End Of The Week

There is not a drop of rain in sight.  After what has been a wet first half to 2013 we haven't spotted one drop of rain since July 30th, a little over 4 weeks.  It hasn't taken long for things to dry out and the front lawn definitely is after a drink of rain water.  I have had to top the pool up from the tap on two occasions.

But no one in this part of the world is complaining.  Tops in the high 20's most days but cooling off quickly late in the afternoon.  The wind is mainly from the west so the humidity isn't high.

Both of our mobile phones continue to work fine but I reckon we will try swapping over to a new carrier next week just prior to our trip to Melbourne.

Trish continues busy with the Arts Centre Association and I need to keep the Community Association website going.  Regular updates however trivial are required to keep people wanting to return for any new snippet of information.

The bottles for my brew are all washed and I am just waiting for the initial fermentation process to conclude.  I suggest I will be bottling on Sunday.

We received a quote on a blind at the pool filter end of the new shade area.  This blind will be an awning type blind similar to the type we had when back in Melbourne.  This will make height adjustment very easy and can be done with one hand. 

We placed the order yesterday afternoon so it will be ready to install as soon as we arrive back from Melbourne.

Click on the photo for a larger view.

Though Ian and Kerrie return from O/S today they won't be around for drinks later on.  Other friends John and Margaret remain overseas too and they are due home on Thursday, the day we travel to Melbourne.  So we will have to wait until mid September for our first real drinks session for some time.

With glorious dry weather I have been bike riding everyday.  It is so pleasant doing the k's and having a chat to other locals on the way around.  The magpies haven't started on me yet despite getting close to their nesting season.

Nice And Warm

I have just given the pot plants in the backyard a quick water.  We have not had a drop of rain for 4 weeks and the pots tend to dry out more quickly the warmer it gets.  The temp outside is about 25 or so but it is a lot warmer than that in the backyard as the photo shows (29.9).

When I checked the pool temp yesterday it was still around 17 or 18, definitely not warm enough for swimming just yet. But it is still winter right now, swimming usually begins mid to late September when the pool is over 20 degrees.

The bike ride went well yesterday, very pleasant under a partly cloudy sky.  It was a gorgeous day.  I managed another a brew which is currently bubbling away.  I will be short of bottles as I am brewing prior to having a full complement of empties.  I have heaps of 1.25 litre soft drink bottles so I will press 6 of those 1.25 litre soft drink bottles into service.  I will most likely bottle wash tomorrow (Weds).

The lawn was mown yesterday and I will probably front up for a hair cut from Trish this afternoon.  Brewing beer, mowing lawns, having haircuts are all indicators we are heading to Melbourne in the next week or so.

Yesterday afternoon Trish and I both re visited the chiropractor.  My back needed a little fine tuning but Trish isn't doing as well.  I should be OK now.

Both our phones continue to work which is great.  Slowly but surely people are 'porting' across to new carriers.  There are 120,000 people suddenly needing to find a new carrier! We could expect another week or so of service on our phones before they are cut off but I may complete the move prior to heading down to Melbourne.  Mine is due to 'run out' on September 10th.

That is all the news at this stage.

All Quiet, Enjoy The Sunshine

The lack of drinks with friends on Friday wasn't a problem, I found a spot on my own, sat back and relaxed.  Around 5:00pm I was to pop into Caloundra anyway and collect Trish (and Fish n Chips for tea) after her day in Brisbane with many of the Quilters ladies.

Not much more news, lovely bright sunny days and warmish weather.  A little cloud today but that means the wind is off the sea, the humidity is on the rise and the wind chill factor has disappeared!  So for a little cloud and extra humidity we have warmer weather.

The lack of rain means I will again need to top the pool up in the next day or so.  A little lawn mowing needs doing as well which should take up a whole 30 minutes!  It takes so long because I do next door's front lawn as well.

The footy has been great over the weekend for both Trish and myself.  Both our phones continue to work so we haven't received Telstra's second dreaded "You will be totally disconnected in 7 days!" text message yet.  But now we are ready to go.

I will put another 'brew' on tomorrow which will ensure heaps of supplies upon our return from Melbourne.  We head south in around 10 days!

Is 19.5, Feels Like 15.9

The blog post title is the sort of message my weather app on my phone keeps showing me.  It looks beautiful, blue skies and sunny but it feels a whole lot cooler.  We have noticed it cooler overnight now reaching for trackie dacks and top around 4 pm daily!  This morning it was 4.9 in our backyard.  At around 11:30 am right now it says 26.5 and the front and back doors are wide open.

