A genius: no sweat?

Miss Eagle couldn't resist doing the IQ test mentioned by Lazy Cow. Lazy Cow, Miss Eagle pipped you by One Point. The testers tell me that Miss Eagle's Intellectual Type is Insightful Linguist. This means she is highly intelligent and has the natural fluency of a writer and the visual and spatial strengths of an artist. Those skills contribute to Miss Eagle's creative and expressive mind. And, they say, that's just some of what the testers know about Miss Eagle from her test results. But, Miss Eagle would have to pay them to get the full report. Well, she won't be paying.

And so what if Miss Eagle is a bona fide genius on a bona fide IQ test. As Miss Eagle's mum used to say: If you're so smart why aren't you rich. Smart, in fact, only takes one so far. As science has found. There is no substitute for hard work.

The Gardens of Upper Gully 2

The pink rose of the previous post lives in this garden. Miss Eagle is very fond of this garden and its house. In recent years, Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic has achieved prominence. Miss Eagle thinks this garden and its house qualify as Shabby Chic. There is wisteria over the garage and white fluffy curtains at the windows.

The Gardens of Upper Gully 1

The gardens of Upper Gully are responding well to spring.

These are a few beauties showing off as Miss Eagle walked home

from the Railway Station yesterday.

One enthusiastic citizen has a marvellous garden on the King's Park side of his fence.

This year it has really matured and is a standout.

And below are the roses of Mount View Road

My favourite type of rose. Deep Red. Heavily scented. Going to dark velvet at the edges.

This one is gorgeous. It might be perfect if only it had a scent.

Rodney comes to The Trad Pad

There is a new addition to family life at The Trad Pad.

He is Rodney (remember the Eddie Murphy Dr Doolittle) the Guinea Pig.

Rodney joins FootFoot and Trixie, the miniature Fox Terriers, and Rose the Spartacat. Miss Eagle thinks this is dangerous territory for a Rodney but Herself, full of optimism re the animal kingdom, thinks all will be well. All Miss Eagle can say is just as well Rodney resides in a a wonderful black nylon mesh cage.



Rodney came to The Trad Pad from next door neighbours, D & M. D is a snake fancier and has purchased Rodney to feed to his pet python. However, this didn't happen and Rodney and the python became friends. Now D has gone off the whole idea of fresh meet for the python and will resort to frozen mice. They asked Herself if she wanted the Pinny-gig - well Miss Eagle thinks that D knew whom he was asking.



FootFoot, Trixie and Rose are adjusting - we think, we hope. The Guinea Pig entry from Wikipedia has been downloaded as a guide to Rodney's care. And here are some pictures of Rodney and FootFoot. What is on FootFoot's canine mind? Is he just trying to make a new friend? Possible. FootFoot is a social animal. He loves cats and Rose came to The Trad Pad as a pet for FootFoot. A pet for a pet. But is the memory of his breed uppermost? Is the Fox Terrier thinking that this is the sort of beastie he has been bred over generations to chase and deal with?



Herself thinks love, goodness and kindness will bring about a good relationship on all sides. Miss Eagle? She will wait and she will see.

Sunrise : Sunset

The photograph above is of a Sunset

Below are Sunrises



One of the most wonderful things on Miss Eagle's recent visit to The Nine Mile near Broken Hill was the sunrises and sunsets. In Melbourne, there is cloud and great variability in the weather. In the Western Division, there are clear unpolluted skies. Greeting the morning sunrise once again became a morning ritual for Miss Eagle. Here are her remembrances of the sun.
For some really glorious photographs pop across and see Denis's.

Meeting an old friend. Part II

Denis is a naturalist. His knowledge of plants and birds is encyclopedic. Each morning we would watch the sunrise together from an embankment on the eastern side of the homestead. Then we would check on what was happening. A walk around three sides of the homestead perimeter (the fourth side was inaccessible) would takes us an hour. We would notice each bird, take time to find good light and photograph each bird, identify the plants and, in case a plant was questionable, collect a specimen for verification in a large compendium on plants of the Western Division.

And so the friendship developed.

A week after arrival we set off to drive back to Robertson (pop. 1000 approx) where Denis lives to spend a couple of days in a rural rainforest environment and meet some of Denis's many friends.

