Stamp News

 Nothing like a fogged in day for a stamp session or two. There will be a delivery of boxes today so I am clearing out some space. There is also the depository where unrequired stamps build up for a year or two before being stashed somewhere else out of sight.  The latest version of this weighs just under 11kg and is full to the brim. There must be at least 50,000 stamps in there. As for stamps that are required, I did find a couple of envelopes which I have kept. There is one addressed to Miss Rosemary Valintina Pereira care of the Kenya Extract Co., Colony of North Borneo.  Now that conjurs up a vision of empire and prim ladies in bamboo hats.  The other one was a letter thrown off the cruise ship ORIANA in 1975. There is an island there that collected biscuit tins, out of the water, from passing ships and delivers them to the next mail ship. The service ended in 1983 when an airstrip was built.  To quote that famous postman Newman, "The mail never stops".

OverBoots

 When is a good time to start riding after an appendectomy?  For me it was today but only for half an hour. I went down to the nearby boat harbour to check out the views.  The main problem was my fingers.  We have been dealing with a fingerologist recently who says I should get some arthiritis gloves. They keep in the warmth but allow the finger tips to protrude for activity. Now that sounds a lot like bicycle gloves and my fingers were getting numb anyway. Nothing a warm basin of water can't fix.  I also put on the overboots which helps the next part that freezes, being the toes.  You could also just wait for the Sun to come out.

Beach Comb No 488

Can't let a calm morning go without getting across with the trusty bag to pickup what ever has washed in. I need the walking as my exercise is only just starting to ramp up. I also need to get back on the bike as well.  I started this effort close by the water and squelched thru some deep wrack to get a bucket lid and a kind of a hoop to go with it. I got quite a few plastic bags in here and normally I don't go this deep. Further along it cleared out but there was plenty of lids, rope pieces and small plastics. By the time I got back the coast care guys were down getting the water quality samples from the creek and also a few floating bottles. They always appreciate my bag full of flotsam. The jetsam gets jettisoned and the flotsam just floats.

Long Travelled coat returns

 Sometime last century this coat was being worn all over the place. It got a bit ragged. The lining especially was in tatters and completely worn out from the inside.  There was hesitation about throwing it out after such good service but the outside was still ok so it was sent to Thailand for a repair job. The tricky part was finding a tailor.  Now Jill the haggler is an expert at getting the right price. So for a measly 2000 Baht, the coat was brought back to life with a silken lining.  Who says you need to buy three replacements on Temu or Amazon.

Hospital Tour

Not sure if I want to be an expert on hospitals but I can tell you what ever you want to know. I had a tour of St Vincents Private yesterday. Right from the outset you could tell that Tim was much better now than when we were in Darwin a month back. Nothing like the right medicine to get rid of the bugs. He will be here for a while yet. If you want to get into this private wing, you have to go via St Vincents Public as they have the Emergency access and the Private building does not. Not so in Geelong. I waltzed up to the front door of St John's Geelong Private and got in straight away as they have an emergency dept.  Tim was walking about giving us a tour of the place.  Saint Mary Mackillop was born in this house here and it is now a centre for abuse victims. Over here are the gardens and good for quiet reading. Here is the chapel also good for quiet time. If you can get onto health insurance from an early age then this is when it pays off.

Piano for Two

Asher has shown her prowess with the violin, moving up to solo performances on school stage this year. Now we have the all singing, all ivory tickling duo. Not sure how this was put to music. I think they found an age old tune that fitted the words from Asher's book.  Nana kept up the motivation for a bit more practice and a good showing was produced after an hour or so.  Of course the piano could do with some tuning work as it only gets a pounding when the grandies are around.  It is a magnet for them everytime.  Take a bow.

The Games

 Tried another new author, for me at least.  What are the odds of picking up a book, judging it by its cover and then finding out it has a theme around the World Cup Soccer and Australia still has at least one game to go. That's like when I read 1984 in 1984.  Here we have yet another action character who seems to be able to do everything.  You can't ask these guys what their super power is. You have to ask what is your ordinary power?  At least there were a few casualties along the way.  This was written just a few years before COVID but then again killer viruses have always been the rage.