I Robot Cleaner

 Isaac Asimov will be turning in his grave to think that his robotic services of the future have been turned into a vacuum cleaner.  This thing does have a mind of its own, just let it go and it will find its way around and cleanup your mess as well.  It can't climb the stairs so I'll have to do that with a broom. How antique. Now we have to see if there is a robot lawn mower, surely there must be one of those around.  I just cleaned out its receptacle after the first full go and there was dirt.  Good Robot.

Swimming Track

Went for another short walk, this time to the far end of the second rock groyne. From here I can see that last year's grass beds have been stripped away by wind and wave action. This could make for more open snorkeling and easier to see the way, without the deep green background.  I did the old cut the centre out of the birthday cake and close the two halves trick. You wouldn't even know it was sampled. Very tasty as well.

heavy heavy mattress in a box

spider body cake

only one small patch but it grows quickly

Beach Report No 402

 We had some deliveries earlier one of which was another of those 60+Kg mattresses.  This is the 2nd Sleeping Duck that we have received and this one is going upstairs.  I noticed that the other birthday boy used a chain block recently to move a massive wardrobe to the 2nd floor. We do not have that option so the tussle using muscle is the only way up. In the afternoon I wandered over to the beach. The jellyfish have come in, which I haven't seen for a year or so. There were only 5 or 6 but they were huge and stranded on the sand.  One guy come up to me all excited about the Annaconda Races I did some yar ago. He was reading my shirt.  Always pays to bring out those event T-shirts from time to time.

Team Sarcomere 2006

Team Windemere 2006

Sun Seat

 About 4:00pm we wandered across to the beach with a towel mainly for sitting on, not drying on. However it was too tempting to not try a paddle at least. The water was cool and you quickly got used to it.  There were plenty of others in the water and it had become very clear in a short time from the other day. Two pelicans were balanced on a pole just down the way. 

Sept 27th officially recorded in the water

Disinfect

Before any visitors drop in, this house needs a complete disinfection. We have been blurting germs for weeks and now that it's coming to the end we need to reverse the process. I had to postpone a few skin check appointments for my scalp due to lingering cold symptoms but the contagious phase is passed.  We are supposedly out of lockdown but the rules just don't allow that many venues to open as they don't have big enough out door areas.  At least the weather is good today.

the wondrous spear weeder lets you stand and deliver

Spear Weeder

 The wind has gone and the Sun is out so it is garden catchup day. It also means I can breathe easier outside rather than inside.  I gave the lawns a quick once over while Debbie did some trimming and weed spraying.  We spent the afternoon grappling with a grappling hook or was it weeding out a weeding hook. It was more like a weed spear.  The instructions were like hieroglyphics but after an hour or so we did have a functioning weed spear.  But testing it will have to wait until tomorrow.  You are meant to stab and twist the weed and use an extraction button to dispose of the carcass, all while standing up straight.

assembly 101

three pronged attack mode

Beer Fish

 There are some days when you can't count the number of fishing boats across the way as there are so many out there.  Our neighbour, who does occasional boat fishing, scores enough fish to deep freeze batches of them, however the neighbours have been stuck in NSW for the last 5 months.  We have been given a dozen filleted whiting from their freezer that have been caught just over there.  Debbie looked up the beer batter recipe on the internet and it was a much better job than that thick gloopy stuff the pubs do.  It is the first time we have tried the home grown fish and it was very tasty with the beer batter.

Paul Stork brought beer on a bush walk a few times to make damper. 

Ground Hug Day

 This doing the same thing day after day is wearing thin.  This week has to be the last lock down but I have said that a few times before now.  The only way to clear the nasal passage is to go outside but the wind is up and loud as well. I did a slow walk to the end of the beach and there was no sign of the deceased pelican from the other day. I did not bother with any rubbish retrieval this time as the grass has been piled up again with this battering wind and the water is black with it.  There were a few groups on the beach yesterday but not today.

this end thick

this end not to bad

Evie finds voice

 Not for talking as yet but certainly for making noise.  I had forgotten how a head cold can slow you down but there is nothing like a bit of Grand daughter squeal to get you out of that lethargy and there was plenty of it.  In fact I am not sure if this sort of thing should be encouraged as it could quickly lose it's funny side. The video only shows a very short snippet as this was happening consistently at a high pitch for at least 30 minutes. Notice when her name is called from the phone she looks straight towards it.

