Tuesday, October 19, 2010

My World Tuesday;Towns from a bird's eye view;


Airport Charleville;
Qantas scheduled its first fare paying passenger service from Charleville to Cloncurry, via Longreach and Winton, back in 1922.

Charleville is in the heart of Queensland's 'mulga country'. It is the largest town in the south west of the Outback region and was gazetted in 1868 and later named by the Government surveyor of the day, Mr WA Tully, after a town in Ireland where he had lived.

In March 1888, rail transport reached Charleville. This railway gave Charleville a direct link with the state capital, Brisbane.

Cobb and Co, the famous coach company, based their largest coach making factory in Australia in the township of Charleville in 1890. The factory was moved to Charleville because the wood used in coaches made in factories closer to the coast would split and crack in the dry, dusty conditions of Western Queensland.

The mulga country of Queensland's outback is rich in history, flora and fauna. The stars almost touch the end of your nose at the Cosmos Centre and Observatory where clear nights and a low horizon combine to give visitors a great night time experience. Kangaroos, emus, birds of prey and a wondrous variety of Australian native wildlife can be seen whilst travelling this area.

Do you like to read more about Charleville please click here

I hope you enjoyed your visit to the outback town of Charleville. Please visit that's my world Here

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Friday, September 3, 2010

Spring arrives in my garden;

Wisteria in all its glory in my garden; please click pic;

Subtle changes are here overnight. The wisteria's branches are still bare but covered with fat buds wanting to burst into all their purple splendor.
Where ever I look they are all ganging up to make the best of spring. In the wild garden Hovea has put on a purple show with its small pea flowers. Birds are busy gathering dry sticks and grasses to build their temporary shelters to rear their young ones.
Tiny frogs well hidden in foliage are simultaneously calling and answering, " are you free"?
Spring in my area is short but very sweet.


Lines Written In Early Spring by William Wordsworth

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:--
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature's holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

William Wordsworth 7.April 1770 - 23.4.1850 was a romantic at heart. He was born in spring and died in spring.




Monday, August 16, 2010

At Sunset Time;



At Sunset Time; Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 - 1904

A down the west a golden glow
Sinks burning in the sea,
And all the dreams of long ago
Come flooding back to me.
The past has writ a story strange
Upon my aching heart,
But time has wrought a subtle change,
My wounds have ceased to smart.
No more the quick delight of youth,
No more the sudden pain,
I look no more for trust or truth
Where greed may compass gain.
What, was it I who bared my heart
Through unrelenting years,
And knew the sting of misery's dart,
The tang of sorrow's tears?
'Tis better now, I do not weep,
I do not laugh nor care;
My soul and spirit half asleep
Drift aimless everywhere.
We float upon a sluggish stream,
We ride no rapids mad,
While life is all a tempered dream
And every joy half sad.

Photo TS

Friday, June 18, 2010

The Teacher...


An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life.
He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me...It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves.

One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, pride and superiority. The other wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth and compassion.
This same fight is going on inside of you and every other person too."
They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied..."The one I feed."


Have a nice day...

Monday, March 22, 2010

Silvery Moon;

Please click the picture.

The Moon
The moon has a face like the clock on the wall
She shines on thieves on the garden wall,
On streets and fields and harbour quays,
And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.

The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,
The howling dog by the door of the house,
The bat that lies in bed at noon,
All love to be out by the light of the moon.

But all of the things that belong to the day
Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way;
And flowers and children close their eyes
Till up in the morning the sun shall arise.

Robert Louis Stevenson


The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,403 kilometres (238,857 mi), about thirty times the diameter of the Earth. The common centre of mass of the system (the barycentre) is located at about 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi)—a quarter the Earth's radius—beneath the surface of the Earth. The Moon makes a complete orbit around the Earth every 27.3 days(the orbital period), and the periodic variations in the geometry of the Earth–Moon–Sun system are responsible for the phases of the Moon, which repeat every 29.5 days (the synodic period).
The Moon's diameter is 3,474 kilometres (2,159 mi), a little more than a quarter of Earth's. Thus, the Moon's surface area is less than a tenth of the Earth (about a quarter of Earth's land area), and its volume is about 2 percent that of Earth. The pull of gravity at its surface is about 17 percent of that at the Earth's surface.
The Moon is the only celestial body on which human beings have made a manned landing. While the Soviet Union's Luna programmewas the first to reach the Moon with unmanned spacecraft, the United States' NASA Apollo program achieved the only manned missions to date, beginning with the first manned lunar mission by Apollo 8 in 1968, and six manned lunar landings between 1969 and 1972–the first being Apollo 11 in 1969. Human exploration of the Moon temporarily ceased with the conclusion of the Apollo program, although a few robotic landers and orbiters have been sent to the Moon since that time.

