Rain Blessed

February is our wettest month. So far, this month we've had 127mm rain (~5 inches) with no local flooding and very little erosion. Thankfully, our raintank is full again. Trees are blooming like crazy and colour has reappeared in the landscape.

Grevillea dryandri

May smiles enrich your Valentine's Day.

Happy New Year!

An Australian Heat Wave... is forcing a slow start to 2014 for us in Far North Queensland.

Shade Room Air Conditioning

Our house's stone walls have gradually absorbed and now retain so much heat that it's increasingly difficult to cool the house even though each morning we throw open all the doors and windows to capture some coolness. J has rigged a shade room along the west side of the house and gives the plants there a daily mist. The shade, plants and misting make the adjoining room the coolest one in our house. It used to be the hottest. We close most of the house by mid-morning as temperatures rise to 30C and above.  Then we retreat to the cool room, lie on mats in front of a fan to read or nap... there's not much brain power available nor motivation to move in the heat. Everyone is waiting for rain. Yesterday's thunderstorm brought no rain with it.

While I am feeling totally wilted, the Cooktown orchids are looking splendid.

Cooktown orchids

ETA: maximum temperature for the day: 38.1C (a little over 100F).

Post and Pix by M in JaM

Thankful Thoughts

During this Thanksgiving week, I'm feeling especially thankful for the dry sclerophyll open forest that we get to walk through each day and for the physical ability to make those walks. Our canine companion encourages us.

Walking the dog in dry sclerophyll forest

Something has eaten almost all the leaves of our orchid collection growing on stones at ground level in front of the house. No blossoms from those orchids this year. I just hope they survive. Plans are afoot to transplant them into hanging pots.

Nature provided a welcome surprise during our daily walk. Eagle-eyed Jerry noticed this native orchid in bloom, maybe twenty feet up in an ironbark gumtree. Amazing abundance in a harsh environment and canny enough to avoid ground level.

Queensland native orchid in ironbark gumtree

A neighbour who raises chickens (and other birds) stopped by to give us fresh eggs. Why, Thanks! She doesn't engage in craftwork, so I gave her a couple of my hand-knitted dishcloths. The yolks of the eggs are incredibly yellow, in comparison to the eggs from the supermarket. We made a batch of yummy deviled eggs. They didn't last long... but we do know where the chickens live.... 

Over the past week we had almost daily thunderstorms along with a smattering of rain. We appreciate any rain at all as it has been very dry. We unplug the computer and the landline phone during thunderstorms and that unsettles us. Thunder also makes the dog very nervous. We can avoid sedating her if we stick to a routine but that curtails our own activities and results in not much else getting done. We figure it's worth the effort and we're thankful that it works.

Lemon scented gumtree reaching for rain

Each afternoon our eyes turn skyward in search of clouds and we take note of wind direction. I examine online weather forecasts. I feel more than ready for the end of the Dry Season... and I'd be grateful for more rain than thunder, thanks.

Post by M in JaM

Photos by J in JaM

It's That Time of Year

The native sandpaper figs are fruiting.

Someone has mowed around the schoolbus stop, a facility built by local residents for their children. Mowing reduces fire hazards and accidental snake encounters.

School bus stop

Last week, in the evening of the same day as my close encounter with a huntsman spider, Jerry discovered what he thought was a small python slithering along the shelves above his computer. Both of us admire pythons though I wouldn't be comfortable with a big one on the loose in the house. When I took a torch to have a closer look at the snake, we realised it wasn't a python. It was a night tiger... and a ready biter. The night tiger didn't like the spot light and retreated behind a small box. As the evening went on, Jerry periodically located the snake which always moved away from the light of the torch, thus he slowly wrangled the snake along the open shelves around the perimeter of the room and toward the kitchen door. Finally reaching the frame of the open door, the snake hesitated. Jerry gave an encouraging vigorous shove with a soft pushbroom. The snake climbed on board the broom bristles. Luckily, it didn't race up the broom handle, but waited until offered escape into a nearby shrub.

We had another unexpected encounter as well. Having finished our shopping day in town, we headed home, then stopped along the way at a little roadside park with a stream running through it. Two ducks were swimming on the small pond. We parked under a gorgeous paperbark gumtree and unpacked a thermos of coffee to fortify us for the drive ahead. Sipping from our cups, we scanned the park and noted a number of other people had similar ideas to us. Suddenly, Jerry exclaimed, “That's an echidna!”

Can you see the claw on the back foot?

In the 25 years I've been living here, I had never encountered an echidna in the wild... or in a little roadside park with people strolling here and there. This solitary echidna busily dug in the ground, maybe 50 feet away from us, totally unconcerned about the presence of people. Jerry grabbed the camera and began taking photos. He got quite close to the echidna... who continued digging for ants, termites or something edible. Sometimes you get lucky.

Did you know that an echidna baby is called a puggle? Have a look at an echidna puggle at Taronga Zoo.

Post by M in JaM

Photos by J in JaM

Slow and Simple

On reflection I have come to the conclusion that spinning and weaving (and handcrafts in general) comprise excellent examples of activities one can include in a slow and simple life. I've begun weaving.

