Cover picture of Joshua and Stranger Danger
Joshua and Stranger Danger is on hold
Joshua and Stranger Danger is on hold for the moment due to unexpected financial outlays, further delaying payment for the source file.
It is the year of the rooster in the Chinese horoscope. Apparently it brings immense change, with double the challenges. On a brighter side it also infuses more enthusiasm and energy into our activities.
Hmm m. It seems to have started with a bang for me!
Challenges
My laptop keyboard crashed which I didn’t know was possible. Because the laptop was a few years old and getting very slow I decided to buy a new one. The old one crashed as soon as all the data was transferred, so I guess that was a timely decision.
My next challenge was when the automatic washing machine would not recognize there was power in the socket; the cost of repairing was equal to the cost of a new machine. I decided to buy a large twin tub washing machine that does not have any computers.
Inexplicably the monthly payment for the internet connection for my clinic did not go through in January and my account was deleted from their system. It was finally restored after a great number of phone calls, and all is well again. The mobile phone for the clinic also had a glitch and would not let any calls or messages in or out, for over a week.
I am wondering, at this point, if I and computers are becoming incompatible! I sure hope not. The reality is that computers are a part of our world. We can no long manage our daily life without them.
More challenges arrived with a leak in the copper water line to the kitchen and I broke the float valve in the toilet cistern while trying to evict frogs. I cannot really blame the frogs. It was the coolest place to be during the heatwave conditions.
Chooks
The chook dome was also almost collapsing in the permaculture garden due to the extreme heat. It had been reinforced it with poly water pipe many years ago. I am now in the process of making a new one which is long over due.
Carpet snakes have challenged me during the last few weeks. I have lived here 23 years and have only ever seen their shed skins, on the rafters of my verandah. Why did I suddenly become aware of their presence?
I was given a pair of Frizzle pullets for my chook dome. The bigger, older hens attacked them, killing one and wounding the other. The little lone pullet was free ranging in the house yard. I was given a rooster to be her mate. One day, without warning, he was fine when I went to work; and dead when I returned home. The pullet by this time was laying eggs. Two days after the rooster died she decided to sit on her eggs and produce her own company. She only had two eggs to hatch which she did successfully – snake tucker!
Carpet Snakes
A six foot carpet snake got one chicken before I was alerted and rescued the rest of the family. A few days later, I spotted the same snake heading towards the chook dome in the veggie garden. I managed to catch it and relocate it. I figured, if I could get its head immobilized, and the tail under control, I would be able to get it in a bag. A perfect plan – perfectly executed! Two weeks later, I was woken at 2.30 am by the mother having a panic attack. Another five foot carpet snake was in the enclosure where she’d laid, hatched her chickens, and slept at night. She and her chicken survived this attack while I caught the offender within a few minutes. I am feeling confident in this carpet snake catching game by now! After another relocation, I am thinking this must be the end of these attacks.
I was wrong!
The remaining chicken disappeared during the night; a couple of weeks after the last relocation, and I did not know what had happened to it. A week after its disappearance, I heard a ruckus in a small wattle tree close to the verandah. I could not believe my eyes – a huge, nine foot carpet snake with the mother wrapped in its coils was actually shaking the tree. I realized my confidence only related to smaller snakes and this one was beyond my capability. I chased it with a pitchfork, being the only tool I had long enough to give me some dutch courage. It released the dead hen as I chased it, hoping to deter it from returning; especially as it had finished off my unintentional snake treats.
My revised application is submitted for an RADF grant
Application for the RADF Grants administered by the NBRC close on 28th February and I have finalized a revised application for help with the publishing and marketing of Joshua and Stranger Danger.
This does not guarantee success. The source file for Joshua and Stranger Danger is all needing to be paid, however as I have been paying it off, it is ineligible for any assistance from these grants.
I am seriously thinking of trying to access crowd funding through Kickstarter by offering a copy of Joshua and Stranger Danger, postage free in exchange for a $25 contribution. A limited edition of Alec Meets Sheikadee could be added for another $15.00.
It would only need approximately 85 people to contribute to get the book to publication. Perhaps it is worth perusing at this point in time.
