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Linda, glad you got a walking foot. That helps so much with quilting! Your sewing projects sound nice. I will show you more underground life till we leave here on Tuesday. You'll be amazed if you look up what is for sale. Any windows to the outside attract heat, so you would need to have insulated windows to keep the dugout's temperature constant.
Judith, I do hope and pray your appointment goes well. It I'd an ordeal fit you but hopefully it will lead to some comfort and help. Glad you are enjoying my anecdotes. 😄 I have a few more today.
Marilyn, that isvright. Every day has a blessing in it, like Linda said.
Yesterday's museum told about the fossilised remains from when Australia had a Great Inland Sea. This is the front leg of a Plesiosaur. They were pretty fearsome!
We had lunch in an underground Cafe lined with hand made Digeridoos.
We visited a few more underground churches. This is from the Catholic one:
This is from an Anglican one:
A more modern underground home attached to an opal mine we visited:
Will tell you about the working opal mine we saw today tomorrow 😄0 -
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Marilyn, that's good advice. Gratitude makes for a much happier life!
Well, it's tomorrow here so I will tell you about yesterday.
Yesterday we all went to Tom's working opal mine and did a tour there. The lady who took us underground had 50 years of opal mining experience and now her sons are miners! She showed us machinery, explosives, taught us how opals have to be tumbled in a washing machine device to get rid of the claystone they are embedded in, and they lent us black lights as opals glow under them. We could check out a black light each overnight! That allowed us to go night fossicking (known as noodling) for opals in the mullock heaps left on the surface by miners! So that's what we did. The sky was amazing last night. There was no moon and the stars just popped out like a beautiful canopy. We could see the Milky Way, found the Southern Cross and Orion's Belt. Oh and we found bits of opal, too. Nothing was valuable by market standards but we enjoyed the experience. I didn't take any night photos but here are some of Tom's mine.
Approaching the mine entrance.
Four amateur miners in hard hats - L-R Greg, Lyn, me, Col
Entrance tunnel. No props needed for the roof as the stone is so strong.
Elevator shaft for small items or young children wanting a thrill.
Shovelling Mullock into the noisy, powerful vacuum that takes the dust to the surface:
Halls formed by explosives, machine and hand digging:
Taped off Opal seam under a black light. The tape is used so tourists can locate the seam to try their black lights out on it:
Checking out surface Mullock heaps in the daytime. Colin. Lyn and Greg are in this photo:
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Susan - great pictures of underground areas as well as the opal mine. That sounds like so much fun to go there and take the black light home. The old wives tales I have heard is that only those born in October can wear opals since that is their birthstone. All others beware or bad times coming upon you if you were born in any other month. How big were the pieces that you found? The Elasmosaur llooks mean and scary. I am glad we just have their bones and not the real things to deal with. It looks like you and I are both on here at the same time. So far I have not seen on the game threads that we crossposted. I was here earlier so maybe I did get ahead of you on those things.
Marilyn - Gratitude is so important to our happiness. wishing for things to be different does not change anything.
Judith - I assume you are resting up from your appointments yesterday. It will be great to hear about it when you feel up to it.
I finished my sewing projects, made the sourdough bread, washed laundry and went to the Cinco de Mayo party so I feel like I accomplished a lot during the last 24 hours. The party was fun and there were a lot of people there. I am am not much of a talker around people that I do not know but the girl who was sitting at my table was full of talk so I did not have to do much. Actually when Glenn joined up later they had a great talk about school. She is going to a Seminary in Dallas, Texas to get her Master' Degree so she and Glenn had a lot to talk about. Our small group from church will be having brunch at our house tomorrow. Once a month we get together as small groups to build friendships. I am making bacon, hashbrowns and french toast. I still need to mop the kitchen floor because I was messy making bread and cooking today. The rest of the house I can just close the doors to the rooms and hopefully no one needs to get in there. LOL
I pray that you all are having a blessed weekend.
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Marilyn, yes in all circumstances no matter what the day brings God is always with us; I sure know that especially Friday during my very difficult appointment! God is Good! He supplies my needs, always. I am sure you can testify to this too. My prayers continue for you my friend. How are your numbers? What do the specialists say about your Kidney function? This helps me to zero in on the right focus of my prayers for you!
