GOODBYE BLOGGER, HELLO WORDPRESS

Well, I couldn't do anything about Bloggers problem. Someone in GOOGLE LAND changed something so I can't put up pictures. Shame, as I have some good ones of black snakes and dickie birds. So, if you want to see them, go here: http://debralnewman.wordpress.com/

Trip to Briz-Vegas

Here's a double whinge for today - firstly, Blogger won't let me upload pictures for some reason - so you don't get to see pics of Briz-Vegas and secondly I had to go to Briz-Vegas yesterday.

It is called Briz-Vegas by those of us who grew up in a nice capital city called Brisbane. Successive Governments have decided that:

1. It would be really cool to knock down all the lovely old buildings and replace them with nice new 600 storey monsters. That's because visitors don't want to see historical buildings they want to see what they can see at pretty much any other city.

2. If we keep cramming more and more people into Briz, then everybody will have lots more money and we will all be happy. Yeah - right.

So they took a perfectly charming big town and have turned into a high rise noisy crowded city with substantial traffic problems. The last Government tried to fix the traffic by installing roads in the sky as well as tunnels under the ground. The sky roads are sooo attractive. You get to pay for driving in the sky or underground, so poor old Paddock Workers have to shuffle along at ground level with all the other paupers.

Anyway, I went there with Old Mate next door to register our plan of subdivision. We both have lenders involved and his mob took exactly 364 days to agree to this and turn up at the Titles Office. But the plan is lodged so the end of a 6 year process has finally happened.    

Good to have a good mate

By David Paulson

So local artist David Paulson is having a survey of his works at Noosa Regional Gallery. David is a recognised artist nationally and Good Mate is fortunate to own a couple of pieces. We also have a small piece of David's work. Good Mate advised he and his lovely Missus would go up for a peek-a-boo today and invited us along. The Responsible Adult decided to stay home to work on her tan and do the annual change over in the wardrobe from winter to summer gear.

Another work by David Paulson

Me trying for that Paulson pose

It surely was nice to be picked up in an air-conditioned Land Cruiser and be driven to the Gallery. We spent sometime admiring the works and watching David chat to us on the Gallery's TV. It was all inspirational and I wouldn't mind popping down to La Studio to have a bash with some pastels after seeing all those lovely images. Alas, our eldest is currently residing at La Studio - I shall say no more on that. After the show, Good Mate suggested that he should shout fish and chips at the Noosa Marina. Fish and chips at Noosa Marina is recommended. So Good Mate then decided he wanted to buy a bit of fish for his dinner. He came back with some Snapper which included a piece for me. So I got a nice day out chauffer driven to the Art Gallery, lunch and dinner. At no time did Good Mate even mention his trailer which I borrowed about 3 weeks ago.
Now, Paddock Workers I'm guessing by this time you don't need me to explain why it's good to have a Good Mate. If only he had a wine cellar full of Shiraz - oh that's right, HE DOES!
Here's a picture of me with David.

David winning the People's Choice Award SCAP 2006

  

Paddock For Sale

So, back in 2000, our Council released a new plan. The area around the paddock was included for development. This was a response to the community who wanted land allocated for co-housing type development. The idea being to create a couple of additional suburban size lots on your land with the bulk retained to grow rainforest. One by one our neighbours up and down the street subdivided, but not in the co-housing model - just straight sub-division. We went from cow paddocks to acreage lots. In 2006, after pretty much all our neighbours had sub-divided, we decided that we would too. So six years later and a rather LOT of expenditure, we have the Cubby House paddock, La Studio paddock and the third paddock. The third paddock is for sale. If you're interested, just call out. I'll welcome a buyer with a glass or two of Shiraz.

View of the 3rd paddock from La Studio

Growing Vege's

Yummy greens for my sandwich

Here's my little vege seedlings one month after visiting the markets. Even after this short period, the outside leaves of the Cos Lettuce are ready to be cut and placed on a nice open sandwich. Same with the Rocket. I lost all but one beetroot to bloody Bandicoots (vile, filthy creatures) The Kale is growing really quickly. The flowers you can see in the foreground are self seeded Coriander - themselves about to go to seed. Some of the seeds will be harvested for curry and some will be left to grow. Don't forget to harvest some Coriander root which is an ingredient for a nice Curry paste.
Baby Lettuce leaves are best served with a nice Shiraz.

