Identifying Australian Flowers:

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Tea Tree Oil and Manuka Honey: By Jospeh

Joseph's Photograph of our Tea Tree Bush

Tea tree oil comes from steam distillation of the leaves of melaleuca alternifolia. Tea tree oil, Australia’s best- known natural remedy, is used for skincare today.

In New South Wales there is a Lake called Lake Ainsworth which is brown, the colour of a cup of black tea. Lake Ainsworth gets its brown colour from the many Tea Trees that the lake. These trees are from the Melaleuca family.

The Bundjalung Aborigines had long ago discovered if they bathed in this lake their sores would get better, and skin and hair would be smooth and soft. Today Australians still bath in this lake.

 

Emma's 'Tea Tree Bush' Drawing.

Before colonisation, Australia’s coast land was rugged and so it would have been easy to get a sore or a cut. 

The Aborigines found out that if the Tea Tree leaves were scrunched up and put onto sores, then the sores would heal. Breathing in the steam from steaming the leaves in a pot would help colds and coughs; and soaking Tea Tree leaves in water would give them a concoction that would get rid of sore throats and help skin rashes.

Today we know that Tea Tree oil is toxic to ingest, but it is still respected as a very good and powerful antiseptic. It is still used as an antiseptic for skins complaints, and in mouth wash, toothpaste, soaps and shampoos, and to repel insects. It is even used in solutions to get rid of bacteria in fish tanks. 

Erica's 'Tea Tree Bush' Drawing

Manuka is the Moari word for Tea Tree, and so the world famous healing power of Manuka Honey comes from the healing power of the Maunka Tree/Tea Tree Plant. Mom knows a story of a horse that was about to be shot/put down by a vet, as his sore would not heal up and he was in such pain. As a last resort the vet bound his wound in Manuka honey and it healed, saving the horse's life. 

Is it not amazing to see the healing power of Tea Tree oil and Manuka Honey?

Keeping an old fasioned portable paper nature diary:

Despite enjoying our electronic diary here online, I am finding the children do not take this diary as personally as I would have liked a nature diary to become! So we are again starting individual 'paper' nature diaries.

The advantage of course of having an electronic diary is that you are at liberty to put a million and one photographs into it with little extra cost.

The advantage of the old fashioned paper diary/journal is that you get to practise drawing/painting, sketching etc from real life! And a child is not limited to a computer screen in preparation time; meaning that with the electronic diary, journaling/recording is done at home after a nature escapade. A paper nature diary is more portable and can be carried with you and can be used on any given nature expidition, given the time and right circumstance i.e. not too hot, windy or rainy. 

 

Of course the whole world can share an electronic nature diary, but then an old fasioned paper diary can be a book that is made for keeps that can be kept to show your grandchildren oneday. Todays work has beautiful beginnings and is well worth the effort as it promises to develop into a books of great value in years to come. 

What do you think? Paper or electronic? Probably both - eh???

Spring: a distant memory, but around the corner

Here are some of last year's spring photos taken by Joy and Erica and some by Granny Murray too:


Catching lambs at our friends house:

Still too chilly for a decent swim but not too cold to fish. 

Below, Random photographs of Spring 'out West' - Ipswich way. Weivenhoe Dam in October last year high but not as high as it got this January.And
Baby farm animals and sun flowers @ Ipswich animal centre plus miscellaneous flowers etc

 

Still 'out West'. A friends wicking garden below: it has an underground dam which can be topped up though a pipe. It has special drainage so that it does not get too high in rain

One of our favourite haunts is the Daisy Hill Koala Nature sanctuary:

There are some editing problems with blogger tonight so I can't move photograph or even delete them so forgive the mish mash and repeats, this Silky is form Ipswich.

Paper bark.

And back to Daisy Hill, the wallabies seem to have hopped right away. I give up will try and find them for you another day!

A mother Magpie below feeds her overgrown and demanding baby at our friend, Zach's park.