The air is full of fairies

When I was a little girl, we lived in a small rural town, and thistles were often a problem for the local farmers. At certain times of the year the thistles would flower and the seeds would float in the wind. My sister and I used to call them floating fairies. Well it has taken me a while to work out that what we have in the air now, are not thistle seeds but come from our native gum trees. The Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research is setting up a data base  of all the eucalypt specicies, there are 700 to 800 of them, and they are very important for Australia because this is the only tree our native Koala feeds on.

 

The air is thick with the seeds. It has taken me a while to figure out exactly what happens and how these seeds are liberated. When the tree flowers, the little spikey petals die and there is what we call a gumnut left in the middle. They hang in bunches,rather like fruit on a tree. BUT, it appears that when these gumnuts get warm and heat up to a certain point they split and free all the little seeds, packed up like sardines with parachutes on.

 

 

 

I took this picture at Currumbin Sanctuary. This wildlife park is probably the best on the Gold Coast for native animals, and we took our friend Debbie, a teaching friend from China who holidayed with us, to see the Koalas, Kangaroos etc.

 

 

From the picture above you can see the gumnuts.

Well these little fairies are like a white carpet on some of the lawns around here. We have a small mat by the back door with a table and chairs and hundreds of the are getting caught up on the mat.

 

They float in the swimming pool, and in the birdbath and even get caught in the little cracks in the concrete.

 

Fortunately they don't get into the house, the house we are house sitting at the moment has fly screens at every door and window.

 

The other thing of note today are ants.

 

I have noticed in past years that one or two days in November seem to be the time for flying ants to leave the nests and make new colonies. Well we have some big ants in Australia, some whoppers. And the flying ants are big too.

 

On this leaf is just one ant and one flying ant. The ones that fly can go some distance I think, and set up their own colony. Fabulous for the ant, not so fabulous for us. It was, though, fabulous for the birds, there were quite a few in the trees nearby swooping down and enjoying a feast on the wing.

Flowers rain and sonnets

One of the lovely things about the home we are house sitting at the moment are the pot plants. The lady obviously has a love of cacti, and there are some large pots with some well established plants coming into flower.

Somehow cacti flowers are vibrant colours, nothing wishy washy about them, and when you get a pot full of them they are just beautiful.  Here is one pot by the pool, covered in lovely red flowers.

Another of the cacti is a bright orange flower. I took this side on, so its not looking down the throat of the plant, but you can see the size of the flower. Its very big. In one city in China I lived in, there were enormous cacti right down the centre of the road with massive flowers on that lasted for ages. I guess there are many different sorts.

This white one has just come out today. The sad thing is the flowers don't last very long on the plant.

Probably the most striking flower at the moment is the bougainvillea plant. The famous TV program Bourkes Backyard has a tip sheet on this flower. Our plant is absolutely smothered with flowers at the moment. Peter has moved some of the pots around, and with this sitting against the pool fence, it looks just lovely. Probably the biggest plant I have seen was at my sister in laws home, many years ago. It was the purple coloured one, and the plant was about 20 years old, and went from the house to the garage. It was a massive plant and absolutely fabulous when in full flower.

I wrote earlier about the mango trees on this section, and the flowers are changing now into the baby mangos. I took a photo today and you can see the baby mangos forming. Not every flower becomes a mango, and during the next couple of months as they develop many of them will drop off, leaving a few to become mature fruit. If we are still in this house when they are ripe, I will enjoy eating my fill of them, mangos are one of my favourite fruits.

 

The last picture for today are some jacaranda trees. Peter and I went into Brisbane on Thursday and took the train. Driving in the city centre is a bit stressful when you don't know where you are going, so the train is the best way, it's cheap and not held up by traffic on the motorway.

One of the best things was looking at all the jacaranda trees in flower on the way in. I was a bit slow with my camera, so missed some of the really good trees, but right along the track, these beautiful purple flowers are everywhere. There is a park in the city called New Farm Park, it is by the river and at this time of the year is just fabulous with all the jacaranda trees, then when the flowers fall the ground is covered with them.

And as I sit and write this it is raining. Well, it is a bit of an apology for rain really, I don't think the concrete is even properly wet, but there is a bit of a shower around. I looked at the Brisbane weather radar and they are having a lovely thunderstorm up there, so they will be getting a good shower hopefully. Its hard to believe that people, me in particular, can get so excited about a bit of rain. But we have had the driest October on record,and when you live in a country like Australia, which can be dry for months on end, seeing a bit of rain can be so so exciting......

Acutally quite some time ago I wrote a couple of sonnets about drought and rain, I'll put them up now. I have copied and pasted them and the font is different. I hope you enjoy them.


