O as in 'Ole'

O@workplace

.

I worked and studied with the Department of Education from 1970 to early 2007. In those days the DoE operated the Teachers Colleges in NSW. Part of our two year course was to do practice teaching sessions from 2-4 weeks, two to three times per year. My final Prac was for 4 weeks at Orange Grove PS in Lilyfield. In the final week, I was on the floor boards for every lesson. My legs ached for hours every evening and I was exhausted, which was an indication of what life was going to be like for years to come. 

I was lucky to have a very good master teacher helping out .... with advice! I went back some years later as a Kanga cricket umpire in the PSSA Friday Sport comp. Not much had changed!! I was almost posted there 3 days per week to teach Italian but refused the offer as I didn't want to work 2 days a week somewhere else. Split positions were not my cup of tea.

These days, OGPS has a Saturday Market which is very popular and helps to supplement the school's finances. It still has a play area despite the shrinking open space of inner city schools due to higher enrolments and more demountables to accommodate the increasing population. 


O@Discarded

My orchids have been beautiful this spring but they do not bloom forever. The discarded blooms and the empty stem have begun their next life in the compost bin.

O@Arts

I have had this vase for many years but never used it as the artist, Michael Bang intended ie a bulb vase for forcing bulbs to grow roots and shoots and bloom indoors. Its opalescent colour is not my favourite colour but it must be helpful for bulb fanciers.

O@Old

This piece of organdie was in my mother's material chest back in the 50s as long ago as I can remember. It was too small for anything else other than a doll's outfit but somehow it stayed in one piece. It was the most beautiful fabric I had seen in those early years. Over time, the organdie became mine. I occasionally come across it and still marvel at its colours and fine weaving. However, today I noticed some tiny holes. It's been useful for a couple of moths but is too fragile and too precious to make into anything. Time marches on....it's approaching sixty and is too old to have another life! It is in its retirement in my fabric cupboard.

Catch up with the other Scatterers @ http://lgfns.blogspot.com.au

J ......

J@Holiday - Jabiru

I returned from our holiday in the Top End last week and have

a few photos to share of Jabiru, the town not the hotel named

after the C-reptile! The town has a population of about 1200. 

The main employer is Ranger Mining.....uranium. It is worth

reading the section about 'sickness' country in the Wiki link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakadu_National_Park

A comb-crested Jacana 

on

Jabiru Lake

not far from

 Jabiru Bakery

We did see a jabiru in flight, which is the black mark on the left of the photo. In the background, Nourlangie Rock

towers over billabong, which is about 20km by road from Jabiru township.

The Jabiru is just on the water line on the left of the white birds

J@Dancing - Jazz: 'Just Duo' by Chet Baker.

Track 14

As explained in an earlier post, dancing is not

my forte. David introduced me to jazz so

when we go to a pub or club to hear some 

live music we sometimes have a dance to

some slow, uncomplicated numbers.

'Just Duo' is by my favourite musician, Chet

Baker. So grab your partner and have a 

shuffle using the link below:


Just Duo Chet Baker


J@Toy: Jig-saws c1957

I had to 'crawl' under the roof for these jig-saws this 

afternoon! They were tucked away 

in an old Globite school case.

A few pieces have disappeared over time. 

J@Japanese: Juban

A juban is man's short jacket. It is made and lined with silk. I bought it in Tokyo at a Sunday shrine market in 2000.

As I am running late today, you have probably seen the posts
of the other Scatterers. However, you can flick to Cinzia's blog to see the list of contributors. http://lgfns.blogspot.com.au

E

E - pantry, frightening, flower, exciting

Eco pantry
We have visited a number of environmental food sources over the last two weeks

The first was the Fogg Dam wetlands reserve we are staying.
Fogg Dam was established in 1956 as a rice growing experiment. However, it failed. Consequently, it has become a wetland typical of the tropical north and a home to such a large number of wildlife. Wetlands such as these are the pantries of the indigenous people. Magpie geese are a very popular ingredient in their diet and are currently plentiful.

Even though the dam was artificially created for rice, it has become an important eco friendly pantry for the wildlife of the wetlands but not the intended rice bowl for southern Asia.
http://www.foggdamfriends.org/history-of-fogg-dam.html

Egret in the eco pantry

 

 

Midden remains at Anbangbang Billabong

near Nourlangie Cliffs (Menu: catfish and file snake)

 

 



Egit Frightening
An accidental tourist met his fate at Mary River NT on 25 August. The guide we had in Kakadu said locals were devastated that a Darwin person could be so 'foolhardy' .... she used a different phrase! However, on our return from Gunbalanya (Oenpelli) Arnhem Land, we had to wait at the crossing as the water level was too deep to pass. We took lots of photos of the five crocodiles, which were scanning the river banks for wayward tourists. If only they could have rolled over to the other side they could have played 'rock and roll' with the EGIT who was standing in a tinnie, line fishing. He is to the left of the depth marker.

 



Egit in tinnie at East Alligator River

 Our guide was gobsmacked that a fisherman could be so reckless as the news of the deceased tourist was still fresh in the media and vivid in everyone's mind.

