Rain and Other Funny Things

Well! On Thursday last week, I got my head shaved for the World's Greatest Shave! It was done on the most humid of days, it was on a Thursday (14th, March) and Mum and Dad were there with Ellie the Grand-dog... and we had a great time at InVogue Hair Designers.

Then, that afternoon, we had a huge storm and it poured rain all night.

Okay, then, is that what it takes for Brisbane and half the state of Queensland to get rain? I have to shave off all my long red hair and donate it? I'll have to remember that one the next time Australia goes through a big dry spell again.

Only kidding!

Anyway, I've been busily looking through things, throwing out rubbish and watching my back yard green up over the past 48 hours. And man, have we been getting some big falls too! I'm so glad the rain is here! And it's getting cooler, but I'm all prepared for that too, with warmer hats and beanies - some of which I've made - and other warmer gear too.

But last week, I was out every day, either looking after Ellie, or getting the hair donated, or doing some errands around the place or going to the Logan Artists Association (but that didn't work out, so I came home). 
This week is turning out to be busier than last week, with me having two appointments on almost every day... and I'm hoping to remember them all. 

This weekend has been a good one. I've finally begun writing again. It's a slow start to a new book, but it's something at least. I hope it goes somewhere; as my character is a new one I'm also getting to know. Oh well, let's hope she's a good one. I might pair her up with another one I've written about before and it'll pull the story along into a better dimension. 

How's your week been going? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

A Few Rough Days

Over the past week or so, I've had a bit of rough time. It's been tough getting along into this new year without Hannah in it; but it's even harder to wait out the Writer's Block I have too.

So much is going on this year, and I'm so happy with how fast this year is going so far.

Thus far, my air-conditioner in the home office crapped itself and Dad and I pulled it out and put in a screen to let the air flow through again - and it's been great during the night to have that nice cool air upstairs.

I'm on the fund raising track again for the World's Greatest Shave - and this year, I'm shaving off all my hair and donating it, just like I did 4 years ago. So, by this time tomorrow, I'll have no hair, and it'll be on its way to Melbourne to be made into toupee's, wigs and fringes. 

Today, I was out and about catching up with things and doing small errands around the place when I found a little bird - kind of like a sparrow - sitting on concrete outside the post office. Well, it wasn't looking too happy, panting away there, and I picked it up and decided to look at it.
When it screamed at me but didn't bite me, I knew something was wrong. And when I found there were no fleas on this bird at all, I knew there was something really badly wrong. Fleas - you see - are the one thing which love blood flow. They feed off an animal with blood flow. And when the flow of blood is really low on an animal, they go elsewhere for their food. So, to find no fleas or mites on this bird was a red flag for me. This bird was sick and coming to the end of its life - actually when I looked closer at the bird, I realised it had suffered a huge stroke and was waiting to end its life. 
I made the decision to stay with the bird and make it comfortable, by keeping it cool. When birds have a stroke like this, they can't keep themselves cool, because they don't sweat. So, when we as Humans do this for them, it helps them comfortably die - I know this sounds morbid, but it's not. It stopped panting and I thought to move it into a tree. I couldn't leave him/her alone though. So, even though I put him/her into a lower-most branch, I stayed until it died. You see, it was blind; and so I stayed by so it wouldn't hurt itself. The stroke had blinded this poor little bird completely - as most strokes in little birds do. 
And it's been so hot lately, that a lot of little birds are really suffering from heat stroke and they're suffering from massive strokes too. It's a sad thing to realise this in my busy day of running around, but it's something to keep in mind.

I knew what to do with this little bird because my little budgie suffered a massive stroke in 2012, and I stayed by her until her last moments. It hurts to see a little bird leave this planet, but it does show us Humans that we must make sure we're here in the present moment to help the little animals - to see the smaller things in life - and not to ignore them; which so many people did when I was tending to this tiny bird.

Otherwise, I've been busily working in my garden, thinking of what else I can do for the birds and animals around the area to help them in the heat and during this year. I potted up more new herbs to see me through the Winter (as the other lots had gone to seed) and then? Well, I refilled the water platter for the birds, and thought I might get in and save for a nice one to put in the garden for the birds and animals, one closer to the ground and in the shade. Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.