Post Cards

The weather here is day on day off at the moment and today is SunOff  yet yesterday was SunOn.  I have not been to the correspondence well of late. I have been working back in time thru it and today I have extracted two postcards, written by two Pauls, both in 1990 and both having been kicking around Europe for months at a time.  One was coming back from Greece and the other was heading there but on independant trips.  I can remember reading these 33 yar ago and wondering if I would ever get the chance to travel Europe like they were. I only had to wait another 20 yar, til 2010, to give it a try.

Posted in Australia by another returning traveller

Post marked in Greece but without a stamp

Garden Update No 475

It's a much better day today so the garden cleanup has extended to a house cleanup as we have been in recovery mode and coming up, we will be away for two weeks. It's green bin day tomorrow so I got the mower out as well as the edger but before I started I set my watch to record as a walking activity. Now I thought this would test out the google maps GPS accuracy but it just showed a circle where the house is as the resolution does not allow for pacing up and down your lawn. I expected as much. It did show 4,000 steps were taken during the 90 minutes of lawn action though. We moved a few pots around as the patio table has gone to Williamstown. I also got out the poison sprayer and wandered all over sluicing anything that was green and not supposed to be there. Finally I have only had one lemon customer so far this round.

Garden Update No 399

The regular gardener has taken some time off here so I have spent an hour or so mainly on a cleanup detail although I have been following the drooping lower and lower sag of the the lemon tree.  We have not had any lemons placed out the front all Winter.  Do lemon trees ever stop sprouting fruit?  There was another problem as well, in that the abundance of fruit has attracted the pesky possums again as there are half eaten lemons nicely positioned near the fence.  We have not seen this behaviour this year.  The cleanup also adds to my steps tally for the day being another 1200 steps in that hour.  The lemon tray has been placed in its most favourable position out front, so we will see how many customers there are.  The final surprise, or maybe I have forgotten, is that there is one late orchid spike, still not opened, near the courtyard door. These pots have been moved a few times and the orchid man says if you move them it will be a year before the plant gets used to the new location.  

lemon plenty

Spike Eight

Lemons going free

Beach Cone

 My watch buzzes me every now and again suggesting I get off my arse and do something.  There is a button there that says not now but if you do go walk around the table it says good job. Today I set up the proper settings for a walk. I went across to the beach for a rubbish pickup. This is done at a meandering pace but does not seem to phase the watch recorder.  It reported a good workout of 5,000 steps in 55 minutes with 355 calories burned over 3.1 km.  As for the clean up the standout item was a lookalike ice cream cone complete with straw. This is some type of heavy duty fishing line float. The usual other culprits were present, butts, straws, tops, rope and plastic wrappers.

Construction Update

 I went for a ride to shake out the cobwebs.  I have been keeping an eye on two buildings over the last year or so as I have been pedalling passed. The new train shed is complete for the Q Train however the outfitting of it eg laying the tracks both inside and switching points just outside seems to be where it is at.  Drysdale is just your average country town but there must be a lot of readers around here, as the new library looks huge and located in the exact centre of town.  The girder structure has reached its maximum height and five streets converge here like a wheel and this thing will be the circular hub.

On Track to be On Track

Book Colliseum

Sandy Ride

More Recovery Time

 I don't think I have spoken to many people lately who have not had a Winter bug or some sort of down time lately. Debbie cannot talk at the moment but of course there seems to be compelling reasons to be on the phone.   The rain has come again so another good stamp day. I have found a couple recently that I haven't seen before.  A hundred yar ago before email and SMS, telegrams were sent as the fastest way to send a message.  In Spain they put stamps on them and used a hole punch to disfigure it afterwards so it couldn't be used again.  I have a mint stamp that was worth $115 and now is down to $4 because of the hole. The best find was two stamps with no perforations still joined together eg becuase the item was more expensive they needed two stamps but cut around them both rather than individually.  Now two are valued at $230 but joined together would significantly increase them but I am not sure by how much.

A joined impeforate pair. I'm thinking $300.

Creepy King Alfonso with hole

3D Jigsaws

 Spent 2hrs putting a desk side table together this morning.  That wasn't the only 3D jigsaw. I spent another hour cleaning up cardboard and foam and trying to get it all to fit into the back of the car.  This is the third time we have taken a packed car load of cardboard to the recycle shop.  This time I had to remove the child seat which will be another problem getting it back in for next time.  We have things to hang on the next visit and some more unopened boxes but it is coming together, all with the Debbie decorator hat on.

Willie Furniture

 It has been a week since I ventured to Paas Place and there were two deliveries in that time.  The couch come fold out bed has been unpacked by the delivery man. Good job. Not so for the bookcases, the kitchen chairs and the TV unit, all packed in huge cardboard wrapping and styrofoam. Then don't forget the flat packed desks.  I am typing this blog on the new desk. It's clean, it's spacious and this is a light filled room.  The desks fit ok considering they have side tables as well.  There is one side table to go and all the wheels and doors but that will be tomorrow,s job.

cardboard version

new office

Setting Sun

 Debbie has succumbed to the throat bug so we are laying low. That means the plane flight to visit Evie tomorrow has to be cancelled and yet another addition made to the plane flight credits tally.  We have another flight for the start of August so recovery needs to be the focus.  The rain has arrived again and for the last few evenings I have gotten the video camera out at Sunset time instead of taking still shots. You can never get tired of these views.  These were filmed over three consecutive nights this week.

Smart Watch

 I have still not come to grips with my Samsung phone and now I have the Samsung watch. On the previous snorkel effort at Magnetic Island my watch drowned. It was pointed out by the watchman that when the battery is replaced the seals are never the same. In our recent order for the Good Guys, the list was as long as your arm, so I said what about throwing in one of these watches. The salesman was under pressure, it wasn't a freebie but it was cheap.  Now I have to deal with this all singing all dancing wrist mobile.  It seems it will act like a phone as long as you have a phone.   It does tell me the time. That is a literal statement. I had to turn off that function as I did not want it to tell me the time.  Otherwise after three hours of use it is down to 88% of power and I have walked 756 steps and it is 10 to 12 noon.

Smiling Ankle Biter

 My videos have languished for two weeks for one reason or another so I have gotten them off the camera this morning.  I have the angelic smiley one with the runny nose who likes to get up close and how can you resist.  This was my last contact before going into hibernation again.  The isolation did not last long as large deliveries and a complete electrical upgrade were scheduled, so two of us needed to be at Willie.  We just had to get the champagne out anyway.

Bein Sports

 I was trying to watch the women's high jump yesterday. Channel 7 used to do the world athletics coverage but for some reason the Bein sports are doing it.  This can be seen as part of Foxtel and it has to be the worst standard of coverage.  Minimal cameras, minimal commentators. The guy yesterday was calling a track race and by the time he swings back to the field, the jumping has moved on. So he starts reading the result board giving us the latest view but we are waiting to continue from where it left off. So no spoiler alert then they replay the jump he just described and he is embarassed but shrugs it off. This happened more than once and in the end I don't think we saw the actual finish of all the jumps.  They have more than one channel. Use one for track and one for field, it's not that hard.  

Eleanor Patterson

Scam Call

 I got a phone call from the Visa-Mastercard fraud department.  It was an Asian woman in a noisy room with lots of phones.  Her first words were about this farud department which was a bit sus from the start as these are rival companies and would not have a combined department. She said they had put a money transfer of $1100 on hold in the USA and asked if I had made this transaction. I said no you can cancel it. She goes we need your help with that.  Just log in and get to your statements. I said I used paper copies. This was getting more difficult for them. This was all in a two minute call. I said I would check and then I hung up.  Of course no-one rang me back. 

TDF Carcassone

 Yesterday the Tour De France rolled into Carcassone and stayed overnight.  It is a walled town that has been dressed up over the years for the tourists.  We visited there in 2010, the first time we went over to Europe.  It is tight inside.  You have to leave your car outside in a paddock and grab what you can fit into a small bag. The hotels send out a small car with only enough room to hold a backpack on your lap.  This is becuase the car has to squeeze thru a 13th century arch designed for a horse.  Most people leave at the end of the day, so the overnighters get it to themselves.  It was a good thing to do but not so easy.

