Christmas morning

Sunlight streaming though the blinds 

Reaching in so far and wide 

It’s only 7:30 am my dear

But this coolness will not abide

The forecast is dire this year 

The scorching heat will come 

The whole of Australia’s screaming 

As the temperature keeps rising, son

Baby red wattle bird

Yesterday I found her

Sitting quietly on the grass

All curled up into a bundle 

Her head tucked in…looking aft 

Yesterday she’d taken off 

Determined to gad about 

Perhaps upon her maiden flight 

Fledgling that she is no doubt 

There’s a danger from that cat 

That sneaks around at night

I’ve seen that mangy, sneaky cat

Turn on our neighbour’s movement light 

I had to gather her up as 

I was worried for this poor little mite

I managed to help her up onto 

The garden shed to settle for the night 

Today I found her in danger once again 

Lost and looking so forlorn 

Ah poor little baby red wattle bird

My heart for you was torn

I tried to move her to safety 

As her parents hovered about 

Making little concerned sounds 

As she looked up at them in fright 

Finally I put her up onto that garden shed

Watched in wonder as her parents came 

And that poor little mite was fed

They were so happy to have her back again! 

Running through the dunes

Took a run upon our track 

To the great Southern Ocean 

Then right back 

The sand was firm 

From last night’s rain

My eyes watering from the gusty winds 

The salty spray such pleasure did bring

Ah these feelings of exhilarence 

To be out here in the elements 

Oh what joy to feel alive in this 

So much so that my heart sings 

My lungs did burn; my heart did pound

As my strong legs covered the hilly ground 

Afterwards my pleasure soared 

Those endorphins round my brain they roared 

Ah there’s nothing like good exercise 

Here in the southern sand dunes 

Surrounded by these stormy skies 

An arty farty display

A tree branch fell down last week 

Te council car and chopped it up

Instead of wasting the tree logs 

We carried them to the back yard 

Added a few plants from the verandah 

My collection of sea shells and pebbles too

And made an arty farty display…

September 2024

Cameo

A drop of moisture within a flower stem

Pollen grains both white and orange; then

A cameo face I espy within

A Grecian beauty, perhaps a grin 

All these I see growing from a grassy stem 

September 2024

A gift of Coorong mullet

Our dear neighbour crossed the street 

Bringing a gift of Coorong mullet for us to eat 

A simple meal it was to create 

A couple of eggs, a little flour, paprika, pepper added to taste…

A few minutes in the electric frying pan

A few lettuce leaves, lemon juice, vinegar 

Coleslaw was store bought yesterday 

A delicious meal on a beautiful Sabbath day

Thanked the Lord for bringing me my first 

Taste of Coorong Mullet; ever in my life… 

Thank You to 95 year old neighbour Lloyd 

Brass in pocket

I won an album at the Loxton Disco many, many years ago. The DJ was giving away prizes of albums during the evening and at the end I went up to say “Thank you” for the great music. He thought I only wanted something from him. I got angry and said “I was coming over to thank you for the great music!” And walked away. He then gave me his last LP which was the Ripper Album from that year…

I had asked him to play “Brass in pocket” by the Pretenders earlier in the evening. It was only the B side of the record and he wasn’t sure if it was a good song. He played it for me and I was grateful! What a wonderful memory all these years later…that was back in the 1970’s…