I have always quite liked this photo that I took of a lady on the bus one day. She was absorbed in her knitting and although I don’t usually photograph strangers she just looked interesting. I have actually cropped this from a larger photo as I was a few seats away from her.
A lady on the bus who was concentrating on her knitting and did not see me take this photo.
The Cricketer
These days cricketers give many photo ops to fans as selfies are the new autographs. I am shy about approaching them however and in any case I prefer a natural photo to a posed one and I don’t want loads of pictures of me anyway. I took this one at a Hurricanes game in 2017 and although he’s not a favourite player I quite like the shot.
Hurricanes bowler Clive Rose at Blundstone Arena, Bellerive January 2017
Friends and Family
My friends Gillian and Bruce at the old Sunbury Asylum site.
Bruce Sunbury 2017Through the door.
Two photos from Easter 2010 when David and I had just got a new car and went over to Bruny Island for the day. Like me David did not really like to pose for photos and if he did he usually pulled a silly face so catching him unawares was a better idea.
David on the Bruny Island Ferry April 2010.David on the Bruny Island Ferry 2010
What’s the worst topping you could put on popcorn? (Credit to Teresa for this one)
It had never occurred to me that you needed to put a topping on popcorn. It has butter, what else could it need? Mind you I haven’t had any for years. I love it but it would be wasteful to make it for one person.
In what country did Silent Night originate?
We were entertained with Christmas Carols.
Without cheating and consulting Mr Google I believe that it is German, certainly it was originally sung in that language.
I did not read your answers Mel until afterwards so I know what I should have said now. Long time since I read the story about it but I do love the one about the British and German troops singing it in the trenches in WWI.
(WARNING! The following question is NOT meant to start a fuss. It’s merely a good discussion question in my opinion. Most everyone knows where I stand on this. If you feel like arguing about it, please give it a pass.) We’re all adults and sensible ones at that. We can be mature about such things, right?
How would you react if there was irrefutable proof that God doesn’t exist? How about if there was irrefutable proof that God does exist?
Wow, that is a very deep question and I’m afraid that my first reaction was to think of “The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy” in particular the part about the Babel Fish. I’m not ridiculing the subject it was just the first thing that popped into my head.
In truth I’m not really religious although I have respect for those who are, and I don’t know that it would make a huge difference to me either way. I can’t see myself living out my remaining years differently. I guess that I believe that God exists but I don’t require proof.
And last question:
What is the scariest non-banned item you could take on to a plane?
I am not really sure what is banned and what isn’t these days. I probably fly less than once a year. On a flight home from Singapore Naomi was not allowed to bring a tube of toothpaste. I would not have said that was a particularly dangerous item. I’m pretty sure we can take it on domestic flights. I think a knitting needle would be a more dangerous item and I believe they were banned for a while but not sure about now as we have relaxed the rules a bit.
Traditions
Which version of the holiday celebration do you and your family enjoy? By this I mean do you follow Jewish traditions with Hanukkah; Christian celebrations with Christmas and (for those over the pond) Boxing Day; or some other festivities that I’ve overlooked? Please do share with everyone! I truly feel that this sort of question lets us know a little more about our fellow bloggers without getting too personal (i.e. revealing too much of private lives, which some folks prefer to keep private.)
Christmas tree in the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney December 2012
We celebrate Christmas although as I have mentioned neither my sister nor I are particularly religious. As I think I mentioned in a previous post I do enjoy Christmas Carols, the old traditional ones like “Silent Night” as opposed to Christmas songs although they can be fun in the right place. My idea of Christmas is about family(including pets), friends and trying to do a bit of good in the world because there are always people worse off than you are; at least if you live in a first world country and have any income at all. Some of my Christmas gifts to family members that are better off than I am may be donations to organisations that protect animals or supply people in less well-off countries the means to make an income or have clean water. I think that is important.
The Christmas Story
Boxing Day is a public holiday in Australia too although I think this is more a carryover from our British heritage than because we really understand what it was originally for. In Australia Boxing Day means barbecues, the beach for some, eating left over Christmas food while watching the cricket on television, or going to the MCG to see it live if you happen to live in Melbourne.
It’s funny how your photographic needs can change over time. When we used to go on steam train trips I found a long lens very useful for run pasts and even more so later on for photographing motor sports and action on the cricket field. A 300 or 400mm prime lens or zoom was one of my must have pieces of gear.
I like to take pictures of landscapes and buildings so a wide-angle lens is a must. Now that I am photographing more small things, dolls house interiors, flowers etc I could really use a macro lens but I don’t have one yet so I make do with what I have using the zoom lens or just getting in close with a standard lens.
Red petunia close up.
These photos were taken on my smartphone. I had to leave the house while some people were looking at it so I went to the old cemetery behind Sacred Heart School with Cindy. I managed to take a few photos there amongst the headstones. I don’t find cemeteries grim although sometimes it’s sad when you see the graves of babies and children or graves that nobody visits but old headstones tell their own stories.
A memorial rosePart of a head stoneheadstone of a baby.Lily
We’ve had some warm days here in Tasmania recently but I have been too busy to take any photographs so let’s see how people stay cool (or not) on Ovation of the Seas.
Getting an icecream on the pool deck is a delicious way to cool down although perhaps not so much for the guy serving them.
What could be cooler than ice cream on a hot day?
I didn’t try these but they look like a pretty good way to enjoy the pool.
Keeping cool on the pool deck.
Meanwhile the staff still have to get their work done. We got to do a tour and saw some of the places below decks.
I wasn’t sure if I would reblog this post again this year but Melanie (https://sparksfromacombustiblemind.com/) asked me about White Christmas so I thought I would after all. I haven’t commenced making any of these goodies yet. I was planning to do the pudding on Sunday but I may have a house inspection so we’ll have to see.
