Ladders, Lemons and Lengthy Legless Lizards (Oh and a Weekend Race Too!!)

It's Canada Day +1 today. In honour, our city in Australia has declared today a public holiday....not really..... although it is a public holiday here in Townsville. Every year there is a public holiday declared to coincide with the local show.
These were formerly agricultural exhibitions which showcased the best that the region had to offer in cattle, poultry, small crops and home-made goods amongst many other things. These days it's more about the carnival rides and show bags than anything else.
We went once (I think it was only once) when our son was much younger and even he tired of it very quickly so we enjoy the day off and putter in the yard. We will be heading to eastern Canada next month and should be around for the Hants County Exhibition-a regular annual event throughout our youth and even into adulthood. It's the longest running agricultural exhibition in North America.
So what does puttering on the yard on a Monday entail?

Well actually I worked from home for the morning and then watched a replay of last night's stage of Le Tour- great thing those digital recorders- you can really make a 200km road race flash by pretty quickly to get to the pointy end of things.

Then I decided it was time to harvest a few more lemons. Our tree has been loaded this year and there were a few that were desperate to be relieved of their grip on the branch. So I relocated the ladder and grabbed about half a dozen fruit- then moved the ladder around to the other side of the tree- there were a couple of very big fruit- much too high to reach from the ground.

Now that's a lemon!! 566 grams worth.

While I was recovering said lemon from the tree, I noticed one of the branches move slightly and upon closer inspection, found that I had company at the top of the ladder-

A nice little (probably 2.5 metres or so) python was basking in the sun and my harvesting activities had disrupted his slumber and he didn't seem all that happy about it. Needless to say the rest of the afternoon's lemon-pickin' has been rescheduled to a date to be confirmed. Mind you he did hang around while I fished out my phone and took a bunch of photos.

And yesterday and today were a couple of those fantastic North Queensland winter days where it is just blue skies forever with clear, clear air and nary a cloud. Bright and early Sunday morning Dee and I jumped in the car and headed inland to Charters Towers for a road race. A really nice 35km circuit with rolling hills that are enough to test the legs and get the heart rate up a bit.

First race for both of us for a bit- with work and a couple versions of flu and colds keeping me off the bike for a bit, it was nice to have a bit of a hit-out. And everybody in The Towers is so friendly and what little traffic there is, is always accommodating to the riders.

They are trying to revive the cycling club in Charters Towers and if we can help garner enthusiasm by racing there, I'm all for it.

We'll be heading back out there next month for a three stage race (their second year) and a fondo (first year) so it should be a great time.

Cheers- ride safe (and watch out for snakes)

BoaB