Passionfruit A-Plenty

Found these growing on my back fence this morning. Got told it was worth blogging about....

Beware All Chickenhawks!!

This is what happens if you are a Chickenhawk and decide to come and steal one of Dad's chooks.....

So....

If you are one of these:



And you try to take one of these:



This is what happens to you when you are stopped:



You have been warned!

:-)

Dear Sir.....to whom it may concern....

This is an open letter to the God of Rain.....

Please - PLEASE - Bugger off!

I've had more than enough rain to last me a lifetime, and seriously could do with a month or so break from the torrential downpours you have been sending my way of late.

And yes - I DID see the flood down the back today!

Please make it go away before it washes me, my dog, my cats and all my possessions away.

With kind regards,

One very annoyed (and decidedly WET) resident of Queensland.

Happy Easter and all that...

Yep, it's Easter again.

Somewhere about I have a story I wrote (with an Aussie twist) just for Easter a year or so ago. One of these days I might just find it again, and publish it....or not.

Now....Ceramix has asked me to do the "Are you Right Brained or Left Brained?" quiz thing from his blog, so I have, and here are the results (no surprise, really):

You Are 20% Left Brained, 80% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

If you want the link for the site it comes from, go to Ceramix's blog because he's got it on there!

I Made This!

Dam-per, (n):
Australian - a round, flat cake made of flour and water, and cooked over a campfire.

Obviously I didn't have a handy campfire around on which to cook this (which is done in the ashes, rather than on the fire itself), but it still came out a treat. Also, I am ashamed to say, I had no "cocky's joy" handy with which to spread it, either, but butter works just fine, so long as you don't forget the billy tea!

Either way, it is decidedly tasty, and made a very yummy lunch (only had a small wedge, meaning I have more left for dinner - yum!). I have a feeling, though, thst this is yet another Aussie thing that is likely to be unpalatable to the rest of the world, given I found one definition of it that described it as an "inedible lump of floury dough". Obviously not made by an Aussie, then! :)

NB: "Cocky's Joy" is what Golden Syrup is called in the Bush - NOT Maple Syrup - GOLDEN Syrup.

Things...

This is Petrie Train Station. I ended up here today, through no fault of my own. I went to Caboolture to do my shopping, as Morayfield shops (where I normally go) was flooded in from yesterday's downpour and I couldn't get through. Anyway...having done my shopping, and taken a chance to go to the library quickly, I went back to the train station to come home - not very far by train. The machine at the top of the stairwell told me that the train on Platform two, which was due to leave in less than one minute, was a Brisbane City All Stations train, meaning IT IS SUPPOSED TO STOP AT ALL STATIONS. Grrr. Bloody thing didn't, of course. So I had to wait until it DID stop, which turned out to be Petrie. Nowhere near where I live - in a totally different Shire even (though we don't call them Shires anymore).

When I got there, I ended up on the platform you can see in the photos. What you can't see is that the nice pretty stairwell with the elevator shaft and the sign that says Petrie (look at the top pic) is damn near invisible if you get off on the wrong side of it (the elevator, that is) and the stairwell is still being built.

Last year, a goods train plowed into Petrie Station, taking out one of the overhead walkways, half a platform, and most of the lines going in both directions. They've been rebuilding ever since. I was lucky enough to find a very nice young bloke who worked for Queensland Rail. After I explained my situation, and asked him where I needed to be and how to get there, he was more than willing to walk me to where the elevator was, and even told me when the next train going my way was due to arrive. Good Old QR! :-)

This station, before its little "accident" with the Goods Train, was very similar to Buranda Station before the fire of last Sunday. Although, I think the building at Petrie is probably older. You can see the little seating area fenced off in the last picture. All up and down the Sunshine Coast, the train stations look like that. Old and quaint. The side I had to change to is all new though now. None of the old buildings remain on the northbound side. Shame.

Either way, it made an interesting detour in an otherwise seriously stressy day....

:(