I haven't written here for such a while but I am inspired by my determination that this year will be one when I try to make more time for creativity. I know I already do lots of creative things but all too often they reflect my interpretation of someone else's creativity. I also know that there is nothing new under the sun but still, would be nice to generate a little more original thought to contribute to the greater pool.

We are now a week into our Summer Cottage Point Season. I have booked out the whole of January for ourselves - after all, that is why we bought it. The house was booked out for much of November and December and it was very nice to hear how much our guests enjoyed staying there. It gives me pleasure every time to see that the hard work that went into setting the house up to be as comfortable as possible has paid off.

This last week it has just been Eva and I and with one thing and another, we only stayed half the week at Cottage Point. It has been one of the hottest weeks on record in Australia's recent history and considering the bushfire risk, I decided that we would return home on Tuesday. The thermometer peaked at around 43C which is pretty damn hot by local standards. I spent the day in reasonably pleasant conditions at work whilst Eva was entertained by our babysitter, Gina in a variety of airconditioned spaces. The boys meanwhile were living it up in Niseko, Japan in -16C or so and enjoying themselves immensely. Eva was well out of sorts in the absence of her boys. We have had a very quiet week with lots of movies, walks to the park, swims in the pool and plenty of craft. Reading, sewing, drawing and a little shopping. I've done very little cooking through a total lack of inspiration and profound laziness. Topped off by the fact that my arthritis is playing up and affecting my jaw and hands, making it very difficult to prepare food and to chew it. Lots of soft pasta for me this week.

Simon joined us for the weekend with my niece Illy. Lovely to have their company. The girls played (mostly) harmoniously, and Simon and I sat for hours on the verandah looking over the water, reading, talking about everything and nothing and answering the calls of girls to mediate disputes, get food, more food, drinks, help put up cubby houses, kiss bruised knees and egos and so on. We took them swimming in the pool at the Yacht club and Eva's newly acquired swimming skills advanced another quantum leap - a delight to watch as she practices and practices and stretches and stretches herself just a little more everytime. So pleased with herself and rightly so. I know many would argue we have been irresponsible not to have forced her into swimming lessons before this time but she never liked them, protested loudly and it was just miserable all around. I figured she do it in her own good time, as she does most things. I'll get her a few individual lessons now which will be much more cost effective than years of expensive, mutually painful and inefficient group lessons. The boys will be very excited to see how much she has improved in a week too.

We left Bondi at lunchtime yesterday after visiting Linda and Mark who have just returned from a a year travelling with their two children. So good to see them. The temperature had already dropped from high 30s in the morning to a pleasantly cool mid 20s with a little rain by the time we left. But Cottage Point was still 36C when we arrived and very humid. SImon took the girls to the pool and I headed to the Supercenta for more fans. The house is so beautifully designed for cross-ventilation except for the bedroom mezzanines which trap the heat badly and become untenable in hot weather. I have explored many solutions in terms of whirly gigs etc but to no avail - the roof is too steep, made of the wrong material, etc etc. So, down to cheap fans to try to force a little circulation of air.

By the time I returned, the temperature had plummeted 15 degrees. We opened up the house and within an hour, the house had also cooled. We sat outside after dinner until the mozzies forced us in and the possums got too cheeky. Right on schedule, the first possum emerged from its box on the verandah at about 8.30pm. It was soon followed by another, less tame individual. Our first emergee made its way to the verandah floor and found a crust of bread, no doubt abandoned by one of the girls. It sat happily at our feet. Against my better judgement but wanting to demonstrate how tame it was, I presented the very grateful possum with a small sprig of grapes which he gladly consumed. Boldened, he then climbed up to the table and began to explore, looking for more delights. Simon was delighted to see them so close. They grew bored with us and took off to explore and over the next couple of hours we sighted them from time to time climbing the fly screens or banging on the roof. I warned Simon to mind his toes after my experience of having one of them nibbled by our bold and furry friend. I guess they could be mistaken for grapes in the dark.

This morning we awoke to a cool, slow, still and beautifully subdued day. A grey sky and all the colours of the water and bush merging in an array of subtle greens and greys and a faint mist on the water and over the distant hills. We ate our Sunday pancakes outside and watched the sea eagle peruse his territory  - coming close enough to get a good look at his white and grey plumage and appreciate what a substantial and graceful bird he or she is. My jaw was so sore that it really got in the way of enjoying my pancakes, even bedecked with fresh raspberries and Harris Farm cinnamon and honey yoghurt. Yum. I stoked myself with an armamentarium of drugs and as I write this evening, I am no longer in so much pain.

We decided to take the children walking and headed for West Head to our favourite America Bay walk but were dissapointed to discover that, despite the lower temperature, all the tracks were closed because of fire danger - a risk of lightning strikes apparently. We headed for the entrance to the park where there is a fire trail and commenced on a brief walk - the girls were already whining. They lasted around 20 minutes before needing a break on a convenient rock platform that afforded a good view over the valley towards the ridge on which Mona Vale rd sits. Eva consumed 2 large nutella sandwiches. We had a clear view of the B'Hai temple. Eva became preoccupied by the occasional inch long red and black ants that we sighted on the way and was unable to comprehend the level of risk they posed to her (ie hardly any) despite all of my best cognitive therapy efforts. She declared she never wanted to bush walk again. Illy spent most of the route back on Simon's shoulders. Sigh. Our little bush babies. Not.

