Wind Plants

 Hooray the neighbours have cut the ivy away from the back fence. We casually mentioned it to their gardener who said he had not been asked to do it.  I think he gets extra for a once a year hacking back of their trees. This stuff was under the fence, over the fence and growing into the lemon tree. There are four or five high lemon fronds that I could not get to cut off which are annoying.  The orchid sprays out back are in full bloom and one single flower has survived on one of the stunted shoots. Also we rescued the wind damaged Aeoniums. It seems they keep flowering even though the wind has knocked them off.

Tip Toeing

 A few yar ago I would do some mid Winter water wading.  One of our neighbours is a regular jogger and she would always come back via the beach and dunk herself in. I had a brief chat two days ago out the front here and she was soaking wet. I am not sure about anyone else but there is only so long you can wear two pairs of socks. I decided to let my feet escape by walking in the water. I did have ideas of going in deeper but the water was not clear enough for my liking. There are a lot of sticks and washed up boxthorn at the moment which I have also been tossing into the bushes.  

Seconds Away

This is another Coben thriller I found on the Willie book shelves. This time it is more of a boys own mystery style adventure featuring a gang of misfit teens that solve murders, rescue people and play basketball.  It seems there are other books in the series but I think I will give them a pass.  It is easy enough reading with a straight forward storyline compared to some of the Netflix plots but you can't have it twisty all the time. 

R&R

 Just when I thought I was getting over this lurgy business my nose started running and hasn't stopped for a day. Not the best topic for a blog but that seems to sum up todays activity, hunkering down indoors to stave off a cold.  There is always a few stamps to wade thru. I opened a decrepit looking album that was  yellowed and cracked.  Inside the cover was last centuries version of a database, more like last centuries version of a spreadsheet.  This album was about Europa, which is a UN style organisation, formed in 1956 but with just European countries as members and also like the UN, they issue their own stamps. I have kept the sheet for posterity. What I like the most is the small doodles of the stamp designs along the bottom margin.

Good Weather Clean

I have had a nasty cold for the three days since our Winter outdoors extravaganza.  The cold seems to be finishing now as I took the time for a beach wander, in mild conditions, with plenty of Sun and no wind.  I can gaze across to Mt Macedon and see it clearly now and just a few days back we were up there with rain and fog. Timing is everything. I picked up all the larger bottles last time so it was all the little stuff, like bottle tops, rope pieces and stray plastics. I did enough bending down for a week in just an up and back sweep of the beach.  There is plenty more to pickup.

cleaned up

a bobbing something

out and about

deep channel

The Mirror Cracked

 I started reading an Agatha Christie when I got that "I've been here before" feeling. Sure enough searching my blog showed I had read it two yar ago.  It was the cover that thru me. Two different publishings, two different covers.  Fortunately the last story in this compendium of three, I had not read, so I switched over.  In this one Miss Marple is getting on a bit and is relying on people to bring her info rather than getting it herself.  It is also easier to work out as the butler gets shot this time, so it isn't him. In the end MM gets off the couch and makes it to the final reveal.

I made a discovery

 You could tell the out of towners had arrived trying to make the most of a soaked playground while spending time before takeoff.  We also stayed for lunch at the local Ball Court hotel in Sunbury, which was historic and also enormous.  I feel like we have been driving in another country for three days, except the names are all classic Victorian Towns and not that far away.  In fact I can see Mt Macedon from our balcony. I have often wondered what that large hill was in the distance.  It was a tour all right with towns like Riddell's Creek, Digger's Rest and Bacchus Marsh all thrown in.