Spatial Awareness & Body Hair

You read the title correctly:

Spatial Awareness & Body Hair

LGR is currently fascinated by each of these topics. How do I know? Well - apart from living with him ...

At least once a day LGR will stop and ask some sort of question along the lines of "Which room is above us now?" or "Who owns that window?". He's always asking these questions about our house and I can picture his brain ticking over putting the pieces of the three dimensional puzzle together.

As for the body hair ... He has developed a charming little habit of telling me that he has hairy legs - "just like Daddy". Then he shows me his hairy legs and changes his mind. "My legs are hairy but not like yours."

Very sweet and very innocent.

Hayz is reaching that stage where she is moving from being adorably sweet and innocent to a little but sneaky and more than willing to play on emotions. She's still sweet but has learnt the value of a good screech and some tears on the cheek.

Most importantly however - she still manages to enthrall people wherever we go and is talking more and more often. I might see if I can see some sound grabs of the kids talking/singing etc and put them on the other page.

In other news that isn't limited to the kids I can reveal that Mrs G got a pretty good result in her first assignment of the new Uni semester and she is also looking after herself (the person out there who was concerned can rest easy now).

My knee is getting stronger and stronger. It's still not perfect but my running regime is coming along nicely and strength is slowly returning. I've come up with a shortlist of races I'd like to do over the next couple of years and, at this point, I'm about 20.5 km away from being able to complete the shortest of them :-)

A Loooonnnnnggggg Weekend

We seem to have done a million things this weekend - but I'm sure that in telling the story it won't seem that way.

It started off with swimming lessons for Hayz on Saturday morning. She was very cute (again) and is almost, but not quite, good enough to go up a level. I'm not upset about this - it's a bit of fun to do lessons with her.

From lessons it was a quick trip home for a shower and to get some stuff together before heading up the mountains. I drove mostly over the speed limit and the trip passed quickly enough :-) We had a quaint little celebration of UG's birthday (which was actually a while back) and the kids enjoyed giving him pressies.

After lunch we went for a walk to the primary school Mrs G and I attended. It's changed a bit - there's very obviously been a safety audit done and some playground changes have been implemented. There's also a new indoor sports hall. The grounds were pretty dirty and we had a bit of a gaze into some of the buildings and they were also quite dirty. I guess this is because school's can't afford cleaners anymore .....

Mid afternoon we left Grandma's house to go to Nanna's house for TJ's party. Pretty much everyone on the Jones side of the family was there. It was a pretty good night. LGR loved playing with his cousins and there was a lot of very noisy and animated conversation.

Then came Sunday.

It started with a very nice run (for me) and then a trip up to the shops for some food. We were fairly efficient today and got out without too much damage on the plastic cards.

After going home to put all the beautiful new food away I took the kidlets out for an adventure while Mrs G did some study.

First stop was Woronora Dam - near Helensburg. It's been a couple of years since I was last there and the drop in water levels was quite shocking. It rammed home some of the significance of the ongoing drought. It also reinforced my strong feelings of vertigo as I held up the kids to see the water on one side fo the dam and the dry land on the other.

Next stop was a park in Helensburg. We found some play equipment and had a very nice game. There was also a picnic had (not much was eaten) and a phone call made to Mrs G to see how she was going. At this point I was reminded about our next destination selling goldfish and this was all the bait that was needed to get LGR into the car.

Next was the ZooCow nursery. We bought 3 fish, some herbs, a native tree with red leaves and two golden leaved shrubs. And some potting mix. LGR and Hayzey shared a milkshake and both of them enjoyed playing the water features. Somehow we managed to spend about 90 minutes at the nursery and nobody seemed to mind too much.

A quick trip home and it was time to plant the herbs. Both kidlets helped out in their various ways. I know a bloke who got a staff/staph infection from some potting mix a while back so I'm very cautious around it now - much to the displeasure of the kids. But they had a dig and this seemed to be enough for them.

Time for a bath. LGR didn't enjoy this too much and who can blame him? It was very awkward and his wash lasted for all of 3 minutes.

Dinner was next. This was a bit of fun tonight. We were given a pasta maker last Christmas (I think?) and today we finally used it. Everyone helped out and the pasta even ended up tasting good. Next time we'll make the recipe a little differently but know we've been through the technique once there's no reason not to do it again.

So that's about it. All little things but when it's all added up plenty going on.

