Better Late Than Never

It was a busy weekend and Monday.   It's late on Tuesday now and I only just remembered I hadn't done my Monday blog post!

Ah well, you get that.  Our weekend began with a lovely walk up the block.  The moss and lichen is looking lovely now we have had so much rain.

Isn't it amazing how it can grow over a whole little rock?

 

  

Universe-like constellations of life.

So beautiful!

The last few days have been very showery, with sunny spots in between, which makes for plenty of rainbow opportunities.

   

Gorgeous!  I like the juxtaposition of the power lines with the beauty of nature, though I know not why.

Saturday we went to a matinee of the concert, Scotland the Brave, with my mum.   It was fun and there was plenty of talent there,  but the best cheer of the night was for the members of the WA Police Pipe Band.

Pic pinched from their site.

Sunday we had a full day of a course for driving under operational conditions.   This is now me:

 I had both Andrew and Jen there with me, so it was good fun.

My darling Tigger sis, always fun to be out with!

We learned a lot.  Was particularly interesting to do the simulated test of your awareness using a video and a system that captures your eye movements.  Being, all three, motorbike riders, we did very well at this.  Motorbike riders know everyone is out to kill them, so they can drive very awarely indeed!

Main points that came out of the day for me:  Don't speed even a little bit because it adds to your chances of having an accident markedly, and also adds to your chances of killing or being killed if you are in an accident.  Try never to have to look away from the windscreen and mirrors for even a second (and definitely don't text!)

Monday I had my niece Niamh here for a lesson.  We looked at one of the journals that I have been keeping for years, with an eye to her making one too.  Mine are full of pictures I like, drawings and doodles I've made, quotes, poems, book reviews, ideas for songs, novels and poems, news, all that sort of thing.  I've kept them for years and years.  Not so much these days since I started blogging, but I still have one on the go.

Then Niamh picked out a quote she liked and she illustrated it, and then we painted together, me doing the one I'd drawn the other day:

I didn't remember to get a pic of Niamh's before she left but I'll blog it when I do.  Oh oh, this won't be happening, because the dog ate it, yes she really did!   Naughty Pippa!

Dog shaming.  :D   Of course she can be forgiven everything because she is just so squidgy and adorable!

The quote was the one that goes, "Life is a great big canvas.Throw all the paint on it that you can," by Danny Kaye.  A good one!     

Today, after bouts of my usual crappy health on Sunday and Monday nights (why must it always get worse at night, why!?)  this is about all I was good for, kitty snuggles:

But I did manage to do some work on learning about how to set up an automated newsletter for my author site, and reading about mast cell activation disorder, which I am beginning to suspect I may have and which will explain why I get triggered by so many foods, perfumes and chemicals, and by stress, and even by changes of temperature.

I hope learning this and finding a MCAD-aware doc to help will help me to avoid some of the anxiety, reactivity and nausea in the future.  I keep on trying to have a life, but it does make things very hard when every plan you make might see you ending the day over a bucket.



 

   

 

  

     

I Love Autumn!

The days have been perfect here.  25 to 27C each day.  Cool nights for sleeping, no need for an inside fire and no need to hunt out shade by day.  The trees are breathing sighs of relief that summer is over.  I heard a gardening lady on the radio describe what the plants endure here in summer as being like running a marathon.  I can well believe it!

The birds seem very active too. Both the Red- and White-tailed Cockies are in town.  We had both flying by us yesterday evening as we sat in the paddock to watch the sun set, with their different calls ringing into the darkening sky.  These Red-Tails were sitting in the tree right outside our door the night before.  See if you can catch a flash of spreading red tail as they fly away.

Noisy buggers, aren't they!  I love them though!

This week we had a good time doing a Burnover Drill demo for the local Communications Brigade that Andrew is also a member of.  Well, actually I am now a member too.  I joined up so I can be uniform officer for them.  I like doing that for Sawyers, so why not do it for both?  Next year I won't be Equipment Officer for the fire brigade, but I will retain the uniform part of the job as long as the new EO is happy with that. 

The Comms Brigade runs the Incident Control Vehicle at large fires. It is a new lot of learning for me, but the people are lovely and I'll be able to do this job long after I can't drag my carcase around a fireground any more.     

The demo went really well thanks to Jenny, Angus and Andy.  I was supposed to be a part of it but am still not well enough.  Stupid stomach, you are ruining my life!  Ah well, I got to take photos instead.  I like this shot of Andy, with Angus signalling the approaching imaginary fire and beginning of the burnover drill, and Jenny womanning the pump. 

I was very proud of how well Andrew talked the demo through, and of course of how handsome he is.

A little lovely thing that happened was one of the Comms Brigade ladies said to me, "Andrew is such a lovely man isn't he!" and I said, "Yes," and jokingly added, "And I still think that even though we've married twenty years," and she said, "Oh!  I hadn't realised you two were together."  :D

I love this pic of Jenny, because it shows her as I see her; strong, brave, gorgeous, and with a twinkle in her eye.

