Talking Blarney

 Seemed like an indoor day today so I did another session of document scanning to keep chipping away at the pile. I plucked this one out which is a tourism certificate.  I have to get my traveling hat on again soon, so as to be on the look out for tourist scams and generally trying to pay attention to my surroundings.  I remember a guy getting us to follow him to a shop in Fiji once for a cava ceremony.  They also sell stuff. It took best part of an hour to extricate ourselves from that one. This kissing the Blarney is perfectly designed to part with your money.  It is also a bit tricky as you have to hang upside down.Those Irish.

Galaxy and the Ground within

 The theme in this book has been repeated plenty of times.  Travellers are thrown together for a period of time due to some unforseen problem.  The one I remember is Gander in Canada.  Thirty Eight planes were diverted there for five days after 9/11. So that meant 7,000 extra people in a town of 9,000 but they did have a huge historical airport.  Just as in the book they were forced to work it out. Trying to get your head around the characters in this book is the hard part, eg one of them only communicates in colour via their skin, so no need for vocal chords. 

Deserted Beach

 I observed a council truck with a large drum of something on the back. It was at the top of the ramp and I assumed it went down onto the beach and am guessing it might have been a weed killer. To quote the local landcare group they in conjunction with the council will be doing "vegetation maintenance" along the beach front here. I talked to these guys not too long back and they said I was welcome and they would supply the tools. My hands have enough trouble doing garden chores around here. I have been noticing piles of uprooted weeds down there though. The temperature was getting warmer, there was no breeze to speak of, so I got out the rubbish bag.  It was completely deserted across there and a Sunday afternoon to boot. Not much rubbish to tally, some rope pieces, butts and small plastics. I will keep an eye out for any weeds that may die off.

the theory is that cat pee is killing this plant. Maybe we should send cats 
down along the beach to pee on those weeds.

All to myself

Multi Ride

 Two days in a row of bike riding. Things must be looking up. It helps if the bronchitis you have been trying to get rid of for two months has finally backed off.  We only did a minimal circuit back passed the train station again and stopped in town to pick up the newspaper.  Those blokes and their trains. Those big kids are always doing something with those trains, this time it is digging up the rails and slipping new sleepers underneath.

Grocery Bike

 I have considered riding a bicycle to the supermarket on numerous occasions and the size of the list always meant I could not fit it into one backpack.  Today I was mainly after fish and maybe I could get a few other bits and pieces. I went the long way taking the Jetty Road approach. The mansion on the hill is completely gone but I notice the house on the next hill is still there but there are those pink flags markers popping up everywhere. Going passed the station I noticed the Q train gearing up for the lunch crowd. It was just pulling out and letting everyone know with multiple blasts.  Back at the fish counter I got basa fillets, three huge ones for $8. I squeezed in biscuits,milk,fruit,sauce and the fish into the backpack. What no eggs.

PS there are a lot of people taking an extra day off around here.

ANZAC Spit Roast

 Got a late call up for a spitroast, that's good call us anything you like except late for a spitroast. We got to Estelle's house around midday but the spit was not starting to crank until 1 o'clock after Kaia has had her sleep. So it was more an early dinner at around 4:30pm which suits us as there  is no cooking to do.  The backyard trampoline is one of those all enclosed styles and heavy duty so will not take off in the wind, especially with james bouncing in it.

Don't get trampoled Kaia

Beach Comb No 367

 It is off and on Sunshine today and a tad cooler than Brisbane last week.  I did a scan of the beach for any flotsam and got the usual small items (including a well filled dog poo bag) but generally it is a clean scene. The exception is a set of chairs. I saw a dog walker lugging up a chair as well as having four dogs on four separate leads.  When I got to the bottom there were two more missed matched chairs. I think these have been taken from a roadside and found there way down here.  They are good quality and the one that was removed matches one of the chairs still here, so I have left them where they are for now, as the dog walker may want to come back and claim its pair.  

Frightful Garden

 Haven't gotten to the back veggie patch for some weeks. It looks a bit like nana's hair after two days with the grandies, a fright. (That's her quote.) I finally got the netting down from around our new nectarine planting which is now a large flourishing tree. The neighbours regularly hack theirs back to a trunk. We were warned. I picked about 10 good strawbs and there is still a few more. The tomatoes are coming to the end but I did get another 10 or so of those. The next big thing will be getting the olives down. This will have to be done a bit earlier this year as we are knicking off in the last part of May.

Yesterday was an absolute millpond all day. Canoeists and stand ups were non stop.  

trees are now unhindered

Cooking School

 The toy kitchens are all the go at the Taylors, there is one inside and one outside so you can't miss any of the culinary art that goes on around here.  The main ingredient outside is sand flour which goes well with chalk eggs. The inside kitchen is much more civilised, flames at the touch and drinking fountains in the door, so all the latest requirements.