Oh Yeah!!!!!!

Check this out:

Manly vs Bulldogs.

Manly wins 21 - 20.

Take that!!!!

Plaster

Today was a bit sad. LGR went back for some more X-rays on his arm. For whatever reason Mrs G was convinced he would be better. He wasn't - and has come with a permanent cast. Apparently the splint type cast was for use while there was some swelling on his arm. LGR doesn't mind too much at the moment - he keeps knocking on the cast and asking "Who's there?".

Hayzey was very sweet this morning. I went in to get her out of her cot when she woke up this morning and am convinced she said "Hi Daddy. I'm sore." Mrs G heard the same words. It's quite possible because she has conjunctivitis. Again. And she still hasn't shaken off her ear infections. So we're getting her some more medication ....

When I was leaving for work I waved good bye to the kids. LGR waved back in his watching TV fashion but Hayzey started howling, then raced over to where I was and grabbed my hand. This was cute enough - but then she turned around to Mrs G (while holding my hand) and started saying goodbye :-) I'm not sure if she meant that Hayz was coming with me or Mrs G was leaving but either way it made me feel very special.

A New Era of Energy Production

Could the information in this link be true?

I'd like to think so. My children would like to think so; but they don't know it yet.

To read the articles it seems as though approx 30sq m of panelling would be enough to produce energy, year round, for my house. Excess energy produced during strong daylight periods could be stored and used when the sun disappears (eg night time, winter - although there's plenty of sun around in winter in the last couple of years).

Could this be the miracle breakthrough the world is waiting for?

Home Early

I got a call from Mrs G at about 13:45 this afternoon telling me kindy was claiming Hayzey had a fever and we needed to pick her up. Mrs G was in training so I graciously volunteered.

When I got to kindy I decided to check in on LGR first. I looked thru the window of the Pre-School and he was dancing around with his mates shaking a maracca. I was spied through the window and next thing I knew LGR and a bunch of his mates were all talking to me and telling me how fun they were having :-) There was no way LGR was going to go home just yet ....

Next stop was Hayz. When I walked into her room she was sitting quietly by herself. When she saw me she blurted out a croaky "Dadda" and I thought maybe she was sick after all. She'd had some Panadol but no food. Kindy did tell me she was looking a bit better.

Hayz and I got home (LGR definitely wasn't ready to leave) and she started eating. And eating. And eating. She wasn't overly active but at the same Hayz was having a grand time reading here books to herself. Every time she turned the page she would yell out "Banana".

In the end I got a couple of hours off work and Hayzey is not sick. The downside is that I have to start work at 04:00 tomorrow morning and have not had a chance to properly prepare for the work I have to do. Time will tell what happens.

Dinner with the Kids

Today was a pretty typical day. Up nice and early to do some exercise and get ready for work. A quick chat with the kids then into the car to listen to Adam Spencer on the radio. At work just after 07:00.

Leave work about 16:00 to pick up the kids. Get stuck in traffic - particularly on the Motorway.

Arrive at kindy and hear shrieks of joy and a variety of questions. Spend about 10 minutes trying to get out the door :-)

But it was different when we got home tonight. Mrs G is at a work function/dinner thing so it was just me and the kids tonight. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary but it was very nice to sit down and chat and have their complete attention. They were both very well behaved and they even ate their dinner.

The highlight was pulling faces with Hayz. And watching her imitate LGR. And watching LGR enjoy being imitated.

Party

Today we went to a birthday party at Gledswood Estate. It was very cool. We got to do all sorts of things - milk cows, throw boomerangs, watch dogs chase sheep, watch kids chase sheep, watch geese chase kids ...

It's a really nice place - a total surpise to me. The place feels like it's on the edge of the world but it's only about 15 minutes from large shopping centres and residential areas.

I want to buy it and live there. I don't think I have enough $$$.

The other good thing we did today was get two little goldfish for our litte fishtank. LGR is very excited about it - but it took about 5 minutes for the excitement to wear off. The poor little fish looked a little despondent for a while but seem to have calmed down a little now.

Lastly - Footy Tipping. I had a shocker this weekend. 3 from 7. I was 0 from 4 last night and feeling quite crook. Coming into the previous round I had a lead of 5 points. This shrunk to 3 over the course of the round (no thanks to referees screwing up the Tigers game). I shudder to think we're I'll be after this round ....

At least the Eagles are winning.