Linda, thank you for your prayers. It was an extremely hard day. Not everything I wanted to hear. I had Blood work and he didn’t do any facial scans due to what he saw on the lips, mainly lower lip. He ordered more Blood work and an Ultrasound to be done at Cancer clinic. I will bring an update and post it in the Prayer thread probably tomorrow or Monday. Hope you get your sewing projects completed, your pants will be nice when you slim them down and I like the idea of cutting down a king size sheet to fit the cot your grandson sleeps in, I am sure he will love it. Let me know if you got some work started on your quilt. Happy sewing day Linda.
Susan, safe travels in your exploring. Thanks again for the pictures you shared above! Think with time differences we are missing each other.
Blessings all on your Sunday tomorrow, enjoy your services and fellowship with your Brothers and Sisters! See you tomorrow. God Bless! 🙏0 -
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We had 8 people here for brunch then church service. I got to bed late and had to get up early to try to get two things baked at different oven temperatures as well as do last minute cleaning and making french toast. I definitely waited too long to get everything done so I felt really rushed before everyone came but once they came, I was able to relax. Glenn was able to help some but he was also working on his sermon. We have some college students over for a prayer time this afternoon then are getting together with a couple to do some marriage counseling with them.
The wind storm that was predicted did not happen during the night.. We are having higher winds today but not to the extent that we expected. The sky is dark gray but no raid yet. We have a huge dead elm tree on the property next to us that I am afraid will fall one day in a big wind storm. We found out that the property is owned by the city (it is called Indian Wash and has running water in it when it rains). We are trying to call the city to see if they can cut it down to avoid it falling on our other trees or the fence or our neighbors also.
Judith - I am sorry that you had a very difficult day at your appointment. I hope you do not get anemic from all of the blood work they are doing. (I say that in a joking way but I do know it seems like a lot sometimes).
Take your time sharing the details if you need to. We know God knows what you need and will supply everything necessary for you.
Marilyn - I agree that miracles happen each day. Just getting up in the morning and to have slept all night with my body doing work without me having to think about it (heartbeat, breathing, digestion) is a miracle.
Susan - Prayers for your safety as you travel.1 -
MFP is being really glitchey today. I hope I can finish this post without losing it. I am being taken to other pages in the middle of typing a sentence.
Linda, good to hear how things are going and I would be concerned about that tree too. You are amazing, hosting so often and counselling and serving in countless ways. The opals we found are between very small and fist sized, but they usually just have traces of opal, they are not solid opals! They are often covered in clay which needs to be removed. I did find one pure white one about 1/2" in diameter but it isn't valuable. The best ones are red, then blue, then green, then yellow, then white. Rainbow colours are my favourite, all mixed together. Their colour shifts when you hold them at different angles in the sun.
Judith. I am sorry yesterday was such a difficult day. 😔 I hope you are a little more rested today and yes, when you feel like sharing we will be with you in spirit and in hope and love. 🙏 ❤️ God bless you, hon.
We stayed in our vans washing clothes etc yesterday but did go out noodling in the evening. We go through the mullock heaps the machines they use to carve the mine walls produce. One has a rotating circular arm and it can be raised or lowered. The other cuts straight lines. If you have ever seen a train tunnel cutter, it's the same. I did find a video for you all. The rock and sand the machines cut through is what we sift through on the surface:
https://youtube.com/shorts/IA_Lsx-ZXII?si=Z6flW-36ZWL4Lned
Today we are staying in the van washing sheets and towels. Once we get to an area with more water I will have a doggy day spa. Archie has taken on the color of the dust. Jasper already was that colour so you can't tell how dirty he is. But his coat feels thick with the dust. We went out Fossicking again last night. I have a couple of photos for you. The first one is of the sunset and the second one is us getting ready to noodle.
We move on tomorrow. I think it will take 4 hours to drive to the Northern Territory from here. That's where we are headed.
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I too have had trouble with MFP with adding that I didn’t put down.
My logging of food and fitness was one of them that added exercises I didn’t do…
I posted a update in the Prayer Thread.
I will complete this post tomorrow.
Praying for all and thanks for yours!0 -
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Susan - that grinding machine is amazing. I wonder how many big opals it shreds as it is working. I guess that is what you are finding when you are noodling. I did not realize that opals come in so many colors. Do they all have the color changes as you move it or is yours just plain white? I will need to google some more to learn more. I understand about the dogs getting so dirty running through the ground. When we went to our property our cocker spaniel used to get so dirty but she was the color of dirt so it was not as noticable until we gave her a bath and the water looked like mud. Have a safe trip traveling tomorrow.
