Asher Salutes Estelle Plays

 Haven't put in a 13 hour day like yesterday, for a while but today is a good indoor stamp day with nothing but rain.  It also means I can get videos working. There was one of Asher doing a salute but that has failed to record.  We watched Mary Poppins with a few pauses and she was attentive for most of the 2.5 hrs. There was a lot of saluting going on but I will have to get her to repeat it. I did get a photo though. As for Estelle I have plenty of videos. This is the longer one where she is just going about her business with a few calls from the couch judge. Her undestanding is showing thru more and more.

The lackey kept saluting the retired admiral on the roof

Estelle's Perambulator

 It was a long day today with a 6:00am start to get across to Watsonia before 8:30am and it was  heavy duty traffic snarls in parts.  Estelle was full of energy when we arrived, which was more than us, but we warmed up to her hijinks. I am typing this piece during the afternoon sleep, as it will be busy later.  We had two trips in the pram, firstly to get a few vegies for pumpkin soup and zucchini pie. This was the long way around via the community centre playground. It was cool but sunny and conveniently there was a nice school jumper to dry the swings and slides.   After Estelle's lunch of chicken, corn cob and fruit we went back out, this time to the A-Team café. PS she ate all the corn off the cob, all the fruit and ⅔ of the chicken but not a single green bean.  Back at  the A-Team it was a shared BLAT sandwich, very tasty.  Estelle was happy with a crust.  She has gone straight to sleep so now it is our turn.

swing high

No BLAT for you

15km run

 All the memories about marathon training have come flooding back with Daniel's entry into the Melbourne marathon this year.  There are four months to go to get to 42km and today it was 15km in reasonable conditions. It rained during the night but was dry this morning. I paved the way on the bicycle and there was no way I could have run 15km. The pace was decent at between 5 and 5.5 minutes per Km on our undulating circuit.  Bianca  did her own circuit of 6km while Asher was entertained by Nana.

before

after

Debbie took the only photo after my Melbourne Marathon. This was back in 1983. I needed to lean on Carol O'rourke to stand up. After 2 hours rest I was fine. I think that T-shirt is still around somewhere.

Collendina Report No 598

 Yes the Collendina Reports may have to start up again as the Roberts are returning to Collendina and exactly back to the same plot with the same outlook.  Daniel & Bianca have secured the deal with the Taylors so the champagne has been poured.  The van itself is looking a bit tired but the new owners have plenty of ideas about what can be done there.  And this is all happening just as the the whole park is changing hands as well. That seaside outlook is always the thing.

teacups & champagne glasses

Friday weigh day

Bike rides seem to be rare at the moment but I got in a good one for practice, as this weekend we are to get a training route going for Daniel's marathon run later in the year.  Not sure how this will work, although we have seen coaches in the area who ride while the protégé runs.  Also got the lawns mowed but geting the clippings in the bin with a jungle of old tomatoe plants was tight.  First Friday of the month is weigh in time. I am officially writing down 90kg although I did see a lower total a while back.

cold but clear

Icon

 Fred Forsyth specialises in spy whodunnits and this is no exception and could also be a bit Nostradamus like in his prediction of a Russian crazy man emerging from the breakup of the USSR. Sound familiar. This was written in 1996.  As usual other governments are dithering while the crazy man is trying to move in. That's when the behind the scenes spymaster takes over.  Too bad we don't have these guys in reality.  In this case all the shooting occurs in Moscow. 

Estelle and the blanket

 We got the stroller unpacked which was an instant hit with Estelle. The baby had to have a cuddle but the fixation was on the blanket.  We would get everything ready to go, hands in position, baby tucked in then the blanket was taken off.  This was repeated a few times but in the end she was walking around and avoiding some obstacles to get from one room to the other.  This cold weather has timed itself perfectly for the first day of Winter. Now starts the quick countdown to the shortest day.