The Net Result

 Green bin day always results in a flurry of garden activity. Maybe we should not have tried a bike ride this morning before we took on the garden.  The bike was a modest 14km but I made it without issues. This time last year we were gearing up for a 60km ride and were doing at least 30km by now. We can still get up to that.  I mowed the lawns just after Debbie did a whole lot of edging and trimming and the whole area is surprisingly green still. Maybe this is yet another coolish Summer.  

We started hauling a huge net over the apricot tree. I was up a ladder balanced on uneven dirt and swaying when the story of the neighbour over the road wafted into memory. Last week he fell off an old ladder into the neighbours yard and cracked two vertebrae but did not break anything else. He is in a brace.  It is the 8th time he has fallen off a ladder. He is in his 80's.  I got down from the ladder and we took away the whole net and cut three strips for a zoned approach to where the fruit is.  Fruit is singular as well as plural but I can assure you there is much fruit. All five of them.

Wilbur

 Ol 55 came to RMIT in 1975, that was the first time I saw Wilbur Wilde. He was 20 years old, the same age as me. It was a free concert to the students and that got me hooked.  Everyone else will have a familiarity with Wilbur thru 'Hey Hey it's Saturday' and that went on for years. Then in an unlikely encounter, he started hanging around Collendina caravan park. It turns out he was getting on friendly terms with Joan's daughter Cate who owned the van park. She came back from a UN job in Afghanistan and started working around the park.  They have since broken up. But last night at OneDay Estate, Wilbur and the Troublemakers were playing. He came up to us for a 10 min chat mainly because we were hanging around where the band were setting up.  We went thru the Collendina history and he was happy to reminisce. The OneDay Estate has been on our list to try and have now made it there when Laura bought me some Christmas tickets. The highlight was Ol' 55's Rockin Christmas.

The Santa Tree

With less than two weeks to go I have rumaged under the stairs and retrieved all of our Christmas decos including the tree.  Years ago when kids were around we had a proper pine tree but these days we have the recycled variety which is all the rage. Mind you there are grandies around but the topic of a cut down tree versus a tree from a box has not yet been raised but I guess I should get ready for that question. In the meantime we have a properly decorated three now, although we should have done it in the cool of the morning.  We have saved the upstairs lights for tomorrow morning. 

Beach Report No722

 We have noticed another ship unloading over at the navy pier.  It is all one way traffic since it reopened last year.  I had a better look at the cleanup or should I say the repositioning of grass balls into mountainous piles.  Over at the Dell the approach was to flatten and spread a huge plain of grass out into the water. Here we have a higher rock wall so they piled it to match the height of the wall.  Also the formation of a lagoon seems to be persisting. During the cleanup it was all filled in but the wind is driving water thru a low section and carving a depression at the back.  I also picked up some items along the way. Washed up bottles, straws, wrappers, rope pieces, tops and a pizza box insert. The new one this time was a plastic cutting board. 

grass across the trail

I tried a long range city view with the phone, a bit fuzzy.

This board was a red beacon 

Pale Orange

We have action on apricots here. I detect a variation other than green on one of the apricots but is exposed to birds as well.  I spied a kestrel I haven't noticed before hovering over our yard rather than where I normally see them over the foreshore. I spent an hour and five litres of watered down roundup spraying the paths and courtyards as well as the front garden beds. That should kill any weeds off before Christmas comes around. We also took Grandma's advice and cut off one of the leaves from an indoor orchid. However having done that Debbie moved it to a lower shelf. The strategy worked and a huge shoot came up quickly, however we did not notice it and was hampered by shelving. Hopefully it will straighten out.

awkward orchid but with plenty of buds

Blow Up Thongs

 Yesterdays injection did not do much for my sleep last night and I have another in 3 months. We have been digging around looking at new options for grandies over at the beach. We tried the SUP with no luck then looked at the biscuit. We called into BCF as they had plenty of blow up floaties.  I was looking at the $350 price tag and I remembered the three occasions we went in the Torquay Australia Day thong challenge about 10 yar ago.  And I think we have three large thongs from those events that can be reinflated and carried down to the beach. I found the old foot pump which is still serviceable and got one thong and a large tube puffed up. Now I need a days rest.  Not sure if all five will be here at once but I will have three large ones ready.

2013

2014

Talk about SIICC

 SIICC stands for Scraped, Iced, Injected, Creamed and Cut.  I went to a different doc for another look at my skin, so he says yes let's have a detailed look. Then everything is examined with a magnifying glass. There was no time for the scraping and cutting, that will have to wait for next time but the icing was done and the injecting. The injection is for shingles and will require a second jab in two months. This gives a 90% protection chance, especially since I have already had a dose of shingles. The cream starts tonight and goes for 6 weeks. I have had this stuff before and its not cheap.  I also had barnacles ice gunned and my ear got a shot as well for the first time.  It's like a Christmas skin clean.