Possum snug

Forgot to mention the thing inspiring me at the moment....possum snugs. The Courier Mail ran a story in the Saturday paper a couple of weeks back and mentioned that this is the time of year that possum rescue picks up. As a result there is increased need for possum pouches. Each rescued possum is allocated a pouch, which goes with them as they go into foster care. A pattern was provided for those that can knit or crochet - given I can't knit to save my life, I decided to give the crochet a go. Problem is that I soon regected the pattern supplied and decided to design my own version - hence the possum snug. This provides a more secure base for little possum bottoms and toes, and gives more support and snuggle capacity as the snug is made in the round, as opposed to a rectangle. While it seemed logical to me I still felt the need to test the product so as soon as I had a prototype I needed a test possum to give it the seal of approval. One phone call later and I had made arrangements to visit a local possum carer. If you don't know the work these band of supporters engage in, here's the short version. As abandoned and rescued possums (brush tails and ringtails) are brought in, they are cared for by these wonderful people. Little pink " jellybeans" need care 24/7. Babies with fur need different care. Feeding, watering, cleaning and foliage collection are just some of what is required. Our visit, yes two friends begged to come along, saw us meeting 6 possums currently in care. Including "Pocahontas" a young male brushy - still new to being handled he jumped straight into the snug with minimal encouragement, turned himself around and latched onto my finger. Ouch. Some time later, after many cuddles, a piece of banana and much lip smacking later, he decided the snug (and the people attached to it) were ok after all. After some minor design modifications and discussions about the benefits of varied sizes - including a double bunk option for a pair of ringtails we left with big smiles and happy hearts. Minus one possum snug. As far as I am aware Pocahontas is still snuggled up in it.

Since then I have put out the call for wool (not acrylic) and I have more than I can cope with, so am now recruiting friends to start making pouches and snugs. Amazing what can be achieved from one idea and support from like minded people. I am now working on snug number 4 and am writing a pattern for my snug design. I will try to share this with you soon.

Still in Hughenden

Highlight for me so far has to be meeting Woofie. A white Irish Wolfhound, not only is he handsome, but placid too. Perfect combination in a dog and pretty essential for one that is 65kgs. He could walk me if he wanted too. Luckily for me his owner runs the library in town, given that is where we are based for the week it has been easy to steal him bright and early each morning. We walk for about an hour and both of us arrive back hot, sweaty and smiling. Word of warning - once this boy has a drink, stand clear.

One thing which is guaranteed is that this guy is certainly a talking point, a great way to meet the locals. That said, apparently I am currently classified as "fresh meat" a first for me. Might be enough to make me become a vegetarian.

The accommodation where we are is pretty basic. Apparently the posh Royal Motel Resort was booked out, as was the venue of choice for visiting Police officers, the Easi Rest. I do however have the most posh toilet seat in all of Hughenden. It is midnight blue with silver glitter. As for the room, no glitter, glam or gloss anywhere. Very basic, but clean.....and an improvement on Bedourie. I am still scarred from the Bedourie experience, except perhaps for the wonder of the night sky. This was incredible, and better even than the Cosmos Centre at Charleville. The Cosmos is in a $5million dollar building with a retractable roof. Worth a visit to view globula clusters through any one of three $30 000 telescopes, but again, for me the best experience was lying on the floor and looking directly at the night sky.

We are working through online databases today, then hope to get away this afternoon to visit Porcupine Gorge. More on that later. Suffice to say that I have the camera fully charged. Apparently the local name for this natural wonder is Hughenden's Little Grand Canyon. Will share photos as soon as I can.

Hughenden

Well, we made it through to Hughenden after spending the day in Julia Creek with Chris at the library. Can't speak highly enough of what Chris is achieving there with the local community. The rapport she has built up is obvious to see with a steady flow of visitors throughout the day. Some come on library business like the itinerant guy that borrows donations. Others pop in to say hi or pass on info. One came in for a dress fitting. Multiple skilled Chris really does make the library the centre of a small but passionate community. The building itself is bright and welcoming, and with two access points it would be hard to find an excuse to walk right by without stopping in. Jennie and I did training with the iPad and Daisy reader, then took Chris to lunch. Only challenge was that with it being Monday the best pub wasn't serving food. It should be noted though that there was a very friendly (and very round) Staffy that was quick to adopt me as it's personal patting machine. Once we realized there was no food to be had we redirected our steps to the other pub in town (got to love country towns and their penchants for multiple watering holes) and were able tom order lunch. The resident dog was not allowed inside, though he did smile nicely for his photo. Will share it at some stage. A good addition to my "dogs of Western Queensland" portfolio. Under normal circumstances my lunch would have rated a 9 out of 10. Unfortunately the chef drowned the salad with salt and pepper squid in some mayonnaise styled goop rendering the meal almost inedible. Such a shame. We took this as a sign and packed our training gear and headed off to Hughenden. With a trip of approx three hours we decided to break our journey at Richmond. Being safe long distance drivers we stretched our legs, had a look around and changed drivers. Biggest disappointment for me was that Tourist Radio station 88.0 FM had talked up a visit to Kronosaur Korner as being a "must see" in Richmond with cakes with fresh cream being the major draw card. Only thing was that when we arrived at 3.30pm the Moon Rock Cafe was closing and we had to leave without cream cakes or a cold drink. The local IGA had neither Coke nor Gatorade so it was lucky I knew how to find my way back to the BP. One bonus of having Jennie navigate is that we do a tourof town trying tof find where we are going so we soon do a lap of the entire town. Better leave it there. At the Council Chambers for the day so lots to do.

