This community is a place created for the people of Melbourne and Victoria. We are a positive, welcoming and inclusive community. We might not agree about everything, but we always strive to stay civil and respectful.
The focus of our discussions is based around things that affect Victoria, but we are also free to discuss our local perspective on wider issues. Or head to the regular Daily Random Discussion thread to talk about anything.
Ongoing discussions, FAQs & Resources (still under construction)
Adoption Certificate for Nellie, the Daily Thread numbat (with thanks to @Catfish)
Not a bird contribution, sorry. But Mabelβs shenanigans this morning:
Her and her best mate at the dog park (which doubles as the local cricket ground) decided to play vigorous bitey face on the freshly painted red boundary lines. So now sheβs pink. π€¦ββοΈ
Sheβs very proud of her work though. I guess sheβs just showing up for the Pink Test.
I'm going to nerd out for a sec:
There's this guitar sound right. It's a wall of distortion with an artificial reverb that's used a lot in shoegaze/post rock.
I've been chasing it for almost 12 fucking years and couldn't get it working because the distortion would overload the reverb and it turns into an absolute mess.
I figured it out yesterday. After so fucking long it finally works. The new reverb pedal is bought over xmas had a far higher headroom so wouldn't distort with a high gain input.
Yaaaaaaay!
Thanks for all the messages. Squishes back to you all. π€
For bird day I wish to mention the stunningly beautiful Dracula Parrot, the covert as fuck Tawny Frogmouth, and the magestically lunatic Bin Chicken. Bakawkk MF!
Got back about 45 minutes ago, apartment was hooooot but could be worse, at least it was a bit cooler than the outside. AC blasting like a mf. Esky tipped on the back floor of the car the one time I didn't wedge it securely, it had yoghurt in it... Luckily there was a spare floor mat on top of the floor (from moving house) and only that received a dribble of the stuff. Promptly washed it out. Could have been a lot, lot worse.
Time for my crackers and dip and maybe some tv. This was the view from the hut I stayed in. I miss nature outside my doorstep so much. I can't wait to move out from here
Thatβs one gorgeous view outside that window.
Hopefully the aircon will take the edge off.
Welcome back!
Chilli patch update!
No loss (yet). Habs are about to flower. Thais are very slow to the party but fruit for longer.
Today was not the day to lock myself out of my house, and I probably wonβt get access to the spare key until 10pm. Itβs too hot for this. Second time this has happened in 5 years, the timing of this one hurts.
RIP. Of all days... Have you been able to hide in a shopping centre or something meanwhile?
Yeah, Iβm at my local council gym/pool which is where I was heading on the way to locking myself out. Itβs nice and cool here. Iβll get some dinner after to kill more time.
Bird day: for most of my holiday I stayed in a hut that a lyrebird lived right outside of. Every morning I'd get the multipack of birdsong waking me up. I'd tarry a while just to hear his full repertoire. It was beautiful.
I saw couples of lyrebirds casually strolling around the property and hopping off garden walls. Didn't have my phone on me for the most part so didn't take any photos.
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
βββββleβββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
ββββtoucanββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
ββββββhasββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
βββββarrivedββββββββββββββββββββββ
Not a native bird but I like sparrows. They are so tiny and so brave.
For song I love blackbirds aka thrushes. They sing around sunset and it's so lovely.
Sparrows are very cute. They are also quite clever. I once watched one at Southbank that had worked out exactly where to fly in front of the sensor to activate the doors into the food court.
yay, I have finally learnt portion control for my dinners. I just can't eat a big plate of food anymore. Now have to tackle snacking and I'm gold.
so thank you so much to the dter who suggested the aldi meal shakes. They are working well, slow but well. π
I finished off and submitted my assignment - which is about Red Wattlebirds!
For bird day today I am dedicating my day to this.
Bird game!
Seeing as we're doing bird pics, here's mine from Friday (sorry that it wasn't taken today but thought it was so random it warranted posting)
Happy bird day!!!!!!!
Let's spare a moment for the poor birds in the heat today.
Emoji has been changed because it's bird day!
My bird appreciation of the day is that dove that I thought was an owl (sorry bird peeps, I can't remember the sub-species or whatever the breed categorisation is called). It's been tricking me for YEARS into thinking it was some kind of broken owl. Cheeky bloody bugger
My favourite bird award goes to the magpie. Whatever sub-species we have in melbs. They can be aggressive, but they also have the capability of learning who is a friendly and doesn't need a swoop. They're remarkably smart for birds imo, and also fairly friendly once there's a bit of a rapport. Love ya maggies!
(Yeah, I know bird day mostly seems to be cantered towards the yanks. But we have some very fine birds, too, and they deserve a bit of love as well!)