  
Cooler weather makes this stage of Niamh's afghan very pleasant to snuggle down under after dinner.

And kitty has been doing his usual trick of enjoying lying on new things.

From piles of inviting crocheted afghan...

To what doesn't look like comfortable bedding at all, like Andrew's stiff and smelly new Firey pants that I was halfway through rehemming.

Hey Mr Fitty Kitty, can't you go find somewhere else to lie down?

No of course you can't.  Not until you are good and ready.  What was I thinking?  I'll go find something else to do...

 

                     

Allsorts of Life

John Grey's Bulldog, Winnie, has survived her emergency spaying.  It is a magic of the internet, and of blogging in particular, I think, that you can come to love a dog you have never met.  I am so glad that sweet, thoughtful Winnie is once more blowing kisses.

 

It's been a hectic sort of week, with lots of back and forward to the hospital for and with mum, but she is home now and feeling a bit better.

We had three fire call outs this week.  I didn't go to the first one, made the second which was a car fire and out on arrival, and for the third, I arrived ready to go but didn't get on the truck because I stepped aside for others.  It's pretty good news that we now have too many people turning out to some of the fires, but it does feel a bit like you are all dressed up and nowhere to go!  I did get to photograph my sister Jen as she drove the 1.4 out.  Way to go Jen!      

We had some lovely thundery weather the other day.  The sky was amazing.

The storm was passing east of us when I took these pics, but later on we got our own share. We had claps of thunder as loud as any I've heard, just as we were going to bed and through the night too. It was a corker!  Luckily our current dogs aren't particularly scared, but they did get up on the bed for comfort at times.

After such a busy week, last night we indulged ourselves in a movie that is fave for us both.  Porco Rosso by Miyasaki.  It is an odd movie in a lot of ways. but what it comes down to for me at least is the beauty, the courage, and the humour.  It has a peaceful emptiness at times,  like a lot of Miyasaki movies.  There is space to rest in them, unlike most cartoons, even the very 'good' ones, which tend to be just too frenetic for me.

Porco Rosso was once a man and an ace pilot in the Italian air force, but after a traumatic air fight, he cursed himself to be a pig.  Now he flies the Adriatic sea as a Bounty hunter and say he cares for nothing.       

Miyasaki loves the vehicles of the sky, and invents many amazing ones for his other movies, but in this one he goes to town over the world war one and two planes and dog fights.  I love his vision.      

There is a very fun relationship between the young, fresh engineer and the crusty old pig of a pilot.

  
How does a pig get to be the romantic, sauve, tragic hero?  Well you'll have to watch it to find out, but he does, and I adore his laugh and attitude to life.

Pics were taken from the telly last night so are a bit crappy.  This is not really a kids' movie. It was made for adults, disillusioned ones, if some of the reviews are correct. Maybe that's us, I don't know, but we do always feel happier for watching it.  Give it a go!  

We've solved Cyrano's current jumping issue by moving his favorite bed to underneath the table it used to sit on.  It took him a couple of days to get the idea, but now he loves it and is so happy to have his fave snuggly spot back.

Angus has spent plenty of time with us while mum has been away.  He's been rockin' his SNAG self in Rosie's pink harness on walks.

     
And he's even been adorning himself with Plumbago flowers.

Angus reckons it's all about the love.

      

A Fun Weekend

We did a lot of good stuff over the weekend.  We had Fireys as usual on Saturday morning, and it was a jolly one, with lots of my favorite people showing up. After that we had lunch and watched an episode of an old version of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, which was so relaxing.  Then I played both of my favorite musical instruments, and did some crochet, and then we went off to represent our brigade at a local twilight market event.

It was a really successful event, packed with happy people, and we all had a good time chatting to locals and Fireys from other brigades.  Everyone was recruiting like mad too!

Sunday was working on the property, more Jane Austen, more music for me, and a game of Startrek Catan with Andyroo.  It takes a while to set this game up, and Cyrano decided he had to be involved as usual. We were a bit worried he'd walk across the board and knock everything flying like a giant marauding space-kitty but he was a good boy and settled on his squeezed up table-towel for the whole game.

 

Andrew beat me soundly, but he wasn't a bad winner at all.  No, all that Mwahahahaha stuff was purely throat clearing!

I always find that particular game rather frustrating, even if I win.  It can be annoying at the start when you aren't collecting any cards or getting to buy spaceships for this or that reason  Generally someone wins just when you really start being able to get moving on your evil plans for galaxy domination!  I still get the urge to play it every now and then. It is so pretty.

Niamh's crocheted afghan is in the early stages, but I think the colours are working really nicely.  I'm finding already that doing one big square offers different colour and pattern considerations than lots of small ones.  I think it could be a bit busy if I don't have some areas of multiple rows of the same plain colour, so I'll incorporate some of those as I go.    

