If the crocs don't get you the caterpillars will.....

This weekend Tish was on nights so the children and I were left to our own devices - always dangerous!
The weather has turned noticeably cooler so much so that there is no talk of wanting to go swimming, yes the air temp may be in the high 20s but the water is in the mid teens and is quite frankly absolutely FREEZING.
Saturday we were tied to the house as the gutters were due to be repaired following their untimely and rather loud collapsing last week; of course as you would expect the weather which has been quite dry decided to get wet again which makes putting up guttering quite interesting - especially as Doug (the builder) has an injured back, Alan (the neighbour) has the shakes and Dom (the ME) has a bad wrist so between us we made one whole person! Anyway slightly later than originally intended (well four hours later to be honest) the gutters were back up and functioning well!
Despite being at home all day there is always something to see and today thanks to Alan we found yet another beastie that can inflict pain on unsuspecting humans! Alan was cutting his front lawn and as walking backwards brushed up against one of his trees - this was accompanied by language that we thought was rather extreme for the circumstances. This was followed by a knock on the door and an invitation to come and see something...

This rather attractive if inoffensive looking caterpillar was the cause of all of Alans problems. When disturbed the black dots you can see on its back produce what Xanthe described as cheer leaders pompom which when it comes in contact with your skin burns like acid (the rash was still burning three hours later)

not quite as innocent as it looks...
On Sunday I took the children to one of the play parks at the north end of Cairns Esplanade where we met up with Annelies and Patrick - the former a fellow midwife and the later her husband a fellow birder - and their children Ella and Morris (who is only 2 weeks old). The children played in the park and the adults had a chat and of course a little bird - well Patrick has never seen Mangrove Robin so I had to help him out

a bird that I think is rather attractive. I am off out with Pat on Sunday, taking him up to the Tablelands so we should get him a few ticks there as well.
Thee rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing at home, Alan and Jen came round for a cuppa and Xanthe with some help from all of us made this very attractive gem tree