Denis (right) with Anni Heino of Mayday and Andrew Ford

Eventually, the time came for Miss Eagle to return to Melbourne. She got up on the Saturday morning and it seemed a good thing to her that Denis should come back to Melbourne. After Denis recovered from this shock, he agreed to come but said he felt like he had been hi-jacked! He went back to Robertson this week. So for just over three weeks we have been together and felt comfortable and tender with one another.

Now, Miss Eagle usually doesn't get this personal on her blog - but, after some of the comments over at The Nature of Robertson, it seemed appropriate that Miss Eagle made comment. Denis has a strong network in Robertson and there appears to be significant gossiping and comment.

So my life has changed dramatically in 2006. Two years ago (two years this week on 22 September) Miss Eagle arrived in Melbourne with her wings severely clipped by a long illness. Now Miss Eagle has lost 40kgs (nearly 90 lbs) since November 2005 due to a gastric lap band. She has gone back to work in local government after she was forced by illness to leave it early in 2002. And now there is an intelligent and loving man in her life who shares many of her interests and values. For Miss Eagle, Providence is stunning.

Meeting an old friend. Part I

Four weeks ago to-day, Miss Eagle departed Upper Ferntree Gully and headed north and west taking a leisurely trip to Broken Hill, an historic mining and pastoral town in western New South Wales. As has been explained in previous posts, she was off to participate in God Outback, a desert retreat organised by her friend Ian Robinson from Perth.

Now, Miss Eagle had been corresponding - with increasing frequency - with Denis from The Nature of Robertson for many, many months. If you have been a regular reader, you will know that Denis has had quite a battle with lymphoma. It seemed to Miss Eagle, dear Reader, that, after his trials and tribulations, with stem cell transplants etc. a good holiday with a spiritual basis might be a good idea. Denis baulked at what might be involved in the spiritual side of things but your Miss Eagle assured him that there was plenty of room in the desert to go for long walks if it was all a bit much. Anyway, Denis decided to come and as the day of departure - for him this meant by train from Sydney - he was quite excited about the whole idea.

So it was that Miss Eagle turned up at the railway station at Broken Hill sometime just before 7pm on Monday 21 August to meet someone who had become an old friend sight unseen.

The train was late so Miss Eagle had to cool her heels here.

At the front of the station are these wonderful murals.

Here is the train bringing Denis arriving at 7.50pm

And so out to The Nine Mile for God Outback

The Desert blooms - 2

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The Desert blooms

This enamel bowl of fruit was on the table when we arrived.

When it came to Miss Eagle's first turn on the roster, we decided to eat in.

To make things nice and festive Miss Eagle picked wild flowers for table decoration.

She placed gum leaves around the fruit bowl.

Below, she selected a large piece of white quartz,

put it on a large glass plate,

surrounded it with gum leaves, and placed some

tea lights around it.

(She had thrown these in the car, in case....)

Below are a wild species of portulacae which grows

around the homestead at The Nine Mile and it sits

comfortably with what may be a bracken fern in a saucepan

The first day of God Outback - Part 3 - Acacia Vale

Skylights, Shearing Shed, Acacia Vale

View from the Shearing Shed, Acacia Vale

View from the Shearing Shed, Acacia Vale

Wool Press, Shearing Shed, Acacia Vale

Tank (this is what dams are called in The Western Division)

The first day of God Outback - Part 2 - Acacia Vale

Tank Stand, Shearing Shed, Acacia Vale

The Nine Mile

Pens, Shearing Shed, Acacia Vale

Remains of rock garden, Acacia Vale

Sorting/Classing Table, Shearing Shed, Acacia Vale

Interior, Shearing Shed, Acacia Vale

The first day of God Outback - Part 1 - Acacia Vale

Where does one start?

Miss Eagle drove to Broken Hill via Bendigo, Swan Hill, Mildura and Wentworth.

Photographs all the way. The photos en route will come later.

The photos taken at Acacia Vale, a part of The Nine Mile will begin.

Pages, photographs out of history.

