A little story about the sand pit at Clyden.

When I was very young, probably just out of the toddler years, I got the surprise out of every kid's dreams... a sandpit! And what a sandpit it was, for many years after recieving this fantastic present, I spent many a day in the school's yellow grained pits, digging, building and sifting. It was something that made up a lot of my childhood.

My little sandpit at home was from a simple design of a border of wood with a heap of sand dumped in the middle, hence 'the sandpit.' But as simple as it was, it was one of my joys as a child. I think I have always been very sentimental and the sand pit just proves this theory. One day I dug the deepest hole I could, (I even reached dirt, fascinated with the apparent concept that I may dig to China) that I assume now, wasn't so deep after all and I placed in it, a few treasures. These treasures were merely sea animal shaped plastic moulds in blue, red and yellow. But to me they were nothing less than treasure and I buried them, hoping they'd be there forever.

For plenty of years I would go back and dig up the pieces, making sure they were still there and when my parent's split up, these treasures became even more special. Digging the shapes up every second weekend I went to visit my dad becaome a ritual, knowing everything was okay.

I wonder if my parents knew what I was really doing when they would wave to me from the house...

One day when I happily went back to check up on my treasure, I sat down to dig happily, to find my gems.... gone.

I was shocked and upset, but I put it all down to the possibility that I had been looking in the wrong spot in the pit. I also noticed that the sand had shifted, the pit was mostly dirt. With dirt under my nails, I spent every spare moment digging everywhere for the treasures, until I was called away.

Weekend after weekend I went back to check every spare millimetre of the pit, but there was nothing. There were a few rough times envolving house ownership during this peiod, so I went to Clyden less and less frequently.

Now I know why civilisation is so abundant. In my sandpit I could get humungously creative building cities and cities until I couldn't any more. But when the centre of my city was gone, the world seemed to crumble down.

What treasure is holding our world together?

KK

Nostalgia is yet to come..

It's only one more month until the home I grew up gets passed on into quite unwanted hands. No I haven't started my scrapbook yet... but I am taking hundreds of photos. I think that when it happens, I will be much sader than I am at the moment. It's all just one of those times when you just have to believe that life goes on. I know I'll reclaim my childhood one day though!

As promised!

The Smiling dog among the daises is my oldest friend, Jacko. unfortunately he passed away just before my 16th birthday. He was the same age as me, excellent lifetime for a jack russel. The guinea pig is Casper. The dogs playing are Abbie and Chloe, (the current ratbags. the rooster is Fowler... which Lordle () somehow pronounces as'Flowler!'The colourful critter with the blade of grass is Ellie the cheeky caique, (pronounced cake) and the little bird in the tree, that's willie, he's been there for generations!

Part of why I'll mis Clyden so much is because of the many animals I have grown up with there. A few of them are even buried there. It seems like a childhood memory, but even today I feel a connection to what I once had. (Even after the renovations.)Here are some pics of my friends who have grown with me at Clyden.

The first two photos are of the current residents, Angus in the first photo. Abbie is the tan and white and Chloe is the black and white in the second picture. Angus also re-appears in this pic!

You will have to bare with me on more photos, I'll get there!

KK.

Generation anxiety

If I were a teenager in the twenties, I'd have glitz and glamour.
If I were a teenager in the forties, I'd have something to fight for.
If I were in the fifties, I'd have dancing shoes.
In the sixties I'd have grease and racism to defend.
In the seventies I'd have flowers and peace.
In the eighties I'd have fluro and shoulder pads.
If I were a teenager in the nineties, I'd have had baggy pants and walkmans.
But I've been a teenager in the noughties (??) and I can't think of one thing we own...

Oh wait,

Heres to a generation of tech-heads, suicides and disrespect,

Not proud.
P.s "The noughties?" seriously? Why?

KK.

More of Clyden

My home, Clyden, I still get to see most days, even though I really live 20 minutes away. Being there makes me feel different now though. A few years back we did have some renovations, so now it doesn't feel wholly like home, but it still is in a way. In case you didn't get the hints. My parents are split up and I live with my mum. My dad has always lived at Clyden, So thats why I go there so often.

Because of the renovations - which were quite major- I don't think I'll miss the place too much, but that may change...

