He did it!!

Back in South Africa, Dave and his brother were master crayfish catchers. They would go out for an hour or so, catch their quota and come back in, while younger divers struggled to get any at all. Dave was very used to taking friends diving, and watching them battle to catch.

Here on Flinders it has been the other way round. Dave has battled to find crayfish in a totally new environment. And all the ones he did see were undersized.

Today I am one very proud wife, Dave caught his first size crayfish! We have been here just short of a year, and catching crays was one of the areas we did not expect to struggle, but to be fair, he can only dive for them when invited out on someones boat, so he has not had many chances to look for them.

Still I love crayfish, and I am so so pleased to see him come home with one he has caught himself!

Doing it the hard way

I guess I am, by most standards, hopelessly obstinate. When most people are curled up in their nice warm bed having realised the fish are not there, or back in the pub because the wind is blowing you sideways across the cliff... I'm still there. The same I guess goes for the writing, and for the constuction -- or destruction projects. It's not that I'm good at them, just persistant - or too stupid to give in. This was put to the test today when I got Bill to come and help me haul my new work-bench out of Peter's shed. Now is one of those quick jobs - cut 4 legs with a chainsaw. About 3 minutes work...

Yeah well. Enter some very old concrete imbedded pieces of some REALLY hard timber. And the chainsaw from Ping Ping, circa 1910. Okay it said 'Stihl' on the casing but if I were them I'd be denying it :-) So Pete starts it with a rattle and a clatter, and yours truly goes under the bench and gets loose with gurt clouds of smoke and cuts - not without effort... one leg. Leg 2... sparks and smoke and no progress. #$%@ bits of cement from concreting the bench in. So Peter goes to sharpen the blade, and we try again. And again. In choking clouds of carbon monoxide, oil, soot and cursing... repeat until you have Dave with one of those weeny branch saws (not a bowsaw) but a saw half the size of the leg... sawing away. It was a sharp little saw, but little. Anyway two hours later, and some crowbar work later, and language to make a lascar blush, the legs are cut... only it's not moving...

Now we get the 'right said fred' part - with 3 hot tired men and a large crowbar.
We took this off... to get that out. And then to move that we took off the next. and so on. and on. The bench came out small pieces. Heh. Good thing the chainsaw had rattled and gasped its near last or we'd have had the shed down too.

Two and a half hours that ten minute job took, and Bill was trying to get back to his project that he only had today to do...

Anyway, I have four sturdy legs towards a work-bench... :-)

"I'm chinese junk-man from Hong Kong..."

I wonder who else remembers that song?
Well, the usual Flinders chaos. Bill popping in with a second half-tank, a quick cuppa and bit of a laugh and chat, and Molly to be fussed over. Peter giving me a call about work-bench he's taking out of his shed. Do I want it? Yes. So went up and had a look and a beer and chat... And got offered a bunch of timber, and a useful piece of strapping and a couple more extension cords... At the moment, if it is going, I'm usually keen, although the generosity leaves me feeling awkward. But right now I am definately the junk-man, collecting to replace what I had to leave behind. I've always been into waste-not want not, a regular packrat, that's me. And I had part with a lot of it. I am used to having a bit in the workshop that'll do for this or that, so it's been quite hard, being without it. Writing's gone OK despite the sadness of having to destroy one tomato plant. A tragedy.

James and Nik went off to spear fish this morning (and did well at it), and I had a nice run of writing then, despite being envious. The boy is getting good at it. Even hit a large mullet, and they move pretty quick. They saw our neighbor in waders and with a large sack of something... so we've all been trying to guess what it could be. All a secret here, of course!

"And he walks just like John Wayne..."

James went for a cycle today, as far as Emita, not having cycled for six months. Enough said!

I discovered part of the problem with the veg beds! The roots from the Gum trees some distance away... have been being well nourished and watered. So some root chopping was done. Gradually, I am shifting the rest of the plants out of the study - long past due, but I am only one bloke, trying to write and live. I planted the russian and lebanese cucumbers out next to the shed. Something ate the last ones I put in there :-(

And otherwise, we muddle on. B cut grass. Paddy is in Malawi, so I feel less worried than when he's in SA. James made a huge batch of biccies - about 160 IIRC - or two days worth, and managed to get some Clancy brothers songs off a very elderly tape that accidentally came with us. Then he asked me for their names...

I have been thinking of a folding hand spear I can put on a pouch on my belt (along with the new kill-knife and a ton of lead). Inevitably IF you need one... it's on the beach. And if you don't, very much in your way and occupying your hands.

