Our Turn For Summer Heat

Slowly but surely we are sliding back into our Queensland lifestyle.  The Test Cricket is now over and things are beginning to get back to normal.

I am often the butt of jokes when I am asked what do I want for Christmas when we trip down south. I usually answer gift vouchers would be fine by me.  This year I received 4 gifts for Christmas, 4 gift vouchers totalling around $160 in value.  I was after a 3TB external hard disk drive so I could store my entire downloaded movie collection in just one place.

3TB external hard disk drives usually cost around $160 as a RRP.  However JB HiFi had them on special at $118, a saving of over $40.  Needless to say at that price I snaffled one up straight away.  Quite a bit of time since our return from Melbourne has been spent copying files all over the place.  It took well over a day just to move all the movie files but now everything is backed up and in place.

The second day home my computer looked like it didn't start up properly.  Actually it did start, what didn't start was the PC monitor.  The connection from the PC to the monitor has always been a bit 'iffy' and this turned out to be the problem.  The HDMI Mini 'adapter' had failed.  This was no problem as I had several DVI cables which would do the job just as well.  It took a little messing around, numerous rude words and some time on my back under the computer table adjusting cables but eventually it all worked.

I am back on the bike again doing my 12+ kilometres per day.  The weather has been delightful with temps around the high 20's and the wonderful sea breeze coming in each afternoon to cool things down.  Most nights we don't even have the bedroom ceiling fan on.  However the hot weather many southerners have been feeling is expected to hit us today with a top around 35 degrees before the sea breeze comes in again later in the afternoon.  Then we are in for a week of 30+ temperatures and amazingly for this time of year, no rain.

The other $42 left from my Christmas vouchers bought me three boxes of new home brew bottles.  I am continuing to get rid of 90% of my older home brew plastic PET bottles and replace them with new ones. The new ones only need a quick rinse out and they are ready to use.  A new brew of Lager was mixed this morning and should be ready to bottle early next week.

Click on all photos for a larger view.

Our daughter Kim and her new friend Mick (living here in Queensland) popped in for a quick visit on Sunday prior to Kim jumping on a plane to head home to Melbourne and work.  It was great to see her in our neck of the woods.

Our 'new' area at the back where we replaced the small garden has been wonderful.  When in Melbourne I was asked if the new concrete meant everything was warmer.  By mid afternoon the back fence creates shade so the new work has not made any noticeable difference to the comfort level of the backyard.  The pavers under the clothes line are in the sun nearly all day and they can sure be hot at this time of year.

We also have the gazebo up at the moment and this too means there is always substantial shade for sitting throughout the day.  By midday the shade from the gazebo gives us plenty of shade.  I use the beach umbrella to give us shade over part of the pool.  Yesterday I spent an hour hour or two just relaxing in my inflatable pool chair in the shade in the pool.  I repeated this after 4pm but this time had a lovely cold 'black ale' in hand!

Last night Trish and several of her friends tripped into Brisbane to see South Pacific.  It was a very enjoyable night for them.  I was forced to sit at home and watch Big Bash cricket live on TV.  I too enjoyed my night!

I didn't ride this morning.  Instead I was up by 6:15 am washing the car.  It was covered in 5,000 kilometres of road grime, dead insects and dust!  It was a much bigger job than I had first thought.  But the car looks fine again now.  It travelled those 5,000k's very comfortably without a problem.  The next job was to put a brew on and finally to clean the pool and the filter.  It was all done by 8:30 am and the following 15 minutes spent soaking in the pool was sensational.

Trish is out for lunch with 'the girls from Stitchers', I again will setup the umbrella and launch the inflatable chair into the pool and spend an hour or two relaxing and waiting for the sea-breeze to come in!