Passing Time

Getting out the binoculars to check out the bird you’ve spied and cannot immediately identify becomes addictive. I like this activity to pass the time, best beside some water, as it is relaxing yet keeps you alert to nature around you.

I guess all you really need is a pair of binoculars and internet access or a bird book. Call me old fashioned but a book suits me best, then I can always cross reference online if the gee takes me.

My current book is ‘A Field Guide to the Birds of Western Australia’ by Storr and Johnstone. Thompson illustrated this beautifully. Published by the Western Australian Museum in 2001, I’ve referred to it for many years, marking the birds spotted over time.

Some bird watchers, twitchers, like to date and note location of their finds. Some to keep a notebook with which birds have been sighted at each location. That is totally up to you. 

It’s not all about simply identifying the birds though. Watch the behaviours, observe the actions, become absorbed with the movement – start to feel the sense of meditation and relaxation.

Some places will have bird hides however, patiently sitting still or stopping for a few moments as you walk a trail gives you time to spot movement and birds to be less afraid of you.

A good friend regularly posts photographs of birds on Instagram account and her fabulous images tempted me to purchase a quality camera to snap some of my own shots. I need a longer zoom lens than my mobile phone currently allows to get close ups. I did try but only got a couple of decent, clear images.  But now, I have an easy to use, point and shoot Panasonic Lumix camera with pretty good zoom. My newest way to pass the time therefore, is learning how to use it for best effect!

This trip, this new lifestyle, has slowed me down and I have been rewarded with several new sightings including: Jabiru, Pied Heron, Black-Breasted Kite, Little Ringed Plover, Black-Tailed Native Hen, Cockatiel and the Crimson Chat.

I’ll post a few of my good photos from my new camera in the coming days on Instagram.

Like most popular tourist areas, Western Australia’s southwest region becomes very expensive for travellers during peak summer season and over the festive season.

We were lucky, earlier in the year, to agree on a three-week housesit in Rockingham, near shops, bars, cafes and the train station caring for a beautiful, young, chocolate labrador.

This gave me lots to do to pass the time!

First thing, early each morning, I opened the door to a highly excited dog who jumped up to kiss my face, ran around me, raced off to say good morning to my partner and then back to me. All the time a thick, ropey tail wagging madly and thumping into us, the floor, the furniture until she settled on the floor by my chair for a good tummy rub, feet up in the air.

Then, a good walk around the park opposite the house. Being not much more than a puppy, she was eager to explore all the different sights and smells. She’d like to check out everyone – humans and dogs – and would strain against her lead to do so. Although very friendly, not at all aggressive, she was very strong. So much so, that I often wondered who was taking who for a walk!

Once I had confidence she would return to me, I could let her off the lead, as long as no-one was around. Until the day she wouldn’t come back and ran across the road. Fortunately, the road was clear but it scared me to think what might have happened.

Being a pet carer, your main role is to ensure a healthy pet is handed back safely to tehri owner. So, after that incident, and another earlier, less scary one, I decided to keep this powerful explorer on the lead for both morning and evening walks.

To give her more of a run-around, and use up some of her excess energy, we would take turns playing games outside in the enclosed garden: chase her, throw balls, set up buckets for a weaving trail to try and train her to follow (unsuccessful unless on the lead) and hiding dog biscuits at feeding time for her to sniff out.

In the early evenings, we sat outside with her as we sipped on a cold drink in the shade while she rolled around on the grass, nudged us or demanded some more petting.

We did get out and about to explore the area  (see blog about Rockingham under Peel here)  but also spent a fair bit of time at the house relaxing in front of the TV with the dog for company. We enjoyed the Cricket Australia ‘summer of cricket’: test match series between Australia and Pakistan broadcast on TV and the Big Bash 20-20 League on TV and a live match at the Perth Optus Stadium.

Also on offer was Netflix, which we’ve never had access to before. We binged on a couple of new series. One very novel, interesting series was Larimah. If you want a feel for life in a tiny, outback Australian near-ghost town and a missing resident, Larimah is worth watching!

Then there’s the time required to keep a house with dog that sheds hair clean. The lovely white tile floor needed vacuuming daily to clear the masses of brown hair and a regular mop to wipe away wet paw prints after the grass had been watered.

The gardens were lush. The grass grew fast. It needed mowing a couple for times. And the flower and vegetable beds needed light weeding.

All in all, this was a great stop. We had free accommodation, owners came back to a clean house, tidy garden and a happy pet.

Time flew by and we were ready for touring in the caravan again.

Lots of people love reading. Me too, now I have more time.

My parents instilled reading in me as a child. We enjoyed books together, often spending hours on the stair landing absorbed in a then 100-year-old edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The local library was a weekly visiting place and so I always had a wide range of reading material.

Now, I have a Kindle device that gives easy, lightweight access to a myriad of texts via Amazon, so long as I have WiFi access!

However, there is nothing quite like a good hardback book in your hands to get lost in an adventure. Many caravan parks and small towns have a free book exchange if a real book is your preference too.

I’ve mentioned before the book in this photo – Bert Facey’s “A Fortunate Life.” This has been a good companion as we travel through Western Australia where he lived most of his life at the turn of the 20th century.

Reading about someone else’s experience in a different era opens your eyes to where you are travelling and exploring.

Another highly descriptive text to read is Anthony Trollope’s “South Australia and Western Australia.” He travelled through Australia in the 1870’s writing commentary comparing life in the colonies to England. It takes a little getting used to his style and you may want to skip ‘farming accounts’ but gives a colourful picture of day-to-day life as it was then.

