Currawongs Playground visits a currawong playground... AKA Carnarvon Gorge

Before we left Manhattan, KS, there was much discussion about when my mum should take 2 weeks holidays: our first 2 weeks back or 2 weeks after Queensland's winter school holidays. Once it was decided that the latter would be better, because we would be over our jetlag and any travel related illnesses, we had to decide what to do or where to go. I suggested Carnarvon Gorge and the rest, so to speak, is history! Photo heavy, so please keep reading...

On the needles: a beanie...

Way back before Jimmy was even born, back when he was inside my belly, and my belly was huge, Michael and I went to the 2013 Peace Festival and I bought this beautiful skein of alpaca from a local spinner. My plan was to make something for our baby with it, only I was going to wait until the baby was born before I did anything - the soft, soft yarn required something special, something that would suit our baby.

It was still untouched back in April, 2014, so it should come as no surprise that the wool made its way across the Pacific Ocean with us (did I mention that I brought wool over here, so that I could work my way through it and be less tempted to buy (even more) wool?).

After lots of umming and ahing, and realising that I hadn't started on any knitted project for Jimmy's 2nd birthday, I wound the skein into a ball and turned the very, very soft alpaca into a beanie.

I may have made the pattern up as I went along...

I did start with a measurement of Jimmy's head, and I did work out how many stitches of 3x3 rib went into 10 cm (or was it an inch or 5? Meh...), so I wasn't flying completely by the seat of my pants... And I kept notes, so that if I ever want to make another one, I have something to work from.

The process was fun and the project small enough to work on in the heat of July and August (I'm a slow knitter, so what). And every time I picked up my needles to work on the beanie I thought of Jimmy, and how the beanie would keep his head warm when his other beanies were not quite big enough or too cozy. I also thought of an old friend and school teacher and I remembered our brief conversation that day at the Peace Festival, and how he was ill and I was reluctant to get too close but still had trouble hearing the few words he said because his throat was so sore due to a recent bout of laryngitis - he would have appreciated the problem solving involved in the making of this beanie...

And now the beanie is finished, and after a very brief evening when the beanie was needed, Jimmy refuses to wear it. I think the fluffy alpaca is a little too warm for the mild autumn fall we're having in Kansas. Ah well! It fits, it stretches, and I know there isn't a photo of it, but the beanie comes to a point and is tied in a knot, because I wasn't wasting any yarn, so it's something of a gumnut beanie. Too bad the reference is lost on Jimmy. Perhaps we should tell him it's an acorn, then he might wear it.

Over the weekend we...

Were joined a group of friends and went for an early morning walk around Konza Prairie Biological Station. Now, when I say "early", we started walking around 7:30am, and when I say "we", I mean the five or so of us who arrived a little later than the others, who were about 30 minutes ahead of us.

Why so early? Well, it's summer here and the days can be very hot, so the idea was to get a walk in before the day became too hot. And thanks to the cloud cover (and rain) the morning stayed a nice warm temperature. Yay!

It's been a while since Michael, Jimmy, and I had been in the area - and even then we didn't do any walks - so we were enjoying every little thing, including this tiny toad that was the same colour as the path.

I'm so happy Konza Prairie Biological Station exists, because I think it's very important to develop a really sound understanding of an area's ecosystems and ecology, and that is exactly what the Biological Station has been working out.

There are lots of photos to come, just press read more...

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a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2015

Jimmy: Ride Daddy's shoulder(s)...

What you can see in this photo is love. Love and spring. When riding our shoulders, Jimmy usually sits a little more evenly on our shoulders, but for a short time he sat on Daddy's right shoulder. And then he walked up the "stairs", i.e. the retaining wall on the right. I think we are all enjoying this stage where Jimmy is confident with his walking (and running), but still small enough to be carried in our arms or on our shoulders.

What you can't see is the traces of snot on Jimmy's face nor the very slow pace of Jimmy's walking and running, because it's the weekend and Jimmy doesn't like to nap on weekends, because Daddy is home. And I'm cool with that, even if Jimmy needs his sleep because he (and I) is still dealing with a mild cold. That's spring for you. At least snot is less distressing, mostly, than the fever Jimmy had this time last year..

Over the weekend we...

