fear

i've always been scared stiff of mice, rats, snakes and sharks.  it's fairly easy to avoid the snakes and sharks but unfortunately the former two have been plaguing me of late.  it started when i noticed poop on the back veranda.  could it be rats?  yes it could.  we have had a very wet winter in adelaide and as i live next door to a cemetery and a park my theory is that the vermin got flooded out and moved into my slightly dryer shed.  there's lots of poop in there too.  today, between loads of washing, i leaned on the couch and looked out the window into the back garden just thinking about nothing in particular.  it's a little courtyard garden with a pond and lots of pot plants.  then i saw it.  out of the corner of my eye.  was it my imagination?  no it wasn't.  a mouse (i hope it's not a baby rat) ran out of the shed and into the back garden and it was horrible.  it's out there now.  running around the pots.  very sneakily and quick.  omg.  what to do???  i can ask my dil to put more baits in the shed i suppose.  i wanted to go in there and get the lawnmower out today but now i don't think so.  i was out there last night to water.  did i mention that a month or so ago there was a large dead rat out there?  luckily my dil removed it for me.  she's from the country thank goodness and not a fraidy cat like me. telling me that they are more afraid of me than i am of them isn't helpful.  i know this to be true but it doesn't help.  in my defense, i am not afraid of spiders.  there are red backs in the front garden. 

warning warning

there wasn't one.  a warning i mean.  norton 360 said the file was ok.  it wasn't.  i d/loaded a spider solitaire game from tucows.  my computer was corrupted and it took six hours to get it back to usable.  all of my programs are gone.  thankfully, my photos, music and docs are still there.  what an interesting evening.  don't you love computers?  noooooooooooooooooooooo i don't.  my modem, on the other hand, has been behaving itself.  :)  you have to smile don't you?  either that or tear your hair out, or, more sensibly, throw the laptop in the bin and get a life.  i'm emotional atm, can you tell?  :)

above pic is my yet to be born grandson.  did i tell you my daughter is pregnant?  i can't remember.  so far he is healthy and growing nicely.  he is due on december 11 or thereabouts.  i'll keep you posted

my didgeridoo

i have very little to blog about but i'll jot down a few things.  did i tell you i bought a didge in cairns?  i can't remember.  my dil bought my son one too.  great place in the night markets.  he makes his own and paints them beautifully.  i can play it.  yes, i can.  :)  can i play it well?  no way.  i can't get the circular breathing thing happening but i am practicing. my son, on the other hand, is really good.  he hasn't got the breathing exactly right but he's very good.  i'll post a video when i can get my shyte together.  which brings me on to my next topic.  i go back to work on wednesday next and all i can say is ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  it seems ages since i was there and i'm sure i'm not ready.  bring on april next i say (retirement here i come).  they have changed my role completely and we have about four new staff members.  all of our teams and desks have been changed around.  another ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.  but, being the positive little blogger that i am i'm sure that a) i'll have no trouble waking up to the alarm, jumping into the shower and getting myself orjanized.  (sic)  i've been keeping very late hours and waking up really late and eating at odd hours and just bumming around, and b) everything will turn out splendidly.   i hope i am more together when i retire or i will go to seed very quickly.  well, i suppose it's not quite as bad as all that but i need to get my shyte together.  yes i do.  :)  a few pics follow but before i go, is anyone else unable to change their blog around? edit backgrounds etc?  oh yes, i made soup last night and the green split dried peas are undercooked and have spoilt the whole batch.  i'm about to make some ricotta cheese and yoghurt.  wish me luck  :)  

my son playing both of our didges.  mine is the smaller one on the right

a colourful owl for cookie

an explosion or two

i'm thinking of renaming this blog the perils of Pauline Fran.  or, the misadventures of Fran.  i'll start at the beginning.  last night i finally got into bed and had read one page of my latest book (it's about reincarnation) when i heard a bang. i thought it was my back gate but didn't hear anything else so ignored it.  then i heard another two bangs and people talking so of course i got up to investigate.  i looked out of the spare room window which faces my car park and lo and behold there was lots of black smoke coming from over in the other car park.  my unit is in a u shaped block and we have two car parks.  there were flames which weren't visible.  i rang the fire brigade and they said that they were on the way.  next thing the flames rose above the house between me and the other car park and loud explosions with firework like effects.  it was very scary.  i heard the fire brigade arrive and saw their lights.  it took about 20 minutes to get it out.  of course the neighbours were out in our car park wondering what the heck was going on.  someone said that the car had been stolen.  i was watching all of this from the spare room window and talking to my son on the mobile.  he also had fire engines in his street which is something of a coincidence.  well, after nearly an hour i went back to bed and finally went to sleep.  then ... at precisely 5:30 am i was woken by a loud beep beep.  i thought it was the battery in the smoke alarm so when it didn't stop i got up, got out the step ladder and took out the battery.  i went into the bathroom and i heard it again.  beep beep.  oh, it's the downstairs smoke alarm i thought. when i went downstairs it went off again and was def. upstairs.  please remember i was half asleep and a bit slower than usual.  i was at a loss as to what it could be.  not my mobile, not the tablet, not the alarm.  next thing it went off again and it turned out to be the portable phone on the side table.  bloody hell, i didn't hang up properly when i rang the fire brigade many hours before.  drrrr.  so i hung up the phone and unsuccessfully tried to go back to sleep.  i think i got an hour before the alarm  went off.  i don't think it would have caused problems for the fire dept. as they'd have more than one line.

not much left of it is there?  the one park next to it didn't fare well either