 

Sonnet to Australia’s drought

 

The earth is red it’s dry and dead and bare

For years and years this place has been my home

In silence sits the snake who tastes the air

A ‘roo expires, exhales its final groan.

 

The hawks and eagles glide above on high

For them they see an endless fine food fest

No bush no tree no spinifix they spy

The earth has opened wide its jaws in death.

 

With utter desolation all around

Relentless heat, despair is all we know

No cloud no rain ho hope is to be found

Oh earth! Ope’ wide I’m coming down below.

 

I’ve slaved I’ve worked I’ve really done my best

But now I’m beat.  I lay me down to rest.

 

 

Sweet tears

 

I see on the horizon one small cloud

It’s fluffy, white, the first I’ve seen for years

The baked dry earth looks up and clamors loud

Oh! Send me please a few of your sweet tears.

 

I see on the horizon come more clouds

A tiny ray of hope is in my heart

I bow I kneel I pray with voice aloud

Oh! Send me please a few of your sweet tears.

 

I see on the horizon big dark clouds

A distant rumble clear assails my ears

With bated breath in hope the whole earth bows

Oh! Send me please a few of your sweet tears.

 

I jump for joy I cry, release my fears

At last I taste the wond’rous clouds sweet tears. 

Sydney Opera House - AND - Festival of Dangerous Ideas.

Today, in 1973, the Sydney Opera House opened.

This building is one of the most famous and easily recognisable buildings in the world and when you are there you are constantly amazed at its design. How many times have you seen pictures of it?

 

If you Google Sydney Opera House and click on 'images' you will find some fabulous pictures, especailly when it has been lit up at night in many different ways.

http://digital-photo.com.au/gallery3/index.php/Landscapes/Sydney/Brian-Eno-77-Million-Paintings-Sydney-Opera-House_MG_2591-Edit

 

“It stands by itself as one of the indisputable masterpieces of human creativity, nhttp://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/About/The_Architect.aspxot only in the 20th century but in the history of humankind."

The architect was a Dane from Copenhagen, obviously a wonderfully creative man.

When I visited it some time ago I was stunned at the efforts to get the acoustics right. In one of the theatres we saw, absolutely everything in that huge theatre was designed so the performers could give the best performances possible and preferably without microphones. Even things like the fabric covering on the chairs, and the kind of wood used for the chair frames, (I think they used a Canadian tree in this theatre) were studied in minute detail to get it right.

 I was very interested to find that there is a blog on their official website, so of course, I checked it out. One of the interesting topics was this.

 

Festival ofdangerous ideas. Sept 28-30.

 “Over the weekend we asked the deceptively simple question – ‘What idea has brought you trouble?’ What ensued was a fascinating insight into the groundings of what a dangerous idea is, how they manifest themselves and the potential repercussions for the speaker." They have questioned some famous people who answered this question.

Interestingly, this post was put up on October 3^rd, and not one person had left a comment, so I added one.

So my question for all bloggers in this group is…..what idea did you have that got you into some sort of trouble?

I’ll start the ball rolling. When I was about 10 years old, my friend who lived over the road was given some money to spend by her mother. All excited she came and got me and we went up town to spend it. We found this little fan she wanted to buy, it only cost just over a shilling in the old New Zealand money, but she didn’t have quite enough, so I put in a little bit of my own money towards it. My friend and I were delighted with this fan, and as I had put in some money we arranged that we would share the fan, sometimes I would have it and sometimes she would have it. She said for me to have it for a few days first, then give it back and it would be her turn.

Of course, at ten years of age, this mutually agreed and innocent plan was perfect. But her mother didn’t think so. The girl got home minus the money and minus the fan. She was furious and stormed over to my place accusing me of stealing the thing. No amount of explaining by me or my friend placated her. I handed over the fan after a thorough dressing down by her mother and my mother. The lessons learned?

1.     Think before you do things.

2.     When your children make innocent mistakes, don’t over react.

Have you had a similar experience?

Leave a comment, I'd be delighted to hear from you.

Take a trip to China today!

My sister, Ricky Hunter, and I have both published books in the last few months. That's the easy bit. Then you need to sell the little blighters. Aha, you think, no problem! But it's not that easy.

When you write a book it is your 'baby', and of course you are in love with it, although there is a love/hate relationship too, because by the time you have edited the thing a zillion times you are at the 'nine months and one week' stage, when all you want is to get this birth over and done with. A book is no different.

Nevertheless, being brilliant authors is not enough. You have to tell people that the books are there, and that they would love to read them.

