The Masked Recliner

 Some times you just can't go passed the local pub when you are on the lookout for a luncheon. We had short notice as Ross and Franster had escaped from Melbourne so we went to lunch at the Drysdale pub. They had half meals on the menu so we each had a half parma which was just the right size and tasty as well.  The last place we went to was Mr Grubb and was not up to standard.  Fifty metres down the road was the Artisans gallery for coffee and Debbie went straight into her art class afterward. How convenient.

on roof beer tank

yet another gallery tour

masked recliner

Estelle and the Perambulator

 We don't get frost in Clifton Springs but there was some in Keilor this morning. The theory is that the Corio Bay water absorbs the cold.  It did not stop us from getting over to Nana's where Cathy had cooked up some bacon, eggs and mushrooms. That was a good breakfast.  Next stop was Estelle's house where we got down to some medical appointments. I think the walk in the sunshine cleared up any ailments that Estelle may have had lingering.  Not good about Caleb Ewen crashing out of the TDF. He will be back. 

Sun with a Halo

breakfast chef

Estelle takes a ride and she must be allowed to see faces

Asher and the Flame

Another drive to Melbourne for Asher sitting while Bianca and Daniel do their thing, like pick up their new tradie truck. We drove her over to Grandpa's for a birthday lunch and yet another candle blowing ceremony which she is getting good at now.  When we got back everyone got a snooze in the afternoon. Book reading seemed to be the popular thing this time as well as the large lego blocks.  We finished off with seniors meals at the Keilor pub. I never seem to remember I am a senior so scored the apple and rhubarb crunch for dessert. 

Easier than 86 candles

stamp collector

My New Wheels

Bellarine Tour continues

 How are you supposed to fit in 5 hours of Tour de France watching when we are doing our own Tour de Bellarine?  This tour was by car at least except for the start which was a walk along the beach to the Dell lookout and back again. We were just in time for our booking at Adina for brunch except the people on our table took their time so we had coffee while we were waiting.  It was a stroll down to the pier to check out the new ferry terminal being built there and all in good sunshine as well. On the way back we called in at the Fat Fox Gallery. We had never been in there before.  The resident artist wasn't at home but we could still look around. It's more like a tin shed and you would not be painting in here during Summer.  There was yet another stop at the Orchid Farm where much discussion was held on the ways and wherefores of orchid growing.  The last coffee was at our place with a 30 minute snooze before the Clancys headed off otherwise they would be nodding off whilst they were driving back. 

more cake

Dell view

succulent garden

pier pressure

You Yangs sailing

Fat Fox

sheep corral

Mr Grubb

 Sounds a bit down to Earth but the Oakdene Winery has closed its restaurant but still has a cafe called Mr Grubb which is still open for business.  We took some Clancys there for lunch and a quick tour of the grounds afterwards but it was a bit cool outside. Afternoon tea was at the local Artisans gallery where Debbie is doing her drawing classes.  There was another class happening involving piano maybe they were drawing one.  We have just made it back in time for  beer o'clock.

tasting

long lost riders

tall plant

Robbery Under Arms

 This book was mentioned in the 'Kings in Grass Castles'  that I finished reading recently.  Robbery Under Arms was written in 1888 under an assumed name maybe because he was a magistrate at the time. He often used real cases and cobbled them together to make this Australian Western. It has been filmed twice in 1957 and 1988 as well as a TV series. I have had this book on the shelf for 40 yar and had not read it. When I opened it there was a book mark in there from 1974 which was a ticket to the Purple & White Ball. There are names on there that I still remember such as Kevin Nippard, whose family we used to kick around with. 

 A still from 1957 later used on the cover of my edition

Beach Run

I noticed the dolphins are out and about again.  They follow fish schools and a good signal for them is the black tipped gulls which dive with a crash into the water looking for the same fish.  The last video showed them going passed and they were on a mission following those fish. I went for the beach jog again this morning as the forecast was for rain later. I survived it ok but it seems I need a week between each go plus a few stops for photos.

golden hills

wattle

This guy set up the office with laptop and coffee. I could hear every word.

Internet Day

 We have some visitors staying over again Saturday so I have washed the sheets and put them back again. Ho Hum but someone has to do it. I spent some hours on the internet checking out a few books and stamps. I ordered two books for Grandma but while I was at it added three more from the Hugo list.  I have the complete set of these from last century so can now concentrate on the more recent ones.  This order has come from the recycle book store.  I also ordered a book last year which still hasn't arrived.  The author has even chased it for me with no luck. I did get an email back yesterday, which is the first communication I've had.  They said it had already been sent but would send it again.  It's been over six months without delivery.  Hopefully the wait is worth it.

Asher Sings

Debbie has gone off to an overnight meeting but I still have a bicycle to get around on even though I only rode into Drysdale and back. I did do some work on the video camera which has been banking up for a while.  I have put together some Asher gems from the last few days. Sometimes she will ask if she can have a look at some pictures if you have your phone out. If you ask what sort of pictures she will say "Of me silly".

