Alas - who can help me manage my grain?

"Additional modules allow GMS Systems to interface with electronic scales and moisture meters". Warning - this is the dullest link I ever lunk.

The Bowling Shanes 16, The Bowling Shanes "A" 5

It finally happened, the Shanes came face to face with our junior spin-off team. They have been struggling, to be honest, but they put up a good performance against us.

Dave bowled well, possibly best on ground for the Shanes. His bowls this week had "giant rabbits" on them. Skip of the "A"s Paul "Robbo" Roberts is welding his charges into a tight focussed bowling unit. But they never managed to pick up the multiple points that you need if you're going to win a match. Promising tyros with their best bowls ahead of them.

We topped off the night by winning the draw for a carton of Cascade Green. Wha-hey.

Patrick Grieve

He has a new show on at Dick Bett's. Click on his name to see them up big. All images © Vincent Grieve.

Aboard the Ida Bay Railway

Tiny railway

We went on the little 2' gauge Ida Bay Railway on Saturday. Its a couple of hours south of Hobart - yes, you can drive south of Hobart. It takes 40 minutes to go 7km each way, through very dense bush. There were bobbly plants with about a dozen long stalks with black spherical bobbles on them - must find out what they are. The carriage was open, with six bench seats, and the engine was a tiny thing with an ordinary car engine inside it. The boys loved the whole thing. At the end of the line is Deep Hole, actually a lovely white beach. We scamped about there for twenty minutes then travelled back again.

There was once a town at Ida Bay, of which little rmains now. The cemetery survives, and the train stopped there for a few minutes. This set Marcus off on another series of penetrating questions about death and dying. We have given him the impression that dead people "look like they're sleeping". He wanted to dig up the dead people to have a look at them. I said there were probably just bones down there. "Why?" At this point Elf stepped in to head off a chat about decomposition.

Later Marcus asked "Can we find a dead person?" I said "No, I told you we can't dig up dead people". "No, can we find someone who has just died and bury them?"

The lady who runs the railway sported a fine moustache. I asked her daughter the way to the toilet. "Just follow the train tracks back into into the bush, and you'll find it behind a big tree".

Farewell Will, au revoir Marta

We had a big lunch at work on Friday to say thanks and bye to two colleagues. Will was on work placement with us for a year and now has to go back to Melbourne to complete his studies. Marta, on the other hand, is moving to Paris with her husband who has been offered a job there. Best wishes to you both - as you are no longer workmates you are invited to read the blog! You'll be disappointed to see work doesnt actually rate a mention all that often.

Cascade Rd has been selectively logged

This is not some fancy photo retouching job. Men with axes have started turning our home into a building block.

Tas Fact #01

The first Englishman to sight Tasmania was Capt Tobias Furneaux, one of Capt Cook's offsiders, in 1772. They were circumnavigating Antarctica and he was blown off course.

Australia Day

Australia is really just a series of beaches, with a milk bar over the road and then some houses and stuff that eventually peter out some time before you get to Uluru.

We went to the beach for Australia Day. Once again Nick and Anna and Lily showed us how to do it. Nick dug a large pit in the sand, lined it with a sheet of plastic, and presto - a safe paddling pool right next to the family shade-tent. I missed my chance to actually swim as Marcus had to go to the toilet at that point, and refused to wee in the sea. So I watched Michael from a vantage point on land while Marcus and Elf trekked up to the toilet block - then it was time to pack up.

Marcus made up a tune (played on the special punch-balloon) called "Bellow Hips". He explained after playing it that it was about a farmer who had lost his sheep.

Bowling Shanes 23 d Kitties 2

Hunter was on fire. On nearly every end I bowled pretty poorly, Hunter got us back into it and then all Dean had to do was steer his bowls wide to avoid mucking it all up. The Kitties were a bit unlucky, the score flattered us.

It was Superhero night - one person in each team had to dress as a superhero. Many teams decided to all get into tights and capes. Jacinta won first prize for her "Superbowl" costume - she was dressed as an actual lawn bowl.

Quote of the night "Who is the guy in the blonde wig with the sword supposed to be?".

The unrelocatable house

A house relocation expert who prefers to remain anonymous says our house can't be moved.

A) Nowhere to park the crane; and
B) Lath and plaster needs so much patching at the end its not worth it.

He doesn't really prefer to remain anonymous, I just can't remember his name.

So - demolition it is.

Michael turns two

Its Michael's birthday today - the 2nd anniversary of that wonderful but very scary day when he was born and we were told he needed an immediate heart operation. He's a marvellous little boy and we are so, so glad to have him. I'll be taking him (and Dog no doubt) back to the Royal Childrens for a checkup at the end of March, but all his signs have been good so far.

We had a party for him at Kingston Beach on Sunday morning. It was a very relaxed gathering. We got nibbles from Citrus Moon and Elf iced a supermarket butter cake, so we certainly didnt knock ourselves out with catering, yet everyone was well fed and happy. There was good cloud cover for most of the morning to keep the heat at bay - it got to the high thirties in the afternoon.

Charles, Emma and baby Caoillain (I have to check the spelling every time) from Melbourne were there, on their way around southern Tas on holiday. It was Emma's 30th birthday on Friday and Charles propsed to her on top of Mt Wellington. They came to dinner on Friday and then we saw them again on Monday night. In between they saw more of Tasmania than I ever have - they are tourists par excellence.

