o frabjous day!

o frabjous day! books, recipes & other things

  • Eagleby Wetlands

    After Mum discovered the Eagleby Wetlands while browsing through the Refedex, we headed out there for a spot of birdwatching. And while I got a bit frustrated with my zoom lens and its very noisy focussing gear (and gazed with envy at the truly enormous lenses that the more professional birdos were lugging around) I…

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  • Down she comes

    A few weeks ago, Mum and Allen came to visit – and when they weren’t in holiday mode, they were at work in the garden. Such useful guests. I was in charge of the coffee machine and taking photos of other people working hard. After this week’s storms and high winds, I’m glad we took…

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  • Regressing

    We went to Garter Belts & Gasoline for the first time last weekend – sat in the sun, listened to bands, got sunburnt and people-watched those in “the scene” (to quote one overly emotional bloke who gave a speech later in the day). The 50s/hot rod scene, to my uneducated eye, seemed like an odd…

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  • In sepia

    I knew when we decided to move from a suburban block to semi-rural acreage that there would be a lot more work involved in household maintenance, but when you move into a well maintained property it’s all a bit theoretical to begin with. As time passes, however, entropy asserts itself. We don’t have access to…

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  • Still dead

    Our Xbox 360 suffered the red ring of death a couple of weeks ago (a series of lights indicating a catastrophic hardware failure and depressingly common), and I sent it off to the warranty place. It was an easy process, and for a moment Microsoft regained some of my respect despite being known for manufacturing…

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  • Keeping cool

    Using some of the limes I bought on the weekend, and cooling down with water filled with sliced limes and mint leaves. I was drinking this while watching news of the terrible bushfires in Victoria. My parents (and me, although I was far too young to have any memory of it) left their home behind…

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  • On the bedside table

    The pile that’s living beside the bed this week, consisting of two excellent non-fiction book (on how our brains interpret music, which is complicated, and how our brains work while reading, which is utterly fascinating); one trashy fantasy which I’ve stopped reading (Red Gloves, the name of the main character and a clue as to…

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  • Apples & limes

    At the fruit & vegie store this week – cheap limes, and lovely green apples. They look beautiful in the big blue glass bowl that I use for our fruit. Mum, living in the midst of the floods that are covering half the state, told me that last time she went to the supermarket all…

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  • Carrot & Fennel Salad with Ranch Dressing

    This was my first time cooking with fennel, and I had a couple of bad moments while slicing the fennel bulb and experiencing the subsequent strong smell of aniseed. I’m the sort of person who picks the black jelly beans out of the bag (Husband loves black jelly beans, that’s why we’re married). However, I…

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  • In disguise

    How awesome is this grasshopper’s camouflage? He looked just like the dried eucalyptus leaves that were lying on the verandah next to him. Wildlife of Greater Brisbane says that he is… wait for it… a Dead Leaf Grasshopper!  Of course, why didn’t I guess that?  Otherwise known as Goniaea australasiae.

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