You are in the wrong spot!

PLEASE GO TO MY HOME PAGE:

Bush Babe of Oz

Cheers!

:-)

BB

Final call for the old homestead

What you lookin' for here?


The action's elsewhere!
...
You know it had to happen eventually... just letting you know that this blog is coming down shortly.
...
I am still blogging madly away over at my new place - please update your readers/sidebars/links to this place or else ... well, you'll end up going nowhere. Come on over - Axel will be waiting too! See you there.
www.bushbabeofoz.com

EDIT: If you have trouble with download speeds, go straight to the ALL YARNS page here.
Have fun!

Cheers
BB

Come on over...

We need you there!
:-)
BB

New Tricks and Tips at My New Place

Hello dear readers... How YOU doin'? (Say that in your best Joey-from-Friends voice please)

I need to know how you are handling the transition from my sweet stationary old blog to this newfangled Bush Babe of Oz place?

I know there have been some rough patches, a few potholes along the red dirt road you might say. Let's address a couple of those, shall we? Let's try and grade those jolts a little smoother for you. Come on over to skill up and switch over successfully:

TRICKS and TIPS and SWITCHING OVER

See you there!

What are you doing here?

The action is all over HERE:

Glorious Gloom and Signposts

Friendship, Fires and Followers

Cheerups - Floral or Fridge Magnet Funny

Long Weekends and Weather

See you there!
:-)
BB

Weather time - cool and calm

New weather post at the new place over here - time to share your forecasts!
:-)
BB

New Blog POST - FLORA or FUNNY

Over here!
Your input required!
:-)
BB

New posts at the new place

As my followers feed is not updating (working on it !) here are the links to the latest posts at Bush Babe of Oz....

LANDSCAPES AND LISTS

LANDSCAPE ENTRY

KNOT STRIMMING THE BUSH (lots of Jilly Cooper double entendres!)

LONG WEEKEND DRIVIN'

My apologies to those who read me through feeds - hope to have it sorted soon!

Miss you...
♥
BB

Change of address at YOUR place?

Are you one of the generous souls who have a link to the BUSH BABE blog tucked away on your sidebar somewhere? Did I ever tell you how much I appreciate you doing that? No? Well I do.
.
Never fails to amaze me that random people, who have NEVER EVEN MET this chick from whoop-whoop, Australia are so kind and generous to me... it confirms my suspicion that the vast majority of the internet peoples are FABULOUS.

.
That said, I have a small favour to ask you - if you're not too busy, could you possibly dive into your settings and check your link address for me? If you haven't already, please change it to my new address - www.bushbabeofoz.com - same old Bush Babe, same old battered Nikon, brand new fancy-pants blog home. But only if you want to, of course. I'd hate to be too bossy. (Shush up Jeanie!)
.
You'll find all the same yarns, landscapey, old-stuff, horsey pics and nonsense... don't forget to come and leave a calling card at the new joint.

Oh and there will be a really sweet little yarn about THIS BUSH...
but ONLY at my new place!
(Why yes, I am a tease.)
.
Cheers!
:-)
BB

The Fallout (and a freebie)

*Tap, tap*
Hello... anyone still there?
Did I shock your socks off with my new abode?
I do hope it wasn't too shiny and unfamiliar...
To answer a couple of queries:
~

1. YES, I will be changing over completely to the new blog in the next week. I might leave a couple of little notes here to let you know what I am up to over there, hopefully tempting those who are dragging their feet. :-)
2. I will change categories there so that if you simply click on ALL YARNS (currently 'General Yarns)' then you will go straight to the static version of all latest posts. Kinda like the 'inside' pages to a magazine.
3. I have worked out how to take comment moderation OFF (yay for the moronic bush blogger!) - who needs to moderate when I have visitors as nice as you guys?
4. There is something FREE there for all my readers... about to post it up NOW!

Please note most of all that it is the SAME OLD BUSH BABE doing the writing and taking photos and getting all worked up about some beautiful old rusty thing - I haven't changed one little bit.
~
Have a wonderful day.
See you for coffee (and a colourful freebie) at my new place?
Hugs
BB

IF I LEAVE ME, WILL YOU COME TOO?

Well, my friends...

the Time has come...

After much planning and procrastinating

and huffing and puffing

and umming and aahing

I have done it.

