Tuesday, December 1, 2009

It's a Tuesday kind of day...

It's nice to be at home today. I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do. So there will be a bit of gardening and some school work and hopefully a bit of mooching around. Look at the baby quince, so sweet & furry.


The quince tree is one of my favourite trees in our garden. It's shape, the lovely leaves, the way it makes a little shady cubby with it's low branches...and of course the quince itself. Last year I made quince jelly for the first time, yum.


With all the humid weather last week and then the rain our vegie patch is really rocking along. Most of the seedlings survived the first hot week and we now have a nice variety of happy little plants. Eggplant, tomato, carrots, lettuce, capsicum, zucchini, corn, watermelon, cucumber, basil..I think that's it!

I'm just having a look through my bag of goodies from the market. I did also get a lovely doll from Jodie but I seem to have hidden it so well that now I can't find it! I do this every year with Christmas presents. One year I hid something, forgot all about it and then found it for the next Christmas!



I am sitting a little uncomfortably this morning...I seem to have an insect/spider bite in an awkward spot! I'm hoping it's not a white tail spider bite as there have been a few of those around lately. They like to hide in bedding or clothing so it's good to always shake out anything before you put it on. This reminds me of my series of spider stories. WARNING: Spider Bite Stories coming up...not for the faint hearted.




Spider Story One: A few years ago I had just had my hair cut and was hopping back in the car with two of the five kids. Earlier in the week I had seen a VERY LARGE huntsman spider lurking near the windscreen so I knew he was around but had momentarily forgotton. As I opened the door of the car there he was (unseen by me), nestled just on the inside of the door. Where did I put my hand??? Yep, right in his face. Let me tell you that huntsman spiders DO BITE. Yes, they do. I think the screaming of "Oh F.....!!!" was heard all the way to Brighton Beach. Thanks goodness for the lovely and supportive tradesman who came running over & chased the spider away. All the way home I swore and screamed. My kids sat there with their mouths in little 'o's. Later on I had a better look at the bite and there were two little fangs stuck in my finger. Oh my goodness.... good thing they aren't poisonous!

Now I was going to tell you part two and three but one spider story is enough for today!! Have you had a spider incident? Or two..or three? Go on, freak me out.



I'm off outside now, to feed the animals, stare up at the blue sky, hang some washing, inspect the garlic, keep Max out of the chook pen (yes, that is a big roll you swiped, Max) and generally have a relaxing day. Actually, maybe I'll just put the kettle on first...


Hope you are having a happy day, see you soon xo

14 comments:

mel @ loved handmade said...

It's the perfect day for doing all those things! Your garlic looks good. We've just pulled ours out, too & vegie gardens have thrived over the last week - very exciting isn't it...as for spiders...my baby climbed into bed next to me on Sunday morning & as he snuggled in for a cuddle screamed "Spider!!!" and there beside me was a wopping white tail! Thank goodness for the little early riser!

Lola Nova said...

So much to comment on. Your garden is lovely! I like all of your critters. Our chooks are braving the cold and rain here.
Spiders, hmmmm... little miss ringlet adores them to no end. She grabs them bare handed and gives them shelter in the cottage. There has been more than one occasion that she has put them in my hair. It's a good thing we don't have many poisonous ones about. Earwigs on the other hand...eeek!

Rachael @Mogantosh said...

I'm currently sporting a nice little hole on my wrist, courtesy of unseen spider. Thought it wasn't too bad but I keep knocking the top off, and it's taking a long time to heal. I asked my neighbour, the GP, and she told me 'keep an eye on it...a friend once had a reaction to a spider bite that ended up as Guilliane-Barre Syndrome.'

Not to worry then...

That baby quince is adorable - looks knitted and placed there by the hand of a crafty fairy. You sure you didn't...?

Sue said...

You sound like your having a lovely relaxing day! Now as for spiders we get those nasty white tail spiders too who happen to love crawling around the house just as everyone has gone to bed. One night I happened (thankfully) to turn on the wardrobe light before going to the ensuite toilet and there on the floor was the biggest white tail I had ever seen. No doubt Paul was woken up to kill it and I was thankful I hadnt stepped on it. By the way white tail spiders eat earwigs so if you get earwigs which we have in abundance this year as my sis the gardener said there is a plague this year so more white tails too, ugh! I dont like the fact that the huntsmen bit you either, I always used to put them out in the garden in a jar. There is a new type of spider that apparently looks like a huntsmen too and is very poisonous, where you lose all your skin around the bite and it turns black (I saw pics and they are disgusting). Very scary, so shake all those clothes and bedding! Now onto the kettle, yes I think I need a cuppa too, maybe cream of chicken soup will suffice!!

Lea said...

I have your dog's twin!

Sarah said...

No spider stories, but I did get bitten by a bee last weekend! Didn't realise that happened after childhood!! Sorry I missed you and Charlotte at the Makers Market on Saturday. Sounds like you had a great day.
I got my Thaw today-did you get yours? Hope you like the article. x

BadPenny said...

little fangs OMG ! children keeping very quiet while mum swears all the way home !!!

....Only story is when I was a nanny in Antigua I had to deal with Tarantulas. I thought " well I can't squish therm - imagine the noise ! " so I'd get them in the kids' buckets & take them way down the garden.

It cured my fear of spiders though !!!

Julie said...

Nice tree's. I'm just hanging our onions, never done it before I hope they will be OK. Didn't need the spider story, I hate white tails and it seems to be the time of year for them now.

hester said...

What lovely animal friends you have at your place.I especially love the picture of your doggy with the bread roll.

Floss said...

Oh Beck, the spiders are what stop me from thinking that it might be good to live in Australia! Every time I hear about them I feel more and more Euro-centric!

I don't remember the rest of your post, just too bothered about the spider..!

Dawn said...

I had to run away, screaming, from this post. Horrid spiders!

Bluebell said...

Oh Beck! I too had a horrific 'spider incident' in a car once... consequently my car is no longer with me, and there is a tree on Doveton Street that still has parts of the red duco on its trunk. Those huntsmen are so very scary. Oh and as a kid once I put my foot in a gum boot with a wolf spider nestled in the bottom of it... Do you know those ones? It was a rather large female- carrying all of her little spider sprogs on her back!!! Oh I still cringe thinking about it.
Before my spider rant, I really just wnated to say that it was so lovely to see you and your gorgeous stall at the market. Hope to see you again soon!

P.S I love your darling little rabbits!

Bird Bath said...

the spider stories do make me cringe a little...fortunately I do not have any spider stories to tell :0
Plenty of good stuff there too - the baby quince does look like a softie, the tree looks splendid, I would love to picnic under it's shade. with a little quince jelly no less. mmm.

Emily said...

Oh! I hate spiders. HATE them. Now that we're out in the country I see them WAY too much. During the fall they are giant and disappear for the most part in winter, thank goodness! But old house + country = lots of spiders. We've hired an exterminator four times a year, so hopefully that will take care of most......