nets and hooligan cats.

Batman - he of the twitching tail and serious (even for a cat) attitude problems has decided that today is hooligan day. And that it was never too late to have a happy childhood. He's been yowling growling pouncing and playing. It could have been fresh minced fish. I am more lacerated than I need to be, and I do not think my legs are tree trunks.

This morning involved a getting down to all the things we were too tired to deal with yesterday, ergo, mincing fish and roo and washing wetsuits and cleaning the net. Hmm. Well everything got done bar the net, which got hung out, but it kept raining every time I set out to pick the seaweed out of it. I dropped an e-mail to Haverford nets (the net-sales in Australia are NOT net savvy. All I want is prices, and delivery cost and I'm there, a customer. And firstly they're not easy to find, and secondly they're not easy to order over net from. Anyway, this crowd seemed to have what I wanted, now if they can reply to their post. Eric wanted a time schedule for the events in the book I've just turned in - which is now called BURDENS OF THE DEAD, and O'Mike wanted to talk about new book proposals. Pads and James and Clare all talked to me via the net. And actually I don't seem to have achieved a lot of other writing today. Ah well, onward.

And then the rain came back

Intermittently today. It was good yesterday though - Which has been rather the story of my day. Intermittent. Good yesterday. I am putting it down to being tired - it's as well I didn't push the boat out the extra yard and go floundering last night (which I should have as conditions were Ok, not great, but I also had my weekly blog post to do for my writer's blog.) I probably ought to go and set a net tomorrow morning at 5.30 - not happening despite the tide being right. I suspect I really need a smaller mesh net, and besides we're expecting rain and misery weather. I am stiff from diving and paddling yesterday, feeble old man that I am. The Abalone was 4-5 metres down and my weightbelt is a bit light. Hard swimming getting down and the water is sappingly cold right now. Yes, I am whingeing and ought to get fitter, dive more, write faster and probably solve the problems of world peace in my sleep. Maybe next week. I'm thinking of plots for books, and also of ways to deal with the wind-riffle on the water surface that stops us floundering on so many nights. So far i am toying with putting on a wetsuit and goggles and... a leash to B who will walk with the light. The currents are quite strong and having dived at night, I do know just how disorientated one gets. I've no interest in drowning just yet. The other thing I've been weighing is just where to find a net supply - I want to put a smaller mesh net onto one of my nets and also make a very fine mesh 'bait net' for hardyheads (little fishies, lick the dishies) which I see shoals of from time-to-time. I would like to use them 1)as bait - weird idea :-) 2)As whitebait - in the UK sense - small fish fried whole as dinner 3)to salt as an anchovy equivalent.

I've been thinking over the dive bouy thing. I am really not happy with ropes attached to me in the water. Mostly this has never been an issue, pre-Flinders because I'd have been too busy rescueing anyone who brought a boat into the wild water we dived in in SA. Here the sea is - mostly - much quieter, and divers and boats can actually fit in the same piece of water. I also find that diving goes from too light - when I start, to too heavy (when I added a few kilos of abalone to my bag) and I was thinking of a tropedo-bouy I could sling a bag onto and then anchor (so it wasn't attached to me, and therefore less dangerous.

As for the garden, nothing much is growing right now. Holding pattern.
So here is a picture of Roo and Ms Roo, not in my garden. Would I be tactless to say they look like quizzy rats? Oh well, I've never been Mr Tact anyway.