KK

Clyden

For the next few posts I think I'll post about the house I grew up in. Clyden. It is a passion of mine after all! Especially since I have been told that it will be demolished after August this year. Its in my heart and I hope that you'll see how special something so simple can mean to someone.

So Clyden is very special to me and basically my dad is selling it due to outside sources and new housing estates and roads coming in. At the moment he doesn't have to sell the 2 acre property, but its on the books for the next few years. I just hope that he sells it privately and not to a developer who will slaughter it...

The cover picture of kkspassion is of dusk at Clyden.

KK

The wonders nature brings

I was just absolutely amazed by a pair of red bellied black snakes I just saw mating on my nightly walk. Mum and I left a little later than usual, at dusk and I really don't know why we don't more often. Two amazing sights of nature just made my day. first off I saw a Southern Brown bandicoot, which I know are native to my area. Second I saw the two amazing... venomous... snakes...mating! GOLD! I really love my natives, especially mammals and reptiles. This all means something!

Its fantastic because in a world where nature is diminishing, its just a breath of fresh air to see three native animals who have really been there all along. It really makes me stop what I'm doing with my everyday fog and remember how much I truly do love nature and why I do write about it. Sometimes it takes a small encounter to really get the full picture and remember what you used to believe. And now I am back into that mindset, thanks to Mother Nature! I can't stop using the exclaimation marks because this is the most excitement I've had all year! I vow to write more and more now about nature and the wonders it beholds!!!!!!

KK

day by day

We go though life on a day to day feeling. We dream, we look forward and we celebrate, but when it all comes down to it, everyday is just another day in our own lives. You can't do something absolutely amazing every single day. But hey, that's life and that's the way life is meant to be.

KK

Some camping pics

Global w-- what?

Everyone who knows me, knows that I appreciate nature in every way. Here in the Southern hemisphere it is supposed to be Summer. I don't know if its a Victorian thing too, but we really have been having freezing cold weather! I really hope I'm not the only one to see that whenever the temperature rises really high for a couple of days, a storm brews??

DUH!

But then it gets freezing cold/windy or just bad for more than a few days. I somehow don't think it's glabal warming, but moreso, global cooling...

KK

Take the new year as you wish

It's a fine line between love and hate for this time of year. Everyone is on edge while trying to have fun at the same time before they once again, begin their everyday lives. Going back to work is something that everyone tends to find scary and I assume this is because they don't want to continue with the bore of their lives.

But what I don't get is, why does everyone seem to start the year off in the same state of mind?

Home life is particulary difficult this time of year. I know that in my family, everyone like to come home and take their problems out on other family members in the comfort of their own home. There is just very little respect for each other and the best I can do is keep out of everyone's way...

There is also a lot of pressure for me to get a job, it's certainly not like I haven't been trying or want to get out there and earn money, but it simply isn't that easy...

On the positive side, I am determind to write, rescue and recover this year! I love this time of year because you can start over in a way. Its a chance for many of us to shake our heads and put a new positive twist on life. Although many of us don't take this chance...

KK

New year, slighty improved me!

Every year I say to myself, it'll be different/better/unusual/happier/more interesting, etc. Every year I vow to write a diary but I never do that either! So my point is that I will try oh so hard to keep up with my new years resolutions, goals, etc.

But I really think that trying is just part of it. You have to stay positive every second of the day...

What I'm passionate about right now!

So it's a fact that I'm passionate about life. The things that inspire me change constantly. I get a thousand ideas a day, then I've forgotten them all by lunchtime, but the ideas that have stuck with me have always been in my dreams.

I am passionate about the way I dream, about the stories in my head and the way I feel about everything. So I am really saying that I am passionate about my opinions.
The only problem is, that it takes a lot for me to talk about my opinions.... and I don't talk a lot to just anybody...

KK

Rob Lowe's Autobiography.

Okay, so when asked, most people I know, didn't know who Rob Lowe is or if they did, it was a vague memory and most of the movies they thought he was in, he wasn't. But I have always known who he was, since that fateful day in English watching the outsiders, which we never finished, so I bought the movie and fell in love with Emilio Estevez, but I, as well as everyone else in class, certainly noticed Rob Lowe.

So I have been reading his Autobiography (and yes, he did actually write every single word himself) and I found myself in another world, a world I couldn't easily snap out of like I can with most other books I've read, (although another I couldn't ironically was 'The Outsiders.') There isn't much more I can say because really you have to just read the book!!

http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Only-Tell-Friends-Autobiography/dp/080509329X

A book I've been reading.

'Lauren Conrad 'style' is such a good book, that I don't realise why it is so underrated. There is next to no information on it anywhere and I can't find it anywhere where I live, I had to get it in Brisbane. Anyway, if you don't know Lauren Conrad from the reality TV show 'The Hills,' don't go and watch the Hills because it may undermine your opinion of the whole life that Lauren Conrad has to live through, but to those of you who have seen the Hills, I think that Lauren does an excellent job being in the world she has to live in and who wouldn't admire her for that?

Anyway, the book is basically advice on style, (duh!) on Lauren's style, and boy does she know what she's talking about! Okay, so it is a little annoying having to translate the American in it and the websites that she suggests cannot be used for me anyway, but I have learnt a lot from her and i really think my clothing style has greatly proven for a change!

Anyway, read the book and let me know what you think!! http://www.laurenconrad.com/


KK

Bird sale.

On the weekend I went to the Skye Bird sale to sell some lovebirds and it really is an interesting event. We only sold 2 lovebirds, but it was good to see the atmosphere as most of the keepers and buyers were real genuine country people and there is just something about those animals lovers that makes the world a better place to deal with. Although there weren't too many Australian birds, there was enough of everything and a good variety from finches to small parrots and quails. I couldn't walk past the cocketiels and dad's friend's could walk past a bargain! A pair of yellow headed Gouldians later, dad and I collapsed on the couch and I gave a bite to eat to Adam!

KK

Adam the snake.

Well I finally have my spotted python, 'adam' named after the zookeeper I knew (see RIP Adam Ruble)and when i get the females pair, I am not calling it Eve... I am naming her after another zookeeper who was very inspirational to me at Currumbin sanctruary... and no she is not dead... that I know of and I mean that in the respectfull way. Adam and Nat, how does that sound? Anyway, Adam is doing very well and is quite happy in his new enclosure, I think he is quite spoilt actually! Photos to come...

KK

People are odd.

A word on the spotted python.

I just thought I'd chat about the Children's python I am getting at Cranbourne aquariums: http://www.aquariumsatcranbourne.com.au/index.html

The spotted python is the biggest of the Children's python growing to 1.5 metres. I actually chose my python 'Adam' (and yes I am sticking with Adam, after a keeper friend of mine - see blog post 'RIP Adam Ruble') because as young, the spotted python can be somewhat aggressive and I really wanted to learn how to handle a python if I am going to keep one.

Here is some more info if you'd like to take a look:

http://www.antaresia.com/antaresia_spotted_python.html

KK

Golden Olden Days.

Every now and then I get a nostalgic feeling, remembering when I was little and innocent. The stories that my dad and nanna tell me make me realise that those olden days were so much better, so simple and if not simple, exciting, people appreciated life, music, DIY, imagination, the outdoors, heck most things I'm passionate about!

I just hope that people can keep appreciating the moments they cherish.

KK

A word on my favourite author.

Di Morrissey is an Aussie icon with a great mind for writing. The way she describes her scenery, characters and presents the storyline is amazing! My favourites of her books (in order) are: The Valley, The Reef, Monsoon, Silent Country and the others I haven't read yet, but I'm sure they'll be high on my list!!

Anyway, here is her website, check it out and read the books, they are the best!

http://www.dimorrissey.com/

KK

a little bit of life!

I don't know how easy it is to succeed in life, I've never had too much luck at it, but I do know that living is in the journey. As long as you are satisfied when you are on your deathbed, everything was okay. No matter what your doing, take a step back, think and evealuate how good life really is!

KK

Andrew Isles natural history bookstore.

Hey guys,

Just thought I'd let you know about a great bookstore situated in Melbourne. They also send books and catologs out to you. They have just about anything to do with nature, but don't take my word for it, take a look at their site:http://www.andrewisles.com/

KK.

Save the cassowary!

http://www.savethecassowary.org.au/forward-letter.php

New day, new smile.

Sometimes you get those days where it seems like nothing too extraordinary can happen, but there's good in every day, it just depends on how you look at it. I woke up this morning feeling so lucky to just be me and I wish i could feel like this every day.

Life is like a lake...

Mysterious and misunderstood, life can be deep and dark at times and at others it can be light and beautiful. You are always surrounded by nature and can draw in and out of yourself. Day brings a cool refrehing breath of air while night brings silence and thoughts.

Life is like a lake. Enjoy it.

Getting there

Now I don't know if 'writers block' actually exists, but I haven't had the motivation to finish Heat of the Heart in... well ... years...

But never fear, I am now, somehow able to put pen to paper, (or fingers to keyboard, depending on what mood I'm in!) and write, and I seem to be doing quite a good job in getting the kind of story I want happening! YAY!

To those who know me, I am surely determind to get it done, but it has to be perfect, so here goes, I am finally going to finish this! FINALLY!!

KK

Rest in peace Adam Ruble.

The below blogs are articles which I just found about a truly wonderful human being. He had a perfect personality which could shine through anything and brighten anyones day. He was pure of heart and would do anything for anyone.

Adam was a true inspiration to me even though I only knew him for a few days while on work experience at Melbourne zoo, but he changed my life forever.

RIP Adam.

It's when terrible things like this happen to the best of us, that the world, or my world at least, pauses and seems useless.

RIP forever,

xoxo.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/18/zookeeper-killed-accident-i-15/

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Zoo-Keeper-Killed-on-I-15--114234644.html

Adam Ruble

Zookeeper freeway death accidental, officials say
By Susan Shroder

Originally published January 18, 2011 at 6:48 p.m., updated January 19, 2011 at 5:28 p.m.



Adam Ruble
SAN DIEGO — The death of a zookeeper who was struck and killed Sunday night on Interstate 15 south of Miramar Way has been ruled accidental, the county Medical Examiner's Office said Wednesday night.

Adam Livingston Ruble, 28, stopped in the center divide of northbound I-15 south of Miramar Way about 10:30 p.m. He got out of his car and "darted into the path of an oncoming sports-utility vehicle," the Medical Examiner's Office said.

Ruble, who was single and lived in La Jolla, was a senior animal keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Ruble was hired in 2005 and cared for a number of animal species, zoo spokeswoman Christina Simmons said Tuesday. He had a special interest in conservation, and in 2008 worked for three months at the Melbourne Zoo in Australia as part of a keeper exchange program.

“It was something he had always wanted to do,” Ann Minnium, a family member in New Jersey, said of the Australia trip. “He was a very sweet guy. A lovely person.”

A California Highway Patrol report said several people called 911 Sunday night to report a pedestrian being struck on north I-15 near state Route 163.

The CHP said that Ruble was struck by a 2006 Ford Expedition driven by a 22-year-old San Diego woman. She immediately pulled off the freeway and called 911, CHP Sgt. Daniel Kyle said.

Several other vehicles then struck the victim, and those drivers also stopped. No drugs or alcohol were involved, and no charges are pending, Kyle said.

An unoccupied Honda Civic was parked on the left shoulder. It was operable and had about a half-tank of gasoline, the CHP said.

In an Oct. 21, 2008, blog for the zoo’s website, Ruble said working there has “always been a dream of mine.”

He grew up in Pasadena and moved to San Diego for the zoo job after graduating from the University of Colorado, his family said. He is survived by his parents, Charles and Debra Ruble, and a sister, Mary Ruble Pichler.

A new career

Do you ever get the feeling where, you have always known what you wanted to do, but all of a sudden had an urge to change your mind entirely? No? me either... until now.

I have always wanted to work with animals, Australian animals in a zoo in particular, but now, although I see myself working with both the plants and animals of Australia, I really want to start my own business, maybe as a breeder, park owner or educate in some way.

Those who know me, know that I am a hard worker, but I can get tired quite easily... (and again those that know me will know why...) and working for myself prohibits a lot of the tiring stress associated with working for someone else.

Okay so I know that I am still a long way off from starting my own business, but it is something I would like to consider...

Please leave any comments about what you think through personal experiences, advice, etc.

thanks for reading,

KK

As someone wonderful said...

'Each day as I grow older, the nights are getting colder.' - The Four Seasons.

So we get on with it, we get wiser and tougher and 'Someday the sun will shine on me.'

I was always afraid of growing up. I'm still so young and still have so much to learn, but I also have so much to give to the world. As I follow my passions - nature, reading, writing and family among others, I realised that the passion makes us who we are and it doesn't matter how young we start, our life will always be worthwhile.

KK.