The Possible End to the Golden Weather

Over the past couple of days we have had a reminder that winter is on it's way, with frost on the cars in the morning.
The grass has changed to a bright green and now we are back to mowing the lawns every week.
The wine growers have finished picking and from all accounts it has been the best season in Martinborough for 20 years, and now we are all looking forward to some tasty Pinot's...
I have had the gallery open most weekends with a reasonable flow of visitors but have only been able to use my new shiny eftpos machine once and that was for the princely sum of $20.00 for some greeting cards.
I don't think I am going to make my fortune this month!
Just finished organising for the boat to come out of the water for its annual bottom clean and anode replacement.
I hope that the anti-fouling is still in good condition and will last another 12 months.

Duramara

At last the boat has a visible name, Duamara.

I Have My Very Own eftpos Machine

I now have my very own eftpos machine for the gallery, all ready for the sales....

Yes, of course I can take your credit card.

Long Hot Summer

Cancel all the things I've said about our weather, we've had a great run, now 45 days of clear warm weather.
Had some really good sailing, with winds that really showed how well the Westerly Corsair could go.
Although it's only been around and about Wellington harbour, it still takes at least half a day of sailing to get around.
Our 6,000l tank which we use for irrigation is down to about 1,000l which should last at least the next few weeks, then it's the town supply and pay!
And now Mrs DIY is making hints about a swimming pool.

Red Dots

These are the most beautiful thing an artists gets as a prize after many hours work and a affirmation of the art produced is good enough for someone to buy.

I think I am now classed as an emerging artist...
Sold 7 Paintings in the 3 hours of the exhibition and now I'm a very happy artist.
Many thanks to all the people that supported me, and kept telling me my pictures were OK.

My Yahoo Account Was Hacked from Turkey!!

On Sunday someone hacked my Yahoo account from Turkey! (see log)
It was only my Paranoia re spam, that I noticed the problem so quickly (1 hr later) and change my password and upped my security, something I should have done before.
I know it's a pain but regular changes to you password/s is really a good idea.
The next trick is to remember them ....

	10 Feb, 2013	6:06 PM	Browser	Mail Access	New Zealand
	10 Feb, 2013	6:04 PM	Browser	Mail Access	New Zealand
	10 Feb, 2013	12:23 PM	Browser	Logged In	Turkey
	10 Feb, 2013	12:22 PM	Browser	Mail Access	Turkey
	10 Feb, 2013	12:22 PM	Yahoo!Xtra Mobile	Logged In	Turkey
	10 Feb, 2013	11:25 AM	Browser	Logged In	New Zealand
	9 Feb, 2013	10:11 AM	Browser	Logged In	New Zealand

Gallery Exhibition - 1st Showing

Yes the moment of truth is about happen, the gallery opening, Saturday 16 February from 2pm-5pm, only  days away, where has the time gone?.
A little thought keeps runs trough my head, "don't give up your day job" which is bit daft, as I don't have a day job, only painting and that is currently unpaid. (please buy one)

I did some calculations on my last sale and I think it worked out to about $2.50 per hour. it would be nice if I could get to the minimum wage..

An end to the Summer?

 

 After an amazing run of summer weather, we have had temp of in excess of 36deg in Martinborough with the accompanying beautiful days.

Even had to move the dog walking to the early morning because of the heat.

Today the weather office tells us it is coming to an end for a few days (see rain map) but there's another high on the way, I hate to say this but a little drop of rain will help the garden which is totally dried out after over 3 weeks of continuous hot weather and no rain.

The Joys of Owning a Yatch!

Yesterday we went sailing, it was a great day, flat seas and a steady breeze, testing out the repaired sail and after tacking up the harbour for an hour, did a quick 'ready about' executed to perfection but the Genoa sheet caught the forward stay that I had safely tied back to the handrail and pow (sfx), it succeed in ripping part of the deck handrail out of the deck, Bum!
Examining the remains, the fixing holding the rail had snapped and by the look of the bits the ss fitting was rusted through, this could have been done when the boat was being built over 20 years ago...

Oh well, another repair but it's a relatively easy fix.


sfx - Sound effect.

Sailing!

At last we were able to set sail and try out the new winches, finally after a lot of heaving and lifting we were able to get Oscar on board, which was a bit of a mission, he wasn't a happy dog.
We got the sails up, much easier with the new winches, very little discussion was required and we were away in a good breeze.
We had just reached Soames Island in Wellington harbour, and we were trying to decide if a reef in the sail would be a good idea, and rip! the stitching in one panel parted company and so ended sailing for 2 weeks - the local sail-maker was away on holiday!
The only one that was happy was the Oscar the dog.
We shall be back but I'm afraid Oscar is going to go to dog prison (kennels), when we go sailing again.