Monday, September 21, 2009

The Vominator

Okay, I can talk about it now. But only just.

It was a wild and treacherous path where the unknown appeared from (almost) every angle. It required skill, determination, and above all, stamina. There were hurdles and setbacks along the way, but I have now safely navigated my family through Hatchling No.2's first bout of gastro.

This weekend he was known as 'The Vominator'.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - lucky he's cute!

Jen x

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Bushfire Recovery at Granny Annie's Place

This is the road to my mum (Granny Annie)'s place. As Mum is the closest person to me who was involved in the February 7th fires, this is the closest impression I get of how the bush is recovering since that day. I don't know what its like in other areas, and wouldn't want to pretend to - I only know about here.


The lunar landscape has (almost) gone. The ash has washed away, the bush has stood still for a while - a tad bewildered by what happened. But now Mother Nature is getting busy...

Trees that have looked like burnt match sticks for long enough are now prettying themselves up with fluffy new green foliage. There is a fresh green spray of grass covering parts of the ground. This grass almost seems greener than any of the grass that was here before - it is vivid.



And here I was, merrily snapping away with my camera the other day, the Hatchlings waiting patiently in the car. The Hatchlings know that Mummy does weird stuff when she has her camera in the car - they're used to it.

Hatchlings: "Why are we stopping Mum?"
Me:"Oooh! I just saw a thing and I want to take a photo of it!"
Hatchlings: "How many minutes will it take?"
Me: "Not many."
Hatchlings: "Can we listle to Wiggles?"
Me: "Yep"
Hatchlings: "Okay Mummy"

Then they bop along to Wiggly music and watch me curiously, until I leap back into the car and we take off again.


On this day though, I had no idea somebody else was watching me - until I spotted him through my lens:



A great big male kangaroo, casually mooching around nibbling on some tasty green shoots. He looked slightly amused by my antics and the fact that he had gone unnoticed. I could see him smirking - swear I could!

I have grown up around this place and have seen kangaroos a billion/squillion/cadjillion times. And every time I get a kick out of it! I think this guy's name might be Brian...


Something else the Hatchlings have become accustomed to is Mummy saying
"Quick! Go and stand on that ... (insert item here) and I'll take your picture!"
This time it was a digger that was resting on the road to Granny Annie's, in preparation for fixing the roadside drainage.


The rain that we've had since the fires has washed a LOT of soil/ash into the gutters, and consequently the roads are not holding up so well when it rains. Fortunately something is being done - just not while Hatchling No.1 insists on standing on the digger grinning from ear to ear!


Nope, I don't think he enjoyed posing for that shot at all.

To top off this adventure, there was some fuel reduction activity going on when we arrived at Granny Annie's place. Mr D loves a good bonfire, and this day was no exception.


The bushfires came from the other side of the property, so Mr D is balancing things up by burning off this side now. However you dress it up Mr D, we still know you just like a nice big bonny on a cold day!

You can't hide that smile - we saw it!


Oooh, this is something else that happened in the days following 7th February - a fire break was cut through Granny Annie's property. We've christened it Eastlink.


Eastlink provides the fire trucks with another method of access to this area, as well as an alternative escape route for local residents should they need it. After narrowly escaping the fires of Black Saturday, nobody is complaining about Eastlink. On a windy 40 degree day it looks beautiful!!

Jen xx

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Happiness is a toy sale catalogue

Oh my, the things one's offspring inherit! Growing up in a rural location means that we never had our mail delivered. We used to collect our mail from the General Store instead. This wasn't such a bad thing - as a kid it meant an opportunity to try and negotiate either Mum or Dad a 20 cent bag of mixed lollies or an icypole. Yep, collecting the mail had its advantages!

I used to imagine what it would be like to have a mail box though. I saw people on t.v with letterboxes - it looked pretty cool. The absence of a letterbox also meant that we NEVER received junk mail. N.E.V.E.R. If we ever visited friends or relatives in the suburbs, we would scour their junk mail catalogues from cover to cover. They were special alrighty.

As a wee thing I didn't care what goods were featured in these catalogues - women's clothes, power tools, groceries. It was all good. But I always felt I'd hit the jackpot if there happened to be a Kmart or Treasureway catalogue with a page or two of toys. Who knew it was genetic?

Hatchling No.1 and his cousin Nickers spent at least an hour chatting over the Target and Big W toy sale catalogues the other day.

A whole catalogue dedicated to toys? Not in my day! "Er, yeah - I want that one, and that one, and that...".

Months of entertainment.

Jen x