Friday 13 June 2014

Dandelions

Okay, so I am writing a debate for one of my classes at school and I decided I would use the structure of a dandelion to support my case. Anyway, I have been researching them (there is surprisingly little information on them) and I have found out just how amazingly intricate they actually are!

dandelions

Okay, just looking at the flower head, we can see bright, happy yellow petals around the outside, darkening to almost orange towards the middle. Actually, the inner petals are not petals at all - they are mini flowers.

flower

So you can see the inner "petals" split and curl at the top? Well, they are the tiny flowers. This structure gives more pollen for the bees to collect - more honey! 

pollen

The inner flowers of this ingenious design close at night, giving an incredible pattern.

close

pattern

You can see the individual petals on each flower here. The shape of the flower looks almost like a heart!

Okay, so now I'll move on to the seed head.

head

The soft fluffiness not only creates a perfect sphere, but it also creates a "parachute" for the seed as it blows around in the wind, searching for a new home to create its own masterpiece.

seed

As the seed blows on, the parachute begins to change into a ball of its own, now providing protection for the delicate seed with so much potential all around it, cushioning its landing.

parachute

Going back a few steps, I'll now talk about the little white dimply part that the seeds hold on to.

dimples

I have always thought of it looking like a microphone (the misconceptions we can have as children) but I have found that if you look really really really carefully, you can see little holes in each dimple where each seed latches on to, receiving all the nutrients it needs to grow and form a little life.

holes

Not yet. Closer...

barbs

There! You see the little holes? At this level, you can also see the the barb-like structure on the seeds themselves. This is to help with them being "planted", kind of like cobbler's pegs (though no where near as annoying).

The stem itself is pretty cool. It is hollow, giving it the structure of a bird's bones.

stem

The white sappy stuff has anti-fungal properties, meaning that it can be used on warts, athlete's foot and other fungal problems.

I have always thought the jagged leaves (for which dandelions are named - dent de lion, which is French for lion's tooth) didn't suit the rest of the soft, delicate plant. However, the leaves are extremely high in vitamins (especially a) and are recommended everywhere to be used in stir fries.

leaves

stirfry

Who would pass up something that looks as delicious as that?

The leaves can also be used to make tea.

tea

Okay, so I'm nearly done. So, what's left? Well, the root of course! What is so significant about the root? Well...
The root can be used as a substitute for coffee!

coffee

Now, I haven't tried this and I don't actually know what it tastes like, but apparently it can help with heart disease and diabetes.

Well, I hope you now can appreciate dandelions as much as I do.

dandelion

Friday 9 May 2014

Turning Point

Yesterday I got back from my last school camp at Luther Heights, Coolum. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Yes, we did some amazing activities and yes, it was a chill camp, so everything we did was going to be fun anyway, but it has given me the opportunity to become closer to two of the most important people in my life: God and my best friend.

We left for camp on Tuesday and did pretty much nothing all day. We spent all of Wednesday at the beach. Thursday was spent doing activities back at camp and yesterday (Friday) we came back home.

Okay, so now that you know the general layout of camp, I will begin.

So after arriving on Tuesday, we had lunch, then went down to the beach, then came back to camp, had dinner, watched Pitch Perfect, then went to bed.
On Wednesday, we went for an early morning walk along the beach, came back, had breakfast, then played 1 2 3 Freeze on the basketball courts (if you don't know what it is, it is a basketball game kind of like Hot Seat, but if someone gets a hoop, everyone runs and the person who got a hoop calls "1 2 3 freeze" and everyone freezes and the person has to roll the ball and get someone out). After that, we went back down to the beach and did a bit of shopping, then we came back for lunch, and then we went back to the beach. We came back to have dinner, then we split into guys/girls groups. I can only speak for the girls (obviously), but it was so amazingly deep. One of the girls shared her testimony about how God saved her out of depression and it spoke to all of us so deeply. The Holy Spirit filled everyone's hearts and everyone in the room was either crying, praying or both. It was so overwhelming and it has changed my life so much.
After that, we joined again with the guys and had a camp fire and my best friend gave me one of the most touching letters I have ever received about how I have changed his life.
On Thursday we went on another morning walk, had breakfast again and then went through a labyrinth. I assume it was supposed to be deep, but the guy explaining what to do was too vague and it just became awkward. We then went shopping again, had lunch and then did the high ropes course. It was so much fun and jumping off at the end was a great challenge, but all-in-all it wasn't too bad. We had dinner and split up again, but this time the guys were with the female teachers and we were with the male teachers. Basically, they told us about how girls have a certain beauty that guys don't have and that we should cherish it because it is so rare in the girls of today's society. After that we had a dance night and then went to bed again.
Yesterday we went on the walk, had breakfast, packed, then went shopping one last time (from 9:30 to 12). We came back to camp, had lunch and then left. I was in the little bus and I sat next to him and we had such a deep conversation. After stopping at Kilcoy, we got back on the bus. Everyone was in their own little world, having their personal conversations. A few people were singing, but they were different songs and they were clashing. I decided I would sing my own song - Fireflies - to drown out the noise. By the end of the song, everyone on the bus was singing along with me. The most amazing part of all of it was that everyone had agreed on something without even discussing it. No one spoke, we all just worked together.

