X-Rated!

No not really altho I did think about it but didn't want to shock you all too much.
It's a thought tho' what about a naked COW calendar for 2009?
I'm sure we could be as discreet as the CWA ladies. LOL
Now to the actual X's.
Here are some XRAYS - taken of my eldest DS in 1981 when he ran out from in front of the school bus and whamo - fractured femur - that's the thigh bone. The first two were taken a week after the accident - as you can see NO bone union so I fought to have him transferred out from Narrabri, where we were living then, to Tamworth which was the closest Base hospital with orthopaedic specialists. The last xray was four months later after spending all that time in traction - lots of nice new bone growth - a wee bit of misalignment but he ended up with lest than 1/8th of an inch of shortening which is pretty good for a growing long bone.
Then more bones - I thought of the xiphoid process - this is the little bit of cartilege at the base of the sternum (breast bone) that ossifies as we get older and is also called the xiphisternum - another X word - pronounced as a Z tho. We learn about it as we learn our CPR and measure up from it to know where to do our compressions for cardiac massage. It is also the bit that breaks off sometimes when we do it - YUK - I have done that and it felt nasty! Poor bloke died anyway.
Anyhow when looking for an illustration as I had no xiphoid processes to photograph, I found that there is a band called Xiphoid Process - weird eh? and hence the inclusion of thier CD cover as part of my mosaic. This is what it says about them ....formed in 1994 from the ashes of an experimental / Noise Duo, Xiphoid Process evolved to create intriguing soundscapes that transcend the borders of gothic, industrial, experimental, and synth music. Led by the solitary Michael Potts, and featuring an ever-diminishing, revolving array of guests, XP has garnered a cult following among dark music's intelligentsia
So there - you learn something everyday eh?
And lastly on a brighter note here is Zara's crocodile xylophone!
Posting early as we are off to the van for the w/e.

Snippits of the Royal Easter Show 2008

We decided to head off to the show on Easter Monday.
Showers were forecast so into the backpack went the raincoat and umbrella.
The raincoat came in handy as a picnic rug at lunchtime and to keep off the chill when going from the train to the car at 11pm!
It was a lovely day - a bit too hot at times but we managed to find either an airconditioned pavillion or a breezy spot to have a rest thru' the day.
There were lots of people but not too crowded but then we also didn't line up to get into the samplebag hall or to go to sideshow alley!
Got on the train at 7.45am at Oak Flats and arrived at Olympic Park at 11 - left the show at 7.45pm and got home at 11.30pm - so a BIG day out.
We wandered about and saw lots of stuff. I loved watching the working dogs and obedience trials where we won a Dr Harry show bag which meant I carried around an extra 1 1/2kg of Supercoat dog food in the back pack all day - was it worth it? Bailey says YES! I have yet to check out the Supercoat website were there should be a photo of us with Dr Harry!
We found some seats in the shade to have a rest and watch some show jumping, polo, camp drafting, tent pegging and the mass dog obedience in the main arena.
All in all a good day. Took lots of photo's and had the usual problem of extra cropping on mosaic maker but hope you get an overview of our day at the Royal 2008.

Scatterday for N

Well here we are - Happy Easter everyone!
Had a bit of a think and came up with these photo's.
Little things - thankfully have no 'nits' at the moment so how about Native Violets - they are very cute in our fairy garden with just a few dew drops left on the petals.
Speaking of 'dew drops' - luckily there aren't any of these on Maureen's - Human NOSE - or could be nares or nose hairs really - LOL - NOT nice up close and personal.
And, for mineral here is some Na Cl - salt in the salt pig.
Heading off to the Royal Easter Show tomorrow so will take the camera along - who knows what I will find to photograph there. I took some nice ones of show jumping a couple of years ago.

Now you see it - now you don't!

Do you like palms?

I always did - until I had one - well three actually.
These are Cocus Palms - probably planted around when the house was built say 30 years ago. They drop rotting dates everywhere which are like 'marbles' underfoot and that becomes quite a danger to old ladies who are prone to falling! Anyhow, we still have two smaller ones and we'll see about hanging onto them as they are further away from the house and not directly above the walkways.

We had a tree guy come in to quote on lopping the trees which overhung driveway next door after the neighbour complained about them (you can see them in the background). While he was here yesterday, we finally 'bit the bullet' and had the tallest palm removed.

It was quite a process with the guy harnessing up and climbing the tree like a monkey using 'spikes' attached to a brance onhis ankles - he made it look easy but then I guess he was fit and had had heaps of experience. He said that he is thoroughly sick of Cocus palms - they were a fad when they were planted years ago and now people, like us, are wanting them removed!. He systematically removed the lower fronds and then cut down the palm in sections from the top down.