Ice Cream in the Sun

Hayz went back to swimming lessons today. LGR has some plaster issues which are preventing him from also attending lessons :-(

Initially Hayz was quite lazy but she warmed up when she was allowed to climb out of the pool and jump back in. She got bolder the longer the lesson went and by the end she was counting to three (in her own language) and throwing herself into the water!!

The next couple of hours consisted of some grocery shopping; Mrs G clothes shopping and LGR birthday present shopping. I'm very thrilled with what we've gotten him but you'll all have to wait until his birthday to find out what it is.

After lunch I took LGR and Hayz out for a drive so Mrs G could get some study/work done. We ventured to a nice enough park on the water at Rhodes (the water is apparently called Duck River - no ducks to be seen). After some awkward playing (the toys were just a touch too big for Hayz and LGR was a little bit unsure of himself) we went for a walk along the promenade to the shops to get some food for dinner. While we were there I was able to be talked into getting the kids some ice-cream.

The ice-cream was nice. I didn't have any but the kids were so happy and content to eat ice cream in the sun ... It only took about 15 minutes to get through it but while it lasted it was very peaceful and quite lovely.

From here it was a walk back to the car and home. Not much happened from here on in - but between Mrs G and myself we've managed to read to each of the kids for over an hour. Most of the time they were sitting on our laps in a very unusual display of prolonged affection, concentration and inactivity. No complaints about any of that from me.

More Pics

I've posted the July pics at my other site . Have a look :-)

What's been happening? I've been working and it's been a very long week. I know there are plenty of people out there who have longer shifts and work more days per week; but my week was still pretty long.

We got a few things fixed around the house. The dishwasher has been on the blink for about two weeks. The nice fixer upper man came out today and was able to determine that the guys who put in our new floors had managed to introduce a kink into the hose - thus causing our problems. The issue was the way they had finished the floor to the dishwasher (but not under it - they claimed they couldn't get the dishwasher out ...). The finish meant the washer had to be pushed just a little further back and this introduced a kink.

Conveniently the floor people were also coming around today to fix a couple of little issues that had arisen. When they got here Mrs G asked them about the area around the dishwasher and suggested they should finish the job. The guy who was doing the fixing was not the same guy (or guys) who did the initial work and he was, by all accounts, a bit upset about the effort put in. Of more intrigue was that he was able to tell us who had done the original work - suggesting a bit of a pattern???

The fixer upper chap completed the job under the dishwasher and fixed up some of our other small issues. The dishwasher dude left our washer in the middle of the kitchen so it could be done - but didn't charge us anything. All that is left for us is to wriggle the washer back into place tomorrow (there's some silicon which needs some curing time) and we're all set. Hopefully.

What else? We had another disco tonight. Tonight's effor fizzled out pretty quickly. I would suggest this is because LGR has had a very active day and his arm was causing some discomfort. They still managed a nice dance and had some fun.

I also had a nice little game with Hayz. I was laying on my back and spinning around and she kept chasing my knees. The aim for her was to climb over my knees and onto my belly. It seems as though this can only be done via my knees - climbing onto the belly from the side is a big no-no.

Earlier this week LGR got very upset at his shadow. It wouldn't leave him alone ...

Glamorous Industry

It is so glamorous to be in the IT industry; particularly when you work for a (comparatively) leading edge content company.

I got up at 03:00 to be at work by 04:00 this morning. To get to where I needed to be in the building I had to swipe my ID card at the front door, get past security, swipe my card again to get into a hallway, swipe again to get into a room, identify myself to a certain person and then get them to let me through two more doors before being allowed into a cage containing some highly sensitive and very important equipment.

Then I sat on a chair with my laptop in my lap (where else would it be?) typing away and waiting for things to happen. Every now and then I had to get up to move some cables or turn things on and off. At the end of it all I left via the same series of doors to emerge into the cool night air. From here it was a short walk to my building on the campus and the commencement of a day's work.

90 minutes later the sun came up ....

----

What's happening in the world of the clan? Not much. The last two days have been fairly mellow. Both kids are sleeping through and that is a very nice occurrance. I'm reading the second Billy Connolly biography - which is mostly, but not entirely, about him. Mrs G is back into the study thing after taking a few days following the completion of the first assignment.

LGR is learning that he has to be careful of his arm. There's been a few times when he has been messing around, bumped it and found himself in a world of pain. He did manage a couple of very cute things this evening.

