Day 60 - Tea or Coffee?

I drink coffee because it has all the necessary food groups - sugar and caffeine. As tea misses out on the latter it was a beverage I'd never really had. Turns out that Dani is a tea drinker as she doesn't like the taste of coffee. Since the coffee machine sprung a leak I have been having tea with Dani most nights. We often take turns in making the tea and for Dani there is only one blend - English Breakfast. A new coffee machine is earmarked for the new home, so I will be enjoying my tea for a little longer.

Day 59 - My black thumb

I've murdered quite a few plants that I've adopted or been gifted since aquiring my own residence.  My mistakes have ranged from leaving an indoor plant outdoors, starvation and many other unknown causes. But the struggle must continue as the plants provide the vital function of greening our home and making it a more inviting place to be. The plant in this photo was a gift from Dani and resides in the study - although all is not well. I'd noticed some white spots on the leaves for about a week and they are spreading. Tonight while in the study the plant's plight caught my attention and I decided to formulate a triage plan. A search revealed that it is suffering from Mealy Bugs. Fortunately being upstairs it is isolated from the other plants and it turns out Pyrethrum is the weapon of choice to rectify the situation. So a visit to the local supermarket and those bugs' days will be numbered.

Day 58 - Building up

Time for a house update: the bricks have been laid as high as our bricklayers could reach with their own scaffolding, so today we had the taller stuff brought onsite. With the higher scaffolding we will be able to add the second storey at the northern end and the high garage roof. As the brickwork has been in progress for some weeks the appearance has not dramatically altered day-to-day. Following the bricks the frames, roof, windows and render will all take advantage of the platform. With our scaffolding we'll see some bigger changes in the next month and our brick structure will start to look like a home. If I can overcome my discomfort with heights I might even try it out :-p

Day 57 - The centre of town

After a day of venturing to the other side of Sydney, today would see us closer to home. While most of the day was dedicated to getting through the paperwork that comes with building our home, we took time out to go and get some brunch at Rouse Hill Town Centre. Unlike most other shopping centres where one enters a large building which divorces you from the outside environment, Rouse Hill has been designed with an eye on yesteryear. It reminds me of 'The Block' at Lismore where the streets are arranged in a rectangle with shopping strips along each street. The design at Rouse Hill makes it feel more like a community and therefore a much more pleasant place to sit back and enjoy a coffee over conversation.

Day 56 - Two birds with one stone

Today we had a plan to be productive. It started in Tempe where new tyres for my car were fitted. While we waited we took the opportunity to have lunch at their cafe which offered thick toasted sandwiches with tea and coffee. A weekend couldn't pass without some time attributed to our new home and today it would be kitchens, which was a short drive to Stanmore. We looked at some samples, got a price list and got back in the car to enter our next destination into the satellite navigation - Maroubra Beach. We weren't intending on swimming though, it was more for an afternoon tea and coffee. Our last stop was to join Dani's friend, Melinda for her birthday celebrations. After drinks at her home we walked down to a Japanese restaurant which is where today's photo was captured by a guest photographer - the waitress. Great food and very fresh; we all had a great time chatting and catching up. Why aren't all days as productive as this?

Day 55 - Dining with friends

Food is a common topic on my blog, however tonight's photo's point of difference is that Dani and I didn't make this amazing sticky date pudding. We were invited to our good friends, Jason and Kelly's home for dinner. Jase and I go back to uni days where we were both slogging it out for our computing degrees. That was over a decade ago and in the meantime we have kept in touch through his assistance with my club car maintenance, flying school and a trip to Europe we did in 2009. We both got married last year and when the four of us get together the conversation is rampant. On this visit Jason played chef and put on a great meal of bruschetta, roast beef and the sticky date pudding. It was so tasty that the starters and mains were gone by the time I realised the need for this photo!

