Another Monday and another lot of Aussie facts this week we are headed to Tassie also known as Tasmania.
Tasmania is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 kilometres to the south of the Australian mainland, separated from it by the Bass Strait, with the archipelago containing the southernmost point of the country
Tasmania has an area of 90,758km2 located 240 kilometres off the southeast of Australia. There are 334 other islands that lie just off Tasmania, ranging from rocky outcrops to three sizeable, inhabited islands.
In 1642 Abel Janszoon Tasman named his ‘first sighted land’ after his Dutch superior Anthony Van Diemen. While Tasman missed meeting any Aborigines, they knew their land as ‘Trowunna’, ‘Trowenna’ or ‘Loetrouwitter’. Despite the official name of Van Diemen’s Land, usage of the alternative ‘Tasmania’ gradually grew.
Tasmania was the second colony to be established by the British, in 1803. Tasmania’s first penal colony was established at Macquarie Harbour (Sarah Island) on the west coast in 1822.
Named for Anthony van Diemen, governor general of the Dutch East Indies, the island was first encountered by Europeans in 1642 and named by Abel J. Tasman, a celebrated navigator under van Diemen’s command. The first British settlers in the early 19th century retained the name.
Sunday and bloody cold as well, I had to drag myself out of bed but I know once up I am fine so dragged my body out of bed at 4.50am.
I had no problems doing the shopping this week.
Had a ok day although I had a lot of back pain making sitting in any chair difficult and painful.
I dragged myself out of bed at 5am, Tim had a shower last night and left the towels on the floor soaking wet which I hung up to dry.
The driver Leo had at the start of the year is back which is slightly annoying but it is what it is.
Both Tim and I had medical appointments at the same practice, the doctor was pleased with my BGL’s and has taken me off another of the diabetes tablets so now I only have one for diabetes down from 4 tablets and insulin.
I also managed to get in and out of the car on my own.
After my Dr’s appointment I managed to go to the chemist on my own, Tim acts like I can’t do anything.
Woke at 4.45am and after peeing I decided to stay up and it is bloody cold. I had the heater on for a while this morning.
Tim drove Sam to his headspace appointment, as Jess has work.
Tim had rehab this afternoon, his thumb isn’t healing as well as it should be, so he has to wear the brace all the time for a while and see how things go.
Another cold morning and it isn’t even winter yet, it isn’t always easy getting up at 5am and yeah I could sleep later but I like my early mornings once I am up and dressed.
Someone changed the battery in one of the lounge-room’s clocks but didn’t fix the time, how annoying. I changed the time but couldn’t rehang the clock.
The day has warmed up nicely.
Another cold start to the day, I wish I could put my own socks on, I don’t like asking Tasha when it is so cold to come down and do it.
Sandy called in after she dropped Temika at school, just to say hi and see how I was.
Tim went and had another ultrasound done on his thumb it doesn’t look good, he may need more surgery.
It warmed up nicely and was lovely in the sun.
Not as cold this morning, it is still cold just not as cold and still need the heater on for a bit.
Sandy called in to pick up the mail I had to post, this was seriously appreciated as there is no way I could get down there to post them.
Around lunch time it suddenly became very overcast and started to piss down with hail in fact we had three down pours with hail. It also became very cold, cold enough to think about turning the heater on, but I didn’t.
Jessica was at work when the down pour happen and because of the turn in the weather her work was cancelled, she was doing traffic control work.
Slept well and up at 5am as usual turning the heater on before getting dressed. It is bloody cold morning.
Tim getting us KFC for lunch, Kathy bringing me over some snags & mash for lunches next week.
My right leg has been shaking a lot during the day.
Kathy and Summer turned up around 1pm and after depositing my meals in the freezer they went over to Tasha’s so she can help with Tasha’s assignments.
Hello well here we are at another Friday and yes it is cold here a nippy 14 degrees no need for the heater so what are Jo-Anne’s thoughts on this Friday.
Well there are far too many cockroaches here for my liking Tim will need to spray again. Thankfully we haven’t heard anything running around in the roof so that’s good. Tim sprays himself as it costs a couple hundred bucks to get professionals to do it and the stuff Tim uses is pretty much the same stuff the professionals use. I know some of you are saying no its not but depending on the professional it can be the same stuff and it works which is the most important thing for me.
Getting rid of bugs, roaches, mice and such are the job of the tenant not the landlord and we are tenants been living here since May 1988.