Diny at the water trough at Acacia Vale,

The Nine Mile

Shearing stands, Acacia Vale, The Nine Mile

Interior, Shearing Shed, Acacia Vale, The Nine Mile

Shearing Stands, Acacia Vale, The Nine Mile

Wool pack stencils, Acacia Vale, The Nine Mile

Miss Eagle is back

Homestead at The Nine Mile, Broken Hill

Miss Eagle is back - but busy. But to get back into blogging, this is a quick post. The destination was The Nine Mile. The Nine Mile is a sheep station - sheep ranch to those in the USA - just out of Broken Hill and right next door to The Living Desert. It is the property of Greg and Mia. The trip was organized by Spirit Journeys Australia and our leaders were Ian Robinson and Ross Neville.

Below is The Shearers' Quarters where we stayed - a group of nine of us - and looked after ourselves. More later.................

The Shearers' Quarters at The Nine Mile, Broken Hill

Trippin' on out

Miss Eagle is signing off for a few weeks. She departs at the weekend for The Nine Mile where Mad Max and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert were filmed. For more details of Miss Eagle's destination see here. The focus at this time is not on blogging but on preparations. Miss Eagle is getting the desk cleared at work; getting the Mitsubishi in order (it has new tyres, it has been detailed, and to-day the mechanic comes); and organising the gear.

And, dear Reader, your correspondent does not travel light. She has tried it and it doesn't work. She wishes she could say differently. So the spare bed has two small suitcases on it (one for undies - it already has the thermal underwear in it, one for the rest); an old Persil box full of writing materials - journals, coloured pencils and markers and calligraphy stuff; and camping and camera gear and a stack of CDs. To this will be added a box of books but a lot of those are still in her bedroom on the bedside table. Miss Eagle will be camping in her Mitsubishi wagon.

After The Nine Mile, it is over to Robertson to check out all that stuff that Denis and Anni blog about. Then down the south coast of New South Wales and across Gippsland to Upper Gully. So a few ks will get notched up as well as lots of good times.

So, blogging friends, see you in a while.

Thank heaven for little girls!