The Vege's 4 weeks ago

And about 2 weeks ago

On the Kindle - Morag Joss

I'm a sucker for a prize winning author, so I thought I'd give Morag Joss a go. If Morag comes to the Cubby House, she can have pick of the china cabinet from me. What a ripper of a book. I really don't want to tell you anything of the story - you can't without spoiling it. I'll just say it's a story within a story with some cryptic letters tossed in. Don't panic if you are initially confused about what's going on - it will fall into place nicely. It is a morality tale told extremely well. The author certainly knows how to put words together to form some terrific sentences. Some loose ends are left loose which usually ticks me off, but in this case it works. Mind you, the Responsible Adult would call this 'a cheery little tale' so don't be looking for laughs and giggles along the way. Here's your quote:

"Hereafter, I would have no story, only a dishonoured past. An what else could I do then but begin to learn what it is to be dead before I actually was?"  

Regular Garden Maintenance

Before

After

There are some jobs that a Paddock Worker has to do regularly. Hard pruning of vine plants is highly recommended unless you don't mind loosing your Cubby House to vegetation. Shown here is the Wisteria and Jasmine. Both take hard pruning well - the harder the better. Both will grow back after about 3 or 4 minutes, or at least that's what it feels like. You may notice the handy bins that always travel with me on pruning expeditions. I use these as nothing that grows in the paddock leaves the paddock. Everything gets recycled around trees that I want to grow. Dumping these around trees helps retain moisture in the soil, helps prevent weeds from growing and will rot down to feed the trees and improve the humus in the soil. As for me, it's a nice Shiraz which improves my disposition nicely. Cheers.

Garage Sales

I don't normally go to garage sales, but there were a whole lot of cars parked in our street yesterday and the sale was right across the road so I went over. Here's the stuff I bought for $10. The most expensive item was the hose nozzle. Brand new by the look and it will be very handy down at La Studio when I get to planting in the next few weeks. The garden string line will be handy and the other things in plastic bags looked great quality for a dollar each. Turns out the are some sort of clip on thingy to go on brick walls and hold up hanging pots. There isn't a brick in sight of the paddock so I will have to adapt them. Then the Responsible Adult went over and negotiated to buy these 3 wall planters for $30 (she's a very tough bargainer - you've been warned). They'll look great somewhere.
Unfortunately, they didn't have any bottles of Shiraz for a dollar each - but you can't have everything.

 

A very little holiday

The Responsible Adult waiting patiently for a Shiraz

Yahoo, we said when the Responsible Adult got a couple of days off work. The Paddock is only about half an hours drive from the beach - so I booked a Penthouse at La Promenade. Groovy, except that after about 4 million dry days in a row, it rained when we were there. Just rained on the full day we had and stopped immediately after. Oh well, at least I learned a new way to make it rain. Also had fun doing some Paparazzi style shots of the Responsible Adult:-

Who's that bloke checking out the Responsible Adult? Better watch yourself mate.

 

Repairing the Wheelbarrow

So, a few years ago, I purchased this here Wheelbarrow. I really liked the wooden handles. Anyway, the struts underneath were made of hollow tube metal and these tended to fill up with rain. Rust set in and a few years later I had a useless wheelbarrow. So I asked Google if it would sell me some new struts. No way. I could buy a new bucket or a new wheel, but no struts. So I figured I could toss this one on the scrap heap or plant flowers in it and get a new one, or work out how to repair this one. So I went to see Pancho the friendly welder at Conondale. Pancho made me some nice new struts for $100. Seems pretty dear when you could buy a whole new wheelbarrow for about $160 - BUT - I've got a wheelbarrow that is a lot tougher than a new one and uses flat galvanised steel for the struts. These should last a very long time plus I provided some $$$ to a local tradesperson. Good for me. While it was apart, I gave the timber handles a nice coat of Sikkens, then painted the metal black (looked like the Bat-barrow), then copper (I know that was just silly) then red. I do like red. So here it is ready for some hard yakka.