Edge exciting
My closest image encounter with one of the five crocodiles who were vying for first roll of the aforementioned egit if the chance presented itself.

The cutting edge of the mud flat!

 

 Exstipulata Flower

A scattering of licence here! The shrub which is currently blooming everywhere between Darwin and Gunbalanya is the Calytrix exstipulata aka An-bandarr aka Turkey Bush 



 

 

 

The Nourlangie National Park sign says that the shrub,

'An-barndarr is easy to spot being a mass of pink when it's flowering but a tad untidy when it's not' !

I think it is beautiful!

 

 

Catch up with the rest of the Scatterdays mob at http://lgfns.blogspot.com.au/



 

 

 

 

Sticky H Moment

I can't believe I omitted 'H-Sticky'!

I wrote the post some days ago as I knew yesterday would be busy yeaterday getting ready to fly out to warmer climes. 

So here is 'H-Sticky':
Back in 'Scatterdays-L', I posted about 'Lund', the city and 'Sarah Lund', the actor  Sofie Grabol, in the Danish TV series 'The Killing'. The series is now in its third and final run. Sarah is always in sticky situations be they professional, domestic, familial or interpersonal. However, what seems to stick by her through thick and thin are her Hand-Knits.

In Series 1, she wore the two jumpers: the first with a simple but effective Fair Isle design and hand-knitted on the Faroe Islands. The jumper became an international knit-hit and the pattern included in 'The Killing Handbook: Forbryelsen Forever' by Emma Kennedy'. 

Gudrun Rogvadottir the designer of the first jumper

A less complicated number

The second jumper was chosen by Sofie.  
In Series 2 she wore this rust number which had the same design as No1 knitted into the jumper. From a knitters point of view, it was a more intricate and more boring method than the Fair Isle as mistakes are less obvious.

In an attempt to show that 'Lund' is more modern in her choice of jumpers, the dresser declared 'over-sized' chevron as the pattern for the 'Series 3' jumper. Moaaaan! It was awful. 

However, in the third episode, she appeared in a second colourway of the original jumper! Yessssss! 

I can't wait to see the jumper in which she finishes the series or if she enters a 4th fashion dimension or ..... 

I just hope those Danes come up with another fantastic detective series after 'The Killing' is put to bed.

More on the jumpers?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204840504578086810272722932.html
and so funny 

and http://www.sarahlundsweater.com/

and http://www.whodunnknit.com/?s=sarah+lund&et-month-choice=no-choice&et-cat=0&et_searchform_submit=et_search_proccess


Actually, in checking my facts for all these jumpers, I am now in a very sticky situation.  As you can see from just the few links above, the SLJS ie Sarah Lund jumper situation has gone viral and I have to admit I failed to notice a couple of jumper-changes in the first series. Oh, Dear! Perhaps I became too engrossed in the plots with all their the twists and turns and 'slip one, knit one' became irrelevant! However, the dim winter's light which pervades all the episodes seems to have hidden some of the jumpers' details. 
Now I realise the entire series has cemented itself in my memory bank and an event from my subconscious has risen it's 'Fair Isle' head: I have to also admit that when I was in Estonia in August last year, I bought a grey jumper with a white Scandinavian design simiale to Sarah Lund's. I will post a photo when I am back with my photo collection as I am in Darwin for nearly four week on holiday.

UuUu

@ Magazine

I have had a love of magazines since I was 8. My mother used to buy me 'Princess' every week and then added in 'June'. This lasted until I was about 13 and then I swapped to 'Seventeen'. Magazine Junkie. In my 20-30s I was paying off a house so there was little money to spare for mags but I did buy some recipe monthlies. In mid life, I restarted the passion when I started quilting. This week, I have had my final clear out and ripped out only hat might be possible in this life time. Only a few remain complete and in a book case.....U? Well, they are part of the Universal Magazine  stable. 
The remainder is on its way to Vinnies every time the car leaves the garage! 

@ Dangerous
Uuuuu? 

Untold numbers of google searches have been unfruitful. the most interesting I thought would be Untested elephant: An elephant is considered “untested” if it has not had three trunk washes 

Summary: Management of the infected animal may require isolation of the exposed herd, potential removal of the animal from exhibit or shows, and if elected, treatment of the animals and exposed herd ... In some cases, with potentially dangerous or unpredictable

 However, wading through the information was becoming very tedious and I was not going to race over to the zoo any time soon so I have settled for the very pedestrian 'under-the -sink'  type dangerous solution. Even though we try to sanitise everything with white vinegar, we still have chemical undesirables under the sink. Luckily, no one shorter than my mother and her dog visit us so the dangerous cupboard is safe for the moment.

@ Colour 

Umber brown was an interesting-sounding colour in my paint and pencil boxes along with Siena Yellow. It was a long time before I realised that the names referred to actual places. Umber (Umbria) is a region to the right of Tuscany, where Siena lies. In printer colours, Umber is composed of 52 parts Cyan, 49 parts Magenta, 64 parts of Yellow and 35 Parts of Black. Therefore Umber Brown is predominantly YELLOW!

