14 January, 2014

Really must get a review of the 13 year done up, highs, lows, achievements, etc.
Lately?

• Went for a ride out to Anakie, with Felix, and that is about all the riding I have done of late ... Very, very stiff Westerly breeze - had planned to turn back, cross through Maude, then get blown back in along highway with tailwind. Called Greg from Anakie, said I was going to turn onto De Motts Road, and he laughed at me - bit bloody step going that way, which is probably why I had odd little flashes of memory about it? Popped into Del Rios winery on way back, as Felix apparently knew the family. But they were not there, and there was a pedal on about 1k of loose gravel to get up there ... but, ended up enjoying some rather nice wines when there, which made the ride back more pleasant ;) Once we got onto the Ballarat Road there was a lot of wind assistance. Called in La Madre, which had shut 20 minutes earlier, and they refused to sell me any bread - what a rye? no, all sold out. so, what do you have???
• Got 4 cubic metres (3 of recycled pallets, 1 of garden mulch) and spent much of the Xmas shutdown spreading around the garden, and drinking lots of alcohol :o Now that it is all pretty much spread, I can go back and spread it thicker on certain area, such as the high traffic areas and/or the area that are more likely to require assistance. Looks good, and I expect that as it begins to settle in it will hold a lot of protection - it is so thick that it will act more as a barrier, rather than an easily digested mulch, such as what was previously down. Also cleared away a lot more of the spinach. Even though there are a lot of reseedings! Oh, also built another garden bed, tucked in next to the house. Filled it with tomatoes, basil, chilli, eggplant. Does not get a tremendous amount of sunshine, which I thought may be more beneficial for some of the plants? But we shall see ...Also pulled out most of the cauliflower plants, then feed them through the new slice/dice machine, before feeding them to the worms, who will be so much happier with it in that form! Actually, it was not too bad an exercise/purchase, as it will be quite useful for helping to speed up the breakdown processes of the plants, etc. The next step is going to be doing some discrete editing/pruning ... Have been looking at the Mistydowns website for some rather intriguing roses, with my usual problem of so many bloody options!!! Am thinking of space for 5, but ... so many options, and also need to be aware of growth requirements ... will underplant them with bulbs (and garlic) to add a bit of variety. By putting them at the front, it will be a nice display for visitors on arrival too. Much of the emphasis will be on 'unusual' varieties and/or hep production, with the secondary emphasis on the fragerance, so most (all?) will be older styles, rather than the modern petal production models.

