Strange Creatures in the Park ......

Had a couple of animal sightings recently - oh, sometimes you do wish you owned a gun.

Firstly, some silly cow was seen perambulating around the Park.  We've all heard, I am sure, of why some roads seem to meander in random directions, at seemingly random places.  Haven't?  Well, they say that years ago, cows used to walk along the paddocks in such a fashion, wearing a permanent track there-in.  When it came time for a pedestrian pathway, and ultimately a roadway, why, we just followed the old cow track.  This cow has obviously found a better means of transport, and the roadways are already built.

Today, Easter Sunday, we had the obligatory Easter Bunny do his/her rounds through the Park.  This one was pretty lazy, though, and needed a ride in order to carry the chocolate goodies and get round the Park.  All the little tots, and not so little ones, were enthralled  and took this advantage for some free treats.  Yours truly was too busy organising a camera for the "bunny shoot", so missed out completely.  Must remember to definitely have the gun next year.

Is this Global Warming?

Finally, a cool day - the first one for the better part of a fortnight.  In fact, as I write this entry, it is actually raining.  Not much - very light - and won't last long, but it is an almost forgotten scenario this year.  With the exception of one day, we have only had 21mm since January 1st (16mm on the 31st, January, so obvioulsy very little on the other 71 days.

To demonstrate just how dry and hot March has been, below is a table showing the daily maximum temperatures (no point in including rainfall as this has been zero every day)

Friday	March 1st	24.8°C	76.6°F
Saturday	March 2nd	30.5°C	86.9°F
Sunday	March 3rd	31.9°C	89.4°F
Monday	March 4th	36.9°C	98.4°F
Tuesday	March 5th	39.9°C	103.8°F
Wednesday	March 6th	38.0°C	100.4°F
Thursday	March 7th	35.8°C	96.4°F
Friday	March 8th	40.6°C	105.1°F
Saturday	March 9th	37.7°C	99.9°F
Sunday	March 10th	31.4°C	88.5°F
Monday	March 11th	39.6°C	103.3°F
Tuesday	March 12th	40.3°C	104.5°F
Wednesday	March 13th	29.0°C	84.7°F

On the old scale (or, the way those backward Americans express temperature  - °F) that is five days in excess of 100°F and that's not even including a 99.9°F and two others in excess of 98°F.  Whew, that must have been why it's seemed so damn hot.  Can't wait for our next power bill, should be a doozy given the number of hours the air conditioner has been running; which reminds me, time to clean the filters!

Certainly the hottest and dryest spell since I started monitoring the weather here.  Mayber, we'll get the mother of all winters to make up for it.

Mark Weber - Your Days are Numbered

The long weekend (ninth consecutive day over 30°C, including a run of six over 35°C) has meant that we have entertained Lorelle and the grandees, making use of the hairy-conditioner for a bit of relief.

One of the newer facilities at the park is peddle-powered cars (more like racing cars, in looks, at least).  Next stop, formula one, where at least you don't have to provide your own power.

Gave them a bit of a nudge today (well, at least Ben & Chloe did - younger, fitter legs than me).  Even though the Park is quite crowded over this long-weekend, there are plenty of safe, internal roads that can be navigated.  A vehicle is available for the princely sum of $5 per half-hour, so they were able to get a good go.

A fun time was hade by all.

The Sport of Kings

Lashed out a bought a part-share in a racehorse - Robbie's birthday/Christmas/Anniversary present.

It's name is:

SLEEP ON IT

 

Personally, don't like the name - we put forward a number of better alternatives, but that's the one that was selected.  It's out of Cushion on the dam's side, so I guess there is at least some connection to its pedigree in the name.

 

 

Speaking pedigree; on the sire's (AD VALOREM) side it has DANZIG, NORTHERN DANCER and NEARCTIC and on the dam's (PAILLASSE) side it has OCTAGONAL, ZABEEL and SIR TRISTRAM.  So it is very well credentialed - but of course everything comes down to the horse itself.  Pedigree alone doesn't win races.

 

It is trained locally by Matty Williams (that's him in the picture - the one on the left, with two legs). He has a fantastic set-up out at Wangoom and a second site at the Warrnambool Racecourse itself.

 

It has trialled a couple of times and looks very promising.  Matt was hoping to give it a start in a 1000m 2YO maiden as a lead-up to the Warrnambool Carnival.  Unfortunately, has developed a bit of shin soreness and will now be spelled for eight weeks.  He regards SLEEP ON IT as an above-average prospect, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

 



A Long Time Flowering

It's been quite a while since I have posted - must make amends.

Almost 20 years ago, I purchased a fancy indoor plant for home.  A common-enough one in the tropics (seen many of them in the rainforests).  Anyway, this thing (forgotten its name after all this time) went ballistic.  Grew all the way up to the ceiling.  Somewhat top heavy with quite a sturdy, single trunk.

 

When we shifted about two-and-a-half years ago, in spite of taking great care, we ended up snapping the trunk right off, quite near the base.  We kept it and were about to throw it out when we noticed it was starting to sprout from the base.  Since then it has done quite well - as evidenced by the photos.

 

The photos also show that it has flowered - finally - after some 20 years.  I can only hope that I am, similarly, a late bloomer.