My first play in the sea

We had done many walks by the sea with Logan and wandered along the beach but hadn't had a really hot day to make us all feel like going in the water and chilling out at the beach for a bit.

So last weekend we had one of those days and took down the new beach shelter (Surprise! It's yellow and crazy looking) to provide some handy shade from the sun to jig around it, as that's what he does right now.

What is this Dad, its tastes much saltier than my bath

 

Then I took for him for his first "paddle" in the sea, which went from bemusing to being cold and really not sure in only a few minutes. But as he was sporting his very stylish rashy-suit we went for a wander along the beach without having to slather him in tons of sunscreen.

Nice hats boys

Then he had a play with Janice while I went for a snorkel, although had been blowing a lot so was pretty silted up.

My First Camping Trip - by Logan

A couple of weeks ago Mum and Dad took me for my first camping trip to a place called Guilderton, about 1.5 hours north of Perth. It was a great campsite (in my vast experience of one) as it was right by the sea and the Moore River.

Dad took the friday off as and he said something about "how much extra gear do we need for one little guy" and spent hours packing it into our new roofcage on the car!

OK, so a lot of this is Dads play gear too....

 

We got up there and got setup before the rest of the crew arrived but were all in for Friday night and had a good evening. Then Dad decided to test out the Dualis on some 4WD sand tracks as he had wanted to do that for a while but wanted to make sure someone else was there to tow him out if he got stuck. I didn't really want to miss out on anything that morning and so wasn't going to sleep until I got in the car and realised that 4WDing is actually a great way to sleep, must have been Dad's great driving - here's a video of the one point that the Dualis couldn't make it though (and Yes I still slept through all of this), something Dad said about the CVT gearbox and lack of power and clearance (he must really know his stuff!). We did find a way around that hill and actually did well on the soft sand generally.

And then we had a fun afternoon in the river and Dad went off to play with Ollie in the waves in the sea for a bit too, can't wait until I'm big enough to do that!

More photos on the picasa site.

Christmas come early

For two reasons.

1. Janice has been desperate to expand upon our Christmas JibJab "tradition", so been waiting for the round of Christmas e-cards to become available. With of course the main reason being to get Logan in one!

And I think you can all agree it has been worth the wait http://www.jibjab.com/view/4len0yza95Q47UzanrJ6

2. Logan is treating us to an early Christmas present of "sleeping like a baby". Going 12 hours without waking up more than once for the last few nights AND to match that I'm actually sleeping right through too. Hence this upbeat post before I even head to work :)

The Confusing Concierto

For something different J and I had booked to see a Guitar quartet playing music composed by Joaquín Rodrigo at the Perth Concert Hall last night.

All sounds good so far as we both like some classical music. Not "Oh darling I loved the allegro in the 3rd symphony, where the clarinet matched perfectly with the harp" kind of classical buffs, but like it all the same. And for reasons only my Dad can explain he got me into listening to Rodrigo years ago and always have had several different CD's of his concierto, not concierto's!

So we asked Sue to come over to look after Logan and proceeded to get properly attired for the occasion, which presented the first problem. As I went to put on my suit jacket (wool blend) I noticed some holes in the back of it and this is my newest and best suit (not massively expensive but still) and the bloody moths must have had a go at it, just like my one and only wool jumper!

Hey ho! Wasn't intending on wearing the jacket much and at least they didn't eat holes in the pants as well...

It was raining quite hard at the time so we decided to go into the underground parking to make it easier, but guess who had just put the mesh cage on the roofbars that day, ready for camping and all the extra gear the boy is going to need. And hadn't thought of that until I saw how low the roof of the parking place was as we are driving in. We did manage to literally squeeze underneath the height bar with only some minor scraping sounds, all the time with me hoping they do design those places with a few extra inches of clearance for the rest of the parking spaces.

A smart person would have known that it was going to be a bad night by then and just gone home, but not me!

So we get into the hall and start to relax, thinking all is good now (except for Janice telling me I REALLY can't wear the jacket at all as I look like a hobbo). And order our interval drinks and do all those theatre like things and make our way to our seats.

We paid for the reasonable priced seats and even chose the location ourselves so was a bit annoying to get into the seats on the front row of the top tier to find out that I couldn't see about a third of the stage due to the "ridiculously wide" balcony. I'm sure it was designed that way by some expert architect for acoustic reasons or something, but that "expert" obviously didn't sit in my seat! Trying to relax and think it doesn't really matter as you don't need to see the whole orchestra as you're here for the music. Oh, and I forgot to mention that only a few hours before we left I looked up the full program and discovered that the guitar quartet (note quartet as this is important!) playing Rodrigo was only on for approx 30 mins of the 2 hours - "that's not what I thought I booked, but OK!".

