invasion of the insects

Today was 30 degrees plus, hot & sunny, contrasting with most of last week when we needed the heater on. Spring is such a capricious season. I had my first bad bout of hayfever - had been immune this year so far, much to my surprise.

As I sit here just past midnight (11pm only if you base it upon the time before daylight savings came in a few days ago)I'm surrounded by a cloud of midges (tiny pesky insects) flying around and landing on me, desk, everything. My PC screen is coated with them. One got into my eye and hasn't surfaced yet. "How do they get in (to the house)?" is my perennial question. I ask the same question of the millipedes which swarm through the house after rains. Recently, they have been a resurgence of them, and sitting here in the office, I can hear the "plop plop plop" as they fall from the ceiling. Their usual style is to crawl across the floor, reach a vertical surface, then climb climb climb until they reach the ceiling, then across the ceiling, then plop onto the floor to begin the whole slow journey again. God forbid that one should leave any food or drink uncovered. And one might get a case of RSI bending over & picking up the stray ones wandering across the floor (with a tissue not bare hands eek). Months later, one finds them tucked away under boxes, in drawers, every conceivable nook. Oh and then there are those irritating buzzzy flies, large ponderous ones and the small hyperactive sticky ones. Next thing you know we're going to get another beetle plague like we have experienced twice already. At this time of year it's like living in a horror/comedy movie!

I guess I should remind myself that country life has its wonderful blessings too, but right this moment I can only see the other side of the coin!

sunny winter days

After the spate of wild, wet and grey days, we've had a run of beautiful sunny days. The house feels warm, the string of one Expo after another has stopped for awhile and we've got our life back.

I'm reading The Power of Appreciation, Infinite Love is the Only Truth Everything Else is Illusion, Cracking the Millionaire Code, and am listening to an amazing sci-fi audiobook called Snowcrash (I'm not a sci-fi fan, but this one's different).

winter is definitely here

So cold! As I sit here in this office, I'm wearing thermal underwear plus another 2 layers on top and one extra layer at the bottom, and my fingers are cold. The thermometer says it's 17-18 degress C in here, even though both panel heaters are on. But I don't believe the thermometer - my body tells me it's about 15 degrees in here. It never gets quite warm enough in this office, in winter, unlike the main living areas where the wood fire is blazing valiantly to keep the status quo, against the cold winds blowing through every gap in the house. It's 9 degrees C outside, which isn't that cold, but the winds make it colder.

The lack of cuddly warmth is the price we pay for the walls of big glass windows everywhere. Great views but brrr! We have to relent and get some blinds, at least!

It's been pouring, pouring with rain for days. John next door had a vivid dream of rising waters, sliding mudbanks and waterfalls over roofs. I think there was 27cm of rain today!

millipede invasion and country life

Phew! Truce I think between the millipedes and us. Since the rainy day, the millipedes have invaded. They crawl out of the ground, in our doors, across our floors, up our walls, then they hit the ceiling, climb across the ceiling and start falling plop! plop! plop! onto desks, benches, every surface. Luckily, they're tiny. Unluckily, they're many. I get a bit paranoid about leaving any bowls, pots or cups without covering them. Yum millipede soup.. or how about millipede juice! One finds these millipedes everywhere, once even in a salad bowl I had covered with a teatowel. Made me a bit wary about my food for awhile.

Vacuuming and sweeping becomes an activity for a few times a day. A common sight is me picking up millipedes with a bit of tissue, then rinsing my fingers with a shiver. Not good for a city girl living in the country.

But today the hordes are dwindling to nothing. No more crunch underfoot.

Last night there were these loud taps on the door as I worked on the PC til early hours. I bore it for a while and then went to look out through the glass doors. I saw a moth as big as my hand! As I was going upstairs to bed, they were knocking on the living room door, and as I brushed my teeth, they knocked on the bathroom window. Bang! Thud! Crash! Was it one moth following me, or a gang terrorising me? I'd never seen them this big before. No sign of them tonight, must have been just passing through last night.

And the mice! At least 2 every night in the mouse traps. How did they suddenly find their way in! I think we've finished them off - the traps are silent tonight.

