Toowoomba...Darling Downs;

Toowoomba is a picturesque mountain city located in south east Queensland some 127Km west of the states capital, Brisbane.

Clinging to the edge of the Great Dividing Range escarpment at an altitude of seven hundred meters above sea-level, the city affords breathtaking views of Table Top Mountain and the Lockyer Valley region across the east.

Toowoomba's climate is pleasant, temperature averaging a cool 5°C to 16°C in winter and a mild 17°C to 27°C in summer.

Toowoomba is Australia's largest inland regional city and is the commercial and economic hub of the Darling Downs.

The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of eleven major regions of Queensland, Area: 77,389 km²

There are many theories regarding the naming of Toowoomba. In the final analysis though, Toowoomba became "Toowoomba" regardless of which theory is correct.

In its earliest time of European settlement, Toowoomba was known as the ‘Drayton Swamp’ and was called   ‘The Swamp.’ It is believed, that Aborigines  pronounced the word  Swamp to sound  like ‘Tawampa’, which easily becomes Toowoomba.

Another  version features a letter to the Toowoomba City Council from Steele Rudd claiming that his father had told him that in 1848 he first saw Toowoomba and in 1849, attached to J C Burnett, he assisted to lay it out. He believed that it was derived from the Aboriginal name of ‘Toogoom’ because of the reeds that grew here.

A third version and  theory of the use of Toowoomba's name comes from Mrs Alford. It is believed that Mrs Alford asked the local Indigenous people what they called the area. They replied 'Woomba Woomba' meaning 'the springs and the water underneath.' The Alford's realised that two woombas would not be a suitable name for their house and store but by using TOO which is also a type of plural it would become Toowoomba.

This theory  of the name  Toowoomba  came from a botanist by the name of Archibald Meston.  In 1895 Meston wrote a book titled “A Geographical History of Queensland,” which included his explanation of the name “Toowoomba”. “Toowoom” or “Choowom” was the local Indigenous peoples’ name for a small native melon (Cucumus pubescens) which grew plentifully on the site of the township. The terminal “ba” is equal to the adverb “There,” so the whole word means “melons there,” or  “the place where the melon grows”.  This melon still exists and can be found growing in the Balonne and Warrego areas as well as areas closer to Toowoomba however there is no evidence that the melons grew in or near the Toowoomba swamps.

This version came from a man called Enoggera Charlie who wrote his story in the Sydney Morning Herald. He claimed when he was looking for work as a tar boy, he had camped overnight near the Toowoomba Swamp. Questioning an old shepherd sage of the naming of the Toowoomba Swamp he was informed that near the junction of the East and West Swamp there was a log with the inscription informing tramps the way to a well-known homestead where there was a certainty to rations. The inscription read 'To Woombrah.'

At around the same time that Enoggera Charlie wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald another man by the name of Ardlaw Lawrence put forward his theory. He suggested that the name Toowoomba may be an Anglicised version of the 'Boowoomga' which meant 'thunder' in the dialect of the Upper Burnett and Gayndah tribes. However he could give no reason for the name being transferred to the Darling Downs.

Writing in a pamphlet in 1899, George Essex Evans wrote that the name Toowoomba meant 'meeting of the waters' however this was again written without authentication.

Sources:

Dansie , R.A.(1989) "A Melon, a Swamp and a Piece of Red Calico."

Marriott, R.S. (1960) 100 Years of Progress: the story of Toowoomba.

©Photos/Ts 

Happy New Year 2015;

...say good bye to the old 2014..

Sunrise, January 2014

In a few days….a new year makes its great entrance; it comes with hope and gilded dreams. Whispering about its seasons that come and go; It smiles and  means to be a happy Year for all. Ts

January/figs are ripe

February/Tillandsia flowering;

March/Escargot found in the butterfly garden;

April/Rain, Plectranthus and Roses

May/ blue sky

June/ rain and fungi

July/ a cold winter, the beautiful Elina is flowering

August/Dendrobium Orchids make an appearance.