Beginning of weaving with slubby cotton weft on cottolin warp 

I'm using a set of remarkable new bobbins, designed by DH. A friend with a 3D printer (MakerBot Replicator) produced the bobbin ends in ABS plastic. The connecting shaft is carbon fibre. I'm not sure how these tools fit into a slow and simple life, but you must agree it is a “charming mix of old and new technological wonders” - according to MakerGuy.

Bobbins of ABS and carbon fibre (wood bobbin on right)

We've had 22mm rain (almost one inch) this month. Unusual for July. The warm weather continues. Grevilleas are blooming like crazy and attracting a variety of honey eaters – sugar gliders at night, bees and friar birds during the day.

Honey Gem Grevillea blossoms in front of tall grass tree (Xanthorrhoea)

We've signed up for twin-sitting again. Slow and simple gets shelved on that day.

Post by M in JaM

Pix by JaM

Winter Goals

I love the way one can see the sky through the Australian trees.

Life continues to give me lessons aimed at keeping me flexible in my plans and expectations. Even the weather brings surprises. Overcast days alternate with warmer nights. We throw off a layer or two of covers. We leave wool socks in a pile and dig through clothes, looking for something cool. We have no need for a morning fire. Winter isn't really over, it's just taking a break.

My Bendigo Woolen Mills yarn order arrived and I've completed a pair of knitted socks for the other twin who may not really like socks, but sometimes socks are required and perhaps that's when Gran's handknitted socks will find acceptance. (We grans know about patience.)

Second pair of handknitted Toddler Socks:
ChippySocks for Kids - pattern by ColorJoy
Bendigo's Harmony yarn

I began thinking I might want to knit a more colorful pair or two, like the one's illustrated in ColorJoy's Chippy Socks for Kids pattern. Then, reality struck and I faced the fact that I've never done colorwork knitting which requires knitting with two (or more) strands of yarn, held two in one hand or one in each hand. But, how hard can it be? My first go at a sample plainly demonstrated: yes, this is going to require patience....

Lucky for me, ColorJoy posted a series of five videos on YouTube. She made them to accompany a KnitAlong featuring another of her patterns, Crystal Socklet, published in Knitty. One of the ColorJoy videos addresses the how-to of colorwork. I feel encouraged after viewing it. Maybe I'll feel brave enough to start a pair of Crystal socklets for myself!

On the weekend I'll start spinning cotton as a member of the Tour de Fleece group in Ravelry. I joined the Team I Spin Cotton 2012. My goal is to use my Ashford wheel as well as a support spindle to spin cotton daily throughout the Tour de France. (Australia's Cadel Evans won the Tour de France last year.)

I plan to use the resultant handspun cotton yarn in my weaving project. I've finished sleying the reed for that project – though not until after discovering I had miscounted ends and had to wind two more. Next, I thread the heddles. I have plenty of plans. Life gives me opportunities to practice patience... while adapting and pursuing my goals.

Post by M in JaM

Photos by J in JaM

Lunar eclipse as well as Venus transiting the Sun

Handknit sock
(hand-dyed yarn by NeedleFood, a New Zealand supplier
that closed after the Christ Church earthquakes)

Winter is here. The temperature fell below 10C (below 50F) this morning. We do like sitting in front of the fireplace on these clear, cold mornings. We've unpacked our handknitted socks and fingerless gloves. Grevilleas bloom outside the kitchen window and currawongs claim the nearby birdbath. The currawong tribe has brought young ones and several times a day the air is filled with their melodious songs as they forage in the area.

Grevillea superb

We are spending tomorrow with the twins and their mum. I have finished knitting one sample sock and shall try the sock on each of the two grandsons. Surely, it will fit one of them! Of course, that's just the beginning of this knitting project. I am also ready to wind a warp for my next weaving project.

Is it today's lunar eclipse or the transit of Venus across the Sun that has stimulated this wave of creativity?

Captain Cook sailed to Tahiti to record a transit of Venus across the Sun in 1769. The data collected helped navigators determine longitude more precisely. Cook sailed on and “discovered” Australia in 1770, on the same voyage. The British declaration of this new land as “terra nullius” - or land belonging to no one – continued to characterise Australian law with regards to land and title and was only overturned by the High Court of Australia twenty years ago (3 June 1992) in a case that made the name Mabo familiar to every Australian. Eddie Mabo, a Torres Strait Islander, campaigned for indigenous land rights and played a remarkable role in helping achieve that landmark Mabo decision twenty years ago.

So ends today's lesson....

Post by M in JaM

photos by JaM

Dragonflies and Crackle Weaves

Queensland dragonfly (100mm = 4inch wingspan)

Every night over the past few weeks, a pair of dragonflies (100mm = 4inch wingspan) have been entering the house just on dusk before we close doors and windows. They settle for the night on Chinese hanging Christmas decorations (foil) still strung from the ceiling. The dragonflies are pretty safe from geckoes there. And there's no wind inside. In the morning, after it warms up, they fly out one of the windows which we throw open as soon as we rise. I love sharing my home with dragonflies.

