Australian politics is just anarchy without the bullets

Yes, that is my opinion in that photo.  

Yes, I love minions especially when they speak my language.

I spent this morning's breakfast break watching Bill Shorten in the witness box trying to answer the same question put 80 trillion different ways by the interrogator and it was Shorten who was accused of being a time waster.  
This is costing taxpayers a fuckload of money for which they will no doubt find a way to blame pensioners and the unemployed for the country being in a financial crisis....again.....still or are we out of that crisis implied in Fat Joe's first budget.
Getting to the point faster than Bill, I would like to point out that this is the 21st century and most of the world is computer savvy, a few of us might still like to write with a quill but digital is top of the heap.  So why are the relevant documents in this inquisition not on a computer in front of all concerned so that when invoice no. 639 is called to front and centre, volcanoes erupt, buildings collapse, Captains Call before it is found.  Bill is time wasting?  Flipping pages in numerous binders instead of being able to enter no.639 and instant invoice seems a lot more time wasting and money wasting than Bill trying to answer questions from when he was in Parliament and not playing at Union boss.  Let this be a lesson to all leaders of everything, keep a diary, it'll save us money and throwing breakfast plates at the tv.   
I received my Visa statement this week and couldn't remember a thing I'd bought last month so don't ask what I bought 10 years ago.

Second on my shitlist for the day.  Shenhua Group, mining, large, coal. May dragons comsume your firstborn to the nth generation for mining the Liverpool Plains, a food bowl and glorious countryside.
No need to worry yet, they won't start chopping up the wildlife until 2017 so we have plenty of time to plant the landmines, roll out the barbwire and oil up the shotguns.  Barnaby is on the job, he's very very upset with the Captain, like that will amount to a pile of cow crap.  Ah, the Captain, he who famously said, the Country is open for business.  The business of open coal mining, fracking, logging old growth forests and next Soylent Green, I mean who will miss old people and the unemployed.
I'm an endangered species, I'm obese and old, I could make so many SG dried pellets I'm practically a walking bankable asset.

Third, mother lived, again.

Full Moon July 2nd

Okay, mother really bad this time.
She had a shower last week and they had to rush her back to bed and oxygen.
This is the longest time she has spent in bed at the Home and she says she's not getting up until she feels better.
This from WonderWoman who would not stay in bed for anything and demanded a shower every day.
She's back on Penicillan injections (sp?), oxygen, big purple antibiotics, patches over her heart and oxygen.
The coughing up of bits of lung into the phone was enough to keep me away without her telling me to stay home in case I caught it. 
I don't think I'll catch what she has.

I'll be back whenever.  Thank goodness I have anti-depressant ice-creams in the freezer.

How much renewable energy could we have by burning redundant politicians, 'let them eat cake' Hockey could burn for years!

On Thursday, Prime Minister Tony Abbott used primetime radio to boast about cutting clean energy, calling wind farms "visually awful" and arguing "I would frankly have liked to have reduced the number a lot more". 1

Now, his government is kicking straight into action by rescheduling a parliamentary vote for Monday morning to slash jobs and investment for Renewable Energy Target (RET).

But here's the kicker: Monday's proposed legislation won't just cut investment in clean energy. The Abbott Government wants to redefine 'clean energy' altogether, by including burning native forests in the Renewable Energy Target. A move like this could see the open slather logging of forests that our Australian wildlife depend on for survival. Just as terrible: every native forest cut down and burnt for electricity takes away from capacity and more investment in the clean energy of the future - like solar.

That's the email I received from "Get Up" today.  Does this idiot realize how long a native forest tree takes to become "renewable" again?  Are the animals renewable, you know the ones who shelter in trees, on trees or underneath trees?  Does this troll of a politician know how much carbon trees take in and oxygen put out for us to breathe?  Does this entire political party have a brain cell between them that can estimate the damage of trees burnt and sold as "renewable" energy?  Well, the way the Mad Monk obviously sees it, most of the liberal (I refuse them a Capital) party have been living in the shadow of wind farms and have been permanently damaged by it.