The proper English name for Earth's natural satellite is, simply, the Moon. Moon is a Germanic word, related to the Latin mensis and Ancient Greek (menas) both meaning month, and (Mene) (alternate name for Selene in Ancient Greek) It is ultimately a derivative of the Proto-Indo-European root me-, also represented in measure(time), with reminders of its importance in measuring time in words derived from it like Monday, month and menstrual. The related adjective is lunar, as well as an adjectival prefix seleno- and suffix -selene the Ancient Greek word for the Moon). In English, the word moon exclusively meant "the Moon" until 1665, when it was extended to refer to the recently discovered natural satellites of other planets. Subsequently, these objects were given distinct names to avoid confusion. The Moon is occasionally referred to by its Latin name Luna.

Interested in facts about the moon? Please click here
some excerpts from Wikipedia

Photo original TS

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Devochka....Diamonds are a girls best friend;

Devotchka, (Little girl) the oldest diamond mine in Siberia.

1897 the Tsar ordered exploration of Siberia for precious metals. An estimated 40'000 people died looking for jewels in the ground that could be polished to fit into rings, tiaras, bracelets, jewellery boxes and glittering eggs for the "Nobility"!


In mineralogy, diamond is the allotrope of carbon where the carbon atoms are arranged in an isometric-hexoctahedral crystal lattice.
After graphite, diamond is the second most stable form of carbon. Its hardness and high dispersion of light make it useful for industrial applications and jewelry.
It is the hardest known naturally occurring mineral. It is possible to treat regular diamonds under a combination of high pressure and high temperature to produce diamonds that are harder than the diamonds used in hardness gauges.

Diamonds are specifically renowned as a material with superlative physical qualities; they make excellent abrasives because few substances can scratch them. As a result they hold a polish extremely well and retain their lustre. Approximately 130 million carats (26,000 kg (57,000 lb)) are mined annually, with a total value of nearly USD $9 billion, and about 100,000 kg (220,000 lb) are synthesized annually.

Diamonds have been treasured as gemstones since their use as religious icons in ancient India. Their usage in engraving tools also dates to early human history.
Popularity of diamonds has risen since the 19th century because of increased supply, improved cutting and polishing techniques, growth in the world economy, and innovative and successful advertising campaigns.

Diamonds are thought to have been first recognized and mined in India, where significant alluvial deposits of the stone could then be found many centuries ago along the rivers Penner, Krishna and Godavari. Diamonds have been known in India for at least 3000 years but most likely 6000 years
The name diamond is derived from the ancient Greek ἀδάμας (adámas), "unbreakable, untamed", from ἀ- (a-), "un-" + δαμάω (damáō), "I overpower, I tame" and is the real-world origin of myths about a superhard metal called adamant.

In 1813, Humphry Davy used a lens to concentrate the rays of the sun on a diamond in an atmosphere of oxygen, and showed that the only product of the combustion was carbon dioxide, proving that diamond is composed of carbon. Later, he showed that in an atmosphere devoid of oxygen, diamond is converted to graphite.

The most familiar usage of diamonds today is as gemstones used for adornment, a usage which dates back into antiquity.
The dispersion of white light into spectral colors, is the primary gemological characteristic of gem diamonds.
In the twentieth century, experts in the field of gemology have developed methods of grading diamonds and other gemstones based on the characteristics most important to their value as a gem.
Four characteristics, known informally as the four Cs, are now commonly used as the basic descriptors of diamonds: these are carat, cut, color, and clarity.

Some excerpts courtesy Wikipedia