Nature Friday

The 'widow-maker'

We have lots of gum trees at the river.

They're known as widow-makers

because they will suddenly and for no apparent

reason, drop a huge branch.

The track is littered with them.

They don't need storms or wind.

In drought, they sometimes 'sacrifice' branches

to use the water they can get to stay alive.

 Every time we go, there are new branches on the ground.

 They leave huge scars on the trees.

 And huge branch-messes on the ground.

 

This tree is a popular parking spot...and even camping spot.

But yesterday, it decided it needed to shed a branch.

You can understand where they got the name Widow-makers

as they have fallen on unsuspecting people.

(31°C/88.52°F) at 5:30 a.m. heading towards

43°C/109.4°F today...

that's for you cold people.  Your time will come.

Wonder what Paunxsutawny Phil will say on Sunday.

Mischief Monday....

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday--repeat!

Roxy's wonky foot is a birth defect, exaggerated here, and doesn't bother her.

'Nuff said!

That's what SHE says, but in our defence:

Friday was a 3 cat morning

Saturday was a 6 cat morning

Sunday was a 4 cat morning

The fierce barking dogs were up early

there were lots of annoying birds (sorry Kismet)

People with or without dogs walking by our house

and the people behind us had a party.

AND

She shouldn't have two cappuccinos before our 

Early Morning Walk when we want take our time to check out all the new scents!!!!

26 January

AUSTRALIA   DAY!

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -

The wide brown land for me!

Most famous stanza from 'My Country' by

Dorothea Mackeller early 1900s

Australia before unprecedented droughts, heat,  late monsoon season and

unseasonably devastating bushfires.

And a more light-hearted look at 'Straya' as we celebrate:  barbecues, water activities and 

Citizenship Ceremonies welcoming new Australians.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMdbVHPmCW0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMdbVHPmCW0

W T Friday......

Yesterday's post--Roxy rollin'--was the first time Roxy has rolled since last November--and there was no smelly stuff.

She has been out-of-sorts since the end of November.

Walking slowly...not jumping...or being Roxy.

When manipulated, or pressed along the spine, legs and feet there was no flinching or reaction.  

So we've just let her decide what to do.

Recently, she has perked up and is walking faster,

occasionally running, chewing sticks, jumping on the couch and intimidating Bella.  Getting back to her usual self.

So the rolling was noteworthy.

SHE calls that Roxy's 'Pompeii cast dog' pose.

Wordless Wednesday

Dui got mail....

Rakes

His other 'rakes' have mysteriously disappeared.

He is not impressed.

Stormy weather...

We had a storm last night....more like a squall.  

Very windy, thunder, lightning and a little bit of rain (2.2mm).

But mostly we got DUST:

We found many branches down on our Early Morning Walk.

And one up-rooted tree.

Dui 'christened' all of them.

Madpie!

Madpie, no it isn't a typo.  It's a combination of Mad and Magpie.

The magpies are back--a family of 2 adults and 2 young.

They disappeared for months after having to throw out

beef mince that was smelling up the fridge!

But they're back now.

However, there are new rules.  They get fed once in the afternoons.  As we are allowed to water the gardens for a total of 30 minutes on Wednesdays and Sundays, the ground should be soft enough for them to find their own food!

They usually hang out in the front garden in hope of food 

most of the day.

And we do mean 'hang out' in the case of one of the young.

Because the junk mail deliverers seem unable to read the

'No junk mail' stickers on the letterbox, the paper cylinder has been taped up.  Over time, some of the tape has come loose and

hangs down.

One of the young magpies finds this a great way to

'hang out' until dinnertime.

So we call him the Madpie.

Have a great weekend.

Disappointed but Hopeful Thankful Thursday...

 This was the forecast for the week:

Look at all that rain predicted.

We didn't get any rain on Wednesday, and only 3.2 mm 

overnight (Thursday). Friday and Saturday are revised.

Though thankful for that little bit of rain,

we're disappointed that we didn't even get puddles.

Still, there's always Sunday and Monday....

(at least the temps are low at the moment)

Watching...Wednesday

 Front and back gardens....covered.

Bella

Dui and Roxy

Mischief Monday

What could cause more mischief than a C.A.T?!

 Blakeney (The Orange Pimpernel)  INSIDE OUR GATE!
Right outside our sliding door.

 Don't worry, he didn't stay around for very long.

 We seek him here

 We seek him there

We terriers seek him everywhere
Is he in heaven, is he in hell...

That damned elusive Pimpernel!

Good Dogs

Bacon Rind

equals three good dogs.

Feline Friday

 It's Sibling...

 sleeping under our front Oleander bush....

and when we barked,

she opened her eyes.

 But when Roxy ran outside to bark at her,

she just turned her back to us

and went back to sleep!!

Wallaby Wednesday...

These are the prints of a pesky wallaby that took off, then stopped to look at Dui, who

was screaming and lunging (luckily, he had been put on the lead)  Then  just hopped away.

As if that wasn't bad enough, we came home to find Ghost Kitty in our front garden!

Dui was in the car and could only scream and aroooo..

He had a bad start to the day.

Thank you, thank you

We're sure it was all your good thoughts, prayers, wishes and maybe a rain dance or two.

But look, we've got puddles!!!!

Yes!  We had rain last night!

15.6 mm worth.

We weren't impressed with the thunder and lightning 

that came with it.

But we're happy about the water!

Dui taste tested every puddle.

It was a localised storm, so not many towns and farms around us

got rain, but WE DID.

It has settled the dust.

So thank you for your kind thoughts.

Monday Morning

We had a reprieve this morning--coolish temperatures.

And wind, which brought more dust during the night.

You can see where the extension cord was:

We went for our 5:30 a.m. walk, then went to Tracker Riley Track

for our second walk.

We haven't been there in months!

It was a long walk because we had so much to sniff and had to stop and sit every time someone walked past, 

or there was a cyclist.

We saw these cockies and an ibis enjoying breakfast.

Some one had chalked this sign on the path.

We did walk a long way along the river.

These roos stopped to watch us.  

Then 4 more, bounded across in front of us

too fast for the camera.

(We couldn't chase them, either)

On the way home SHE bought a morning bun....just for HERSELF!

But we did get a treat when we got home.

Birdie Friday

Some pictures from our morning run at the Police Paddock.

Cockies enjoying burrs for breakfast.

Bella and Dui

Dui's back legs look bare because he keeps getting

 burrs tangled in them, 

so they've been trimmed.

A steer enjoying his breakfast. Dui tried to have a staring competition but the steer was too hungry.

The cows and calves were in the next paddock

nearly invisible in the tall weeds.

These cockies were in the tree next door to our house. 

 Also, eating breakfast.

Little Willy Wagtail tries to chase Roxy away
when we get too close to his nest.

We're in for a hot weekend--but no fires near us thankfully,
hope you have a wonderful weekend.

2020

Startin' the year out right!

This morning we had our 5:30 a.m. walk,

our Good Dog treats

then went to the Police Paddock

for a run.

We haven't been there for 3 weeks, so there

was lots of sniffing.

 You can see how dry it is.

No cows in the paddock,

so Dui was able to be off-lead most of the time.

(Only exception when a jogger ran past--twice.)

 Though early, about 7:30, it was  heating up.

So we went home to have our Dental Sticks, 

check out the area for CATS

and settle in for the day.

Forecast: 44°C/111.2°F