After another swim and some lunch and a final verandah session, Simon and Illy headed home, Deanna having been allowed a peaceful weekend of gestating and thesis writing. I cleaned up a bit in anticipation of the boys' imminent arrival (not that I expect they will notice) and stole a quiet half an hour with my difficult puzzle (David's coronation of Josephine by Napoleon)- lots of browns. I planted some pieces of a ground cover that Linda had struck and ignored very successfully in Bondi and on cue, the skies opened with a wonderful, exhilarating, cleansing storm - a perfect start. Not the best time to be planting but you never know. The ground is terribly dry. One of my jobs for tomorrow is to call the fellow who looks after they treated effluent system and get him to come and consult re the watering system. 

Koel vs Channel Billed Cuckoo

After dinner with our lovely neighbour Irene this evening, I have discovered that I am combining the attributes of 2 cuckoos into one. There is indeed the Channel Billed Cuckoo as shown below but it makes the screech sound not the cooee. The Cooee sound comes from the Koel, a different cuckoo altogether. They have slightly different breeding habits but only in the choice of foster parents. The Koel prefers to choose fig birds, wattlebirds, friar birds and the magpie-lark. Once hatched, the parasitic chick will force the other chicks out of the nest so it has sole rights to parental attention.

Cuckoo Cooee Cooeee Cooeeee

The Channel bill cuckoo has been very vocal this week. His call (if I am identifying him correctly). I have only sighted him in the distance though he is clearly very close to the house, particularly VERY early in the morning. In Spring, the males fly down from Indonesia or PNG to mate. THey first have to fight for their territory which they do by making 'deranged cooeeee calls', each starting at the same base note and subsequent cooees a little higher on the second beat. They hide whilst doing this because according to an SMH article 'all the other birds want to beat the daylights out of you' presumably because of their despicable parasitic behaviour. Eggs are laid in the nests of other birds - currawongs, magpies, crows etc who then act as foster parents, often to the demise of their own infants, whose eggs are not thrown out of the nest as other cuckoos do, but may be damaged by the female. If the foster parent's eggs hatch the chicks tend to starve by coming second in the competition for resources. Despite being fed insects by their foster parents, they somehow know they are cuckoos and know to fly to Indonesia and that they should be eating fruit when they get there. 'mazing.

This is picture of the cuckoo  - not my picture but one c/- google images. 

more news on our snake

After perusing the Australian Museum webiste: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Diamond-Python/ I believe our incumbent reptile to be a diamond python. They kill their prey by strangling them, grow to 3m and although not poisonous, have a nasty bite and can leave a tooth in situ. I think we'll leave him or her alone.

Turn around slowly and walk back up the hill.....

The tank men arrived as I was on way back from the kiosk with milk supplies. As we navigated through the rather labyrinthine pathway to the tank base I noticed the remains of a dead possum to the left of the path and suddenly, one of the men spoke with the urgent, firm tone that immediately captures one's attention: "Turn around slowly and walk back up the hill. Now". I retraced my steps a couple of metres before turning around to see and there was the most enormous snake - a python we think - and about 8 feet long. Not poisonous, I hasten to add. The men were rather shaken but I asked them to take a photo and I will post it when they send it through. I was rather excited. Particularly as it wasn't a poisonous snake. I'll post some more info later once I've received the picture and I'm able to look it up.

First quote for repairing the wall is $15000. Yow.

Here is the beast. Pretty wild!

A misty moisty morning

 Here you can see the two case moths hanging off the grevillea.

 This is our Mandevillea which is growing so profusely. Just delightful.

 And two more I've planted to cover up the pipes and grow up onto the verandah. They are recovering from the possum assault they received when just new.

This poor succulent has been decimated by the possums. I think I'll take it home with me. 

Today is overcast and oppressing. I didn't sleep so well for some reason and I'm finding it hard to get going. I wandered around the garden as a light rain began to fall and managed to take a better photo or two of the case moths. Most of the smoke has gone from yesterday's burning off. Now it is time for some work. Hopefully the tank man will come today and I will get in touch with the roof ventilation people; the bedroom mezzanines are just too hot in summer.

The Stick Case Moth

The other interesting find this past weekend was two case moth cocoons on the grevillea at the front of the house in front of the gas canisters. I recognised them as the 'sleeping bags' that Snuggle Pot and Cuddle Pie had purchased with the money they always kept under their caps. My mother called them 'stick insects'. I can't find any record of them in the Australian Museum site - my usual first port of call for understanding NSW nature. But there are several entries describing them in Queensland and a lovely Aboriginal story about a father who goes on a long journey with his son who becomes weak and sick. He build him a shelter out of bark and sticks and rucks him up in his kangaroos-skin rug. He went away to find food and returned after some days with a possum. On return, his son and his protective 'gunyah' was gone. He leant against a tree and found a loose nob of bark and twigs on the trunk. On looking at it more closely he realised it was a replica of the gunyah he had made his son. He opened it up and found a grub inside and he knew the spirits had taken pity on the boy and saved him from him from death. To this day the grub of the Case-moth always has a gunyah which it builds to protect it and remind it of how, long ago, a father cared enough for his son to build a shelter for him while he sought for food. (www.aboriginalartcentre.com.au/dreamtime%20stories/moth.htm).

From www.brisbaneinsects.com:

The case moths are of the family psychidae. The moths apparently live in a mobile case. The case is made of silk and plant materials. There are a number of different species with different case designs, all of which apparently have an opening at the top and bottom. Most of them feed on a variety of plants. The caterpillar comes out of the top to feed and ejects the waste out the bottom end. The bottom end, which is smaller, is also the exit hatch for the emerging adult. they may take several years to reach the pupation stage. They pupate within the case. The female moth does not develop wings in most cases, but waits for a male to visit her. Females lay eggs in the bag. Baby caterpillars lower themselves to the ground on a silk thread and make themselves a case. Case moth adults do not feed.

I think these look like clania lewinii or something very much like it. I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow.