Main Street Update

We started the puzzle two weeks ago after setting up the new table. A blindman could see it wasn't finished and could not really be moved and another blindman said bad luck you have to move it anyway so I can get at your blinds. I would say we have done one third in the two weeks. As for actual time spent it varies each day but the maximum for a day would be no more than an hour. I have also found that the time of day makes a difference.  If you try at late afternoon with angled sunlight then it is much harder to see the details.  There are five puzzles in this series.  I don't think we need them.

Main Street

Final Olive Countdown

 It fined up this morning so there was a chance to finish off the olive plucking.  We got the blindman over to see what he could do about most of our drapes which are in various states of engineering entanglement. While he was doing that I ventured outside for the final roundup.  This time the wind was up but I needed to push on. These were generally the harder to get at olives which means climbing into the tree. Now when you are standing on branches and the wind is swaying them, don't look down. It's not so bad as the fruit is right in your face so that is where the action is. If you have never climbed a tree then what are you waiting for.  The last bucket load meant a total of 32kg for this harvest. With Anna taking 18kg, we will have 14kg left to take to the share table. 

The track has been taken away for repairs on this one.

Drizzle Ride

 I have been testing the elbow for grip strength with shorter rides in the last two days. My gripping is arthritis effected on the best days. Pro riders have been banned from puppy paws style of riding but I have always needed to keep holding the bicycle. The rain across at the You Yangs was light so I figured I could do a short 10kms without getting wet. Wrong. I did dry off by the time I got back.  The nearby school had all the kids outside running in the wet so what do I know. I have been taking a dirt path lately and found a tree straight out of Disney's headless horseman film. 

Wet You Yangas

Halloween tree

Stolen Bird Returned

 Debbie was gazing out the front and spotted our bird back in its rightful place. Hooray, the bird knappers have relented. They stalked the stork, peered on the peron, heard the bird, regret the egret and now have released the beast. Then it flew away. How Cool and in our front yard.  Meanwhile, in the backyard, we also have a good showing of orchids coming out, at least 10 so far. Also the fridge has been cleared of olives, so that will keep Anna busy for a while and finally, the canoe is going to another home, somewhere where they can fit into it.

Dry Path Wet Sand

 We solved the world's problems around the dinner table as well as a game of Sequence, so all is well. The rain eased in the afternoon, so Anna tested her knee with a walk down the ramp and across to the end of our beach. I can confirm that nothing much was washed away and the diversion along the rock wall held firm with a huge dirt soaked bloom spreading out beyond into the bay.  The Sunset proves that most of the wet stuff has passed through.  Maybe I can get the last of the olives today.

Wet Day In

This is the second day of heavy rain here. The garden beds are getting a good soaking after five months of not much rain.  I have put the olive picking on hold for the last two days so when Anna arrives a bit later I have left a nice area on the tree for her to pick in the pouring rain. (I don't think so.)  In any case there is a good amount for her to take from the fridge right now.  As for indoor activities our jigsaw has had a few pieces added but I was mostly giving attention to tax returns and stamp collecting.  I saved them up for this rainy day.  I found a Queensland stamp worth over $800 this morning.

Note the precise date and cursive style initialed by HB over 131 years ago

Latest Swim Score

 Over the years I have not really been tracking the latest day in the season where I have done a snorkel. So yesterday was a proper swim not just a quick dip. I got the snorkel gear and went hunting for fish to photograph. The water is getting cooler. It turns out that it was too windy really for good viewing. Waves were slapping me and just to make sure you get the message that it is a bit rough, a large blue barrel from the oyster farm, jagged free and went floating passed on its way to the shore.  It seemed to be heading for the Dell.  Maybe I should follow up on that.  In our first year or so here, there were at least three barrels rolling onto our beach but none since then.

bobbing blue barrel

Where to store them?

