Carins Family on the move

We gave Ivor and Melissa a hand move house in Launceston last week too.

Fortunately they had a truck with two dudes come and do the hard work!

Alison Track

We took Peter and Pip and Arlo on the Alison Track and introduced Arlo to Alison's Lizard on top; Preateena.

Wiiii

Katherine found her new Mii. Here she is getting in shape with some boxing on the new Christmas Wii.

Michelle in Devonport

Michelle came over for a couple of nights of entertainment! She was dragged to the Sheffield Stastion to have pizza (home made of course!) with K. and then our attempt to kayak was thwarted by the weather and instead she bought a new bike and we took it for a spin! More photos <here>.

Very merry happy

This is my favourite one for the year!
from Mirel Goldenberg: http://mirel-spot.blogspot.com/

Summer Vegies

Katherine's vegies are doing well. She also has bean, tomatoes and chilies hiding in other parts of the garden! K is working over Xmas and New Year at Sheffield, which leaves Afullah and myself free to stuff ourselves with chocolates over the silly season. I might pop past Sheffield station to show my face and make sure they are not drinking on duty.

Carwash in Sheffield

K. did a few hours work in Sheffield for a colleague. I came along and saw what she does at work. She had barely taken our food out of the oven and her pager went off. She jumped in the ambulance, picked up a volunteer, and did not reappear for another two hours, which is what it took to take a lady to the hospital.

Twins Birthday!

That's right, it was birthday time in Canberra last November, and Katherine and I went there. We had a pool party in the rain! Here are more <photos>.

Arriving in Devonport

Photos taken from the Spirit when sailing into Devonport are <here>.
Had a great sail home, tried out the good restaurant on board and was very impressed. Even met colleagues of Katherine who joined my table! To help the budget I shared a room with two other blokes.

No More Mo

Done! Complete! No more Mo!

End of MO

First of December came along and I was itching to get rid of my moustache. Was hard keeping it symmetrical and I was scaring young children and most women. Just before visiting the barber shop in Cooma I walked through the Coles supermarket and saw a man with a similar face creature. He looked at me horrified and I looked at him horrified. His wife giggled.

The end result: My total donations amounted to $0 for the cause. Hope I provided some support for the others who fared better.

Off to Canberra!

Going in a plane today means I need to get some exercise in to cleanse the lungs. Rode my trusted Batavus pushbike up the hill and back at 615am. Most people who know me will not believe I was up tht early! Spotted this shed up the top, on the corner of Waverly and Lodder Road. Sheep and native hens are not easily seen on the photo, but they were nice.

Last Chance!

If you don't sponsor anyone this month you will turn into a frog. This is a manager from Bunnings in Launceston who forgot to donate. I saw him this week hanging around the tomatoe stakes in the plants area of Bunnings. I recognised him by his croak.

Click this link <HERE> for your last chance to donate for MOvember in benefit of the Prostrate Cancer Foundation and Beyond Blue. I hope you have by now sponsored someone, if not then sponsor me now!

Discovering Grey

Thanks Movember. Now that I am photographing myself I discover grey in my beard. Took 43 years to discover it! Remember: Click this link <HERE> to donate for MOvember in benefit of the Prostrate Cancer Foundation and Beyond Blue.

Movember

To donate to my Mo you can either:Click this link <HERE> and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account, or Write a cheque payable to ‘Movember Foundation', referencing my Registration Number 1801571 and mailing it to:Movember Foundation, PO Box 292, Prahran VIC 3181.

Wobbly damage

Katherine had planted a stack of little vegie plants, but the wobblies (wallabies) are eating them. She has bought some fencing and plugged up all the wholes so we now have an 'enclosed' backyard!

Tasmanian Salmon

Bazza the neighbour showed up with buckets of salmon. Wanted me to take two. Between us we'd only eat one. So here is K cutting the sushi!


Was in Harvey Norman looking at TVs and saw my own DVD on their screens running as a demo! They ought to sell them...

Garbage!

Here is a refreshing photo of our curb-side recycling and garbage, indicative of a spring clean...

Every wednesday morning we put our own bin out with our recycling in the black plastic bucket and a box with paper for recycling. I am always amazed how the wind doesn't blow this recycling everywhere all the time. Seems really odd to put it out in the rain and wind like this without a cover. Now there is talk about stopping the curb-side recycling in Devonport! The garbage bins  are not council property, us residents have to buy these for ourselves. So what are our ever-increasing council rates used for instead??

Spring is happening

Getting warmer every day now. Katherine is planting vegies and brushing the spiderwebs of the fence. Here are some pretty flowers we saw on our walk up Kelcey Tier this morning.

Graffiti in Devonport

Devonport City Council has adopted a Graffiti Management Policy and Plan last year which sees a whole of community approach to tackling this issue. It must be working as I don't often see much graffiti around - apart from the odd defaced signs! Today I ran around the Don path and found heaps of broken glass on the track just above the pool, complete with a (used) condom. This piece of nice graffiti was found at 41°10'42.29"S 146°19'27.91"E in case you like to visit it. Hopefully it wont last long with people riding and walking over it.

So should I walk over to the council and tell them? Wished they had email!

Enhanced Senseo Sensation

The eBay purchased Senseo accessories arrived via mail from Germany! Super quick delivery too! 

By now we are a little tired of the Senseo's choice of coffee. You really need to use two senseo coffee pads to make one half decent cuppa, and these pods are expensive! You buy them in packets of 18 pods for about $7, so if you think about it that is only 9 good cups - compared to a kilogram of beans which makes 324816754 cups for about $20.

So we now have two good alternative options. One is the coffeeduck (see above) a little basket that holds coffee, and the other one is a set of 5 refillable ecopads (see below), plastic pods. Both work fine, and both give you a good cup of coffee with your own choice of coffee! 

I prefer the Ecopad refillable Coffeepods as you can fill all 5 and use them conveniently. The Coffeeduck is a bit more clumsy as you have to rinse and re-fill in between each cup. Anyway, we are much happier with the Senseo now and do not feel pressured into buying a new e$$pre$$o ma$$ino!

If you have a Senseo I would highly reccomend you click Der Auctionator's store on eBay and order one for yourself:  <click here>.

...We are getting quotes for a new kitchen, but it is pretty expensive I think. Maybe we can do it after Christmas, but the other option is to leave the kitchen for now and get a garage and convert to gas hot-water/heating - about the same price as a kitchen renovation.... Choices...

Lillico Straight Clean Up

This morning with the blessing of a blue sky and a fresh breeze a dozen volunteers from The Friends of the Lillico Penguins (that is me!) and The Friends of the Don Reserve met to do a roadside clean-up. Outfitted with orange safety markers on the busy Bass Highway they picked up litter along the Lillico Beach Conservation Area. Parks and Wildlife employees coordinated the morning and supplied the required gear and equipment. Amongst the dozens of cigarette butts and broken bottles the volunteers found one intact chicken egg, a dead penguin and a dead kookaburra. Oh, and a discared parking infringement notioce too!

Friends of the Don carry out a variety of activities including planting of native trees and shrubs, weeding and general maintenance within the adjoining Don Reserve area. New members are always needed and welcome to join them. Contact Phil Murray on (03) 6420 2700 (wk) or 0438 002620 for general information.

Friends of the Lillico Penguins volunteers take turns watching and protecting the recently renovated and improved Lillico penguin viewing platform each night of the breeding season (3rd week of September - 1st week in May). From mid-December to mid-February they are supported by a Summer Ranger from the Parks and Wildlife’s annual Discovery Ranger Program. If you are interested in helping the Friends of the Lillico Penguins contact Peter Britton on 6425 2785.