All Recovered Now

It took a day or two to recover from having good friends Russ and Irene visit us for a couple of days.  I didn't sleep well on the second evening they were here and I needed to drive them to Brisbane Airport the next morning.  But come today all is repaired and moving OK again.  I think Thursday may have been a 'lazy' day as well.

Thursday's glorious weather has been changed to a brisk cold day today, albeit with clear blue skies.  Yesterday it was still, a lovely blue sky and a glorious 27 or so in the backyard.  Meanwhile down south they are being buffeted by strong S/W winds and temperatures were struggling to get into double figures.  That cold wind has now found its way to S/E Queensland.

They are talking about 19 today but with the wind chill added it will feel like 12 degrees. I sure felt cold on my bike ride this morning.  I wore a T-Shirt, a long sleeved T-Shirt over that and then a 'wind' jacket over that.

Don't let the blue skies in the photo here fool you, it was very cold.

Click on the photo for a larger view

On Wednesday Trish had a bus trip booked for the ladies at Stitchers.  As the organiser she was heavily involved and went along.  It was pretty successful too I hear.  So Thursday was very quiet for her.  We aren't worrying about drinks this arvo, alcohol isn't high on the priority list even two days after our friends have left.

Yesterday was perfect for bottle washing and they all dried as expected in the warm sunshine.  Today was therefore a day for bottling.  This brew was a black ale which Russell enjoyed immensely while he was here.

Footy back on the TV tonight.  Injuries have knocked my team around this week and we have a second string lineup in.  I am not confident!

Computer Club tomorrow and the weather is expected to warm up over the next few days.  We expect to be in the mid 20's by Wednesday of next week.

Just Returned From Brisbane Airport

It is a spectacular day again and has been for the three days we had Russell and Irene with us.  If I didn't need to do a bottling before, I certainly need to do one now.

They arrived before lunch Monday with Irene's sister and her husband.  We all headed to the local Tavern for lunch and the first of many many drinks!  The food was very good, the beer cold and the company outstanding.  The relations departed mid afternoon and the four of us settled down to catch up on old times.

Trish had garlic prawns for tea which were a great success.  The special chilli oil I get from Springvale when we are down in Melbourne received high acclaim as well.  We all slept well.

There is a restaurant in the hinterland around 20 minutes away that we tried out for lunch.  This is the view from where we were sitting.  The food was great and generous servings as well. 

With a view like this it just had to be good.

Russ has his foot in a "moon boot" following an operation he has had recently.  The healing process had been delayed and didn't go as smoothly as expected.  He had expected to be rid of it by now but the complications delayed the healing process.

We had a quiet sit by the beach before we returned home for more drinks and nibbles.  The music went on with plenty of oldies from 60's playing.  It was great.  Trish makes exceptional Fried Rice and when mixed with the "Springvale chilli" is to die for.

We had too much to drink but it was all great fun.  The flew out of Brisbane this morning for a week or so in Cairns.  Russ collected the Media Player and hard disk drive filled with Movies, TV Series and music which I had prepared for him.

It was all great fun and extremely enjoyable.  I think we will all sleep well tonight.

Trish has Bus Day Out for the ladies at Quilters today so left over Fried Rice will do us for tea!

23 Degrees and Sensational

Despite being a chilly 3 or 4 degrees this morning, just before lunchtime we have a gorgeous still and warm day.  The back corner is around 26 degrees.  Trish just gave me a quick haircut up in the same corner of the yard and I almost fell asleep enjoying the warmth.  Even the front and back doors are wide open to let the warm air in.

It would be a great day for bottle washing!  I put a brew on Saturday after I arrived home from Computer Club.  It usually takes around 6 days to brew so that would mean I would be bottle washing and bottling late next week which fits in nicely for what we have planned.

The footy match on TV Friday night was just amazing.  As usual (and totally unexpected I must add) my team won by 2 points with an after the siren kick for goal.  I was ecstatic, Trish wasn't as it was her team on the end of the stick .... again!

