We have had a second proper Winter in a row. Coming after 13 years of drought, the city’s water storage is now more than 75% full which is a welcome change. Through the Winter I have been visiting my parents during the week and often taking Mum and her dog Zoe to the park.



We had a few small projects planned for the house this year, one of which was getting double-glazing on the windows facing the street. This was installed at the end of May and since then we have consistently slept through the night on Friday and Saturday nights when previously we would be woken by revellers from the bars on Brunswick St looking for their cars. I has also made the house much less draughty.



The double glazing was coincidentally installed just in time to save our sleep during the demolition of the building next door. The two derelict garages were demolished to make way for a new residential building with the same profile as our place. The demolition has exposed the West-facing wall of our place which will no doubt be extensively tagged before construction is complete.

Jay’s project for this year (after fixing his elbow last year) was replacing a missing molar tooth. He had the bone screw for the implant inserted and is waiting for that to settle before getting the final implant. I also had a dental adventure, with another wisdom tooth becoming exposed and requiring extraction. Similar to last time, in 2003, it was removed under local anaesthetic with plenty of drilling and cracking noises but relatively little pain. The oral surgeon assures me the upper wisdom teeth are unlikely ever to give me trouble.



There have been a surprising number of new members coming to the “Learn to Row” sessions run by the rowing club. We have been rowing on Saturdays when the weather has allowed; it certainly makes us look forward to some warmer weather.

Our friend Laszlo did his first bodybuilding competition after years of thinking about it. We went to support him at the local NABBA show. He went on to compete interstate as well. Gym has continued more or less the same for us; we’ll go along to the state IFBB competition in October where I expect a few guys from the gym will compete.



We had never been to Thailand before, so we booked 10 days in Koh Samui to warm up at the end of July. We stayed at a resort at the North end of Chewang Beach and found it very relaxing. It was similar to where we stayed in Bali two years ago, but even a little warmer.



We spent most of the time reading by the pool which was very relaxing and just what we needed. The weather was excellent, with the only rain falling as we were waiting to board the plane to leave.



We visited the interior of the island to see the temples and gardens and also had the opportunity to ride on an elephant. There is a small photo album from the trip online. We arrived home on Jay’s birthday, so we were a bit tired for birthday celebrations. We had cake with my parents, but no special dinner. We will be booking dinner at Attica soon in lieu.



Beach holidays must be appealing to us this year: for Christmas we are planning to meet up with Jay’s family in Hawaii. Negotiations and bookings are mostly complete. We will return home via California so we can see friends there as well and probably go shopping for clothes.

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