30 November, 2013

• Rode to meet Great Vic, saw TracE + Terry. Awoke, fell asleep again, Felix knocking on door woke me again. Had coffee, rushed out the door, forgot to have breakfast :o However, the delay in starting worked to my advantage - came to turn onto Blackgate Road, stopped to take off wind vest (with Felix going on, despite me saying to stop), and Terry & TracE went by :) Rode off after them, had fun dodging the other 5500 riders, leading them along Blackgate, through Breamlea, over 13th Beach, stopped at Barwon Heads for refreshments, then up Wallington Road to QQueenscliff Road, where they turned left towards Leopold/Geelong, and we went right around into Drysdale for coffee - this being the 'price' for Felix to come along! Other sights along the way included: chatting to a chap re larger frames, and I suggesting to look at the CAAD10 option; coming over into Barwon Heads, with a sudden turn right before bridge, and some stopped slowly, running into the people in front; spread out all over Wallington Road, stopping cars from passing, so I rode through the 'peleton' to clear a path, then waved the cars through; Terry losing TracE - apparently she stopped at top of pinch, Terry rode past, did not feel anything was amiss until Queensclif turn off, where we waited for awhile; and, Felix having no capacity to look over shoulder, so nearly caused several accidents ... Grubb Road was a bit hard - stiff headwind - with Felix sitting behind all the way, then turned off towards Clifton Springs, before realising his error - normally he does not hear me screaming at him - and catching up to get to enjoy a coffee. The trip back was not as easy as I had hoped - expecting more of a tailwind - but survived :) Did my little sprint past Apco, then paid the price when turning into Tryboys road - severe calf cramp, so I stopped to relieve, whilst Felix rode on ... Bit bloody sore at the end of that one, but ended up doing 73km for the day :)
• CassE came to visit. Finally got it together to catch up with CassE prior to Xmas - offered either a Saturday night closer to Xmas or a Friday night catch up, and she went for the more contemporary ... which was okay, except that was a day when the trains ran late, so I got in about 20 minutes behind schedule :o but this was compensated by a TA ringing late to discuss submitting a formal compromise offer ... No idea how that worked, but I worked it out - a NPE to Perth with TA details - and managed to catch the Warnamabool train ... which was horrendously packed, not very comfortable at all :( Anyway, she decided to jump on at Geelong, and come back for some tomato sauce on pasta.
• Vegies are coming on nicely :) Have been giving Barbera a lot of silverbeet, zucchini, cauliflower, and kale - indeed, kale is proving very popular with the older ladies, as have dropped some off for Carole (White Eagle) and Viv (BoQ), as well giving some in a 'care' package to Anne as well. Seems all a bit one sided in my down moments ... Took the plunge and prepared a spicy vinegar mix to pickle a cauliflower with - mind you, did take me longer than should have, as I have a paucity of suitable containers - ended up getting 2 spring loaded glass jars from Woolworths one night. Anyway, prepared up a good mix, so they should be ready in time for Xmas - might even give one for a Secret Santa? Still have about 1 quart left - the recipe I was using has been with imperial measurements, which caused quite a bit of consternation working out proportions! Anyway, the red cabbages are starting to come on, so I might use the remaining juice on one of those - pickled cabbage! Of course, I fix the same problem I had before - no jars ...
• Wrote to Mark, possibly the only person that I ever write to in any sort of ongoing sense! Oh, I do send out postcards, such as on CQ13 rides, and/or Xmas cards, but there are inevitably either to people as a lark, given that I usually text to them, and/or just as infrequently drop a line to them. Mark is the one person whom I consistently write to, especially as he refuses to get get connected electronically, whether by getting an email address, a twitter account, a FB account, etc. To say nothing of the more 'modern' linkages, such as DropBox or SnapChat friends, hey? Mind you, after reading about the revelations from Snowdon re NSA capability, maybe he is on to something? In any case, printed up about 20 photos to go with the letter of verious people that I have seen over the years, so that may amuse him as well? Wonder what he will think, not having seen many of the people for many years? Anyway, it is posted now, so time will tell ... I wonder if he will send me a Xmas card this year?
• CQ13 ride
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  Is there any other news?

September 2, 2013

Umm ... bit brain dead, to be honest ...

• Tuesday night was still and calm, wind-wise, so went out on Circuit, leaving at about 2030. Turned onto Grubb Road, discovered the rear light had stopped working ... lots of fun riding :) A few cold (cooler?) bits, but I coped ... then got up on Saturday morning, put the washing on, and did the same circuit, but quite a bit faster :) Garmin was impressed!
• Lots of planting done, but still have not finalised the mulching bit ... also mowed (again) and I think I have got most of it fairly even ... well, apart from the bit where the gate kicked the guide down really low, and I did not notice for a few minutes - GT stripe? Also need to get and finalise something about the sweet peas, as hey are growing, but not quite upwards ... The weather has (finally) begun to warm up, and the plants are starting to come alive, pushing through their winter tardiness
• More fights with the strange man on the bus - on 26/08, he even took the bus back to the station and then had it confirmed it was a valid ticket ... not a word of apology to me, or to the other passengers ...
• Have transfered monies to home loan, reduce a little interest, as apparently I can 're-draw' when required, a la monies allocated for solar panels :)

Did I mention I feel quite tired??? Not really sleeping too well - probably drinking too much/often alcohol?

• Been going down to St. Margaret's and shooting hoops. Rather exciting, as I do get the ball in every once in awhile, but really does get the heart pumping and the muscles working differently. Which is good :) Usually go down with two (2) beers, play around for awhile. Yesterday, it was too windy to do much, so I pulled up stakes and went to get some chips. They were nice, but were cooking for ~ 10 minutes? I felt that was an odd amount of time ...