Oh, here's a clue.  Let's build solar reflecting panel farms in our famous red and flaming hot centre. Too expensive  or you don't know what they are?  It's a shame you don't have a Minister for Science to explain it to you.  He could also explain about building wind farms in windy places because the wind is free.  Never mind we'll have lots of windy places when all the trees are cut down.  Perhaps the Minister for the Environment could look up "Mallee" and see what the ignorant did to that region.
Do we have a Minister for the Environment, as in for all Australia not just looking after the grounds of Parliament House and making sure no-one sneaks a wind turbine up there considering the free hot air that flows from that asylum.  Oh dear, there goes another trigger word, Hello ASIO.

It seems like yesterday.

Mt St. Helens under a layer of snow, towering above  Spirit Lake, just the place for a holiday of camping and hiking.  35 years ago, just before it blew its top leaving a horseshoe-shaped crater and devastation for miles.  The top of the volcano was blocked by a plug of hardened magma so the mountain simply blew out of the side after an earthquake of 5.1.  It caused one of the largest known debris avalanches in recorded history.  The magma caused a massive pyroclastic flow of hot gas and wind down the side of the mountain flattening everything in its path over an area of 600 square kilometres.  The debris was then carried further by the melted snow combined with earth as huge lahars flowed.

Thirty-five years later and the scars have still not quite healed.  The horseshoe crater is still visible as is the new magma dome inside the crater.  Beautiful Spirit Lake is in the upper centre of the image. At centre right of the image is Castle Lake.  At right of Spirit Lake, debris avalanche deposits surround the tiny St. Helens Lake and the long line of Coldwater Lake.
Scientists estimate the eruption released over 1.5 million tonnes of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere and recorded a Volcanic Explosivity Index of five.

This image was assembled from data acquired by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 and the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on the Terra satellite.

Like I said, it just seems like yesterday. In geological terms, it's a blink which is why climate change deniers are going to be eating their words after another 35 years.  And please, could we possibly have a Minister for Science some time before then and preferably not Greg Hunt who can't see the coral for the reef and insists that all that coal mining and coal shipping won't hurt the Great Barrier Reef at all, not a bit. 

Let's talk

Fitzroy Island on the Great Barrier Reef.

New research into early Aboriginal stories set along Australia's coast has detected evidence of dramatically rising shoreline waters over several thousand years. It seems that sea level about 20,000 years ago was 120 meters below its current level, rising 13,000 years ago to about 70 meters below current sea level.

It seems today's sea level was finally reached only about 6,000 years ago. Linguists have also uncovered ancient Aboriginal tales about living where the Great Barrier Reef now stands.
"In the beginning, as far back as we remember, our home islands were not islands at all as they are today. They were part of a peninsula that jutted out from the mainland and we roamed freely throughout the land without having to get in a boat like we do today. Then Garnguur, the seagull woman, took her raft and dragged it back and forth across the neck of the peninsula letting the sea pour in and making our homes into islands."

This is part of an Aboriginal story about the origin of the Wellesley Islands in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria.  It's a story that can be found along every part of the coast of Australia.  But these stories are not part of the "Great Flood" tales found all over the world, the difference being in the Aboriginal stories, the water does not recede and the land does not regenerate.  The sea levels changed around Australia after the ice ages and it's well known scientifically.  The source of the legends seems to be based on observations of events and preserved through oral traditions as the sea level rose all around the world but only here do the stories exist.

They may have existed elsewhere but scholars had the view that oral traditions rarely survive more than a millennium so probably never looked for them.  Australian Aboriginal storytelling is for preserving information, handing down from generation to generation with accuracy. Of course you have to try to make a distinction from the 'fact' story and the story for entertainment.

One of the comments on this article said that "Socrates was concerned that the switch to written language would mean a decline in people's cognitive abilities." "The skills required to remember a complex narrative are allowed to atrophy when you have that narrative available in written form."

I could not read Chaucer in the original old English. I have trouble with HipHop language.  I have trouble with some parts of Shakespeare although four hundred years separate his language from english now, we are still using phrases he invented.  But we could not repeat his plays word for word without printing.  I must admit I got a bit lost in the comments after a while, my brain went walkabout but when we read the laments about the burning of the great library of Alexandria, that is something that we, who rely on the written word, can relate to.  Can we relate to the loss of an oral tradition of a catastrophe if we never knew there was one?

