Woodman, woodsman spare that ...

.. Thistle!

For the title of this post I have adapted a phrase which I have known of for years, apparently from a poem by George Pope Morris, to cover a bit of work around the block.  The rationale for this will become apparent below.

This Spring-Summer has been notable for an astonishing growth of thistles of various species around the area.  I noticed one clump as we started on our dog walk.  I took the kwanja (bent panga) in hand and went down to deal with them.  When face to thorn near them ...
...  I wondered if it would not have been better to take my chainsaw.  They were BIG!!  (I was reminded of the genus Lobelia, which I know of as a prostrate bedding plant used in hanging baskets, but also includes the Giant Lobelias - up to 3m high - on the mountains of East Africa.)  Hence the title.

However the kwanja was up to the job, and despite not wearing full body armour I was not damaged.

As well as these monsters a few Saffron Thistles were also spotted, and received similar treatment.
Other than the size of the mega-thistles the surprising thing noted was that the waterhole/billabong nearby in Whiskers Creek was still well-endowed with water, despite no worthwhile rain for 2 weeks and maximum temperatures over 30oC for most of the past month.

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