Contrasting Country

We are still cooped up inside so the boys are no longer doing anything cute for me to blog about. They are just terrorising each other, baiting each other, baiting their parents, terrorising their parents, eating everything in their paths, making mess wherever they put their little hands, just generally driving me batty. But after the day that so many other people have had I've been counting my 2 little blessings all day. So I shall share a bit more about the contrasts in our country.

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Today nearly 100 people have lost their lives in huge firestorms in the drought-stricken south of our country. There are still many people unaccounted for so the death toll will rise. There isn't much more to say on that one, it's a terrible toll that is climbing very fast. Many many more have lost homes and businesses and pets and livestock.

Also today a king tide sent more houses underwater in the flooded north. A 5 year old boy was taken by a croc at Cape Tribulation after following his dog into the flood water. In Tully a car carrying 7 people was swept off the road and only 5 were able to be rescued, the other 2 men at the moment cannot be located. It is unlikely that story will have a happy ending. This news story covers both.

Ingham picture here

60% of Queensland is in flood at the moment. Ingham in the picture above is only 1 hour north of us and 1 hour south is Giru which is also mostly underwater. Low lying areas around here are under although nothing like the pictures we are seeing coming from areas like Normanton and Tully.

Now, in spite of it all, I still found this one kinda funny...

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"Mammows"

So we got the fire going, we had borrowed a metal pot plant holder from grandma to house our fire, it got pretty blue and green flames from the copper in the pot so after a phone call to Grandad-chemist to establish that it would in no way harm our marshmallows we started on toasting them.

Dragon, what has happened to the “mammow” I put on your stick???

That mean daddy is wrecking my mammow by putting it in the fire!!!!!!

Lion loves toasted mammows, it’s even better if they end up on fire!

This mammow never actually made it near the fire, as soon as I had taken this photo Dragon whipped the mammow off the end and ate it. It just takes far too much time to toast them, if he just keeps shoveling them in while the rest of us toast ours, surely he can get through 5 or 6 times as many as the rest of us!!!! I am sure that was his reasoning anyway.

PS. I had planned the jumpers to go on them the other way around since that would be how the fitted best but Lion saw me get them out and asked if he could wear the “pineapple one” So cute, I guess it does look like a pineapple skin.

Collecting Fire Wood.

Someone came up with the ingenious idea of toasting marshmallows in the backyard. Seems like a good idea at the time until you have to cross such hurdles as having a fire! To have a fire you must have wood to burn, we do not have any need for a wood pile here, being a pleasant 29C at 11am this morning in the MIDDLE OF WINTER, fires are generally not of any use to us other than for cooking, and we prefer the gas variety for that. So we figured we could probably find enough for a small fire (we didn’t want a bonfire, just a small branch that would burn long enough to set some marshmallows on fire) in the gully area beside our house.

It started off easy enough, we collected little bits for tinder and some nice toasting sticks beneath the tree right next to the house, then we set off to find something that would actually burn for more than 20 seconds. Lion had his new wheelbarrow and Daddy had his (pre-loaded with a dragon in it, I guess Lion had better carry all the fire wood).

We collected plenty not very far from home, but of course we had to go further, we ended up combing the side of the road that is on the other side of the gully.

Lion wanted to go through the tunnels. We did feel a little “white trash”-ish scouring the side of the road but the boys had a great time.

On the way back lion felt like he was missing out on something with Dragon riding in the big wheelbarrow so he wanted to jump in too.

Guess where the wheelbarrow with all the fire wood is???? That’s right, Mummy gets to carry that.

Lion's Story Telling Ability

This morning Lion was 'driving' around the house prentending to be a forklift. Wolf was in the bathroom scrubing his teeth when Lion drives in and using his forklift powers tries to pick him up. Of course this didn't work but in the process Wolf 'passes wind' while Lion was standing behind him which started off a whole new story arc for Lion. It sort of went like this:

Lion: Lion Forklift is going to pick up Daddy Robot.

Wolf: ffffffrrrrrrppp

Lion: Argh, Daddy Robot popped on Lion Forklift! Help! (exit bathroom running into dinning area and fall down on floor) Help Mummy Firetruck, Daddy Robot popped on Lion Forklift and now Lion Forklift is on fire! Help me, Help me Mummy Firetruck.

Mummy McT: Can't now Lion, I'm busy, don't you have a little fire extinguisher on your forklift to do that with?

Lion: Arghh Ooooh Lion Forklift is on fire, Help me Help me..... (all this time Lion is squirming around on the floor prentending to be on fire).

Wolf: Drop and roll Lion, that will put the fire out.

Lion: I know! Lion Forklift will use his little fire extinguisher to put out the flames. Ssshhhh sshhh shhh... there we go all out. Don't you pop on me again Daddy Robot!

Dragon: Wha!?