I still have a Sony Walkman, tapes, vinyl records but I can't watch the 16mm films of the family made in the 70s unless I go to great expense of having them put on dvds.  I can tell you the family stories but with no-one to follow me, they'll die out.  So with all the blogs, tweets, facebooks or instagrams of the electronic age, we're still behind, way behind, the Aboriginal tradition of the Dreamtime storyteller.

But we still have our storytellers, bless Parliament and its contingent of accomplished liars.

(All that waffling to make that one point.  Don't you love language.)

Why didn't I think of this?

I loved this idea but it would not do for our giant native birds like magpies and ravens.  The Mynah birds would give them a decent whack as well so the pretty cord would have to go and fencing wire used instead.  I rather like the thought of them hanging on the leafless branches for winter and I'm always resisting buying a lone cup and saucer at the op shop just because it looks pretty.  I have a cupboard full of 'looks pretty' and I'm still using a chipped mug.

But here's one for Miss O'Dyne and myself for those genteel afternoon teas in spring.  Wine glass tea cups with the added benefit of nosey parkers not being able to see the gin or plonk (in Miss O's case) or sometimes we do have tea. The Willow pattern is a bit heavy looking, I'd rather go for a nice Royal Albert or Aynsley.  Miss O and I are nothing but class all the way. 
 

Sheer genius this idea.  Your favourite tea cup as a bracelet.  Well, for me I'd have to cut up the teapot and that's the problem, the cutting up part. I suppose a tile cutter would do but knowing me I'd end up with a bucket of pretty pieces for that mosaic pathway I have also filed away as a brilliant idea.
 

Now I might have a chance of making this.  At last count I have 7 teapots and this would look great on the Christmas table.  Those cheap trees from the $2 emporium would be ideal with the added bonus of being able to use the teapot again.  So many ideas, so little time. 

The right place, the right time.

The Sky from Mauna Kea
Image Credit & Copyright: Shane Black Photography; Rollover Annotation: Judy Schmidt

The volcano is the Hawaii's Mauna Kea, and the time was a clear night last summer.

 In the foreground of this south-facing panorama lies a rugged landscape dotted with rocks and hardy plants. Slightly above and further out, a white blanket of clouds spreads horizontally to the horizon, seemingly dividing heaven and Earth.

 City lights illuminate the clouds and sky on the far left, while orange lava in the volcanic caldera of Kilauea lights up the clouds just left of center.

 The summit of an even more distant Hawaiian volcano, Mauna Loa, is visible in dark silhouette near the central horizon.

 Green airglow is visible above the clouds, caused by air molecules excited by the Sun during the day. The Moon is the bright orb on the right.

 A diffuse band of light-colored zodiacal light extends up from the far right.
 Most distant, the dramatic central band of our Milky Way Galaxy appears to rise vertically from Mauna Loa.

The person who witnessed and captured this breathtaking panorama stands before you in the image center.

I just watched the auction of a Picasso painting in New York, it sold for $202 Million dollars AUD.
You couldn't buy this moment on earth for any amount.  As Hannibal Smith says, "I love it when a plan comes together." and it did for one lucky photographer.

Whistling 'Mack the Knife'

This shark is 4.5 metres long and it has teeth not to mention just a bit of blood smearing from the last kill.
If I had been the photographer washing the camera in the water, the second photo would have been taken from far up in space.
The female shark popped up to have a look around in the ocean off Port Lincoln in South Australia.
Dave Riggs was making a video for Discovery's Shark Week and said he was euphoric to be so close to the animal and thought it was a perfect illustration as to why we need to preserve it as the last living relic of a bygone era.
Riggs also said the shark was researching the area the only way she know how, with her mouth, giving us a nice view of those sharp teeth.

Not so lucky as Dave Riggs was Frenchman Yves Berthelot, holidaying in New Caledonia, whose meeting with a 3.5 metre bull shark was a much more aggressive show. Despite being given first aid aboard his boat, nothing could be done for Mr. Berthelot.

