Where am I?

It's been a while!

The political situation, with Julia's history and the other union intrigues, seem to be well exposed in other blogs around the place so I'm not really going to say anything about that subject right now.

Michael Smith has some good things on his blog and on Facebook if you use that.

Have I told you lately how much I hate the "improvements" to the blogger front end? Well, consider yourself told again!

Work for me at the moment is still very stressful. There are things going on there which I can't talk about, and that makes it worse!

I've taken heaps of photos, but there was a conspiracy against me - when I was ready to download them the camera battery was flat... and I couldn't find the charger. I remembered the last time I had it and realised that it was probably with the electrical bits and pieces I took with me to Sydney/Norfolk Island in January. Sure enough...

Speaking of Norfolk Island, I need to make time to go through the rest of the photos and write up a story for them. That will take me a while. I started on NI, but got sidetracked. I'll do that on separate posts.

Now, what's been happening on the blargle/pet/home front?

Earlier this year there was a bit of action next door. The parents had moved out some time ago and the kids were still living in the house. The kids were four older teenage boys, one with a girlfriend and a baby (he was probably close to 20 if he wasn't already when the baby was born - the baby was about two or three),

For a while, a couple of weekends, I noticed that there seemed to be a bit of action at the house. Things were disappearing froom the yard and out the back and one of them  must have driven a small truck for work which was making a few trips away during the weekends. It looked like they were moving. They'd arrived after a trip around Australia some years ago with a bus which sat rusting in the backyard. They were pretty quiet and didn't bother me. I occasionally heard the dad pitching a fit and yelling at the boys. They always kept the front yard and the yard around the house nice, with all those boys to do the work it wasn't hard! The back of the block, about an acre or so, was fenced off and they hadn't slashed it for years. This was a source of bandicoots for study projects at the university.

Eventually the neighbours and I realised they'd gone. A few weeks later there was action at the house, the tenants had done a runner, owing money, and after damaging the house. All the flyscreens were either damaged or missing. There were holes in the walls.

The rusty bus remained.

The owners and a tradesman mate of theirs were working on the house for more than a week. I spoke with them on one occasion and let them know if they needed anything to let me know. (They borrowed a step ladder to do something.)

One afternoon a woman was standing in my driveway and called out a cheery "Hello!".  I looked up and said hello and noticed there were two women, then promptly went back to what I was doing... Then I realised they were coming down the driveway - I was sure my hello wasn't cheery or welcoming. We get a lot of JWs here and others and to be honest they can be really annoying.

Turned out it was the owner of the house next door and one of her prospective new tenants. The new tenant wanted to know how I felt about horses, and whether I'd be open to agistment on my block. She said she'd pay me.

I said, "Well, you'd better come and have a look and see what it looks like..." I said that I'd be fine with the horses on my block (they'd keep the grass down, and the back across the gully hadn't been slashed for over 18 months so it was nice and grassy). I didn't want any money, but I needed for the fences to be kept good. The prospective tenant was quite shocked with the welcome from Floyd and Meg, she said "Do you have dogs? We didn't know you had dogs, we've been working on the house for a over a week and we never knew you had dogs. They didn't bark at us!"

I didn't hear any more until a few weeks later and there was some noise and action next door. A little shadecloth fence went up at the fence line, just around the house yard at the back. Not very big at all. I soon found out why...

They are wildlife carers and usually have something (or two somethings) they are looking after. This is a little wallaby. They had two but they're long gone, up to the range for pre-release living with a group of other wallabies. This one would be about, er, eighteen inches tall. Sorry, I can't remember their names.

Unfortunately, I asked the bloke who slashed to come and slash just up near my house, the grass was getting long. I told him that the people next door were coming with horses and he didn't have to do the whole yard. I'd already had someone up the back with a horse which has damaged the back fence and I used to ask him to make sure he cut the grass across the gully and up by the back fence. I think he got his wires crossed this time 'cos the gully was dry and he was able to slash the whole block. Personally, I think he was so pleased to be able to get across the gully to slash the back that he just got carried away!)

Here are the two of them, the one on the right is grooming himself and the one on the left has just done a big "gallop" around the yard and is off again!

And this is just another photo of one of the wallabies that lived next door. Since then there have been two pinkies, that's ones which had no fur and were very young and sick and neither of them survived.

More later, I have to go horizontal!

Evil Dog Floyd

There is a horse in my yard. He's helping keep the grass down, and saving me money.

Floyd used to go off his tree when he came up near the house.