September/spring has arrived, Louisiana Iris;

October/ Gladioli and new daylilies in the bulb garden

November/ Miss Bella,a  phyton, has emerged from hibernation; in all the years she has lived in the garden, she has grown considerably, she is not poisonous, has become quite friendly, she knows, she is welcome.

December/Bromeliads as nature intended them to grow, big and bold collecting water and nutrients,

©Ts Photos and text/ Titania-Everyday.

Library cat;

Water colour “Library Cat” by Craig Roffler

Books I liked;

 Book of Fires by Jane Borodale

1752 Agnes Trussel, 17, has run away from her rural  home, burdened by two guilty secrets. she arrives in London, shocked by its squalor and poverty. She finds work  as an assistant to a fire work maker. She learns to make rockets, stars and other fiery fireworks; She meets a young seller of gunpowder and hatches a plan to get hr out of her predicament...and so the story goes, well written and interesting plot.

The Glass Painter's Daughter by Rachel Hore.

In a tiny stained-glass shop hidden in the backstreets of Westminster lies the cracked, sparkling image of an angel. The owners of Minster Glass have also been broken: Fran Morrison's mother died when she was a baby; a painful event never mentioned by her difficult, secretive father Edward. Fran left home to pursue a career in foreign cities, as a classical musician.

In heaven an angel is nobody in particular.

George Bernard Shaw, Maxims for Revolutionists.

Interesting, well written and a happy ending.

China Rose; Old Blush flowering in my garden.

Enjoy

Ode to a tree...

 you see a tree,

 its awesomeness takes your breath away;

you may feel,

the most beautiful in the world is a tree in full flower,

 holding on to its place with an intrinsic stubbornness, displaying innocence and fragrance

 in an abundance of beauty 

 colour, layer upon layer,

 humming and trembling with life.

Grevillia robusta/ Silky Oak;

25 years ago this tree was a tiny seedling I gave to my neighbour. He planted it in his garden. 

In the past 25 years t the garden has changed hands many times, Yet, the tree is still here, has matured and  become part of this  garden. 

©Photo/text Ts.

A dream...

Last night I had a funny dream, a bit nightmarish. I gave a dinner party.  The seating arrangements were different, all the guests were sitting in groups of four around small tables  I was sitting with a friend, had an animated conversation, so he did not have a face I knew. He looked a bit like Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind.

 The two other people, a gentleman and a lady I didn't know either. It turned out it was the Italian Ambassador and his wife. The gods know, I do not know any Italian Ambassadors nor their spouses. Anyway, I thought they were Spanish as the lady wore a Mantua and a Mantilla, I was wondering if I had forgotten that  it was a fancy dress party. Anyway, we were sitting and eating, talking, my friend “Rhett Butler” and I a little flirting, a sip of wine, suddenly my eyes swept over the other tables,  over to the Ambassador and his good wife, no one but "Rhett Butler" and I  had any wineglasses. Flustered I  said excuse me, got up from the table and wanted to go and get some wineglasses from the cupboard. The cabinet  was staring at me with empty shelves, all the glasses were gone. Frantically I tried  to remember where I  put them.  I ran around in the house and could not find the wineglasses, not one set. I looked in all the cupboards…nothing…then I woke up.

 The Moral of this story do not clean and rearrange your  cupboards before you go to sleep.

©Photo/text Ts

Tuesday...when a bell rings...

Brugmansia/ Angel's Trumpet;

Did you hear a bell ring today? It means an Angel just got his or her wings...

©Photo my garden Ts.

Wondrous;

Sunrise;

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. ~Michelangelo

©Photo Ts

When...If...

Rose Perle D'or flowering in the garden.

Unless you can love, as the angels may'

With the breath of heavens betwixt you....

Oh, never call it loving!

Elisabeth Barrett Browning; A Woman's Shortcomings

Photo Ts

Trees...