I hope no-one raced out and decided to shoot every shark in the area as frequently happens in Australia.  After all it is their home and hunting ground, we're just visiting.

What's the point, if not cake!

Mothers Day, a day for mothers and what happens, the Cake Fairy loses my address again, probably pissed from visiting all those other mothers and being plied with champagne until her wings are wasted.  And I'm still waiting for my lemon meringue cupcakes and my vanilla and strawberry cream heart cake with musk hearts and cream on top.  I think I ordered two layers but I'm sure I didn't order purple icing.  There's always the Bombay Sapphire and if Absinthe can be called the Green Fairy then Bombay can have a Blue Fairy.  I love lemon meringue cup cakes.  Bloody fairy.

Twenty-Five thousand dollars a ticket entitles one to look like a tit

This is the gown Annie O mentioned yesterday.  Rihanna is dragging it along and giving every punster on Facebook the delight of a lifetime.  The back view has everything on it from pizza toppings to bacon but I'll stick with the original version.  And yes, there is another dress under it.

And where would we be without Lady Gaga and her "Transformers" boots. They are so huge I really did expect them to suddenly transform into small sports cars.
 

 Sarah Jessica Parker's headdress was by Phillip Treacey, well known supplier of head gear to the Princesses of York. Surely you haven't yet forgotten the lavatory seat come pretzel worn by Princess B at the big wedding.  The back of this gown was rather lovely, covered in dazzling embroidered red poppies.  But her hands.....she's only a small person but has huge hands and they're veined and aged looking.  The headdress would have distracted your eyes.

And to finish off, a back view of our trash winners of yesterday. 
Going through the photos of eek frocks, I found that by looking at the background some really lovely dresses were caught on camera but with this lot it's anything for my career and any photo is a good photo.

Wintour says "No selfies at Met Gala"

Next year perhaps Anna  Wintour might say bring classy dressing, leave showgirl trash at home.  One journalist excused Jennifer Lopez's daring bit of net because her body was toned to perfection. Someone's big foot on the back of that train and nothing would be excused.  

I looked at this and in my mind I could see the ever lovely Cher wearing it.  And why would it have been better on the Cher body because she never took herself seriously and would have worn this with loads of fun.  Alas, we have the Kardashian wearing it sans underwear of any kind and no class and definitely no sense of fun. Her accessory for the evening was the morose husband who did not wear a see through lace Tuxedo.

Hurrah for Australia's Jess Hart.  The Met Gala Ball's theme was China and she dazzled although it's a bit hard to see against the red carpet.  This dress is also net and could have been as classless as the other two but for the jewel encrusted lace that showed class instead of skin.  And for a bit of fun, a black pussy cat clutch.

I could have put more horrors here but for the rest go to the Daily Mail's report but do it on an empty stomach.

Just another episode

Before I start with the ranting and you don't want to read about my pain and family, focus on the jewellery.  Now this is the kind of ring I would want to wear all the time, no it's not flashy, it's Australian and we're never flashy, more expensively classy.  It's a bi-colour Sapphire, green, gold, green.  I have a small one of blue/green/gold in a triangle shape but not enough diamonds to make it up to look like this. It's well made, look at the length of the claws holding the stone and four claws holding each diamond.  

Now just keep looking while I snivel.
Did I not tell the Stomal therapist to be careful in regard to mother?  Apart from the allergic reaction to the adhesive of everything new she used, she never bothered to ring me or write a report for the Home.  I did receive 3 accounts of $115 each and had to check that she had made 3 visits instead of the two I knew about.  She is coming again to try something new and won't charge this visit, woot!
Too bad then that on Thursday afternoon, Mother decided to go a bit doollally and on Friday morning she couldn't wake up.  Not wouldn't, couldn't, she was asleep but knew she couldn't wake and the PCA on the other side of the closed eyes couldn't wake her. Eventually she did wake up and I went in as usual to be a Death Watch beetle by the bedside.  She had a temp but when she drifted off to sleep she started to shake badly which is when we found the Cellulitis across stomach, down to leg and around the back, big flare up.  Sister said I cannot blame ST because mum has no immune system but shit yes I can because I warned her repeatedly to read her files and be very careful.  Bitch sister went down yesterday and said she couldn't see what I was worried about, stayed half an hour and left. (a brick with her name on it is waiting)  Bitch ST is going to be paid but by cheque which I will post sometime next week or longer and she won't get the money for doing bloody nothing.