Today I watched Floyd and the horse. Floyd was just sitting there, totally relaxed, and the horse was about two metres from him.

Not a squeak out of him.

As soon as he knew I was there he went off his tree.

"There's an intruder, look, there! Eating my grass. An intruder!"

Good watch dog, huh?

I think it's the way he smiles that sucks me in.

Now, I have a shocking headache, I'm hot and I'm not feeling too crash hot. I think I'm going to bed early.

Dogs don't like citrus.

One day I came home and had a drink of mandarin juice. Floyd watched intently and wanted some. I put a little in his bowl, but he wouldn't drink it. Okay. Dogs don't like citrus. I understand.

Today I arrived home after a brief sortie to the markets looking for that special something* and I had a bottle of orange and mango juice which I took a swig of where Floyd could see me. He sat and watched. That usually means he wants to know what I'm having and can he have some too?

I found the tiny little stainless dog bowl I'd acquired as a prize (there were no large bowls left), and wiped out the dust. I took it outside and had a swig of the juice, then put some into the bowl for Floyd, telling him he wouldn't like it, it's citrus.

He drank it and wanted some more!!

Floyd is weird. I love Floyd!

*MDFD wants a couple of desert rose plants for her garden. She flogged off the plants she had on e-bay, someone paid $82 to come and dig them up. Go figure! She saw the photo of the desert rose on an earlier post of mine and just knew that was what she wanted for her tiny garden.

Bird puzzle solution, storm, flood, gratuitous images of Floyd (of course!)

Okay, does this help? This is the second picture from the post before last with an indicator on it.

It's easily as wet or wetter than it was last December. Any rain now flows in the creeks (or in my yard, see photos), the ground it saturated again and it won't take much for more floods. In the past five days there's been about 150mm. Approximately 20mm fell in less than ten minutes in a storm this afternoon and the water flooded around my place.

This is the water squirting back out of the tank!

Rain falling from the gutters between the house and the shed - too much for the gutters to cope with. This causes  the shed to flood.

I'm going to have to put a drain or something between the shed and the house because the water builds  up and gets under the walls of the shed and floods the inside. (I knew there was a reason that nothing was put in certain positions in the shed, but totally forgot it earlier this year when I had help to clean up the shed and carport!)

Yeah, I knew there was a reason why wooden based things weren't put into that corner. *Sigh*.

Water flowing from the front of the house around the side and  down the back. It was still flowing a few minutes after the rain had passed.

A puddle formed at the front. I'm going to have to get the shovel out one day after a storm and make  some drainage for this lot, and at the other side of the house, too.

Nuts and mangoes. I don't think the nuts have been attacked by the macadamia nut moth.

Not sure here what's worrying him.

Ahhh, that's more like it, Floyd!

Magic soccer player.... at two years old!

Dog tests positive for Hendra virus antibodies

The dog had no symptoms.

More later.

Butter wouldn't melt...

Hole?

What hole?

Oh, that hole....

 But there was something in that hole, truly. Last night. I could smell it...

Truly!

That's where he was playing with the baby black snake last summer!

Floyd the Wonder Dog

They needed heartworm tablets, the furry kidz, so I bought some different ones - the produce store only had the enormous ones for dogs between 40 something and 68kg. The bloke said "Cut it in half, it means it will last two dogs six months, not like the ones for the dogs' size. It's a big saving!"

I agreed.

I gave Meggie her half tablet the other day. Just put it in with her normal dry dogfood, which she hoovers up, and it was gone!

Floyd was a different approach. I've never shoved a tablet down his throat, I've disguised it in a chunk of meat. But this was a bit big (about the size of half a man's thumbnail, and almost a quarter of an inch thick!).

How to give Floyd his tablet...?

Ahhh! I know. Blobbed it into the dripping pan. He had a bit of a sniff and a lick. Then he took it (he's very, very gentle), bit it - it must be bitter. He swallowed the tiny third he broke off, and kinda dropped the rest out of his mouth. I picked it up, and he tried to get it. I was encouraging him to take it with sweet words. He took it and crunched again. Another third swallowed.

Then it popped out of his mouth and fell on the ground, in some dust and fur. I picked it up and told him he really needed to swallow it. I had a bit of fat on my finger, just a tiny bit and thought I'd put that on it, but he took it and swallowed it.
He's an amazing fellow. I love him to bits!

He's learnt "Paw!" to present his paw, for shaking, and he gets a reward.