Both our phones are still operating on full service despite our supplier losing his contract with the provider.  All is still going well and we are awaiting a second SMS message to tell us we have 7 days prior to the service being cut off.  I bought a couple of sim cards this morning ready for the ill fated "2nd SMS" message.

Once we receive the SMS message we will swap over to another company for a few months and see what to do when the dust settles.

The two sim cards were on special at "half price" so we could stick with them for a few months before finally deciding who to go with and then porting across when everything has settled down.  The 'half price' offer was available from JB HiFi and Harvey Norman stores. These cards have the same Australia wide coverage as we now have but are usually $40 per month.  Our other option "Aldi" is $35 per month but currently we can't get SIM cards for them.

I have been busy bike riding the last few mornings and getting my 12 or so k's in daily.  I missed my ride this morning as I needed the car and Trish was off on a Quilters "Bus Trip into an exhibition in Brisbane.  She will be home this evening, hopefully with fish and chips for tea.  I wanted the car to sort out the back up sim card issue we had.

The other reason I didn't bike ride this morning was I had a bottling to complete.  That is all now done and the container and pieces are drying in the sun in the backyard.

I have put a few long screws in the fence railing and use this as an area to dry my bottles after consuming and then rinsing, usually from the night before.

No drinks again this afternoon as both couples are unavailable, one being overseas still, the other just returning from a trip today.  That is another reason Trish opted for the bus trip. And I might even give the car a wash later on as well.

Phone Procedures

We have been having fun with our mobile phone services.  I sometimes wish I had never taken the sim out of my old Galaxy phone!

Both Trish and I (and other people we know) have gone over to Kogan Mobile.  It was a great plan, inexpensive and almost the best coverage available.  My previous "Optus" service meant I had to run to the front of the house to get reception.  Kogan uses the Telstra network and we have great reception here anywhere in the house.

Just recently there was a price increase for Kogan because the intermediary service supplier was in a spot of bother.  Yesterday that service provider went belly up!  Trish and I are both on 12 month plans with them.  Right now 115,000 customers with Kogan are scrambling to get to another service provider.  We have been told we will have up to 60 days to do so.

We have also been told we will get a full pro-rata refund when we move to another (more expensive) provider, most likely Aldi Mobile.  At this stage we have still got full service but we are getting ready to swap as soon as things stop working (despite Telstra's promises).

A glorious day yesterday, around 26 degrees and lovely sunshine.  I bottle washed first thing even before my bike ride.

The large blue container has warm water and dish washer powder in it.  I use dish washer powder as it is lower sudsing and makes rinsing easier.  I can fill and give a good rinse to 9 bottles at a time in this container.

From there the bottles go into the largest container for a first good rinse, 6 at a time, then the smaller blue container for a final rinse, and then onto the bottle drying tree.

When all have been washed they are again rinsed quickly with a sanitizing solution, then returned to the drying tree and into the sunshine to dry.

Just prior to being used to bottle the latest brew, they are rinsed again in the large blue container!

Around 3:30 yesterday both Trish and I checked out the Chiro.  My back was as sore as...  It is heaps better today after a treatment.  I may need a further tune up early next week.

There is a brisk southerly today, the skies are clear but there is distinct slight chill in the air.  Though warm enough it isn't as pleasant as the last few days.  This wind is expected to hang around as we are expecting single figure temp mornings for the next few days.  I may be a little later getting on my bike tomorrow.

Sunday

Again a glorious day today (Sunday) with the thermometer in the backyard showing around 26 degrees.  The breeze is a little cool but out of the wind it is extremely pleasant.

Friday afternoon I decided  to do just a little 'touching up' of the sun shelter.  Before I knew it everything had been done and Trish and I both sat quietly outside and enjoyed some drinks on our own.  Everyone is 'away' at the moment so we enjoyed a quiet Friday Drinks time on our own

After a busy morning at Computer Club I had spotted a couple of very small spots I had missed when touching up the shelter so I finished those off.  Then it was in front of the TV and enjoy the footy.  Trish's team had a good win Friday night and my team also did well on Saturday night.  We are both pleased with footy things today.

Our friends over the road (the painter chap) and his wife returned from a family trip to England around lunchtime Saturday so I did spend some time updating movies etc over there this morning.

