Tuesday, December 28, 2010

THE AFTERMATH

Well, how are you all feeling today?

I don't know about you but I feel like I might explode at any minute.

The combination of Christmas food and rain means we've been mooching around the house

not doing anything much,

snacking on leftovers,

shortbread,

chocolates.

We've gone through about 5 kilos of ham on the bone ! ( not on our own ! )

AND WE LOOK LIKE IT !!

Yes, my face is as round as the little koala in my header !!

Things are gonna change

SOON !

Sunday, December 26, 2010

SANTA'S BOUNTY

Look what I scored for Christmas!
Isn't it lovely?
I don't have to go off and get a cup of tea while I'm waiting for a page to load anymore.
It's going to take me a while to sort out which files I want to bring over from the old computer
and learn how to use Windows 7 but that sounds like a fun thing to do.


I've been playing around ,
setting it up, burning back-up discs.

In the past I've used Outlook for my main email and am amazed to see it has disappeared and I now have Windows Mail as well as Gmail so I'm dealing with changes everywhere.
I know these changes are probably all good but you know I was very happy with the old email,
 comfortable with how it worked.
This is one of the downsides of computers for me.

I'm a bit of a creature of habit.
I like my old tools
I'm familiar with the feel of them ( I have an egg slice that I got when I was first married 38 years ago!)
I am fond of my furniture, don't like to part with it for new unless it's broken or worn out
and I feel a bit sad saying goodbye to the old car when we get a new one.

I guess you could say I don't like change -
I'm a bit of an old fossil myself!

Cheers. 

ps. YP. I don't have to dust the old one now just toss it !!!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS



No matter where you are

dodging  snow  or  rain  or the  hot, hot sun

I wish you a safe and enjoyable Christmas


and hope that the New Year brings you

joy

and  love

and  happiness.

Cheers.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

Our dam, Wivenhoe Dam, was constructed to prevent the disasterous flooding that we experienced in 1974 by controlling the flow of water down the Brisbane River.

That year , in very similar weather to that which we are presently experiencing, a major section of Brisbane was devestated by the flooding of the Brisbane River.



 For about a week at the end of January almost the entire area of Brisbane was without electricity as we were buffeted by huge rainfall caused by a closeby cyclone.
Huge barbeques were held in neighbourhoods where meat that couldn't be kept without refrigeration was cooked before it spoiled. The home owner who owned a gas BBQ was host as neighbours combined their food supplies, shared whatever they had and waited till the waters peaked.


Furniture was moved from house to house, higher and higher up the hill, as people pitched in and helped eachother as the water continued to rise and houses became submerged.
Then the water receeded leaving in its wake a trail of stinking mud and the cleanup began.


..........

Today, as the rain continues to fall and the water level in the dam continues to rise, the decision to open the flood gates for a controlled water release has created its own problems.



 Coupled with an unusually high tide the river broke its banks in the city today


flooding the walking path along the river 





It won't be long before we see some crazy youngster have a go at doing this in the floodwaters.


Playing around in floodwaters like this is a very dangerous thing to do.


Hope your weather is treating you kindly.
Cheers.


Monday, December 20, 2010

LOOKING AHEAD

These Aussie-style Christmas cards show what Christmas is usually like in Australia.


Blue skies,
families on holiday at the beach,
huge games of beach cricket,
everyone cooling off in the water.


We've had two days like this, this week.

BUT......

the clouds are rolling in again,
the forecasters are predicting more rain for Christmas Day and beyond.

Hope everyone gets board games from Santa !
( and perhaps a bottle of fake tan too )

Cheers.

PS. I'm very happy to have a rainy, cool Christmas Day.

AT THE MERCY OF THE WEATHER

No matter where we live we all are at the mercy of the weather aren't we?
Here , in Australia, it is Summertime and for most of us that means the rainy season.
The problem is, for 10 years we've not had a real rainy season. We've been drought stricken almost nationwide.
Our dams have been close to empty,
we've been limited to 3 minute showers,
we've let our gardens die through lack of water,
and farmers have watched crops fail when the rains didn't come and reduced their herds when there was no grass for them to eat.

