Saturday 30 June 2012

Day 182: Pretty Ball


Art's funny sometimes... you can see something a hundred times without actually noticing stuff about it.

Deep hey?

Today, while we were out in the freezing cold with Robbie, Damon, Jenna and Henry, Belinda pointed out the different colours in big suspended ball at the National Gallery. I come past here pretty regularly and see this sculpture every time and I had never noticed the greens and oranges in what I previously thought was a big, grey, chicken wire ball. Maybe it stood out more in the afternoon sun with the clear blue sky today... or maybe Belinda's just far more observant than I am.

Friday 29 June 2012

Day 181: A Little Help


This is Pete busily wiring up all the bits of my Chinese Hot Hands kit that will keep my hands toasty and warm without turning my bike into a fireball on the side of the road, it's handy having a mate who can help you out on a Friday night like this. It didn't take too long and all I have to do over the weekend is put it all back together again now that the wiring has been done and tested.

In other news, Robbie and Damon arrived for the weekend tonight. I've been looking forward to getting my pyjama top back since I left it behind when we visited them a few months ago. Of course I'm also looking forward to catching up with Robbie and Damon again too.

Thursday 28 June 2012

Day 180: Additional Supplies


The two items at the top left of todays photo were not part of the heated hand grips kits that I bought earlier this week. I've also taken to calling the heated had grips my "Chinese Hot Hands". On Pete's advice I popped in at Jaycar today and picked up the relay and the inline fuse holder, these are precautionary items: The relay is just in case I forget to turn off my Chinese Hot Hands - when wired in it will automatically cut the power to the heating elements as soon as the ignition is turned off. The in line fuse holder is just in case my Chinese Hot Hands malfunction and draw so much current that the wires get hot enough to set my bike on fire. I'm glad Pete is coming over tomorrow night to help me fit them.

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Day 179: At The Pub


Henry joined me at the pub this afternoon, I was catching up with Pete & Andy for a quick planning meeting for our ride next week. It was Henry's first time at the pub and I think he handled himself pretty well: he kept us entertained with his party tricks that involved throwing things on the floor and then climbing off his chair to retrieve them and he held his drink for quite a while before wetting himself, I'm sure he'll get better holding his drink with more practice.

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Day 178: Beaut Beemer


I took a little trip out to Queanbeyan at lunch time today to pick up a couple of heated handgrip kits that I'd found on eBay. The guy I bought them from had just completed a restoration and cafe racer conversion on the old BMW that you see in today's photo. I don't really know more than the fact that it's an old BMW and it was in such poor condition that it was given to him, but I do know I like what he did with it.


Monday 25 June 2012

Day 177: Purrrfect Perch


Stupid cat. I guess this will teach me for leaving the ironing board out, Daisy decided it was the perfect spot for a little cat nap. This wouldn't bother me if she didn't leave black fur all over the ironing board and the vast majority of my shirts weren't white.

I guess I can't blame here for choosing this spot for a snooze, it's elevated as cats tend to like and even better  that that; I positioned it directly under the reverse cycle aircon so it's in a very warm place on this cold winter night. Perhaps not so stupid cat after all.

Sunday 24 June 2012

Day 176: Perfect For Henry


Henry discovered his grandparents Russian Dolls this weekend and they really are the perfect toy for him. This is mostly because they involve putting things inside other things and they're easy to pull apart and put back together again. Henry very graciously allowed me to pose the two sets of dolls that he'd been playing with for my photo today. I did have to be quick though, not long after my photo was taken there were decapitated Russians scattered all over the place.

Saturday 23 June 2012

Day 175: Escalation


Today we went in to Castle Towers to do a little shopping and on the way out this photo of Henry's first go up an escalator was taken by today's special guest photographer, Belinda. I loved the look of concentration on Henry's face as he was preparing to step over the part where the steps collapse and then disappear into the floor.

It's not often I get to make an appearance in my own blog and usually that suits me fine, but I'm really glad to have made it into this post with Henry.