Quake

 Being on the second floor of the house probably added to the swaying nature of the tremors. I remember back in Essendon we experienced a similar event but only once in the 40 yar we were there.  So this might be the last time we have one of these.  It was only a five to ten second swaying motion but enough to rock me side to side in the chair.  There are no tidal waves out there so far.  I'm sure someone will blame it on global warming though.

Skin Head

 I have forgotten what it is like having one of those all over aching sensations, fortunately it was only bad for a day, although I still have plenty of symptoms.  I was supposed to go for another medical outing today however anyone with a cold is banned from entering the Doc's.  The top of my head is starting to get a bit red and sore. I am two weeks into the scalping treatment that is supposed to clean up my scone.  The instructions say apply twice a day for four weeks or for as long as you can still bear it, whichever is the shorter.  At least the weather with its persistent showers over the last three days is keeping me out of the Sun. 

The City & The City

 My Hugo chase has gotten most years covered now. There are only eight to go which are all recently published. "The City & The City" is a 2010 book dealing with a police murder investigation. It is a good whodunit and has a style that reminds me of that other classic, Blade Runner, where the shadowy detective is following the shadowy trail. The twist in this, is that the two cities exist in the same place, interwoven together.  This book has been made into a TV mini series in 2018 by the BBC. They generally don't commit to making a show unless it is worth it.  A search suggests it can be watched via Fetch TV which OPTUS have provided.

First Test

 Yesterday we were reading the list of Tier 2 sites popping up around Drysdale and following the trail of the previous infector. It turns out that I was in the same Coles on the same day as the infector, last weekend. I missed them by a few hours but as we were going through the list, my nose started running.  Later I got the sore head and the scratchy throat. I had been warding off the CATARRH!! for over a week now.  I booked in for a COVID test this morning and the staff there were dumbfounded and even surprised that I had not had a test before now.  There is something going around here as the queue was out into the street. And don't get behind a family of six who all have their own mobile phones and insist that each individual get their own result.  I guess a 40 minute wait is not too bad but maybe the drive thru testing service has that McDonald's approach of getting them on their way.

Now I'm isolating

Beach Report No 792

 This is one of those on again off again rain then Sun days.  My exercising has been reduced to zero but I can walk. I timed it perfectly for a Sunburst but with the hail still melting on the ground.  The beach had a quite a few dead fish washed up and the very large birds were on the prowl. I got a good over head of a passing pelican.  We like the pelicans here but there is never an abundance. The most I have seen together might be 12, so to find a dead one at the end of our beach was a bit of a shocker.  It is the first time I have seen that here.  The water was very dark green with grass. I did not stop for rubbish removal as the next front was in the distance.

pelican at the start

the passing drama

pelican at the end

Elbow is connected to ...

 I went back to the physio on another out of doors experience.  I have not made much progress with the inflamed elbow as it is now involving the rest of my arm. So I have an additional set of exercises to perform for the shoulder. The overall strength in my right hand has improved from 43 last time to 48 this time around. Not sure what the units are that are being measured. Of course trying to grip and squeeze with arthritic fingers is probably complicating the whole thing. At least I avoided the CATARRH going around here.  Not a cheery post this!

Penny Black

 It has taken nearly 4 weeks to get this delivery after I won the bidding on a particular lot.  I have been hanging out to see the quality. There were four albums in the box and if you average out the price per stamp, I paid 18c each for the 1300 stamps but one of them was the World's oldest.  As a used category stamp, the quality is acceptable for my needs. The first stamps had no perforations so you had to cut them. Whoever posted this stamp 181 yar ago, did a reasonable cutting job. It is not squared off but does not veer into the design either. The mint versions of these have astronomic prices over $200,000 each but I am happy with the bragging rights to the ownership of this one.