But I am in pain, couldn't get to the pharmacy for arthritis pills and I'm two days without them and can't walk, can't do my bra up, can't get shoes on and then they ring and ask me to come in.  Crap! So race up to Southland, get pills and several boxes of painkillers which they didn't want to give me until I explained that I take the appropriate painkiller for the level of pain I'm in. Since by this time I'm flat on the counter in a sweat, they give me what I want then I couldn't get the fck'n little arthritis pills out the fck'n childproof pack because my hands are fck'n hurting.  
Hurtle down to the Home to find mother is okay but the idiot in charge only wanted to update the records of palliative care for the Accreditation Team due in next week.  Would my mother want prayers said, would she like music, would she like the whole family with her or just a few (I am the fck'n few), would she go to hospital or stay at the Home.  Jesus H on a stick, I filled all this stuff out 6 years ago and this dill asked me why.  Because when she went in, she was palliative care and was only thought to last 4 months AND THEY LOOKED AFTER HER SO WELL, SHE'S STILL BLOODY HERE 6 YEARS LATER. Pardon the yelling because I've just had another call from the Home telling me the infection is spreading and the dumbarse in charge has sent a fax to Doc Marvin's office for him to read tomorrow.  Big bloody notice on mum's file says RING DOC MARVIN AT ANY TIME.  The man checks call centre, mobile phone and medical centre when she's ill but he probably wouldn't check the fax machine when they've just closed for the day.  

I have taken so many different pills over the last few days that I am now almost pain free, and can drop the doses, well I was until a minute ago, now I am going to search for that box of Cadbury's Roses I hid weeks ago and find the Magnum I know is at the back of the freezer.  It's time for self medication of a more pleasant kind.

And all this is happening when I have $205 left on my taxi card which means I've spent $2000 on fares since June 30 last year because of fck'n emergencies.

Magnum is Honeycomb.  I ate the espresso one last time I self medicated.

Amethyst by Mother Nature

JEAN VENDOME DIAMOND, AMETHYST, STALACTITE, CRYSTAL, STERLING SILVER, 18K YELLOW GOLD NECKLACE

Cascading down the left side are seven overlapping, graduating amethyst stalactite slices, ranging in size from approximately 50.00 to 20.00 mm, terminating in two carved floral amethysts each centering one full-cut diamond weighing a total of approximately 0.20 ct., cascading down the right side are eight graduating amethyst crystals ranging in size from approximately 35.00 x 20.00 mm, set in an articulated hinged, slide lever and figure eight locking sterling silver and 18k yellow gold collar. Accompanied by the original carved hinged wood box measuring approximately 10.50 x 10.50 x 2.50 inches.
Signed Vendome.
Sold for $22,420

I'd have bought it but it's not in my price range, anything under 25 grand is just for doing the housework in and you know me and housework.  It would make a nifty dreamcatcher with the moonlight shining through. 

And I blew my top as well

Cabulco volcano in Chile has erupted for the first time in nearly fifty years.  20 kilometres straight up and that is the dangerous part.  The column can become so heavy that before being dispersed by high level winds, it can collapse on itself and flow down the volcano's sides as a pyroclastic flow.  A red hot cloud of ash, water and rock debris, a lot of water and you have a Lahar, a red hot mud flow that destroys everything in its path.  This usually follows the gullies and crevices down the mountain side but it can go anywhere it wants to.

