Friday, October 06, 2006

Transferred Archives From Old Blogger Site

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Back To Normal

The kids have gone home and slowly things are getting back to 'normal'. Bottles to wash ready for another bottling tomorrow, pool to clean and a few odds and ends to buy when I return the two late release DVD's I have 'copied' to view at own leisure.

A look around the new shops at the new Homemaker Centre. Only a few shops are open but that was a good excuse for a look around. A large shop called Katmandu selling winter weight coats and other 'trekking' products. Not sure about the market for warm coats here where we live!

Back home to tidy up the bottles etc and see the pool temp is up to 25 degrees. Today's temp about 25 too, possibly a bit more with heaps of heat in the sun.

On the internet and saw this from the Weather Bureau site, looks like a heavy shower coming up later this afternoon. Trish grabbed the washing off the line and I took out the pool overflow plug!
Click on the photo for a 'full sized' shot.

The red and yellow represents very heavy rain! It is heading north east and we should get the northern tip of it here. Caloundra is almost at the top of the screenshot.

Don't think I will need to water the garden tonight!

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Family Holiday Draws To An End

Kate Arj and Charli flew out of Maroochydore Airport at lunchtime today heading back to a sunnier Melbourne. A wind change has brought showers back to the Sunshine Coast with a 5 ml reading from last night. Today was overcast early but fined up later.

They enjoyed themselves while with us.

Charli had some fun with the cheap keyboard we have. Hopefully she is taking after her Dad.







But I think Trish had the 'most' fun getting heaps of nurses of the newest grand daughter.

Trish is heading down to Melbourne mid November to catch up with all the grandchildren. Then she, Kate and Charli are heading back up here for a week in late November.

Then both Trish and I head south to spend Christmas with the family in Melbourne. We are due to leave here on December 19th and we will return on December 31st.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Report Time

The footy was enjoyed by all on both Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Same Grand-Finalists as last year and I bet Rainy will be pleased.

Both nights were spent quietly at home.

After a huge breakfast at the Calondra Bowls Club on Sunday morning, we checked out the market in Caloundra's main street. It was crowded, we were now in School Holidays.



Later that day we headed back to the beach. Charli loved playing in the warm rocks pools and enjoyed splashing about. Like a duck to water so to speak.

She is a pretty good eater and discovered that sand isn't to her liking but seagrass certainly is!

Then shock of all horrors, my computer monitor died late on Sunday afternoon. I went immediately into shock and retreated into my shell.

A new monitor was bought and installed first thing Monday and we are again 'on the air'. Later we all went to Kawana Shopping Centre and Charli became acquainted with the pet farm animals on display there.

Kate Arj and Charli are due to fly back to Melbourne tomorrow at 11:55 a.m.

A great day today with temps nudging 27 and the pool hovering between 23 and 24. Almost able to swim comfortably in it now. At this moment Arj has had a quick swim, he is poolside with book in one hand a a chilled apple cider in the other!

Today is Judy's birthday, Happy Birthday Jude! I will be giving you a call!

Friday, September 22, 2006

Great Weather To Continue

Plenty of sunshine and some blustery winds equal fairly warm temperatures here on the Coast. Pool temp was 20.7 this morning and with another 26 degrees for today it should warm the pool up even more.

Arj thought it was warm enough for a few quick laps yesterday.

A walk down to Bellvista Lake to feed the ducks, a quick swing and a walk around the lake completed the day.

Today we all crammed into the car and hit the beach. This was Charli's first beach visit and an introduction to sand. Preceded by a walk along the boardwalk it was fantastic fun. Trish enjoyed it too. And we can reliably inform you that King's Beach Tavern now has Bundy and Coke on tap!


Australia Vs India cricket this afternoon and Swans and Fremantle live tonight. Sounds like a tough life as long as you don't weaken!

Another beach visit is already planned for tomorrow!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Copying DVD's

The 2 best programs I find for copying DVD's are DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter. However both of these programs are no longer updated as I believe they have been put out of business by the US government. However, DVD Shrink will still copy most DVD's available today. Every now and again a DVD, e.g. "The Chronicles of Narnia" cannot be copied by just DVD Shrink alone.

