Floriade

Mum came down for the weekend, so we took the opportunity to visit Floriade, the annual Canberra flower show.  It was a good time to see the flower display as nearly everything was in bloom.  In previous years, by the time we've got there, there had usually been a big storm, or torrential rain, or some other natural disaster that damaged the flowers - but this year everything was ok.  The weather was good too - the temperature had climbed enough that I could get around in shorts.  Mum, however, was covered up to avoid any more skin cancers.

I realised now that I must have a thing for flowers with a red/orange/coral colouring as I can see that most of the photos that I took were of tulips of these colours.

There were a group of people in traditional Polish dress that put on a display of Polish dancing and music, and some hung around for photographs afterwoods.

We were just turning back to the entrance when we looked into a little glade that had interesting decoration.

Spa awning

Last month we decided to replace the old pergola at the lower back side of the house with something actually useable.

I've never quite worked out the purpose of pergolas - those strange wooden frameworks that just sit there and do nothing.  Except need painting.  Ours was also dangerous.  You see, Karyn liked to hang plants from it.  Big ones. Right at head height.  Right where the the unwary face could walk straight into them. 

So we decided to get rid of it and replace it with a clear perspex roof that extended outwards in an "L" shape to cover the outdoor spa as well.  I hate sitting in the spa and getting rained on.

So we had someone come and measure it all up and install a roof.  The only problem was that the roof they constructed didn't actually cover the spa.  You can see from the following picture how the roof misses about a foot of the spa.

 When I rang them up, they said that there was no problem because they had built what we asked for.  I said "it doesn't cover the spa".  "But it was supposed to be 2.6 metres wide" they said.  I replied that the measurement was theirs and that I had asked them for a roof to cover the spa.  They claimed that they had no idea why we wanted the roof, so how could they know it was supposed to cover the spa?  They were desperate for any excuse by now.

Anyway, I insisted, so they came out and fixed it, and now it covers the spa properly.  And to be fair to them, they replaced the whole spa roof at no extra charge. Even though it was now several square metres larger than what they had quoted for.  Karyn offered them extra for it, but the boss turned her down.  I reckon they knew that they'd measured it wrong as soon as they started erecting it.
 

The roof is nice and high and I can sit in the spa and watch the stars at night.  And not worry about getting wet in the rain.

And no, that's not the same washing on the clothes line.

How could they claim that they didn't know that the roof was supposed to cover the spa?

Karyn's Birthday crystal

The hard thing about being talented is that people are always wanting you to prove it.  Like Karyn did today. 

You see it was her birthday yesterday, and I got her a piece of Swarovski crystal as a present. An elephant. Don't ask me why someone would collect crystal; after all there's not much you can do with it.  You can't drill holes with it or load games on it.

Anyway, she's been nagging me to put a light in her display cabinet to show off the crystal.  So today I did it.  I firstly tried LED lighting, but it wasn't bright enough.  I had seen some nice lighting in the display cases at the Swarovski shop, but I couldn't get anything close from the lighting shops.  We finally decided on a flat compact fluorescent light that would illuminate not only the crystal figures at the top, but the rest of the glassware as well.

The installation was tricky as well because the Parker furniture is very solid and the internals fit pretty tightly, and with all the glass and mirror around, you have to be careful not to shatter it with a misplaced drill bit.  In the end I was able to find a 5mm space that I could drill a hole through to get the power in.

I also took the opportunity to try and photograph some of her Swarovski pieces in the cabinet.  It was a lot harder than I thought and in hindsight I would have been better taking them outside the cabinet rather then through the glass doors.  It's just that the crystal looks much better when directly illuminated.

I really needed a macro lens for this, because I had depth of field problems with these.

I also found it hard to isolate one image from all the light reflections around it.  Maybe it would be better isolating each one on a dark background.   Maybe I'll try it again on some future rainy day.