Friday 22 June 2012

Day 174: Zip It


We're off to Sydney again tonight and I didn't get time to take a photo today. To remedy the situation I thought a close up of my bags zippers was in order.

Why the zippers? Well... I guess just because is a good enough reason, but also because I've already done the full boot photo and I thought the detail of the zippers and the texture of the bags fabric made more interesting subject matter than the contents of the bag itself.

Thursday 21 June 2012

Day 173: Washed Up


As a rule, I generally don't do this because automatic car washes tend to be a little harsh on the paint but due to a lack of time to arganise a gentler cleansing I made an exception. This was in preparation for a viewing of Belinda's Commodore tonight, I also gave the interior a good vacuum out and cleaned the windows when I got home. The viewing went ok, but they've got a number of other cars to look at over the next few days and I didn't get the impression they were all that keen. I guess time will tell.


Wednesday 20 June 2012

Day 172: Industrial Sunset


On the way to pick Henry up from daycare today I noticed the sky was looking particularly impressive so I pulled in at the new section of Fyshwick (where DFO is) and stopped where they've fenced off an area for a new building. There also happened to be a decent sized puddle in front of the fence which offered a nice reflection of the sky and the temporary metal fencing.

I didn't need to do too much to this photo because the colours were already so vivid, I did dial up the contrast a little though just to strengthen the silhouette effect and I adjusted the saturation a little to bring out a little more blue in the sky.

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Day 171: Local Landmark 3


I was out and about this afternoon and since we had cloud free skies for the first time in ages I thought I'd stop by this monument and take advantage of the clear blue backdrop. It's the Australian-American War Memorial at the Russell Offices which is very common knowledge to any Canberra local.

Here are some interesting facts about the monument that may not be quite so common knowledge:
- It was built in 1954
- It's 78 meters tall
- The Eagle and the sphere it sits combined are 11 meters tall, that's one meter taller than an olympic diving tower.
- The column that the Eagle is perched on is actually made from a steel frame clad in aluminium sheets that have been sandblasted so it looks like stone.
- It's commonly called the Bugs Bunny Ears because the wings look like rabbit ears from a distance.


Monday 18 June 2012

Day 170: Standstill


This was my view of the Monaro Highway from the driver's seat tonight. I'd met Belinda and Henry in the city to go over the our Googong contract with the solicitor, it was good to have Henry there to make sure we dotted out I's and crossed our T's. His help in rifling through Belinda's purse for her drivers license was also invaluable.

On our way home the flow of traffic ground to a halt coming up to the bridgeworks being done at the Canberra Ave overpass. I'm glad I don't have to drive this way home every night.

Sunday 17 June 2012

Day 169: Training


Jenna's been learning Karate this year and she's been doing really well, so well that she's progressed through White and Yellow belts to her Orange belt quite quickly. We don't usually get to see Jenna doing her Karate because she does it in the evenings during the week. This weekend we took her to an extra class because she's training for a tournament, it's on in a couple of weeks and she'll be competing in the Group Kata for her Dojo.

I think the Group Kata is kind of like synchronised swimming but instead of the nose plugs, swimming caps, and water they have Karate Pajamas (also known as a Gi) and they shout after certain punches or moves (this is the Ki-ai)... so apart from the bare feet and the synchronisation I guess they're really not that similar at all. Perhaps I should have reconsidered my simile.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Jenna do her training today but what made me really proud was when the regional manager, Sensei Greg, introduced himself and started telling me how impressed he is with Jenna's progress. It seems Jenna has the right combination of focus and natural ability that makes for an excellent student. This is so much better than Little Athletics!

Saturday 16 June 2012

Day 168: Home For Tools 2


I unpacked one of my Tool Boxes this afternoon and put it all together. There was only a little bit of assembly required and the end result is a tidy little tool chest/trolley combo. I wasn't sure how good these would actually be considering the $89 price tag but overall I'm pretty impressed with quality. I'll probably end up buying some kind of rubber lining for the drawers and the top section before I load all my tools into it, I might even go on a bit of a labeling binge with Belinda's Dymo machine when I've worked out where everything goes. This is going to be fun!

