The Cat Cafe

Goodness, a news report about a cat cafe?     I see from the website that you have to book, and that it costs $10 an hour (plus the cost of coffee and food, obviously). 

I had an opportunity to take a walk up that way.  It's at 375 Queen St, right up near the Vic Market.  I went past, but not in.   The cats seems to have landed on their feet, so to speak, as the building is an impressive bluestone structure.  


















Footnote - I see that the idea started in Japan, and that you get 2 hours with the cats  at the London equivalent!

Possum

For weeks now, we've heard the possum(s) chirruping away during the night in the flowering ironbark tree close to our bedroom window.  

But on opening the front door one evening recently, we saw that  one of the noisy little guys had come to pay a closer visit!

Free range eggs

There have been concerns about just what amounts to a "free range egg", and it seems that a standard is to be developed.

About time!  Many of us pay extra for eggs that we believe to be produced under (relatively) humane conditions.   Just the same, the "devil will be in the detail", so we await with interest what the standard will prescribe.  And why wait until 2015?  The fact that are ACCC prosecutions in the wind seems a lame excuse.

Of course, even in the absence of some sort of standard, it's always open to the producer to specify what their practices are.   We recently bought eggs where it was prominently stated on the carton that the 1,500 hens per hectare standard applied.   Very commendable.

On the other hand, another brand, well-represented in supermarkets, gives no information at all on the packaging or its website as to how it defines "free range".

It's also important that statements about the source of foods are accurate.   Hopefully  Saskia Beer  now understands this.






Update:   After posting the above, I looked at the packaging of Coles "Free range eggs".  It states a maximum of 10,000 hens per hectare outdoors, and that the hens are "free to naturally roam and perch".   I don't know about the density but at least the information is there, and presumably the ability to perch is desirable. 

Are (were) there foxes in Tasmania?

When we were last in Tasmania, on a number of occasions we came across information in motel rooms asking us to report any sightings of foxes that we made.   But we didn't see any foxes.  Now it seems that there may never have been any to see!

Hawley House, Port Sorell - but no foxes?

According to this report, the story that foxes had been deliberately introduced had no firm basis.  The report doesn't even discuss the story about a fox or two that hitched a ride across on the ferry (as told to me).

I guess the outcome, namely that there don't seem to be foxes in Tasmania, is good news.  Pity it's taken this long to come to this conclusion.

Lunch at Seville

We were invited to K and A's place at Seville for a weekend lunch.    Good food, nice company, and a view of the neighbouring vines (although still some smoke haze in the distance).

K and A have a yard full of chooks (and some ducks, too) and quite a herd of alpacas.  Although alpacas are quite docile and not too hard to look after,  from what we heard, obviously quite a commitment is involved when you're running a breeding herd!

Cockatoos

From the Lorne Independent: “..we implore all homeowners to screw a piece of heavy hardwood to the inside of your household garbage bin now! Otherwise our very smart cockatoos will flick back the lid, no matter how many bricks you put on top of it, and distribute your rubbish everywhere......”.

Dogs - and the nature strip!

At least a couple of residents in our area are concerned about the state of their nature strips.  There are clearly some strongly held views around!

Botanic Gardens

It was a lovely sunny day, so we took ourselves to the Royal Botanic Gardens.  This was the first time we'd been for some time.    The were lots of people out and about enjoying the spring weather.   We climbed Guilfoyle's Volcano (previously, we've only walked past it).  It was full of water, and there are floating islands.   We read that the roots dangling beneath the islands help remove pollutants from the water.  Of course the design of the gardens owes much to William Guilfoyle, who took over from Baron von Mueller (who is sometimes blames for the spread of blackberry in Victoria, but even if this is so, it appears that it had already been introduced).

Floating islands in Guilfoyle's Volcano

But I digress.  We had a pleasant walk and also had coffee and scones and did some people-watching at The Terrace cafe.

But, where were  the swans?  There were a few ducks and other waterfowl, but no sign at all of swans.

Bridal photography

Strelitzia

Vista

A few ducks - but no swans

A chook stamp?

I was fascinated to receive a stamp featuring a chook at the post office.   Perhaps "chook" isn't the internationally-favoured word, as I see Wikipedia states it's mainly used in Australia and New Zealand (although sometimes also in Britain).   However, it's the term I was brought up with, and I see that even Australia Post uses it (see line 3 of their blurb).

But I digress!    My point is merely that it's an interesting subject for a stamp.

Jells Park

I was taken walking in Jells Park as part of my training regime, because our travel plans include some walking in Montenegro (for me).   Hence,  A and C have taken me in hand and insisted that I get some practice before I leave.    Last week, I had to climb the “1000 steps” at Ferntree Gully, and this week I was taken to Jells Park.   I hadn’t previously been to either of these locations, which of course are quite different.

