Small Lives Living Large Before the Flood

Small snail on a dragon’s wing © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2022

As we gardeners in the other half of the world, the southern hemisphere, bid a fond farewell to summer, I thought about some of the natural highlights around me.

The coffee bean tree is laden down with green berries. The agapanthus flowered abundantly for the first time in four years. The lawns are lush, the weeds are going feral. Every garden is flourishing, flowers and green foliage abound. Shrubs, hedges and trees are taller and their leaves are broader. Insects are so noisy the sound gets inside your head.

It has been a smorgasbord of a summer for the plant, animal, bird, reptile and insect domains in my suburb. Oh, and I just found out that snails are from the phylum Mollusca family. I am loathe to mention the toads but they relish the dampness at night courtesy of La Niña.

The Orchard Butterfly is our biggest and today I spied a huge one drying its wings during a brief respite between showers before fluttering free from the mandarin tree.

Scrub turkeys are getting bolder, scratching garden beds and terrorising cats. Birds generally are spoilt for choice when it comes to food and where to build a nest. But like homemakers everywhere, they have to make a good decision. The eagle-eyed hunters are watching, waiting, taking their time. Even the possums are walking more leisurely across our roof.

Actually the agapanthus have already been and gone. There was a sea of them in the back paddock but due to a computer malfunction those early photographs are not available – c’est la vie.

GOODBYE SUMMER

Birds sing at 5am,
grasshoppers hop,
lawnmowers til noon,
cold drinks and ice-cream for arvo tea,
pray for a cool breeze,
clothes stick to skin,
a quick swim,
a light dinner,
air-con fades away,
windows open to humidity,
can’t sleep,
hoping no holes in the flyscreen,
late summer storm rattles the house,
memories rattle through my mind.

GBW 2022

Summertime sundown © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2022

As the Australian pop rock band GANGgajang so lyrically sang:

“Out on the patio we’d sit, And the humidity we’d breathe, We’d watch the lightning crack over canefields. Laugh and think, this is Australia.”

Full lyrics https://www.lyrics.com/artist/GANGgajang/212403

Our cat JoJo is a respectful blue-tongue lizard watcher and a keen rodent catcher. However, I am worried about a white ant termite nest beside the house. Never seen one before but I know they are voracious eaters, chomping through wood at a great rate. The pest control people are swamped with work at this time of year. Fortunately cats and termites are not the least bit interested in each other.

Australian summertime will soon hand over the weather to autumnal March. Cooler maybe, my advice is still wear a hat and sunscreen. Speaking from experience, I personally would not participate in a fun run unless it ends at the local swimming pool. Afterwards I would never ever eat greasy takeaway food. Ah, but those hot chips with salt and vinegar…

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

** NEWSFLASH ** As I proof-read this post the city was already soaking from heavy rain and now the wet weather has continued in earnest. Day and night torrential rain has fallen, flooding large parts of Brisbane and South East Queensland causing major havoc to housing, business, roads, rivers and creeks. Sadly lives have been lost. About an hour ago we had a power failure. It is drenching, pounding rain, the air is humid, the sky dull grey. From overflowing guttering to washing away bridges, fast flowing flood waters are powerful and dangerous, carrying a multitude of unseen debris. Stay dry, stay safe. As the saying goes “If it’s flooded, forget it”. GBW 2022

Walk in Fear or Safety

Early morning walk © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2022

The suburban street is quiet.

A safe city skyline in the distance.

No choking clouds of black smoke.

No artillery fire, no jet fighters roaring overhead.

Around the bend I will not be stopped by a military checkpoint.

I will not see people waiting in line for food, faces with helpless hopeless eyes.

No muttering, no crying, only the sound of bird calls and the breeze ruffling leaves.

No chants for freedom, no skirmish over the ownership of an abandoned vehicle, weapon, passport, shoes.

A woman cradling a sick child – no, she is carrying her small dog.

A cyclist whizzes by, a delivery truck rolls around the bend.

I keep walking, steadily, evenly, calmly. There is nothing to ruffle my early morning walk.

And I am grateful.

Very grateful.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.
Eric Hoffer

A New Wall Calendar Every Year

Machu Picchu Citadel, Aguas Calientes, Peru + Photographed for Bartel Calendars The Last Diary Company, Mascot NSW Australia – www.bartelpublications.com.au

It’s usually five or six new wall calendars every year. Or more if they are a seasonal gift. They hang in various rooms in our home, sometimes two at a time and used constantly. Some are intensely written on, e.g. appointments, special events, new recipe, etc, while others are purely decoration.

As the new month is flipped over, there is always much comment on artistic merit. Some are better than others. Purchased early in December is better; the mundane scenery ones (even beach scenes can wear thin) are the last on the newsagent’s display rack.

“Hey, what is the meaning of the Andes Mountains Machu Picchu Citadel photograph?” you ask.

Well, as the year draws to a close, I looked at this final entry and thought “Wow, that camera is very good!” I looked closely and saw what every single tourist is doing, frozen in time! I could even see two people on top of a nearby mountain, perhaps the ones who photographed this shot using an aerial drone?

