#i cant wait to have a tiny forest down at the bottom of the hill

[gargelyfloof118]

Planting Fraser Firs today. 10 teeny tiny babies for the ground!

These fellas need more moisture than the maple trees, so they get a bit of coconut coir in the bottom of their hole to help hold it for longer.

3 down, 7 to go.

[orsimergoddess]

Kina

Glasha came to Largashbur the year after Jarl Ulfric’s revolt. Pregnant and displaced, she desired safety and home comforts for herself and her unborn child. The priestess Atub looked at the unfamiliar Orsimer woman. As Glasha passed through the gates, all eyes were on her. She approached Atub, knowing her position by looking at her. Glasha got on her knees and prayed aloud to Malacath, showing her devotion to their God. As the prayer came to an end Atub motioned for Glasha to follow into the Longhouse of the Chieftain. 

Quietly and without much commotion coming from the others over the new Woman in the Stronghold, Glasha was placed in Umurn’s care. Umurn was reserved, as is the Osimer custom, but kind towards Glasha. He knew her story was close to his, but the head count so much higher. Glasha’s home was destroyed by Nords from the Eastmarch Hold. Angry at the signing of the White-Gold Concordat, many Mer, High-elf and not lost their lives in the Eastmarch massacre. 

Umurn knew the pain of loss, his first wife taken by the revolt as it spread across Skyrim and her Holds. She was pregnant with their only child, Glasha only a year later came as an answer to Umurn’s pleads to the Malacath. This wold be the last time Malacath would bless the Largashbur and the Mer whom dwell within.

**~~~**

Kina came to be months after Glasha made her way to Largashbur. The infant was smaller than an average Orsimer infant, but she was never weak nor sickly. She sprouted like thistle in the summer, she grew from infant to toddler to a young child.

Still smaller than any of the children born the same season as she. Kina was strong and growing stronger, what she lacked in size she made up for in speed. her long arms were perfect for drawing a bow and fighting in close combat, paired with her lithe figure she made herself into a hard target to hit. 

At 5 Kina could fight as well as any Orsimer child, Umurn could see her warriors spirit and on her Name day, he gifted her a pair of the most delicate looking daggers, made of Orichalchum, the hilts fashioned out of animal bones, the deep green stones were razor sharp on each side. Giddily Kina shows her mother who pretends to disapprove. This was the only time either of them saw Umurn crack a smile. He had become a proud Papa. 

**~~~**

It had started out as a warm Spring day, Kina had spent the morning weaving baskets with her mother, it neared midday when the thunderous shakes came. As if Malacath trembled the earth in anger, it only became louder as the minutes pass. It stopped after a jarring trumpeting came from outside the gates. Mammoths.

Mammoths only brought one thing, Giants. It was at this moment Umurn came out of the hut in search of his wife and child. As he stepped out the guards tower seemed to explode, it was then he saw the largest Giant he’d ever witnessed. Umurn’s face blanched at the sight, he began to run across the Stronghold, frantically hollering for Glasha. He could not lose another love, another child. His screams drew the attention of a second Giant, Umurn was thrown against the cliff face, a smear of crimson remained on the rock. Umurn peeled off the surface like a rag doll he twisted and contorted rolling to the bottom of the hill.

Glasha and Kina ran to hide behind a hut near the cliff face, “Here! Kina, don’t look darling.” Pulling Kina in close to her bosom, “Shut your eyes, don’t open them for anything. No matter what you hear.” Kina obeyed her mother, not understanding what was happening around her.

Trying not to scream as Umurn’s broken body rolled down the rocky hillside. It’s happening again! Glasha’s consciousness screamed. Holding tight to Kina she waited for an opening. A massive leg strode over Glasha, she stared up at the largest Giant she’d set her eyes upon.

The second came from North of the Stronghold, smashing warriors left and right as they tried and failed to defend their home. 

Atub ran from the longhouse along with her family. Screaming to void she said, “MALACATH HAS LEFT US. THIS IS OUR CURSE!”

Glasha watched in terror as the priestess abandoned the Stronghold, running madly into the wilderness with the chieftain and their sons in tow. Glasha turned her attention to her trembling child, she knew in her position, they could not both make it. 

