Nearly the end of autumn...

Last year, whilst staying in Lafayette, Indiana, our house was attacked by a pesky woodpecker. The other day I found this cartoon and it all came back to me. Love it!

The Australian Tourist Commission

recently launched a new slogan complete with catchy ads. Within 2 hours the campaign was joined by a series of print ads online that were amazingly clever - and the NZ one is just a single example.

One of my friends sent the following two cartoons, which are very clever too.

This final picture is from Utrecht, NL, where Queen Beatrix is alighting from the Dutch Royal Train. The reproduction was completed for the Royal Train Exhibition that opened last week in the national train museum in Utrecht. There are many carriages, including a whole train from the mid 19th century, on display in what observers have noted is a unique exhibition. If you are in The Netherlands I would suggest perhaps a visit to the beautiful city and witness what train buffs from around the world are checking out this summer.

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I had my blog printed this month. Yes, a company in America printed my blog of over three years length in three volumes, and the result is fabulous. It's quite nice having a hard copy of the endless blogging over the years. It is very deep and meaningful to me, and actually is easier to thumb through and find information from the past than searching the blog online. We are now working on the European Wedding Album - a hard cover affair done through an Australian company. There are many companies worldwide doing these albums now, and it's reassuring that personally significant online work is somehow preserved - at least for now.

I'm at the airport in the morning, and I'm expecting it to be a little quieter with the volcanic ash issue disrupting European travel. Passengers who have an onward ticket from an Asian port to northern Europe are not being flown out of the country since accommodation in major Asian cities is totally full. I think Athens and Istanbul are still open tonight, but other destinations are closed - and little likelihood of their reopening any day soon.

School has resumed for Term 2 and winter starts in a fortnight - this year is wayyy to fast yet again! I have a 3.5 day week this term and I'm already loving it, having had Friday off this week. I did a CPR refresher course last Thursday evening - if you are going to need me to perform it any day soon, better get me while it's fresh in my mind. Better still, don't bother me - stay healthy and well.

During the short Easter break (just 8 days) we visited Kay in her new home in Toowoomba. She has done yet another terrific job of renovation and extension. I think this is house #5 just in the block where she now lives. There have been two others plus the second last one - a complete new home from scratch. Now she's settled in this one, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see yet another one done - just to keep her hand in.

After years and years I'm finally going to Australia Zoo with the Airport Ambassadors to see what it is like. I've always resisted going - I think it was the shudder factor associated with the persona of Steve Irwin - but everybody, and I mean everybody, who has ever been there have simply raved about it, so Friday week I go and will no doubt report back on it next time.

My plans for next months significant birthday are complete: the real birthday weekend Rene and I will spend at Quarterdecks at Hervey Bay (2 nights) with a day trip to Fraser Island included. The following weekend friends and family are joining us on North Stradbroke Island for a relaxing, fun weekend.

This week is another busy one with dinner tomorrow evening at brother Steve's and Adele's home with all of their children and families. That should be most enjoyable. On Tuesday, the trivia kings (and queens) - we won last week for the third time this year - try to retain a second win in a row, then Wednesday a friend and I (Rene didn't want to go) are seeing Julian Clary at The Tivoli. It will finish with dinner at Wynnum with Peter and Bernie (plus Beck of course) before they head off driving and camping in Central Australia. I think they finish up in South Australia. I am jealous of their trip - but not the thought of camping. They ought to see Australia at the best it has been for something like 30 years. The floods from Queensland are still meandering their way southwards - I heard that the Paroo River from Western Queensland is in continuous flood right down into New South Wales, joining the Darling, later hopefully even the Murray, for only the third time in recorded European settlement history.

With Rene downstairs polishing the album to be uploaded sometime this week, I will say farewell for now. I retire to my bed happy and tired. My day started with fresh croissants for breakfast from the Clayfield Patisserie, then I cleaned the screens and windows on the deck (they are 6m wide, 2.4m high), washed down the deck, cleaned the master bedroom windows as well (I couldn't stand looking at the dirt and dust on them anymore), then this evening prepared salmon steaks with a brilliant salad. Add some laundry washed and dried - and put away - and I retire a tired but happy man. Not only that, but I have the entire day to myself tomorrow - oops, forgot, Sunday shift 7am at airport - departures L4...OK, I have the afternoon to myself - until we go off to my brother's.

Busy, but happy.