Autumn events on ANZAC Day

I slept in too late (ie past 4:30) to go into the ANZAC Day dawn service this morning but have reflected a bit on matters ANZAC at various times during the day.  One (I suspect little known) fact about the ANZAC/Gallipoli memorials in Canberra is the positioning of the Ataturk memorial at the head of ANZAC Parade, directly opposite the War Memorial.  The inscription on this memorial (vide the linked document) is very moving.

It is considered that ANZAC Day usually marks the start of Winter in Canberra (and it runs through to Remembrance Day - this duration explaining why Frances is keen to get outtahere for a spell during the period).  So we have nice Autumn leaves on our Pistachio tree and the Chrysanthemums are blooming nicely.

It also meant we got into various 'preparing for Winter' things such as pruning some of our shrubs;starting to pick apples and putting away the netting from the pear trees which have been clean picked.

The last-mentioned of those turned out to be quite exciting as I store the nets in our red shed.  This is also where I store the old straw from our potato mulching (some it I have used for 3 years) so is a good place to find the occasional rodent.  This is well known to the small dog and she is very excited to join me in the shed and snuffle around in the dark places therein.

Today a rat was injudicious enough to put in an appearance.  Knowing that Fox Terriers are amongst the top ratters I was interested to see what happened.  Bad news for the rat I'm afraid, but I was impressed with the speed and skill of the small dog, especially since the rat was the size of her head.  A photo exists but I felt it was a bit gruesome for this family-oriented blog!

Comments

Denis Wilson said…
Hi Martin
I always counted Anzac Day as the peak of the Autumn colour season in Canberra (when I lived there). My daughter told me that it is late, this year.
Re the Terrier doing what Terriers do best story, your reluctance to post an image is supported. Even I would draw the line there.
Enough to marvel at the speed of the kill.
Cheers
Denis
25 April 2010 at 20:29:00 GMT+10
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