More footy on TV this afternoon and I will sit back quietly and enjoy a few "homies'.  All my beer is tasting great at the moment so it isn't a chore.

We have not had a drop of rain for over three weeks now so the water level in the pool has required some topping up.  After all the rain we have had it is strange to have such a dry spell.  But then August is our driest month of the year.

Even noticed the pool temp was up to 18 or so the other afternoon. The warmer weather and double figure overnight minimums means the ground around the pool is warming up allowing the water to get warmer as well.  After a 13k bike ride this morning the pool did look inviting when I arrived back home!

On The Bike Again

With the shelter all but finished (just some paint touching up to do) I was out again on the bike this morning for my 12 or so K's around the estate.   This is my first ride for around a week. My back is a lot better but still a little sore.  When the paint job is finished and I have let my back settle down a little I will check out the chiro again.

As we head into September the need to keep an eye out for nesting magpies while I am on my bike gets greater.  There are a pair of magpies which have setup house in a tree at the end of our court.  He knows us though as he flies down to join us for a crust or something when we are eating lunch.

The new shelter doesn't bother him, he flew straight in underneath and sat on the back of a chair yesterday afternoon! He doesn't bother me when I am riding by.

After a big couple of days we decided to treat ourselves to Spirit Of Tibet for tea last night.  But this time we booked in first to ensure we got a seat.  The restaurant was busy for this area on a Thursday but I think he had spare tables about.

Last night we had Tibetan Beef Curry and a prawn dish (Prawns with Spinach) that included a rich creamy spicy sauce, egg plant and spinach.  Both dishes were excellent.  I mentioned to him that the special sauce he makes for me wasn't as hot as it used to be when he put horseradish in it.  Now he knows exactly the sauce I mean and he has promised to have it for our next visit.  It is around 25 minutes drive from here so not quite 'just around the corner'.

Though we have plenty of sunshine today we are just getting effected by the northern tip of the cold front currently going through Victoria and NSW.  There is a hint of briskness in the wind so it is a little cooler, around 23 degrees or so is expected today.

And another brew went on this morning.

I store my empty bottles in polystyrene spinach boxes I have secured from the local IGA.  Each box contains around 21 bottles.  So when I have a box full of empties (and a couple of extras) I know it is time to put a new brew on which takes around 5 to 7 days before it can be bottled.

With the weekend coming up and footy on the TV I should have my full complement of 30 empties or so for a bottling by early next week!

All Finished

It is another glorious day here, mid 20's with a coolish breeze.  The wind is again from the west today so there are no clouds, just sunshine but it is a little breezy.

Bruce the builder arrived around 7:30 am with corrugated iron sheets in hand to complete the final touches for the new shelter in the backyard.  He was on his way to the next job by mid morning and we had chairs and pot plants back in place soon after. 

Some rearrangement of wall hangings on the back fence was required and completed quickly.  His metal ladder had chipped some paint from the recently painted concrete in the back corner. 

Brian (our painter neighbour) had given me a few tips so I dipped a small piece of rag into some paint and dabbed it onto the damaged spots.  All was fine again in a matter of minutes.

You could sit under the sun shelter now at 11 am and still be getting plenty of winter sunshine with the sun low in the sky to the north able to get under the roof line.

It will be perfect for us.  We now need a blind on the western end of it to keep the hot afternoon sun at bay in summer.  That should only be a few weeks away.

I still need to do some touching up of paint but that may be a pack or two of Panadol Osteo away!

Shelter/Patio Cover Update

The builder arrived around 7:30 am this morning with the news the iron for the roof of the new shelter wasn't available for him to collect.  He wasn't pleased.  Hopefully it will be available later this morning.

The rafters are going on now.  The whole thing is high off the ground which will allow plenty of circulation underneath on those very hot days.

Click on the photo for a larger view.

Another great day and I may return and add some more info as the day goes on.

UPDATE: It is now just before lunch and the roofing material still hasn't arrived.  Hopefully tomorrow will see the roof go on.  In the meantime all other stuff now completed.  Slats have gone on and bracing for the roof. The builder has headed home for the day.

I wanted the structure to be free standing and to be held to the area by brackets rather than digging holes, concreting etc through the pavers/concrete.  The builder sought advice on brackets and was told the ones he had especially made should be fine.

However with all the weight being on the roof we decided for a little extra support and added a couple of braces to the fence.  These have been 'screwed' and can be removed easily. It has added to the stability of the shelter.

The beautiful clear skies from this morning have clouded over a little.  The wind is still from the north so it isn't cold.

Thinga Are Taking Shape

The photo shows several things about today.  It gives an idea of what amount of shade we well gain from the shelter being built in the backyard.

Most importantly it indicates all the bloody painting has been finished!

And finally, what an absolutely gorgeous day we have here again today.

Click on the photo for a larger view.

I finished painting around 10 am Monday morning.  I am too old for that sort of work nowadays and my back is hurting a lot.  I have given the anti-inflammatories a fair workout during the last 24 hours.  I gave myself this morning off from bike riding as well.

I will have some minor touching up to do when the shelter is finished tomorrow afternoon, but only 30 minutes or so.  It will mean up and down some ladders but that should be OK.  It may be a week or so until I get around to it but it will be done in due course.

We are able to plan for the shelter as the day goes.  We have decided to have it a little higher so as much winter sun as possible can get in underneath.  We have positioned it too so as to block out as much of the property over the back as possible.  And it is far enough away from the back fence so we can still get behind there if the fence needs attention.

And as you can see it is another delightful day, high twenties and very comfortable.

Last night we headed around to Ian and Kerrie's.  They are off to Hawaii for a couple of weeks with friends.  It seems to us to be a holiday sort of trip overseas.  The two guys are taking their golf clubs with them.  The other guy in the party is a keen golfer.

We had heaps to drink while there and a good chat.  Kerrie is just getting over a virus which has had her laid up for a few days.

Trish and I are now both on the Kogan mobile phone plan.  You can imagine our concern to hear the player in between Telstra and Kogan is in a bit of financial trouble. We are keeping our fingers crossed it all works out OK.

Heaps Of Stuff To Do

Thanks heavens the weather has been great, around 22 or 24 each day and hardly a cloud in the sky.  Great weather for painting but more on that shortly.

I called the builder just before he was going to call me.  He was dropping the timber off Friday morning allowing me a few days to get it painted and then arriving Tuesday morning to commence work.  The job should only take a couple of days.

I made a quick trip to Bunnings for paint and grabbed two litres.  This wasn't enough as I needed to make a second trip Friday afternoon.  There isn't much timber there I thought, it shouldn't take long.

With time required between coats and needing the paint to dry prior to turning it over to paint the other side I should finish it off sometime Monday morning!

I can't tell you about my back but the anti-inflammatory tablets have been working over time.  And drinks Friday afternoon provided a welcome respite!  John and Margaret are overseas and Ian's wife Kerrie has a 'bug'.  So for a while there were only three of us until long lost soul Tony (the Vietnam war vet who has found ....) gave a quick phone call and popped around for a few drinks.

It was almost like old times and good to see him again.

Friday morning was home brew bottling days as well.  But as the man with the steak knives says "And that's not all!"

My new phone arrived around 10 am Friday as well.  During a spell from painting I unpacked it and worked out a little on how to use it.  The Samsung S1 I had recently had a problem with the sim card.  A little wire connector had snapped off and a temporary fix with a drop of solder had it going again.  It hadn't skipped a beat!

I put the sim card into the new phone, and a message came up "No Sim Card".  I tried it every which way and again "No Sim Card".  Maybe I had a crook phone?  I put the Sim Card back in the old phone, "No Sim Card"!.  I took it out and put it back in several times and got the same message.  Eventually it did connect to the Optus/Virgin network so all looked OK!

Trish came home so I grabbed her sim card and out it into my phone and everything worked fine!

In our mail box that day my unactivated Kogan sim card had arrived.  I wanted to swap to Kogan in two months when my current plan ran out!  Around 6:30pm I went to do something on the Samsung phone but a message popped up that the phone was unable to access the service!

An hour later my Virgin phone number had been swapped to my new phone and Kogan Sim Card and all was working OK.  I will need to pay $40 penalty for leaving before the end of my contract but now I am on the better Telstra network with much better reception where we live.

Then I realised all my contacts were on the non-working Optus/Virgin sim card.  I do back them up onto my computer but several hours has since been spent adding 132 contacts and their numbers!

And to top it all off Computer Club was as busy as!

Both our footy teams won this weekend already, however my team blew a 10 goal lead to win by 4 goals.  We have had some troubling last quarter fade outs the last few weeks.

More footy this afternoon and then some cricket tonight!

The paint brush and roller await me so I must be off.

