Here's some photos of my bath (as requested on chat), my place, my swimming hole (with my dogs) & Mrs Josie Blake, the Red-Bellied Black Snake.

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wow what a beautiful view! I love the picture of the snake. My family has always had an interest in reptiles - in particular snakes - which we currently have several of (local NC species) in an outdoor habitat.

But yeah, I love the view from your bath. I'm jealous! ;)

Wow, JD your place looks absolutely magical. How peaceful it looks, and the bath is just awesome. Cant say I'm a fan of that scarey looking snake though.. :) thanks for sharing your lovely pics..I wanna come and live with you..ummmm when the snake has found a new home . :)

ROZ

Jds Can I Come Visit You Lol!!!! Just Breathtaking!!!

Do you build a fire under the tub?

<LOL> Yes, I build a fire under the tub - takes a little while to heat up, but it stays hot for ages - I just lie in there & look up at the stars... it's getting a bit cold when I get out now tho...

The snake is the matriarch of about 4 of different ages living around the house, chook pen, garden & creek - even tho they're pretty venomous, they're non-aggressive unless provoked or trapped (I have to be careful to keep the doors shut in the house).

Every day I give thanks for being able to live in this place at this time - it gives me the strength to stay reasonably sane through all this. The bush is my sanctuary, my healing. I do have the occasional visitor, but only pre-arranged - my driveway is 2 kms long & there's a locked gate at the top. The landlord turns up every now & again (with a day or 2 notice) to work around the place, and many of the neighbours are good friends - I used to own a share on a community out here.

Mind you, as it's on the river flat down in a gully, I'm preparing for a cold, damp Winter. Got a good wood stove inside at least.

JD, what time can I come over?? ;) They look heavenly!!! Thank you for posting them!!! I am so glad to finally see what we have been chatting about. :) Although I think you can keep the snake well clear of me!!! :)

I wana come too, that looks great!

Jeez it looks like I might have to organise a PTO weekend retreat or something!

Talking of snakes, this morning I had my first physical contact with the python I've been seeing around the house & garden - it was sitting on top of the chook food barrel - which I needed to access - so I just touched its side & it started moving off. I slipped my hand under as it did so, & it wasn't stressed about it or aggro at all, so I should be able to handle it a bit more next time. It's a fair size - I found its last shedded skin which measured 7' 6".

JD, you can have the python all to yourself!!! Ewww, I don't think I could even handle touching one!!! :)

JD it looks like you have an idyllic lifestyle. I have to ask though, is that snake heading towards you or away from you (can't see the head). You wouldn't see me hanging around long enough to take a photo if it was heading towards me!

Gotta tell you a funny story about snakes: many years ago I worked for the National Parks and Wildife Department and the guys I worked with loved telling the story of one of their 'not so bright' colleagues who happened to be scared of snakes:

He was out checking the grounds in one of the parks one frosty morning and he found a couple of 'dead' red bellied black snakes. Being 'dead' he wasn't scared of them so he picked them up by the tails and proceeded to complete his rounds. By the time he'd finished it was time for smoko so he dropped the snakes off near the incinerator (you could use them back in those days), intending to dispose of them later and went for his break. When he got back the snakes were gone.

Only then did someone explain to him that snakes are cold-blooded and, far from being dead, they'd been frozen. When he left them in the sun they warmed up and disappeared. Apparently the look on his face when he realised they could have 'thawed' at any time and bitten him was worth seeing. :haha:

JD, sounds like a good idea.. :)
Wissy, I can just picture the look on the poor guys face when they told him..LOL ..Glad I didnt have to wash his pants that day. :) hee hee

ROZ

Hiya, Wissy the snake was just hangin out on the bank with its head away from me. The Red-Bellies around here seem to be totally non-aggressive, even when I accidentally surprised one once, it reared up about 2 foot in front of me, but reared away instead of striking (which was lucky cos all I had on at the time was a pair of shoes!). That poor guy with the frozen snakes! I reckon he'll never pick up another 'dead' snake!

Yes the lifestyle is pretty idyllic, but hard work. I've gotta get myself a chainsaw very soon - not only to keep the firewood happening throughout the Winter, but also because there's often trees down across the driveway after rain. I'm only quite a small build (abt 45kg) and suffer from ME/CFS, so sometimes what would be a 1/2 hr job for your average guy would take half a day, or even two half-days for me. If I want power for the laptop, lights etc (forget TV - no reception) I have to go fill up the generator & hope it starts. I came home tonight to find the gas bottle had run out on the fridge, so had to spend a good 40 mins pulling apart some old gas lines & connections, cleaning them up & connecting the fridge up to the big bottle. It's raining at the moment, and the temporary creek crossing will be washed away in the next big rain - the old bridge died when I first moved in. As long as I get flooded in rather than out I don't mind (as long as there's plenty of fuel for the gennie!)... Life would be a hellova lot more idyllic with my partner here to help out!

Gees JD, you're a talented lady!! :) Hey atleast you know how to fix things!!! :)

Gees JD, you're a talented lady!! :) Hey atleast you know how to fix things!!! :)
Well I don't know about being talented, but being a single mum living in the bush pushed me to learn a few things about basic survival with few resources!

Yeh I shouldn't complain - the place I'm in now is much better set up than what the kids & I lived in (this even has an inside flush toilet!!), & this time there's just me & the animals to look after. Needless to say, my kids have grown up to prove themselves to be very adaptable! hehehe