Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Apron update and a warning

The rescued aprons are done!


It has been so long since we have had any rain that it slipped my mind to move them inside until they were rather damp from an unexpected yet welcome shower.  I worried that the dampening may have made the ink run, but no, it held.



So I dried them off for another few days (a week all up probably), then cured them by ironing.

A few days later that pumpkin vine had grown into the typewriter a wee bit...


I decided to sew the tie on at this point in case of overwhelming fraying and that was a good decision.

Then into the washing machine and lo, they held again, and then a good iron and they are done!

They make me very happy.


 And now to the warning bit. Avert your eyes if snake skins concern you.

As I went out the door to exercises early one morning I looked across to the veggie patch and wondered what's that?  Without glasses, always a bit tricky, but I figured I knew the answer...


 Sure enough, on closer examination it turned out to be the BIGGEST shed python skin I have ever seen.  Rather pleased I have not met its former inhabitant.

Here it is in parts... the belly in comparison to a regular garden hose.


Right the way across...


And down...


Astonishing. We retrieved it and measured and it was 3.3m long. Impressive.

Perfection from the tip of its head to its tail - it was utterly intact and it must have just finished. Look at that jaw!



There's always something happening on the block - and this was pretty special. Pythons are relatively harmless to humans and do keep things like rats and mice at bay so we are happy enough to have one, as long as we don't run into it ourselves too often.

8 comments:

  1. What a fabulous skin. Do like your aprons.

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    1. Thanks Penny - it was an amazing skin and so fresh! I am sure it had just exited it...

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  2. Wow! that's such a treasure, have never seen a skin so freshly shed
    looking forward to seeing a photo of you working in your new apron

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    1. So true Mo - it was soft and pliable and utterly complete - astonishing and gob-smacking and a real marvel to behold up close. Shall pop an apron soon I promise! Go well.

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  3. The snake likes your garden and left you a gift!

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    1. I think so too! We actually think it might live in the wall cavity - the rusty corten steel one; we hear funny noises sometimes...

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  4. the aprons are amazing and I love the pattern of your rusted typewriter keys ... the garden pix reminded me of our long-ago tiered vegetable garden (five homes ago) in Williamsburg ... but I confess that seeing a snake skin of that size would pretty effectively keep me away for a good long time!

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    1. Thanks Liz - I think we might have spotted the snake once or twice in 4 or 5 years so we rub along quite well together. Plus they are so large you would notice them pretty quickly! I worry more about smaller ones which are harder to see and a bit scarier to me. Glad you like the aprons - I will put one to use soon!

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