Menagerie

I had to shoot back home to New Zealand recently for some sad times.

While at the airport waiting for my return flight back to Aussie, I checked my CCTV and saw Dilan digging a garden.

I asked what he was up to and he said something about a fruit garden or some shit.

When I got home, I tapped into my finely tuned, fading eyes and ears and concluded that a fruit garden was a pair of ducks.

I’m like, “What the fuck, man?”.

Dilan’s like, “They’re Indian Running Ducks, or one is anyway. Crystal and Shaniqua. Cool aye.”

“No, not even a little bit cool, man.”

Knowing we don’t really have a duck pen or pond, or whatever it is that ducks live in, I shake my head in wonder.

Crystal and Shaniqua
A proud dad

Around the same time we got our first duck egg, we also took in Harry the Huntsman. He roamed our house and grounds freely, taking down cockroaches, mice, rats, and the odd weak wallaby. Talk about feeling safe, man.

I buggered off on a cool little overseas trip and was again ambushed upon return.

Fuck me, I now had a chicken in my backyard.

I’m like, “Nah seriously Dilan, ya cunt! What the fuck, man? This ain’t even a little bit cool.”

“Hey, nah Dad, don’t be like that. Bad Betty’s cool and she’ll be laying eggs soon.”

A few days later Bad Betty had Skanky Sally join her.

I go to work and whinge to my mate.

That didn’t do shit, because I woke up the following morning and glimpsed what I initially thought was a goat on my patio.

Lucky I took another look though, because I then realised it wasn’t a goat at all. It was two goats!

Billy and Tyrone

Two goats pissing and shitting all over my patio area, looking up at me with cute as ‘come cuddle me eyes’.

Dilan had already left for work and I’m about to myself but I’ve got goats bleating, ducks quacking and chickens bock-fucken-bocking.

Ol’ Bad Betty had escaped her piss-weak prison and was out front showing me chickens can cross the road, no matter what the answer to the age old joke.

So I hunt chook for a bit and throw her back into the backyard, where she doesn’t yet know she even belongs.

Four of the bastards

I’ve also got our dog Bella that now wants in on the action. But she doesn’t know if she wants to eat them, protect them, shepherd them or what, but she’s whining and running around like a spastic.

And lets not forget the first of them all, our cat Pudding. Her scorning look of absolute disgust, as she looks on, following the recent farm annexation.

Pudding trying to prove to me that age isn’t a barrier to being flexible

On a positive though, now that the trauma of the goat invasion has somewhat subsided, one of the ducks has started laying eggs again.

Ouch

Yesterday I thought one of our chooks was being raped but apparently she gave birth to her first ever egg.

Dilan, full of pride, watched on from his room.

Bella loves eggs but prefers meat, including poultry

As for the goats, I’m pretty sure, I won’t be getting any eggs from them. The fact that they’re both males – without nuts has something to do with it.

So without even goats milk to make cheese, they’re kind of useless, except for maybe cooking or cuddling.

I actually started this blog hoping someone would want the goats, maybe on a loan basis, or buy back situation, but I’m going to change the theme a little.

Shall I let Dilan keep the animals, does somebody else want them, or shall we eat them for Christmas?

I’ll try work out how y’all can vote for a few options at the end.

Oh, and they’re some sort of midget goats by the way. You know, like the equivalent of our human dwarfs or midgets… and, like some of those cunts, these goats also try to root each other.

Now there’s a sales pitch if ever ya heard one right aye. Miniature gay goat porn. Bit of a niche there, I’m thinking.

Or maybe you’re a midget and love riding horses but always need a leg up. No longer a problem. You can own your own goat. Man’s new best friend.

In hindsight, maybe I would’ve been better off letting Dilan get a dog. For the record though, I did not say yes to a menagerie, ark, zoo etc.

I now have a backyard that, should I wish to access, I have to study architecture and train as a ninja warrior to get through the obstacle course Dilan created in an ad-hoc solution to animal containment.

I’m not sure Dilan realised, that none of these animals, are actually rocks that do not move.

Maybe a pet rock next time, Dilan

Their current living arrangement is a cross between a shanty town shack in South East Asia and bivouac style camping.

There may come a day when I build a mountainous Himalayas themed backyard to accommodate these animals but until then, anyone interested in them is asked to sing out very loud, or even whisper. Fuck it, just a hint will suffice.

The goats are like petting zoo level of friendly, cuddly and far too cute and cheeky for me to want to spend heaps of time with.

Not sure why I feel so inclined but I am purchasing a decent chook pen. If I don’t use it for the chooks and ducks, I might move Dilan into it.

They say a Mum, can’t really be replaced.

Unless it’s with two ducks.

And two chickens.

And two goats.

And a huntsman spider.

Nah, she can’t be replaced but I do wonder what Marjana would’ve said.

I guess it’s all part of turning the page.

Five months…

Hey y’all,

A bunch of peeps been messaging me, so to save me replying to all, here’s a bit of an update.

Yes, I will blog again. In fact I probably need it more now than I did before. Just haven’t quite been able to bring myself to open up to the world like I did when Marjana was here to take joy from ’em. There’s more to it than just that and technically, I’m blogging now anyway so small steps I guess.

