You have to watch out, when you're tying the net for the couch, that you keep the tension right in it.

You say to yourself "Two and a half feet for the seat, three feet for the back. That should be right".

Then you start threading and tying off the horizontal, longer, lines and after three rows you start to notice that the gentle curve you had with those short lines is starting to tighten.

You tie a fourth row, because, after all, you've made the measurements, how could it go wrong?

At the end of the fourth row, step back and look.

Does it look like a gently curving couch, or a rope ladder that wouldn't be out of place in a military obstacle course?

Come back tomorrow, undo it all, start again...

(Don't mention the copious amount of swearing that accompanied the realisation that the only way out of this was to go back to square one).

We currently have magpies visiting us a number of times a day for food.

the babies  are quite funny to watch and are very cunning , ecspecially when it comes to feeding themselves as they are at that age now when mum and dad are trying to get them to find food themselves, i sat there watching one it did feed itself but as soon as mum came on the scene it started   making the hungry noise as they do well mum fed it didn't she.

 i love magpies i used to have one as a pet many years ago they are the most funniest birds ever witheir antics.

The pair of magpies that live over the road were coming in, regular as clockwork, right on dusk to grab their last food for the day while they had eggs and then a chick. The moment that the chick learnt to fly, they stopped coming.

They're back to being independent, they're not tied to the nest, and having to find food close by, and quickly, anymore.

I found this pic in a safety blog - the guy says he has to be careful about leaving the workshop door open, as you never know who might come visiting.

Me flapping my wings, alone, is not going to make us go faster. Pedal, man! Pedal!

Great pics ecar.

A friend of mine feeds magpies everyday i think she has at least 8 calling in plus a couple of kookaburras.

we had ours call in just before for tea

 oh my they are funny baby comes in picks up some meat puts it down then dad grabs it and takes off  with the meat with baby in tow  squawking.

The pair of magpies, here, had two babies last year. Beautiful, friendly, outgoing, cheeky little girls.

One was killed by a cat in January. The loss of my little friend deeply saddened me.

Once her parents had started the breeding cycle again, the other girl started spending time here, and amongst other things, discovered the joys of gardening - I do the hard work and she gets to hunt for bugs and worms.

I haven't seen her for a while and I hope she's out there somewhere living the wonderful life of a young magpie.

This is her -

I miss her. I miss the way she'd start squeaking like a baby if her parents were around. I miss her playing "pull your tail feathers" with the currawongs, and discovering that cockatoos aren't impressed if you pull their tail feathers.

Good morning all xx

Just waiting for a whole 'flock' of people to arrive so catching up while I can.

Love the magpies ecar, such intelligent and beautiful birds.

It's been a frantic few days finishing up the year as much as possible, so much to complete.  Roll on Christmas .. 'appy 'olidays!!

Hi ecar.

I love watching birds too. Since we've had daylight saving here in NSW, I've had a little bird just outside my bedroom window telling me it's time to get out of bed, at 5.30 am.

We have a big Moreton Bay Black Bean tree just outside the bedroom window which is about to bloom and the birds are starting to congregate.

Once it's it's in bloom we the mynahs, the lorikeets, the sparrows, all compete for the blooms. The occasional blackbird and sometimes a cockatoo! 

The racket is incredible, but I get great pleasure out of watching them.

When I heard my little alarm clock bird calling this morning, I thought, maybe ecar would take pleasure in that as well, on Oppy's thread.

The cockatoos are late risers, so the crimson rosellas come in early and act as a sort of alarm clock. I was under the impression that there was only one of them around here, who would drop by in the evenings. That was until I had six of them noisily arguing, outside, one morning. For little birds they can make a lot of noise.

At the moment I'm greeted shortly after dawn by the baby wattle birds with their constant "peep-peep - feed me I'm hungry" noise. Their nest is on the other side of the house next door, so it's a short flight from there to here.