Saturday, January 19, 2013

R  Scatterings
Four categories
Mammal 
Technology 
Transport 
and 
Something red from my stash



So two weeks have passed and I have clicked here and there a few times, mainly in these here parts. As a couple of events happened very quickly, I only had time to reach for the 6 year old phone camera. Consequently, any photoshopping has made few improvements but they are candid.


MAMMAL on the MENU

Our rear neighbours have a lovely, tall Australian native tree in their backyard. It's a lay-by for many of the local birds. Last week we were sitting in the kitchen and suddenly heard a great, raucous scrub-bashing in their garden. I grabbed the mobile phone to record the closer look at two visiting kookaburras and a pigeon. The larger kooka was busy thrashing the life out of a mammal against the branch of the tree. The smaller kooka was grinding its beak and 'clucking' in anticipation of a shared meal. The gobsmacked pigeon was just a bystander! At first I thought the victim was a lizard or a possum. Then by enlarging the photo,  the very long-tailed rat became evident. Who needs rat traps or bait when the kooka- team is in the 'hood! 

BUT there's more! The gore did not stop there. After killing the rat, the kooka then gradually swallowed it ..... whole ..... head first! The second kooka had to wait for regurgitated seconds. The pigeon left to scavenge elsewhere.


HI-TECH BEAMS


Laser Technology, not genes, certainly had a hand in wanding these eyelashes. Sadly the headlights were off so the full, lush, moonlit effect of the lashes was not for this candid mobile phone camera. Cute, huh!

TRANSPORT WITH A HEAD

Last August, we spent 12 days in Finland. We spent most of the time in Helsinki but also used our Eurail passes to visit Turku Abo and Tampere. Helsinki has this unique light rail pub with tap beer, which wends its way around the city for 40 mins during the summer. We didn't take the tour but liked the tram and its catchy colour. The cut out postcard is one of our cheery souvenirs of our Finnish experience.

RED FROM THE STASH
RED RETRO TEA TOWELS
These 40s and 50s tea towels are a sub category of my stash! They come under 'textile tat' which I love to ferret from opportunity shops and fetes and add to similar things from my mother's trousseau (pre 9 October 1948). I don't know if they will ever form a quilt but until I make some sort of sewing decision, I will continue to take them out from time to time and enjoy their fabulous Irish linen texture, shapes and colours. 

Consequently, I do know that they will definitely never be harmed in the act of drying crockery, cutlery and/or cookware!