Still no wet season this year.

These are "tumbleweeds" because I don't know what else to call them, you can see they are about a metre in diameter and they roll across the paddocks and pile up against the fences. This is usual for the end of the wet season, but there's been no rain. Evening brings heavy cloud, but no rain.

Cloncurry relies on the annual flowing of the Cloncurry River to fill the dam and supply the town with water - this year it rained a bit in December, and created a few waterholes, but nothing since.


The landscape would normally be starting
to dry off, not being this dry already. These tumbleweeds are amazing to watch when they are picked up by red dust devils and thrown into the air. But they can move fast and are awful if you hit one with the car, they are quite solid.

ANZAC Day 25th April, 2008.

I went to my first ANZAC dawn service today, and I think I'll make it part of the things I do. War is so stupid, and so many young lives are lost - what for? some meglomaniac need for power, revenge or control?

4:30 was a bit daunting, but even though I was in Richmond and there were maybe 35 people there, the airforce had sent in 4 young blokes to do the corner guard stuff, one had been in Iraq. They had an officer with them, and someone to blow the trumpet for the last post.

My photos arn't good but I'll try to upload them.

the local RSL then put on breakfast - sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, sandwiches and LAMINGTONS! much too early for me but I had a coffee, though I declined the tot of rum as I still had to drive home - 500km - and being up so early was going to make it tough enough.

Over a million young lives were lost world wide in WW1, even if only 10 people grieved for each of them that is so much sadness and such loss.

Quilts progress and speeding journeys

It seems I shouldn't upload photos then wait a week to add the text, two of the photos are visiable and two have reverted to the little "X" thingy! I'll try again!

There were to be the next two stages of Jess's Japanese Quilt. I now suspect it is going to be very "busy" I found I didn't have enough material to make 25 x 7" blocks for the 50 half triangles, so I used two fabrics, I don't have high hopes for this quilt, it's kept me guessing right from the start.

This week I finished making the Dresden plates for Mum's quilt and I now have about 3 weeks to get it all together and hand quilt it - I doubt that will happen but I will have something for her.

there should also be two photos of the anthills! Darn - I just deleted the one that was visable, while trying to delete the others - oh well back to my other computer - which is dialup - ok new thought maybe I should do the transfer to memory stick and up load using my laptops broadband. I'm slowly getting the hang of switching information from one computer to another when they hold different programs.

These anthills are taken 20km east of Mt Isa - I know the exact location because after getting a speeding ticket, I sat on the speed limit and the journey was sooooo long I was loosing concentration so I pulled up and decided that taking a few photos would re-centre me.

I love the colours.

April already!

April Already.

My weeks continue to race by, although I seem to have slowed down, my days are fully booked and there's always work for tomorrow. This last week I travelled to Julia Creek and Richmond.

and I thought I'd add a map but technology has me defeated today. I made a great map using Google Maps but it won't let me copy it!

So here is someone else's map that shows the shire boundaries. Mt isa to Richmond is about 600km and around the halfway to Townsville point. The blue bit at the top is the gulf and the line on the left is the Northern territory border.

This weekend is the Julia Creek "Dirt and Dust" Festival, they expected around 3,000 visitors and with the usual population around 600 people on a day when the station people are in town this is a huge difference.

http://www.dirtndust.com/index.htm

Even at the beginning of the week, there were cars parked in the mainstreet and no bread or milk available, I think the locals were stocking up. On Friday as I came back from Richmond I stopped in at the hospital at Julia Creek to see a client and as I headed out of town about 20 kms out I saw a police car coming towards me, I wasn't at all worried I was sitting on around 110, then darn - he flashed his lights and pulled me over. I always sit on 110 ok, maybe 115km, between Cloncurry and Richmond the roads are straight and the view is endless. it's a 6hr drive and I'm heading home. I admitted to 110, which is the speed limit for most of the way - but darn I was in a 100km zone and doing 112. So annoyed - it feels such a waste of $100. I'm sure they were revenue raising with the crowds expected in Julia Creek, as they were from the Cloncurry traffic section and a long way from home. Usually I hardly see another vehicle let alone a police car.

But I did see some beautiful eagles, a whole mob of emus with the little ones trying hard to keep up and the grasses have red seed heads so as far as the eye can see is this mass of deep oche grasslands.

The size of these eagles is amazing - I used this photo to show the size they are. I had an encounter with two on a dirt road going out to a station. the road is one lane width, and there was a road kill the eagles thought belonged to them and they weren't going to give it up despite my need to pass. I revved the engine, having had to come to a stop, tooted and all they deigned was to regally look along the bonnet at me and continue with their dinner. It was me who gave up and took to the scrub to get round them.

