The Weather Is Just Perfect

Sunday 31st July, 2011

What a fantastic weekend weather wise.  Saturday and Sunday were perfect days to be outdoors enjoying the sunshine.  We are expecting a few more days of this weather until at least Wednesday.  I can live with that!

On Saturday Tony and I decided to take a drive to Balaclava.  We rang Robyn and Bob to see if they wanted to come along but Robyn was working and not due home until around 2.00pm.

Looks like Ayers Rock in the middle of suburbia

Firstly we called into Virginia Nursery and bought some plants for the garden, also some wood chips and pebbles.  While there we had coffee, cake and a croissant.  We didn't leave there until 3.20pm and then headed off to Balaclava.

Balaclava is a small country town about 90 minutes from Adelaide.  There's nothing there, it's just a nice drive, driving through farming country.  On the way we turned off and went through Owen, this is where Jodi is now looking to buy a property.  We thought we found the property that they are interested in but it turned out to be the wrong one.

When we got to Balaclava we decided to have an ice cream.  Robyn rang and so we said we would call in on the way back home.  We got to Robyns' place around 5.30 and stayed for a  couple of hours.

On Sunday we decided to tackle the garden.  Tony cut back the tree.   The council planted it and they are quite ugly trees if left.  We have cut it back the last 4 or 5 years and it grows into a nice rounded shape.  We have noticed that several of the neighbours are also cutting their trees back.

The tree - before Tony let loose

The tree - after Tony "hacked" umm I mean pruned it

We planted the new plants we bought, weeded, spread the wood chips and Tony cut back some of the shrubs.  It looks much neater.  Now for the weather to stay nice next weekend so that we can do the back garden, that's if we don't have Katie.

After we cleaned up we came inside and had our showers.  Robyn and Bob called in soon after.  They bought us some oranges and mandarines from their garden.  I luurve the oranges.....they are so sweet and juicy.  Today would have been my Dad's 92nd birthday.  He passed away in October, 2006.

Early Spring flowering

The Days Are Getting Longer

Thursday 28th July, 2011

What a beautiful day today.....the temperature is 20 degrees, the sun is shining, hardly any wind and with just one month of winter left I can't wait for Spring.  Tomorrow should also be 20C but then in the afternoon we will get some showers.

The weekend's not looking too bad, a few showers on Saturday morning and then for the rest of it, fine, with temps in the upper teens.  Hopefully we can get out and do some gardening on Sunday, our poor garden has been neglected the past couple of months.

I am also noticing that we are having extra daylight....yay!!!  It is staying light now until about 5.40pm, another good sign that Winter is just about over.

Nothing else has happened this week, just the usual everyday things like cleaning, laundry and pottering about.  We did have the coach of one of our football teams, Neil Craig, resign.  He was the coach of the Adelaide Crows and they have not been performing too well this year.  The other football team in Adelaide is Port Power, who also have been playing poorly, but they have a new coach, Matthew Primus, and he is still finding his way.

These two teams are part of the AFL, which consists of 17 teams from all around Australia.  Next year a new team based in Sydney will also be joining the competition making for a total of 18 teams.

It will be interesting to see who the Crows appoint as their coach next year.  Hopefully it will be someone with experience.  There are only 6 games left until the finals begin and our two teams will definitely not be playing in the finals.

On Sunday is the Showdown, Crows v Power.  I think Power have the upper hand in beating the Crows but this game will be interesting to see how the Crows go under the interim coach, Mark Bickley.  We support both teams usually, but when they play each other, then it's.............Go Crows!!!

From the Lens...........

High flying Torney of the Crows

Australia Has A New Sporting Hero!

Monday 25th July, 2011

Congratulations Cadel Evans!!!  Australia has a new sporting hero in Evans after he won the Tour De France.  The first time an Aussie has won the race in its 108 year history and the oldest winner (he's 34) to win it since World War 2. 

Bike riding has 2 new fans in Tony and I.  Yes, we have gone and watched the Tour Down Under that is held here in Adelaide in January, but we have never understood it.  By watching the Tour de France we now have a good understanding of what it is to ride in a bike race.