Removing her bow and quiver, Glasha adjusted the quivers strap, putting it down before letting Kina open her eyes. “Listen to me Kina, when I tell you, you must run. Run South, towards Riften.”

Kina shook her head, froen in fear.

“You have to go, I will be right behind you.” Glasha picks up the bow and quiver, adjusting them to fit Kina’s tiny frame. “Take these, do you have the daggers Papa gave you?”

Kina nodded as tears dripped from her chin. “I can’t go Momma. I can’t move.”

Glasha shook her daughter roughly nearly knocking her off her feet. “GO! I will be right behind you, you need to keep running. I will be there right behind you.”

Glasha stood, as she did the movement caught the eyes of a third Giant that came from the west. /rumbling stomps came closer to the spot where Kina was still hidden. Glasha knew it was getting closer without looking, she ran from Kina, screaming for her daughter to run.

Kina ran South, without looking back she continued after the adrenaline wore off until she tripped on a root hidden under the mossy ground, face first into the dirt Kina succumbed to the ehaustion and everything went dark.

**~~~**

Waking up to the dark of night, Kina slowly lifted herself from where she collapsed. She felt sore, weak and hungry. Standing carefully, making sure nothing had broken.

 Hunger drove her step by step that night through the forest. Daylight came soon, sooner after she began to see cobblestones in the dirt. She headed South, like her mother said. Momma will be in Riften. Kina thought to herself, this made her change to a faster pace. After an hour of trekking south Kina spotted the city walls. Her mother never said where to meet in Riften. Kina didn’t care, she bolted towards the gates.

The gates were closed and guarded. Kina was nervous approaching the stocky men in heavy steel armor. Slowly and ringing her hands she got near enough for the guards to take notice.

“Aye, look at this wee beast ‘ere.” the left guard nudged the other who had a flaming beard sticking out from under the helmet. The red bearded guard pretended not to notice the smaller than average Orsimer whelp.

“Just ignore it, they’re like animals you know, cant speak.”

Kina’s temper flared but said nothing. 

Glasha’s voice came clearly, “Pick your battles darling.”

Kina whipped herself around, only to find disappointment in finding no one behind her. Slowly she turned back to the guards that lost interest in her.

“Have you seen my mother?” Kina’s voice sounded foreign. It had been days since she had spoken to anyone. 

The red bearded guard piped up. “Fuck off little pig shit!” Striding towards Kina the guard raised the blunt end of his spear and struck her in the chest, knocking the wind out of the girl. The left guard looked up and spit in Kina’s direction. 

She realied that even if they had seen Glasha, they didn’t care. Picking herself up slowly she turned and started walking down the road. Dragging her feet she turned left, discovering that behind the dirt hill and city wall there was a home, Tucked behind a stable, holding two of the largest horses Kina had ever seen. 

Kina had seen horses before, but never up close as the Strongholds had no use for the beasts. Slowly she made her way across the yard towards the great dappled horses.

From the small courtyard in front of the house, a large silver haired man eyed the curious girl. He had been resting in the shade before returning to his duties. Curious to see what the girl would do, he stayed put to observe.

Kina had reached the first stable opening, the horse residing within turned it’s head to look at the strange biped approaching. The animal turned to face the girl, lowering it’s head to smell her.

Kina giggled in delight at the curious horse nuling her. Unfortunately she had no food for treats, as her stomach grumbled she was reminded she had none for herself. Patting the large horse Kina went into the stall, hoping perhaps some carrots or an apple had been dropped from the beasts feeding bin.

This bold move made the man in the shade nervous, afraid the child may be harmed by accident. Leaping to his feet he strode across the yard as quickly he could without startling the horses. “Hey, hey wait!” he shouted as he made it to the stables before Kina ventured further.

Frightened by the large man approaching Kina leaped through the open wall and sprinted down the road. By the time she stopped she was far from the stables and the large man was no where to be seen.

Ahead of her by a few yards was a farm, Kina stared at the water trough. Remembering her thirst Kina made a mad dash for it, falling to her knees in front of the dirty trough. She drank deeply not caring that the water was musty, grass and cud floating on the surface. 