Day 54 - Cherry picking

Quite a few years ago I came across a TV documentary series about philosophy. Hosted by Alain De Botton, he explained how various philosophers can provide insight into daily life; it wasn't long until I started reading his books. It started with Consolations of Philosophy and since then I've read his books covering romance, literature, travel, architecture and employment. Tonight Dani and I went to hear him speak about his new book, Religion for Atheists. Rather than enter into the debate whether god exists or not, he proposes that supernatural beliefs aside, there are many things that religions do well. These include their method of teaching, community building and their patronage of the arts. After what was a very engaging speech, which had humorous moments as well as those that made you think, we got our book signed and had dinner at Circular Quay while we chatted about our thoughts on what we had heard.

Day 53 - Wordy Dani

Last year when our credit card awards points reached the value of an iPad, I placed an order for Dani and myself thinking it would be shared. The status of shared quickly became one sided so when Christmas arrived I thought I would be able to restore equality by buying Dani her very own. It was money well spent as she has used it to continue her winning ways against me (and others) at Words with Friends. We average about one game a week and with her amazing two letter word vocabulary and anagram wizardry makes her a very formidable competitor. It is a fun game to play together and I hope that with much more practice I can narrow the gap.

Day 52 - Then and now

Back in 2005 when I was working at Flemmington, I took the M4 as I did today. The difference is that back then there was a transit lane, which I liked to call the Running Late Lane. Today the Running Late Lane has made way for this car park. But it does inch along and since my driving has resumed I've reacquainted myself with Triple J; Adam Spencer and Will Anderson moved on long ago and in their seats Tom & Alex have taken the mic. Their weekend-adventure callers are pretty funny - stories of friends playing pranks and other misfortunes. This morning eventually things sped up a bit and I made it into Sydney Olympic Park where my desk resides.

Day 51 - Looks easy

So I've had my car back since Friday night when Dani accompanied me out to Five Dock to pick it up. The red battery symbol is no longer showing and the orange wrench symbol begging for a service has also vanished. A number of fluids were replaced and the telltale computer reported I have been kind to the engine with a mere 15 over-revs (apparently some get abused with 200+). On my way home it soon became clear how quickly one acclimatises to another car as the brakes felt very foreign. My driving must have looked like I was depth perception challenged as I hit the brakes only to have a second plunge at the pedal to pull up! After another day of a pedal that feels spongy I thought I would do a very simple thing and check the brake fluid levels. I opened the bonnet and this is what hides beneath, a myriad of pipes and reservoirs. With the aid of a torch I located the brake fluid and it was full. So I will persist a little longer and see if I'm imagining things or not.

Day 50 - Water views

Living out west in Quakers Hill means that while we have more space around us we miss out on the water views enjoyed by the northern and eastern suburbs. Tonight was different. Mum and dad were visiting for an evening coffee when the storms arrived and the rain began. Later in the evening they almost became trapped in our home as we could hear the rain pelting against the front door. From the window of our bedroom I noticed that the flood plains that make up the reserve behind our home had become a river and and for a few hours we had our own rare water view.

Day 49 - Seasonal discoveries

Figs are one of those seasonal fruits that when you've stumbled across a recipe requiring figs they are no where to be found. However in the supermarket this afternoon I spotted some large figs and fished my iPhone from my pocket to find a recipe; Caramelised Figs came up. I usually only make desserts when we have guests but with this find I had an exception on my hands. A very simple desert to make and was able to whip it up after dinner with little fuss. So I'll keep this recipe in mind next time I discover these elusive fruits.

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/16494/caramelised+figs+with+chocolate+ricotta

Day 48 - Practical considerations

For some reason those around me often express concern for my chocolate consumption levels. So when Dani gave me chocolates for Valentine's Day this left me in a conundrum what to do. Fortunately this only lasted for a few seconds and I dipped into the selection. Generally my chocolate tastes are pretty basic, Cadbury is fine and in my mind why would you pick the fruit and nut - that must mean less chocolate right? On those more special occasions when Darrell Lea is the order of the day, I can appreciate the difference. In this case the soft centre does make up for the chocolate the fillings displace.