Friday 15 June 2012

Day 167: Playing The 'Pod


Jenna kept Henry entertained tonight with some great little apps on her iPod. There's one that plays an animal sound and has two pictures of different animals, one of which would make the sound that was just played. If the correct animal is selected on the touch screen the iPod then cheers and claps. Henry loves this game and he's very good at picking the correct animal for the sound but I think his favourite part is the clapping and cheering because he always giggles and cheers himself when he gets the iPods applause.

The two sat like this, all snuggled up on the couch together playing these games for ages tonight. It's great to see that they enjoy each others company so much, I couldn't be a more proud dad.

Thursday 14 June 2012

Day 166: Henry - The Maker Of Mess


Two days in a row featuring Henry's impressive mess making skills. We had a bit of a tidy up of the whole house last night because this morning we had the bank's property valuer coming over to appraise the place in preparation for our Googong plans. The lounge was spotless this evening when we all arrived home and within no more than 10 minutes Henry had created the scene you see above.

One of his favourite tricks at the moment is to take out the smallest of our nested tables and tip it on its side so he can climb into it. This will keep him entertained for a while, until he decides to use it for his other favourite pastime which involves putting it next to the lounge, climbing up onto the lounge and then sliding of the lounge onto the little table. I still find it funny that he'd rather play with a little coffee table than the piles of toys that he has.

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Day 165: Uh Oh, Mummy Shoes!


On Wednesday nights I bring Henry home and try to get the dinner organised and Henry's bath at least run ready for him before Belinda gets home from Pilates. Some days this is easier than others.

Tonight, while I was out in the kitchen getting a pasta bake prepared and into the oven I'd noticed Henry had been pretty quiet for a while. I went to investigate and found Henry standing at the top of our 3 steps. When he saw me, he looked up with a cheeky little grin on his face and said 'Uh oh, Mummy shoes!' as he pointed to the collection of shoes he'd been throwing down the stairs. I think the tan ankle boots were already placed neatly side by side before Henry began creating this little mess and it's amusing to note that his little sneakers managed to remain undisturbed in their position just through the doorway.

At leas his little game kept him amused long enough for me to get dinner done.

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Day 164: Leverage


It took a while, but my replacement gear lever arrived to day. On the 1st of April the lever started slipping on its spline while I was riding out in Tallaganda with Pete, Andy & Lachlan, it's taken this long for me to find a replacement on eBay, order it and have it delivered from the UK. It's worth waiting when the cost is less than 50% of what the local shops want to charge, which is fine when you're not in a hurry. I'll get around to fitting it sometime soon too but since I'm not likely to have a weekend free to ride for a while, there's no real hurry for that either.


Monday 11 June 2012

Day 163: Local Landmark 2


We went on a little photo taking expedition this afternoon and since I'd been thinking about shooting some more local landmarks we ended up at Parliament house.

Going inside after wandering around the outside was a welcome reprieve from the cold, we also ventured up on to the roof where I took this and a number of other photos. One of my favourite photos of the day is the one I took of the flagpole's reflection in the glass pyramid directly below it, it gives an interesting perspective that isn't often seen. Because that perspective isn't seen very often I guess it's not as instantly recognisable as the landmark that it is, so I didn't use it for today's post. I still like this photo and am very happy with how it turned out.

Sunday 10 June 2012

Day 162: Henry's First Curry



He's a good little eater is our Henry. Belinda put on a slow cooker chicken curry this arvo and we thought  we'd let Henry try it, turns out he loved the mild chicken curry. He demolished his serving and held out his spoon for 'More!!'.

Henry's been a machine over the last few days, it's like he's a bottomless pit... I didn't think the 'kids eating you out of house and home thing' happened until the teenage years. He must be about to have a bit of a growth spurt.

Saturday 9 June 2012

Day 161: Lazy Day


My theory on the wine helping kill off my germs didn't hold water as it turns out. I woke feeling poorly this morning with just enough energy to sit on the couch dozing in front of movies for most of the day. I'm glad the weather wasn't better or I might have felt like I'd wasted a day. Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow, I'm such a sook when it comes to man-flu.

