Cleaning

This morning I have cleaned up our computer desk. I think it probably had about 6 months worth of stuff piled up on it and it's such a relief to be able to see the desktop again!

This is a sign that I am on holidays - I've had a few days of resting and getting Christmas stuff done, but now it's action stations - time to get things done that annoy me when I'm working but I don't have time to do normally. Usually this involves Putting Things Away or Rearranging A Room. I'm prone to starting with great enthusiasm and then deciding I've had enough when everything is strewn across the floor waiting to go to its new spot. The key is to pace myself and be realistic.

I think there's a therapeutic aspect to it - getting my house in order. I always do it when I'm on holidays, usually towards the beginning. Maybe it helps dispel some of the stress of working and then I can relax.

What are your holiday rituals?

Fruits of the Season

This is a baby cherry tomato, it's about 5mm wide.

Visitor

This chap was sitting outside our front door this morning. He let me get quite close with the camera - I think he was too scared to move!

Cammomile Euphrates McCann?

In an idle moment this evening, I've been trawling the internet for baby names. It's amazing what some people will call their kids - here are a few of the names that I will NOT be using:

• Cammomile
• ESPN (Yes, some people actually name their kids after a TV network!)
• Euphrates (isn't that a river?)
• Agamemnon ( I know this is a name from history but perhaps it should stay there...)
• Paprika

Slimy

Frogs aren't the only things that come out after rain around here...

Aha!!

I did some research tonight (thanks, Google!) and found out that the noisy creatures in our backyard are......

RED EYED TREE FROGS!!! (otherwise known as Litoria chloris).

There are more than 50,000 in the country, so I'm afraid UD's suggestion that they are a rare species only found in my backyard is sadly off mark.

Apparently the males call out from the ground after Spring and Summer rain,which is certainly what's going on here.

Adam discovered some tadpoles in a puddle under the deck today, so we might have a whole tribe of them if the rain keeps up. Hmmm, not sure I like that idea!

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Those of you who have visited our house will know that Saffy is sometimes a little hyperactive. So we enjoy it when she's more relaxed!

Here she is tuckered out after a hard morning running around with a big stick in her mouth, knocking the edges of doorways as she barged through, and stealing my socks on the side.

And here she is being a washer woman...

Christmas tree

The Culprits!

The frogs were back in force tonight, I think they come out to play in the rain. We found two of them, amazing to think they are just hanging out in our backyard. I took a video of one making its noise - the camera doesn't pick up sound too well so it might not seem very loud to you but it's quite ear piercing in real life.

I can easily imagine them having little froggy personalities, they seem sort of cheeky to me.

You can see in the video how much his throat puffs up to make the noises. Adam thinks it sounds a bit like a car with a turbo - vroom vroom vrooom pish!

Minnie working on her next opus

Drama at the Dog Wash

We had the dog wash man around today. Saffy screamed her head off the whole time she was in there, but came out smelling much nicer (and looking whiter, until she rolled in the dirt. Hmmm.) It was a bit of an ordeal - no wonder we only do it every 6 months or so!

More on the Frogs

The frogs kept up their racket for quite a while. In fact we could still hear them when we were trying to go to sleep, so Adam got up to go and find them and get them to be quiet(which would probably involve being squashed or thrown over the fence - not good for froggy health!)

Turns out it wasn't two frogs - it was one. A green tree frog with orange eyes and an orange mouth that puffed up to make the noises. Adam said he was small and had his legs wrapped round a tree branch in the back yard. He was too cute to silence so we ended up having to shut the bedroom door and put the ipod on to drown out the noise.

If he does it again tonight, I'll go and have a look at him.

Aaargh!

You should hear the frogs that are outside at the moment, they are incredibly loud. There seems to be two - one sounds like a rusty gate, the other like a twittering bird. This is the conversation they keep having:

Frog 1: RAAAAR RAAAR RAAAR RAAR RAAAAAAAR
Frog 2: Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp!
Frog 1: RAAAAR RAAAR RAAAR RAAAAAAAAR RAAR RAR RAAAR!
Frog 2: Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp!

[Pause while I think they might have actually given us a break and stopped for good]

Frog 1: RAAAAR RAAAR RAAAR RAAR RAAAAAAAR
Frog 2: Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp!

...and so on. They are very enthusiastic.

Flea Explosion

I've been noticing Ruby scratching a lot lately so today I gave her and Saffy a tablet each that kills any fleas on them, just to give her a break from having to scratch all day (and planning on giving them some proper flea stuff soon).

Unfortunately for poor old Saff, she had heaps of fleas on her too who spent the whole morning squirming all over her trying to get away from the effects of the tablet! So she was really itchy - and before the tablet she was fine.

I decided it was time to mount a full on flea attach so I washed all their bedding. It really needed it because the water in the machine turned very brown before it had even started the washing bit!

I've booked them in for a dog wash on Saturday and after that we'll give them the flea stuff that goes on their skin, I think it's called Advantix. Hopefully that will work...

Weetbix

I've started eating Weetbix for brekkie, after many years of not touching them. i think the last time I used to eat them would have been high school.

I was most disappointed to find that they no longer have the little collector cards in the packets. I used to like reading them and it was always good fun to open a new packet and get the card. It's just not as fun without them.

'Tis The Season

I really like this time of year, because it's the lead up to Christmas. Although I don't like the crowds in the shops, or the huge amount of junk mail stuffed in our letterbox that seems convinced that Christmas is all about spending, I do like the festive nature of the whole thing.

I particularly enjoy and appreciate Christmas traditions - the things families and individuals do every year to mark the occasion. One of my favourite memories of growing up is Dad reading us "The Night Before Christmas" on Christmas eve every year, always pausing dramatically at a key moment in the line "Away to the window I flew like a flash,tore open the shutter, and threw up...the sash!"

My latest tradition (only two years old!) is to buy a few really nice things to hang on the tree. Nice tree decorations are not cheap so I only get a few, plus I think it will be great to look back in years to come at a collection amassed bit by bit. This year I got a few vintage looking ornaments from the shop Bed Bath and Table - they have great decorations and I had to hold back from buying more.

What's your favourite Christmas tradition?

You're in my purrsonal space...

I just think this photo is funny

Mr Cute Turns on the Charm

I took these photos through the window, because if I had gone outside he would have moved. He likes lying around like this on hot days. It reminds me of a fridge magnet I used to have that had a picture of a sleeping cat and said "How nice it is to do nothing, and then to rest afterwards!"

Spring has Sprung

Here's a few more shots of the garden in Spring. It's the first time we've seen what the garden does at this time of year and it's been nice to watch it develop.