Day 32: Sat 27 Jun - Canberra

-1(-5) - 3(9), a frosty start to the day, and cold all day with lovely sunshine for a bit

After a quick breakfast we headed off to Tuggeranong to watch our niece Carla play in the quarter finals of the NSW/ACT Basketball Comp. Her team won by at least 10 points so made it into the semi final that was being played at 3pm. With Mum and Jojo, we went to Maccas for mornos. Our first visit in Canberra for this trip; Wendy went for a month without Maccas - amazing! What used to be a decent feed at a decent price has morphed into almost 'need to take a loan out' visit. However, we all enjoyed our mornos, so that's the main thing.

After lunch, Greg took the bike for an outing on a very cold and overcast afternoon. He initially intended to go further than 25km, but as the cold crept into his bones he ended up heading home for a nice hot shower. After visiting Dad, he had a ride around The National Arboretum then part of the lake, before heading home. Meanwhile, Wendy had a little rest then went with Mum back to Tuggeranong  to watch Carla play in the semis, and they won that game quite convincingly in the end so are now into the finals, being played tomorrow sometime around midday'ish. Fortunately, this game will be at Belconnen, about 2km from home.

On Greg's return, he got down to making dinner with whatever leftovers he could find in the fridge. We ended up with rice, veggies, cheese and egg fritters with smashed sweet/potato. Not bad for a 'part-time chef'. Thank you Gregory!

One lonely hot air balloon aloft on a frosty Canberran morn

It is so cold in Canberra, even the trees need blankies!

The roos looked a lot fluffier than ours at home due to the extra layers of fur required to keep the cold out

No leaves = winter in Canberra

A new sculpture at the National Arboretum - a bird that has multiple moving parts

Action shot of Carla

The look on Carla's face - 'seriously, you're taking another picture of me'

After Carla's semi-final win with Mum

Sunset was ruined by rain

Day 31: Fri 26 Jun - Canberra

2(-2) - 13(9), another frigid day

Wendy worked and Greg relaxed in the morning. After lunch and a little rest, Wendy and Mum went to visit Dad. Dinner was leftovers from last night at Kev and Sam's.

Day 30: Thu 25 Jun - Canberra

-1(-5) - 13(8) deg C, cold, even by Canberran standards

Wendy worked and Greg finished off levelling the soil from the outside garden, and took all the railway scenery to the train mob that happen to be adjacent the Church he attends. Thank you Greg, for all the hard work you have done over the past 4 weeks or so, your efforts are truly appreciated.

We had a lovely chicken/rice dinner at Kev and Sammy's, with James arriving a bit later. Karen (a work co-director and friend of Sammy's) turned up after dinner to deliver a chair her husband had forgotten to pack for the boys trip this week. We had a real good catch up and it was great to see the 'kids' coming into, and being able to, hold their own in the conversation. The night ended a bit earlier than usual as Kev and Ben have an early start in the morning for a big drive to catch up with their mates.

BeeBee with Ben's new hat, not an Acubra

The diners: Greg, (Wendy), Jem, Kev, BeeBee, Ben, Sammy, Karen (not sure where James was)

Day 29: Wen 24 Jun - Canberra

2(-2) - 11(8), while not quite as icy, still jolly cold

Greg took a walk to Belconnen Mall to find the NAB branch to conduct some checks as EPA for a lady that used to attend the Howard Uniting Church. We're not sure if the submission will be successful, as both EPAs had to be present, in person, at the same time. Not long after returning, Greg was notified that the lovely lady had been admitted into palliative care, so not looking good.

After lunch and a little rest, Wendy helped Greg deconstruct Dad's vegie garden outside the fence from the patio area. The hardest part was extracting the six star pickets that had been driven in half way to China! we removed the chicken wire from the frame, then the frame (reo), then the star pickets. The beds deconstruction will happen sometime in the next few days.

Wednesday pub night was takeaways from Lahori Gate Restaurant about 300m from us. It is Pakistani and serves many of the same dishes you would find in an Indian Restaurant. Mum had curry prawns, Greg had mixed seafood curry, and Wendy had an allegedly mild chicken korma. We also ordered a Gulab Jamun which is an Indian sweet consisting of a ball of deep-fried paneer boiled in a sugar syrup. It was very sweet indeed, and a nice follow-up for Wendy's spicy chicken korma, but is not something she would order again. In fact, none of us would probably eat from there again when there are better restaurants in the area. Mum said the restaurant sets up a food van on the Weetangera oval on a school sports day and the takeaways have been ok. The meals were not awful, and if there were no other restaurants open, and we did not want to cook, we would definitely consider them, with different dishes perhaps.

Trying to extract the star pickets. Forgot to take a photo of the entire enclosure.

What's left to deconstruct

What has already been removed

Bird life at Weetangera Gardens. We also get the Eastern rosella, but they are very hard to photograph as they are very nervous!

Day 28: Tue 23 Jun - Canberra

-1(-5) - 12 (8), another icy day in Canberra

While Wendy worked, Greg took the electrical wiring waste to the recycling centre and came home with $110 in his pocket; paid for three of the four rubbish dump runs he's done.

Not sure what we did in the afternoon, but it was still jolly cold so there wouldn't have been any outdoor activities!

Day 27: Mon 22 Jun - Canberra

3(1) - 14(10), a lovely sunny day; the sun was quite warm when sitting directly in it

While Wendy worked in the morning, Greg set about clearing out the carport by taking stuff to the tip - four trailer loads, and we think we are finally done. There may be another run if we can't get the metal recycling centre to buy the metal stuff from us. 

A quick visit to see Dad in the afternoon was followed by leftovers from last night. 

Day 26: Sun 21 Jun - Canberra

2(1) - 13(8), cool and dry

Greg (rode) and Mum (drove) to Church in the morning and only returned about 1200h. After lunch we had a little rest and then donned the lycra over many layers of warm clothing and went for a ride. It was only 24km, band it was good to get the legs cycling again. 

Mum had made slow cooked beef cheeks on Fri(cooked outside overnight) in anticipation of having Dale, Suz and the not so little ones for dinner this evening. We decided to accompany the beef cheeks with creamy mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and peas and corn. So, not long after getting back from the ride, Wendy got stuck into peeling and chopping 2kg of potatoes, and put them onto boil. Drained them, then added butter and Greek yoghurt to make it light and creamy. We forgot the peas & corn, but the meal went over a treat with everyone until Carla learned we were eating the face of a cow! Suz made a ricotta, pistachio and lemon mousse, sprinkled with crushed pistachios and grated chocolate - delicious! They didn't stay long as it is a school night and the kids had all had a long day playing various sports.

We were all in bed not long after 2130h.