Is this a Moth Orchid?

There are some things in life that are just too amazing and beautiful for words. 


 I think Mother Nature took her time and put everything she had into creating orchids.  


When I look at this orchid I am mesmerised by its beauty.  It only flowers for me every two years but the wait is so worthwhile. 


The orchid was given to us as a house-warming present five years ago and to tell you the truth I didn't know too much about growing orchids, and still don't.  But I did know that they like dappled shade so I tied the orchid to a lovely old grapefruit tree that we have growing in the garden and I wrapped "Grandad's Beard" all around the roots, and that's it!  No soil, no fertiliser it just blooms.  


I have no idea what this orchid is called and would really love someone to leave a comment to let me know what it is.

Ahhhhh! Breakfast

Breakfast, broken down, means break the fast.  It is the one meal of the day that I take my time over and really enjoy.  As farmers/graziers we have a tradition of eating a hearty breakfast.  Maybe this came  about because you never really know what the day is going to bring when you're living on the land. That big breakfast that you ate might just have to see you through the whole day.  Believe me, that has happened more times than I care to remember.  But, now that we have slowed down somewhat I sometimes question whether we should be eating the "big" breakfast.  With all the talk of cholesterol and fat being so "bad" for us I took myself off to my local GP to have a cholesterol blood check.  Guess what.....it's absolutely normal!  So we still have a cooked breakfast every morning.  
Most mornings its this.....

1 Rasher of Bacon (fat removed to be healthy) and 1 egg sunny-side up!

Some mornings we have our egg with a chippolata or a small steak of even (when we can afford it!) a lamb chop.  We have our eggs many ways, scrambled, poached, fried and sometimes oven baked with ham.  

It is such a delicious and healthy start to our day.

A most glorious full moon

I took this photo last month when the moon was at the closest point to Earth.  What an amazing and beautiful sight.

Just another day at the farm......

DH is mustering at our our Julia Creek station so I get the job of mustering here on the farm.  Actually, I really love the job.  It gives me a chance to see up close and personal how the cows and calves are coming along. 

Even though we live in Paradise the farm is not always the best place in the world to breed cattle....our Julia Creek places are much better for that.  Our farm is in a tick area that brings its own problems plus it is very wet in the tropics.

  

We had a dose of coccidiosis in our calves two seasons ago so we are very aware of it now and keep a good eye on the calves.  The first sign of coccidiosis is diaharea so following behind the calves when we move them gives us a good chance to look for any signs.

Mount Molloy Mine Timber Mill

I drive past this structure quite often and didn't know what it was so I googled it and this is what I found out.

An extract from NORTH QUEENSLAND'S MINING HERITAGE TRAILS
"At the entrance to Mount Molloy township stands a boiler and steam engine, part of a timber mill constructed in1904 by the Mount Molloy Copper Mining Company.  The brick boiler mounting contains an intact Stirling boiler alongside a rare Marshall centre-flywheel compound engine.  The mining company survived on the timber trade after lack of ore placed its future in doubt.  In 1914, the mining company went into liquidation and all operations closed down"

Our Queenslander

I've been practising some night photography and the perfect subject is my beautiful home. 

We moved to Paradise (and our new home) almost six years ago.  To build and design my own home was a dream come true.  After thirty years of marriage I had some very strict criteria.......there should be a large entertainment area off the kitchen and the house should be small enough on the inside to not take me days to clean!  I ended up with two and half bedrooms (the other half became an office) two bathrooms a nice big laundry and open plan living area. A verandah on all four sides plus a rotunda made it just perfect!  

Sunbirds

I had to stand very quietly inside my house to take a photo of these little sunbirds.  They were having a lovely time taking nectar out of the flowers in my pot plant.  The plant is on a glass top table and I love the way the little sunbird is looking at a reflection of himself.  

Further to my post yesterday regarding the scammer I have a feeling of satisfaction that I have reported the scammer to the authorities and have contacted yahoo who will close his email account.  At least it will slow him down a little.  Still doesn't help my wallet but I have put it down to a very expensive lesson.

I've been SCAMMED!

Today I was scammed.  I am so angry with myself and even more so with the scammer.  How could I let this happen!  All the warning signs where there, but I chose to ignore them.

This is how it happened.  I had advertised an outdoor setting on a reputable website.  It had been advertised for three months and I was getting frustrated that it hadn’t sold.  I received an email from someone called Jacob Luis who asked if the item was still for sale.  I replied that it was.  He then emailed back that he would like to purchase it for his father and could he pay with PayPal.  As I had a PayPal account I emailed him an invoice for the agreed amount.  He then emailed me back to say that he had deposited the funds into my PayPal account plus an extra amount of $500.  He asked that I take $400 of this money and send via Western Union to a freight company that he was dealing with.  He couldn’t do this himself because he was at sea.  (I know……it’s starting to sound dodgy, but I really wanted to sell the furniture!)  He also said that he had advised PayPal of the Western Union deal and PayPal would release the funds when I sent them a copy of the Western Union receipt, which I did.

Now, through all of this I was receiving emails from PayPal confirming each and every step and when I sent the WU receipt PayPal notified me that the funds would now be released into my PayPal account.

It was not until I received another email from Jacob Luis telling me that he had deposited an additional $500 into my PayPal account and would I please also send this money to his freight company via WU to cover insurance that I started to smell a rat.  I rang PayPal and they asked me to send all the “PayPal” emails to them for verification.  My worst nightmare, they were all fakes.

So, I am out of pocket many $$$$$$’s with no way of tracking this man and his accomplice Lynn M Smits. 

I am posting this on my blog in the hope that I may save someone else the heartache that I am feeling.  Not only for the loss of the money but the loss of trust that I now have.  I will NEVER be fooled again and it will take me a long time to trust emails, PayPal and online sale sites.

