Break

My place seems to have regressed. My desk broke, my outdoor setting broke, and mum bought me a brand new cabinets which lives in the middle of the sitting room. There are boxes everywhere and the place looks like I’ve just moved in.

Again.

Thankfully today marks the start of a week off so I’ll have time to do all of the things I’ve been putting off lately. Starting with my tax, putting my office back together, a trip to Bunnings to sort out my yard, and a couple of nights on straddie. Oh, and I want to catch up on my vlog. Relaxing!

Things have been going well enough but I’m looking forward to having a bit of time to myself. There are plans in motion so I don’t fall so far behind in life again, but that’s fairly new so far.

Right now I should really be sleeping because it’s 2:30 and R invited me to brunch and pebble curation in the morning. Haven’t we done well.

Koel

I was escaping the heat in the garden the other day when a strange bird landed on a branch near me.

I sent the picture to mum because she’s good at knowing these sorts of things.

The bird is a female koel also known as the rain bird, they are the ones you here very loud in the early evenings.

My mum, via Google Hangouts

That makes sense. I’ve been noticing a lot of different bird calls lately, but particularly the warbling whistles as I’m heading to bed dinner it’s often at 3 a.m when there’s no other sounds.

So it was nice to spot the bird responsible. There’s one whistling outside my window now.

I’m very happy with how well the yard is coming along, but especially happy with the quality of Wi-Fi. It’s fast enough to stream games when it’s too hot sharing the office with my computer.

Enoggera Creek

A green-brown creek surrounded by mangroves and gum trees. The sky is bright blue with only a couple of small puffy clouds.

Took this photo on the way back from lunch today. The ibis roost in the trees to the right, and fruit bats live out-of shot to the left.

I always thought this was “Breakfast Creek” but my lunch buddy Gav called it differently so I did a little research.

Google Maps and OpenStreetMap both label the entire stretch Enoggera Creek, but I found the following snippet in a local newspaper:

A Department of Natural Mines and Resources spokesman said “significant research” in 1992 confirmed the name changed where the North Coast Railway Line crossed the creek, south of Albion Station and west of Burrows St and Hudson Rd.

A News Corp publication

Apparently there used to be a small tributary creek around the area that was used as the distinction, but it’s always been somewhat of a mystery:

“Confusion over where Enoggera Creek becomes Breakfast Creek dates back to the 1850s when a survey plan labelled the creek at this point as ‘Breakfast Creek or Enoggera Creek’”

Department of Natural Mines and Resources spokesman

I may need to dust off my OpenStreetMap account and make the controversial edit based on this info.

But suffice to say, this segment does appear to be Enoggera Creek after all.

You can download the original photo.

Guzman y Gomez magnet giveaway

I saw a post on Twitter about a magnet giveaway at Guzman y Gomez, and I was reminded of the fact that I really wanted salsa queso fries. So used the opportunity to grab dinner while I was out running an errand.

A set of three brightly coloured magnets, with a Guzman y Gomez counter in the background.

The magnets are pretty alright, I like the colours. I would have preferred stickers though, I have no use for fridge magnets and felt bad about the waste.

Ultimately I decided I didn’t want them so I popped them back.

Walking around Brisbane

I had lunch with Josh yesterday, and afterward went for a walk around town.

I wanted to get a few shots for a vlog idea I’m working on. Worked out alright. Here are some pretty bits from my moseyin’.

Ringtail Possum

I’ve had a number of possums make a home in my window over the past 5 months. I’ve managed to chase off a couple, but this little guy is determined.

These little dudes eat leaves, flowers, fruit and sap, but according to Wikipedia they also eat their own poop which could be why he’s kept the windowsill so clean compared to the other possum species 🤔

I set up a livestream on Twitch yesterday so everyone could watch him sleep and scritch and pull the occasional NSFW poses.

As cute as he is, I’ve got some bird spikes on order from Bunnings so hopefully that will discourage and future possum friends from sleeping here during the day.

Commodore Amiga

The "amiga key" on a yellowed Amiga keyboard

Had a bbq at Ryan’s place last night. Not a big one. But Ryan was keen to show off his Amiga 4000D, freshly re-capped and upgraded.

Amiga 4000D on a desk with a glass of wine.

The Amiga 500 was my first computer and like most people who grew up with one I still regret getting rid of it. Their heyday was really the late ’80s but I know we kept ours through the mid 90s.

Me playing Silkworm ^_^
Here’s me playing Silkworm, the first computer game I think I ever played.

He’s really into the retro computing, but this is my particular favourite machine.

You can read more about the Amiga on Wikipedia.

Charlie’s visit

My parents were determined to go to the wedding, so they dropped little Charlie off for a holiday on their way.

He was a really good boy, and didn’t cry when they left. I think he was more excited to play with the ball he found in the yard, although he kept rolling it under the couch where he couldn’t get it out.

What a silly boy.

It was nice having him. Though he had me on edge all the time because I was worried that he’d escape somehow. And any time I’d let him out the front he’d bark at anyone who went by, giving me a shot of adrenaline every time. I think I need more whale noises or something.

But every morning he would wake me up with his puppy dog eyes and want to play with his toys and that made everything worthwhile.

On Saturday we went out to Shorncliffe to have a bbq with the crew, Ben, Dan and Ryan.

R offered to pick us up in his schmancy sports car, so I popped Charlie in my backpack to stop him getting hair and/or put nose-prints everywhere. They both seemed to like it; Charlie cos it was an adventure and Ryan cos it was cuuuute.

I was worried we mightn’t have enough food, but that’s NEVER the case when we get together.

Ryan brought salads and skewers, Dan brought nibbly bits, and Ben went all out with one of his trademark brownies (for which I still need to return the pan). I brought buns and burger essentials, so B ablated a good 5 mm off the top of the bbq plate with pure alcohol and we fried up some bird & halloumi.

Charlie appreciated his little bit of chicken once we were done (thanks Uncle Ben).


Mum and dad came to stay after the wedding. I think hey only intended for a few days, but since they were enjoying themselves it ended up being almost a week.

Mum brought down a lot of plants she’d cultivated, and dad brought some power tools. Between them they managed to tidy up a massive amount of the garden in the thirty degree heat of spring. I feel a little guilty because I only really helped on the weekend.

Mum used the power saw to remove a bunch of scrappy old trees, poisoned some of the nasty stuff that was growing, and planted a couple of the gardens. I found some old sleepers to use as garden edges and it looks really good now.

She also uncovered a whole section up the back which I thought was just garden bed but is actually a nice bricked patio area under one of the fruit trees. I am definitely going to get a little outdoor setting and work from here on Fridays.

I think Dad enjoyed trying out my power tools, and perfectly sculpted the front lawn and verge with the trimmer, blower, and hose. This place has never looked so neat.

It was a really nice visit, and kinda felt like a holiday even though I was still working. It was just nice to spend time with my parents that wasn’t a big stress, and I think they felt the same way 🙂


Shawnie is in Scotland at the moment and he keeps sending me pictures of lochs and castles and that sort of thing. I’m very jealous and wish I could be there toooooo, but also I’m just happy that he’s getting the chance to enjoy some wilderness.

Magpie season

Went for a covid test at RBWH on Monday. Negative, thankfully. But there’s a Magpie swooping in the area.

Unfortunately this is my main route into the city and it’s hit me twice now, once on a scooter and this time on my bike. I locked it up and walked the rest of the way.

Stones Corner

I was walking through the other day. Stopped by at ALDI for some cheese. Caught the train back into the city.