A Snaky Tale

Let me tell you a story………

My Dad was a real bushy in his earlier days and used to catch snakes in western Queensland and send them to the Brisbane Museum.  When I was a kid, I loved taking snakes and spiders and such in jars to school for show and tell.

As I’ve got older I’ve developed a fear – well probably more like a phobia about snakes.  I hate them!!!!

Mick would have liked to move out of town years before we did as he had grown up on a property.  My fear of snakes kept us in town.  We saw a few of the snake man demonstrations at the local show and such and I learnt that yes, if you froze they forget you are a threat due to their tiny brain ….. but they never told me what I needed to know until I asked the really dumb, girly question……….. “But can you scream?”  The answer, after everyone finished snickering, was that yes, I can scream as snakes are deaf.  Now I felt better.  At least I could yell out to Mick if I saw a snake.

We moved out of town and I’ve seen quite a few now……. yes, it is nearly always me that spots the snake.  We have lost 1 dog, 1 chook and have had 2 cats bitten, but saved.  I breathe a huge sigh of relief ever day when I come home and see the animals running around.  I hate snakes.

I have never killed a snake and I’ve never touched a snake.

We didn’t see any in the yard for the last two summers, but the year before we had 6 in the yard during the warmer months.

Yesterday Mick saw one near our top gate, we saw one crossing the road when we were on the bike (fortunately it was on the other side of the road) and a fresh dead one on the road.

This afternoon I went out onto the back verandah and noticed Biggles our Jack Russell  watching something intently in the herb garden.  I called him, but being his usual independent soul a disobedient dog he totally ignored me.  However, my calling roused Felix our cat from his nap on the chair on the verandah.  He walked towards the edge of the verandah, which is about 18 inches off the ground and started watching something intently under the ramp down to the yard.  I couldn’t see anything…….and then in the grass I spotted about 6 inches of scales……the mid section of a brown snake!!! It was so well hidden. 

I ran around to the front of the house where Mick was working in the garden doing some plumbing for our pressure pump and tank to water the garden and yelled that there was a snake.  He took off over to the shed, and as he left I heard a rustle in the garden below me.  The verandah is about 6 foot above the ground at the front and there was ANOTHER SNAKE wriggling its way along the front of the house in the garden.

I yelled at Mick again.  He got his weapon of choice, known as “The Big Stick” better known as a 12 gauge shot gun….shot the one at the back of the house, which Felix was watching but not attacking, and then ran around the front and shot the other one.

MY HERO!!

What are the chances of having two snakes near the house at the same time?

They were both about the same size, but one was still wriggling a bit when I took the photo. I was too stunned to think of taking a photo until Mick suggested it.  I’m glad he did.

By the way, I don’t know what Biggles was watching, I just hope it wasn’t a third one!

I’m really glad I saw them both, as Mick might have been under the house doing some of the plumbing with two snakes for company ….it doesn’t bear thinking about.

Testing…Testing…Testing

Vikki over at Sew Useful Designs was asking about to see if there is a better way to prepare blog posts that avoid the formatting issues found in Blogger.

A couple of ladies commented that Windows Live Writer is a really good option, so I’ve just gone through the slow process of downloading the software and am testing it out.

So far I’m a little confused.  The text is printing in quite a narrow band and putting in big breaks between paragraphs, which admittedly, I’ve been able to backspace to normal.

There are a few size options for pictures and I have chosen medium, but it is much wider than the text.  I’ll have to see how it comes together when imported into my blog.

By the way, these flowers are the last of our iris that I took to work this week to cheer up my office.  I had no idea that iris are so fragrant.  They looked beautiful on the day after this photo when they were fully out.

Likewise, it will be interesting as to what font size, type and colour carries over into my blog.

Now ………… hold your breath and let’s see what happens.

OK ……… I did a preview and the photo was too big, and only half of it displayed.  I changed it to small, but that was too small, so there were points you could drag, so I dragged it to the correct size, so far so good.

In the preview, my usual “cutest blog on the block” formatting didn’t show up, so we’ll see what happens in a final post.

Here goes………………

But Has She Done Any Stitching?

Yes, I have done a little bit of stitching in the last couple of weeks.

