Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
Bush Stone-curlew and Hills Hoist
In Kuranda, I was called out of the building afterwards to see some birds. I took photos.
They looked at first glance like road runners. Not that I thought they were, but that's the first bird they reminded me of. Not their posture, and not their eyes, but something about their shape and movement and coloring. But that's probably mostly because I'm not a bird person, so all of you who see the 45 ways in which they are NOTHING like road runners, feel free to know how very little I know about birds.
But guess what I know about now?
I showed the photos to Caroline, of my host family in Mount Molloy. I pointed at the pipe with a crank and asked if it was a water pump of some sort. I was picturing some sort of rotary wankle hand pump. She said it was a clothesline called a Hills Hoist. You can put the clothes on it while it's lowered and then crank it up higher. To get more sun and air, I guess.
In Scotland I saw clotheslines in the houses that people load up and then hoist with cord and pulleys and then hook it so the clothes are up in the high ceiling where the heat is. My granny had a quilt frame that could be hung from the ceiling with cord and pullies—lifted up for meals, and lowered again for quilting. Lanterns and chandeliers that held candles used to be lowered to light, lifted high up to burn.
So. Maybe it's a Scottish thing. Maybe it's just a thing.
I was telling Jo, my Adelaide hostess, by chance on the way from the airport. She said she has a clothesline but it doesn't crank up.
So I did my laundry and she went to show me her clothesline and though she hadn't noticed before, it was *one of those*!
I looked them up. They're still manufactured, in different sizes, and cost between $450 and $600 but they certainly last a long time, and work well. This one Jo didn't know had a mechanism worked fine. The first turn of the crank was about as hard as an outside water faucet that's been shut hard on the washer all winter. One hard turn and then it turned very freely. There's a little hole above the crank that says "oil here." It didn't need any, but if it had, there it would go.
They looked at first glance like road runners. Not that I thought they were, but that's the first bird they reminded me of. Not their posture, and not their eyes, but something about their shape and movement and coloring. But that's probably mostly because I'm not a bird person, so all of you who see the 45 ways in which they are NOTHING like road runners, feel free to know how very little I know about birds.
But guess what I know about now?
I showed the photos to Caroline, of my host family in Mount Molloy. I pointed at the pipe with a crank and asked if it was a water pump of some sort. I was picturing some sort of rotary wankle hand pump. She said it was a clothesline called a Hills Hoist. You can put the clothes on it while it's lowered and then crank it up higher. To get more sun and air, I guess.
In Scotland I saw clotheslines in the houses that people load up and then hoist with cord and pulleys and then hook it so the clothes are up in the high ceiling where the heat is. My granny had a quilt frame that could be hung from the ceiling with cord and pullies—lifted up for meals, and lowered again for quilting. Lanterns and chandeliers that held candles used to be lowered to light, lifted high up to burn.
So. Maybe it's a Scottish thing. Maybe it's just a thing.
I was telling Jo, my Adelaide hostess, by chance on the way from the airport. She said she has a clothesline but it doesn't crank up.
So I did my laundry and she went to show me her clothesline and though she hadn't noticed before, it was *one of those*!
I looked them up. They're still manufactured, in different sizes, and cost between $450 and $600 but they certainly last a long time, and work well. This one Jo didn't know had a mechanism worked fine. The first turn of the crank was about as hard as an outside water faucet that's been shut hard on the washer all winter. One hard turn and then it turned very freely. There's a little hole above the crank that says "oil here." It didn't need any, but if it had, there it would go.
Saturday, March 08, 2014
More lorikeets
This is normal, at Schuyler's house, for birds to be at the feeder—usually two at a time. There are some photos of different kinds of birds here: http://sandradodd.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/schuylers-bird-feeder.html
Over the mountains
Tuesday, March 4, we went here:
We went to an op shop, and a shop selling importa and local artist' things, and books.
We ate in an interesting little restaurant on the old main street. The salads had something none of us recognized, and we were guessing it to be a kind of cucumber, maybe. The waitress said they are "mouse melon," and she had never known herself until that day. They were new.
