Bicycle errands

 Did the hospital run again this morning this time retrieving the patient who is currently having a long sleep.  I rode into Williamstown to find the chemist for three items, two pain killers and an antibiotic, as we do not want any infections.  I also got a few things from the Supermarket but there is only so much room in a back pack and I grabbed a dozen prickly roses while I was there. Now that must have been a sight trying to ride with prickly roses sticking out of the pack.  We are anticipating a quiet week with recovery in mind before next weeks checkup and test results.  Although there is a couple of birthdays at the weekend.

Keeping Busy

I got back from the hospital run at 8:15am. I have a plan to  keep busy today and the first part of which was to get the bike out for a ride.  I went out for 90 min for another Williamstown circuit. I found a number of coffee shops in the area. There is a sneaky underpass near Newport station which looks like an alleyway and you emerge into a quiet set of shops just hidden away.  I continued following the train line which maybe an alternative to Melbourne Road however you have to get across that line and the only crossing is an old fashioned boom gate.  I have been scanning photos for the last hour or so. They are a mixed bag of old birthdays and weddings some of which I remember and some I don't yet I am in some of the photos.

Riding passed Science Works

with beard

without beard

Looks familiar

Geelong Morning

A number of times we have said lets just stroll around the Geelong shops one morning.  Mid week is great for easier parking and not that crowded.  Our first stop was a flop.  I took my camera for a clean out but he had a note on the door saying back at 1:00pm.  So I am still using a phone.  We also brought two small paintings with us, from the Lester Gallery in Fish Creek. These need frames but we could not find anything to match.  The Westfield bookstore had sold out of the 2021 Hugo winner "Network Effect', so I ordered that as well.   Not actually  spending anything but I did have birthday cash.  So I can now say my Mum's $100 birthday cash was spent on a jumper from Myers. We finished off with lunch at the Japanese restuarant and then headed to Williamstown.

Birthday Stamps

11:00am. I have made a start on the birthday stamps mainly out of the bag where the paper is still attached from the original envelopes. The green album has good quality in it from a quick perusal.  Separating the paper is a staged operation. Firstly don't overfill the container. Use hot water and let that sit for 10 mins.  It may take an hour to get thru 3 or 4 hundred stamps depending on their age. Generally older stamps separate more easily than newer ones.  Place them face down on paper towels and let that lot dry for 4 or 5 hours.  Then gather them up in manilla folders and place them between a dozen coffee table books for a week.  Then you can decide which ones may be of interest.

We hadn't checked the beach for a week so we wandered down this morning with the plastic bag in hand. I don't think there has been much wind however we still got a half bag of stuff, including a child's bracelet.  Too bad in the bin it went.  I also tried out the water. I waded waist deep out about 50 metres.  There are grass beds around which have bounced back quite lush but mostly it seems to be open sand.

Stamp separation bench

4:00pm.  I have had a detailed look at the Green Hingeless Australian Album. Earlier I said it looked good quality that is an understatement, it is of a very high standard. The front page although only half full is around $1000 worth.  The entire album contains mint varieties and I will include those first eight Kangaroos as I have none of them in a mint condition.  All up I have selected 53 stamps from that book that I do not have.  That would have to be a record for Australian pre decimal mint stamps going into my collection at the same time.  It is good to have stamp spotters out there. 

I need all of these

95th Birthday

 I have an idea now about what photos from Nana Beryl's house need to be digitised.  I have already done most of the albums some years back. I started on one book and realised that I had taken these photos over 10 yar ago myself, so they are already digital.  I got the electric mower going this morning and seems to do a reasonable job for the small amount of grass we have at Williamstown and you can put it back in its box and sit it on the shelf.  In the afternoon we headed over to the South Melbourne Nursing home for the Auntie Patty 95th birthday.  We used the boardroom no less for a sit down roast chicken and salad and a Belinda cooked orange cake.  We got nana  Beryl back to Werribee on our way home to Clifton Springs.

Skyways Luncheon

 Our combined Heidi birthday lunch went well especially with Heidi's 50% off card.  Positioned right next to the kids play room has its advantages.  Her chair present was looming in our car for quite some days. This morning we are following Daniel on the Melbourne Running Festival. Each runner gets a chip and the tracking via our phone app is amazing.  We can get constant position, speed and estimated finishing time. Right now he is at the 11km mark with 10 kms to go for a half marathon.  We are taking Beryl to Auntie Patties 95th birthday later and her nursing home is a stones throw from the marathon course.

Small grass mower

 So in the end we have bought the smallest electric mower you can get.  The garden man here was thinking $40 and we were thinking $20 for each time he mowed out the back.  Even at $20 it would only take 6 mows to get our money back.  We went to the Williamstown Bunnings. It reminded me a bit of USA shopping where you have to drive inside the car park to get to the stores on the otherside.  They have a small Readings cinema in there, that is the one thing we could use on the Bellarine somewhere.  I have bought a replacement small media card reader, now I should be able to get back to the larger video camera.  In the meantime these came off my phone.

A close up of yesterday's bee hive. It's actually a ball of bees. There must be some wax in there somewhere. We went back last night to try the fish shop, very tasty for $20.