River Gum sheds the past

I also love to learn new things. I don't expect to be an expert or authority on any one thing, because I can't resist the lure of learning something new. DH gives me encouragement and reminds me that you often learn more from failure than from success. New creations don't always bring satisfaction. Often they bring inspiration for improvement.

Almost two years ago, before the twin grandsons were born and things got very busy for all concerned, I decided to learn to do a crackle weave with a summer & winter treadling on my 4-harness Gilmore loom. I'd never done a crackle weave threading. An issue of Handwoven (September/October 1994) got me started. I based my project on Dixie Thai's Buttercup Baby Blanket, p 83, in that issue. It took a lot of mental gymnastics on my slow brain's part as I wanted a narrower warp, but just how narrow should I make it and don't forget 18% shrinkage. I had to figure out how many pattern repeats I would need. And I'd be using a different weft. Did I have enough yarn? I made decisions and wound the warp, then the twins were born. One year later I got the warp out of storage, threaded and warped the loom, wove to the end of the warp, cut the fabric off the loom and carefully packed the roll of fabric away as hot weather arrived.

This year's cooling weather and diminishing numbers of eye flies* in the Shed have given me the chance to unpack the roll of woven fabric and set about finishing that fabric. I used our treadle sewing machine to zigzag lines of stitching beside cutting lines of the woven sections. Then I cut apart the sections and pinned the hems. As I refilled a bobbin for the sewing machine, the old leather treadle belt broke (again). No longer repairable, it had to be replaced. I felt incredibly lucky when I located a supplier in a town 45 minutes drive away. I was going to that town anyway for my free two-yearly eye exam (socialised medicine, what a blessing). In the meantime I handstitched the hems on my first newly woven cotton table runner, It's been washed and now lies on our table (photo above). There's more of these crackle pieces waiting to be hemmed and the new treadle belt waiting to be installed.

*eye flies: Queensland's eye, ear, nose and throat flies, small quick and in large numbers this time of year. They swarm about your head and dart into your eyes for a quick drink of eye moisture. We don't like'm at all! 

Post by M in JaM

Photos by J in JaM

Fallen Ironbark

This week a mighty ironbark eucalyptus came crashing down, succumbing to hidden white ant infestation. Inside the house, we froze momentarily, shocked by the noise. 

J beside downed ironbark; decapitated bloodwood in foreground

The ironbark, around 25 metres tall (60-70 feet), fell between the fence and the driveway and destroyed some small trees, decapitating a bloodwood. We're glad the driveway didn't get blocked.

Bloodwood eucalyptus

Meanwhile, the current damp weather makes me reluctant to open cupboards and bins in my campaign to reduce stored clutter. Just peeking inside signals authorisation for the development of new mildew colonies. White ants, mildew and rust are relentless teachers of the desirability of keeping possessions to a minimum in the Tropics.

Shredded paper mulch

I have managed to sort through files of old papers and shred many. J has been using the shredded paper as mulch. I get a little glow seeing results of de-cluttering put to good use.

Have I been sitting too much at my wheel and spinning cotton lately? The dog thinks so. She put a tennis ball instead of a spanner in the works. Isn't it time for a walk, she pleads with begging eyes aglow.

GIMP has a nifty filter for correcting the Red Eye Glow problem in photo portraits, but I couldn't get it to work on the dog's eyes. Eventually, J pointed out that dogs don't have a Red Eye Glow problem. They have a Yellow-Green Eye Glow problem. Doh! I decided to leave the dog's glowing eyes as a design element that relates to the yellow-green tennis ball (i.e. no problem, no correction required)... and go for a walk.

post and pix by M in JaM

One Day at a Time

Grevillea dryandri in bloom

What a week! Don't you hate it when health problems rear their heads, like Cerberus*, all snarly, snappy and insistent on keeping you from escaping? Just when you want to start the new year with high energy and you realise that's not happening? Or when you are unable to assist a loved one or a friend who has health problems? Well, sometimes such a crisis reveals more than problems. 

Daughter had sudden surgery (she's recovering well and feels, oh, so much better). After an overnight in hospital, she came home about the same time that I arrived to help care for twins. Twins had spent previous night with other grandparents, and it wasn't long before they arrived home, too. These two littlies walk all the time now. They are not just a handful, they are two handfuls (more, actually). At the end of the day we decided to have Chinese takeaway instead of cooking dinner.

The next morning food poisoning struck twins' father and me, but not their mother, thank goodness for the latter. I headed home before things “got out of hand.” I'm not sure I have ever felt so glad to arrive home, where I immediately collapsed on the couch, rising only to spew. I let J take care of me. I'm feeling fine now. Fortunately, the effects of food poisoning lasted only a day or two.

Daughter, who has the fortitude of an Amazon, managed to care for herself and her family. She's even sounding cheerful. 

These crises reveal to me that: the Future is in Good Hands.

Young frog still has tail.

*Hercules overpowered Cerberus without weapons....

photos by J in JaM

post and photo editing by M in JaM