A few years ago I wrote a series of posts about my favourite Christmas recipes. I have reblogged them a couple of times since as more people are now visiting the blog and may not have seen them the first time around.
This year I decided to post links to the old posts so that if you choose you can go and take a look at them. It may be a little late to start making a Christmas pudding or cake unless you have several hours to spare but you can bake a batch of mince pies and White Christmas takes no time at all to make.
So once again here they are, my favourite Christmas recipes.
Whether we have it or we don’t have it rain plays an enormous part in our daily lives. We can’t live without it but too much of it at one time can cause havoc and not enough of it is devastating.
One of the things that attracted me to the Huon Valley is how green it is. I’d spent most of my life in South Australia, the driest state and the rivers and lakes, green grass and flowers here appealed to me. It does seem to rain more here than some other parts of the state. Naomi says that it always rains when she comes to visit me. She was here Saturday and it was dry until about 5pm and then as she started to think about going home down came the rain.
The view of the Huon River from halfway up Percy St, Port Huon
Not enough rain at the right time of year can be bad for farmers crops but unseasonal rain and hail in summer can ruin the cherry crop and growers lose a lot of money because damaged cherries are no good for export.
At times there are areas that are very prone to flooding. Launceston often suffers from floods in winter but the city has put in levees that they hope will protect the city from the worst of them. We had bad flooding in the north a couple of winters ago when several rivers rose dangerously high.
Huon River in flood at Huonville. photo from ABC news.
The Huon River sometimes floods in winter, usually, it is not too bad in Huonville, just water over the road in a couple of places. Two or three times since I’ve been here I’ve seen water in the main street and a couple of businesses have been affected but a couple of years ago there was a situation created by high tides in the estuary, melting snow and a lot of rain and there was a much worse flood. Homes were evacuated, businesses were flooded and livestock lost.
Tasmania isn’t always wet though, people don’t realise it but Hobart is the driest state capital after Adelaide and we have had serious droughts in Tasmania, especially in the eastern part of the state. The area where Naomi lives in the centre of the state is farming country and she often told me how distressed the local farmers were when they had to destroy sheep or sell them for very little because the land would not support them. Lake Dulverton at Oatlands where she lives dried up completely during a particularly bad drought.
This is the lake at the height of the drought.Fisherman December 2009
I am fortunate enough that my house is connected to the town water supply but I have friends who rely on rainwater tanks and when the rain doesn’t come they have to buy water.
Mostly I don’t mind when it rains. Of course, it is a nuisance at times, at the Op Shop for example when it is too wet for us to put anything outside the shop and the bad weather keeps customers away. Or when I go to the cricket and the match is rained out. On the other hand, rain is nice to cool everything down after a hot day and I like the sound of rain on a metal roof. Without rain, there would be no rainbows.
What are the most important lesson(s) you’ve learned in life?
Don’t rely on other people to do things for you. I don’t like to ask people to do things for me all the time. There are a few who I know that I can call on if I really need help and I have done that when I was in situations that I really couldn’t manage myself. However, a lot of the time in life people will say that they will do this or that but they don’t. I don’t like to impose on the good people too often and I value my independence so if there is a way to manage alone I will.
How did you meet your husband/wife or significant other? How did you know he/she was “the one”?
David and I met on a steam train excursion. He was 19 and I was a few days off my 18th birthday. We had both been going on these trips run by the Australian Railway Historical Society (SA) for some time and on this particular occasion our locomotive had broken down and everyone was asking everyone else if they knew what was going on. David and I got chatting that evening and met on a couple more trips before he asked me out. We found we liked a lot of the same things apart from trains, photography, books, especially science fiction and generally had the same values. We were engaged after a year and married when I was 20 and David was 22. I don’t know if I ever thought “he’s the one.” I’m not very romantic. Neither of us had ever really dated anyone else as we were so young but luckily things worked out for us. We were married for nearly 38 years.
Wedding day, I was 20, David 22.
If you could take a year-long paid sabbatical, what would you do?
That’s a hard question to answer in some ways as I haven’t worked for several years. I guess if I’d had that opportunity when I was working for the railways and making decent money I would have traveled overseas or to more distant parts of Australia.
What is your favourite thing to buy at a movie theatre concession stand? (Credit to The Haunted Wordsmith for this one)
Well, Fantales of course, you have to have Fantales at the movies so you can read the movie trivia on the wrappers, Jaffas to roll down the aisles and those ice cream cones that are covered in chocolate.
What are some Holiday Traditions you and/or your family observe in December?
Every year since I was about 14 I have made mince pies to eat over Christmas. I don’t think I’ve ever missed making them. We like our British style traditions of Christmas pudding and rich, dark fruit cake but in recent times have added another treat called White Christmas to the list of “must haves”.
As there is now just Naomi and me on Christmas Day it is pretty low key. We have a hot lunch, something we were not able to enjoy in Adelaide as it was often too hot for meat and three vegs. We open our presents and presents for the pets of course and later usually watch a replay of the Christmas Pageant from Adelaide and some Christmas movies. Usually, I talk to family and friends who live in other states on the phone at some point during the day.
We don’t observe any religious ceremonies although I used to like to go to Carols by Candlelight years ago it’s not possible now because of the lack of transport. It has become rather more like a pop concert than a Carols service though so I don’t really miss it.
White Christmas, this is the version made with copha.
On Boxing Day David if we were not going out David and I would watch sport on TV and eat leftovers. We watched the first day of the Boxing Day Test Match at the MCG and the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race. I still like to do this and to go to Hobart later in the week to see the yachts when they have arrived.
Mince Pies 
White Christmas, this is the version made with copha. 
Fruit cake decorated with nuts. 
Here are the ingredients for the Christmas Pudding. 
