Committed Travellers

It was with some trepidation that I agreed to taking Tilly with us on our walk to the Salt cafe at the Brickworks on Ferry Road. Before we left I made a quick check of the regulations about cats visiting cafes. Since she is a "companion animal" it seems the same rules apply to her as those that apply to dogs. She travels well in her backpack and I kept her in the pack on my lap. Unfortunately Anita's meal was not very good and my smoothie order was forgotten. Nobody objected to Tilly's presence but I kept a good watch out for other dogs but Blue was the only canine. Tilly can't come with us on a weekend when everybody takes their dogs out with them.  Back at home I applied some more of the chlorine solution but this is a slow process and I have to make sure Blue doesn't come outside before it is hosed off. I moved on the the caravan wheels and applied the Penetrol. This is a paint additive that makes paint flow better so it went on easily. Part way through pai...

I promised a friend I would put a photo of Blue at Bunnings. At least a dozen people smiled at him during our five minute visit. I went for some Penetrol which should help control the rust on the Bushtracker wheels. I washed the wheels but they need to be totally dry before I use the Penetrol so that will have to wait until tomorrow.  On the way home I deviated to the Home Brew Shop in Southport to stock up on dextrose. This is used to make beer but I use it as a sweetener instead of sugar. I mix it with cocoa powder to make hot or cold milk drinks and make a simple chocolate mousse. Another job I have been avoiding is removing the mould from our sandstone pavers. I had some old pool chlorine but it took several applications to start working. This will have to be finished another day. We took Tilly for a walk in her backpack. Blue walked the 2.5kms and I only had to carry him across the main road for safety. He is very good walking on a lead these days. I wore the backpack and didn...

Our friends left this morning so I decided to go back to caravan jobs. Before starting I went to the vet to buy worming pills for Tilly and to book Blue in for his so-called desexing operation - he will still be a male dog. We needed to make sure he will have sufficient recovery time before we take him away with us in the Bushtracker. I ended up doing a lot of research into touchup paint for the van and where to source the specialist products. Our wheels have been replaced twice under warranty because they have rusted within 12 months of being supplied. There is evidence of further rust on a couple of the wheels but I will first try to deal with it myself. There are other areas of rust that need to be tidied up, but nothing is cause for concern.  Tilly and Blue were fairly quiet today after a couple of busy days getting to know our visitors. They seem to have woken up now just as it is time for them to go to bed! Blue wants to get on the bed with me but that isn't happening.

Our friends are visiting from the Sunshine Coast and Tilly and Blue have made them very welcome. Blue even went for a walk with them. Today we went to Hot Shott for lunch then went for a walk to Main Beach as it was such a lovely day. Blue loves the sand but wasn't sure about the waves. On Sunday the Farmers Market had to contend with heavy rain and wind until about 10am then there was a sunny break. I drove there to buy some of the best sourdough bread in the world and discovered so much bread left it was discounted to $6 per loaf. The vendor had been struggling to keep the bread dry and there had been very few customers. Anita sliced the loaves and froze some of the bread for our caravan adventures. The rain had created lakes where there had been none before. The HOTA art gallery is progressing and a colourful facade is being installed. Hopefully when it is completed by 2021 there will be a couple of decent restaurants as well as good art.

On Saturday night we went to a Christmas in July dinner party at our friend's place near Beenleigh. It was a wonderful night except for the drive home which was in pouring rain along the M1. We have now had so much rain our pool was overflowing. Today I emptied out about 70mm and the sun was shining for a while but heavy rain returned with a thunderstorm. Blue came with us to the dinner party and met a new dog and he would not leave poor Toby alone. He followed him around even after Toby told him off for trying to mount him! Toby even sought refuge on my lap to keep Blue at bay. My friend had extensively decorated her house in Christmas icons. Her niece had helped with setting out the tables and the amazing decorations. Blue was spooked by the snowman down at his level! I finally explored the possibility of expanding the width of our dumb waiter shaft to fit in a lift. I cut a hole in the plasterboard and confirmed the other side of the wall is in a storage room. It looks like that...

After two grey cloudy days the rain started late Thursday and continued so our garden is getting a good soak. We spent time over the past two days preparing documents to lodge our personal tax returns and the return for our superannuation fund - tedious but essential.  Blue and Tilly are easy to entertain on wet days as they can get plenty of exercise running around the house. Blue spends time watching television from the couch but sometimes gets a bit spooked by pictures and sounds on the TV. He runs around with this piece of cloth enticing Tilly to chase him. He had his dummy in his mouth for a while, then Tilly stole it but not for long as he quickly left the couch to retrieve it.  While we have relative freedom here in Queensland with few COVID-19 related restrictions, we are concerned by people from Victoria and NSW hotspots sneaking over the border puting Queenslanders at risk. The situation in Victoria is very frightening, especially the attitudes of so many people flau...

