I watched Dr Harry the other night and decided to introduce myself to the dog next door. I called it and crouched down near the fence so as to appear non-threatening and held out my closed fist for it to sniff. It sidled up inch by inch and seemed friendly, ears back, tail wagging. I felt quite triumphant... it hardly barked at us at all that day. Will keep you posted on how the relationship develops.

The other amazing thing I saw at the Biennale the other day was a work called 'Asian field' which was described to me as 'earth made conscious'. In the upstairs room of Pier 2/3 180,000 clay figures stand staring at you. They are stylised and have a head and body and only eyes. They are only about 10 or 15cm tall. They were made by 350 odd people from China - whose portraits are shown in the next room. I was struck by the smell of earth that wafted towards me as I gazed out over the multitude of clay figures. It seemed as if they were asking me a question...waiting for a response of some kind. It made me think of the earth as a conscious being, with an awareness of our tread upon it and our shaping of it. I've been wanting to create something out of the clay dug up from our driveway and so was inspired to create a few figures of my own - here they are...

Here are photos of the driveway taking shape - I like the way it curves off to the right - and the hole where the drainage pits are to go and the rejected pre-cast pits sitting all forlorn in the front garden...

Well, I've been talking to the resident dog expert at work and it seems there are a few options in handling the dog situation:
(a) ignore it
(b) talk to it in a friendly voice but don't approach the fence
(c) actually meet it face to face with L. on its home ground when the neighbours are there
(d) befriend it and take it for walks - it is obviously bored silly!

At the moment I am doing a combination of (a) and (b) and encouraging L. to wave hello when it appears by the fence. Perhaps I'll work up my courage and graduate to (c) and then maybe even (d)! I've noticed that when I do talk to it, it stops in its tracks as if surprised and waits there, listening - so perhaps it is receptive on some level.

The devil's advocate has taken human form in our friendly local council inspector. He has decided, apparently on a mere whim, to play havoc with the drains on our driveway. The council had already approved pre-cast concrete pits for drainage along the driveway, but he is now insisting that they be pulled out and that fresh concrete be poured in-situ. He maintains that the pits will be stronger this way. He wants to be present at the pouring of the concrete - I'm wondering if we should arrange a pouring ceremony...? I can just see him, hard hat perched on his head, pulling smugly on his grey beard as the cement mixer churns its load into the ground. We are helpless in the face of this whimsical beaurocrat - our builder even went over his head to plead our case but was told to do as the inspector wants. Ever since we declined his suggestion to move the driveway over to save some of the trees earlier in the piece he's had it in for us. He's threatening to make us widen the driveway as well...

On a lighter note - we have had the pleasure of being sacked by our cleaners! Fortunately it has nothing to do with the state of our living quarters. However they have said in no uncertain terms that they won't put up with the umming and ahhhing and postponements we've put them through over the last two months - due to the builders' uncertain appearances and the ever-widening mudbath circling our house. "It is just too disruptive" they declared! So we have to say goodbye to the cheery husband and wife team for the moment. Maybe we can woo them back once the dust has settled...

Yesterday P. and I visited part of the Sydney Biennale exhibition at Whard 2/3, Walsh Bay. Here is a snap of a piece called 'The noise of light' - it consists of a huge chandelier that has been hooked up to ten generators. The generators are powered up every half hour and I was impressed by the practised pull the exhibition staffer performed to start them up while we were there. As she went around the circle, different sections of the chandelier lit up and the layers of noise built up - not to mention the petrol fumes. It brought a nostalgic tear to our eyes as we remembered the not-too-distant days of our lives with the generator...

The road base has now been laid on the driveway and it is definitely taking shape. Last night on his way to our house to babysit, Dad nearly fell over a large hill of gravel that was lying in wait for him just beyond the street lights. Luckily he had thought to bring a torch along for the trek.
When I went out to put the hens away I had a look around and found a few thoughtful (!) mementos left by the builders - a chocolate wrapper and two soft drink bottles strewn on the ground...

Our telephone lines though connected (according to Telstra) are not communicating, so we have fallen back on our mobile phones for the moment. As I greeted the Telstra man on Tuesday morning he looked a bit puzzled and said 'We were supposed to put in a telephone line, but there is no house!' I put him straight and told him we needed a new connection for the existing house not the yet-to-be-built house. Relieved he declared - 'We'll see what we can do for you...' That was the last I heard from him and I didn't see what happened after that as I was ensconsed in the house with L. for most of the morning. When the time came for the 12.30pm appointment with the photographer and then went and I still hadn't heard from her by 12.45, I thought to check the telephone and sure enough there was no signal. So I quickly grabbed the sling and L. and strode up the driveway to see if I could find her. Luckily she was still waiting in her car around the corner. So we had an impromptu viewing of the photos over the boot of her car. I fear we may have gone overboard in the ordering - 13 photos in all - but it was so hard to choose! I really fell for the collage compositions and we ended up with 3 of these at $50 each!

I have been staying awake at night worrying about the dog next door jumping over the fence. Mum told me that she and S had seen it standing on top of a section of fence that is covered with ivy, ready to jump down into the front yard until they scared it away. It is a young border collie and while I usually like these dogs - this one strikes me as wild and dangerous. When I first saw it the other day and went up to the fence to say hello, it cringed and moved away from me, as if in fear. Then as I ignored it and continued on my way, it stalked along behind the fence. I saw it bark and run at the hens (the wire fence between them) who squawked and fluttered in fright. When I looked at it from a distance it just stood there staring and then started to bark and growl. I am worried about the hens but I am also worried about the babies. L is now afraid of the dog - having seen me give a start when it barked at us - I can just imagine it terrorising him and the hens. Even if we fill in the gaps above the fence where the ivy is (this section is quite low) it could still come around from the street and down our driveway. Will have to be careful about not leaving the babies and chickens on their own for too long.