The Dubbo Chronicles No. 9 - Some Enchanted Evening.

A friend of mine invited me to see Marina Prior and David Hobson performing at the Dubbo Regional Theatre last night.  Marina Prior is an Australian soprano acclaimed for her roles in musical theatre, esp that of Christine in The Phantom.

David Hobson is an Australian Tenor famous for his operatic performances, particularly his role as Rudolfo in Baz Lurhman's 1990 production of La Boheme.

Their show was entitled "Some Enchanted Evening", and comprised a range of musical songs, operatic arias and contemporary pieces.

The title of course was taken from the Rogers & Hammerstein musical South Pacific. It was a lovely evening, even though they didn't perform Some enchanted evening, which was a pity as it is a song I know well (Peter has a recording of it on 78 which we often take out on the wind-up gramophone when we go for picnics).

I found this performance, by Ma-Anne Dionisio, Randall Keith and Joseph Mahowald, of Some Enchanted Evening. I had never heard of any of these singers before, but they are all quite accomplished...

African Iris - Dietes grandiflora; and Iris Kampfriare...

With Winter approaching it is almost time to complete the plantings around the lake. Over the last 2 years we have planted many Waterlilies (twice over), lots of Dutch and Flag Irises (which die back when not in flower, and Day Lilies. When looking at finishing the verge plantings we looked at a lot of different reeds and rushes and found these African Irises (Dietes grandiflora), which once they have finished flowering keep their long green reed-like appearance. They divide quite ferociously and should quickly help screen out any remaining visible rubber at the edge of the lake. Their flower is also delicately coloured, blending well with the other colours of the lake. We will also plant them down the length of the brook, to help achieve that truly riparian look.

 Above: The dense thick green leaves

Below: The delicate white flowers with a purple blush and yellow stamen

Interspersed with these we will plant a few Iris kampfriare.. We first saw these when we visited our architect's garden. He is an avid water gardener, and at the time his kampfriares were in full bloom.

Some of  lovely specimens which our architect Chris cultivates...

They grow to almost 4 feet tall...

The blooms are absolutely gorgeous, but like the irises we have already planted, their leaves dies back when not in flower.

Transplanting trees with a Tree Spade...

When we had the base course for the drive put down, and the entrance block work put up, it became clear that the plane trees we planted 3 years ago were quite a way off centre with where the drive ended up being placed. Also, over the 3 years it became clear that some of the trees were growing at different rates. So, we had a tree spade come in to dig up all the trees, swap them all around so that the heights were more balanced, and place them  very accurately and symmetrically on either side of the drive (within an inch or two).

Above: A photo taken of the trees last year. One wouldn't want to dig out 30 of these with a spade and shift them by hand. The other good thing about the tree spade is that all the bulbs which were planted around the base of the trees were transplanted as well.

Above: Tree spade cutting the hole
Below: Planting the trees

Below: Newly placed trees

Dubbo Chronicles No. 8...Greased Hog Wrestling at the County Fair

Well, not quite. But I did spend the day with friends at the Dubbo Annual Show. I entered into the spirit of the day by getting my best country shirt and jeans on.

We started off in the sheep tent, where there were plenty of different breeds on display, including Suffolk sheep...

Beloved Dorset Horns...

Marinos...

Border Leicesters...

And a reminder of the eventual fate of most of the contestants..

There were also many farming displays and competitions such as wood chopping and shearing. Here are a couple of the young farmers in the shearing competition. The winner sheared 11 sheep in 9 minutes!

Then we found the cattle tent...

Below: A humped back Braford...

I think this was a Hereford, although these cattle were huge, more like hippos than cattle...

They were taken outside and paraded in a circle for the judging. The local  police women even entered a bull...

There was a Poultry Tent. Here are a few Prize Roosters...

We seemed to miss the show jumping, but did come across this strange-looking albino horse...

We then went to have a look at the food and produce tent...

Above: Cabinet upon cabinet of cakes.

Below: The winning entry, a brown fruit cake.

Jams...

Roses...

Fresh Produce...

There was even a prize for the best hay bale!

and fleece...

I was very surprised to see a quilt entirely of Golliwogs  But I guess rural Australia is not know for its political correctness.

After a few more beers at the local pop-up bar, we decided to leave to go into town to a gourmet pizza restaurant. This was lovely, and I got to meet some more people, including an avid equestrian who invited me up to her farm in Tamworth to go riding. After it got dark we decided to go back and relive our adolescence by going on some fairground rides. The first ride was amazing - a giant arm which went around and around taking you from the ground up into the air and back down again....

We should have stopped after that ride. Things kind of fell apart when we decided to go on the 'Gravitron' ride - designed like a giant washing machine on spin cycle where you are supposed to stick to the sides on plastic cushioning. However, my cushioning came loose and I flew up to the metal ceiling, hit my scalp and was concussed. I was pinned there until the end of the ride, my friends not being able to do anything for me as they were similarly pinned to the walls with centrifugal force. When the ride slowed down I fell back down to the ground and regained consciousness where my friends led me from the ride to get some fresh air. That brought the evening to a natural close, it was time to go home to bed. Never a dull moment in Dubbo.

Lodges and Gatehouses Two...

The Gatehouse of St Bartholomew's Hospital

The Gatehouse of St Bart's was Peter's office before he came to NZ. It is the entrance to the Hospital and Church, just off Smithfield Square. The hospital is the oldest hospital in London (though this is often disputed by St Thomas' whose records proving such a claim were destroyed in the fire). And it is the oldest hospital in Britain which still occupies the original site it was built on.

The gate house was built in 1702, although the hospital was founded in 1123 by the monk Rahere. Rahere was a monk who lived at the nearby priory of St Bartholomews (now the remaining church is known as St Bartholomew's the Great). He is said to have had a vision, of St Bartholomew when he fell ill on a pilgrimage in Rome. He was instructed to build a hospital. When he had recovered he returned to Smithfield and did so.

You can see the gatehouse - the main entrance to the hospital - in the etching above.

Most of the current hospital is Georgian, being built by James Gibbs in the 1730s, along with the  Great Hall, with it's Hogarth paintings up the stair well...

Above: Gibbs'Main Block and courtyard.

Below: The Hogarth Paintings of Christ at the Pool of Bethesda.

leading up the staircase...

to the Great Hall...

The large square outside the hospital was the site of the meat market (still there today providing most of London's meat). It was one of the social centres of medieval London life, and was also the site of the execution of William Wallace.

 The view from the top...