I had a lovely chat with a magpie today, they're extremely friendly in my area. He was sitting on a low fence and I asked if he'd been in a fight because some of his neck feathers looked a bit shit, he seemed okay though.
I always stop and say hello to the magpies π
One of my favourite things about being on a holiday is feeling like I have the time to play games like Pokemon Go. And I feel like they're little pixel souvenirs.
And thanks for the post, Baku!!
Fucking hot outside, so of course my neighbour is out there with his ancient mower.
The mower keeps cutting out and he's swearing up a storm.
I've said it before, one day (like today) I'm going to find his corpse on the lawn next to his fucking mower.
Isn't lawn mowing a restricted activity on total fire ban days? Could've sworn there was something about that
E: gave it a google, and it says it should be avoided, but obviously, "should" doesn't indicate an obligation. However it does say have some musts for dry/not green vegetation, and also says that somebody MUST carry either a water (stores pressure) fire extinguisher that's fully charged, correctly pressured, working, and has a capacity of over 9 litres, or a knapsack spray pump fully charged with water in working order with a capacity of over 9 litres
Does Mr. Neighbour have a fire extinguisher?
Yes it's restricted with some guidelines. I'm pretty sure my neighbour will ignore all warnings and continue anyway.
I gave it a google and edited dmy comment. Technically it isn't illegal, they just say to avoid it. the restrictions do essentially say he must carry a fire extinguisher with over 9L capacity, but I doubt he would. Bloody tosser ngl
I know it's not as bad in the city, but I just can't shake my countryside instincts. If this was my neighbour where I used to live, he'd have gotten a firm backhander across the face by now, because he'd be risking burning the entire bloody town down
Not a bird but Iβm ready to start seeing the ball and the bails fly today!!
π
Edit: Let the kookaburra fly!
Birds. After cleaning and filling up the bird bath yesterday, it wasn't used :( Gonna try again today don't give up!
Big spring clean tomorrow. Looking forward to it to be honest.
Been a bit "slovenly" the last 2 weeks so this will make me feel a shit load better.
Also putting the ps5 away for a little while so I can finish off these songs. Sometimes out of sight, out of mind is best.
Yesterday I noticed that the Aussie version of The Office was out so I'm guessing the NDA isn't applicable any more. But damn you Amazon Preview for making me suffer through a whole test episode of that just so that I could fill out the qualtrics survey demanding they never subject me to that trash ever again.
Ate too much fruit. Must nap....
My spirit animal:
I feel like some sort of dessert but I don't know what.
It's alright guys. The man's gone to get me something.
Not the clearest pic, but there were 2 rosellas in my backyard the other day. I also had 3 wattlebirds - 1 parent who was still feeding its teenagers
My appreciated bird is for the kookaburras. Particularly the one that stole bacon rind from the camp-fire and proceeded to bash it against the rocks a metre from my eyes before taking off to a nearby tree to enjoy. It then watched me eat my breakfast.
I think I'm coming down with a sore throat. Fingers crossed it is just dry air from the air conditioner combined with standard paranoia. π€
Edit: I don't think it's paranoia βΉοΈ I've booked off sick for tomorrow and am considering making some emergency jelly.
Plink, pause, plink, pause, plink of raindrops. Not a lot in it I think - hope we get a proper downpour.
oh noes, australia post has my address wrong and i need to send them my real address, to a url ending .xin.au π
Nipped out to the shops for a couple of things, still foul outside. Onto season 2 of Blue Lights, such an entertaining show. Even if it kind of is copaganda. I can't get enough of those northern Irish accents. And Stevie and his lunches π₯°
One thing I've noticed since coming back is how quickly my attention span/ability to just be has gone back to shite though... I should throw my phone away, honestly.
I've been doing sewing repairs for the young seagoons and it's really hard. Much of their clothes are specialist hiking clothes and made out of hitech fibres, fibres that are hard to sew. Stretchy dense fabrics and the actual material of the fibre is hard and difficult even when using a special hardened needle.
I didn't think I was going to have a contribution to bird day, but lo and behold, a lil birdie ran on the bricks right in front of my camera!
What's the ID, bird peeps? It looks big but would've only been small in person
My guess is either some kind of small raven, or a thirsty sparrow. Maybe just a crow?
Itβs an oven out there. Just hung out the washing. Itβs been 5min, I should probably go back out and pick it up, itβll be dry by now.
Holy shit, I had the air con on for a few hours yesterday and used 10kwh more electricity than usual
$5 just to keep the inside temp below 30 π
Maybe that's perfectly average and expected, but that's the most electricity I've ever used in a day (at least while I've been paying the bill). Do split systems use that much?
It's already 31 inside, I don't really feel like I've got much other option but to turn it back on, but the moment it's bearable it goes straight back off :/