It’s just over five months since we lost my first wife and life has sucked like a back alley $2 whore but it’s also been good like the purest of virgins too. More on this when I open up and blog properly. The good and bad I mean, not virgins and whores.

A few months ago, I took our boys back to New Zealand where we reconnected with my family and mates and the boys really dug it. That trip was sad as fuck but personally, it was more therapeutic than I thought it’d be, so fuck yeah!

The recent ‘taking these boys for a ride on a big jet plane’ facebook post relates to a planned equivalent of our NZ trip but on a far bigger scale to Croatia, with a few stopovers along the way.

We’re gone for five weeks, most of which is in Croatia catching up with our family here.

As you’d imagine, there’s moments of joy and sorrow with Marjana’s family and friends but so far it’s been awesome.

Our family here are amazing. So pure! They’ve been crucial in plugging holes from wounds of sorrow, particularly with our kids and for that I’m forever grateful.

This is without doubt a medicinal trip of healing for the three of us travellers but also for our Croatian connection. On that note, I do appreciate the fact Dilan’s boss approved a five week holiday for him when I doubt he’s got anywhere near five weeks leave built up so cheers bro.

The reason we’re actually here right now is ‘cos our niece is getting married in a couple weeks. We always knew Marjana wasn’t gunna make it but she made me promise that I’d still come… and here we are.

On a bit of a downer though, our pet sitter advised me that one of our three pets is now dead too, fuck it. So that’s a little bit shit. Kind of a last on, first off scenario so sucks to be you Bird 😞 No more deaths though please 🙏

I will blog more but just give me a bit of time please as it’s taken me five months to put this post out there. Before you know it, I’ll be back writing shit for y’all.

This blog was brought to you by the letter C for the word cunt.

Dilan gets a bird (part four)

Bird loves to bite people.

Bird wrapped like a burrito (if only)

He loves to snuggle too, but he much prefers biting.

Bird’s bites hurt very much.

Bella would love to bite Bird.

Bella isn’t allowed to bite Bird.

Secretly, I would love it if Bella bit Bird.

One nice pet and one not so nice pet

Pudding would also love to bite Bird.

Pudding isn’t allowed to bite Bird.

I might sharpen her claws and make an exception.

One nice pet and one not so nice pet

We live our lives prisoners to Bird in our own home.

Bird could have been a team leader in Alfred Hitchcock’s film The Birds.

Bird does have a comforting soft tweet, but mostly has a loud horrible squawk.

Bird saves his loudest squawks for when I try to talk on the phone.

Bird’s favourite hobby is to shit on me.

In the two years we’ve had Bird he has failed to fly into a ceiling fan swirling very fast.

Bird is by far the best watchdog in our family though.

Like our other watchdog Bella, Bird has different sounds for whoever comes in our driveway.

If a robber came to our home I would send Bella to bed and sic Bird on them.

That is a very inhumane thing to do to the robbers but fuck ’em.

Bird is still a cunt!

Like Ironman (an evil one) does to his suit, Bird also improves his outfit

Dilan gets a bird (part three)

Over the next week we all grew to love Guava.

Guava was a very nice bird.

Unfortunately, on the seventh day Guava flew into a ceiling fan.

Also very unfortunately, that ceiling fan was swirling around very fast.

Guava is no longer with us.

Guava died a very quick death.

We were all very sad losing Guava.

Guava was the saddest though.

Guava now lives in a shoe box tomb under a tree in our back yard.

In a moment of grieving weakness we decided to buy Dilan a new bird.

That was a very foolish decision.

The new bird is called Bird.

Bird isn’t like Guava.

Bird is a cunt!

Dilan gets a bird (part two)

The following is a true story.

I was at work and Dilan, then aged 15-years-old and my his mother had just returned home with Dilan’s new pet bird called Guava.

Dilan wasn’t aware I knew we had a new bird and the following is a real life txt conversation between us both.

Me: Take a roast out of the freezer to thaw out please. Maybe a roast chicken. If not a chicken than any sort of bird will do for a feed tonight.

Dilan: OK. Except for my bird.

Me: Huh?

Dilan sends pic…

Me: Is that Toms or in a pet shop?

Dilan: Mine.

Me: No it aint.

Dilan sends pic…

Me: When I left this morning there were no birds in our house. Only a pissing cat.

Dilan: It’s a Pineapple Green Cheek. Haha. Now we have a bird.

Me: You can’t spell properly… correct spelling is ‘now we have dinner.’

Dilan: Haha you wish. But then you owe me $80.

Me: Nah seriously, whose is it and why is it in our house?

Dilan: It’s mine. We got it from the bird expo.

Me: Aye…?

Dilan: It was about $80 with the cage and food.

Me: Liar. You wouldn’t waste your money on that.

Dilan: I’m not lying. And I wasn’t wasting my money.

Me: I didn’t say yes and your Mum wouldn’t say yes.

Dilan: Mum did say yes.

Me: Aye…? Did you cheat her with your dirty little sneak charm aye?

Dilan: Hahaha yeah. She fell for me. Talking about the bird though (sends short grainy video).

Me: Looks like a peri peri feed to me.

Dilan: Nah. Already settled in (Dilan sends pic)

Over the next week, we all came to love Guava.