Well I can confidently say the drought has broken.

Dams are overflowing.....


Roads are cut .....



Towns are flooded.



with businesses inundated...
and heartbreaking damage to homes.


Humans are not the only ones to have been displaced from their homes!

 
(It's called a yabbie!)
On the other side of the world you have snow, snow and more snow causing all sorts of problems.

But it's nearly Christmas so we're mopping up here and you are bunkering down over there.
Getting ready for a happy family time ( we hope !)


So here's to a cool Aussie Christmas


and a warm Northern Hemisphere Christmas


Cheers.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

FAVOURITE THINGS FRIDAY

I can't believe it's Friday again !
Of course you know on Friday we do FTF.
If you would like to join in just click on the button on my sidebar and off you go.

Today my favourite thing is ......

Thunder Storms !
Very topical after last night's storms.

I love it when I look up into the sky and see a sight like this.


After a hot day the clouds build up and soon the sun disappears and darkness descends 


Then come the fireworks


Nature putting on a show.


After years of drought we had a super storm last night .
By 1 o'clock in the afternoon it was dark enough for the street lights to come on.


the downpour was HUGE


and then the deafening chorus of the frogs started and the air was coooooool.


Of course everyone in our house doesn't love storms !

Cheers.

PS. All photos from the internet

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

QUEENSLAND PRIMARY SCHOOLS

In my travels overseas I am always interested to see local schools and I am often struck my the similarities and differences I observe to those back home.
As a lot of my blogland "friends" seem to be teachers or retired teachers I thought you might be interested to see what Primary schools are like in Queensland.
( If you think you will be bored by this topic it's time to go off and visit another blog NOW ! )
           ..............................................................................................................

Our Primary school students begin school with Prep the year they turn 5 and most children are 12 when they finish primary school at the end of year 7.

Most Queensland schools are made from timber and the older ones are often what we call "high set" meaning the classrooms are often upstairs with empty space underneath which is used for eating lunch, shade and wet weather play.




In some more modern schools these areas have been utilised for classrooms.




The most recent design is for sprawling low set designs


modules, joined by covered walkways 


often with flat rooves.



A very small number of older, usually inner city, schools look like this.



Inside I have observed classrooms look similar where ever you go,


with brightly coloured wall decoration and shelving, carpeted floors


and fans in place of heating. I'm very pleased to say that many schools now have air-conditioning.
I have very unpleasant memories of 36C temperatures and 28 hot eleven year olds crammed into their seats after lunch break. It doesn't matter how hot it is it seems children, boys especially, have to run around like lunatics in their playtime !!! ( sometimes the "perfume" from these hot bodies could knock you over when you enter a classroom !)




Furniture varies but is usually individual with a small storage drawer underneath each desk.



Outside is where the major differences become evident.

Our schools have large areas of outdoor, usually grassed, places to play.


These grassed areas usually comprise a large oval for football, cricket, softball, soccer


as well as all manner of athletic pursuits and treed areas for children to play all manner of games.

Trees are employed for shade






but shade covers are employed too.


Any sealed outdoor areas are used for all manner of purposes including basketball, netball and handball courts. 
  


Some schools have their own swimming pool.



Lunch is usually brought from home and eating time is supervised in a shady area.
Every school has a "tuckshop" manned by mothers on a voluntary basis where children usually order from a menu and have their order delivered to their classroom in a paper bag. Tuckshops are often only open once or twice a week.


Most children wear school uniforms to school.


and they are designed to be comfortable in the hot weather.


There are usually several options to choose from with polo type shirts and shorts being the most popular choice for both boys and girls.




Teachers clothing is varied but usually fairly casual with more "dressy" options sometimes seen in city schools.


Hats are a very important part of school uniforms


with a " no hat, no play" rule usually in place in all schools.





Sunglasses are beginning to make an appearance too.


So there you have it, sort of in a nutshell. Hope I haven't bored you to tears.

Cheers.

PS. I know that there are issues with publishing photos of children on the internet but as all of today's photos are all from school sites on the internet I figure they are already out there.