Problem is that when he sees you with the treats he will go through all the motions of the things he's done  before to get a treat. He'll start with sit and present "Paw!", when that doesn't work he will lay down, then sit up again. Always anticipating what he is required to do to get the treat.

He's so clever, he's got ME trained!

Oh, and Mum's having diverticulitis surgery this month and I'm going to Sydney to look after her when she gets out of hospital. That's something else I  have to sort out. Kennel for dogs and driving to Sydney. I think I'll only be there for a week, but see how Mum goes.

Scurrilous rumours!

Anything bad anyone says about my Wonder Dog.

(just getting in early)

to wish you a Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Floyd, Meggie and me.

This took me a while thismorning.

I have no idea what went wrong with this one, I can't get it up upload the right way up. Just turn your computer monitor/screen on its side to get the best angle on this one...
I think Floyd was a bit embarrassed!

Furry kids are home

And I can't move....

Achin' all over...

Aftermath

Regarding my post "Yikes" from yesterday.

I checked on Floyd and Meg at the kennel, they're behaving themselves.

Floyd didn't escape from the kennels... the fence on the exercise yard is 6 feet tall!

I'm certainly missing Floyd.

I really think it's so funny that as soon as I'd put the bottom sheet on the bed Floyd thought it was a signal for him to jump up, turn around, and lie down, Sphinx-like, looking at me... cheeky monster. I chased him off the bed and finished making it. He tried to get up on the bed a couple of times, just laying his paws and head on the bed, but I "noed" him and he got off. Told you he's smart!

No accidents in the house, but no definite indication that he needed to go outside to pee... whenever I took him out he wandered around marking all the territory out the front.

I slept lightly because I was listening for him to tinkle, both his collar medallion and the other tinkle.

I've phoned the slasher to do the back yard, just to get rid of the not so long grass down the back, but he can't slash until the end of the month. I'll have to do quite a bit of ride on mowing... and whipper snippering. I'll be mixing up some poison tomorrow, too, so I can spray tomorrow. Just gotta get the backpack sprayer on my back... a mere technicality.

Oh, gotta tell you, when Floyd stands up, he looks like a meerkat. He does it at the back door as he knows not to lean on the screen, but he was scared enough last night to lean on the screen. He was standing up on his back legs checking out the doggy in the mirror! He even kept going down to the main bathroom door crying and looking for the other puppy! By the time I had my shower he'd checked out that mirror and realised that there was no puppy, and eventually lay down on the floor waiting for me to finish in the shower.

He's such a good dog!

Update:
Today I remembered that I had defrosted a piece of steak for dinner last night... it was still in the microwave thisafternoon when I got home, and no dogs to feed it to. Sigh!

Yikes!

Just went outside to have a play with the pooches and give them a bit of cheese I had.

Yuky Mainland swiss cheese - once you've had Jarlsberg every other supermarket Swiss is pretty ordinary!

Outside feeding Floyd a slice of cheese and thought that I should give Meggie a slice, too. Headed for the back entry of the pergola and saw something move when I was only about a metre away... SNAKE!!!!! Only a small one, about 18 inches to two feet. It was hiding in the leaves next to the shed and under the pergola. I suspect it was after the green tree frog sitting on the concrete near the entranceway. He was still sitting up there 20 minutes later. I've moved him up onto the kitchen windowsill.

I'm going to be a bit late for work tomorrow. I'll have to whippersnip, my shoulders going to give me hell, but the poison I sprayed on the grass a couple of weeks ago just isn't working fast enough for me.

Oh, and today in the leaves that have blown under the carport I discovered a small dead snake. No head. Maybe a cat has killed it. It's probably about the size of a pencil, or a bit longer, but that circumference.

8:10pm
Floyd's been barking at something (again), so I've gone out (again) and this time and there's the snake, when I ask Floyd to "Show me?" he went over to the stones in the garden and looked... and there I saw the snake. (phone rings while I'm writing this)... Snake was poking it's head over the bottom plank under the picket-wall of the pergola. I speared with the spade - but the snake was too fast. It's about two feet long, black head, brown body. Brown snake. Or worse. Speared the snake with the spade, but missed, it was too fast.

8:47pm
OK
Phonecall (I'n off the phone now), while I'm on the phone I go outside to see what's happening. Floyd's looking at the place where the snake popped out over the board at the bottom of the pergola fence... and there he is again. I've just explained to phonecaller that I've got a snake under the pergola, asked her to hang on, and as I grabbed the spade again and headed to the wall of the pergola (wood picket-like thing), I see another snake in the leaves (it moved) over to my left. I'd swept out the leaves when the other snake shot through there... but here's another one. Two snakes.
Which one to spear?
The one that was surely here before and had popped back over the wooden plank at the bottom of the pergola fence.
GOT HIM!

