Cricket! Nov 2018

 If Ollie gets famous from playing cricket one day, you saw him here first! Just kidding, but he does love the game.

I haven't watched for about 40 years and never played properly. Watching the coaches giving all the tricks, you certainly get a passion for it. It's always interesting, and at least half the time, the game is close. It's never clear who will win until close to the end.

 This game was his second fill in game for the A graders. Last time he filled in, he got three wickets in one over. It was pretty amazing. Two bowled out, and one catch. So at the end of that one he was on a hat trick.

No such luck this game. Though he bowled fast and straight, so did very well. A good addition to the team.

 Our regular coach is Cameron. He used to play keeper for Western Australia. He knows a lot about cricket, and there's a lot to know. The rule book is like 100 pages long. Then there's all the strategies...

 With all the extra curricular activities, we often seem to bump into people just up the street, at the protests, or at the noodle markets on a Friday night. It will be a shame to move away from here.

 Taking a big swing! The coach says: rule no. 1 in cricket; you've got to stay in. Rule no. 2 is get some runs. Ollie did both here for a good while. Then I yelled out to go the bash! The coach ok'd it, so I yelled it out, Ollie obliged, but then got caught out. Great fun though.

Halloween! Oct 2018 pt4

 Ollie worked furiously to finish his costume. And boy was there a lot of detail in it. From the gloves, to the leg covers, to the patches, the stripes on the shirt, the box on the back, and the big arse pizza cutter. I helped on the cutter - we jigsawed the wood, stapled the crescent piece on, Marie cut the wheel from cardboard.

 The pizza cutter is mostly solid wood, with a bit of cardboard for the wheel and the holder at the top.

Louis played Baldi's basics. The head cover is a professional job.

 Getting his head together.

 And the final result!

The area did a big job to decorate all their homes. The crowds were huge.

Oct 2018 pt3

 Cathy's 60th, or is it her 06th, thanks to our Lou?
Apparently for her 50th or 59th, Vince didn't make much of a fuss, so she was disappointed. This time round he did it properly in a function room, catered, with drinks and with a good bunch of people. It was a surprise party. Cathy was well surprised!

 Above - the building across the road from work keeps going from big to huge.

Right - a photo of Marie, but could easily be Louis, especially since he now has long hair too.

 Left: preparing for Halloween, I asked the boys if I could not use this suit, but they insisted that I had to, so Minions it was. Not the most comfortable or the least super hot suit, but got some good comments. More on Halloween in the next post.

Our cat seems to get more comfortable at home, then she swipes at me and hisses. Issy is a mystery.

Oct 2018 pt2

 We went to 774 Jamberoo Mountain Road, Jamberoo NSW in a shack on a property. It rained like hell coming down..

 We went for a walk along the quiet road next door on day one, then it rained during lunch.

We walked in the afternoon on the property through the forest. I scored a leach. Then it rained more. Then the following day it was dry. Long story short, we avoided the seeming non stop rain

 At the park before dinner at Jamberoo pub.

 Back to marshmallow roasting.

Stuck in the tunnel, maybe the M5? The usual road joke around here. The answer is to build a few more.

Oct 2018 pt1

 A day at Balmoral Beach. Both the boys buried themselves.

A

Back at home with the cat.

Sept 2018 pt 2

 Above; praying for the win, with George, Cameron, Henry, Sammy and Rylan.

Right: playing for the win, that's right - slide the bat! No ball from the ump.

 Right - the worst croissant in the world. Looks like a croissant, smells like one, tastes bland, texture of a chunk of bread. It's supposed to have thousands of layers, not be some random chunk of wheat based solidity.

Above - heritage always evolving! In this case, all the handsome terrace shops from the turn of last century have evolved into a giant hole. The current advertising is for human scale 2 story developments to replace, but the actual plan is for some mega towers to get this place Hong Konging along.

Right: a walk to Balmoral from Bradley's Head via Middle Head. Beautiful!

Sept 2018

 Above - Harley's birthday - turning one is a nice milestone. Well done Harley.

Right - bushwalk down to Ball's Head reserve, then up through Waverton to get the train back home again. A nice way to spend the day. I wish we could get our little monkeys to be interested in walking more.

 Above - Wendy Bacon, Alison Taylor, Pauline Lockie, Dr Michelle Zeibots, Noel Childs and the organiser of Stop the Tunnels Larissa Penn. I did video the whole thing if you're keen to watch, just google Stop the Tunnel in Youtube. I was closely involved in their group to try to get signatures on the petition, publicise the talk etc. They got about 100 people along which worked out very well.

Above - my beloved scooter kind of died. It's aluminium, so it won't last forever. I first got it after Ollie got his aged around two years. When I'd arrive home from work, he'd have the front door open calling "Scooter! Scooter! Scooter!" So we did some rides in the garage and around the place. That makes its age around 8?

Left - finishing off the walk to Balls Head.