Young backpackers, trip-of-a-lifetimers, honeymoon couples, students and many nationalities. Guides and guards seem to be at various points. Did they know where their image would end up?

I hope you can see what each tourist is doing. My reproduction resolution may not be clear enough so let me explain a few:

Posing for photos, taking photos, taking off jackets, chatting, fixing hair, climbing with apparent degrees of speed up the ancient stone steps, the rocky terraces, the top platform. A young woman presses into a wall niche. At the pinnacle there is a man with his arms and legs spread as though shouting “Here I am, I made it.”

This mysterious, ancient citadel seems to be well treated and well preserved and hopefully will still be standing into another millennium or two.

Just to bore you, listed below are calendars hanging around here waiting to be removed from their wall-hooks to make way for the 2022 intake. No movies, no sport, no cars, but I am willing to bet you have had at least one of these in your home at some time or another:

Birds
Lighthouses
Anime
Cat calendar
Dog calendar
World cities
Tropical islands
Indigenous art
Birthday calendar

Remember Snoopy, Garfield and Gary Larson’s “The Far Side”? And what about Australia’s own Red Tractor Designs. I love their country calendars!

I like the ritual of changing a calendar over every month. It’s not a chore, it’s not a device, it’s not generated automatically, it doesn’t need recharging, it doesn’t make a noise. Except the lovely sound of rustling paper.

Real calendars give me back some masterly (mistressly?) control over my daily routine. No programming or click-tap-swiping, just me and a pen. In fact, that pen often doodles. Seeing as Christmas is coming, I have sketched a couple of jolly holly sprigs on my calendar entries. No doubt I will do a spray of fireworks for New Year’s Eve.

Wishing you safe, interesting and happy times ahead.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Camel Milk Pancake Recipe

Pancake Recipe from 1984 ‘Country Hospitality’ Cookery Book

This is an straightforward recipe, you can juggle amounts and type of ingredients to suit. I use whatever is available in the fridge. When you are hungry, you cannot afford to be too serious with pancake-making batter. My secret ingredient is camel milk.

PANCAKES

Ingredients

1 cup self-raising flour

Pinch of salt

1 egg

1 cup camel milk (or other)

1 tablespoon butter (or other)

1 lemon

I have tried different milks, e.g. cow milk, soy milk, almond milk, goat milk (considered sheep milk) to versatile camel milk. The Summer Land camel milk makes consistently fluffy pancakes which keep well (if you have any left over) and they take a variety of spreads or toppings.

Method

Sift the flour and salt; make a hole in the flour and break the egg into it, gradually stirring in as much flour as the egg will take;

Add half the milk by degrees and continue stirring until all the flour is absorbed;

Continue beating until bubbles rise, then stir in the rest of the milk gradually and stand batter aside for at least half an hour (I never do);

Take a small piece of butter and melt into the frying pan. Pour butter out and wipe the pan with paper (not necessary with non-stick pans) then put another piece of butter in, and when it has melted pour in a little of the batter and fry till it is light brown and tiny bubbles form;

Turn with a spatula, and when cooked on both sides, slip pancake onto a piece of paper. Continue in the same way until all the batter is used.

Serve

The ICPA serving suggestion is “sprinkle with castor sugar, roll up. Serve hot, garnished with slices of lemon.” However, I love them spread with soy margarine, honey and slices of banana. Try seasonal fruit, peanut butter, savoury mince or a soft square of camel fetta.

Note: Summer Land camel milk (1 litre bottle) available at organics grocery stores, and also in milk powder formula. Use it with your own favourite recipe!

Thanks

This recipe is courtesy of Mrs L Nicholas of Solferino, Clermont, Queensland Australia. Recipe published in ‘Country Hospitality’ compiled by Clermont Branch of the Isolated Children’s Parents Association 1984 with illustrations by Branch member Margaret Finger of Redrock, Clermont, Queensland Australia. Metric conversions are approximate.

Bon appétit !

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Exercise Makes You More Attractive

Quotation from My Health for Life Program www.myhealthforlife.com.au Photograph © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2021

My Health for Life is a free lifestyle program funded by the Queensland Government and designed and delivered by the Healthier Queensland Alliance. The Alliance is a group of non-Government organisations working in partnership with the Government and Health and Wellbeing Queensland to improve the health of Queenslanders.

The organisations involved are:

Diabetes Queensland
Stroke Foundation
National Heart Foundation of Australia
Queensland Primary Health Networks (PHN)
Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland ECCQ)
Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC)

The following are thanked for their counsel and support:

Health and Wellbeing Queensland (HWQld)
Queensland Health
Brisbane South Primary Health Network Positive Impact Program
Victoria Life! Program
Network of providers and coaches
The people of Caboolture who helped develop this program.

I am currently participating in a free fortnightly My Health for Life Program and after just three group sessions (with a physiotherapist, alternating exercises indoors and out in the park) I feel positive about ‘tweaking’ my lifestyle and eating habits for the better, e.g. increased movement and decreased intake of tea and bikkies.

Also, I was given a Group Coaching Program workbook which is filled out each session to keep my healthy eating on-track and planning for success. A Wellbeing Book, or Guide to Good Health, is included in the pack (in an environmentally friendly carry bag) which offers support, tips on motivation, monitoring your progress, etc, as well as overcoming challenges.

