A Deepness in the Sky

 I have had to move on to the Hugo winners from this century. There are only two from 1955 and 1960 that I still need to get from way back.  This writer, Vernor Vinge has won three times and the story lines are huge taking in galaxy wide issues over centuries of made up history. This book was the winner in 2000 and I need to get his third winner written in 2007. These are all set in the same scenario but his choice of aliens is quirky.  Last time it was hounds, this time it was spiders.  Not to be outdone, his wife also won a Hugo in 1981. Science Fiction a family affliction.  None of these have made it into film as yet. 

Qeng Ho

Another Garden Upgrade

 If you are doing a drawing and you stand back and observe it, you may decide to rub out that bit and do it again. This might take 10 minutes. If you stand back from the garden and think I might just redo that section then I can tell you it will take two days.  That's how long the latest garden tweak took. Debbie arrived with another load of stones, pebbles and plants in a dozen bags. At least it was sunny yesterday. Today was a coolish wind but the workload kept up some warmth.

yesterday

today

Auction attraction

 I have been working on a couple of auctions.  There was one yesterday and another on next Monday.  Abacus is a new one for me but their prices are up there, so I have stayed away. I like the look of their online bidding window so I will try them out next time.  As for yesterday, the Status auctions are a bit behind the times, however they have reasonable prices. They do it via intermittent email so you can only take a guess with each email as you never know what the current highest bid is. Turns out I drew level at exactly the same price with another bidder. It was given to them because they put in the amount first. I went back and looked at the passed in items and selected one of those lots for $300. It is meant to be a large box with plenty of Australian stamps.

MegaFront

 It may not be Summer but it seems like it when you consider today's perfect blue skies compared to yesterday's almost cyclonic storm front.  I have not seen the water lifted like it was yesterday. We cleared the cobwebs with a late afternoon ride .  Before that it was coordinating two separate Canadian time zone meetings and then two other Australian online meetings.  Attendances are around 50 licencees. Good thing PB was an online business well before Covid came along.

Storm Front

Nothing but blue skies

Hot House

The succulent phenomenon is being taken to the next level with the erection of the hot house. It seems the succulent fragments need to dry out so that they form a spur.  It is after the spur comes that you can stick them into the ground.  I stuck a dolphin in the ground a week back and it just shriveled.  The HH could be a good spot for the strawberries particularly over Winter, as right now we have huge plants out the back but in total Winter shade. PS those ducks from yesterday followed me home.

complete with trays of succulent stubs

SunSet No 4612

Quackers

Windy CleanUp

Went down to the beach to check out if anything much had been blown in after last weeks wind and wet. I was expecting the usual pile of seagrass but it was not as large as I have seen previously.  If you kick out part of a pile, when it drys, breezes will continually remove it.  As for rubbish I got a haul consisting of a cap, a small shovel, small papers and two chunks of rope. There were only two dogs for a change and also two ducks. Never seen ducks there before but they found a pool of water.

Last night's hole in the clouds

Ducking for cover

The haul

Curtain Call

 We had the curtain man here for a blind audit or is it a blind man for a curtain audit. In either case it is the best $50 we have spent for a while.  He repaired two curtains that were hanging from their rails, including the spare parts, as well as improving every other curtain track with a silicon spray. Not to mention replacing many of the plastic doodads which were brittle and breaking as he went.  He was here for over an hour so we gave him an extra $20 for the visit.  Might need him back some time. 

This guy draped himself all over the place

Canola Gay

 The rain is back this afternoon however before that we got the bicycles out for a circuit around Drysdale.  We need to make a few more adjustments to get it to 20km on a paved surface.  Doing 20km on dirt is easy to find around here, although the rail trail was more like a lake when we crossed over it today. We went via the canola field which is hard to miss.  Most likely this one will end up subdivided.

end of the line

Yellow Yangs

Growth Spurt

 We ventured out between squalls.  I'd almost forgotten what wearing a japara was like, its been a while since I have done any bushwalks.  The veggies have gotten bigger in the last few weeks and we have lemons as big as footballs. On the distant paddocks there has been a vivid change of colour with the canola really standing out.

