X marks the spot?

This week's scatterday is things starting with X
(and no catagories - just take photos of stuff starting with x)

What a pity I don't have a treasure map with an x on it ... I could go dig up the gold/etc and get rich - LOL

(and if I had a treasure map it might be because I was a pirate and I might be sailing a
xebec - which is a small three-masted pirate ship)

x rated is probably not a good idea for a photo on this blog either ...
(unless you consider my belly button to be x-rated! LOL)

btw, interesting? trivia time: it was interesting to find out (after a bit of google searching) that Winkipop beach (where they have the surfing contest if the surf isn't ok next door at Bells beach, near Melbourne) was actually named after a code word/euphamism for an X-rated activity! - see http://www.winkipopsurf.com.au/main.asp?_=The%20name )

anyway ... I guess I need some X photos ...

which I guess is not meant to be easy - especially seeing that, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X - "No words in the Basic English vocabulary begin with X"

... yes sure ... lol - luckily most of us have more than a basic understanding of English - LOL (or know some other language or can find some other creative way to find x things - lol)

how about:

Xylem

it's a bit small to see, but it is on there - the label says so - LOL
The xylem is the bit of the plant that transports water up from the roots to the rest of the plant.

(it comes in handy working in the science area of a high school - I can find all sorts of interesting things for blog photos/etc ;-)

Actually ... seeing that xylem is what actually what wood is made of - I guess I can find/take another photo of some xylem -

not only is it Xylem - it is a X-section - of a tree trunk.

Now what else have I got lying around at work?

ah - the chemical store is a good place to look - I found some Xanthydrol (whatever that is ... actually I think it is used to test for Urea) and some Xylol (goodnes knows why that stuff is in there either)

and possibly some Xylene if one can believe that crossed out and re-written label (actually I think Xylene is just another name for Xylol anyway) ... that label, and the fact that the bottles are so old they are in ounces and pints, and the fact that it is rather toxic, is the reason the Xylol (and/or xylene ;-) is being disposed of (along with a pile of other old/nasty stuff I found in there).

but I didn't find any Xanthan gum or any Xanthomonas campestris (the bacteria they use to make the stuff)

so what else can I find?

how about an XS650 ?

DH and I were at some motorbike races at Eastern Creek (in Sydney) on Sunday, so I figured that there might be some sort of bike that had a name starting with an x ... and I found one - a Yamaha xs650. I think the owner was a bit confused when I told him why I was taking the photo - lol

That is definitely 3 x things - "but wait - there's more"

Xanthorrhoea
(yes I said XANThorrhoea not DIAhorrhoea - lol)

... I saw a few of these on the way home on Sunday (on the hill just after going past Lake George) but DH was driving and I don't think he would have stopped for me to take a photo even if I had asked him to ... and there probably wasn't anywhere safe to stop on the side of the road there anyway) ... so ... "here is one I prepared earlier"? - actually I found a couple photos I have taken in the last few years

This one

was ... er ... somewhere ... probably East of Canberra - it was on a Land Rover Club trip back in May 2000.

I took this photo in April 2002

another couple of Xanthorrhoeas
... on a Scout hike in the Pierce's creek forest ... which now looks nothing like it did back then, because most of it was burnt in the bushfires in January 2003

(although it is amazing just how much stuff is now growing back)

There is one thing I wish I did have a photo (or even better - a video) of - and that was when I was a kid, and we lived on a farm, and Dad used to take me driving in the farm vehicle (which we used to call "the jeep" even though I think it was probablly an old Land Rover that looked like the army Jeeps on TV shows like "Mash") and one day he was driving me around in the "regrowth paddock" which used to have a lot of these plants in it - not tall ones on black trunks, just short wide ones with lots of spiky leaves coming up from fairly close to the ground - just the right height so that this particular day Dad managed to get us "bogged" on top of one of them with all 4 wheels off the ground! LOL (getting unbogged was relatively easy - Dad just got out and pushed and the "jeep" slid off enough so that a wheel was on the ground and could get some grip ... in fact knowing Dad - he probably got us "stuck" on purpose ;-)

btw - for those who don't know much about them - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanthorrhoea has some info about these weird and wonderful looking plants.

Surely I can find a few more X things ...

