Finally the Sun!

I know we need rain... but damn I'm happy to see the sunshine once again. This is my Friend Rosie and me at the local lookout!

Charlet the chicken

I took this photo of Charlet, one of our chickens... I'm very proud of it and her of course - she's a very good layer and quite beautiful I think. So I thought I'd share it with the planet... how cool is that... sharing with the planet in like 3 minutes.

Art School Comic

I was going through my book shelves and I came across an old assignment I did for art school... so I put it into comic form. It was supposed to be a kids story. Probably a bit on the edgy side for the little ones though... or not.

Click on the image for a larger version.

Autumn Vegetable Garden

An Autumn Vegetable Garden post, plus hints and tips on planting your own organic garlic. Self sufficiency rules!

Run snail run

 "If you prick us do we not ooze? If you tickle us do we not curl up? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? - William Shailspeare.

(Click on the image for a larger copy)

Beautiful hungry hungry snails

My new friend Lis is a murder - a mass murder actually! I read it fist hand on her Blog!!!!

Yer sure she's working harder than most of us to save the environment, she drivers slower and less to save on Carbon, she recycles like some type of mad woman with a trolley and is more community minded than... well... a really community minded person.... I mean damn she's really giving the 'lets change the world' a go.... and I'm very very very impressed.....

BUT she is a evil snail killer and admits it.... yes I hear you say 'but they are just snails and they eat all my veggies'...

But look - beautiful... how much can they possible eat Lis... why is one life worth any less than another... you know you'll come back as one don't you.... think of that when your under foot!

Oh god I have to confess now... I have been known to set beer traps too.... HYPOCRITE!!! But hey they died happy at-least.

I don't kill them anymore (reformed) and I don't bother trying to grow beans (a snails favorite dish) I go out almost every night - torch, bucket, ice cream stick and I collect them, then it's off to the paddock - their new home under a tree.

I suppose in my next life I'll end up in beer trap.... probably in Lis' grand daughters garden.

PS: Lis I think that all the other things you do are just bloody FANTASTIC by the way! Oh and maybe we can recycle the snail bodies into some kind of cardigan.

Lis' Blog

Copperhead snake

So I thought I'd go down for a wonder in the backyard and spend some time with our dog Gus. He was sleeping very soundly on the back step.

I reached down to wake him up and to my shock there was a Copperhead Snake all curled up sleeping like right next to him. If I didn't know that Copperheads where deadly I may have found this almost cute. They both seemed very content basking in the sun together.

I very (VERY) carefully woke up Gus, took him by the collar and moved him before he noticed who his napping mate was.

We put him in the house and then I stomped on the deck a bit to wake the snake from his slumber... luckily he moved off without a fuss. Most snakes are actually very timid if you don't harass, poke or tread on them.

Above is picture of him heading off down the yard and back into the bush....

Mark Sobierajski a local snake wrangler in Nowra NSW gave us this bit of information:
Austrelaps superbus is a common copperhead, very bitty but not really aggressive, it can kill you. I think about # 3 or 4th deadliest snake in Australia.

Chocolate Mousse

A video of my friend Jane and I making Chocolate Mousse. Filmed by Christopher.

Fluffy

Our Cat Fluffy has recently passed away. This is just a little movie to remind us of him and thank him for being in our lives, and stalking us in the middle of the night. We have lots of great memories. Fluffy 20.04.94 - 15.11.07.

Veggie Garden Video Post

I thought I'd start the year with a few gardening hints and a tour of our organic vegetable patch. Please excuse the normal You Tube quality.

Sheep Shearing

This is a short movie of our two pet sheep, Blossom and Lucy, flat on their backs being sheared. Thanks to Christopher for helping with the filming and our shearers Don and his Son.

And on a side note, compared to some of the hair cuts I've had up here in Blackheath, Don the shearer is looking pretty good... and I don't mind being thrown on by back by a big muscly guy... just a trim thanks mate.

