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The woman with the fake tan stepped into my office, sat across from my desk and lit a cigarette.
At least, she would, sometime in the next 20 minutes. Smelling the future has advantages, but precision isn’t one of them.


Neighbourhood Flowers from the Second To Last Week of Winter

There's been a lot of weather this week, basically every time I walk out the door the planet looks different.

Flashes of colour coincide with brief bursts of sunshine.

This cool tree does its annual thing of looking good against a blue backdrop.

Mist rolls in to give all the vibrant flowers a spooky haze.

Sunsets come later, and you can feel warmth after the work day is done.

Whole streetscapes seem to exist purely as a tableau for you to walk down on Saturday mornings, drinking coffee.

Unemployment

I'm not retired, but for a week I'm technically unemployed, and its been ten days since I last got paid to use the toilet.

To give my memory even more of a break, I'll capture what I've done so far on my holiday.

Saturday - cloudy with some rain. Managed a coffee stroll with Nash and Vanessa to Anchovy Bandit. In the evening, Callum's 40th which featured a thirty minute epic video and way too much food.

Sunday - Bakery stroll. Vanilla slice. More strolls between showers.

Monday - Dad Hike, followed by apple pie.

Tuesday - Finally, bluer skies. Bike ride into town for physio in the morning. Coffee, bike ride back home. Much mulberry tree pruning. Bike ride back to town for dentist, and then home.

Deadpool and Wolverine in the evening. Many laughs, but the tiny seats may have reverted all the work the physio did that morning.

Wednesday - Road trip to Willunga and Encounter Bay. Much sunshine. A lot of coffee. Sea air. Later, a walk to the supermarket.

Thursday - Jasmine coming into bloom.

Banana pancakes and puppy walks to the cafe.

First trip to big box hardware for a few months. Planting seedlings ready for spring.

Friday - foggy morning by the beach, then sunshine.

Drive to Freeling for lunch and family. Watched Boomers vs Serbia basketball - epic game.

Saturday - Sunshine. Morning walk to markets to re-up on fresh food and drink coffee. Aerated the future vegetable patch, added compost and erected the trellis. Stuck one stake in upside down. Then workout, salad in the sunshine, followed by visit to Alex's in the evening to watch two close games of football.

Sunday - More blue skies for the bakery walk.

Beer in the sunshine in the afternoon, followed by homemade pizza and watching USA vs France basketball.


Monday - Ridiculous amount of sunshine. Another walk to Anchovy Bandit, and around Prospect.

Some more gardening, another workout, then a visit to Semaphore with Nash - wearing shorts - for ice-cream and a walk down the jetty.


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Easter in Pictures

It's always jarring when you realise how much you can enjoy life over a four day weekend, and contrast that with all the five day work weeks you live through in your life. Always better to have loved and lost, though. So here's some memories in photo form that my brain will confuse for actual memories a few years from now.


Good Friday began with a sunrise walk around West Lakes and several fish impressions from Nash. And breakfast.

Cowan with his haul, despite wearing an inappropriate shirt for the occasion.


Later on, it was the 18th annual Easter Beer Hunt. I continue my decline and again finished last in terms of found beers. But I still have love for the game.


On Saturday we enriched our usual morning stroll to the Central Markets with some home-made dark chocolate and apricot eggs, to go with excellent coffee and then a spree of cheap fruit and vegetables.


On Saturday evening we had dinner at Mum's where among other things I enjoyed these over the top table decorations.


On Sunday morning the usual bakery was closed, but Nash was kind enough to tolerate a full size sausage roll from one that was open.


In the afternoon, to mark our anniversary, Vanessa and I went to Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens for a walk and a few rounds of Articulate.


There weren't a lot of autumn colours yet, but it was still sunny and pretty.


After a lot of walking in the sun, we chilled in the beer garden at the Crafers pub and I drank this triple choc easter stout which was very chocolately, and delicious. Actually contained more chocolate in a cup than the table at Mum's.


After beer it was pizza for dinner with my beautiful wife. I also ate some of that pizza on Monday and Tuesday, to keep the anniversary going.


Monday was a more chill day, but I did have time to make a batch of hot cross buns that I also ate some of today to keep the easter holiday going. I also did some work on a professional blog site, which is not pictured here.

I did not got to any big box hardware, which I am very happy about.

An Ode to 2019

I've been thinking about 2019 a bit lately. Definitely not with rose coloured glasses...


God, I wish it was still then. I know it helps nothing to bemoan, but all on the scales it was such an amazing year. My existing injuries were settling down. I'd found a pair of shoes I could walk anywhere in. I saw my friends every week. A few of them got married.


I played basketball. I did pull ups. I hiked places with Vanessa.


You could go places and other people would be there and it never felt weird.


I led a great project with great people at work. I was constantly challenged and felt a sense of accomplishment. Also you could literally get on a plane at a moment's notice and fly anywhere on the planet and I did that many times.


It wasn't cold. (It did hit 46 degrees in January). Vegetables were cheap. I paid no attention to the economy.


I'm just putting this here to remind me that life can be better than mundane and painful. Hopefully again soon.

Perfect Fits

All through childhood I loved Lego for its combination of construction, imagination and smooth plastic. Every Christmas I hoped and prayed for new sets to build.

image 2292 from bradism.com

When I became an adult I still loved Lego, and now that I had a full time job I could afford lots of sets.

image 2293 from bradism.com

Then I bought my camera and the two hobbies combined and I took photos of Lego scenes and made phocumentaries about all the surgeries I had. I bought even more Lego and sorted it into all the different shapes and colours. It didn't matter how old I got, I knew I would never grow sick of my Lego and I would one day quit my job to be a famous Lego set maker or professional photographer. Or both!

image 2294 from bradism.com

And then I stopped buying sets. And I stopped taking photos. And I stopped making things with Lego. All I did was work in an office with boxes of sorted Lego beside me that I never opened up or took photos of.

I had got too old for Lego.

image 2295 from bradism.com

Then, when I heard my little niece and nephew were coming to Bradelaide for Christmas I suddenly realised that there might be a purpose for this sorted Lego that could make a couple of people very, very happy.

image 2296 from bradism.com

So I made this Christmas Phocumentary for amusement of my present self and my future self, and then I packed away all my Lego again.

Nash Visits The Seaside

image 2277 from bradism.com

When the backyard gets boring there's a whole state to explore assuming you can find nearby accommodation that allows dogs.

This weekend Nash went to the Yorke Peninsula for some adventures. Including:

Walks along the beach

Walks along the beach

Morning walks along the cliff

Morning walks along the cliff

Cooking the BBQ

Cooking the BBQ

Off-Roading along the cliff

Off-Roading along the cliff

Cooling off.

Cooling off.

Walks along the beach at sunset

Walks along the beach at sunset

Ironically, while we were away one of the most exciting things to happen in the garden in months occurred.

image 2284 from bradism.com

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