The Slap I finished reading The Slap. Great book, provided you don’t mind a little fruity language and adult themes in your novels. Looking forward now to the TV adaption. Possums I was just thinking the other day that despite seeing a lot of possums around the neighbourhood, I never heard them in the roof. ... [More]
Category: Home life
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Inadvertently demolishing spider webs
I often think spiders would have better luck with their webs in urban settings if they had a little sense of spots to avoid, such as where us lumbering humans come barrelling through without looking (or without being able to spot them). It seems like time and time again I’ll inadvertently demolish a web — ... [More]
With thanks to my sister, who picked this up for me during a work trip to London last week. (I needed a new one.) If you’re in London you can get them from the excellent London Transport Museum shop. Otherwise, at the online shop. (It’s so big and my bathroom is so small that it’s ... [More]
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Arachnocide
I don’t like spiders, but if they’re not invading my territory, I try to leave them in peace. I figure they’re doing their bit to keep the erky insect/annoying fly population down. I don’t know what variety this one was, but unfortunately for it, it was invading my space. It was found unexpectedly waiting, having ... [More]
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The plan for the house
I was chatting to a carpenter bloke about various things around the house, which helped solidify some of the ideas I’d been pondering for some time now. After years of inaction, I’m finally starting to move on them. I’ve had the Attic Ladders people come in for a quote, and they’re now booked-in to install ... [More]
In 2008 I started a project I wish I’d started earlier: Every few months we get out the tripod, switch the camera to auto, and take a photo of ourselves in front of the house. I got the idea from a newspaper article. Some of them are taken just as we leave on a weekday ... [More]
So, the new Samsung TV is a couple of months old now. (The purchase / First impressions). I’m still liking it. The picture really is excellent, though occasionally when it’s windy it seems like the old antenna isn’t handling the digital picture well, so the odd digital glitch occurs. Might look at an antenna upgrade. ... [More]
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The visitor
This feline visitor was in the back garden yesterday evening, waiting, watching. I’ve seen this particular cat around a fair bit in the last week or two. I wonder who got a cat for Christmas? Ah well, if it keeps an eye on the mice, I’ll be happy. Hopefully it’s kept indoors at night so ... [More]
Trip home last night in the pouring rain was interesting. Train was very slow going between Hawksburn and Malvern, as much of the rail line in the cutting was underwater. As the train departed Ormond, we saw the subway was flooded. On arriving at Bentleigh we waited about 20 minutes for the rain to subside. ... [More]
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Big and bouncy
We got the trampoline six years ago. Problem is it’s been used less and less over the years, so yesterday we donated it to Emma and Nick and Zoe. I’m relieved someone wanted it, actually. The fashion these days is the trampolines with the netting around the sides, which this old thing doesn’t have. After ... [More]
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The visitor
An unusual sight: this visitor on the back door this morning. Not sure where he thought he was going, but hope he got there okay.
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The broken dishwasher
Oh great. The other day while opening the dishwasher, a “sproing” sound was heard, and now the door’s springy thing doesn’t work — that is, once open, it just drops down to horizontal with gravity, rather than a gentle drop or springing back towards closed like it was before. And it triggered an F1 alarm, ... [More]