Well THE day is done...what a peaceful time I had. I played with my ratties, which is always fun. Slept, watched movies and ate a yummy dinner. We did not 'over indulge' so I felt great all through the 'festive' period.

Not so true for today though...I did not sleep a wink last night ... I stayed up to protect my little furry friends from a very determined python that relentlessly pursued them...we managed to shoo it out at one stage but then it just hung outside the window for an age and then disappeared out of view. But later it slithered back inside when we were not looking...luckily it knocked over a vase as it went...the loud crash alerted us to its presence...we caught sight of it's tail as it slithered behind a large heavy piece of furniture.

It's still behind the cupboard...nocturnal animal so will no doubt wait till dark to resume pursuit of its intended prey. We have decided to use one of our guinea pigs as a decoy tonight and wait in the wings and hopefully throw a bag over the snake when it comes out of hiding and is on the move.

Poor piggy...but I couldnt use my ratties because they really would freak out. In fact I discovered the snake in the first place because my 'girls' were hysterical. I wondered what was happening and each time I checked them I saw Phoebe, our little mother dog to four 3wk old puppies, sniffing round the ratties' cages. I thought at first that the girls were stressing out about Phoebe and I growled her away from them a few times before I saw a 2 metre snake...about to slither out from behind onto the top of one of the cages...what a shock!!!!

I've had snakes in the house before...in fact I had another sleepless night recently when just as I was falling asleep something dropped with a heavy thud onto the window seat near my bed. I quickly turned on the light to find a real live snake there!!! I couldnt sleep for the rest of the night as the snake would not return out the open window that it had obviously entered through.

I threw things (pillow, bits of clothing, etc) at the snake everytime it moved toward my bed!!!!!!! and in fact every time it moved AWAY from the open window...I was somewhat deluded by fear into hoping that I could quickly train it to go out the window by NOT throwing things at it whenever it headed in THAT direction but throwing things at it every time it headed in any other direction...but I soon discovered that throwing things like pillows at it wasn't going to work,

because it hid under the clothing and pillow and then I couldnt SEE it so I became more nervous about where it was and what it was up to...I tried standing on my bed (so I'd appear large) and using a broom handle to poke it away from the direction of my bed, but as the snake reared up and made to strike at me several times I was a bit concerned about whether or not it was venemous - we had already had a venemous juvenile snake in the house on a previous ocassion.

I couldnt tell for sure what kind of snake it was. It was brownish without markings other than a lighter underside and so could have been a harmless tree snake or something more sinister so I spent the night mostly standing in the doorway of my bedroom, watching that the snake didnt slither further into my room and hide somewhere, but on alert and ready to run for cover if the snake decided to come after me!!

just before dawn I threw a lightweight cardboard box (open at one end) to try and prevent the movement of the snake away from the direction of the open window. The snake slithered straight inside the box...I maintained my vigilance by the door, ready to run, until the room was well lit with daylight, then using the broom handle I pushed the cardboard box closed and quickly grabbed it up and in one fell swoop dropped it out the window...it lodged in a large shrub under the window in such a way that I could see the snake curled up inside the box.

needless to say, I closed and locked my bedroom windows and havent had them open since!!!

this latest snake entered through the wooden louvre blades on the side verandah. What a nightmare this 'gorgeous' vintage timber Queenslander house is...there is no way to completely close the house off from the outside or to completely seal any room in the house. It was constructed during the 1930s before electric fans, aircon, etc and for cooling it has decorative breezeways connecting each room...a snake could easily slitter into any room of the house through these breezeways!!!

the snake is very beautiful...a gorgeously marked python. Im much happier about being able to identify the snake as definitely non venemous, although it could still give a nasty bite and it would definitely be efficiently lethal should it get to any of my furry pets!

I have seven guinea pigs, six rats, four dogs and four puppies. Guinea pigs are outside in snake proof enclosures, dogs live outside too, but mum dog, puppies and ratties are residing in the house and so is the snake for the moment!!!

I have to keep an active eye on my little pets to ensure their safety. A fresh ratty or baby puppy would definitely satisfy a hungry snake.

Im so tired though that I should get some shut eye before my night vigil begins again.

school holidaze

sitting in a daze...trying to buy a vehicle. Started off searching for a CRV-Sport but switched the search midstream to a Rav4-Cruiser and then switched again from manual to auto searches. So hard to choose from all the vehicles on offer locally and online.

doesnt seem such a big deal to buy from thousands of ks away, especially from a dealer who has their rep to protect and who is supervised by legislation to protect the consumer

but how to trust a salesperson???? any salesperson! a mate has just started working in plumbing sales and tells me that they cant believe the stuff they hear coming out of their mouth, but the buyers lap it up

hope Im not THAT buyer...lapping up sales pitch after sales pitch

numa numa

just discovered syncsta and musta watched numa numa about 20 times