The Things You Have to Do to Get a Free Lunch!

Took my husband out to lunch on Saturday - the only problem was that he had to ride 117km to have it. Bill and I rode out to Goulburn with another friend, it was a beautiful day, slight cross and tail wind at times, saw a bit of water in Lake George, saw the wind turbines gently turning, got offered a glass of beer from a passing motorist and only got abused by one little old lady who objected at having to wait 30 seconds while we rode past on the main road while she was waiting to turn into it!

We had lunch at the Green Grocer - a cafe, deli, fruit shop and bike shop all in one! Fortunately we did not have to ride home but got a lift from our friends wife who drove out to collect her free lunch!

Unfortunately I have no photos to show for it, I did take the camera but the dodgy batteries I got in Singapore where playing up again - I got conned! But I will find a cycling photo just to add to the atmosphere!

Start Saving for the Dowry Now!

Mothers out there I have a good catch for you in a couple of years when you are looking for a husband for your daughters - I have a son that cooks, does his own washing, keeps his room tidy and in a few months will have excellent cleaning skills as he has just got a job cleaning motel rooms on the weekends! He cleans bathrooms, makes beds, does the dishes, vacuums and gets paid good money for it! So he will make some girl a good husband one day! He is down on the "House Maid Roster" - maybe he will have to get them to change it to "Room Attendant Roster". He now tells me he is going to save for a motor bike - every mothers dread!

Fences Removed, Grass Open for Public Access

We planted some grass back in November and had to fence it off from the dogs to give it a chance to grow. Well this week was the time to finally take down the dog fence and allow free access. Two of the dogs had actually been getting onto the grass for the last few weeks anyway, they liked to sit on it late in the afternoon, but when Sarkule the 16 year old Dalmatian, who is nearly totally blind, managed to get onto the grass through the one access point we had and then could not find his way out and got stuck out in the sun and needed to be rescued by Lachlan when he came home, we decided the time had come to take down the fence! With all the rain the lawn mower has been used more this summer than the last 5 years combined! This is our only patch of lawn, it is nice to have one green spot. Amy asked me on Saturday when she helped me take down the fence if I thought the dogs would like the grass - I noticed Benji on Sunday sprawled out on the grass and decided the answer was yes!

Lachlan Embraces Uni Life

Lachlan starts at the Australian National University (ANU) this week. Lectures start on Monday, but this week has been O Week - orientation type activities all week. He will be studying Psychology, Biology, Politics and Linguistics. He shocked us all in the new year when he was overheard telling a relative he was considering doing a double degree in Arts and Science, as till then it was always going to be Software Engineering. He will be doing 17 contact hours a week - with only one lecture on Monday and finishing around lunchtime on Friday, so he seems happy with his timetable. He has finally come to the realisation that he will actually need to do something about getting a job - it is just not going to land on his lap! The crunch was working out that he could not afford to drive his car in each day - petrol costs money! He has signed up for the Psychology Club and the Bridge Club and is currently off attending a "Bridge for Beginners" afternoon! Amy who jumps on anyone for stereotyping has asked Lachlan when he is going to start wearing a cardigan and a toupee! He has also reconnected with some Deakin High School mates who are also at the ANU so it looks like he should have a good year - let's hope he remembers to study!

Singing in the Rain!

It has been raining in Canberra this weekend - 100mm since Friday night- I can't remember when we have had such a wonderful rain - evidently it has been about 8 years. So we have had water in our rain gauge, puddles in the garden - a rare sight these days and the plants have just responded so well. My fruit trees are sporting extra green leaves, plants are flowering and I am sure I can see the grass grow as I watch it. It has been wonderful. I don't even mind the fact that I could not go for a ride on Saturday Morning!

The Good Life

It feels a bit like the "Good Life" at our place ( for those of you too young to know it was a British Comedy about some neighbours, a self sufficient, greenie couple living next door to an upper class rich couple). Any way we have been reaping the benefits of our garden the last few weeks. We are coming to the end of the zucchini run - we have had soup, cake, quiche, pasta, risotto, all with zucchini in it. We have had it charred grilled it on the BBQ and it is delicious. Lachlan is the only reluctant zucchini eater so I have to find devious ways to hide it his food!

We are just harvesting potatoes - so now it will be potato and leek soup, potato salad, wedges, mashed potato - Lachlan even has some truffle paste he brought back from the Adelaide Markets last week to put int the mash potatoes.

The kids keep laughing at me for the all the different possibilities I keep trying to come up with.

Making Mud Pies

Lachlan and I got to work in the yard yesterday and mixed up some batches of cement so we could concrete in the bricks for a fire pit. The weather wasn't too hot and it was too windy to go riding so it was a good day to get to on to one of those "must do sometime when we have time" jobs.

We had gotten the "recipe" for cement making from the landscaper when he did work on our yard last year. Lachlan had written down the recipe so we spent the afternoon trying it out. Seems to have worked, and we had fun playing, though it is hard work mixing up cement in a wheel barrow!

The job is not finished but it is started and well on the way, before we know it the weather will be cooler and we will be able to have a fire- seems hard to believe at the moment though.