As i was walking

i love geckoes, i miss them in winter.
this baby was sunning himself on a fence this morning... totally lifted my mood :)

Holidays

I haven't had a chance to post anything for awhile. I have been having loads of fun, but I have been thinking of you, lol.

HH has just returned to work after having 4 whole weeks off. We made the most of the time together. We spent a weekend on the Gold Coast, just HH and me. All three of us went to Fraser Island for a week. The two boys went off for a boys weekend, camping at Neurum Creek, while I flew to Melbourne for a big family do with my sister.

We also used the time to set up a business. So much paperwork, ABN, insurance, registration, phew. Finally, it all came together and "Ellaby Yardcare" is open for business. Visit the website here.

And no that's not the Irwins in those photos, it's just me and HH, dressed up in khakis lol.

Our weekend on the Gold Coast, was soo relaxing. We saw Tim Minchin, at the Gold Coast arts centre, which was hilarious. Then we had dinner at an italian restaurant. We also slept in past dawn, such bliss. We stayed at the Meriton, which was inexpensive, but really stylish. HH commented that he really liked the apartment and its furnishings, I just really relished having a shower in a bathroom, which didn't have holes in the walls and missing louvres. I also liked applying make up without having to stand on tippy toes, in the dark (our mirror is installed too high, and the bathroom light doesnt work).

Side bar:
I think the main reason we felt so relaxed, was probably because the place wasnt full of our junk, I mean stuff. I tried to explain to HH, that books piled up against walls (mine) and unpacked boxes in the hallway (his), not only clutters the walkways, it clutters your mind. We have pledged to rid ourselves of junk, hallelujah, he has seen the light. He is even letting me sell some, ahem, wedding presents that have never come out of the boxes, let alone been used. We got married in 2007, people. Fingers crossed we don't offend anyone, not that that has ever stopped me before. We just have to be brutal, we live in a tiny, tiny unit, with (I am not making this up) no cupboards! There are no cupboards in the bedroom, none in the bathroom, we don't have a linen cupboard, we dont even have a pantry. There are some shelves in the kitchen, and a cupboard under the sink, that is it! Think about it, for a moment, where is your vacuum cleaner? your broom and mop? your toilet paper? your towels? I am guessing in a cupboard somewhere? Oh ho, not me folks, all my stuff is out, in the open, for every visitor, in law, and door to door salesman to see. Anyhoo, back to talking about holidays.

After our cozy weekend, we all traipsed off to Fraser Island in the 4runner.
(or should I say we bounced, jostled and jarred our spines?) The weather was absolutely perfect, it was lovely and sunny, yet not too hot. We stayed at Fraser's at Cathedral beach.
We slept late, and ate when we felt like it, like all good holidays. HH did some serious 4 wheel driving, I read trashy novels. There was no TV, no phone, no computer....





I took heaps of photos of bush tucker, which I think I will upload in a different post. We saw dingoes, kookaburras, turtles, goannas, eagles. It was heaven to use an overused cliche.

After we got back, the boys took off to Neurum Creek, to eat junk food, burn stuff and behave badly in general. My sister and I flew off to Melbourne for my Aunts 50th birthday and had a girly weekend, catching up with our family from over the border.I think that catches everyone up...

Mary river DAMN

This letter arrived in the post today. Ages ago, I emailed the premier my opinions on the proposed Traveston dam. I am glad that I got a response, but it does nothing to allay my concerns.

Basically, I said in my email, Brisbane residents do not want the devastation of an ecosystem on their consciences every time they have a glass of water. We don't want our endangered species in a zoo, or a "scientific research facility", we want them in our landscape, enriching the planet.

I suggested some simple, constructive ideas in my email, for example, spending the millions of dollars on residential and commercial grey water systems, water tanks and fixing leaks, instead.

Brisbane does not have a rainfall problem, it has a rain harvesting problem!

I look at huge shopping complexes, such as Westfield Chermside and all I see is hundreds of square meters of rooftop catchment being wasted. What about all those toilets and handbasins in commercial buildings? A large waste water treatment system, such as Biolytix, could capture and reuse that water.

It doesn't make sense to me, that the solution for a drought, is relying even more heavily on rainfall. Dams are an inefficient way to harvest and store water. The large surface area means that in our hot, sunny climate the dam will suffer huge losses from evaporation. Also, the runoff that the dam captures, could have manure and fertilisers in it, which means the water will have to undergo a series of expensive treatment processes before it is drinkable. All of that, just to get flushed down some Mcmansion owning @#%$er's toilet.

For more information and actions you can take go to: http://www.savethemaryriver.com/
you could also join this group: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-the-Mary-River/9768953481

An unexpected visitor

I was making toast for my little man the other day. I reached into the cupboard to get a plate and got a surprise: This little guy was sitting on our plates!
(sorry about photo quality, I used my mobile phone, no time to get the camera.)

He hissed at me, and puffed his body up trying to look like a scary snake. It took me a second to realise he was just a scared baby blue tongue. He was only about 10 centimetres (4 inches) long, but he made me jump, that's for sure!

It took ages for me to corner him and get him into a salad bowl (the closest thing to a bucket I had within arms reach.) I was afraid the Great Black and White Hunter (our cat) might find him. (The dumb cat will calmly watch mice eat his biscuits, but he loves to chase lizards.)

Then once I had baby blue tongue safely in the salad bowl, hiding under a handful of mulch from the garden, I had to figure out what to do with him. We have huge, nearly 60 centimetre (2 feet) long blue tongues in our back yard, living in our compost. It's nice and warm there with lots of snails and worms, perfect blue tongue habitat. I just wasn't sure how friendly these big guys would be to my little guy. What if blue tongues are fiercely territorial, and by releasing him in my backyard, I was sending this baby to his doom?

I made a quick call to the RSPCA 1300 animal hotline. Even though it wasn't technically an emergency, the operator was extremely helpful. I was reassured that he would be O.K. Blue tongues are quite gentle, and very timid. The operator pointed out that the adults down the back were probably his parents. Duh, why didn't I think of that? He had to have come from somewhere! We both had a bit of a giggle about the fact that some how he had made it up two stories and into our kitchen cupboard. That's one intrepid baby blue tongue.

Two days later, Handsome Husband was moving the wheely bins, and let out a girly squeal, ahem, I mean a manly shout. I ran outside to rescue him, I mean, to see what was wrong, and there was Baby Blue Tongue. He was doing his hissing act, puffing up to his full 10 centimetres (4 inches). I laughed at HH, who was backed up against the fence, picked the lizard up in an old shirt and let it go down the back again. At least I know it hasn't been eaten yet.