~

Well, when I say 'I'

I really mean

'lots of other people who ACTUALLY

know what they are doing'.

~

Want to know what I am babbling on about?

Put the kettle on, make yourself a cuppa, get comfy and

CLICK HERE...

and see what the HECK I have been up to lately.

~

Go on.
It won't hurt.

Promise...

*crosses fingers and toes*

I'll be waiting both HERE and THERE for your reports.
*holds breath*

Winner of the Calendar Contest...

And the winner of the Calendar contest is....

Comment number 5 - Jenni!!
Congrats, my friend - Jenni is actually one of my longest-term readers.
She is an American from somewhere in the vicinity of PW's place
(but not Oklahoma, right Jen? Something about Kansas?)...
and she came up with no less that 19 suggestions for my calendar images.
Gads Jen - how long did THAT take you?
~
I really appreciate everyone's input in this challenge - and each and every suggestion has been taken on board. A theme has definitely emerged. I will keep you posted on developments and shall share some of the most popular images in a post very soon.
~
I was actually dreading doing this draw in case Random Integer turned up one of MY comments, in which case I would have had a re-draw. But luckily it threw out a 'proper' comment number... yay!
~
Jenni will have to be patient for this prize as I haven't even designed it yet. But there will be two calendars with your name on them when the printers do their thing, I promise!
~
Thanks so much for taking part - I cannot tell you how blown away I am that you all took precious time to help me out.
Hugs
BB

Holy Moly - and Calendar Contest extension

I am astonished.

Astounded.

Gobsmacked.

Like.. Wow!

You lot have been FABULOUS.

I think you should all be editors, actually.

~

Your choice of shots has greatly helped me narrow down the array for my little annual project - the Bush Babe calendar. In case you are new and the comments in the last post look like a lot of gobbledegook I asked readers to share the images they would most like to see on their walls. They copied the links from the explorer bar for me. Basically saving me about a thousand hours of time and headaches trying to decide myself.

Cause I am lazy like that. (Newsflash there!).

~

And because it's such hard work, trawling through my mountain of photos. and because I love your work, and because I need a TAD more time to finish my latest little blog-project, I am extending the deadline for comment entries by 12 hours.

~

I will set my random thingy up to choose the winner of the BB Calendar Contest after midnight tonight (Wednesday Oz time).

~

And I will post up the winner Thursday morning, soon as I wipe the sleep from my eyes.

Thought I'd share another landscapey shot (which some of you seem to love so much) which I will be blogging about next week...

Purty hey?

Don't forget to enter the contest... click here!

Pre-change CONTEST...

CONTEST CLOSED!!!

~

So here is the deal...

I'm not exactly BORED with blogging

And I'm not exactly SHORT of bloggable material...

And I'm by no means disheartened by my commenters' input here...

In fact those three things couldn't be further from the truth.

Each gives me a buzz that's hard to describe.

You need to know these things.

But something needs to change...

And I have decided that it will.

Soon.

VERY soon.
~

But in the meantime, I want to try something...

you remember my last calendar?

The one I thought no-one would buy

and instead went within a couple of weeks?

Well, I have decided to do another.

And this time I intend to offer them a little earlier in the year

(realising that late November was not an optimum time

for you lot to get your Christmas preps completed!)

~

But I need your help...

I find it impossible to select shots from my massive archive.

If you were to hang something of mine on your wall,

any (horizontal) image from my archives that says:

Australian bush or

Action or

Fun or

Amazing to you,

WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Would it be something along these lines?

(Hello darling Yvette)

Or this?

Maybe something colourful and rainy-day?

Or perhaps THIS?

Heh.

~

Enter your suggestion in comments

- make as many suggestions as you like

remember that each entry gives you a seperate chance to win!

If possible, leave links in your suggestion

to either the post containing the photo you like

or the flickr address of the image itself.

(Note, if you click on my photos in the blog,

it should take you to my Flickr site -

except very old images which are Blogger-based).

~

I will do a random integer selection at MIDNIGHT Wednesday (GG time)from the resulting list of comments. The winner will get TWO 2011 Bush Babe calendars (including postage) - that's almost $100 worth of prize!

~

So what are you waiting for, my friends...

suggest away!