Day 47 - The memo

Dani is an avid watcher of Letters and Numbers. For those who haven't tuned into SBS at 6pm, it is a gameshow where contestants are given 9 random letters to test their vocabulary and a series of numbers and a result to reach. I often threaten to send in an entry form for Dani as she is a wiz with anagrams and pretty handy with numbers too. On hand are two experts, David Astle for the words and Lily Serna for the numbers, which is where the segue for today's post lies. By some strange coincidence, David's wardrobe has several shirts in common with mine. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not that I share my dress sense with a middle aged man - I guess we both like our shirts bright. The shirt in the photo had an appointment with the ironing board for work tomorrow, so I hope the other David sees this blog so he knows that tomorrow is my turn with the blue flower shirt.

Day 46 - Second life

Often a highlight of my day at work comes at 2pm; that's when the parcel deliveries come and my eBay purchases arrive. They range from iPad accessories to photography accessories - all cheap stuff from Hong Kong and China; today the last piece of my motorcycle customization arrived, the handlebar grips. Trolling the internet one day I got hooked on the Cafe Racer motorcycle concept. They were originally built in the 40's post war times for amateur racing based on old Triumphs or Harleys. I bought my Honda motorcycle because it had a great v-twin engine was learner legal and light weight. As I don't ride that often I really couldn't justify replacing it, so I decided the best thing to do was to try and turn it into a Cafe Racer. So laid out on my garage floor are some new lower handlebars, end bar mirrors and of course my new handlebar grips. That is the parts list for stage one of my conversion and now the easy part of acquisition is on hold while the harder part of putting it together begins.

Day 45 - Something special

Today was Valentine's Day and it didn't happen without some organisation. While some like to focus on the commercialisation of the day as a reason not to make an effort, I like to think it is a great excuse to do something special with Dani and go out for a romantic dinner. The venue was the Inside Out Restaurant at Parramatta. When I got home, Dani gave me a Valentine gift of Darrelle Lea chocolates and I was glad to see the roses I gave her made it home in one piece. The menu was three courses, I chose an entree of figs and Dani selected the crispy soft shell crab. The mains were vegetable strudel for Dani and a lamb rack for me. While waiting for desert, the need for a photo for today required a bit of fashioning of the petals on the table in an appropriate shape for the day. After desert we finished with some tea and coffee and headed home. The food, evening and company were all amazing - the organisation had paid off.

Day 44 - In the middle

Those who have been following my blog would know that Dani and I are building our home this year. What I haven't mentioned is that we are doing an owner builder construction. This has meant I've had to learn on my feet all there is to know about the building trade as I play the messenger or in some cases mediator between the various trades. Tonight was a case example where the roof truss company wanted an engineered beam to support the butterfly roof above the kitchen. Sounds easy? Well as is often the case it means going back and forth with questions between the parties and as I was not confident everyone was on the same page, I decided to put it on a single page. We may not have solved this problem yet but at least we're all talking about the same thing!

Day 43 - More is better

Flipping through the pages of Delicious magazine we spotted a couple of pizza recipes, aptly named Summer Pizzas, Two Ways. The recipe contained two variations, one fig and prosciutto with the other a tomato and rocket salad. We looked at this and decided that rather than two variations we would create a third which was to use the ingredients of the two pizzas together. So our new recipe had a sundried tomato pesto base with ricotta cheese, figs and prosciutto which we put in the oven for 10 minutes. While the base was in the oven we sliced mixed cherry tomatoes and combined them with shaved Parmesan cheese, wild rocket and a balsamic and olive oil dressing. When done, topped the base with the salad and our finishing touch was to drizzle it with roasted garlic sauce. It was very filling and very morish.

