h haavvee yyoouu rreeaadd - territorystories.nt.gov.au filesprinkle with the corian-der leaves....

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www.katherinetimes.com.au KATHERINE TIMES, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 4, 2013 9

Termites are amazing beast-ies.

These primitive insects areclosely related to cockroachesnot ants.

They are a very importantpart of our Australian environ-ment and are great at recyclingplant material back into the soil.

Termites are sometimes seenas a pest, but of the perhaps 300

different Australian species oftermite, only a few will damageour homes and gardens.

Mostly termites go abouttheir business in the busharound us, creating new soil byfeeding on grass, wood or rot-ting organic matter.

Termites are fragile insects. They dry out quickly in the

open air and need to protectthemselves against the harshclimate.

The mounds that termitecolonies build protect themfrom the weather and are differ-ent depending on the differentspecies of termite.

Termites live in colonies thatare made up of different typesor castes of termites, each witha different job to do.

Small pale termites with nowings are worker termites andare the most common.

Solider termites protect thenest and are equipped with largejaws or strange looking headsthat squirt chemicals at in-vaders.

Sometimes, at the right timeof year, there are also wingedtermites or alates.

These are the only termitesthat are both male and femaleand able to reproduce, or havebabies.

When the weather is warmand the air is humid the alateswill fly out from the colony tofind mates.

Some colonies will buildstrange skinny towers calledflight towers.

These are used by the alatesas a launching pad and coloniesbuild them if weather condi-tions are nearing perfect for ter-mite travel.

Flights of alates will nor-mally happen all at the sametime.

Most of these will die, be-coming food for hungry preda-tors or drying out if they spendtoo long out in the open; somehowever are able to mate.

These then lose their wingsand go on to construct newcolonies.

Connect to Country - with Ranger ClareDo you want to know more about flora, fauna and parks in the Katherine region?

‘Like’ Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife on facebook.

Prawns with asparagusIngredients:1 kg raw prawns 2 tbs peanut oil3 tbs lime juice2 tsp ground coriander200 g snow peas 1 bunch asparagus, cut 4 spring onions 5 cm piece of ginger,peeled and julienned2 tsp cornflour 125 ml chicken stock2 tbs coriander leavessteamed rice, to serveMethod: 1. Peel and devein theprawns, leaving the tailsintact.2. Whisk together 1 table-spoon of peanut oil, thelime juice and ground co-riander.Put the prawns into a non-metallic bowl, pour overthe marinade, cover withplastic wrap and refriger-ate for 20 minutes.3. Heat the wok over highheat, add the remainingoil and swirl to coat. Drain the prawns, reserv-ing the marinade. Toss the prawns in thewok for 2 to 3 minutes, oruntil pink. Remove theprawns from the wok andset aside.4. Toss the snow peas,

asparagus, spring onionsand ginger in the wok for2 minutes. Reduce the heat tomedium. Blend the corn-flour with 1 tablespoon ofwater to form a smoothpaste. Add to the wok with the

remaining marinade,chicken stock and corn-flour mixture. Bring to theboil and boil for 1 minute.Toss in the prawns, andsprinkle with the corian-der leaves. Serve withsteamed rice.

TOO Man Cheeky Dog -a wonderful children’s pic-ture book - was written byKatherine resident JohannaBell and was illustrated byDion Beasley.

I particularly liked it be-cause it is a story of a re-mote Indigenous communitywhere a whole host ofcheeky dogs get up to somepretty funny mischief, espe-cially when the dogs have agame of football with a teamof donkeys.

This book is great for lit-eracy skills as it helps with

counting, colours andrhythm and I just loved the il-lustrations of the dogs asI’m a real dog lover and thisbook certainly shows justhow much trouble a dog canget up to.

With its quirky and funnyillustrations and easy-to-read story the book is agreat must-have for anychild in the Northern Terri-tory.

Author Johanna Bell hasworked in remote pre-schools throughout the Ter-ritory, and noticed that thereweren’t enough children’sbooks about the living expe-

riences of remote Indige-nous children.

Joing forces with deafartist Dion Beasley, Ms Belldeveloped the idea of a kids’book about cheeky dogs.

Mr Beasley, who grew upin a remote community inLake Nash, was born pro-foundly deaf and with mus-cular dystrophy.

As he couldn’t speak anddidn’t know sign languagehe found primary schoolquite a struggle until a dis-ability support worker no-ticed his love - and talent -for drawing camp dog.

Mr Beasly now runs a T-

shirt brand called 'CheekyDogs' and in co-operationwith Ms Bell Too ManyCheeky Dogs is another oneof his successful project.

I so hope there are manymore delightful books tocome from this dynamicpair.

With all the doggie es-capades of mayhem a campdog can get up to I’m surewe could be reading aboutmany more adventures inthe future.

Too Many Cheeky Dogs,Johanna Bell and Dion

Beasly

HHaavvee yyoouu rreeaadd ......??

> By CLARE PEARCE

> By Pam Tupper

365 Days without junk food - by Debbie Unwin

Week 33

On April 25 Katherine mother-of-two Debbie Unwin embarked on a ‘365 Day No Junk-foodChallenge’ to raise money for Carers Australia and to raise awareness about Healthy living.

For the next year Debbie will be publishing a diary of her efforts and the success of her proj-ect in the Katherine Times. To support Debbie send an email to debbieunwin82@gmail.com

or visit her website online at http://365daynojunk.com.

the body which mayaccelerate ageing andlead to cancer.

This is a very goodreason to indulge in afew squares of darkchocolate a few timesa week.

Interestingly, darkchocolate is beingclinically trialled as apossible tool for bloodpressure control.

Previous small tri-als have had conflict-ing results, howeverthere is no question that dark chocolate may one daybe considered an evidence-based lifestyle interven-tion.

Here’s something you probably didn’t expect tohear : the theobromine in dark chocolate can loweryour risk of tooth cavities.

Theobromine has been shown to harden toothenamel.

So with good dental hygiene and a few pieces ofdark chocolate you may be pleased to spend less ondental bills and experience increased self-confidenceat the same time. So what’s not to enjoy?

During this challenge, my nutritionist NatalieBuffa (pictured) has been a wonderful support.

A few weeks ago, she told me that she diss-aproved of sugar-free chocolate as it has artificalsweetners in it which can be worse than chocolate.

However, to my delight, she told me she wouldallow two pieces of dark chocolate.

Below you can read why:Not only is dark chocolate delicious, when eaten

in small doses, it can have moderate therapeutic ef-fects.

Let’s have a look a few of its benefits:Dark chocolate improves blood flow which de-

creases the risk of clots and hardening of the arter-ies.

Since blood flow to the brain and heart are in-creased, your risk of stroke is lowered and cognitivefunction is also improved.

Some of the chemical compounds in dark choco-late can also improve your mood.

These chemicals are the same ones created byyour brain when you are in love.

Possibly one of the most well-known health benefits of dark chocolate is it's antioxidant content.

Antioxidants neutralise harmful free radicals in