Wednesday Was A "Community Association" Day

It almost felt as if I was back at work again.  I had two meetings to attend on Wednesday, one early in the day with the local Helicopter Training School "Chopperline" at Caloundra Aerodrome, and the second late afternoon with the Caloundra Aerodrome Community Forum at the Council Offices in Caloundra.

I like to keep everyone in the community up to date so after each meeting I have an entry to put on the website. This virtually doubles the time I need spend on each meeting.  But if I didn't enjoy it I wouldn't do it.

The weather continues to be excellent.  A little cooler is the expectation for today as the wind increases in strength and swings around to the south-west.  We still expect around 24 degrees or so which will be even warmer in our backyard.  Next Monday and Tuesday we expect tops of around 27 degrees.

I gave the pool sides a good sweep yesterday.  There was a little build up of algae there.  This morning I also increased the pool filter time by 90 minutes to around 5.5 hours per day.  The extra filter times creates extra chlorine and this then keeps and possible algae build up under control.  Running the filter for extra time is no longer a financial concern to us.  With lovely sunny days the solar energy on the roof more than compensates for the extra electricity usage.  Also the pool is now connected on a 'cheaper' rate.

We are in the throes of swapping electricity suppliers.  The new supplier gives us a rebate each year as well as an extra 2c for any solar energy we generate which goes back into the grid.  This swap over should save us and extra $120 p.a.

According to DHL Tracking my new phone from China is being delivered to the Sunshine Coast.  It was cleared from Brisbane late yesterday.  Whether it comes direct to my home from Brisbane or goes to a DHL facility here on the Coast, I do not know.  I will be staying close by the house today and tomorrow. This isn't a problem as Friday will be a day for bottling my latest brew!

I am still waiting for the builder to confirm when he is going to build the cover in the backyard for us.  I want the timber first so I can paint it before it goes up.  He recently has been on a week's holiday to New Zealand but he is back now.  If I don't hear soon I will need to give him a call.

Beautiful One Day, Perfect The Next

The heading for this blog post has been so true the last two days.  Not a cloud in the sky and around the mid 20's both days.  Just gorgeous weather for us here.  The arms of the chairs sitting in the sun burn a little as you sit down.  The sun is bright and warm.

But the pool water temperature remains around 15 degrees!

Yesterday we were invited around to the home of the President of Trish's Arts Centre Association.  They were a delightful older couple.  We were made to feel very welcome.

He was an electrician and involved in the whole electrical business.  A one time president of the local Chamber of Commerce and long time and highly respected Caloundra businessman.  Their home is a triple level Queenslander with the complete lower level set aside for his model railway.  It is all computerized and he can sit there with a 'remote control' and set trains heading off everywhere.  His current exercise is to teach himself how to fly a Boeing 737.

It was a bit of fun which we both enjoyed.  The coffee and muffin were enjoyable.

One of my hearing aids had been playing up so I put it in for repair. I had a call saying it was now ready to be collected and we had to travel to Mooloolaba to collect it.  Wow, it works great now.

From there we headed to the Maroochydore Surf Club for lunch.  The meal was OK but the view was spectacular!  Sorry about the dirty window, mostly salt I would guess from the sea.

Last night was the Annual General Meeting of the Community Association.  The attendance was very disappointing so we may need to try something to get more people along.  An early thought is to conduct the meeting later in year, possibly November and have finger food and drinks supplied.  The warmer weather may encourage more people to become involved.

Another 13k's on my bike this morning.  Of course that was after adding a lengthy post to the BeCA Website on last night's AGM.  But it was all a bit of fun!

I mentioned last week I had purchased a new phone from China.  They promised quick delivery so I was a little worried when I saw my order was still classed as "Being Prepared" on Friday.  Even on Monday it was the same status.  So I jumped online and contacted them.

One source said they were out of stock, another said they had a problem but it would be delivered when available as "High Priority".  Three hours later it was upgraded to "Parcel sent" and every hour or so I get an email from DHL saying where it is in the delivery process.  The last email said it had been cleared by Chinese Customs ready for delivery to "Regional Queensland".  Hopefully it should arrive in a couple of days.

At Least The Cricket Is Going OK!

Both Trish and my footy teams had unexpected losses this weekend!  Therefore the performance by Australia in the Third Test in the UK provided us with something to smile about this weekend.  It was also pleasant when here the temperature was 25 degrees yesterday (Saturday) while we watched the rain pour down and the crowd huddle together for warmth at the MCG!

