Blogging from A -Z 2016 Archives

P – Pelicans

April 22, 2016 inspiringmax

Australian pelicans are beautiful, majestic birds and whether they are alone or in large groups, I can and have sat to watch them for hours. To see one find, catch and swallow a fish is an amazing sight.

Growing up I loved the Australian movie — Storm Boy. I loved it so much that when it recently came out on DVD, I bought a copy and I plan on enjoying a trip down memory lane one day soon. Storm Boy is about the adventures of a boy and his pelican. To this day I don’t know how they trained the pelican to interact so intimately with a young human. Have a sneak peek at the following trailer and let me know your ideas.

https://youtu.be/k7bkqGvpb4A

Q – Queen Elizabeth II

April 21, 2016April 20, 2016 inspiringmax

Happy 90th birthday Queen Elizabeth II

Quality

Understanding

Experience

Elegance

Neatness

Empathy

Learning

Influence

Zen

Authentic

Balance

Endurance

Tradition

Harmony

O – Oceans

April 19, 2016April 20, 2016 inspiringmax

I love spending time staring at the ocean. It relaxes me and reminds me how vast the world really is. Over my life I am excited to have seen the top 4 of the 5 oceans of the world which in ranked order are:

Pacific
Atlantic
Indian
Southern
Arctic

Growing up I lived 20 minutes from the Pacific Ocean on the east coast of Australia and loved going to the beach. Whether it was for a swim, to build a sandcastle or go for a walk give me the opportunity and I would be there. When I was 16 I traveled across Australia and got to lookout and swim in the Indian Ocean. I remember this experience began to give me a sense of how big the world’s oceans were. Then in 2000, just as it was officially recognised as an ocean, I was able to look out across the Great Australian Bight onto the Southern Ocean. I remember thinking that at this point that there was nothing between me and Antarctica, which felt very special.

Then in November 2014, the next stage of my ocean journey was revealed, as from the coast of Newfoundland I saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. She was beautiful even in winter and the thing that disappointed me the most was that although it wasn’t far from St Johns, we couldn’t get to the most easterly point of Canada because it was winter. Personally, I would have loved to have stated that I had been to and possibly even dipped my toe in, the most easterly point of Canada as well as Australia.

One of these days I plan on completing the last two goals of my world ocean journey list — to lookout over the Arctic and to cruise across the Atlantic following a similar journey to the Titanic. I don’t know about you but for me the following Jacques Cousteau quote is definitely true. What do you think?

N – Niagara Falls

April 19, 2016April 18, 2016 inspiringmax

December 2104 saw me tick a major milestone off my bucket list, a visit to Niagara Falls. We visited from the Canadian side which I loved as we got to go under the falls. The power of the water rushing past was deafening and awe-inspiring all at the same time. The bus trip from Toronto dropped us further up the Niagara River and we walked down to the falls taking in some amazing scenery as we went until we reached the spectacular Niagara Falls.

The journey under the falls and the view looking out into the wall of water.

American Falls and Bridal Falls on the American side of the Niagara River walking towards Niagara Falls.

Maids of the Mist take the winter off and are stored on the side of the river.

M – Mexican Food

April 18, 2016 inspiringmax

I love Mexican food. It started back in the 1980’s when I began going out to restaurants, Mexican quickly became my favourite as it was so different to our usual food — full of colour, slow-cooked with unusual ingredients. We had many family celebration in our local Mexican restaurant Taco Bill’s including my hen’s night and I was very disappointed when it closed. Today, although you can buy many Mexican ingredients in the local supermarkets nothing beats a good Mexican restaurant experience.

Last year my husband and I spent a week in Port Macquarie arriving on my birthday. My husband was excited because they had not one, but two Mexican restaurants for us to try. He booked us into both — one on my birthday and the other when the kids joined us later in the week. The first was very disappointing and their service didn’t exist. The second restaurant, Poco Loco was amazing. We had a great night together for my birthday, sharing a meal and creating many memories. I was so pleased with the presentation of my food that I actually took a photo of it, something I rarely do but lucky for this week’s photo challenge.

Just looking at it is making me hungry for Mexican.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/dinnertime/

L – Lamingtons

April 17, 2016 inspiringmax

Lamington’s are an Australian icon. They are believed to have first been created, by accident in the kitchen of Queensland Government House by Lord Lamington’s maid servant. She had accidentally dropped the sponge cake into melted chocolate and because he hated waste it is reported that Lord Lamington told her to cover it in coconut so his guests could still eat it without making a mess. Everyone loved the creation except possibly Lord Lamington himself who once described them as “those bloody poofy woolly biscuits.”

Lord Lamington was Governor of Queensland from 9th April, 1896 until 19th December, 1901. On 19th December, 2001 the Australian lamington celebrated its 100th birthday.

Image Credit: Donna Hay

LAMINGTON RECIPE

125g butter

125g sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

250g self-raising flour

pinch salt

1/2 cup milk

Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time and beat well. Sift flour and salt together. Add flour alternatively with milk to the mixture. Turn into a greased and floured lamington tin (square baking tin.) Bake in a moderate oven (180-200C) for 30 minutes. Allow to cool. Cut cake into squares.

Icing:

Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Blend in cocoa with a little boiling water, add a few drops of vanilla essence. Add butter, mix well, adding a little more boiling water if necessary, until icing is smooth. Dip each cake into icing and roll in coconut. Set aside until firm.