StarTide Rising

 One thing about laying low while I get rid of these pesky colds is that there is plenty of reading time.  This is the second of three that I have with the Uplift theme.  There is a bit of Planet of the Apes about it but I find if you just ignore whos doing the talking then this is an epic yarn of surviving and fighting to live another day.  It is set way in the future and unlike some scenarios Earthmen are at the bottom of the galactic hieracrhy.  The next volume is also a Hugo winner however the rest are not. It is a good read so I may have to rummage in the library for them when they get it finished or now.

Weathering

 It is cold here and I have seen a number of  squalls passing across regularly today.  Last night it was the wind, Asher would laugh at the doors doing poppets. The garden has been languishing a bit here. I did a small cleanup of debris as it is green bin day tomorrow. I was also going to harvest a bunch of lemons but that will have to wait as no one is out and about in this stuff anyway.  Debbie has gone to Willie with another car load while I am holding the fort here.  Hopefully the beach area has not been piled with grass.

Endless Shopping

 There is one aspect of the new court we have infiltrated in Williamstown that may or may not require further consideration. There are eight units in the court and five of them are occupied by your more elderly women living on their own. They gather in the Sunshine each day in a 'Good Old Speaking Session In Person', gossip group.  I have managed to nod from a distance, so far. They have mentioned that you are free to do as you please here and at the same time we are the most social court in the entire village.  Good to know.  The office area has come under attention now.  I left a half finished desk laying in pieces, as we had to get to the cardboard recycle shop before it closed. Today we have purchased two chairs, two hard plastic carpet coveralls and another switch. 

Maintenance Man

 There are two maintenance guys here, although one has a health issue which leaves the Friday Man.  He has been around to see us twice so far about the pesky garage door opener.  We are heading off after our next delivery of two work station desks, as we have a car full of cardboard and white packing foam and the recycler closes at 4:15 back in Geelong.  The desks are flat packed so they will have to wait for later assembly.  In the meantime the power upgrade has been completed this morning, there are another half dozen power points in the office area, the lights have been switched to warm and  they can also be dimmed now.  

Our internet nook.  Just have to figure out how to login to the Air Cube

Power Upgrade

It's a bit of dėjavu with Daniel's crew here today to get the data lines run throughout. Then there is mounting the new TV on the wall, moving the router and phone lines to a new location and the inevitable extra 16 double power points we are getting installed.  Two days work in that lot.  We have not looked in the roof cavity until today so our due diligence was a bit lacking when they found that the reflective tube linking the skylight to the roof window had collapsed onto the upper ceiling.  No wonder it was a bit darker in the laundry.  We have three months to report defects for a fix.  The installations are going well as I can see a nicely mounted TV even though the swivel arm is a bit stiff and these TVs seem to be getting thinner and more fragile with time.

note DE logo on team uniforms

Bed Making

 This is the fourth Sleeping Duck bed we have bought and they gave us $100 off because of it. At the same time they wanted $200 off us to put the bed together.  After I spent an hour doing that I might have been tempted, especially when you are doing it with blocked ears. There is a mountain of cardboard here to get rid of maybe back in Geelong.  They are jackhammering the floor of the unit across the way so no afternoon snooze here. I walked out the gate onto the paths near our unit. Bike paths extend in three directions and there is a good children's playground right there.  This village has been here for 25 yar and I remember watching it go up as we were frequent riders along these paths back then. That's when we got the idea of trying it one day. One of the residents in our court has been here the whole of those 25 yar.