We know what the yellow jersey means, the green jersey is for the winner of the sprint races that is incorporated into each stage.  The polka dot jersey is for the winner of the King of the Mountain and the white jersey is for the best rider who is new to the Tour.

Watching the Tour has started to take it's toll.   Hehehehehe Tony slept in this morning.  Normally he is up at 5.40 am but this morning we didn't wake up until after 7.00am.  It was a mad rush for him to get ready for work but he said he was only about an hour late.

The girls unfortunately don't know how to sleep in.  They were up early yesterday morning playing on the Wii.  I think it was part excitement too about going to Disney on Ice.

Soon after they had breakfast they were wanting to get ready to go.  We decided we would leave the car at Tony's work and catch the tram to the Entertainment Centre.  We left home around 11.30am, went and had some lunch and then headed down to the Centre.

Best Friends

Taylor was looking forward to it as it was her first time going but this was Katie's fourth time.  We took her to her first Disney on Ice in Melbourne.  Since then she has been to each one that comes to Adelaide.

This year they had Ariel, Cars, The Lion King and Tinkerbell.  The girls thoroughly enjoyed it.  Katie said it was the best one ever.  Tony and I thought the ice skating wasn't as good as in previous years but the overall production was great.  Taylor has asked to come again next year.

We caught the tram back into the city, picked up the car and went and dropped Katie off.  She said that she had had the best weekend ever.    Jodi had rung earlier to let us know that she would be home after 6.00pm so we took Taylor and had some dinner and then dropped her off.  She was so excited telling Jodi all about her day.

Tony and I went home and got ourselves ready to watch Cadel Evans' victory ride into Paris.  What struck me was the friendliness of all the riders towards one another.  Apparently it is tradition that the winner of the race rides with no pressure put on them as no other rider is trying to beat them.  The only 'racing' done was for the sprint to the line and this was fought out by the 'sprinters'.

The riders had a 95km ride through the outskirts of Paris and the only racing done was the last 48kms when they ride 8 laps of the Champs D'Alysses.  I now can't wait for the 2012 Tour de France.  Maybe Tony can take his holidays during this time.

I Need Some Matchsticks!!

Sunday 24th July, 2011

Where's the matchsticks???   I need some to keep my eyes open.  Last night was another great night of bike riding in the Tour de France.  Cadel Evans again showed us what he is made of and after some mechanical problems with his bike, he rode hard and fought back to be within 57 seconds of the leader Andy Schlek.  They say that he has a good chance to beat Schlek tomorrow with the time trials.  Evans is a much better time trial rider.

We had to be up early yesterday morning as we had to go and pick up Taylor and then go and get Katie.  This weekend we were having both girls to stay as today we are taking them to Disney on Ice.

After picking up both girls we went and had some brunch and then did some shopping.  Came home and the girls played for a while and then decided to play on the Wii.  On Friday I got the game 'Just Dance 2".  They both had lots of fun copying the moves.  Even Tony and I had a go, well, at least we gave them some laughs.

Taylor enjoying her sandwich and hot chocolate

Katie with her mouth full

Just as I was ready to serve up dinner, I cooked Beef Olives with vegies, Tori and Jay called in.  Tori wanted to print out some copies of her resume.  The girls loved dinner and were still raving about it tonight when we dropped them off.  Unfortunately I didn't have enough to feed us all.

Beef Olives - seasoned

Tori and Jay left soon after.  After dinner the girls again played on the Wii until I finally got them into bed around 8.45pm.  Finally Tony and I could get ourselves settled ready to watch another night of racing.

After tonight's time trials Cadel Evans is now the leader of the Tour de France.  He rides into Paris for the last leg of the Tour wearing the yellow jersey.  Only a major fall or some other disaster will keep him from winning.  He rode more than 2 minutes faster than Andy Schlek and was the second fastest rider for the day.  He is now 1 minute 38 seconds ahead of Andy Schlek.

Go Cadel!!!!   All of Australia is behind you!!!

The girls playing the Wii - Just Dance 2

We Yelled For Cadel!!

Saturday 23rd July, 2011

I am over my sinus/head cold that I had for about a week.  Tony has also recovered from his.  Yayyy we have a healthy household!!!

