Good morning to you all on this rather misty morning. Can’t complain about the temperature though as it is still in the mid 20s, only 1mm of rain overnight.
This is much earlier than I usually post and it is probably still yesterday for some of you but today I am driving to Canberra to visit my daughter, daughter in law and grandkids.
I am also going to a work open day except I cannot tell you where or the employer Apparently I was even vetted before I was invited.
The dog and I were out early for an abbreviated walk, he is looking worried at the moment because his bed and bowl have gone into the car. He will be even more surprised when his day bed and him go on the back seat, he has never been in my car.
Shortly I will set off, I might report back in when I get there.
Have a lovely day, look forward to the weekend all you workers out there. Take care…
Good morning everyone, only 9C this morning, overcast but at least rain is not forecast. I don’t know why but I just can’t get it into my head that Summer’s over. Probably because we had such a warm start to Autumn, so now this “long forgotten” cold weather has dropped down on us suddenly like a bombshell! @Bruce, if your dog has already traveled in other cars, he’ll be ok in your car too. He should actually enjoy it!
Morning all – well winter has arrived, around zero last night and only 3c at the moment, although we are forecast it will reach the dizzying heights of 8c later! By 8.30 this morning my smart meter was already in the red!
Have a safe journey Bruce
Had a senior moment yesterday – well more like a senior couple of hours! Despite mentioning here that I would be meeting the girls for coffee for some reason later thought it was Wednesday!!! Didn’t realise my mistake until one of the girls rang to ask why I hadn’t shown up and was I OK!
Dinner last night with the neighbours was very enjoyable as usual. They left early this morning for their cruise so I am back on cat servant duty. I had another senior moment when I thought they were going to the Caribbean again, this time it is a cruise around the Canary Islands! When I went in to serve the cat her breakfast, they had left a bottle of wine and cakes for me (I am sure they are determined to turn me into a fat alcoholic!)
Beastie is back to treating me with her usual disdain. I opened the door for her, she looked at me as if I was mad, walked away and sat with her back to me!
Very little planned for today – some food shopping and some ironing (if I don’t forget!)
Good Morning Everyone…
It was as cold as a witches breast this morning 4 degrees C as I left for my morning - what should have been a walk - But I had to jog a few sections to keep warm. Not really shorts weather…
Mrs Fox returned home yesterday complete with a painful knee and walking stick. I found her tearful at the station with her friend. She had enjoyed her visit to Beverley but fell foul of some slippy steps and twisted her knee, but together with her walking stick and friends arm, still managed a tour of the Minster, a visit to all the charity shops they didn’t visit yesterday, and nice pub lunch before leaving for the station. They liked Beverley so much they are already making plans for next years visit…
Have a safe journey Bruce and I hope the hound takes to your driving…
Don’t worry about the memory lapses Sheila, I tend to work on a ‘need to know’ basis and never remember anything Mrs Fox has told me…
It’s good to hear the beast has still got attitude, I think when a cat sits with it’s back to you, that’s the ultimate take down…Mine used to do it all the time…
I’d give my left arm for 9 degrees Rose, and I think from Sunday we’ll be basking in freezing temperatures blown all the way from Iceland…Even snow has been mentioned…
Thanks Rose, she’s so frustrated that she can’t go for her daily walk, she loves a walk and a nag with her friend.
I told her that if it’s muscular it will take three weeks to heal, but if it’s tendon damage, it will take three months…It didn’t go down well…
Sorry to hear about Mrs @OldGreyFox 's fall I hope she recovers quickly
The dog was really good travelling, when we were moving he curled up and slept if we stopped he sat up to look.
The journey could have been a nightmare, I got to the bottom of Mt Ousley to find a big sign warning Piction Rd was closed in both directions due to crash so took a detour to go south (back past my house) so I could go up Macquarie Pass.
After the second or third hairpin arrived at the rear of a stationary queue of traffic. Looked on Live Traffic dot com to discover both directions stopped to allow recovery vehicles up after a crash between a truck and ute. Could not believe it!
As it happened I must have arrived at the tail end because after 15 minutes we started moving very slowly up the pass.
That was not the end of it - halfway down the Hume Hwy once again came to a halt because of roadworks, crawled along for about 20 minutes before being released and back up to speed.
From then on it was all plain sailing but a two and a half hour drive turned into nearly four hours.
Thanks Bruce, Mrs Fox thanks you also and sends you a hug…
Sorry to hear about your traffic nightmare, you don’t expect road works and blocked roads in Australia but I guess your route to Canberra is quite a busy one, and you mention hairpin bends and passes. Is it a mountainous area Bruce?
Wollongong is between the escarpment and the sea there are only two routes out going west. Up Mt Ousley or up Macquarie Pass. Mount Ousley is also the main route to Sydney. The Picton road which was blocked comes off at the top of Mt Ousley and goes east to the Hume Highway (Highway between Sydney Melbourne
Macquarie Pass is an old road never upgraded that eventually gets to the Hume after travelling through the Southern Highland. The pass is an infrastructure nightmare it is narrow, steep winding and unstable. Landslips constantly have to be repaired
Road works on the Hume usually happen at night I think these were late finishing
Thanks Bruce, from the general views of the landscape of Australia from the many Aussie programmes I watch, it appears generally flat except for woody and mountainous areas in Queensland. But a study of the map shows the range extends all the way down the eastern side including Sydney and Canberra, so I guess that drive would have been quite a scenic one Bruce.
Thanks Surfermom, Mrs Fox had been suffering with a troublesome knee for quite some time so it was unfortunate that she injured that same knee. However, after a stagger around the Christmas fair yesterday it seems to have done it some good and I notice she’s not using her stick much today, but she didn’t go on her usual Sunday morning walk with her friends.
I’ve explained to her many times, she must be a ‘patient patient’ if she wants a speedy recovery.
That’s the Great Dividing Range but it is not high. The Hume crosses it many times and I think the signpost sets the height at 740 metres. Mount Kosciuszko is mainland Australia’s highest mountain, at 2,228 metres above sea level is not very tall, in the 1960s I drove to the summit (you can’t do that now, it is part of the Snowy Mountains National Park). It is also part of the Great Dividing Range which as you say stretches from North Queensland to Victoria about 3500km long. It took the early explorers decades to find a way across - no one thought to ask the locals.
Bells Line of Road was one of the first ways across the Blue Mountains (which are also part of the Great Dividing Range) from the new colony, until then all exploration was done by rowing boat/skiff up and down the coast.
In 1813 Gregory Blaxland, William Charles Wentworth and William Lawson became the first European settlers to successfully navigate a path across the Blue Mountains (which are also part of the Great Dividing Range) from the new colony, until then all exploration was done by rowing boat/skiff up and down the coast.
When you consider the colony was founded in 1788 you can imagine how difficult that was to have taken so long.
Apparently I was even vetted before I was invited.
Probably because we had such a warm start to Autumn, so now this “long forgotten” cold weather has dropped down on us suddenly like a bombshell! 
By 8.30 this morning my smart meter was already in the red!
Didn’t realise my mistake until one of the girls rang to ask why I hadn’t shown up and was I OK!