Firstly, I’ve been following the Sew Mama Sew Scrap Busters Projects during the month of October. I just loved the simplicity of the key fobs, so I made one……and then got carried away. So quick and effective. I think a few will be added to Christmas gifts.

I also finally finished Block 6 of Verandah Views. Block 7 is half done. I’m finally getting a wriggle on with these. They are just gorgeous.

And finally, Jenny from Elefantz put out a little challenge to make something for the home this month. This idea had been kicking around in my head for a while, so now was the time to bring it to fruition.

I really like the linen look that some ladies have been creating, but there isn’t really anywhere local to get some. However, I did find this rather large skirt at the Op Shop a while ago. It is 55% linen and 45% cotton. Perfect.

The fat quarters came in a little bundle at Spotlight a few months ago. I thought they looked bright and cheerful and could freshen up our kitchen.

These two placemats are what I created from the front of the skirt. I didn’t know what Mick would think of them, but he really likes them and then suggested I make some coasters to match!!!! After receiving such a positive reaction I will now make two more placemats and some coasters. It is so nice to get positive feedback.

Jenny & Vicki have just started taking names for a new Swap - very simple, two Christmassy fat quarters, two Christmassy buttons and some ribbon.  Pop over to Jenny's blog to sign up.  And, tomorrow I should find out who my swap partner is for the Christmas Decoration, which will be fun.

Mum's 80th & Open Gardens

Although Mum's birthday was on the 17th, we celebrated with a "High Tea" party on Saturday.

We had it at a really pretty coffee shop in town and used our own tiered plates and other pretty plates for serving, which gave it a nice personal feel. 

It's alway lovely to get family and friends together, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

On Sunday there was a Motorcycle Awareness Week ride to Molong.  Usually the street is packed with bikes from all over the western area of the state.  There are people we only ever seem to catch up with on this day.  This year I couldn't go, so Mick went by himself on "Olga".  This was her longest run since he has finished doing her up and she went like a charm.  He was very happy with her performance, particularly as it was wet all the way up there and back.  It was very small gathering of only the keen ones this year, due to the set in rain.  Very disappointing for the organisers.

The reason I couldn't go to Molong was that my friend Lisa and I have an annual date.

 We visit all the local open gardens together. NOTHING gets in the way of our day out.

Sometimes we are joined by her eldest daughter, but she thought better of it this year as it was so wet.

It was quite a cold day, only 11degrees at lunch time.

Lisa and I won't let a bit of rain spoil our day and the gardens looked lovely and fresh.

Some of the gardens were opened for the first time, which was lovely to see.

I even washed my car for the occasion - believe me that is worth marking down!  However, when I looked at it when I got home I wondered why - it was covered in mud from the wet gravel roads.  Oh well, it was nice and clean for half a day!

Church Fete Goodies

I've just imported my photos using email rather than Blogger. It seems to be OK, but I can't work out how to get them in any particular order. These seem to be random and they are all to the left of the screen. I'll have to see if I can work it out a bit more, or just be patient with Blogger.

Anyway, here is a sample of what came home with me yesterday.

I brought home quite a bit of old linen. This is only a little bit, as it is too awkward to photograph. The blue serviettes have a matching table cloth which is rather lovely. In among it all there was some unfinished items. I just grabbed them and would have a better look at home. It is a set of 6 placemats, serviettes and coasters with Mexicans - very 50s. Unfortunately, one serviette is missing. I love the old hand towels. I have quite a few now.

This collection is for Mick. Well, at least the tea strainer and bakelite measuring spoons are. There were lots of old keys. I initially started looking for ones suitable for china cabinets and book cases as quite a few of ours have keys missing. I'm sure there will be some in here that fit. I picked up the little ones because they were just so cute. You wonder what they would have all been used for. By the way, this was only a small portion of what was there.

I was lucky to find two new additions to my green glass collection and this sweet little tin. It is in ounces, so is at least 30 odd years old. Written on the base in texta is "My Stamps". It would have been a lovely little tin to keep your stamp collection in. I don't know what I'll use it for.

This was my favourite find. It only stands about 4 inches high. It is in good nick, although the needle housing is missing, not that I mind as I won't be using it. It will fit in nicely with the others I have.

Now, as usual, I have to find homes for them. I think I feel a bit of a cull coming on.