a touch of homesteading

quick cats seem the vessel of choice.

Quarantine effort: Alfalfa sprouts. Step 1 soak 4 hours.

Nationally the number afflicted is 1887.

winding down

still life.

Lock down ordered yesterday but little change this morning at a large centre.. Sales persons said they dont know if their shop will shut or not.

The PM stated non essential services will close today, he ruled out supermarts, banks, fuel and pharmacies. It would have been easy to be more specific and say, for instance, whether home hardware, large  clothing and variety stores were essential or not and might remain open.

At the same time, we can live with a level of uncertainty, will read between the lines, overall we are on target. There are many ways to skin a cat.

virus busting

will i or wont i use this! And i dont mean welding. Nation total afflicted: 1123

bonnie doon

Bonnie Doon and The Castle. The place really exists!

meeting my match?

a free space for a photo shoot in the pink, really, the lights focused best when sitting in the opposite direction 

I have lived in times of earthquake, tsunami, the reconciliaton walk, 9/11 and now a pandemic. If I am still around then an asteroid is on my bucket list.

secret weapon

The end of the line and an uncommon little railway station at the bay.

 We got the US administration with a secret weapon namely our infected minister. He had to be good for something.

fools paradise?

No obvious concerns over THE virus in this establishment. What is ahead?

 Our services are not on the back foot, we are fortunate that way. I am trialing social distance and isolation to some extent. Stocking up extra food is simply to limit my shopping trips in the event of widespread flu.

keeping in line

ScoMo: whatever was i thinking yesterday? Your benevolence is heavenly

Mr Morrison talks and talks such as in todays pronouncements which didnt say anything new at all and took ages to cover. Same old lines...treasury success (at whose cost?)...superior to the previous government ad naus... (despite our survival of the GFC)
Mr Frydenberg has totally mastered the art of never answering a question in an interview. Both of them force me to switch off.
The darn surplus we were meant to have.  

more.

Changes to the club are well done. Difficult to say where the original ends and the updates begin.

social club

An almost historic example on the New South border 

Imagine Phillip Island Victoria
Natural beauty is found there and a nature reserve is home to little penguins and the thousands of visitors they attract, as well it has a racing circuit for bikes or cars. In between mindless laps one can look towards the vista out to sea and along the blue coast line. Quite a setting!
Strangely, outside of the visitors centre of the GP race course is a fairly incongruous pleasant Japanese inspired garden with zen-like qualities and a small flock of peacocks. A little grove of pine trees is part of it.
A history of motor sport in Australia is presented. Strangly it comprises a small collection of early cars of no special trend as well as a very specialised collection of super bikes of only two Italian makes and probably not well known here at all.  Unusual.

Images and even mild technology needs to be sorted when there are apps and old style blogging at odds with each other and proving they are linked and who I am and downloading fun and games has not produced a working image this time.

Just another day and is it a glimpse into some country at war.  The road ahead becomes increasingly smoke filled and the sun glows red and the thick smelly air reaches the nose and lungs. the surrounding country side is dessicated.
 Apps report the highway may be closed tomorrow so get well beyond that point but what is further afield?
 "Fires Near Me" and flamed filled triangles crowd the map, semis are in their usual hurry or are they fleeing to beat any delays while they would already know any so called war zones they have traversed to the south where the temperatures are up in the forties for the coming day along with unfavourable  winds.
The Fast food declares  that due to the bushfires they may need to shut up shop unexpectedly and those fifteen year old staff reach home safely as the blackend fields are a sign that fire was near and only the highway stood between it and the village.  Subdued customers roll in for chicken with eleven herbs and spices and ice flurry is an idea to keep ahead of dehydration and one power point is located to recharge other aspects. 
In the know, the fuel service centre has large water tanks, pumps and firefighting equipment as standard.
 Just another day but also a terrific warning to act to prevent climate change.

 Ulmus minor var. Cornubiensis  seems to be of the maple tree group and having heard how maple trees have been lost in the UK was curious to see a maple tree in these gardens.
 What's more there must be a connection with maple syrup - didn't expect that. Waffles, ice cream and maple syrup was on a wish list I asked for regarding Christmas dinner. I regret the salted caramel popcorn just a little - caramel all over even with a short cut in the recipe.
I am old enough to recall waffles ice cream and maple syrup were on the menu at Cahills Restaurants in Sydney - a bit of an institution.
On second thoughts there is more to this. The Acer group of trees are maples and of different appearance.  

Our trees and animals are being decimated by fire.  I am glad that we have a great carbon sink in our  lightly forested vast hills and dales 'but that was yesterday' as it all goes up in smoke.

From 1891 an example of classicism of its day derived from Italian Boroque.
Curiosity led me inside to find this surprise space.  Hurrying from the city was a chance to buy face masks because of the smog but there was never a street less likely to sell such as that as it was one after another serious business centres.

The day was sunny and smog free  -  remember when?

Australiana gum tree fantasy. For Christmas, May Gibbs famous stories seen in David Jones shop windows.  .

 .........................Trams....