Ok it is tough enough day and today’s creature is the Bombardier Beetle.

This beetle carries the ingredients for a bomb in its bottom, what the hell.

When its threatened , it mixes chemicals together to create an explosion making a large bang.

Bombardier beetles are ground beetles in the tribes Brachinini, Paussini, Ozaenini, or Metriini—more than 500 species altogether—which are most notable for the defence mechanism that gives them their name: when disturbed, they eject a hot noxious chemical spray from the tip of the abdomen with a popping sound.

These beetles tend to be very small in size, usually growing to be less than an inch (2.5 centimeters) long. Bombardier beetles can be found on the continents of North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia.

More than 40 species of bombardier beetles are found in the United States. Each has blue elytra (wing coverings) and a reddish head and limbs. They are considered remarkable because of their ability to shoot a boiling, corrosive substance at predators.

Another Monday is here so here are more facts.

It is impossible to drown and not die, technically the term “drowning” refers to the process of taking water into the lungs, not to death caused by that process.

A square mile in the Amazon jungle can contain up to 3,000 different species of trees

In his final year Emperor Napoleon was exiled to the tiny island of St Helena in Atlantic. The wallpaper in his room was dyed with Scheele’s Green a colouring pigment that contained copper arsenite. When the wallpaper became damp the mould converted the copper arsenite to a poisonous vapour form of arsenic. So his death was down to his wallpaper.

The number “007” originated in the 16^th century, Bond author Ian Fleming base his character on Dr John Dee, the first British secrete agent, who lived from 1527 to 1608 and was an adviser to Queen Elizabeth 1. Dee used the 007 code for his letters to the Queen. The two zeros meant “ for your eyes only”.

Mosquitoes prefer to bite children over adults and blondes over brunettes.

Slept well till 3am the next 2.5hrs I was restless and got up at 5.30ish. Tim up at 6.15 to go to work I hope it is a good day for him.

Had to get Tasha to come and put drops in my eye.

A lazy day spent home alone, will have to get myself ready for bed.

Tim has decided to see a counsellor and our GP about his mental health.

A new day and I managed to piss Tasha off as she was going on about getting Webster packs for our medications. I feel it is an expense we can do without.

A good day managed to do a few little things and I feel good and my eye is looking more like it should.

Had a phone call from the guy who is doing the bathroom renovations he said workmen will be here on either Monday or Tuesday next week. The hold up is the demolition guys.

What a morning had a struggle to get my pants on took me half a bloody hour to get them on. I then came out to the lounge room to find Jess’s quilt hang over my armchair which pissed me off because I was already in a mood.

My mood improved as the morning progressed.

The pain in my left knee has flared up again.

Had a good night awake and up at 5.45am, Kathy rang at 6.15am she was having a bitch about another mouse in her house.

Sandy came and took me out to see Mum & Dad and then we drove to Redhead beach to just look at the ocean. On the way home she stopped and bought me a caramel slice, which was yummy. Also called in and saw Dave.

Tim saw our GP and is now off work for 2 weeks on stress leave.

He also has appointment with a counsellor, I will find out more about that tomorrow.

I was up at 5.25 this morning needed to pee and couldn’t see the point in going back to bed.

Tim didn’t go to bed till 4am I suspect he fell asleep on the lounge.

Tim has decided to start another veggie patch and it seems to perk him up a bit.

It’s Friday and for me it is just another day of struggle. I woke at 4am shaking and after 1.5hrs of that I got up and now I am washed, dressed and fed ready for another day doing bugga all.

I am fed up with my body,if it isn’t one thing it’s something else.

Tim went to Coles to get a few things he wanted as he said what I order online is stuff I want although he knows to put anything he wants on the shopping list and I will order it.

Woke to the sound of rain at 5.30 but managed to dose on and off till 6.30 when I got up. I had to call Tim to help me get my pants on as my feet got stuck and I wasn’t going to spend ages struggling with them.

Kathy came and showered me and vacuumed out for me. Tim told me that late yesterday arvo 2 people turned up to check where to place the portable shower and loo. They decided that it will need to go across from the house behind Jess’s car. How the hell am I going to be able to use it. Delivery will be Monday

Hello everyone here we are at another Tuesday and for the next few weeks Tuesday’s will be about extremely tough or tough enough creatures.

We kick off with the Green Sea Turtle, like all turtles they like to eat jellyfish, even box jellyfish one of the worlds deadliest animals. The venom of the box jellyfish doesn’t hurt the Green Sea Turtle so they can happily eat one for lunch. Sadly they can mistake a plastic bag for a jellyfish, when they swallow it can get sick and die.

The green turtle is the only sea turtle that is a strict herbivore, and its diet of seagrass and algae may contribute to the green fatty tissue. Similarly to other sea turtles, green turtles are known to travel incredibly long distances during their lifetimes.

Another Monday but at last I can see ok now, well it’s Monday so it is facts day and here they are.

The length of the finger dictates how fast ones fingernails grow, so the nail on the middle finger grows fastest….Not on my hands it is my thumbnail that grows fastest.

In September 1752 the “Julian” calendar was replaced with the “Gregorian” calendar in Great Britain and its American colonies.

The Julian calendar was 11 days behind so the 14^th September followed 2^nd September on the day of the change. The days between 3^rd and 13^th September 1752 never happened.