Heaven knows what Karyn will do next.  Probably use the new cabinet lighting as an excuse to buy some more crystal.

A great weekend in Sydney

Karyn and I went up to Sydney this weekend.

There were a couple of reasons for the trip. Firstly, we wanted to give our old TV to Jessica because her son has moved out and taken the TV with him; and secondly so that I could go to Mark & Cherie's place and set up a wireless range extender so that James could use his laptop from his bedroom.

It was a great weekend.  The weather was perfect and from Mum's balcony you could see clearly across Rose Bay to Potts Point and the city centre beyond.

On Sunday, before we went out to brunch, the local sailing club was in full action, and it reminded me of when I used to sail out there in Rose Bay myself in a boat not much bigger than these.

Here you can see some beginners being towed out to the starting line.

The moves that the government have made over the past few years to reduce pollution in the harbour seems to be paying off - the water seems crystal-clear, with a lovely colour.  The sailors don't know how good they've got it - when I sailed out there we had to watch out for huge Sunderland flying boats landing or taking off and heading out to Lord Howe Island.  These guys were so powerful that if they turned and caught you unawares, the backwash from their engines would capsize you in a flash.

Fiji Holiday - Overview

Matt and I spent 10 days in Fiji this winter.  It was great.  In Canberra, the daily temperature ranged from about 1 to 10 degrees - while in Fiji the temperature ranged from about 21 to 29.

We spent part of our time at the Sheraton Resort and part on a Blue Lagoon cruise.

I must say, however, that the cruise was the highlight of our trip.

We cruised around some of the 300 Fijian islands, stopping off at a few of them.

While the resort was very nice, its beach was no substitute for the crystal-clear waters surrounding the islands, teeming with fish, and bordered by colourful corals.

There wasn't a log of shopping, because we were in a very tourist part of Fiji, so most of the shops nearby were devoted to souveniers.  However, Denarau Marina was within walking distance, so we did our shopping there.

2 Chances, but no success

We went to the races today.  It's never happened before, but both of our horses were running at the same race meeting.

The races were scheduled for Queanbeyan, but because of heavy rain during the week the track was too wet.  So they switched the races to the synthetic track at Canberra.  From the photo below you can see the synthetic track inside the grass track.

Diamond Jay ran first in race two.  This was her first run after a spell, so we weren't expecting much other than to be competitive.  She did keep up with the leaders, but got trapped against the rails and couldn't get a clear run in the final straight.  In the photo below she is at the back of the pack (in pink and blue check colours) and a bit obscured.  It looks worse because the horse in front slowed right down at the end and she had no option but to slow down as well. The jockey said she had lots more energy in her, but nowhere to go.  Maybe next time.

Hot Eyed Glare ran in the last race and was a disappointment.  But consistent with previous form.  We had a jockey who's ridden for us for many years and he said that he just didn't want to run and probably never would.  So we'll have to get rid of him and find a replacement.   Coming down the final straight he just slowed down and everyone passed him.  We've tried various distances and track conditions, but nothing has made a difference.  In the photo below he is in the pink and blue checked colours second from last.

On the betting front, I came out $1 ahead on the day.  Big punter that I am.

Winter + night photography

This weekend I decided to practice some night photography.

Firstly, I drove up to the Mt Ainslie lookout that has a great view over Canberra.  As you can see from the photo below, the planners of Canberra worried a lot about symmetry. The picture shows the War Memorial in the foreground, with Anzac Parade heading down to the lake.  On the other side of the lake is Old Parliament House, with New Parliament House behind it.

One thing that I learnt is that I need to take a small torch on expeditions like this.  It's hard to set up a tripod correctly when:

• there's no moon
• it's so cold you can't feel your fingers

 Here is a picture showing the city centre (which locals call "Civic").

I then headed off to New Parliament House to take a few pictures.

I found it difficult to capture a good image of the giant flagpole.  Because the forecourt is so well lit with floodlights, it tends to hide in the darkness.  I probably need to come at dusk.   I picked this time of night so there wouldn't be anyone else around.

I was just setting up my tripod in front of the building when a policeman hurried out.  He told me that I couldn't set up my tripod in front of the building because there is an aboriginal mosaic in the paving stones and the aborigines don't like people putting tripods on it.  It's ok to walk on it, spit, and probably urinate on it, but apparently not stand tripods on it.  If that is the case, I reckon they should dig it up and put something else there, I mean, let's face it, its just some decoration added to the paving stones. I bet that one day some polically-correct committee will put a fence around it and declare it a sacred site.

Some Winter photography

Most days when I drive to work I see a very picturesque scene off to one side.  It's a view across the lake to some trees on another bank, with a rippling blanket of fog as the sun heats up the surface of the water.

So this weekend I decided to try and capture it with my camera. Epic fail.


I got there early to be sure to catch it, but I arrived to see total fog.  This was the place I had selected.

I decided to wait until it cleared.  It took 2 hours, so I just walked around a waited.  And took pictures.

This is where the really nice scene should have been. But alas, no nice carpet of mist over the water.  I did see a giant water rat, though.

 Maybe another weekend.

There were lots of budgies around, but I couldn't get one to pose. The little buggers fly away as soon as you approach. I had to take this on maximum zoom.

Winter has set in

Nothing much is happening at the moment.

Winter has arrived with a vengeance.  Yesterday it reached about 6 degrees duing the day.  Today is a bit better, and at least the sun is shining.  Despite the sunshine, the garden is looking a bit bleak.  We've just had some of our trees cut back because they were reaching the powelines so things look even worse.  Because we've had it done before we know they'll recover OK.  The two photos below show how much we had the trees lopped and how boring the back yard looks.  Even the pool looks a bit murky.

I took these photos with my new phone that I got last week.  My phone plan finished months ago, but I've been holding off to see what the new iPhone was like.  Instead, I decided on an HTC Legend phone running Android.

The phone is really great, but it takes a while to set it up in the way that you want it.  I've been using a Palm Pilot for many years and I hope to be able to set the phone up as a replacement. However, from what I can see at the moment, no phone will be able to fully replace the great features of the Palm Pilot.  But then the Palm Pilot wasn't a phone either.   So I hope to get close, at least.  One of the good things is that we are now all on Vodafone, so all calls between us are totally free.  I got a message from Vodafone during the week that they've now merged with 3, so all calls to and from Mum are also free.

Matt is on holidays from University.  I don't know if I mentioned it before, but he got a Distinction and a High Distinction for his two subjects.  We are very pleased and hope that he keeps it up.  He even remarked that maybe his high school (Radford College) wasn't so bad after all.

In order to earn some money, and to stop himself from being bored, he's taken a job as a casual labourer.  His current job involves relocating furniture at one of the universities.  He seems to be enjoying it because it is such a change from his usual part time job of waiter.  He says it good not having to be polite to customers.  Because it's Saturday he's getting $30/hour, so we reckon that he's late home today to get extra money.

Oh, yes.  The tickets for our holiday to Fiji arrived during the week.  I'm really looking forward to it.  I can really use a holiday after the past 12 months...

Hmm .... despite what I thought when I started this blog post, there have been things happing after all.

A poor day at the races

Another day, another loss.

Today we went to the races in Bega to see how our latest racehorse, Hot Eyed Glare, would perform.  Our other horse, Diamond Jay, is having a break at the moment.

Unfortunately the horse didn't run well as the jockey worked the horse too hard at the start of the race rather that letting him settle has he was directed by the trainer.  So he came well back in the field.  I didn't get a picture of him crossing the line because I can only take a finite number of frames at high speed and I ran out of them before he crossed.

So I spent the rest of the day trying to capture a good picture of the horses as they came down the straight.  It was a lot harder than I expected, especially when the cloud came in and reduced the light.  I had to set the speed to about 1/1250 sec or 1/1600 sec to avoid any motion blur.

