Nash has been working extremely hard lately, and last week was the busiest yet. She worked close to fifty hours, and when Nash saw on the internet that the weather for this week featured some clear and sunny days Nash knew it was the perfect time to take a day off work in lieu and visit the Adelaide Hills and the German town of Hahndorf for, reasons...

Nash was very excited not to be sitting in front of a computer all day:

After a long car ride we went for a walk around a lake:

The sun was out and it was not cold.

During Autumn in Hahndorf you can point your camera in basically any direction and take a nice autumn photo:

But Nash knows that's not the reason we came to Hahndorf.

When the sun was out and the colours of the trees contrasted against it, things looked beautiful.

Nash was not in Hahndorf for beautiful skies though.

If you walked far enough there were tunnels of leaves and trees to admire.

But that is seriously not why Nash wanted to come and visit Hahndorf.

Is drinking a half litre of beer at midday on a weekday a good reason for visiting Hahndorf? Maybe...

But this is why Nash really wanted to visit Hahndorf.

Two shots of coffee

Two laptops

Two spotted doves on the lawn

Two puppies

Two beef patties

Two eyes

Two feet

Two wings

Two tickets to a show

Two rails

Two O's (times two)

Life as an IT Professional has had its contrasts lately.

Some days I feel really fulfilled as a I contribute meaningfully as both an architect and engineer, delivering software which improves education outcomes for children, or maintains the pillars of justice within our society.

Other days I spend literally hours writing PHP code so that I can use a background image in entries and have it fade into the background in whatever position I want it to. This is so I can create entries on my phone with photo backgrounds without having to open Photopea and creating a gradient.

Is this a good use of my time?

You tell me.

It's not like I spent my whole weekend programming in a dark room. On Saturday morning I rode my bike to the Central Markets, had an iced latte and stocked up on salad. In the evening we drove to Moana for a picnic and a walk along the sand. On Sunday morning we strolled along the river and I watched Nash eat the cream out of a mini chocolate éclair.

I didn't take photos of any of this...

A moist spring, and a few buckets of Seasol, have provided a bumper mulberry crop this month. The grass, and the bottom of my shoes, is nearly pure purple.

One of the benefits of this has been observing the song spreading around the neighbourhood that there's a good feed at the end of my cul de sac. The feathered friends that visit me are typically limited to blackbirds, starlings, new holland honey eaters and spotted doves.

As the season has progressed I've seen willie wagtails, wattlebirds, house sparrows swooping in over the fence and under the canopy to shake berries loose. Every time I've felt stressed or square-eyed recently I've just had to sit outside and watch the birds fossick through the grass and fill their gullets. Often accompanied by Nash.

In the last few days I noticed what I thought were some kind of finches but were actually silvereyes - a bird I didn't even know existed! I caught a photo of one today.

A baby blackbird has also been growing up in the backyard this spring. I noticed it as a fledgling last week as it hopped out the way of me and Nash in between its parents feeding it mulberries. It did not take many days of a high sugar diet for it to balloon up bigger than its parents. I got this photo of it when it landed on the wrong side of the pergola roof on its way out for more food.

Maybe I was wrong to bemoan the backyard. Maybe the backyard is the best place in the world, and the rest of it is what I should avoid.

Right now one of my biggest fears is that, if I don't remember something that happened to me, then it might not have happened. And if I didn't do any things, maybe I don't exist? But a lot of the things I do don't seem exciting enough to journal about. They were exciting enough that I wanted them to happen though. So I'll document some of them here to ensure they did happen in the future.

I rode my bike to Semaphore and got a nice coffee from High Tide which I drank on the beach.

We went to The Archer in North Adelaide and I ordered the most expensive per gram steak they had for dinner because I could. I also got a free pint of Pirate Life thanks to OzBargain.

I saw Chow and he cooked me a double cheese burger and then we both lost Settlers of Catan to Alex.

I ate two cherry tomatoes that I grew in the backyard.

I went to Semaphore with Vanessa and we walked on the sand in the sunshine.

I rowed the furthest I've ever rowed, 3018 metres in 12 minutes and 32 seconds.

I ate a slice of the most Tim cake ever to celebrate Annie's birthday.

I wrote this journal entry.

I had the dream again... I think I'm playing basketball, but actually I'm anesthetised, topping up the bank accounts of members of the ATO's top 5 income earners while they re-attach my tendons to the wrong parts of my skeleton.

In the six weeks since I have been following the booklet of arm rehab advice. The exercises primarily involved using my good arm to swing around my bad one.

This was the shittiest beard I could find on a Lego head.

The goal is not 360 degree swivel articulation like the Lego dudes. I'd take what I had before back.

My favourite exercise was the one where I used a wooden spoon to push and stretch my arm away from my body. The physio couldn't have known that I would have the Official Bradism Long Wooden Spoon For Tall People in my kitchen.

Combined with my discipline for rehab, I quickly regained mobility and strength. After a few weeks I felt like I could win an arm wrestle against a toddler.

I saw my surgeon today who refreshed my memory on how good he was at cutting into people and re-attaching tendons to the wrong parts of skeletons.
Maybe I asked too many questions because he charged me an $8 gap.

I asked if I would be able to dunk a basketball after 6 months and he said yes! That will definitely make this worth the investment...

Sometimes I think I'm feeling nostalgic about those early days of rehab. Sitting in the backyard listening to audiobooks and drinking cups of soup. Watching NBA playoffs on the couch. Excused from having to work and write and exercise and needing to floss and (briefly) shave. In reality I know that nostalgia for days in pain is really just nostalgia for days in pain where I didn't also have to work eight hours a day.

Now the pain is starting to fade, and I can use the wooden spoon for its intended purpose again. I'm looking forward to a return to the gym and the writing desk and maybe the basketball court, and putting this behind me - which I can currently do to about 50% of normal range of motion. I can move on and embrace the future. Yay!

A short but sweet trip to some of the dog friendly attractions of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Friday Night - dinner in the garden at Forktree Brewing overlooking the ocean at sunset.

Starting the weekend with the appropriately named Sunset Amber Ale

Saturday morning, balmy and cloudy, a view over Encounter Bay after a sunrise drive through the backroads and hills.

Nash gets a quick pet stop on the way to the top of the hill.

Top of The Bluff. The Victor Harbor Heritage trail along the cliffs led to some rocky beaches and pools.

After a coffee, early lunch at Port Elliot bakery. Steak and onion pie, followed by caramilk donut. Good thing I climbed that hill first.

After a nap at the holiday house, a brief trip to Normanville for another walk and some late afternoon sunshine.

Saturday Night - the only board game in the holiday house was the 1983 edition of Trivial Pursuit. After three hours someone finally managed to answer a pop culture question.

Sunday Morning - walking the length of the Carrickalinga Esplanade Walking Trail.