Admin2 – Page 16 – Paluma – our village in the mist

Saturday Night Fever Hits Paluma

Last Saturday night (11/09) Paluma slipped back a few decades to celebrate the 1970’s. There were flowers everywhere and the dance music reverberated from the Community Hall as a group of about 18 villagers dined, sang, danced and laughed the night away until the wee hours.

The music might have been loud, but it wasn’t as loud as the outfits of some of the attendees. The colours of the rainbow were on show and the Community Hall was a sea of purple, pink, orange, yellow and some seriously psychedelic styles. Some of the really cool people wore their sunglasses all night and others donned flowers in their hair. Speaking of hair, it was everywhere. Danno rocked a ‘Fro’ and Neil and Jennie let their hair down….literally. Very groovy!

The new meeting room at the Hall was re-purposed and transformed into a disco, complete with dance floor, spinning mirror ball and music box. There certainly were some interesting dance moves from the patrons, but none were lacking in enthusiasm. Rumours abounded that Ross NEVER dances, but on the contrary…..just like Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, once you start him up, he never stops!

Barman Les worked a marathon five hours serving beverages from 6.30 pm to nearly midnight. The Bar did a roaring trade. The last of the dancers left the Hall in the wee hours to boogie their way home along Mount Spec Road.

Special thanks to Lynda, Jan and Peter for decorating the Hall in the Flower Power theme. Lynda went the extra mile for the community and deserves our utmost appreciation. Les and Lynn were steadfast as always in making sure everyone was welcome and had a great time. I reckon Barman Les might have needed a sleep-in on Sunday morning after working so hard!

The quality of the singing and dancing might have been questionable at times (yes Michele!), but the only prerequisite for the night was to have fun and enjoy the community spirit and the company of good friends and neighbours. That was achieved in spades!

Text by Michele Bird. Photos by Peter Cooke, Michele Bird & Jennie Robinson.

It’s Still Raining at Paluma

Just a point of clarification on my last post (of 1 September) referring to the Paluma rain gauge overflowing with a recording of 25.4 mm. Judging from some of the feedback I received, I think I may have created some confusion?!

The Paluma rain gauge consists of two main receptacles for collecting rainfall. The inner-most receptacle can collect just over 20 mm of rainfall. This container has a detailed ruler for measuring the amount of rain collected. The recent excitement amongst some of us was because this internal receptacle reached capacity for the first time since the new rain gauge became operational in early August 2021.

The inner container sits in a much larger water-tight steel container. This secondary container can collect several hundred millimetres of rainfall. The new rain gauge has the capacity to collect large amounts of rain and it will be able to capture every drop of those wet season deluges that Paluma is so famous for. Indeed, if the large outer steel receptacle ever looks like overflowing, then we will all need to head for the Ark!

I have previously mentioned the great work done by Wilfred to stabilise and protect the rain gauge on the Village Green. Just last week, Barry created a rather ingenious water tight plastic container (from large polypipe) to store the BOM rainfall data sheet. Great innovation and an ongoing collective community effort in recording Paluma’s rainfall record.

And the good news. A total of 1.2 mm of rain was recorded last Saturday and 4.2 mm recorded on Sunday (4 and 5 September 2021).

Wilfred’s paving and fencing work to protect our rain gauge.

Barry’s water tight container for the rainfall recording sheet.

Article & Photos by Michele Bird

Attention Paluma Ratepayers

Notice to all Paluma Ratepayers

You are invited to attend a public meeting on Saturday the 18^th September at 10 am at the Paluma Community Hall. The meeting is being held to discuss the proposal to ‘not raise the fire levy’ for the 2021-2022 Financial Year.

Regards

Ross Hyne, 1^st Officer Paluma Rural Fire Brigade

If there are any queries in the lead up to the meeting, please contact:-

Sonya Bryce, Secretary/Treasurer Paluma Rural Fire Brigade

Mobile:- 0474 324 153

Paluma’s New Rain Gauge Overflows……

Barry Smith, our dedicated weekday rainfall recorder at Paluma has reported some very exciting news on this the first day of spring.

