15th August
Had lunch with Mark Wells, owner of Fernvale Produce and President of the Fernvale Better Business Assoc. (Chamber of Commerce). Took him up to the new cafe in Somerset Dam where Linda looked after us – we both had her delicious corn pancakes with bacon and sour cream. Yum.

We were supposed to be discussing the planned alignment of the SomersetRegion.info website with the Fernvale Better Business Assoc., but we ended up having a wide ranging discussion about business needs for the region. I personally find it mildly irritating that the Somerset Region Council has recently appointed a Tourism Development Officer, but there is no equivalent ‘Business Development Officer’, when local business contributes so much more to the local economy than tourism. Don’t get me wrong. I think it is excellent for Tourism to have a development officer, I just think there should be something in there for local businesses as well.

We agreed that SomersetRegion.info will offer a free directory listing with a short blurb and logo to paid-up members of the Better Business Association to enable small businesses to get a footing on the web without the need for their own website.

16th August

Received rude email from local restaurant owner threatening to sue me because his eating place had only been awarded one star in the SomersetRegion.info website ‘Good Food Guide’. Not in the slightest bit interested to discover why he had only been awarded one star – just attacking my credentials as a food critic. It may have been an off day when I had lunch at his place, but there were only two customers, the food took 45 minutes to arrive, it was lukewarm and bland tasting, and he forgot to bring the rice until half way through. Personally, I have never had a complaint from a customer, but if I did I would want to turn around their experience of my business and make them into ambassadors rather than critics. But he wanted nothing less than removal of his listing. I offered to review the rating, but he was not interested. His loss.

Decided that I would remove the star rating system and change the name to ‘Eating Out Guide’ rather than ‘Good Food Guide’. There is always one who spoils it for the rest.

19th August

Delivered a new computer system to a customer on a cattle property in Ivory Creek, beyond Toogoolawah. It is a lovely part of our region, but apparently several thousand acres of cattle country have recently been bought by developers.

Not sure what developers would do with it in the long term as water supply would be an issue for any development, but perhaps they are taking a long term view of population growth up the Brisbane Valley.

In the meantime, the land is not being grazed, so local people are very concerned about the potential fire risk as the vegetation builds up.

20th August

Took son for an Interview with Bond Uni in Queen St, Brisbane. Started chatting with a very friendly older visitor from Tasmania who sat down next to me on the same bench. She asked for directions to the Museum Of Modern Art on South Bank - she had travelled from Hobart to see the Picasso exhibition. That’s dedication for you!

Queen Street very crowded – despite being a Londoner, it seems I have become acclimatised to living in the country. Proximity to so many people made me feel mildly claustrophobic.

22nd August

Weekly run to service customers in the Toogoolawah region. Delivered new computer system to customers who own a house perched on a hill at the back of Mt Beppo. Superb panoramic views of farmland and mountains in the distance, but the winter wind was very gusty. Took several photos. When the Wivenhoe Dam is full, they can normally see a wide expanse of water in the distance, but nothing at present. Apparently they have a bit of a snake problem with regular visits by Taipans, Eastern Browns and Pythons. Hmmm...maybe there are one or two down sides to country living!

It was early evening by the time I reached my next customer. Had to wait outside in the dark for several minutes whilst she opened up the house. The wind was still blowing and I could smell a wonderful mixture of jasmine, cows and other farm smells. Much better than the smell of pollution in my home town of London. Told the customer I still had to do a job in Ipswich – she commented “you are travelling from one end of the world to the other”. I suspect that may be very true for many local people in the Toogoolawah region – who would wish for anything more?

24th August
Regular exercise group in our garden with Rosie, our personal trainer. We club together with friends and neighbours to employ her services twice a week – it is so much better than any gym and much cheaper at only $15 per session. Rose is a qualified fitness instructor and part time police officer, and her husband is an instructor in the Federal Police, so it is all very professional.

25th August

Ann woke up with a burning desire to see the Picasso Exhibition. Her enthusiasm dampened slightly when I pointed out that it is not an exhibition of his work, but of his personal art collection. However, off we went, bribing the son with the offer of breakfast in Gardenway on the way into Brisbane.

The art exhibition was a bit of a disappointment – I found it hard to relate to any of the works on display. No doubt that makes me a Philistine, but I would have so much preferred to do some work in the garden.