 Another day another hour in the tree.  One bucket full of olives is pretty standard at 8 kilos, so that makes for 24kg in total but now the cool storage is starting to get tight.  The drinks fridge has quite a few drinks in there which means we have an excuse to drink them. One spot I have not used before and is relatively empty is the small bar fridge.  The top shelf has now got about 6 kilos.  There are often interruptions with the neighbours. A good crop, mine have all gone ripe, mind that ladder etc.  The side walk supermarket has taken a new twist. While chatting about the olives a request was made to go search around for the lost remote. She took our old TV but there was no remote. I wonder if it will go back on our nature strip if I can't find it.

An Outdoor Day

 It was a bit windy in the morning when I went across for a rubbish roundup at 11:00am and I wish I had brought the snorkel. The breezes were light on the beach and the water was high and clear.  A ray had washed up and as I was wading further out a school of small fish were jumping out of the water. All very idyllic. Someone has left a kids bike behind. How can you misplace a balance bike?  The rubbish bag was mostly empty except for a lot of ciggy butts, all washed along the tide line by those bored fishermen.  When I got back, the olive tree beckoned. I was able to get down a bucket load adding another 8 kilos to the total so far.

it is not a dinosaur print

ladder work

bucket loads

Olive Alive

 We have observed olives scattered about the drive way so olive time is nigh. It was supposed to be a rest day today but the Sun came out so I went into the tree for an hour or so. I did an area of the tree that is North facing, as those olives have been ripening the most.  It was starting to get too warm so I finished off with a brimming bucket full weighing 8 kilos.  The start of the pick depends on the weather and the overall Summer we have had which I think has been warmer than the last 3 or 4 years.  We took the entire top off the tree during Winter and there has been good growth there but no olives to be seen.  Despite this I think there will be a good crop of big plumpers via the lower parts from what I have seen so far.

Last Egg Delivery

 Yes the last thing kiddies need today is more chocolate but there it is, we had four carry bags of Easter Earnest still to hand out so we drove across to Collendina for a visit.  This time, having our car, we breezed thru the boom gate, although it was mayhem getting out, as it was right on 10:00am exit time. Those 40 or 50 extra caravan sites setup for "vans on wheels"  were very full. Back at the main van it was business as usual, with morning tea and grandie games. There was also an hour at the playground where most of the time was in the sand pit. 

PS. Our postal votes are now in the mail so that has to be a record for getting that chore crossed off.

paper play - no choco

sand scene - no choco

tea cup

3 2 1 Eggnition

 I had forgotten about the early morning start but 6:15am wasn't too bad considering the long day yesterday.  The Bunny had been busy around here with eggs being dropped off but also a mug for hot chocolate. There were many eggs and we are still finding them two hours later. Unlike her QLD cousins who seem to be devouring chocolate, Estelle has not eaten a single egg so far and she has found at least 40 of them.  It seems the fun is in the finding not the eating.  Maybe Bunny might leave a few less next year.

Big Easter Day Out

 This was bigger than we thought.  The actual egg hunt was staged every half hour for the whole day and was done according to ages.  There was silver foil all down the rows of grape vines and chocolate was consumed for the next few hours. Which allowed time for face painting, petting zoos and jumping castles. Not to forget two different bands being Mik Maks and Is Don. The kids band and the adults band. The singer here reminded me of the Collendina days when the Old Rockers Who Never Die were around.  Then it was off to Collendina for another two hours of water bombs, bicycles and numerous changes of clothes.

