Intertwined...

Intetwined and supporting each other. A thing of beauty.

Feelin' hot, hot, hot...

Hot today, my poor old gal is really feeling it - yet she still mamages to stretch out the way she did when she was a kitten! Ah, to be so flexible.


You could almost imagine, with the PS2 cord in front of her, that she is deftly maneuvering on tip-toe across a tight wire. No, really, squint a little and look at the pic side on. See? She is however, as usual, completely unimpressed with my taking her photo. We are very alike that way.

South America here I come!...

Well, I've paid the deposit - the first crucial step. It feels so much more 'real' now - no backing out (well technically I could, but I'm not going to). Now comes all the saving, saving, saving, and the getting fit and healthy for my march over the Andes. Already I'm thinking '39 days is just not enough time!', but truth is I'll probably be so exhausted from my holiday I'll need a rest when I get home. Got the Spanish language Cd's in the car - I can now order an icecream, french fries, mineral water and wine with confidence - I should be set, right? Woo hoo! Machu Pichu here I come...

Here Comes the Rain Again...

This song always gets in my head when it pours like it has been the last two days - today is Saturday, so I actually got to sleep in (ie, lie in bed for an hour or two after waking up at the usual 5.30am) and listen to the rain. Soul nourishing, really. The girls are cackling to get out, but I think they should stay in their hen house again today (unless it settles down later) - they are wet enough as it is, I don't think they should be as bedraggled as the poor magpies sitting on the kitchen windowsill (for rain respite) are. In fact, there are wet doves, pigeons, sparrows, a Pee Wee and two Galahs, all looking mournful outside just now, plus a tonne of Red Heads, who don't appear wet at all. Mayhap they are small enough to effectively 'dodge' the rain drops?! Do chickens catch cold? Ha! You should see their head feathers when they get wet. I'd take a photo, but I'm not going out in the weather just now. Bugger the wind started up today though, not a fan of gusts. I'm determined to be crafty today, so I'll stop procrastinating and go play. Here is the Eurythmics live, cause smelly SonyBMG wouldn't let me embed the original film clip, idiots. I love the very 80's clothing (an backup singers). Annie Lennox is a Goddess, I am sure.

Bird of Prey, Flying High...

If you have visited me before on Crypt Stitch you will know all about the avian antics of Gothbury Manors backyard. The other day I had a new visitor. I got home from work, and the first thing I do is open the back door and let out the chooks, and feed the patiently waiting Galahs. On this day I opened the back door and was greeted with ominous silence. I'm talking hearing a pin drop silence. Which never happens but for the dead of night in my yard. No, really. Never. There is ALWAYS at least two magpie in the tree/foraging on the ground and inumerable redheads, sparrow and doves. But nothing. Perplexed, but heading toward the hen house a movement on my right caught my eye:


You should, like, SO click on the pic above and have a good look - isn't she just beautiful? When I spotted her I went, quite loudly, "huh" (ties in with the whole 'perplexed' thang). I turned around slowly, walked back inside, grabbed the camera and got these two shots in before she gracefully lept into the air, light as a feather and soundlessly flew off. I checked her out in the magical BIRD BOOK (much like a bible in my household), and she is eaither a brown falcon or a spotted goshawk, both are supposed to be found around this area, and their pictures looked similar. Isn't she just amazing? Such intense eyes, and she didn't shy from checking me out at all. It was one of those totally amazing moments we are sometimes luckily afforded. And it totally explained the complete silence and lack of movement in the yard! Ten minutes later though, it was a riot of sound and feathers. Awesome.

Sweet Potato, Sweet Potato...

Spring is here! I do like spring, though I like autumn more, followed closely by winter. I loathe summer. Too hot, sweaty and energy zapping fo me. I started to pull what I thought was a spent sweet potato vine out, disappointed that I didn't get a haul of potatoes I expected - everyone always says they're so easy to grow. Well, what a shock I got! I pulled just over eight pounds/three and three quater kilos of gorgeous orange tubers out from the one area! I think there is at least as much there still. How I want to pull them all out just to see how much there is! But of course, it is more sensible to leave them there until I am done eating this first lot (though I did share some with Mum and Dad, and Nan. They are in a bed with an Iceberg rose, some Rosemary, Fennel, a self sewn tomato and a bunch of strawberries. They must be good bed-fellows. The vine itself was acting like a living mulch, and I only started to clear it because it was looking ratty. I am impressed to say the least, and will always have a vine going now. I need to build up a sweet potato recipe data-base!