A few things...

...over the last few weeks or so.

Not much to write home about this time, just a few gigs I attended and a few pics thrown in of various bits and pieces.

I've been busy studying my PADI open diver manual and last Saturday morning did my third and final pool dive but before the dive I had a classroom session which was quite stressful as the last three sections of the manual went more in depth into the technical side of diving. That included the dive planner, which consists of three tables, which inter-link with each other; to determine such things as nitrogen in the body after a certain time under water; how long one has to remain on the surface between dives etc. etc. All boring but important calculations to ensure one does not get decompression sickness (The bends) which can be serious enough to cause death in extreme cases, so not to be ignored. I now have four more dives, all in open sea. Two from the shore and two from the back of a boat. Then comes the really hard bit; the final exam, which will consist of fifty questions and I have to get seventy-five per cent right or I do not pass go and do not collect my certification as a PADI open sea diver!

I went to watch the amazing Barry snakes performing recently and here are a few pics, along with a few of my mates who also attended. See if you can tell which of them are pissed out of their heads?

The amasing guitar virtuoso Barry Snakes wooing the audience

Here he is having a little 'shut-eye' between solo's

Mishmash (Michelle) and Twinkle-toes (Brad) Not sure what she is eyeing! It's either the 'Pheonix' rising or he's just stepped on her toe?

Oh my God!! What will her husband say to this one? And his other half was waiting by the door with her coat on, tapping her feet and a look on her face that was, as they say, priceless.

Ooops! They just realised they've been caught on camera!

Michelle and her good friend Tavvi (Carole) Mind you, they look like more than good friends to me

The silly juice is starting to work me thinks?

Just to change the mood, here is a poor little lizard I fished out of Boysie's water bowl. It was still moving when I fished it out and thought it would revive. I took this pic the following morning. Nothing gets wasted!

Bookie and Boysie play fighting. I just love watching them

chase me

Here is a lovely pooch that is owned by the people where I go sometimes for my Sunday dinner. He is a right character and is always annoying the resident cat

This beautiful thing appeared a few weeks ago in my garden. I found out its common name is Stinky Lilly. After twenty-four hours of opening the attractive looking leaf shrivels and for the next day it smells like rotten flesh, to attract flies to spread its seeds. The flies slide down into the belly of the leaf and traps them and as the leaf shrinks the flies are released. Isn't Mother Nature wonderful.

Since starting this post I did my first two open sea dives on the PADI course. The two dives entailed me putting into practice all that I had so far learnt, which I had no trouble with at all. I have two more open water dives to complete off the back of a boat about a mile out to sea, then it's just one more classroom exam to gain my certification. The certificate will allow me to dive anywhere in the world up to a depth of eighteen metres (sixty feet) Wopeee :-)