I am not the FBI so I don't have any "X files"

I (hopefully) have 2 X chromasomes in each of my cells (except the egg cells in my ovaries I guess - if I remember rightly those should only have one) ... but I don't have a photo of those - LOL (if you want to see one - "google" it yourself - lol)

I am not even sure what the X factor is, and ditto for "chemical x" (one of the ingredients that the "Power Puff Girls" were made of ... gee there are some weird cartoons on TV)

Hmmm - maybe this is "chemical x"?

at least this one does have a label to say what it is (I found a few things, in the chemical store at work, that didn't! ... this one is some spray cleaner that was used as an "unknown" for a lesson where the students tested the pH of a few household chemicals and then had to work out what ones "x" and "y" and "z" were likely to be - the "x" was over the label when the students did the practical lesson - I wonder how many cheated and looked underneath the "x"? LOL)

I also found some X-Ray film hanging around in a store room at work (I have some here at home too, but I was already in the store room getting a photo of the tree X-sections so I grabbed the X-rays and took a photo of them too)

and I even took a photo of an old X-ray machine a couple weeks ago ... it was part of that old dentist surgery display I posted a photo of recently ( http://aykayem.blogspot.com/2008/03/25-challenge-when.html )

here is the bit of the photo that shows the X-ray machine:

eek! - it looks like a manic robotic vacuum cleaner or something!

I wonder what else I can find?

I don't have an X - plane ... but I would love to fly in one!

and I don't want any xtc/x (those are both nicknames 4 the drug Extacy)

I can't include a photo of me, because I am not a "10" (X is 10 in Roman Numerals)

I have a sneaking suspicion that the photocopier at work isn't a Xerox

(so I didn't bother to go up and take a photo of it)

and I wouldn't have a clue if this computer uses the "X Window system" or even what it is ...

... but I do know what usually happens when I hit the x on a (computer) window - LOL

I have a blog on Xanga ( http://weblog.xanga.com/aykayem ... I think) ... not that I ever post anything to it (I only created it so I could see how well it worked and if I liked it (I didn't - I like blogger - that is why I am still blogging here)

I don't want to go to Xtube ... apparently it is kind of like Youtube ... but with X (rated) stuff instead of you (and me) type stuff - LOL

I didn't ever take any photos of the Xeriscape garden here in Canberra ... and it has now closed down ... which is a bit odd seeing we now have a drought/water shortage and people really could do with a few ideas/lessons on how to grow stuff that doesn't need much water ...

and I have not been near a railway xing .
and I don't have a poster of the x (times) tables.

this is eXtremely good fun ...

I did a google search for X

and found the Wiki page for X ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X )

... and a few other odd things ... including a punk band called "X" - lol - and a couple of links to medical stuff about X-linked genetic diseases ... and

... ooooooh - lots more ideas here! - http://phrontistery.info/x.html

(that is where I found out about that small 3 masted pirate ship - lol)

a woodlouse (slater) is both of these:
xylophagous - wood-eating
xylophilous - fond of wood; living in or on wood

so I just took a photo of 3 woodlice ... otherwise known as slaters ... - 3 xylophagous Xylophiles!

- yes - I had to bring them in and put them on the floor inside - it was too dark outside! (but not too dark to find some - I thought I was going to have to go digging around at the edge where the lawn meets the garden beds, but these were under a cushion at the edge of the pergola! ... and to think I nearly didn't bother to lift it up and look under it - lol) ... and I had to put them on the floor because they kept crawling OFF my hand before I could even think about pointing the camera at them ... they kept crawling apart/out of my photo on the floor too ... and the cat kept standing on top of them - she wasn't particularly interested in the slaters - she just wanted to be right in the middle of whatever it was that I was doing!

ok I have eXhausted most of the x words (well there are some left, but I am eXhausted - lol)

so lets have something that looks like an X:

