Wow time flies its been 11 days since I blogged last. Whats been happening here? well Mark came and went and no one suffered alcohol poisoning thankfully, lots has been going on in the garden of course, there are two new rockeries a dredged pond, cuttings taken from bushes propagating away in a wigwam type greenhouse made from ex glass doors, early spuds are down, as is rhubarb, onions, garlic, parsley, strawberries and carrots, courgettes, parsnips and a few other seeds I harvested last Autumn from the likes of Hostas and angrypanthers and a vast tract of land near the road has been cleared and is awaiting meadow flower seed to be sown. Bulbs are popping up all over there should be a good showing of Dafs and bluebells this year and the snowdrops miniature crocus and camellias are out. I will have to get the camera out tomorrow and take some photos. The garden is really starting to look good now, having the excavator in did a bit of damage tracking around but it was really worth it and lots more air will get through the place now and hopefully keep those dang midgies away later in the summer.
Alan (the Yank) is here for another two weeks and we will have a visit from Sheana , Sacha and one of his pals at Easter and John may come up if he is feeling well. I will have to get the boat antifouled and back in the water prior to them visiting. The three guys I have had through the HelpX website have all been nice lads and it has been a worthwhile exercise, after Easter I will have more but this year I wont bother after October as the weather is too cold and miserable to ask then to work outdoors.
Rossaveal is full of fishing boats just now as the mackerel shoals are just off the coast here and this is the closest port for them to land at. I was down at the marina earlier and ran my pals boat for a while and made sure she was bailed etc. also had a good chat with the harbour master about various things including the loss of a local boat a few weeks ago that capsized off the Scottish coast.Thankfully the crew were airlifted off and taken to Stornoway.
I have a couple of chainsaw projects underway, making a donkey bench, and some seats hewn from a big log. We had bonfires for 3 days this last week and got rid of lots of branches and roots that were dug up, there was about two weeks of dry weather which helped things along great.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Monday, February 2, 2015
Taipan and my Ausie mate Mark
I have my Aussie mate Mark visiting this week, his Mum died last week so he is across for the funeral in England and came to visit us here for a week before she is released after a post mortem.
Mark was telling me he was bitten by a Taipan snake earlier in the year, he was really lucky as the snake did not inject him with venom and also the one that bit him was the slightly less venomous cousin of the Inland Taipan which is the worlds most venomous snake, the coastal Taipan ranks third in the world. Its venom contains primarily taicatoxin, a highly potent neurotoxin affecting the nervous system and the blood’s ability to clot. Bite victims may experience headache, nausea/vomiting, collapse, convulsions, paralysis, internal bleeding, myolysis (destruction of muscle tissue) and kidney damage. In case of severe envenomation, death can occur as early as 30 minutes after being bitten, but average death time after a bite is around 2.5 hours and it is variable, depending on various factors such as the nature of the bite and the health state of the victim. Untreated bites have a mortality rate of 100% as it always delivers a fatal dose of venom, so seek immediate medical attention even for apparently minor bites. Before the introduction of specific antivenom by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in 1956, nearly all bites were fatal.
We have had a couple of nights out since he has been here, I won at poker on the first night (thats four second places and one first in the five times I have played in this particular venue :) ) then we went on to a sesun at another pub and enjoyed the live music. Last night his girlfriend stayed over and we had dinner a few drinks and popped down the road for one before coming back and watching movies.
My Yankee helper is staying the weekend in Galway with his girl and will be back on Tuesday so I am hoping the cold dry spell that we have today lasts for a good few days, the forecast is good. My diet has kind of stalled due to beer but I am still off the bread and dairy products. I have lost about six kg and hope to lose 10 more before Paddy and Emma's wedding, so I can get the kilt on easier. I will have to start thinking about a speech as I am the best man at the wedding.
Mark was telling me he was bitten by a Taipan snake earlier in the year, he was really lucky as the snake did not inject him with venom and also the one that bit him was the slightly less venomous cousin of the Inland Taipan which is the worlds most venomous snake, the coastal Taipan ranks third in the world. Its venom contains primarily taicatoxin, a highly potent neurotoxin affecting the nervous system and the blood’s ability to clot. Bite victims may experience headache, nausea/vomiting, collapse, convulsions, paralysis, internal bleeding, myolysis (destruction of muscle tissue) and kidney damage. In case of severe envenomation, death can occur as early as 30 minutes after being bitten, but average death time after a bite is around 2.5 hours and it is variable, depending on various factors such as the nature of the bite and the health state of the victim. Untreated bites have a mortality rate of 100% as it always delivers a fatal dose of venom, so seek immediate medical attention even for apparently minor bites. Before the introduction of specific antivenom by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in 1956, nearly all bites were fatal.
We have had a couple of nights out since he has been here, I won at poker on the first night (thats four second places and one first in the five times I have played in this particular venue :) ) then we went on to a sesun at another pub and enjoyed the live music. Last night his girlfriend stayed over and we had dinner a few drinks and popped down the road for one before coming back and watching movies.
My Yankee helper is staying the weekend in Galway with his girl and will be back on Tuesday so I am hoping the cold dry spell that we have today lasts for a good few days, the forecast is good. My diet has kind of stalled due to beer but I am still off the bread and dairy products. I have lost about six kg and hope to lose 10 more before Paddy and Emma's wedding, so I can get the kilt on easier. I will have to start thinking about a speech as I am the best man at the wedding.
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