Mid Week Already!

After a couple of quite cool days summer has again reappeared today with a top temp around 30 degrees.  Yesterday it struggled to get to the low 20's and the pool temperature has fallen quite a deal as well. Today I had a quick dip at under 21 degrees.

Since I last wrote here on the Blog I have completed a bottling of my home brew, always a good job to get out of the way.

Community Association updating and Computer Club preparation have both been keeping me busy as well.  However I was able to catch most of the one day cricket match between S.A. and Tasmania yesterday.

I have been loaned a 10" tablet by the Computer Club and I have been finding out all about them.  I said I would do a presentation on it this Saturday so I have been doing a little preparation for that.  I will post it here on the blog and show it from there on a TV screen at Computer Club.  So if you see a strange 'post' on the blog, you will know what it is about.

This Tablet is around $180.  It is a cross between my android phone and a laptop.  I had been kind of itching to get one but after having this for a week or two I don't see what all the excitement is about.

Tablets (or iPads) would be handy if all you wanted to do was some simple office work, get on the internet, grab emails, check out Facebook, watch a movie and do everyday basic stuff.  I am not sure I would even pay that sort of money for one.  It may be handy if you are travelling perhaps.

Trish has found it too big and a little heavy for reading a book as an eReader.  I suspect there could be some value in a smaller model, e.g. 7".  I certainly wouldn't pay $370 for an iPad 7" Mini.  I did find a cheap Chinese 7" dual core tablet for around $90.  However if someone gave me $100 right now I would probably spend it on a 3TB USB3 external Hard Disk Drive.  My Movies and TV Show collection is so big I really need more storage space!

Speaking of which, lately we have been watching a TV Series called John Adams.  He was one of the founding fathers of the American war of Independence, and went on to become the second president of the U.S.  A great story about a time of history of which I knew little.

Last week we watched Series 1 of "The Tudors".  There are 3 more series of that to go!

Rain At Last (2mls!)

A colder southerly change with showers blew into SE Queensland late yesterday.  By the time it arrived at Caloundra a fair bit of its 'oomph' had disappeared.  We awoke this morning to cool winds, overcast skies and 2mls in the rain gauge! It wasn't enough to really wet the grass!

I have had to do several "System Restore" for people on their computers the last week or so.  Trish's laptop would start up and then finish with a solid black screen, I had the same with another neighbour today and even a couple of people from the Computer Club contacted me looking to solve problems because things had stopped working.

System restore is built into Windows and allows users to return their computer system back to the way it was up to 4 weeks ago.  You find System Restore after Start, All Programs and open the folder "Accessories".  Then you open the "System tools" folder and it is in there.  The system is restored to the date you nominated but all your files (photos, documents etc) are not interfered with. System Restore works most of the time but not always.

So if suddenly a program you are using worked fine yesterday but won't go today, get into System Restore and restore your computer to a day or so earlier and most likely your troublesome program will run OK again.

After Computer Club yesterday things were a little quiet so I decided on a bottle washing.  I will be bottling tomorrow.

Heat Returns

I keep some rainfall figures here at home.  I am fairly routine at entering new info but there really needs to be the best part of 1ml in the gauge before I record it.  Check my figures out here.  Now I haven't updated this page for a few weeks now because we haven't had any rain.

Since mid July there are only 5 rainfall daily entries, and 3 of those are 4mls or less. So it has been 'dry!'

So the news levels have been low.  Yesterday I had a quick meeting with a reporter to do with the Community Association and then Trish and I had to go to Buderim for an MRI on her shoulder.  We won't know any outcome on that for several weeks.

The terrible winds from earlier in the week have abated.  Today will get to around 30 degrees and the wind is from the north west, and shouldn't be full of dust from the new development.  I cleaned the pool filter yesterday, you could tell it has been dusty.

The pool certainly looks inviting. The pool was 21 or so this morning and a little brisk for my swim after my daily bike ride.

