Estelle checks out the yard

 It was a similar beach day to yesterday except for a stronger wind.  Lots of cars, lots of groups, a sign of warmer weather to come. I heard our mate TV Dan has admitted that the lockdowns don't work anymore but we are still going to continue with it.  Go figure.  Estelle was in the outdoors today exploring her backyard, probably not the best of days but if the Sun is out then get out and about.

Spring

 That was a slow lockdown Winter and good riddance.  22° today and from the line of cars out the front and also the family groups on the beach you would think it was mid summer.  I went in for some more water wading cum jogging but it is still pretty cool in there.  The beach is looking OK but with plenty of dried seagrass lying about. The biggest groups in the water are the paddlers who are mainly fishing.  Also small dinghies are mixing it with the fishing boats so if this is lockdown I'll go jump in the water. I think I worked out why the birds were congregating in the same piece of water for a few days. The fish never moved so the birds knew where to come back to.  We saw them stuffing whole fish down at one swallow.

Remote medical

 Even if I use a tablet on my end, another variation on filming these is at the other end where  a phone can turn portrait or landscape even half way thru the call. This video is hot off the press where Asher is pursuing her latest favourite game using her medical bag.  I was getting my fingers examined remotely as it seems they are not quite right. I'll say, even on the phone they look warped.  This part is mainly her being examined.

Video videos

Frequent but well timed video calls are becoming the go.  Just at feed time or maybe a tummy time before bed.  Filming them on a phone does not seem to work as well as those tablet styled screens obviously with their bigger area to aim at.  I have one of each below where Estelle is just working out that there is someone talking (singing) on the other end and in Evie's case she knows that something tasty is on that spoon and wants it fast.

Pelican Way

You would think mowing the lawns was enough exercise for one day but we blew out the cobwebs with a beach walk this afternoon at the same time keeping an eye on the various rain clouds that were dripping.  The pelicans came in for some fishing but we want to know how the signal is given.  Initially there were five and from the lookout later we could see two more fly in for a feed. Molly had to answer a question on the "who wants a million?" show about how birds communicate and she got it right.  These birds were kms away from each other and on the way back another three had arrived.  Some sort of fish radar.

we dodged the clouds

Beach Frame

 Our circuit ride is just about maximised to be the longest we can get inside a 5km radius eg riding 21.3 km.  Winter has gone away today with a Northerly breeze and plenty of Sun, so the ride was crowded out with many bikes and pedestrians.  The slapstick moment occurred when a dog on a lead, lunged at a woman, catching the owner off guard who then sprawled in slow motion going down on the grass with legs in the air like a beetle.  This weeks beach frame message written with sea bombs is 'Stay Safe'.

Feathered Rock

Auctioned Out

 My Winter lockdown stockpile of aging stamp albums has completely run out.  I have emptied them all and made a selection of the stamps that I was interested in. I have thrown 10 older unsuitable albums in the bin but there are at least another 10 reusable ones that I can recycle.  So casting around for the next auction target turns out that the two that I follow were both on the same day, being yesterday.  I was leading the bids in the first but had to trump in online for the 2nd auction.  The count down is worse than watching paint dry.  It took two days for my choices to come under the hammer.  However I have managed to get my own copy of a 1840 penny black, however it is sight unseen so have no idea of its condition. All up I was successful in 4 lots from two simultaneous auctions. That's enough auction action for a while.