Out here in the boondocks, all it takes is a couple of days' sunshine and we're assailed with massed lawnmowers, whippersnippers, and hedge trimmers roaring, revving and farting in glorious surround sound. Of course, the Corner Cottage versions of these tools are all electric -- if all of Braidwood went the same way, we'd reach …
Tag: corner cottage
Carpe birdem
Well, yesterday was the last day of spring, not that you'd know it from the chill and damp days behind us. It's been less the force that through the green fuse drives the flower, and more the muted chesty cough of a secret TB sufferer. Thank you climate change, and thank you La Niña. Three …
A little learning
All this reminiscing about weird ways to make a living has your author recalling a sure-fire narrative to spin during job interviews. It's a secret so powerful, using it will guarantee you a fast track to the C-suite in the global planet-destroying multinational corporation of your choice -- so use it wisely. And this is …
False alarm (a weird jobs tale)
You may recall my thigh-slapping account of how I was never invited back to look after my poetry professor's house after a goshawk flattened her precious seedlings, rendering her planting plans for her secret garden moot. Well, strap in readers, because that was just half of the tale. And just to add to the hilarity, …
Covid calling
Irony alert! Remember Alanis Morissette, the Canuck chanteuse who sang emotively about irony? It's like raa-ainnn on your wedding day,It's a free ride when you've already paid, It's the good advice that you just didn't take,And who would have thought? It figures. Now many have pointed out that most of Alanis' examples aren't irony at …
Raptorwatch
It's winter now -- and following the freakishly wet summer we've just endured, we're experiencing some deep cold, such that Archie's water bowl freezes overnight and we keep the fire going all day. When it comes to local wildlife -- particularly the feathered kind -- I expected a bit of a dearth, with all the …
Beer, bards and the Boss
Here's something my mate Matthew and I used to talk about sometimes over a couple of beers at the Railway Pub in West Hampstead, London, around 1995. When we weren't talking about cricket, or girls, or books, or history (he's a historian), we talked about music. Specifically, 'pop' or rock music, to use those inadequate …
Common brown stuff
Remember last year, around this time, when this blog expressed frustration about the rarity of female Common Brown butterflies, and how difficult they were to photograph? Of course you do! Well, this year for some reason, we are faced with virtually the opposite situation. The gals are everywhere, but the male of the species is …
When magpies attack
I'm sure I've mentioned previously that one of the great hazards to Australian cyclists is the swooping Magpie. The males do this to protect their nest when their eggs have been laid. In other words, in spring. In other other words, now. And if you look at that beak, you can see why being subject …
A stinging tale
There’s an age-old question that has taxed the minds of history’s greatest thinkers: who would win in a fight between a bear and a gorilla? (Or endless variations thereof). Well, we had our own version last week at Corner Cottage – and it’s done nothing to satisfy that ancient question. I may have mentioned in …
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