We have drinks this afternoon as usual. 

I have had the use of a $200 Android "Tablet" for the week from the SC Computer Club.  I have had a bit of a play with it and I have certainly learnt a bit about them.  It has been a bit of fun.  I can connect to my home network and watch movies.  I can easily get onto the net and do some 'surfing'.  It really is a glorified and much bigger 'smart phone'.  Even at that price, I really couldn't justify spending the money on one for my needs.

Some of the downloaded TV shows I watched on it looked great.

I spent a little time today deleting some of my personal stuff off it as I am due to return it tomorrow morning.  If I didn't know how to do something on the tablet I just used Google on my desk top to solve the problem.  Google works very well.

Southerly Buster

After a hot Monday, a southerly buster change blew in early Monday night.  The temp dropped quickly but the wind speed stayed up all night.  It was blowing in straight off the new housing development across the road.  We awoke Tuesday morning to see everything covered in dust!  Trish swept the house out, then vacuumed and steam cleaned the floor.

The house remained closed up for the rest of Tuesday.  Outside one of the tall pot plants had blown over and potting mix was spread over the pavers and into the pool.

I started cleaning the backyard and pool around 5:45 am on Tuesday and had it looking reasonable by around 7am.  But then the wind blew a gale again and went all day, it was so unpleasant outside.  The wind was so bad they even stopped work on the new estate!

Today is still a little windy but nowhere near as bad as yesterday! This is what I had when I swept under the pergola around lunchtime today.

Tomorrow morning the wind is expected to be gone so I will hose everything down around the pool to wash away the dust!

I had a guy ring me asking for information on what sort of laptop he should buy.  He has now bought an 'ultra book' online from Catch of the Day.  These are light weight very thin laptops.  It has an i7 processor (the best available in the Intel range), 4GB Ram, a 1GB video card and a 500GB drive.  He will eventually pay $660 after a $148 cash back deal from the manufacturer.  I reckon that is a great deal for an extremely lightweight laptop.

Trish visits the surgeon tomorrow to check her shoulder out.  She hurt it after a fall several months ago and it seems to be taking an eternity to get better.  Tomorrow's appointment will tell us if it will right itself eventually or if some surgery is recommended.

Meanwhile I will have Community Association stuff to deal with tomorrow.  We have a local newspaper coming out for a photo on a project we have been successful with.

This morning I braved the windy weather and had a bike ride.  I had to cut it short because I met up with three different groups of people who wanted to chat about Community Association issues.  Needless to say I didn't mind! It still took me well over an hour to do the ride.  Then I put a home brew on!

Today is around 24 while yesterday was a little cooler.  The pool is back down to 21.5 after being almost 26 on Monday afternoon.  The blue blow up pool chair has been resurrected and is in use.  It is a great place to enjoy an icy home brew!

The Sopranos And A Nasty Surprise

It has been a few days since I last posted.  During that time the weather has been quite warm, the pool is now around 27 degrees in the afternoon.  Morning swims see it around 24 and just beautiful. Today is 34 in our little backyard.

I tried putting the gazebo up to see how it fitted.  It looks pretty good but we weren't sure we would leave it up for days.  However with today being around 34 degrees in the back corner, some regular ongoing shade may be an advantage.

I took it down because of the threat of a storm .. which never eventuated!

So it will be set up as required  Click on all photos for a larger view.

Friends Ian and Kerrie have friends up from NSW for the week.  Our lunch on Thursday was to a new spot and the group was up to 8 in total.  Too much to eat and drink yet again but heaps of fun.

With them having visitors and John and Margaret not available Friday drinks were put on hold.

Computer Club was as per usual on Saturday and a friend gave me the first 4 series of The Sopranos on DVD.  So the weekend was busy 'ripping' the files so I can play them on my Media Player.  I have ripped 3 series of them so far, I have another series to go.  Each series is 13 by 1 hour episodes. That is a total of 42 shows.  The Sopranos scores 9.2 on IMDB!

