I have an aquaintance who is keen to visit Western Australia to see our lizards. In particular he wants to see a live bobtail, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiliqua_rugosa , as his previous experience has only been flattened road kill, a not uncommon sight on most of our roads. I'd told him that bobtails are so numerous here in Geraldton that they live in our gardens in great numbers. But I wasn't quite ready to arrive home yesterday afternoon to find two young bobtails making out on my front doormat!! Unfortunately, the arrival of a large noisy 4WD within metres of their amorous activity caused a rapid rush for cover....
I'm very fortunate to still have quite alot of native trees and vegetation surrounding my house, which brings in lots of cheeky birds and even the occasional Bungarra (Aboriginal word for Gould's monitor) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_goanna . Sometimes it can feel like a zoo!
The willy wagtails must be nesting as they've been swooping Hazel something rotten, but she just stands there totally ignoring them as they swoop and click within centimeters of her head and mouth. She used to have a wild old time running up and down chasing them but these days she behaves like a grand old dame and just pretends they don't exist.
I've discovered that Hazel has fashion sense. Well I don't quite know what to call it, but she is able to look at what I am wearing and know what activity will then occur. Like if I put my cycling top and knicks on she gets very upset and runs away next door or down to the beach because she knows I'm going cycling and she doesn't like that at all. But if I just put on normal clothes, or work clothes, there's no reaction at all. I'm still leaving her for the day, but she doesn't mind!! However if I put my swim wear on, she gets really excited because she knows we are going to the beach. There's little difference between swimmers and a normal bra and nickers, but she can tell immediately and begins making all sorts of impatient noises to jivvy me along. It's fascinating to see just how much association a dog can have to a visual cue - and how predictable I am....
We've had some spectacular windsurfing this season, nice 4.5m weather, rolling swell, nothing too big, and then we had yesterday!! Blistering winds gusting well over 30knots made holding on a challenge. But excellent for big air!! The weekend isn't looking too good with mostly easterlies, so I shall have to molly coddle the garden instead, and rest some tired limbs that haven't had a day off for 2 weeks between windsurfing and gym sessions.
I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I am now a fully fledged gym junkie, and have even started to run!! Now those people who know me may have been privy to my opinion on running: that it's a ridiculous way to bugger your joints whilst doing something totally unenjoyable. Like how many people running have you ever seen looking happy? Mostly they look miserable! So for me to swallow my words and start running is, well, humble pie.
It's actually my personal trainer's fault. I did protest, but since she's the boss during my PT session I had to aquiesce, and yes it is a good way to get the heart rate up. And yes it is addictive, all those happy little endorphins coursing through my veins.... So now I happily do a 15min run on the treadmill 2-3 times a week as warmup. Bloody crazy I am!!
Of course all this gym junkie business does come with great bonuses. I'm getting really fit, I'm losing weight and I'm getting so nicely toned I'm actually enjoying looking at my body again. No longer do I have those flabby "tuckshop arms", I've got discernible muscle! And my legs and bum: phwoar!!! Aah I do like a healthy dose of narcissism!!
Must go and admire myself in the mirror again....
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