No Swimming...Yet!

 

hi!

 

finally today

the roads north and south have opened

and mr w has just left for work.

 

he works up north, about four hours drive,

until this afternoon the road has been closed in several places
all week 

due to major flooding.

 

thank you so much for all your enquiries about our safety.

we are fine

and apart from a shortage of some food in the local shops,

pretty much unaffected,

though our hearts ache for people having to clean up

for the second time in two years.

 

this was our local swimming pool in the floods two years ago...

 

 

this year the flood was higher
&
the muddy brown water came up to the flags!
{see them stretched across the pool.}

today
i took a drive
&
the main pool was empty and being scrubbed out
but
the toddler's pool was still dirty...

the sun is out again
&

boy!
i miss swimming!

as the flooding waters subside
the land and plants that have been under water
are a dull brown
and technocolour reigns above the floodline!

an army of volunteers, council workers and emergency service personnel
are frantically hosing off roads, buildings and anything else
they can to get the silt and debris cleaned off.

floods stink from rotting vegetation and pollution.

after the last one in 2011...almost exactly two years ago,
there was a smell from the river
kind of like rotting compost...for about a week!

i have been making a collection of pompoms
to bomb my white {christmas} tree.
i've purposefully left it up
in the corner of the lounge room
to twinkle it's way through winter
and make the room cosier.
i think a bombing of pompoms
will make cosy happen beautifully.

i'll show you as soon as i have them up!

take care for now...

naturally Carol xox



 



Flooding Rains!

hello again!

 

unbelievably

this week we've got floods..hehe!

 

it has rained incessantly for the last four days

with mighty gusts of wind to boot.

there are jacaranda leaves and twigs and even branches

littering the ground

&

our bush with the orange berries

snapped off to ground level

narrowly missing the laundry trolley and clothesline.

 

now, look at this...sideways..hehe!

 

 

there are about seven little poinciana seedlings
which have sprouted suddenly since the rain started.

they are all about 3-4 inches high already
after only 4 rainy days...
trying to turn my desert of mud into a forest!

isn't life grand?

sorry about the sideways photo.
tim took the photo on his ipad
and when he sent it to me my computer refused to let it be edited,
so i couldn't rotate it...?????

the whole house feels damp now
and the eastern windows won't open as the wood has swollen,
shutting them tight!
she's a funny old house alright!

this afternoon
we went rubbernecking.
there's always a good view of the flood levels
at macca's {..mcdonald's, for those who are outside the land of oz}.
a hot apple pie each
was a welcomed afternoon tea today.
it was nice to be cool enough to enjoy something hot for a change!

we have our fingers crossed
that the swimming pool won't go under the floodwaters
just as we've grown to love our daily swims too.

i hope things are well with you...

naturally Carol xox

 

 

 



Hot! Hot! Hot!

hi!

 

sorry i've been absent this week...

but i can't promise much this week either.

 

the weather has just been so

hot hot hot

that sitting here at the computer is a struggle

and i've only been visiting when absolutely necessary...

like checking the bank balance before payday

&

removing most of the 84 emails that arrive over a couple of days!

 

by the middle of every afternoon
we are beside ourselves with the heat
so we take off to the local council swimming pool
where the side nearest the bleachers
is shaded.

we ...  that is whoever we can drag along with us...
stay there cooling off for a couple of hours
before heading home to make a cool salad for dinner.

after dinner
we are hopeful that the temperatures come down
so that we can relax and sleep soundly
with our fans whirring beside us
or overhead!

such is the simple life
of surviving summer here in queensland this year.
we got lulled into expecting cooler wetter summers
over the last few years
so this hot dry one has hit us hard.
everyone here
just copes in the best way they can.

some have aircon and modcons...
in our leaky old wooden queenslander
we'd need to stop up the gaps
to stop the cooled air from drifting down through the floorboards
or out through the not quite flush fitting windows.

we love our old 'granny' house...
but in the heat of summer
or the depths of winter...
she has her shortcomings
but
we love living in her anyway!

is your house
practical
or a character?

or maybe both?

have a great week!

naturally Carol xox

 



Appreciated...

 

hi!

thank you jill!

&

thank you catherine!

 

 

 

after blogger refusing me the option

of accessing photos on my computer

{uploaded from my camera}

i was completely frustrated and had no idea what to do about it.

 

i was wondering whether i had uploaded too many photos

but that wasn't the case

as my sister jill had way under the limit

and had the same problem.

 

i told jill about the hint catherine had left me after the last post.

she said to use html.

 

jill had a fiddle with blogger while i went and ate some dinner.

she phoned me to say...

go into html..

...you can only upload pics this way

if you have some script on the new post already...

then take the option there to upload photos

and it will offer what 'compose', 'insert image' 'browse'

used to offer.

 

when you've finished uploading the image,

it seems you can go back to compose

and write the rest of the post without a problem.

 

 

 

so now

you get to see the lovely and unusual hibiscus flowers

that are nodding at me

from outside my bedroom window!

 

 

 

it seems that although only 'small', 'medium' or 'large'

size images are offered on html

that when you revert to 'compose'

you can click on the image again and normally change the image size again

if preferred.

 

i don't know why blogger is acting like this

and removing options...

but obviously jill and catherine are smarter!

