Queensland - GIANT WOOD MOTH

In late Spring and early Summer in Queensland Eastern Australia, the RSPCA and the various Wild Life people often receive calls from people who report seeing birds flying at night around street lights.
What they are seeing is the Giant Wood Moth that has hatched from its pupae in eucalypt trees.
YES! They are so huge that they resemble a small bird.
Here is one in the palm of my husband Rays hand.

  The Giant Wood Moth is the Worlds largest moth weighing in at 30 grams and with a wing span of 25 cms .(10 inches). The aborigines used to travel down the water courses searching for these delicacies to cook and eat them.
They are also an enjoyable meal for the Black Cockatoos, who use their strong bills to rip open tree bark, uncover and eat them.  Between the Moth and the Cockatoo, the trees can be destroyed.

I have been told that the wood moth will eat a hole into a pineapple, then eat the whole inside of the fruit just leaving the shell remaining.

NEXT POST will be on our cockatoos.... we have many different varieties.
AND.... The Lord God made them all. 

About Elyshah

Yes!  he was named after the bible prophet, with the spelling slightly changed.
Elyshah is my daughter Daniella's second son.

You watch your children and then grandchildren from birth to maturity.

Ely pictured on the left with his brother Antonio right.
This is my daughter Femia's work depicting yesteryear styles. 
These old time sepia photos are my favorite.

Returning for a visit to the U.S. in 2008 Ray and I took Elyshah with us.
Up until then, life had been pretty hard on this little family.
Ray and I wanted to make a difference to their lives.
Ely pictured then in Arizona.....on our road trip from L.A. to TN.

Ely loved Tennessee and all the sweet people he met there.
Since then it has been school.... and study.
Last week he graduated from Year Twelve at Gympie State High School.

My daughter Daniella, his mother took these photo.... with Shannon and other graduates.

They all look so grown up!
It was a surprise for me to now see him as a young man.
Its strange, but I always see the children as just that. 
Now I need to admit, he is another grandchild, come of age.


This photo with his mother, my daughter Daniella and sister/granddaughter Shiarny turned out blurry.
But they are there, supporting him proudly.

Time goes by, and before long it will be other grandchildren graduating on to better things.
Elyshah is to take up Law at University next year. 
An appropriate career choice as he is an excellent debtor.

My Prayer and Blessing for Ely:
Psalm  1:3  "And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, 
That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, 
Whose leaf also doth not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

Dé·jà vu

I saw this photo on Facebook depicting fashions back in the nineteen twenties.
The first little girl on the left looks just like myself and my eldest daughter when we were of similar age.
I can't stop looking at it..
A shadow is cast over her face, and yet the look is still there.. 

Me (Crystal) at age 4.  Give me a bob haircut and a hat....

The same with my daughter Femia... turn her face the same way as the little model, and its her.
Maybe others can't see this, but as soon as I looked at that old photo, it was like seeing my daughter at that age. I then realised it also looked like myself. I had never considered Femia looked like me and yet now, in a photo, I can see it... I wish I had more photos of my children when they were young.

I Love You Femia.     

My Sisters-In-Christ

I am home again and Peter is back at full time work.
Thank you all so much for your prayers...they mean more than I can say.

It was a long long trip back home, through many sugar cane plantations and past road repairs.
The worst thing was the burn-off's ... This is when the cane is burnt and thick smoke stifles your breath and clouds your view.

It took a day and a half to get home. Then after a good rest, some house cleaning and washing I was off again to meet with old friends.
The three of them flew up from Sydney to meet me at Mooloolaba (mid Sunshine Coast).
I have know them from forty four to almost fifty years.  A long time, yet this is the first time in many years, we have come together.
What a joy! Only for three nights but every minute was a thrill.

An Aerial View....of where we stayed.
I have draw around the complex and put an X on our suite.

My friends live in New South Wales, where I came from originally.....they all called this paradise.
(I believe Heaven will be a thousand times nicer.)
The waters of the Pacific ocean are a clear Blue/Green and absolutely brilliant.

The view from our balcony.  Fresh sea air blew in through the sliding doors so there was no need for the air-con.  Waves crashing on the beach soon put all us weary chooks to sleep at night.

Below left: Me, Angelina (my Godmother) and Janette (my Cousin).    Kathleen took the photo.

We are here waiting on a bus to take us to the next town. In younger years we would have walked, it was only about two miles.
I was contemplating dying my hair back to the original blond, we are vain creatures aren't we.
But Ray likes it natural, so here I am.

This is Kathleen... her sister was my sister-in-law, and both were as my own sisters. Our children all grew up very closely together. My children call her Zia Kathy... (Italian for Auntie).

I loved our time together..
How sweet is friendship!

The best part of all is, they are my sisters-in-Christ.
May the Lord richly Bless them and their families always.

Romans 12:10  
"Love one another with sisterly/brotherly affection. 
Out do one another in showing honor."

Everything Is Possible With God

I returned from visiting my son Peter two days ago.
I ask all who read this to say a prayer for his physical and mental well being.

All mothers would like to walk the journey of life for their offspring. 
We can't do that...  BUT, we can PRAY for them.

"Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God."
Luke 18:27