Home, Home on the Range….

Borrowing someone else’s story today.Thank you, Terry.

The Dorset Rambler

Worbarrow Tout with momentary brightness lighting up the sea

‘Home, home on the range’…..the MOD Artillery Firing Range that is 🙂 ! This week I made the most of the school holidays to walk the Lulworth Firing Range paths – these are normally closed to the public apart from some weekends and holidays, Christmas/New Year being one of them, so I made the most of it. It didn’t work out quite as I’d hoped in that the weather didn’t perform as forecasted, and my ankle didn’t perform as hoped either, but I didn’t care, I was out on the coast path again! In fact, the weather probably helped in many ways because on more sunny days, these walks can be very popular.

I set off on a very cloudy morning with the temperature barely above freezing, and I walked along a two mile stretch of the Purbeck Ridge, passing above…

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So…a little more tinkering and tweaking and I think we can call it done.

But I should back-track a little…I have also tinkered with some photos .

My friends’ Eden garden.

Dendrobium speciosum
Here’s a link, should you live in a suitable climate https://www.australianorchids.com.au/pages/dendrobium-speciosum-the-sydney-rock-orchid

A pretty little grouping of soft pinks on the front terrace.Perfect for that early morning cuppa.

Castanespermum australe.  This is down near our beach and is what my “bean trees” would grow to if I let them!

Acacia holocericea spent seed pods. Known as Velvet Wattle for its very soft leaves.

And we had a visitor! A niece was over from NZ for a conference in Sydney and she spent a few days with us. We took her out and about, walked along the beach, paddled in the sparkling water. And decided a swim would be just the ticket! So good, we did it again the next day!

That pesky cyclone that was hanging around finally went out to sea after making a bit of a mess up north. No serious damage here and most of us were very happy with the rain!

My sweet little Pigeon* orchid, Dendrobium crumenatum,  was, perhaps, the happiest- it produced 7 sprays of flowers! True, they do not last long, but they are so delicate.

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*And I’ve been calling it a “dove” which is the common name of a different one, a Peristeria. Mine is the “pigeon.”

Well, folks, in my world breakfast beckons. And I have a busy day ahead…

As you can see, I have been tinkering.Not nearly as effectively as the late, lamented John Clarke tinkered! But I will continue to tweak things and hope to do so  later today…

Might even change the pretty image,up there /\, for one of my own. Come back after tea …

MY DAY AT THE ZOO.

And I’ll own up right now…this is copied from my friend’s blog as I am a busy beaver as we have company coming to stay for a few days.

Besides, Sue had many, many more photos than I managed that day!

Here are a couple of pictures from my garden…the Dove orchid (Dendrobium crumenatum)does nothing for months on end, then it rains and overnight we have this…

 

Black Bean* (Castanospermum australe) seeds I brought back from Canberra.

One day, they will be 8m (25 feet) tall like this…

*Please note, these are NOT the black beans of your kitchen.They are poisonous. Indigenous peoples  did use them as a kind of flour, but only after extensive and elaborate treatment.

 

Now, for some zooperlative  shots from our zoo trip, please go here: https://myjustsostory.blogspot.com/2018/11/sunday-selections-405.html

 

I’ll be back when the dust settles…

KAMBERA…

…or Canberra.  Kambera is a word meaning “meeting place” in one of the native languages and may have led to Australia’s capital being named Canberra. But there is no hard and fast evidence for this, which I find rather sad. I can understand names being muddled in the early days of colonisation [in any country], when even English spellings were barely standardised. But Canberra only became the official name in 1913! A tip of the hat would have been nice…

But I don’t really want to tread that path, fraught as it always is.

I want to tell you a little about my recent visit to the Capital.

Now, some of you know that I met and was royally hosted by someone whose blog I’ve followed for several years. Yes! Another blog-meet. And from the airport pick-up we both felt like old friends.

We share so many interests I wonder sometimes if we are not,somehow, kin.