Gurnard-Perch etc.

I have heard of this game 'cricket' and I used to think it was played in Australia, but alas, I was mislead. (Ashes? What Ashes? And the Sydney to Hobart looks like being er... exciting, to judge by our wind today.

I've had real focus trouble with the book today. Curiously my Amazon bookscan figures show SLOW TRAIN TO ARCTURUS selling better than anything else, although DRAGON'S RING is LISTED as bestselling the figures show two books sold... Worrying.

I put the asparagus - Martha Washington - out today -- for certain values of out, they're still in a very large tub, but outside. I have the intimidating task of filling the next raised bed (believe me we need it and I want it, but it is LARGE). Sigh. At this stage - when the writing is coming hard, there are not enough hours in the day to get my quota of words, cook and do the bare essentials.

We had gurnard-perch Neosebastes scorpaenoides for supper (you know - the fish with the toxic spines, related to the stone-fish etc.) With huge pop-eyes and many spines... they're not pretty. Which makes for a fairly cautious filleting option... and not one where you need a cat climbing your leg while you are engaged in. Gee... guess what La Duchesse thought would be a good idea? I really would like to know a little more about the toxin, and whether it is injected or just on the spine or just in the mucous and how best to inactivate it (and how it survives death and freezing) as they're very good eating. But, Duchesse not withstanding, I don't want to use myself as a guinea pig. Not an ideal grilling fish, it is like crayfish in texture, and better than monk-fish in taste for mock-crayfish.

An Australian Christmas

Well, it did feel odd to arrive at Christmas a good 9 hours early. But it's a secret see. If the kids find out about this you'll all be moving here, and trust me, emigrating can be quite hard at times. Father Christmas used his magic shrinking potion to sqeeze down the Chimney and I had wisely left the glass door ajar and bottle of beer (Boags) and the mince pie ready. So he did leave a little something for B and I, and new booties for James (you know the cute little woolly numbers. One should always be very specific in those letters to Santa, and say 'wetsuit booties'). B and I have a turntable which can send our records to the computer and digitise them so our very long not available Scots and Irish folk. It works but so far my attempts have resulted in interesting double dubbing. Yes, I'm inept.
Looking through the records I see we have a lot of old Jaluka, and David Kramer. I might just try them on the locals for shock value. If I didn't value our 96 year old Scottish dancing teacher beyond rubies, I might be tempted to swap a Juluka song on CD for one of these blessed slow hop skip and jump Strathspey (I have more chance of falling pregnant than doing a Strathspey right).

Anyway we had a lovely lunch at Barb and Dale's place, ate FAR too much (ham, chicken, oysters, crayfish, various salads, and far too many kinds of pudding) It was - thank heavens - cool for dinner, overlooking the vast emptiness of Marshall bay. Dale makes furniture out of driftwood and I must ask him if I can put up pictures sometime.

We talked on Skype to the family - my brother and sister and Paddy back in South Africa. Paddy gave us fine present in terms of final results for his BSc.
Distances oppress.
But tomorrow will be another beautiful island day.
And I will press on with the book.
And to celebrate Christmas B's graphics card has fried.

The Day before Christmas

Well, it should be spent wrapping presents, getting the meal ready for tomorrow, etc etc.'

We got up at 6am, woke a friend around the corner, and took him with us up to The Docks. There Dave and James got the final use out of the tanks they had hired for a few days, and we fished from the rocks. We only caught 4 smallish Wrasse between us, and then retreated on the ute, and the flask of hot water. The others dived for 2 hours, with a fishing break in the middle of it, as they got very cold. (There is currently snow both north and south of Flinders Island, so although it is a clear sunny day, the slight wind has a bite to it.) Still we came home with a feed of abalone, and food for the cats, so that was great.

Then into town to do the last shopping, and fill up with petrol, and we got home at 3pm.

After a quick lunch we set to, washing the gear we had used, mincing the abalone as an experiment with turning them into 'frikkedele' or meatballs, cooking the crayfish for tomorrows lunch (so at least that fits the tradition!) and Dave cooking a feast for my belated Birthday supper.

I am hoping for a peaceful day on Monday, just a calm day to reflect back on the wonderful year we have spent here, and what plans we can make for 2011, but I am not sure I am going to get it. Life is certainly all go at the moment.

For those who celebrate it, I hope you have a Merry Christmas tomorrow, and for those who don't, I hope you have a good day anyway.