Wildlife #5

Possums. I know I've talked about possums before. You can't take the kiwi out of me, even in Australia, where possums are protected and rescued and classed as a cute cuddley koala like animal, to me they will always be roadkill.
So we have a possum on our roof. I need to make this clear as possum removal people (they trap them and take for a drive over water so they can't return - there is no high powered, extremely toxic poisons involved with possum removal in Australia - AS THERE SHOULD BE) will not remove possums ON a roof, only INSIDE a roof. OK, so our possum lives on top on the roof in an alcove thing and nightly runs along the roof, sounding either like a large rat (during the lean winter months) or a small man (when fat on all the spring growth and with a baby possum in it's belly). getting grossed out?
The alcove thing is above my clothes line, which I spend a lot of time at with 3 small dirty boys and my own cleaning fetish, and I noticed that the possum seemed to be collecting a lot of twigs, brush etc. OMG it ...is...building...a...nest!!!!
Worse yet, one day when hanging out washing and looking at the growing pile of shrub, I noticed a pink ear among the brush, and it was twitching.
Time for action.
For a couple of days I started my own version of Possum Guantanamo Bay. I banged a broom against the wall as close to the twitching ear as I could, I hosed the shrub and alcove in the vain hope of flushing it out and I did this whenever i could remember.
Now I married The Husband for a reason. I mentioned Possum and Nest in the same sentence, and he was up a ladder finally confronting our issue. He told me to "get inside". No need to tell me that twice. And all we could hear was a large man and a very small man scampering around on the roof (pregnant possum being the small man just to make it clear we didn't send one of the boys up to help Dad).
Being ever cautious and slightly paranoid, I had noticed that the ladder The Husband had climbed was precariously and very dangerously balanced. I popped my head out the door and asked "do you want any help getting down", at the same time The Husband yelled "get inside!!!!" just as a small possum can running at me, about to jump to where I was standing. Pink eyes, pink snout, pink twitching ears, fat tail - forever etched into my memory. I screamed, ran, the possum jumped, situation over? Nope, The Husband said there was two up there and the old fat one wouldn't budge even under the assault of a hose in the face.

Hanging out my washing yesterday I noticed a new pile of shrub appearing on the roof. Wildlife #6?

I'm still here!

Just a quickie, coz I've been a bit quiet lately - where do i start? Maybe with the horrible computer virus that shut me down for a week, or perhaps the fact the web developers are trying to sign me off by the end of Nov so we're doing one last nudge...either way, will be back in a day or so once got more than 2 mins to spare...

sorry folks - got a good story too, watch for Wildlife #5.....

Monday Mornings

Monday mornings are always, always crazy in my house. Three children need to be dropped at 3 different places at about the same time. Three lunches to be made, 3 lots of clothing to be organised, me nagging 3 different children (ok, make that 2, even I can't nag a 2 1/2 year old), all in the vain hope we can get out the door by 9.02am. This Monday morning, we were even more challenged with Smith finally deciding that a potty is a better place to "put" his wee than the shower - for a period he thought the shower was his own walk in stand up toilet) and with Will's final school presentation today which meant me insisting on 2 practice run throughs.
So by the time we finally got to the car at 9.03am, I could see the home straight in 15 mins, I'd be home, get my breakfast and settle in front of the computer for a mornings work.
Only when I turned the key there was a big fat nothing.
Flat stinking battery.
Thank goodness for the goddess Ellen from next door, finished her exams and with her wee car-suitable-for-17-year-old-girls sitting in the driveway. In her pj's she gave me the keys and we were off (hmmm, it was about 9.11am by now). I like to think I managed to keep by ranting and raving to a minimum, but who am i kidding. So flustered my my mornings events, work has been non-existent so far. I'm putting to down to my bad morning and not a general apathy about the business.
Yeah right.

The Races

On Tuesday I was lucky enough to go to the Melbourne Cup for the day with The Husband as part of a corporate hosting gig. Can you imagine the stress of what bag to take, how warm was it going to be, what coat to wear - the blood that I shed and decisions that I forced on others lasted for days in the lead up. But wearing a nice dress from the wardrobe, a bit of fluff in the hair and some uncomfortable satiny(?) shoes and carrying 2 bags (a large carryall thing and a clutch) as well as my pink trench, I was sorted. It was a great day, we sat in a tent with other corporates, looked at hats, outfits, boob jobs, drank lots of bubbles, watched racing, lots of chit chat and had a totally awesome day.
But there's always a story with me.
Now those that know me will know that ever since my days of wearing braces, I have been paranoid about getting stuff stuck in my teeth. And I just seem to have the teeth where things get stuck in them as well, to make matters worse. I've worn this badge with tolerance for the 20+ years since my braces were on.
So after a lengthy lunch, lots of chatting, laughing, smiling, heart to hearts, I trot off to the very respectable port-a-loos (a far cry from my Bridge Run portaloo experiences - have I shared those?). Fighting my way to the front of the pack crowding the mirror, I take a quick look at the teeth.
Which are covered in lipstick.
Now this shows the progress I've made in the last 20 years. With a sigh and a clean, I pull my shoulders back and confidently walk back to the lunch. Was it a new found maturity or the bubbles?
In saying that though it must have been a week for it. I have a new white dress, a little beachey strapless number. Last Friday with temperatures forecast of over 36C, I wore it knowing I had to walk a couple of kms either way from a car yard where my car was getting serviced to the mall and back. Walking back with my bags in the heat, I was hot, sticky, and uncomfortable but thankful to have a little breezy dress on. I got the car, picked up Smith from pre-school, popped in to the butcher and the bakery. At last at home, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. The whole top part of the back of my dress had got tucked underneath my beige strapless bra so there was more bra than dress showing. I did a quick estimate of how long it had been like this and unfortunately and realistically it was hours rather than minutes.
Once again with a sigh, I untucked myself and carried on.
I've made progress girls!

Wildlife #4 - The Moth

There is no reason ever that a moth should be in your pantry. So when one flew out a week or so ago, in denial I made excuses for it - ie it accidently flew into my pantry when trying to find the extremely bright light, even though there is no light inside my pantry at all. I called my friend Caroline and instead of the expected "it will be nothing", having had her own brush with moths in the pantry, she just hmmmed and suggested I keep a close eye for further visitors. Which I had none of. Until tonight. Pouring my pasta into the pot of boiling water I noticed all the black bits floating around. "Just bits of burnt rice pot" I thought - The Husband had almost destroyed one of my 3 pots when boiling rice one night a month or so ago and we've been slowly boiling off the bits of burnt every time we use it. But these bits of black were moving. As if they were dying a slow death-by-boiling water. Which they were. I looked at the packet I had just poured the pasta from.
It was seething.