Glamping - Not

pre hunt pose

booty

Mik Maks

Rabbit face

Vannin

Giant Jenga Jangles Jauntily

 It was a heavy case but when I got it out there was great excitement mostly from James who is going to make a version of his own Giant Jenga.  There was general madness for quite some hours swapping from the piano to the Jenga to the floor games and back again all while wearing Bunny ears. The fish took a while in the oven and we had to negotiate the bones but it was as good a job as "Strick& Fran" could do. Now it is off to the Egg Hunt. Not sure if wineries at 9:00am is a good thing.

jenga

were all ears

madness

tinkling

Estelle Beach runner

It was a warm 2 hours spent over at our newly cleaned beach with Estelle.   She went the furthest out we have ever seen and there was a little bit of choppy stuff to deal with as well.  Then there was the rocket whistler throwing game and finally the beach sprints. It was like holding our own surf competition.  The older they get the more physical it seems to be. The Sun did not really appear much but it was pleasanr enough. Back on dry land Debbie and Heidi are preparing the snapper Debbie caught at the shop. Those fins are tough to cut off. The "Back to Basics"  youtube channel does it way easier. They probably have sharper knives.

snapper

caught

howzat

Can't See Grass

 Wonders will never cease. For the first time ever the council got all the equipment down here for a seagrass cleanup.  I asked the tractor man 'What's up Doc? and he said they wanted it done before the Bunny came.  I knew those bunnies were good for something.  We went across after they finished to find a pristine surface. There are some clumps of salt bush they dodge but you can't have everything. We started tossing some grass balls back into the scrub but otherwise it was very clean. The water temperature is still good for a swim.

in flight

Two Week Wait

 It's been two weeks since this elbow problem and sitting around is hard work.  Just like the Doc predicted the swelling has disappeared and scabs have started peeling off my elbow this morning. (Too much info!) This bursitis thing is a crazy business.  I got on the bike to test it out on a 10km shortened loop.  I went on a slightly different path like up the dirty side of Griggs Creek for example and doubled back on Jetty Rd all the way down to the Jetty again. So far so good but we are going over to the beach this arvo so a swim will be another test.

Griggs Creek lagoon

Puzzler

From time to time we get the jigsaws out and give them a try. Williamstown has a few in the library and the locals have a jigsaw puzzle library around here somewhere. Our beach friend Jill has a table setup for puzzling and this morning Debbie brings a new table home just for puzzling on.  Recently Grandpa bought a specifically designed foldout puzzle desk, so its seems you are definitely into retirement when you have a dedicated table. I remember doing the largest puzzle ever during COVID which may have been 2000 pieces and needed the whole of the billiard table.  Puzzling is good for mental health so we will be having jigsaw sessions for brain gain.

Leaning Jowler

 Did somebody say Pass the Pigs?  I heard this in conversation recently and in one of the drawers we were rummaging thru there were the Pigs.  We have had Uno out on the deck and also the longtime favourite Question & Answer section from the WeekEnder.  This time we revisited the Pigs and took sometime to remember the various positions, even requiring constant reference to the diagrams, with arrows and circles on the back of each one.  Not sure if this can be unleashed on 4 year old Grandies, maybe 6 year old Grandies is OK.  There is one thing we can get out this Easter which seemed to be a winner at the Angler's tavern last week, which is Giant Jenga blocks.

Sidewalk Shopping

 We have not availed ourselves of the twice yearly rubbish removal that the council provides. It is a personalised service whereby you notify them, pick a week and they will come to your door with your own rubbish truck.  So before we went off to the beach we had to scramble to get the pile moved from the garage out onto the nature strip.  We should do it more often but it takes us a while for the accumulation. I went upstairs to get the phone for a photo of the pile. I swear it was only 10 minutes or so and when I got back down the nicely boxed old TV had already gone. It still worked and I think the remote was in the box. How did they know? I did see a guy watching us put the stuff out. 

cables,keyboards,suitcases,umbrellas,vaccum,trellis,TV

Santa Casa

 It was a North wind and fairly strong however along the road to Queenscliff, where the peninsula narrows, a high ridge of dunes crops up.  The beach on the other side here is shielded from a North wind so we checked it out yesterday. There is also the passing large ship traffic which is always entertaining. Being a Sunday and also school holidays there was quite a crowd but with plenty of space to spread out. We put up a wind break for the first time in ages and the water temperature is still pleasant enough. This must be getting close to the last beach day this Summer.