Clayton's Chooks

What are Clayton's chooks? The chooks you have when you don't have any chooks. We have new neighbours who moved in with 4 chickens who are free to roam during the day and seem to find our yard irresistible. Pickings are slim, I think the lizards keep us free of snails but the chickens seem to find very tasty morsels in the mulch.

Here they are around our compost heap - obviously oblivious to the wealth of eats in the form of worms in there, trust they do not discover the rich pickings in the compost!

The area is really not chook friendly, only a week or so ago we saw a fox; admittedly it has been some time since we have seen one and the council does have an eradication programme in place but they are about.
The eldest of the children is a beautiful little girl who tells us her name is Nowra (they are Korean so we may not have that quite correct) was very upset a few weeks ago when one of them was savaged by a dog and had to be put down (and waste not want not was roasted for Sunday night tea).
Nowra's favourite activity after she gets home from school is to carry Alex, the one on the left below around the yard. Alex seems surprisingly happy with that arrangement and does not complain (beats being eaten I guess).

The chickens looked to me to be old enough to be laying so I asked Nowra if they were getting any eggs, she explained to me they needed a daddy before that would happen. I knew that was not correct and started looking around our yard when I heard one of them singing her little, "hey I laid an egg" song.

Sure enough, right beside our front steps I found the first egg they had seen (three first eggs in fact). That set them searching and it appears they have quite a few places where there are nests and they have laid eggs.
They are gregarious birds and when they are in our yard they follow me about. I went into the yard with some sausages for the Magpies and Kookaburras yesterday and the chooks found it quite to their liking.
It is so nice to have chooks about without any of the problems or responsibilities, they really are endlessly entertaining.

Melbourne Mob Visit

The whole Croydon tribe had been invited to a wedding so Cath came down from Elcho and the rest (excluding Emma and Toli but including the former border, Liz) arrived on Friday afternoon from Melbourne for the weekend.

The weather was beautiful over the weekend, mid to high 20's both days. Ideal for the wedding yesterday and a barbeque lunch which all attended today at our place.

The girls explored the yard, the fish pond and the small accumulation of toys we have which is really better suited to boys. They are beautufully behaved secure girls who entertained themselves for the best part of the day.

And entertained the doting family.

Less fun was apparently the trip home which unhappily coincided with Virgin's computer booking system going down, at first the news was the flight was cancelled then was scheduled to fly. Not the first time it has happened but you do have to be lucky to choose that day to fly.

International Speak Like a Pirate Day

It appears I share my birthday with the ex-wife of a Mark Summers, one of the co-creators of the International Speak like a Pirate Day.

That authoritative source, Wikipedia; has this explanation (and I quote):

"According to Summers, the day is the only holiday to come into being as a result of a sports injury. He has stated that during a racquetball game between Summers and Baur, one of them reacted to the pain with an outburst of 'Aaarrr!', and the idea was born. That game took place on June 6, 1995, but out of respect for the observance of D-day, they chose Summers' ex-wife's birthday, as it would be easy for him to remember."

So it seemed appropriate that the sixty second anniversary of my birth should be celebrated with a pirate themed birthday party.

Here are some of the mateys.

And here some one-eyed advocates of the day, a lot of laughter (who'd have thought?) and far too much to eat, I felt we had celebrated that auspicious event in an entirely appropriate fashion.

My Classroom

Thanks to Labor's BER (Building Educational Revolution) I have a wonderful new classroom. It is full of bright colours, wonderful storage and equipped with sinks, bubblers and a wet area for messy play.

We play all sorts of games with the big letters on the carpet. The room is twice the size of usual rooms so there is an area for desks and space for games. As well I have 4 computers in the room so I always have 1 group doing computer activities.

Of course I have my Interactive Whiteboard and it is on wheels so that I can move it to face the desks or the open area where kids can sit to play games or watch the board.

Now work has begun on making more new classrooms. When they are finished I will move into an even better one - purpose built for Kindergarten with an undercover play area and my own little veggie patch.

My Nemsis,Telstra Strikes Again

I really thought the process I went through with the Telecommunications Ombudsman had finally worked - how naive. I reckoned without the determination of Telstra to continue to bill for a phone service now disconnected since June 2008.
I really hope the failure to pay this bill does not lead to some really drastic steps on their behalf, like, oh I don't know - disconnection perhaps!

I love irony - take a look at the bill, two things stand out for me; the first is the fact that they know Mum is no longer with us: the invoice is addressed to the "Estate of the Late Mrs" at least something got through. The second -"We've Listened" - enough said.

Susan's Interrment

On Sunday we had a graveside gathering to place Susan's ashes in the plot at the cemetery in Castle Hill.

There had been issues initially securing the requisite permissions then in securing a day which suited the family members (some from interstate) who were to be present and finally the 29th of August was chosen. Each person present was offered a chance to say a few words before her ashes were laid to rest.
We had offered to host a post service lunch and so two weeks in a row had 16 or so for lunch. The menu included as entree Prawns Kiev a dish which had achieved a measure of comment over the years after Susan had prepared it once and refused to do so ever again. The children were better acquainted to it as "Prawns Bl**dy Kiev" or PBK as it came to be known colloquially and living as they did a deprived existence had not ever had the chance to sample it. One of those "70's" dishes it was both a fiddle to prepare and well received for the association if not the culinary excellence.

It was one of those bitter sweet occasions and probably an important milestone for Ian and the children.
Tim took some photos which you can see here if you are interested.