Tuesday, August 24, 2010

tony, rob and bob

Still no further on with sorting out the hung parliament over here. The situation is very similar to events in the UK earlier this year, although in a country with a much smaller population ( just over 14 million people voted- and voting is mandatory here ) the Independent candidates hold the balance of power....

..... That is 3 blokes called Tony, Rob and Bob.

This gang of 3 are in talks with Gillard and Abbott and these kingmakers will decide who to side with and dictate which party takes power. As rural independents they are interesting characters, old Bob having some particularly peculiar things to say about the state of the country.

"You know we're not allowed to fish much at all, we're not allowed to go camping or shooting or even boiling the billy. We've got a terrible problem with the deadly flying foxes. They're going to kill many more people than Taipan snakes do in Australia."



Above is a video of Bob's election campaign.

Glad 'Bob is on the job' to save us from the terrible flying fox threat.

Rob, on the other hand, makes a mean vegetable pie.

My “life dance card” is pretty full at the moment where its either work or family or sleep, but where possible, I love my downtime with close family and friends, beach and surf, or bush and bikes. My world famous vegetable pie is also ready to be cooked at a moments notice, much to the growing concern of the kids!

He has the square-jawed looks of an American game show host, and apparently is the only MP who wears a tracking device so any constituent with an iPhone or Smartphone can instantly know where he is. Handy for Mrs Rob I suppose, though with 3 kids already and a 4th one on the way she is probably glad that he is anywhere but in the bedroom.

Tony seems quite ordinary- no tracking devices, concerns about flying foxes or famous recipes as far as I can tell.

Basically all 3 are independent for a reason- they despise party politics and have fallen out with labour and liberal so their remit is very much to represent local rural affairs.

It is gripping stuff.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

election fever

Awaiting the results of today's general election here and it is looking like a possible hung parliament.

James dog is taking it in her stride....

From Protea Farm 1

Still very cold and windy and wet, August has notched up over 100mm of rain, so we are planting trees and plants all over the place on the assumption that if we cannot grow them in these conditions we may as well give up all together.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

tree hugging

After a very wet July we are having an August of torrential downpours. No longer are we complaining of drought and empty water tanks as we squelch around the boggy garden and watch the small rivers flowing down the hill and into the dam. A few more days like this and we will be complaining of flooding and gathering together the animals two-by-two at the top of the hill.

The lovely yellow wattle tree in the garden is disappearing in a pile of sawdust. At first we feared termites, but on closer inspection it is blighted by 'stem borer'- a nasty bug that eats the tree from the inside out. It is currently a mass of yellow flowers which I fear is the swan song performance. However I have googled treatments, and despite all the Aussies we know thinking we are demented foreigners trying to save an infested tree which grows like a weed and is not worth the effort, 'Operation Tree Hugger' started today.

This involves identifying the source of each pile of sawdust, excavating the hole then inserting a piece of flexible wire to track and impale the bug within. Then prepare a paste of Dolomite and Derris ( that well known Music Hall double act ) and fill the hole. Finally use wood filler to seal the damage. The assistant in Bunnings ( a DIY superstore chain ) backed away very quickly when he spotted me in the wood filler aisle and asked what I needed the filler for. I plumped for exterior wood filler in pale teak.