Big Bad Banksia Men and other scary stories

 

banksia pod looking like hairy faced man
I have kept these pictures of the Potato Point Big Bad Banksia men (and women) on hold for awhile. 

banksia pod looking like woman with spectacles
I have been waiting on the right post. I guess today is it! It has been misting for the last couple of days, the garden is still in seedling stage and we don't have a lot of other updates. So you are getting a taste of growing up Australian. 

The banksia men star as the villians of the Gumnut baby stories and are always plotting to capture the children. We had the book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie for the kids. Picture chubby toddlers wearing eucalyptus gum nuts (image below) on their heads and not wearing much else
eucalyptus gum nut, image from wikipedia

As it is children's story, the banksia men are thwarted in their bad behavior, often by Mr. Lizard, a goanna so fast he isn't afraid of the banksia men or snakes!
goanna on trail with tongue out
In reality, the banksia start as delicate bird-friendly flowers
  
honeyeater with beak in banksia flower
As do the gumnuts
gumnut flowers
Photo by Leon Brooks, gumnuts-flowering

The goannas are often up a tree, trying to not be noticed
goanna splayed on the side of a tree

And the majority of the snakes at our place are red-bellied black snakes. They are happy to be left alone to sun. Curious maybe, but not aggressive
red bellied black snake, head lifted

Honestly, the magpies are scarier
magpie staring intensely


I have tried to pick up more Aussie kids books so we have selection for any youngsters that come to visit. So far, just older folks! 
We are part of a landcare group for our creek and one of the other members writes and illustrates childrens' books -
FB page header for red rabbit books

The artwork is amazing. She also has an animal rescue so check out her FB page  Will have to find one of her books to add to my collection.

If you do come to the house, we can loan you our other field guides: birds, trees and gnomes....
booklet titled A field guide to Cobargo gnomes
I promise, we are very safe to visit- as long as you don't come during magpie nesting season.
We have first aid kits, snake bite kits and other warning signs as appropriate*
shark bite kit on post on beach


*not on our property and I am not sure anything that small will be that useful!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

한우 Hanwoo = best beef ever

Image
  The Korean Hanwoo cows look like beef versions of Jerseys and taste SO GOOD. We got to eat Hanwoo beef several times. The cows cannot be exported so you are not likely to get to eat it unless you come to Korea. You should.  As part of our visit, we got to see the SNU Agricultural space. This herd was in that region. The farm is up in the mountains so the cows get a great view. They do get to see snow, as well! We went to lunch at a restaurant that was the site of some of the famous Korean dramas. These are containers to make soy sauce: This is one of the owners making us bibimpap (a korean rice bowl), supersized: I loved the truck stops on the way there (drive was about 3.5 hours). Major retail center! The bathroom monitor was a work of technological art We spent most of the day at the farm campus and hit major rush hour on the way back. The other team went to other areas and got to experience this fantastic marvel of shoe protection: They also got back in time to get close ...
Read more

Arrival in the Land Down Under

Image
  view from Long Point St across the park to the inlet We are here! We landed in Moruya on Thursday Aug 14 , after leaving Seattle on Monday Aug 12. It was a 2 hour skip to LAX , a long jaunt to Sydney (crossing the international date line ), another 2 hour skip to Merimbula and then a super short hop to Moruya where Scott's Mum was waiting with the car.  I took the picture from just down the hill from the house where Scott's parents live along with his sister and her partner. Currently it is just the four of us as Kristy and Pete are white water rafting guides and away for now.  Our mailing address (although this would be a silly move) is 11 Long Point St, Potato Point, NSW, 2545, Australia This shire is south of Sydney, and on the coast (note the blue of the inlet above).  Map of Potato Point We had lots happening the past month and I will attempt to fill you in on that later! We left Matt is his new house in Roseville and spent a few days visiting Casey in Seat...
Read more

An apple a day

Image
  Apparently Scott hasn't been eating enough apples. All is good now! Above is the view from Scott's hospital window. Scott was diagnosed with a triple fascicle block (poor conduction in heart chambers). This put him at risk of collapse and other heart issues. Not great when you don't live in the country. His doc recommended a pacemaker.  He had been taken to the prep area prior to getting the pacemaker implanted when I took the photo. It was evening as his surgeon was running late and pacemakers are relatively easy to place so get scheduled after more major procedures. Apparently it was another 90 minutes before he actually went into the OR. Since it was late in the day, I couldn't see any updates on the scheduling link that was designed to show me his progress; not great for nerves. Luckily, they let me hang out until he returned to the room about 9:30pm. This made for a very long day since we started the morning in Cobargo, about 3 hours away from the hospital. The p...
Read more