Trish got into some spring cleaning yesterday cleaning some of our vertical blinds.  She would carefully take them all down, put them into the bath to soak, give them a light scrub and then dry them off a little and rehang them.

While they were soaking she cleaned the architrave around the doors and windows.  She had quite a fright when the cloth went through the wood .... white ants.  We had planned to have an examination for white ants  a month or two ago but one thing led to another and it never happened. 

The pest removal guy came around today, inspected the damaged area and sprayed it.  The damage is only in its early stages and there won't be much of a problem.

The duct tape is to keep the poison in! They will be back again in 10 days to do the inspection.

However the damaged timber will need to be replaced.  It appears the concrete back patio slab is built above the shielded line of the house allowing the insects access.  Therefore holes will need to be drilled into and through the concrete and long term chemicals used to soak the ground under the slab and provide a protection barrier from future possible intrusions.

More expense we just didn't expect.  But it could have been much worse.  I give plenty of movies etc to Brian over the road and to his son David.  David is a builder so Brian said he would get him to replace the timber for me.  The whole slliding door will need to be removed.

We are watching a TV Series called The Shadow Line.  It is a great detective story.

All Finished

It has been quite hectic the last day or so.  Most has been to do with the Community Association.  The Council here has released a Draft Masterplan for the nearby airport.  As the closest residential area to the airport and with a forecast that aircraft movements will double in the next 20 years the sensationalizing journalists have been after a statement which will 'shock' everyone.

The truth is the local helicopter training school has lost its big contract from Asia to train helicopter pilots.  This means they are dealing with fewer pilots thus fewer training flights over local houses thus you hardly know the airport is there.

Click on both pics for a larger view.

We had a meeting with the local Private School principal Tuesday morning and last night another meeting at Council Offices on the masterplan.

Today I have had a call from a local radio station wanting to record an interview tomorrow morning.

On top of all of this I ordered more stones to finish off the backyard.  The stones would fill an 8cm gap between next door and the 2 tiered back wall of border stones.  I ordered too many stones so some areas around the house have had their 10mm river pebbles topped up!

The stones will act as a further backup to accommodate any water seepage through from next door.  There is a 12cm gap between the new concrete slab and the back fence which should allow any excess water to drain away.

The Christmas lights are in position along the top of the back fence, the Father Xmas masks which light up after dark are working and the two flood lights have at last found a home at the back of the middle pot plant.  I have added another 'lizard' to the wall hangings along the back fence as well.

Right now it is around 27 degrees in our little backyard, the pool is heading towards 25 degrees.  Tomorrow is looking like around 30 degrees and there will be similar temperatures over the weekend as well.  The pool should get a chance to really warm up.

Trish is on a Ladies Day Out to a Craft Show in Brisbane today. Tomorrow we are again planning on fish n chips at the beach.  This time there could be 8 of us.

A Fine Few Days

As usual, time just plods along!  Not a lot more has happened since my Friday update.  We had drinks here Friday afternoon and then slipped across the road for the opening of the new estate.  The developer would have been 'over the moon' with around 6000 people attending the event.  It was very busy with many streets around about us filled with parked cars.

It was almost a crush in any of the 20 or so Display Homes which were officially 'open'.  The food vendors had 20m queues and were overwhelmed with the numbers.  Crowds and coolness got the better of us around 7:30pm so we headed home, the ladies sat and drank while the gentlemen headed down the street for Pizza.  The local Pizza shop was flat out.  We had a 15 minute wait but found a nice corner in the Bellvista Tavern to wait our turn.

It was a very good night.

Saturday was busy but not too bad at Computer Club.  The afternoon was quieter but the evening was very pleasant.  We had bought vouchers online (Grabone) which entitled us to a mains and a entree each for $40 at one of the nice little restaurants in town called Rosey's On The Beach.  So at $40 a double the three couples headed into town for our cheap meal Saturday night.