Coat Mask

cool cauli

Canola 1

Canola 2

Weather for Dolphins

 I never did get to ride today. We have one of those outside weather sensors and right now at 3:00 pm it is 8° and probably will only go lower from there.  The wind has stopped after three days but the rain has set in.  The garden succulents seem to like the rain and come in many shapes and colours. The newest one here is dolphins.  They are still in the pot although I stuck one in the ground which had broken off.

A passing storm

Emerging Sun

Dolphin close up

A pot of dolphins

Long way to the letterbox

The wind is the worst kind of weather and we have had plenty of it for three days. Our glass doors struggle to keep it out. I was thinking of a ride to get outside but it was a nonstop gale. Instead I took the long way to the letterbox down a couple of side streets. There are still a few empty blocks near here that are probably going cheap. I'll try a ride tomorrow if the wind dies out a bit. 

wind blown sunset

I meant to put a more readable version of this yesterday

Letter Writing

 I found an example below of what people used to do years ago eg letter writing. This woman is writing in 1980, from New Zealand, to say she is sorry she can't write because she is so busy, even though she is writing to say that!  It is an international aerogram form with postage attached. Those NZers also had a concept of Health Camps where the money from certain stamps funded the camp.

Running with necktie

Who is Annette?

Wet

 The rain has been steady all day so more time for online activity. The card school has been growing and it may be possible to get two games going at some stage. The players are now spread across Victoria, NSW and Queensland. At least it is the same time zone for now. We usually have a Grand Final gathering here but that wont be happening this time. There is debate about Geelong wanting to play the Grand Final. Weird if the game were to be played here but no one could make it to our house. Who knows what type of restrictions will be on for October 24.

Not a very good hand

 

Beach Wader

 I went into the water again for some exercise. I will bring my goggles next time, as by the time I get to the far end I am mostly all wet anyway. I brought the go pro along and managed to catch a glimpse of some ray action before they zipped off.  I have to reacquaint myself with its buttons every time after a layoff.  Some how I took a video in time lapse as I was making my way to the far groyne. I have tried to slow it down to see if it makes any sense.  When I was walking back to my bag a large explosion shook the beach complete with a mild shock wave.  There was a family further along who felt it as well. A large cloud was drifting up over Avalon which I have seen before during the air show. I assume this time was a plane disaster drill of some kind.

10 Kilograms

 I have been using spare time to check through the contents of my last stamp delivery which came at the start of Winter.  I guess this Winter had more spare time than any previous one. The delivery consisted of shoe boxes and chocolate boxes. The interest and more valuable content is in the smaller boxes. I still have two of those to go but there are no more larger ones where the duplication has been and besides the tub I allocated is crammed and weighs just under 10 kilograms. Nothing else will go in.  I just opened the next to last small box. Already I can see mint copies of Australian stamps back to the 1920s.

George V 1930

Getting this down to the garage was tricky

Dolphins

 I have been trying to get those elusive dolphins on record for two weeks. Very slippery submariners. It's like they are hiding on porpoise! There were a couple of boats to give me pointers this time as they were all trying to get the same fish. Not sure how close boats are allowed but then they love to do that bow wave surfing.

Point Lonsdale

 We can now use the Point estate as a thru way to get to Point Lonsdale.  We haven't ridden there for a year or so. The only change is the Lighthouse which is having some maintenance, including a paint job. There is a bunker down below that has been renovated which held a wartime search light.  We stopped for takeaway focaccia lunch and coffee.  It is still a busy spot and we must have encountered well over 100 bikes in our 23km ride. 

The Rip

A searching time

Our scaffolding was $1500 for two weeks painting

A Passel of Trouble

 I have not checked the video for a while. There were numerous attempts at filming dolphins, all of which missed the target. I got the barrel fields, I got the shags and I got a pelican but the dolphins were always just out of shot.  There were other odds and ends but the thing I had forgotten was the opossums. So when they are very young they are opossums and when they get bigger they are joeys and all together they are called a passel.  The sounds they make are the weird thing.

