Friday ------ we waved goodbye to Sue and Richard this morning. It doesn't seem like 3 weeks since they arrived. We have had a lovely time and will miss them very much.
They are going to spend tonight at Boomi before meeting up with Sue's brother who is en route from Darwin to his home in Adelaide. I was sorely tempted to go with them, especially as they will visit their old home of Charleville, which we never visited. I threw out lots of hints to Steve during the last week. A few hours after they left, I said, "I wish we could have gone with them". His reply was, "Well, we could leave now." Considering how long it would take for us to dismantle the annexe and pack up, they would be two days ahead of us!
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Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Cranky Rock
On Monday, Steve, Sue, Richard and I took a trip to Cranky Rock, in their nice car. If we had arrived there and turned around and come back immediately, it would still have been a good trip --- their car is ultra smooth, especially by comparison with our clunking truck!!
We stopped in Warialda first, where we made "expensive" purchases at the St. Vinnies shop. I'm so pleased with my goodies. I think I'll make a separate post about them when I have some photos.
Sue and Richard appreciated the quaint aspects of the town that we like so much.
I went into the IGA supermarket, in the faint hope that I might find a can of Cream of Celery soup that I couldn't find in Moree. Heaps of them! Now I'm very suspicious that the 2 big stores, Coles and Woolworths no longer sell Campbell's soups, for some reason. I guess I had better try to find out why. It is so infuriating that these supermarkets can substitute their own labels for the familiar old brands.
Cranky Rock is 8 kms out of Warialda, on the road to Inverell and Armidale. The rough road in is surrounded by increasing amounts of rock until you arrive at a natural amphitheatre, completely surrounded by boulders perched on, tumbling over, crowded in, with more boulders.
After a delicious picnic lunch of sandwiches and sausage rolls kept warm in the Dreampot, we crossed the suspension bridge (a favourite of mine) and headed up the hill to the Cranky Rock (which was still in place and hadn't tumbled off since last year!)
The view from the lookout at the top of the hill always thrills me. Markings on the boulders show that the water was once many, many metres higher than it is at present.
This time we saw feral goats eating on the bank of the river.
Richard was able to satisfy his passion for birds and we all admired a beautiful yellow robin. Some other tiny birds, also with a touch of yellow, flittered around way too fast for the camera to catch them.
A little rest on the way down. If I had known that Steve was taking a photo, I would have sat more elegantly, like Sue did!!
Before we reached the bridge again, we turned off and went down to the river (where Josh first learnt to "skip" stones.) In this area, I could easily pretend to be a child again!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Rocks and Trips
Steve tripped over the rope in the Barrow's annexe. He teetered, tottered and finally toppled onto the rocky road. What a mess he made of his knee! Richard gave first aid and did a great job of getting rid of small pieces of gravel. Steve says that it wasn't very sore until the scabs formed. They cover most of his knee.
This raises the question ------ at what age do we stop "falling over" and start "having a fall"? Steve fell over!!
I tripped over a rock. I didn't fall anywhere but the rock looked interesting. On closer inspection, it appears to contain amethyst. Lovely, lovely color.
This raises the question ------ at what age do we stop "falling over" and start "having a fall"? Steve fell over!!
I tripped over a rock. I didn't fall anywhere but the rock looked interesting. On closer inspection, it appears to contain amethyst. Lovely, lovely color.
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Saturday, July 4, 2009
Brushmen of the Bush
If you click on the title of this post, you will be taken to a page which gives some background on the artists who comprise the Brushmen of the Bush.
In this photo, the 5 founders of the Brushmen are seen around the campfire. Only 2 of them remain but exhibitions of their work continue to be very popular.
The men came from diverse backgrounds. Pro Hart had been a miner; Hugh Schulz, a miner prospector; Eric Minchin, an accountant; Jack Absalom, a kangaroo shooter; and John Pickup ran an ABC radio station.
We went to the Moree Art Gallery today, with Sue and Richard and saw this exhibition.
I'm an ignoramus when it comes to art but I know what I like!
They were all beautiful paintings but it was Jack Absalom's work that really appealed to me and I hope to win one of his paintings in a raffle!! It's a little similar to the one below.
I heard of naive painting for the first time and was intrigued with the paintings by Hugh Schultz. His paintings looked 3 dimensional because of the little clumps of stones or flowers.
The Art Gallery is situated in an old bank building, which I have always admired. Although a certain amount of structural alteration has been made, much of the building was as it was. We wandered around, trying to imagine where the various rooms and chimneys would have been.
