A Picnic at Home




Our rivers are still raging madly even though the flood waters have abated. There are many heart breaking stories emerging, but here are two heart warming ones:

A farmer returned to his property as the floods went down, devastated at the loss of his stock. As he opened his front door six calves came clattering down the stairs looking for breakfast. Somehow they had gained access to the house during the floods and had been sheltering in the upstairs bedrooms. The farmer was overjoyed to find that they had survived... (hopefully that joy sustained him as he cleaned the bedrooms..)

A woman had to leave her property in such a hurry that there was no time to save her beloved chickens. She kayaked in to her house the next day to find her wet, bedraggled chickens perched on top of the barbecue, inches above the water. She tucked the chickens into the kayak and ferried them to safety.

I heard both these stories on ABC local radio. This government-sponsored station provides a local service Australia-wide, and is what we all rely on in times of trouble. Weather warnings, road closures, notice of evacuations for bush fires or floods - the ABC is always there when we need local information in an emergency. Plus, they have excellent gardening talk-back..

After some fresh air, Rosy went off to the snow (such as it is) with a friend, and Posy and I had a picnic - in the lounge room.



This was Posy's brilliant idea. She made a fantastic Caesar salad, with incredibly crunchy croutons that she whipped up out of the last crust of bread in the house.

Excellent things about picnics at home:

No ants.

Close proximity to cushions when the floor gets too hard.

Excellent tea-making facilities available.

Quite a short trek to the toilets.

Never cancelled due to inclement weather.

Picnics at home. It's a 'yes' from me. Try one at your place. Oh, unless your dog is much more obedient than ours, the pooch will need to have some 'me' time behind closed doors. There is bacon in that salad..

PS Darling Wordpress blogging friends. Check your spam folders. I have been banished from Wordpressland again.. (was it something I said??)

Comments

Anonymous said…
Your idea of a picnic sounds good to me. No wasps either!!!!!
Unknown said…
Most of our meals in this house are picnics! I am unable to make anyone sit at the table (though it probably doesn't count if they are sitting in front of a computer, does it?) I like your picnic better. And the Caesar salad looks yummy!
Anonymous said…
I love ABC radio. Just can't stand commercial radio - the hype, the stupidity, the inane comments.

There's been some very sad stories about the floods. It's good to hear some positive news.

The Wordpress Blogger feud continues! And it is clandestine. It let in some comments and just hid a few without telling me.

Mimi said…
Jo, the mind boggles at those sweet little calves seeking refuge upstairs. Darling things. I am glad you are all safe there. What gives with Wordpress? Tell me all... Mimi xxx
Fernglade Farm said…
Hi Jo,

The ABC is invaluable during such times. Sometimes it is the only source of information. Those were lovely stories too and it is great to read that the chickens were rescued. The calves were very enterprising too.

I read an article this morning about a farmer up in Mole Creek who's farm was flooded as 370mm fell there, whilst 500mm fell higher up in the catchment. That is a crazy amount of rain. Loved the picnic idea - and your comment about the toilet reminded me of a comedy show at the Comedy Festival (I didn't see the show, but spotted the poster) titled: What if there is no toilet? Hmm, I can relate to that (when overseas) but especially today as I'm not feeling very well at all and am having a sick day.

Cheers.

Chris
Tanya Murray said…
Oh I DO miss you Jo. I think of you all the time with the move and all. Thank goodness I can still read your sunny personality x
Unknown said…
Sadly i do not have a well behaved pooch. I have trouble keeping the food on the table away from Miss Tilly and her parkour antics. Locking her outside only result in mournful cries loud enough to wake the dead. Im sure the neighbours think of calling the RSPCA. Really! I just want to eat dinner in peace Tilly.

The flood waters shown on media have been astounding. I couldn't believe Cataract Gorge. Very violent yet somehow beautiful.
Jo said…
Anon, no wasps! Yes, I will add that to the list:)

Hazel, they are all having computer picnics of course!

Lucinda, I am pretty sure there is a conspiracy..

Mimi, Wordpress doesn't like Blogger bloggers. Often Wordpress blogs hide Blogger comments in the spam folder, so it behoves the thoughtful Wordpress blogger to check there occasionally to find lost Blogger comments. Usually once a Blogger blogger has been released from Wordpress jail there is a period of months where all is well, but then you get banished again..

Chris, yes, crazy rain. Very happy to be living on a hillside. Although travelling to other parts of town became tricky there for a while. I kept Rosy home from school one day because I wasn't convinced that the route home wouldn't be underwater by afternoon..

Tanya, miss you too, and happy birthday xx

Lynda, I am sure our puppies would be kindred spirits:)
GretchenJoanna said…
I might say that Blogger doesn't like WordPress, either! Very frequently WordPress posts aren't posted to Blogger blogrolls until many hours after being published, but the most aggravating thing is that when I want to comment on a Blogger blog, never never will Blogger allow me to sign in with my WordPress account, even though it is listed as an option.

I wasn't aware of the problem going the other direction. When I was a Blogger blogger I didn't experience it... and at least in my realm nothing of yours has gone to spam ever.

Thank you for sharing those wonderful flood stories. I am so sorry for all the damage and loss of lives!
Jo said…
Gretchen Joanna, you are so right - sometimes it takes days for a new Wordpress post to show up on my sidebar. You have to wonder if it is deliberate spite..
Anonymous said…
The New Orleans flood rescue effort opened my eyes to how people will not leave their pets and that most people think of human lives and their pets' lives as being equal in value. Maybe farm animals, too! I think there is a deliberate animosity between WordPress and Blogger because sometimes I can't comment on Blogger posts for months at a time, either as a WordPress user through OpenID or through my Google account. I resort to posting as Anonymous and then sign my name.

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