So, our morning was filled with the sounds of chain saw and chipper! A job well done and our resident Wattle birds have returned to their 'thinned out' eucalypt foliage but, we didn't hear and flying foxes (noisey blighters) last night - food source removed. I'm sure they'll be back when the other palms flower and fruit.

Other Stuff .....

I took this photo today of my DF Maureen holding her great niece Anna. Anna was born on the 10th of Feb and is a real little doll. She was handed around a family gathering today in Mittagong, without even stirring. When you see a babe sleeping so soundly and peacefully you can see how Annes Geddes gets her amazing photo's.
Her Mum Sarah is holding the quilt that I made for her - her Dad Dave's comment when he saw the quilt was something like - "Gee it's homemade!" - that made me smile.

Garage Sale finds ....

I like to collect old things. Yesterday I found this cool bamboo rug beater - it kind of reminds me of the Miss Marple era. Who remembers those? It is in really good condition - I really don't think I'll 'beat' our rugs tho, I'll stick with the vacuum cleaner to remove the copious amounts of and white dalmation doggy hairs!
Do you know what the round ply thing is with the Christmas Bells burnt into it?
I didn't at first but was told by the seller ( I found this one a few years ago at Old Bar)that it is for storing doilies - it is two pieces of ply joined by a cord and it keeps the doilies flat. The decoration technique is called 'Poker Work'- the design is made by heating up a piece of wire and burning the design into the wood. And the box is an old ply wood Henri Wintermans Cigar box - it is stamped Holland underneath. It has some shirt studs and cuff links in it - I have another one that I lined with polystyrene and I keep my earings in it. Of course I couldn't resist the little washboard - it is so cute! I can remember my Grandmother letting me wash the hankies on one like this - I rember the big men's hankies - yukko - I think I prefer tissues! I have found some interesting stuff over the years from a brass railway lantern with revolving red and green lenses to a Griffith Tea tin - guess who has that now? Who knows what I might find next week - I have just had a request to look out for a sewing machine, that will be fun - but I am really looking for a high chair at the moment - well that's my excuse.

Lost a day - Scatterday Sunday - L's

Well I have an excuse this week.
Yesterday was wiped out with a migraine! I missed my ScqIllawarra meeting too - boo hoo. I had done my photo's but didn't make it to the computer to upload but here they are a day late.
Firstly the household items - our old lamp ( not sure what it might be worth but the flu / shade cost a motza after the cat knocked it down a couple of years ago) - some ladles and my lazy Susan - I bought it in Fiji 30 odd years ago and it still looks like new - it's made from Raintree timber and specially treated so that it didn't shrink which we came home to a drier climate.
The round things - Loot - some of the round coins in my coin collections.
Some of my collection of round Lenses - oh I forgot the binoculars and the magnifying glass - oh well. And some round tin Lids for Michelle - I was going to add the 'Man and Beast' (good old Rawleighs - fixes everything) tin but it is elusive at the moment - I used it last on Bailey's tummy.
The 'L' tools are a ladder - kinda vintage, some spirit Levels - one kinda vintage and the Landing net - is that a tool? OH well it was in the tool department.

Scatterday for the "V's" .....................

Well it has been a bit of an effort this week to find or discover enough relevant piccies. Finally I decided on a mosaic x9 of both new and old photo's.
Firstly the pinks ............I had to get our Zara into it so here she is in her pink VEST, then we have a pink VOLUME in the bookcase and Zara again with a pink VISOR on my Priscilla cap.
The girls and I did a 'drive by' shoot for the V SIGNS - these were all taken as we drove around the garage sales yesterday.
Then the huge - well I thought a lot about it from viaduct to vehicle and I couldn't be bothered to go out especially to source them. So I thought about other big V's and aha came up with these really huge V's from our European trip in 2004.
Firstly inside the VATICAN with it's huge ceilings - well worth getting up at 6am to be first in line to get in before the HUGE crowds.
Then VENICE - St Marks Cathedral with it's HUGE numbers of pidgeons and HUGE queues to get inside - I just stayed outside and photographed the pidgeons!
Then lastly the HUGE skyline of VIENNA, taken from the top of the HUGE Prater Wheel that we went on before we went off to dinner and a HUGE Viennese concert.
Phew - that's it for anoother week.
The kids have been here and I haven't been able to get to the computer - all gone home now and silence reigns.