"...you start to dance like it's all you got to live for..."

November is halfway gone already- apparently all my plans to keep myself really busy while alone on the island have worked.

I spent a week out on Maria.  I joined the group that works on "eradicating canary broom" which is a weed there, and has "escaped" into the bush.

As seen above...I also made it into the group (exclusive by the fact that one needs a ride from the only vehicles on the island...which means taking time from a field ranger) that hunted for sea spurge.

We found many bones, but only a few of the sea spurge.

I am often asked how I can take being alone for periods of time, and sometimes this question is less about that and more about having a 'long-distance' relationship.  Often this is about not letting ones imagination write out a negative script.  But, this week with the suicide bombers who gunned down the audience at a E.O.D.M. show in Paris, but a club and a band that I know, personally- well- I find my control tested- severely.

I have a two-day first aid certification course this week.  The Australians LOVE a certificate course.  I really do like to 'know' things- so this course makes sense, but I am a bit wary of the fact that the commitment is two full days.

I finished re-painting the living room, and the adjoining wall.  Now, that I have finished I can't believe I lived with the awful color that the room was.  That room was the last I painted when we moved in.  I had a bit of shock when I realized I couldn't get custom colors- something that was so easily done in Seattle. When I finally got to the last room, I just adjusted the colors from primary to a bit deeper, but I still disliked how the room looked.

But all is better now.

Today I have tasks to keep me busy, and the next hurdle is how I keep thinking about how the weather is perfect for laying out at the beach...when I should be bringing up the Christmas decorations...

I have lost my Southern Hemisphere savvy by christmasing in Sweden.