In my database this registers as stamp No 21144 

The Invalids

 We have not had a cold or even a sniff since we moved to this house three yar ago, however there is now a throat tickle that got sore, then travelled to the head and chest and is now back to the throat. We have  confirmed that the COVID test is not always correct. Debbie had a test last week and was Negative for COVID however the doctors surgery does not pay any attention to the results. They do not allow anyone with COVID symptoms into the building even though the test says you don't have it. In the meantime a raking cough has moved in.  After a phone consultation it was agreed that she could be seen OUTSIDE the building and even then they were quick to get her out of there.  So don't get a sniffle as you are left out in the cold.  Doctors are being encouraged to delay issuing Antibiotics so we are going to try a second time to see if something can be done.

I spent a week in this chair once and now it is Debbie's turn for the last three days

The Tempest

 This was one of Shakespeare's last plays but it doesn't make the reading any easier. I got the gist of it with the help of previous interpretations. I was wanting to identify the magical characters being Prospero, Ariel, Sycorax and Caliban.  In this play, Prospero is banished to an island, after his relos take his place as King of Milan.  However he learns magic and with the help of Ariel, causes a storm to force them to his island where he wins back his title but also forgives the perpetrators at the same time.  These characters have been adapted to SciFi  before, as in the original classic film Forbidden Planet where none other than Robbie the Robot took on the role of the vile Caliban. 

The Classer

 The Classer is the the most high ranking job in the shearing shed, basically deciding the quality of each fleece and grouping that quality together into the same bale.  Joshua Sugden arrived in Melbourne from England in 1849 and was also an entrepreneur as well as sheep shooer. I liked the setting described in this book, with his businesses set in a triangle being Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat.  Geelong was the wool capital but I have not yet been to have a look at the wool museum.  I have ridden many times along the Barwon and there is a low bridge I have crossed and right there is a tin shed labelled Sunnyside Sheep Scour which you would never know much about but now is getting millions in heritage restoration money for the equipment inside, dated from 1867.

Garden Update No 471

 It is mowing day and I did it without gripping the mower handle so much, more like guiding with the palms.  The things you have to do for wonky elbow.  Elsewhere the lemon peel is still disappearing from the lemons.  It is only lemons on the ground that they are after and I have seen articles about possums who grind the rind for food.  They don't seem to have located the tray of lemons nicely placed in reach out at the front fence.  I have had a close look at the olive tree and it looks like a bumper crop is on the way.  I tried to take a photo in a stiff breeze.

Sunset Array

tentacles are progressing

baby olives

Tier 2

 We have not had a case in Clifton Springs for the two years of this thing until yesterday. The goofball on the Geelong radio said that as a result of the three cases , Lorne is now Tier 1, and both Herne Hill and Clifton Springs are both Tier 2 but look up the details on Barwon Health.  So we did that and he has got it completely wrong, whole suburbs and towns did not get those ratings, only the business in Lorne got it, so all the visitors and workers there, have to isolate for two weeks, not us nor do we need to get tests done.  The infected house here is under isolation but that's it.  I listened again an hour later and he had watered down his view of it completely, probably after some critical feedback.  But this thing does seem to be getting closer. Which house is it?

The Durrells

 We have been watching the Durrells on Channel two, which is based on a three volume story about a family who spent four years there. We have spent time there as well, visiting twice and many of the places we saw are featured on the show.  If you want some easy watching with laughs thrown in, you will have to find a rerun or use Iview.  There is an amazing outdoor circular staircase that we wanted to use for a photo. It was locked and then padlocked and then locked some more.  Of course this show comes along and everything is available and when we saw the cast sashaying down those stairs. Well the Corfu tourist board may hear about this!  Our photos are from 2010.

