This will hurt me...

I took this photo not long before a storm hit. We could see the rain moving in from the north, north west and west (over the mountain). The problem with these kinds of early-summer days in Tasmania is that we can have a hot and humid 32°C air tempreture, but when you dip your toe in the drink, you’ll find it a far more bracing 13°C or so. Henry, as you can see, is a brave soul…

This is not a cherry tree. Lindisfarne, November 2010. The Eucalyptus down here in Tasmania are evergreen, which means that I get to enjoy the leaves all year round! Covered with oil glands, Eucalyptus leaves have a wonderful odour. In fact, Eucalyptus oil is a wonderful thing. Great for relieving the symptoms of flu and colds, it also has antibacterial effects on pathogenic bacteria in the respiratory tract. Inhaled eucalyptus oil vapour is a decongestant and treatment for bronchitis. What other things can this marvellous thing do? Well I’m glad you asked! Stay tuned for tomorrow's exciting conclusion to THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF EUCALYPTUS ! Eucalyptus , how I love thee! Meanwhile, have a poem about another tree... Loveliest of Trees, the cherry now , by A.E. Houseman Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide. Now, of my threescore years and ten, Twenty will not come again, And take from sev...

Ezra here is set to start chomping on a snail he has found. Quick tip for begginers: we generally kill, clean, gut and cook the snails in garlic butter first!

Snails really are the most interesting creatures. Geilston Bay, November 2010. Two books read this week, and what a pair! I managed to complete parts two and three of the Lucifer Box trilogy. After reading The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss a few weeks back, I leant of the library and score numbers two and three. # 2 is The Devil in Amber , and takes place twenty years after the Edwardian adventures of #1. Lucifer is now middle aged, traumatised by the Great War, and under the pump from a new generation of secret agents. Of course, he remains as beautiful lithe as ever – and informs us on a regular basis – but seems a little less cocksure and a little more vulnerable than the earlier tale. Without giving too much away, the story is a little darker as Lucifer battles a horrible gang of Fascists with a bent for Satanism. It is not quite the romp of the first, and the maudlin tone of the interwar period is well captured. Finishing the set, we shoot forward another twenty-or-so years into a...

What are your legs? Springs. Steel springs. What are they going to do? Hurl me down the track. How fast can you run? As fast as a leopard. How fast are you going to run? As fast as a leopard! Then let's see you do it!

Something has happened. New Town Road, New Town. November 2010. I've got to go to Ross today. Ross . I hope that there are no zombies in Ross. I suspect that zombies may well be responsible for the death of the poor chair featured above.

I count five Mr Men books on his lap. Care to hazard a guess as to who feature?