PS

I did respond to the last request for money.  I gave him a phony WU receipt number and I gave him the local police station address for the supposed pick-up.  I also gave the police station phone number as my contact.

Just for everyone’s interest, here is a copy of the document I received from “PayPal”.

De-Cluttering my Wardrobe

It had to happen.  It got to the point where I would stand in my wardrobe and look at the all to many clothes and couldn't find anything to wear!  I started reading (a lot!) about how to start the enormous task of de-cluttering.  Most said to just take everything out of the wardrobe and lay it on the bed.  I new this wouldn't work for me as I would be totally overwhelmed so I just started to work through methodically. Dresses first, then trousers, Jackets, good tops and then the cubes where I keep t-shirts, yard clothes, PJ's etc etc.  Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as I thought it would and after getting rid of three garbage bags of clothes I am really happy with the result.  I even have three empty cubes!  I will sell some of the clothes on e-bay to give me a little cash to replenish but the majority of the clothes will go to Vinnies.
Here is the end result.

Hercules

Paradise......right where I live, and today was amazing.  Beautiful clear skies with just a hint of winter in the air this morning.  
We had such a lovely lunch yesterday at the Tin Shed in Port Douglas with our friends from the UK.  Over quite a few beers, white wine and fish & chips we discussed all the things that we have in common.
Quiet day today as DH packed his suitcase for his trip to our Julia Creek property tomorrow and contemplated the trip ahead of him....a very long 12 hour drive via Townsville. 
However, DH can't sit still for long so he decided to spray the weeds in our house paddock that have got out of control after the very wet season.  DH has nicknamed his tractor "Hercules" as it does a mighty job.

Weeds are almost as high as Hercules!

Adelaide to Darwin on the Ghan

We had a wedding to attend in Darwin so we decided to fly to Adelaide and board the Ghan to Darwin.  What a wonderful experience.  Three days and two nights with stopovers in Alice Springs and Katherine.  We went Platinum Class and would recommend anyone contemplating travelling on the Ghan to look at the upgrade.  

Our Cabin

 This is the cabin.  The first thing you smell when you enter the room is the wonderful aroma of polished timber. The cabins are compact (it is of course a TRAIN!) but have a very well thought out plan.  Where DH is sitting folds down into a quite comfortable double bed that is made up for you each evening while you are eating dinner.

The Ensuite

Each cabin has its own en-suite. This is also very compact but well designed with a full size shower and toilet (NOT fold-down).  There is only room for one person at a time, but hey, what the heck.
The ensuite is cleaned every morning to its sparkling best and of course we are issued with clean towels if you so wish.  We decided against this.




The food was quite good considering the size of the galley that the chefs have to cook in.  The dining room itself was very plush with lots of gold leaf and of course the views from the windows as you travel along are amazing.

Dining at its best

We meet some wonderful people on board the Ghan. It became the norm for us to meet in the bar for drinks each evening prior to dinner and to chat about our day before dinner.

The Alice
Our first stop was Alice Springs.  The tour we chose took us to the original Alice Springs goal and to the Overland Telegraph station just outside Alice Springs.  We also had a photo opportunity at the highest point in Alice where this photo was taken. 

The next day was Katherine where we had chosen a trip to the Katherine Gorge.  Unfortunately for all onboard, we were given the news by the head steward that we would not have enough time in Katherine to go on our chosen tour.  The Ghan was slowed down the previous night by a slow moving freight train in front and would not arrive in Darwin on time if we had the allotted time in Katherine.  It didn't make sense to me but who was I to argue. We did however decide to come back to Katherine the day after we arrived in Darwin.  We booked a bus tour and were very glad that we did.  Katherine Gorge was amazing.

Katherine Gorge

Darwin is a lovely city and has changed dramatically in the years since cyclone Tracy.  We were told by our bus tour guide that Darwin was completely re-designed after the cyclone with many more high rise buildings able to stand the brunt of a cyclone.  The new harbour area is beautiful and we enjoyed coffee and cake at one of the many restaurants.  We stayed at Cullen Bay Apartments that are looking a little bit tired but nonetheless still a nice place to stay.  This sunset photo was taken from one of the many restaurants at Cullen Bay. 

Sunset at Cullen Bay

Delila

Let me introduce you to Delila.  
She lost her mother when she was very young and was hand reared by our head stockman and his wife on our Julia Creek property.  As she grew it became apparent that she had special qualities and would fit nicely into our Droughtmaster Stud so she was brought over here to our property at Julatten.  She is growing out nicely and will be joined to our stud bull when she is at the right size and weight.  She is very quiet and when we go for our morning walk she almost always comes up to say hello.  This photo was taken this morning.

Police Beat

Almost every Sunday morning the road that we live on becomes a speedway for motorcyclists.  Today the sun is shining and it is undoubtably the perfect day for motorcyclists to get on their motorbikes in Cairns and travel north to Port Douglas along one of the most magnificent scenic drives in the world.  They have breakfast in Port and then travel inland to Mareeba and down the Kuranda range to Cairns.  It is indeed the perfect ride.  
Gee, I really used to love motorbikes.  I rode pillion for many years and found it exhilarating.  But now that I'm in my fifties I can see the danger in riding these coffins on wheels.  Our house is situated on a straight stretch of the highway and when the motorcyclists reach this section I guarantee that most would be doing at least 160kmh.  It is an accident waiting to happen.  But this morning as I looked out to the road, I cheered, because right outside our gate are our wonderful Police Force (I refuse to use the word Service).  They had a hand-held radar and  they didn't fine anyone that I saw, but just their presence clearly slowed the traffic down.  Well done Queensland Police Force!  You have my utmost respect for a job that is clearly one of the hardest.