You are see it here http://tinyurl.com/cdu6no2
These snapshot interviews are a whole series in the run-up to the Australian National SF Con, which, alas, I will not be attending this year.
And in other news, I have submitted The Lascar’s Dagger to my publisher for their perusal. and the the waiting begins…
It still has some polishing to be done, but I’m fairly happy with it. (One of the privileges of being a previously published author is that your publisher will cut you some slack with the rough spots or typos in a manuscript.)
DON’T FORGET to send your results afterwards: www.mygardenbirdwatch.com
Yep, our house is up for sale. (NOTE: click on photos to enlarge)
THE WHY
…because there are only two of us and this house is BIG and the garden is even BIGGER. We are downsizing our lives…
THE GENERAL AREA
THE LAND
<— a view of the front garden from the driveway
<;—- A view of the side garden looking towards the garage and front drive
<—the goose pen/rambutan trees
THE HOUSE
We built and moved into the new house in 1981. We will be sad to leave…
We built it one-storey, thinking it would last us into old age when our knees start objecting to steps…
Great house for young children too, when there is no upstairs.
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| LOUNGE ROOM |
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| LOUNGE ROOM |
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| DINING ROOM |
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| DINING ROOM |
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| MAIN BEDROOM |
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| BEDROOM 2 |
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| BEDROOM 2 ( & BEDROOM 3 same size) |
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| BEDROOM 4 |
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| KITCHEN, AS SEEN FROM FAMILY ROOM |
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| FRONT VERANDA |
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| FAMILY ROOM |
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| LAUNDRY/WET KITCHEN |
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| LAUNDRY/WET KITCHEN AREA |
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| STORAGE AREA/MAID’S BATH |
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| MAID’S ROOM |
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| MAID’S ROOM |
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| MAIN PASSAGE FROM FRONT DOOR |
ADDED ADVANTAGE: A GOOD ALARM SYSTEM
Sophisticated day or night alarm system with an interior infra-red motion alarm, as well as alarm circuits on all grilles and doors and ceiling. All this will still function even if the power is off. Tripping the alarm will register on your handphones and can be activated or de-activated by your phones.
The annual MY Garden Birdwatch survey is here again!
You can find out all about it here or here’s a fun video that will tell what to do:
Rivers with fresh water are rare in Western Australia. And along the length of the west coast there is only one that in its natural state was never blocked by a sandbar. The Waychinicup. It is less than 20kms long, alas…
The above photo is interesting because it is an old sealers’ oven, built about 1800 — prior to white settlement of the western half of Australia. Apparently constructed as a semi-permanent structure by visiting sealers of diverse nationalities to bake bread.
This southern coast was a surprisingly busy place around this period — the nearby Two People’s Bay was named in 1803 when American whaling ship and a French ship found themselves in a bay at the same time…
I actually neglected to get any photos at all of the Grey Kangaroos that were all over the Caravan Park where we were staying in Cheynes last week. (We Ozzies tend to be a bit blase about the large animals chomping away at the lawns every night…)
However, there was some other wildlife. Like these:
Ok, so they were dead and therefore technically not wildlife?
There were lots of them on the beach — I saw about 10 or 12 over several days. they are, I believe, the rarest of the sunfish, the Slender Mola, Ranzania laevis. These two are lying on a bier of sea grass leaves. As you can see, they are rather odd fish, like a hatchback car with two rather odd handles at the rear. I did see one that was still tinged with red.
And even odder is that they are tropical/temperate fish, ending their lives washed up on a southern cold current, far away from sun-baked oceans. There tragedy was to get swept south on the warm Leeuwin Current until they reach colder climes and die … of the cold. There more sensible siblings can grow to 1 metre long.
That bird flying over the rocky islet is an Australian Gannet, a dive-bomber par excellence. They plunge into the water from height, like stukas in for the kill. There were quite a few, most of which were were immatures.
And below: an immature Pacific Gull.
And these below: the spitfires of the caterpillar world.
They are actually the larval stage of the spitfire sawfly wasp, not quite as long as my little finger. The exude a rather unpleasant goo when disturbed, hence the name. It’s not actually spit…
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| Fishing for salmon |
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| Cars are not permitted on the beach |
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| Evening shadows |
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| Silver Gulls |
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| Sooty Oystercatcher |
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| The sign warns you not to throw fish offal in the sea as it attracts sharks |
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| The small settlement at Cheynes |
So I am rather behind in blog posts and news, and most of you who follow me on Twitter @glendalarke or on Facebook will know all this stuff already:
Stormlord’s Exile, the final book in the trilogy, was shortlisted for the Best Australian Fantasy Novel of 2011 — and it didn’t win. Which is not exactly a surprise. After all, it’s the seventh time I haven’t won with a shortlisted novel! Aussie authors are a talented bunch, and the competition is stiff. So hurrah for Pamela Freeman’s book Ember & Ash which did win, and if you haven’t read it, go do so.
The results for all the Aurealis categories are here.
I had a lovely evening in Perth as the awards were being presented in Sydney, thanks to a friend, Helen M., who said I should have someone to celebrate with. Well, the celebration didn’t happen, but so what — we (six of us) drank the champagne anyway! Good company of like-minded people, tasty snacks and great conversation. What more could you ask?
Well…I guess a quenda.
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| Quenda: Southern Brown Bandicoot |
It came onto the back porch and started in on Helen’s cat’s food…so I took a photo.
You can see a fact sheet about the quenda here.