Mister Kitty is extra snuggly just now with the unseasonably cool weather.  Poor darling is on a little bit of a diet because he is having trouble jumping up onto the furniture. He is getting a bit elderly now and not as spry as he was.  We have started putting step ladders here and there for him so he can safely get up to his fave high spots, and I haven't seen him go upstairs via the steep steps in ages. Not sure the diet is having much effect as yet though!

A couple of times this week, he has walked up to me while I was on the computer and insisted on a cuddle, and I have picked him up and cradled a huge bundle of ginger fur in my arms, snuggled up to my face, purring away, until my are muscles call it quits and I have to put him down. He really is quite a sweetheart.  A very large sweetheart!

         
  
        

It's My Birfday!

51 years old!  Does anyone ever think, when they are young, that they will get to be this old? It doesn't feel so old from this side, and yet at the same time it seems like forever.

I'm still recovering from 'the op' and there has been a lot of this going on. 

Cyrano kitty loves this stage of making an afghan.  Think I'll have to make him his own little one for extra happy lap sitting events in between afghans!  It will have to be blue to set his lovely colour off best, though.   

This is my view.

Yes he's purring.  :)

And the inevitable selfie...

Hee hee, funny kitty face!

It's stupidly hot here, of course, but Pilgrim just brought out a video for their lovely song, "For Winter." It is perfect for this time of year for you Northern Hemisphere types!

   
Not much other news.  My baby chookies are growing up. they all have very different personalities to go with their different colours.  Red Rover is boldest and is sooo tall and brightly-coloured, I think she is throwing back to a proper Rhode Island Red.  That's her in front, then Spot, who is still a bit flighty, and Fido who is middle of the road for colour and nature.  Soon they can come out to free range with the big chooks but I want to make sure they aren't too fluttery and peepy to tempt the dogs.

Work on the newest book is going well.  Here's an early rough sketch of the cover art.

  
Lots of action going on there!  I'm further along now, but will save further stages for a surprise when it's done. 

Happy Christmas, or Alban Hefin, or however you want to name the solstice holiday season. Make it good.  Fill it with love and joy.  Do your best to avoid expectations of perfection and enjoy it however it comes.  That way lies happiness!

  (As does getting treats for sitting nicely for mummy to take a photo...)



          

Glowing kitties and chickens

This is what happens to an orange kitty when the setting sun shines through smoke.

He is already an extraordinarily dark orange, but add the orange sky and he really did glow.

Yes, that's the fly screen gazebo back up for summer.  Thank goodness, since I have been dodging mosquitoes while trying to get outside time for quite a few weeks now!  It is so relaxing not to have to keep twitching and slapping, and it is already too warm to cover up head to toe as I do in winter.  These days the mozzies here seem to have neither a time nor a season where they go dormant.

Here are our three baby chookies; Spot, Fido and Rover.  They love this perching spot but mostly the big chooks chase them off unless they are out free ranging.

The pics aren't perfect, as the evening was well advanced, but at least they were keeping still. They often run wildly about at this time of night, chasing after flying bugs, and I've even seen one up in the spindly end branches of a low-hanging lucerne tree, picking leaves off! 

Spot is far right.  She is by far the wildest and even pecked me when I had to pick her up.   Sister Jen suggested maybe that was because, with more white on her, she threw back more to the white leghorn in her heritage, and they are a notoriously wild breed. That theory makes sense to me!

Red Rover is darkest, and she is in the middle.  She is also tamest. Fido isn't bad either. I'm not one for handling my chooks all the time. Our set-up makes it hard to catch them, and everyone gets stressed, so mostly I don't handle them at all, and they get used to being around me unmolested.  That way,  if I do have to pick one up to check for lice or for doctoring, they are right under my feet, totally unsuspecting, ready to be snatched up. It works for me.

Here's another ginger character who doesn't much like being picked up.  He loves it when I sit down to crochet, though.   

That's a mystery Christmas-prezzie Amigurumi.  I wasn't sure about the colour mix at first but now I have got going I quite like it.

We had a nice quiet Sunday afternoon, with crocheting and music and such, after doing a lot of work in the morning removing fallen tree branches up at the block. The firebreak needed to move due to an even bigger fallen tree branch that is precariously hanging in another tree (you can see it in the background there, squashing the poor old olive tree) so we got to work and cleared up the new area into a bonfire pile and a pile of firewood.

In the afternoon, Andrew did a soul retrieval for me, too.  I needed it done and it isn't the sort of thing you do for yourself.  Having done that and an energy separation ritual that I needed to do for myself, I am back to heading further along the path of my Shamanism studies.

The physical, creative, social and spiritual, these are the things that make up a balanced life and even a balanced day.

The social came into it when we had a good Saturday Morning Schedules at the station. Busy busy busy!

The local Maggies are busy too.  They have a nest in this old Jarrah tree, The Touchstone Tree, I call it, right by the cottage.  Already I can hear the tiny peepings of a newly-hatched baby or two.  Maggies can be vicious in guarding their nests, but our family trusts us and lives in peace with us, and that is a lovely feeling.

   
The sky yesterday was amazing too, as you can see!