Old Man of the West

"Boys are beyond the range of anybody's sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years."

James Thurber

Happy Birthday Moo you old bloke!

Cheeky from the start!

Value Adding

"There are two means of refuge from the misery of life — music and cats."

Albert Schweitzer

Nine years ago we were contacted by our local vet in Leeming who had been given three stray kittens (all siblings) found on a super hot day in Perth abandoned by their mum.

Well how could we not be simpatico with that situation?

So into our lives came Lulu (named after Lucy Liu), Casey (named after Casey Stoner - but female?) and Tycho (named after Tycho Brahe).

Casey, Lulu and Tycho in a familial clinch

All was peachy until Lulu (Anthony's favourite) went missing the same day as a verge collection (possibly trying to fatefully disprove the old "curiosity killed the cat" aphorism). Then it became apparent that Tycho should not have been named after an intellectual giant - he was so stupid he fell off people's laps and chairs, ran into doors and generally exhibited the IQ equivalency of a cloth hat.

So we renamed him "Marvin" and suddenly it seemed like he found his niche - sort of like an eccentric uncle that you try not to be alone with in the same room for any great length of time.

Anyhoo Marvin and Casey continue to sail blissfully through life - now in Tasmania. They rarely leave their beds (23 hours of sleep a day seems reasonable given their total lack of economic output) and sometimes they need to be literally carried outside to enjoy a constitutional. Mitch made a "cat hotel" for them many years ago and it dominates our laundry and their lives.

Cheque please!

So what's the point of these useless freeloaders.  Kym says "They make me happy!"

Good enough...

Full throttle

"Grown up, and that is a terribly hard thing to do. It is much easier to skip it and go from one childhood to another."

F. Scott Fitzgerald

What a week! Good news on so many fronts it's difficult to know where to start. Kym will be working once again in Hobart, for the Feds - nice one Kym. Anthony is to start 2018 half teaching students and half teaching teachers at a new school - that should be interesting.

Good health news after a week of nail biting (apparently being sent out into the sun for regular crisping as a child is not a good thing), and of course all around nature is providing.

Tiny strawbs peeking out now means yums just around the corner!

Today we sprayed blackberries and other invasive weeds - this after whacking them for the last few weekends with the whipper snipper. The "organic" food zealots are probably spluttering up their triple distilled apple cider vinegar even as we go to print - but as a couple of organic chemists we can honestly testify that both acetic acid (in vinegar) and glyphosate (in Roundup) are all organic chemicals - you know, like DNA and Proteins that humans are made of (as well as sugar and spice) - well, you can look it up if you're really interested!

40kg of stupidity and cuteness

Then we shifted, fed and watered the sheep. Re-programmed the irrigation, snippered the garden weeds and finally took the pups down to the beach for a swim. So nice sitting on the balcony having a beer after all of that!

It wouldn't be a proper blog without some news from the world of electronics! We managed to make a 3.3V low quiescent current, small dropout voltage regulator by combining a couple of online suggestions.  Works a treat! Nice one interwebs...

Ready for action - just add voltage...

Y'all have a great week.

Gardenation

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” 

Anaïs Nin

Little buds and little flowers abound! All around us people say that their fruit trees are groaning this year and ours are no exception.  The "orchard" is looking great and the prospect of a bumper jam season seems likely.

Fruit in the making

Seasonal workers helping out in the "orchard"

Yums!

One of our barneys has gone broody so Anthony has a "pecked" hand - hilarious (and a bit painful). We've set up a nursery and will transfer her tonight when she's less violent (maybe after dark).  Meanwhile we found about 10 eggs out in the orchard area as the other hens had obviously been a bit taken aback by the viciousness as well!

In other news the seasonal workers have set up camp in a tree house in the forest  - how very rustic! I suppose we'll need to provide them with a tarp and a portaloo?

Ahoy there!