- here (actually it was in Sydney, in January) is a spider trying to look like an X

sorry - it is a bit blurry and I didn't get a better photo ... I think it might be a Saint Andrew's Cross spider ... or it might just be doing a good job of looking like one ... (I can see part of the X that they usually do on their webs on this one ... in the bottom left corner of the picture ... but I am not sure if they are the only sort of spider that does that)

and here are some spiders who are not pretending to be the letter X

- Charlotte and Henry:

yes - the same ones I posted about a week or 2 ago ( http://aykayem.blogspot.com/2008/03/hello-hairylegs.html )

hmmm ... Henry seems to have lost a couple of legs somewhere.
(dd named the big one "Charlotte" the day we first saw them ... so I decided that the other one could be "Henry" ... Henry hairylegs - lol ... or if he keeps loosing legs he will have to be Henry hoppalong ...)

anyway ... where was I?

oh yes - X
am I an eXpert?

have I eXcelled myself?
or have I gone to eXcess?
or am I just being eXtremely eXasperating?

maybe I should be eXpecting to be eXpelled from the challenge after this lot?!

X marks the spot where I should stop!

Y am I still up at this late hour? (it is now just after 3am!)

Zzzzzz is what I should be off doing.

and that brings us back to A

... which I just noticed (AFTER typing the xyz stuff!) is the next Letter we are doing!

- yes next Saturday we have to post pictures of things starting with the letter A, and the catagories are Restaurant, Something you find in the dark, Turquoise. (hmmm ... at first glance, that lot looks harder than X was!)

25 Challenge - Eyes (my original idea for this week - with no yucky surprises)

Looks like eyes ...


Mouse?

Fish?

... but

Three?!

I made it

... Someone wants to buy it! ... but is it for sale???

(and if so - how much?!)

25 challenge - Eyes ... weird version

oooooh pretty!:



but what is it?



Are you sure you want to know?



ok



Here is the whole photo:



Eyes, after students have dissected them!

aNother N thiNg

Sorry - I just HAD to do this once I thought of it ...

I only just thought of another thing I could photograph for the letter N and "human"

(although it could probably also fit "little" because it is lost in my big belly, and "mineral" becuase you could possibly mine something Nasty from down in it's depths ... not that you would WANT to ... lol)

yes ...

... my NAVEL

Is YOUR bellybutton on the WWW? ... LOL

Now what should I do for the letter N?

This week's Scatterday is brought to you by the Letter N and Little things, Human, Mineral.

Little things ... hmmmm ... like Nanotechnology and Nannites and stuff?

I suppose I could post a picture of a buckyball or something ... LOL

or maybe I should find something that is little, but big enough for me to take a photo of?

Like Nuts

I had these in a box in the garage. Not a good photo - the smallest ones are blurry .. lol

Human ... ok How about Nose?

... Up my Nose! LOL

eek - too scary? LOL (I look like a Neanderthal!)

... how about up my DD's nose?

... and in her mouth - LOL - she didn't know I wanted an N photo for "Human" ... but she kind of let me get a rather good photo that shows a wonderful view up her nose! LOL

maybe this Nut is human? LOL

(yes - that IS me ... lol)

or is my finger or toe Nail a bit Nicer?

... er ... probably not! LOL- kind of Nasty actually - lol ... I could have cut my toenails and then taken a photo of the Nail clippings ... but the dog probably would have eaten them! (yes - he does that!)

now for minerals ...
There are lots of Nice ones ... but
I don't happen to have any handy samples of any of these Minerals:

(found on a few different websites that turned up when I did a google search for "mineral" ;-)
Natrojarosite
Nickelite
Nabesite
Nacrite
Nagyagite
Nahcolite
Native copper
Natrolite
Natron
Natrophilite
Nekrasovite
Nelenite
Nenadkevichite
Nepheline
Nephrite
Neptunite
Nickel
Nickeline
Niedermayrite
Niningerite
Niobite (synonym of columbite)
Niobite-tantalite (synonym of columbite-tantalite)
Nissonite
Nitratine
Nitre
Nontronite
Nosean
Nsutite
Nyerereite
Narsarsukite
Nealite
Norbergite
or any Neosillicates (or any other class of minerals that might begin with an N that I didn't bother searching for ;-)
Nor did I have any Nitrogen ... which is actually an element rather than a mineral, although people do refer to it as a mineral when they are talking about nitrogen in soil on their farm or in their garden ... lol

(actually it is possible, but not probable, that I may have been able to find one of those in the rock collection at work ... but even if there is one there - I am not there to take the photo - lol)

so I decided I would rather take my own mineral photo ...

how about some NaCl? ... otherwise known as common or table salt

in it's Natural state it is known as the mineral Halite (rock salt).

