All caps headline

Finally we're growing something in the vegie patch that I plan to eat:

I realise I'm possibly cursing the capsicum plant by writing about it (RIP the passionfruit and corn) but I sense this might work...

Meet the neighbours

If it's any consolation, the eel refers to the Parramatta footy team:

Hurrah!

My internet connection returned to its uncooperative self last week but a Telstra operative finally turned up on Friday afternoon.
He was little young for my taste with unfortunate facial hair (I think he was doing Movember; I didn't want to ask) but I admit he was quite helpful, in that uninterested-and-superior way that IT geeks have mastered.

Anyway, after half an hour he re-plugged my splitter and all was well again.
I only discovered what a splitter was last week, and that I owned one. Why it suddenly needed re-jigging is still beyond me.
When I asked him he replied, "They're funny sometimes."

Whatever. Yay!
Here are the horses' latest ensembles, a little disco fringe for the party season, I fancy:

Tuppence is getting right into it:

Growing concerns

#1 The nasturtium plant; i.e. what was once a side path:

#2 The pumpkin plant, once again our future overlord:

Critters' delight

We've had enough rain for the spiders to feel like they own the joint.

Still, the webs make the yard sparkle:

And we all love a good sparkle.

Finger-lickin' frickin' huge

I must make a correction.
Earlier, I showed what I thought was the biggest KFC in the southern hemisphere.
I was wrong. That was but a shed compared to what is soon to be unleashed upon Newcastle.

Behold, the gleaming future of fast food:

Fittingly, NSW Health is just across the road:

Perhaps it rhymes with gilet

Mick and I were up the other (west) end of High Street during the week.
It's lined with lovely late-19th-century commercial buildings, including this one, my favourite:

Unfortunately I then noticed the signage:

Unlikely inspiration

I watched all of the comedy series Big Girl's Blouse on DVD during the week. Very funny, especially the proto-Kath & Kim.

But then there was this, a faux-public service clip for young ladies.
Here, a "contraceptive dress":

And Gaga, again:

Connected again

Back online – for good, I hope.
Won't bore you with the details of getting this fixed but it involved a computer technician with tattooed knuckles.

Anyway, not much has happened. We've had a lot of rain. The fish are still alive.
And the horses are happy:

Tech trouble

My internet connection keeps dropping out.
The service provider said it's either the modem or the DSL line.
In other words, no help at all.
More later when I get this sorted.

Magpie downtime

Mother is exhausted:

Critters of The Bend #8: Huntsman spider

Frightening-looking but relatively harmless.
At least 10cm across.
Just inside the front door:

Apparently doing Pilates.

Wiz & Tuppence: resort collection

Wiz and Tuppence were sporting a new look yesterday:

I must admit I've neglected them somewhat lately due to the goldfish, so I made an apple delivery.

Wiz loves his apples:

The trouble with teenagers

Since we first started feeding the magpies, the children have turned into the equivalent of spoilt-brat teenagers.

They're quite capable of flying and scavenging for themselves, but still they insist on squawking at their parents until they get mouth-fed:

When the two young ones get together, they fight.
Seriously. They lock feet and scream (what I presume are obscenities) at each other:

Given the accelerated life-cycle, they should grow out of this phase in a day or two.

Miscellany, cont'd

I'd call this a Week in Review but a few of these photos are a bit older than that.

It begins at the Maitland Repertory Playhouse opposite the Metro, where they're rehearsing a new musical. A bit of Googling finds that it's All For Your Delight by Roger Parsely, a "light-hearted and melodramatic" affair set in a turn-of-the-century London music hall.

I didn't linger long (I don't want people talking) but it was a little bit of Glee come to life:

On a slightly lower, but no less exciting, plane, I found Flash Gordon on video – for $1!
The last time I saw it was when it came out in 1980 (the wood beast scene gave me nightmares) and I thoroughly enjoyed it again, although now the pleasure is largely measured in camp value.

For instance, I do not remember this scene from the first viewing:

And the magnificence of Ming the Merciless' eyebrows completely passed me by:

As for Brian Blessed as Vultan here, as a child I was impressed by his ability to fly, not by how well he filled out his leather hotpants-and-breastplate ensemble (not shown here, sorry):

On the weekend, Mick and I hit a couple of garage sales. This meant a drive across the highway to South Maitland, where there's a big park containing showgrounds and a swimming pool but not much else.
One of the sales was doubling as a breast-cancer fundraiser:

Mick ended up getting a few things we didn't really need for the house (he can't help himself) and I bought some cakey treats from the Country Women's Association stall.
(Note: Always buy something from the CWA; it'll be the best Anzac biscuit/chocolate brownie/coconut slice you've ever had.)

South Maitland, which we rarely visit, is even horsier than the Bend.
This isn't an uncommon sight:

It's a bit rundown as well, but endearingly so.
I mean, who knew there was a Saint Ethel?
And where's her PR team trying to rescue this little school house?

Of course, we have to have some animal drama, which this week came in the form of a mynah that had gone for a swim in rainwater and couldn't get out:

Also, we discovered we have our very own blue-tongue lizard:

We call him Basil.