A Dunmer man and woman watched this girl run across their farm yard to gulp down the water left for the livestock. The woman looked at the man, signaling for him to stay back a bit as they came closer.

The woman cleared her throat, “are you alright dear?” she asked quietly as to not startle Kina.

Kina quickly came to her feet and she turned to face the couple standing in front of her. Her breath quickened and she froe like a rabbit about to be caught by a hawk.

In an attempt to assure the frightened girl, the woman went to kneel to look Kina in the eyes. “Where are you parents little one?” she asked with concern.

Looking down, Kina shuffled her feet. Quietly she replied to the womans question. “Dead.” Looking the woman in the eye as she said it.

The man put a hand on his wife’s shoulder, speaking up. “Well, we have room as long as you are willing to work.” He looked back down at his wife, who looked back with a small smile.

“Yes, would you like that?” Pulling a Honey candy from her pocket, she offered it to Kina. “I am Sadyn, this is my husband Dravin. This is our farm, Merryfair.” 

Kina took the candy from Sadyn and held it, afraid if she ate it the day dream would end. Nodding, Kina took Sadyn’s outreached hand and followed her into the house.

[elevenhoursinfront-blog]

12th June 2017

By 0600, I got up. I couldn't lay in that bed any longer. I got dressed and went outside. Steve was awake too but he stayed in bed. It was freezing outside but I wanted Julie-Ann to see we was awake so I could have a cup of tea. I walked along the balcony/decking area and looked over the lake. A noise made me jump and I turned around. Turns out, I scared the kangaroos and they scared me! Three of them were within 2 metres of me and just stared. I walked towards them and said hi. They just sat there. I quickly and quietly walked back to the room and told Steve to wake up. I grabbed my GoPro and we went over to them. Only one wasn't too scared to stay near us. The jumped off and we went for a walk around the house. There were Kangaroos everywhere. It was amazing.

There were cockatoos in the trees making the funniest of noises, making me laugh everytime they chirped. The kangroos were hopping round us. It was like a dream. I can imagine in the summer it would look beautiful with all the flowers and trees booming. The house is called Banksia B&B because of the banksia's surrounding. Julie-Ann said she provides flowers for the local florists because she gets so many.

By 0800, Steve was frozen. We jumped back into bed to try and warm up. I heard Bouncer barking away so I thought Julie-Ann was awake. Bouncer sleeps outside and he often barks at the kangaroos. Steve and I were still the only ones awake. We went back outside at 0830 where Julie-Ann finally was up and ready, she invited us in for tea and coffee.

We had two slices of toast and I had tea, Steve had coffee. She had cereal in the tiny boxes you used to have as a child, too. We felt too rude to ask for more. We sat in the front room watching Australia's version of This Morning. I miss Holly and Phil though, they are brilliant. Steve was talking to Oscar the cockatoo for a while as he was lonely. The second Steve would walk away, he would start screaming. He was so loud! He said morning to us and 'would you like a coffee?'. Steve would love a parrot if he could have one.

Eventually, the other 4 woke up. It was about 0930. Steve and I went to shower as they were eating. Steve got in first and washed and I got in second. As I was shampooing, the water went freezing. I've never felt cold water like it. Steve reckons Julie-Ann put the dishwasher on. I had to wash the shampoo out in what felt like ice on my head. It was awful. The worst part was, my towel was still soaking from the jacuzzi the night before. The house was too cold to dry it off. I almost cried (again, obviously) it was that cold. I got dressed and ready as quickly as possible.

Steve was outside speaking with Julie-Ann for ages. I went outside and she was feeding the birds. The birds were bright red, almost tropical. She said they get so many different wildlife animals here. Julie-Ann takes photos and puts it into an album when she sees something different. She gets different plantation, flowers and toadstools too. She let us flick through the album which was great. The red deer look amazing. I wasn't all that fussed abut the Emu's though because they scare me. The Kangaroos came over and scared the birds off. They then started to have a fit over the bird seeds. It was comical to watch. Bouncer used to chase the Emu’s but one time, they turned around and chased him. They rolled him over, so now he’s scared of them. Lesson learnt! 

