Two Down, Two To Go!

We are having a brief interlude (to catch our breath) having just returned from a couple of night's stop over with friends at Drouin before heading off for two nights with Eddie and Patsy Riordan.

The last couple of days have been pretty hectic with too much to eat and drink. We first caught up with Barry and Rainy on Sunday afternoon. As expected it was great fun. Unfortunately they had a funeral to get to on Monday so we were left to our own devices for much of the day. This photo of Barry shows him in his usual winter garb. I wasn't permitted to take a photo of him dressed in long trousers and coat for the funeral.

Later on Monday we travelled a short distance and caught up with Russell and Irene. Russ has just purchased a media player so I handed over a heap of movies for him. Barry and Rainy joined us for dinner. Irene had made a tasty curry which everyone enjoyed. There was plenty to drink and again it was well after midnight when we headed for bed.

Much of early Tuesday was again spent chatting and catching up. Russ and Irene live in large house on a couple of acres. Their son Jamie was extending the patio area and paving it. He is a professional landscaper so the job will look great when finished.

We are now catching our breath before heading over for a couple of nights with Patsy and Eddie. We are beginning to look forward to an early night when we return to Kate's on Thursday. When we arrived at Kate's we noted the heating wasn't working. Melbourne isn't a good place to be without any heating at this time of year!

Cool In Melbourne

Baby sitting and football are the two major topics since I last posted. We are catching our breath a little prior to heading away for two lots of two nights! Later this afternoon we will drive to Drouin and spend the evening with Barry and Rainy. It will be great to catch up. Then tomorrow (Monday) we move on to see Russell and Irene and spend an evening with them. Russ also wants me to set up his new Media Player for him. Needless to say I accepted that offer with glee!

After a big cup of coffee later in the afternoon on Friday I stayed awake to watch the Fremantle Carlton game which was live on TV here. Because most Australian Rules footy games are played in Melbourne there is very little 'live' TV coverage. Games are usually 'delayed'. As Queensland is not seen as a major Australian Rules state, 90% of matches seen there are 'live'. Carlton just missed by one goal to defeat Freo!

Saturday was to be the big day, Trish (who follows Hawthorn) and I were catching up with good friend (and Collingwood supporter) Eddie to watch Collingwood Vs Hawthorn at the MCG. We left at about 11 am, locked the house up as the others were off to the movies and went to hop in the car we keep here. However Trish was using her keys for the car in Caloundra so of course they wouldn't work. And as we didn't have the correct car keys, we didn't have house keys either! So we were locked out of the house without any keys to get back in!

Pandemonium broke out. Eventually friend Carol drove us to the local station where we caught a train into the city and the MCG! We were about half an hour late catching up with Eddie! The seats we got were great and Trish was impressed with how I 'rough' it when I head into the MCG! But the best thing for her was Hawthorn's 4 point win over the top side Collingwood! Eddie wasn't so happy! There were over 76,000 people at the game.

The finals begin next week and I am going to St Kilda and Geelong on Friday night and then Collingwood and Western Bulldogs on Saturday night. The other two matches will be played interstate so will be live here on TV.

The long 1 hour journey home in the train was 'interesting'. The train was crowded and when you no longer live here, you forget just how cosmopolitan Melbourne has become. There were all races and religions travelling home that trip!

More footy on TV that night finished a good day! The kids went to the movies and we looked after Charlie and James.

Showing My Age .......

We have only just returned from visiting John and Sue Logan at their 'shack in the bush' at Guildford. John had been on the lookout for a spot where he could get away from it all and this was the perfect place he found.

Victoria is enduring an especially cold and wet winter so the weather for a trip to the country was less than ideal. Quite a bit of rain and and cold weather had turned his small block into a quagmire. It is the place where John spends most of his time. His trips to his home in Melbourne and his 4 children still living at home is not a place he stays at for very long at all, he spends most of his time up at Guildford.

