Brisbane Break - episode 5

Saturday 18 September 2010

After an easy start to the day we packed a picnic and headed north from Kilcoy to Jimna.

Jimna is a tiny community with forestry origins. There is a small museum and information centre where we browsed for a while. We visited the wooden fire tower, the pride of Jimna. There were dozens of little finches in the grass (Red-browed Firetails) and many other birds flew in and out of view all day.

We drove to the Peach Trees camping area via the Donkey Falls fire track which was quite steep in parts. There was a lovely walk across the creek on a suspension bridge.

Again, lots of birds and wildflowers. It is great that Kathy is able to identify the birds and plants because all these semi-tropical species are foreign to me.

Some Kangaroos came in and were obviously very used to people. They allowed us to get very close.

One had a very fat belly with extra legs poking out!

We drove home along the Monsildale Road. The top end is narrow but well formed but the road was quite good further toward the Kilcoy end. There were beautiful creeks running across the causeways and hillsides of magnificent Xanthorhoea.

Back home to afternoon tea. Kathy made fantastic pizzas for dinner - pita bread base, caramelised onion, marinated feta, olives and preserved tomatoes - mmm excellent! with a glass of white wine. This was followed by rhubarb and apple with ice cream.

TV ended our day and of course I fell asleep before we found out who-dunnit.

Brisbane Break - episode 4

Friday 17 September 2010

I was up at 6:15 am and finished exercise, emails and diary by the time Kathy got up. After breakfast I took lots of photos of Kathy's beautiful home.

Kathy has a large number of sheds as well as storage spaces under the house. Here she is in her beautiful 'girl shed' and she does not even have to put her car in there as it has another garage under the house.

We decided to eat out for lunch at a lovely cafe - Chantilly Blue. It was also a lovely old Queenslander with many rooms and a wide verandah. Some of the rooms held lovely items for sale but nothing really caught our eye.

Then there was shopping to be done - putty, dynamic lifter, craft shop, bread rolls and even prawns from a fishmonger who brings a refrigerated truck up from the coast each Friday.

Back home and while I had a nanna-nap Kathy puttied and painted a patch in another spare bedroom ready for Barbara's visit. I was quite impressed with Kathy's ironing board cover. I'll have to make one myself.

Later in the afternoon we drove down to the town park to meet Mary (from singing group) for a walk. I experimented with my camera while the others went for their regular walk. My rib hurts a bit much for walking although my hip is feeling much better.

I am slowly learning my way around the camera but seem to have a bit of hand shake sometimes.

Back home for our prawn and salad dinner before settling down to a bit of TV then bed.

Brisbane Break - episode 3

Thursday 16 September 2010

Up at about 6am to make sure Uncle Des was ready for his taxi at 7:30am to take him to an eye appointment. Des returned before Kathy arrived for morning tea.

Kathy and I then went to visit her daughter Kelly and baby Hamish (8 weeks old).

Hamish is, of course, beautiful and completely exhausting his mum like the good little baby he is. We had a light lunch that Kathy had brought with her then left early afternoon to head for Kilcoy and "home" for the next few days.

We stopped briefly at the Mt Mee lookout where, through the haze, we could look down over the coastal plain to Caloundra in the far distance with the Glasshouse Mountains puncturing the view.

Then on to Kathy's home in Kilcoy. No wonder she loves it here! A beautiful old Queenslander home, small town and fantastic views.

After dinner we went to Kathy's choir practice with the Somerset Singers. We sang lots of music I knew. They are small in number but such a lively, fun bunch of people.

Back home to settle in for an excellent night's sleep.

Brisbane Break - episode 2

Wednesday 15 September 2010

Up with the dawn chorus at 5:30 am. Pam was already up. Pam, Bryan and I shared breakfast before Pam had to go to work. Bryan stayed home and worked from home for the morning. I had time to update the blog, complete exercise routine and read. We then drove Caroline to uni on our way back to Banyo where Bryan and I had lunch at a local cafe before arriving at Aunty Dot's and Uncle Des's.

