Mid Week

An area around 50k's north of us was the only spot to get any reasonable rain from the storms predicted for last night.  We got nothing at all here.  But a cooler change rocked through in mid afternoon dropping the temperature from a steamy and hot 34º or so back to a more pleasant 28º.  The pool peaked out at around 26º or so yesterday afternoon.

It was extremely pleasant lying back in the pool on a lounge relaxing and enjoying a cool beverage yesterday late in the afternoon.  I reckon I spent the best part of an hour just sitting there and enjoying the place.

Last night we had some of the trout Trish had bought at Costco.  They were great sized fish and very nice indeed.  20 minutes in the BBQ with the lid down and around 200º and they were perfect.

This morning I was meant to be heading around to a mate's place to do some computer stuff.  He needed a few adjustments made before friends arrived flying up from Sydney.  They were due at 1:30pm so that meant we had until around midday to get stuff done.

Not only was the flight arrival brought forward by 30 minutes but there hadn't been any calculation for Daylight Saving either!  So the original 1:30pm arrival finished up being midday!  And you really need the best part of an hour to get to Maroochydore airport from here!

So the computer update was put on hold.  This now allowed me time for my bike ride and time to get a bottle washing done!

However the bike ride went on hold owing to a puncture in the back tyre.  And my tyre repair kit had run out of glue!

So the bottle washing was done and is now out of the way!

The local supermarket eventually came to the rescue re the glue, the puncture was repaired and the bike ride completed by around 10:30.  The pool was around 26.5º by the time I got back from the ride.  That was a pretty nice swim this morning I tell you!

8 of us are heading back to the "Drift Bar" again this evening.  It is around 30º today so it should be just gorgeous there later today.  There are $4 beers from 4 pm to 6pm, then a "Parmy and Pot of Beer" special deal for $15 to follow.

It should be extremely pleasant sitting in an outdoor setting as the sun goes down over Bulcock Beach with the evening temperature around 25º or so!

Summer With A Rumble!

Summer has arrived here on the Sunshine Coast!  The pool will again be the focus of much of our day to day activity.  This morning as I rode by the Private School here on the estate, the neon notice board at the front said 7:10 am, 27º!

The hottest part of the day here is usually late morning.  Around lunch time the cooler sea-breeze makes its way in and the temperature stabilizes or drops several degrees.  The last few days we have had a strong northerly blowing in from central Queensland.

The northerly breeze was so strong yesterday the cooler sea-breeze couldn't arrive until around 2 pm.  This gave us an extra 2 hours of heating up.   So it was around 36º when eventually the sea-breeze arrived!

The rumble in the title was for the thunder storms which amounted to nothing for us last evening.  We had the lighting and the rumble of thunder but this morning there was a paltry 1ml in the gauge.  That 1ml did bring our rainfall total so far for 2014 to 1000mls, or 40" in the old language!  In this part of the world we can usually expect over 1500mls p.a. or a little over 60" each year.

More thunderstorms are predicted for later on today, and are most likely to happen around the Sunshine Coast area.

Yesterday we had decided on a return trip to Costco around 40 minutes south of us.  We had emptied the freezer section of both fridges so we were prepared for the shop.  Things were a little cheaper but we expect the quality to be top-notch.  In this part of Australia we find the meat nowhere near as good as what we had when in Melbourne.  So if we can get good meat from Costco it will be worth the monthly 'safari' down there.

As we were driving home, the outside temperature was reading 39º!  Costco is that little bit inland away from the sea so that area doesn't get much of the tempering sea winds.

To the west of Brisbane in the city centre of Ipswich it was almost 42º yesterday!

Last night we watched a movie called "Frailty".  It is an older movie and one I had never heard of before!  If you get the chance have a look at it.  It was in the best Alfred Hitchcock suspenseful style!

Warming Up ...

One of the couples we enjoy drinks with on a Friday has a problem with "Silverside" or "Corned Beef".  He loves it but she isn't too keen.  Trish cooks it quite a bit so we have always intended to have them around for some Silverside so the husband who loves it can enjoy it again.

We decided to combine the regular Friday drinks with Silverside for an evening meal.  And that happened yesterday.  But this time all 6 of us who usually attend "Drinks" would stay for a meal.

We started our drinks session a bit later and enjoyed a sensational meal of corned beef/silverside.  It was a great night and Trish did a wonderful job catering for everyone.  It went down very well.

The non-silverside eater had a lovely piece of pork instead.

Starting later in the afternoon meant finishing later at night.  So it was quite late when they went all home.

With extra guests coming around and the weather warming up it seemed like a good time to set up the portable fridge/freezer (the Waeco) outside under the pergola near the back door.  (photo above left) It is great for cold drinks outside and as the weather warms up, we do spend more and more time out there and around the pool.  To have access to a cold drink after jumping out of the pool dripping wet has many advantages.

And the extra fridge room was handy last night (Fri) with guests coming around.

I found an interesting computer program yesterday.  I had seen it before and had it installed on the previous PC.  It is called Popcorn Time.  Google it and read all about it.

You will need to have a fair bit of download available to you to use the program.  It doesn't suit my purposes but there may be some people who do like it and find it handy.

They are talking about 29º this afternoon and even warmer for the next few days!

Trish rather likes the decorative lights we can usually buy to string around the outside of the house around Christmas time.  She doesn't limit the lights to just Christmas, we have them going all year.  They certainly brighten up the backyard.

As they are a Christmas item they aren't usually available all 12 months of the year.  But they are available again now and back in stores getting ready for Christmas.  So we have been busy putting the finishing touches to the backyard.  A couple of strings of 'icicles' have now completed the job.

I like to keep some pool implements close by so I can readily clean out an errant floating leaf or bug.  These have had to be relocated as they got in the way of the new 'icicles'!

But all is looking good now!

Not So Perfect

Following a spectacular Monday, the weather here did a "Melbourne" on Tuesday with showers and heavily overcast skies.  The sun did peep out for an hour or so in the afternoon and we got to 25º but much of the day was miserable, showery and around 21º.  It wasn't at all pleasant.

I didn't manage a bike ride! The black skies opened up with Melbourne type heavy drizzle for an hour or so just as I was about to set out.  I actually got to the end of the street on my bike before the obvious heavy black clouds convinced me to turn around and seek refuge at home!

This morning (Wednesday) we have already had more showers and the sky has been overcast, but there are some blue patches of sky about (see photo left) and a more pleasant day has been forecast.

Come Friday we are back to 29º and into the low 30's for three or four days after that!

I was fortunate to find a direct telecast of a One Day International cricket match from New Zealand on TV yesterday so the day wasn't a complete waste!

We both spent much of the day around the house looking busy and with me watching some cricket.  I tipped a mere 4mls out of the rain gauge this morning (Weds).

I did manage to 'scare' my brother though when out of the blue I rang him up and we had a good chat! He is travelling nicely.

A problem I do have is this blog when I call people!  My brother reads the blog (obviously he has a problem with insomnia!) so that means I really don't have any new news to pass on to him!

But it was good to have a chat.  He and his wife Jeannette have the caught the caravaning bug and are looking forward to a trip later this year along the Murray and into South Australia.

In 2015 he is looking at heading up to the "Gulf" in northern Queensland.  They would hope to be away for several months, and therefore miss out on the cold Melbourne winter.

We enjoyed catching up.

Perfect The Next!

You couldn't wish for a nicer day.  Clear blue sky, 27 degrees later on this afternoon and the pool should also be over 25º then as well.  The pool was approaching 23º for my after bike ride swim this morning around 8:30 am and even that felt great!

I squeezed in a couple of dips in the pool yesterday, one after finishing my morning's shade handiwork, the second mid afternoon with a refreshing icy cold ale in hand!

The shade fix has been completed and seems to make quite a difference to our shade pergola at the back.

There will not be any further need for anyone to jockey for a chair which doesn't expose them to the afternoon sun at one time or another.

Click on the photo for a larger view.

As we get closer to Xmas, lights and other decorations come back onto the market.  And these solar powered lights add some color to the overnight backyard.  I wouldn't quite call it an obsession for Trish, but perhaps I could call it a "high priority want"!

We still have some of last year's Xmas lights (or what is left of them that still work) flashing in the backyard overnight now.  The rectangular grid of fairy lights that Trish just loved died around April and she was most upset to learn she would have to wait until Xmas 2014 before more would come on sale!

I reckon she probably bought the first set of rectangular designed Xmas lights that K-Mart sold this season.

If you look closely in the top photo you can see the lights have been put up ready for last night's first showing!

And they went off perfectly as the lower photo shows!

And this morning I have had to move the pool's leaf rake to an obscure spot so the "Icicle Lights" could go up at one end of the pool.  Oh it will be exciting!

The next set will come from Aldi (if they have the same design as 2013) and they will go all the way around the backyard!  But I suggest Trish will be out buying some backup lighting sets not too far away, just in case one of her creations goes on the blink!