A few weeks back, my wife asked me to come out to listen to this weird sound that she was hearing... I had heard it before, and had always thought that it was an animal or something in the middle of the night. However, with the stronger winds that we are getting over these last months, I had been hearing this weird squeaking noise more and more often.

... and it turns out that it had been from these two trees rubbing against each other when the wind was blowing strongly! From the looks of the rubbing on the white tree, it looks like something has shifted recently (with the wind and rain...), and that there is more of a pronounced contact between the wood of the trees. It is quite loud, and I'm sure that most of the neighbours can also hear it... I will probably head up on a ladder at some point and see if I can cut the smaller of the two branches (the darker one). It is a wattle, and I think that it will definitely be easier to cut than the gum. Of course, it would be easier with a chainsaw... but I'm not certain that I would be comfortable with a chainsaw on a long ladder! I've sort of grown fond of having all of my limbs still attached to the rest of my body.

Meanwhile, while we were out there... my oldest daughter asked if we could look for something htat she could hear from her own room. A sort of groaning sound that has been spooking her out for the last few weeks. And yes, we found that one as well... a tree that was rubbing against the top of this wooden screen. We are likely to end up replacing all the screens in the near future... probably with colourbond screens... so, this fence is not likely to last out the next few months! And now that my girl knows what it is, she is less likely to be freaked out in the middle of the night when she hears it... maybe.

Next up, we have the two potted vegetables that are the start of our vegetable ambitions. The back area still needs to have a new retaining wall and levelling done before we plonk our wicker beds down on it. So for the moment, this tomato and eggplant plants are what we have growing on the front porch. In this space, they are getting some pretty nice Sun, and after only a few weeks, they have sprouted from mere tiny seedlings to a decent size!

Meanwhile, our front is a bit overrun with these little bugs... that seem to be happily procreating. I had to look them up... apparently, they are a common sight around Canberra. Soldier beetles, and they eat other insects... so, useful things to have around to help control the various populations... as long as they don't take down wood things!

Finally... today's job after I finish off the painting. Uprooting the grass that has grown along one of the side walls... and behind me there is a thicket of long grass that will need slashing as well. My wife has suddenly gotten a bit worried about the long grass being a haven for snakes... and seeing as I seem to be most expendable member of the family, I have been tasked with the job of clearing out the grass. Nice to know your true worth...

I can also be found cross-posting at:
Hive
Steem
Publish0x

Handy Crypto Tools

Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
GMX.io: Decentralised perpetual futures trading on Arbitrum!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.