First one: When I left him in bed after saying goodnight he grabbed his Clifford the Big Red Dog book and started reading to Tommy.

Second one: When Mrs G and I went to bed LGR was laying in bed with one arm very casually bend up beind his head; with his head resting on the upturned palm. It was the ultimate look of relaxation. The broken arm was lying perfectly straight by his body.

Hayzey is learning how to play 'the game'. That's the game where tears are used to try to manipulate Mummy and Daddy. She's growing up ...

Falling Over

As I sit here and type I'm watching a show on Discovery Science about what happens to food when you don't store it properly. Truly horrible. And horrifying. It also talks about over cooking food - which is not nearly so disgraceful but still a bit ordinary ....

We've had a pretty good weekend. Didn't do much. The fish tank got set up again yesterday and it should be ready for fish next weekend. LGR is quite excited about it. Hayzey went nuts in the aquarium shop - she was running around pointing at everything and shrieking in excitement.

Today was also cool. Aunt LJ and UA came around for lunch and told us they are getting married. There was much congratulating and cheering and we finally had a good reason to pop open the bottle of Moet. We (I) cooked a BBQ (only one bowl was destroyed during the creation of the meal) and had a pleasent, albeit huge, feed on the deck.

After LJ and UA left the real excitement of the weekend started. LGR took a tumble (over the BBQ cover) and landed squarely on his broken arm. At this point I should let you know he has two fractures in his forearm. Suffice to say he cried but the situation was recovered courtesy of some ice blocks.

Not too long later Hayzey took a tumble off the back of her bike and also cried quite ferociously. Some hugs later and all was well. The part of the bike that stops her from tipping backwards was also found and reattached.

During dinner, and while we were putting LGR to bed, we noticed the hand on the end of his broken arm was quite swollen. We're hoping this is a natural consequence of the days activity and not an indicator of some further damage. We'll know a bit more in the morning I suspect.

On a final note I would like to point out that Hayzey let me put her to sleep in my arms this evening. It has been a long, long time since she let me do this and I appreciated it very much.

Broken

LGR has broken his arm ... Poor little fellow.

It's a green stick fracture:

"Definition: Because a child's bones are much more pliable than adult bone, an incomplete, or 'greenstick,' fracture may occur. A "greenstick fracture" means that one side of the fracture has broken and one side is bent; therefore it is classified as an incomplete break.

The name for a greenstick fracture comes from the analogy of breaking a young, fresh tree branch. The broken branch snaps on one side (the outer side of the bend), while the inner side is bent, and still in continuity. Most often the greenstick fracture must be bent back into the proper position (called a "reduction") and then casted for about six weeks. Greenstick fractures can take a long time to heal because they tend to occur in the middle, slower growing parts of bone."

It seems as though the incident occurred at kindy yesterday. Nothing was mentioned by LGR or kindy when we picked him up and it wasn't until almost bedtime last night he started mentioning his sore arm. We gave him some Nurofen and he slept pretty well.

Over the course of today the arm has gotten bigger and bigger and he has used it less and less. The GP took a look at it and then it was off for X-rays and then the bad news. As I sit type LGR and Mrs G are somewhere getting a cast put on while Hayzey patiently waits for dinner to finish cooking.

Should make life interesting for a while.

A Sweet Farewell

I had the pleasure of dropping the kids off at kindy earlier today. I was off to the physio again and this means I drop off and Mrs G picks up.

On my way out of kindy I leant over to give Hayzey a kiss. She gave me one - and then moved in closer for a massive hug and another kiss. And then another kiss and another hug. It was lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

How to Build a Rollercoaster

I have had a very long day. I've been up since 02:30 but the Coke I drank when I got home from work is helping me along very nicely ...

Hayz woke up during the night. Again. And needed to be sorted out. Again. All it takes is to move her from a sideways position to a straight position in the cot but it's enough for me to take up to an hour to go back to sleep.

Last night she woke at 02:30 - which is later than usual. Unfortunately I had to get up at 03:00 for work so I didn't make it back to sleep.

The drive in to work was quick. As you would expect. I listed ABC Sydney and there was a very enlightening discussion on home remedies for boils, ulcers, colds, splinters and a host of other ailments. Some of them sounded quite painful (and a bit disgusting) but it was engaging enough.