Recipe Credit: Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen’s Classic Country Collection

Addit: Flo’s husband Joh Bjelke-Petersen was the longest-serving Premier of Queensland from 8th August, 1968 until 1st December, 1987.

K – Hello Koala Sculpture Trail

April 16, 2016April 17, 2016 inspiringmax

Until December 2016, the street and building of Port Macquarie, New South Wales are peppered with large-scale koala sculptures made of fibroglass and hand painted and decorated to a theme. The artists consist of celebrities, professionals as well as local community groups. Each koala has a plaque at its base that has the sculpture’s name and artist’s details. There are 50 of them in total and they were built to help support the work of Port Macquarie’s Koala Hospital — the first of its kind in the world. I fell in love with them and photographed all I saw, about 37 I think. I hope you enjoy some of my favourites. They were so cute.

I – Idioms

April 14, 2016 inspiringmax

Idioms are phrases that have special meaning often very different from their literal meaning. The Australian language is full of them and some can be so common place that we forget that non Australians struggle to understand their meaning. So to help explain my idioms I thought I would dedicate ‘I’ to them and many be help my international readers understand some of our confusing slang.

Phrase: Away with the pixies

Meaning: Dreaming

Example: He’s away with the pixies. ( He’s dreaming.)

Phrase: Bob’s your uncle

Meaning: If you do whatever is said before everything will be alright.

Example: Just three more chops with the axe and Bob’s your uncle.

(My fun response to this idiom has always been — no Bob’s my dad actually.)

Phrase: Don’t get your knickers in a twist.

Meaning: Don’t get upset.

Example: He’s 5 minutes late Mum, don’t get your knickers in a twist.

Phrase: Woop Woop

Meaning: Middle of nowhere, far away from any where of interest

Example: I’m going to Woop Woop tomorrow.

Phrase: Flat chat

Meaning: Go very fast

Example: I had so much to do, I had to work flat chat to get out of work on time tonight.

Phrase: Play silly buggers

Meaning: Messing around, wasting time

Example: They are up stairs playing silly buggers instead of doing their assignment.

Phrase: Pull your head in.

Meaning: Shut up, I don’t want to talk to you.

Example: Jane, pull your head in, you’re becoming a bore.

Phrase: Buckley’s Chance

Meaning. No chance

Example: You’ve got two chance of that happening , your’s and Buckley’s.

Phrase: Mad as a cut snake.

Meaning: Very angry.

Example: Don’t go near dad tonight , he’s as mad as a cut snake.

Phrase: Kangaroo loose in the top paddock.

Meaning: Not too smart

Example: I’ve been watching him for a while and I think he has a kangaroo loose in the top paddock.

Phrase: Bring a plate.

Meaning: Please bring a plate with food on it to share to a party or barbeque.

Example: Mary invited us to her house on Friday night and asked if we could bring a plate.

Phrase: As useful as an ash tray on a motorbike or as useful as tits on a bull.

Meaning: Not a very helpful person or thing.

Example: Janelle was as useful as an ashtray on a motor bike this afternoon when I asked her to help in the kitchen.

F – Future

April 11, 2016April 10, 2016 inspiringmax

In the future my husband and I plan to travel back to Canada especially Newfoundland and spend 6-12 months exploring and soaking up the culture. We visited in 2014/15 enjoying it so much that we made an immediate plan to return after retirement, which can’t come quick enough.

037 - Looking to Atlantic Ocean from Signal Hill

021 - Woman at work shoveling the sidewalk

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/future/

#Blogging from A -Z 2016

E -Emu

April 9, 2016 inspiringmax

Emus are our national bird and take pride of place with the kangaroo on our coat of arms. They are our largest bird, second only to the Ostrich in the world and can range in height up to 2 metres and weigh up to 45 kilograms. Outside the cities especially in rural and remote Australia, emus are a common site as they roam free and can survive in extremes of temperatures.

Country singer John Williamson penned his famous infectious tribute Old Man Emu many years ago and it has become part of everyday culture. In the song he compares the emu to other animals and birds, focusing on its assets not what it can’t do — fly. I think this isn’t a bad philosophy to live by.

By nature, emus are curious creatures and aren’t shy in coming forward. If they want something, they will come at you quickly. Here are a few examples:

Back in the 1980’s my husband was driving on a dirt road when an emu began running beside him. Initially, he thought nothing of it, then suddenly for no reason the emu suddenly turned and crashed into his car.
In the 1990’s we were visiting Wagga Wagga Botanical Gardens talking to the kids about emus when one suddenly leaned over the fence and pecked my father’s red shirt. He wasn’t hurt but the kids thought it was very funny and have never forgotten it.
In 2000’s we were visiting a private zoo in Tasmania where they had trained the emus. We joined a group of about 20-30 people to ride around the emu pen in an open truck and feed the emus. Everyone had a bag of feed and held it out in one hand. Then suddenly the scariest thing happened. All of the emus descended onto the truck eating the food from the white bags. All you could see was emu heads in your face. They were very delicate and didn’t hurt anyone but the noise between the screams and the emus was deafening. An experience I will never forget. Australia also has a big emu, Stanley who guards the highway just out of Lightening Ridge. If your driving past don’t forget to give him a wave.