Reading this was quite timely for me since I went off like a volcano yesterday and if my sister speaks to me this side of Christmas it will be a miracle.  It was about time she copped a blast.  Mother just got the edge of the blast too.
But my main target wasn't around and hasn't rung either.  When I'm paying a woman who is supposed to be an expert in her field I expect her to be an expert.  Dansac have stopped making the colostomy bags the old girl's been using for the last 15 years and stopped without notice so no chance of stockpiling although I had just received an order that will last 2 months. The new bags are completely useless for what we need, so the need for a stomal therapist.  I've dealt with stomal therapists since l988 and all of them have an elevated belief in their own superiority and only one I met was that good. This one was the same bombastic bimbo and about as useful as a bucket with a hole in it.  I automatically assumed this professional would look at mother's medical files and discuss with the PCA who cares for her on a regular basis. Hah, what a joke, Joyce.  
For one thing she'd never seen a stoma like mother has. (TMI, I could give you more)
For another thing if she'd never seen one like that, why didn't she take notice of my mother who lives with it, the PCA who looks after mother or me who's looked after it since 1988.
She's too superior for that.  Didn't know how allergic mother is to sticky tapes of all kinds.  Decides that the stoma is bigger than the 80mm opening I've been cutting out and measures it as 110mm and orders larger baseplate bags and cuts out 110mm.  Rings me and says there's only 5 in the box and I'll have to order more and pay for fast delivery.  When I go down, stupid superior nitwit hadn't looked in the box properly and found the other 5 when it says in big letters on the box - 10 in box.  
And the way she'd cut them out was disgraceful and I had to re-do them and cut out the others.  Good thing I always have a small pair of scissors with me in case I need to open a vein.
By night time, mother was in pain, allergic reaction to sticky bits, allergic to baseplate and skin  burning and blistering.
Bitch goes back next morning and PANICS because she's never seen anything like it before in her career.  Isn't there a text book that has pictures?  Yes, it is unusual but only because the two ends of bowell were never re-connected which is why it's like it is.  I'm well aware that neat little round holes are the norm but if you are going to put yourself out as an expert then make sure you know you have learnt all you need to know to be an expert and obviously this dumb arse tart hasn't.
She rang Doc Marvin.  Brave that is, he hates incompetence from experts.  He has now taken over, she's back with the old bags, the small 80mm opening, antibiotics and a big notice about watching for cellulitis.  The expert is now trying to find replacement bags, good luck for that, fkning bimbo.

And I must say this, The Peninsula Ostomy Association has been terrific over the years in helping people and even they were not told these bags were dumped.  They couldn't even get a letter out in time to warn us.  They're staffed by volunteers and are not lumped in with superior dumbkins.

There's something about owls

This is a Banded Owl from Sumatra and is that a face of authority and wisdom or what?  I fell in love with the eyes, snappy looking beak though but the feathery tuffs say "listen up, dude!"  Sorry for the Americanism but it's really a 'dude' look not a 'mate' look.

 This is a juvenile Banded Owl, hasn't got the wisdom look yet but attitude, he has it.  Looks like a typical in your face teenager but I still love the eyes and the tufty feathers. The more I look at him the more I can almost hear the mouthing off. "Yeah, yeah, I'll clean the cage, gimme a break, I've been out all night, the hangover is kicking in, ffs Ma, I'm not a hatchling, I'll get to it!"

And straight from Harry Potter's family home after he graduated, became an auror, married Ginnie (she was the only one for him whatever the snippy Hermione fans say) and had kids.  The most divine Owlery but ditch the windows, owls are a bit dim they'd just fly straight into them.  I'd like this at the back of my house as a reading nook.

But since real owls have sharp beaks, sharp claws and eat live things and leave the bones around as well as the owl crap by the ton, I'll just have owl beads.  The colours in this one's eyes make mine water with desire to own him.

Him up there might be made in the wise mould, these two are a little on the frightened edge of the wild wood but if they stick together, they'll be right.

Even in beads we can get one with 'tude!  Get those eyes boring into your pocket looking for owl treats and that's definitely a hoodie he's wearing.  A bit of bling around the neck and probably a tinnie under that left wing.  Way on the wild side is this one. 
 

I can see him up there intimidating this wee sweetie into handing over his dead vole.  Never mind little one, you'll grow and it might be into a Banded Owl of vicious then we'll see who gets the voles.
(not true that I've seen the Owls of Ga'hoole 10 times, 8 maybe, 9 tops)

Regular posts will resume when I get over these

.

