Badger Galore
Staying ‘Up Over’ for a while.
The Last of Mu.
So...this morning, at about 11.00 am, I saw a fox up near the edge of the bush crossing the clearing. It was quite a big one and the first I have spotted in sight of the house.We told the 'chooks' to be on their guard but did the stupid things listen? Did they heckers! No, the roosters crowed as if to say "Hey Foxy, here we are! Come and get us!"The sneaky fox must have spent the next two hours stalking through the bush round the back of the house.At about 1.00pm such a commotion went up with all the 'chooks' crying out in alarm. Will was gardening and I was hanging out the washing and we both rushed over to see what was going on...though we both really knew.The brazen beast had snatched Chang-Mu from right in front of the loo. We were both about and 'Geronimo' the generator was going to power the washer but it had come right up close to the house to grab her.We found a scattering of feathers and Will eventually found a few more South West of the house, down the hill, in the bush.Poor Chang, she was the last of the Mu sisters to be taken from us. We lost the others in the two Quoll attacks months ago.We have eight chooks left. The hens are Pacha, Iris, Arke and Hecate and the roosters are Yudhisthira, Odin, Wang -Mu (offspring of Mu) and the horrible black one we haven't named whose days are numbered.
Downs and ups of life at Frogknot.
So...it is obvious that this old house is slowly crumbling and it is inevitable that it will one day collapse or be pulled down but each time we find new decay it hits us hard.We have discovered one of the ridge supporting poles has sunk and that part of the ridge beam has bad termite damage. On top of that we are smoked out every night by the stove as it is old and warped and cracked.Will spotted a 'new' second hand stove for sale in town. It is one Will is familiar with and like one he had on the goat farm down at Cooma. We went to see it today but were greeted by Gabriella, the seller, apologising and saying that we couldn't see it as the shed it was stored in was locked and the lady who owned the shed was away and not answering her phone. We will have to wait to inspect it but it would be great to get a stove that does not smoke us every might like kippers and have a usable oven at last!We called in at Aldi to assuage some disappointment and came away with a digital TV aerial and a Bluetooth sound bar.We spent the afternoon putting up the aerial and for the first time since we have been back living here finally have 'live' TV. The picture is great despite being surrounded by trees though the aerial is atop a 20 foot pole. The sound bar is connected to the TV and is presently playing lovely music streaming from my new computer.We have been given four solar panels by our neighbour (granted they are similar to those suspected of starting the fire that burned their house down) and we are thinking of investing finally in a decent storage battery for the solar power we produce. Heck! With a new (second hand) non smoking stove with oven and a reliable power supply we will be happy chappies.It's great to have all conveniences of modern life in your crumbling home.
The Great Escape?
So....over a month ago there was a job advertised for 2 casual librarian posts at the local library.The thought of working in a calm, quiet environment was too much to resist so I applied for it. When I sent in my application I received a reply saying that I should hear if I was successful within 4 weeks( which seemed a long time) but librarians must move slowly like book worms. If I heard nothing in that time I was to assume I was unsuccessful.Of course 4 weeks passed and I heard nothing and so disappointed and a little surprised, as my application was a good one, I assumed I was unsuccessful.On Monday I got a phone call out of the blue asking me for an interview on Wednesday. I was teaching at school and asked if it could be after school. They said 'no'. Librarians can be stubborn like wooden bookends.I had to make arrangements with the school to get my class covered for a 30 minute session while I nipped out for the interview, as it just do happened I also had 60 minutes planning time that day too. The Principal herself kindly took my class while I dashed off.I knew the interview was in Stanthorpe so assumed it was at the library. I got to the library and it was shut. No one had actually told me where the interview was! I ran across to the Council offices and found another locked door before finally finding someone to ask who luckily knew where to take me. It was not a good start to the interview as I arrived a little flustered.I had a 15 minute practical test first. I had to sort some fiction and non fiction books on a bookshelf before and then answer a maths question and an IT question. My Mind went blank at the maths question. I just could not think straight....it was stupid but I was as startled as a librarian in a Belfry. I got out my phone to use the calculator but then slipped it away again in case tI was on CCTV being watched by the Library Gestspo. I doubted my maths skills but finally reached an answer I was happy with. (It was right).The interview was pretty standard stuff. There were three interviewers. I think I answered the questions OK. I was told I should hear by the end of next week.I really hope I get it. The hours are less than 10 a fortnight but at least I wouldn't have to rely on teaching so much...and hopefully give it up for good.This last two weeks of full time class work have been hard and I have hated every minute, though you would not know it from my smiling demeanour, but I have cursed and sworn under my breath almost continually.Cross your fingers for my great escape!