It's still a bit hit-and-miss because you don't get time to frame the shot as they cross at high speed and it seems that most of the time you just capture a mass of heads, legs and bits of jockey.  I also noticed that I had a tendency to overly-concentrate to the horses' heads and jockeys so clipped off their feet.

ANZAC Day - Dawn Service

This year I again went to the Anzac Day dawn service.

It was easier than I thought to get up at 4:20am.  I went with Di and Donna (our neighbours) leaving Karyn and Matt in still in bed.  No way can you get Karyn up early.

As we approached the War Memorial we took seemingly random turns looking for parking, only to end up exactly where we parked last year.  We walked up to the cenotaph with a thousand other people only to find many thousands already there.  I'm not certain of my ability to estimate crowds of people, but I reckon there must have been over 6,000 people there.

When the official party arrived, they made no fuss about the presence of the Prime Minister, which was good. It's not a time for politicians.  After all, aren't they the ones who get us into wars in the first place?

It was a very simple ceremony, but we reflected afterwoods that there we didn't like the hymns they selected this year.  Maybe hymns are less relevant these days.

The ceremony lasted about 30 minutes and then ended.  We walked up to the volunteer tea/coffee stalls, but they'd run out of coffee and only had soy milk left.  So we had to wander around until we found one with coffee and real milk.

We then had an early breakfast at Pizazz at Kingston before coming home.

Away for Easter - but not on holiday

Today we drove up to Port Stephens to stay at the mother-in-law's.

The traffic was pretty good until we reached Sydney and got onto Pennant Hills Road where it became bumper-to-bumper. We picked-up Jessica at Hornsby and headed up to Newcastle.  The expressway was busy, but flowed well.  As usual there were the usual hoons who felt the need to tailgate and zoom in and out of lanes.

When we arrived it appeared that there's a big list of things for me to do.  It seems like my days up here are fully planned out for me.

Here's where we had lunch on Sunday.

Credit Card fraud

I got hit by credit card fraud this week .

The Credit Union rang me to ask about a few transactions that had just been made on my credit card.  I said that I knew nothing about them, and they said that they were probably fraudulent.  It looks like they have a system for identifying suspicious transactions.  They immediately cancelled the card and issued me with a new one, but over the next few days about $2000 in transactions had been racked up from all over the world.

I don't know how they got my card number, perhaps they have a software program for working them out, or maybe there are people in shops or restaurants who copy the card details and sell them.  I just hope they can track the bastards down.  I never use this particular card over the internet, in case you were wondering.

Now I have the hassle of filling in paperwork to get the transactions reversed.

Back on the treadmill

This weekend I was able to get back on my treadmill and go for a walk.  

Although my broken toe is sore if I kick something or wear tight shoes, it doesn't hurt to walk any more.  Today was a bit of an experiment because I feel guilty for not exercising each day; but afterwoods there was no residual pain at all.  But then there are always pain-killers and anti-inflammatories !

It's been a miserable weekend so far, with drizzle most of the day, so walking inside is the only option available.  Karyn's been painting doors, architraves and skirting boards.  I've been doing .... not much.  Supervising, really.

Penny's Birthday

On Sunday we celebrated Penny's birthday at our place.  She's got a few things in the pipeline at the moment so we thought that we'd hold her party here and give her a bit of a rest.

We had a BBQ and had a great time.  What could be better than good friends, good wine, and good cake?

Here's Penny and her daughter Catherine.

Once the thunderstorm passed, the day improved remarkably.  Here we are outside after lunch.

From the left:  Gabby (hiding from the camera), Catherine, Karyn, Penny, Peter, and Jill.

Half a day's racing at Braidwood

Today we went to the picnic races at Braidwood.   This is a once-a-year event run as a major fundraising activity for the local town's community services.  We love going to these races because they are a great day out.
There's nothing flash about the racecourse, but it was pretty good for somewhere that has races once a year.  And the atmosphere is terrific, with everyone out to enjoy themselves.