Again no blogging since Tuesday.  Nothing much has been going on in my life.  The weather has been so cold and we have been experiencing some of our coldest temperatures for quite a few years.  The weather looks to be on the improve and by Thursday the temperature might climb to 20C.  With the weekend coming again....guess what......more rain!!!

Tony finally picked up the car up on Thursday night after work.  On Wednesday the mechanic took longer to finish off what he had to do and so he didn't get to drop the car off to the Automatic Transmission place until late in the afternoon on Wednesday.  Apparently the gasket had cracked which caused the leaking.  He said that usually they only crack when you drive over something like the gutter or kerb, but we don't remember doing anything like that.

The Tour de France is getting really exciting.  Australia has a very good chance of having it's first winner ever in the Tour de France with Cadel Evans.  He rides with the BMC team.
Thursday night was riding through the Alps.  The stage finished at the most highest point in the Alps ever, some 9,000 feet.  Just watching it I was exhausted, but the scenery was breathtaking.

Tony set up the camera and tripod to get some photos off the TV

With about 60 kms to go one of the favourites for the race, Andy Schlek, made a break for it.  None of the other riders went with him and so he finally got out to over a 4 minute lead.  With about 10 kilometres to go some of the other fancied riders decided to make a break for it and go on the chase.

Cadel Evans was one of them and for all of the 10 kms he rode in front of this group, and having no help from anyone, he chased down Andy Schlek to within a couple of minutes.  What a ride!!  This has now set him up to have a good shot at winning the Tour.

The new slogan from the Aussies who were in France watching the Tour was "Yell for Cadel". 

We yelled for Cadel!!!

Message.......What Message???

Tuesday 19th July, 2011


Each day I am feeling better.  Yesterday was a very quiet day, I didn't even go shopping.  Had some meat and veggies that I could cook for dinner and as we have to take the car to the mechanic tomorrow, I thought I would shop when we go to pick it up.

Tony dropped the car off this morning.  We are losing fluid.  The mechanic thought perhaps we had a hole in the hose for the power steering but we thought it was hydraulic fluid.  Also, it is due for a service.

Later on in the morning Tony got a phone call to say it was definitely hydraulic fluid and that it needed to be taken back to the guy who did the gear box for us earlier in the year.  The mechanic also found a couple of problems with the spark plugs and needed to replace some rings.  We also needed to replace the spark plug leads and there was also a problem with something to do with the distributor cap.

Tony had to ring the gearbox mechanic to get it booked in for tomorrow.  There wasn't a problem with that.  I met Tony at the Plaza and then went to get the car.  Uh-oh, it wasn't ready.  Apparently they were still waiting for the rings to be delivered. 

Tony told them that he had booked it into the gearbox mechanics for 8.00am tomorrow morning and so they offered to take it there for us tomorrow after they had finished with it.  The mechanic said that he had tried to ring Tony about 4 times during the afternoon to let him know that the car wouldn't be ready and had left messages on his phone.  He was surprised to see us there.

Tony looked at his phone and there were no new messages or missed calls.  Hehehehe apparently the mechanic had been ringing Tony on his old phone number.

So off we went to have a coffee before we had to catch the bus back home.  Got on the bus and when we got to the Village we went and did a bit of shopping.  Didn't get too much as we had to carry it home.

Nearly forgot........Happy Birthday Rick!  Hope your day was an enjoyable one. 

We Are Feeling Much Better

Sunday 17th July, 2011

Friday I hadn't improved much so I took it easy.  I couldn't even be bothered going into town to meet Tony.  Instead I met him at the Village.  OMG he looked terrible too when he got off the bus, as he didn't have a good day. 

He said he had been coughing most of the day, sneezing and just feeling lethargic but being the typical male, instead of coming home he stayed at work.

Thank goodness we had no plans for the weekend and weren't having Katie.  We did stay up to watch the race and Saturday morning both of us didn't wake up until 11.00am.  Saturday was just a sit around, lazy day.  For dinner I did make some pumpkin soup.

As we needed to fill our water bottles, and seeing I didn't go into town Friday night, we ended up going in and filling up the bottles after dinner.  Even though it was cold, we thought it would've been better to do it then than Sunday, as they were forecasting rain.