Umber brown

Orvieto in Umbria sits on pans of umbrian brown coloured clays

@UFOs

Ubiquitous, Unhappy UFOs ......I have just tidied my stash and have been reminded how many UFOs I have. They still outnumber my completed quilts! So...it was easier and less confronting to pull out my UFKnits.

L to R: unfinished socks, unfinished toddler's shrug; unfinished afghan

U should know ur way to Cinzia's blog by now but the shortcut  to all Scatterers is http://lgfns.blogspot.com.au . I am looking forward to a letter with a little more charm.

 

• Information / Color Space Conversions
• Composition Charts
• Color Blindness Simulation
• Schemes, Harmonies & Combinations
• Related Named Colors
• Gradients
• HTML & CSS / CSS3 Examples
• Related Paint Colors

The hexadecimal color code #f7d917 is a shade of yellow. In the RGB color model #f7d917 is comprised of 96.86% red, 85.1% green and 9.02% blue. In the HSL color space #f7d917 has a hue of 51.96 degrees, 93.33% saturation and 52.94% lightness. This color has an approximate wavelength of 587 nm. Pantone / PMS Yellow 012 is a matching paint color.

'Sarah Lund' is back

In a new jumper!

ZEDZZZ

Notorious  ZEDs

No chance of sending up ZZZZZs when driving on the notorious zigzag roads of mountainous Italy. Roads which seemingly were made by some civilisation other than  the Romans who liked straight, straight and straight. The passenger may be able to shut their eyes but the driver just has to 'cazzy' on. 

In 2004, I was determined to reach my first location called Gummer (means the person who sharpens the teeth in the blade of a saw, ie serious tree felling saws. Gummer is also my maiden name), which is the highest village in the Rosengarten area of the western Dolomites in the Alto Adige region of northern Italy. This area had once been Austrian but post WWI, it was handed over to Italy. These days the locals still feel their Austrian origins: German is the first language, English the second and Italian is the third. Signs are bilingual in German and Italian. In fact the location in Italian is San Valentino, more romantic than a saw-tooth dentist!

I do all the driving when we are overseas so when we headed from Pescia towards Bozen/Bolzano at speed maximus for the autostrada, I was keen to have some time up my sleeve to visit Gummer.  Bozen is beautiful and deserves a longer look than I could manage as I had my sights set on Gummer. David would not go there as he hates heights and had 'suffered' enough on the old road from Pescia to Modena .....'You're too close to the edge!' and other unhelpful comments to which I finally replied that he should put a paper bag over his head and be quiet. So 'Going to Gummer' was me going solo. I left him to wander around the charms of Bolzano and he gave me an hour and half! Well, as the map and link show, the roads became hair curling BUT when I reached the Gummer plateau it was AMAZZZZingly beautiful...and a toddler in a stroller could have been my brother fifty years earlier. I didn't take photos of the hairpin bends but include a map and a few photos of the Gummer area, which is a ski resort in winter and is also known for its 80cm telescope.

Way to go!

The start of zigging and zagging

Heidi Country! 

The local school

Kilometres of views

https://maps.google.com.au/mapsf=d&source=s_d&saddr=Bolzano,+Bolzano,+Italy&daddr=Gummer,+Italy&hl=en&geocode=FfeBxQIdhkKtAClJcJ5BK5yCRzEqQ4s0T2krZQ%3BFfaxAIdpR2vACkvwCcLnd4RzGu464GSfVdug&aq=0&oq=Gummer&sll=-33.83316,151.195884&sspn=0.025738,0.032573&vpsrc=6&t=h&mra=ls&ie=UTF8&z=13&layer=c&ei=LqDoUZuCGurDmQWJwYC4DQ&pw=2

http://www.astrooptik.com/Projekte/MaxValier_e.htm 



Edible Z

Za'Atar is a blend of Middle Eastern herbs and seeds. I first had it on toast with yoghurt. Subsequently, David uses it a lot when grilling or frying chicken. Zensational!  














Family Z
Zorro? Zachary? Zeek? Nuh!

Unfortunately we do not have exotica for names in our family. My father and I have searched a great deal of family history and for centuries on his side the most exotic names have been Benjamin, Oliver and Kevin! There was Jeremiah Gummer a Tasmanian convict who wore a uniform with an unattractive arrow pattern but no ZZZZZs. I have found a few in England but perhaps the surname is all we share: 

GUMMER	Ziphorah	Langport	Somerset	1854	Jul-Aug-Sep
GUMMER	Zandra Michelle	Hereford	Herefordshire	1989	January
GUMMER	Zachary Christopher	Taunton	Somerset	1999	August

Zoroastrians? None yet found but possible on my maternal great grandmother's side as she was Anglo Indian.

Sarah Wicks not a Zoroastrian

ZZZZZZZZZ

When I travel, I like to take a photo of the view from the zimmers where I stay. Breaking the trip at Clausen/Chiusa, which is on the main autostrada to Austria. I slept well at Spitalerhof. 

View of the mountains from the snug room 

Zip to the other scatterers  by clicking this link:  Cinzia's site