BIRDS AND TREES

When we stopped for coffee at New Farm Park this scruffy bird came and sat next to us. I have no idea what kind of bird it is. Stop Press, Christian says it is a common crow with a problem with its neck.

 On our walk we saw these trees. They were unusual in that they had lost their leaves and just had seed pods dangling. We don't have many deciduous trees in the sub tropics.

They looked pretty against the blue sky.

I don't know what kind of tree it is. This post proves that I'm not big on biological names. Stop Press Our friend Roland says that it is a "Robinia pseudoacacia"

THE BIRTH OF A BUILDING

As most readers know, we moved into a retirement village six months ago. The village has been growing over the last five years and the last two stages are in progress at the moment. We have been watching the quadplexes being built opposite us, well not quite opposite thank goodness so we can keep our view of the forest. It has been interesting watching the buildings grow.

 The retaining wall is up and the drainage done.

 The concrete slab is poured.

 Pouring concrete

 Blocks for the ground floor walls arrive.

 The garage walls are up. scaffolding for the upper units.

 Walls, windows and roof.

The street is developing.

Painting, balcony shutters, hot water heater, air con inside outfitting and landscaping.

People are moving into the "Upper Apartment "this week. Access is from the road behind the building while access to the lower "Garden Apartment" is from this street. So there are no stairs in the village.

NEW FARM PARK AT JACARANDA TIME

It is Jacaranda time in Brisbane. It has come early this year due to the very warm winter that we had. The Jacaranda Tree originally from South America, now flourishes here in Australia. Yesterday we drove to New Farm Park to photograph these beautiful purple trees. New Farm Park is in the inner city suburb of New Farm. In convict settlement days the park used to be a farm. In 1846 it was a race course but in 1913 the council acquired the land and made it a park. There were cricket nets, football fields, tennis courts and picnic areas. Today it is mostly used as a picnic area and there is a big children playground as well as a Kiosk, Coffee shop, The Power House Theatre and Watt Restaurant. The Brisbane River runs along the edge of the park and there is a City Cat boat terminal. The park was crowded even on a week day.

We drove around the ring road looking for a parking spot.

 Many of the old Jacaranda trees had to be removed as they were becoming dangerous. So new ones have been planted.

We found a park and set off for the coffee shop...........compulsory for my man. I like to see the city peeping through the trees.

 The new and the old trees. Fortified with coffee, Bill enjoyed walking, photographing and trying to learn more about his camera.

Besides the Jacaranda trees there are many garden beds in the park. The rose garden is especially pretty.

 After a few hours and hundreds of photos we found our little red car and drove home.

On the way home there were many Jacarandas lining the city streets. 

SELLING AND MOVING IN 1974

Continuing 'My Story'

In June 1974 we sold our house and acre block of land in Springwood Road and bought a new home at 27 Wenlock Crescent, Springwood. We didn't move very far and we only planned to stay there a short time and sell at a profit and then buy our dream home. Unfortunately, for us the bottom fell out of the housing market and we ended up staying for 15 years. It was a nice comfortable little house.  

 We moved into a ready built new house in Wenlock Crescent. We needed to establish a garden, again.

In July we visited the Lion Park in Beenleigh.

Carol was a bit wary of feeding the deer but eventually plucked up the courage, but when it had finished eating she walked away and the deer chased her for more. She didn't like being chased by the deer. I mustn't have taken any photos of the lions.

 Our new house had a back yard where Carol could play without me worrying that she could wander off like on the acre from where we had moved.

A friend helped us build a concrete block fence. Carol-Ann had turned two and I was eight months pregnant with our second baby,we didn't know the sex before they were born in those days. 

CHRISTMAS 1973

Continuing My Story

We celebrated Christmas with our friends Joan, Norm, Cheryl and Craig. They had just returned from PNG to live in Australia. We couldn't believe that we had bought land in the same street without even knowing.

Bill made Carol a wagon full of blocks. She enjoyed knocking down the towers that Craig built.

 After lunch we relaxed in our old, tatty, hand-me-down lounge. We were struggling on one wage in those days.

Carol got a watering can for Christmas so she could help me in the garden. I had built a rockery retaining wall from rocks found on our land or from neighbouring empty blocks.

18 months

Boxing Day picnic at Alma Park

THE SUMMER OF SEVENTY THREE

Continuing My Story

On weekends we spent a lot of time developing a garden on our acre of property.

The plants over the septic tank grew the best.

During the week I would try to find time to do more in the garden. Sometimes I had a bunch of little helpers when Andy and Tony from next door came to play.

My number one helper was Carol.

She was a happy 18 month old.

She called a dog a 'Wow Wow.'

Some weekends we would go to Main Beach on the Gold Coast. The cold water took her breath away.

DARLING DAUGHTER, DIGGER AND DOG, SPRING 1973

Continuing My Story

Our second winter since leaving PNG was nearly over, we were getting used to colder weather.

 14 months

  Carol enjoyed playing outside in the sun. She liked riding her horse down the driveway and carrying it back up.

Bill wasn’t happy with the septic tank drain that the builder had installed. Bill’s mate Ben, borrowed a backhoe from his boss. Then the two boys lengthened the drain. Bill enjoyed operating the machine.

Our German shepherd dog, Richard von Wagner-Ricky, was a lovely but silly dog. He was very protective of Carol but he loved chasing thrown stones and bringing them back.

15 months