That was amazing guys - thanks for taking the time to trawl and find your faves...

I will do the Random Integer thing and have it up (as soon as the kids are on the schoolbus!)

The Birthday Post

I am quickly posting a couple of snaps from yesterday

as I face the clean-up from Dash's eighth birthday party this morning.

(Although I must acknowledge the amazing help I had

from all my fabulous guests in the washing up department last night

- is it an Aussie thing that every woman present

just pitches in and gets elbow deep in the suds?

And while we are on that topic,

I have the very best step-mother-in-law ever!)

~

Anyway, we started off the day bright and early

with Violet enthusiastically assisting Dash

in his present-opening endeavours...

And apparently the offerings were okay...


Optimus Prime regalia discovered by chance at Target.

Please Lord let it last for a few months for the trashing it is sure to receive.

Amen.

~

Dash went to school for the day - well, not school exactly, but the school cross-country.

Where he proved his parent's genetic abilities do NOT score high

in the land-speed department.

Sorry Dash!

And then, after school, half of his classmates

(from the entire school, which totals 18 students)

descended on Granite Glen to party hard.

~

The Optimus Prime cake was a hit too.

Fact: neither of my kids ate any of it.

And yes, they are quite weird.

Everyone else made up for it though,

devouring a good portion of the marble and mock-cream creation.

Especially the adults...

And before you ask, NO I did not bake it

(our local bakery did a sterling job on that part.)

My contribution was the image on top.

(Those two sentences pretty much sum up yours truly!)

Heh...

~

Off to clean up now.

I suspect Axel has already started on all the edible debris on our patio.

I am SO lucky with all the assistance I get around this place!

Octo-Boy!

I have to practice getting my lips around some new words today...

I actually think I may be getting a stutter...

I'll try for you:

.

MY

SON

IS

EIGHT.

Gads.

A few pertinent questions spring to mind.

Deep and involved queries...

Ssuch as:

How?

What?

Where?

When?

And most importantly...

WHY!

~

My baby boy is growing up.

My Dash is a Transformer-mad, Ben 10-crazy, wii-playing, rip-stick-riding maestro...

We are so proud of you, matie.

Happy Birthday!

(PS Thanks y'all for sweet and reassuring comments last post. I'm okay. And I ain't plannin' on going away...)

Blog Crisis Alert

Have I been a bad blogger lately?

I know that I am guilty of being MIA more often than usual (for me)

from this blog and the comments section of others too.

Apologies. I have been a little preoccupied.

It's not that nothing is happing.

The action HAS been kinda frantic...

Both with non-blog related (and non-bloggable) activities,

AND behind-the-scenes things here too.

I have been re-thinking things a lot.

Wondering if I am getting a bit 'stale 'here.

Wondering if I need to shake things up.

The thought has occured to me that I should stop for a while?

Or maybe attack things from a different angle.

Or something.

Perhaps stepping back a little will help.

Getting a different perspective.

Perhaps it's just time for a little contest to spark things up?

Or something.

Changes.

~

Would you like to see a change here?

Have you changed things lately?

How did that go for you?

Is it REALLY as good as a holiday?

Share some wisdom or wit!

(Lord knows I seem to have misplaced mine)

:-)

BB

Weekend weather...

What the hey happened this week?

It whizzed by me at a million miles an hour -

I think it was the Bunny and the visitors and the babies that did it.

The week that went, it went... it just WENT!

~

So I am hereby announcing a change to the schedule.

Clearly I cannot meet the Wednesday deadline for my

Weather Watch Wednesday.

So what's a girl to do?

How about (in keeping with my obsession with alliteration)

renaming this 'regular' post

Weather Watch Weekend?

Does that work for everyone?

Hello... anyone still there?

Anyway, let's try it on for size and see...

~

Today is Saturday, and we have been out and about.

At a campdraft. (Yes. My husband IS addicted.)

It has been hideously hot and dusty and thirsty...

and oppressively sweat-aceous today...

and then

out of the blue...

BOOM!

Half an inch of drenching, quenching rain.

Right in the middle of the campdraft.

(Luckily I was huddled in the Prado!)

Among the sodden riders was Mr Incredible.

Absolutely saturated.