Who would have thought?

Left Brisbane this morning to fly to Mt Isa. Note to self - Mt Isa is dead on a Sunday afternoon. Not much happening, even less noticeable in shopping centre so we ended up at McDonald's to refuel before driving 120km's to Cloncurry. Kevin, who looked like he was all of 12 years old,served us, then we hit the road. Cloncurry is small, but people seem nice. We finally found our accommodation, only to see a sign redirecting us to the Wagon Wheel Hotel. Yes, we had passed this on our way through town and I had to swallow my disparaging marks as I realized that it was 5 star compared to the Cloncurry Motel. Luckily for us, some quirk of accommodation booking saw our reservation at the Wagon Wheel not the Cloncurry. Phew - can only be described as a lucky escape. A couple of gentlemen helped carry our bags and gave parking advice. Apparently the tree I parked under regularly drops sticky goop onto vehicles. These same guys got bumped to let some new reservations have rooms in The Wagon Wheel. Oops. Had a surprisingly good meal at the restaurant and an icy cold beer. Nothing else in Cloncurry open on a Sunday, except perhaps the Bowls Club which seems to be part of the same property. Go figure. Then watched the Union - World Cup. Kiwis beat France by one point! better luck next year. Now it's raining, pouring in fact. Incredible.

The Wives of Henry Oades

Further to the dilemma of book clubs. How exactly do you make a selection? How do you in fact agree on a suitable title? Options include - based on peer review, library staff recommendations, online advice or even choosing a title with an interesting cover. There are challenges inherent in the latter approach. Take the case of The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran The cover on the copy I have on loan from the local library is a beautifully rendered graphic of a tall ship afloat upon a wavy sea. With a story set in the 1800's, with characters travelling from the UK, to the USA via New Zealand this is in fact quite apt. Or there is the alternative. Now, I wonder which I would select if both were on offer. Would the offer of story as suggested by the second title leave me disappointed? Something to think about.

Book Club Musings

A group of us in the local area have talked about starting a book club - and talked. To date we have yet to actually meet to coordinate anything formal. In the interim, we talk about starting the book club, we decide on who should join the book club and the pros and cons of numbers. But still we wait. What for, I am not quite sure. Meanwhile we continue to talk - often about the books that we are currently reading, or those that might make good book club material....we talk and talk some more, enjoying the companionship. The main complaint I hear from other members of book clubs is that when the group gets together it is more often for food and companionship than to discuss the book of the month. Where is the problem with that? Sounds like progress to me.

Boulia Bound

Have headed to Boulia for work - an amazing experience to date. Flew to Mt Isa this morning then after picking up the hire car drove approx 3 hours to Boulia. On arriving I was amazed to see that it is actually a shorter distance to Adelaide (yes, the Adelaide in South Australia) than it is to Brisbane. Incredible. A definate highlight for me was seeing what could only have been a wedge tailed eagle straddling some road kill in the company of some crows. Amazing to say the least. This bird was huge - his wing span was as wide as me with widespread arms, his body the size of a small child. As for his legs, it looked like he had woolly ugg boots on. I kid you not. A shy retiring fellow he retreated as we pulled the car up, proceeding to watch us for some minutes before deciding that retreat was the best option. Watching this giant get airborn from the ground was a sight to behold.

After some challenges with accommodation and luggage it was good to get to our destination and get settled. A lap of the main street showed the location of the Post Office, Supermarket, Library and Min Min Encounter. Arriving just in time for the 4.00pm show we thought long and hard about undertaking the min min experience, finally deciding against it. For today at least. A hard decision at the best of times.

Advice from our hosts for the evening suggested two options for dinner. The local service station, or the Australia Hotel. Needless to say we went with the latter, booking in for the 7.00pm sitting to allow for the fact that the 6.30 session was booked out. Popular place the Australia Hotel on a Monday night. Go figure. On arrival I asked for the wine menu, to be advised that not only was there no wine list - there was one red to choose from. A Berri Estate Soft Dry Red. From a cask and chilled. Delightful. What the wine left to be desired was made up for by the food. Grilled fish being off the menu (as were the chops and local pork sausage) I decided on the chicken parmigiana. Have to say it was more like a pizza with cheese, mushroom and capsicum instead of the usual tomato and cheese sauce....but it was great. Vegies and mash weren't bad either - with the mash full of butter just like my Nanna used to make. All in all an entertaining day.

I wonder what day two holds in store.

I love this photo - a dog matiently waiting while his mistress takes care of business in the Birdsville Information Centre and Library.