Whats on the Kindle Iain Banks

I rarely go in for Sci-fi in a book, but Iain Banks is an exception. He writes in a literary style with complex characters and plotting. He is not limited to the genre but it is his Sci-fi series on the 'Culture' that has got me in. The 'Culture' - a human species are much advanced having developed artificial intelligence. The humans and mechanicals get along spiffingly well.Droids have the same rights as humans. For example, destroying a droid would be considered murder. As well as droids, the Culture have created minds. These machines are highly intelligent and while piloting huge star ships, communicate with each other to develop strategies for the future well being of the galaxy. While this is a part of a series, the Culture novels are independent and can be read in any order. Each novel introduces new characters in the context of the imaginary Culture. Each novel puts its characters in extreme situations - has numerous twists and turns and develops the characters so, so well. Give it a go - if you don't like it, you can always come to the paddock for a bit of nice relaxing weeding. Here's the quote (I think Banks must have served on a committee or two):
  “I just think people overvalue argument because they like to hear themselves talk.”

Installing a garden tap

After a couple of weeks of wandering hither and thither to gather water to mix concrete for posts, I thought it would be a pretty darn good idea to install a garden tap down at La Studio.
So I concreted in a 200x50 sleeper. Don't know how long it was - it was an off cut that looked like it was just the right size. After concreting it in, I decided to put another very small off cut on the top as a platform. Thought it may be a good spot to park a beer. Then I painted it red. I do like painting things red. Or black. But mainly red.

A little while ago, Good Mate let me have an old Balinese garden seat that was rotting in his garden. It has some nice bits of usable timber, so I used some to make an edge for the platform. This also gave me an overhang which helped fit the tap - the tap was fine, really, it was the big lumpy pipe fitting directly under it that was the problem. I left it over night, then this morning, lined up some 1inch black poly pipe with suitable fittings, attached a garden tap and Robert is your Uncle. Decided to put the tap on the side and the hose reel on the back so I could put a bit of calligraphy on the front. As it faces East, I thought Buddha could sit on the top. I should think a nice little garden of native violets around it will finish it off. And there's still room for a couple of beers on the platform. The calligraphy is double happiness (signifying me and the Responsible Adult) then love twice. I know, I'm sucking up.

Striated Pardalotes (Dickie Birds) update

Bloody Striated Pardalotes

So, you may recall me having a whinge about these dickie birds holding up progress on the mighty retaining wall. http://dicknewman.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/bloody-wildlife.htmlWell, here's what Professor Mate wrote:
  "Lucky buggers.  You have a pair of Striated Pardalotes nesting in your bank.  Since you saw one with a worm in its beak - it most certainly has young at the end of its tunnel.  Their nesting tunnel is about 1m long with a small chamber containing a nest at the end.  These birds always dig a tunnel in an earth bank for a nest.
        Last year this pair nested in a bank at the back of Paul's house.
They have done this for a couple of years now and I wondered where they were nesting this year.  When we had a load of soil delivered for our vege garden they dug their tunnel in the pile of dirt and we had to put off filling the vege garden until they raised their young.  I would guess that it is the same pair that is now nesting in your retaining wall.
        Since they are feeding young, it should not be too long before they will be finished with their nesting tunnel.  So take a break from building your retaining wall for a week or two and let these beautiful little birds complete their nesting."

 So there. I've been officially told by the Prof. to down tools and have a nice lay down.
 

King Parrot

Who's a pretty boy then?

So, you would know by now that often, when I look out the window, there's some dickie bird or other having a feed on my shrubs. Today it was a King Parrot. This particular King Parrot is a boy. I can tell it's a boy, because it's pretty. The girly King Parrots are a bit Plain Jane. So, King Parrots, like your Paddock Worker, mate for life. When it comes around to a bit of the old making Parrot babies, the boy King does a little dance, then the girl King opens her beak and the boy vomits in it. Getting turned on yet?

Some people like to keep these dickie birds as pets. At the Paddock, all creatures are welcome to come and go as they please except for Bandicoots, Brush Turkeys, the neighbours bloody dog and people who like Alan Jones.

Timber Sleeper Deck

The new deck ready for a bar-be-que

I wanted a place to put the barbie. So I decided to build a deck. Shot edge decking is very nice and very expensive and perhaps a bit too fancy for a barbie - even if it is at La Studio. So I decided to build one out of sleepers. I asked Google to tell me all about it, but Google didn't seem to know much. So I asked You Tube, but it was unusually vague also. So I asked myself 'How bloody hard can it be?' Anyway, I decided to put down 3 sleepers 200 by 75 (the fat ones) by 2.4metres. I had a lovely time getting them level just using my dear old shovel. A little bit off here, a little bit off there - have a beer and think about it and so on. I got there.

