Bushfire update

Bushfire update from  @paulhiltonphoto on Instagram =

"Around 480 million animals are feared to have died in the bushfires sweeping Australia.⁠
Ecologists at the University of Sydney estimate around 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles have been killed, directly or indirectly, by the devastating blazes since they began in September, The Times reported.⁠

This includes almost 8,000 koalas, which are believed to have burnt to death on the state’s mid-north coast. This week I spent a day doing a black walk with members from @koalacrusaders on the Sunshine Coast. Which basically means walking through areas after fires, to look out for injured wildlife, with a focus on koalas 🐨. The also use detection dogs, Bear has many years under his belt alongside his owner and trainer Russel. @usc_detection_dogs⁠

Right now the @koalacrusaders are raising money for a koala Sanctuary for all their injured koalas that can’t be release, due to injuries. Please take a moment to check out their website. The news across Australia is devastating. The country has been burning for months, with huge heat waves, the climate crisis is real and it’s only going to get worse. With most of the Southern Hemisphere in drought, many of the worlds leading scientists have forecast a mega - drought for Australia for many years to come.

My Postcrossing Year 2019

Although I only sent about 100 postcards through postcrossing (and received the same amount back) I actually sent a total of 460 to other friends and acquaintances.  And a wonderful 440 came back the other way (plus dozens of folded cards as well). 

Books Read in 2019

(Please note the date in brackets is the year read, not the year published.  A +sign indicates it has been read before.  2 + signs mean I've read it before twice or more.  My favourites are shown in red.)

Atkinson, Kate.  When will there be good news? 2019 (Jackson Brodie 3)

Atkinson, Kate.  Case histories 2019  (Jackson Brodie 1) 

Attwood, Margaret. Wilderness tips. Poor. 2019

Backman, Frederick. A man called Ove. Excellent. 2019.

Bingham, Harry.  The dead house. 2019  (Fiona Griffiths)

Brandon, John G. A scream in Soho. 2019

Brody, Frances. Death of an avid reader. A Leeds Library Kate Shackleton novel. 2019

Brunoff, J & L. De. Babar a la chasse aux oeufs 2019

Bude, John. Death makes a prophet. 2019

Butland, Stephanie. Lost for words. (Bookshop romance). 2019

Butlin, Ron. The little book of Scottish rain. NF.  2019

Cannon, Joanna. Trouble with goats and sheep.  2019

Cleeves, Ann. The moth catcher. A Vera Stanhope novel) 2019

Cleeves, Ann. Harbour Street. (Vera) 2019

Cleeves, Ann. The mill on the shore. (Molly & George Palmer-Jones). 2019.

Cleeves, Ann.  Cold earth. (Jimmy Perez - Shetland) 2019.

Cole, Martina.  Damaged  019  (Kate Burrows retired) 2019

Croft, Kathryn. The girl with no past. 2019.

Crombie, Deborah. No mark upon her. 2019

Dahl, Roald. Boy. 2019

Edwards, Martin. Suspicious minds. Set in Wirral.  2019

Edwards, Ruth Dudley. The Anglo-Irish murders. 2019 not finished

Elliott, Angela J. A strange scent of death. (Novel based on disappearance of Flannan Isles lighthouse keepers.) 2019

Ellis, Kate. The Jackal man. (Wesley Peterson) 2019

Ellis, Kate. The flesh tailor (Wesley Peterson) 2019

Fadiman, Anne. Ex libris. (NF execellent) 2019

Fields, Helen. Perfect prey. 2019

Fox, Kathryn.  Skin and bone. (Det Kate Farrer – Sydney, Australia). 2019

Franklin, Ariana. Relics of the dead.  (Adelia Aguilar). +2019.

French, Nicci.  Day of the dead. 2019.

Gibney, Patricia. The stolen girls. (DI Lottie Parker – Irish garda) 2019

Gray, Alex. The bird that did not sing. (Spt. Lorimer) 2019

Gray, Alex. The darkest goodbye. 2019. 

Gray, Alex. Keep the midnight 2019

Griffiths, Elly.  The ghost fields. (Dr Ruth Galloway) 2019

Guskin, Sharon. The forgetting time. 2019 Not finished

Highroads of Literature. NF ++ 2019

Holmes, Efner Tudor. The Christmas Cat 2019

Honeyman, Gail. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. 2019

Indridason, Shadow district.  2019

Jackson, Holbrook. Bookman's holiday. ++ 2019

James, P.D. Cover the face. (Dalgleish) 2019

Jour, Belle du. The intimate adventures of a London call girl. 2019 (part...)

