You Know It Is Hot When.......

The monsoon has gone missing and the weather is hot.

New Year's Day, a slow start that developed into a house clean up, and related requirements, even cleaning the spa [ yikes it needed it......debris off the roof after that was cleaned], is now meandering into late afternoon.

But it has been stinking hot.......so hot that even the dog, who already had had a cooling clean with the hose and a wash decided that it ws so hot a move into the office and the air conditioning was a sensible option. First she moved to lying outside the office with the cool air trickling beneath the office doors, then as the door was opened.......in she went to lie on the cool tiled floor. Where she stayed, while cleaning the house continued.

Sensible dog!!

Cute Animals

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say.

One group has recently compiled a list of the cutest 500 animals.

What is your view?

Could not see the good old green tree frog.......it is always cute.

Must be some generous benefactor spending money on the project!!

There are some predictable entries, near the top [ think domestic pets], and a few wierd ones too.

Check it out here: http://www.livescience.com/13524-500-cutest-animals-list.html

The Antlers Slipped

Mazoe, a very friendly Rhodesian Ridgeback, has been known to wear a pair of Christmas antlers .......you know, the ones with brightly flashing lights and a felt headband, commonly worn as a pre Christmas decoration.


This time the rather large antlers slipped.





Interesting what an old, now seedless, palm spathe can be used for! She loves to walk through them, just helping to clear the yard.


I kid myself it is a set of antlers.

The New Residence

It has been raining consistently in our region now for over two months. And keeping dry in wet weather is always a priority.


So when the opportunity came to acquire an all weather dog house, the purchase was made. No fans or air conditioners, but a truly tropical dog house with one open end and open weave shade cloth on the other........plus a special edge flap to keep the rain off the sarlon shade cloth. Just a flow through ventilation system. The canvas is very waterproof.


Dear dog was at first somewhat mystified at this strange contraption, but a short period on the chain adjacent to the new residence and in she went. It is actually just a waterproof canvas cover, bolted to the existing sarlon shade cloth dog bed, a bed she already used a lot anyway.


I am not convinced that with the windy storms we get here that it will actually be a dry bed, but hey.......it is better than getting a decent drenching!

The First Storm - Wet Season 2008

Had to do a job at Batchelor yesterday, and the sky was developing an ominous appearance late in the day. Storm clouds developing both to the south and north, and a sudden wind shift by about 120 degrees around 1800hrs as we were leaving.


Could there be some rain at last.


Batchelor did get some in the early evening, around 10mm. But that was minor.


By the time we had returned to Darwin [100kms north] the sky was developing that bright flashing amid the thunderheads......maybe, maybe a storm at last.


Around 2230hrs it started to blow.......the harbinger of a decent storm. Wind speeds around 50-60km/hr, a few broken tree limbs, and plenty of stuff blown around on the terrace and then it really rained. Exactly 40mm at home, in about 30 minutes. A great start to the rainy season.


And today, everything is bright.....dust washed off plants, roofs and just about everything else, streets clean, the light is bright and sharp and no doubt it will be hot and steamy as the day goes on.


A great storm, but not too much lightning. And our great guardian of the fortress.......snuck inside. Not a great lover of thunder is our fearsome warrior dog. Very happy to sit on the mat in the laundry though under storm conditions.


The green tree frogs were singing big time, so loud that it was hard to hear much else. I wonder what else they were getting up too??

Our Unmanaged Neighbourhood Dogs

We have an open society......and open houses. Mostly designed for flow through ventilation, breezes and comfort.

It comes at a cost though.........every neighbourhood dog is able to imprint their aural signal right on your brain.

Even this morning, on a leisurely stroll at daybreak with our dog, a fantastic time of day, new occupants of two nearby houses have loud unrestrained aural vandalism ocassioned by their ###### dogs. Dogs respond to inputs by their owners, and keeping quiet is a good option.

I have no problem with dogs barking if you come within a metre or so of the fence, but throwing themselves at the fence in a frenzy is really a bit much. We do have isuses with petty burglary but all the players do is move elsewhere, away from the menace dogs. So dogs can be a deterrent. But it is the ordinary person out for a evening or early morning stroll that cops the idiot dogs.

Oh I forgot..........got it wrong. There are no idiot dogs, only idiot owners!

I can be be a bit smug......have a Rhodesian Ridgeback, a breed not well known to be a barking dog problem. She is however, not beyond giving a deep growl to indicate her displeasure at near intruders, and if she charged, you would be knocked down - smartly.

But if the owners of problem noisy dogs make a small effort to go to Dog Obedience Club classes, most behaviour problems are managed. Too often on a walk you do not even hear the owners admonishing the dog for wild barking behaviour. If a dog barks.......it should be an investigable issue. Unmanaged dog barking is not good for the owners or dog.

In more temperate climates, with more animals inside or behind more significant fences, maybe barking is not as big an issue. But here it is a serious disruptive problem.

Dogs that Escape

I have an expert escapologist dog.

A large, strong, nearly 3 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback bitch that is a very friendly animal, even maybe too friendly. She has been through obedience school and is generally very obedient. Her friendliness v guard dog qualities have been tested on a few occasions with animal intruders into the yard and she did her thing well. And she is very protective to the family. You say….a good dog!

But she is an expert at getting out of the largish fenced backyard. She has endured a few incidents including a large tree branch from a storm damaged fallen tree which I accidently chain sawed and dropped on her kennel in the clean up [while she was in it of course], and has developed a sensitisation to a few other odd sounds. Firecrackers, thunder and lightning are definitely not her friends, although loud truck and aircraft noise are irrelevant to her. When the former two strike, and we have regular fantastic thunderstorms in the wet season, she wants to bolt, to somewhere safe. And the local celebrations of Chinese New Year with the Lion Dance and firecrackers last weekend [delayed because of the rain] one block away sent her off again.

Destroying the fence, gates and associated infrastructure in her way are just fair game while getting out. Then she [so far] blithely returns a few hours later. Even had the RSPCA call the mobile - while in Kuala Lumpur - to inform me she had been "turned in", and that incident alone is another blog story.

There are plenty of options to treat the issue, but rarely are they totally successful.

Better fences are coming soon. Any suggested other options?