Tidying Up

By 10a.m. this morning I had completed my 12.6k bike ride, washed all my home brew beer bottles ready to bottle the latest brew and had a quick swim.  It isn't too hot a day today but there is a fair bit of cloud about and a top temp is expected to be around 28 degrees.

Our small house on a small block is great for our time of life.  We have minimal ongoing maintenance to do and a fantastic back yard with a pool and a lovely shady area.  For the climate here, our backyard is ideal.

However the area is small with limited storage space and only a single garage.  We squeeze as much out of each square metre that we can.  The garage has hooks everywhere with odds and ends hanging from them.  It has some 'home made' shelving which, though serviceable, doesn't look a million dollars.  It can be a bit of a squeeze getting things stored away.

It isn't easy to cart stuff from the boot of the car through the garage and into the house, especially with several bags of heavy bulky grocery shopping.  You are forever rubbing up against brooms and other items hanging along the garage walls and you need to be careful not to knock them off.  Then there are my fishing rods as well!

As of today all of that has changed.  One entire wall of the garage has been cleared of hooks which previously held mops, brooms, cleaning implements, lights and who knows what.  Even my fishing rods have been moved.  Now as you carry those bulky items into the house from the boot of the car you have nothing to knock against or partially block your way!

I am forever looking at ways to make brewing my beer easier.  I have a 'tree' on which I put my bottles to dry.  It is great as I can easily carry all my newly washed bottles and the tree in one hand to place in the sun to dry.  As good as the tree is, some water still pools in the neck of the bottle and doesn't all quite drain away as I would like.

The bottles don't quite sit erect enough to drain every last drop.

This isn't a problem on hot days but when the cooler weather comes it makes drying the bottles a bit more difficult.

Soon after we arrived up here I found a small piece of security grill which I have now 'setup' as a bottle drying rack in the garage.  It is kind of suspended from the wall and works perfectly.  When placed in this drying rack the bottles sit more upright and therefore drain much better.  It will be ideal when drying bottles in the cooler months.

An added advantage is the height I have set the drying rack at.  I don't have to bend over to put bottles on and off the rack.  It is fantastic on my back!  I reckon what I have done is sensational.  Regretfully Trish isn't quite as excited about it as I am.  I guess she sees it as more junk cluttering up the garage.  I don't!

The rack comfortably holds all my bottles for a single brew with some space left over.

After the bottles have been washed and left for 5 minutes to drain, they are transferred to the 'tree' and placed outside to dry!

Today is the final day of finding some sport to watch on TV on the weekend.  The AFL footy gets underway on Friday and we are looking forward to it all getting 'officially' underway!