Saturday 1 - Monday 10 February, 2014 (diary)

Although the first half of the month was relatively dry the rest of it was plenty wet with a total of 645 mm recorded on our farm for the month.

In our rural area some cases of the banana freckle disease was spotted at one or two plantations, which caused an initial knee jerk reaction from the Government that all banana trees in the area (healthy or not) had to be destroyed. My Dutch acquaintance Peter was especially upset about this as 60% of his income comes from growing and selling bananas.
To date the diseased trees have been destroyed, while many others have been inspected only and left alone. Including the one which is growing in front of my cabin. Fingers crossed.

Quality goods are almost impossible to purchase in shops these days. Simple items, like Bonds Sports briefs underwear, which I have been buying ever since I landed in Australia, are no longer anywhere on display these days. Quality Palmone shoes (hand crafted by an Italian family living in Melbourne) which I love are hard to find, as well as quality leather wallets. All you see in the shops these days (especially in shopping centres) is cheap rubbish I, for one, would not touch.
Fortunately the choice on the Internet these days is really fantastic and I spent around $800 this past week or so on just those type of items I mentioned above. The choice of eBookss online (Google Play) is also a smorgasbord and I have downloaded and purchased about 50 books so far.

Tuesday 11 - THursday 20 February, 2014 (diary)

Through my sustained teaching efforts our Bridge Club is steadily growing in numbers. Last week we had seven full tables (28 players) on the Wednesday for the very first time.
I am teaching a fine crop of a dozen new Beginners right now, who all are keen and very enthusiastic.
In three weeks time they will join the "regulars", while I start with the next Beginners course to be completed just before the Easter weekend.

Planning for our Bridge on the Sandbar event on Sunday May 18 is also in progress. At least 6-8 players from my old bridge club in Adelaide will fly in and join us for the event. I am also in progress of getting special T-shirts made up for the event.

I have never been very keen on Italian soccer players, with one standout exception : Allessandro Del Piero.
I have watched him with great pleasure over the years, and after 19 years of playing in Italy for Uventis he has come to Australia two years ago for his final seasons as a professional soccer player. Here he has been a wonderful asset to the sport creating huge interest country wide.
When asked in a recent interview how he felt about coming with his young family to Australia he replied "Australia is not just a different country, it is a different frame of mind."
I find that a very perceptive observation and in my view it is of course spot on. After living all his life in Europe (and especially in Italy) he and his family found life in Australia (living in Sydney) totally different and are enjoying it enormously.

Friday 21 - Fiday 28 February, 2014 (diary)

We had only 263 mm of rain this month, less than half compared to January. February is usually one of the wettest months during our wet season, but this year that clearly was not the case. Lovely weather though, so I for one am not complaining.

Still busy busy with the bridge club. My main worry has been the upcoming tourist season, which starts in mid May and continues until the end of August.
Last year it was almost impossible to find a parking spot at the Trailer Boat Club or next door in front of the Darwin Sailing Club. Bridge players had to walk large distances to get to our club.

So this year I have been searching for an alternative venue to play bridge on at least one day during the week. And I finally think I have found one : The PINT Club in the Darwin Suburb of Marrara.
The club is located within the Darwin Sporting Complex. Tuesday nights the club is very quiet, almost deserted, so on Tuesday March 11 we will have a trial run there. If successful, this is where we probably will play bridge on Tuesdays on a regular basis.

One of our bridge players asked me to give a talk in the Casuarina Library next Thursday and I will do that on the subject of A Philosophy of Happiness. When I wrote that series a few years ago I wrote each article as new aspects came to my notice. The upcoming talk has been an opportunity to look at the series again and rearrange the articles in a more logical order. Have a look if you are interested.