Although we live in a bit of a bush city, we still are a bit of a suburban sort of area... even if the blocks are quite large and bushy and surrounded by lots of nature reserves. And so, I was a bit surprised when one morning, I stepped out to each breakfast in the morning sun and was greeted by this little visitor!

It was just poking around... luckily, not eating our veggie patch... and just minding its own business. I know that there were several neighbours around that kept chooks in their backyard, and it is something that we want to do in the future. However, when I did a bit of knock around, no-one claimed the chicken.

... but I did get the story that one of the neighbours had seen two brown chickens wandering around together a week ago. Well, it appears that they had either gotten seperated or that there was only one left. And with the hot summer sun along with the snakes around... well, I wouldn't be surprised if the other chicken didn't make it.

Anyway, after I asked around... well, it had moved onwards to some other place... I couldn't find it anymore!

... and so, it was back to the garden... and I found this unwelcome visitor in the garden. The three fingered leaves are passionfruit vines... I thought that I had them all contained... but this one had grown quite significantly, and more disturbingly... had made the jump across the driveway to a new area. Damn... I'm going to have to really check more carefully now to try and stymie any further advances.

As you can see, it had already started to climb up two smaller trees and bushes and was already starting to pull them downwards... getting rid of this nuisance means tracing the roots back as far as I can go... I'm tempted to use Round-up, but I think it is more likely to kill the other plants around instead... so, I am just relying on vigilance and the physical tracing and uprooting... just like my old Dutch nemesis, the blackberry!

Meanwhile, a few stumps of trees that we had cut down were starting to make a return... Now, I will definitely cut these back... and the stumps are too big to dig out whilst they are still alive... so, I will try to drill some holes into the wood and drop some Round-up into those... even still, these things are resilient... my father in law had done these to two nearby stumps... and they are mostly staying down, but they are also putting out new shoots again!

When we first arrived, we picked up some very handy old tools as a batch in a second hand sale... definitely all in very used condition, but more than up to the job! This is my goto piece for dealing with thicker branches that aren't big enough to warrant a chainsaw.

... and with those shoots all removed, it is now possible to see the plant that was supposed to be growing there! This little bush that will hopefully give us a bit more cover, and no end up turning into a 15 meter giant! Thankfully, not stripped by spitfires this year... just covered up by unwanted proto-trees!

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!
Coinbase Wallet: Multi chain wallet with lots of opportunities to Learn and Earn!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
WooX: The centralised version of WooFi. Stake WOO for fee-free trades and free withdrawals! This link also gives you back 25% of the commission.
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.
KuCoin: I still use this exchange to take part in the Spotlight and Burning Drop launches.
MEXC: Accepts HIVE, and trades in most poopcoins! Join the casino!
ByBit: Leverage and spot trading, next Binance?
OkX: Again, another Binance contender?