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” 

William Blake 

The host tree; small ferns have attached to the bark;

“Look: the trees exist; the houses

we dwell in stand there stalwartly. 

 Only we

pass by it all, like a rush of air.

And everything conspires to keep quiet

 about us,

half out of shame perhaps, half out of

 some secret hope.” 

 Rainer Maria Rilke,

 Beautiful curtain of  the  Casuarina;

“Willows whiten, aspens quiver, little breezes dusk and shiver, thro' the wave that runs forever by the island in the river, flowing down to Camelot. Four gray walls and four gray towers, overlook a space of flowers, and the silent isle imbowers, the Lady of Shalott.”

 Alfred Tennyson,

We are so small and we cut you down without a thought how you might feel; the chainsaw blasts and roars, crunches through your innerst  cores...Ts.

“We have nothing to fear and a great deal to learn from trees, that vigorours and pacific tribe which without stint produces strengthening essences for us, soothing balms, and in whose gracious company we spend so many cool, silent, and intimate hours.” 

Marcel Proust

“Fancy cutting down all those beautiful trees...to make pulp for those bloody newspapers, and calling it civilisation. - Winston Churchill, remarking to his son during a visit to Canada in 1929” 

 John Vaillant, The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed 

“Within its gates I heard the sound

Of winds in cypress caverns caught

Of huddling trees that moaned, and sought

To whisper what their roots had found.

“A Dream of Fear” 

George Sterling, The Thirst of Satan: Poems of Fantasy and Terror 

©Photos, some Text; Ts

June; baking a cake;

Authentic Carrot torte from the Canton Aargau, Switzerland

Lemon zest made with Bamix, easy and quick. Lemon from my tree, untreated, organic.

 Almonds ground with Bamix;

Ready for the oven;

Baked and iced;

Ready to eat.

Recipe

Rüeblitorte = Carrot torte.

5 egg yolks  (organic, mine are from my friendly black austral hens called “The Angelinas”

200 g Sugar  (add to yolks and mix until thick and  pale.)

250 g carrots, finely grated

250 g almonds ground

1 lemon organic not treated as you are using the peel, zested  and all the juice  (add to above)

80 g plain flour  organic if possible

1 tablespoon baking powder    (add to mixture)

5 egg white beaten until stiff and shiny (do not over beat)   

1 pinch of salt  (gently mix stiff egg whites into the mixture, (it is fairly sloppy)

Fill a spring form with this mixture. (prepare form, baking paper on bottom of form, butter the sides and  a little flour, so the cake won’t stick to the sides.)

Bake 180° C or(350 F) for around 50 minutes, test with a steel knitting needle to check if it is cooked.) Let it cool.

Icing, 

250 g Icing sugar  (powdered sugar)

2 - 3 tablespoons lemon juice, you can use different options

(or water with  a few drops bitter almond)  or ( 1 tablespoon water and 2 tblsp. Kirsch)

Mix  and pour over torte.

Enjoy!

© Recipe, photos Ts

Library cat...May;

The Serpent and the Staff

by

Barbara wood

Review

With a story that’s vividly told with rich historical details, Barbara Wood brings Ugarit to life. For readers who enjoy delving into the deep past of civilization, this is a recommended read

The plot and pacing are masterful, skilfully envisions a society set in biblical times, with people-trading, marrying and scheming in a thriving coastal town at the centre of ancient trade routes, rendered in soft focus but with marvellous clarity and complexity.

Her fiction come alive with authentic detailing and highly memorable characters, vivid sketches of women who triumph over destiny. 

Set in the tumultuous era when Egypt is on the brink of becoming the dominant world power, The Serpent and the Staff tells the powerful story of a Canaanite family's struggle for survival in a climate of violent change, when cherished beliefs and traditions are threatened.

Ugarit Syria, 1450 B.C.E.

Page 208; He thought of the moral decay of the Brotherhood, because the scribes had become to powerful. They have a monopoly on reading and writing.  Even Doctors and lawyers rely on them.  Such power has corrupted them. 

