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Dear Mr Swan

Did you do as KRudd suggested and contacted your local member? I had only planned to write a few sentences asking my local member to listen to what the electorate wants and not what he/the ALP wants but it went for a bit more than a few sentences.

You may not agree with the actions of Kevin, or the actions of Julia or the actions of the ALP as a whole but there is two things that the federal politicians need to do and that is 1) stop acting like a bunch of bitchy year 9 girls and 2) start actually listening to what the Australian public says and wants.

I ended up writing close to 1000 words to my local member with my responses and ideas on the above two points. My local member is someone who used to be colloquially known as Swanny round these parts but after his this last week he has lost the nickname, he is simply Mr Wayne Swan now.

I made comments about why I’ve voted for him since I was old enough to vote, why I’m glad that my father is dead and hasn’t had to observe the mess of the last week and to a certain extent the last 20 odd months (he used to be at QIT with Mr Swan and spoke with regard for him, pretty sure his ashes are rolling over in their grave right about now), about honesty and the fact that no one is perfect so stop acting like some people are and others are not. As well as a few other points about the whole idea of acting for the entire Australian public and not just a small minority.

One sentence though I do want to share with you is the following.

To put it frankly “the light on the hill” is blinking like a fluro that needs the starter replaced and if you, your parliamentary colleagues and the wheels of the ALP don’t start listening to the voice of the Australian public today, “the light on the hill” will be knocked down and replaced with a glowing effigy of John Howard.

That’s probably my favourite sentence in my letter to Mr Swan. “The light on the hill”, that speech by Chifley was a great speech, full of ideas and the like and it’s given us a lovely little phrase to use about the ALP in relation to the Australian worker/public ever since.

I would like to think that irrespective of what happens tomorrow that come Tuesday they will be back to running the country and acting as a unified party but somehow I just can’t see that happening with ease.

In the next few days we will return our normal programming which consists of photographs, food and treasures of my life.

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Dinner

Because tonight is the one night of the year pancakes are a totally acceptable dinner. Mmm pancakes! or pönnukökur to be more correct, since the only type of pancakes this house knows is Icelandic pancakes (well and also the Ayrshire pancakes that my maternal grandmother used to make).

There is only three types of toppings pancakes in our family can have and that is red jam (any berry or rhubarb jam) with cream, golden syrup with cream or brown sugar, lemon juice and cream. Yep cream is just as important as pancakes when it comes to pancakes!

This picture though, tells a lot more than just that I had pancakes for dinner but it about the Icelandic pancake pans that Karl brought over with him for my Christmas present in 2008, Grandmum’s narrow metal flip, the paper towel holder that Grandad made and of course a Lotte plate…

Here is hoping that you too enjoyed pancakes at some stage tomorrow and I’m looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow 🙂

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now to decide if I should grow a tea bush or get a house cow

because then my breakfast would be entirely home made.

This was my breakfast this morning. Home made bread and home made apricot jam with a cup of tea and the magazine from the weekend Australian.

This is the Helen size loaf of bread before I cut into it

Oh it is so very nice and I achieved a very nice translucent crumb which is the goal with slow rise breads.

Did you see the table?

It started off life with me looking like this.

 

A thorough sanding, a dose of deck clean, some garden furniture oil, another sand then then two more coats of garden furniture oil and it looks like this now. Yes, those are casalas, I searched high and low for outdoor chairs I liked but in the end casalas won me over. Oh so comfy

One day I’ll get round to stripping and painting the legs but that doesn’t need doing just yet.

Also I went to my first auction on Tuesday night and I bid on one item all night and I won it, it was a touch scary. When I arrived I did a quick case of what else was on show then had a quick look at the Countess before sitting down in a position where I could see if anyone else was looking at it … The bidding was between me and one other lady. Oh hello Royal Doulton Countess, I do love  you so. I finally have bowls (and cups and more plates). I’m really quite happy about this win because I got it for a very good price and it means I don’t have to find a seller on UK Ebay who is happy to send bowls internationally.  I may be known for my love of Figgjo Flint Lotte but I share that love equally with Royal Doulton Countess.

Now though, I must fold the washing and get ready for a short work week since Karl and Kata arrive early Thursday morning 😀

 

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The Tawny Frogmouths return so I blog again

The birds reappeared in the Silky Oak this morning. I woke up, looked out the window and there they were; preening their feathers in the early morning light. As per usual it has been about a week since they were last in the garden.

