Bits and Bobs

It's been a varied week since my last blog post, we had the pleasure of catching up with some dear friends visiting Albany from Perth a couple of times over Easter and I've also had quite a lot of slothful time.  Reading has hit the forefront and I knocked off a great fantasy trilogy by Trudi Canavan called The Black Magician Trilogy.   A totally trivial observation but one that amused my tiny mind.... we were driving to the Post Office to collect our mail and I idly noticed an Adult Lingerie Shop, but what amused me was that the shop next door was a Maternity Shop!

As I write this post at 8pm, it's pitch black, a really dark night outside and we thankfully have some cloud cover and cooler weather coming after a couple of really hot yucky days, I turn into quite a cranky pants when the weather is too hot so lucky for Steve we have a change imminent. :-)

In holes high up in a couple of enormous old dead trees near our boundary there are some wild bee hives and they are obviously feeling the heat too because for the last few days there has been a steady stream of bum-up bees drinking from the little bird bath near the shed.

We've recently had some splendid nights with a magnificent moon, and one night last week it looked spectacular shining a big halo through a bank of cloud.

After 2 1/4 years of owning this land, I have finally seen my first snake.  Behind our water tank we have positioned the overflow pipe into the bush, and have dug out a bit of a trench for the water to flow into.  I have taken to wandering in there to brush my teeth, and just beyond the trench is a tiny sun-drenched area surrounded by shrubby undergrowth.  I wandered in near the trench brushing away and happened to glance at the little sun pocket, only to see the rear end of a tiger snake slithering off into the bush.  I had obviously upset his morning sun bath.  I have discovered I am not particularly snake-phobic, I didn't run out screaming and waving my arms, I just calmly thought "oh, a snake".  In saying that we are very careful and keep an eye out for snakes, I usually make a habit of stomping through the bush like an elephant so no snake is surprised to see me.  Apart from this one!  Now we know that this is a snake spot we shall be even more observant.

Continuing on the wildlife front, we are really enjoying the local kangaroos, who must be getting used to our presence.  Usually if we move or make any noise they take off, but have this week taken to lounging nearby, and oblivious to us and our movements, as long as we keep a respectful distance.

In particular there is a small female kangaroo and her not-that-long out of the pouch joey, they spend a lot of time here whereas the others tend to come in in the late afternoon.  These two are really sweet, she is still letting him nurse but as he is way too big to hop in the pouch, he just pokes his head in for a drink.  Then she washes his face for him....aww.

No fishing this week but we have been making a concerted effort to eat lots of the fish in the freezer.  What a chore eh.  :-)  It's been brilliant actually, and we've been varying between  plain fish, battered fish and smoked fish.  Yum.  Steve makes a terrific batter, I'm not a battered fish lover but he has converted me.  He makes a really really runny batter using his home brewed wheat beer, so it's just a thin crust on the fish, rather than the thick stodgy stuff I've only known.  This is what we had the other night...

And this is what it looked like before.  Top one is a silver bream, middle one is a rock cod and the bottom one is a wirrah, caught at Anvil Beach near Denmark when Steve and his mate Tony fished there about 5 weeks ago.  The rock cod was the yummiest.