 

yay!

have a great day!

 

naturally Carol xox

 

 

 

 

Going Swimmingly...

 

good evening.

 

i'm sitting here by the window

grateful for every wisp of a breeze

on this black summer night.

 

i still don't know how to address the problem of not being able to upload photos from my computer

but i have discovered that i can upload a photo from the computer

to change my header whenever i want to.

 

so maybe i'll just change my header photo

often...

and maybe blogger will in time

offer a solution.

 

i have got myself into a january routine.

i get up quite early

as the sun brightens my bedroom at about five in the morning...

though i don't get up that early.

 

the dogs need letting out and feeding as soon as they awake.

it is usually between six and seven.

then i do a bit of housework to get the place fit for the day...

any washing up, tables tidied up, lounge room put in order

&

clothes washed and hung out

before the heat puts a stop to anything too physical.

 

but

this week

there is a difference.

i've been out to the local swimming pool

with a couple of friends.

we just move around for an hour...from 8 to 9...

sometimes swimming,

sometimes walking...backwards, sideways and forwards,

sometimes just moving on the spot or treading water.

just always moving.

 

it is cool and refreshing

and it's amazing who we meet there!

 

i didn't make a resolution to lose weight or get fitter

'cos it never lasts as a new year thing,

with me.

i love swimming though

so it's not a chore...

and i don't have to

so it's easier to want to.

 

how are you filling these hot hot days?

 

 

take care and stay cool!

 

 

naturally Carol xox

 



Summer Days...

hello!

 

these summer days

are hot and breezy...

 

i had a gorgeous photo to upload here
of the hibiscus outside my bedroom window
but blogger will not give me the option
to upload photos from my computer anymore????

i can upload them from picasa,
from a phone,
from my blog
and from a website...but not my computer.

does anybody know what's going on...
or where i can complain to,
so they listen?

i would appreciate your wisdom.

is it happening to anyone else out there?



naturally Carol xox

p.s...this is so annoying and discouraging.

 



Nuts!

 

 

hi!

 

i got up early this morning...around five.

after washing up

i decided to reorganise my linen drawer.

it is deep and wide.

in fact,

whole universes have probably dwelt there under the layers of tablecloths and doilies!

 

 

realistically,

it was a huge mess.

there were not only tablecloths and assorted linens

but out of date bags of spices..coriander seeds anyone?

 

 

 

then right down the bottom

there was a big bag of macadamia nuts

&

another bag of walnuts..in their shells.

i think they may have been from christmas 2011!

 

 

so i've tweaked my cabinet vignette from yesterday

&

displayed the walnuts in a beautiful handmade wooden bowl

which mr w made himself

&

then decided to put mr owl on a pedestal of books...

all owls read books at night,

it makes them wise..hehe!

 

 

i've washed all of the linen today...just to freshen it up...

polished the coffee table

&

cleaned the louvre windows in the kitchen.

 

all in all a satisfying day of progress.

 

how are you doing today...

lazing on holidays or planning your new year?

both are good!

 

 

naturally Carol xox


p.s...blogger won't let me upload pics from my computer at the moment...so these are ones i was fiddling with for doing up my header that mr w. complained was too big for his laptop..so i altered it...just in case you were wondering!

 



Slow Down January!

 

good afternoon!

 

i have been messing around with this today,

changing the header and colours...

i'm quite liking a kind of woodsy rustic feel at the moment.

 

 

 

i think i've caught it from some of the delightful fabrics around

&

all of those christmas deer ornaments.

there aren't any squirrels in australia

so miss b just had to send her dad one this year

&

i found a brown owl languishing at the back of a cupboard

while looking for christmas platters in december!

 

 

after the christmas tree went

there was a bare patch,

which i've filled with a cabinet to hold mr m's things.

 

 

 

now,

who could resist the opportunity to freshen up the corner

with a few woodsy folk,

a couple of apples,

gingerbread and cinnamon candles

&

a nice green pot plant?

 

tomorrow

i may just attack another corner of clutter...

 

 

but

january

please slow down!

 

i'm enjoying you too much to have you rush past fast!

 

 

do you get the urge to organise and clean at this time of the year...

it must be something about the idea of a new start.

 

what do you think?

 

 

naturally Carol xox

 



2013...

 

this day

is the first day

of

365.

 

 

 

each day is like an empty jar...

 

 

a jar which you will fill.
beginning with possibilities & dreams ...

remember
the fruit of the Spirit...
love, joy, peace
patience, kindness, goodness
faithfulness, gentleness and self control...
there is no law against these.
 

 

 

i asked my son to light a candle.

at first the light was small and weak,

i sheltered it with my hands

as i carried it across to the jar.

 

i realised it was like a thought.

as it flickered briefly across my conciousness,

thinking on it,

it grew stronger and became part of my day.
 

 

 

lowering my candle

some of the wax spilled and ran down the side of the jar...

oh, my days are messy too!

 

 

 

in the shadow the light shone brighter.

 

 

let your light shine this year...

this year when anything is possible.
 where light is needed

your light will be bright and shiny

and will dispel the darkness...

go

fearlessly!!

 

 

happy new year!

 

 

naturally Carol xox