Day 42 - Room to move

When Dani and I moved in together, we opted for my bed as it was a bit more comfy, although as it was only a double despite not being big people, we would need to get use to having less space.  So for the past eighteen or so months I've been sleeping on the edge of the bed in danger of falling to the floor and Dani has been in at risk of being elbowed when I shift during the night.  We always planned to get a new ensemble when we move to our new home, but thought why wait?  So a couple of weeks ago we were walking through the home centre in Castle Hill when I suggested we take a look in the Beds'R'Us shop.  All mattress manufacturers like to give their products impressive names and the "Platinum 7" certainly fit this bill.  As we had to dispose of our current bed first, I hired a ute and with the assistance of my dad, we picked up the new bed, took it home and took our old bed to mum and dad's place for the guest room.  Lots of lifting, sliding and maneuvering, just like the old days when we worked together at his bed shop.  When done, Dani and I went to get some sheets and while we were there picked up this quilt cover too.  And the first night's sleep?  Bliss, with room to move.

Day 41 - Car hospital

On Tuesday my drive home was no ordinary event.  I'd noticed a battery symbol on the dash just when I arrived to work, a quick search on the web revealed my alternator could be unwell.  So when I headed home when the radio twice rebooted itself it became clear this was not a faulty sensor.  I turned off all the electrics and continued without music or airconditioning.  This was not enough, warnings started to come through the dash display that the ABS and parking brake were out of order.  This was followed by the speedometer and tachometer freezing.  Luckily I made it home.  Dissatisfied with my previous visit to the dealer workshop I decided to go to a specialist instead, called Automoda.  So this morning I had the car loaded onto a tilt tray and followed it to the workshop.  With my car now in hospital and a diagnosis due on Monday, Dani has generously lent me her wheels for the week.  Very few have such trust in my driving style - it is a race out there ;-)

Day 40 - Wooden stuff

Tonight on our weekly visit to the folks there was something missing. Dad was empty handed when it came to his show and tell of his Tuesday's wood turning efforts. This was because he is no longer a student of his craft but now a teacher. So showing others the ropes meant he didn't make another wooden thing to add to his own collection. As he's been turning wood for a number of years, the house has filled with lots of plates, bowls and vases; no table or ledge is free from his creativity.

Day 39 - Blue steel

I must admit I have been anxious about today for a while.  It was the meeting of the brickwork and the steelwork in our new home and my organisation and communication skills were being tested.  The beams that were to be installed went up to 11m long, the first would be the beam over the entrance.  It was hoisted up and aligned into place, it soon became clear that the gap was not long enough, fortunately the bricklayer, Tony was on hand to chip a few bricks off to make it fit.  The next beam was measured up to discover it was 1m too short! It went back on the truck.  The next beam was the big one, 11m weighing in at 450kg.  It got trimmed to size and hoisted up and welded onto its post - no dramas.  The lintels across the back were next.  These had to be cut to size again and after some measuring the steel supplier, Mark fired up the oxy torch and cut it to fit.  It found its home with no dramas.  The next one was a bit more wild.  The bracket it was resting on while welding dislodged and sent the beam swinging.  It narrowly missed Mark's assistant and then hit the wall, knocking a few bricks off.  Once it was back under control it was welded in.  The dramas were over and the remaining beams were put in their slots.  So even though the steelwork isn't quite finished yet with one beam to go, progress is always a good thing.

Day 38 - Improvised assembly tooling

With steel work to begin tomorrow I had to get the mobile scaffolding ready.  I rang around to see what it would cost to rent compared to buying and they came out better to buy given our timeframe.  The only thing was that I would need to put it together; or should that be we?  I enlisted the help of my dad to meet me onsite and we began working out how this stuff went together.  I unloaded my spanners, socket set and screwdrivers from the car, not knowing what to expect.  When we took a closer look at the scaffold it suddenly looked a lot easier as it held itself together with quick release clips.  We unpacked the poles and looked at the instructions after some trial and error, particularly struggling to get the ladder to work - which we later ditched, it was done.  The only tool we needed was a block of wood which is the tool of choice for all things easy to assemble.