In this photo, the 5 founders of the Brushmen are seen around the campfire. Only 2 of them remain but exhibitions of their work continue to be very popular.
The men came from diverse backgrounds. Pro Hart had been a miner; Hugh Schulz, a miner prospector; Eric Minchin, an accountant; Jack Absalom, a kangaroo shooter; and John Pickup ran an ABC radio station.
We went to the Moree Art Gallery today, with Sue and Richard and saw this exhibition.
I'm an ignoramus when it comes to art but I know what I like!
They were all beautiful paintings but it was Jack Absalom's work that really appealed to me and I hope to win one of his paintings in a raffle!! It's a little similar to the one below.
I heard of naive painting for the first time and was intrigued with the paintings by Hugh Schultz. His paintings looked 3 dimensional because of the little clumps of stones or flowers.
The Art Gallery is situated in an old bank building, which I have always admired. Although a certain amount of structural alteration has been made, much of the building was as it was. We wandered around, trying to imagine where the various rooms and chimneys would have been.
A grand day! But we returned home to a horrible cold wind!
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Thursday, July 2, 2009
A Musical Afternoon
Yesterday was Carissa's 12th birthday and we had spag bol and chocolate birthday cake with her and the family. All of her gifts were money -- in notes. She changed the notes into coins and put them in her money box. That money box was carted around and we all had to feel the weight. She used a small ruler in the slot to measure how full it was. Excitement plus!
Both girls were stalling off bedtime, as kids do. One innovative excuse was to perform a song that they had learnt at school. In amongst the excited chatter, I heard something but I had to replay to retrieve anything. It was the name, The Chambermaids, that had set bells ringing. That and the mention of some musical instruments. All I could get from the girls was a time to be at their school today for a performance.
Sue, Richard and I went; Steve didn't like the vague idea of it all ----- but he was quite disappointed when we came home and reported! It turned out that it was a quintet from Musica Viva, who do school tours. The 5 young women were very experienced and professional, as well as a lot of fun. The school had done a lot of pre-performance work and the kids joined in with great enthusiasm.
Quite a lot of work was done on examining how each of the 5 instruments worked --- the flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and English Horn. The kids (little ones and we big ones) were delighted when a "hosaphone" was played ----- it was just a piece of hose, with a funnel on the end, but a tune came from it!
Many, many musical concepts were covered in the same fun way, which we all appreciated. It was a wonderful way of teaching. As the school is both Primary and Secondary, the quintet catered for all ages. One of the teachers did a brilliant job of "composing", using only her hands and the people playing the instruments. A young boy did a similar thing using drawings on a whiteboard. Great afternoon!!!
Our plans are laid for Friday and more for Monday. Having Sue and Richard here is motivating!!
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Both girls were stalling off bedtime, as kids do. One innovative excuse was to perform a song that they had learnt at school. In amongst the excited chatter, I heard something but I had to replay to retrieve anything. It was the name, The Chambermaids, that had set bells ringing. That and the mention of some musical instruments. All I could get from the girls was a time to be at their school today for a performance.
Sue, Richard and I went; Steve didn't like the vague idea of it all ----- but he was quite disappointed when we came home and reported! It turned out that it was a quintet from Musica Viva, who do school tours. The 5 young women were very experienced and professional, as well as a lot of fun. The school had done a lot of pre-performance work and the kids joined in with great enthusiasm.
Quite a lot of work was done on examining how each of the 5 instruments worked --- the flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and English Horn. The kids (little ones and we big ones) were delighted when a "hosaphone" was played ----- it was just a piece of hose, with a funnel on the end, but a tune came from it!
Many, many musical concepts were covered in the same fun way, which we all appreciated. It was a wonderful way of teaching. As the school is both Primary and Secondary, the quintet catered for all ages. One of the teachers did a brilliant job of "composing", using only her hands and the people playing the instruments. A young boy did a similar thing using drawings on a whiteboard. Great afternoon!!!
Our plans are laid for Friday and more for Monday. Having Sue and Richard here is motivating!!
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Sunday, June 28, 2009
The Circus Part 2
There were a number of different kinds of juggling, with hands and feet, rings and balls, from the ground and high in the air. My favourite was the juggling with brightly coloured scarves, to the tune of Bolero. These very lightweight scarves drifted and twisted gracefully and had to be deftly snatched by the performer as the music became faster and faster.
Acrobats performed nimbly on the high wire and the slack wire, sometimes with ropes and ribbons and often combined with juggling.