But then we had a very chilly 4.7 degrees here this morning.  The bright sunny skies and lack of cloud means we lose any heat overnight.  I am still waiting for the temperature to get up before embarking on a bike ride this morning!  We have been promised 22 degrees today but the reality is it will possibly be a little warmer.

Really busy at Computer Club yesterday but everyone seemed please with the help they got.

One of the guys at Computer Club makes his own alcohol and provided me with another 1100mls yesterday.  That will be turned into Sambucca when I can get a mix at the Home Brew Shop.

Speaking of which the latest brew is bubbling away in the garage.  I now have a bucket of water with some bleach in it where I soak my bottles for 30 minutes or so after I have consumed and rinsed them.  There is no way my brews should be at all "off" anymore.

Some don't taste as wonderful as others but all are better than what you buy for $35 a carton.  A dash of Stones Green Ginger wine can make any questionable brew into something which is outstanding!

Now That's More Like It

The heading describes the weather, hardly a cloud in the sky, a glorious blue color and a top around 23 degrees.

My phone contract is with Virgin and uses the "Optus" network.  Optus works just OK, but to receive and make calls I really need to be outside or inside at the front of the house.  My deal with Virgin has been great despite the mediocre reception and the phone was a part of the deal.  I get a lot of fun from my phone.

My two year contract is up at the end of September.  Trish recently swapped mobile phone providers and is now with "Kogan" which uses a large part of the Telstra network.  The Telstra network provides great coverage from most places, certainly much better than from my Optus network.  Trish can comfortably make and receive calls from anywhere in the house.

So when my contract is up I will swap to Kogan as well and be on the Telstra network.  Unfortunately they just put their prices up considerably on the pay as you go plans.  It went up much less on the full year plan so I will be going with that.

Of course with a new phone plan I will need a new phone as well.  Yesterday I ordered a new mobile phone from China.  It is a ThL W100 and cost under $200 delivered to my front door.  A better known brand with similar specs here in Australia would cost me around 3 times that price.

I did heaps of searching and I reckon this is the best option for me.  In China ThL is a recognized brand just as Huawei is.  I paid extra for quick delivery by DHL so I hope to have it some time next week. People who have bought them here in Australia are just delighted with their purchases.

I managed a 13K bike ride this morning and got back home around 10:00am.

I have just put another brew on which I mixed up this morning after the bike ride.  Recently when I popped into the Caloundra Home Brew shop I asked the guy there what was his best selling "Lager".  It is this one (see photo left), a Morgan's 'Blue Mountain Lager'.  I will tell you what it is like in around a month's time!

At last there was a positive day to report on involving the cricket from the UK last night.  It was quite pleasant watching the first couple of hour's play.  Before that we watched a couple of episodes of "The Vikings" which unfortunately isn't one of Trish's favorites.

My footy team plays tonight and 'should' win against a lower placed team.Trish's team plays tomorrow afternoon.

Spirit Of Tibet

As I mentioned in my late Wednesday afternoon post below, Trish and I headed off to give the reopened restaurant "Spirit Of Tibet" a try.  We believe the food there is as good as most places we can get to in Melbourne.  It is clearly the best food available here on the Sunshine Coast.  Being a Wednesday we decided not to book but to just front up.  We would be early so there should be no problems getting a seat.

You can drive by any Sunshine Coast restaurant on a Wednesday evening and hardly find a soul in there.  So you can imagine our surprise when upon our arrival we were asked had we booked!

After a minute or so of counting we were shown to a table for two.  Soon after our host "Jampa" came over and was pleased we had come.  He seemed to remember us OK, especially the chilli side serve he would make for me.

He has been open less than a week and had 55 people in the opening night.  Other nights had been as busy.  Tonight was all but booked out as well and it was a Wednesday.

The crowd was just beginning to arrive as we left at around 7:30pm.  At least 6 or 8 people had eaten and left just before us.  I grabbed this quick snap with my phone as we left.

The food was as good as we had remembered and the cost was a little dearer than normal but well worth it. The only hassle is it is around a 25 minute drive away.

Another bright sunny day as we enter August.  We expect a top temp around 22 degrees so it should be pleasant outside in the backyard later on.  I managed 13k's on the bike this morning. 

Some of the day will be spent on the pool.  It has just been cleaned and I will clean the pool filter cartridge shortly.  After that I need to add a bag of salt to get the levels back to where they should be.