A whopper of a week!

Who says knitting is a dyeing craft...Check out this little number for G1. It was a bit fiddly to do the pockets, 'cos I couldn't see how they were meant to come together, but they worked out in the end. The yarn is 85% wool, 10% acrylic, and 5% viscose, so it should wash well. G1 has just gone home;- he looked really cool in it with the zip up front.

 He packed a few adventures into his few days with us;- catching crabs under rocks when the tide was out; rolling his way along the sand at Cowes front beach; feeding wallabies and talking to cockatoos at the park, as well as toasting marshmallows in the fire after dinner. We earned our evening relaxation and glass of wine with Katie!... and yes it is quiet when we are alone again!

curing olives

Rhyll beach is a boating not a swimming place. But it is an acceptable crab and play area...

He even manages a visit to Grannie Margaret every couple of weeks, where he enjoys "riding" up and down the hallway on her walking stick... A sight worth seeing, I imagine.

Last weekend we had Ali, Phil and G2. Here are a few pics of that too...

just chilling...

Famous blue raincoat...

She even let her Mum make my favourite dessert - just for me!
And we managed coffee and almond croissants on  the Saturday...

Creme Caramel

Life is so good with grandchildren in it!

Two years old!

's

Olives. Picked last week. Soaking in salty water for the next four weeks. Then into a good quality oil for few months. Yum!

Birthday boy G1 turned two! Isn't he cute? And how about G2? She 's a princess.

We had the best day. Look at the fun.

A guitar cake tastes particularly good when you are two.

The present I liked best was a digger from Katherine and Mark. And that person in the background is Kerryn who has just been on the most impressive work experience venture you can imagine. Pity you can't see her face.

The sandpit, made by Pops, was a winner at the party.

Mother and son. What a team.

Today's walk was wallaby wonderland. Saw heaps. Many of them only a few metres away.

 

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Shark!

Well look what the tide washed in today!

At six this morning this bull shark was washed in, chased by another shark. That kept people out of the water for a while... We went swimming there in the early afternoon, but we didn't know about the drama. Apparently it was right where the patrolled beach area usually is.

It 's a great swimming beach, so no wonder the sharks like it. I was under the impression that there were effective shark nets though...

Perhaps I'll stick to shopping. It could be safer. Then again....

 

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Happy holiday

Noosa is a great spot to have a holiday. Where else could you see a distended python at the end of the main street that had eaten a possum and is lazing the days away oblivious to the gawking stares of tourists? I'd like a visiting python to come to Rhyll and rid us of some pesky possums... Could be a nice snakeskin bag into the bargain.

Just had a lovely meal at the Sheraton. We have discovered these room cleaning vouchers, and they are making a mission out of Jim's holiday. You get a $20 voucher instead of a room clean, so if u choose to have your room serviced every other day you get a considerable sum to spend in the restaurant or bottle shop or wherever....

These are some unknown ( to me) flowers on the walk we had today. It was about 3 hours, in National Park near Noosa, and just delightful. There was a bit of rain about but it was about 23 degrees, so not cold, and we didn't have to worry about sunscreen.

There were many little beaches- coves really, with sandy spots and little breakers. If I dared, I'd have had a swim, but I'm just a bit scared of rips now- not quite so confident as I once was... So we stick to the patrolled beaches for swimming...mostly anyway.

There were some great little private beaches, with kids enjoying bodyboarding and a few backpackers

( mostly German), swarming around with their designer surfboards and lithe tanned skins.

Then there are the Grannie types in the red, black and white loose tops with white trousers. With wrinkled skins and dangling earrings. I am determined not to join the clan.

Just have to tell you about this book I got here. Many books I have talked about recently have been a hopeless read, but this is GOOD! It's called Marching Powder, and it's about life in a prison in Bolivia. Written by an Australian lawyer, about an English prisoner called Thomas McFadden, it's a corker of a read! Plus I went past the prison in La Paz. And thought it couldn't be a prison 'cos it had no bars.....

Missing our beaut little grandkids. But enjoying the spa bath in the suite, and the cooked breakfasts...envy is wrong...

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The Thirst to Learn

Check out the MOOC information. You can study a vast array of topics, in the form of short courses run by university staff from around the world. It will be interesting to see how these pan out. Are you one of the people who would love to learn more about something, but are put off by the cost? http:/www.coursera.org/

Look at this for an short course:-

 Nutrition, Health and lifestyle: Issues and Insights. Even the course info sounds interesting! This one is a seven week commitment, with 2-4 hrs a week work. The instructor is called Jamie Pope and she's from Vanderbilt University.

I personally fancy the Introduction to Psychology, which starts in May.  There could be a huge benefit in this kind of learning for people wanting to get into a career, but not yet ready to enrol in a degree course. Then again, it could be equally useful to tackle a completely new topic.

There exists the capacity to start levelling the playing field - giving a helping hand to people who would otherwise be unable to access the information because of lack of funds. It also offers a concise listing of topics, which means people can find what they are looking for.

If education is more to your liking try the one on Children Acquiring Literacy with a research professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

What do you think? Mike Boxall from PA Consulting wrote a letter to the Guardian Newspaper on 14th March claiming that moocs will not threaten Universities because the workskills University attendance develops will still be required for successful job performance. But could we not mooc those skills, too?

If education is more to your liking try the one on Children Acquiring Literacy with a research professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

What do you think? Mike Boxall from PA Consulting wrote a letter to the Guardian Newspaper on 14th March claiming that moocs will not threaten Universities because the workskills University attendance develops will still be required for successful job performance. But could we not mooc those skills, too?