What else have I been up to since then?

Making use of one of my Christmas presents – a jam funnel, thanks Mum!

Using the above leads to this. Mulberry Jam, yummo.

Stocking up on mangoes, then slicing and freezing so there will be golden mango goodness way past the mango season. A whole tray of mangoes for $8 <– that’s my kind of bargain.

Look at all those bags of goodness.

After a few years of umming and ahhing over different digital radios, I finally picked one up. A Pure Elan II, whilst I dearly loved the Orla Kieley and the look of the other Mio radios they didn’t offer a pause feature. If I was getting a new kitchen radio I wanted to be able to press pause and come back to the radio when I’m off the phone/finished shooing away the sales person/bible promoter at the door etc.

I’m loving it, it’s great having ABC Jazz in the kitchen without either having to have the TV on or having my laptop on the kitchen table.

The house currently looks like a cross between a bomb site and a warehouse as Mum packs up as the ticker counts downs the days till she departs, we are almost in the single digits!

I leave you with this.

That’s my attempt at making a Mango Juice Bali style -> mango, ice, sugar syrup. Blend it together and drink up the sweetness.

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Well it seems that I can speak to the trees

Guess who was back in the yard today?

Yep, it seems my request to the trees for the Tawny Frogmouths to return worked. I went out to garden this morning before work and did my usual scan of the trees and there they were. Perched in the Silky Oak, just hanging out. Even better, they were still there when I got home, there is hope it seems that they will hang out in the back yard for some time to come.

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The birds in our yard

We have many birds in our yard but on Christmas day there were two special birds in the yard.  This feather tells all. Do you know what bird this feather comes from?

 

It’s not from these birds (Trichoglossus haematodus or Rainbow Lorikeet)

and it’s not from these birds either ( Cacatua roseicapilla or Galah)

nor is it from this bird (Egretta novaehollandiae or White-faced Heron)

It’s not from my magpies either (Gymnorhina tibicen), the magpies (and the butcher birds) are something I’m going to dearly miss with my upcoming move from the balcony suite to the master wing, no more will the magpies on the washing line be the first thing I see and hear in the morning.

It’s not from the crested pigeons (Ocyphaps lophotes) either

 

nor is it the Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus) who sometimes comes to visit and it is most definitely not from the Blue-faced Honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis), it is also most definitely not from the  Noisy Miners (Manorina melanocephala) who think they rule the roost in the front yard.

The feather comes from the birds known as Podargus strigoides, which bird is that you ask? Why it is this delightful creature.

Yes, that is a Tawny Frogmouth, well not just one but two! The above photo was taken on Christmas Day, we were patching some holes in the tent before my departure for Woodford the following morning when I looked up and saw these fellas in the tree. The one at the front of the above photo is a juvenile whilst the mature one is in the background. Mother and I were quite tickled pink at seeing these birds in our yard, if Pabbi was still alive he would have been tickled pink to see these as well, he adored taking photos of the birds in the back yard. On that note I’m sure Grandad would have been chuffed as well knowing we had Tawny Frogmouths in the the yard as well.

The parent bird is watching us.

 

We weren’t sure how long they would stay in the yard so imagine my delight when I came home from Woodford and saw this face in the Silky Oak. It’s the juvenile! Hello you Tawny Frogmouth.

Oh hello Tawny Frogmouth!

 

Sadly though, I’ve not seen them in our yard in the last week, each day I scour the trees hoping that at least one of them has returned. I do so hope they make an appearance when my brother Karl and his partner Kata come to visit in February. I am so dearly looking forward to not only finally meeting Kata (she was unfortunately in Russia when we were in Iceland last year in 2010, we met one of her sisters though!) but also to having Karl “home” for a little while. Whilst Kata is going to see sooo many things on their seven week jaunt to Australia as Karl shows they lady who has his heart Australia the country in which he was raised it would just be quite something special if there was Tawny Frogmouths in the backyard when they arrived. I’ll just have to talk to the trees and see what they can arrange.

I remember the first time I saw a Tawny Frogmouth, were were on a pre-school excursion to Coochiemudlo Island and there was one perched in the rafters of one of the toilet blocks. We were ushered in ever so quietly by our teacher to look at it.

Well that is the story of some of the birds who like to hang out in the back yard. Their stories are not quite as adventuerous or humerous as the blue tounge lizard clan that resides over at MMMC but I wouldn’t trade my birds for all the world.