Evie took this photo

last morning

Scheduled Flight

 This would have to be the most on time and faultless flight I have had in a long time. Even the bags were waiting when we got to the carousel.  You have to pick on something and I would have to say the security check area at Brisbane is hopeless compared to Melbourne. In Brisbane everything gets unpacked, like laptops, umbrellas, belts and areosols.  That part took 30mins. Otherwise I am sitting here at 2:00pm typing this before I take a snooze as it was yet another 5:30am start. Those Queensland grandies are early starters. There will be some short videos to come which are only phone versions.

This is a final photo from the hotel room we were in showing the crazy TV position with corners jutting into two walkways.

Boondall Wetlands

 Last full day of Grand Sitting. If you want a non stop week of exercising including bending, lifting, crouching, walking and more bending and lifting then try Evie and Charlie for that time. We arrived at the Boondall Wetlands which has a very interactive indoor centre before you even start walking. You can fly, touch, smell, see and feel all manner of critters. We must have been 30 miond in there before we started walking.  After luncj we took Evie to the shopping centre where she could spend her dollarbucks that we hgave her for her birthday. She bought a drawing kit and a clock. We got Charlie bath baby just to keep it all even.

Am I speaking to Batman

learning to fly

Beach Day

 It is always an early start but having delivered the kiddies to the daycare we were free to fill in the day. The first three hours were sleeping and pill taking. We drove North to Redcliff beach for an afternoon of doing nothing much. The water here is bath like and reasonably clear of the usual mangrove mud soup. We are still affected by these lurgi bugs but the pills are doing thier job. There are more high rise apartments here with others being constructed so this may be a better area to stay in future with a 30 min drive from Nundah. 

Manly

 A quiet day was in order if you can get one of those. The grandies were locked away in kiddie gaol for the whole day.  But we still had to work around the Luna grooming schedule so had to stay on the south side of the river. The pick up time is anywhere between 2:00 and 4:00 and don't be LATE. So working to this time frame makes us lunatics. (See previous note on selenophobics). We had done this before as we were seeing deja vu everywhere.  Deja there vu over there. We even went into the same cafe as last time thinking we can order a vino and walked back out the same way. Lets go to Manly they must have a pub and so they did. It was grand opening day. There were more balloons than at a one year olds birthday.  There were no menus only phone ordering.  We got our meals at 1:00pm and the phone rang to say time to pick up Luna.  The dog poofer was not happy as she was closing at 1:30pm. That's not the time we were told.  We did not necessarily rush but we left the pub at 1:30 and got to Lunaville at 1:45 enduring a smiling admonishment about tardiness.  

Bats

 We have lots of bats in Melbourne but here you can get up close. Over the back fence there is a fruity tree that bats like to congregate in. Early on in the evening the locals eg magpies aren't happy about the invasion and I saw some dog (bird) fighting tactics but the bats are equally as swift in their manoeuvres. I went inside before the mossies got too bad but I did get some of the action.

The Dog is waiting

 It hasn't been the best of weeks sleeping wise.  There have been nights of coughing fits and then there was the onset of the very raspy throat nasty. Then there was  the TV problem where it would mysteriously glow during the night, in a pulsating on off way. Last night I left a pack of strepsils within easy reach in case the throat came back again.  During the night I could hear small sounds that seemed loud. Eventually I worked out this was the blister pack of strepsils, contracting and popping. Debbie was also hearing this so I got a thong and she turned on the bed light. It was the cockroach digging into my medicine. I got two good hits in before it disappeared. Those things are armour plated. It was around 4:30 and Debbie was getting up at 5:00 anyway. I was excused due to delirium and catarrh from this mornings early start. I am sure it was only 5 mins later when my phone rang. It was in the other room but I missed the call and banged my head into the corner of that pesky TV which for some reason is positioned over the doorway. So I have blood dripping down my face when the door opens and Debbie says yes I just rang, that cut doesn't look too bad but I have to run as I have to get the dog to its grooming session. And I haven't even mentioned my poo problem.

Mt Coot-Tha

 We have been to the botanic gardens here before but this time we had two grandies with us but so was their mum. We concentrated on the playground then the childrens mystery trail where we had to find 17 different stations.  I think the best one for me was the row of bats who had musical instruments. I am trying to get the collective name for a row of bats. I have thought of a suspension of bats. I am struggling with the aircon here. It is not that hot in the mid twenties but the aircon is always cranked not matter what shop you go into. I have a sore throat and have had to take on Debbie's abandoned antibiotics script. 