Holiday weekend

It's Labour Day weekend. Good old stonemasons who gave us the 8 hr day... So we celebrate with a day off on Monday. And Cowes is buzzing. The coffee shops are crowded, and the Newsagent's is stocked with items to tempt doting grandmas and their heirs... So are the kids' shops, where I picked this up.

Of course, I am not immune from being sucked into purchasing...But I am sensible, I think. This is for G2. It's one of those lined raincoats that is not too hot. It is rarely bitterly cold here in winter. So it's waterproof, and cosy but not stifling. A bit like my black Lulu Lemon one really...

Another good swimming day today- not sure what made me think of rainwear, other than I saw the ones I liked, and thought they might be gone if I hesitate. Also I have checked with the mothers involved re sizes. Always wise,as kids sizes are fairly arbitrary, I find.

I also made some good purchases for adult prezzies. Like this made in India fair trade necklace which is hand crocheted, but not one of those items you would buy out of pity. Or bury in a drawer 'cos you wouldn't be seen dead in it.

It is just one string, and the colors go well together, I think. A thing of beauty...

G1 made bread with me today, using the sourdough mix that has been on the go for about a month now. He rolled and shaped the dough, and we baked it just as he did it, not "fixed up" . He ate the finished product with relish (not literally...).

Mum was well this week. She asked where her tv went. (One of my brothers took it when she was finding her room too cramped). She has suddenly remembered that it is missing, after about 6 months. She was hazy about who I was, and who Katie was, but she at least knew we were family, which is a huge improvement. She has been asking for about a month now if we can take her shopping. I have sidestepped the conversation, as she doesn't need to buy any more "stuff"' because the staff are frequently asking me to clear away some of her clutter so they can find the clothes,etc. Somehow, not sure how, she went to a fashion show, and bought a powder blue dressing gown. Her third such item. No drama, in the scheme of things. Her other spare clothes are hung in one of our wardrobes, along with sundry baby clothes that somehow got stored here against my better judgement. I don't hoard. I think it is morally wrong to hang on to things I have no intention of using, when someone else could get wear or use out of them. So buying new things is fine, if you have the money, and need them, but throw out the old ones you are replacing. Or give the items to someone who can use them.

Do you have guilt feelings if you cut off nice buttons from an item you no longer wear? It's about weighing up the likelihood of using the buttons in the near future, as opposed to the likelihood of someone in genuine need wanting the whole item (before you chopped off the buttons).

Aren't they cute? They seem to be wooden, which may mean they render the items hand washable only. Bummer.

And a final piece of trivia gleaned from The Age, I think;-

Do you know that 15% of people fed at Salvos' vans in Melbourne are backpackers...? Needy, eh?

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So you're not doing the digital detox?

24 hours without checking your device. Too hard? Or is my blog too strong a craving?

Here is someone not yet enslaved by the digital world. Oh to be blissfully unconscious of social mores. Or is she already a dedicated follower...

Well, as Melbourne looks back on the hottest summer on record (average temps in Jan and Feb about 28 degrees), we regret not putting in our solar panels earlier. For though the panels are connected and the solar is running, the inverter (I think that's its name), is not yet connected, which means that solar electricity is not being stored. So what we use is "free", but we cannot store any for later use. In order for that to happen we are at the mercy of our electricity provider, who has to come and ok the work done. A short procedure, but one they have put off for 4 weeks so far. Why would they hurry to cut their own money chain? Husband enjoys prodding with his apple device, so far unsuccessfully. Next Wed is the deadline by which we requested all work be completed, so either they are planning a last minute flurry of paperwork and a ten minute visit for which they will cream an ample profit, or they will be late, in which case we have no comeback.

The possums or the parrots got my only 2 pears. The trees are young, so the crop is just starting, but there were two crisp tennis ball sized pears. I looked, and decided to leave them to ripen in brown paper bags for one more day... Gone. Bags and all. Hope whatever got them choked on the clothes peg.

The apples survived and are now largely on the freezer. They were netted Colditz style, over 4 trees.

And yesterday I went to hear a converted Muslim woman talk about living in Southern Lebanon as an Australian, during the period in the 90's when Israelis were leveling the Palestinian refugee camps. She told this true story.

She lived in Sidon, in the South, and travelled N once a month to get mail and essential supplies. It was fraught with danger, because suicide bombers were common, and Israeli soldiers were trigger happy. On the way back, she was in a taxi with 7 men, when they were stopped at an Israeli checkpoint. She, as a foreigner and a woman was asked to get out and open her bag. She was made to stand encircled by armed soldiers pointing their rifles at her and ordering her to open a package that was in the mail sack. She opened the package. Inside was a smaller package. The circle widened as the soldiers stood back a bit more. She opened the inner package to reveal a glass container. She was ordered, again at gunpoint, to open it. She screwed off the lid, put her finger in, and licked it. Vegemite. A soldier stuck his bayonet in and stirred it to check for foreign matter. Tension eased and they were allowed to continue their journey.

She also talked about the major difference she saw between Islam and Christianity. Islam has 99 words for God, but none of them is Love. We say God is love, but often fail to show that love to our neighbours as required by a follower. . .

Tried to captureG1's mischievous look but the photo quality was poor. He has a wicked sense of humor. Apparently he likes to rise early on Fridays. Garbage truck day, and there are always more than one of them to check out in his one way street. So he gets up to wave to the men. I wonder if he goes back to sleep afterwards? No, I don't wonder actually...

And now for a little Jim style humor. Look at the third line and read "n" instead of " p "... Sounds a fun trip to Seal Rocks...

 

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