this is a good thread. i got soo much out of that faith thread, before it turned into an intellectual swordfight. this is a similar place to come to, so thanks again Jerry.

my sister and her husband have always had good houses on their farms in the country.

when i was in my teens i used to visit the house that rosie's husband Bill built out of rock. it was in a little, isolated tree covered valley in between blackheath and little hartley in the Blue Mountains (NSW, australia). Bill built it with love and called it Goannamanna. flannel flowers grew in nooks and crannies amongst the native bushland there. They ran a cattle farm there for some years. I used to sit on the verandah in the afternoons, reading or having a cup of tea with my sister rosie, listening to the bird calls and the sounds of the tinkling river below. there is a photo of me and my sister on that verandah, with one of my brothers and our friend jim, on my mudcat photos.

some years on bill and rosie sold goannamanna and bought a new farm, further north. again, they had the verandah, the bush, the bird calls and the tinkling river. but they also had another inhabitant in the house, and i remember the first time i met him.

i had been sitting on that verandah, with the cup of tea. reading, listening to the gentle sounds of the river, and listening to the birds. i was absorbed in my book for about 20 minutes. suddenly i got that feeling, when you know someone is looking at you. i looked up, and saw a huge, long diamond python coiled around the verandah post. it was rubbing its head against the post, and i watched as it slowly rubbed against the post and shed its skin, using the post as athing to peel the skin off against.

i sat watching for 40 minutes, not moving, my heart beating, not wanting to attract the snake's attention.

rosie came out with a cup of tea and i cautioned her to be still. she looked at me and laughed, and said, oh, thats fred, he lives in the roof. he's harmless, and he keeps the rats and mice away.

well, she sat down next to me, and did i enjoy that next cup of tea!



freda