Friday 8 June 2012

Day 160: Wine Time


It's finally Friday night, I've finished work for the week and Monday's a public holiday. Thank the religious deity of your choice... or not if that's not your scene. For me, this long weekend could not have come at a better time. I'm feeling somewhat wrecked having still not shaken the cold I've been harbouring for over a week now, maybe the wine will help kill off the germs.

In any case, what better way to wind down after a long and busy week?

Thursday 7 June 2012

Day 159: Home For Tools


I've been shopping again, but in an unusual twist for me I actually walked into a shop to make my purchase. I'd been looking for a better tool storage solution over the last few months and when I spotted these on special in the Repco catalogue I figured I might as well jump on them. According to the quoted RRP it was actually cheaper to by two on special than it would have been to buy one at full price.

While they're certainly not Snap-On quality, for my requirements I reckon they'll do just fine. Now all I need to do is get them out of their boxes and start filling them with my garage related paraphernalia.

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Day 158: Local Landmark


I was out & about this afternoon and saw the opportunity to take today's photo. As I was taking the photo it occurred to me that I could take a series of photos of Canberra's landmarks. From time to time, as the opportunities present themselves, I'll post up a photo of other local landmarks. I only took a photo of the Carillon the other day, so I guess I've already started.

I like the sky in today's photo and how the afternoon sun was silhouetting the flags and tree tops either side of the Telstra Tower.

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Day 157: Tea'd Up


Since I've been feeling under the weather my evening beverage of choice have become tea with lemon juice. If we hadn't run out of honey that'd be in there too... but so far each time I've been at the supermarket I've managed to forget to buy it.


Adding the lemon juice really changes the colour of my Earl Grey and watching this prompted me to google why it happens: Without using big words that I don't understand like polyphenols, thearubigins and theaflavins to explain, it's pretty much caused by the acidity of the lemon juice altering the PH level of the water which lightens the colour produced by the tea leaves. Interesting hey?

Monday 4 June 2012

Day 156: The New Beanie


Sometimes he's just too quick. I was trying to catch Henry with his new beanie on his head but Henry had other ideas. The beanie arrived in the mail the other day from his Nanna Glenda and with the cold that we've been experiencing he's already had good use of it.

Of course Henry thought it would be funny to pull the beanie off his head as soon as I got the camera out, sometimes he likes to amuse himself at our expense. Could this be more evidence that the apple doesn't fall far from its tree?

Sunday 3 June 2012

Day 155: Sick


I've been fighting off a cold for close to a week now and I think I'm losing. Today's photo is my second round of Cold & Flu tablets on top of another empty tissue box. I don't get sick very often but when I do I'm always amazed at how much mucus I can produce, it's really quite disgusting.

I hope I don't feel this crappy for much longer, I'm a bit sick of being sick.

Saturday 2 June 2012

Day 154: Going, Going, Googong


We chose our block today. We had our shortlist ready and showed up early so we could talk to them about our choices and ask whether their planned driveway sites for each block were set in concrete... so to speak. The block we really like is an unusual shape and the planned driveway is on the short side of the block which wouldn't work with the design we're favouring, if the driveway was moved to the other side of the block it would work out much better.

As it turned out there was no issue with moving the driveway and even better, the block was still available when we had our appointment at 3pm this afternoon. So we've officially committed to buying the land and should be able to start building in around a years time. 

Friday 1 June 2012

Day 153: Back To Normal


I'm kind of glad the month is over, being told what to take a photo of each day wasn't as easy as I'd imagined and I think I'd rather just choose my own subject matter. Belinda's doing the challenge again for June and I might tag along with the subject matter every now and then if I like the sound of it and I don't have anything better to use.

My photo for today is Jenna and Henry keeping themselves entertained while dinner was being cooked. They did this by rocking back in Henry's little fold out couch until it fell over backwards. There was lost of giggling and squealing going on so it must have been fun.