Milestones

B had to starve this morning before giving blood - having a follow-up on some minor issue a while back, (our two doctors appear to be very careful about this sort of thing. I don't know if that's just them, or Australia... but it's different) and to keep her mind from the subject of morning coffee, she was watching some terrible soapy on day time TV. I came through and listened briefly at it and asked 'Is that an Australian programme?' It was, but I wasn't hearing the accent at all. I rather wonder how my South African friends would find my accent had changed. I did notice Barbs' 'Kahr' instead of carr (for automobile :-)) but can't say I've noticed a lot of other bits.

It's been raining again -- which is good for work, the garden, the cows etc. The chickens are not pleased and I can't say I enjoy it much either. I must be a fowl creature. Planted out lettuces today, and two tomato plants... now I hear we expect frost on Sunday.

Our dance instructress was off sick so the Scottish dancing was conducted by various dancers... including Barbs.

I see muttonbird oil has vitamin D in it. True enough in winter I don't expose much skin to the sun. Not sure if I can bring myself to drink this!

Art and taxes

If you're interested in seeing my favourite painting of the Island coastline - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivA1bQHQQLoe6dLS6EzN7qxUsBhPzixj44ZEdyEk-58wGbPIlVh8xGKmzebV_2MB5JtxADgSW6ULhofLmczw6HG-j3Ph0_rviMg3nrZKZ2KiRySl_Vm1KdQLq8KNIthKTOVtH6Xh4PZk2u/s1600/Settlement+Pt.jpg - the real thing is better still, the details like the tiny islands almost seeming to float on the horizon can be seen.

And we've just posted our tax returns. I am shattered. I think the only one worse off is the sequence of 'advisers' who passed me from one to the next, trying to work out HOW I was supposed to fill in their forms. I was on the phone for over 3/4 of an hour. I guess I just don't neatly fit into boxes...

And as I don't fit boxes, they ought to let me have my wish and be minced and fed to crayfish at sea when I die.

I am being cheerful tonight. It must be the rain and my cold. Or the lightness of getting that task done...

new pots from old rubbish...

I've chopped 9 more I think 20 litre drums to make plant pots. If/when we do end up moving I don't want to lose my entire crop. My indoor seeds are sprouting furiously and showing my idiocy well - I seem to have planted onions in several seed trays with other plants... Ah well. onwards.

I have some flowers on a small tomato.

Frosts and harps

Well, it's very late, and my cold is making me feel decidedly yuck, but life goes on. I have some more Oak leaf lettuce plants to put in, and more plastic drums to convert to plat pots. I'm planting pots against the day we eventually move. One day... We had a frost the day before yesterday, which took out some of my buckwheat plants. Frost. Now? It was fairly windless and clear.

We had a call earlier to say our harpist acquaintance from the conference is braving the trip over here in her car - by ferry. So we'll be meeting her at 1 Am or so, next week. I hope the sea and weather settle!

Well,despite feeling a bit like a slightly underdone first course for a cannibal with a snot fetish, I went off with Barbs, Jamie, a friend's grandson, and Jamie's nearly 4 year old daughter, out off Prime Seal Island. My excuse is I want use Prime Seal as a setting for part of a book (which I haven't sold). I needed out, being a better real reason, but the fish were sparse. We got I think 5 flathead in all, but were treated to an acrobatic display by the dolphins - around 20 of them, showing off. And a passing seal came and waggled its hind flippers rudely at us. The young lad did get a nice Flathead, and loved the bouncing in the waves too, so all in all, a good afternoon, even if we have not much fish to show for it. We met our local divemaster (who is somewhat to blame for us coming here - when we scouted the Island, 3 years before we moved, before the whole immigration process started, we went and hired some gear from Mike Nichols and when we came back he gave us a cuppa, proving the lie of the South African anti-immigration story that Australians are unfriendly and will only invite you into their houses after you've been there for seven years. Maybe in the cities, or if you're a plonker who isn't prepared to fit in. But it wasn't true here. That, and chatting to him about the marine life, the diving and the island were all major pull factors.) So meeting us today at the slip coming in we got an invitation for a cup of tea and some chocolate cake (or staying to gut fish- guess which lost?) and in chatting he told me today he's got his site up, and I offered to put a link up to it. So: on the sidebar - my new Useful Flinders sites. Go have a look at the pictures http://www.flindersislanddive.com.au/!

Amazon

One of my odder short got put up as a freebie on Amazon - it's now ranked 27, and no.1 in fantasy - please keep it there a while. Go download. It's free.

http://www.amazon.com/Left-Behind-ebook/dp/B003Y3BP36/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1316858264&sr=8-8