The work day was long, but I got to see some very cool technology demonstrations today. I am wholeheartedly convinced that the way in which Australians consume/spend their home entertainment dollar will change massively in the next 5-10 years and the possibilities are very cool.

I left work a touch early and picked up the kids. It was quite cute to arrive at work and see LGR running around in the playground and Hayzey having afternoon tea with the rest of the toddlers. I even got 'accosted' by one of LGR's friends for permission to have a sleepover (tomorrow night!! in Wollongong!!). It was all good.

The highlight of my day, however, was listening to LGR tell me how to build rollercoasters. It's quite simple really. You draw a plan (which he is fantastic at doing) and then you use your erections. That's all you need. Erections .....

This then moved on to a discussion of career options. In today's version LGR is going to be a ballerina, a rollercoaster builder, a cricket player and a Wiggle. (So long as I'm relaying messages LGR also says hello to The Wiggles.)

Maybe he can combine them all in the same job?

.. when you were little ...

LGR has started asking me questions about what my life was like when I was younger. He's asked me about my teddy bears, what music I liked, what my voice sounded like, what games I played, who my friends were and a bunch of others. He listens very intently to the answers and seems to be genuinely interested in my experiences. The way he asks the questions is quite touching - he almost always makes sure there is physical contact before the question is asked and he looks me right in the eye.

LGR is also continually asking me about camping. I suspect that at sometime in the warmer spring months we'll get around to sleeping outside but in the interim we'll probably pretend to camp and sleep downstairs. I'm not sure how it will work exactly but LGR loves the idea of it.

Hayz is slowly getting over her ear infections. There's some still blockages in their (and quite a bit of rawness) but she's on the mend. Our Dr has told us we can scale back the medication a bit but I foresee plenty more visits to the Dr in the weeks and months to come.

A Day Out

Today I went out with the kids while Mrs G studied. It was fun.

First stop on the great adventure was a park with a pond in it. The aim was to feed the ducks; but there were signs up everywhere telling us not to feed the ducks. So we didn't. In the end we stayed there for about 5 minutes.

Next stop was another park - this time with toys in it. LGR was thrilled but Hayzey wasn't. The
park was a bit too advanced for her. Once more we hung around for about 5 minutes. Not a great start but the kids weren't complaining so all was well.

We mutually agreed to go to Aunt LJ's place so that was where we headed. Both kids decided to go to sleep so I took a meandering route and visited some recreation areas near where Mrs G works. I've lived in Sydney for over 10 years now and this was the first time I've gotten there. Mrs G has never been there - in spite of working about 5 minutes away!!

We arrived at Aunt LJ's place and both kids promptly woke up. First up was some of Tommy's birthday cake from Friday and then some Wiggles and Play School movies. The cats were let ou of their captivity and Hayzey was initially a bit shy, then quite bold and ultimately ended up chasting the cats around the house. LGR was a bit more cautious but in the end learnt how to avoid the cats.

Lunch was a nice little picnic in the backyard with some games (apparently defining opposites is considered a game).

After lunch we headed out to UAl's parents farm. Upon arrival we were met with a massive, slobbering beast of a dog which, to me, looked as big as a horse. I soon discovered this wasn't true. A real horse is massive. When a person crouches down to LGR's height they are even bigger ...

We spent a bit of time inspecting the animals - horses, sheep, chickens (and their eggs), ducks, dogs, cats, birds and fish. No cows. Apparently they had to 'go away' a while back :-)

As good as all this it wasn't until we got into the backyard that LGR got excited - there were toys!! He jumped on the trampoline and both kids had a go on the swing attached to the arm of the clothes line. LGR started complaining of dizziness so he was whirled around the clothesline backwards to compensate.

After the farm it was back home to see how Mrs G was travelling.

We all had a great little day and the kids were angels. I look forward to our next outing.

The Other Web Page

I've finally done some work on my other web page. It's not nearly finished yet but it's a good start. Spread the word.

Cooking

I've done a lot of cooking in the past 24 hours. Some of it worked out and some of it didn't.

For dinner last night I tried to make a very simple and quick pasta dish. Mrs G and Grandma both claimed to like it but I know for a fact that it was horrible. I didn't eat it but the others did. In the end I had garlic bread and beer for dinner. A fantastic combination :-(

Earlier today I decided to play a bit. LGR and myself made up a basic dough mix and then decided to make rolled up snake shapes stuffed with filling - one of them Spanish salami, pastrami, semi-dried tomato, bocconcini and egg and the other had a mixture of dried fruit, jam and white chocolate. The meat version was/is beautiful. I've had plenty of slices. The fruit one is apparently also nice but I haven't had any of that one yet.

