Birthday

Wednesday was my 45th birthday, not too much of a big deal, I went to toastmasters in the morning and swam after work.

I did get myself a 12 inch sliding compound mitre saw (Ryobi) and am looking forward to playing with it this weekend.

Mid winter dip

On Sunday we did a mid winter swim at Mairangi Bay beach. There were 9 swimmers, more than I anticipated which may have been because of the weather. The weather, and the forecast, leading up to the swim had been universally grim, a series of cold fronts moving up the country and gale force winds. Queenstown had to cancel most of the winter carnival due to bad weather!

But on Sunday morning we had a glorious day, the sun was shining and the wind was much weaker than I had hoped for. I'm not sure we would have had quite so many swimmers if it was raining and blowing a gale.

Just to add to the occasion, a small pod of dolphins swam past the beach, inside the buoys that Vic & I had put out, just 10 min before we started out. A lovely sight, what a pity we were not in the water when they went past.

The swim went very well, the water is cold (13 degrees celcius Geoff said) but not too bad after a few minutes. Most of us got out to the sailing buoy straight out from the club house, maybe 600m out.

Afterwards we went to a cafe' in Mairangi bay for breakfast & coffee. Vic & I had made up some certificates and Vic had brought some spot prizes from work which we handed out. I ended up with a collapsible walking stick, very nice with a compass & whiskey in the handle, but I'm not sure what Vic meant by giving it to me!!

Sunday on the water

Yesterday I swam with some other at Takapuna, but it is getting really cold now. We only went to the third buoy and my feet were seriously cold afterwards. Good company made it worthwhile.

After that I finished the deck outside out bedroom door, I think it looks quite good, but my back felt all the bending over.

Today we dropped Megan off at the twins in Devonport, and the Alison, Duncan & I caught the ferry over to Auckland. Pam had given me a family pass to the maritime museum and it included a ride on the Ted Ashby (a replica turn of the century sailing scow). We had a great time sailing on the Ted Ashby, it was cold but clear and a steady breeze, good sailing weather. Duncan got to sail the boat under the harbour bridge and the captain was patient and answered all his questions. We saw some boats involved in a race come past and a couple of people bungy jumping off the harbour bridge.

We went through the museum after that, an interesting place, and then caught the ferry back to Devenport, all in all a very plesant day.

Bedroom deck

I started this weekend with a swim in the sea off Takapuna beach. Good fun, but the water is definitely getting colder, I was not shivering when I got out, but it look quite a while to warm the feet up.

I had intended to pave the area immediately around the gate that goes between the front and back of the section, but Alison pointed out it should be consistent with the paving I am going to do to the front steps. But before I do that paving I need to build the deck outside the ranch slider to our bedroom.

I downloaded some instructions but found I needed to modify them as there is so little space underneath I could not put bearers under the joists, but as it is a small deck that isn't going to be a problem. So I bought the materials and, despite it being cool and drizzly the whole weekend, have managed to build all the framing necessary. All i need to do now is nail the decking in place. I have the decking, but it was wet when I bought it so waiting till next weekend allows it to dry a bit so I can stain it before I nail it down.

The weight is still at 76.5, I was a bit lower during the week but ended up where I started. I am a bit disappointed as I have kept my eating discipline well. I did go to the Mairangi Bay Surf Lifesaving prize giving on Saturday night and had 2 beers (shock! horror!) and a good helping of a really good paella, you can't stop living.

Queen's birthday weekend

I've just had a pleasant Queens birthday weekend.

On Saturday I went to Takapuna beach and had a swim with Vic, Marieke & Valentino (with Pam watching). The water is quite cool, it catches your breath until the first buoy or so, but after a while it is just cool. The sea was a bit lumpy and I found navigation a bit of a challenge. It also took a while to adjust to the different way of swimming in the sea, but in general it was a nice swim with some good people.

We (the family) then travelled down to Hamilton as it was Alison's birthday on Sunday and my mum has just turned 70. My sister was there cooking up a storm (Emily was there too) and Paul, Jenny & Sam were there so there were plenty of people to keep everyone busy. We did a roast lamb for dinner and I even had some.

I started on a 'liver cleansing diet' after taking to one of my colleagues and Alison agreed to join me. However 2 weeks into it a BBC program on food stated that 'cleansing' diets were a load of hogwash which put a bit of a kybosh on the plans. However, I have decided to continue in the spirit of it in order to loose some weight, my goal is 74kg and I am now at 76.5 from a starting point of 81-83. But I am avoiding red meat and dairy products until then. I'll blog an update when I make the goal.

On Sunday Dad, Duncan and I went to the Hamilton Botanical Gardens and took some photos, here's a link to some of them. This is one of my favourites. We returned to Auckland on Sunday.

On Monday (the public holiday) I went swimming again. The sea was calmer and I enjoyed this swim even more, I was able to get into a much better rythm. We're planning to do a mid-winter swim on June 24th, we'll see how that goes.