So the first piece was by Ravel (mother goose) and was well performed (in my vast experience) but I was waiting for the guitar concierto AND I wanted to feel "immersed" and "transported" by the music, but it wasn't really loud enough or we were too high or something....so I half felt like it was like listening to some really good music that little bit too quiet because you don't want to disturb the neighbours! This is where Janice tells me to shut up (not at the time as she isn't like that) and that it was a great sound, but she has eagle hawk hearing and I compensate my OK hearing with good eyesight.... and you're thinking Phil, why didn't you go and see a film instead if you're more visual, well I'm right with you at this point :)

Moving on to the main event!!! And the quartet come out onto the stage at the head of the orchestra, so I can just about see them all and off it starts. Oh, that doesn't sound quite right I'm thinking. Go with it Phil it's a live performance and the "award winning" quartet are just putting their spin on it. But alas, none of the 25 minute performance was what I was expecting :(

And here's the biggest incorrect information piece of the night - IT WAS THE WRONG CONCIERTO!!!!

We were listening to "Concierto Andaluz (Spanish: Andalusian concerto) is a 1967 work by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo for four guitars and orchestra" and NOT "Concierto de Aranjuez is a composition for classical guitar and orchestra by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. Written in 1939, it is far and away Rodrigo's best-known work".

So I had seen a Rodrigo concierto in the magazine and "crazily" assumed it would be the most famous and the one I have listened to all my life. It was similar music being the same composer and I can't fault the quality of the "players" but just wasn't what I was expecting or wanted to hear!

We then had the interval with me wandering round trying (badly) to pretend it's all good and I'm enjoying our lovely evening out - sorry Janice!

Then after the interval the one pleasant surprise was one piece the orchestra (because of course the guitars were only there for half an hour) played by Osvaldo Goliov which was a very uplifting and powerful piece. And the Stravinsky to finish was ok in stages but I was over it by then :)

So there's a lesson there for us all - to pay attention to detail (which I normally do), because it can make all the difference.

My first swimming session (by Logan)

It was a stormy Sunday afternoon and not a good day to go outside, so I told Mummy and Daddy that they should take me for my first swimming session. And thought it would make a change from my jigging around on my mat and seeing where I could be sick next (so bored with that!).

So we headed to the Terry Tyzack aquatic centre, which is a fancy name for a leisure centre with a few pools.

I wasn't quite sure if I liked it at first with all the people and noise, as you can see on the photos, but then I got into it and we had some fun.



Dad said he looked too bald in this photo, so styled it to fool you...

Chillin with Mum, still not sure what's going on

A funky under/over water shot

Unfortunately even though we were told it was OK to take the camera in, another life guard said it wasn't so stopped before you could see me enjoying myself.

I really enjoyed floating around especially as I seem to be good at it at the moment with my baby blubber :)

Then wondered what was going on when I was dunked under water, but was fun and looking forward to when I can go swimming underwater with Daddy!

Frog boy No More

Good news today, as Logan went in for his "near to" 6 month x-ray on his hips to check how they had formed, as that is the only way to tell properly.

We were pretty sure everything was OK with him but good to get it confirmed :)

And afterall he has been a crazy flipping jiggy baby showing no signs of problems....

Counting my press-ups......99, 100!

When the Mum came to town

After wanting to come over to see Logan (and maybe us a bit too) for the last few months, Mum booked a last minute flight over here for a quick 10 day visit.

Great to see her and introduce Logan to more of the family.

As she came over for a "working visit" we mostly did some things in and around the house.

Playing on the change table


And even though the weather was cooler and wetter than when Mum and David have usually been here we did get out for some good walks along the coast, including a visit to our favourite cafe Yelo.

Sporting my new Olympic 2012 cap in Yelo

And being the "wetter" part of the year we took a trip up into the hills to John Forest National Park (any of this sound familiar Louise!?) and there was actually some water in the waterfall and a lovely 23 degrees day, which made the walk through the old train tunnel a pleasant cooling experience.

 

 

 

And of course more photos on Picasa!



The 7 kg beastie

Logan went for a check-up on his reflux the other day and got weighed and measured. So has chunked and stretched well to weigh 7kg (approx 15lbs) and 64cm, so growing well!