It was a super deal at $40 and probably worth around $65 a double.  However had we have bought there off the menu the bill would have been closer to $100 per couple.

Sunday was quiet (and time spent drying out). The Christmas fairy lights went up on the back fence so Trish is very happy.

Today I had an 'emergency' call from a computer Club member regarding Thunderbird, her email program on her laptop.  It wouldn't open properly after a recent update.  I reinstalled the program again and still no luck.  The next step was System Restore.  This did work OK so everything was back again.  Again we updated the program to the latest and it said the update didn't install properly.  It then went into an automatic full reinstall and everything was fine again.

As she would be in NZ for 6 months, we installed Skype as well for her.  She was happy when she left.

A coolish day with just a hint of briskness in the southerly wind.  We are expecting the temp to get around 25 degrees.  It is then expected to slowly 'warm up' to the low 30's come the weekend.

I am planning on putting small river pebbles behind the border stones in the next day or so to finish off the job at the back.  And we should finish off the TV series "Underbelly Badness" tonight.

Getting Closer To Totally Complete

The rain has cleared but we still have a cold southerly blowing.  The backyard is well protected so it is quite pleasant out of the wind.  Clear blue sky but temps struggling into the low 20's.

The new pot in the centre has its Yukka planted in it now, the pot and plant in the corner near the shed will stay, but the larger pot and plant over towards the pool filter will under go re-potting and a severe cutting back.  I just thought I would put it there to brighten up the yard.

We have drinks with our 'Friday Friends' here this afternoon and then around 6 pm we will walk over to the official opening of Bells Reach, the new estate just across the road from us.

There are festivities, clowns, food vendors, a rock group and a fireworks finale around 8:45 pm.

I am not confident I will last till the fireworks.  The cold wind is creating some very ordinary temps when one considers the wind chill factor!

And I forgot to add, Trish has her Christmas "Fairy Lights" to put up yet!  They will go all along the back fence.  Now won't that be exciting!

Almost Like Winter

A Melbourne style cold change arrived around 2pm this afternoon.  It rapidly went from around 26 degrees to 18 in a matter of minutes.  It had been threatening all morning and its arrival had been forecast.

I was on the bike for my 12k bike ride early enough.  It was quite windy so riding wasn't much fun.

Then it was home to mess around on the computer while Trish got some of her stuff with the website she runs up to date.  I found a new TV Show to download and set about doing that.

Mid morning we were in the car and off to look at pots for the new concrete area.  We found what we wanted, bought the obligatory potting mix and headed home to set it all up.  But the cool wet change came through and all potting was curtailed.

We badly needed the 16mls of rain which followed.  The pool was down quite a lot, I would have had to add some water on Friday.  The overflow from the downpipe worked perfectly and all but a around 1 cm of water was all that was needed to fully top it up.  The rain had arrived just in time.

So we still have pots to be re potted, others to be setup and moving of items around as required still to be finalized.

I did get a brew on this afternoon and it should be bubbling about now.

Tonight Trish is out to "Book Club" and I have a little Community Association work to do. But the media player beckons and I might just watch an episode of "The Unit". I have the track suit trousers back out again and I have found my slippers as well.  Around 22 or so tomorrow.

Spring Cleaning

The last few days have been just delightful.  The T-Shirts have been put away and the singlets are out.  The pool remains in the low 20's but I am getting used to it.

On Monday I replaced the border stones on the new concrete area all along the back fence.  It is looking OK.

On Tuesday morning Trish had a doctor's appointment regarding her shoulder.  She is booked in to see a surgeon for his opinion.  Trish hopes surgery isn't required.  As our doctor is also a personal friend, there has been request that if a cancellation occurs, for Trish to get in a little earlier to see the surgeon.  At the moment she has a 6 week wait for an appointment.

I went in to Caloundra with her when she went for her doctor's appointment.  I needed a new watch band, some more brew mix, I had to see someone in regards to their laptop and we were after another 'coffee table' from K-Mart. After getting back home we had to get ready quickly as we were going 'out' for lunch with friends.