My book is the story of our first year living and working as ESL teachers in China. When you can't speak any Chinese and hardly anyone speaks English it makes for some interesting times. This book is a really great yarn about our planning, deciding where to go, and the experiences we had working our way into a completely different culture, and getting to know some of the wonderful students we had in our classes. We also had lots of hilarious situations, and some madly frustrating times, for example, leaving the airport after touching down in China, to find that none of the taxi drivers could read my instructions on how to get to a hotel we were staying at for a few days. While trying to find a taxi driver that could read our hotel name we were bundled in and out of lots of taxis.  We were stunned to think so many people were illiterate. Of course, we found out later that day, that my extensive preparations were useless because I had printed everything off in Japanese! How was I to know the difference between Chinese and Japanese? Twelve hours later Peter was at the police station being finger printed while I was on the phone trying to get help.

So why not take a trip to China today? You can do it without leaving home.

Book available at Create space at https://tsw.createspace.com/title/3862700 or the e-book at 

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/160463.

I have also included a lot of how-to information for anyone going to China either on holiday, but especially if going to work there as teachers or in any other field. Information such as how to use the buses and trains when everything is in Chinese, personal safety, getting a job, work contracts, housing, shopping, doctors and hospitals, and how to never be lost.

Our 46th wedding anniversary today.

Today is our wedding anniversary. 46 years together. Not without the odd bump and pothole, but on the whole, a happy life together.

One of the nice things about our current house sit is that we are within 45 minutes drive of four of our five children. That means we can visit often and from time to time we have family get togethers.

Yesterday, for our anniversary, my eldest daughter had the family for lunch. She has got a small swimming pool in the back yard, and the weather was nice, so the grandchildren were all in the pool.

One daughter in law made us a cake, and also made some cupcakes for the children. She made a red velvet chocolate cake, really yummy.

We are also an expanding family. Two baby bumps in the family at the moment.

I know we are getting old, but the proof is in the pudding. (or the photo) My baby, in the middle,  is now 30, the one on the left is 40 and the one on the right is 45. Good grief! I don't feel 45 inside, how can I have a son that old?

The only one who couldn't be there was my daughter who lives in Melbourne. But she had a good day, she ran a half marathon in great time. All my children are pretty active in sports, doing marathons, involved in iron man's, road cycling etc. Peter was a long distance runner until his hips gave up, and the children seem to have the same 'sporty' gene from him, they can hit the pain barrier and keep going straight through.

How have we stayed together for so long? Many factors come into play. I read many years ago this quote, 'What is the best thing that a father can do for his children? Love their mother.'

How true, and I have to say that in this regard Peter has excelled. He has been a very good father, a good provider and a good role model for all five children. As a consequence, we have a united family, and everyone gets on very well together. If one needs help, the others are there. We don't live in one another's pockets, and we have always kept a 'no interfere' policy in their married lives, available for advice when asked, but rarely poke our oar in uninvited. I've also kept a very strict rule about confidentiality,if there are secrets to be told, I'm not one to spread them around the rest of the children, and that seems to have flowed on, because although there is lots of the normal chatter about life, we don't have a 'gossipy' problem in the family.  I know for a fact that from time to time whenever we have needed help, they are on the doorstep ready to do whatever is needed. I can say that I trust them all implicitly, and that's a great feeling.

As for Peter, well, he has never lifted his hand to me, we have never yelled at one another, we have never fought like many couples seem to,never looked at another woman, he has never smoked and although he likes a drink from time to time he has never been drunk. He has accepted my mother living with us for some years after my dad died, even though she was the cause of the bumps and potholes mentioned before. She has since left us and at 92 is being cared for in New Zealand.

When the children were babies, he would feed them, change the nappies, do the washing and ironing and do any housework needed. He still does lots of work around the house as needed.

He is also not a 'stick in the mud', so even now, we are ready for a challenge, happy to move around house sitting, see new places, meet new people, and spread our wings. One day we will have to settle down but for now we are still two old birds on the wing.

And here is our youngest daughter running the half marathon, she is the one in yellow. Four kms to go.

Luv-a-duck, we're a weird mob.

Sometimes people do some strange things.  At the beginning of this year, the ABC, our national broadcasting corporation moved into new buildings. One of the hosts decided it would be a good thing to knit a scarf. A big one.  A long one. One long enough to go round the entire building.

So over the past 8 months anyone could volunteer to knit a few inches or feet of scarf and the whole thing was sewn together.  The final tally was over 820 meters of scarf. The building’s circumference is about 500 meters. So this afternoon, they wrapped the building in the scarf. After the wrapping of the scarf it was all rolled up again. It is being given to the Salvation Army who will turn all that knitting into real scarves and blankets.

Here are some of the rolls of scarf, all sewn together, ready for the wrap up day today.