Video update

Figured out that I can link my YouTube video channel to the blog, which hopefully gives you all an easier way to find and view them.

So take a look at the side bar showing some vids you might have seen and some not...

Including this new one with Logan in his "bumbo" chair, practising sitting up.

Logan Looking Cool

Now we're getting some more warm and definitely sunnier days we have to start looking after "the boy" from a sun protection point of view and if he's like his Dad, then he won't like being blinded by the sun. So "momma" got him some practical and cool looking sunnies!

with neoprene strap to keep them on

Who is the coolest?

Training my vine has paid off

I've spent all year training this vine to grow along the wooden post that goes across the back gate. Partially to hide the old scabby looking post and because I can, as it has really taken off and grown very well this year.

Then as we officially hit spring last weekend, it must have known and decided to flower, looking very impressive. So I gave a special photo assignment to my in-house daytime photographer to catch it in the daylight, as the sun is still setting by the time I'm getting home at the moment and I think you'll agree she did a good job!

Overall view

Plenty of flowers

The obligatory close-up shot

I hate rats

Especially when they die and decompose in our loft!

Especially when they usually end up right above our bedroom and stink - real bad!

Especially when getting into the loft space above our bedroom, consists of crawling through a 20ft long space about 12 inches high - to bag the little buggers!

Especially when most of the fibre glass up there is already stinking and covered in rat #%$#$^&*

Thankfully this time it wasn't the height of summer which is about 50 degrees up there.

And we haven't actually heard any rats for months, so hopefully this will be the last time ?!?!

Did I mention I hate rats....

Perth City to Surf 2012

Last weekend was the city to surf race which I decided to take part in this year, as work was sponsoring it and there would be a few people taking part and all for charity of course.

I thought I would go for the 12km run to give myself a bit of a challenge and force me to get back into running again as had been a few years since I had run more than 4 or 5km.

Then work also said they would sponsor partners get involved so Janice said she would do the 4km walk with Logan in the pram, which is a popular option too! And not really a challenge as she probably does that several times a week as her exercise.

My training was a few days a week increasing the distance slowly which helped as from work to home is approx 6km, so could start there and add on a detour around the park or one of the local lakes to increase it without making an extra effort to go out again once I got home.

I was looking at under 65 mins for the distance by the time the race day came, although had heard that there were a few tough hills so wasn't sure how I would go on the day. So very pleased with my final result of 59.04..... especially as I secretly wanted to beat an hour!

My race result

So a BIG THANKS for all of you who sponsored me and I have raised $265, all going to Princess Margeret Hospital which is the main kids hospital here in Perth. And if anyone hasn't sponsored me a still wants to I think you can do so for up to a month or so after the race: http://fundraisingcitytosurf.com.au/phil_duffy

Janice said the toughest part of her walk was dodging the parents and small kids, but it was a fun experience and not something you get to be involved with very often :)

And she tells me that as it was "so easy for you and your chicken legs", then next year I can do the half marathon.... we shall see?!

Fastest visa application ever

My Australian residency renewal is due in approx a month, as it has to be renewed every 5 years and I got it again while we were still in Canada last time. Can't go for citizenship yet as current rules state 4 years in the country with less than a year in between!

I found out you could do it online and wasn't sure if it would take a week or so to process, so started it around 11am Sunday. Then at about 4pm I get a confirmation that all is complete and here is the new visa number!!  And as its all electronic nowadays I don't need to wait for the paper thingy to stick in my passport, too easy :)

Shows what an automated system and a few hundred dollars can do when done properly....

Thanks Australia for putting up with me for a bit longer :)

Stroll around South Perth

A very mixed cloudy, rainy, sunny day today so we decided to take a stroll along the river in south Perth to get out and about, but not get too soaked if a big shower came along.

Easy to get to, just down the freeway and over the bridge so not a big drive which we didn't fancy as had a slow morning getting going. But had good fortune with the weather most of the walk.

Nice cloud formation growing out of your head

Then as it was turning a bit more unpleasant managed to duck into a cafe for some late lunch (for us and Logan), so everyone happy.

And of course, being his first outing since the brace has come off yesterday Janice was excited to dress him up like a little man again, now he will fit in clothes other than sleepers :)

Look at me in my "real" clothes

3 months without drinking

Is it a lifestyle choice? No.
Is it to prepare for the City to Surf run? No.
Or is it because of my feet? Yes.....Erm, what!