Camp was amazing and this is one of those very few times when I am going to say that I wish I could be on camp forever. I don't generally say that because it always takes so much out of me and I'm so tired by the end. Yes, I am really tired from camp, but if we didn't do so much in such a small amount of time - if the activities were spread out further - I would definitely spend at least the next year at camp.

Tuesday 21 January 2014

This is not funny - it's PUNNY!


So, I know everyone is probably so over puns, but I thought I really had to get all my amazing (horrible) puns out into the world (though most of them you've probably already heard most, if not all, of them...).

We went to the beach on Saturday (true story) and I couldn't stand leaving without my sand shoes. So we went back to roll them in the sand...

The next day I plaited my hair and put it in a bun because the wind was blowing it in my face and it was getting annoying. I then realised I had just watched an episode of the Brady Bunch...

So does anyone else find that joke rotten, or am I just orchestrating nonsense?

One of my dad's mates was in a motorcycle accident and had his left arm and leg amputated. We heard from him the other day and he's alright now.

I met a clown at the bank on Friday and held the door open for him. My mum always told me it was a nice jester.

Show me a piano down a mine-shaft and I'll show you A-flat minor.


Smile!

My pet cow gave up coffee and has now given birth. Now she's de-calf-enated!

My brother was deciding whether he should grow a beard. He rang his friend:
"Hey, John. I mustache you a question."
"You nose I am hair-ing you."
"No, I'll shave it for later."

The pirate alphabet consists of ten letters: Aye aye, aaaaaaaaarrrr and the seven seas.
Santa's alphabet consists of billions of letters.

If there were four men and four cigarettes in a boat but not lighter or match, how can they smoke?
Throw a cigarette overboard and they'll become a cigarette lighter.

Okay, well I really should stop, and let's hope this never becomes a performance - it'll be a play on words...

Saturday 18 January 2014

Why watch a movie... when you can READ?!

I'm that person who would rather read the book than watch the movie. I feel the emotions stronger. I get attached to the characters better. I even (sometimes) end up finding myself (almost) falling in love with the main guy in the story (depending on what genre the book is), but it never happens when I watch a movie. I guess it's probably bad feeling that way towards a fictional character (especially when considering my current circumstances)...

I enjoy gardening. In fact, I prefer plants to animals. Animals annoy me. The constantly need feeding and they don't shut up when they want something. Plants are quiet, shady and without them, we would not be here.

I prefer knitting and making things to buying them. If I see something in the shop, say a cushion or blanket, I immediately start thinking of how I could change it slightly to something I would like even better. Home decorating shops inspire me. I walk in and everywhere I look, I see something that I think I could make, but with a slight twist. I could spend an entire day just window shopping.

I love absolutely everything to do with music. It is so beautiful and every time I listen to it, I could just sink into the song and live there among the harmonies and the different levels of instruments and pitch. I believe music is one of the most powerful sources of life and death. It has potential to bring people up, and to also knock them down. It is intensely astounding.

I prefer being outside to inside. However, I generally hate playing sport. Okay, so I enjoy playing volleyball or soccer, maybe even basketball, with my friends, but I don't enjoy playing a full on game of sport. I prefer sitting outside, enjoying life, enjoying nature.

Down to the point, if you'd never met me before reading this, you would never have guessed I am not even out of high school... Or maybe you would've. Maybe I tend to over exaggerate. Maybe my "weirdness" is really all in my head an I'm more normal than I want to believe (except for my love of school, especially maths).

Maybe I should just stop reading romance novels... Nope - they're way too good...

Back to writing songs...