Corfu Town

Olympos

 I have finished off the sequel in this two book extravaganza.  As usual this writer brings other writers like Proust and Shakespeare into his story lines even when set 10,000 yar into the future. Now I'm going to have to grapple with 'The Tempest" to see what some of these original characters like Prospero, Ariel, Caliban and Setebos were doing then.  Back to this story, it is tricky to keep track of, with six separate themes threading their way thru the 800 pages. My observation sees the Earth making a come back, Mars not doing as well because the Gods are having issues with the Titans, however the other planets like Venus are forging on merrily, as the robots there know that Captain Kirk did not go Star Trucking but actually went Star Trekking.  

Golfer's Elbow

 Just when I thought I can't have any outings it is now two days in a row I have been on a trip, this time to the Physio. I have been putting up with an on/off type of elbow pain but it was never really going away. I have had this some years back but then it was tennis elbow for a different part of the arm, this time it is golfing elbow.  I call it lawn mower elbow.  I now have some exercises to do to try and strengthen tendons on the inner arm.  Bike riding was an ongoing factor even though it started with a lawn mower.  So no more riding for a while.

New Skin

 I have been putting off getting the mega dose cream which burns your skin off then lets it regrow. I have used this stuff before but could not bring myself to covering my whole head with it last time, so this is phase two where I will apply it to the back half of my scalp.  Let's see how long I last before I stop. I think it was two weeks last time as it was getting hard to sleep if I remember right.  The doc was upbeat about the COVID jabs. He said in France they stopped people sitting at cafes if they weren't double dosed. The take up rate exploded after that.

I think we have all forgotten what happens at airports. I remember these TSA guys. They almost made us miss a plane once.

Help Yourself

 Hydrangea plants seem to be finicky flowers. We inherited them here and Debbie is moving them for the third and last time. eg They are being moved closer to the bin but for now are in a new patch of ground. They were deprived of Sun when the lemon tree decided to double in size. It must have liked the fertiliser that has been placed in the area.  So as part of this job many more lemons have been plucked as well as attracting something with large teeth which is noring at them overnight. So the lemon tray is full again out the front and I saw a guy walking straight up to it however he was using the tap. Now we have been encouraging the help yourself system with plants, lemons, tomatoes etc however when did this extend to water and plenty of it? He was washing his dog and giving it a drink. 

colourful

What has large teeth and likes lemon peel?

last chance hydrangea

3km jog

 It seems it might be better for me to try the jog lately rather than the bike. Maybe it should just warm up a bit and I can try the swim.  I did do the jog and managed to get thru 3km. The main issue is being very attentive to the uneven ground.  A lot of the grass has been swept away and also sand has been piled up which really means it has been moved from somewhere else.  There used to be a flat placid trickle of water you could walk across down below our creek but today it needs proper fording if you want to go East rather than our normal Western route.  Next week it will look totally different.

deep rift

Garden Update No 935

 The garden bed out the back which is where the main produce has come from was rested over this Winter.  Also it meant the gardener could spend more time on the decorative and sculptured aspects out the front. However Winter is over so all the strawberries have been moved and relocated together in one place and are now set up in a long easily accessible line along the front of the bed. This hopefully will also frustrate the minor birds from digging around there and tipping half the bed onto the path.  Also the olive tree is alive with budding fruit even though it has been cut back recently. And lastly we still have more lemons, so many that we can't give them away, although I did notice at the fish shop the other day, they were taking lemon donations for a charity.  

Strawberry Fields

The Archives revisited

 Today requires indoor projects, as first thing this morning it was all thunderbolts and lightning that lasted about two hours. Now we have settled into continuous steady rain. So much for that two day Spring Sun. I have gone back to the archive box for a few letters and cards. This lot is spread over a 10 year period from mid 1980s to mid 1990s.  I wonder if Andrea still has the chart Debbie made for her. See letter.  The two post cards are from Paul Stork, who seems to be distracted from his painting tour of Europe by mini skirts and the other is from Leanne who was travelling in WA. She mentions the tree they saw but did not climb however some yar later Debbie and I came to that same tree and did climb to the top of it. The last one is from  my friend Loretta who is the author where recently I had a lot of trouble getting her book delivered from her publisher.   

Andrea Chart

Gloriette

Paul Stork painting across Europe

Gloucester Tree