Blogger is playing silly bloggers again. The date is, on my side of the IDL, Tuesday, June 24. not June 12! And I’ve had to pull the previous post in order to get this one here. I’ll try to sort it out later. Right now, I’m busy. And thirsty! Dinah.
Sometimes, what makes one person laugh, may leave the next wondering what’s so funny. As kids, we used to collapse in giggles at a sign above a country store: “Proprietor: R. Sole.”
And what about those little mini-dictionaries of “useful phrases for foreigners.” You know, the ones that tell you how to inform someone that your aunt’s pen is on your uncle’s desk.
Years ago, when I first rented a villa in Italy I spoke only very limited (and not terribly polite, since I’d learned it from sailors!) Italian. So I thought a phrase book might be a good idea. Of course, a lot of the phrases were not going to be of much use to me.
Things like ” scusi, dove la stazione“* in a village with no rail connection probably wasn’t going to be used often. Mind you, I was dead chuffed that I was able to tell the housekeeper that “la galigiante e non funzione”* After a while, I picked up several useful things; one even took me out to dinner a few times!
All the same, I do find myself wondering why, in the name of Odin, you would need this.
| Mit luftpudefartøj er fyldt med ål |
* Even in Denmark!
Another small serving of Botanic Garden pictures…
A Rainbow Lorikeet, swaying in the stiff Sou’easterly.
And just as the wind eased, another bird called…and he was off!
This little chap got points for tenacity. And so did I, persevering in that wind!
That’s one of the joys of digital cameras – you can set ‘continuous’ and if all you get is a blur at least you haven’t wasted an entire roll of film. Nor do you have to wait 10 days for the results! Mind you, I do sometimes wish I still had the old Kodak Brownie with 126 roll film. Man! I got some great shots with that. Double exposures, too. And when I had access to a darkroom I could process films in an evening. But that’s just a wistful reminiscence; it doesn’t mean the Fuji’s up for grabs!
Three cats are threatening to eat me if they don’t get their “kai”*and I need to do some more work on a picture so it can dry overnight.
A bientot!
* excuse me, where is the station?
* my ball-cock is not working.
* my hovercraft is full of eels.
* food
| More of dinahmow’s photos |
AN UPDATE FOR FN, FOR WHOM ONE LORIKEET JUST WASN’T ENOUGH!
A sun conure parrot. These fellows come from Mexico, Caribbean and the northern area of South America. Real clowns; noisy as 4 year old kids at a party.And such fabulous colours!
Eclectus parrot. Under serious threat in the wild not so long agao, they are managing to claw their way back. The green one is Mr. Parrot and Mrs. Parrot has the spiffy red-and-blue ensemble. Good talkers,too.
Major Mitcell cockatoo. Another native under threat, they can only be kept under licence and no more than one pair at a time. My friend sells all of his pair’s hatchlings pre-hatch and has a waiting list.
He also has some of these, in creamy-yellow as well as the blue. (They are from India.)
A final note: It is illegal to take any native wildlife from the wild. Pet shops are (supposed to be!) strictly regulated. Personally, I don’t like caged animals, but sometimes, it’s the only way for us to see some species and the only chance some have to breed and be released through a controlled programme.
