5/366 Fresh fruit

If there is one thing I love at this time of year, it is the amount of fresh fruit available. Go and pick apricots off the tree yourself, pick strawberries and raspberries at the fruit farm.

But me, I love eating the raspberries with icing sugar and cream. Fattening I know, so maybe then a bit of a walk on the treadmill might cancel out the extra calories.

Yummy, raspberries and cream

4/366 New beginnings

One thing I hope to do better now that I have retired is to get a vegetable patch growing well.

While I was away on holidays for 11 weeks in USA/Canada, my parents started a vegetable garden for me, by planting carrots, three types of beans, two types of tomatoes and corn. This morning I went out to water them after the hot day yesterday and pulled out some carrots to thin the area out and allow the carrots to grow larger.

Vegetable patch

3/366 More cleaning

With it being bushfire season at the moment in Australia, one thing recommended to keep your house safer, is to have your guttering cleaned out. Now I haven’t done this in probably 5 years, so today, a helpful young chap came around with his ladder, bucket and blower, then climbed on the roof to clean out my gutters.

I knew there was quite a bit of grass up there but according to him, most of it was dirt and dust blown up there by the wind.

Gutter clean out

2/366 Outside clean up as well

While cleaning the inside of the house, I have also started cleaning up the outside. This included having 12 tree stumps removed and ground down to lawn level. Here is the result of the largest stump behind the shed.

Sawdust after tree stump removed

I think all this sawdust flying around is now causing some sore eyes at my place.

 

1/366 A clean start

OK, so I didn’t do too well in 2011 at taking and publishing a photo each day. In fact, I lasted 32 days only, just over a month.

Well it is now 2012 and I have retired from 35 years of teaching. It is now time to sort out the resources and start cleaning rooms. How long will it take me to do this I wonder?

Time to clean

Anyone for chess?

chess

Tuesday, 1 February 2011

You often find life size chess games now in many malls, parks and shopping places. I found this set at a resting park near the bakery at Richmond.

Do you find chess a relaxing pastime?

The students in my class often get out the chess sets when they have finished work or when they have free choice time.

What are some of the things you enjoy doing to relax?

Flora in the wilderness

Monday, 31 January 2011

When I went on my trip down to the South West Wilderness area, I took a few images of different flora found around the National Park area.

Can you recognize any of them? Do you have them growing where you live also?

Heat wave

an image a day 060

Sunday, 30 January 2011

On this date two years ago, Tasmania had its highest recorded temperature. It was 42.2 degrees Celsius or 108 degrees Fahrenheit and was at Scamander on the east coast. The whole of South Eastern Australia had a heat wave during that period.

Whenever it gets too hot at my place (usually during the school holidays), the only thing I have to cool off is a portable fan which often goes to school with me as well until the end of March. As it rarely gets too hot in Tasmania, most classrooms don’t have any form of air conditioning.

What do you do when it gets too hot in your house or classroom?

Black Caesar

convict 021

Saturday, 29 January 2011

In 1796, John Caesar, a convict from the West Indies, was still at large as Australia’s first bushranger. It was on this day that the government offered a reward of  5 gallons of spirit for his capture.

I have 8 convicts so far in my family tree – none of them became bushrangers but all settled down in the then Van Diemans Land and raised families.

When we studied convicts at school we borrowed a kit from Port Arthur Education centre and this included clothes often worn by local convicts.

What other bushrangers have you heard of in your state?

Murals

mural

Friday, 28 January 2011

Murals are a great way to show what is happening in a town or a school. I know we had a mural near the weir in our town showing the history of the railway line that used to add water from the weir.

In Tasmania we have a town known for its murals – Sheffield in north western Tasmania. The town even hosts an annual mural fest with great prizes.

The mural pictured above was created at ‘Orana’, the Girl Guide camp in southern Tasmania. It was painted to represent 100 years of Guiding in Australia.

Do you have any murals in your town?

What would you put on a mural to represent your town or school?

Local store

Thursday, 27 January 2011

Visited the local store today and saw their fantastic Australia Day display. They do this every year and add different things each time.

I wonder how many of my readers can identify some typical Aussie icons in the display?

If not Australian, what icons would you use in a display representing your country?

Australia Day

lost on beach

Wednesday, 26 January 2011

Well, I had a quiet Australia Day. Went to the local celebrations but, of course, forgot to take the camera. Sent some messages to my students from last year on their Moshi Monsters accounts. Left some comments on the teacher challenge blog. Someone had such a great time, they left some property on the beach.

What exciting things did you do today?

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