Spring, Spring, have you really come here at all??
- I am Cooking: Mud cake for school
The weather is so temperamental: yesterday it was 31 C in Hobart, that’s about 94 F , yet today here we have had sun, torrential rain, gale force winds and clouds. We have even had an earthquake – yes here, we had an earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale. People never think of Tasmania as being a place that would have earthquakes, but we do, regularly. The Nut at Stanley is a tourist site, it is a huge rock having a short cylindrical shape. It is in fact the plug of magma from the top of a volcano, where the lava cooled and then pressure built up under the plug and it was shot out to come to rest!!! No-one was hurt in the earthquake which had its epicentre near Lake Barrington, a world class rowing lake built a while agio. The tremors were felt a long way away though. 1- or 12 years ago there was an earthquake at Newcastle on the mainland and people were killed as houses and other buildings were flattened. The worst disaster we have had here was the ’67 bushfires. Yesterday I made a shirt and the world will now be forced to see my legs!! I was going to wear it to the Spanish restaurant tonight but as the temperature is arctic I won’t!! I have had my hair cut and delivered the Bunny Sleeping bag. I threw out the rim of my 2-cup teapot when I tossed the dregs on the garden. What colour is my teapot? Green of course, so I had to buy a new one – all of $2. It has a little mesh basket and you put the tea leaves in and fill the pot up. I also bought the girls a rawhide bone and some wriggly ‘Merry Christmases’ in gold foil to paste on the front of my cards.
I took school a mud cake and Nigel the PE teacher gave me some lovely Lindt chocolate and a card to say more thank yous for fixing the parachute, and Penny gave me a great bottle of shiraz for taping Lockhart’s dancing onto a new tape for his award application. It was a very profitable lunchtime. Only 2 Eighth Doctor books to go now before the new Dr Who books begin next year. I bough Karen her red Santa Christmas watch which was on sale for only $20 instead of $30!! Now I must have a nap as I am off at 6-30 to dinner and there will be enormous amounts of talking to be done and I feel quite pale today. My typing is so appalling, I am making errors everywhere. I have never learned to type except on the old typewriter as a child. Mum had all her old books and I used to practice. I did shorthand for a term, but I had to take French, German and Advanced Maths in C and B Class (9 and 10) Later on I went to classes after school when I was a teacher and learned Bahasa Indonesia. I taught it for 2 years and was offered a position in Hobart on the in charge committee for languages but I liked being a class room teacher. It is lovely to experience new languages but unless you start in Prep or Kinder it can only ever be a hobby. Next year I would like to learn Italian of Spanish or another language. I shall have to look into it.
They are making a reality show with ‘Gilligan’s Island’ as the theme. I liked that show, and ‘I dream of Jeannie’ but best of all I liked ‘F Troop’ which was on the ABC here when I was a child. OK I managed to make everything italics!!! The F Troop song is great. Humming as I type!!! Full of pathos was ‘Kimba the White Lion’ :
The end of the Civil War was near
When quite accidentally,
A hero who sneezed abruptly seized
Retreat and reversed it to victory.
His medal of honor pleased and thrilled
his proud little family group.
While pinning it on some blood was spilled
And so it was planned he'd command F Troop.
Where Indian fights are colourful sights
and nobody takes a lickin'
Where pale face and redskin
Both turn chicken.
When killing and fighting get them down,
They know their morale can't droop.
As long as they all relax in town
Before they resume with a bang and a boom
F Troop.
Kimba (Kimba)
Kimba (Kimba)
Kimba (Kimba)
Kimba (Kimba)
Who lives down in deepest darkest Africa(Africa)?
Who’s the one who brought the jungle fame?
Who’s the king of animals in Africa?
Kimba the white lion is his name.
When we get in trouble and we’re in a fight
Who’s the one who just won’t turn and run?
Who believes in doing good and doing right?
Kimba the white lion is the one.
I have sung along with both songs now and I feel refreshed. Kimba’s grandfather was a rug and in the first episode he dogpaddled around in the ocean a lot singing out “Mother, Mother”. Ahh those were the days, days when Astroboy was an old faded cartoon and Rocky and Bullwinkle had ‘nuthin’up their sleeves’!!!!!