Waterbirds

I have since read that the “1000 steps” are actually 745 steps (but it felt like 10,000), and they climb up One Tree Hill through the forest.  On the other hand,  Jells Park is a mixture of open areas and wetlands, including a lake, with some quite dense floodplain vegetation (eucalypts, melalucas and such like).  Sure, there's suburbia on one side, and the Eastlink freeway on the other, but within the park itself, these things feel a long way away. There are numerous waterbirds (in summer, there are even visiting birds from Japan and China, according to the signs) and although it was daytime, we could hear the frogs.

Following our Jells Park walk we went to Madeline’s, for coffee and some nibbles.  This is within the park itself, and is quite stylish, although you can also get takeaways to eat outside.

 

Madeline's

R I P Blackbird

Native honeyeaters are attracted to the flowering eucalyptus and other native plants in our front garden (and next door), but around the back it's just the unpopular mynahs, a pair of spotted doves who hunt for crumbs in the courtyard (I think we've been through several generations of these!) and, until a day or so ago, a blackbird.

One of the doves but no photo of the blackbird

I was distressed to find the blackbird dead this week.  It looked as though it had been attacked, possibly by the crows that sometimes come past (perhaps it was weak after the cold weather we've had).   I don't think a cat was involved, because our yard is almost cat-proof and the bird's injuries were more consistent with being pecked than chewed.

I had grown attached to this blackbird even though it's an introduced species.   It tended to fend for itself in the sheltered parts of the garden.  It had a mate, but they tended not to hang about together.   But what won me was that last year it had a nest in some shrubbery which unfortunately we trimmed without being aware of the existence of the nest.   The bird continued to sit on the nest and three hatchlings emerged, but most unfortunately because the nest had become exposed, the hatchlings were taken by the crows.

I'll watch with interest to see if the blackbird territory that has now unfortunately been vacated is occupied by another blackbird.

Flowering gums

We've planted a flowering gum (Eucalyptus Leucoxylon - so-called "Euky Dwarf") in our garden and over the fence is a flowering ironbark.  They're both in flower at present, and are attractive to the honey-eaters and other birds.    We like to hear the birds during the daytime, but recently we've been a little surprised by the number of chirpings we hear at night.    I guess the possums also enjoy these trees. 


In addition, when stepping out in the evening, it's not uncommon to disturb a fruit bat.  Seems that, they too, have found these trees.

 

Lake Mulwala

The lake is the centrepiece of the Yarrawonga-Mulwala area.   Of course, it's a man-made weir on the River Murray, and while its main purpose is to assist in river flow management and allow water to be diverted to two major irrigation channels (one on each side of the river), it contributes a lot more to the area than this.  Watersports make use of it and there are lots of fishermen around. 

The waterbirds certainly appreciate it, too.    There are still numerous tree trunks standing in the water.  I read that these create highly productive breeding areas for fish.

  

Contaminated milk?

No, keep eating your muesli, it's not a problem here.   But in Serbia (and other Balkan countries) there's currently a big issue about high levels of aflatoxin in the milk supply:  see here and here.  It's all over the Serbian news on SBS, too.

Apparently recent climatic conditions have led to problems with the corn fed to dairy cattle.

And this is just after the horsemeat issue!

Our dairy farmers may have problems with milk pricing, but hopefully so long as their cows continue to graze on grass, this won't be an issue for them.

Trust for Nature

The Sunday Age recently had a front page article on Trust for Nature's 30,000   hectare "Neds Corner" property (don't know where the apostrophe went).  TFN is a non-profit organisation which works to protect native animals and plants on private property (see here).  It does this both by encouraging private landowners to place conservation covenants on their land as well as itself buying and  preserving appropriate properties.  Properties bought by TFN are then, in some cases, on-sold to interested people with a conservation covenant attached.

This has always impressed me as a practical and apparently effective way of achieving a desirable outcome, even if TFN's work seems to have been fairly low-key (at least, until the Sunday Age's article).


Brother-in-law Rob has been involved in this, and has written about his family's bush properties   (reduced images at right, but downloadable  here).

Slaty Creek in 2009

We have visited Slaty Creek and were most impressed indeed with the work they're doing.  From the recent article, it seems to have come on well since 2009, when we were there.

Cats

According to this article, domestic shorthair (that is, non-pedigree) cats are less friendly then pedigree cats:
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/animals/puddy-tat-scale-reveals-hidden-regard-20121202-2ap2p.html

 
We can certainly vouch for the fact that our cat Ted  had plenty of "attitude"!

Ted was with us for many years, but has now gone to "pussy-heaven".   He was definitely a domestic shorthair.

In spite of this, it seems that in New York, there's sentiment in favour of alley cats.  I came across this article when looking for something completely unrelated:  
http://www.nycferalcat.org/index.htm

Apparently in New York - and elsewhere in the US - the plan is to manage feral cat populations by the "trap-neuter-return" method.  In other words, the feral cats are neutered and then returned so that they can continue to be feral!   I like domestic cats, but I don't think the world needs feral cats.  TNR sounds to me as an emotional response over-riding common sense.