We usually catch up with Ian and Kerrie for lunch out somewhere each week.  We decided this week's lunch out would be Fish N Chips at the beach.  There are many delightful spots along the local coast but for what we wanted yesterday this one was just perfect.  A passer-by took the snap for us.

Click on either photo for a larger view.  Then click on the X in the top right corner to return to this page. The photos show a major reason for why we live where we live.

I had to use my camera in the phone so I took this next photo just to give you an idea of the view we had.  We spent several extremely pleasant hours there.  We had heaps to eat and possibly just a little too much to drink

The fish and chips from our favorite Marsay Bros was just around the corner.  This will not only be a popular suggestion for lunch in the future but this spot is just perfect for many different versions of Fish N Chips at the Beach!

This morning was sunny and warm again.  After a 12k bike ride I decided to clean the blinds we have all around the back of the house to keep the summer sun out.  I got out the new pressure hose and this time I also used a brush.  In combination the two worked perfectly and all the blinds are looking quite good again.

Summer is really on its way.  However a cold southerly change with winds and rain is due to blow in tomorrow.  Temps will be back to the low 20's and it will be perfect for me to put a new brew on! The pool needs the rain as the water level is down a little.  The overflow from the house downpipes is turned on and waiting for the rain to arrive and top up the pool.

Concrete Update

Gary the concretor popped in this morning to check out the job.  He will fix it as required.  He believes it is all to do with the concrete still curing.  It takes around 4 weeks for the concrete to reach something like 100% strength.  He believes in a month or so everything will look fine.

He has asked I contact him again in another couple of weeks so he can come back out and have another look.  Any extra payment would be measured in schooners of home brew!

When he did his own driveway some time ago his kids were roller blading on it the next day.  They had left serious marks on it.  A month later you couldn't see anything! He believes our job will be no different.

We therefore will have plenty to do this week, putting the border stones back and setting up pot plants.

It is 30 degrees outside now at 11 am on Sunday.  The pool was a little over 21 degrees this morning so I was in for a swim following my bike ride.  21 degrees isn't very warm!

Click on the photo for a larger view.

Last night we watched a couple of episodes of Waking The Dead and finished up with a movie length episode of "Jonathon Creek".  It was a top night's viewing.

I have Bathurst on TV right now (like watching paint dry in my opinion).  Later this afternoon we have a One Day cricket match on Pay TV, Qld vs Victoria.  Might even get a swim or two in as well if the water in the pool heats up some more.

27 Degrees and Sunny

Despite there only being three of us for drinks last night, we sure had a great time.  Fortunately Ian lives 'just around the corner' as his drive home would have been through foggy eyes.  But it was fun. We had a BBQ for tea and the meat was just exquisite.  I have the Weber BBQ worked out perfectly and the steak was cooked as each person desired.

I had a little 'tummy trouble' overnight so I didn't get the best night's sleep.

I was OK by the time I needed to go to Computer Club this morning where I again had some interesting problems.  One lady had inadvertently lost her "Contacts" folder and therefore Windows Mail didn't want to start.  I created a new "Contacts" folder but still no start up.  I put her onto the email client "Thunderbird".  It installed perfectly and we got all of her emails back.  She has to do the contacts again but that is easy to do from the emails she now has to add to her Contacts. She was delighted with the outcome.

One of the Daily Deal sites I go to is called "Grabone".  Almost 2 months ago I bought 8 generic Mach 3 razor cartridges for $13 delivered.  The first lot were 'lost' in the mail.  I was assured the replacements would be delivered within 10 days.  The days came and went and no replacement was received.  Today I received an email from them offering me a full refund.

I just went to eBay and 'won' an auction for 8 genuine Gillette blades for $12 delivered!  I am in front by a $1 and have 'Genuine" rather than a Generic brand.