They had some other photos on their website but you have to go to twitter to see them.

https://twitter.com/612brisbane

The other weird thing today has been the weather. Now we can't control that, but its been a wild and woolly day here.We have had unusually strong winds. Here in Queensland, we get little wind, apart from cyclones that come mostly to the north of the country  But during the last 24 hours we have had very strong winds, cleaning the trees of old leaves and sticks. No big branches came down in our area, which is fortunate, because this house we are house sitting has got some really tall trees, but the lawns are littered with small twigs and leaves, and the swimming pool is full of them. It will take a few days to clean up properly.

There’s been lots of snow too, inland from Sydney heavy snow, and even in southern Queensland, snow there around Stanthorpe. For us on the Gold Coast it was windy and cold, but the sun was out. Yesterday a fast moving deep ridge moved over the coast with storms and very heavy rain. It didn't  last long, but was enough to give the ground a good soaking. Most unusual. If this weather heads New Zealand way, they are in for a freezer.

 This was in a UK newspaper.

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/8213932/Wintry-weather-brings-snow-to-Australia-in-midsummer.html

 This is really unusual for us. They say it is a one in twenty year weather event.

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-10-16/snow-wind-and-rain-whip-eastern-australia/2300342

Ah well, what will tomorrow bring?

  

Suggestion by April, write a magazine article. Comments please.

April Smith, on the UBC wrote her Post #8- Love to write?!!? Turn it into passive income!
http://www.facebook.com/Maybelle25

April then suggested writing articles for e-zines and gave this site http://ezinearticles.com/

I checked it out, joined up and have written an article. Now, I don't know if this is the sort of thing that an e-zine would be interested in. Do any of you know? April, do you have any ideas on this?

If you could spare a couple of minutes to read it and comment, I would be pleased. This is what I would like to know:
1. Did you find it interesting?
2. Is this the sort of information you would expect to find in an e-zine?
3. What changes would you make, or what suggestions do you have? Any feedback willingly accepted.
4. Is the writing good enough? I have a chatty style of writing rather than an academic one.
5. Should it be fully justified or ragged edges on the right?

Here is what I have written. The guidelines suggest 400 to 700 words, but can be up to 5,000.  This is 825 words.  The guidelines say we can suggest they go to our website.

Take the plunge – become an ESL teacher in China

I was in a rut, bored, suffering from empty nest syndrome, getting close to retirement age and was in need of ‘an adventure’.  To have a ‘real’ adventure my husband and I decided to go to China and teach English.

This was totally out of character for us, we loved to travel, but even so, going to a country like China, which was basically an unknown, was seen as something rather radical. Nevertheless, we researched the possibilities and decided we would go.

We had no teaching experience or qualifications. So we attended a local TESOL college, studied for the next three months, passed our exams and were awarded our qualifications. This gave us access to work in thousands of schools and universities in China.

ESL stands for English as a Second Language. Another acronym is TESOL, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Even though our English was very good, we knew it was going to be a totally new ball game for us.

Both my husband and I were trained public speakers, confident, had raised five children, were well read and had an excellent general knowledge base. This, along with the training and teaching manuals we received proved to be adequate resources.

To find a suitable job, we searched the internet. There are many sites these days where recruiting agents advertise teaching jobs in China. But when we did this, in 2005, it was more or less up to us to find the jobs.  However one of the websites was huge, with job boards for all the different Asian countries and we found thousands of teaching jobs advertised. Where to go was the next problem, after all, most of the names meant nothing to us; we didn't even know where these places were.

Eventually we settled on a university in Fujian Province, where the weather seemed similar to our home town, and the city was not too big. We were a bit worried about getting lost in a huge city, when we couldn't speak a word of Chinese and we didn't know how much English would be spoken there.

We planned everything very carefully. We packed what we thought we might need, and with our heads full of dreams and ideas for teaching we had a goodbye party and took the jet stream to China. We planned to have four days holiday first, to get our heads around being in such a new environment.

Was it a good idea? It was a fabulous idea. Where there problems? Of course! The first major problem reared its ugly head as we were leaving the airport having just touched down. Being super organised I had printed off the hotel’s address in Chinese. We were horrified to find that none of the taxi drivers could read Chinese! If they couldn't read Chinese there wasn't much hope of finding English speaking people. After a long, frustrating and temper raising experience with several taxi drivers, a security officer, and a help desk lady that spoke almost no English, we made it to our hotel, only to find out I had printed all the instructions in Japanese! What an idiot!

Staff from our new university collected us after our four day holiday, and took us to our new home. It was about 2 hours from the coast, way up in the mountains. We had to go through endless tunnels on the road. Hot, tired, and with a monumental headache I arrived at the campus.

