Fearless Freddo

We had a visit over 2 nights by a fearless, but maybe a bit adventurous and simple minded, green tree frog. I first noticed him (or her) clinging precariously to the wall by the garage door. Freddo, or Frederica, looked a bit unsure of his fate. He seemed a bit loathe to move very much as I assumed that his grip on the rough finish on the wall was causing him a bit of consternation, to say the least. But just have a look at him barely hanging on the wall with his toes stretched to max to get the best grip.

I had my smoke then went back inside. When I came out again he was gone, But then I noticed him clinging a bit more securely on my plaque wall. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me, so I missed that photo op. He sort of looked around as if to say "Well, what a pickle I'm in now. How do I get down from here?" Then he just fell onto the top of the fridge and from there straight down to the floor and I lost sight of him then, so I suppose he may have sat for a while gathering himself after his misadventure before heading home.

A couple of days before this one, I was again going out for a smoke (I know!!! I should give them up!!!) and there was a much bigger specimen just sitting on the floor outside the door maybe looking at his own reflection in the glass. Could have a Narcissus complex?? Anyhow, as I said, he was a much bigger specimen. I reckoned he would have filled my whole hand if I picked him up, but I just left him there in peace and kept an eye on him. He slowly turned and then took one almighty big leap towards the air con unit. He must have got excited or something or just misjudged his leap, because the was a quite loud "BANG" as his head hit the unit. He just seemed to shake his head then flattened himself and crawled under the unit. He emerged a short time later and, to me, seemed a bit smug. Maybe he caught his dinner there?? But he just hopped away, although a bit unsteady at times, and disappeared into the night.

The night after our "Wall Freddo" did his bit he returned for another exploration of the walls. I didn't notice him at first as he was hanging above the door. He just caught my eye as he moved and only just made it to the thermometer hanging on the wall. (I did rush in and get the camera this time).

You can see he's at full stretch with only his hind legs fully secure on smooth surfaces. He hung there for a while, then maybe thought that he had better get a move on. There was a "splat" as he came down onto the tiled doorstep, then he slowly jumped towards the air con unit. (This seems to be a popular spot for frogs!!)

You may be able to just see him, but the tiled doorstep where he landed is visible. He just sat for a while, then ambled off to the lawn and eventually jumped off into the night through the herb garden. The last I saw of him was when he headed to the fence at the corner of the house, then he disappeared towards the neighbour's house.

So, there you have it. "Fearless Freddo" or "Adventurous Frederica", whichever it was, gave me a chance to forget the cares and woes of the world for a short time and added a bit of "photo op" to my usually mundane smokes time.
I hope he or she comes back again so I can get some more pics of this "Indiana Jones" type green tree frog.
p.s. I think that maybe Kay and my expertise with the "Mao Tse Tung" might be bringing the frog in for an easy meal of dead flies and there are also a lot of moths and other insects on the walls, so maybe that also would explain the presence of Freddo. Whatever it is that is bringing him back, I hope he keeps doing it.

IT'S DOWN !!!!

After well over12 months of little use, the bar-b-q pit has been removed. As it turned out, it was a very good move. The timber I bought in the first place to erect the pit was supposed to be rot and ant resistant. So, no ants but heaps of damp area fungus. With the rains we had just lately, I think the heat at the time gave the fungus a wonderful chance to get in and run amok!!!

The complete bar-b-q pit

The pit with the top opened for use of the gas ring.

I had a great helper when I was building it, my son Alex.  His help with the heavy stuff was invaluable and he also had some ideas that worked out far better than my original ideas. I am just glad that I took some photos just after we finished it. The top was an innovation that I had thought about for a while. It was not only to keep the rain out, but also hinged so that half of the top could be folded back to permit access to a gas ring for Kay to cook on. This happened after Alex moved to Portland in Victoria, so I can take credit for this idea. 

Its a shame that it had to come down,  but it turned out as a necessity.

I was talking to my wife Kay after it was demolished, and she told me that daughter Shasha had told her when she returned from Malaysia that Alex and I had done a great job building it and it looked good and was functional.  Kay had told Shasha that it wasn't really to her liking, but she would not say anything about it for the time being. I really appreciate the confidence Shasha had in Alex's and my ability as backyard builders and I know now that the ground it was on was not really the right place for it. But, stubborn old me!!!

I made a couple of errors (I don't usually admit my mistakes, but this is a first!!) while "de-constructing" the pit.
I did it over 2 days and should have had enough sense to take at least 5 days to do it, but. again, stubborn old me thought I was younger and could do it. Yesterday I stopped when my leg started to get sore and then did a bit more and then a bit more again, until I HAD to stop.
Today I just kept going until it was done. Now I am really paying for it. I started about 9:30 am this morning with the temperature touching 30 degrees and finished about 1:30 or 2:00 this afternoon in temperature of 35 degrees. Talk about sweat!!! I know, only horses sweat, but I certainly felt like old Dobbin by the time I finished. And the flies!!! I had them up my nose, in my mouth and ears and flying around every other part of my body, and I couldn't do anything about them, there were just so many. I suppose they were after the salt in my "sweat".

When I had taken the sides off, I started on the platform by removing the flooring. That's when I found the rot!!! There was some sign of it around the sides, but not more than what would be expected. I was astounded by the amount of fungus and the degree of rot in the bearers. Check out the photo above!! And they are just the bottom sides of the platform boards. Miserly old me only used fence palings (I always work on the cheap) and the amount of damage is negligible, unlike the so-called "treated" bearers. The fungus on the palings will easily come off with a bit of sun and a paint scraper with the minimum of damage.

Finally ...... The cleared plot. We will extend the herb garden and grow some more chillies, basil, chillies, garlic chives. chillies (Oh. Did I mention chillies!!!)

So, the deed is done and I should have listened to Kay earlier when she told me it wasn't the right thing. As it has turned out, if I had done it earlier I would have been able to salvage a lot more of the timber.
Thank you sweetheart. Next time I will listen!!!
I would urge anyone who reads this to please sign on as a "Follower". This will help me in deciding whether to continue or not as I am not getting much feedback from my posts. Thank You.

YEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Local News Today!!!
"Poppy has broken all Mao Tse Tung records by swatting over 185 flies in the one day!!!"
That's right ..... I counted about 187 flies that fell to my mighty swooping Mao Tse Tung fly swatter.
Now that the rain has gone and the wind has dropped, flies are coming from everywhere. At one stage this morning I counted somewhere between 20 and 25 flies on the outdoor furniture at the one time. I managed to send a dozen or so to the big dung heap in the sky, or wherever they go. And that was quite early because I started mowing the lawns around 0815. At that time this morning the temperature was just over 29 degrees and no wind, so it was a little bit warm.
I perspire (only horses sweat!!!) very freely and the flies had a great time annoying me while I was mowing the lawns. I also gave Kay her first lesson in mowing and of course she perspired too but the flies didn't seem to bother her that much.
When I finished I decided then to wreak my vengeance upon the fly population here. That's how I got so many!! The Mao Tse Tung fly swat was running hot several times.
With the edict of Mao for everyone to kill 20 flies every day, I think that I am now in credit until around 0900 on 10th February!!!!