But he seems to have survived and is sleeping

like a contented babe tonight,

after breaking his own drought -

finally getting some reasonable scores

in his first round runs

in the Maiden, Novice and Open drafts.

~

This shot was snapped this afternoon as I drove home...

It's another Halleluja moment.

~

So let's look at the forecast for here:

To recap: HOT, STEAMY, HOT STEAMY, HOT, STEAMY...

The a high chance of sunburn, the odd chance of shower...

And rain.

On Dash's birthday.

~

Your turn now... your weather outlook?

Don't forget to give us a general location too please!

Words are not enough...

You need to gird yourself for this one, I'm afraid.

I can barely bring myself to post these photos,

cause the subjects are so darned precious.

Our visitors.
Special ones.
Special little ones...
Oh go on then.

See for yourself...

My sister and my brother's wife gave birth within a few days of each other near Christmas.

That's Jeanie's Paris on the right.

She is beautiful and super long already!

And that's the littlest Piglet on the left

(don't look at me like that, my brother's nickname is Pig).

He is a gorgeous little Buddah and future Wallaby.

~~~

This is the shot that really did me in though...

Let's get this party started...

Salving the world's problems

Things have been pretty quiet on the blogging front lately,

as woes headbutt the periphery of my world from all angles.

(Not DIRECTLY at my world, so no worrying about me, okay?)

But people that are close to me are being buffeted in terrible ways.
~~~
Somebody wise said recently that the simple act of

holding a baby on your knee

could make the woes of the world seem easier.

So I share the one of the things I KNOW gives some sense and clarity to my world.

In the hope it sustains and calms those around me just a little.

Baby toes.
*sigh*
~~~
These very toes are visiting me at the moment,

adding seriously to my blog distraction.

I thought I should also share the lyrics of a song

that I have always sung to my children,

and to random babies that have been handed to me over the years.

As mentioned some time ago, I am not a natural mothering sort.

I rarely explored the world of children, once I reach adulthood.

So when Dash first needed settling in those awful early days,

I couldn't recall ANY nursery songs.

As I cast around for a soothing melody to share,

the song (below) came to me.

So I hummed and sang the lyrics low to him.

And lo, it worked.

Always does.

(One day I will record me singing/humming it, for my kids.

Be relieved I am not sharing that with you here.

I am not a singer.)
~~~
Beautiful Sunday
Written and sung by Daniel Boone

Sunday morning up with the lark
I think I'll take a walk in the park
Hey hey hey it's a beautiful day
I've got someone waiting for me
When I see her I know that you say
Hey hey hey it's a beautiful day
~
Ha ha ha beautiful Sunday
This is my my my beautiful day
When you say say say, say that you love me
Oh my my my it's a beautiful day
~
Birds are singing you by my side
Let's take the car and go for a ride
Hey hey hey it's a beautiful day
We'll drive on and follow the sun
Making Sunday I'll go on and on
Hey hey hey it's a beautiful day
~
Ha ha ha beautiful Sunday
This is my my my beautiful day
When you say say say, say that you love me
Oh my my my it's a beautiful day
~
Ha ha ha beautiful Sunday
This is my my my beautiful day
When you say say say, say that you love me
Oh my my my it's a beautiful day
~
Ha ha ha beautiful Sunday
This is my my my beautiful day
When you say say say, say that you love me
Oh my my my it's a beautiful day
~~~
(Of course, I just now realise that for years I have stuffed up

the actual chorus thinking it was "Sunny Day". Typical.)

~~~
If you're struggling for the tune, it's here.

Whoever you are,

whatever your current woes,

I hope it's something baby toes and Beautiful Sundays can help...

Sweet meat!

I received something pretty groovy in the post a couple of weeks ago...
'Twas a parcel all the way across the seas from a place called Utah.
A lovely bloggy friend saw this t-shirt

in a store somewhere and thought of me!

Should I tell her now that I am vegetarian?

Heh. Kidding Kate!

~~~
Now I should point out that - while I AM definitely a carnivore -

I am not a 'meat preacher'.

I don't care if you, or your parents, or the next-door neighbour are vegetarians.

I firmly believe that people's bodies tell them what they need.

Sometimes I only feel like a big plate of stir-fried veggies.

Sometimes I crave oranges.

And sometimes I get all lethargic and cranky,

and I know it's time for some red meat.

Some people just need it more than others.

Some people don't seem to need it much at all.

And that's okay with me.

