Welcome to our third edition and I hope you might be getting something from our little rag.
The Reptiles are On The Move
Yep it’s that time again when the Joe Blake’s and our Frilly Lizards start to move out of their hideaways and go in search of food, partners and new territories to explore.
Often unnoticed but always there and when you come across them or visa versa we tend to overreact, and the reptile usually responds accordingly.
Years of experience as a fault man with Telstra I often was greeted with a shocked snake when I lifted a pit lid off to work on a cable.
Some of us choose to confront but my experience is they, the reptile are just as scared of us as we are of them and again MY best weapon is DISTANCE.
Keep a eye on the runner and it will move away and continue on its journey.
They tend to chase the sun in the mornings as they are cold blooded beings and definitely speed up when full warmth.
Please keep a eye out, educate your children to be do the simple things like not stepping over logs or obstacles step on them and step way, Distance is the best safe guard when in doubt, and encourage them to research their environment and know what’s going on in your yard, that way no surprises and it will stay with them for a lifetime. And if you are unlucky please follow the advice below
History amongst the Overburdened “
Stone Quarry Cemetery”
The history of our bit of dirt is worth a look if you wish to wander up to Stone Quarry Cemetery.
Surrounded by the overburden mountains of the what is referred to as restoration one can see the real levels of the landscape that once was open grazing paddocks at road level there and on the main drag.
Pioneer families all delineated by religion in separate areas of denominations.
A peaceful place to visit depending on the times they fire up the earthmoving equipment,, and even then the gravity of discovery overcomes that very minor reminder of present land usage.
The pictures below are just a taste of what to expect as I do not want to spoil your surprise if you decide to discover.
Ipswich Council Works QR Code locations
LOCAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Illustrious Soil Of Thagoona
That Black Glug they call Thagoona Dirt.
From day one before putting a pick in the ground it had me.
My father had the theory that never buy land until you see how it looks in the wet.
We pulled up ,put a wheel off the gravel deco road and the tyre went down in the mud , not much but enough to get your attention.
Stars in my eyes I saw black soil as a plus, good productive farm soil, growing my own crops, roadside produce shop, small farm all on my 5 acres..
Dream busted after the first PH test but I should have known when I found out the place was mined and the area was a swamp like place in its hey day.
OH The days of only seeing a few house lights, no streetlights, and bugs I’d never seen before filling the kitchen. All part of our initiation .
Next challenge was the driveways and chitters then was the go to solution. Delivered hot at times, and the skill of the truck drivers delivering who could lay your driveway by getting the tip and dump coordinated.
Then after a few months I was on the builders case as the doors had moved and then the penny dropped. We were on active clay that moved with the weather and seasons, and all the whinges and complaints nothing will change.
Welcome to Thagoona Peoples.
Some of us are on a slightly sandier soil on the high sides but the majority is on The Glug, and hindsight is great now…. and so what , you and your neighbours houses distances vary at times ….you go through a few more rider mowers if you buy the trendy …..and latches and bolts are practical solutions …. and to be honest when I saw no kerb and channeling requirements, just spill drains, and seeing fences behave like a big night at at the Walloon, you must just accept the fact it comes with the territory, full stop.
Some positive stuff though, our dirt at Thagoona had time to settle over a few years before developments took up unlike now where the houses are following the excavator and roller, pouring kerb and channeling, all on same dirt but not allowed to settle..
I can see movement there in more ways than one .. OUCH..
Like many of us I really get annoyed with the way the media behaves.
Yes i admit it , I go on social media and blast the channels and the readers for my read of how a story is portrayed often what I see as bias but again that’s my read.
The big picture though is a bit different in my view, as I have the respected view the 4th Estate and it’s independence is critical to any democracy and we do not want to go down the road of big money dominates the information you and me are given access to.
I’m guilty of being a ABC supporter and what should be our nations most trusted news service and let the commercials distribute the paying propaganda producers.
I don’t care which side of politics they put the boot into as long as it’s factual and accurate and independent . For that to happen politics must not be a factor, but unfortunately funding is used as a weapon to restrict the effectiveness and board appointments used to support the direction and agendas.
In todays broadcast landscape the ABC is getting it from both sides which in reality they must be doing their job. Like any business you can’t please them all but as a former communications worker supplying and maintaining services in the bush the ABC is a critical part especially when we are in crisis.
That applies also in our off shore neighbours too, Radio Australia, Foreign Correspondent, and investigative journalism are critical to our retention of true democracy and accountability so I’m really looking critically at the upcoming budget and personally instead of just bitching I’ve joined the ABC Friends to kick arse from the inside if needed.
As a sucker the ABC Friends have asked me to form a group of people who want to help the organisation and press a few buttons in the Ipswich and surround areas so if you, like me want to shake a few trees just contact me on gavmaway@wordpress.com and we can get our act together.
Thank you For getting this far and leave your comments below if you wish
The Girral Grump 