Judith - I have not made it to the prayer request thread yet but know you are always in my prayers.
Marilyn - Yes, sometimes we just need to do it and quit waiting for "sometime". 😊
We did have a big windstorm during the night with some rain. It was just later than we had expected. It was not quite as strong as it was the last time. I have not seen any fences blown down or tree limbs down. The dead tree behind our fence is still standing so all is well.1 -
We're hitched up and Starlink is put away, so I am back on mobile data. As soon as we leave Coober Pedy in a few minutes, I'll lose mobile data. Just wanted to say hi before we're off for a 5 - 6 hour trip to the Northern Territory/South Australia border free camp. 😀
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Susan, the sunset is beautiful and I like the picture of you getting ready to noodle! Safe travels to the Northern Territory. Hope the 5-6 hour trip goes well and no issues on the roads. My prayers go with you.
So glad I saved my post as I started as part way thru typing I lost connection, not sure what’s up with MFP?
I will check out the link you left above and comment on it later or tomorrow if I have trouble getting back on here. I am sure the Australian Opal Colours are Gorgeous!
As you can see Susan, I got back on MFP; I clicked on the link and saw the gorgeous Opals and read all about it, so much to learn about these Opals. Thank you for sharing.
Linda, hope the wind storm is not severe, praying a hedge of protection around you. I see on our Weather thread we both are having cooler temps, tonight for us it’s 7 degrees Celsius. Guess I will pull out an extra blanket for the bed.
Marilyn. Good Quote, I agree, we just need to get busy and do it!
Have a great evening all, be back tomorrow. I’m heading to bed now, so tired. Good Nite and God Bless you all! 😴🛌🙏0 -
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Susan - Safe travels for you as you travel. The link was gorgeous. I think the most common opals we see are the white ones. Your said you had blacklights to look for opals. Is that the only way to see them or can you see them in regular light too during he day? I also looked at the underground houses you were talking about. It is amazing how they are able to dig their houses out of the stone. The underground houses we have here are built into the side of hills. They dig out the dirt then build a house as usual out of concrete and a flat roof then the dirt and sod are put on the top. Some people put flowers on their roofs for decorations.
Judith - the wind is still blowing today but much calmer than yesterday. I wonder where the birds go when the wind is so strong. Although they as pretty small, I think the wind would still bother them like is does when driving a car or airplane. If I were a bird I would just hunker down in a big bush until it was all over. I am sure God has given them instincts that keep them safe.
Marilyn - Having a positive attitude does help what ever the circumstances. If we look only at obstacles, we will never reach out goals. How are you feeling?
Yesterday we went to the store and I got my annual geranium for mother's day. I tried to root the one I had last year on the patio but it did not do well so I had to buy a nother one for this year. My mother loved red geraniums although they can be pretty smelly when touched. We have a college student here today filling the planters with new dirt to see if we can grow better vegetables than we had last year. I'm not sure what happened but some of the things we planted just looked very stunted. We thought with new soil, we might have a better chance of having more vegetables at the end of the summer. The student is also helping set up our swamp cooler for the summer. We do not need it right now but he was available so we figured it was best to do it now. We do have a low of freezing forcast for tonight but I don't think it will stay that cold for very long and my flowers are protected in the back year.1 -
Quick check in. No data here. Starlink doesn't get setup for an overnight stay on battery power. Will hopefully check back in later. All is well. (I snatched a few moments to check in when we stopped at a service station. )
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Our setup last night. Didn't even unhitch. We were at the South Australian/Northern Territory border.
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Susan, love the bright blue sky where you are staying. I see that you hadn’t unhitched your trailer from your car, was it because you came in late last night and of course he would of been dark. Hope you enjoy your time and you enjoy your site seeing and touring. Safe travels Susan.
Marilyn. Great quote shared today! Thank you. How are you my friend? Hope all is well. Just want you to know you are being thought of and prayed over!