One young woman had a terrific act with hula hoops. Her grande finale was when fellow performers threw more and more hoops to her, sometimes 10 at a time. These went over her head and down, until most of her body was thickly covered in hoops, all twirling merrily.
The tightrope walker provided great entertainment. Pretending to be unsteady on his feet must surely have been harder than just walking across the high wire! Beneath him were two clowns holding a very small light blanket, pretending to be very concerned. A chair was tossed up to him and he balanced this in the centre. Balancing the long pole, he sat on the chair, climbed up on it and generally fooled around --- far steadier than I am on a chair at ground level!! Finishing his act with the chair, he dropped it and it was caught in the little blanket! He abandoned the pole and fussed around a little on the platform. Then he walked confidently to the centre, where he faced the audience and promptly fell forwards off the wire, accompanied by huge gasps of panic. While we were all still in mid gasp, he swung 360 degrees ---- and we realised that he was attached to the wire by something on his shoes. PHEW!
The clowns played out many little diversionary scenes between acts, then one commenced an act of his own. He walked around the audience, with a spotlight hovering over faces until he chose someone. A young man and woman were taken into the ring and given a skipping rope, which they swung while the clown jumped. Communicating with them via whistles, he got the man to jump. Then he put a blindfold over the man's eyes and whispered in his ear. We guessed that he told him to jump every time he heard the whistle. The man was poised ready but the rope swung and there was no whistle, so his feet caught the rope. Quietly, the clown took the rope from the woman. He slapped it on the ground and blew his whistle. The man jumped obediently. This was repeated over and over, with the whistles coming faster and faster and the audience clapping and laughing. We spoke to the man on our way out and asked him if the clown had said to jump when he whistled. "Yes", was his reply,"but my wife has only just this minute told me that there was no rope to jump. I was congratulating myself on jumping so well."
Then, to my great glee, the spotlight played over Steve's face. I held my breath, hoping like mad that he would be chosen!!! My dear, shy husband, who embarrasses so easily! What a naughty wife he has!! And chosen he was. He was made to sit on a tiny stool beside a young woman from the audience. They faced a large, plastic, old fashioned type camera. The clown demonstrated, move by move, how he wanted them to pose. They ended up cuddled close together while he ducked under the cover pretending to take their photo. "The photo" turned out to be of two monkeys! Lastly, he got them to jive around in time to the music, insisting on wiggling hips. I thought I was going to burst! This is the man who wouldn't dream of wiggling his hips on a dark dance floor with only the two of us present :-) I had to try hard not to laugh in case it made me cough; I was doubled up, rocking back and forth, with tears streaming down my face.
As we left, the clown, who had changed clothes by this time and was helping to pack up, came up and thanked Steve for his cooperation. I felt like kissing him!!
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Acrobats performed nimbly on the high wire and the slack wire, sometimes with ropes and ribbons and often combined with juggling.
One young woman had a terrific act with hula hoops. Her grande finale was when fellow performers threw more and more hoops to her, sometimes 10 at a time. These went over her head and down, until most of her body was thickly covered in hoops, all twirling merrily.
The tightrope walker provided great entertainment. Pretending to be unsteady on his feet must surely have been harder than just walking across the high wire! Beneath him were two clowns holding a very small light blanket, pretending to be very concerned. A chair was tossed up to him and he balanced this in the centre. Balancing the long pole, he sat on the chair, climbed up on it and generally fooled around --- far steadier than I am on a chair at ground level!! Finishing his act with the chair, he dropped it and it was caught in the little blanket! He abandoned the pole and fussed around a little on the platform. Then he walked confidently to the centre, where he faced the audience and promptly fell forwards off the wire, accompanied by huge gasps of panic. While we were all still in mid gasp, he swung 360 degrees ---- and we realised that he was attached to the wire by something on his shoes. PHEW!
The clowns played out many little diversionary scenes between acts, then one commenced an act of his own. He walked around the audience, with a spotlight hovering over faces until he chose someone. A young man and woman were taken into the ring and given a skipping rope, which they swung while the clown jumped. Communicating with them via whistles, he got the man to jump. Then he put a blindfold over the man's eyes and whispered in his ear. We guessed that he told him to jump every time he heard the whistle. The man was poised ready but the rope swung and there was no whistle, so his feet caught the rope. Quietly, the clown took the rope from the woman. He slapped it on the ground and blew his whistle. The man jumped obediently. This was repeated over and over, with the whistles coming faster and faster and the audience clapping and laughing. We spoke to the man on our way out and asked him if the clown had said to jump when he whistled. "Yes", was his reply,"but my wife has only just this minute told me that there was no rope to jump. I was congratulating myself on jumping so well."
