The Grand Kiddie juggle

Nana has still gor to get some work done around here and when the seminar starts and the computer spits the dummy at least the babies are keeping theirs.  We got the computer going but not until Evie was having her afternoon nap.  Before that I got her across to the beach again this morning. The hole we dug this time filled in with water so that meant her bottom half got wet.  It is easy to get her back to home with the promise of  sultanas and chocolate crackles.  Charlie is mostly OK but can get a bit grumpy. He seems to want people around and to be close by.  Last night we went to the adventure playgroud in Port Arlington. This is a huge area with many different styles of equipment including log rolling and a flying fox.

 

stand on sand

Octo Seat

bounce bounce

fly fly

Evie digs a hole

Laura was busy with Charlie and Debbie needed an hour or two to finish a document review and where you can find that sort of time is a challenge.  Our best distraction is the beach but we had to rug up as there was a slight drizzle.  I managed to keep her going for an hour and by the time we walked over and back we used another 30 minutes.   There was only us and dog walkers on the beach.  We have just finished lunch and have worn Evie out enough for a nap and the rest of us need one too.  These are some of yesterday's party photos. I am still trying to get some air show planes recorded but the low cloud today is in the way. I can hear planes but cannot see them.

In their party clothes

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Tea party for one

Look Pa no hands

Evie's Willie Birthday

 We had both babies and the two yar olds and the 4 yar old altogaether in the same place and many many photos were managed during the 4 hours or so.   The usual presents, cakes, sausage rolls and crunchy crackles.  Debbie did a cook up yesterday and Heidi carved a fruit bowl which looked amazing. At least an hour was spent at the playground and also at walking down to the lagoon for the bird show.  We have managed to get everyone on their way, including Rick to the airport and Evie and Charlie on the way to Clifton Springs while  I do a quick cleanup here before heading off as well. Phew!

Charlie takes the Stroller

 It was a warm night and Debbie had a neck muscle problem which kept us up as well but by morning we were ready for kiddie chaos.  Charlie is currently snoozing and Evie has gone off to her flat for a sleep as well, so it is Blog time.  We kept them both happy this morning with a walk to the playground. All the equipment was tried a few times over.  We continued the walk to the water's edge where numerous birds were spotted who kept honking at us.  I now have Charlie in my lap while typing one handed.  That's it for now.

I'll have to wait a year in this thing!

Not the best quality

Evie tries the Pool

 It was the first time we tried the pool and Evie came with us.  It is tricky finding a few minutes to type when Evie is on the prowl. They have had a long day but the pool was too good to refuse even though it is heated to 30°  and it is 33° outside.    The spa tub is even hotter but Evie was not sure of all the bubbles.  Eventually she was happy to feel them with her hands.  Some of the locals came to watch her through the door. There is nothing like a small child for entertainment.  We even got her to keep her goggles on maybe because Pa was wearing goggles as well.

Birthday still on track

So after all the hospital tensions  Evie and Charlie are still on schedule to get to Williamstown today, where we will be having a 2 year olds birthday party tomorrow.  I can see that the presents are already happening with an extensive looking play kitchen now in position.  That reminds me I have to bring numerous toys with me to Willamstown. I also notice that Charlie has been introduced to the swimming pool as you do.  I did a quick walk down to the beach which is mostly deserted now.  I did not try the swim as the tannin stain is high today. How picky.

Evie's Kitchen

Bike & Swim

 I tried something different yesterday which was to take off on the bike across to the Jetty Rd beach which is two beaches over towards Geelong, so only a four km ride. I can clearly see this area through the telescope. It has a ruined pier of poles as well as a new pier and a huge upgrade with three boat ramps in a protected area.  The swim part did not work as the tides were low and the greenery also had rocks underneath.  The plant growth seems to be a similar story all the way along here.  In the afternoon I tried our beach as the tides were up a bit.  The floaties are clogging my route, especially closer to shore.  I can see why the dive bombing gannets get so much fish as the video shows them swimming close to the surface.

Evie makes it home

 Hooray after three nights of testing in the Children's Hospital, Evie has made it back home minus some blood and some urine but with a lot of souvenir X-rays and Magnetic Resonance Images.  After all that, the good old fashioned anti-biotics have cleared up the infections.  There is one last thing to do in a case like this, go to the playground.  No sore legs here.

Good pants

Harvest

 This plot is a mystery whodunnit with a medical twist. It's a harvest alright but not of fruit. Organs R Us will cater for your every need.  If you are after a kidney or even a pair. We have a special on hearts at the moment and for a breath of fresh air we will throw in a lung or two. This author was a doctor early on and all her books reference medicine in some way. You may remember the Rizzoli and Isles TV show,  a detective and a medical examiner.  This show is based on a series of Gerritsen books as well.