Went to the Kansas Sampler Festival in Wamego, KS. And it was all thanks to one of the local bus drivers that we found out about the festival. Naturally, we took the free bus from Manhattan to Wamego. Jimmy was pretty excited to be taking the bus, although he almost fell asleep on the drive. When we arrived we may have looked for a Geocache before entering the festival (we didn't find it).

One of the first things we did was check out a few animals, and although they were in cages, Jimmy saw a kangaroo (and joey!) for the first time EVER! (The top photo is him looking at the kangaroo.) Although gray and small, this kangaroo and her joey are Red Kangaroos... 

 Another Australian, a long way from home, was this Inland Bearded Dragon, who was not happy to be on display - the flat, low belly is the tell-tale sign. Perhaps the lizard was feeling homesick and not enjoying the humidity of the day...

 Jimmy thought the Alpaca was pretty cute, and we may have mentioned that it was similar to a Llama, just so that he had some sort of point of reference even if it comes from a book. Jimmy may now be a little confused...

 This kid knew how to pose... 

 This kid enjoyed being back outside after we went through one of the tents - it was full of some of the most beautiful photos of Kansas I have ever seen, but it was rather boring for a toddler...

Naturally, being outside and using the play equipment was a lot more fun. The slides were a hit, but the round-about was lots of fun, even if Jimmy and Michael only went on it once... 

Something else that Jimmy only did once, was go on the train. It was funny: while we were on it, Jimmy showed no signs of enjoyment. None. Every photo Michael took of us shows a rather serious looking little boy. And when our train ride was over Jimmy said "ride train again", but we didn't. We missed the afternoon session, and Jimmy wasn't too upset. 

Festival food thanks to Lindsborg Swedish Folk Dancers. What is it? They call it "Viking on a stick" and it is pieces of rye bread and meatballs covered in batter and fried. Jimmy kept taking the bread and refused the meatballs and wanted to drink our 'ouchy hot' coffee - not happening.  

 The Kansas Sampler Festival is essentially a state tourism festival, that is hosted by a different Kansas city each year. They put on a good show and chose the location well: Wamego City Park is also the site of their local museum, which we checked out, much to Jimmy's annoyance. It was there that we saw this old cot. I'm a little relieved that cots no longer look like this...

The museum is also home to this loom... 

 And this seriously enviable trunk, although I would prefer it without the fox skins...

 Speaking of skins, this taxidermied bison was just amazing, as was the museums collection of arrowheads, some of which are behind the bison...

 This old wheel chair was parked in the museum's basement, between an old car on the right and on the left...

 Were some seriously old school sleds!

By the time Jimmy and I reached the farmyard set up, Jimmy was over the museum and wanted to be out of the Manduca and let loose in the museum. Naturally, it is a very bad idea to let tired toddlers loose anywhere, so we left and went to a part of the festival we hadn't been to yet, in search of something Jimmy might enjoy...

 And this is where we found even more kids and a few goats, and they were for the patting! It took a few minutes for Jimmy to warm to the idea that he could pat the kids, but he watched a few children and then me and decided he'd give it a go. And he did very well. He needed a little instructing, especially to make sure that the animals knew that he was there before patting them, but the kids were so accustomed to being patted that they didn't flinch when Jimmy patted them and they couldn't see them. The kid that want to nibble Jimmy's clothes was a different matter, but Jimmy handled that well too...

 Jimmy even patted this mega donkey, although in the photo I'm trying to get him to look at Daddy. Seriously, Michael and I have never seen a donkey this big. Thankfully, the donkey was very docile and we were able to let Jimmy feel the woolly coat of the donkey...

 Docile, he may have been, but that donkey was huge and there was no way I was going to let Jimmy's hands get near that mouth. There also seemed to be no way Jimmy was going to look at the camera and Daddy. Oh well. These last 3 photos were taken by Michael. Michael did out the camera aside long enough to pat the goats and the donkey.

We checked out a few more tents, the sun came out, and we saw this aeroplane. It was pretty cool and Jimmy was happy to have something interesting to look at - tourism tents are boring when you're under two, tired, and want to run around. We had a good look at the aeroplane, before heading to another tent or two. 