Today was the first day the new rain gauge at the Village Green overflowed!

Barry reports that the glass beaker in the rain gauge holds 20 mm of rain before it then overflows into the larger stainless steel chamber. So, the rainfall reading for the past 24 hours at Paluma Village is 25.4 mm.

The BOM is predicting higher than average rainfall this spring, so here’s hoping for some more overflows in the coming weeks and months!

Thanks to Barry for his diligence in recording our rainfall and reporting this welcome news for us gardeners.

Whilst on the topic of the Paluma rain gauge, I believe special thanks are due to Wilfred for the new fencing and the very flash paving now installed around the rain gauge. This will ensure the gauge is stable and protected from mowing and maintenance works at the Village Green and other interference.

Great job Wilfred and much appreciated. I must add that the fence height is just perfect – I am glad you took into account that some of us are vertically challenged!

Article by Michele Bird with information provided by Barry Smith

Reminder: Back to the 70’s Social, Saturday 11 September

Spring has almost sprung and Saturday Night Fever is coming to the village on 11th September at 6.30 pm at the Community Hall.

Whether you’re a mother or whether you’re a brother, get down and boogie with your friends and neighbours as we go back in time to the 1970’s.

Come as you are, or come in your favourite 70’s themed costume. Grow your moustache, find your flares or flaunt your flower-power. Be a disco diva or a Dylan devotee – everyone is welcome.

The Bar will be open for drinks and please bring a dish to share – hot or cold, sweet or savoury.

The love, peace and joy will flow from the Community Hall with a free drink for the best dressed male and female.

See you there groovers!

Reminder to Paluma RFB Volunteers – Technology Day & Meeting, Sunday 29 August

When: Sunday 29 August 2021

Where: Paluma Community Hall

Time: 9am – 3pm (Starting with radios, field tablet then brigade meeting)

Lunch: Provided (Please advise of any dietary requirements)

What to bring: Yourselves and your questions /ideas.

Please call Ross or Sonya if you have any further questions/queries.

Mobile: 0427 447 415.

A Tale of Two Bowers

We have previously posted several articles on this website regarding the amazing bowers built by the satin bowerbirds in and around the village of Paluma.

This is a story of two bowers and the concerted efforts of my resident satin bowerbird/s to build and maintain their bower in the face of considerable adversity.

A few weeks ago at the start of the breeding season I noticed that the satin bowerbirds were very active in the garden – in their favourite spot where a bower has been built over two successive years. So, it didn’t surprise me to see work had begun on a new bower (no.3) this breeding season. The construction of the bower was well under way and various blue objects started appearing in the garden as the efforts ramped up to build the bower and tempt the female birds in. There was some frenetic activity going on.

Then…….along came the tree trimmers to prune the vegetation from the transmission lines.

At my place they pruned some sizeable branches and left most of them behind littered throughout the garden. The clean up effort by the crew was pretty poor to say the least. As I cussed (numerous times) and began cleaning up the branches left behind, I noticed that a large branch had been lopped and left right on top of the bower. I promptly removed it to discover that the bower had been flattened to a pulp (along with several of my garden plants). In addition, the large branch left on top of the bower meant that the birds could not get access to the area to retrieve their twigs, sticks, blue trinkets and treasures to rebuild or relocate the bower.

I cussed again (more times than previously) and resolved with some disappointment that the bowerbird courting and breeding in my garden would be over for this year.

But that is not the end of this tale.

Coming back to my garden after two weeks away I was pleasantly surprised to see the bowerbird/s had rebuilt and re-erected the bower. It was bigger and better than before. There were new and many more blue trinkets scattered around the bower, along with pieces of bright green lichen. A new addition was the leaves of the exotic aluminium plant with the silvery upper side of the leaves carefully placed at the bower entrance. In recent times there has again been a hive of courting activity and chortling at the bower and around the garden.

It never ceases to amaze me how adaptable and innovative these birds can be. Not only do they collect and re-use the plastic contaminants we humans leave in the environment (well at least the blue pieces), they also re-adjust quite readily to our invasion of their rainforest home and our constant interference in their breeding and life cycle.