Then, to my great glee, the spotlight played over Steve's face. I held my breath, hoping like mad that he would be chosen!!! My dear, shy husband, who embarrasses so easily! What a naughty wife he has!! And chosen he was. He was made to sit on a tiny stool beside a young woman from the audience. They faced a large, plastic, old fashioned type camera. The clown demonstrated, move by move, how he wanted them to pose. They ended up cuddled close together while he ducked under the cover pretending to take their photo. "The photo" turned out to be of two monkeys! Lastly, he got them to jive around in time to the music, insisting on wiggling hips. I thought I was going to burst! This is the man who wouldn't dream of wiggling his hips on a dark dance floor with only the two of us present :-) I had to try hard not to laugh in case it made me cough; I was doubled up, rocking back and forth, with tears streaming down my face.
As we left, the clown, who had changed clothes by this time and was helping to pack up, came up and thanked Steve for his cooperation. I felt like kissing him!!
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Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Circus
Before we got sick, we had booked tickets for the Circus Royale that was coming to town. Emily, Carissa and Lilly were very excited, as indeed was I and their grandmother, Marion. I don't know that Steve was excited but he sure enjoyed himself!
The girls were devastated when it looked as if I might not be well enough to go. I was really looking forward to it, so I swallowed pills and potions, armed myself with a box of tissues and away we all went on June 20.
The last circus I had seen in the 1970s was large and rather tatty. This one was small and very neat. Even the caravans were beautifully decorated in blue and white and made to resemble the old style gypsy caravans.
The Big Top (in this case, Little Top) had a pretty vinyl floor and a cute gold, red and white small fence around the circle. We had opted for ring side seats and were in the front row. We saw that vinyl floor folded up and spread out a number of times and admired the deftness of the two men who worked in darkness.
The performers were extremely versatile, able to go from juggling, to animal handling to selling tickets or food.
We were surprised by the number of animal acts, given the small circle but they were adapted to suit. Geese were trained to climb up a ladder and come down a slide. It gave me a good laugh to think how I had missed an opportunity to train the ducks when we were on the farm!
Ponies behaved beautifully; in one sequence they put their feet up on boxes around the circle and a little dog ran round between their legs; in another, they put their front feet on the pony in front of them.
The camels, never a favourite of mine, were grumpy and disobedient but even that was a laugh. One attempted to perform but the other kept sneaking away from the handler and cuddling up to the obedient camel, keeping its head down and its eyes averted.
Two small llamas trotted around politely; I was amazed to see their frail looking legs.
We liked the friesian cows best. They were unbelievably large and when they put their front feet up on blocks around the edge, their massive heads were almost touching our faces. We felt a little homesick!!! The girls were shocked, horrified and almost ready to go home when the animals pooped!
More later .............
The girls were devastated when it looked as if I might not be well enough to go. I was really looking forward to it, so I swallowed pills and potions, armed myself with a box of tissues and away we all went on June 20.
The last circus I had seen in the 1970s was large and rather tatty. This one was small and very neat. Even the caravans were beautifully decorated in blue and white and made to resemble the old style gypsy caravans.
The Big Top (in this case, Little Top) had a pretty vinyl floor and a cute gold, red and white small fence around the circle. We had opted for ring side seats and were in the front row. We saw that vinyl floor folded up and spread out a number of times and admired the deftness of the two men who worked in darkness.
The performers were extremely versatile, able to go from juggling, to animal handling to selling tickets or food.
We were surprised by the number of animal acts, given the small circle but they were adapted to suit. Geese were trained to climb up a ladder and come down a slide. It gave me a good laugh to think how I had missed an opportunity to train the ducks when we were on the farm!
Ponies behaved beautifully; in one sequence they put their feet up on boxes around the circle and a little dog ran round between their legs; in another, they put their front feet on the pony in front of them.
The camels, never a favourite of mine, were grumpy and disobedient but even that was a laugh. One attempted to perform but the other kept sneaking away from the handler and cuddling up to the obedient camel, keeping its head down and its eyes averted.
Two small llamas trotted around politely; I was amazed to see their frail looking legs.
We liked the friesian cows best. They were unbelievably large and when they put their front feet up on blocks around the edge, their massive heads were almost touching our faces. We felt a little homesick!!! The girls were shocked, horrified and almost ready to go home when the animals pooped!
More later .............
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