What's in a name?

One of my tasks for Easter was to do some scrapbooking, as I want to record the stories that go with the photos of my kids growing up. I began to think of how we came up with their names and the following was the result.

What’s in a Name?
Carmen Jessica Olver
Jess was called Carmen Jessica because Jessica Carmen didn’t sound right.

Jessie because I really liked it
and then we found that her paternal Grandmother was Kathleen Marguerite Jessie Olver (6/8/1921 – 17/12/1974) and great-grandmother was Jessie Clegg.
Also her maternal great-grandmother was Euthemia Jessica Wilson. ( 7/5/1898-30/8/1982).

I chose Carmen in memory of my friend Carmen Veldsman who died in a car accident (1981) when returning from Victoria Falls to renew my visa.

What’s in a name?

Daniel Lanyon Olver.

Andrew and I chose Daniel while working in a polling booth at the Zimbabwe elections in 1982. Andrew claimed his son had to have a strong name and we agreed on Daniel, but he could have been a Mathew or a Charles.

Dan was always going to be a “Lanyon Olver”
His dad is Andrew Lanyon Olver (7/5/1952)
His grandfather was Sydney Obed Lanyon Olver (13/04/1920-17/05/1978)
His great-grandfather was Obed Lanyon Olver
(9/5/1897-27/12/1973)
His great-great-grandfather was Henry Lanyon Olver (b.1859)
His great-great-great-grandfather was Henry Olver (b. 1829) and he married Maud Lanyon (b. 1831) in 1853.
They emigrated to South Africa from Cornwall UK, around 1868 with six children.

Easter Saturday

I hope you're all having a relaxed, safe and enjoyable Easter. So far I've managed to achieve - or at least progress most of my goals.

My bookcase arrived on Thursday, and the books are being sorted. I've had fun decorating the top, I decided that the basics would be glass, with the odd piece of crystal, and have collected from through the house. My only complaint is that it only takes "standard" small books and a lot of my books seem too tall. I'll have to mix the themes but it's lovely to have the space to sort.

I gave in this morning and decided Easter = chocolate, I only have one piece of the orange and dark choc Jess gave me for Christmas left, so I went to Kmart. Then decided I'd rather have a Madagasca palm - like a pineapple on steroids, and is supposed to grow to 3m and have long spikes of white flowers. and I did get a mars bar!

Mum's quilt is progressing, and I've cut out the first stage of Jess' Japanese quilt, This is the first bit, I was suppossed to make 49 and somehow I made 100 - duh - two fabrics = half the number of squares! I'll show each stage so it's like a mystery quilt - except for cathy, who knows what it will look like. We made this quilt in a class with Trudi way back in the early 90's

I've even done a page or two of scrapbooking from 1983 and weeded half the Canna bed that runs along the ramp to my back door. So I'm feeling productive and relaxed. I even managed to work out how to use Facebook, and got a reply from MD. I think she thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth.

Happy Easter wishes

As you can see I've finally finished Ben's quilt. the colour isn't true, the brown is coppery with gold and the Chinese dragons are a strong bright red, purple, yellow and blue. My camera is usually good with colour so it must be the photographer!

This quilt was made for Ben for Christmas so he could learn about quilts, how they hold value on so many levels and how each stitch is made with the person in mind.

I'm looking forward to a quiet and hopefully, work free, easter break of 5 days. I actually hope to be extremely reclusive and not see a soul.

I plan to fill my days with reading, sewing, favourite DVD's, hot cross buns, maybe some gardening, and filling my new bookcase, due to be delivered tomorrow.
You'd think buying a bookcase would be easy? Ah -I forgot this is the Isa. But I did locate one, out of a choice of four, over 3 locations, that will fit the bill - I hope. I think the wood is darker than my others but it's a bookvcase and the right shape and could be delivered tomorrow. I plan to sort all my work related books so I have some hope of finding that reference I'm looking for. Most of these books are currently in a small book case and piled on the dining room floor.

My co-tennant (the mouse- I'm not naming him because he already thinks he belongs here!) is not very co-operative. I got an environmentally, and mouse, friendly trap, so I could drive him out 60km and let him fend for himself, and do you think he'll go near it? Not likely!

This is me at the Cloncurry Community Day last Sunday. I've discovered temporary tattoos don't come off in a hurry! My guardian angel was working when I got distracted by another kid wanting a tattoo, just when a kid was going to put one on my face. The one on my arm has started many conversations, in shops and at work - hhhmmm maybe I've found a good way to start conversations!