Raiders

Every night we hear them coming. They emerge in the dead of night and descend on our trees.

They jump from the fence or roof onto the garbage and recycling bins down the blind side of the house.
They land with a thud, right near our bedroom....then they head to the trees. Namely, the Magnolia and birch trees.

These two critters (Mum and bub) were spied in our neighbour's tree before they headed across the border into our yard

This is what they leave behind...

Actually, this is pretty good compared to other nights...MONT mowed the lawn and cleaned up yesterday, removing all the evidence....the section under the tree was covered in buds and bits of chewed branches

So instead of this, from a year or so ago....

We've got this.....neatly trimmed branches

They've done so much damage to the magnolias that we've only had a handful of flowers this year

...and now, even the leaves on the two trees are looking a little thin

Not good.

Papa hairy legs

Another little fella in the yard...

I know a lot of people can't stand spiders....but this fella really is fabulous

I love his web too. It had mist on it and you could see the tiny droplets. Fabulous!

Hey hairy legs

Don't be put off by this little fella....

He's quite beautiful. Not scary at all.

I stood in the yard, in the dark, watching him spin his new web. He spins a new one each night

He was so busy circling the web, he didn't take any notice of me with my camera or the flash going off

Look at his gorgeous hairy legs

We had another, slightly larger one in the garden a couple of weeks ago...and the evening mist on his web made it look magical. I'll try to find the photo of him and post it later.

I've been calling this fella a "him" but I'm not really sure what it is....he is lovely though

Valentines Day?

We don't do Valentines Day at Number 10

MONT refuses to get caught up in the commercialisation of it all, but he's just as likely to come home with a gorgeous bunch of flowers next week...and the week after, so I can't complain

So no pretty pictures of red hearts today...

Or red roses or other so called romantic things

Instead, I give you one of our girls, in all her glory

I don't know what it is about her but she just seems to think sleeping on her back is the way to go.

Relaxed

Have you ever seen a critter so comfy and relaxed?

He took exactly 1 minute to get back into the swing of things when I returned home from the beach

She was right behind him...

But he really just kicks back and goes for broke

A good innings...but I still miss her

I had to say goodbye to my old girl at the weekend.

She'd been with me for years... I found her early one morning in 1991 on the way to work and she couldn't jump into my car quick enough. She was a lovely girl and very tolerant, even when I brought other cats and dogs into her life

She travelled around the country with me...in fact my friends used to joke that she had more frequent flyer points than me

I miss her. A lot.

Lucky?

Is it true they're only lucky if their trunks are in the air?

Two out of three aint bad then huh?

I've had these little beauties for a long time now. All of them bought in different places but they all go together so well....they look like a family

Just Chillin' at home

The weekend was pretty "BIG", what with MONT's birthday shindig etc. It was a very late night with a couple of our guests kicking on till 5am...too much for me I must admit.

The dogs were sent away for the night so they didn't get underfoot...but it looks like they part-ayed the night away too.

It was hard to get them going on Sunday...

...or Monday.

They made sure they were around for dinner though.

This one stayed at home and welcomed everyone at the front door.

Then spent Sunday in front of the heater dozing.

This appears to be her favourite position at the moment

Number 10 Visitor of the feathered variety

Look at this little guy

He flew in yesterday and stayed around for a little while

Something must've tickled his fancy because he couldn't stop laughing

New Resident at Number 10

I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our menagerie here at Number 10

MONT's elderly Mum and Dad have had to leave their home and go into care...so their pets have come to live the high life with us

As you can see, we're trying to toughen him up a bit.

Yep...this boy is doing it tough...

Being part of the tribe at Number 10 is no life on easy street.  Just look at these two "living rough".  It's tough I tell you. Tough !

Waiting, waiting, waiting....

Thanks so much for all of your lovely comments about the Number 10 kitchen renovation

I'll have a few more from other rooms later in the week. Unfortunately all of the pics from way back then have to be scanned and "brightened" up a bit...no digital cameras for me back then.

This photo is of my old girl, just sitting at the front gate, waiting for, who knows what.... she can't jump too well any more, her back legs aren't as strong as they once were, but for a girl who's almost 20, well I think she's doing pretty well...in fact she's sitting at my feet now telling me in no uncertain terms that it's time for dinner...so I'd better run.