Yesterday I heard from John also from Melbourne, (one of the regular readers of this blog) that he proposed to his partner Carmen last week in Tasmania. There must be some kind of migratory mating thing going on. Big good-on-yas to Emma, Charles, Carmen and John.

Big Noses Open Doors

I wrote a story titled this once about three gardeners having their lunch break. The story went nowhere but it was a great title wasnt it?

Impending dadness - from 4 years ago

17.01.02  Week 32
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"If the baby was born now it would open its eyes and look out at the world (except it can't focus on much at this stage and would look endearingly crosseyed" - Kaz Cooke at week 32
We had our first ante-natal class last night. It wasnt too bad, but two and a half hours is a long time to spend sitting on the floor. Louise showed us a muddy 3rd generation video of a lady called Uta having a baby, with her hairy unclothed husband drifting into view now and then. We handed round a knitted placenta. Unfortunately the knitted umbilical cord had fallen off. At one stage Louise demonstrated the opening of the cervix with a life size pelvis, then put it down and absent mindedly kicked it across the room. Instant coffee and beanbags were very much in the vanguard. The boys nervously sat in a circle and tried to think of reasons why we will make good support persons, while the girls listed what they wanted from their support person. We had a midwife visit today as well to check on Singleton's position - he's still in breech. Apparently his feet are either side of his head, flexible little bugger. If he doesnt turn over to be head down sometime in the next 4 weeks, we'll make an appointment for a caesarean delivery, 2 or 3 weeks early, maybe the last week of February. There are lots of things they suggest to encourage turning - Singleton responds to light at this stage, so we are trying to lead him downwards with a torch. That is not even in the top ten of silliest suggestions. Handstands in the pool, massage and stern instructions through the tummy are other things we're trying. Also this week we bought a 2nd hand Emmaljunga pram and big bunch o' nappies, bunny rugs and gro suits. Bathroom now looking civilised, with bath and handbasin clad with pine panelling cannibalised from the front room. Its about 85% finished I'd say. Spare room has been paint-stripped within an inch of its life, and the windows now open. Yay.

Individuals lots d Bowling Shanes not many

I was too busy last week to post a match report on the bowls. And also we were flogged so I didnt have the motivation. It was quite windy and definitely the trickiest conditions I have bowled in. We were up against a team of three more experienced than us, and they bowled well as a team. I find it really hard to bowl tactically as I can't work out whose bowls are whose. From the far end it can be hard to tell if that bowl near the jack has the little doggies or the little sailing ships on it.

We are going into the room of mirrors for a good hard look at ourselves this week in the hope of a better outcome to the process.

Tired lions

When someone is going fishing it is customary to wish them "tight lines". I wonder if wildebeestes and zebras wish one another "tired lions"?

I hope so.

Overheard comment 2

(From the same source as Overheard Comment 1)

"Yeah, but why would Bristle even bother doing a diamond-sorting course if he wasnt planning to smuggle some out up his *rse?"

The GSW (Giddy Social Whirl)

We went downtown on Saturday morning, all the family got haircuts except me. The boys and I snuck away to buy Elf the rice cooker and Precious Ramotswe book she had specified for her birthday. There were nineteen different rice cookers in Myer so I let Marcus choose. Then we bought Nice Things for lunch.

John McG and Carmen from Melbourne dropped in to help us eat it. John and I have known each other twenty years but Elf and I hadnt yet met Carmen. We thought she was very nice and until she discovers John is from the planet Neptune they should be very happy together. We certainly won't tell her - but she might guess when John eats her shoes.

Yesterday Sally came over to mind the boys and Elf and I had a lovely morning cruising on the Derwent in a big white pointy boat. We zoomed about at 24 knots - our hair was comprehensively tousled when we alighted back at the wharf. It was a terrific morning, the water was like glass, and Hobart looked very nice indeed from out on the briny.

Back on land we had a very tasty seafood lunch upstairs at Mures, and just enjoyed each others' company for a while.

Sally and the boys had fun together. From the pile of CDs around the kitchen I think they had some kind of hootenanny. Marcus is an enthusiastic and flexible dancer, and Michael loves to join in with his inimitable vertical moon-leaps. Sally on the other hand is walking with a stick at present, after a tumble on her hideously steep but narrow back steps. [Dad built her some new ones as a Christmas present.] It was great to see Sal as we don't as often as we would like, and in fact I was so overcome with filial feeling I fell asleep.

Not long after Sally departed Rob, Mel and Olivia (4) arrived with a ridiculously large pile of gourmet little cakes. "We'll be sending them home with most of these" I thought. Later after we had eaten them all, its seemed a quaint and laughable idea. After initial frostiness and prima-donnarama, Olivia and Marcus hit it off well and toured the house and grounds getting into moderate mischief but letting us chat like grown-ups.

The weekend wound down as it often does these days with a slog until midnight back at work. Sigh.

Empty stubby Monday

Elf and the boys dropped me at work this morning. Its Elf's birthday and I cooked her breakfast, which made me a bit too late to walk. As I hopped out the car in front of our office (an old church) Marcus noticed an empty beer stubby left by the front gate (probably by one of my colleagues).

"Look Dad, they've left you some wine".

Overheard comment 1

"Catweazel reckons he's never seen the catchment looking so wet"