(Schuyler looked them up and said they're from Mexico.)
On the way we stopped at a closed fruitstand, and later at a scenic viewing place (you had to walk down to it a bit), and to look at an old house.
The real destination was Tropical Fruit World, to get miracle fruit—kind of berries, that coat your mouth with sweetener. You can eat lime after that and it tastes sweet. Or any really sour candy. Nothing can taste sour or bitter.
We also got a "fruit salad fruit," which is odd to eat, but tastes like fruit salad. :-)
After all that, we took the non-scenic quicker route back.
I didn't get a picture, but early in the trip a monitor lizard came out onto the road, to cross. David stopped and went around him and signalled the oncoming car to slow down. He would've taken a whole lane, at least, if he'd been all the way out in the roadway, but I saw him enter and for half of him to be on the road. His head was long and he was dark.
Murwillumbah
Murwillumbah is a town located in far north-eastern New South Wales, Australia in the Tweed Shire. It lies on the Tweed River, 848 km north-east of Sydney, 13 km south of the Queensland border and 132 km south of Brisbane. Wikipedia
We went to an op shop, and a shop selling importa and local artist' things, and books.
We ate in an interesting little restaurant on the old main street. The salads had something none of us recognized, and we were guessing it to be a kind of cucumber, maybe. The waitress said they are "mouse melon," and she had never known herself until that day. They were new.
(Schuyler looked them up and said they're from Mexico.)
On the way we stopped at a closed fruitstand, and later at a scenic viewing place (you had to walk down to it a bit), and to look at an old house.
The real destination was Tropical Fruit World, to get miracle fruit—kind of berries, that coat your mouth with sweetener. You can eat lime after that and it tastes sweet. Or any really sour candy. Nothing can taste sour or bitter.
We also got a "fruit salad fruit," which is odd to eat, but tastes like fruit salad. :-)
After all that, we took the non-scenic quicker route back.
I didn't get a picture, but early in the trip a monitor lizard came out onto the road, to cross. David stopped and went around him and signalled the oncoming car to slow down. He would've taken a whole lane, at least, if he'd been all the way out in the roadway, but I saw him enter and for half of him to be on the road. His head was long and he was dark.
Thursday, March 06, 2014
Butcher Bird
The voices in the background are Schuyler and David.
Here's more about butcher birds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butcherbird
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
Staghorn Fern
I saw one of these, and then some more. David and Schuyler knew the name. They didn't know how small a range it has:
http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2006/platycerium-superbum.html
The first one I saw was in that round space in the middle, hanging down. "WHAT IS THAT!?" I said:
We went around and saw the whole plant, and some others on that big, old tree.
Above right and below the sunshine:
There's a part sticking up, and some hanging down, and a fatness in the middle.
They grow on trees, but they're not parasites. They can grow on rocks, or when people buy them to grow at home, they're glued onto boards, to be hung on a wall, for starters.
Later that day we saw a big one, low, at the tropical fruit station:
http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2006/platycerium-superbum.html
The first one I saw was in that round space in the middle, hanging down. "WHAT IS THAT!?" I said:
We went around and saw the whole plant, and some others on that big, old tree.
Above right and below the sunshine:
There's a part sticking up, and some hanging down, and a fatness in the middle.
They grow on trees, but they're not parasites. They can grow on rocks, or when people buy them to grow at home, they're glued onto boards, to be hung on a wall, for starters.
Later that day we saw a big one, low, at the tropical fruit station:
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Schuyler's bird feeder
If I call the post "Schuyler's bird feeder" I don't need to worry about organizing the birds.
Lots of photos, many of them birds, are here: http://s26.photobucket.com/user/SandraDodd/library/Australia/SchuylerWeek1
Lots of photos, many of them birds, are here: http://s26.photobucket.com/user/SandraDodd/library/Australia/SchuylerWeek1
Monday, March 03, 2014
Holly in Tennessee, November 2013
Keith Dixon Studios photos of Holly, makeup and body paint by Ren Allen
Clicking the photo will get you to other photos from that set.
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