Bugs

My kids have lice. Yeah, nice. They think it's kind of funny. I'm not as pleased.
The first night we went the chemical route with the over the counter stuff and we used the nit picken' comb.
It's gross picking bugs out of your kid's head. Dead little lice bodies. Ewe. My college roommate used to sit on the couch and pick stuff out of her guy's head. It gave me the dry heaves every time I saw it. Even the monkeys gross me out when they pick stuff out of each other. And now I'm doing the nit picking.
After reading on the web that the over the counter stuff has chemicals in it similar to bug spray, I felt guilty and went to the "mayo head" remedy. Spread mayo all over head, cover with shower cap, cover with towel, sit for two hours, wash out.
Tonight we did the remedy everybody swears by. 16 oz. of Cedaphil soap on the head, blow dry into a helmet, shower cap on, sleep in it over night. Apparently they smother, suffocate and die this way.
And always the combing out of the nits twice daily. I've been doing it religiously. I don't really see any nits anymore. But I'll keep doing it.
I've been ferociously washing sheets and towels and clothes and pillows and combs and brushes and jackets and hats and stuff. Stuffed all the dress up clothes and stuffed animals into bags to put away for a few weeks. Apparently lice need human heads to live off of - otherwise they die within 48 hours.
The washing of everything is just exhausting.

Love In Progress

"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image-otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them." Thomas Merton

DUST CLOUDS & STUBBLE

The weather forecast for the rest of this week is dire, torrential rain, heavy showers, intermittent rain, and more showers. However, today has been warm and dry and by lunch time the ground began to shake a little as the combine harvester turned into the field and made its first cut around the perimeter of the field.





I abandoned my lawn mower and snatched the washing off the line as George chivvied the dogs back inside the house and closed all of the windows - past experience has shown that harvesting means noise, dust clouds, and lots of rodents running for their lives as their field is shaved and shelter lost. This is when the two new girls, Bennie and Sparky should come into their own and earn their keep by keeping our gardens free from invaders.





Bennie came triumphantly into the garden clutching a wriggling mouse in her jaws and then started to toy with it. After a few moments the mouse ran up a tree, hiding himself in the tangle of ivy and I have to confess that I was wishing him every success; he deserved to escape for his fighting spirit. I had to leave them to it and I don't know how it all ended. I couldn't watch.









This was Bennie earlier in the day as she tried out camouflage methods! Sparky is the real hunter as Bennie loses interest and concentration, so the mouse did stand a chance.









Naturally the wind was blowing towards the house today!









I love the field after the harvest because for a few brief weeks it has a holiday feel. I use the small gate which leads directly into it, and the dogs and I make the most of the freedom as we take the short cut through the field for our walks along the old railway line. When Toby and Pip were younger it used to bring out the puppy in them which was a delight.





We are fortunate because this field is used for the Enduro motorbike race in September, so the stubble gets left and the ploughing is delayed. In these days of such intensive farming when it seems that no sooner is a field harvested than it is ploughed and sown with the next crop, it is lovely to know that 'our' field is able to have a brief rest. I know that it will have the Enduro to - forgive the pun - endure, but that seems a small price to pay for a few weeks rest.





We also get to enjoy ringside seats and brilliant views of the motorbikes. I'll take photos of the event when it happens.

How To Build Community

Our country definitely needs to do more of these things. I need to do more of these things. How about you? How would life change if we all chose to be more community oriented?

Return of the big wet

This little part of the world has not had a decent wet season in seven years. That appears to be changing as I had the pleasure of riding through yet another downpour today. After yesterday's lethargy issues, I opted out of riding a century today to take a quick jaunt up to Binna Burra and back, a ride of around 104km. Normally the feature of this ride stems from the sweeping mountain views of Beechmont. I was lucky to see my own feet today.

I was nowhere near top form today either, but I was invigorated and motivated by the rain, which kept the notorious summer heat at bay. And while the usual views weren't to be had, there were breaks in the clouds that offered spectacular sights not seen in "normal" conditions. When I see things like this, it reminds me that in these conditions, it's far better to just "bite the bullet" and simply start the ride, rather than looking out the window and imagining all the "bad things" that might (but almost certainly won't) happen.

The final ascent of Mt Roberts, a notoriously brutal climb, was an eerie experience as the rain totally distracted me from the climb, and I seemed to reach the summit on instinct alone. The conditions prevented me from racking up huge speeds on the descent, but that was a minor consideration. More important was simply savouring the refreshing feel of the cool rain on the top of the mountain, and a break from the otherwise relentless summer heat, and enjoying the waterfalls that suddenly appeared.

I don't know how much longer the big wet will last, but if it continues until sometime around mid April, I'll be more than satisfied.

Dancing Cranes

Here are a couple of shots from this morning on the Platte River in Central Nebraska. We saw a LOT of cranes this morning, but the lighting was a bit of a challenge. We never did get any nice sunlight, but we saw a lot of incredible crane activity. When we first arrived at the blind the birds were very quiet. Most of them had their heads tucked under and were asleep. Before too long, though, they started waking up one by one and soon their chattering was quite loud. As they wake up they also start to hop and dance around quite a bit. Some of the dancing is to try and impress their mates or potential mates, and some of it is done to warm up before they take their first flight of the day. It was an unforgettable morning and we are hoping that the birds repeat their patterns and performances again tonight and tomorrow morning.

Babywearing

I wish these had been around when my children were infants. They're the ticket! Here's Darcie getting in some practice with the new kitten, Belle. She'll sleep for hours snuggled up next to Darcie. She was a stray that was separated from her mama too early. Now she has a new mama!