Students were delegated to drag our bags up the six flights of stairs to our apartment. There were no elevators here, and we got very fit going up and down those stairs several times a day. We puffed up after them to find ourselves in a three bed-roomed apartment with a view over the city to the mountains.

We were left to unpack and rest, with instructions that we were to meet the other teachers at the school gate at 6pm and they would take us out to dinner.

We sat on the bed, my husband and I, and grinned at each other like school kids let out for the holidays.

‘Well, we came for an adventure, we’re going to get it,’ my husband said.

He was right. That year became a life changing experience, for us, and for the wonderful students we taught.

If you’re bored, in a rut, can free yourself for a year or so, why don’t you consider taking the plunge too? Teach English in China. It will be one of the most rewarding and exciting things you could do.

If you would like to read more about this topic and our experiences, go to www.englishstoriesforfun.com 

If I am allowed to add pictures I would include these.

Our apartment was on the top floor.

Looking over part of the city.

Looking towards the west. The sun would set behind these mountains in a a great haze of orangey red.

 I don't know why the font is different sizes in this post, in my Word doc it is fine.
Your comments would be appreciated.  Thanks.

10 years on from the Bali Bombing

Tomorrow (that is here in Australia, it being the 11th as I write this) is the 10th anniversary of what we 'down under' call the Bali bombing'.  There is going to be a special commemoration on the site of the bombing, with many overseas visitors attending.

202 people died, 88 of them Australians, and many of those 88 were groups of people who had gone together. The aftermath is still keenly felt.

202 people died on 12 Oct 2002, in the worst incident ever to occur in the peaceful land of Bali. The bomb set off in front of popular local clubs of Sari Club and Pady's, killing both foreign tourists and locales, destroying cars, buildings and houses in the vicinity. The incident also made a major impact to the lives of the people of Bali. Just a few weeks after the incident, the amount of tourists travelling to Bali, which is the life for the people of Bali, decreased rapidly, forcing many local businesses to shut down, simply because there are no customers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsLq3xaq3LQ&feature=related


Lets hope this link to a you tube video works okay.
 

Today is World Day Against the Death Penalty

Today, and as I write this in Australia it is the 10th of October, is World Day Against the Death Penalty.



This is somewhat of an emotive subject, either generally you are for it or against it. But in my cogitating, I checked out the ‘eye for an eye’ judgement, which is often foreseen as the origin of the death penalty

The thing is, that when the Jews practiced the death penalty, the circumstances were entirely different. In the old days of Israel if there was a crime that took a life, the High Priest acted like a judge. I don’t know if they had to swear ‘to tell the truth, whole truth’ etc, but I guess being in front of the High Priest would be pretty scary enough.

To get a conviction there needed to be two eye witnesses, who could see clearly enough to absolutely identify the criminal. One eye witness? No conviction. Circumstantial evidence? No go. Happened in the dark? Not sufficient proof. And we know why. In today’s courts, as through history, there have been vindictive people trying to incriminate the wrong person. But if two eye witnesses would swear to the act, it was considered sufficient evidence.

Not only was the court different, but the outcome was different too. Today, someone may lie convincingly enough to get someone else convicted of a crime they did not commit. In fact, we know there are constant cases of wrongful conviction.

Today, the emotional outcome for the false witness may be something they could live with. After all, if I got someone convicted, well, they would go to jail for life, which really is 10 to 15 years and then they get out again. If for some reason the innocent victim was given the death penalty, well, someone I have never heard of and who doesn't know me will give him a lethal injection or similar, and I am disconnected from the whole event. I may not even know it is, or has happened.

But in the days of Israel, not only did I have to front up to the person I wrongfully accused, but if the death penalty was given, then the innocent person had to be stoned to death. And I had to personally be there, and witness the death, and I had to be the one to be involved in the death itself.

To me, in Israel’s time, the emotional involvement is much greater, and in my view the probability of deliberate wrongful conviction would be rare.

But today, it seems to me that it is a different matter. Juries are manipulated. Judges can be bought. The system is open to abuse in many ways. I’m sure that many of the judicial decisions are correct, but there are often questions hanging over a decision. In New Zealand there have been several very controversial court cases. (Arthur Alan Thomas and David Bain are two that come to mind.) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_miscarriage_of_justice_cases#New_Zealand).

In both cases there were no witnesses, no motive could be given, all sorts of theories were postulated, but there certainly were no ‘two eye witnesses’ to prove the point, and after years in prison, they are freed and paid massive compensation.

Bain innocent and deserves payout, judge tells Cabinet

By Audrey Young , Newstalk ZB staff 10:00 AM Monday Sep 10, 20 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10832947

David Bain was convicted of killing both parents and three siblings

 System let down innocent man

 By Keith Hunter 5:30 AM Sunday Apr 15, 2012
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10798854

Arthur Thomas was convicted of killing a married couple on a neighboring farm.

 Of course we have the other side of the coin, no doubt many guilty people go free, having money to hire good lawyers etc.

Either way the consequences for the person involved and their families is life shattering.

So for you, do you believe that if someone takes the life of another, they should pay with their own life? Or do you think that in today’s world it is too hard to have absolutely positive proof. Or have we got too soft, so not prepared to take a hard stance on this?

Your comments are welcome.

Good grief! It can't be that hard!

Let's try this embedding a video again. I seem to have got it wrong. Now this might be right. I embedded the next size up but it overlapped my column, so have deleted that and put in the smallest one. Okay Bonnie, is this better? From my pages here, I can't see any difference between the one I have just loaded and the one I loaded yesterday. Is there a difference or is it just that I put the code in the wrong place? Chris.

Greg Champion, The French Song.

Bonnie Gean is taking part in the UBC. On her blog are instructions for embedding a you-tube video. I am going to give it a go. Here is  her post in case you want to have a look at it.

Go to the YouTube video you want to embed.

Click the share button (under the video).

Click the embed button (on the right side).

Choose the video size (dimensions) you want and highlight it.

Go to the embed box under the video and copy the code.

Go to your blog page and paste the code into the text area.

Let me know if you need more help or have any questions!

http://www.plrproductions.com/how-to-embed-youtube-video/

Now, if you like a laugh, click on this short song. Its pretty good.






Okay Bonnie, I have got it  now, that is much clearer. The song is a minute of nonsense, but it shows how much of the French language we have in our English these days.

So, having got that sorted I have another question. Do you know how I can get rid of these great big blank spaces I have in my blog? I am sure it is something to do with the 'iframe' bit, have googled, and found information  but never been able to work it out in the html stuff.

There IS a free lunch.

We all  know the saying, 'there's no such thing as a free lunch', saying that we generally don't get anything without effort or cost in some way.

Well I tend to disagree on at least one matter. This morning Peter went into hospital to have his gall bladder removed. We didn't know he had a problem until a scan for a different problem showed all these gall stones. He had gone to the GP to find out about some pains he was getting, and there, as large as life, showing up right at the top of the scan, were a bunch of gall stones.

The doctor arranged for him to see a specialist at the Gold Coast hospital, and he was put on the waiting list to have it removed.

brisbanetimes.com.au    The current Gold Coast hospital.

Now, no health system is perfect. And here in Australia, there are myriads of complaints about the health system. But you know, if you are sick, you get seen.

Peter was told he was level 2, which means urgent but not emergency, and he would have the op within three months. As it turns out, he has had it done in about 4 or 5 weeks. The thinking behind it was, it is not an emergency yet, but leave it and it may become an emergency and then everyone will be scarpering to get things done and it could get very complicated.

But the beauty of the health system here is that for pensioners and for low income earners, practically everything is free health care. Many people decry the 'social welfare' system here, saying it costs too much, but when  you are retired, and don't have a large income, medical costs can be crippling.

So for us, two old birds on the pension, this is how the government looks after us.

Most general practitioners do not charge pensioners, all visits are free. Generally, specialist visits are free. X-rays, and other imaging is free. Pathology, blood tests etc are free. We pay for our medication but at a subsidised rate, so our medicines might cost us around $5 per script. If you have an emergency you call the ambulance and that is free. (There is a cost built into one of the government taxes, but at the time of the emergency you don't have to worry about having the money to pay for it.)

When the ambulance takes you to hospital, you get treated free. If you need to be admitted, there is no cost.. They feed you and give excellent medical care. These are the services they provide.

Hospital	Cardiology, Child health, Ear, nose and throat, Emergency medicine, General medicine, General surgery, Geriatrics, Gynaecology, Haematology, Infectious diseases, Intensive care, Medical and surgical services, Nephrology - including renal dialysis, Neurosurgery, Obstetrics, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Paediatrics, Paediatric surgery, Plastics surgery, Rehabilitation, Respiratory medicine, Urology, Vascular surgery
Specialist Services	Acute pain service, Diabetes resource service, Early discharge program, Early pregnancy assessment clinic, NHMRC Ethics committee, Palliative care program, Parenteral therapy program, Patient liaison service, Patient safety, Post acute program, Public affairs, Quality coordination, Service improvement, Respiratory resource service, Staff counsellor, Wound management
Clinical Support Services	Medical imaging, Nutrition, Occupational therapy, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Psychology, Social work, Speech pathology

http://www.health.qld.gov.au/wwwprofiles/gcoast.asp

If you need prescription glasses or dental work, there is a bit of a wait but that is also provided free. If you have a baby, all healthcare is free including the birth, and generally all children are treated free for everything. You show up at any hospital with chest pains, they have got you on a bed with an ECG running before you can say Jack Robinson.  All this is without any health insurance scheme like USA, and other countries have.

Now, what is it like where you live? If you live in another country, your health system could be very different. When I lived in China, health care costs were a constant concern, because you have to pay for everything yourself, there is no social security system, although they are bringing in a kind of health insurance scheme. So even the poorest people had a nest egg for their old age medical costs.

But here, well, I reckon we do very well. Of course it all comes out of taxes. At the end of the day someone has to pay for all this. During our working life we paid our share of the taxes, and didn't grumble too much, knowing that we would get it back in the end.

So I thought I'd give a thumbs up to the Gold Coast hospital, and say that they do an excellent job, with top  class doctors and nurses. We are looking forward to having a brand new hospital here on the Gold Coast soon. The current one is pretty old, and the new one, being called The Griffith University Hospital looks very modern. They also have a large parking building, parking round the Gold Coast hospital is not so good.

healthdesign.com.au                The new one in progress.

Below are some pictures I took today from the window of the 6th floor of the hospital. It was a gray old day, cloudy and cool, but I hope you get a bit of a view of  Surfers Paradise central area.

The city center of Surfers Paradise, on not such a paradisey day. The high rises are mostly hotels, motels, holiday accommodation.

I guess its a bit hard to clean the windows 6 floors up sometimes. This is a view over the suburb of  Southport.

So how about leaving a comment and letting us know what your health care system is like.

Why I call this 'house sitting tails'.

Peter is in hospital today have a minor operation, so I thought I would re post why I used this name for my blog. There are many  new readers, so this will interest you.

There were three posts as part of this early part of my blogging.

Post 1.

There are several reasons, and to make it simple I'll do a little list.

1. I needed to make it about house sitting, I think that is obvious.

2. I wanted something that was a bit different and tales is a bit boring.

3. You can bet that if you go house sitting you are going to have lots of tales about tails.

4. Most house sitting jobs are there because the owners have pets of some sort that need caring for.

When you scan through some of the posts of house sitting jobs available you will realise that you might be asked to look after cats and dogs. Well there you have a variety of tails to start with.

But there might be fish tails that need feeding very precisely. There could be horse tails that need brushing, maybe cows tails or goats tails, if you go to a farmy place.

There could easily be birds that need feeding and caring for, they can have long colourful tails. Maybe the owners have tortoises with tails, or rats and mice with tails. It's even possible you'll care for piggies with curly tails.

In most cases, go house sitting, and you'll get tails. We've already dealt with lots of tails so far and I'll tell you about them as we go along.

Post 2.

House sitting! Anyone can do this, but to be successful you need an adventurous heart and some number 8 wire.

The adventurous heart is to get you on the road in the first place. You need commitment, to stick to an agreement. You need enough confidence to go to strange places and live in someone elses home. You need a love of animals, because you can bet your boots you will meet animals of all shapes and sizes, and all with tails. And lets face it, the animals know that once they have been bathed and smell a little less doggy, then the only thing to do is roll in the sand and get filthy again.

  

The number 8 wire is to fix things. Generally something will need fixing. The toilet will overflow, the washing machine will have a hissy fit, the garage door will jam, and the dog will probably eat something he found and chuck up on the carpet. The number 8 wire ensures  you are a bit of a fixer upper and have the confidence to face the unexpected.

However - once you have your adventurous heart and piece of number 8 wire, you are in for a treat. You will meet some wonderful people, (and one or two who are a bit odd), you will see parts of Australia you have never seen before, and as you will probably house sit for several weeks or months in the one place, you will have the opportunity to get in some serious sightseeing at your own pace and with free accommodation thrown in.

We have been house sitting for quite a while now, and this blog is to give you a rundown on the good, the bad and the ugly (of which there is little) aspects of house sitting.

Post 3.

My Australian friends tell me they don't understand the term 'No. 8 wire'. As I am originally a New Zealander, this was part of our cultural background.

According to Wikepedia, No 8 wire means this:

Number 8 wire is a gauge of wire on the British Standard wire gauge that has entered into the cultural lexicon of New Zealand.

Number 8 wire is often used inventively and practically for applications other than for fencing.[1] It is also used as a term that epitomises the "kiwi bloke" as someone who can turn their hand to anything.

The Waikato Museum runs an art award named after the wire.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_8_wire

There has even been a book written about this, showing that it meant that a person was ingenious, had good thinking abilities, able to fix anything up.

