aka R’acquel

We had this male spider pay us a visit a few weeks ago after the first heavy fall of rain. My son & I were headed into his bedroom down the hallway. As soon as i turned around, i saw this black spider hanging out in the hallway. My husband came around to our rescue, with the heavy duty Baygon. I had to time-out on the bed afterwards, because my mind couldn’t stop thinking about how my son could have missed this spider by a whisker.

We think it is a blue mountains funnel web. All funnel web pics match it’s body pieces. I’m too scared to pull him out and inspect the second set of legs for spurs, but i think that would make it more definite for me. For now, he’s hanging out in the tumbler all shrivelled up, which often sits on a shelf in the kitchen pantry, awaiting for further identification! Many sightings have been reported in the area recently.

According to the real estate agent, they’ve apparently gone through 3 breeding cycles this year which is supposed to be unusual. I’m suspecting the strange weather could be influencing it. A number of my plants have been equally confused by the move too!

A solid read up on first aid skills the day after, gave me reassurances that things would still be okay in the event of a bite. My husband cheered me up by saying that he’s seen scarier looking funnel webs walking down the streets of Newtown. Ironically, it’s probably me who has the greatest potential of getting bitten by anything here, due to pottering about in the yard so much. 5! Can they really bite through the leather of boots, or is this just an urban myth? I’ll have to be more vigilant with the gardening gloves nevertheless!

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Have i really been a country person at heart all these years? I can’t even remember what date i moved into Leura, but i think it’s been about a month. I love it here so much, that there’s no point in leaving any part of my brain to process this trivial information. I’m here now, which is all that matters. I’ve lived in appartments for most of my life. This is the first freestanding house I’ve ever lived in.

It’s a big sea change for my family. We’ve moved from the inner city Sydney suburb of Newtown, into the jewelled heart of the Blue Mountains. My heart is likely to skip a few beats whenever i see the road signs indicating, “Leura ~ The Garden Village” as we drive in. I catch myself holding my breath before the release of a deep sigh. I am surrounded by so much dirt. I tried counting the number of trees i have on my property, but lost count after reaching 25. My green thumbs couldn’t be more delighted.

I’ve always been a winter person. The summer heat of Sydney has been absolutely horrid for my body. I was enjoying a lovely 25ºC day yesterday, and could not believe that Sydney had to live with 35ºC. 25ºC again today, 31ºC for Sydney. [gags] We’re at an altitude of 985m above sea level. The sun is a lot more intense, crisp and direct up here, but rather than bounce and radiate off an amazonia of concrete, I can feel the ground and the trees soaking it all up like a sponge. The sun feels great up here.

Could Sydney do with more trees lined down Parramatta Rd?

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