Marguerite
Active Member
G'day. I'm here to annoy you again with more tales of sun, sea and sand. And a trace of sunburn again. That's the trouble - I lie in the sun, feel like I'm doing OK, no trace of sunburn when I go home and check in the mirror - shower, still feels fine - and by evening, it's developed. It will be brown in the morning (I hope) but in the morning, I have to drive the kids to rehearsal again, and back - in the heat of the day with the sun burning through the car windows.
And the down side - no rain. husband & I bucketed the bathtub out onto the vegetable garden this afternoon, the poor things were gasping. My tomatoes aren't growing properly before they redden up - varieties that are supposed to be sandwich-sized are pea-sized. The corn looks limp and withered. No rain is forecast for the foreseeable future, although plenty of storms are around.
While watering, husband found a dead snake and we got the textbooks out - it was either an Eastern Brown Snake (the variety that killed a teenager over the last few days in Sydney) or an Eastern Tiger Snake (worse). We estimate this one was close to 2 metres long, although there wasn't a lot left of the decomposed corpse. It had got itself tangled in the netting I have to use to keep the vegetables safe from the wildlife. It was a good exercise to teach difficult child 1 how to identify beasties using a key. We had to handle the head carefully - the fangs were exposed and the venom would have crystallised and been very concentrated. It's now carefully wrapped and in the bin. The head, that is. The rest is in the compost heap. So whenever I'm tempting you with the delights of Australia, do remember the flip side. This beast was in the backyard where the kids & I walk around bare-legged and barefoot.
My friend, mother in law & I had coffee together at the local cafe today, something we'd promised ourselves before Christmas. My friend goes back to work on Monday, possibly to be told she's been retrenched. We've only got another two weeks of holiday left, then school goes back for the new year. I've been enjoying the break - even though he works hard, supervising difficult child 3's schooling takes a lot of my time and energy. All the doctors are back in full swing and appointments are also looming. I still need to get a new diary for 2007 and I HATE getting organised while I'm in holiday mode!
I'm thinking of those of you in the snow storm and ice storm affected areas. Nasty stuff. here's hoping your trees and power lines don't snap under the strain.
Marg
And the down side - no rain. husband & I bucketed the bathtub out onto the vegetable garden this afternoon, the poor things were gasping. My tomatoes aren't growing properly before they redden up - varieties that are supposed to be sandwich-sized are pea-sized. The corn looks limp and withered. No rain is forecast for the foreseeable future, although plenty of storms are around.
While watering, husband found a dead snake and we got the textbooks out - it was either an Eastern Brown Snake (the variety that killed a teenager over the last few days in Sydney) or an Eastern Tiger Snake (worse). We estimate this one was close to 2 metres long, although there wasn't a lot left of the decomposed corpse. It had got itself tangled in the netting I have to use to keep the vegetables safe from the wildlife. It was a good exercise to teach difficult child 1 how to identify beasties using a key. We had to handle the head carefully - the fangs were exposed and the venom would have crystallised and been very concentrated. It's now carefully wrapped and in the bin. The head, that is. The rest is in the compost heap. So whenever I'm tempting you with the delights of Australia, do remember the flip side. This beast was in the backyard where the kids & I walk around bare-legged and barefoot.
My friend, mother in law & I had coffee together at the local cafe today, something we'd promised ourselves before Christmas. My friend goes back to work on Monday, possibly to be told she's been retrenched. We've only got another two weeks of holiday left, then school goes back for the new year. I've been enjoying the break - even though he works hard, supervising difficult child 3's schooling takes a lot of my time and energy. All the doctors are back in full swing and appointments are also looming. I still need to get a new diary for 2007 and I HATE getting organised while I'm in holiday mode!
I'm thinking of those of you in the snow storm and ice storm affected areas. Nasty stuff. here's hoping your trees and power lines don't snap under the strain.
Marg