Getting the levels right

 Look at the picture - I even used a spirit level! So to save myself cutting sleepers unnecessarily, I had previously decided that 2.4meters would be a good length. I then decided that 1.8 meters would be a good width so I hunted for some sleepers 150 by 50 by 1.8 but couldn't find any so I cut down some 2.4's. The leftovers will be used to make steps down from the deck. Anyway, it was simply a matter of attaching these to the 3 big sleepers. I used 100mm Batten Screws to do this. You need to get the ones marked suitable for treated pine (assuming that like me, you work with the easiest of all timbers)

Screwing in the deck

So each of the decking sleepers has 6 batten screws holding it down. As spacers, I just tapped in a decent size nail to each of the bearers removing them as I moved along. I was going to use 19mm timber as spacers, but the Responsible Adult claimed that anyone in Stiletto's might loose their heel in them. By the time I woke up to the fact that I have never, ever seen anyone in Stiletto's hanging around a barbie, the deck was half built and it was too late to go back to my plan.  To finish up, I gave it a coat of Jarrah decking stain. It isn't as smooth and neat as a shot edge deck, but should be extremely serviceable to sit a barbie on. Now comes the problem of how I move the barbie from the cubby house verandah to La Studio. I should practice my very best swearing.  

Leftover Pastry

OK, so if you made something like a Mulberry Pie recently, you may have some pastry leftover. I always do. So here's a couple of things you could do:

First thing I'd do is to see if I have enough to fill a flan dish - which I did. Then the little bits get rolled out and made into jam drop pastries. Jam drops have a life expectancy of around 9 seconds at the Cubby House - less if the kiddies are circling. You can freeze your flan if you want. It won't mind, but I decided on a Real Man quiche. Here's what I did:

I do like a bit of roast vege for a filling. In this dish were potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, capsicum, garlic and tomatoes. All got drizzled with olive oil, roasted then chopped up to go in the pastry shell. Then it's just a matter of about 4 eggs whisked up with enough milk or cream to fill up your flan. A bit of grated cheese on top is nice then bang it into the oven for a while. 

I was going to slice a sausage that the Responsible Adult had left over from last night, but Our Youngest found it first and didn't even leave the bones. So I chopped up a bit of bacon and fried it for her half (I like my cows, pigs and sheep to be wandering the paddock rather than sliding past my tonsils)

When you think it's done, stick a knife into it to make sure it's set. You should end up with something like this (although I'm sure your presentation would be better)

Bit of salad on the side and a nice Shiraz with Mulberry Pie for pud. Serving up grub like this to your Responsible Adult will greatly assist your sexual desirability - but to be certain, make sure you have another bottle of Shiraz on hand.

Mulberry Pie

So yesterday was cold and rainy. Lovely weather for making pie. Here's how Paddock Workers make a bit of heaven on a plate. Start with the pastry. 
I like a short pastry (lots of butter) known as Pate Brisee Sucree to Provence Field Workers.

Happy birthday Betty 2

It's Betty 2s birthday and the nice Government has given Paddock Workers a day off. It isn't really Betty 2's birthday, but the nice Government thought we had too many holidays at the start of the year and wanted to get one into the later part of the year. Hang on, that's Betty 1 in the picture - or is it Helen Mirren? Royal families can be confusing. Anyway, Betty 2 was crowned Queen Betty on 2nd June 1953. I was born on 14th July 1953. This was very inconvenient for my dear old Mum as she was a froggy and wanted to go out dancing and boozing on July 14th to celebrate the day the Frenchies decided they didn't like their Government. So when I was a boy, my dear old Mum tricked me into thinking my birthday was the 2nd June and I was born on Betty 2's crowning day.

There, that's a better pic. Hang on, it's Helen Mirren again. Oh well, I always had a thing for Helen. Anyway, I finally caught my dear old Mum out as not only did she tell me I was born on the 2nd of June, she also told me I was born under the same star sign as my dear old Dad who was a Leo. 2nd June and Leo was not a match, so I gave her a grilling and elicited the truth at last. It just goes to show that everyone is out to fool you. Betty 2 was born on 21st April, not the first Monday in October as the Government would have you believe. My tip is to only ever trust Wiki and me.