Fog Town to Sun Town

 Today was supposed to be a rest day but we had two deliveries. We were also considering a ride but the fog was a thick business until lunchtime.  It is interesting to hear the large ships with the foghorn blaring but looking out at a blank wall. Then in the afternoon we are snoozing with too much sunshine on the deck. Debbie spent the morning digging out the garden beds and turning in a layer of chook poo. This stuff was oozing, unprocessed, stinky bags of  crap.  I also had a delivery of a new switch. If you ever want to try a hard wired network make sure all the components are the latest.  We have been using a combination  of older and newer switches. This switch which is now in Debbie's office, removes a bottleneck by increasing the port speeds from 100 Mb/s to 1 Gb/s  a ten fold increase.  We still have old switches connected to the TV sets but they will have to do. The other thing about this one is that half the ports will deliver power (POE power over ethernet) to the device plugged in. So less power leads required and less power points.  Now I just need a gadget to power up.

poo bags only $2.50 each

squelch it in

Asher and the Pizza Box

 Just when you thought this birthday business was over there is a knock on the door at about 7:00 pm last night. There is a little girl there and she asks 'Do you want some pizza Nana?'  Well that was a surprise.  The sleeping arrangements did not quite work out with three in the bed and the other one said rollover, rollover.  Asher is going to need her own bed from now on.  So the remains of the cake was lit up with candles and the birthday song rang out again and this time Asher was not asleep. Today was more fun and games with a drive to Queenscliff for milkshakes and coffee, plus an exploration of the beach and the local park.  I am going to need two rest days after this lot.

I'll have a milkshake pardner

with a straw

beach roaming

rock climbing

Three Day Birthday

 These long birthday celebrations seem to take a minimum of three days.  We had a round of visitations to do today including lunch at the Keilor Village Hotel. Before that it was a call into Nana Beryl for morning tea then we got over to Asher's house for a short playtime before heading back to Keilor. The COVID rules are in full swing so we had to be out by 2:00pm but COVID rule number 273A states that you cannot share a cake in public.  So we went back to Asher's house to have the cake. The final visit was over to Grandpa and Grandma for the last coffee of the day but the cake that Daniel made still went down a treat for afternoon tea.   No more fo0od for today.

feeding baby pumpkin soup

laughing girls

Estelle the Leftie

 There was lots of Estelle care today with Heidi doing an online meeting that went for most of the day meaning plenty of hands on feeding with at least 4 bottles going down during the day and one huge cleanout that required a complete clothing change.  She is at the stage where she can follow faces easily and reacts with a big smile especially with the old fashioned raspberry noise.  She also goes for things with her left hand.  We have made it to the Keilor Motel and are in the up market family room which is a much bigger room complete with its own spa tub. 

robot rocker

Mt Duneed

 The wineries around here have a lot in common, Mt Duneed is a more famous one on top of a hill that also hosts large concerts like Elton John for example.  The inside is like an aircraft hanger and you would swear the vats are lined up like rocket ships ready to take off.  We had a bottle of champers with crusty salmon to start, then slow cooked lamb and barramundi for the mains. I finished off with a cappuccino and decided to skip on the dessert.  There were about 25 customers with seating for 150 while we were there so plenty of full table service to go round.   A good place to go and very easy to get to as the Geelong bypass takes you right to their front door.

A happy place

ground control

over a barrel

Roses are Orange

I snuck out while some online work was going on.  (A webinar with  an audience of 169 bookkeepers wanting to know how to neatly get rid of a pesky customer.  This was all beamed live into their work places, just like having your own TV broadcast service. Now we just have to get them to sign on to Pure Bookkeeping.) I digress.  I wanted some colourful flowers for a Winter setting to start off the birthday celebrations a bit early.  I found some orange roses that probably have an exotic name but the colour is the thing.

and they don't have thorns either

Jogger in the Dell

 Debbie has been on a sweat inducing exercise regime for the last month or so.  The outdoor section of it is a jog along the beach to the Dell, a three times circuit there including a huge staircase, a jog back and a twice repartition of the ramp up from the beach.  I have attempted to start this myself and I think the last three times within the first five steps, I have felt a foot problem. So I just stop and go back. On this occasion no foot trouble, so I managed to do the distance except for the extra loops at each end but I was happy with that.  I don't think you could call it a jog, more like an off balance forward lean but placing your feet quickly so you don't fall over. 

almost at the top

Steep Hill You Yangs

LawBreakers

 The Government might think it is a lockdown but not around here. I'm just having another whinge that we have no visitors for this long weekend, as we had to cancel them coming yet we are seeing heaps of activity in our street just like a normal long weekend. We even know some neighbours that have driven to QLD and crossed over the border there.  The birthday visitors will just have to come next weekend. At least the garden and garage have had a cleanup. We still need a council pickup to be organised but visitors can at least drive in now.  Yet more Sunset action below. It is a different show every night.

columns of shadow

Gallery & Cafe

 The only exercise I did yesterday was a roundabout walk to the letterbox. Today we got the bikes out this morning with a loop around Drysdale but detoured thru town to find the Gallery Cafe, the latest coffee stop in town. This place is all about art, from displays, shows, lessons, sales, work shops to ceramics, word working, sculpture and blacksmithing. We were looking around and decided to get a pelican painting and we were talking about how the artist had put her name on it and a voice said "I used a very fine brush".  She had come in to see how her stuff was going in this art show.  You never know who might be listening.

Last night's Mars and Moon show

The art of tea