Fruit Labels

Cigarette butts are normally the winner of the garbage count but this time it was those tiny fruit labels that ran a close second. There was a school group yesterday so I suspect they may have handed out fruit after their swim. Too bad the 'edgykashun' does not extend to the cleaning up after yourself.  It was cool and overcast and breezy this morning but it all went away so I did the beach walk.  Our supermarket has removed all the manned checkouts except two.  So I have been discovering that the quick way to buy fruit is to hold say a plum, up to the scanner and it will read what's in the bag then weigh it. I guess it will be quicker as those checkouts were always unmanned, at least you can walk up and use them.

Indoor barbie cooked sausages, corn, mushrooms and an egg with tomato, lettuce, cheese and pickled onions.  

around 1kg of rubbish today

This was the cliff mirage from the other day.  We have seen spectacular mirages before like mentioned in the video. We saw a full size oil and gas rig from Bass strait and it was sitting just outside Port Phillip Heads.  In this video I can see that the reddish area is actually a brick building recently completed on the refurbished Navy pier.

Late swim

 I got Debbie to the Gull bus at 12:30pm.  We might try the ferry to Docklands next time as this is the second time in two months that the Geelong road has been closed due to an accident. PS I read that the woman who jumped out of the car previously has made a recovery and her brother who was driving has been given a community order. What about the 10,000 of us who were trapped for three hours.  Anyway, Debbie was routed around the problem and made it to the airport in time for the Brisbane flight.  In the meantime the high tide was at 3:00pm so I tried the swim.  There was also a bus load of students getting in the way.  Now that's how to spend class time. Drive them to the beach for a snorkel. I have not done it with the Sun overhead before.  There are a lot of floaties at the moment and they all cause shadows and ripple tricks of light.  The morning still seems to be the best time. I need to try an evening or late arvo for comparison.

A class of marine biologists

Evie takes a test

We have a new grandie on one hand and another one getting tested for a high temperature. These children's hospital people are very thorough with Evie taking every test you can think of and being visited  by Ed Sheren, with him throwing in an impromtu concert at the same time. Talk about highs and lows. We decided to take a walk across to the beach for a quick dip while we were waiting for test results.  Nothing has been found of note so far. These day care places must be crawling with viruses or is that being too harsh.  Debbie has booked a plane for tomorrow. There will be no grandie lacking extra cuddles on her watch.

window sill cousins

Kaia Keeps Kool

She picked a hot day to say Hello World but today she is sleeping and eating like a pro. Asher was on duty to lend a hand as it is all so very exciting.  We got to the hospital at 2:30 and stayed for one hour. Everyone is beaming and also sleepy.  The nurses gave us the rules but then did not enforce them after that so we got away with six of us in the room for the hour.  Just about all of yesterday's deliveries had packed off to the hotel ward but these guys are toughing it out in the hospital ward this time around. The room is a good size at Frances Perry and with a double bed included. Kaia started to stir and Asher finally laid down so we made our way back to Williamstown.

No 5 is alive

 We have grandie No 5 as of 24 hours ago. That makes four girls and one boy. This girl is Kaia James Roberts and her big sister is busting to be a big sister.  We have not met her yet but that will be soon. In the meantime we paid a visit to Estelle and prepared her for a new cousin.  Among other things she was informed that getting her nails cut was important for cuddling new babies so while sitting on nana's lap it was all smooth cutting. A few of Heide's homemade sausage rolls helped.  James has big plans for the outdoors with a landscaper coming to do paths, beds, reshaping and planting.

Collendina Report No 988

 Yes I am still reporting on the state of the Collendina caravan park.  We have been successfully registered in the boom gate database so we can come and go as we please.  Thanks to Daniel for chasing that up. It seems that the onsite office is no longer manned.  We got the old water heating unit across from Ross's van into Daniel's van by driving it the 100 metres. It's quite heavy.  We also went across to the ocean beach again and the March flies were not as prevalent.  The beach was mostly deserted.  It is the first time we have tried the cabana on that beach. Worked perfectly.  I am a day behind at the moment as I am typing this at Williamstown today.  It is 35° outside and Debbie has gone to a Pure Bookkeeping session so I am stopping inside.  The pool here has got maintenance men fussing about.  If I remember right they are trying to get the heating going correctly.  Just when you don't need it. Our hot water is now back on track as a new meter has been installed. 