Well due a nasty foot fungus over the last 18 months that refuses to go away especially in the nails, I've had to resort to the tablets which are the last course of action typically. Having gone through this lovely process about 15 years ago, I thought it would be a few weeks of tablets and then all good and aware there can be some side effects (hence the last approach).

But the doctor assured me these new ones are safer although best to do a longer course of 3 months and the only side effect may be a slight increase in the affects of UV sunlight (good job it's not summer at the moment). So I'm standing at the chemist (pharmacy) getting the prescription and the following conversation happens:

Pharmacist: "That will be $3 million for each prescription, Mr Duffy" (OK, bit of an exaggeration, but it is Perth...)
Me: "Oh, you must have given me a discount :)"
Pharmacist: "Here is your 1 month course of tablets"
Pharmacist: "You do know you can't drink any alcohol while on this medication?"
Me: "Umm, Well I do now!! - Do you mean NO alcohol at all?"
Pharmacist: "Yup, it can make you really drowsy and reduce the effectiveness of the medication"
Pharmacist: "Oh and I see you have 2 repeat prescriptions for the next 2 months (laughs to himself)"
Me: "Yes, well sucks to be me, but might save some money..."

And of course Janice just laughed, as she had not been drinking while preggo with frog-boy.

Saturday morning with dad

Sharing the porridge experience whilst sleeping...after distracting me to make it boil over and stinking the house out! We had to put a pot of coffee on quickly to avoid "the wrath" of the momma :)

Although that would entail her getting out of bed to catch us, and L and I are quick when we want to be!

3 mile reef

You gotta love the Ozzy way of saying it like it is. So we headed out to a couple of dive sites along the line of reef, out from the harbour at Hillarys.

It was an interesting start to the diving day due to the fact that I just heard about the latest white pointer attack as I was driving towards the harbour, so was naturally a little bit more nervous than usual. The sharks are always there of course, but 5 fatal attacks in 10 months does make you think and pay a bit more attention on a safety stop, hanging mid-water!

Besides that though, the dives were pretty good with a classic dive plan of "drop in off the boat and cruise around a bit" in a group. And I do forget sometimes that I've done a few dives, but when you see the new divers not knowing which way around to setup their gear and struggle to clear their ears in the water as they drop like a stone, you have to chuckle to yourself...while helping them of course.

So we set off in a group although with two of us doing a camera dive we were quickly left behind by some of the buddy pairs as they tore off through the water in search of everything :)

The first site was similar topography to most Perth based dives with the most interesting thing being a HUGE Cowrie shell. Huge being relative of course and it's hard to tell but it was about 20cm across, about 4 times the usual size.

Trust me, this was a big fellah

Then I had a quick in-between bounce dive as the anchor got stuck in some reef so I jumped back in to free it and float it out the way with a lift bag, was like the old days of working back on the boats in Cairns (without the bourbon).

Discovered an interesting piece of jetsam on the last dive, which was like the base of large traffic cone. So I freed that and towed it around with me on the dive, playing with it to create some fun photo ops with my fellow divers.

A gloved finger sneaking in the shot....

As ever, more photos on picasa. 

Who'd have thought eating could be so difficult

Well it obviously is when you're only 6 weeks old!

Little "frog boy" has had some fun and games feeding with the momma and when we thought the feeding was going alright, he wasn't actually getting enough! So now on top-ups with formula which is fattening him up slowly but surely and everyone a bit happier, especially the momma.

And now fully appreciate the tough times other people go through as we've had a few trips to PMH (Princess Margaret Hospital) and seeing the really sick kids there!

Chillin out on one the PMH trips

But what is really good now is the smiles that we get pretty often now, makes it all worthwhile :)

Frog boy and his new carriage

So we were not so thrilled to learn about Logan having not quite formed hip sockets (like his mum) so we have to have him in a "harness" for the next 6 weeks or so which should help them form properly (especially as it was caught when he is so young). Not a major trauma, but not pleasant for all of us.

So to accommodate his new "frog like" leg position and be carried around the house as well as "out and about" comfortably (which in turn helps keep Janice sane) we acquired a new sling. As he won't currently fit into his baby bjorn carrier this a great alternative.

And if we were concerned that he wouldn't be comfortable in the harness, he seems to have put that worry to rest by sleeping very well, including in his new sling!

My new "carriage"

And the only time we are officially allowed to take him out of the harness is for his bath, so luckily he does enjoy bath time and once he's out of the bath and dry, likes checking himself out in the mirror-like window (just like his Dad!).

What are you looking at?

And No, we don't actually bath him in the kitchen sink (after the first night he came home), we bath him in the kitchen to fill up his REAL baby bath and use the surface to dry him.

Hi Dad!

When Grandma came to visit

A good time was had by all when Louise visited, especially Logan who was very pleased to see Grandma and have her help (and get a break from his weird parents).

It was a more sedate visit than previous ones for the obvious reason of the little guy ruling the scheduling of the house nowadays, but we did get some good walks along the coast including our favourite coffee shop Yelo.

A good "Cap" at Yelo after a walk along the coast

Logans first visit to the sea!

Then we met up with Taylor clan one weekend at Whiteman Park, which is actually bigger than I thought as we found out when we missed the sign for the area to meet up. After finding ourselves out the other side of the park, we turned around and then did find them. Then a good play and BBQ then a wander round the park was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Scooter on the loose

As we hadn't had a photo of Janice, Logan and I (except about 2 minutes after he was born) we employed Glynn's photo services to take a few and got the odd good one when we were all paying attention.

Wow, I actually look tall

As it is winter and Louise had only ever been over in the scorching summer we decided to take her for a trip up to the Perth hills and headed for John Forrest national park. This has a series of paths, with the main one following the old train line which gives some great views back over the plain towards Perth with a couple of waterfalls on the way. Unfortunately the waterfalls are typically lacking in water and with us having some rain we hoped they would be running, but was a bit too early in the season it seems...

On the pathway

Look hard to see the water...

And as ever take a look at the picasa album for all the photos!

Winter is here

1.2 degrees this morning. A very unAustralian temperature so must mean winter has caught up with us and just in time to welcome Louise!

Is still sunny and 22 in the day, so can't complain.

Good job we've acquired another heater to help keep the house warm overnight for "the boy".

Speaking of whom, here he is for his first appearance on the blog

A morning in the life of Phil and Logan

We wake up hungry.
Drink some juice (or milk).
Then enjoy some breakfast (or milk), whilst reading the news on the iPad.
Then we have a little chat/stare at the lights
Then we're usually sick a bit...(oh wait, that's just Logan)
Then we go back and have another sleep (damn, that's only Logan too!)
Hey ho, I better go to work.

Summer is gone

We have been having some much overdue rain over the last week, so with summer seeming to be properly over I thought I'd share a few photos of the purple flower extravaganza we had a few weeks ago around the garden.

Especially with some of the shots being from the bush in the back that I hacked down a little bit - did you doubt it would return?

See what a good pruning can do

Thanks for the macro lens, Dad

And Janice's latest flower arrangement in the big blue pots grew very well this time!

Monster sized lamp shade

After many deliberations and failed attempts we've finally changed our 80`s style brass leaf chandelier (sounds good doesn't it) in the lounge.

We have a high sloping ceiling so didn't take the subtle approach.

And if you're thinking "is that a fuzzy fake leather pattern?" then you're correct. But it actually looks good...honest!

And yes I'm using the mobile blogging app on my phone again, hence the images on their side. Have to figure out a way to fix that :)

Still waiting...

Janice had what is hopefully her last checkup yesterday as she is due officially on Tuesday! Although the bets are on for Saturday ( oh. That's tomorrow...) as its a full moon and the 5/5 but we will see.

Just excited to see the little Duffy now :)

The waiting game

ANZAC day today, which beyond the actual remembrance for those who fought in the war means we all get the day off work.

So started the day with a run round our local park/reserve, as I haven't done much running for a while and discovered that I am in sore need of a more regular schedule to get back into my pre-40 fitness state!

A pleasant day after that doing a few useful things around the house and enjoying the unexpected hotter weather again as it hit around 29 degrees, although Janice was less than impressed as she is definitely "over" the hot weather. Especially with her internal hot water bottle in full swing right now.

And following my orders as the pregnancy "partner' I encouraged her to get out with me in the afternoon for a walk around lake monger as we hadn't been there for a while. And a very pleasant afternoon wander it was being treated to some perfect photographic late afternoon light.

Couldn't resist the reflections

Well known for a lot of waterbirds

Rare "autumnal" leaves

Can't go home without some macro shots

Leaf  shaped cloud - seems to be a theme for the walk

Nursery nearly there

So the nursey is mostly done although some shelves were added today (that didn't make it into the photos) and there isn't a whole underwater scene, yet!

Note the excellent curtain and valance hanging

The rocking-slider chair with rocking footstool - how bizarre!



Extra points if you noticed one side is upside down (to be fixed soon)

Better clear this out when the baby comes



She's ready