On holiday, poll results

We will be leaving for holiday (vacation) tomorrow (saturday). We are going to see the Sydney Opera house. I will not post any more blogs until we get back.
R.T. was somewhat saddened that people do not think of him as a "relaxed kind of guy" :-) There were two of you who thought that he would wear shorts - two who thought that he would wear them when the thermostat reached 100. the other 12 votes thought that he would not wear them. I will keep you updated......he does wear jeans (with dress shoes) a couple of times a week.....so just maybe the shorts will become reality......

What is Tea

This seems to be an obvious question. In the states, we would say that it is the black or green liquid that we would serve as a hot or cold drink.
I have found that is not always the answer here. One day, while waiting for my kids at swim lessons, I was talking with a friend. She apologized for eating her watermelon in front of me, she was having tea....TEA...I call that watermelon. I was checking out at the market the other day, when the manager came and asked the girl checking me out, if she would like tea......
Tea can be a hot drink, but it can mean lunch, dinner, snack or just used as an excuse if you want to get out of doing something. You have to decide on the context of how it is used. I was invited to tea at 2p.m. - that meant snack. My parents were invited for tea at 6p.m. - they were served dinner.

Rain forest

These are our favorite trees. R.T. and Cas dream about building a fort in one





Most of the path was dirt. Here there is a wooden pathway over a swampy area.




There were many parrots out and about Bunya Pine with ferns growing on it.


We were in awe of God's creation while we were in the rainforest. Cas commented that it would be impossible to count the different kinds of vegetation that God created. The rain forest is only about 40 minutes from us and is a nice escape from the summer heat.

Doctors attire

Things are a bit more relaxed here. There is one doctor that comes to work in his shorts and a non ironed polo. There is one doc that is commonly seen wearing jeans and a polo. There is an unnamed doc :-) that is commonly seen wearing kakki's and a button down, ironed shirt. There does not seem to be a dress code. I have not seen a white lab coat yet - just think no "white coat hypertension".

house and scenery

We have had many people inquire about our house. We have a normal american looking house. I have included in this blog a picture of a queenslander house. This is actually a run down queenslander. These homes are elevated and they have windows around most of the house. A lot of times, they have decks that surround the house.

The house with the purple trees is not our house. We are the one with a burgandy roof and tan brick. I have included pics of the purple trees and palms. They are so pretty. We have really enjoyed the scenery. The first pic is at a local vineyard. We actually were taking a break from the election coverage and went to hang out up there. The owners came out of their house while we were there and told us the election results.

If anyone can help me on my format for my blog. I am having trouble posting my pics in the order I want and then writing captions under them.

Praise God

We got news today that our house in Willow has finally closed. That house held so many wonderful memories shared with family and friends that it is probably a good thing that it took 18 months to sell it. It is also a good thing that we do not have to actually sign the papers and hand the keys over :-{. We are also thankful to God for the things that He taught us this past year in regards to holding two mortgages - ie. waiting on His timing and giving complete control of our lives to His perfect will (o.k. we are still working on the latter) Thanks to all of you who have prayed with us and supported us during the past 1 1/2 years.

Chocolate

I thought that you all needed some smaller posts. I have found that when you like to talk alot it translates to writing alot :-)
Chocolate has been a bit of an issue for me. I have found that Americans know their chocolate. I went to the market to get some semi-sweet chips. I could not find them....I went to the other market and found a manager. He led me to a section that had chocolate products about 3 feet long on ONE shelf. I asked him where the rest was. Then I continued to explain america's need for chocolate. I have found that I cannot get semisweet chips. I can get a cooking form of dark choc. and milk choc. Which in my opinion, are very poor quality. (We are going to Sydney in a few weeks and I am going to be on the hunt for some chocolate. I have been making alot of no- bake oatmeat cookies as I can get cocoa powder.
by the way, peanut m&m's and snickers are 1.60. Also, because we do not have hersheys or giredelli's the mocha drinks are different as well.

Mc Donalds

I went through the drive through this morning at McDonalds (I really wanted a mocha). I drove through the parking lot at the front and then drove to the left side of the building. See we don't just encounter the problem of the steering wheel on the wrong side....everything is backwards.

drought

So what does it mean to be suffering from a drought? This is something that we are still learning. It is a big change going from the flooded lakes of West Plains to the "empty dams" of King*roy. We now have a four minute hour glass that has a sunction cup that is in our shower. I was talking with a lady this week and I was telling her that I liked our big bathtub. It was really great to fill it up to the top and relax. She looked at me like I had committed a huge crime and exclaimed "our dam is empty"...I think that I will stick to a four minute shower. We also drink rainwater- It has a very sweet taste-. Our town is on a level 5 water ration right now. This means that we are allowed to use a hose from 5-6p.m. on even numbered days-no sprinklers allowed. Our neighbor told us that the desert ( the outback) is moving out. It is a big fear that in the future there will not be enough of this natural resource to live here. ....I have included a picture of our rain tank that sits behind our hot water heater