Yesterday we set the gazebo up over the new concrete area.  Trish then soon saw that it really needs to go in the 'corner' to provide effective shade.  Otherwise later in the afternoon you have to sit outside the gazebo to be in the shade.

I packed it all up after our little test and put it away in its rollaway cover.  With the concrete guy coming in the next day or so I gave the area a quick hose down late this afternoon.  The water made any color problem with the concrete color look even worse.  You could even see the double wheel marks of the gazebo container in the concrete.  The sealer was applied 6 days ago.

And I did my bottling this afternoon.  Full supplies have been restored.

A delightful 27 degrees this afternoon and an even warmer 30 or so tomorrow.  If it is reasonably warm overnight the pool may not lose all of the warmth it gained today.  It was still a cool 24 this afternoon, a little on the brisk side for enjoyable swimming.

Two Down, One To Go!

When the garage door guy arrived around 3 pm on Wednesday his first thought to our remote control not working problem was possible new electronic equipment from one of the neighbours interfering with the wireless signals.  I had checked them out and was able to rule this out as the problem.  He did some quick tests and decided the problem was a hassle with the circuit board.  To repair the board would cost $385 and a possible wait for weeks to get the part.  The second choice was a new unit at $450 installed along with a 2 year warranty fitted Thursday afternoon.  It was an easy choice!

He arrived with the replacement motor around 4pm on Thursday and was on his way again soon after 5pm.  We now have a new door motor, new remote controls and a much quieter operating system.

Meanwhile the concretor got back to me by text saying he believed he could totally fix the concrete color problem in around 20 minutes.  He has been busy but could possibly come out either Sunday or Monday.  We are expecting showers on Monday so hopefully he can do the job for me Sunday.

And since adding the 'washer' to firm up the battery connection in the wireless doorbell, everything has been working well.

Trish has always wanted to paint the fence in the small courtyard or 'The Beer Garden' as it is also known.  While in Bunning's recently we purchased some paint, and after Trish added a few more pavers to the area  she painted the fence!  It looks great!

We are expecting around 27 degrees today, again tomorrow and around 30 on Sunday.  With the recent cool weather the pool temp had dropped back to under 20 degrees.  It was a little warmer than that today.  I had a quick dip after mowing the front lawn and completing my 12k bike ride this morning.  Hopefully it will be delightful come Sunday!

There will only be 3 of us for drinks this afternoon but we hope to christen the new concrete area at our place.  Then we will have to do it all again next week after the area has been resealed and looking its best!

2 of our friends have grandchildren for the holidays and are unavailable today.  Ian will join us but his wife Kerrie is visiting her parents in Sydney.  Her parents are quite elderly so every chance to spend quality time with them is valuable.  However Kerrie seemed pretty keen to return home early next week from her phone call last night.  She is finding her time there a little 'trying' on the nerves.

A 5 part TV series "Mrs Biggs" is based on the life story of Charmian Biggs, the wife of Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs.  We watched all 5 episodes last night and enjoyed it very much.  Australia comes out very well from the series.  Charmian Biggs felt much more at home here in Australia where she was valued for herself rather than in the UK where she was always seen as Great Train robber Ronnie Biggs' wife.

Watch it if you get the chance.

We Have A Problem ... or Two or Three Actually!

The new concrete color problem goes from bad to worse.  The photo left (click on the photo for a larger view, then on the X to return to this page) shows how the concrete is now a faded and speckled color.  It seems there is a problem either with the colored concrete or the sealer.  There are faded places where I have tried to 'repair problems' which I created, or it has just gone speckled.

The concretor is still to get around and have a look.  It wasn't anything he did, just a problem with one of the products that were used. At this stage he expects to pop in later in the week.

It can be easily fixed with a coat of decent concrete paint.  Brian over the road will paint it for me at no charge.  I just have to buy the concrete paint.

Nothing more can be done until the concretor is available to get around here for a look at it.