Duty calls.

Gone to the Dogs

OK, it's recipe time gals...but not necessarily for human consumption. This is for critters.

Some years back I had the good fortune to come across a blog called "What I Cooked Last Night" written by Kitchen Hand. I found his wonderful blog by way of an article about food blogs in the Age Newspaper.

Kitchen Hand is located in Melbourne and at one time, took in greyhounds, sort of like a foster parent, before a full time carer/owner could be found.

Anyway, he posted a recipe for dog food, which I tried and have been making ever since for my critters.

I made some this weekend and it's easy and CHEAP...much cheaper than canned or packet muck....and did I mention they LOVE it!

Here's the recipe for canine stew:

1 kilo pet mince, he buys chicken mince for a couple of dollars a kilo, I also get minced ox cheeks for a bit of variety

1 carrot, grated

1 stalk celery chopped finely

2 cloves of garlic

half a cup of rice

half a cup of pasta shapes (or however much you like)

a glob of Vegemite

enough water to cover the meat

Put the meat, vegetables, Vegemite, garlic and water in a pot and let it simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the rice and the pasta shapes. Let them cook until done.

That's it! The dogs love it, even the cat has munched in for her share as well.

OK, so it doesn't look all that appetising, but hey, just think of it as savoury mince. For Dogs.

He also suggests some raw bones, like chicken frames, for them to chew on, a can or two of home brand sardines and a marrow bone each week to clean their teeth.

Pretty good diet huh?

Need Hair? Yeah Yeah !

Over the past few weeks we've been having the pleasure of this little guy's company. He flits in and out and has been very elusive.

He really has a face that only a mother could love.

Need a closer look?

Cute huh?

I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to take a good photo of him. I got one of him flying away and another having a quiet moment in the back garden... but none were in focus...and I didn't get a close up view till today...and it was all thanks to MONT. He set my camera up at a strategic spot in the back room, washed the window and said let her rip...so I did.

When he first appeared I wasn't sure what sort of bird he was....he was completely bald. Now he has this cute tuft of hair on his noggin.

Yep, we sure attract them at Number 10.

Anterior Cruciate Ligament

Our girl's been looking a bit sad and sorry for herself this week because she's had a major visit to the vet

She's had a knee problem for some time, apparently, little dogs are prone to their knee caps dislocating or some such thing....so it was time. MONT took his darling to the vet on Monday morning and we collected her that evening...and boy, was she a sooky mess.

She's gradually got a lot brighter and she's hopping around on three legs at the moment and applying some minor pressure on the leg...so it looks like the operation was a success. Fingers crossed!

She will have to keep this "Elizabethan" collar on for a few more days yet though, at least until we take her back to the vet in a week's time for the stitches to be removed.

Have a wonderful long Labour Day weekend everyone...MONT's headed off to Bonnie Doon again and me? well......

I'm going to have a girlie weekend all to myself. I've got the movies, I've got the bottle of wine and I've got the sewing machine set up. So I might even get the fabric and patterns out and start cutting...then again, I may not. I'll see how I feel.

The Great Aussie Holiday

Well, I've just completed my first week back at work and I have to say it was a bit of a shock to the system.

I know I only had 2 weeks off work, but I tend to get into the spirit of a holiday pretty darn quickly, so coming back to reality is not always pleasant.

This is a part of our little caravan park. As you can see, it is perfectly positioned right near the beach.

I know camping out in a caravan is not unique to Australia, but does any other country have caravan parks so close to the water?

A couple of old salts chewing the fat.... Grampy (MONT) and the little one

Kids like nothing better than crabbing in the shallows....and boy, I can honestly say I've never seen so many little crabs in one bucket! They sure outdid themselves.

A couple of their finds

These guys are trying to avoid the spotlight and finding a new hiding place.

I did a total "relax" while we were away. While I cooked a couple of meals and made lunch a few times, I did not wash one single dish or pot.

Now that's a holiday!

Please note, no critters were harmed during this crabbing expedition and all critters were returned to the water