Tannin stain

 We have been observing the beach area as you do on patrol. There are various fluker posts to place your phone, take a snapshot, add it to the science or coast watch web sites and then they have a record of changes along the coast line.  I have my own record right here. On two consecutive days we saw a brown stain with destinct boundaries that you could walk from pristine clear water into brown coloured water.  The next day it was all gone. I have seen this many times in Tasmania, in the creeks but then all the water was brown.  The tannins have been seeping from the wrack build up near one of the rock groynes. This area is never cleared by machine but it does alternate from perfectly clear sand to a metre deep of heaped sea grass.  

brown one day

clear the next

small ray

low tide reef

Beach weather

 It has taken until the end of Summer but it seems we are getting some consistent beach temperatures this week.  We had the beach to ourselves yesterday from about 3:30 to 5:30 and we will try to repeat the exercise this afternoon.  I have been catching up on videos, this time unloading the panasonic from a week back. We kept ourselves entertained with the passing shipping and spied a cruise ship going thru the heads and the next day back home, we saw it agian leaving from Geelong. An old mate, Willie van der Lugt sent me an email on how he has been on three cruises in three months. It seems Cruising for the choosing is back big time.

there is cereal under there somewhere

GoPro Compilation

 I have pieced a few fishy scenes together from the last week or so.  The first ray was quite still then started to swim off so I tried keeping pace without getting it into power mode. I kept up for 20 metres legs only. Then I found old crooked tail.  I have seen him before but I left him to it. The small ray at the end has got his hiding place amongst the rock groyne.  And to finish off, the jelly was just doing its thing pumping water.

Icarus

My reading has been a bit slow of late. I could not really get into this whodunnit until about ⅔ through it.  Most of the characters were killed off by the end, so it got easier to workout who the culprit was through elimination.  And of course the guy who had the problem with heights meant that the climax was always going to be high up somewhere.  This one came from one of those freebie street libraries except it was in a shopping mall. Now I need to put it back in one of those. 

Not on my Rock

 After the lawn mowing, the Sun came out and stayed out. So I got my rubbish bag and checked out the beach. It was a big day yesterday despite the wind, with people everywhere, so I knew it would be worth a rubbish run.  So I get to my rock table which is where I prepare the snorkel and leave my bag and gear while the swim happens. Some one has left rubbish right there for me on the rock.  That was easily desposed of as the worst two were both doggie bags and one was still untied.  The smokers were out yesterday. Ahh there is a neat butt pile. Go a bit further there is another pile. Go a bit further just one butt.  Today's beach clean tip:  always dig around near a butt as sure enough there will be others buried nearby.  

Again with the Not What!

This wooden shelfy thing is a bit of a saga.  It stood in the lounge area for years with photos etc. Beryl didn't really like it and as well as that it was a bit broken at the top and the decorative knob on one side kept falling off.  She said she did not want it at the nursing home. Debbie thought it would still be a good area to display stuff, even if a bit wonky. We lost the knob somewhere in transit. We looked everywhere but it was gone.  A week later the maintenance man had attached the "Not What" to the wall with straps to secure it and the knob was back in its spot.   What the?   We have had that shelf here for a month and no one else wanted it so it went outside, kerbside but was soon retrieved when it started raining and only put back out again yesterday with its knob intact.  Overnight it was taken. Hooray.   I got the mower out as the rain  had stopped and we have green bin today. As I am going around there it is in the gutter the wooden knob is back.  Should we keep it or throw it away, as I'm half expecting someone to knock on the door asking for the missing knob.  

Wind Speed

 AT 7:30am I looked out and saw a millpond of a Corio Bay.   It was all lining up.  

Tides at 10:00am around 0.9m  check

Sunshine and temp 23°  check

Wind rated Gentle and 12 km/h  check

Turbidity  Low  check

I get across there at 9:48am and straight away it seems a bit breezier.  Being a Saturday there are quite a few people and my rock table has been taken by someone. The nerve.  The swim was a slapping affair which says the breeze is in your face and so are the waves.  Walking back,  a cold wind struck, like a cool change had come when there wasn't supposed to be one.  People were packing up.  I have attached the wind chart below and we get good data here as Avalon Airport is just across the water. ( PS The air show is back in a few weeks. )  As I type this I have closed the windows as the wind is gusting up to 40km/h.  Wind is my main bugbear for the swim.

You can see the actual dark blue line is 25km/h above predicted.

Drysdale Circuit

 We got on the bikes for the circle ride around Drysdale. For one reason or another it must be a year since we were able to ride this circuit.  We started off overcast with some rain but an hour later the Sun was out.  We noticed a few changes along the way, like the paddock that is now cleared of all its trees. For more houses probably. Also a new shop is under construction nearby. We are always interested in what the few shops here are doing and to have another being built means that area must be worth it.  I remember when the milk bar around the corner in Essendon closed, the owner said we were their biggest customer but he did not have too many others.  We are going to have to get much further than 16km for the Great Ocean Road ride next year.