I was browsing through wedding cakes for no particular reason except that I love wedding cakes but these three could turn me against wedding cakes forever.  The one above is called the Dancing Queen although we could change that for Andrew with one little letter change and R looks dazzling in red.

This was truly over the top and for some reason the red layers look as though they have a furry covering.  One mask, okay but three and oh my, the giant feathers.  Although I could have used a giant feather or three at my wedding mainly to stab the best man right through the heart.

That led to this.  There's so much going on at that table I wouldn't know what to eat first let alone plunge the knife in for the first slice.  My imagination went into overdrive at just what the Bridal Party were wearing.  Surely the Bride would not have gone for the full 'Gone with the Wind' black crinoline and red bustier but what would the Groom be wearing?  Bearskin hat, red jacket, black pants, gets a faceful of tourists at Buck Palace.  I wonder if the theme was the red wedding from Game of Thrones?  Now that's my kind of wedding.

Fossils (not me)

These are Petoskey stones, a rock and a fossil of a coral called Hexagonaria percarinata which flourished during the Devonian period. They are found in the Gravel Point Formation of Michigan. The rounded stones formed as glaciers grabbed them from the bedrock of complete fossilized coral colonies. As the glaciers moved the rocks were smoothed and moved to just one area on the shore of Lake Michigan. 

When it's picked up as a dry stone it resembles ordinary limestone but when wet or polished by a lapidary, the mottled pattern of the six-sided coral fossils emerge.
 

 The name comes from an Ottawa Indian Chief Pet-O-Sega. The city of Petoskey, Michigan is also named after him and is the centre of the area where the stones are found.  The movement of the frozen lake ice against the shore of Lake Michigan turns over the buried stones exposing new deposits to be found each spring.  They can also be found on the beaches and in sand dunes  but only in this northwestern portion of Michigan's lower peninsula. In 1965, it was named the state stone of Michigan.

This is a living coral colony in the sea today.  The same six sided polyps show up in lovely colour but they are the same as the fossil shapes in the second image.
Anyone travelling to Michigan in spring is welcome to send me a pretty Petoskey, doesn't have to be large but must be pretty.

I meant to post something serious.

But I was sidetracked by glittering things like these glass beads by Masae Nakahara.  I tried to find out about the artist but pages translated from Japanese do not make easy reading.  All you need to know is in the glass artistry of these tiny objects.  The bead above has a little salamander.

 I love the detail in the lobsters in this one.

And for Elephant's Child, penguins.

And the detail is fantastic.

Did someone mention Penguins?

I really don't care if this is photoshopped because I couldn't stop smiling at the penguin riding the waves on a dolphin.  I got lost in penguins while looking for something completely different.

This is genius. Instead of me dunking the tea bag he does it for me and with a timer.  My orange and cinnamon tea must take exactly 4 minutes of steeping or it's ruined so I'm always drinking crap herbal tea.

Instead of sewing up the cushions for my sister who is annoying me and possibly trying to take the title of Queen Bitch of the Universe because now that she's retired, she has the time to refine her bitching, I was looking at painting little animals on rocks.  I had owls and fish then I found penguins on plastic ice cubes.  Adorable and genuinely time wasting.

I need time wasting.  I looked up my diary for this time last year and my mother had a chest infection and was on antibiotics.  This year she has a chest infection and is on antibiotics.  My life is not Groundhog Day, it's Groundhog Year.

Ocean cute

Another cute (almost) photo and this is the banded piglet squid (Helicocranchia pferreri).  Its name comes from its rotund shape and normally it's found more than 320 feet or 100 metres below the surface of the ocean.
Measuring just 3.9cm in length, this squid species has a singular light producing organ (photophore) to help it navigate the depths.
Because of its deep water habitat little is known of its behaviour but it is known to be a sluggish swimmer with ammonium ions in its body fluid to help keep it bouyant and in this photo it's swimming upside down.  Look at the frilly frippy of its little back fins, sweet.
The image was taken from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in the Gulf of Guinea near oil pumping equipment at a depth of 1015 metres.
They like tropical and subtropical oceans also the north temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean with the smaller squid staying higher in the water table and descending into deeper water as they get larger and older.