While I was away, one of the orchids had decided to open. It is quite beautiful.

A quiet afternoon followed by a load of washing, dinner and TV.

Brisbane Break - episode 1

Monday 13 September 2010

Today I flew to Brisbane to visit relatives and friends. Rod drove me to the airport on his first day of leave between jobs. My first stop is with Aunty Dot and Uncle Des at Banyo. It is so good to be with them after so many years (perhaps 2002 with Surrey, 2003 for a conference).

Daisy the dog greeted me with the offering of her forehead for a scratch of course. She is not as blind as she looks in this photo. That is lack of editing software on my part.

We had a quite afternoon touring the garden and looking at photos. A butcher bird came down begging for food while we were sitting outside. He did like dog pellets.

Tuesday 14 September 2010

We had a slow and easy start to the day feeding the magpies and blue headed honeyeater (?).

Then Aunty Dot and I walked up to Banyo shops for some instant coffee after I decided that I really would enjoy a cup of coffee rather than tea.

While up there I visited the computer shop to investigate pre-paid internet USB connection - no luck! However, he did say it was worth shopping around as prices varied a great deal.

Later in the day I rang the Banyo Post Office who had 3 different options so I took another walk up and purchased some internet access. Like a mobile phone, I'll be able to use it wherever there is mobile access. I wonder if it will work at Underhill better than my phone?

I was then able to show Aunty Dot and Uncle Des all the family photos on the blog and photos of the Noosa house from the old blog.

Bryan came to collect me just after 5pm and we drove back to his house (one hour) to collect Pam. Off out again to dinner at Ceylon Inn. There we met David. Good company, delicious food and incredible ladies room decor!

Back to Bryan and Pam's where we skyped Sang-Hee and baby Ian who are currently in Korea visiting friends and relatives. There were tears and laughs as I had not spoken with Sang-Hee since just after Surrey was diagnosed with his cancer. It was great to chat together again. Unfortunately skype does not do hugs and I did not get to cuddle Ian.

Then Pam and I spent time looking at my various blogs as she had not seen them recently.

What a difference a day makes

Today Geoff and I met Terry and Ellie at Underhill and tackled the 'tree on the kitchen roof' issue.

After a cuppa and sizing up the issue Terry got up onto the roof and removed all the branches that were still attached to the trunk of the tree. Then the fun on the ground began.

Thanks to Terry's expertise and Geoff's assistance the job was done relatively easily. But then we agreed that the remainder of that tree and the one behind the toilet needed to go as they were both threatening to fall and damage buildings.

Both the trees were felled expertly and dropped in places where minimal damage was done, except to fences. The dog yards are no longer kangaroo proof but as they had holes in the fences anyway that is not a problem at the moment. They are certainly well cropped of grasses.

The tree behind the toilet was very difficult and teetered back and forth until Terry put a wedge in and Geoff threw a very long length of Parramatta rope (thank you Kim and Craig) over the tree. Terry and he were then able to walk away pulling the rope and the tree with it. Terry was so impressed with this technique he now owns the very long piece of rope.

The loss of the two trees has opened up the area and it now looks quite clear and clean. Our next job with Terry and Ellie will be the two dead trees shown above.

All these trees were ringbarked when we built the dog yards just after we bought the block in 1978. Later Surrey realised our mistake but thought that the branches would fall as the trees rotted. Many did but we were left with a job that was too big for us. Having the branch fall was the impetus needed to take it on and Terry is well trained and practiced in the art. A very big thank you to Terry and Ellie.

It was a great learning experience for Geoff and Terry was a very patient teacher. There will be more lessons to follow so we'll have to take our chainsaws (I own three) to be reconditioned ready for the cleanup.

Over the next few months we will need to cut all the logs to stockpile for firewood (they are beautifully dried and cured after all these years). Then there will be the fences to mend but this can't happen until we fell the two remaining trees. If you'd like to help us tidy up the mess we left today then please let me know and we can make a date.