To copy this sort of DVD you may need up to 4 programs, Ripit4me, DVD Decrypter, FixVTS and DVD Shrink. DVD Shrink then works hand in hand with most Nero 6 versions to successfully burn your DVD.

I have put a link (to the right) where you can download an installer program for these 4 programs - "RipIt4Me ALL Installer" It is a small program which connects to the internet, downloads each of the programs above and then installs them. I suggest you follow the "Recommended" setup.

I cannot test that this installer works as I already have the 4 mentioned programs on my computer! Let me know how it works if you do try it.

Hope this is of interest to someone.

Family Arrives

Our daughter Kate, husband Arj and granddaughter Charli (Charlotte) arrived yeaterday to spend a week with us. Fortunately the last gasp of winter has gone and we are enjoying some delightful spring weather. Today should get to 26 degrees and there is a real feel of summer in the air. However with the pool still around 21 degrees swimming is not yet on the agenda.

Charlie is well prepared for the summerlike weather!


Unfortunately there is a 20% off children's clothing and toys at the local K-Mart store so mother and grandmother have headed into town to 'save' a few dollars!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Glorious Day

At last a sensational day with temps to get to mid 20's. Even warmer each day coming up till about Monday of next week when we could have a 'cool' change.

Chris enjoyed his few hours with us last night before heading back into Brisbane to work at the Laminex factory there today. He was saying he is back to New Zealand with his work next week some time.

At the time of writing Trish is making her way to the Sunshine Coast Airport to pick up Kate, Arj and Charli. They fly in at 11:25 a.m for 6 nights.

Bit bored and nothing to do? Hit the link on the right "Footy Game pps" and download this AFL footy goal shooting game. You will need Powerpoint to run it! It's lots of fun. Again, thanks to my mate Keith for sending it up yesterday. I always know when Keith has been sending me stuff, there is a warning from my ISP, Bigpond, saying my Mailbox is 80% full. Most of the stuff Keith sends me is inappropriate for this web site! But I always get a laugh from the stuff he sends!

Remember, you may need to hit the 'Refresh" button daily to ensure you have the updated edition of this blog.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Uninvited Visitor

After cleaning up yesterday I had a quick shower. I later went to the back door and saw this guy. He scurried off.

Later, when Trish arrived home I told her about the snake I had seen. She asked how long was it? I looked out the back door again and said "The same length as that one out there!" I grabbed the camera! It is a common Garden Tree Snake and not venomous at all. Fortunately! After a fair bit of hitting the fence with the broom etc it has headed for a quieter neighborhood!

Click on the photo for a full sized picture.

Weather is sure brightening up with a pleasant 24 or so today. They are talkng about 30 on Sunday. My pool thermometre did not like the warm weather and no longer works. However I had a quick dip after mowing the lawn today and I can asure you the pool water is NOT hot!

Monday, September 18, 2006

Spring Clean

For the first time for one week I did not have to tip any rain out of the rain gauge this morning. Sunday had been cool but not wet. We had Andrew and Naomi (former neighbours of ours here on the coast) with their two children Dylan and Emma over for a meal last night. Dylan remembers me as Mr Peter Rabbit which I guess is an endearing title. Andrew enjoys making home brew so we spent some time discussing brewing techniques and a lot of time sampling! He has recently acquired a 15' boat and is looking for a part time 'deckie'. I am available!

With a little sun around this morning it was time for some spring cleaning. I bought a pressure sprayer from Bunnings for under $100 last year. It does a great job, especially cleaning the residue from numerous BBQ's from the patio ceiling, downpipe and guttering.

All the patio stuff was shifted out and in this second photo you can see the cheap but very effective pressure sprayer!


A surf on the net for a couple of hours and then all in readiness for Australia Vs WI live on Pay TV about 4:30 pm this afternoon.

Warming up this week with 23 today but getting towards 30 on Sunday. Kate and Arj arrive Wednesday and Chris is popping in on Tuesday for an evening meal while doing some work up here for Laminex.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Last Gasp Of Winter Still Gasping

Weather continues cloudy and showery. Expected to clear up on Monday ....... we hope!

Heard from a Langwarrin P.S. mum yesterday. Her son Graeme was one of the 6 kids Trish and I took to New Delhi India under the school's International School to School Experience program. Well Graeme just got married to Kari from USA. She was an exchange student staying with Graeme's family. It makes one realize that one is getting a bit older doesn't it?

Trish and I still retain contact with the parents of several of the kids we took overseas all those years ago.

Also heard this morning that my school secretary from Doveton North P.S. days Judy Coldwell was readmitted to hospital yesterday. Judy has been fighting cancer for some time now. Our thoughts are with her and her family.

We have a busy week coming up with 'the lad' Chris popping in to see us Tuesday evening. Chris works for Laminex in Melbourne and is visiting Queensland to provide some assistance to the Laminex factories in Brisbane and in Gympie. He flies back to Melbourne Wednesday evening.

Then on Wednesday, Kate, Arj and Charli arrive to spend some R and R time relaxing poolside in the 'warmth'! Our other daughter Kim flies to Cairns on Tuesday to catch up with one of her friends for a couple of weeks. So on Wednesday, all three of our kids will be in Queensland!

Friday, September 15, 2006

Showery One Day And More Showers The Next

The promise of improved weather was washed away this morning when we awoke to these scenes. The Weather Bureau describes these showers as 'winter's last gasp'. I sure hope so.

They are still promising us nice warm days into next week with mid to high 20's. Pool is 19.2


Trish has finished the quilt, just in time for our daughter Kate, her husband Arj and Charli's visit next week. Charli will not be cold.

Now 75 mls for the month, the driest month of the year! September's average is 54 mls!

1111mls for the year so far!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Grey Skies But On The Improve!

A cool 13 overnight, a couple of sprinkles this morning and a current temp of 19 with grey skies. Pool is 17.5. However the forecast is for things to get better into next week with 25 tipped for Tuesday.

That seems a long time away at this stage.

However the 2 mls overnight added on to what we have already had has been great for the garden as you can see.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Some Sun Between the Squally Showers

At least we have seen some sun today even though the strong wind off the ocean is still with us. Down to about 12 last night and it got to 20 today. As the photo shows, a series of quick showers came over throughout the day with little bits of blue in between. Poor old pool is back to 17.2 degrees.



A busy day bottling the latest brew this morning. It should be ready to drink in a few weeks time.


Trish has been working on a new quilt.

Thanks Irene, the parcel arrived this morning!

A Yarn From My Mate Keith

This is not too bad at all:

*Dave's Bad Night Out*

Dave works hard at the plant and spends two nights each week bowling and he plays golf every Saturday.

His wife thinks he's pushing himself too hard, so for his birthday she takes him to a local strip club.

The doorman at the club greets them and says, "Hey Dave! How ya doin?"

His wife is puzzled and asks if he's been to this club before. "Oh no," says Dave, "He's on my bowling team."

When they are seated, a waitress asks Dave if he'd like his usual and brings over a Budweiser. His wife is becoming increasingly uncomfortable and says: "How did she know that you drink Budweiser?"

"I recognize her, she's the waitress from the golf club. I always have a Bud at the end of the first nine, honey."

A stripper then comes over to their table, throws her arms around Dave, starts to rub herself all over him and says, "Hi Davey, want your usual table dance, big boy?"

Dave's wife, now furious, grabs her purse and storms out of the club.

Dave follows and spots her getting into a cab. Before she can slam the door, he jumps in beside her.

Dave tries desperately to explain how the stripper must have mistaken him for someone else, but his wife is having none of it. She is screaming at him at the top of her lungs, calling him every four-letter word in the book.

The cabby turns around and says: "Geez Dave, you picked up a real nag this time!"

Monday, September 11, 2006

Ain't No Sunshine

It has been very wet here today. 46mls of rain have fallen to this stage with more to come. This is our driest month of the year (54mls) but already we are 'above average' (58mls) for September! The photo shows a fairly bleak and uncomfortable backyard this morning! Afternoon and top temp so far is 15.4 degrees and the pool is now 18. We even had the heater on this morning as we watched Federer defeat Roddick in the US Open tennis Final. Click on the photo for a 'bigger' view.

Showers again tomorrow and Weds and hopefully clearing up later in the week. No water restrictions up here!

Lots of great AFL footy over the weekend with some exciting finishes.

The state election saw Beattie win comfortably again for a record equalling 4th term.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Daily Duties

The humdum overy day life continues here at the Thomas household. Loved the AFL last night, a great tight game and a come from behind win for the Demons. Two more matches today and both live on TV. Fills the day in nicely.

We have a state election on today with the pundits predicting the Beattie Labor government will be voted back in for a record fourth term. Lots of things have gone wrong for the govt. up here but the opposition is so weak they cannot capitalize on the government's mistakes.

And I had my own housekeeping to do, washing 30 plus bottles out ready to bottle my next batch of home brew. Always so busy!

Cool night last night, down to 13 degrees so the pool came in at 19.1 degrees this morning. Another coolish day of about 24 today. Nice and sunny but still a bit blowy. Supposed to get showers and rain tomorrow which will be great for the garden!

Friday, September 08, 2006

Visitors Fly Back To Melbourne

I dropped John and Sue Logan at the Sunshine Coast Airport this morning for their flight back to Melbourne. They were then heading straight to John's upcountry hideaway to watch the local footy team play in a Preliminary final tomorrow.

We did not get to the Kawana Bowls Club last night, instead we found our way to an Italian Restaurant we had been to a few times before. I am not a big fan of Italian food but last night's meal was sensational. My dish was a chilli linguine dish, absolutely beautiful. The red wine was also excellent and we were lucky Crown Lager was on 'special'. John's mum Tess enjoyed the night too.

Pool temp was down to 19.2 with a cooler overnight air temp of 13. The wind has died down a fair bit but still a little blowy outside. It got to about 24 today.

AFL footy is live on TV tonight. We are getting it on the Sunshine Coast Channel 10 whereas Brisbane Channel 10 is showing a movie instead. There are also NRL Finals live tonight and Channel 10 Brisbane did not fancy its chances against Channel 9's NRL. However Foxfooty has been given permission to show the footy live in ACT, NSW and Queensland. It is coming on at 7 pm. So we are getting the footy two ways, free to air and Pay TV!

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Blowing a Gale

Strong S/W winds blew in overnight putting a cancellation to today's bike ride. Much cooler day about 23 or so but little humidity. Palms at our place and next door took a bit of a hammering!


Pool temp was about 21 but with the promise of a couple of 11 degree nights the pool will cool off a bit.

Still OK to sit poolside as long as you are out of the wind.


We are off to the Kawana Bowls Club tonight for a meal with John and Sue Logan. John's mum Tess is coming along too.


Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Roadworks at Bellvista

Our estate is called "Bellvista". As the estate grows, so to does the need to continually improve access for residents. The estate is now developing to the west where many new homes are being built. In 2007 the private school expects to increase its enrolment after a successful first year in operation.

Many students use school buses.

So with more buses on the streets and with the need for large trucks to get to the newer areas, another access road is being built not far from our house. This photo is taken from just outside our front door. Click on the photo for a bigger file.

This new road will make it easier for us to get to our home with fewer turns and roundabouts to negotiate. It will also markedly improve access to the school and new building areas.

Pool temp was 21.6 this morning and the forecast was for a nice warm day of 27. However I don't think it will get there. Cooler weather is expected for later this week.

A text message we got this morning says that our grand daughter Charli is crawling!

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Recovery Mode as Our Guests Move On

John and Sue moved on today to stay with John's mother about 20 mins drive from our place. We checked out the RSL last evening after a meal at Something Blue. The Caloundra RSL is always a popular spot. Drinks were had, donations were made to the poker machines and a good time was had by all. 1:45 a.m. as a little late for me nowadays before climbing in to bed.
John swam again this morning, we walked around the lake then we took them to John's mum's!
Today is an official AFD (Alcohol Free Day)

The Hibiscus in the garden looks sensational.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Motorhomes and More

Sue and John Logan arrived as expected on Sunday evening. It seems the flight up had made both of them a little dehydrated. We spent much of the evening catching up with news and overcoming the dehydration problem.

Monday saw us in the pool (a mere 21 degrees) to flush away the cobwebs.
This was followed by fresh fruit!
The afternoon was spent looking at every motorhome for sale on the Sunshine Coast!

Again it was thirsty work

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Father's Day Bike Ride

One of the things we like to do each morning is go for a bike ride. It is good exercise and is good for the heart, weight, cholesterol etc. Our ride usually lasts about 50 minutes and includes a couple of hills. We ride into the neighbouring estate and cruise around there before returning to Bellvista and home.

September is Magpie swooping season and did Trish and I get blasted this morning? A very persistent fellow he was, having a good 7 or 8 goes at me before giving Trish a few swoops just for good measure. I was hit on the shoulder and on the left ear. Don't know if it was beak or wings but I can tell you it did not do the blood pressure any good. Trish got a hit behind her left ear too.

We will be investigating new routes for our morning bike rides for the next 4 weeks or so!

With our warmer nights recently the pool loses less heat overnight nowadays. This morning the pool was 21 and the temp is expected to get to 25 today. Overnight was about 15 or so. The sun has a lot more kick in it now. I would expect the pool to get to about 23 this afternoon.

Up north at a place called Cardwell (midway between Cairns and Townsville) they have had 401 mls of rain in 33 hours! That is 16 inches of rain!

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Saturday Sept 2 Update

Trish's eldest brother Bevan is getting to the stage where he requires extra help to complete some tasks nowadays. His son Peter is investigating which is the best direction to go to ensure Bevan is well looked after. An assessment is due to be carried out soon.

The pool temp this morning was 20.5 Today's temp should be about 24. 90mls of rain have fallen so far this week.





I cleaned the border stones along the edge of the garden. The sun now has a bit of a kick in it so I had a quick swim after the job was done. I have decided 20.5 is not quite warm enough for the pool just yet!




Mt Cootha is just at the back of Brisbane. The TV towers etc are situated there and it provides a great view over the city.


Thanks to Andrew, Emily, Wendy and Chris for my Father's Day card.


You can click on the pictures to give you a full size view. However I really cut down the size of most pictures so the page loads quicker!

Friday, September 01, 2006

A New Blog Page

Pool down to 20 degrees, and current temp at 10 a.m. is 21. Still a few showers but fining up this afternoon hopefully to about 22.


Trish was busy doing plants etc around the place, adding some color etc when she found this little visitor in the garden!









Here is a photo of the new light setup for the garden




and the mulching we have done for the poolside garden too.





Reprinting From Bigpond

Hi Everyone,

I reckon this might be a good way to keep everyone up to date with our news from up north on the Sunshine Coast.

We will hasten slowly!

John and Sue Logan arrive for a quick visit this Sunday when they fly in at 6 pm. He is driving direct from Guildford to Tullamarine. We expect them to stay for a couple of nights before moving on to stay with John's mum who is about 15 minutes away. We then expect them back again. possibly for Thursday night before the return to Melbourne, flying out at about midday on Friday. He then will drive from Tullamarine back to Guildford!

Showery again here today and max about 22.

Pool temp was 20.5 this morning!

Trish rang Telstra to swap her "My Hour" option on her mobile phone on Monday. She was very pleased when the operator offered her a replacement phone and she is now the proud owner of a Motorola V3x. We have been having a ball setting it all up with photos etc which we have been able to put on the phone via the computer. Her new 'My Hour" is now between 4pm and 5 pm daily.

We will look forward to setting this site up all up over the next few weeks.

Les and Trish

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