How to make a long straw

Sometimes a drink comes in a bottle or glass that's too long for a regular straw. The straw doesn't reach to the bottom of the drink, and if you let go of it it falls in and you have to fish it out.

Today I figured out how to make a long straw. Take two regular straws and squish the end of one so it indents a bit. Then push the indented straw inside the other, as far as it needs to go. Voila! Adjustable long straw.

Rainbow lorikeets

I bought a cape seed loaf from Bakers Delight the other day. Louka doesn't always finish her toast or sandwiches, but the lorikeets love this bread.

Cuckoo

The other day we were swinging at the park when we heard SQUARK SQUARK loudly above our heads. Looking up we saw a big bird being fed by a currawong, which looked quite small beside it.

Subsequent research on the web revealed it to be a juvenile channel-billed cuckoo.

Intro and peas

Sometimes I come across things I like. Poems, quotes, pictures, stuff.

Heinrich Heine wrote a looooong poem called Germany: A Winter's Tale. Jane Grigson quotes the following lines in her Good Things:

Not only does earth grow bread enough
To feed mankind with ease,
But roses and myrtles, beauty and joy,
And (in the season) peas.

Yes, sweet green peas for everyone
As soon as the pods will burst.
Heaven we'll leave to the angels, and
The sparrows, who had it first.

I still like this translation, by T. J. Reed, better than any others I've read.