Tim likes feeding the birds out the front which is ok with me except the birdseed being walked into the house is annoying but not overly so, I can live with it.
It isn’t easy dealing with roaches and mice when you live next door to a hoarder, although he is a nice person, the inside of his house is not so nice. Not that it’s a place I go.
Good morning every here we are at another creature day and this weeks creature is the Olm, I know you are thinking what the hell is an Olm.
Well it is native to central and south-eastern Europe and is listed as vulnerable. Your best chance of seeing it is in Slovenia’a Postohna Cave, where underground cameras and TV monitors allow you to see it.
Centuries ago, when floods washed them from their caves people believed they were baby dragons.
There is nothing normal about this slippery salamander, it’s blind and only found in underground rivers and caves. It swims like an eel and can go years without eating and lives for a 100 years.
It spends its whole life underwater and finds food using super-sensitive sensors in its snout.
The females lays eggs only once or twice in a lifetime, on the ceiling of a cave and can smell if the young inside it is growing or not, if not she eats it.
Good morning everyone, I hope all are fine and doing well me I am as I always am. This Monday I have a few more facts about the NT as in Northern Territory.
The NT flag was flown for the first time at a ceremony in Darwin on 1 July 1978 marking the grant of self-government.
The flag was designed by Australian artist Robert Ingpen AM, whose work is well known throughout Australia.
The Coat of Arms is symbolic of the people, history and landscape of the NT.
It has our floral and fauna emblems, the Sturt’s Desert Rose, two red kangaroos and a wedge-tailed eagle.
The kangaroos hold a shield decorated by Aboriginal motifs in one hand and shells found on our coastline in the other.
In the centre of the shield is an x-ray drawing of a woman as seen in rock art in Arnhem Land. The designs on either side symbolise camp sites joined by path markings of Central Australian Aboriginal people.
The eagle holds an Aboriginal Tjunga stone that rests on a helmet. The helmet is a reminder of the NT’s war history.
The red kangaroo embodies the NT’s unique wildlife. It is the largest living marsupial with adult males standing more than 2m tall and weighing as much as 75kg.
Males are a rusty brown colour and females a smokey grey, while both have heat-reflecting paler fur on their under surfaces. They also have striking white marks with a black line on the sides of their muzzles.
Their long, thin limbs allow them to travel large distances through harsh conditions. They are found in the NT in very dry areas.
During droughts they retreat to waterways and open grassy areas where food is available. Sometimes several hundred kangaroos can be found in the same place, although they are independent animals and have no social structure. They prefer to rest under shade during the heat of the day.
When the drought breaks they move to mulga tree areas where food and shade is available. This is also where they breed. Females normally carry one young in their pouch.
The Wedge-tailed eagle is Australia’s largest bird of prey with an average wingspan of 2.5m. It is dark brown with a chestnut neck.
Their long, wedge-shaped tail and broad wings make it easy to recognise. Their legs are covered in feathers right down to their feet. A hooked beak and strong talons are the hallmarks of a bird that hunts other animals.
Although they are found throughout Australia, in the NT they are more commonly found in the arid centre than on the coastal plains of the north.
Before cattle and sheep farming in Australia, they ate a range of small mammals that lived in the soft ground cover, as well as other birds and reptiles.
Agriculture and fire has destroyed much of the ground cover, so introduced species like rabbits have become a large part of their diet. It is thought the eagle also hunts kangaroos that gather around watering holes.
Eagles form long-lasting pairs who defend their nesting and breeding territory against intruders. They nest in the high trees and build large platform nests that can be reused from year to year.
At sunrise they hunt for food. Later on, as the sun heats up the air close to the ground, strong updrafts allow the eagle to soar and glide up to 2000 m high during the middle of the day, warning other eagles to stay out of their territory.
Sturt’s Desert Rose has been the floral emblem of the NT since 1974. It is an arid plant which grows best in stony or rocky ground such as dry creek beds.
The Desert Rose has had many botanical names in the past.
It is a member of the cotton family, rather than the rose family. It was named after Charles Sturt who first collected it during his journey to Central Australia in 1844-45.
The plant is found in the southern parts of the Territory, and is cultivated as a garden shrub in Alice Springs. It can also be found in parts of South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.
It’s a small bushy plant which usually grows to 1.5 m.
It has dark green, round to oval shaped leaves. The petals of the flowers are mauve with a deep red marking at the base.