Linda, you said you got your Red Geranium, they are so pretty, didn’t realize they had an odour, I’ve never touched them with bare hands, always have gardening gloves on. So nice your student is putting new earth in your planters and will help you plant. Hope your veggies do better this year. Glad he is helping you with the swamp cooler, you are getting well away with getting started with everything. Your nights are surely cold, we are too but not as cod as you are having it.
Have a great evening and nites sleep. See you all tomorrow! Good Nite God Bless 🙏😴0 -
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We did have cold enough weather to kill some leaves on our vines on the fence, our roses, and my geranium. Time will tell if they come back and live. One thing that made it worse was that our sprinklers turned on during the night and ice formed on some plants. We should have turned off the sprinklers and covered my plants.
Susan - I look forward to seeing more pictures.
Marilyn - your quote remibds me if another old saying. "actions speak louder than words."
Judith - we probably won't plant our plants until we get back from Denver. We are leaving on Friday to go there.1 -
Good morning from the dusty red centre! The soil here is rusty red. We're at Curtin Springs, another free camp unless you want electricity, then it is $55 per night. We need to make a $10 'donation' to fill our water tanks but that goes to charities do you don't feel bad contributing. Showers are $5 and there is no laundry facility, but hey, toilets are free! Lol! They aren't too clean, but they are free! (I haven't seen a pay toilet anywhere in Australia. Lol!) There's no dump poi t so we have to cart it into the Uluru service town. We have a huge paddock to park in complete with an electric fence behind us to keep out camels. We haven't seen a camel yet but know they are around. Crows and Galahs are here in abundance. This picture shows us parked in the distance with some crows in one of the trees, but they are hard to spot in the picture. I took it near the amenities block.
We're near Uluru, (used to be called Ayers Rock) and plan to visit it. It's 80kms away so that will be a day trip. We're minding Kayla while Lyn and Greg ho today. The Rock is in the middle of a National Park, dog no-man's land. They will mind Archie and Jasper for us tomorrow.
We saw Moynt Connor on the way here. It looks a lot like Uluru. You can drive out and walk around it, but we thought we'd go to Uluru instead.
I found a map that has Ayers Rock/Uluru on it. We'll be going to Alice Springs and the Three Ways (near Tenant Creek) in coming days to start our trek across Queensland to Cairns for our family reunion.
Marilyn, that's right. Actions speak louder than words. I hope you are doing alright. 🙏
Judith, glad you enjoyed yesterday's photos and stories. We didn't unhitch as we were leaving in the morning and had no need for a full set up just to have dinner and sleep. We usually only unhitch if we plan to leave the van and go exploring in the car without it. Shopping is easier that way as is going over rough roads!
Linda, how interesting about u derground living there! Coober Pedy has little water so hardly any plants can stay alive, let alone flowers. Yes, you might catch a glint of opal in the sunlight, and people have picked up amazing stones that way, but black light at night really confirms that you have found one. They glow and keep glowing briefly even after you take the black light away. It makes missing one harder. 😀
Till tomorrow ❤️1 -
Linda, so sorry about the Sprinklers coming on during the night and the plants had ice formed on the leaves. I hope the plants come back. Wise to wait to plant when you are back from Denver. You are getting some really cold overnight temps. I thought it was cold here but not cold enough for ice to form. We get that type of temps in winter. Maybe very early Spring but now in May temps are colder than we usually get. Will be glad to see warm days and nights so I can get planting. I have 8 starter plants that are ready for my large planters, my friend is coming Friday and will help plant those starters, I will have to wait until after Mothers Day maybe even towards end to plant rest of my plants and veggies.
Susan, thank You for the pictures and the history shared. So exciting thinking about your travels across Queensland making your way to Cairns for your Family Reunion! I am so happy for you that you are going to be a part of your Family reunion, how many Families are expected to gather in Cairns? Do you have some activities planned for your gathering. Any Birthdays or Anniversaries that will be celebrated? The Map is great I got to see where Alice Springs and Uluru and Ayer’s Rock. So nice to see where you are. Safe travels my friend.
Marilyn, great Quote posted, I so agree, Actions speak louder than words! Thanks for sharing.
I am heading to bed early as I am heading to Vancouver for my follow up appointments. Will hopefully bring some updates soon.
Have a great evening and may your day ahead be blessed!
Take care and God Bless! See you tomorrow! 🙏0 -
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Judith - I am praying for your appointment in Vancouver today. I know it is hard when you have so many specialists involved. It takes longer to have them talk to each other but at least you know that you have the best of the best working together. If you do need a transfusion at sometime, it usually makes a huge difference in your energy level which would be great.