NATURALLY THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT EXERCISE WILL MAKE YOU MORE ATTRACTIVE
THAT’S JUST MY TAKE ON FEELING GOOD INSIDE AND OUT!

If you are interested, there is a free health check on the My Health for Life website. Give it a go. In my group there are couples, an asthmatic, a diabetic and a man who has had heart surgery. You’ve got a lot of life to live.

My suggestion—sign up and step away from the screen—do it now!

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Leisure Time Filled With Books?

IMG_20210123_183613 — Never won a prize but I enjoy puzzles © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2021

Contrary to what my friends, bloggers and book club think, my leisure time is not totally filled with book reading, instead I puzzle over crossword puzzles.

In downtime, my relaxing go-to fillers can be television, radio, YouTube, walking, things on my iPad, things on my phone, even talking to a real person, anything that comes under the banner of time-out.

But my big love is crossword puzzles. I have been doing them in newspapers and magazines for years. When I was a young girl sick in bed, my mother taught me how to solve a crossword in the Australian Women’s Weekly and I was hooked.

A favourite puzzle is the one with only numbers as clues. Yet my long abiding dislike is Sudoku which is numbers.

“There seems to be two main types of people in the world,
crosswords and sudokus”
or discuss with 
The Everyday Behaviour Analyst
or perhaps InsideHook
https://www.insidehook.com/article/games/crossword-puzzles-print-media-new-yorker

Poetry Clipart 13 Not so long ago I tried puzzles online.
It didn’t suit my hand-eye co-ordination.

There are hundreds of crossword puzzle books but I discovered Take 5 Puzzler booklet.

I will try most challenges and styles so I am in seventh heaven with a recent January edition of the Take 5 Mega Puzzler with 130+ puzzles, some I have not seen before — of course, Alphabet Sleuth is the best!

Taxing — yes
Good for my brain — yes
Fun — yes!

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Peculiar Place to Sleep

JoJo Cat Asleep In Planter Box Jan2021 — JoJo cat takes a nap in planter box © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2021

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Morning and Evening Trees

This is the view from my window of the morning sunlight on the flame tree and evening sunset on the umbrella tree – Spring 2020.

Note: These images appeared at different times on my regular Home page ‘Photo of the Week’.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

IMG_20201102_053916 — Morning Flame Tree © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2020

IMG_20201019_180357 — Evening Umbrella Tree © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2020

Unstoppable Springtime

Plants and flowers come and go in the garden according to the seasons but Spring seems to be the best time for Nature to attract my attention.

Here is a tiny sample of what’s happening now in a suburban backyard in Brisbane…

A pumpkin sprout, one of many seeds planted in many containers…
Four healthy little plants from mystery seeds…
The jasmine has been cut back for 30 years and still flourishes…
Mint regularly eaten by humans and insects…

Protect the natural environment, recycle, reuse, conserve water, and remember social distancing doesn't apply to plants. 

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Taste Testing Old Tea

Back when the century had ticked over into another millennium, I was given seven canisters of China Tea. These dragon-covered tins languished on a high kitchen shelf, unopened and forgotten in favour of Queensland-grown black tea from the Russell family.

Eventually it was decided that the pantry shelves had to be Covid Cleaned, e.g. needing a serious going-over. Various items were inspected and sorted into good and bad piles but the tea, packed in Hong Kong and imported to Australia, remained in a different category.

IMG_20200719_120720

The dragon artwork proved a lure and inquisitiveness won.

Although the tin lids were dust coated and faded, it was decided to open all seven of them, brew the contents—in cup and pot—and drink regardless of aroma. Flavour was another matter. To add to the excitement, one tin had lost its label and the large tin was Earl Grey teabags.

‘Hmm, not for me thanks’ I said, but the intrepid Dot B was up for it.

The lid seals had perished but once the canisters were ‘prised’ open, the interiors were pristine clean. I only sniffed the contents and did not taste it, nevertheless considering its age the Jasmine Tea was still beautifully aromatic.

Subjective comments as recorded by Dot B, daredevil tea taster.

Luk On: Drying but pleasant after tones, would drink again.
Oolong: Smooth but common. A nice cuppa.
Earl Grey Tea Bags: Tastes like a boring black tea. Smells funny without lemon.
Shou Mei: Bit of nothing taste-wise but smells nice. Slight metal aftertaste.
Jasmine: PHWOAR smells like FLOWERS and tastes like tangy FLOWERS.
Pu Li: Tastes like hot wee, smells like hot wee. Not recommended.
Mystery Tea: Smells like tanbark and tastes … kind of Green?

Pro tip—don’t eat pickles after tea tasting.

Dot B Tea Tasting Reviews 2020 — Dot B is a part-time tea critic and full-time dragon lover.

Put the kettle on and brew a pot of tea—milk and sugar optional—sweet treat essential. Or check out my earlier post regarding the ubiquitous Afternoon Tea ritual https://thoughtsbecomewords.com/2018/03/11/afternoon-tea-and-fancy-food/

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward