Nerd Alert: RAID array

OK you dont have to read this...
BUT I have just finished setting up my RAID array for my desktop at home!
It's been sat around for 6 months and because I took the cheap route with the backplane (the box on the top) it took a lot of messing around.
It has 5 SCSI hard drives in it but acts like 1 drive for your computer so it is very fast and if one of the hard drives fizzle it just carries on, you just replace the dead drive. So I have got ½ terabyte of fast disk.
'So what am I going to use it for?' I hear you ask...
Well the first database I have loaded is the whole of the english wikipedia which I have loaded into SQL Server. In a raw version it is 25 gigabytes.
Next I need to get my spider crawling =)
Well I did warn you and it was up to you to carry on reading! :P

Who needs a gym membership...

I have had many doubters about getting this stump out of the ground. It has taken a lot of digging, sawing and gritting of teeth but I've got it out!!
Its an old hardwood tree stump that has been there since the house was built I guess but it was in the way of the water tank we want fitted.
So before you say (I have had many commentators):

1. a stump grinder is a very big bit of machinery and we would not have been able to get it up to the stump
2. the little chainsaw I have got cuts in 2cms and then just smokes
3. burn it out? nah after 1 day of hot coals I reduced it by 1mm on one side =(
4. chain around car/motorbike? After hearing 'Darwin awards' stories of various deaths by 'car and chain...' i didn't think it was worth it.
5. how are you going to get it out of the hole? Luckily we had two strapping lads staying with us who needed to test their manhood and help out an old fella.

So next thing is to prepare the ground for the 12000 litre water tank :D

They're baaaaack!

Bush rat?
Originally uploaded by Mistress B

Having been so rudely evicted from their comfy home in the basement, our rodent house guests are back - this time they've taken up residence in the roof and have been making regular, brazen forays around the house.
But I'm revising my first claim that these are bush rats - I now think they're antechinus, which is kinda cute except for the whole 'eating electrical cable' thing.
However, as cute, native and precious as these little critters are, their eating habits do not lend themselves to happy coexistence in our house, so I'm looking into trapping and releasing them elsewhere.

Meet the family

Meet the family
Originally uploaded by Mistress B

These are my newly-discovered third (or fourth?) cousins from Hungary - Mate and Balazs, who are visiting Australia. Lucy met these guys when she visited Hungary years ago but she was the first to make contact. It's quite amazing to meet an entirely new branch of The Family ... just when you thought it was safe to come out of hiding, there are MORE Nogradys! Except, they spell it Nogradi - just to confuse you.

Vege garden-to-be

Vege garden-to-be
Originally uploaded by Mistress B

It might not look like much, but this mess of mud, wood and shredded plant bits is the product of some serious labour on Phil and my part over the past few weeks.We've weeded, hacked out tree stumps, dug out weeds, dug out more weeds, chopped down weeds and basically done nothing much more than weed. I have developed a profound and passionate loathing for the following plants: cotoneaster, montbretia, holly, honeysuckle, radiata pine and English ivy.
With the help of some bush rock and major earthmoving, this scene of carnage will soon be a nicely terraced vegetable garden.
For those who've ventured up the back garden, this photo was taken standing behind the compost bins looking back up the hill.

Nan and Pa

Nan and Pa
Originally uploaded by Mistress B

Nan always loved the Blue Mountains, and she and Pa had their honeymoon up here more than half a century ago. So we, their descendants, felt it was very appropriate that their final resting place be in the mountains, and even more so that it be surrounded by ferns, grevilleas and banksias in one of their grandkid's gardens (namely ours).
It's quite comforting pottering around the garden knowing they're there - I say hello occasionally and maybe it's just my imagination, but I feel them there. And with Nan's incredible green thumb, I can't help but think the plants in the area are going to flourish!