Mulberry Season

 Mulberry Season has happened at the house paddock. There is now a 2 week window of opportunity to get as many Mulberries as I can - then the tree will grow like crazy and can only be controlled by hard pruning four times a day. Don't ever be tempted to buy a Mulberry tree. If you want one, just cut a bit off mine and stick it in the ground. You will have a tree in no time. Caring for your Mulberry tree is easy. Ignore it. I have found five uses for the Mulberry tree. Jam, Pie, feeding the Dear Little Chaps silkworms, tempting the cow to the bails (cows love Mulberry leaves) and mulch, mulch, mulch.
I know what's worrying you - what about the evil dicky birds knocking off your fruit? - you ask. Don't worry. For some reason they only knock off the fruit that grows above my head height. This means, I don't need a step ladder to fall off and there are plenty of Mulberries at my height to feed the humans. Now that my first harvest is in, will it be jam or pie?

Noisy Miner

No, they haven't started fracking the paddock, a Noisy Miner is a dicky bird.

These are very common around the paddock as they are a species that has benefited from human development. They like the types of plants humans tend to like and grow. They hang around in organised mobs, terrorising smaller dicky birds and ganging up on bigger dickies.
Don't be looking out for elaborate mating rituals - they're into occasional orgies for reproduction. There is also a very good and hopefully self explanatory reason they are called noisy. 

Bay Laurel tree in a pot

The Responsible Adult recently took me to our favorite Organic Store which also has a fancy Organic Cafe attached that sells fancy herb seedlings and plants.
I took a fancy to a Bay tree which was $8.95. Shocking, I know - I could have had a bottle of not fancy, but passable Shiraz for that. But there was a Bay tree in the home paddock when we moved here. It died soon after and ever since, I have wanted another one. So I used the Magic Plastic Card and have brought it home. According to Google, it will grow well in a pot in full sun or partial shade. It needs frequent watering as it is shallow rooted and should be pruned in spring. My normal fertiliser routine with fish emulsion should keep it happily fed.

Winners are Grinners

Nearly wasn't going to post today. Not because I'm not doing anything - still digging holes and mixing cement. It's just that the retaining wall job is going to go on for a while yet. Anyway, I usually come up to the Cubby house at about 2pm when the Responsible Adult is amenable to working the coffee machine. Anyhow, today when I came up, she told me that I was the proud winner of four and a half kilo's of chocolate from the local IGA. Yep, I won a competition. Now here's a big tip from your Paddock Worker - Chocolate goes really well with Shiraz.

On the kindle Setting Free the Bears John Irving

So I came to John Irving late in life, starting with Last Night in Twisted River - a ripping yarn. Moved on to Hotel New Hampshire and the fabulous A Prayer for Owen Meany. Thought I might try his first novel published in 1968. This is one for the true fans. It is a bit rambling which is in the authors style, but without the interest that is strong in his later novels. As usual, there are stories within stories and people come to amusing but rather nasty ends, but the whole thing seems disjointed. Can't recommend, sorry and didn't find a particular quote for this that I liked. But here is a quote from the author that he uses regularly in interviews:

 "For 12 novels the last sentence has come first, and not even the punctuation has changed. From that last sentence I make my way in reverse through the plot, because there always is a plot—I love plot—to where I think the story should begin."

Bloody wildlife

So I am installing a Magnificent Retaining Wall at La Studio. Only about a quarter done and already my manly Paddock Worker biceps feel like steel. Anyway, as I was happily digging along, I saw a Dickie Bird dart into a hole in the dirt. A few seconds later, it was out again. A few minutes later it was back. So, I figure I have the rare spangled feathered timid tit wren or some bloody thing nesting where I want to excavate. 

What's a Paddock Worker to do? It was about then I started thinking on the old Builders Laborers Federation and immediately downed tools. I went straight up to the Responsible Adult and convinced her to have a couple of coldies with me. 

I have sent pics to Professor Mate who will hopefully identify this little bugger and let me know how to deal with the situation. I shall keep you posted.

The rear end of the Rough Faced Shag

The Front end of the Hoary Honeycreeper

  

My Nice Flowers

Before setting out for a few hours hard labour at La Studio yesterday, I took time to smell the bottlebrush (and Lillypillies and Grevillias). These are all native plants that I put around the home paddock over the years. The good thing about them is that you can plant them and then just ignore them. No need to talk to them or play music to them, they just mind their own business, grow and flower. Time saved by planting these stoic Aussie plants may then be spent lovingly serving the needs of the Responsible Adult - which all good Paddock Workers should do.