Most of the things you can see in these photos are things that John has done. He has been building rock walls recently and establishing gardens. He is in the process of building a road to provide better access to his home. The current driveway is narrow and he built the turn area so access could be made easier. He has installed the tank and has plans for a 'watch tower', a 'grotto' and extensive gardens.

These projects occupy his time and his mind. However when his wife Sue comes up he frequents the 'Pub' at Newstead where he has become quite well known. This is where we went last night. John was keen to introduce us to his friends many of whom are involved with the Newstead Footy Club of which John is a strong and passionate supporter.


The meals at the pub were excellent, the beer was flowing all night and the hour at which I went to bed was well after midnight. Today has been a little on the slow side as I haven't been operating at the full 100%.

I gave John a heap of movies to add to his collection as well as a couple of music albums he wanted. We had a great time but for me today is an AFD (Alcohol Free Day) and I am going to find it hard to remain awake tonight to watch an important footy match on TV.

Tomorrow Trish and I are heading to the MCG to watch Collingwood and Hawthorn which promises to be a tough match for all.

Itinerary Warming Up!

Things are beginning to look busy for Trish and myself. Interspersed with baby sitting duties we look like being away for a few nights coming up. Tomorrow Trish and I are off to Guildford to catch up with friends John and Sue Logan. I am still not sure if Trish is coming too right now as she may be helping Kate out with baby sitting so she can get an extra day's work (and pay).

Charlie had a dress up day at kindergarten today. She was pretty pleased with the way she looked!

There is football on this weekend with a big game live on TV on Friday night. Then Trish and I are catching up with Eddie to watch Collingwood vs Hawthorn at the MCG Saturday afternoon!

On Sunday afternoon we head down to Drouin to spend a night with Barry and Rainy. The next day we will stay in Drouin and spend the night with Russell and Irene. The Tuesday and Wednesday nights we will spend with Eddie and Patsy at their home near Mordialloc.

I am going to see my brother again this afternoon. Trish is keeping an eye on one of the grandchildren.

We caught up with good friends Pat and Graeme for lunch yesterday. They always invite us around for a meal. It was great to chat and catch up.

Busy, busy busy!

A Monday Update

It has been a 'family' weekend. Saturday night saw us head in to Melbourne to an Italian Restaurant to celebrate Chris' 40th birthday. All the families were there, kids and all. This meant an early start to the evening and a not too late finish.

Trish and I left 'home' mid afternoon and called in to see my brother. We had a great couple of hours catching up.

The restaurant wasn't too far from my brother's place so we were there, parked and seated in the Universal Restaurant well before 7 pm. We enjoyed a few drinks and had heaps of fun together as a family. Italian isn't my favorite but Chris sure enjoys it. I ordered a Pizza. I would show you a photo but it is too big to fit on the blog! Trish enjoyed a Pasta dish. The photo shows Chris and our youngest daughter Kim 'posing' for a photo.

The photo below is of Chris' wife Wendy and two of our grand children, Andrew and Emily.


We arrived back home well after 10:30 pm after we had found ourselves caught in some heavy traffic. We were up early the next morning and back over to the other side of the city again, this time to watch Andrew play in the Under 10 Footy Grand Final. Unfortunately his team were defeated by one point. The actual score was 1 goal 1 point to 1 goal 2 points! It was a brisk chilly morning with a stiff breeze blowing. He enjoyed having us there to watch him play. Here he is in his no. 26 jumper!

Springvale and our favorite Vietnamese Restaurant beckoned on our way home. We feasted on chilli chicken as well as beef with crispy noodle. It was pretty good!

Needless to say we both slept well overnight. This morning was welcomed when 3 y.o. James joined us in bed at 6 am!

The weather continues quite cool with that persistent blustery wind. Today it got to 15 but much of the day was much cooler than that!