Jimmy was refusing to wear his hat, stay put, go in the Manduca, or do anything that Mum or Daddy wanted to do. He was happy to sample the foods that were on offer. When the time came, we headed to one of the music stages to see two members of our favourite local act performing some of their songs. Actually, I couldn't believe our luck when a) I found out that they would be performing (on both days of the festival) and b) that we were on the right side of the festival on the day we were there, so that we didn't have a long walk to see them. 

Michael took this photo. I was holding a sleeping little boy in my arms - the familiar music was enough to relax him and he passed out by the end of the second song. We really enjoyed seeing them, even if it was only Annie Wilson and Carl Reed from Tallgrass Express String Band. After their set, and after getting a sleeping Jimmy into the Manduca, I couldn't help myself and I told Annie that we were fans and we chatted for a few minutes. Definitely the highlight of the day for me.

We visited the remaining tents. Saw some sheep, and then... Oh gosh... Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh... I couldn't quite believe it: the 17 year cicada was due to emerge this spring. No, I did not "play it cool" - we will be keeping our eyes peeled for these babies in little under 2 weeks, possibly going on a late night walk, just to make sure that we do see them. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever actually get a chance to see the 17 year cicada, yet here it is. Oh gosh...

After all that excitement, we found a quiet place to sit in the shade to relax and run around a little, before we headed out of the festival to wait for our bus home. When we did get home, we were exhausted. Ok, so Jimmy somehow still had energy to jump off the retaining wall, but we were pooped and gladly accepted our neighbours offer of tea. 

Sunday was spent recovering from a day of being outside. It was a good weekend.

Over the weekend we...

Ate homemade sourdough hot cross buns... More soon...

 And went Geocaching along the Linear Trail, walking about 5 km over the course of the day...

 Spring is well and truly here, with most plants showing signs of new growth...

 It was a lovely day, until the wind picked up, and it was like icicles cutting our skin, even through jumpers... 

 It was great to get out for a walk and explore a few parts of Manhattan, KS, we haven't seen before...

We saw cyclists, joggers, and other families out walking and enjoying the lovely weather...

 Jimmy was a little inspired by the joggers and wanted to run...

 Daddy joined in...

 And then Jimmy was a little tired and distracted. Oh well, that's what the Manduca is for - tired bubba's...

We kept going, and came across Wild Cat Creek, where my camera battery decided that I had been neglecting it... Oops! So, no photos of the cool footbridge we used to get across the creek, no photos of our snacks, which included hot cross buns with butter, and no photos of my leaking water bottle... It's dead... I might have a go at fixing it... We'll see...

 On Sunday we went for a picnic at Frank Anneberg Park, with our neighbours, who also gave us a lift, and a few others. This was after staying up far too late on Saturday night setting up a tunnel extravaganza for Jimmy, which included toys, tickle grass, little pine cones, snacks, emergency exits, his "down blocks", and some coloured hard boiled eggs. It was better than it sounds. And for a few hours it was the only way to get out of our bedroom... We'll be doing it again...

Michael wanted to take some pictures of Jimmy all dressed up for the picnic (thanks for the overalls Granny!). Jimmy decided to mess with Daddy...

 Michael really does have a way with the camera and Jimmy...

 It was another windy day, possibly windier... But a good time was had by all. There was yummy food to eat, turkey vultures and Canadian geese to watch, and we even threw a frisbee around, although sometimes it just hovered, held in position by the wind... 

Jimmy checked his pockets for sand, and sure enough there was a little sand in them. He and I discussed how dirt is different from mud, and I tried to tell him that dirt is important, not "yucky" (he was still happy to play in it), but I think it's a topic we will have to revisit... Once I'm over my cold... All that fresh air and exercise... Who would have thought? 

Manhattan, KS, in the snow...

Or at least the parts we see regularly... 

Last Monday we woke up to snow. That Tuesday we woke up to even more snow and then in the afternoon there was the most amazing snow drifting and swirling and dancing around. You can tell I'm from a part of the world where it doesn't snow, right?

Well, after a few failed attempts to get out and take photos of the snow covered landscape, Jimmy and I did it! On Wednesday we had a lunch date to keep, a DVD from the library to return, so with the promise of going on a noisy bus I convinced Jimmy that all the fuss was going to be worth it.

This post is fairly photo heavy, so you'll need to press the "read more" link after another photo or two...

With Jimmy all rugged up and in the Manduca ("du-a" as Jimmy says), we were off and taking photos of the snow covered landscape!