In which our heroine is a tourist, and a very good daughter
Today has been busier than I initially intended. We thought we might perhaps go to Seahorse World and Platypus House, just for the morning. Except that we accidentally stopped off at the Beaconsfield mining museum on the way, and it turned out to be awesome. The new mine has been built right next to the old one, so there are lots of odd juxtapositions of old crankshafts and waterwheels with the new shaft in the background.
Other stuff I liked about the museum:
* about a thousand old ads for "fancy" apples and pears. And some that were "extra fancy".
* so many old contraptions that you can touch! Cranks and cogs and pulleys! (One was a large crankshaft that used to be horsepowered and drove a machine that separated the wheat from the chaff. The explanation on it said: "Be a horse!" How could I say no?)
* smooth old wood. collapsed concrete with rusted iron struts sticking out. plants growing through the ruins.
Then we went to Seahorse World! And I liked these things:
* Pot-bellied Seahorses! How ridiculous!
* Male seahorses look attractive to the ladies by making their bellies expand with water. (I think this is because male seahorses get babies put into them through their belly-buttons, so presumably they are all: "Look at me! My stomach is a spacious abode for your tinythings!") Sometimes they grab other seahorses and squish all the water out of their bellies with their tails, so that they will be the prettiest seahorse.
* Seahorses have prehensile tails, and they're more comfortable when they're holding onto something. So sometimes they hold tails, or wrap their tails around another seahorse's head, or get into a big knot of seahorses.
* Cuttlefish can learn people's faces, and express their emotions by changing colour. Sometimes if they like your shirt they will copy its colour (I didn't see this, the guy just said so).
The part I did not like about Seahorse World was that they had a section in their giftshop on "creationism and christian resources", and it felt odd and out of place and then we left.
Then Platypus House! And I liked these things:
* Platypuses' poison spur is so poisonous! Australian wildlife is ridiculous.
* OMG echidnas! I have a video, but it is proving difficult to upload.
This evening I have mostly been marking, but I took some ukulele breaks. And I played some ukulele-piano with my mother! We went through her songbooks, and played some songs she knew that had guitar chords written on them. And then we played some of the songs from my songbook. Her piano is much, much, better than my ukulele, but she's never just sat down and played from chords before, so I had to (very inexpertly) explain how it worked.
My little ukulele sounds so plinketyplinky next to the piano, but neither of us minded. It was so much fun playing around and working some songs out together! We totally jammed!
Other stuff I liked about the museum:
* about a thousand old ads for "fancy" apples and pears. And some that were "extra fancy".
* so many old contraptions that you can touch! Cranks and cogs and pulleys! (One was a large crankshaft that used to be horsepowered and drove a machine that separated the wheat from the chaff. The explanation on it said: "Be a horse!" How could I say no?)
* smooth old wood. collapsed concrete with rusted iron struts sticking out. plants growing through the ruins.
Then we went to Seahorse World! And I liked these things:
* Pot-bellied Seahorses! How ridiculous!
* Male seahorses look attractive to the ladies by making their bellies expand with water. (I think this is because male seahorses get babies put into them through their belly-buttons, so presumably they are all: "Look at me! My stomach is a spacious abode for your tinythings!") Sometimes they grab other seahorses and squish all the water out of their bellies with their tails, so that they will be the prettiest seahorse.
* Seahorses have prehensile tails, and they're more comfortable when they're holding onto something. So sometimes they hold tails, or wrap their tails around another seahorse's head, or get into a big knot of seahorses.
* Cuttlefish can learn people's faces, and express their emotions by changing colour. Sometimes if they like your shirt they will copy its colour (I didn't see this, the guy just said so).
The part I did not like about Seahorse World was that they had a section in their giftshop on "creationism and christian resources", and it felt odd and out of place and then we left.
Then Platypus House! And I liked these things:
* Platypuses' poison spur is so poisonous! Australian wildlife is ridiculous.
* OMG echidnas! I have a video, but it is proving difficult to upload.
This evening I have mostly been marking, but I took some ukulele breaks. And I played some ukulele-piano with my mother! We went through her songbooks, and played some songs she knew that had guitar chords written on them. And then we played some of the songs from my songbook. Her piano is much, much, better than my ukulele, but she's never just sat down and played from chords before, so I had to (very inexpertly) explain how it worked.
My little ukulele sounds so plinketyplinky next to the piano, but neither of us minded. It was so much fun playing around and working some songs out together! We totally jammed!