9:16pm
Now I'm inside with Floyd who is puffing and panting because it's HOT in here... It's times like these I wish I had aircon!

9:42pm
Okay. Just swept out the pergola. Didn't see any more snakes. The deadish one isn't quite gone yet. I think he's got a broken neck. I think he's a taipan. Small head, really fat body and a long skinny tail at the end of the fat body...

10:47pm
Floyd won't go outside. I just checked to see if the coast was clear, but there are two more snakes out there. I think I'm going to have to keep Floyd inside tonight. Oh joy, it's quite warm in here tonight.

11:49pm
Made my bed about 10-15 minutes ago. Floyd was in there with me. As soon as I go the bottom sheet on the bed he leapt onto it and made himself at home, and wouldn't get off! When I first brought him home he slept on the papasan chair pad with me...

I've been thinking, I'll have to put the dogs into a kennel until I can get rid of all the long grass around the house. That's the only way. I won't be able to do it all tomorrow morning, aside from the fact that there's so much, I'll probably end up crippling myself - my shoulders been giving me quite a bit of pain for months now.

7:00am
Kennel is $34/day for both Bundy and Meggie. I'm dropping them off there at about 9am, and they'll stay until Sunday. OUCH!
Four hours straight sleep for me, Floyd was good, slept on a cotton quilt cover on the carpet beside my bed. Up at first light for a tinkle stop out the front, then a couple more hours of dozing, and up at 7am.
He was freaked out by the dog in the mirror for quite a while. Wanted to go back into the bathroom and see what the dog in the mirror was doing. Then when I had my shower that mirror freaked him out, too.

Snake is thought to be a brown snake. Fail. The others might have been, but this wasn't. Epic fail.

Update:
Letter to Mr Snake, drafted by MDFD:

Dear Mr Snake

Would you mind holding still please while I go and get my snake identification book to check whether you're venomous our not.

Ok, now my book tells me you might be a keelback but I've a few reservations.

The Keelback (Tropidonophis mairii) is a harmless snake found throughout Northern Australia; it is also known as the freshwater snake. It resembles two venomous snakes, the Taipan and the Rough scaled snake

Before I whack you on the head with this FBS*, I need you to confirm if I'm correct or not because if you're in fact a taipan you may kill me.

Regards
Kae

*FBS = Bloody Big Shovel

A lion in the bathroom...

I wandered into the darkened ensuite the other night, flicked on the light so I could see what I was doing, and noticed a bit of fluff on the floor.

Bugger me! I've never seen a lion that big before!

There's a chap at work who looks after the chooks. He also grows lots of flowers which he gives to some of the staff. He also makes up nice arrangements and sells them for five dollars each at the Post Office and the money goes to an orphanage in the country he's from. Win-win!

Oops! Forgot gratuitous photo of favourite furry friend. Or should that be fiend? This morning I cut up a watermelon for work and it was a bit overripe - a bit too icky for me to eat - I just can't eat overripe fruit. I gave Floyd some, but it's not to his liking, even though I was eating it. So I took some down for Meggie. Ms Hoover. She slurped up the bits I put in the yard for her, the red inside part which I'd scooped out for her. (She will eat anything, and FAST!)
I put the rest of the slice of watermelon in the yard for her, pitched it over the fence so she could eat the pink stuff she wanted... thisafternoon I came home it was all gone... pink part, white part, skin, everything.
She'll get a bellyache!

Marley & Me

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

*sniffle*

Houdi, ah, Floyd on the loose again

This morning I woke up to hear... nothing. No noise from Floyd. Usually he woofs at about 6:30 or 7ish to let me know it's time for his morning biscuit.

There was a strange barking, sounded a bit muffled... I was concerned that one of the dogs had got a tick... I wondered if Floyd had got off and managed to pick up a tick.

It was a day off today in lieu of Open Day so that I could finish my application for another job... arrgh! I pulled on some clothes and checked under the pergola... hmmm. Rope coiled a bit, the dogclip busted (just the ring bit with the rope through it). No Floyd.

*sigh*

I called to him and he came a-runnin'. All wet. It had been a foggy morning and the grass was quite wet, it needs mowing, as usual.