Of course, I enjoy some escapism novels too: romance, sci-fi and whodunnits. My partner prefers biographies and detective stories.

Whatever your topic partiality, reading can pass hours of pleasurable time.

“Miss!”     "Hit!”       "Hit and sunk!”

This is an age-old game for two players that uses grid reference skills. A great way for children to practise and a game to help develop strategy. Luck is still involved and that is what keeps it exciting too!

Place your battleships on the grid. Some games have differing numbers of ships but generally, there is a ship two grids in length, two of three in length, a four and a five-grid length ship as well. Players take turns to call a reference grid and hope to find their opponent's ships. If it is a hit, they gate a second turn, if not, the other player has a turn.

You need two grids, one for your own ships and to record where your opponent shoots, the other to record hits and misses you make in trying to sink your opponent’s ships.

I bought this plastic, reusable and self-contained version in Karratha. It suits my wee fingers fine but for those with larger hands it is a bit awkward and slow. You could of course play on paper, drawing out the grid each time too. There will be electronic versions of the game no doubt but then you would need batteries or other power source.

The game can take some time to play through to the end so patience is required for this game. A good way to pass the time!

I’ve always enjoyed sewing. I used to make clothes for myself and was asked to sew the bridesmaids’ dresses for a close friend when we were younger. I created curtains for one house we had, just because I couldn’t find what I wanted ready-made.

Taking this hobby, with a sewing machine, on the road in a caravan is not really feasible but going back to a simple needle and thread is.

My first few sewing tasks were just that, tasks, jobs that needed done for the caravan.

I’d got a mattress protector but it kept slipping around at the bottom of the bed. For those of you who don’t know, caravan beds usually have rounded corners to create more walking space around them. With a ‘Heath Robinson’[AD1]  mindset, I planned, purchased resources and attached elastic to existing elastic and across a new stretch of elastic travelling from side to side under the mattress about two feet in from the base. No more sliding around of the protector and more comfortable sleep.

I also managed to concoct a reflective case for the new fridge/freezer using a cheap windscreen sunshield, a bit of gaffer tape, some leftover elastic and my trusty needle and thread.

A curtain needed hemming as did a trouser leg. Done!

I noted a button in the upholstered lounge seating needs repair, that’s the next task to attempt.

I wonder what else I can find to sew to keep my hand in … perhaps some sort of roman blind to replace the aluminium venetian blinds in the kitchen area – I’ve never liked venetian blinds.

I’ll have to return to my second favourite shop in Australia, a fabric and handicraft store – Spotlight!

So, is sewing a hobby or a task? I like to think it is a hobby that is a pleasurable task, especially when you have no time limit in which to complete them!

Almost all of us enjoyed colouring in when we were a child, unless fine motor skills were an issue. I certainly did!

As a teacher, I have seen colouring come and go as a task at school. For a time, it was seen as an important part of publishing ‘project’ books and display work. Then, it became seen as a waste of time. Latterly, it is being used as a mindfulness activity to help children self-regulate. I recall one young girl in particular whose favourite period on the weekly timetable was ‘calm time’ where students chose to either colour a picture, listen to and follow the guided meditation from the interactive whiteboard or simply relax with a book.

And of course, there are multiple resources available to purchase for adult mindfulness colouring; to soothe the stresses and anxieties away.

We were invited to a gardening club’s evening quiz and dinner with friends just days before starting our caravan travels. Our team came second. Sounds good but there were only 3 teams! Still, there were prizes for everyone who participated. My choice was a mindfulness set. ‘Soothing Patterns,’ published by Igloo Books, came in a pretty tin with a book and 6 colouring pencils.

Spending between 10-20 minutes at a time, I have completed the first page of the book already. The mindfulness of taking care, selecting colours to make regular patterns in the ‘flowers’ did indeed help relax me.

Perhaps this could be a relaxing way for you too to pass the time too?

So, we’ve arrived in Australia and stayed with one set of friends for the first week. Luckily, another set of friends, and old neighbours, offered us to housesit for them in Woodridge, an estate of acreage properties, while they were away for a month travelling.

This has been a very low cost, best of both worlds: a known place we can be comfortable in, and, our own space and time to run around organising all the equipment and resources needed to start our journey.

Between all that organising, we have found time to relax and, as is the title of this page, pass some time.

An obvious passing of time is the wee tasks left for us to care for the property. An important trade-off for those who leave their houses in the care of others. Gardening has been delightful in the warm autumn sunshine after a winter cooped up in a small flat in Edinburgh. De-heading flowers, feeding the worms, checking in on the bonsais and veggie patch, some weeding and managing the reticulation depending on rainfall.

We were to ‘project manage’ a replacement door – that posed some challenges as the glazier was convinced the property was jinxed. We had to hang around on several occasions as he was not a great communicator but eventually the job was completed, three panes of glass later!

Evenings gave us the chance to watch some TV and select programs from Netflix, which we’ve never had before. A grand range of choices. Even so, we limited our screen time as we don’t intend to be TV addicts as we tour around.

At this property, there was a pool table. Now, this we did spend time on! Our skills improved as we had a best of three games challenge each evening.

There’s a tree swing here too, a happy place to meditate and relax after lots of planning, purchasing and running around.

Having this experience confirmed that we’ll try for more housesitting in the future and I’m guessing each property will have its own ‘passing time’ advantages.