The House(s) of Fran_mart

It is traditional to see Gippsland Water Dragons around Whiskers Creek.  This one sat in the middle of the ford and allowed me to get out of the car to take its photo. It being yet another stinking hot day it was very traditional to find the cattle all lurking under a tree to keep cool.  On the edge of Bungendore it is now very traditional to see Plumed Whistling Ducks.  These two were in a very traditional upright pose.  The cattle here were cooling off standing in the water and giving a steely gaze in the direction of the ducks.  Perhaps the Shelduck was seen as non-traditional?  According to my references the Whistling Ducks only go into the water when threatened.  However at this site they have been known to enter when a cow takes a toilet break and apparently feed on the undigested grain.  Another break with tradition.  This next bit should be written with a thumbnail dipped in tar as it references one of the great Austral...

In the days of my youth I played Coarse Rugby in England.  A consequence of this was that I was occasionally forced to visit establishments which engaged in commerce, with particular reference to beer. As one of my team-mates (actually the vicar's son) said "You don't buy beer, you just rent it."  When visiting the return location (which in the case of a Watney House was possibly directly plumbed to the spigots) one was often regaled with witty ditties, many of which have been collected by the English broadcaster Nigel Rees .  One that has stuck in my mind was "A poets ambition must be small, to write his verse on an outhouse wall"  (or words to that effect). That reminiscence has been generated by a visit to the Glossodia site on our block today.  After looking at about 50 leaves I finally got my reward.  Two of the leaves in one area were accompanied by buds! To rephrase the admonitory doggerel above: A botanists life must be blighted If s...

Well, we went for a visit to ANBG today (Dec 24) and this is a record of that visit so the title is not too misleading. Of course, those of you who served in the World War armies may be led to think of a song, covered here (see song 12) .  (The link only refers to WW1, but as we used to sing a version after Maldon Vikings Rugby matches in the 1960s, I'm sure those who served in WW2 also enjoyed the tasteful lyrics.)  Here are said lyrics, as sung by the Vikings and slightly adjusted to fit Acton 2015, rather than the saloon bar of the Queens Head pub in Maldon.: It was Christmas day in the gardens,  The rangers were standing around Wielding their rakes and spades. When Black Mountain gave a sound, It was the voice of Santa Which echoed through the plots Asking “What do you want for Christmas. guys?” And the rangers all answered - .... " Tidings of Comfort and Joy " Which nicely conceals my inability to find an amusing rhyme for plots!  ( While wandering...

The most famous Overflow in Australia must be that frequented by Clancy in the Banjo Patterson poem which begins: I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better Knowledge sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago, He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him, Just ‘on spec’, addressed as follows, ‘Clancy, of The Overflow ’. This is apparently a station 100km SW of Nyngan, so we were quite close to it on our recent trip North.  The overflow to which I am referring is apparently from the Captains Flat Dam. The rainfall in this area was only 15.4mm over 2 days but as shown in some of the radar images in my post yesterday there was a good drop more further South.  One can assume that the managers of the Dam decided to open a sluice gate otr two to stop it overtopping.  Thus the low level crossing on Briars Sharrow Rd was a tad damp. The driver of the conventional vehicle in the image above decided that discretion was the bette...