So, my first time in ACT and my head was swinging from window to window as we drove out. Most of the wattle (Acacia sp) was past its bloom, but I still saw enough for “wattle fix.” I can imagine what it must be like late winter/early spring. Here’s a link to just one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_baileyana.

Jazz, the resident cat, must have known a stranger was coming – he hid in a closet! Eventually, he decided I was not a Major Threat and even allowed me to play with his ribbon …

There were birds! Oh yes! Regulars at the feeders kept us highly entertained. Currawongs, magpies, pigeons, king parrots and even bearded ravens. Most of my photos still need editing so you might have to wait a while.Here’s one of the male Kings (Alisterus) being hand-fed.

And then there were  gardens. My kind of gardens. I’m not going to overwhelm you with photos, promise! But just look at this wisteria! And that’s only SOME of it! 

 

Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is an old favourite of mine.It loves cold winters or I’d probably go a bit  mad with it here!

 

A pure white Aquilegia in Sue’s garden

 

Flowering quince  Chaenomoles japonica  Another one that likes a colder climate.

 

I will share more another day, but here’s another wattle/Acacia. Just because. No, I don’t know which one!

And something I loved…just around the corner someone has set up a street library, with a notice inviting people to help themselves to a book and to add books to the shelf if they wish to. Thoughtfully draped in plastic sheeting to keep books dry and topped with this splendid fellow…

Next time, I’ll take you to the zoo!

TEN OF MY FAVOURITE ALBUMS

For those not decrepit enough to know…I mean vinyl records.

Not sure who started this;Scarlet, perhaps? Whatever…here we go.e

I don’t have release dates for all, but you can probably find them on Youtube.

Back in the 50s I was keen on rock n roll  and short on pocket money…many of my favourites were 78 rpm singles. Like Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lot o’ Shakin’ ”

And we had a cabinet stuffed with my parents’ show tunes and classics. Yes, I played them, too, but here, for your delectation, are MY TEN. In no special order.

Dave Brubeck’s “Time Out” was released in 1959, I think, and I might have got that as a present.I wanted it because “Take Five” was on it.

Frank Sinatra put out  “This is Sinatra” in the mid 50s and I bought it about 1960.

Scott Engel, still known as Walker in the mid 60s, released “Scott Walker” his classic(I think) solo album, featuring Jaq Brel  songs, among others. Over the years he has   changed his style, but still has the voice.

The soundtrack of “Pal Joey” was something I taped (Frank Sinatra, see!) on reel-to-reel and then, one day about 30 years ago, I was mooching in a junk shop and saw the record. For about the price of  2 cups of coffee it came home with me.

Like Sinatra, Cole Porter was a big part of my younger years and Porter albums and those of Noel Coward shuffled back and forth between my parents’ collection and mine.

I’ll move closer to “modern” music now. Anyone else like The Eagles? Today, we have CDs, but I did have one vinyl disc – the “Witchy Woman” LP.

Bob Dylan. Oh yeah. The Man still has “Blood on the Tracks”  and I think we doubled-up on the 1967 “Greatest Hits.”

I’ll leave you with one more…”American Flyer.” Only around for a couple of years, but I have a nostalgic attachment to it.

So…you might be wondering why there is no Presley in my list? I couldn’t stand him! If he’d stayed Down South and stuck to blues  I might have.

I had a few Buddy Holly singles; good dance tunes in the days when shoulder throws were “a thing.” Never bought an album though.

I should have mentioned “Carmen” as it was my favourite opera. No idea whose recording we had at home!

OK, kiddies, you can wake up now. The rest of you,totter off to your armchairs for a nap…I’m going to!

 

WOULD I CHEAT?

No, but I am teasing you. Just a little.

I did set out to write a post, but am having  some problems with my computer. So, instead of regaling you with the next episode of my recent trip, which included a visit to Canberra’s beautifully laid out zoo, I will leave you with a link to the story  of Solo and Zama. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/his-name-is-solo-but-canberras-new-cheetah-cub-has-an-unusual-playmate-20180328-h0y2qp.html

I hope to be back on-line again in a couple of days…

Oh, alright, here’s  photo of my friend feeding a male King parrot