Busy Morning, Plenty of Sunshine!

I was up and at it around 6:30 am this morning.  Any expected thunderstorms last night fizzled out before arriving on the Sunshine Coast.  Brisbane had some very light showers but we missed out completely.  It took around 25 minutes to top the pool up from our domestic water supply.  I had been hoping a thunderstorm would have done that for me but no luck there.

I rode over 14k's this morning.  We are expecting around 5 hot days in a row now, today being the first.  Therefore I tend to get any jobs done early in the day when it is a little cooler.

The photo sums it all up really.  I put the gazebo up this morning to give us some 'permanent' shade during the warmer days. The gazebo also adds some shade over the pool later in the afternoon.

Click on the photo for a larger view.

Then I did a bottling, you can see the empty brew keg drying out in the sunshine on the new concrete.  It doesn't take long to dry at this time of year.

When all that was done I spent around 20 minutes just soaking under the umbrella in the pool in the shade.  The pool is 27 degrees this morning so no wonder the water evaporates!  I even had a quick before bed swim last night, just to cool off before falling asleep.

Last night we watched the first four episodes of Series 2 of "The Tudors". There are 6 episodes remaining, 4 more tonight then the last two after the First Day of the Third Test from Perth tomorrow night!

More Sizzle

It has been warm and sunny up here the last few days.  It is 'normal' for my morning swim after a bike ride for the pool to be around 26 degrees nowadays.  If I have another swim later on it is usually around 28 or 29 degrees.  The one downside is evaporation and as we have had no follow up rain from the couple of inches we got 10 days ago, I may need to top it up tomorrow if the promised thunderstorms do not arrive tonight.

The car is all fixed.  The sensor has been replaced and it now has new tyres all round.  It has been serviced and ready to take us to Melbourne mid December.

We had our final Community Association Committee Meeting on Monday.  Wives and husbands joined us for nibblies and drinks and we enjoyed each other's company.  We eventually arrived home before midnight.

The big drama came yesterday when the Community Association website went down. We pay all costs for the website but Stockland had not passed on a renewal notice for the bellvista.com.au domain name.  Therefore when it expired, the website ceased to exist.  Some frantic phone calls to Sydney and a quick EFT cash transfer had all well again by late yesterday afternoon.

As another hiccup, a product I ordered from China has not arrived.  I sent them off an email this morning.  It is less than $6 in value so it isn't a major drama.  I expect they will repost it or give me a refund.  Unfortunately when it does arrive we will be in Melbourne, not ideal but can't be helped.

Trish is at Stitchers today and I have 'washed' bottles ready for a bottling tomorrow.  They are predominately 'new' bottles, so only required a quick rinse.  What can take around 45 minutes took less than 10 today!  It being so hot outside, they dried quickly.

A Sewing Machine repair guy is due after lunch to look at Trish' s aging sewing machine.  I think she will get herself a new one as a "Christmas Present"! I am in the market for a 3TB external hard disk drive to back up all my movies and TV Shows.

A Gorgeous Spring Day

And there are a few more delightful days to come.  A sea-breeze, around 28 degrees, the pool is even warmer and the forecast is for more to come.

I am now completely over the 'procedure' I had on Tuesday.  It did take a day or two to get back to 100% but everything is fine now.  I am 'back on the beer' and enjoying the cricket on TV, especially as Australia is doing well right now.  Hopefully tomorrow (Monday) the last day will see Australia win the match.

I have been bike riding every day and now I have even discarded the 'cable ties' attached to my helmet to keep magpies at bay.  I have added 'Little Mountain Common" back onto my route and I do around 13k's per day.

I must admit the bike rides exceptionally well since it had the service earlier this week.  It was money well spent.  Even little creatures like this one are enjoying the warmer sunny weather.  Click on the photo for a larger view.

My sister's youngest boy Beau's partner Jess is a Mooloolaba girl but lives in Victoria.  They had a wedding to get to here on the Sunshine Coast so planned some time up here, allowing Beau to book in to have a procedure carried out on his eye.  Jess has since picked up a new job on Mornington Peninsular and was unable to get to the wedding.  So Beau is up here on his own recuperating after the small operation and staying with Jess' family.

Beau popped in to watch the cricket with me yesterday which was great.  He is also very keen on my home brew.  Needless to say we had a great time together.  Therefore I gave the Computer Club a 'miss'.

Trish is doing a two day "Workshop" this weekend so I relax in front of the TV, or pop into the pool for a quick swim and later endeavour to keep my hydration levels up!

Hardly a cloud in the sky and just beautiful today.  More top temperatures around 28 degrees are expected for most of this week and then cooler sea-breezes during the afternoons.

Life is tough!

Update

The cricket starts on TV shortly for the 2nd day of the Adelaide Test so this post will be quick.

As I have said earlier, things are geared towards our car trip to Melbourne in a few weeks.  The "Check" light has come on in the car.  Cars are so 'computer' centred nowadays it could be anything,  As the car was going in for a service yesterday I got the guys to check the light out as well.  Turns out it is the fourth sensor used to check the engine emissions and to adjust fuel mix for greater fuel economy.  The sensor has stopped working properly.  A 15 minute job to install a replacement but $250 to buy the new sensor.

It goes in on Monday for the new sensor and hopefully the 2 new tyres will go on on Tuesday.

The service people also reported a rumble noise from the back of the car, most likely tyres but it could be rear wheel bearings.  I guess I will know more after the new tyres go on.

I have pretty crook ears but I have heard that sound for the last few years and just put it down to tyres.  Trish doesn't hear it.  Therefore I am 90% sure it will be tyres.

Friends Ian and Kerrie are heading to Sydney for the weekend so we went to the little Chinese in the main street for a meal together last night.  The fish with ginger and shallots was extremely tasty with enough ginger flavour, the salt and pepper calamari was as good as any we have had and the satay chicken wasn't too bad at all. This was all preceded with San Choy Bow which was a great way to start the meal. At $25 a head it was a delightful meal.

We made some inquiries regarding hokkien fried rice which they said they could do for us if we wanted.  That is a dish Trish and I will save for a trip to this restaurant on our own.

I bottled my Melbourne Black brew into Coca Cola bottles this morning ready for the trip down south.

My tummy is taking a few days to settle down after Tuesday, I guess it is because this time I am that little bit older.

All OK

I managed to lift myself up from the loo long enough to get to Caloundra Private Hospital for my Top N Tail this morning.  A small polyp was removed, nothing too scary and I am not due back there for another three years.

All in all I am happy with that. My tummy continues to rumble from the activity this morning, I am not brave enough to pass wind though!

I put my bike in for a 'service'.  The handle grips had gone 'sticky' with the heat and humidity here and I thought it was time to replace the brake rubbers.  A little over $100 to have it all done, service and replace the parts.  I can get a new bike 'on special' for $300!

The car goes in for its pre Melbourne service on Thursday.  All it now needs is another two tyres on the rear. Trish went to the Physio this morning regarding her shoulder.  She came home a little more enthusiastic with the news the Physio thought she could do the shoulder some good.  We hope so.

A gorgeous day today, around 28 degrees and a lovely breeze blowing in from the north east off the ocean.  No need for ceiling fans today, just open the windows and the doors and enjoy the sub-tropical weather!

Back on the bike tomorrow morning, back into the pool.  Most likely I will be bottling on Thursday!