My 2020

What a year. With too much time spent watching or reading the news, we are only too aware of how exceedingly lucky we are. Apart from not be able to go to Europe in the middle of the year, and a number of zoom meetings, the year for us has been very similar to previous years. We work from home and do not go out much anyway. Susanna managed a 5 week trip to Vienna in January and February but was back before the doors started shutting.

While Suz was away, I started attending a two hour course in the north of Perth. This was every week for most of the year with the middle of it via zoom. The whole process of working one's way through a text book to learn German is not much more succesful than any of my other attempts but it gets me out of the house . . .

March sees Sculpture by the Sea closed down early, we manage to get there in time . . .

We continue to have dad over about once a week for dinner, he catches a taxis over, and I drive him back - except for a few months when his home was locked down. We have also had him over for the odd orchestral concert in Fremantle. For the second year running, we manage the Christmas Carols at St Georges with him. However, he is now finding the walk back to our place from Freo a bit much.

Dad and Susanna on the King's Park bridge in early spring.

Cycling

We continue our regular rides around the river. Works on the Freeway cycleway underway last year are now completed and replaced with works on the Claremont cycleway where the new railway lines for Airport link are going in to turn the trains around. We are also seeing alot more of the Ospreys, including this fella dining just south of the Narrows;

We have ridden the road bikes so much that by autumn, my front wheel popped a spoke and Susanna's rear wheel began developing loud creaking noises. We eventually found 3 huge cracks in the rim where spoke nipples are on the drive side. A beautiful new Australian made wheelset from Craftworx was purchased and is a delight on the Domane. My perfectly serviceable rear wheel replaces Susanna's, and the round the river runs continue.

New wheels, tyres, brake pads and handlbar tape, a midlife makeover.

For Susanna's birthday, May, along with Deirdre from number 1, we ride the Railway Heritage trail taking a packed lunch for Mundaring where we come across a group of exhausted French backpackers who are midway walking the 40kms we are riding . . .

I manage to go mountain biking down in Dwellingup four times including riding the 60km leg of the Dwellingup 100 in August with my brother in law. It was a beautiful route incorporating parts of the new trails but very muddy. A long day with occasional sunshine and lots of rain.

Overseas Travel

Despite 2020 being the year of Covid, I did manage to go overseas twice . . . on day trips out to Rottnest. The first one because Ildiko and Jim were going to announce their engagement. We had hired bikes and managed a tour of the gorgously restored Victorian era lighthouse, the Wadjemup in the middle of the island. The guide found the Goodies Lighthouse song, the "Jolly Rock", on his phone and we danced and sang a few choruses. Unfortunately footage of this has been lost. The second to accompany dad. My sister Rebecca had come over from England and spent two weeks quarantined in the Novotel Langley Hotel to spend the next four weeks with the rest of us. Covid had scuttled plans for the entire family to come out mid year. We manage to catch up at South Beach a few times, and I took her for a spin around the river on the bike.

The Rottnest turbine at sunset.

House Only minor repairs on the house were attempted this year, cracks in the stainglass in the middle door from a slam years ago, were fixed and the failing chimney was given some attention. The top half was removed with only 3 layers replaced and new pots installed. There is a couple in Kalamunda who specialise in making these things. We finally replace a solar panel and it's inverter that had died, so solar output is a little up. The rainwater pump was also replaced with a considerably more powerful pump after it failed. As we do every year, the honey is removed from the hive, in autumn and in spring. Another tradition we are hoping to develop in autumn and spring, on the equinoxes, along with the winter solstice are celebrations with a fire under the big tree next door with the neighbours on our side of the street. We lose a close friend in Deirdre when she leaves for Alice Springs in July. Hopefully, she will return in a few years.

SkyFarming

It has been a windy year with 2020 being a massive 20% above the 9 year average for Mt Barker. Debt for the project was finally paid off in August when unfortunately our landowner died. He had been ill for a while and was quite elderly. Peter, Susanna and myself drove down for the funeral which was well done and well attended. Gerard was born, lived and died in Mt Barker. It appeared as though half the town was there to pay their respects. He was truly a son of Mt Barker.

We shifted the sodar from Mt Barker where had been located for 6 weeks in position between T2 and T3 and found to produce figures at hub height that lay between the two turbines. So, the sodar still works . .. During a silly hot 39 degree day in mid February, Ross and I drove the sodar to a site just east of Perth and set it up again. A very windy year means the data we have to date, is too high to be typical and our long term predictions will be more modest. Nevertheless, we think the wind is good and will spend next year developing a case for a project there.

On one of the few trips to Mt Barker, Tom wanted some photos of the property . . . 21/05/2020

Book of the Year

All the best for 2021

Andrew