The flowers look similar to the hibiscus, which belongs to the same family. The plant’s fruit is capsule-shaped and contains small seeds covered in short hair, which is a trait of the cotton family.
A new day and a cold day again I woke at 5.10 and after peeing stayed up with the heater on of course.
So at 7.15 I start the food shopping only to have the internet drop out after 5 minutes bloody annoying.
Kathy rang at 9.20 to wish me happy mother’s day, Sandy called in to give me a hug and wish me a good mother’s day.
Later Sandy brought me a pot plant and some caramel slice from Coles while she was here Tasha & Jess came with more flowers red roses and jam filled donuts.
It has warmed up nicely.
So my day has been good.
This morning I woke with a lot of lower back pain not something I have very often, in fact is has been years since I last had such pain.
My computer chair has about packed it in with the struts pretty much gone.
Had a bloke come and let us know they would be turning the power off at 11.25, should be off for about an hour. Thankfully I have plenty of data on my phone and the laptop is fully charged. Tim was leaving for another medical appointment so not going to bother him. I thankfully had just finished lunch.
It is bloody dark outside as .the security lights are out also it is 5am.
I was sitting here reading a blog when I heard someone at the front door being dark I couldn’t see anyone but it turned out to be Sam, he came looking for batteries.
When I tried to ring Sam at 8am his phone went to voicemail I ended up accidentally rang Sandy while trying to ring Tasha. Tasha was just out of the shower she told me to go in and find him, while trying to reverse up to Jess’s door the scooter got stuck and I had to get off it in order to move it, while doing this I managed to run over my own foot, while this was going on Sandy rang me back to see if I was ok and could tell I was upset and in two minutes she was here. She went in and woke Sam who was asleep with his phone dead. He did manage to make it up to the van before the driver left.
I asked Tim if he would go to Macca’s for me for lunch at first his tone pissed me off and I told him to forget it but 30 minutes later he got up asked what I wanted and went and go lunch for me.
Slept in till 5.20am just before I woe I was dreaming about sorting my meds, as I take my first lot of tablets at 5am when I get up I feel that was my subconscious telling me it was time to wake up.
At 7.20 the power went out not just in the complex though as Sandy rang she also has no power.
Thankfully the power came back on at 7.40amm and didn’t go out again all day.
Tim had another appointment with his counsellor he said she feels he needs a hobby, I agree but what he has no interest in reading or doing stuff on his computer such as blogging, I really have no idea what hobby he could take up.
I had message from Jess saying Sam not going to school as he doesn’t feel up to it.
The laptop has been a bitch all morning, driving batshit crazy.
Tim is off to see our GP.
Damn my jaw is moving a lot as my teeth feel like they are chattering. I don’t know if I am cold or just shaking.
Tasha got a text telling her that our GP is going to reintroduce bulk billing for children and pensioners, doesn’t help me and Tim though.
Another cold day I got up without issue even though it was nice and warm in my bed.
Tasha got me a few things from Wollies, including a new brand of flavoured milk to try and mini scorched peanut bars which I used to like but haven’t been able to buy in years.
It was a sstruggle to get up this morning but I did it and yes I could sleep longer but it throws my day out when I do.
Had a text from Jeannie (sister) who told me our old house in Flame St was shot up.
My brother and sister inlaw went out to some event last night and won a holiday.
Tim has gone to have blood tests done.
Kathy came over to help Tasha with her assignments as Tasha is having trouble understanding it.
Here we are at another bloody cold morning and it’s Friday so here are my thoughts on what, I don’t know let me thing for a bit well I thinking about being cold and chattering teeth along with a jaw that moves side to side so much that I can feel it and it is driving me batshit crazy.
My jaw started moving a few years back and even though the new medication (Madopar) helps some but since the cold weather has started it is moving a great deal. The moving does give me a face ache and bit of a headache.
Since starting the Madopar my over all shaking has reduced and I can even hold my arms out straight without shaking for a minute or so. I have also started walking better picking up my feet instead of shuffling this is a good thing.
This is the first winter and yes I know we are still in autumn but still, what was I saying oh yeah this is the first time I have felt the cold and boy am I feeling it. However, if I put on warmer clothes I end up over heating and sweating, this is bloody annoying.
So this is what has been on my mind the last couple of days it isn’t something I can stop or fix, just something I need to live with. As frustrating as it is.
Jo-AnneRamplings 