Biolytix gone into liquidation

The geotech report guy just rang to tell me Biolytix has gone bust taking my $4000 50% deposit. The only other systems use more power or I'll have to have a septic system. I'll have to start looking around again.

Frog

Heard a scratching noise on the canvas side of Vinnie (a common experience) and found this cute guy.

Little black chicken sunbathing

Chickens like to sun bath and stretch out their wings - funny when they do it in a row and block each others sun. Still not sure that this chicken is female despite picking the one with the smallest comb. It likes trying to fly and skitters around, will try to chase birds. A hawk swooped on it - was really interesting to see their behaviour change for a while afterwards - running low and fast between tree patches. Unfortunately it always going to be a risk, and they do really enjoy free ranging, catching bugs and scratching up. I also have only had one tick on me (and one on Ruby chook) despite even more roos and wallabies hanging around so I think they are eating those too. Since the dog attack I don't leave them out when I'm away anymore - although once little black refused to get into cage so spent the weekend roosting on top of it and survived. You can also see how muddy it got - I have three mats on top of each other at Vinnies door but still the mud comes through.

Noisy friar birds

The noisy friar birds seem to be seasonal disappearing over winter. They aren't too attractive - black head with a bump on beak makes them look a bit like vultures, and they are very noisy. This one is raiding the egg shells I put out to dry prior to grinding them up to feed back to chickens. Not sure if it's after the membrane or the calcium, I guess they need calcium for their own eggs. You can also the box of the garden seat I bought myself as Christmas present, and the bay tree in front.

Stream rise

My stream did rise a metre or so but it's only local catchment so no effects from the rains further north and west. It was still another few metres before it would cover the bottom of my driveway although it did get high enough to cover most of the driveway in Mar 2009.

Cathy's possum

Cathy has a resident possum who comes to eat scraps from her bird feeder. It's a girl and from the noises I hear in the spare room, she has lots of suitors. I haven't seen my possum for ages but occasionally I hear it land on Vinnie's roof in the middle of the night, or at least I hope it's the possum. One night it woke me then 20 mins later when I'd got back to sleep a large frog landed on my bare leg - not a restful night.

Birthday dinner

Roast pork with corn from Cathy's garden.

Wanderer on sunflower

Wanderer butterfly on sunflower. Quite a lot of butterflies around. There are also native bees in the photo near the middle of flower.