Day 37 - Handwriting for technophiles

I was writing on my iPad when I thought of today's blog which will probably have limited appeal to non-iPad owners. According to the official Steve Jobs biography, he was adamant that the best stylus was one's own finger. 80% of the time he was right, however when you want to be able to draw or handwrite the absence of a writing instrument makes this all but impossible. Now to loose the remaining readers with technical babble, the iPad uses a capacitive screen technology which means traditional styluses won't work. Instead these different approaches were designed. The first was the Belkin (centre); it is expensive for what you get and the rubber tip is ok but lacks accuracy because it leaves you guessing where the writing tip is. The second is the Jot. My original got destroyed under a lawn mower so the green one is it's replacement. Best writing stylus by far, quite heavy but accurate and smooth. The last is the Dagi, this has a feature not visible in the photo - a pen on the other end. Handy, but the stylus end uses a spring which is inferior to the Jot's ball joint. So there you have it - probably more than you ever wanted to know about writing on your iPad.

Day 36 - Good day sunshine

On the last morning of our Mollymook getaway, we thought the best way to get the most of this setting was to wake early to witness the sunrise. At 6:15am the alarm sounded indicating we had 5 minutes till sunrise. We pulled ourselves out of our bed and wandered out to the balcony where we watched the beautiful site of the sun breaking cover over the horizon, as it rose, its reflection glistened on the water. This was an amazing start to a fun and action packed day. After breakfast we took in a stroll around the lodge then packed the car and headed to Booderee National Park at Jervis Bay. Here we dropped into the local store to get some snorkeling gear and visited a couple of beaches on the lookout below the waterline. We saw a few fish lurking among the rocks and got tangled in someone's fishing line! Our final destination was Hyams Beach where it was blowing a gale. After enduring the wind, protected by our beach shade, we abandoned our post and headed home - 2 out of 3 ain't bad!

Day 35 - Surfer babe

Good fortune struck when we woke up this morning at Mollymook - sunshine! So we readied ourselves and headed down for breakfast, Dani had her customary Eggs Benedict while I had the Bannisters' Breakfast which had poached eggs, grilled tomato, mushrooms, sausage and black pudding. After coffee and tea we headed down to the beach for some boogie board action. We erected our shade tent and chairs and headed down to the water which was cold! After a few waves we acclimatised to the temperature and took turns catching waves on the board. Dani showed great talent at this and got several big waves as she cruised in to shore!

Day 34 - Slippery roads

In October last year we thought since we weren't going away for Christmas we would have a weekend away in the lead up in early December. December proved a busy month with lots on so as the weather was also not beach weather we decided to postpone for early February. So today we left rainy Sydney for Mollymook and along the way we stopped at Wollongong for lunch. The photo is the harbour at Wollongong where the black clouds were in the hills and fast approaching (and yes, Snapseed has again played a role in the result). With rain for the whole trip down combating slippery roads, we're keeping the theme of my last blog and staying optimistic for sunnier days ahead (and some new tyres on Monday).

Day 33 - Rainy days

As a consequence of working indoors I use to only care about the weather when the weekend approached as rain meant no flying.  This has changed since we started building our home as it turns into a mud bath after a day or two of steady rain and of course all work stops.  I checked the weather forecast for the week and felt that we would be marginal to get the remaining brickwork finished in time for the steel.  But as what often happens with building is that when one construction is delayed, all get delayed so the steel will be next Tuesday instead of Monday.  What seems minor is a glimmer of hope for me and that is all I need to keep my optimism that everything will be fine.  I really don't think the farmers need rain this much!

Day 32 - Look no cables!

To date almost all of the photos used on this blog have been taken with my iPhone 4S. It takes great pictures for what it is, but it does limit the composition of the photos somewhat - after all it is a phone. I also have a Lumix LX-5 compact camera which is far more capable at taking photos but it doesn't come close for ease of getting the photo onto the iPad for blogging. I then found this little gem. What it does is adds Wi-Fi to almost any camera so you can wirelessly and automatically load your photos onto your PC, iPad or iPhone. After a very short consideration I ordered mine from Amazon and it arrived today. It came with a USB to SD adapter and the software preloaded on the card. I must admit things didn't go so smoothly at first but with some persistence I got the PC software working and set the card up. After setup I took a couple of snapshots, I turned around and they were instantly loaded onto the iPad. How's that for convenience?