Goose Family

They are all grown up now and paying homage to their mother, as all families should do. (Actually I think that is Bruce with his head up, and they are actually eating) but never let the truth get in the way of a good story eh?

Karate Chop Chook

We have had chickens for about 16-17 years. All personalities and idiosyncrasies. Never in my life have I seen a hen with such an aggressive self defence mechanism. Our cute and fluffy little frizzle hen I named Sparky needs a new name. The Young Negotiator had told me she “explodes” when defending her egg laying rights but I thought he was exaggerating. You know how teens can be. Just recently I was releasing the chooks into the paddock and collecting the eggs. This sweet little girl was so low and prostate in the nest I thought she must have died so I poked her lightly. Bloody hell!! She is ninja hen, her peck/strikes were lightening fast and deadly accurate. I couldn't believe it. I tried again but again she was like Chicky Chan or Chook Norris. I grabbed an egg carton to distract her so I could check under her for eggs but even with the carton in her face she was incredible. Again the lightening strikes and silent death stare. Whoa, I was not going to collect that one tiny little egg today. It is not like she was broody/clucky either. She was just laying a bloody egg! Now there is a female who takes her job seriously.

No-one but no-one is going to move her until she is well and truly ready baby! Just imagine if she actually had chicks to defend….or a clutch of eggs. Ooh we would just have to drop her and her chicks into a war zone and she would clear the whole mess up by herself. Well, OK that is a slight exaggeration but she could certainly straighten our a school room of rebellious kids or delinquent youths. She is the Power. She is Ninja Chicken!!

Sunnybum & Swayze

I have replaced the African love bird that was lost to the wild with another the same colour as Splice. They are beautiful together but I have changed their names. New start, new names. Splice is now Sunshine or Sunnybum for short. Her new boyfriend is named Swayze. Why? The night before purchasing him I saw the movie “Ghost”. Hoo har that Patrick Swayze was a hunk of spunk. I always liked him but this movie reminded me just how lovely he was to look at. So, new gorgeous looking boy bird - Swayze! Easy.

Python in the Mango Tree

We have a mango tree just outside our bedroom window which makes it feel as if you are amongst the trees and keeps the room cool in summer. One afternoon at the end of my nana nap I heard a small bird carrying on…….and on and on. After what felt like ages I got up out of bed to investigate this very annoying chatter. Oh right, a carpet snake climbing up the branches probably heading for the birds’ (there were two of them) nest. Photo opportunity!

I grab my camera from cupboard, glasses from case, shove on shoes and hat and am out the back door to capture said snake on film, actually on chip…or whatever is in a digital. After approaching the tree carefully I begin my search. The tree is slightly different from the ground obviously but for the life of me I cannot find the snake. I am under the canopy, wandering, looking but no snake. The birds meanwhile have scarpered.

I was just about to give up on my search for the python when there was a “thud” in the low hanging branches in front of me. OH *%$#@*&! The ruddy great bugger was in front of me at chest height lying perfectly still. I managed to leap back without landing on my behind (a surprise in itself) and be clear of him/her. I think it was warning me it was there, amazing really. Anyhoo, it began climbing the tree then. I was sure it should have been higher of the ground.

Photos managed, I left it to its evil plan. I am not frightened of snakes at a safe distance but this was within arm’s length and not where I intended to be. Don’t you love the country? Always something happening.

Crocodile in the Pool

Do you like the look of Colin? We brought him back from Australia Zoo with us and now he patrols our swimming pool, silently, stealthily, floating with the current, those beady eyes ever watching. And best of all he has not orifices so he has no excrement, he makes no noise and needs no food. Some geese I know could learn something from his example.

Lunchbox Environmental Fee

I have plastic, re-usable lunch boxes for my teens’ school lunches with paper lunch wrap and re-usable ice bricks for sandwiches needing to stay cool. All very environmentally friendly. (We had to make our own lunches for school when I was growing up from about the age of 10 but I know what kind of lunches I made so I make my offspring’s lunches for diet balance and health reasons - control freak?). Unfortunately these plastic lunchboxes often did not make it back to the kitchen for cleaning and storing for the next lunch time. They probably festered in the school bags or amongst the detritus that is their bedroom floors. It got to the point where I was having to use disposable plastic bags and was complaining about their complacency on the matter. Deaf ears!

The Lovely Husband and I have realised over the years that the way to get through to our adolescents is through their finances. That is where it hurts the most.

I threatened that unless I saw those lunchboxes in the plastics cupboard when I make their lunches in the mornings I would charge them an environmental fee. Still no action. OK, the next time I made their lunches and had to bag them instead of box them I wrote on the plastic bags “Environmental Fee $1”. When the offspring came to collect their lunches to pack there were moans and grumbles and those teenage glares but within half an hour I had three of the four lunchboxes in the kitchen sink for cleaning. The lunch boxes have miraculously turned up every day in the plastics cupboard ever since but I still have those dreaded plastic bags and permanent marker ready for action should I need them. Save the earth I say!

My Computer is Fixed....at last!

Our internet went down. I tried everything to restore it. I know enough to be dangerous but was at a total loss this time. Poopanola! The tower has been in the 'puter shop for a week - with the router - and we all felt as if our throats had been cut. Our link to the outside world is back, it functions and I can once again fulfill my driving need to waffle on my blog. I have some posts on memory stick typed on that* laptop ready for cutting and pasting. I am normally sporadic with my posting anyway because I have to wait for a period of time when my fatigue is not too bad. Concentrating on a screen is a real bugger for the ol' brain injury induced fatigue. So look out, a run of incredibly fascinating and mind blowing waffle is soon to be thrust upon you.

* The Young Negotiator's laptop. It has no DELETE button. Hmmph!