This will hurt me...

Tiger snakes. Deadly tiger snakes. That is all.

Bug. Douglas-Apsley National Park, Tasmania's East Coast. January 2013. Another day, another bushfire(s). Why oh why are we forced to choose between pleasant swimming weather (plus bushfires) and miserable wet days (minus bushfires). I mean, really, it is so uncivilised ... The Skirt , Guillaume Apollinaire Hallo Germaine that's a fine skirt you have A fine skirt for a queen A cruel queen Let's feel the silk of it Silk from Japan And trimmed with wide lace made on no machine Your skirt's a silken bell whose double clapper Your legs have struck the passing of my fancies O Germaine now I ring it my breast heaving My hands press down upon your willing haunches Your bedroom O my bell is a fine belfry My hands touch silk and seem to tear my ears Those pegs are gallows on which skirts are hanging Those hanging men are dazzling my eyes Motionless as an owl the oil lamp watches

Close to halfway to Wineglass Bay Beach, Ezra finds time to crack a smile.

Mt Amos. Taken from the saddle between Mt Amos and Mt Mayson, Freycinet National Park. January 2013. The Country Girls , Edna O'Brien: A lovely little coming of age story set in repressed 1950s Ireland and centring on two markedly different girls. This caused quite a stir on release and holds up very well fifty years later. Any time you hear that the Catholics are burning a book, it's worth looking into it. Entertaining. B+ . Mt Mayson. Taken from the saddle between Mt Amos and Mt Mayson, Freycinet National Park. January 2013.

The place I long to be. If I had the whole world. I would give it away. Just to see, the girls at play. ... ... Ooh, ooh, ooh.

Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus), Sandpiper Cottages, just north of Bicheno. January 2013. Theme Thursday today and are we going to share SECRETS? SECRETS? Believe it or not, I'm not sure that I have any. SECRETS aren't much use to me. Sure, it's not uncommon that I come across matters or details that are confidential, personal and not to be shared; but they're not my SECRETS, and ultimately not particularly interesting to anyone other than those who own them. No, I have no abandoned wives or children. No tawdry affairs of the heart (or trousers). I don't know where the bodies are buried nor do I care to know. I've never stolen, borrowed or begged. Never bashed, molested or borrowed. Never been blackmailed, blackballed or blacklisted. I've never even received a parking ticket! Boring? Perhaps. Predictable? Hopefully! Consistent? Consistently. No, no SECRETS. No clandestine covert underground undisclosed surreptitious hush-hush fur

Ezra's found lunch down at Wineglass Bay Beach!

Bushfire smoke. Elizabeth Street Pier, Hobart's waterfront. January 2013. Wordless Wednesday.

No Henry, there is no such thing as Virginia...

Exploring the rocks. Bicheno Beach, Tasmania's East Coast. January 2013. Stealing from Sunday Stealing again: 40 of The Most Random Questions Meme, Part Two ! 21) What’s something you’ve always wanted? To achieve self-actualisation. 22) Do you have hairy legs? Absolutely! 23) What does “Semper Fidelis” stand for? Technically it means "Always Faithful", but that isn't always the case... 24) Would you rather swim in the ocean or a lake? Ocean. I love swimming, but I find lakes a little bit 'icky'. That probably has something to do with some bad experiences with duck poo and extreme cold. 25) Do you wear a lot of black? No. I have the odd bit of it, but it gets too hot. 26) Describe your hair: Strategically tousled. 27) Do you have Entomophobia? Not in the slightest. If anything, I'm an Entophile! 28) Are you an adult? Chronologically speaking, yes. 29) Do you own or rent? I have a mortgage. 30) Do you have a tan? I have skin

Guess who just got told off?

Art #1. Bathurst Street Car Park, Hobart. February 2013. As you know, the Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (and RSS feeds.) The following are some things that I've had a look at in the last week. I call this: a Compendium of Click-throughs for Monday Morning... This one explores the history of neurasthenia or “invalidism”, a curious mid-nineteenth-century chapter in the story of the emancipation of women . This one is a bitter-sweet collection of photographs of Afghanistan in the 1960s . Our local museum is now offering a collection of 100 objects that help us understand and explain Tasmania . The point of universities? "James' Giant Peach Transport Across the Atlantic" , a in the Journal of Physics Special Topics . "In the US since 1998, for every time a woman used a handgun to kill in self-defence, 101 women were murdered with a handgun." Women, Handguns, and Self-Defence: A Deadly

Yes Henry, robots are destroying Tokyo...

The bee's knees. Royal Botanical Gardens, Hobart. January 2013. Sunday Top Five ? My Top Five Insects! Bumblebees Grasshoppers Butterflies Ladybirds Dragonflies