Hi All

Writing: Hit the restart button, hitting it again...a hot week, and basically I'm brain dead. But no excuses. THIS WEEK.

Bird news: Not much around due to the heat, although hot weather means the arrival of Kier-wren Perkins, yes, the young male blue wren who likes swimming (!!) across my bird-bath (and bathing and drinking). Combustibly cute! Aside from the Clog Bath Time and the partly-resident spinebill and crested pigeon, the pardelote's been calling again, the shrike-thrush hasn't, and the rosellas seem to be doing well. And a late visitor - and first-time- visitor to the bird-bath: the Eastern Spinebill! Wow!

Amazingly, the butterflies are still around (and long may they stay), and apart from a few that seem to enjoy crashing into my face (!), I had one that was zig-zagging through a cyclone fence as it followed alongside me! I couldn't believe what I'd seen. I'm sure it was "just for fun" or "because it could." What amazing creatures they are!

At work, we're gearing up for Open Day - due in just over a week's time.

Gotta go
Happy writing,
Bo

PS And now some photos from the summit

_Hi All

I'll start with the bird news. At the summit: a male Golden Whistler in a classic "calendar" pose - how beautiful they are. I walked there early as I had an itinerary-type morning and caught most of the birds going through their first "morning" trills. Others seen/heard: pardelotes, thornbills, grey fantails (lots), wrens, spinebills, "clogs" and yellow-faced honeyeaters, a host of beautiful Adelaide rosellas (one almost looked like a "crimson"), a flock of RBFs ("it's HER again"), and a happy bundle of babblers.

Last evening, I had a (Superb) blue wren come in for a drink at the bird bath, then it proceeded to swim across it. It wasn't sure if it liked that depth, so it flitted over to one of the other baths (I have 5) for a second swim! I'll run out of words before I can describe how cute that was. I think it's a juvenile male wren, but at dusk it's hard to tell, but I've named him "Kier-wren Perkins"...(with apologies to our great Aussie swimmer).

Today was Big Men in Kilts, viz the "Highland Gathering" at Mount Barker oval run by the Mount Barker Caledonian Society. Yes, we had the Strongmen competitions (how do they do it?), the massed pipe bands (terrific), highland dancers, more bands, Scottish country dancers, haggis tossing, archery, creative anachronism, camels (!), archery, Celtic music, and the knobbly knees competition. And of course a host of wonderful stalls (of course I came back with a couple of things) and eateries - and my first Scottish square sausage bun with scone (like a pancake)! Delicious!

The writing: mush this week. Hitting the restart button.

Happy writing,
Bo

And now a few pics from the "Highland Gathering" at Mount Barker oval, 19 February 2012

_Hi All

Wow! What a busy week with writing, 2 courses...and work!

Writing news: I've sent my last assignments through to the Australian Writers' Marketplace (AWM) Online "Pitching to Publishers" course, and now just have to wait for the feedback. I've learned heaps, and the assignments - in particular the book proposal - have been a godsend. Thank you Tiana for your excellent feedback, and I thank my colleagues - Bill, Maria and John - for their insightful critiques and comments.

I've just finished an article for the South Australian Writer's Centre (SAWC) newsletter. I'll update when this goes to press.

And I've started the "Adobe Photoshop" course at the WEA in Adelaide. Our first night introduced us to what Photoshop can do. We started with an exercise using and manipulating pictures with the Crop Tool. Next week - we really get our hands dirty! YESSSS! Our ever patient lecturer, Chris Houlahan, really knows what he's talking about, and we have an incredible set of notes to work through. Wow!

Friday was a rare night off to enjoy "Pratchett Pieces" by Unseen Theatre Company at the Bakehouse Theatre. Yes, you guessed it's the marvellous lunacy of the great Sir Terry Pratchett in full flight. Unlike life, it starts with DEATH, and the five skits include the bumbleheaded boffins of Unseen University, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg and a group of hapless young witches, a disco like no other, and the funniest answer to "Why did the chicken cross the road?" A great night out of amateur theatre, and a wonderful chance for new actors to cut their teeth. Thank you, Pamela Munt.

Writer's Group started this week at school with over 20 students turning up! Wow! Looks like being a fantastic year.

With all the other projects, "The Isthmus" had to take a back seat this last week. Not something I like doing. It'll travel with me on my commute to work from now on - that's over two hours seated (I hope) in a bus scribbling arrows and circles over the printed pages.

Yesterday was wet (!), today was beautiful but there were few birds at the summit. The walk was a wonderful way to clear my head. And in a few hours, I'll fill it with more "Celtic Britain."

RIP Whitney Houtson.

Happy writing,
Bo

_Hi All

Work's back in full swing with the return of the students and science practicals underway. It's great to see the students again after nearly 2 months' absence. I'm looking forward to the year ahead: planning for Open Day in 5 weeks, new science pracs and revamping some old ones. I start an "Adobe Photoshop" course this week with the WEA; the aim: to improve our Science webpage at work and learn how to edit pictures (etc), although maybe I should ask the Year 6s! "Writer's Group" starts this week with a bunch of enthusiastic kids and the delightful Mr Richard Noone leading the group. Can't wait!

Writing update: Again, still trying to settle into the routine of work and the long commute, and a couple of nights my brain "died" as I sat at the computer. I struggled to finish an assignment for the AWM Online "Pitching to Publishers" course (I really didn't see the deadline notice), and I'm thankful our wonderful tutor, Tiana Templeman, provided some excellent feedback. I'm taking a few minute's break from this week's assignment - the all-important (book) proposal letter - to write this note, then it's sending in my comments on an "example" book proposal letter, and adding notes to a wiki page.

The South Australian Writer's Centre (SAWC) have asked me to write an article about my stay - and everything after - for this month's "SA Write." I'm part-way through, and looking forward to seeing it in print.

I'm still scribbling away at "The Isthmus," didn't achieve quite as much as I'd planned this week. I'm checking some medical facts with a friend, while continuing a thread from earlier in the book and "stretching" it out over several scenes. I'm hoping to send this to two novella competitions - just have to get my skates on and do it.

Met up with the Crime Writer's of SA group again today for our February meeting. Thanks Reece for an interesting look at short stories, and the usual cameraderie for the rest of the group.

Books read (or almost read): James Ellroy's "Killer on the Road," and Dean Koontz's "77 Shortland Street." The sad news: I didn't finish either one. The first was all backstory from the POV of the killer (gave up at the end of part one), and the second had too may characters, not enough character development, and a repetitive plot - and yes, I put that one down too. I normally never do this, and certainly not for Mr Koontz. Oh well, back to Terry Pratchett's "Snuff" and the incomparable Sam Vimes.

MtBS: Only made it there yesterday, a big change after several millimetres of rain, and should be a bigger improvement after today's 9mm. YESSSS! Saw the goshawk again near the road, a few wrens (cute), eastern spinebills, heard the shrike-thrush, thornbills, yellow-faced honeyeaters, and red-browed finches (I think). An amazing early morning mist rolled away - shown in the photo below as it retreated over Callington.

A few hours work, then it's the BBC's "A History of Celtic Britain" (part 1) tonight with the charming Mr Neil Oliver.

Happy Writing.
Bo

PS At the moment I'm listening to the thundering paw-prints of the POSSUMS on the bloody roof!