LANTANA

Do you remember this post where I wrote about the pesky plant Morning Glory ?

 

 

A pretty but invasive introduced plant here in Australia, but one I've seen in plant nurseries in England.

Well here's another one.

It's called Lantana and was introduced to Australia as an ornamental plant. It comes from  the tropical and sub-tropical regions of Central and South America.

 

Its first recording was in 1841  but it quickly escaped the colonial gardens and thrived under the favourable tropical, sub-tropical and temperate conditions of eastern Australia.



Pretty isn't it?
 The flowers are small and many, and it comes in several different colours.
It is flowering a lot at the moment in my area, an outer suburb with lots of open paddocks for horses and also plenty of areas of bush.

Lantana is one of Australia’s most debilitating invasive weeds.

It currently infests more than four million hectares of land across Australia, mainly in areas east of the Great Dividing Range in NSW and Queensland.

 

Lantana grows up to four metres high and often forms dense thickets.
Flesh of the plant produces a strong, aromatic odour when crushed.

 

In our family we call this BO ... Bush Odour

and it fills the air with its distinctive smell as you drive through heavily infested areas of Australian bush.
 

Lantana is a dry, scratchy, unattractive plant with square-shaped stems and short, curved and hooked prickles.

 

It is a very versatile plant preferring rich moist soils but able to survive prolonged dry periods.

It will tolerate poor soils and sand and will grow on stony hillsides as long as moisture is available.

 

In other words perfect for the east coast of Australia where it quickly invades areas that have been thinned or cleared for grazing and takes over preventing the growth of pasture grasses. 

 

 

But this is not its only bad feature.

 

All forms of lantana are toxic  to stock, and of all the colours the red-flowered forms are the most dangerous. Poisoning of stock due lantana can be quite substantial particularly in times of drought when there is little grass for the cattle to eat.

 

Horse owners always check their paddocks to keep them clear of lantana as death from lantana poisoning is slow and painful , usually occurring 1-4 weeks after the appearance of symptoms like constipation, frequent urination and jaundice.

 

Death is due mainly to liver insufficiency, kidney failure and, in some animals, myocardial damage and internal paralysis. 

( I've been doing some research !!! All I knew was that it was poisonous !)

Worse still this devil of a plant is very difficult to kill.
 Even bushfires don't kill it off
 and it regrows quickly from the base of the burnt off plant while the bush around it is slower to recover allowing it to get a bigger hold than ever.
  

There is a variety - low growing and spreading but not  invasive which is cultivated for people's gardens.




It has very pretty yellow or purple flowers which densely cover the plant giving a very pretty show



but you won't find it in the garden of anyone with any connection to farming the land !!

Cheers.
(all photos today from the Internet )

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/11/12/3631060.htm

WHAT'S HAPPENING ?

What's going on ?

 

What's happening at my place?

 

1. Disaster averted !

 

I have been unable to get into my blogs!

Yes blogs, I have four on the go:

 

Helsie's Happenings

Helsie's Travels

Budget Baby Boomers' Travel Tips - abandoned but left sitting there

and Awesome Activities at Moggill - a CWA blog

 

Recently I have been unable to get into any of them.

When I signed in and clicked on Design to enter them I was faced with a blank page.

Nothing, just a white page with nothing on it!!

 

I tried my usual solution - rebooting the computer - no different.

 

I tried using another browser - no different.

 

I went away and came back the next day. Same thing.

 

I asked Tony .  No progress.

 

Finally, in desperation I asked two blogging buddies for help, the first step on going from blog to blog and putting the same comment on all of your blogs asking for help from any tech savvy bloggers out there.

 

Both of them set to work to find a solution for me and while Carol ( in Cairns ) was at work Sandy ( Tea Cup Lane ) found the solution for me !

 

Tony cleared my Cache and History and boom I'm back in business !

 

That's what I love about the world of Blogging.

When you have a problem your pals are always there to help you through.

 

Heartfelt thanks Sandy and Carol

 

2. Cooking

 

Recently there has not been much good stuff happening in my kitchen.

Tony and I have been dieting !!

Trying to get some weight off before our trip.

We both need it.

I need it more !

So we've been eating salads - easy enough in this weather - and not much else!

Needless to say Tony has lost twice as much as me !!!

 

BUT !

I've been seeing people making bread out there in the blogging world.

 

Artisan, no-knead bread

in particular

( on this blog and this one )

 

and I just had to have a go.

 

WOW ! Just look at this !!!

 

 

Yes, it is as easy as they say !

 

and when you slice it ......

 

 

 

Lovely holey, bread with a chewy crust.

 

I'll be making it again !

 

3. A Visitor

 

 

Yes, Scout has come to stay for a month while Sally is on holidays.

She ( Sally ) is spending two weeks in New York and 2 weeks in Whistler skiing.

 

Scout 's making herself at home.

 

 

Too much at home sometimes!

Not allowed on the new chairs Scout !!

 

Scout's habit of early rising is taking its toll on Tony.

 

 

 

4. Another disaster !

 

Sally's bathroom renovation has been a disaster.

 

Incredibly poor workmanship and $9000 down the drain so Dad and cousin Ben to the rescue.

 

They are jackhammering it all up while she is on holiday and organising and supervising the repair.

 

5. Exercise !!!

In an effort to help with the weight loss drama I am now swimming 1000metres - 20 lengths  -one kilometre - twice a week at the local pool.

As the pool will be closing in three weeks time for the Winter this will not continue but then it might be cool enough to do a little walking in the evenings with Scout.

 

Suffice to say exercise and I are not friends !!!

 

and now finally the most exciting of all

 

6. An Engagement !

 

 

These two special people

my handsome son Brett ( do you think he looks a bit like Bear Grills ???) and his lovely girlfriend and partner for about 6 years, Sarah

have finally decided to get married later in the year.

We are so happy for them and delighted to have Sarah an official member of the family.

 

So that's what been happening here !

 

Cheers. 

IN MY SPARE TIME ........

 

In my spare time,

while I'm watching TV,

I've been busy using up scraps of  wool  yarn to make granny squares.

 

 

All following the same

2 rows, 2 rows, 1 row

pattern.

 

A perfect size to work on in this heat.

 

I've collected all these scraps from the Moggill CWA ladies who are busy knitting rugs, scarves and toys to donate to their many causes.

 

Random, contrasting colours

 

that create quite a pretty effect.

 

My pile has grown to about 70 four inch squares.

 

Add these to the other 30 crocheted by another member and we have enough for a good sized knee rug for the elderly people in our local Nursing Home

 and being so multi-coloured it will please the men who don't like the pretty, girly ones !

 

Cheers.

A DAY AT THE BEACH WITH SCOUT

Do you remember Scout?

 

 

She lives with Sally and now she's all grown up.

 

Scout's favourite place in the whole world is

the beach.

 

Where she lives on Queensland's beautiful Gold Coast there are special beaches that are set aside for people and their dogs.

 

Recently we spent some time with them on the beach.

Scout's favourite game is to catch the Frisbee.

 



She fixes the Frisbee with a Border Collie stare,

gets ready

 



 

and she's off !

 

 

She's good ! Catching them in mid-air

 

on the fly !

The Frisbee gets covered in sand.

 

Scout gets covered in sand too !

 

Back and forth, back and forth.

 She tears up and down the beach with her precious Frisbee.

Sometimes other dogs want to join in .....

 

  but she never surrenders that Frisbee

 

and when Sally throws it into the water

 



 

she just charges in after it !

 

She's a great swimmer.

 



 

Doesn't mind putting her head under water

 

and often Sally joins her for a swim.

We played for over an hour until she was completely worn out.



 

  Then we sat on the sand and watched what the other dogs were doing for fun.

 

 

 

 

 Doggie Heaven !

 

Cheers.

 



SOME QUILTING PROGRESS

I'm finally making some progress on my disappearing 9 patch quilt.

 

I've sewn a large number of 9 patches and cut them in half both ways

 

 

 

and now I putting them together in a random fashion.

Each finished " square" will be about 5 inches - and I do mean about !!!

 

I have placed them all out on the bed to mix them around until I get the arrangement right.

 



 

Then I photograph them so I can check to see if all is OK.

 

In this way the glaring mistakes show up

 

- like the bit at the bottom where there is too much yellow together -

 

and I can make sure that the dark and light, bright and pale are evenly distributed.



I'll leave it there for a few days now walking past it often while I check it out, moving blocks around a bit till I think it is right..

 

Don't know whether or not I like it yet.

I wanted random but is this too random ?

I don't know.

 

Don't know about that geometric fabric among all the florals either.

 

But I do know that my back is aching from all that bending so I'll leave it now for a while.

 

~~

On another matter I've been trying to snap these dear little birds for a while now.

