Nature's Beauty

Mother Nature surrounds us all but sometimes we need to look a little harder to find her beauty.

Come through the gate out to the back

Wheel from yesteryear

The beauty of it all...... surviving in the dry soil


Some daisies



Red Flowering Saltbush





Green/Yellow Flowering Saltbush

Some quandongs, not quite ready

Quandong on the turn

Yellow pigface (as I know it)

Purple pigface

Flowering Native

Pink flowering emu bush

I am not sure of the Botanical Names for these plants and my photography certainly needs some improvement. It would appear that I get too close. I look forward to getting a new camera soon.

Have a truly wonderful day,

Tania

Spring is near

Just a quick post as things are a bit busy here this week. I have my best friend visiting from Perth once again. She is visiting with her family and friends and hopes to move back to South Australia soon. It will be wonderful to have her nearby again as we have so much in common, and have been friends forever.

The weather is changing and starting to warm up, although the mornings are still a bit crispy. Today was a beautiful day with the temperature at a lovely 19 degrees Celcuis. We are expecting 20C tomorrow, hopefully there isn't too much wind with it.

The blossoms are blooming and the flowers are budding. The wildflowers are already in flower and the wild peaches (quandongs/bush tucker) are changing from green/orange to red. I awoke this morning to the birds outside making a lot of noise celebrating the arrival of the spring weather. Show season has started with many agricultural shows on in our district.

On Sunday we did a day trip to the city to take our son down for athletics. He is part of the LA Squad which includes professional coaching and the chance to get selected to represent our state in a National competition. The picture above was taken of a lake near Locheil with a crop of canola growing nearby.

Above is a couple of the new wind turbines being installed along the hills near Snowtown. There is going to be over 100 of these giants eventually along these hills.

These are a couple of the books I am reading. I have not got very far with "A New Earth", because not long after starting to read it, my mum gave me the "Great Pioneer Women of the Outback" which is fascinating. What these women had to go through when arriving in this country is unbelievable. They were promised many things but when they arrived it was a completely different story and their struggle for survival began.

Wishing you all a great week and I will return when my friend goes home in a few days.

Tania

Quiet week

It is very quiet here with Hubby away in Adelaide and son Jack at school.

There was a teachers strike on Monday so Jack spent the day at home with me. The strike was for half a day but it was hardly worth sending him for a couple of hours. The same day, my parents came back through on their way home, so they got to see Jack. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves at Hawker and while up there the had a look around the Flinders Ranges. The last caravan park that they stayed in, they were the only ones there and the power was from a generator that was turned off at midnight and started at around 7am the next morning. So it was a bit chilly through the night without a heater. Dad and Mum have a little fold out van they camp in, not very warm in winter.

Yesterday I spent the day catching up on reading blogs and listening to some of my favourite music. I pottered around doing little jobs, just enjoying being alone, this doesn't happen very often so it is nice to enjoy my own company for a while.

Today will be a lot like yesterday just spending the day peacefully. The weather is a little chilly so I have lit the fire and made myself comfortable with a coffee at the computer. We have had a few light showers of rain but as usual it has all dried up already. The forecast is for more rain on the way, so let's hope they are right. Adelaide had a deluge yesterday and are expecting more.

I have had plenty of thinking time over the past couple of days and I have decided that I will not be going back to work caring for children for now. I am relieved that I have come to this decision because it was full time work and I have missed so much of what Jack has been doing the past 3 1/2 years. He doesn't want me to work either, I can always go back later when he is older. Jack does not appreciate the interference that caring for other children has on our family life, although he always got on well with most of the children. I will look for part time work if I feel the need, but for now I get to relax.

It's nice to see that Jewels has returned to blog land. A truly wonderful place to visit for lifting up your spirit.



Enjoy your day,


Tania

We are Australian

I love this song makes me proud to be Australian.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBI3xiDzxMM

Here are the words if you want to sing along.

Lyrics by Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton, music by Bruce Woodley (member of the Seekers singing group) Sang by The Seekers

WE ARE AUSTRALIAN

I came from the dream-time, from the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame.
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come.
For forty thousand years I've been the first Australian.

I came upon the prison ship, bowed down by iron chains.
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I'm a settler, I'm a farmer's wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man, I became Australian.
I'm the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road
I'm a child of the depression, I saw the good times come
I'm a bushy, I'm a battler, I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I'm a teller of stories, I'm a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira, and I paint the ghostly gums
I am Clancy on his horse, I'm Ned Kelly on the run
I'm the one who waltzed Matilda, I am Australian
I'm the hot wind from the desert, I'm the black soil of the plains
I'm the mountains and the valleys, I'm the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky, the rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land, I am Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian..

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian.

Why am I proud?

One of my ancesters, his wife and two children were free settlers from Wales and arrived at Port Adelaide, South Australia upon the ship Henry Porcher, 1st July 1838. Before coming to Australia my ancestor was a soldier in the Army. He joined the South Australian Police Force on 12th December 1838 as a Sergeant and was one of the first policeman in South Australia. He resigned on the 1st April 1852. Some of his many children (there were 9) spread around South Australia mainly becoming farmers.

I can only imagine how hard it was leaving your home land and coming to a strange land that was in no way like England. We are the flatest, dryest continent in the world. This is a harsh country and many children died early in life in the country areas and the outback. I have a keen interest in Family History and have a deep understanding how hard it must have been. When looking up birth and death records many settlers/pioneers had lots of children but only a few survived.

I remember many stories my grandmother told me of her hardships as a young married woman. Not heard of in the world we live in now. I have a strong respect for my ancestors who worked hard and tirelessly and fought in the wars (in which many, many Australians died) to make our country what it is today. We are still fighting wars for freedom today.



My grandmother on her 90th birthday. The local paper did a write up on her life. Rest in peace, Grandma, you are never far from my thoughts. 1906 - 1998

Last year I was disappointed to find out that my son's school does not teach Australian History. My son was bringing home projects to do about other countries but when quizzed at school one day about Australian history only a very few students knew the answers. We approached the Principal and a little bit has been added to the cirriculum. This is so sad. As parents we have taught our own children about their ancestors and the struggles they endured to make their life better.



Thankyou to all my Ancestors, I appreciate what you have done for me and the many sacrifices you made.


Tania