Mice, Moths, Millipedes. Funny how they're Ms at the moment. Other times they've been flies, beetles, spiders, snakes, foxes and, once a little bat who found its way into the house for a couple of nights. When I first saw it before bedtime, I thought it was a large moth (no..didn't like the light), then a bird (no..too silent and not bumping into windows) then unsure. It flew so fast I couldn't fix my eyes on it to see what it was. I finally got it into the bathroom, and closed the door on it and got Kurt to go have a look. When he looked, he saw a cute little bat sitting on the window ledge, staring at him with little bright eyes. The next morning it was gone. The door had been closed, and none of the windows were open. John next door told us that bats just disappear and reappear mysteriously. Next night, before bedtime, swoosh- a dark little shape swooping downstairs then upstairs, amongst the high ceilings and through the doorways. Our bat friend was back. Kurt woke up, and we sat up in bed waiting for the bat to fly into the room. It did, and finally settled beside a wood beam on the ceiling. I slid open the balcony door, and flyscreen, and settled back into bed. A little squeak from the bat, as if in thanks, and silently it swooped through the narrow opening of the door and was gone into the night. Just as I was asking Kurt whether people kept bats as pets.

sun's out

The series of lovely sunny days of autumn culminated in a steady downpour this morning. Stayed in bed an hour longer, luxuriating in the sound of falling rain. We lit the wood fire today. A little birdie must have stunned itself on the balcony door glass, and was sitting placidly on the balcony floor, looking at me like it was the most natural thing for me to be kneeling and talking to it.

Now I'm in the midst of doing 3 months of bookkeeping for the business, listening to classical Swoon music on my itunes. That's me, marketer, webmistress, bookkeeper, salesperson, director, dogsbody... I guess one would recognise the description of a small business owner. Kurt has been mopping the floor, packing orders - there's another small business owner - storeman, packer, salesman extraordinaire, accounts receivable, director, dogsbody too.

The sun has come out now, and it's back to work!

bedtime at 5am

I've really done it this time, well past my night owl schedule. Went to bed close to 5am this morn, and woke up at 10.30am, and back to the PC. Strangely, I feel unusually wonderful today - a light sense of wellbeing. No sense of sleep deprivation. I must have had an epiphany in my sleep.

I fought with the dreadful virus and browser hijacker all hours of the night on the other PC and finally won. Great free program I found called "hijack this". It removes the stubborn stuff which the other anti adware programs don't find, and has saved my PC many times.

another late night- new birdchat blog

ok, another missed opportunity for an early night. It's 1.24 am local time.
Have been setting up the bird chat blog, so please visit! www.birdchat.blogspot.com

birds! a rave for another blog

I thought I'd add my bird thoughts here but I think my feathery beloveds need their own blog. There's Tutti the cockatiel, Pepi the budgie, and Kokola the Corella (Cockatoo), plus 4 geese (Fifi, Lulu, Mimi, Tutu) and last but not least Chojo the talkative budgie who passed away a few months ago, and is still sorely missed. So watch out for my birdyblog - stay posted!

great use of ipod for non-teens

another thought before bedtime.
I remember resisting the ipod craze, even when K was keen, thinking it was just for kids. But since we got 2, one for me & one for K, our 20G ipods have been busy!

what do I use them for?
well whenever I drive, I just play my audio books on the car FM radio, beamed from my ipod using the iTrip device. in hotel rooms I just use the supplied hifi set's FM radio to play my ipod stuff.

And all 60+(& increasing) of my audiobooks go everywhere with me in this tiny ipod. not to mention all my Meditation CDs, world music, classical music, radio shows and my contacts/calendar/notes/to-do list.

The ipod as organiser is another story - nifty software cost less that AUD20 & lets me use my ipod as an organiser to synch my outlook on pc. what a dream. it's called ipodsync -a gem! you can even sync rss feeds (don't bother with the competition pocketmac for ipod though, didn't do the job & lousy support.)

ah, the wonders of technology. and for once so easy to use, doing what it promises. anyway this time, goodnight.. really.

spiritual movies?

another late night coming up, as we've just hit 12 midnight.
This time i really have to get to bed early, so just a quick note.

I'm quite excited to have just watched the Spiritual Cinema movies sent as the introductory package. I just knew when I saw the website that this hit the spot! Movies that uplift, inspire, provoke thought. What a refreshing idea to select them & present them in monthly collections on DVD. I signed up without a second thought.

Now I've told all my friends about it, and stuck it on our website at www.pinksalt.com and I guess that's it

incredible art

oh just one more thing before I go to bed (again, another famous last line by a night owl). I was just browsing through this amazing artist's website last night. It is quite surreal, beautiful, spiritual and strong. Hard to describe but try www.alexgrey.com and see what you think.

what a start

well what a start to the blog. As I completed setting it up, my mouse stopped working. I suspected the batteries, and went to the pantry to look for some. There, I dropped the basket containing the batteries and light bulbs, and broke a light bulb. oops. Clean up time. Now finally back to the PC, and the mouse is working again with the new batteries.

Welcome!
It's 1.29am local time, and I guess I really should go to bed (spoken like a true night owl). The other day, mum told me that even as a tiny tot, I would not be able to fall asleep at night, and eventually they learnt to let me stay up. what enlightened parents... in this respect anyway.
Good night...