It's Cold Here Down South

We arrived safely at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne a few minutes late but not too bad. When we left home it was just under 30 degrees, Melbourne welcomed us to a blustery 13 degrees. It wasn't too long till we were picked up by our daughter Kim and driven to Chris and family's home about 10 minutes away.

We had an enjoyable meal there before we went on to Kate and Arj's home. We arrived there about 9pm. We had a quick chat and then went to bed. Our light went on at 6:30 am the next morning, it was James coming in to see us. Charlie, Kate's 4 y.o. daughter wasn't far behind.

It is always great to see everybody and this trip was no different.

I had some emails to attend to from BeCA and some this entailed updating the BeCA Website.

I then went to the footy, the first game I had seen live for the year. It was tight fast moving game with my team eventually getting on top to win by 42 points.

The weather is cold and the wind is blustery. Not much sun and heavy clouds. Today will struggle to about 14. But it is nice and warm inside. Tonight we head off in to Melbourne to celebrate Chris' 40th birthday. All the grandkids will be there so it isn't going to be a late night.

The photo below was taken from Kate's front door this morning.

Ready To Go

Today is the day we fly south to Melbourne for three weeks. It will be great to catch up with family and friends down there. I am looking forward to getting to the footy as well. We head off in about 90 minutes.

We have a little problem today though with the weather! We are expecting 27 here while Melbourne is hoping to get to 14 today! So in our preparations we have to be ready for both winter and summer in the one day!

Needless to say it will be compromise with some warmer clothes suitably packed on the top of the pile in our luggage. This will enable us to have a quick change when we get down there!

My next post will be from Melbourne!

Ready To Head South

It has been quite hectic around our place the last couple of days. It can get like this just before we both head away. We leave on Thursday for 3 weeks in Melbourne. All the jobs that have been put off are now hastily being completed.

Trish had a fellow Stitcher around yesterday (Monday) to look over how they do their Newsletter. The lady was after an anti-virus program for her computer so that was where I came in. Friends Gordon and Anne from Melbourne were up for their annual holiday. They were staying along with relatives at a lovely resort at Moffat Beach, about 10 minutes from us. They popped in yesterday afternoon to touch base with us.

Today (Tues) Trish has her half day as a volunteer at the Tourist Information Centre and this afternoon she has a doctor's appointment. She had her hair done yesterday afternoon!

Good friend Paul Harrison has been around today with his nail gun and finished off the fences we had put up over the last few months. I had temporarily 'screwed' them in place. Paul's nailgun finished the job off nicely. They look great in these two photos.

On Sunday evening a neighbour popped in with his new Computer tower. I spent a couple of hours Sunday night putting software on for him so at least he can use it.

Computer club was busy Saturday morning swapping files all over the place and helping members sort out some problems.

Both our footy teams had successful matches over the weekend.

I have been online an purchased tickets for the footy in Melbourne Friday night. I have also secured two passes into the better areas of the MCG for guests for the Hawthorn Collingwood match in a couple of weeks. Trish will use one and I am not sure about the other just yet.

Trish has doctor's appointment this afternoon, we are both off to the Chiropractor Wednesday afternoon and we are catching up with Gordon and Anne for an Indian meal tonight!

I am almost looking forward to getting to Melbourne for a rest.

Another glorious day today! Our backyard is quite protected from the breeze so it is a wonderful 26 degrees out there right now after a brisk 9 degrees overnight!

The Sun Is Back ... With A Cold Wind!

The sun has returned but the wind has strengthened and swung around to the south west. The wind is is cold and lazy, it blows straight through you, not around you.

Not a lot of news. This morning's bike ride was likened to torture, cold strong winds making the trip extremely unpleasant.

Our lake here on the estate has been cleaned. It had been totally covered with red algae but the Council has had it cleaned. Unfortunately the algae could return in a matter of months. The lake needs a 'flood' to clean it right out. The muddy water is the result of the recent heavy rain.

Trish had some laser treatment carried out on her eye yesterday. It has seen a marked improvement for her but she is a little disappointed with the outcome. The lass who carried out the procedure was a little disappointed too. The cataract has been removed but the figures and projections indicated Trish's sight would be better. But being an inexact procedure the outcome has been on the worse side.

Trish has elected not to have the other eye 'done' at this stage.

Sun Due Back This Afternoon

The gray clouds are beginning to lift and the wet roads and gardens are beginning to dry. We have just enjoyed almost 4" of rain in this which is usually one of our drier months. It pelted down overnight after a gloomy day of light rain yesterday.

It sure didn't look like the Sunshine Coast at 7 am this morning!

Not a lot of news as you would expect with such gloomy weather. I caught up with mate I have known for much of my life yesterday. Fred and I played cricket together in Melbourne and we go back about 40+ years. Fred now lives close by but we have each gone our own separate ways.

Fred's youngest daughter "Ginnie" is in her early 50's and has suffered a stroke. Fred is now experiencing the difficulties of distance. Ginnie is having speech problems and is partially paralyzed down one side of her body. Speech and movement are slowly returning though. Fred speaks with others there (none of his family live in Melbourne) and tries to sort out bills etc by phone and via a friend.

Fred is considering the pros and cons of moving back to Melbourne to live. However the property market is slow right now so he would have trouble selling and getting a good price.

Trish is at Stitchers today and will be home around lunchtime. Hopefully the clouds will have parted and we can get a little sun this afternoon.

Once Was Sunny

Monday and the footy is over for another weekend. Both our teams (Trish and mine) were defeated over the weekend so I am not unhappy the footy part of the weekend has come to an end. Lovely sunny days (with brisk mornings) have greeted us for a week now and most days I have enjoyed a bike ride. I say 'enjoyed' but the enjoyment only starts about 4kms into the ride after the initial chill has been overcome. This morning is overcast and showers are due to return today with rain expected tomorrow.

There hasn't been a lot of news since I last posted. Trish's team came 3rd in her Trivia night on Thursday, I got to fold and deliver 140 Bellvista Connector newsletters on Thursday. As per usual, Friday drinks were very pleasant around at Paul's place.

I have washed another 32 bottles for my next Home Brew bottling.

The guy I have been helping connect to the internet has now been connected. Everything is working fine for him, his internet and email. Though it took a little bit of time to get everything running properly.

This has lead me to find a 'free' program called TeamViewer which I have now installed on my PC. If you run a related program called TeamViewer QS (download it HERE) on your computer it allows me to work on your desktop at your place but from my PC here at home! I have only tried it between my PC and Trish's laptop and it works well. It is rather strange watching your cursor move around your screen when it is coming from my PC on the Sunshine Coast!

TeamViewer QS does NOT require installation. You just double click on the program and it comes up with an computer ID address and a password (see picture left). You tell me the address and password (email/Skype) and I key it in on my TeamViewer on my PC. My computer then 'connects' to your computer and I am able to work on it as if I were there beside you!

There is another link to where you can download TeamViewer QS (2.2mb) under "Les' Links" on the right hand side of this page.

I have been busy updating the Community Association website over the last few days. I take my camera with me when I head off for a bike ride. We have a couple of man made lakes on the estate and both have been nearly completely covered with algae. They are both being cleaned now and look heaps better. However unless we get a heap of rain and the lakes are flushed out, they will return to be as unsightly as ever.

We also have a small shopping centre being built on the estate. It will have a reasonable size supermarket, newsagency, chemist, doctor, cafe, etc and be a wonderful asset for the estate. It is due to open in 6 to 8 weeks. I have been busy updating the website on a regular basis with all the latest developments. This photo was taken a week or so ago and more has been completed since then. You can follow this and all the local Bellvista news by clicking HERE.

We are flying down to Melbourne next week for three weeks so we are beginning to prepare for that getting some jobs out of the way. Packing will begin in earnest in about a week. We leave here on August 19th and return September 9th.