There's a eucalypt, peppermint scented gum, planted near Meggie's yard and I have to clean out her water and food bowl because the tree is full of grubs and not only do they crap in the bowls they fall into them, too. Grrr. When I went to clean them out I saw what Floyd had been up to all morning, and probably part of the night. There were parts where the grass was torn up from his high-speed turns, chasing Meggie in her yard, running around the perimeter fence. Then there were the skids in the grass clippings from the high-speed turns at the side of the house.

He's a funny little boy that one.

Hurrah! (ouch)

Yay! It's enormous!

Gratuitious pic of Floyd #1.

Gratuitous pic of Floyd #2.

Gratuitous pic of Floyd #3... is it me or is he poking his tongue out?

Dog bites man? Not quite, this is news!

Dog shoots New Zealand man.

If it was an Aussie man I'd have been checking Abby* for gunshot residue!

*Kevin Rudd's dog.

Floyd in trouble

Floyd was pretty quiet this evening. I'd taken the videos I hired last night back to town and picked up a chinese feed. It was ordinary chinese food, but better than me having to cook. When I left Floyd wasn't impressed, when I arrived home he was happy.

I'd just finished eating the chinese, put the bowl in the sink and grabbed a cup of tea. Suddenly there was that terrible screaming, yelping noise... I know it. From Floyd it means "I'm in distress, help!"

He's very smart. He's been stuck before, but he just makes little 'attracting attention' noises, and not all the time. He's a very patient dog.

This was a noise which told me he was in pain... A yelping screech. I thought something had bitten him. I've heard dogs don't realise they've been bitten if it is a snake, but there are no snakes this time of year, too cold. I thought it might be a spider.

I ran outside (not far to go, but I ran!). He was trapped by his left paw in the join above the hinge of the little picket fence gate. Owch! It was squashing his paw, and when he leant against the gate it moved slightly back and forward squishing his paw. Owwwwccchh.

I held up his front end, supporting his front legs... trying to figure out which way to move the gate to make the gap largest so I could get his foot out. He was still and almost quiet when I was holding him, but as soon as I got the gap large enough to lift his foot out of the space he went running around like a mad thing. He wouldn't keep still for me to check his foot, he was too excited. Eventually he settled down and I checked his foot. Nothing broken I think, I squeezed it and he was fine with that and he's not limping on it.

This is where he got stuck. I've put the dog clip on top for scale. It is a No. 19 clip. (My matchbox is large matches so that was no good for scale!)

You only got the photos of the gate because Floyd wouldn't stand still long enough to be photographed!

Floyd, again - yes I'm not kidding

Today I physio'd. Still sore. Left work at 4pm to pick up my beefy loot. Six t-bone steaks (I had to add $6:85 to the prize, it doesn't go far these days.

I arrived home at about 4:40 and.... no Floyd.

Okay. He's not at the back door. The rope with the dogclip is on the ground near his bed... The dogclip I put onto his rope was taken off an old rope, and I suspect now I think about it, I should have tossed it out as it was faulty, he's escaped from that one before.

I called and whistled and he came lolloping up the yard (mind you, the grass is still pretty high, even though it's dying down and falling over, and I do worry about ticks). Meggie's in her yard (he seems to be able to jump OUT of fences, but not IN!

At lest he isn't wet, I thought. There was supposed to be a thunderstorm thisafternoon, and it's been spitting a bit today.

We said our hellos and I replaced the dogclip on the rope - there was a spare from a lead that Bundy chewed when he was a puppy.

Eventually I went down to talk to the pair of them (Floyd and Meg), and they were tearing around the dogyard, Meg on the inside and Floyd on the outisde. Then it was time to entice Floyd back up so I could catch him.

As he raced past me while I was out the back I caught a whiff of something not good. Not good at all. He tore up the slope near the side of the shed. I smelt it strongly there. Phe-ewww! Something's dead there for sure. But I couldn't see it. Smelt like rat (like the last one I binned which was in about the same place).

Then I realised that it was Floyd who stunk. Ick. He must have rolled in something or he's been chewing his stinky marrow bone from last week. Phe-ewwww!

You know that "dead thing" smell that won't go away (and won't wash off)? I am just hoping that it's not a rat or mouse from the ceiling... but the ratkiller expert at work said that if you don't use too much poison you won't kill your pets, but you will kill the rodents.

Anyway, where Floyd touched me and where I touched him, I stink. Two lots of soap and water to get it off. Don't feel quite so enthusiastic about my steak tonight now.

I want my shoulder to stop hurting. Oh, and I forgot to buy that lotto ticket.