Deliveries

 We got up at 6:00am in order to get to Willie by 8:00am.  The first delivery was around 9:00 so we now have a fridge, a washing machine and a TV.   The bed is a separate delivery and if it doesn't come we will be on the floor tonight. The manager has explained a few things like the direct emergency call button.  This is not a phone and allows for only one call to the emergency people.  It a had few issues, as they thought our apartment was vacant.  I can see that someone has left stuff in our bins, probably the guy who last owned them. I think our bin day is tomorrow for recycle and we have a mountain of packaging.  This is my first use of the internet here, so far so good.  These two photos uploaded quickly with no issues.  I think it is a google router but it just says air cube.  

desk nook

our small yard

Head Cold

 I tried the telehealth call again even though it has been a week into this latest catarrh.  I got nowhere last time, except keep your head up and give it the old school try.  I got a different doc this time so I layed it on thicker, describing my ears as being painful and blocked up, which means the outlet for any pressurised mucous extrusion is thru my eyes.  These have become puffy and sore and sealed up each morning with dried congealed goo. Which brings me to the throat problems of hacked up green ... ok ok I get it says the doc.  Hooray he gets it.  I will give you an anti-biotic for the next 7 days.  Yes,  I do need that little helper. 

 PS there was no exaggeration of these symptoms. He was happy I had had all my injections and that my RAT test was negative for COVID. I do have to wear a mask for the next week if I go outside.  

Lake Geneva

 Last night the Tour de France was riding around Lake Geneva.  We did the same thing and it is hard to believe it was 10 yar ago.  On that ride we carried what we needed in two small panniers each, for six days.  The tour only covered a short length around Montreux and then headed away up into the mountains. We stayed with the shoreline and kept as low as possible all the way around.  They showed iconic places last night and talked about the Montreux music scene. I haven't finished riding around European lakes, we just have to get rid of these bugs that are flying around.

Chillon Castle

The Lake Geneva route was a mixed bag of roads, paths and some dirt but when you get foreshore paths like this we'll take them.

SunDiver

 If you have a head cold then there is plenty of time for reading as I sit quietly trying to get rid of this bug. A  lot of people I talk to are recovering or have some type of cold.  This book is the first of a multiple volume saga, the next volumes of which have won two Hugos.  It is a good intro to the Universe that is described here.  Earth is a new kid going around the space travel block.  They have made a discovery that the more sophisticated types missed, and so it goes.  I have just started the second volume and it seems the Earth is still an upstart, and just out of space school. 

Williamstown

 Hooray we own a new apartment.  There was a lot of running around yesterday. The car was already packed with stuff but we had to make room for a pickup from the good guys of a vacuum and a microwave.  After that it was an hour or so at the hospital where Beryl is getting some good attention. I was banned from going in due to head cold issues.  They finally let us in to the apartment around 4:00pm.  Everything seems to be in order, except the remote garage opener did not work, however there was another one on the inside that did work, so I was able to back into the tight space to unload.  Everything is painted and with new carpets, it seems brand new. The kitchen is much more up to date than the one in Clifton Springs. We unloaded and left, which seemed like a bit of an anticlimax.  I now have to get this cold under control before Wednesday when major deliveries are scheduled.

White is Bright

The Bug is Back

 This is a familiar problem and has the same exact pattern. On Monday it was full on baby sitting and then by Wednesday I could feel that telltale throat again. Yesterday was settlement day so we were determined to see that thru but it was a cold day and wet.  This thing has taken over my head and seems to be an ear popping problem this time around and the nasty phlegm is back as well. Too much detail!  No use asking the Doc's advice, let your injections spare the worst.  I am loading up on vitamin C but now I will have to rest up before moving day.  

House into Two

Various piles have been appearing around the house.  Previously when we moved here we brought everything with us. Even moving into Collendina, at the Van, the previous owner left everything. In this case, at Williamstown, it is eerily empty. We have to think about new versions of everything from a can opener to a fridge.  We have been opening cupboards here and finding three of those or four of these.  The antique cutlery set has been handy. I have been using the Silvo on most of it which means we have a spare set now.  The kitchen seems to be where a lot of duplication exists from cheese boards to toasters. It is also the first Friday of the month and the weight loss is on target, despite recent birthday cakes and a week of eating out in QLD.

this will also be our table for a while

Urgent Urgent

 Our solicitors have been suddenly woken from their slumber with the arrival of the signed up sales contract.  This meant another round of signatures yesterday and different trips to the post office for official identification for the State Revenue Office, as we will be up for land tax again. We just got rid of this irksome tax when another property held on behalf of James was sold awhile back.  Also transferring the entire price in one lump sum to the solicitor's trust fund, via the internet, requires some extra security. So we did it in person at the bank with their secure service, for a fee of course.  It is meant to arrive in their account today. Our money tree is suffering withdrawal symptoms. We might have to plant another one.  Our solicitors are still not sure whether settlement will be tomorrow.