~~~

Heck, my sister was a veggo for a decade.

Then she went got pregnant and her body was all

"FEED ME MEAT".

And so she did.

(Happiest day of our father's life!)

~~~

Of course we all grew up helping our parents produce great beef cattle.

Each animal was nurtured and given the best we could give it.

And its purpose, besides living well, was to provide beef.

To me, it was (and is) a real and honourable thing to do.

To provide sustanence to other people.

We (my brother and sister and I) assisted when it was time to butcher

to restock our own freezers -

never thinking for a SECOND that it was terrible or gross.

It was the most natural thing in the world to us.

My job - as a child of 10 or 12 - was to help skin the fresh carcase.

I took great pride in the long, clean slices cleaving hide from fat.

We had never been taught to shrink from blood or sightless eyes.

It was more than matter of fact. It was everyday life.

The warmth and rhythm of it was intriguing to me.

And the inky early morning cutting and bagging of the sections,

and the production-line mincing and sausage-making,

was always kind of fulfilling (if you'll pardon the pun).

My family worked as a team to make it happen

watching the satisfying rise of bagged product

in the industrial freezer in our laundry

as the sun rose steadily over our busy industry.

Breakfast on those mornings was well-earned and hearty.

~~~

It was with real shock that - in my teens at boarding school -

I took in the shuddering aversion to such tasks,

of those who had never actually experienced a farm.

Who somehow managed to put themselves into the hooves of a bovine,

and imagined the 'awfulness' of their end.

And who certainly could never, ever picture themselves

taking part in the elegant science of butchering.

I watched and listened in silence.

Just as I watched them eat bolognaise sauce with gusto on their noodles,

with a quiet wry smile.

~~~

Having recently gone from the artful nothingness of being a 'spin doctor'

in my decades of City Life,

to the dirt-under-nails reality of living as a beef producer

in my new take on Country Life,

I can tell you one thing for sure and certain.

Whether it's you or your parents or your neighbour I am feeding (or not),

I know that NOW we are doing something real and relevent.

It's a choice that may not make us rich,

and it may not bring us fame,

but I really couldn't care less.

We provide.

We provide a commodity that nourishes many.

And that is a wonderful, enriching, real reason to work.

I sleep pretty well at night.

~~~

So no...

I won't tell you what to put on your plate,

not here, and not in person. Not EVER.

I'll happily sit by you in a restaurant and sample your

mushroom risotto or olive tapenade or spinach soup.

I'll never wonder why you choose to partake of beef, or abstain.

I'm just not that wired that way.

Just as I won't tell you what religion is best for you,

which sexual orientation you should follow,

what bank to invest your hard-earned into,

or what music should soothe YOUR soul.

(And I kinda anticipate the same respect from others... and you.)

~~~
Of course blogging can come across a bit like preaching sometimes.

Except that it's a two-way thing.

I love the two-wayed-ness of it most of all.

And if there is one thing blogging has shown me...

it is that people (on the whole) are fabulous, generous creatures...

whatever their food, religious, sexual, musical or banking choices!

Oh, and it has also re-confirmed

my strong belief that...

Thanks Kate!

:-)

BB

Happy Easter from Granite Glen

Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter Sunday.

~~~
Wherever you live in the world,
Whatever your religious persuasion...
May the day be fabulous
Filled with joy and laughter
And appreciation.

Of family, of friends, of faith.

Love from the Granite Glen crew
(who will be on a serious chocolate high!)

~~~

Fogs and filligree...

Mornings have been foggy affairs round here in the last couple of weeks.
There is something quite surreal and beautiful about the softness of a morning mist.

Gorgeous really.

Dash spied something quite beautiful in our garden

(not my neglected plants though, sorry to report).

And he thought I should take some photos...

It was this:

Isn't that amazing?

I know that not everyone loves spiders -

heck if one crawls on me I slap it away as quick as the next person...

but how can you NOT be spellbound by their art?

So delicate... intricate filligree.

Look closely...

Closer...

You can see the mist droplets drifting behind the gauze of the web...

And so we left the garden-dwellers to their work.

Back inside to our breakfasts.

Leaving them to busily improve on my non-green-thumb gardening efforts.