The hip replacement saga

I had doubts about the need for a hip replacement so visited Dianne's physio in Adelaide as I mentioned in a blog post below. This visit and his exercises have continued to give me so much relief that I have been brave and visited a recommended physio back home - Dora St Physiotherapy. Sue Middlemiss and I chattered about our common interest in chooks and various other things while she did a variety of measurements and manipulations and came to the same conclusion as David Spurrier in Adelaide - back issues are causing all sorts of problems around the pelvis and upper leg on my right hand side. I am to continue with all David's exercises (one slightly changed) and add another two to my regime.

I feel like a changed person since doing all this physio over the last 2-3 weeks. I can now walk without a limp, drive without pain and generally get on with all the things I used to do. While I have had some issues for quite a few years, lifting Surrey (and subsequently boxes etc) has exacerbated the whole problem.

I go to visit the hip surgeon at the end of September to discuss the issue but now will be going with a completely different set of aches and questions. Maybe I won't even need the hip replacement just yet??

My next choir gig

This week is pretty hectic with choir practice, dress rehearsal and performance. It is all sounding very good now that the band has joined us. Come and listen to our performance on Saturday night. Click here for details.

Happy Birthday and Happy Father's Day

A very active day for at least two small boys who not only jumped on the jumping castle for 2 hours but ran around entertaining their friends then went home to open their presents together.

There was a bit of a wait for the candle lighting while a crowd of mature scouts gathered in a scout hall could not find a lighter or matches!

 The theme of the party was superheros. Yes, I think that is "Wonder Strawberry" in the background. Alex was quite surprised, exclaiming "There's a strawberry in the jumping castle!"

The adults were all exhausted but the boys seemed to go on and on. I think they have learned to power nap quite successfully with their eyes still open. I have caught them power napping below then they would shake their heads and come to life full on again.

 

I think Rod had a very happy father's day playing with all the new toys. But I guess he was also quite exhausted at the end of the day. Ellen is probably glad it is all over for another year.

Adelaide Break - Episode 6

Tuesday 31 August 2010

Today's task was to teach Dianne how to set up her blog and start her online presence as a weaver. By mid afternoon we had text and photos on the template chosen. Here is the photo I took to start her off.

Visit her blog at Loom-n-Essence.

Then off to collect Louise and take Dianne to the doctor to have her stitches removed and dressings changed. This traumatic event was followed by coffee and cake at a favourite coffee shope (Luna Rosso).

Home again to a comforting soup for tea and two episodes of "As Time Goes By" on DVD.

Oh yes, and I had done all my exercises for the day so we had a piece of chocolate to end the day.

Wednesday 1 September 2010

This morning we headed off to another Patchwork shop (Quiltaholics). This one had a huge range of all sorts of fabric themes. I even bought a grass and a Japanese bamboo (but not the one I was really after). There was another quilt idea as well that will suit Surrey's shirts well.

Then to Officeworks for a 32 Gb thumb drive, the chemist for Dianne and lunch. Then on to Mitcham shops for groceries and sundries so Dianne does not have to drive for a few more days after I leave.

We arrived home in time for me to checkin online for my flight tomorrow.

Thursday 2 September 2010

This morning before my flight we decided to go back to the first quilt shops we visited to try to track down the elusive Japanese fabric. This led us to yet another shop Tricia's Discount Fabrics where we had a huge selection and Dianne even bought two fabrics which we shared when we got home.

Lunch then our goodbyes before my taxi came. It was a fabulous break for me after a very busy year or so. It was good to catch up with Dianne and to have her creative input into ideas we both shared. It was also good to see Louise again and to meet Steve and the two children, Celeste and Fraser. I think it was also good for Dianne to have some creative activities while she recovers from her surgery. And how great that I was able to visit the physiotherapist and get an exercise regime that is really helping with my 'hip' pain.

Dianne's garden is looking great with Spring coming on, and Alex and Luke would love the outlook over the railway line.

And Othello is so like Oscar he made me feel quite at home.

Thank you Dianne for such a holiday.