the the school building and then the classrooms as they were built. We have barely scratched the surface but hopefully there will be a bit of everything to show the changes when the DVD is finally burned. Other staff have been working on the grounds, packing up books etc. Last Friday night went up to school for a shared barbeque dinner which was nice. We had three 1/2 44 gallon drums with fires going so we got dinner cooked and kept warm at the same time. A couple of shearers who were staying on site came to share the fire and we found out two of them were old boys, and also related to one of our current staff. It was interesting to hear some of the stories they had of the old days.

Saturday got to go to Geraldton and FINALLY got my haircut (last one, the last time I was back in NZ). The lass that did my hair noticed I had cut my fringe myself in the meantime, lol and has tidied that up and given me a bob style cut that will be ok if it is 10 - 12 weeks before the next cut. Tried a new eatery for morning tea called 'Streeters' which occupies a corner site facing the beach at the back Marine Terrace. Was happy with what I got and the service was good which is just as well as I heard over the telly the other night that 90% of eateries in Geraldton are under par. Went and got some groceries after the hair cut and it was back at to school again as my neighbour who took me in wanted to get back before dusk.

In between all this, I have been involved in my latest addiction, lol, which is facebook. The WM got me onto it some time ago and I first got hooked on a game called tetris which meant arranging blocks of shapes to form lines in a grid, then there was wordpath, making words out of random letters in 5 mins, bejewelled, breaking eggs, and best of all Farm Town where you build a virtual farm. Playing these games has replaced for me the solitaires and mahjong of old and are great time wasters though I prefer to think the skills needed to play these games are staving off alzheimers (that's my story and I am sticking to it, lol). I am in competition with several people (it is all right, I will not out you, heh, heh) so there is an element of challenge to each game which keeps me competing, lol. Farm town has been a little more. A good friend who shall remain nameless got me to join the game as her neighbour. With trepidation, you know, in case somehow I got sucked into some wierd cult game, I gingerly went through the ropes to begin the game then hello, hook line and sinker, I was in competing has hard as I could go. This will sound like gobbildy gook to anyone who has not been enticed into playing such a game. I started off with a peice of land with a few squares of ground to harvest, plow and reseed. Gifts of trees and animals started arriving from my friend. The trees fruited and earned me money as I sold the harvest. Initially I did all the jobs on my farm myself, again very nervous to get someone else involved , but, as you earned more money by getting people in to harvest your property, I took the plunge. To do this, one visits the market place and picks a random person (forgot to mention, you create your own female or male personage, give your self a name and can choose hair, eyes, and other facial features to suit - all wear the same clothing ,lol)

Well, the first person I picked was great, did the job and went away. As I had more to harvest and got different people, some would chat and want to know where you lived, what you did or just wanted to pass the time of day - so, my world has expanded. I have talked to aussis, kiwis, americans (the most are american), singapore, and in fact have noticed there are people from all over the world on line at any given time. The WMH became a neighbour of mine and then it was farms at 40 paces as we have compteted furiously to get to the highest level, getting the biggest farms, going up the levels and last week, I got the mansion!!!! (Have to be on the highest level to get that, - the WMH beat me to level 34 but I got the house first, lol)

I have had some random people become neighbours ( which earns you extra advantages rather than using random people all the time0 and have lots of laughs as we compare notes. It's like having cyber penpals on a level. The WMH and I share a couple of neighbours and have done stealth missions when trying to beat each other to the next level. Have to say, I do smile that luddite that I am, much preferring older technology (except for dishwashers, lol) I have found this a lot of fun. So, if you cannot find me at home, try facebook, you can run, but you can't hide, lol.

Everything here is continuing to grow apace. Lawn mowers are being heard which is not a sound I am familiar with anymore. It is looking like my lawn will get its third cut this year, when last year, it only had one, lol. Verdant is a word that comes to mind in fact, where crops and grass are growing like Topsy. I noticed that towards Geraldton last Saturday that the Canola crops are just starting to flower. Tourists (people with campervans and caravans, locally known as terrorists, lol) are starting to trickle into the district. I think there were six cars on the road last Saturday on the way back from Mullewa, so much so, we commented something must have been on, lol. The tourists will be here for the wildflower season which starts next month and will go through to September. It is still cold at night but are starting to get some glorious days. There was a good sheet cracking wind today so got washing on the line.

It was Happy Birthday this week to my dear friend Peg who has reached 90yrs, Mum and Clive who are 75yrs and 70 respectivly. Managed to get to talk to Mum and Clive on their days, though my phone went flat in the middle of the coversation with Clive. Both of them are on skype, how amazing is the technology we have come to since they were young. Mum was on the telephone exchange when phones were still wooden boxes on the wall and now she txt msgs with the best of them, lol. Happy Birthday and well done to you all. Clive is up on two legs again, having done three weeks of rehab learning to use his second prothesis. Again an amazing effort in such a short space of time.

Had better sign off and get to bed, just noticed the time. Will try and get some more photos next week.