 

 

 

They are Fairy Wrens - in fact Blue Wrens as far as I can tell from my bird book though the females look a bit different from the illustrations in the book.

We have quite a colony of them frequenting our front and back yards.

Quite common in the south but not seen any further north than Brisbane apparently.

 

They are very quick and very difficult to photograph.

 

There seems to be one male - the pretty blue one - and quite a harem of plain brown ladies for each family group.

 

I think they are insect eaters and they seem to like the cover offered by our hedge type plants and their high pitched trilling is a nice change from the loud squawking of the Lorikeets.

 

Cheers.

 

 



SOCIAL PRESSURES

Back in the old days when I was young, the drinking age here was 21.
That meant that you couldn't go into a hotel bar area unless you were over 21.

They weren't the sort of places nice girls frequented anyhow as women were only allowed in what was called "Lounge Bars ".
None of that really bothered me as I didn't drink alcohol - the reason being that I didn't like the taste, not from any anti-alcohol principles.

At home my parents liked an occasional alcoholic beverage and Dad, at 92, still downs his two stubbies of beer every night before dinner.

Throughout those younger years I continued to pass when offered alcohol and when I met Tony he also didn't like alcoholic drinks ( I'm sure there was the odd trial episode - perhaps to excess- in his past !)

BUT,

it wasn't easy !

The pressure to conform was huge.
An Aussie man,
a football player
who didn't like a beer ????

An Aussie woman who didn't like a wine or a shandy - was I some sort of pious wowser ?

We were just NOT COOL !!

We almost felt apologetic as we turned down an alcoholic drink and asked for a soft drink option.

Over the last 15 to 20 years we have slowly developed a taste for wine and now enjoy a red or white in social situations so we fit in much better  but left alone at home it's usually a Diet Coke that is our drink of choice - a dash of Bacardi is often added to Tony's but I prefer mine straight !

These days the drinking age is 18 with many young people drinking to excess on a regular basis, often well under the drinking age.
Peer Pressure seems to be stronger these days - in fact everything seems to be more these days !

So now we have a huge problem with binge drinking and the anti-social problems that spin off from that.
Young men in drunken brawls on our streets are a regular event every weekend with some horrific  results where a young life is ended and another ruined.

Young women staggering down the late night streets as they try to find their way home.

What I don't understand is how the young people can afford to PAY for the huge amounts of alcohol that they consume on a weekly basis. Buying drinks at nightclubs is hugely expensive and to get to the inebriated states they attain must cost a fortune.

The need to fit in seems to get stronger and stronger and these days that seems to mean you need to go out and get drunk every weekend.

It should not be the government's responsibility to step in once again and become the NANNY to try to minimise this anti-social, social problem that seems to stem from social pressure !!!

Rant ended !

Cheers.

A FAVOURITE AUTHOR - PHILIPPA GREGORY

 

I'm a lover of books.

 

I like nothing better than to settle back and lose myself in a good book

 

but these days that rarely means sitting down in the daytime for a read.

 

These days  most of my reading is done

before the light goes out,

in bed,

 at night.

 

Sometimes that means I have a very late night if the book is good

and even when I catch myself nodding off I shake myself awake and think " just one more chapter "

 

( No wonder I like books that have short chapters !!)

 

It can also mean that a bit of re-reading takes place the next night !!

 

In the last year or so I have slowly been introduced to the historical fiction of Philippa Gregory and I have become quite a fan.

The first one I read was The Constant Princess and I loved it.

 

I know they are works of fiction but the historical background is wonderful and it has taught me a lot about that period of history when Henry VIII ruled England.

 

Not long after reading it we visited Ludlow Castle

 

 

 

 

 

 and while visiting the nearby church looked down where Tony was standing to find it was on top of where Prince Arthur's heart is buried!

 

 

 

  Since then I have read The Other Boleyn Girl ( and seen the film !!)

 

Next I started on the series about the Wars of the Roses. ( or the Cousins' Wars as she calls them ).

 

I've read

 

 The White Queen

and 

 

The Lady of the Rivers

 

and I'm just about to begin

 

The Red Queen.

 

Not only have these books given me hours of reading pleasure but they have helped me sort out a turbulent, confusing time in English history.

 

 

PS.

Today is
Australia Day

I've written about it before here

so I'll just sign off by saying

Happy Australia Day

If you're an Aussie anywhere in the world

I hope you're celebrating by having
a BBQ,

a picnic on the beach 

or roast lamb

 

with friends and family

 

followed by a lamington or two.