No ... probably Not very good ... lol

- too bad - I have Not got anything else for Now ... so Nah Nah Nah ... (I am so Naughty)

25 challenge - WHEN ...

When ...

... did you last go to the dentist?

A display at the museum in Temora.

btw - That dentist looks more scary than the antique equipment!

Shedding some Light on the Letter L

ok ... I got home on Sunday evening (which is actually tonight - I am writing this early and saving it to post on Scatterday) and I came in here to check my e-mail and look up what the letter/etc for this week is
- ah - the Letter L - Household Items, Things That Are Round, Tools.

... hmmm a household item? - I know - lightbulbs! ... I could take one of the light on the ceiling:


or ... a whole bunch of light bulbs in the shed - hey - some of those are ROUND! - I could take one photo for 2 things ... or could it be all 3? - not sure one would call a light bulb a tool though, ...

... but then again - this "Trouble light" is!


... that could be all 3 things - it has a round light globe in it! ... well it did last time I looked ... now it has a Long one ... Lots more Light for a Lot Less energy ... and Longer Life too. (should I stop that now, before you all go Loopy?)

... I guess I could try for 3 different photos?
starting off with, for the household item, my green Lava Lamp!

with Lovely round Lumps of Lime green "lava" in it - lol

actually I just took that photo and then noticed that the Lamp is on the stand for the LCD TV ... another household item - lol

now, can I find a ROUND lolly? ... I think DD ate all those ... I wonder what else I can find?
I know - a Lemon is round ... ish ...

[note to self - remember to make a nice round slice of lemon when I cut it, and take a photo of that - then it will be round and Lemon]
actualy I probably don't need to do that - the one on the Left is quite round anyway ... the one on the right just Looks round because of the way up it is Lying ...


those Lemons were given to us by the Lovely Ladies at the second hand shop (with Lots of Little household items) we had a Look in today (in a Little town called Ariah Park) ... we being a Little group of 6 couples who belong to the Landrover club!

and I know where (in my sewing room) I can find a Lace bobbin ... I think that is a TOOL - one needs a few pairs of them to make bobbin lace!

pity I only have these 3 (one and a half pairs? - lol) and another 4 buried in the pile of mess somewhere (2 more pairs) ... 3 1/2 pairs of bobbins is not quite enough even for a beginner to start with ... sigh. (mind you - can anyone who knows me see ME having the PATIENCE to do lots of very slow to "grow" bobbin lace?!!??!!!)

maybe my Light box would be a better thing for my tool - I actually USE that.

(I know - it is an odd looking light box - it is actually a wooden box I found somewhere, with a "power supply" sitting in it (a box that converts 240v to 2/4/6/8/12v - depending where u turn the knob) and a 12v globe (and holder/cord) from some dead/broken bit of science equipment and a sheet of clear plastic on top (I put a bit of white paper between that and what I am tracing to make it more opaque/less glarey) ... I have also used it without the power supply/12v globe and used the "trouble light" in there, but that was before I got the 12v globe/holder thingy, which probaly doesn't get so hot as a 240v globe does, and probably uses less power? ... and I can turn the knob to less than 12v and get a dimmer light - which is often better for tracing stuff than a really bright one)

I think I have a Leather punch at work - that would be even better for a tool, if I remember to take a picture of it!

(I remembered ;-)

... and I wonder if I can find a Letter opener - that is a tool and a household item.

(forgot to do that earlier, can't be bothered trying to find the darn thing now - it could be anywhere!)

And - I almost forgot the "doozy" I mentioned in my post on Sunday night - a machine is just a big complicated tool right? ... because if it is - how about this - a Linotype machine!