She said she would take us for a walk around the forest if we wanted, which we said yes too. We were all waiting for Dan to get ready, as we do every time we go anywhere with him. He was laying on the bed for ages before getting showered. He wasn't ready until 1130 which was slightly annoying but never mind. He got a really hot shower too. Boo.

We all left and walked around with Julie-Ann and Bouncer. He was 12 years old but I can see how he got his name - he jumps and runs everywhere. He's so full of energy. Julie-Ann said that fires happen so often here, which we all knew about Australia anyway. Three years ago, a massive bush fire spread and she almost lost the house. Gum trees were falling (they're absolutely MASSIVE trees). The firemen took all the local residents into a hall and one by one they went out in the trucks to see whether they had a house or not. Julie-Ann and Rob lost their shed but not their house thankfully.

We came across loads of kangaroos, emus and toadstools. The toadstools were absolutely massive, bigger than 5 human heads! It started to rain but we carried on walking. We went to one of the fallen Gum trees. I couldn't believe how big it actually was. We stood inside of one that got half burnt but didn't fall. You cant touch the tree even when your arms are out wide.

She took us back and our feet were soaking wet. I changed my socks and put on my slides (slipper sandles) and put my trainers into the front of the car to dry. We all packed our stuff, said our goodbyes and left around 1230.

We went to Mackenzie Falls as we decided not to do it yesterday. Unfortunately, the weather was rubbish today but we still wanted to see it. We got to the carpark after a 30 minute drive as we were following Jack and he took a wrong turn. The falls were down the bottom of a steep hill/stairs. Going down was easy but coming back up was going to be hard, again. My poor legs!

We couldn't see much outwards due to the fog but we were up high. Hopefully, it was going to be better the lower we went. We climbed to the bottom and the waterfall was beautiful. It was cold, cloudy and rainy so it wasn't appreciated as much as it probably could've been. We all took our photos and decided to leave. My legs were in pieces going back up. After all the strenuous climbing yesterday, with no sleep and no food, I wanted the world to swallow me up.

With Steve's help pushing and pulling me, we got to the top. I managed to stay in the lead for the majority of it too which was good. Megan and Dan struggled and they were last up. We were all very tired and sweaty.

That was the last climb, hopefully ever. We went on to drive down towards Halls Gap where the shops were. Everyone wanted to go to the Chip shop but I said nothing would be open being as it's Bank Holiday Monday... Steve said they would be because they'd make loads of money.

Steve started to drive and took a detour to the 'Borocay' lookout which is something we all wanted to see. As we were passing, he took the opportunity. Unfortunately, it was too foggy to see anything at all. He also took us down a dirt track into the middle of nowhere. We decided to turn around after 15 minutes of driving. There was a sign saying that we would hear gunshots due to pest control. We didn't want to get hit so we left. We were worried about turning round incase the car got stuck in the mud/sand but both cars managed it. We were in Toyota Stylers, so we named our car Susie Styler. She did us good. Ours was white and Mel's was red. The carhire called them Stylers but I actually think they're Corolla Ascent's but never mind.

When we eventually got to the bottom, the chip shop was shut. JUST LIKE I SAID! But, I'm not one to boast... We went into the little newsagents and ordered food. The newsagents is ran by fairly old people which is nice because they're probably very bored otherwise. The service was really slow though. It was one man and one woman, but we never see the woman do anything. The man would take one persons order and make the coffee, then the toastie and onto the next person. You would wait a good 15 minutes for your drink and a further 15 for a toastie. We weren't in a rush which was okay. We wanted to order foods like jacket potatoes but everything had sold out apart from toasties. Megan and Mel are vegetarians so the man had to make new sandwiches from scratch as he only had ham and cheese left. We were there for quite some time.

We left after having a toastie and went to see if we could do Mount William before leaving for home. It was about 1500. Apparently, we could drive to the top of the moutain for the lookout point rather than climb. It was right at the bottom of the Grampians park so about a half an hour drive away in the opposite direction from Halls Gap. Steve was driving and I was reading the map...

