bamboo - what's not to love

Um, simply throwing in an idea. Yep, have looked at this remarkable, multi-purpose, fast growing grass.
No, won't give any links - research it yourself.

Harvest

Seasons come
Seasons go

This is what's happening on my patch of this planet.


(um clarification - not "MY" patch on this planet - pics from the 'locality' where i live).

If all else fails

Yer, took the truck fer a bittuva wander. Yep, in the driest continent - am discovering water sources..

flexitime

For those sitting on edge of seat,  tongue hanging out; waiting for the next snippet of information in my exciting life .......

Bleah!

If, after some electricity outages, computer crashes, and down time for the satellite ... might, but just might, mind you - get around to updating - but don't hold yer breath (on the other hand - holding yer breath - or breathing slower - might be a good idea; we need to reduce CO2 emissions somehow .....aaaand, while am at it .. use less water.  The Murray-Darling 'management' scheme seems to have run into some problems).

Cheers ...

F .. Ark!

Rather than trivialise the recent flood events in Queensland and NSW with dopey quips about Noah - will just post these links for overseas readers.  Am, of course, "above it all" at 1100mtres (3600ft) near the tops of the NSW hills; but the  images and videos still provoked a tiny tear.

Have just been watching this video
http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/01/10/3109884.htm

From this site which has comprehensive coverage.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/11/3110113.htm

Geminid meteor shower

Mmm, in addition to the considerable amount of rain in Eastern Australia causing flooding in quite a few towns in NSW and Victoria (and SA, apparently) - there's also a couple of meteor showers of note.

Have to admit that was disappointed to miss the Leonid shower in November due to heavy cloud cover;  have fingers crossed for clear skies for the Geminid shower - but am not hopeful (NSW forecast).

The Geminid shower is due between midnight and dawn on the morning of Tuesday December 14th.

The most active time is expected to be about 2am, after the constellation for which the meteor shower is named rises into the night sky.

The Geminids meteor shower is so named because it will appear to come from the constellation Gemini.

Viewers should look towards the east-north-east of the sky to get the best show.

.

Take to the hills!!!!

Flood warnings? have to admit that this is new. Am listening to the radio (wireless communicator, with D cell batteries - ancient technology - for those who can't remember) and there are 'Flood Warnings' all over the place - electricity is intermittent (or supplied by a cheap 240Volt generator in the dunny)..

Seems sort of "commonsense" to me but Do.Not. drive. walk. Swim. through floodwaters. Might be fun for some, not fun for the SES.  (on the other hand, it might be. Who knows what turns the volunteers on)

can remember sitting out (?), through; two floods of the Mary River in Queensland. Had a 32' ketch, anchored in the river. 3am, anchor still held, was watching the "moored" boats from further upstream drift slowly past.  Eventually  had to cut anchor rope, current too swift; get boat downstream in reverse.

Rain, rain

There is an old song
"rain rain, go away
come again another day"

Um, must be of  british origin, or something. Not to worry. 'Twas my day to go into town to get the fortnight's supplies. Has been raining for the past three days - not the tropical 'downpour", just a sort of continuous drizzle.

 Decided not. (bit difficult to get vehicle out onto the "public" road. this place is not on the local council "high priority" list, most of us just sort of 'make do').

Have to admit that this place is sort of odd - am used to South Australia - rain stops in September.

Drove to the closest local "town" though. Dropped into the local Post office (where else can one get the local gossip? .. heh). They didn't stock "computer supplies" (was looking for a new keyboard - does anyone sell a keyboard that understands me shouting at it?) .. so didn't stay long; but did find out that the road to Bathurst was closed, flooding.

whatever happened to

Whissons windmill ?

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=whissons++windmill

nippy nibbles

One of the nice things about the "all terrain" vehicle called a pair of feet is that I discover all sorts of "hidden" treasures during perambulations.

This dam is about a kilometre away, hidden in the forest and very rarely visited, as the track into it is not exactly suitable for four wheeled vehicles. It was, apparently, the main water supply for the old gold mining township - now non-existent.

Um, think I, wonder if there are any yabbies in there. So, one afternoon, took the little net over, left it overnight, and next morning .. a dozen of these beautiful crustaceans. Almost a shame to eat them .. heh.

Drought ..

There are, of course, many images from NSW that I could choose.

(near Scone)

(near Sofala)

(Carcoar Dam, near Bathurst)

Drought is a relative term.

(near Leeton)

Have to say, though, that the relativities between South Australia and New South Wales .. are somewhat markedly different.

Bit wintry

Into the Kitchen

Has been a bit warm, of late, but haven't melted yet.

Ah, had intended to be a bit subtle, but for those who miss it .. the digital Temp reads 50.8C .. and fer those yankees who depend on "shock horror" numbers .. that's 123.44 degree Fahrenheit in your part of the world.

Up the Creek

Oops, once again, am in a hurry, so just have time to upload some pics of Burra creek camp. I did get invadeded for the long weekend, but by good fortune they were a group of nurses and families, so was able to integrate quite well. The battery on the computer went flat several days ago, and have been over to the Redbanks Conservation Park ...
so has taken most of the time just to transfer the photos and charge the battery. Will go back to the Burra creek campground tonight, and try to spend some time organising things. Been much more fun spending the time tromping around in the Mallee scrub.

And yer .. am a jolly little swaggie .. heh.

Lines on a map

Have just been having a squizz at (newish?) blog, and this post - Dangers of Denim - caught my eye. Hmmm, didn't know about all that stuff, or rather, hadn't thought much about it.

There is a fair amount of controversy about Cubby Station (Queensland cotton farm. There are "fors and againsts" .. gurgle it for more info).
[hmmmm, wonder if we can get the "New" Prime Minister to move into more progressive Parliamentary policy - get them to convince Cubby Station to grow lovely, waving, green fields of Hemp??]