Came home, watched the race and had another late night,  getting to bed after 1.00am.  Sunday morning was another sleep-in, though not as late as yesterday morning.

We were both feeling a lot better.  The sneezing had stopped, no runny nose or watery eyes.  We both just had a cough but getting some medicine into us helped that.

Robyn rang in the afternoon to see if we were home.  She had bought herself a new laptop and wanted Tony to show her how to use it.  She got here around 2.00pm, but we decided it would be better to connect her to the internet at her place.

For the last 3 weeks she has had no internet connection.  She had rung Telstra several times but to no avail.  With her describing what was wrong, we thought she may have had modem problems.  On the way back to her place we called into a Telstra shop and got her a new WiFi modem.  Before we left we rang Telstra to get the brand and model number that they would recommend.

When we got back to her place Tony went about connecting the new modem.  Still, there was no internet connection.  While she was at our place Bob had rung her to say that some guy had rung and he knew what her problem was.

We thought we would ring Telstra support first.  I ended up speaking to them and after being on the phone for more than 45 minutes we were no closer to solving the problem.  Finally Robyn rang this guy and within minutes he was able to get her internet connected.  Yaaaayyy!!!!!  Can I say here that Robyn was doing the happy dance....lol.

The Telstra technician admitted to Robyn that they were at fault.  Three weeks ago Telstra had rung Robyn to see if she would like to change her plan.  She agreed to do so and apparently they had stuffed up at their end with the connection.

Tony got her laptop connected to the Wifi and she was happy.
We came home and had our leftover pumpkin soup.  When we walked in the house.......hmmmmm we wondered.  The front door was wide open, the screen door unlocked.  Could we have possibly.....been burgled?

Nope, everything looked the same as when we left and nothing was missing.  Tony suggested perhaps it was because when we left, Robyn went out the front door, and he and I left through the internal garage door.  Not giving it a thought neither of us thought to check the front door.

Another day of racing.....Tony was in his element.  There was the German Motorcycle Grand Prix and then the Tour de France.  He missed the 500cc motor bike race as it overlapped the Tour but did get to see the other two races, (the 125's and 250's).  I stayed to the end, but seeing it's work for him tomorrow he went off to bed around 11.00pm.

Loving the Tour De France

Thursday 14th July, 2011

This morning when I woke up I didn't feel too bad but as the day wore on I started to feel more and more like crap.  I don't have any aches and pains or cough, it's just my head.  My nose is like a dripping tap.  Every time I move I gotta reach for the tissues and have been sneezing quite a bit.

When Tony came home from work he is exactly the same, runny nose and sneezing.  Hmmm I wonder who gave it to who.  I reckon it is boy germs.........hehehehe.  In this house we like to share everything, but this, I can pass, thank you very much.

Stayed up to watch the Tour de France.  Today they were in the Pyrenees.  OMG I was puffed out watching them riding up those mountains.  The scenery was spectacular and just on the other side of the mountains was Spain.  I can't imagine that during the winter months that whole area is turned into ski-ing fields.  We did see some of the ski lifts as they were riding past.

Johnny Hoogerland, a Dutchman, has become the hero of this Tour.  Last Sunday while in the leading group, one of the television camera cars collided with him and he ended up crashing into a barbed wire fence.  He needed some 33 stitches.

Monday was a rest day, lucky for him, and then he came out and has ridden since with his legs and arms covered in bandages.  He also got to wear the polka dot jersey, which is given to the king of the mountain.  He had accumulated the most points on Sunday. 

Last night he lost it, another rider ended up with more points than him.  He tried to get up to the leading pack but couldn't maintain his speed.  I think the French have adopted him as one of theirs, he is one gutsy bike rider.

From the Lens..............

Johnny Hoogerland in the polka dot jersey

Feel Like Crap

Wednesday 13th July, 2011

Another freezing day today, temperature just got up to 12 degrees.  I woke up this morning with a stuffy head and a sore throat.  I stayed in bed longer than I normally do.  As the day wore on my throat didn't improve but it didn't get any worse, thankfully.

Tori rang to see if she could be dropped off after her course and stay for a while.  She came by about 1.15pm and then Jay came soon after to pick up her up.  They stayed for about an hour, had some lunch and then had to leave to do some errands.