The other cooking adventure was some steak sandwiches for lunch. My sandwich was outstanding - thinly sliced steak with hummus, chilli sauce, rocket, tomato and cheese. Very tasty, very filling and very good. The other folks were a touch more traditional having steak, onion and tomato and some sort of sauce.

What else? I mowed some grass today. There were plenty of places where it still hadn't dried out completely from yesterday's rain but it's got a much better of drying now that it's shorter. It turns out we have a lot of weeds in front of the garage and something will have to be done about them.

What about the kids? They've been a handful but mostly cute. Both of them are very much enjoying dancing (even when there is no music) and new floors are going down a treat. They can push chairs around on the smooth surface and now have access to all sorts of things ... Myself and Mrs G have both taken note of this one.

Party

LGR has developed an obsession with having parties for Tommy - his teddy bear. Every 2nd or 3rd day we get told it's time for another party for Tommy. This is usually because of a birthday. A few weeks back Tommy was 15 but this week he is turning 4. Maybe Tommy can travel through time?

This thought process reached a new level yesterday. During his day at Kindy LGR made invitations for myself, Mrs G and Hayzey to go another party for Tommy; and he coerced the other kids into playing a game where they made a birthday cake for Tommy.

LGR also managed to snaffle a flower from somewhere at kindy and get it home without me seeing it. I suspect he may have put it in his pocket. He produced just before he got in the bath and took a great deal of pleasure giving it to Mrs G when she got home. I think there was also a great deal of pleasure in the reception of the flower.

There was a sweetly sad moment to it all when Mrs G asked why she got a flower.

"So that you will think of me when you're at work." Very sweet, very sad.

Run Away, Run Away

I had to give Hayzey her nose drops this morning.

It's fair to say she doesn't like them. She cries and is unhappy for several minutes afterwards. So it shouldn't have been a surprise when she ran away from me as soon as she saw the drops in my hand!!

It's a natural response to something you don't like; and it was so cute (and sad) to see. I hated giving the drops but know it's for a greater good. Just like the eye drops a few weeks back ...

What else happened? Mrs G and I got a decent (but not good) nights sleep and managed to sleep through the alarm this morning. Not by much; just enough to be amusing.

Rockin'

I bought this Walkman as a start of the art item in 1992 or 93. It cost me about $200. It was as good as you could get in Australia at the time, but only a poor imitation of the Walkman I picked up in Japan a few years earlier. Such is life ....

Regardless of this LGR came across it while we were getting ready for the floor replacement and had to have a go. This facial expression is a response to 'Bananas in Pyjamas'.

Rock on little buddy :-)

Cranky Hayzey

I'm not sure what we did wrong but it certainly appears as though Hayz is a touch upset ...

New Floors

We've finally managed to do something we've been talking about for 5 years - replace the slowly decaying and fairly dirty carpet in the downstairs part of our house with some new flooring. It looks fantastic. We chose oak and it blends in very well with the majority of our furniture and looks pretty good with our kitchen cupboards and benchtop. The TV unit will need to be recoloured but that's only a small side issue.

What's particularly interesting is the way the house feels now - much more open and a lot cleaner. There's a quite satisfactory echo when we walk around in shoes and the house feels new again. LGR was even calling it his 'new house'.

The kidlets have been quite sweet. Aunt BJ came over for dinner last evening and we discovered Hayzey has developed enough awareness to figure out when people are laughing, and the ability to join in the laugh. A couple of times we all laughed and were very pleasantly surprised to see Hayz chuckling along with us.

LGR has shown me he can do very basic maths and apply it to the real world. I took 1 piece too many of garlic bread during dinner over the weekend and he informed I had taken exactly 1 piece because I was supposed to have 2 and I took 3, and that meant I got 1 piece less next time which was 1 piece. I was, and still am, astounded. He hasn't been able to reproduce this yet but I'm sure he will.

Finally - I'm planning on putting a bunch more pictures on my alternate web site. Hopefully I'll get around to doing it this week. When it's done I'll be sure to post a permanent look (look to the left of this text and see the links section) so that it never gets lost.

There should be some pictures going up tonight.