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

Toeing the Line

 I made it back out to Landy Field on a morning where I was expecting no distractions. Wrong. Little athletics training clinics were happening all over the track. Fortunately there are two throwing circles even though the little aths people were elsewhere, a professional putting coach was there and took over one ring for exclusive use.  I did try to eavesdrop and pick up some pointers however this new guy being trained was too new. It was all about technique, posture and speed, all the things I am expert at.   HaHa.  I did get a warmup exercise off them which I will try next time.  

The ring I got was covered in animal poo and silted over but it is my first session with a proper toe board in place. Hooray. I did not really jam up against it much but more sessions may tell. The pit was a gravelly rock base, not sand, so the shot got roughed up nastily.  As for distance I am still under the 10m mark and my fingers feel it. 

gravel pit

new stand

the coach ring

Flower Season

 I think Debbie's good work has culminated in a lot of budding indoor orchids. A few have popped open so I will display a sign of what's to come.  It doesn't help that I knocked the one on the table for a bit of a spill with dirt landing all over the grandies photo as well. This happened while two grandies were sitting at the table. Pa was in trouble again. Also outside, the middle courtyard is in full bloom. These always climax after Winter and last for weeks. 

outside

inside

Construction Track

 I made my way to the John Landy Track. Here are Geelong's best athletic facilities and I am expecting the toe boards to be in place as opposed to the rings where they have been removed in Barwon Heads. I checked the google satellite photos. There are lots of empty car parking bays all along the outside.  I arrived to a complete heavy duty construction zone. No carparking except what workers have grabbed at 7:00am. I parked a block away and carried the weight in a backpack.  There was obviously no access thru the main gate that I was looking at. I peered thru the fence and could see the rings. The track itself is cyclone fenced to the exact edge of the outside lane for the length of the main straight. A new grandstand is half finished. I watch as a pumping pipe is unfolded and passed over the shot put ring while it unloads it's slurry contents. There were people in there on the back straight so you can get in somewhere but I went home. Not to give up completely, I went across to the beach for yet another sandy session.

the ring is near the concrete pump

Retrievers

 One thing about running around after Grandies is that they can return the favour.  It was more of a demonstration than anything else but I got off a few beach throws the other day in between sand castles and shell walks. It all gets a bit under whelming when the first words are "that doesn't go very far."  However once they got the hang of going to retrieve it then the weight of the problem sunk in. I should probably be having a rest day however I am halfway thru the 10 week countdown and I still have not used a ring with a toe board so I had better go and find one. There are probably others out there practising full time on those. Ring envy.

Grandie Day No2

 So the ten week training countdown was going to be put on hold was it. Was there ever going to be a lull in physicality? No. Another non stop running around day made for sure that the sarcomeres were always ticking over and more.  The PortArlington playground is a fave and it is much larger than yesterdays location. One hour 0f being the desiginated chasey monster is enough runningfor the entire week. Not to forget that some quieter time was required for necklace threading. This was Nana's forté and we used some lovely holes left by the whelks and a length of tough fishing line. Three lengths for three necklaces.

sorting

threading

wearing

reading

posing

playing