Baskets ain't baskets...

We've been having a lot of fun (and satisfaction) settling into our new place. We now have a phone; we've had people around for dinner and coffee; right now, we even have our first guest staying with us! More on that stuff later.

So Dave Jolly says to me, "The thing you need to do, to get better coffee from your machine, is this: ditch your crema-enhancing baskets." So I did.

On the left is my old filter. On the right is the new one that Coffee Snobs told me would fit my machine. The difference is that the new one has holes straight through; the old one has many holes in the top but only one hole in the bottom (and a very small chamber in-between).It was a bit of work to track down a supplier (both by phone, and then by car - to pick it up). But it was also good fun: my quest for better coffee continues.

My verdict on the basket (so far): The basket isn't a perfect seal (if the tamp/grind is too tight), but I am impressed with the extraction that I'm getting - much more work to be done here.

On a related note, I still have my little helper whenever I make coffee. Noah sits beside me on the bench and helps with grinding, especially. (His toes are visible in the above shot). The other day he even grabbed the handle, popped a basket in it, and shoved it toward the machine as if he were locking it in place - Barista Baby!

Return of the Tasmanians

Well folks, heaps has happened since the last post. I'll just give you a few highlights...

Back in December, we packed up our place in Darlington and popped it all into Nana and Pa's garage. It was a mighty effort by all concerned - including Noah - it involved my first time driving a truck (in Sydney traffic!) and a bunch of wonderful friends helping out.
We then spent five weeks in lovely Tassie. Suds and Del (friends from Sydney) popped down for a visit. And otherwise we spent the time catching up with friends and family, eating Chrissie food, playing at the beach, and all the other great stuff of holidays :)
Kate and I even managed to spend a night away at a B & B down along the Huon River. I've been down that way a million times, but it struck me on this trip, especially, just how beautiful it is.
And then there's the return journey... whoa! Ok, in two parts.

Part 1: Me. I drove back (a little before Kate's return). I realised that the only way to do the Spirit of Tasmania was a day-sailing: no sleep deprivation, no horror-snoring-stories. I then slept at Tracey's place and met a bunch of her wonderful friends and housemates - thanks for the lamb, Phil. Even Manny came over to say hello.

The following morning I embarked on the longest single-day's driving of my life. Left at 7am, arrived at just before 6:30pm. It actually wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected. I had a few fun stops, a nice lunch in Jugiong (at the Long Track Cafe), and then this...Suddenly the traffic had bunched up (see the rear-view mirror) and was absolutely crawling... the next thing I know there's this. What you can't see in the picture is the owner taking a photo just to the right of the picture - I guess there wasn't much else to do! Maybe he put it on his blog ;)

Oh yeah - and I managed to get a (fleeting) picture of this little spot. Four of you out there should know it: it's the entry to a truck stop just north of Yass. The site of the famous Skyline Club 5 breakdown of 2000.Part 2: Katie's journey. I'll leave it for her to tell, I think, but in short the plane ride with Noah was remarkably painless. Noah was great. They arrived in one piece. And we were back together again :)

Two of my favourite people in the world at the moment are Aidan and Uncle Bruce. They were the guys who helped me (one at each end) with re-loading the truck and then unloading our things at our new home. - our lovely new home, which is working out really well... but that's for another post. Anyway, it was very heavy work and they were both brilliant. Thanks guys.