Tiny Time Team

If you haven't seen Time Team on the television you are missing out on archeology at its most entertaining.  The McTavish boys have been keen archaeologists thanks to Tony Robinson and crew.  A few weeks ago when they visited us, Lion did some digging in the garden and under the trees and eventually became frustrated and threw in the trowel because he couldn't find any archeology. 

A devoted Grannysaurus could not leave it at that.  If the boys wanted to find archeology, then archeology had to be found.  So mysteriously archeology started to find its way under the big mango tree.  Very sensible of previous civilizations to leave their relics in the shade. Old tools, hose fittings, coins, bones and odds and ends were lying just below the surface waiting to be discovered apparently.  So when the boys returned for another sleepover, we decided to put in two trenches.  What do you know - they found plenty of archeology.  The most exciting finds were the "dating evidence" (the coins).

 

As usual Dragon was the King of Silly Faces. Unfortunately Cheetah didn't star in any of the photos of the day because he was the official photographer.  I love his photo of Lion in the middle top of the collage. 

Morning tea was Anzac biscuits again thanks to Cheetah's kitchen skill.

Would you believe that four year old Dragon actually accused me of putting the archeology in the ground?   No flies on that boy!

Cheetah Feature

As I said in a previous post, Cheetah, our oldest grandchild and for a long time an OG (only grandchild), came and stayed with us for a few days of the school holidays.  He wasn't a slacker either. I asked him if he wanted to prune the mango tree where some of the branches hung too low.  He didn't have to be asked twice when it comes to using big tools.  In no time at all he had a pile of branches nearly as tall as himself.  (see footnote)  This wasn't all he did.

He also dug holes, raked leaves, took out the compost, baked bread, made macaroni cheese for dinner and baked Anzac biscuits for his family.  Anzac biscuits are an Aussie icon, a bit like oatmeal cookies if you are an American, but tastier.  You can see Cheetah with some cooked biscuits still on the tray in the far RH picture below.

At times we did let him out of the kitchen to have some rest and relaxation playing computer games or exercising on an old drum (maybe we should rename him Hamster).  We also had an outing to the Cassowary Coast to do some bushwalking at Jourama Falls National Park. Note to self - never again take energetic, impulsive grandchildren to places with steep cliffs, loose rocks or cold, deep water.  They might survive, but my nerves may never be the same.

While the day was still young we kept driving and had lunch in Ingham and a quick visit to Cardwell.  Cardwell was one of the towns in the line of fire from cyclone Yasi and suffered badly. The environmental and building damage is still in evidence and will be for years in places.  But... it is still a beautiful little beach-side town.  The view of Hinchinbrook Island is a classic picturesque seascape.

 

Next week we get him back for four more days. 

I wonder if the septic tank needs to be re-dug.

Footnote - our electricity company was also pruning trees around power lines in the vicinity and the mango tree did have branches close to powerlines. It is possible that Cheetah's huge pile of mango clippings had some help from a nice man with a chain saw and a sense of humour.

Wouldn't you know it. . .

We have had fantastic weather.  Cool nights and mild to warm days without a cloud in sight.  The trouble is that for a great sunset you really need some clouds - not too many or you can't see anything.  I've been watching the sky like a seasoned sailor waiting for the right conditions to get the perfect sunset photo.  This afternoon looked very promising so at about 5.15 I set off with the camera up to "the point".  The point is where the river meets the sea a couple of hundred metres up the road from home.

Everything was shaping up beautifully until my second photo.  I was planning a longer exposure to see what the effect would be on the water and I was hoping for a nice, golden blur.  Nothing.  Flat battery.  Annoyingly, I had charged up the spare battery only a few hours earlier, but I left it at home.

So this is it folks.  Out of a grand total of two photos, this was the best.  I am pretty happy with it and there will be other opportunities.

Remember I promised to keep you posted about our neighbours, a pair of brahminy kites?  I think they might be expectant parents.  This is what I saw this morning.

My interest in her was not appreciated.  When a bird of prey glares at you, you know you've been glared at.

I'll be keeping a close eye on them and keep you posted.

In Lieu of New Header

A new header for my blog is a fairly time consuming thing.  It's not that I'm time poor. It's just a matter of priority.  I will produce a new header in the not too distant future (I hope).  In the mean time you need to know that one of the grandchildren is missing from my header.  She is nearly a year old.  That's how slack I've been.  So here is one of the latest photos of our little Ladybug with her mummy, Juliette.   You can visit their blog here.

All of our family have bloggy nom de plumes for security and it is always a BIG decision when we have to decide on a new one for a new grandchild.  After all, it has to reflect some of their character and be positive.  None of them will ever be a "Spider" if I have my way.  Our Ladybug is soooo cute and colourful - like her namesake.

Of course since the last header update the other five have grown too.  So you were wondering if I have any recent photos of them too.  I'm so glad you asked.  Here is Little Bear looking gorgeous as usual, but sort of quiet, even pensive, definitely NOT as usual.  Don't be fooled by the photo!  Little Bear is the most impulsive and overactive energetic of all of the grandchildren.  She can be giggly, teary, cranky, haughty, sweet, charming, cuddly - and all within the space of a minute. 

Here is Monkey in a pose that I often see, but will never take for granted - running towards me with outstretched arms, usually yelling "Mammar!" as loud as he can at the same time.  How can you not love that?  That's Mr Sunshine and Dragon in the background.

Here are Monkey's big brothers with their cousin Little Bear.  That is Dragon in the middle and Lion on the end.  Lion is a bit like the Lion in the Wizard of Oz in that he often has that serious, slightly worried expression.  He can be very serious for a little fellow, but he also has the most adorable loving and cuddly nature with a great sense of humour.  Dragon is always ready for fun and it is much more rare to catch him with a worried look.

That only leaves Cheetah - the oldest - our first grandchild.  Cheetah was an OG (only grandchild) for 5 years before Lion came along.  I'll leave him out for now because soon he will be having a little holiday with us and I will make sure I feature him then.
Maybe with some fresh photos I'll find the time to update the header.  Maybe.

Meet the neighbours

Not all of the neighbours.  We do have quite a few very interesting neighbours, but these are two of my favourites.  They are Brahminy Kites, otherwise known as Fish Eagles or Red-backed Sea Eagles.  They are the most intense chestnut colour with a pure white head.  I think they are really gorgeous and I hope to get much better photos of them in the future.  As Mr Sunshine and I went for our beach walks, I sometimes spotted one of them in a certain tree - the tallest tree in that part of the neighbourhood.  Then one day as I was photographing him.  His mate flew in to join him. That was even better.

On the way back I was checking to see if they were still there.  They weren't, but then I glanced over at a slightly smaller tree nearby and saw their nest.  How I had missed it before I don't know. It is several feet across and very high. No wonder they look at me in a very suspicious manner when I stop to take their photo.  They have a lot at stake with a home to protect.

 

Needles to say, I will be watching this for further developments.  I'll keep you posted if there is anything to report.

Monkey Meets THE STIG

 

What do you mean it's not the real Stig?  Of course it is. Just look at Monkey's expression.  Would he look that impressed if it wasn't the real Stig?

Mind you, the Stig was feeling a little flat that day.  He was standing at the back of a Townsville bookshop mostly on his own until Monkey came along.  I'm sure we brightened up his day.  It made Monkey's day.

As we left, the Stig was really cool.  He didn't move a muscle or wave, just stood there.  But he still looked a little flat.  Maybe he needs to be a little less rigid at times.

Beach Crowd

Mr Sunshine is such a funny man.  He was having some fun with my camera and said, "You'll have to put this picture on your blog because the beach is so crowded today".  That's the crowd in the photo.  We do usually have more room to ourselves it's true, but really we don't mind sharing the beach with crowds like this.

We had Lion and Dragon with us for an overnight stay.  Too short really.  Dragon got into the spirit of a beach holiday with this lei he found among the toys.

Both boys enjoyed crushing aluminium cans with Mr Sunshine's "bommy-knockers".  Is that a real word?  I hope it's not rude. We collect them for the Leprosy Mission (cans, not bommy-knockers) and they sell them to metal merchants to raise money.  If the cans are crushed they don't take up so much storage space and little boys just love hammering the living daylights out of anything as Lion's grin proves.  I swear these boys keep getting more handsome.

They didn't spend all of their time doing hard yakka. Some of the time was spent playing at the beach.  We built a race track in the sand for the toy grader and dump truck to whiz around.

Obviously, the crowd had thinned out a bit by this time.