Plovers

A 3-post collection

An ounce of prevention...

Weighs heavily on my wrists, unfortunately. The good old Bunnings Brolly is many things. Hardy, durable, reliable, engineered to last in high wind conditions, it opens with one button, it isn't a struggle to shut...

But it isn't exactly the lightest of things to tote around.

If you ever want a bargain brolly that's going to last you, get the big golf umbrellas at Bunnings. They only cost $10 and they look they'll last a lifetime. The place makes their money back from all the free advertising whenever it rains.

I used mine as preparation against perfidious plovers, who were once more conspicuous by their absence. My best guess is that they know what an umbrella means and are keeping their distance.

I may yet rig up some kind of back scabbard so I can carry the umbrella without undue strain on my weak wrists. Or hip scabbard. Whatever. Hip scabbards make more sense in the long run. Back scabbards only look badass.

...I have cardboard toobs... I could probably work something out with spray-on waterproofing and leather straps... Or duct tape.

Eh, I'll let it percolate for a while.

Meanwhile, I have an instant story and as many words as I can cram in before it's time to hussle. Because dear Chaos is out on an adventure with me to Distant Caloundra, there to see an expert to file and sort her into the assistance-appropriate pigeon hole.

At least I have as much paperwork as I could gather, this time. I'm not just an addle-pated Mx Disorganised with my brain full of fog and my mouth full of babble.

But I am in a hurry, today. Here's hoping for a quick prompt.

Good morning, territorial flying saurians!

As you know if you read my personal blither, I've taken up walking around the block for my daily fitness regime. In the pre-dawn twilight, it's generally peaceful and nothing much is going on.

Not this morning.

This morning, a lovely pair of nesting murder-birds [aka "plovers" aka Masked Lapwings] decided that my morning walk was personally offensive and invasion of their privacy.

Now, plovers will warn you with their signature 'back off' call of sharp, harsh shrieks [spelled "kee kee kee"

Read more »

The hazards of dog-walking

Before the weeks of deluge, I alternated blocks to walk the hound around. Let’s call them Clockwise and Anticlockwise.

And a couple of times, I even managed to do both.

That was before we evicted the Carpet From Hell [it wasn’t paying rent], the subsequent stint of bad asthma, and a rainstorm just short of another effing flood.

Now I’m back to one block until I’m absolutely, positively certain that my health is up

Read more »