South Australia is at the bottom end of the Murray-Darling sewerRiver System, and as such - very rarely see much of the water that ends up in it, and the poor "Water Minister" has her work cut out trying to battle negotiate with the "upstream" States (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria).

(perspective pic from post, back here Murray-Darling basin in light green.)

Apart from having to close several of our "cross river" ferries due to the fact that the "ferry landing" is now several feet away across dry mud (not to worry, we're planning on building bitumen roads across the riverbed .. sometime soon .. heh.) - one of the Rivermouth Lakes (Lake Albert) is in deep trouble and almost dry. [am not even going to mention the Coorong "wet"?lands].

So, if anyone from the floods in Queensland has a philanthropic streak, and a watertanker .. please send us a couple of truckloads .. would be much appreciated.

Won't be long before the "Murray-Darling" system will be reduced to "lines on a map", and perhaps cartographers of the future will be able to use much less ink.

Television is Tawdry

(yer, this minnow managed to remember how to sign in to Bloogle. The sharks are circling. )

Funny, really, Television. Is an image worth a thousand words??

Continuing on from the sort of disquiet that was intimated in the previous post .. one seriously wonders why there is so little on local TV about Australian issues. It's getting to the stage where methinks the Yanks will be giving us a vote, next. Why should we be "SUBJECTED" to endless irrelevant programs like "Desperate Housewives", or a set of skinny desperates shafting each other in "Survivor Part XXVII",

Am not particularly annoyed with Rupert .. after all he is just another arrogant arsehole out for everything that he can get .. and will, eventually, be undone ..

he doesn't even run, or have control over EVERY media outlet in Australia .. though it seems that he "sets the lead" .. so all the "commercial" TV Stations traipse behind him like the flock of sheep as decreed by the Imperial Roman philosophy set up about 1700 years ago.

Ooo, long story, that one. Had been reading a blogish where one side of it was arguing that "christianity" is all about shepherds .. and sheep". Quite so. Didn't want to get into that discussion, and point out that sheep - as in any herd - do NOT actually need sheep herders to thrive and survive. The only necessity for having a "sheep herder" - is for the financial and material comfort of the shepherd.

Oh Rome .. thou hast done thy work well.

Ah, where was i?.. oh, yes ..

Water.

Watched the "Landline" program on Aunty ABC this afternoon .. sheesh, little old Adelaide seems to be "world's best" at handling that awful stuff called "stormwater run-off"*. Peculiar stuff, that.

Bloody inconvenient. Falls from the sky and clogs the city drains.

(* PS .. if the story is not there yet .. it will be, they're just battling with lack of funding at the moment)

Still haven't melted yet

Can only thank some human somewhere fer chucking a bloddy big pile of concrete into a stream-bed somewhere near-by. If "god" had anything to do with it, would be sitting, naked and blackened, under the sparse shade of a Mallee tree in the harsh southern Australian summer; contemplating the dry, sun-baked rounded rocks at the bottom of the local creek.




Yer, I know, am being a bit "dramatic". While they really ARE recent pics of my vegies, there is - more or less - still plenty of "tap-water" around. Sheesh, I live in a house- in a city .. but am into "conservation" .. can't help it. The Snow Peas gave a good crop, and the Corn gave about a dozen good heads. They look like that partly because the local "Gummint" has made it legally precarious to actually use a hose to water them, and partly 'cos can't be bothered watering them any more.

Curious, really, water restrictions. Am bloke, wash the dishes and clothes (not in the same bowl - but could, if pushed) once a week, have a shower, occasionally, when I feel like it, flush the toilet about twice a week (it also helps, having "outside plumbing", so to speak; and I still think that the Nectarine trees benefit .. heh)

Oh, while am on subject of Nectarine trees ..



Any spare water (or liquid) gets pointed in their direction.

The only trouble, is that I now have to share them with these cheeky chappies.

Heartbreak?

am not sure how to write this .. too many thoughts zip through and am not capable of typing them all .. watched some TV news images the other night. Are with me still.

A group of farmers, out in the flatlands .. Victoria?, NSW? dunno. Hanging in. Seven years of drought (though that could be relative .. saw patches of green).

Waiting, waiting for the rains .. then, in two hours, a years worth, two years worth - all in one go. Farms, houses 55 kilometers from the nearest river flooded. 200 kilometers of fences flattened by detritus carried by shallow flowing water.

One farm had hung on to 1700 lambs. The next years income.

All dead, strewn across previously parched paddocks, some washed downhill, legs akimbo. Some lambs ended up in the undergrowth of the scrub. Blackened lips, eyes matt blank, in contrast to the iridescent blue abdomen of flies twinkling with the delight of fertile breeding ground.

The dams fill, overflow, carefully preserved water swelling, upfilling, breaching the embankment, all water escapes, trickles away.

and yet, and yet .. these people still have a sense of humour.

A phone rings. It's a neighbour .."Hey, have got some of yer stock on my place .. and they're getting fat! .... bit dead though".

Short storyline

OK, today is a National holiday of some sort. (Holyday? dunno why they impose these things on me .. don't get paid fer holy days .. heh)

Series of pics that should make a movie, but don't have the time t' post irrelevant crap.

Pic 2 (damn, missed the precursor .. you shoulda seen it .. bleah!!

the Darling buds

mm, dunno about "May", 'tis on verge of September/October.

Never ceases to amaze me, this lot.







Am mad, I talk to them, really do. Tell them Howard and his master are really fuckwits, stupidly intent on destroying what's precious for personal gain. But the plants don't listen. stupidly intent on individual gain.