If ye can't beat 'em, chop the b&stards down I say

About this time last year I recorded a blog about the crows in our trees I believe. It culminated in my standing on a ladder, with the pool cleaning pole attached to 2 golf clubs, poking at the big nest at the top of the tree till I destroyed it. Not that it did too much good to be fair, the b&stard crows still pecked the sh&t out of the wooden part of our balcony doors which, since then, we have had to cover up with a buggy board. Very classy.

Anyway, winter of course passed, and with the later mornings and early evenings and relative"cold" (whatever!) the whole bird thing dropped to the back of my focus. Now, Alissa has said all along that I'll get used to the morning bird cacophany - and at that stage I guess I thought maybe I was getting used to it. Then summer began its merry descent (ascent?) choking back our morning starts to a criminally bright 4.00am. The earlier the sun came up, the earlier the dawn chorus of bird clatter started. Thus, the earlier I would wake, and then - even worse - the earlier Aibhe's average waking time became. Me waking was not too much of an issue, I jam in the ear-plugs and away we go. Poor little Aibhe however - once properly woken at 4am or thereabouts, that would be it. Up we all get.

All along, Alissa would say, Aibhe has got to get used to it - as its what she'll have to grow up with. Which I completely understand, though that does you no good whatsoever when you KNOW she's being woken by the ridiculous din outside her window every stupid o'clock. It all came to an unacceptable head when the tree RIGHT OUTSIDE both Aibhe and our bedroom windows flowered beautifully - creating a very colourful skyline from these bedrooms. However, with the wonderful flowering, came a flock about 20 lorikeets eating up the tree contents - they're a little like mini-Parrots with fantastic plumage - all very pretty etc. But they're noisy f&ckers. For 2 weeks I'd wake with a start as they'd suddenly decide to start a fight and cack as loudly as possible - waking Aibhe to boot. I tried stoning them out of there, but it became too hard and too risky in so far as I was seriously in danger of smashing through the neighbours window. I wanted the tree gone, but Alissa wasn't convinced till she had 2 afternoons running where the b&stard lorikeets smashed Aibhe out of her afternoon nap mid-way through - creating a cranky baby for the remainder of each day. Enough was enough. Our tree man who had done a job for us earlier in the year, cutting our tree's back and thus restricting the possum vaults onto our roof to a more acceptable number, happened to be next door one day so........

I arrived home to find a stump where the old lorikeets home used to be.

Now while this has not eradicted the bird noise issue by any means, it has helped significantly I reckon. Though I believe I will always, always be in need of the ear plugs to get me through those troublesome early hours.

Culture comes to Vegas....

..... in the form of Verekai by Cirque de Soleil. An incredible 2 hours of colour, music, acrobatics and even some humour thrown in. I honestly can’t remember them visiting Ireland but if they do, I highly recommend attending – it’s a feast for the senses. The highlight for me was this guy doing things with a net (yes, a net) that I simply can’t explain except to say holy shit. To do what he did at ground level would have been an achievement, but not good enough, he performed suspended 20-30 feet in the air – with no safety apparatus in place. Of course there’s the whole sock stuffed down the leotard effect that as a bloke, ye simply just have to get over pretty quickly.

So, that’s it for a while methinks in the culture stakes for the drought south east Queensland city.

I recently attended a stag/bucks "day" – involving the races at Eagle Farm near the city. At the end of the whole event, I guess I can still stay I just don’t get the whole horse racing mullarky. Even if you do have a private tent and a beer tab for the entire day and its 30 degrees and sunny. Maybe if I’d won a few wagers I’d feel differently, however my day long loyalty to the Irish sounding jockey Jim Byrne – proved misplaced in the end. Each way bets really don't mean big payouts.

I try not to plug too much information into here regarding our “wee” girl – acutely aware as I am of boring the non-parent community, and even the parents who already know all this. But she is now probably only a couple of weeks away from taking her first steps. Since she’s taken to crawling, the change has been amazing to witness in that she transformed so quickly into a smiley happy kid, having been frustrated by the inability to move for over a month. The kilo’s are well and truly there, as is the asthma and the few bouts of ear infection, but to her credit, she brushes it all off with the grace and dignity of a heavyweight boxer. Not a big fan of the dollies just yet. But she will be.

We're just back from a week in Noosa - still as beautiful as ever (for the family, this time we stayed near the main shopping/restaurant area as opposed to Sunshine Beach where we were last year). With child, the holiday is certainly different. Was going great guns, happier than the proverbial baby in a bucket of ice cream........... till she got hit by some tummy bug (maybe it was the ice-cream?) which blew it all asunder for a couple of days. Screaming in the middle of the night like we've never heard from her before, which I reckon most of Noosa main beach apartments could hear. When you find both of you sitting on the floor at 2.30am playing clap handies and peek-a-boo over and over with a wide awake baby, there can be a tendency to think what holiday? However, 2 grizzly days and sleepless nights later she was back again.

While in Noosa, we had wall to wall Ashes cricket coverage. Now don't get me wrong, I am certainly not a fan. The Ashes tests however grab the attention of the Australian nation - like Ireland during World Cup fever time (ahh, remember those days - we thought they'd never end - well actually, we did and they well and truly have by the looks of it). Anything where the Poms are involved, the Aussies are interested. While every area of the country has their loyalties in their respective football codes, when it comes to cricket - they are at one. The 2nd test was actually quite interesting in how it all panned out. First, the English were well on top, then after a long hard battle the Aussies clawed their way back to the extent that a draw was pretty much inevitable. Till the English second innings melted away like an ice-cream cone in the Brisbane summer and the Aussies came back in and walloped their way to a 2-0 lead in a couple of hours. Apologies to all my English cricketing friends, but the reaction here was really quite hilarious.

As Christmas approaches once again, the one year anniversaries of arrival into Brisbane and commencement with Virgin Blue have passed. Many have asked if it feels like a year and I guess for a change, from my perspective, yes, this time, it does. It’s been eventful to say the least between the new home and the arrival of Aibhe – watching her grow into the 9 month old destuctathon (as Alissa affectionately calls her) that she now is. The journey back home to family and friends in Dublin and the travel "adventures" that went with it. And then there’s work. Being able to say I like my job is a brand new experience for me as is recognition & promotion for working ones ass off. It's been eventful and very fulfilling but at the same time, the big gap will always be there. Web-cams, mails and calls keep me somewhat together with family and home but nothing can stop a feeling that just hits from everywhere now and then and at a time like Christmas, well there's no need to say much more.

I hope you all are enjoying this drinking season. By the sounds of the weather there's not much else to do. I still remember with fond affection the Christmas that DG and I managed to drink a minimum of 4 pints a night for the entire month of December. One night somewhere in there when nothing was actually on, I think DG stayed in and did the drinking on his own just to keep the momentum going. Always was a wise man.

I'll write again before the day comes. For now, its bye bye holidays for a while and roll on work on Monday. Not too bad to be honest.