I didn't do too much for the rest of the day, went and had a lay down for about an hour.  Felt a bit better when I got up.  I feel that this is sinus.....I have all the symptoms.

We watched Day 11 of the Tour de France.  I ended up going to bed at 12.30am, as I watched the end of the race.  Tony went off to bed around 11.15pm.

From the Lens...............

Photo taken off SBS television station

It's Ffffffrrrreezzzing!!!

Tuesday 12th July, 2011

It's fffffrrrrreeeeeezzzing!!!!  What! the temperature only got to 11 degrees.  Geez it's so cold where's the snow?  Sadly we don't have that here.  It has been known to snow on Mt Lofty but then it melts just as quickly as it falls to the ground.

Oh well another day indoors, keeping warm and doing as little as possible.  I am dreading our next gas bill........hate to think how much it will be.

From the Lens..........Fog!!!

Happy Birthday Tori!!!

Monday 11th July, 2011

Happy Birthday Tori!!!  Wow, 17 years old today.  It wasn't that long ago when you were just a  baby. Our wish for you is to have a year of happy memories, and fulfilling all your dreams (like getting your license).  We LOVE you!!!

The temperature has hardly moved....12 degrees most of the day.  It's too cold to go out but I've got to go and do some shopping later on when I meet Tony.     

What are we going to watch tonight on telly?  No Tour de France as today is a rest day.   An early night sounds like a good idea....lol.

Happy Birthday!

Time Just Flies By

Sunday 10th July, 2011

Where do the days go?  It doesn't seem like I last blogged on Tuesday.  It's not that I was busy and couldn't get to blog.  I just don't know where the time goes.

Nothing much happened Wednesday and Thursday.  Caught up on the ironing, did some housework and that was about all.  Have been watching the Tour de France and been loving it.

We have been watching the race each night, a couple of nights I watched it to the end.  Wish we didn't have such a big time difference.  The TV starts showing the race around 10.00pm and they are already halfway through the race when we get to see it.  It usually finishes somewhere between 12.30-1.30am.

On Friday I went and had my nails done and then into town, met Tony and we went and had some lunch.  It was then time to go and get Katie.

the latest fashion for nails.....crackle over the nail polish

On Saturday we went to Thorndon Park for a bar-b-que.   It was for Tori's birthday and she wanted it at the park.  It was soooo cold, drizzly rain but we went ahead and had it anyway.  At first we started off in the Rotunda but the wind just blew straight through, and so we then ventured into the Pavillion.  At least we were more sheltered from the wind and rain in there.

Jay, Tori's boyfriend.....Jodi was not impressed with his Tshirt

Jodi didn't end up making a knickers birthday cake.....she ended up doing a heart which was just as good.  Katie and Taylor had schemed to either come back to our place or to Jodi's.  Jodi said that if Kahra agreed she could go back there for a couple of hours.  I rang Kahra and it was OK with her.

So with no Katie, Rick and Dianne and us went and had coffee at a cafe.  It was nice to be able to sit in the warmth.  Jodi dropped Katie off around 7.30pm and stayed for awhile.   Taylor came and asked if she could go the movies with us on Sunday.  Hahahaha first thing I knew about going to any movie.

It was decided then that we would go to the movies and she could come with us.  I had earlier asked if she would like to go to Disney On Ice with us. I said she could sleep over as well.  She said yes she would love to and was excited about that.

Sunday morning I looked at the times for the movie and then I rang Jodi to let her know that we would pick Taylor up at 1 o'clock.

We decided to go to Arndale Cinemas and see "Mr Popper's Penguins".  We got the girls Subway for lunch and Tony and I had a sandwich each.  I bought the tickets and then we sat and had lunch.  The movie was great.  It was so funny, we had a good laugh, and the girls really enjoyed it.

When the movie finished it was time to take Katie to meet Kahra.  Dropped her off and then dropped Taylor off and came home.  Watched the final of Dancing with the Stars and then the Tour de France. 

From the Lens.................

a scene from Mr Popper's Penguins, starring Jim Carrey

Need Thawing Out

Tuesday 5th July, 2011

We are in the grips of a real cold spell and it doesn't look like letting up any time soon.  The temperatures for the next few days aren't going to get much higher than 15.  Plus we are expecting more rain and windy condiions. 