No 8 Wire - The Best of Kiwi Ingenuity

by Jon Bridges & David Downs

Hodder Moa Beckett 2000

http://www.techhistory.co.nz/Articles/No8Wire%20Review.html

So it's application to house sitting?  As I said in my first blog, it means that anyone house sitting has a 'can-do' attitude, can fix things if necesary, has a bit of nouse, can use their noggin and work things out.

And this is a huge advantage. Of course it's possible to call an electrician to change a light bulb  you can call a plumber to stop the water running down the back of the loo, (all it really takes is to unhook the top of the cistern and flick the levers inside), and it's also possible to call in a builder to replace a nail or screw.

On the other hand, these little jobs are the sort of thing most people can do themselves, and if you've never done them, just a little thought will soon have the problem fixed.  If you can fix these sorts of problems, then you can use a bit of number 8 wire.

By all  means post a comment.

Five bells and all's well.

It is 5a.m. and I am sitting on the edge of my bed, a mug of coffee in my hand. I have had a good sleep. I can hear the world slowly waking up.

Before I made my coffee I heard the kookaburras saying good morning to all who are awake. Their raucous laugh is a warning to other kookaburras to keep their distance, this is my territory, and also perhaps a warning to all the bugs to beware, I am hungry. Click on the link the hear what a kookaburra sound like. You've probably never head a bird like this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0Op4PZzwwU

The black veil of night is slowly lifting. As if from a giant spray can the  dull grey light of dawn is settling down on the land. It is very still, there is no movement in the air. It is still quite warm. I turn on the radio to see what the temperature is only to find that daylight saving started in New South Wales last night and they are ahead of Queensland by an hour. For the next six months, if you live on the New South Wales and Queensland border, you will do battle with living in two time zones.

From the side of my bed I can see my desk, laptop open, dictionaries at the ready, and a document tray overflowing with projects in hand. The contents of this tray are supposed to reduce in size, but is getting larger by the day. Behind the desk is a large ranch slider that faces west and looks out into the front garden. There is a large concrete veranda outside the door. The house we are currently house sitting was built in 1973, Spanish style, with orange plastered exterior walls and three large archways that  lead from the veranda to the lawn.

I can see the camellia tree and on the other side of the lawn, maybe 4 or 5 meters away, a tall hedge of some native plant with red pompom flowers here and there. The mango tree in full flower is now visible. On the other side of this hedge the orange and purple bougainvillea flowers are cascading down.

I can see the trunks of many trees, one in particular is a gum about 40 or 50 feet high, its sparse canopy way up out of sight, its pale sandy colored trunk is emerging out of the gloom. A half moon is up there, slowly losing the battle of supremacy over the night sky. There is no doubt who will be the winner; the moon has never been able to outshine the sun.

A few birds are lifting their heads from under their wings and stirring. I can hear a ‘whoop whoop’ but I don’t know which bird that is. There is a repetitive tweet tweet from a few mynahs. Some other bird has started chirping, slowly at first then gradually winding up as if he has taken lessons from the propeller of a wind-up aeroplane.

The natural shape of the land around here is sort of saucer shaped. Not far away, in the  hollow where the cup would sit, there is a small lake. I can hear the geese from this lake honking their morning greetings to the world.

As I write, the air is taking on a pink hue, the sun must be lifting its head up over the hill to the east, letting the glow suffuse the air. It’s going to be another fabulous clear day, no clouds to be seen.

I can hear the pied butcher birds distinctive call, and yes, here it comes, the easily recognizable screeching from some rainbow lorikeets.

Pied butcher bird. en.wikipedia.org.

 The rainbow lorikeets are the noisiest bossiest birds around here. This link will give you some noisy lorikeets feeding. They are beautiful birds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtSCv--pRho

 In the distance I hear the screech of a sulphur crested cockatoo.For a picture of a cockatoo go back a few posts to the one about birds in our garden. A galah has just flown in, landed on the grass, stretching his wings and looking for some breakfast.

Galah. These birds fly free all around Australia. Below you can see his beautiful colouring under the wings.

en.wikipedia.org 

      australianmuseum.net.au

The sun has just risen over the hill, enough for its light to fall on the tree tops over the other side of the ‘saucer’. The sky is now the palest light blue tinged with gold. Having got this dawn snapshot onto paper I will go back to bed and see if I can snatch a few more minutes sleep.

Once the sun is properly up the front lawn is like this below.  I call this the front lawn because it is a flat area around the house itself. On the other side of this hedge and trees is another large grassy sloping area down to the road, but it is not visible from my room.

It is now seven bells and all’s well.

http://suite101.com/article/ship-watches-and-bells-a21555