If only we humans were so tolerant and adaptable to the other species sharing the planet!

The array of blue (plastic) treasures at the bower.

Text & Photos by Michele Bird

Wanted – Volunteer Rainfall Recorders

Jamie’s post on 2 August 2021 provided information on the new Paluma rainfall gauge at the Village Green. Most of you have probably seen the new rain gauge by now. You can’t miss it on the lawn near the PEEC side of the Village Green behind the Community Hall.

Since the installation of the new gauge the daily rainfall data has been checked and recorded, mostly by two very dedicated community volunteers. Barry Smith from PEEC has been taking the readings on weekdays and ever reliable Colwyn Campbell has been the rainfall recorder on weekends. The task involves visiting the Village Green every day at the same time to check the gauge and record any rainfall for the past 24 hours on the BOM record sheet.

Last weekend (14 & 15 August) with Colwyn being unwell with severe sciatica, it was my turn to step up and take a turn in checking the gauge. I was looking forward to the task, even more so when it began to rain on Friday evening. How exciting – there would be something in the gauge for my first recording!

Paluma’s gardeners will be pleased to know the rainfall stats for last weekend were 5 mm and 4.2 mm respectively for Saturday and Sunday 14 and 15 August.

Jamie Oliver is still seeking additional volunteers to compile a list of back-up people to assist with the rainfall recording, if and when necessary.

If you would like to volunteer and put your name on the list, please contact Jamie. You might only be called on once in a while to stand-in when other residents are unable to perform the task.

I can attest to the fact that it is a rewarding job in playing a (small) part in contributing to the historical record of Paluma’s rainfall. Not only that, but you can multi-task whilst recording the rainfall and take your best mate for a walk!

Article by Michele Bird

Postponement of Watercolours & Wine Workshop

It is with much regret that Colwyn Campbell is postponing the Watercolours and Wine Workshop planned for Saturday 21 August.

Colwyn advises that she is currently incapacitated with a severe case of sciatica. She extends her sincere and heartfelt apologies to those who were planning to attend the workshop and to bring friends along.

Colwyn is planning to reschedule the workshop and will advise on a new date for this event when possible.

International Night at Paluma

Saturday night (14 August) was International Night at Paluma. There was only a small crowd of some 13 people in attendance, but you wouldn’t have known that from the noise coming from the Community Hall. The gathering was loud, enthusiastic and spirited to say the least.

The evening began with Lynn’s various entrée dishes which were consumed in a flash. As always, there was plenty to eat and drink for everyone with a delicious curry, chicken dishes, fried rice, dumplings and other meals. There was only one dessert on the night, so you had to be quick. This was a sumptuous ‘Scottish pavlova’ made by yours truly. Whilst there was much debate on the night regarding the origins of the humble pavlova (from New Zealand or Australia), my rationale is that if someone of Scottish descent makes a pavlova, then it quite rightly can be called a Scottish pavlova?

The small crowd at the Hall were delighted when Paluma’s newest residents Leonie and Mark joined the event. They accidentally discovered International Night when they stopped by to see what all the noise and activity was at the Hall. They were soon invited in for a meal and a welcome drink. Mark and Leonie are the new owners of the ‘Paluma Dreaming’ property on the Loop Road and they are currently renovating the property. It was great to welcome these new residents to the village, Paluma style (and we hope we didn’t frighten them away!).

There was a great deal of fun and laughter on the night. Lennox (who didn’t really want to hang around with us ‘oldies’) made several quick ram-raids on the buffet during the course of the night. He eventually made off with a dish of Mark and Wendy’s chicken wings, but he wasn’t quick enough to get any of the pavlova. There were some strange goings on in the kitchen at one point and what happened behind closed doors between Barman Leslie and Jodie remains a mystery. What happens in the kitchen, stays in the kitchen…….?

Here’s some more photos of a fun time with friends and neighbours at Paluma International Night.

Text & Photos by Michele Bird