It was an early start this morning as I took Blue to see my friend who recently lost her poodle. On the way I picked up Anita from the Casino Hotel so she could come with us. Blue happily provided cuddles and entertainment for an hour or so. We then drove to Banyo to the groomer who owns Sparkle, the mother of Blue and his sister Poppy. He was confused but seemed to know he had been there before. We left him with Sparkle and the groomer while we drove to the city to have lunch with Anita's friends who were former workmates. It was a challenge getting access to the casino carpark with all of the construction works underway in Brisbane. Their ususal restaurant was closed so we ate at Mei Wei which didn't offer sensational food, but it was passable. We headed back to Banyo to find our teddy bear had been turned into a poodle! He was running around playing with Sparkle and totally happy. He had been inside the house where he lived until he was 8 weeks old. He saw the two family cat...

This morning I took Anita to the train station as she will be staying the night at the Brisbane Casino Hotel - more respite care. She will come back with me after Blue has his haircut by a professional groomer. The person we chose owns Blue's mother and was his human parent for 8 weeks so there could be exciting reunions. Most of the day I was in the garage tidying up. I dragged out my kayak and gave it a clean on the front lawn, while Blue and Tilly happily stayed together in their crate in the garage. I had the cat carrying backpack on a chair in my study. Tilly jumped up on the chair and was scratching to get inside. I undid the zip and voila!   I tried to take Blue for a walk but he was even more reluctant than usual, possibly because of noise from the building site and the strong winds. He became very excited when our cleaner arrived, but sat down instead of jumping on her - he is learning. Tilly also came running to say hello. For dinner I reheated one of Anita's curries ...

It is understandable that Victorians want to come to the Gold Coast at this time of year when we have many warm sunny days. This morning we decided to take Tilly for her first walk being carried in a backpack. Blue was very excited and didn't want to let Tilly out of his sight. Tilly was in her harness and clipped to the inside of the backpack. She seemed quite content with this mode of transport. Back home they both chomped on so-called cat grass. She walked about 10 steps with the harness on, but that is progress.  In the courtyard we have a healthy covering of native violets which Blue sometimes eats. I checked and they are edible for humans, but not those in our garden as they will have been peed on several times. Fortunately this plant doesn't appear on the long list of flowers that cause illness or even death in dogs or cats. We did a little rearranging in the caravan and parted with the container for collecting grey water. This requirement is imposed in very few caravan ...

This morning I drove to the market to buy some wonderful sourdough bread. A friend came to visit for morning tea, then I moved most of the caravan equipment out of the garage into the caravan. Blue was with me most of the day - in and out of the house and garage making sure Tilly didn't escape.  On our afternoon walk Blue met a cavoodle puppy 4 months old that is already as big as him. Her owner is signing up for classes with the Dog Obedience Club so I will investigate that option. I took these photos of Blue sitting just where the sun's rays caught his chest. We tried Tilly on another type of harness but she just refused to move even when we took her outside the gate onto the nature strip. Hopefully we can find a harness that she will tolerate because when we are on the road with the caravan she will need to walk for exercise. She certainly has attitude. Today the pair of them did several laps of the house - running from the bedroom at the back through the house onto the vera...

Our breakfast with friends was at Le Cafe Gourmand at Mermaid Beach. There was a cold wind blowing from the south but we were seated on a veranda facing north so were comfortably warm. The pastries and breads are lovely. One of my favourite foods are these Caneles. I managed to finish some caravan jobs. I found a bucket designed for window cleaners that will become Tilly's litter tray in the Bushtracker. It has to be accessible to Tilly, but out of reach for Blue. An elastic strap holds it in place. Our caravan step was slipping on concrete so I attached a rubber mat to the bottom which added weight. I removed the mat and cut small pieces that were tied to the step using cable ties. The step is now much lighter but remains stable on smooth surfaces.  Anita was reading the Gold Coast Bulletin this morning and came across a photo of critters that look just like ours. I hadn't mentioned to her that I had emailed a photo to the newspaper for the Your Pets column. I thought they pr...

Our friends from Newcastle picked up their motorhome this morning and are heading south. Blue and Tilly miss them and their dog Hugo - they keep going downstairs to see if they are back. It was lovely having them stay with us. Our friends were thoroughly entertained by the antics of our critters. They gave us this pet backpack and Tilly easily fits and is happy getting into it. I did a couple of jobs on the caravan - installed midgie flyscreen in the grate on the outside door, and added a layer of midgie flyscreen to the security door. We had another lift company representative come to see if a lift can fit into the shaft of our dumb waiter. I sent a number of companies the dimensions of the shaft, and the rep emailed me to say he could supply one that would fit, but when he inspected the site he described a lot of work would need to be done beforehand. We were not convinced about his product as it needs a pit 130mm deep dug out of our concrete base.  A fencing contractor came to q...

Tilly has been sitting by the front door crying when I take Blue for a walk, so we took her on an outing with both dogs. I put Tilly and Blue together in their crate for the drive. They seemed quite happy. We put both dogs on long leads and called them to "come" for some training. Tilly had her harness on but was happy to just sit in the sun most of the time. Hugo is more relaxed with Blue and they were even seen lying within two feet of each other. For Blue's dinner I cut up some left over steak and mixed it with dry food, then poured on a little hot water for it all to soak. The little bugger managed to pick out the small pieces of steak leaving the soaked dry food on the floor. I caught Tilly mid yawn showing some of her teeth. I had to register Blue with the council. I had taken him with me but the sign on the door said no dogs. I carried him inside and apologetically said I had just seen the no dogs sign. The woman who served me sa...