... actually this one is an "Intertype" ... but "Linotype" was what the first ones were called, by the person who invented them ... and it kind of became the generic name for them (much like how any brand of ball point pen gets called a "Biro").
If you want to know what it does - there is an article, with lots of info, here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linotype_machine
I remember I used to sometimes go visit Mum at work (on my way home from school) when she was working at a place that published the local newspaper, and printed all sorts of stuff, and I used to spend ages watching the bloke operating the Linotype machine ... it was almost as fascinating as the folding machine, that folded up the big printed sheets into a ready to read newspaper.

and if that isn't ok - another thing I found, and took a picture of, at the Museum we spent the day at on Saturday (that is where that old pink ice cream van was ;-) ... was a couple of old Lawnmowers

... Victa Lawnmowers actually - anyone remember "zipetty doo dah, Zippety day, zip on the Victa and zip right away"?

btw ... notice the name on that can of stuff in the top right hand corner of that photo? LOL

- here is a close up:

oh yes - Lovely name! [sarcasm]

I also thought of something else while taking the photos I took around the house while writing this - a round "Linux for Dummies" disk


... it is in the back of the "Linux for Dummies" book that is sitting on a shelf in here (I was actually looking for any of the disks of Linux software that I am sure DH has hanging around in here, but I found the book instead - luckily it is a typical computer book and had a disk in it ;-)

I also took one more photo during the week ... but it was a bit blurry - a couple of the Lovely Little tomatos that are growing by the front door:

(the plants popped up in a friend's garden, and needed thinning, so she gave me some ... it is kind of nice being able to wander in/out the front door and stop and pick, and eat, a tiny tomato or two ... or twelve - lol)

and ... Last but not Least? - a Lovely green Loo!


(well the room is green ... the loo is white, and round ... well the hole is ... lol) I assume a Loo is a household item? ... don't think I would want to be living in a house without one! (even an outside one would be better than a "P behind a tree" on a cold and frosty morning .

This loo was in the Pub where the 12 of us on the Land Rover Club trip to Temora had our morning tea on Sunday - in the bustling metropolis (not ;-) of Ariah Park ... lol (ah - it was so nice to get OUT of the rat race for a while)

... I love those old style cisterns - it's been a while since I have had to "yank the chain" ... LOL

now I just have to save this post as a draft and remember to actually post it on Saturday! LOL

I couldn't help it ... was here now (Thursday pm) messing around with another blog post, and fiddling around putting a few labels on posts I forgot to label, and on this post and a couple of others I have saved as drafts ... and this song, which I remember from years ago, is going around in my head again (it does from time to time - whenever I get reminded of it - drives me nuts - lol) ... I did a search and found it on Youtube and I just have to share it with you:

He he he - I could have just posted that, instead of finding/taking all those other photos! LOL

(but taking/finding/writing about those photos was such fun - LOL)

Lorem ipsum, Etaoin Shrdlu.

Hello Hairylegs

Yesterday afternoon DD told me to come out the front, with the camera ... yes - she knows what I like - LOL

Yes - a HUGE spider!

2 ... or more ... actually ...

(I climbed into the bushes behind the web to take this photo ... that is the front dooway to our house on the left ... and a whole pile of cars in our driveway in the background - lol - 3 drivers in the house (one with no money) and 4 cars ... and a motorbike in the garage ... how sad is that?! lol ... DS is the one with no money ... still at school ... drives our 3rd car when he gets given any petrol money by us/his friends ... and the bloke accross the road gave him the old car that he had sitting out the front for a year or 2 - doesn't go at the moment, but probably only needs a little bit of work, and a bit of money, to get it on the road again)

This is the big spider -

with hairy legs and bald knees!

... and the most amazing pattern on her abdomen (click on the photo to see the full size one ... if you want to :-)

This one was smaller than the other one - probably the male.

and if you don't like spiders, then maybe you should not click on the images to see the even bigger versions of them - LOL

but maye you like spider webs?

This is their web:

and here is a close up of part of it:

and this is a totally different spider's web:

- i took this photo at work today - the spider has been living (had a web) here all week (and maybe longer - I only noticed it about a week ago but it may have been here longer ... I am busy at work, and don"t always have time to notice all the comings and goings in the garden outside the staff room)

and this one is a couple of wonderful wet webs in Sydney late last year:

... and here is a wiggly web on the window at work a while ago (Feb 2006)

and a fuzzy web at a friend's place (also taken in Feb 2006)


I could probably find more web pictures if I spent more time looking, but I have spent ages typing this and now it is actually Saturday (because it is now after Midnight - the time on this post is when I STARTED typing it - LOL) - so I have some L stuff to post!