Lazy Cow has the most beautiful celebration of The Girl's sixth birthday. It led Miss Eagle to recall something she wrote back in January 1970 about Herself who was then six weeks short of her sixth birthday. So she has dusted it off and, 36 and a half years later on that electronic whiz-bang thing called a blog, here it is.

~~~~~~~

VACATION IN RETROSPECT

Tomorrow, school will resume. Girlish hands will be pulled and pushed into gloves and unruly locks covered with the regulation hat. Feet that have run free for most of the summer will be reluctantly shod in brown lace-ups.

As I look back over the past summer, I wonder what will happen to the companions of vacation time.

It all started with the "fair damsel in distress". A passion for pretty ladies found an outlet in an old green skirt (garb for many a tropical fishing expedition) and the torn-off bottom of a large paper grocery sack to which was attached an old very worn lace curtain. All this added up to one lady, mediaeval.

Through this love of pretty things, we discovered two of the greatest artists of all time - Goya and Michaelangelo. Goya's paintings of beautiful women ran a little ahead of Michaelangelo's wonderful "David".

Now, a school opening looms closer, culture and prettiness have given way to an adapted version of an ancient pastime.

Matt Dillon strides around the homestead with his Marshal's badge made from an out-of-date Chronicle; an old, upturned straw hat to shade his eyes; and a popgun and cap gun slung in an old port strap around the hips. We are asked to "holler" for a Marshal.

Tomorrow can't come quickly enough, and being in Grade 1 is a grand thing. New events will take precedence, and I wonder what will remain.

I hope that the colour and wonder of beautiful things will not fade, but I pray that Matt Dillon will, as all good cowboys do, walk off into the sunset.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miss Eagle reports that the colour and wonder of beautiful things has never faded. Herself is a collector and a decorator and a stylist. A beautiful shop has come - and has just gone - but it is clear beauty will never fade from her life as she styles a corner here and a laundry there. Matt Dillon remains somewhere off in the sunset.

A garden meme

It's not fair, I tell you. That Denis! Wait 'til I see him! I'll hit him over the head with something round and heavy that has a handle! You see, dear Reader, Anni tagged each of us with a literary meme. Your correspondent did her bit and completed her meme and tagged some others. But what did that Denis do? He piked and changed the rools with Anni's permission. He says that he doesn't read ordinary books any more. He says

"In the past I have been a very enthusiastic reader. In recent years, I have found myself reading plant books - reference books about native plants, Orchids, Peonies. I love these books. In the past I have been a very enthusiastic reader. In recent years, I have found myself reading plant books - reference books about native plants, Orchids, Peonies. I love these books."

So Denis has transposed the literary meme to be a meme about plants. Now, as far as Miss Eagle is concerned that's OK and his plant meme is wonderful. Trouble is he tagged your correspondent. Now she gets to do two memes to his one. And Miss Eagle knows stuff all about plants compared with Denis who calls things by their proper names as well as their nicknames and seems to be on really intimate terms with them.

Anyways, Miss Eagle will NOT be known as a piker. She will struggle on and see what comes out the other end of the sausage machine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. One plant that changed your life.

Miss Eagle can't think of a plant that changed her life but here she wants to talk about two plants that live in her memory. When Miss Eagle was but a slip of an eaglet, her school used to have an annual ball in which we little ones turned up in long dresses and suits. Miss Eagle's mother always made her a beautiful coronet of flowers. These were made from crucifix orchids and sacred bamboo which just grew wild in our garden. We didn't yet have a refrigerator so once made the coronet was put on the block of ice in the ice-box to stay fresh.

2. One plant you've planted more than once.

Miss Eagle loves her herbs. It is hard to choose between them but for this exercise she has chosen Italian parsley and has a picture of it growing in her own garden.

3. One plant you'd want on a desert island.

This is a no-brainer. Miss Eaglet would want the Tropical Lima Bean otherwise known as the Madagascar Bean. Miss Eagle, when she was living in the desert in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, came across the description of the Tropical Lima Bean in the Permaculture Journal. It was described as capable of being grown to make a green wall - just what Miss Eagle wanted for her back fence. She asked everywhere - no one knew of it. Miss Eagle has only just discovered its proper name. In desperation she wrote to the people who had written about. They were in WA and back came a packet full of beans. They are wonderful. They are productive. Miss Eagle had a teeny weeny garden in TC but what she grew made her rather sustainable if not 100% so. The garden grew rocket and silver beet. A wonderful basis for salads. Tomatoes and basil - those wonderful companion plants. And the tropical lima bean. The bean cooks wonderfully and becomes beautifully tasty and tender. It is wonderful in a salsa accompanied with pasta. It is ideal in bean burgers. Just keep on picking and it keeps on producing and it does become a very high green wall if you train it on a trellis.

4. One plant that made you giddy?

Miss Eagle thinks the plants that make her giddy are the breathtakingly beautiful ones. She recalls a rose from over forty years ago. It was so red it was nearly black and it was like velvet. And the scent. Miss Eagle longs for a rose like that.

But there are other beautiful flowers. Here is a picture of one, a camellia, from her own garden.

5. One plant that wracked you with sobs.

The ones that wrack me with sobs are the ones that are needlessly destroyed. Miss Eagle recalls the declaration of the World Heritage listed rainforest in North Queensland. It included the Daintree. This area received all the publicity during the campaign to save the rainforest. But the rainforest covered by the listing began just up the road from Miss Eagle's home at Bluewater, half an hour north of Townsville. The National Party was still in power and it, along with its cohorts, fought tooth and nail against the listing. Miss Eagle remembers travelling along a road she wasn't supposed to be on behind the Wallamin Falls near Ingham and seeing absolute destruction - the width of a four lane highway through the forest. No coverage for this. This was out of site and out of mind. When will we ever learn!

6. One plant that you wish had been grown.

Miss Eagle can't answer this. There are so many. The wishlist is best summed up in the Garden Plans ofEdna Walling. Edna's garden, her choices of plants, her designs are the stuff of dreams and wishes.

7. One plant you wish had never been grown.

For a Queenslander like Miss Eagle, this is a no-brainer. It is of course the Prickly Pear.

8. One plant you are currently growing.

Currently this Azalea is in full and glorious bloom. It is a gay plant in the best sense of the word. It reminds Miss Eagle of a wonderful dancing lady in a gay yellow ball gown. It is a joy in this season of Risorgimento.

9. One plant you've been meaning to grow.

Miss Eagle realises her limitations as a gardener and her ignorance as a plantswoman. So she is not meaning to grow anything. It is all she can do to maintain what is there now and replace those that are annuals or of limited life span.

10. Now tag five bloggers.

Alice at A Growing Delight

Tanya at The Purple Giraffe

Mary at Devonhouse Recollections

Jane at yarnstorm

Kali at Enjoying the Journey