I hate the wind.  I need to get out and sweep up out the back, but what's the point, more leaves and crap will just be blown in again.  I keep thinking, just a couple of more months and the weather will start to warm up again. 

Jodi rang tonight and wanted some ideas on a birthday cake for Tori.  We finally settled on either boxer shorts or knickers.  Hahahaha I wonder if she will end up doing it.  Tori will be 17 this birthday.

Brrrrr......So Cold!!!

Monday 4th July, 2011

Today is Independance Day in The United States, so I wish any readers there a very happy 4th July.

Today has been a do nothing day.  It is so cold, Tony rang to see if we'd had any rain but when he rang we hadn't.  On the radio I am listening to reports of lots of accidents, especially on the SE freeway.  Apparently in some suburbs it is hailing, ice is forming on the roads in the hills making driving hazardous and there is lots of rain.

A good day to stay indoors, have the heater on and just chill out.  Exactly what I am doing.  I am not even going shopping today.

From the Lens..........Can you see the wind?

Fun With The Wii

Sunday 3rd July, 2011

No sleeping in this morning, I woke up much earlier than yesterday.  The day was a bit brighter than yesterday, still cloudy but at least there was some sunshine.  It was still cool.

Robyn rang to say that they would be calling in to give me the money for the Dolly Parton tickets.  She also had some oranges and mandarines for us.

They came around 12.45pm and ended up staying for dinner.  I had planned on cooking Chow Mien and there was enough for all of us.  During the afternoon Robyn and Bob got on the Wii and did a bit of Wii Fit Plus and then played the games including tennis, 10 pin bowling, golf and boxing.

We had quite a few laughs watching them, it looks easier to play than what it is.  Robyn was proud of her boxing, she had two KO's.

After dinner we watched Dancing with the Stars and then they headed off home just before it finished.  Robyn wanted to get home before Downton Abbey.  As we hadn't watched last weeks episode, Tony taped tonights episode so he could watch the Moto GP.

So Nice To Sleep-In

Saturday 2nd July, 2011

It was so nice to have a sleep-in this morning, we woke up just after 10.00am.  The trouble is though you don't feel like doing too much as you feel half the day has gone especially when you are used to getting up early.

The day outside was not too pleasant.  Grey, overcast and raining.  A whole lot different to yesterdays' weather. 

So, that's exactly what we did....nothing!!  Well, when I say nothing, Tony put some mice baits in the ceiling because they say we are having a mice plague.  I know the country areas are, but we saw on the news where some cats have died after eating poisoned mice here in the city.

While in the ceiling he also replaced one of the baffles in the duct that puts heating into the study.  On Thursday the duct for the heating stopped working.  He had just a got new baffle too as he wanted to replace the one in our bedroom, but seeing we hardly ever use the heating in there, he thought he would keep it as a spare.  Now I must remind him to get another one.

The rain cleared as the day progressed but came back again during the early evening.  We decided to go and get pizza for dinner.  Haven't had it in a while and it tasted soooo good.

From the Lens..........look what the wind blew in....grrrrr

On The Downhill Run

Friday 1st July, 2011

We are now into the second half of the year.........it's all downhill from here, lol.  I haven't blogged the last few days as I have been busy with housework, laundry and all the boring things you do when running a house.  On Wednesday Tori called in with her new boyfriend, Jay.  They only stayed a short while.

Today is the most perfect weather for a winter's day.  The time is around 2.00pm and it is 22 degrees C.  They say it's the warmest July day for around 50 years.  Tonight and tomorrow we are expecting rain, this gorgeous weather is only short lived.

I have to go the Plaza later and am meeting Tony there.  I just didn't feel like going into town today.

Robyn rang me today asking if we were interested in going to see Dolly Parton.  She is coming to Australia later on in the year.  I said we would go, and so I got on the net to book our tickets.  The cost for 4 tickets was $700, that's including booking fee and credit card fee.  She will be appearing at the Entertainment Centre on November 12th.

Eventually went to the Plaza, met Tony, did some shopping at Foodland, Fairview Park and then came home and chilled out for the evening.

From the Lens............