Fiddling while Rome burns

A fool and his money are soon elected.

Will Rogers

While it's certainly not likely that Nero fiddled while Rome burned (no fiddles back then, was it a lute?), it's a wonderful allegory for the real world events in Canberra this week, and also shows that perhaps the other meanings of fiddling are more relevant to this political life (fidget, fool, interfere, dabble, doodle, mess, monkey, play, potter, puddle, putter, tamper, touch, toy, trifle, twiddle, ...)

All those chooks seem to be running about dealing with Earth shattering events such as:

• the "Marriage Question" (please Tony, just have a vote in parliament like you were elected to do - earn your keep!) and... 
• the backgrounds of various elected officials (Barnaby - step aside and do your paperwork, it's what the rest of us have to do).

The morass of these moribund monsters, brought about by the bubble-like nature of the professional pollie, means that we aren't being effectively governed at the moment.  Perhaps we could look to Belgium for solutions.  Kick em out and let the public servants get back to the sanity of running our country?

Congrats to the parliament for the wastage and inefficiency - that's gonna help lift us up.  And we're not just complaining amongst ourselves up here in the hills...here is the research...

Mmmm...where is that trendline heading?

On a more positive note, the garden is waking up!  Pictures to follow...

The lengthening days

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”

Albert Camus

When the chooks woke up this morning (Sun 13 Aug 2017 07:35:48 AEST) and looked at the mountains they saw this view from their yard...

Good morning mountain

...and when the mountain looked back it saw this...

Good morning chooks!

Egg production is up with the days getting noticeably longer - everyone is happy...

Any prouder and we'd burst

“It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.” 

John Joseph Powell

Driving Mr Scratchy Crazy

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” 

John Steinbeck

About a week ago we awoke around 5am to hear scratching noises.  Damn cats!  So up jumps Anthony to yell at the cats and then return to bed all grumpy.  Ditto that same night, but hang on - the cats aren't being noisy and the scratching is coming from a wall!  We well know that rats can live quietly alongside humans, so a possum seemed the most likely; coming in from the cold (-3 degrees!) to start a nest in preparation for the Spring...er...festivities.

We named the interloper "Mr Scratchy" and began a three pronged approach to convincing our noisy co-tenant to bugger off.

1. Bang the walls ferociously and yell a fair bit - also good therapy for humans!
2. Stink up the environment with "anti pet" spray in the areas downstairs where Mr Scratchy was most likely gaining ingress - very pungent to sensitive noses.
3. The most effective weapon - 3 days of ultrasonic "music" designed to make possums crazy.

How long could you last under this assault and keep your marbles?  Soon it was "bye bye" to Mr Scratchy - and we ain't gonna miss you...

Speaking of driving crazy, check out part of the morning commute around here - icy roads in sub-zero temperatures with only The Floyd to keep you sane.

The actual moving in

“When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.” 

Rodney Dangerfield

We still occasionally feel like we are camping in this house - like it's not quite a home yet. Circumstance and laziness have meant that there are quite a few boxes as yet unpacked.  Kym has been scouring the house for documents she has been needing, and in the process has turned up some things we haven't seen for awhile, like tonnes of photos...

Jackson with Meg and Zoe (circa 2003)

Meg was certainly smaller than Kelly, and in fact we recollect her weight as hovering around 27kg whereas Kelly is up around the 36kg mark.  When walking her today her head was easily around Anthony's hip - poor Jess and Oskar must be wondering how the annoying little pup has morphed so quickly into an annoying giant pup!

Towering over her elders

We just had two weeks (school hols) where we could have unpacked some more and maybe put up a few pictures - and indeed the "office nook" is looking a little more professional than the old configuration of Anthony balancing stuff precariously on a borrowed primary school desk...

Yeah it's not as neat at the moment...

...but we mostly slept and worked on increasing the energy reserves. Anyhoo it's been quiet and lovely, with many walks, visits to friends and neighbours and generally enjoying this little slice of the planet.  Y'all take care...