The course has a very "personal" feel about it compared to other courses.  There was little separation between the people and the horses.  In fact the horses were unloaded in the carpark, in between parked cars.   You got to stand within spitting distance of the finish line; so much so that I had to change to my 18-55mm camera lens because I was so close.

Our horse, Diamond Jay was racing in the last race.

In the fourth race, one of the jockeys lost his saddle near the finishing line.  Here is a quick shot I was able to get off as he went by.  You can see the jockey trying to stay on-board whilst his saddle was down past his left leg.

We were sitting next to another jockey's wife, and she was really upset that this happened, because it meant that someone (either the trainer or the strapper) hadn't done their job and the jockey could have been badly hurt.

The fourth race was actually declared a non-race because the starting gates had a problem.  After about an hour of discussion between the jockeys and the raceclub it was decided to abandon the rest of the races on safety grounds.  I wondered why they didn't revert to a standing-start so the races could continue.

So races 4 to 8 were cancelled and we got to go home without a trophy or prizemoney.

It was probably going to be Diamond Jay's last race for the season before a rest, so she might not run again now for several months.  We'll just have to wait and see.

"Just ignore the pain ..."

I saw the doctor today.  He says that my toe is broken but there's nothing that can be done with it except wait for it to heal by itself.

He said that I should just ignore the pain.

Easy for him to say.

Australia Day 2010

We had a great Australia Day this year.

Matt was in Melbourne for the "Big Day Out" concert,  so it was just Karyn and I.

We were invited to a friend-of-a-friend's for the day, starting with a BBQ and then continuing on for the rest of the day. There was mention of "games" as well.  We didn't know what to expect.

It turned out to be a fantastic day.  Well, sort of.  The BBQ was great, but while getting ready to go in the morning I kicked the architrave of a door with my little toe and broke it.  So for most of the day I watched my foot swell and go shades of purple.

Anyway, there were probably 50 or so people there, including kids.   And they were the sort of people that you can easily make friends with.  We seemed to have something in common with all of them.

The house where we went adjoined a local park, so the party extended there for most of the day.  There were a wide range of games to play, with formal medal ceremonies at the end of each.  A funny thing was that everybody seemed to end up winning a medal for something.  Karyn won the womens' egg-and-spoon race, while I won a third in the golf pitching competition.  Other games included gum-boot throwing, thong throwing, Crocs throwing, basketball shooting, and 20-a-side tug-of-war.  Oh, and egg-tossing.  Fortunately for me it was my partner that missed the catch.

The only time the pain in my foot got in the way was playing basketball.  I kept forgetting not to stand on my toes, only to be reminded by a sharp stabbing pain.

Matt got into University

We had good news last night.  Matthew found out that he was accepted into the University of Canberra, studying for a Bachelor of Information Technology.

He said "all that hard work finally paid off".

We laughed.

Trouble in paradise

Karyn sent me an SMS and a followup email this afternoon to say that Jessica's broken a bone in her foot.  Apparently she's now in a wheelchair that Karyn has to push around.

I bet it has nothing to do with the cheap alcohol onboard.

I tried calling her, but they must have moved out of range of a mobile tower.   Or maybe it's just that the mobile phone network can't find her.

Holiday time

Matt and I are having a holiday for the next week or so.  Karyn thinks that she's the one having a having a holiday but in reality it's just that we've got rid of her for a while.

We took her to Sydney so that she and Jessica could get on the Pacific Jewel.

As soon as they got onboard, Matt and I headed off to the Watson's Bay pub to wave them goodbye over a glass of ale.

And so we watched them sail into the distance.....  while we planned the upcoming fortnight.

We stayed overnight at Mum's place in Rose Bay while she is over in England.  Here is the night view from her place looking back towards the City.