Boys and Fire!

Lachlan had some mates around for a fire and a bbq to celebrate his birthday. Boys never change, they just love playing with fire. They had great fun putting 200 sparklers into a tin can with a wick and watching it flare up, then another 30 sparklers in a glass bottle practically disintegrated before their eyes much to their delight! Then they went through two bags of homebrand flour - it kept them occupied for about an hour- a total of $5 kept them thoroughly entertained. Amy joined in as well and had a great time- the only one that was scared was Benji- our big, ferocious wolfhound!

Clancy Takes on a Kangaroo - Guess Who Wins!

Clancy decided to take on a kangaroo that was injured and just hopping around, couldn't really escape. However he could still fight back and Clancy came off second best. After an overnight stay at the vets, some stiches, $700 he is confined to the house for 10 days and has to wear a collar around his neck to stop him from licking his stitches. He whinges every time Benji gets taken for his walk in the morning. However I still don't think he will have learnt his lesson! Amy and I were away in Sydney for the weekend and Lachlan was working, so Bill took Clancy out to bike racing, it was very cold so Bill put his blanket over him to keep him warm.

The Little Boy Turns 19!

Lachlan turned 19 on Saturday! He had an exam at 9:30am to celebrate his birthday - wasn't he lucky! He also has another one on Monday, so was not in the mood for too much celebrating, so we had Chinese takeaway and a black forest cake - which I must say was pretty yummy. He didn't want us to sing happy birthday but we did anyway. Hopefully he got enough lollies, chips and chocolates that he will not come out for the next week at least and say - 'have you got any food!'

My Winter Garden

For the first time this year I planted a winter garden and have been very pleased with our progress. We are currently picking beetroot and spinach and pak choi, and have broccoli, leeks and snow peas growing as well!

New Bike Finally Gets to Race!

I have had my new bike since the beginning of the year and apart from one or two criteriums in March it hasn't really had the chance to get out and do a road race. Yesterday I finally ran out of excuses and had to take it out for a race! The Vet's cycling winter season which is on Saturday afternoons starts in April - it is now June and I have only just managed to get out there. When you have had a break from racing the first few races you usually suffer as the only way to get your race fitness is race - so I have been putting of that 'getting back into it'. I have had some genuine excuses - like Amy has netball and netball umpiring on Saturday afternoons and now that Lachlan is working on Saturdays I have had to do the taxi run, but yesterday Bill was able to do that, the race was close to home so I had to try and come up with a few other excuses - like the weather was looking too windy, too cold. It seems on Saturdays I have multipile voices going on in my head! I even went out to check my bike at 11:30am and discovered I had a puncture - I started to walk back into the house and was going to pretend I hadn't seen it and then go out at 12:30pm when it would be too late to fix it and go "oh dear - I have a puncture - drats I cannot race!" However I talked myself out of that excuse, fixed the puncture and rode out to the race, hoping it would go flat and then I wouldn't have to race- it stayed up. Well I did race, I survived, I managed to stay with the main bunch up all the hills and was still there at the finish! Only problem was I had no legs to sprint at the end, but I was happy I had more that fulfilled my expectactions, so it shouldn't be as hard to race next time. Mm - better start thinking of my excuses for next week- ah yes - I have one- have to go to Sydney next weekend! But I actually did enjoy my day of racing believe it or not- I think the mind games are as exhausting as the racing.

Minus 3 Degrees! Very Cold!

Winter has arrived - we had our first serious frost of the winter season on Friday morning - it got down to minus 3. Everthing was covered in the white frost, windscreens were iced over, the dog water had frozen, but it did clear to a beautiful, sunny day which is very typical of Canberra winters. Behind glass it was lovely and warm and to see the sunshine and blue sky was wonderful. Only problem was I was out riding my bike at 5:30am in the cold before the sun came up!

Poor Clancy

Poor Clancy certainly puts up with a lot, Amy put a box on him the other day and had the poor dog walking around with a box on - told me that Clancy doesn't mind - I am sure if Clancy could speak he would say otherwise!