The quality is not as good as I would like - as much as I love Your Tube (check out some of my other videos) it really strips the data down to its bones. I'm getting some new software soon, so hopefully it will improve things. Anyway enjoy.

Fire update & photos

The smoke is so bad I feel like we live in Beijing - The fires seem bit more under control in our area at Blackheath and its a bit cooler today. Unfortunately the misty rain prevents the backburning work from progressing but does not put the main fire out - It is still active and remains uncontained at 14000ha... that's a lot. Here are a couple more photos, taken in Blackheath where we live.

Blue Mountians Fire Update

So the fires have circled out little town of Blackheath like a band of indians. There are helicopters everywhere collecting water from the local golf course in front of our house and the river just down the valley. The hoses are all out and we have made exist plans for our animals if the need arises. Here are some more photos, the first one is a satellite image and the last image is a map of the burn out areas. These are care of the NSW fire service.

Blue Mountians Bush Fires

We live in Blackheath on the top of the Mountain, at the moment the air is thick with smoke and ash falling from the sky.

The fires are still quite away from our home, but close enough to see from up the road a bit. Here are some photos. As bad as the fire is it's also quite beautiful in it's own way and some australian plants actually need fire to germinate. To bad about all that additional C02 (Greenhouse Gas) we defiantly don't need any more of.

Unfortunately though as the planet heats up, it will just get drier in Australia and that in turn means more fires and even more C02. Damn we really need to do something more serious about our coal plants (electricity), cars and other greenhouse gas producing companies.

Dare to be honest

Asking The Question aspires to end the conflict between who you are and what you do.

There is nothing more brave than filtering out the chatter that tells you to be someone you're not. There is nothing more genuine than breaking away from the chorus to learn the sound of your own voice. Asking The Question is nothing short of an act of courage: It requires a level of commitment and clarity that is almost foreign to our working lives.

Dare to be honest with yourself, people who faced up to it, armed with only their weaknesses, equipped with only their fears.

They didn't wonder where they belonged in life.

Your calling isn't something you inherently "know," some kind of destiny. Far from it.

Most of us don't get epiphanies. We only get a whisper -- a faint urge. That's it. That's the call. It's up to you to do the work of discovery, to connect it to an answer. Of course, there's never a single right answer. At some point, it feels right enough that you choose, and the energy formerly spent casting about is now devoted to making your choice fruitful.

Is your choice something that will stimulate you for a year or something that you can be passionate about for 10 years?

The relevant question is not What will I do? but Who will I become?

You'll be a lot happier if you aren't fighting the value system around you.

Find one that enforces a set of beliefs that you can really get behind. There's a powerful transformative effect when you surround yourself with like-minded people. Peer pressure is a great thing when it helps you accomplish your goals instead of distracting you from them.

Gardening Tips and a bit of fun.

Conditioning Soil with Barley Grass... What's that boy doin now!

My Box

See the video!

Christopher Bunnies

Yep, they sure are cute. These are Chrisophers Bunnies. Sam in the hay, Charlie eating and Curly with his toys. As far as pets go Rabbits are probably number one in our books. They are very affectionate and loving and don't bark unlike our dog... he's cute too but can be a bit naughty. Sam and Charlie live outside in this amazing hutch Christopher build them with a big out door area for during the day... Photo to come... Little Curly lives inside as we rescued him when he was still a tiny kitten and he became a house rabbit,. I don't think he would have it any other way.

Alex's Pottery

Thought I'd start posting regular photos of my finished pottery. Everybody keeps saying that they have not seen any of my work, so here ya go. I do sell my pottery so leave a comment and your details if your interested in anything.

Pottery Garden Urn

So I've been had building a Garden Urn, fancy name for plant pot really. Anyway its made from coils of earthenware clay, which I then pinched together. I had added feet.... yes feet (see detail) I'm really pleased with them and now I have applied an black oxide.

I'm very excited about the first bisque firing coming up. Jane and I are planning a wood firing in the backyard for the final stage, so that's going to be heaps of fun....