Kacirk, Jeffrey. Altered English.  Dipped into it. 2019

Larsson, Steig. Girl with the dragon tattoo. 2019

Larsson, Steig. The girl who played with fire. 2019

Larsson, Stieg. The girl who kicked the hornets' nest. 2019

Lawler, Liz. Don't wake up. 2019

Lodge, David. Therapy. 2019 excellent.

Lodge, David. Deaf sentence. 2019. Excellent.

Lodge, David. The British Museum is falling down. (+) 2019

Lodge, David. Small world. 2019

MacBride, Stuart. Broken skin. 2019

MacBride, Stuart. Dying light. 2019

MacNeil, Kevin. The Stornoway way. 2019

Mangan, Lucy. Bookworm. NF. 2019

Marshall, Laura. Friend request. 2019

Mitchell, Maggie. Pretty is... 2019

Mosse, Kate. The taxidermist's daughter. 2019

Nicolaou, Maria. Divorced, beheaded, sold. Ending an English marriage 1500-1847. NF Excellent. 2019

Orczy, Baroness . The old man in the corner.. 2019 the tea house derective

Postgate, Raymond. Somebody at the door. 2019

Pratchett, Terry. The wee free men. (+) 2019

Pratchett, Terry. Wintersmith (+) 2019

Pratchett, Terry. A hat full of sky. (+) 2019

Pratchett, Terry. I shall wear midnight (+) 2019

Pratchett, Terry. The shepherd's crown (+) 2019

Pratchett, Terry. The wit and wisdom of Discworld (+) 2019

Pratchett, Terry. Equal rites (+) 2019

Pratchett, Terry. Wyrd sisters (+) 2019

Pratchett, Terry. Sourcery (+) 2019

Pratchett, Terry. Lords and Ladies (+) 2019

Reed, Mike. 100 humorous poems. 2019 NF

Rendell, Ruth. Going wrong. 2019 excellent

Robinson, Graham. Observations on life. 2019 nf poetry

Robotham, Michael. Watching you. 2019

Runcie, James. Sidney Chambers and the problem of evil. 2019

Sachar, Louis. Holes. (Camp Green Lake) 2019

Sayers, Dorothy L. Strong poison. Lord Peter Wimsey.  2019

Schlink, Bernhard. The reader. 2019

Spring, Neil. The lost village. 2019

Steiner, Susie.  Missing presumed.  (+ part then realised I'd read it c2017

Templeton, Aline.  Cold in the earth. (DI Marjory Fleming) 2019

Tiffany, Carrie. Mateship with birds. (Excellently written monograph on kookaburras and sex!) 2019

Tudor, C.J. The chalk man. 2019

Walsh, Rosie. The man who didn't call. 2019

Whitehouse, David. The long forgotten. 2019

Wilkinson, Colin. Liverpool from the air. (NF). 2019

Wright, John D. The age of the Victorians. {NF}. 2019

Don't get too excited...

Please don't get too excited but here is a post at long last.  It will be short but maybe it will make you smile...

Lunch Logic

If I were given the choice between my heart's desire and a cheese sandwich, I would definitely choose the cheese sandwich.  After all, nothing is better than your heart's desire, and a cheese sandwich is better than nothing.

Hopefully it won't be as long before I post again.

WORLD RHINO DAY

September 22nd is World Rhino Day.

These are Great One Horned Rhinos I photographed in Chester Zoo ten years ago. 

The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), also called the greater one-horned rhinoceros and great Indian rhinoceros, is a rhinoceros native to the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as populations are fragmented and restricted to less than 20,000 km2 (7,700 sq mi). Moreover, the extent and quality of the rhino's most important habitat, alluvial grassland and riverine forest, is considered to be in decline due to human and livestock encroachment. The Indian rhinoceros once ranged throughout the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, but excessive hunting and agricultural development reduced their range drastically to 11 sites in northern India and southern Nepal.    As of 2008, a total of 2,575 mature individuals were estimated to live in the wild.

World Rhino Day is celebrated on September 22 every year! This special day provides the opportunity for cause-related organizations, NGOs, zoos, and members of the public to celebrate rhinos in their own unique ways.