Photograph of a Red Back Spider

Warning to those suffering from a phobia of spiders, perhaps you might want to stop scrolling down now :)

I noticed a number of my loyal followers (deep thanks everyone) area from overseas...me living in Australia. My decision to share a photo I took of an Australian Native...the Kookaburra has been received well.

Sometimes I take for granted that I live in an area where I I see such beautiful native species, I feel in the mood for sharing lately and sharing the enjoyment that it brings.

What I'm sharing now is a photo of an infamous native Australian spider - The Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti). Named for obvious reasons this spider has a striking red marking on its back and its  extremely toxic venom.

...The specimen shown below was captured in my very own backyard area.

Enjoy at your own risk :)

Redback Spider

Photograph of a Kookaburra

And now...for something completely different!

Well I did have a photography blog I made especially for things like this but to be honest I never used that blog much at all, it just never happened.

Here is a picture of the standard I had hoped for a photography blog...It is a Kookaburra - The use of zoom reduced the overall quality a little bit but I think it's still a decent photo.

The Kookaburra is a native bird of Australia and neighboring island's. It is quite an interesting bird...recognized by most for its distinctive 'laughing'. I believe there is a "dream time" story (Aboriginal culture) about how the Kookaburra got its laugh.

Anyhow here is the picture - It was taken by me at a place near where I work. Enjoy :)

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Well I came on to blog about something else (see next entry) and saw I was hosting an ad for the new Zelda game for the Nintendo Wii. I rented this the game and I really enjoyed it, what I played of it anyhow.

I asked a friend who is into gaming what games he was currently playing, Skyward Sword was one of them although he'd only played through the tutorial so far.

I too only got a little bit into the game (only over night rental and I ended up doing something else other than playing it) although I was impressed with what I experienced.

I hope this game is a success for Nintendo, who I hope have more good products up their sleeves.

First YouTube Video

Well, submitted in accordance with revenue making policy. It's the espresso I made during lunch today. I am no expert and don't even know if I'm doing it correctly or not...but what I do know for sure is that introducing a strong coffee into my lunch break has had a noticeable impact on my afternoon productivity :P

Here it is, I'm interested to see how many views it receives as I have never taken too much notice of YouTube statistics before and I'm sure it's interesting to learn...so here goes. Someone give me at least 1 view to start me off :D

The video was recorded with my 2011 generation 'smart' phone.

Out in nature

...of sorts

I have a small little garden area, pretty much inappropriate for successfully growing anything too much. Anyhow I've managed to get catnip to grow from seeds. That plant then went on to produce viable seeds so I collected them earlier this year.

I now have 3 catnip plants growing. I plan on harvesting ~50% of the fragrant leaves on the biggest (mother) plant and perhaps trading it as treats for cats that like to tune out :P

Another thing that is curious about my garden is that each year a bunch of small 'cherry'-like tomato plants spring up out of nowhere. I don't really like these particular tomatoes but I figure this year I will harvest them and offer them to my coworkers.

Here is a picture of my mother catnip plant and some closeups of the tomato plants - I might take more pics as things progress.

Oh and I can't resist showing off my 'Pineapple Sage' plant, the leaves smell like sweet pineapple - I love it :D

Thanks for reading - I plan on growing carrots next, but with a twist...in an old fish tank as a grow box.

The 'Sage Pineapple'

'Mother' Catnip

Green Tomatoes

More Tomatoes to come