(Nobody could read and write, everybody had to employ or go to a scribe to have anything written down or read to them.. It was a complicated cunei form of writing with thousands of  pictographs.)

Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known systems of writing distinguished by its wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets, made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus. The name cuneiform itself simply means "wedge shaped", from the Latin cuneus "wedge" and forma "shape," and came into English usage probably from Old French cunéiforme.

The cuneiform writing system was in use for a span of more than three millennia, through several stages of development, from the 34th century BC down to the 2nd century AD. Ultimately, it was completely replaced by alphabetic writing (in the general sense) in the course of the Roman era and there are no Cuneiform systems in current use. It had to be deciphered as a completely unknown writing system in 19th-century Assyriology. Successful completion of its decipherment is dated to 1857.

My 2 cents; interesting history details, a great narrative, in between , on certain pages  it became a bit  ponderous. All in all enjoyable.

Sunrise;

Ballina NSW 18/08/2012   18:01 AM

The Conscious Army

Love is the new religion of the 21st century 

"On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark. But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening underground. An inner revolution is taking place and certain individuals are being called to a new light. 

A silent revolution. From the inside out. From the ground up. This is a Global operation. A Spiritual Conspiracy. There are sleeper cells in every nation, every city, every town, every village on the planet. You won't see us on TV. You won't read about us in newspaper. You won't hear about us on the radio. We don't seek any glory. We don't wear any uniform. We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles. Most of us work anonymously. We are quietly working behind the scenes in every country and culture of the world. In every city, on mountains and in valleys, on farms and in villages, no tribes nor remote islands are left out.. You could pass by one of us on the street and not even notice. We go undercover. We remain behind the scenes. It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit but simply that the work gets done. Occasionally we spot each other in the street. We give a quiet nod and continue on our way. 

During the day we have normal jobs, but behind the false store front  is where the real work takes place. Some call us the Conscious Army. We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts. We follow, with passion and joy our orders come from the Central Spiritual Intelligence. We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking, Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~ Movies ~ Kind words ~ Smiles ~ 

Meditation ~ Dance ~ Social activism ~ Websites - Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness... 

We each express ourselves in our own unique ways with our own unique gifts and talents. Be the change you want to see in the world. That is the motto that fills our hearts. We know it is the only way real transformation takes place. We know that quietly and humbly we have the Power of all the oceans combined. Our work is slow and meticulous like the formation of mountains. It is not even visible at first glance. And yet with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come. Love is the new religion of the 21st century.  

You do not need any exceptional knowledge to understand it. It comes from the intelligence of the heart embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings. Be the change you want to see in the world. Nobody else can do it for you. 

 Perhaps you will join this silent power or you already have. All are welcome.

© Photo Ts/ Text Author unknown

People try to find a way out of their predicament, as  Governments around the world get harsher and ,  corrupter,punishing the population and making them pay for failures and debts created by greed of the banking fraternity. Leaning heavily towards oligarchy, while spreading the meaningless mantra of  Democracy which they are  undermining at any occasion to benefit  plutocrats and oligarchs. Creating lies, and falseness to protect the chaos  bankers and  Corporations in their  never ending greed  create. 

Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else

by Chrystia Freeland  (Author)

There has always been some gap between rich and poor, but recently what it means to be rich has changed dramatically. Forget the 1 percent—Plutocrats proves that it is the wealthiest 0.1 percent who are outpacing the rest of us at breakneck speed. Most of these new fortunes are not inherited, Amassed instead by perceptive businesspeople who see themselves as deserving victors in a cut throat international competition. With empathy and intelligence, Plutocrats reveals the consequences of concentrating the world’s wealth into fewer and fewer hands., Plutocrats is a tour de force of social and economic history, the definitive examination of inequality in our time.

1. Plutocracy or plutarchy, defines a society or a system ruled and dominated by the small minority of the wealthiest citizens. The first known use of the term is 1652.