Fruit Cake Biscuits and Olives

 We gathered at Estelle's house for another birthday offering. It was a wet but social weekend as the previous evening the Clancy's travelled over to Willie for a visit as well. It is all part of the Timmy rehabilitation, get driving, get moving, get active and give cancer the flick. Back at Estelle's house it was crazy games before other guests arrived like the Taylors.  It was at least an hour of frog flicking, scrawny chicken throwing and uppy uppy.  The high tea event was held with various birthdays in mind. The Taylors brought two jars from the 20 odd kilos of olives that came off our tree. These have been labelled as of 5 months ago so we might let them soak a bit longer.  The dessert featured an Estelle inspired cake as well as fruit cake shaped biscuits. That's different. A tour of the agriculture revealed blossoms on the orange, lime and cherry trees, As well as blossom on the passionfruit vines. The in ground plot has carrots (very crunchy, and must be grown from seed) and corn amongst the usual vegies.  There are plans for a hot house. These guys will never need to go to the shops.

frogger

chicken toss

fruicuits

Winter Returns

 We are at Willie today and I have been wanting to try the ring here.  The rain refuses to stop but I checked the radar and it seemed that the intense parts had passed over and it was going to ease. If an earthquake is not going to stop me then surely this weather can't. I drove over to the track in a deluge, so much for the easing part. The place was deserted and soggy. Just walking from the car to get my backside trackside meant I was soaked. There was no chance and with a gathering this afternoon it will have to wait til another day.  Maybe we can call it slosh and toss.

Wet Sky

 We have not seen the Sun for two days now so that means it's stamp weather. Actually any day can be a stamp day but even more so in the wet. I have been dismantling an old album from Germany, printed in 1928. One of my collecting guidelines is just about anything from the 1800's, especially from a place where I have no previous knowledge. Just like the separate states here before Federation, German states ran their mail service with their own stamps, like Baden, Hamburg and Bergedorf. They also repeated the same stamp designs for world domination, as did the British, as did the French. Those Europeans!

Wet Session

 The general rule is that athletic competitions continue regardless of the weather. With that in mind I ventured across for a throwing session in the rain. It was very calm with a light warm rain so couldn't be that bad.  I can tell you that wet sand sticks to everything. I still spent 20 minutes doing a few throws all around 9 to 9½ metres but with a grimy, slippery pill.  There was some boisterousness during the night after this photo was taken. As I walked passed the viewing bench, I could see a broken bottle with glass spread all around.  I took a detour back for gloves and a broom to get all that up off the ground. That seat is a stop off for maybe 50 people per day. 

last night with viewing seat occupied

next morning

dirty deeds done dirt deep

Emerge

 This is a new restaurant for us and it is right in heart of Geelong with good car parking right next door.  If you had any doubts about what type of food is featured in this one then when you walk in the door to be greeted by a massive meat locker, with slabs of cow hanging there then the steak house vibe is confirmed.  I had the ribs which was a large cow bone cooked for 14 hours. They also had some exotics like barbecued croc and Moreton Bay bugs. We washed it down with some champers and an espresso martini.  No room for desert though.  We walked it off with a short session in the shops, with my new UGGs and a satchel. 

set at 5°

chicken roulade, ribs, beef wellington and a faux pas

coffee floaters

Lemon Spears

 Yes this lemon tree does not have prickles, not even spikes, it has spears. These pointers can pierce your gloves as well. I did an initial attack trying to get the vertical skyscrapers back under control. There are still more to do and will need another go. This time around we will go into the centre to cut out the chaff so to speak. There is a lot of spindly green growth and old growth in a crowded under carriage. I put 12 lemons out the front yesterday and one couple took eight of them. The older one goes "These are grapefruit."  I have another 30 lemons now but have only put half out. I need to recover from the puncture wounds. How do possums avoid getting stabbed? I notice they have only been gorging on fruit they can reach from the fence.

sharp

Floaters Retrieval

 The other day we were on a shell walk and found a couple of plastic bags half floating half submerged. The grandies were up in arms that bags could be tossed into the water.  I went looking for those bags again and managed to find both but this time stranded by a lower tide. I also got numerous butts and other bags and papers. There was also a tennis ball, plastic cup, lots of small rope pieces and plastics. Right on the shoreline there was  one ugly critter that had washed up with an elongated body and a circle of suckers at one end. The Port Phillip Bay taxonomy Toolkit suggests it might be a Shorthead Lamprey. 

reef rocks are being exposed more

Shorthead Lamprey ?

dodgy bridge