Trish was just about to hurry off to Stitchers this morning when the garage door wouldn't open with the remote control.  We tried all three of the remotes, all unsuccessfully.  A guy is due around 'after 4pm' to have a look at it for us.  There is a manual over ride which I used to get the door open and for Trish to be on her way.

And finally the door bell is causing problems too, it only works intermittently.  When Trish went to open the garage doors this morning, the door bell rang!  So I have added a small washer to provide added pressure on the battery to the push button.  It has worked 100% ever since I added the washer!

The weather is clearing delightfully.  Though only a little under 25 degrees today, there is plenty of blue sky.  The sun has a kick in it now, more so than a few weeks ago.  We are expecting over 30 degrees on the weekend.

New Concrete Hiccup

We have had a problem arise with the new concrete area.  I was told the sealer was quick drying and that the concrete guy could walk on it carefully after an hour or two.  He came around again the next morning (Sunday) and walked on it without any hassles.

As the photo shows I put the outdoor setting on the new work at least 24 hours after the sealer had been sprayed on.  I slid the table to a better position and later noticed some marks where I had slid the table.  I gently brushed them with a soft broom to see if I could get rid of them.

The next morning (Monday) I noticed the marks were still there.  I then gave them a firmer sweep, almost 48 hours after the sealer had been administered.  Other marks have appeared where no one has walked.  The concrete guy will return later in the week to give the area another spray with sealer. My firmer sweep well over 40 hours after the spray went on has made the problem even worse.

Hopefully everything will be OK.

Needless to say we have been 'shopping' checking out Bunnings for other paint etc.  My old drill is showing its age so I replaced it as well.  Today Tuesday we headed into town to look for a smaller outdoor setting to place under the patio.

Trish had her eyes on a cane setting but we finished up with two more sling back chairs and this great little outdoor coffee table.

We now have an abundance of slingback chairs (8 of them) but they are always handy when we have people around.  The coffee table is perfect.  We now think the larger table (in the photo in the post below) will go and we will get another second coffee table to take its place.

We had 4mls of rain overnight, the result of all yesterday's cool, cloudy and overcast weather.  The sun has found its way out again today after an early shower.  Right now it is around 23 degrees.

We are expecting around 30 degrees later in the week.

Despite the cool weather, I had to wash bottles today.  I will possibly bottle either Thursday or Friday.

Cool Weather Hits The Coast

A cool change blew in overnight Saturday and we have been feeling the much cooler, overcast and drizzly weather the last day or so.

Trish didn't enjoy Grand Final day when her team kicked very poorly at goal and went down by 10 points.  It was an exciting match to watch but it is disappointing when you let yourselves down with inaccuracy in front of goal. It brought back terrible memories when my side had been virtually unbeaten all year in 2008 and played a shocker in the Grand Final with terrible inaccuracy and were surprisingly beaten.  The footy is now all over for another year!

For all intents and purposes the concrete work is finished.  I topped up the hole left for the drain with some sand I acquired, filled in some other sections as well and finally set the pavers out in the river pebbles.

It should be a little more practical now with an area in place under the clothes line.  I am pretty pleased with the way it has come out.

We decided on a couple of rows of 'border stones' to cover up the area of higher ground level over the back fence and our place.  At this stage we think the border stones are the best option.  I moved the larger table and chairs onto the new area and it all looks better now.

Other ideas are to place large pots on the new area, add to the fence hangings and what do do for seating under the pergola attached to the house.  I think we are checking out Bunning's this afternoon!

The final decision is what to do with the 'old' terracotta colored concrete area?  I gave the area a clean yesterday and it actually doesn't look too bad.  We are not sure whether we will paint it a similar color to the new area or leave it as it is and reseal the area.

It is around 20 degrees and overcast right now.  The pool has cooled right off and we have had a few mls of rain both yesterday and today.  The rain is nuisance value really but it has given some idea that the drainage system worked out for the new area at the back should work fine.

Click on the photos for a larger view.