Charlie takes a swim

 It was go go go.  We arrived by 8:00am for a quick piece of toast as we had to get to swim school by 9:00am In the meantime we walked to the coffee shop so the cleaners could clean. Evie was the first lesson but the instructors do the whole schedule. At 9:30 it was Charlie's turn however he needs someone in the water and that someone was me. Now I have done some swimming in my time but this was another whole load of fish.  There was bobbing, bouncing, splashing and trouncing and he has to be 20kilo of floating flounder. We made it out of there to cross over to the library for some book reading.  The rest of the day was your normal non stop merri go round.

Selenophiles

 We got kiddies to daycare around 8:00am then it was Pure Bookkeeping time for a few hours even though this week was supposed to be a week off.  We picked Laura up and headed to Sandgate for lunch at the Full Moon Hotel. This is where the Selenophiles hang out. I should have told them that by the end of the year the Moon will have its own time zone so you can set a clock giving you the time on the Moon. We crossed the road to the beach and sat on the same seat as last time for a pleasant sunny afternoon. Now we are getting back to the Daycare centre for phase three.

Selenophiles

All aboard the Taylor Express

 I have to get into some sort of routine here but I think each day will be different. We arrived ok by taxi at Nundah but the driver wasn't happy at such a short destination. After a sandwich we took both  kids back to our hotel pool. It is kidney classic shaped and deep but we made the most of it. The room is larger than most but has an awkward TV high up on a corner. The temperature was ok for sleeping but it was still a disturbed sleep. It is a daycare day today so we rounded up both and dropped them off there for a days action. 

carlton supporter with soul

what plant is that

kitchen train

Airport wait time

 I may as well type something. It is early Sunday morning but this place never sleeps. The scoreboard is saying gate information will be posted in 30 mins, which is fairly close to boarding time. The lady  on the newxt table has lost her phone at the security check. She thought you had to unload your whole bag for the screening. Eventually we got it back from lost & found. She also has an alziemers husband in tow who was oblivious to this stuff.

Cricket Season

 The lawn mowing is always the first job on arriving at Willie yet this time the crickets demanded attention. I must have swept up 50 dead ones from the garage and inside the house.  When I did mow there were many more hiding in the grass. We must be getting to the end of this plague by now. The elderly lady across the way did a head first dive into the floor when trying to chase a cricket. She's now got more purple than a North Old Boys footy jumper.  

By Jiminy

Quick Pack Quick Walk

 While Debbie is getting her nails done I had a spare hour to do a quick beach walk. Before that it was packing for a week in Brisbane via an overnighter in Williamstown. I am taking a smaller bag which is weighing in at 12kilos so far.  The beach walk was clean enough just a few small plastics. The plant puller is still clearing a few bigger weeds.  I dragged them into the bushes as they are sticll prickly just lying there. 

plant pull

a pelicans wing

Fish Friday

 There are some large fish shops on the Bellarine and one of the biggest in Drysdale.  We have been here six yar and have always been drawn to that one. It's fresh there is a lot of choice and its expensive.  In the back of your mind there are the large fishing boats out of Queenscliff and we have seen them at night lighting up the ocean as day from Collendina. It is an expensive business.  We know a canoe fisherman from Williamstown who says don't ignore your Coles fish section. We have been trying these for the last four weeks. We had Basa fillets last week. They are thin but tasty and I bought too many so we had two meals for $6.  Today I got Barramundi, a half kilo for $7.  This is way cheaper than the big fish factory. 

Clancy's flying visit

 Brendon and Cathie called in for an overnighter after their original hosts came down with covid.  We got them outside both yesterday and today for short walks along the tops and along the beach.  Those Queenslanders were more rugged up as if they were going for a walk on an Antarctic ice flow and it was still a balmy17°.  We had a pub meal last night just for the convenience as we had to get back for an internet card session.  For the first time we had two of us in different rooms of the same house but playing 500 whilst online.  It worked fairly well as there was no extra feedback chat in the background. This morning our neighbours were jogging back after having a swim in their clothes, which sent Cathie into the shiver shakes.  Those Queenslanders.

I caught one smile in this one

Orchid Spikes again

 One sure fire sign that the weather is changing is the appearance of spikes from the orchid pots. There are four very prominent spikes where you can already see the flowers in position, all be it very small versions as yet. There are also green spears which look promising. They are in the back courtyard. The middle courtyard also has at least three small spears that look ok. These are eminating from what looks to be a dead older plant but there they are bright green shoots coming from a browned off husk.  You never know with these when something will sprout.

sunlit crown

first flower signs

Notorious

 This is one of those reduced readers digest versions which hopefully gets to the point by reducing the waffle.  It has a western theme.  I have seen the following before, cowboy drifter arrives in town, gets involved in a stoush between a single female rancher and the local kingpin cattle baron. He works it all out and then everyone lives happily everafter.  The colder weather today pushed me to finish this one quickly/ I did venture out by bicycle for a few chores but I think the beach weather may have deserted us.