Susan - We have some areas that also have that red soil. They use this to combine in their construction of the roads and the pavement has a red tint to it. I think it is a high iron content of the rocks that give it the red color. The picture of where you parked at Curtain Rock looks pretty deserted. Maybe everyone left early and it was filled during the night. It is good you have your own facilities at these places that do not have electricity for free. Are the restrooms pretty rustic or do they have running water? I assume if they have $5 showers they would have running water for the toilets too. As you start going back toward your home and the family reunion, Are there any places you wish you would have gone to but couldn't or any lessons that you have learned on this long tour? Have you gotten your batteries fixed now?
Marilyn - I was reading the other day that in our immagination, we can not even think of all the possibilities that God can do through our lives. Our minds are puny next to God's. He wants to do so much more for us. When we get to heaven, we will finally see what He can do and will spend our time singing praises to him with the angels.1 -
Linda, we can't get the batteries fixed till Alice Springs. Yes, there will always be places we haven't seen here. It's hard to describe the remoteness and size of Australia. Think the lower 48 States with the population of California, mostly settled on the coast. Here there are vast amounts of desert and nothingness, no people or services.
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I am getting on this morning (it is 1:07am) to keep my streak because we will be traveling tomorrow and I don't know if I will remember to come back here.
Susan - it is hard to imagine the vast area of Australia with only the population of California. We have friends who are visiting Australia next week as a graduation present to their daughter. With the area so large, I am sure that you will not be meeting them anytime they are there. I am not even sure where they will be traveling. Of course there is the problem that you would not recognize them if you did see them. 😊
Judith - I hope your appointment was not too difficut for you. Rest up my friend as much as you need! We are "holding down the fort for you."1 -
Thank you Linda, safe travels, you were on early but I understand, we want to keep our good streaks, I have the longest streak for logging in here so I log on at the times I see you here! You mentioned Linda if I needed a Blood Transfusion I would likely feel better as it would improve my energy levels. So far I don’t need a transfusion, my blood levels have lowered since last test results but not enough that I need a transfusion! Will keep you posted on that.
Susan, safe travels, I am so enjoying all the history and geography you are sharing as you travel. Sorry you have to wait until you get to Alice Springs to have your batteries fixed. As I said earlier in another post, it was helpful having the Map you shared as I saw where Alice Springs was located. I am a visual person so seeing these locations you are describing is great for me.
Marilyn, I say a hearty Amen with the last Quote you shared.
I missed logging in to our Group yesterday as with being in Vancouver for Blood work and Surgeon appointment it took most of my day. I was extremely fatigued once home so rested most of the evening.
Hope you all have a great day. I will try and get back tonight but will see how things go. 🤗🙏0 -
Judith, it's OK as we know you have low energy levels right now. You don't have to post every day but we're so glad when you do. Alice Springs is a few sleeps away. We're here at Curtin Springs till to.orror Monday then will need an overnight stop before Alice Springs, or 'The Alice' as many call it.
Linda, safe travels. You are right, your friends are probably thousands of kilometres from me! We're far from any state capitols, where most universities are.
Marilyn, thinking of you.
I'm going to the Olgas with Lyn and Greg today so must run. Colin is staying back with the dogs. He feels like a day off.
Uluru:
Up close, mysterious holes and caves everywhere:
It's very red in places:
Me in my flynet:
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Susan, I’ve broke the record, posted twice today, early morning and late tonight! Had a rest earlier that’s why I am up today after 11:00pm. Actually rested a lot today! Love your Fly net hat, you look great, nice smile, the Red rock face is Gorgeous, interesting the caves with mysterious Holes I wonder what lives in those holes? Hope not snakes 🐍😳 love the picture of Uluru, bright blue skies, so nice, safe travels as you head to Curtain Springs and your day with Lyn and Greg at the Olga’s! Hope you enjoyed and you have a safe trip to Alice Springs, you said you are a few sleeps away before heading there. Thanks for all these latest pictures, loved them all, thank you!
Linda, thinking of you as you are travelling, safety on the roads my friend!
Marilyn praying for you!
Well it’s now Good Nite and God Bless, see you all tomorrow! 🙏❤️🤗0
