Silly Council Messed Up The Park

Our local council decided to "upgrade" and "beautify" the local pond in Civic Park.
The photo above is what it looks like today. All of the beautiful plants are gone, including the water lily that made the pond look amazing.
Sadly the only ones that seem to be enjoying the new look are the ducks.

Below are some photos of what the pond looked like before it all happened.

The bushes on the left of the photo show the plants around the poond.

Ahead of the ducks and to the right are more plants surrounding the pond.

What the water lily looked like on one side of the pond.

I understand the councils need to remake the bridge over the pond(s) & the new walkway looks nice but to have removed all of the plants that made the area look nice is something I just don't get.

Council are the first ones to complain and fine you if you chop down a tree without their permission. I believe they should have asked the public about the park before they wrecked it. Just my thoughts ...

Why I Love Living In The Country

This photo was taken out at Labertouche not far from where the boys went to primary school.

Brodie & I were talking the other day about why it's great to live in the country. Here's a list of some of the reasons why I love it so much.

• where else can you see a tractor driving through the main street of town?
• sometimes you may see a tractor parked at the local pub and the farmer has gone into the pub for a beer
• you may get to see a farmer and his tractor driving through the bottle shop at the pub
• things move at a slower pace
• there isn't all that traffic congestion during 'peak' hour 
• peak hour consists of 10 - 15 cars waiting at the round about and the congestion lasts for 10 minutes or less
• you can actually see the stars at night & the sky looks really pretty

A Nice View

Sorry the photo isn't the best but I took it with my mobile phone yesterday when Brodie & I were waiting at some road-works on the way out of Neerim South yesterday. That view is pretty much all you see just outside of town. Our town has similar views to this. Neerim South is a 15 - 20 minute drive up the mountains. Sometimes it takes longer if you get stuck behind a truck or a tractor. I just LOVE living in the country :D

It's mainly dairy country around here. There's a chicken farm and an egg farm in our area. Let me tell you the smells are NOT the best when the wind blows the wrong way. Thankfully we can't smell it where we live but I feel sorry for the people who can.

I need to remember to take my camera with me next time I go up to collect Brodie from work placement. That way I can take some more photos to share. It really is pretty up there.