Normal Beach

An overdue beach clean is a pleasant activity in this topsy turvyness. I messaged that other beach comber Jill that I was going to comb the beach as it looked like a good lot of sunshine out there. She agreed, which is good, as the need to find a sit down catch up venue is not possible at the moment.  The grass is heaped at one end as usual, but looking ok and the water is crystal clear compared to that QLD pearly blue.  The cleanup was going well with mostly small items until I came to a packing type of blanket strip.  I got it uncovered and into the bag but that filled it heavily.  The other item was a perfectly good plank which I hauled to the back blocks. This would make a good seat perhaps balanced on grass balls.

Long Day 2

 I mentioned getting out of Hotel rooms, to do this we are buying a retirement unit in Williamstown.  There has been various levels of stress associated with this purchase. The settlement date was always tight at only four weeks. We have placed large orders for furniture and white goods and arranged for delivery according to the settlement date. The paperwork has dragged on for those four weeks. Various urgings to get on with it have done nothing.  There are three lots of solicitors involved in this. Today we got various calls and emails thru the day, that the settlement was off, then it was back on. We had a final inspection today as well and there are at least five or six painting issues to fix and other outstanding items. The out going vendors cancelled the electricity when they were not supposed to. We had to scramble to get our provider to turn the juice back on ahead of time today.  Even still the garage door is not working and we could not test the hot water as the unit is off.  We have been assured all will yet be working by Friday's settlement. Finally we got word that a signed contract by the vendors was received today.  Talk about last minute.   This long day 2 occurred on the same day as long day 1. 

Long Day 1

 We will be glad to get out of hotel rooms, especially with restless nights, considering Beryl's reoccurrence of pain problems.  After Debbie got back to the hotel around 8:00 ish Dennis took over for the all nighter. Debbie got there again around 8:30 am today and after another 4 hours or so, saw her mum into a proper ward.  The prognosis is similar to last time and a management plan is being devised, this time perhaps requiring some injections for bone health.  My mum had these and the apparent osteo problems have cleared up.

Fully in Charge

 This was my biggest grand parenting day yet.  Debbie got called away to get her mum into hospital which is another story.  She has spent the last 7 hours in a waiting corridor, hopefully Beryl was somewhere else. As for Estelle the snuggler I am covered in runny nose goo but that's the way it goes. Before Debbie headed out we got Estelle to the library. Here the main game is to get the books off the shelves rather than reading them.  I kept her entertained until 11:30 when it was sleep time. She faffed around for 15 minutes but did get some sleep and woke up at 1:00pm.  Lunch was a kid's frozen pasta bake mix which she ate almost ¾ of.  The afternoon consisted of 30min on the sunny deck and an hour at the playground including the walk there and back.  I changed her nappy twice in the day and both times was a bit soggy. Too much information?  In the end I had to get a taxi back to this hotel room as the car was in a hospital car park.

The reading chair

swing low

the snuggler

87th Birthday

 We went country driving today to Darraweit Guim to Leanne and Shane's farmstead. They have 99 cows now and three in calf.  We tried to get Asher and Estelle closer to them for a photo. At least they sat quietly for a photo on the tractor seat.  Inside it was catered food for lunch, meaning beef, pork and chicken with plenty of side dishes.  Asher and Estelle sat well enough on Grandpa's knee for blowing out some candles. It was a cold business outside in the wind but Estelle was keen to run anywhere she could get to.

Moooo...      Mind the electric fence

cake time

almost a kiddie ride