Okay, I haven’t updated the blog for awhile, and that’s my fault. I’ve been fighting all kinds of illness as a result of the earthrax, and work has kept me busy as well, so I figured I drop a few tidbits about what has been going on.

When we were in Australia, Andrea and I were both looking for something unique to take back home. She got a nice ring in Katoomba. I realized that I wanted a Redback spider keychain that we had seen in a street market early in our visit. Unfortunately, I never made it back to the market before we had to leave, and none of the touristy shops had it.

However, Andrea had a co-worker travel to Australia, and they brought one back for me.

The Redback spider is a relative of the Black Widow, but being Australian it is much more poisonous. When we made our trip down under, it had to be delayed a week because the gentleman who was supposed to approve it was in hospital from a bite from this type of spider (it was in a work glove he had laying about).

I wanted it because a) I thought it was cool and b) I drive a black Alfa Romeo spider. I like it so much I am planning on redoing the Alfa in a “Redback” theme. I need to replace the seat leather and door panels, so I was thinking red would look nice. Plus the NC plate “REDBACK” is available (grin).

Euan, my friend in Melbourne, has seen a gear shift knob with a Redback spider on it. I hope he can find one for me, to finish out theme.

It is a nice time of year here. In the summer we have to keep the horses in during the day to keep them cool and away from the bugs. In the winter we keep them in at night, because it is cold and they like their blankets.

But right now they can stay out all the time, so it makes it easier to care for them.

While at times it can be a pain, sometimes, early in the morning or early in the evening, it’s really nice to be outside, doing some light work and listening to … well … nothing at all.

I spent last week in Chicago. It was fun, and I put the pics up in the Gallery. I took a couple of pictures of the Sears Tower, but be warned, the last time I took pictures of a tall building some guys flew a plane into it.

As if we haven’t had enough fun with pets, our dog Cynder was diagnosed with cancer. They removed two tumours, of which one was malignant. We hope they got it all, and can only hope for the best.

I’ll try to keep this updated a little better from here on out, but no promises.