A mining hole in the mountains of Bohemia produced so much silver it became the official source of coinage for the entire Holly Roman Empire. The mine was in a valley called Joachimsthal and the coins became known as “Joachimstalers” which was shortened to “Talers” and over more time the American pronunciation of the word became “Dollars”

A fresh egg sinks in water and stale ones float.

A good night but woke to see a bunch of messages written on the family chat by Tim and the girls mostly from Tim having s rant about how hard his life is and no one understands. I am worried about his mental health.

Had a talk to Tim about his mental health Tasha was here while it was all going on. He got angry and defensive. I don’t know if anything sunk in, only time will tell.

His mood improved during the day, he also managed to do the back yard.

Up at 6.05 this morning after a good nights sleep,Tasha in a good mood till she over heard something Kathy said about their dad. I had to explain that it wasn’t how Tim said it was, just how he is seeing things lately. Everything is negative in his eyes lately and no one cares about him.

Workmen arrived to look over the area the ramp will go in and also what needs to be done to the bathroom. They said the work should be started soonish.

Tash & Jess bought me some small packets of gummy type lollies which I like.

A new day and my eye is starting to feel more like it should, thus I am feeling more like I should.

At am the workmen arrived to start work on the tree damaged. They removed the sliding door and replaced it as well as doing shit load of other work.

They also removed part of the awning much to Tim’s annoyance. Whether or not it will be replaced I don’t know,only time will tell.

Another good night but much colder this morning.

Coughing a lot but my eye is much better.

Leo back at school after having a few days off due to his driver having Covid.

Sandy came over for a visit she was here for 1.5hrs and it was great seeing her. She left with a box of snacks for her girls.

Got a text about an appointment at Westmead Hospital with the movement disorder people, it is at 8.30am on the 14^th November.

Slept well till 2am till I needed to pee after that I was somewhat restless. Got up at 5.50am.

At 1.30pm bloke turned up to look at the bathroom, he will be back next Thursday to commence work on the renovations. They are supplying a porta loo and shower, that will be fun.

Up early today woke at 5.40am and felt awake so I got up. I also stunk so I had a shower, h ad to get Tasha to help me get my pants on but other than that I did ok on my own.

I have pathology coming to take blood from me. She turned up at 7.40am.

A coldish day with rain.

Tim rang around 3pm to tell me that 2 blokes got on his bus with a case of bourbon and when they started to drink it he had to tell them they couldn’t drink on the bus. That didn’t go well and the police were called, one of them showed Tim that he was carrying a long knife in his pants and said he would stick him. This is distressing for me, once being a bus driver was a safe job but not anymore. I think it is time for him to find a new job.

A decent night, up at 5.55am I have a bloody headache.

Kathy not coming today she is too busy.

Tim off today thankfully he needs the day off.

Had no help this morning but managed.

Clancy Of The Overflow

I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better
Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,
He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,
Just `on spec’, addressed as follows, `Clancy, of The Overflow’.

And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,
(And I think the same was written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar)
‘Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it:
`Clancy’s gone to Queensland droving, and we don’t know where he are.’

In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy
Gone a-droving `down the Cooper’ where the Western drovers go;
As the stock are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing,
For the drover’s life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.

And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him
In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wond’rous glory of the everlasting stars.

I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy
Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,
And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city
Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all

And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle
Of the tramways and the ‘buses making hurry down the street,
And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting,
Comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.

And the hurrying people daunt me, and their pallid faces haunt me
As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste,
With their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and weedy,
For townsfolk have no time to grow, they have no time to waste.

And I somehow rather fancy that I’d like to change with Clancy,
Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,
While he faced the round eternal of the cash-book and the journal —
But I doubt he’d suit the office, Clancy, of `The Overflow’.

More Banjo Paterson poems recorded by Wallis and Matilda

In 1897, long after he had given up droving, the real Clancy of the Overflow- Thomas Gerald Clancy- penned a verse of his own. Read Clancy’s Reply…

This weeks clever creature is the Raven a beautiful black bird they are one of the most intelligent creatures in the world. They belong to a family of birds called Corvids, who have been recorded doing very intelligent things.

They have been known to reel in fisherman’s lines to eat the fish, also they will use sticks as tools to get food. They even have been known to drop nuts on roads for cars to run over and crack the nuts open.

There are three species of raven in Australia, and three crows. Ravens are generally bigger than crows, but other differences – e.g. range, calls – are more reliable for identifying which species is which.

A group of Ravnens is called a unkindness.

Hello Monday, hello people, more facts today,hope you like them.

The biggest island in the world is Greenland with 2.17 million square kilometres. The biggest island in Europe is Great Britain which is just ten times smaller with 216,777 square kilometres.

Once in the Mojave Desert in California sits a telephone box 50 miles from Interstate 15, in the middle of nowhere. It was put there years ago for the miners who worked nearby.

A mechanical engineer named Elijah McCoy invented a device in the 1870s to oil train wheels while the train kept running. It was called a lubricator. He made several others for various machines. Though other imitation lubricators followed none worked as well. The phrase was coined “the real McCoy” to specify Elijah’s original versions.

The last execution in the Tower of London was in 1941 on the 14 August it was Josef Jakobs a German spy he was shot by an eight man firing squad, however because he had broken his ankle when he parachuted into England, he had to be seated in an old Windsor chair.

Although identified with Scotland the bagpipes are actually a very ancient instrument,introduced to the British Isles by the Romans.