Just over 2 years ago sitting in a pub in Penola, in the Coonawarra wine region of South Australia, I mused with my favourite persona about sorting out the spiral staircase in our beach house.
Our spiral staircase has been the bane of our regular visits. All of us have fallen off the last step, with my mother needing stitches from her fall. My youngest daughter said all of her friends had stories about their falls; presumably after a couple of drinks. It has also been a safety hazard for our young grandchildren.
Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrown or lost interest in over time?
– Jetpack prompt
As I reinvigorate my blog I’m experimenting with different approaches to posts. In my early stages I used regular prompts as an approach, so here I go.
Riding in Sicily
There are many activities and hobbies I’ve grown out of. No surprise there, I’m on the wrong side of 65.
The one that quickly came to mind was stamp collecting. As a primary school child and early teenager, I was an avid collector. I wasn’t the beneficiary of a parent or grand parent’s collection, so I started from scratch. I say that because I used to look on at envy at those who had old albums full of interesting stamps. Mine however was just ‘bog standard’. Aussie stamps collected from envelopes, swapped and bought over time. For a while my sister and I went to a local stamp club where we’d buy a few stamps, as my own swaps weren’t of much interest. I also built up a collection of First Day Covers. However, as I grew older I simply lost interest, and today I’m not sure I even know where my stamp collection is.
Sadly, we have recently had to say goodbye to Rosie, our much loved dog. At around 16 she’d had a good innings, but over the last year her mobility was greatly resticted, and her quality of life deteriorated.
Rosie a rescue dog was very much my daughter’s until she moved out of home. My daughter moved but the dog didn’t!
Why Rosie was abandoned we have no idea. She was impeccably trained for a “Heinz 57” varieties. Perhaps she just strayed one day and then couldn’t find her way back. Very much our good fortune but a pity for the person who trained her.
In early 2010 my 2 daughters and my favourite person went to the Animal Welfare League (AWL) to see if there was a suitable dog to join our family. My daughter says Rosie picked herself. She was her dog and very much not mine! Infact, she was quite aggressive to me which was of great concern, as we had been told that she’d already been returned to the AWL, so the next return meant she would be put down. Aggression towards me or not that wasn’t going to happen. Continue reading →
A couple of months ago we booked a trip to Kangaroo Island. Kangaroo Island is a short drive from our beach house and then a ferry ride of about 45 minutes. A welcome short break away from my studies.
We left Adelaide just after lunch and drove to our beach house about 90 kms from Adelaide, rather than an early start from Adelaide the next morning. Second Valley is stunning and we never tire of the view. We are lucky because we are able to enjoy Second Valley anytime, but if Kangaroo Island is on your wishlist, stopping a night on the way at Second Valley and having dinner at Leonards Mill Restaurant makes a great start to the trip.
After breakfast, we made the 15 minute drive to the ferry terminal at Cape Jarvis. We were early, so after checking in we had time for a coffee. We were called to drive the car onto the ferry about 20 minutes before we departed. They ask the drivers to go to their cars to drive them on and the passengers’ board separatley.
It’s only 16kms to Pennyshaw across Backstairs package, it was windy meaning the boat rolled a little on the 45 minute trip. I don’t have great sea legs so it would be fair to say I was happy that it wasn’t too rough. I’d have preferred it to be pan flat as it was one day when I rode my bike across to Cape Jervis and saw a group of jet skiers riding across.
We were quickly off the boat and headed to the Fat Beagle for an awesome coffee. Friendly staff and awesome coffee – the best we had on the Island. As well as enjoying the coffee we used the time to think about the day as the weather was not great. From there we headed across to Frenchman’s Rock about 2 minutes away. The rock has an inscription made by Nicolas Baudin’s crew on their mapping expedition in 1803.
When I started this blog it was part of my transition to retirement strategy and it was the vehicle I would use to write. A commitment that I would have to some imaginary group of people who might stumble on my blog and find it interesting.
My personal commitment was a post at least once a month and at least one thousand words. I’ve been pretty faithful to that commitment however in the last few months my PhD has taken over. I have a deadline and it is getting near. I’m writing every day and my PhD is coming together.
So for the next few months posts will be even more sporadic as I work on finishing my PhD.