We got there eventually and the car was climbing uphill for ages. It was so circular too. The visability and rain was getting worse so we decided to abort this mission (when we could). There wasn't anywhere to stop for at least 15 minutes. We pulled over, told Mel it was pointless and headed back down the mountain. Time to go home.

I was driving us home so Steve and I swapped over and on the road we went. Home would take us just over 3 hours which didn't seem all that bad until midway through. The motorway got dark so quickly, and again, there weren't any lights. They work in KM instead of MPH here too. Psychologically, when you're going 100kmph, it feels like you're going stupidly fast when in reality, its about 60mph.

We got about half way through when a lorry decided to be an idiot and get the hump with me for no reason. I was continuously in the slow lane following Jack. I was going 100 and the speed limit was 110. He got within 1 metre of our car 3 times before holding his horn down at me. I'm not sure what he expected me to do - I was going as fast as I could, I wasn't going to break the speed limit, I was in the slow lane... He tried to overtake me about 3 times but couldn't get in front of another car that was doing the speed limit too. He was being a right arse! (sorry Dad). He made me so nervous. He eventually overtook us by going stupidly faster than the limit and overtook Jack, too. We ended up overtaking him a while down as we were going through a town. The speed limit dropped to 60kmph and he got stuck at the traffic lights. I was so happy because a lorry of that size should not be within 1 metre of my back window on a motorway at 100kmph. Idiot!

We carried on the motorway when the lorry ended up behind my window again after about half an hour. He must've been going so fast to catch us up... He did the same again and overtook us. I was getting so stressed mainly because there were 3 other people in the car in my care... It was pitch black and when he got close, his headlights were in my rear window. I wish I could report him!

Eventually, I pulled over in the 'services’. We tried to find a proper one for miles but nothing was there. SES (state emergency services) had a tent in a lay-by with free tea, coffee and biscuits for motorists which was great. We went for a wee in a brick 'house' that was FULL of spiders. I didn't tell Meg otherwise she wouldn't have gone. The SES do it every time there is a long weekend because motorists travel so often. It's a great idea. They had stickers, leaflets, activity books and all sorts. Free coffee and biscuit was the best. My stomach felt empty. I only had 2 toast and 1 sandwich today.

I was too scared to drive but I knew we had lost the nutcase lorry driver. Steve took over and we led the way. We had about 1.5 hours to go still which went quite fast luckily. The worst thing was, we had to go into the city. Steve doesn't do well when he's under pressure. We had to fill the petrol tank up before we gave it back too which gave him more stress. We followed the satnav which was difficult as Steve couldn't see it, he could only go by what we were saying from our phones. The lanes changed and trams were everywhere. The traffic lights are different here because you can turn on red too. Steve got really stressed and I'm almost sure he went grey. We took loads of wrong turns but luckily we ended up on the right road with a petrol station. We filled up and managed to turn in Jucy and leave the car with us all, including Susie, in one piece. Successful trip in my eyes! Steve calmed down after and apologised to us - we told him that we couldn't have drove in the city so well done to him. Especially as he's still a 'new' driver.

Mel and Jack weren't in the car park. We sorted our stuff out, made sure it was tidy inside and I rang Mel. She was having a mental breakdown, lost in the city somewhere. She was being honked at and all sorts. They eventually pulled up and she was shouting in the car 'I HATE DRIVING IN THE CITY!!'. I don't blame her. We dropped the keys in the 'letterbox' and left for the tram.

The tram took about 15 minutes, we jumped on and it took us right to Flinders station. Jack stays in a different hostel so he stayed on. His hostel is called Space Hotel (its really expensive, I wish we could stay there). We got back to the hostel around 2130. Everyone got McDonalds but I didn't want fastfood. I went without. We sat down in the kitchen, sorted out who owed who what money and everyone went to bed.

I sat in the kitchen on my own for a bit, having a breather. We just had the weekend of a lifetime and now we're back to reality. Dead excited for a good nights sleep, though. I was the only one who didn't have work in the morning.

I got into bed and died within a few seconds!