Registration Not

 We were supposed to be registered back into the Collendina Caravan Park.  We approached the gate but no go.  How hard is it to type a number plate into a database and they have had three days. Not only that' the office was closed for the rest of the week. We were fetching Bianca's favourite dressing gown for the hospital stay. We also took the opportunity to revisit the old beach area we used to use. The bottle shop man was still there in his spot. Seems like he hasn't moved for 5 years. Also we played the big ship game. This time the Oceana Regatta cruise ship. We tracked the pilot boat approaching with our phone and then it's progress through the heads. The only thing that has changed is that dogs are meant to be permanently on a leash due to the plover population. Three out of the four dog walkers we saw there ignored that completly.  Not our problem. 

The umbrella walk

Pilot and Cruiser

Clear Water

 Went across the road again this morning.  There were clumps of grass floating around but otherwise good visibility through the water. It was a bit shallow but you can't have everything.  It was calm and the sunshine allowed for a good sighter.  Not many fish.  One of the neighbours was doing some stand up paddling which tends to send the rays away. 

The scanning continues and my new lesson learned is that where an envelope has both the photos and the negatives in their compartment, don't assume that they are the same matchup.  EG photos today were labelled the Last Christmas on the back of some and the negs were Brendon and Cathy swanning around the Tiwi islands.  

Not a bad scan from the Negative. Picture must be at least 20 yar old

Maybe the last Christmas with Tony there??

The Clancy Plate

 Sounds like a horse race but it is a silver plate and was more the tarnish plate when we got it out of the box.  I uncovered an inscription which says 1978 so I would say it has not had a polish for 55 yar.  I think it could have another round of silvo as there are still marks there.  I paused that job to go across to the beach as the Sun had appeared.  When I got there it started to rain.  Such contrariness. I did the rubbish run instead of the swim and picked up the usual small items. There were a husband and wife team of metal detectorists and they only had metal rubbish to show for their time.  She says she prefers the gold fields but likes to find accessories like buckles, badges and buttons.  I bet the gold does not get left behind. 

I can't help comparing yesterday's funeral with two week's back. The big difference is that the great grandies are just starting out with the Carney's totaling one compared to eighteen (soon to be twenty) running around from the Clancy line.  I can remember visiting Catherine and Roger at the farm where Laura and Clare were  sitting in some long grass and just laughing their heads off.

Before

After

Ballerina on a bicycle

 We bought some barbecue supplies and went over to Asher's house for a bit of a play session.  Estelle was already there and they were right into balloons this time, which kept them going all afternoon.  The cubby house is a good one for Estelle as she likes to get in there and rattle those pots and pans. Conversations with four year olds take odd turns.  We were talking ballet and then five minutes later Asher has the new tutu on.  

barefoot ballet

Estelle makes a sandwich

Sparky's conundrum

 We got back from the gathering to find no hot water at our hacienda.  Talking to the neighbours it is not a new problem.  We are the 20th unit where the circuit to the hot water unit just stops working.  The Gemena people have no explanation. One by one the hot water is failing to heat in this village. Their solution is to replace the whole fuse box with a new one.  As a temporary fix you can switch another breaker from night to day and the water will start to heat.  Go figure.  We got on the newly refurbished bikes this morning and road to Laverton Creek and back a distance of 19km.  The track was very busy. At least 50 riders and a 100 walkers. I drew some maps of the creek back in the day.

Laverton Creek

Not so Sunny

Gathering

These gatherings are not as frequent as they once were but Bill and Bronwyn were keen to host an afternoon tea in their continously renovated house.  Bill is going to need more projects if he is in full retirement.  Many topics were raised and the world's problems solved at the same time as eating cake. The vanilla slices from around the corner are a winner and I can remember riding from Essendon via Station St to get to the Yarra trail and we stopped off for those snot blocks way back then.

Packages

A number of packages were prepared today containing various mementos and all were dispatched at the Post Office. While that was going on I got another scan session finished. I plucked a few older shots from one envelope but then weighed in on two large folders from the New Zealand honeymoon trip circa 1997.  The negatives were still there but I scanned the positives which is quicker.  This was 1997 and more time seemed to be spent in the South Island than the North. There were captions written on the back of most so they have been typed into the comments field of each photo.

The very bottom of the South Island at The Bluff.

Is that dress made out of  curtains? I am thinking 1988 for this picture.