It's Wednesday

The weather has reverted to 'winter' from the warm days of late last week. Overnight is generally single figures while days are in the very low 20's. Nice and sunny but yesterday was very windy making it feel much cooler than it really was. I have again been back on my bike getting in between 13 and 14 k's per day. Yesterday was too cold because of the strong wind so I had a day off from bike riding.

I am involved with the local Community Association and do both the Newsletter and website for them. There are 8 newsletters per year and just recently was Newsletter publishing day. So I have been busy with that.

The Community Association met with the Estate Developers to hear the latest news on the next stage of our estate. That was interesting too as there are some local issues which require addressing that won't be covered in the new development. Again following the meeting there was website to update and people to be informed. The new Newsletter now means I have 130 A3 newsletters to fold and then deliver. That may happen tomorrow, weather permitting.

I am hoping to get a little in front with my home brewing as well. I had an 'extra brew' on and that needed bottling. That job was done yesterday but followed up immediately by putting on another brew. Yesterday was a home brew double whammy day, a bottling and another brew on!

I am also helping a Computer Club member swap ISP's. He is moving over to a budget provider called TPG. One of the problems with a budget provider is the level of support which is available (or should I say NOT available). That the application (the incorrect bank details for direct debit were incorrect) was messed up didn't help either! With all this in mind, the local club member decided to change his modem log in details before he had been swapped over. Now he can't get on the net at all!

Trish has been busy with Gym, Tourist Information Centre, Stitchers and Quilters. A couple of ladies only luncheons have been on her agenda too. This means it is a little harder for me to get the car. Anyway I don't feel like driving in to town to fix a computer connection that someone else messed up.

Spent a little time cleaning the pool this morning. It was a bit of a mess following yesterday's strong winds. I gave the garden a water too. Our backyard is protected from cool breezes and the outdoor thermometer was saying it was about 24 or so up in the back corner at 10:00 am this morning.

And I have just heard my brother Geoff will be back home again on August 14th. I am looking forward to catching up with him when we head to Melbourne on August 19th. We return home on Tuesday September 7th. I expect to be able to get back into the pool about 3 or 4 weeks after that!

I hope you got a laugh out of the jokes below.

Are We Putting On Too Much Weight?

And now you can read today's post below!

A Welcome Visitor

Splendour In The Grass is the name of possibly the biggest outdoor music festival in Australia and is usually conducted annually at Byron Bay, a seaside town about 400kms south of us here on the Sunshine Coast. Our youngest daughter Kim loves going to it and usually 'sneaks' a day off work and travels up to attend it. This year the festival was conducted about 40kms from where we are at Woodford.

So Thursday evening we welcomed Kim and three of her good friends (including the couple with whom Kim recently travelled to Germany and Europe) to our home for a meal on their way to the music festival. Trish cooked a lovely seafood pasta and and a scrumptious lamb curry. It was great to see Kim (even if it was only for a few hours) and her friends. It was a great evening.

To cap everything off for the music goers, this part of Queensland experienced summer like conditions on Saturday with a top temp of 28 degrees! The weather was sensational with not so cold nights and pleasant days.

Our own news is more of the same, helping people out at Computer Club, going to Quilters, recovering from possibly one too many wines while Kim was here, a lovely Friday afternoon with friends and a few drinks and with the warm weather, getting heaps of washing dried!

Spring is in the air with wattle trees in full bloom.

Recently some neighbours decided to upgrade their PC. They are an older couple and we have got to know them as great neighbours. Brian especially enjoys getting movies from me which I have downloaded. Now he has a new PC I said it would be easier for him now to burn his new movies to DVD format as he wanted to watch them.

Since then he now has bought a WDTV Media Player and uses one of my 'old' external HDD's and watches his movies that way. He has become quite keen on the PC and what it can do. I even had him downloading a CD the other day to play in his car! He has taken to the new echnology like a duck to water.