                                                           The den was on the outside wall 

Sleeping Duck

 Debbie ordered a new mattress on the recommendation of Daniel and Bianca.  If it's good enough for them then it's good enough for us.  I nearly asked the guy to take it back. We ordered a mattress not a book shelf. And when it was labelled Duck, I was more confused.  After much cutting and endless plastic the thing sprung into shape.  There were numerous questions about how much we weighed, what ailments we had, preferred sleeping position etc. Now we just have to see if we can sleep on it.

Upright

Flat Out

Winter Veggies

 There has been debate here about the best place for the on going veggie patch.  It seems the Winter Sun is still required for the Winter vegetables but there does not seem to be much difference in growth rates between the plot that has more Sun and the one that has less.  There has been plenty of green growth everywhere in the types you pick, like spinach but also where you want less leaves, like cauliflower and broccoli. These last two are minuscule and have been for months.  They almost got pulled out last month but got a stay.  At least you can recognise broccoli in the photo.

This is meant to be a cauliflower

Broccoli on the stem

Courtyard grid

 I have a before and after set of photos here showing the removal of a grid of beams over the courtyard area.  We have had a quote to mount an extendable shade on the wall above the door meaning the structure had to go.  We have to get them out again to see if the remaining beam is suitable for mounting the  new shade.  So far the covid closures have not stopped this kind of work.

Last night's Sunset

The Point

What is the Point?   It is a housing development that has been building for 10 years and we have never bothered to check it out.  It comes with a cafe that we tried for some takeaway lunch and coffee.  Also has good homemade pies and pasties.  This estate is one of those water frontage designs, although you cannot bring a boat in via the water but there is plenty of paddling to be done.  We stopped at a house that said dressmaker who sells masks. So now we have designer masks which are all the rage.  We finished off with an hour on the deck in the sunshine.  The rest of the week may not be so sunny.

Water Front Cafe

Good paths at the point

Designer Masks

StagFern return

 The Sunshine is back today after two days of rain.  We were waiting for some drier conditions before tackling the stagfern yesterday. Late in the afternoon it stopped but the fern was still heavier with rain and possums. In trying to get it down it just fell onto the ground which we have had before with the bigger ones from sheer weight.  The possum took a scare and hitailed it to the next stagfern but disappeared along the fence.  The fern has been hollowed out and the backing board largely destroyed by the possums and the rot. We took it to the fern doctor today who said it was bruised but savable and would meditate on how best to bring it back to life for roughly $50 max.  We continued to Port Arlington for the takeaway coffee. Walking with mask is a pain. I will stick to riding without mask from now on.

The Fern Doctor cut down four massive trees because of Possums

the hollow with entrails

The fern doctors surgery

This pier is going to get a covered upgrade

Possum Den

 We have had night time goings on here.  The court yard has had one of the chain of hearts hanging baskets continually raided for materials which has almost killed it off.  Recently there must have been a birthing because chirpy chirpy cheap cheap could be heard thru the walls, we thought maybe within the walls but we have tracked down the lair to inside a fern.  There have also been roof noises but not sure if that is connected.  We have just spotted the mother inside the fern which may explain why the roof is quiet. 

Those beady eyes

Awkward Orchid

 The wind can blow here, perched where we are and today it is blowing.  It is reaching down the side and into our courtyard where I have been checking daily, on the progress of an orchid bloom which is taking forever to open. The plant has teetered three times off it's base with the wind so we have abandoned the feet until we can find a fourth one. The other orchid success has been in bloom for four weeks. We had our garden man around yesterday and he was impressed with Debbie's garden skills. He says we can immediately add a minimum $30,000 to $40,000 to the house value.  Just heard a crash. The pot has been blown onto its side now. Damn wind.

Bloom 1

Bloom 2

This guy was looking at me at my desk

This orchid is having a tough time.