This Time of Year

Ahh.  The simple things in life.

a little gathering from the veggie garden, including a bouquet of greens.  Kale, silverbeet and parsley.

 Some lovely tomatoes at last.... it's been a while.

Flavour of the day - on rice biscuits with cottage cheese and avocado - with a sprinkle of salt and pepper!

 
a few small pumpkins which have been very sweet indeed.

My favourite (and it seems, only) flowers at the moment. Nasturtiums.

Then there is this......... the warmer weather means that carpet snakes think it must be time to make a move. Maybe a spot in the sun somewhere whilst deciding on dinner material.  Just stay away from my hens big fella!  

There is definitely merit in having the house safely screened (I hope)!!

Cheers for now
Wendy

Afternoon Shadows

I'd been reading Anne's post about her lovely garden and visiting kookaburra.  I just ducked outside for a moment to collect some mandarins and spotted these visitors in the late afternoon shadows.

Can you see them?

a bit closer

Regular as clockwork about this time of day.  They are obviously aware that we are a Land for Wildlife property and have seen the sign at our front gate~

However, not so pleased to see this guy one night during the week - and not too far from our back door.  I think it could be the one we spotted recently on back verandah.... but what do I know, they all look similar!

He has obviously been out hunting since we saw him last judging by the big bump mid-section.

...... and yes I have counted that we still have all our hens!  I'm guessing it may be an unlucky small possum or bird.

cheers for now
Wendy

After the party

The Party went well and thankfully no accidents or incidents to report!  When I was out shopping pre-party and mentioned to anyone that we were having an 18^th party, I was met with looks of horror/sympathy or wishes of Good Luck! 

source

So we weren’t really sure what to expect.  We know a lot of son’s friends, but not all of the ones coming.  We also hear so many media reports of wild parties, gatecrashers etc. So it was a little daunting.  We had a few security measures in place and a few friends over to help and give moral support.

However on the whole it was a great success.  It was all pretty casual.  The kids were organised, responsible and most of all had fun I think.  It’s a bit of a novelty for some to be on acreage – we had a big bonfire but it was a bit of a fizzer due to lack of aged wood to burn.  I think they enjoyed it though.

 The after looked a little like this...

 However I was really hoping this visitor didn’t come out on the night.

 

I spotted him above the kitchen window the night before.  The photos aren’t very good; I was just holding the camera up and taking the shots hoping I had it in the frame, but you get the picture!

It does look like it’s trying to get in under the roofing iron, but the hubster assures me it can’t get into the house (I often remind myself, it can't get into the house).  I have to admit to racing inside to check that it hadn’t!  I guess it was just looking for a warm spot to spend the winter.

Look at all those geckos!  Obviously we live in Queensland.  I wish the snake would take a liking to them.

Earlier in the week I had seen this snake in the yard when Angel our big boofy dog made a funny yelp.  When I went out she was cowering from it.  She had obviously investigated its' transit across from a garden bed (probably making its way to the house). 

Yes she did get a bite on the snout, but she is fine as carpet snakes / carpet pythons are non-venomous.  I  rang the vet to check.

So all in all, it’s been a big week.  Two over-stressed worn out parents combined with one fully aged 18 year old!

I thought I would throw in a photo of Angel.  This is a few years old, she is much greyer now.  Especially on that sticky-beak snout!

We are heading down to northern rivers NSW for a few days to catch up with some friends.  I'm looking forward to some serious market-time!

Cheers for now

Wendy 

Creature Feature

No - not a B-Grade movie.
Real life.  Real action and drama and a real carpet snake!

  

However, the real excitement (said with a hint of sarcasm) to me is the fact that when I first saw it, the dear wee thing was directly over the back door!!

Haven't seen it again since then - it was obviously camera-shy because it was on the move once I started clicking away.

I am so glad that the house is very securely screened and effectively snake-proof. Otherwise I don't think I'd sleep well at night!

I'm sure it is not the same one we had removed.  I'm sure though it is an offspring or maybe sibling of our old friend.  It is definitely smaller. 

This is the one I had removed last year.

As long as the new one stays away from these little guys I'll be happy.    It had obviously had a decent meal lately - when I saw the big bulge in its' belly I went back to count the chickens again, but they were all there.  I'm hoping it was a rat or similar.  At least that would make me feel better.

I will have to put up with this one hanging around I feel.  When I had the last one removed,  my DH wasn't too happy and gave me the big Environmental Talk about how snakes fit into the scheme of things.   Which I can understand totally. ...  I just didn't like seeing it all the time in the garage!

Another funny event this weekend.  My son recently bought a new Oscar fish  for his big tank.  It has been in there about a week, but must have decided to vary his diet a little.  Talk about biting off more than you can chew!  It has been like this since Saturday.

(If you double click on the photo you might be able to see more clearly)  The Oscar has a fish (catfish I think) wedged into his mouth.  We have tried to physically remove the little fish, but it just isn't budging.  We'll have to wait and see what happens to the Oscar.  At the very least, it might put him off attacking the smaller fish!  I think the theory was that they were too big to be seen as part of the menu. Seems the Oscar thought differently.

Cheers for now   Wendy

Bantams and Snakes Don't Mix

Sorry have been missing for a little bit.  I don't know how these daily bloggers manage it!  This is my pitiful attempt at a quick post.  We seemed to be busy over the Easter break and the end of the school holidays.  Husband survived the Blues Fest and had a great time. Now school has been back for a few days and off again for a few.  What a life!  We are off over the long weekend to the Gold Coast and meeting with friends there.

Just about all my items I had listed sold on ebay.  Selling them is good - the photography, listing and packing all time consuming though.  Still I guess I can safely say that the house has been slightly decluttered over the past week.

A snap of my fave little hen at the moment.  She is so sweet - but very clucky a lot of the time.  I'm thinking she is a silkie/pekin cross.  Any thoughts on that fellow fowl owners?

Unfortunately we had a run of bad luck with a resident carpet snake last year.  The snake had an extremely successful year, but we lost several hens.  Including this hens' one surviving chicken she hatched from a dozen fertile eggs I bought online!!  That was one expensive carton of eggs - and unsuccessful as it turned out.

The carpet snake lingered for quite a while, meandering between the hen house and the garage.  We would often see it on the rafters of the garage.   While it is not uncommon to see them occasionally, it was unusual to see this one so much!  Eventually I rang a snake wrangler who removed the snake from the garage and relocated it elsewhere.

So that, dear readers, is your story for the day - the little hen and the big bad snake.  A happy ending  (apart from the loss of 3 hens and one little chicken).  Little Banty (the one in the photo is still doing fine) is waiting for some more eggs to hatch).