Fascinating

October is spring time in Australia. One of the creatures that will start to appear everywhere: the spider.

Here is the first nice one I spotted today at the sidewall of our shed. It is probably an "Oval St. Andrew's Cross Spider" (Argiope aemula). 

The tree stump

Remember the tall pine tree that we had cut a few months ago? Well, we left the stump (dutch: stronk) in the ground , thinking it would not be a problem to stay where it was. That was a mistake. Our septic system needs a drain area and the stump would be a big problem. So it had to be dug out. Thank god I did not have to do this with a shovel.

The house (continued)

We are back from a visit to the factory in Brisbane where they are putting our house together. Actually a strange idea: you travel 400 km and 400 back,  to have a look at a house that they are moving up here in a little over a month.

This is the bathroom, with a sliding door to our bedroom at the left. Have a drink in the tub, open the window, and enjoy the view.
The house will be finished by the end of October. Plan is that Halley Homes will split the house in two half's on 29 October and they will truck it up here. A few weeks later we will live in it !!!
I put some more pictures in the photo book. We are very happy with the results till now.

Even iets recht zetten

Ik blijf mijn "roots" wel trouw hoor, al was het maar vanwege de Senseo (yep, Dorienne, dat is die van jou !) met Dark Roast van AppieHappie.

The house

Monday morning we will be in Brisbane to have a look at the building progress. I will try and make some better pics myself.
This is going to be the lounge room. The construction near the back wall is intended to have our flat screen TV mounted on it and behind that separator wall will be our "office".
A few more pic's in the Photo Book

We have got the power

Ergon Energy finished their job nicely. The last remaining power pole was put in this morning right at the corner of our block. The main cable along George Street was pulled in and connected across the street and also connected to the supply point on Heusmann street. More pictures in the photo book of September.
As far as electricity is concerned...we are ready.
Nice job guys, I will shout you a beer tonight in the pub.

Drivers Licence

The next step in my Aussie adventure. I got my Queensland Drivers Licence.
The Licence is used here not only for what it is intended, but it is the major ID (Identification) for any occasion where an ID is needed. At he bank, for Medicare, Hospital, etc. you will be asked for your drivers-licence. People always doubted what to do if I showed them my pink Dutch drivers-licence as if it was my Membership to "Gay Australia", and I do not always have my passport with me.
That is solved now. I have my own Aussie licence, issued by the local Police Officer on his antique Polaroid card "suitcase". He even registered the card on our new address.

The King Parrots are back

Vlaai

The traditional pastry in the province of The Netherlands where I am from is "vlaai". A sort of fruit-flan made from a yeast dough (dutch: gist deeg), covered with whatever fruit is available. Propably the most used fruit is apricots (abrikozenvlaai).
I have seen my mum, my mother-in-law, my aunts, my grandmother, bake one after the other. Simple job, "just bake a vlaai". But....being 61 now I never made one myself. And tomorrow is Pamela's birthday.
To make a long story short......here is my result: not anywhere near where it should be. The dough has not risen, and mulberries (dutch: moerbei bessen) is not the best combination together with apricots.
But: I made Pamela her birthday vlaai, and I promise that I will practice my skills.
A lot of sugar on top makes it look reasonable Ok I think.

Power

Ergon Energy is finishing their major job in town to replace the old one-fase power supply by the three-fase one. One more week and every house in Mt.Perry is connected to the new system. Around 180 new power poles, hundreds of km new cable, and many new transformers are installed.
One of the final jobs........yes: 6 new poles into George Street, securing the electricity supply for our new home. The cables will be attached next week.

One little disaster happened though: the last pole was drilled right through the main water line, just in front of our block. That caused a nice fountain. But the lucky part of it: to repair the damage, the Council had to dig up the main water line and they put in the connection and watermeter for us straight away. No application and no fee for me !!
There are not many people who can say that Ergon Energy payed for their water connection.

Do they know me over here?

I was going through some paperwork today, and found this envelope. Last year in the Netherlands, I was bragging (dutch: opscheppen) that I am well known in Australia. A letter addressed to "John Holland", or "Dutchie" in Mt Perry, would arrive in my mailbox without a problem. Well, my son put it to the test. As you can see it worked.

Another creative mind

Just the side wall of a very normal workshop. A creative mind with a lot of humour must live there.