Drinks earlier Friday had been great as usual.  Computer Club on Saturday morning was pleasant.  I managed to solve most problems except for one lady who was trying to reinstall Internet Explorer.  It 'appears' she has (or has had) Internet Explorer Beta 9 on her computer.  In a fit of anger she uninstalled it.  But there is still some parts of it still there and it turns out that beta versions of Internet Explorer cannot be updated! It must be totally uninstalled first! I reckon I will need to have another look next Saturday for the bits which still require uninstalling.

We are toying with the idea of doing something more with the backyard.  The palms have grown too large and look beyond their Use By Date!  We will have them removed in a few weeks.  We both think the best idea is to totally remove the small garden there and concrete it all.  We can get short of space in the yard and this would give is a lot more usable room.

I think we will get some quotes on some concreting!

Good friends Russell and Irene are due tomorrow morning to which we are looking forward to very much.

4 Degrees This Morning!

Whoever said it doesn't get cold on the Sunshine Coast has never been here.  Consecutive cold mornings has reminded everyone in this part of the world just how cool it can be.  The good thing is that as the sun rises, so too does the temperature.  The wind chill factor when riding the bike on these chilly mornings isn't any fun!

And the weather is about the only interesting thing which has happened around here in the last few days.

Our PayTV has been taken over by Foxtel.  Since the takeover we have lost our $15 discount as a 'loyalty reward' provided by the former owner.  I rang the new supplier this morning asking what could they do for us.  We now get a $20 discount (around 25%) but we are locked into a 6 month contract.  That isn't a worry for me!

The Olympics coverage on PayTV is excellent with great high definition pictures.  We get the AFL as well via PayTV.

Trish is at Quilter's this morning and I am recently back from helping an elderly neighbour out with adding attachments to emails.  Other neighbours across the road are looking at restructuring their Phone and Internet setups.  They call the UK several times a month to speak with relatives back there.  I spent a little time explaining "Phone Cards" to him yesterday so he is going to give that a try.

Drinks as per usual this afternoon and then my team plays Trish's team on TV tonight.  We have won the last eight matches but I think we are in a bit of trouble tonight.  Geelong has a quite a few new young inexperienced players nowadays so they aren't the potent force they once were.

Our last rain was three weeks ago so the pots in the backyard were watered yesterday.  We have friends Irene and Russell coming on Monday for a couple of nights.  It is also the AGM for the Community Association.  I am an apology for that meeting on Monday.

Feel Like Doing Things

There is a hint of spring in the air up this way.  We haven't had any rain for around three weeks and July's rainfall total is around 70mls, still 20 down on the average.  So there is that feel of spring with all the sunshine, the clear skies but nippy mornings.  I even did over 13k's on the bike this morning.

The slightly longer than usual ride was probably a form of penance for over indulgence last night.  We visited the local Indian restaurant where we had a discount voucher so at $25 a double it was a cheap night out.  The food was fine, the company outstanding but this morning is less than brilliant.

With the weather the way it is I decided to wash the car on Monday.  We don't wash the car as often as we should so it was a huge job.  The windows etc haven't been done for months.  I reckon it goes 5kph faster now.  The lawn was mown yesterday, the first time for around a month.

I have continued to do fine tuning on backing up my files from my computer onto hard disk drives I have. It is all working out OK.  I even popped into the nearby "Pool Supplies" shop and bought a new filter cartridge for the pool filter.  You should change them every 4 years so I reckon it was due for a change after 7 years!

I also purchased and set up a media player for friends Russell and Irene who we expect to see on Monday for a couple of days.  That is now all done and ready to go.  I also did one for a friend of Trish's.  However she doesn't have access to a local area wireless network.  That is a where you have a modem/router in your home with wireless capabilities.  The latest WDTV Streaming Media Players can connect to the internet via a home wireless network.  They automatically update the firmware and you can adjust the look of the unit or better know as the "Theme" all done via the internet and online.

Russ has a wireless network at his place in Victoria which I will set up for him when we are in Melbourne in a few weeks time.

Trish is at Stitchers this morning while I will have a quiet day around the PC ....... for a change.  I might even grab a quiet hour or two in the back corner in the sunshine.