The Lammas Tide

Classic 60's psychedelia fresh from the West Coast of Australia this week - no video, but a gorgeous tune. And a timely band name too. Looking forward to the album!

http://thelammastide.bandcamp.com/

Give up for Australia

It's Australia Day this weekend and the Winter Olympics start in a couple of weeks, so this seems appropriate. Although for some reason I can't embed it so clicky the linky...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5nJF5MDGJg

Talking of satire, this is an interesting story - watch the vid (but not with the kids around) and then follow the link to the background...

 

Trail dogs

Another animal post - not intentional, I just write 'em as I see 'em!

http://vimeo.com/83947019

As Liz says, I'm getting 'dog-clucky'.

The possum whisperer

We found a baby possum entangled in our back door the other morning - his tail was wrapped around the base of the door and he was on his side, shivering but not otherwise moving. My first thought was that one of the local cats had taken a chunk out of him on the side that we couldn't see, so I got a shovel and told Liz that I was 'taking him to a warm place behind the shed to recover'. But then he moved and we could see that he wasn't obviously injured.

We had a brief panic about what to do but then Liz found the 'Wildcare Australia' website and phoned the emergency number (07 5527 2444). The volunteer on the other end answered within two rings (it was 6.30am) and told us to prepare a small box by punching holes in it, then gently pick the possum up with a towel and put him & the towel in the box with a bottle of hot water to keep him warm. We put the box somewhere dark & quiet and tried not to peek too much whilst we waited for the local vet to open.

An hour later we gently carried the box out to the car and took him to the local vet. By this time he seemed to have recovered a bit and was sitting up & peering out of the top of the box to see what was going on. I handed over the box to the assistant at the vets and she gently took him out for an inspection. Apparently he was badly dehydrated and needed to be nursed back to health before being placed with a volunteer to recuperate & reach an age where he could be re-released. I braced myself for the bill but I wasn't asked for any payment - apparently any vet in Australia will take injured local wildlife for free.

They took our details for re-release purposes, and I have no doubt that in a few months time he'll be back out there eating our plants and keeping us awake at night. I hope so!

No pictures as we didn't want to stress the poor guy out any further, but he looked a bit like this (but cuter)...

So if you find any injured wildlife, don't reach for the shovel. Get in touch with your local volunteer group for immediate action and drop them off at a vet when you can. All  it will cost you is a towel...

Skink Saison

I made up another batch of saison this weekend, much the same as the Saison Wit but with a more traditional grain bill. I mashed 4kg of Pilsner malt at 64 degrees for 90 minutes and I added a kg of Pilsner malt extract and 1/2kg of wheat malt extract at the end of the boil, but apart from that followed the same recipe as before. One thing I did notice was the Original Gravity (strength) was higher - I haven't run the numbers yet but I think the mash was more efficient, either due to the longer standing period or the slightly lower mash temperature. It'll be interesting to see how it differs from the Wit equivalent.

Whilst I was brewing one of our resident skinks (collectively known as the 'Fredlets') came out to supervise

 'No - it needs more hops!'

We have a number of these living both in and around the house and they're the source of most of the slightly unnerving rustlings we hear in the undergrowth.

The ones inside the house hang out in the laundry, and they definitely give you a fright when they scurry across the floor at night when you're on the way to the loo. The fermenters are also stored in the laundry, which is one of the reasons why I couldn't get away with open fermentation right now.

"Can I get a beer brewed by lizards?"

Hopdate # 6

Things have been a bit quiet on the hop front because after its initial growth spurt it doesn't seem to be doing much

Closer inspection shows that the leaves are looking very plae & dry, and there's even scorching on some of the tips

Hops are supposed to like sunlight, but I think positioning this one against a North-facing white wall where it bakes in the Queensland summer sun for a good 12hrs a day is probably a bit too much sun. So we've relocated it to a spot which gets the sun 'til around midday, and we'll see if it picks up at all...

 

I'm a loser baby...

I've been riding a bit more recently and have also been watching my diet, which meant that I sneaked below 75kg for the first time in a long time today (excepting the time I might have caught Dengue and didn't eat for a week). Very happy, although taking this photo was tricky as the camera weighs just over 200g...

Incidentally 'Radical Brewing' by Randy Mosher is an inspirational book for the aspiring home-brewer, with a wealth of techniques recipes both traditional and 'out there'. Without that results of book I'd probably be a few kilos lighter!

Another classic 90's tune is in order

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSPaXgAdzE