Monday 17 February

Well this may be an issue ... I started reading Stephen King's not-so-new-anymore-book "Doctor Sleep" last night and I realised after the appearance of the first "spirit" that I will not be able to read the book at night-time ... so it looks like it might have to be a very early morning read - or saved for the weekends!

Letter boxes

I don't think I've mentioned yet that the letterboxes have been replaced. They're quite different from the other ones - but as long as there's somewhere for the postie to put the mail, and it's difficult our snake friends to get in to, it's all good.

And speaking of snakes, I did visit the stables yesterday to see if I could see the resident python but he wasn't out and when I delved further, it turns out I was looking in the wrong wood pile!

But that's okay because I was able to see one this afternoon. I found it - a tree snake - in the shed with the boxes - and the blow-up bed I was getting out to loan to Syl and An. I don't know who was more startled - me seeing it - or it seeing a mountain of orange coming towards it as I was still wearing my work clobber. It took off further into the shed and I left him to it - grabbing the bed only when I felt for sure he wouldn't be working his way into it!

M brought the Russians home this afternoon and I missed them by a minute or two. We passed on the laneway. M had already fed the furries and given Tinka her shot - so all I had to do was change my shirt, collect the bed, and have my snake encounter.

Trivia

St scribed at Trivia tonight. Ni had baked another cake - apple and cinnamon. Yum. Where does she find the time now that she's back at school?

Ni went up hiking on the Mountain yesterday - very hot - would have preferred to be in their pool - but in all good conscience she couldn't leave the teachers visiting from France to take their students (also visiting from France) take a hike without knowing where they were going. Yowie (or the Australian equivalent) country? If I wasn't working tomorrow and if I'd thought of it earlier, that would have been quite a practical joke to play on them.

It rained at the site today but not at Latimers - which work out quite well because it meant Sooz could get the washing dry ... which means there are now work shirts to iron again. That might be a job for tomorrow while I catch up with a series or two.

As I was driving home this afternoon, I saw a fire burning over in the middle distance - and it was still ablaze and bigger as we drove into the valley after Trivia. Sooz checked the news and fire crews were in attendance so at that point we seemed to cease to worry about it. Was it a bushfire or a brush fire?

B(r)ushfire

There was another busload of star-gazing tourists on the main road this evening - yes, they were down near the snake drop off point, but if none of them could see the sign, it wouldn't have been an issue. I think the buses are getting bigger.