Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 05/10/2026It is unprecedented. They never hang around like this. 120
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Anyone who knows the North West coast of Tasmania knows the highway closely hugs the coastline. Today on my commute home I got to witness a humpback whale breach a few hundred metres off shore. It’s a wonder there aren’t traffic accidents. Just an incredible sight. 060
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 26/09/2026The peonies are all budding up so we are a few weeks away from the garden being at its peak. 150
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I don’t post much here anymore but it’s the time of year I love to share what’s happening in the garden. One of my personal favourites, fritillaria meleagris, is in full bloom. I love the checkerboard pattern. 1100
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 15/09/2026It was an interesting process but was able to get Radiohead tickets for Melbourne next year for the family. I’ve never had much luck in these sorts of situations before so I’m currently over the moon with excitement. 020
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Donkeys have laid down in the exact position that allows them to see what’s going on in the house. 040
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 05/09/2026An eagle eyed member of a chat group I’m in spotted this during last nights Crows Bulldogs broadcast. Blackface in 2026. Baffled how they got past security and into the game. 000
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 04/09/2026It’s about 11°C here and the sort of wet that gets deep into your soul and make you question why you chose to live here. 110
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Just came back from a two day work trip to Ballarat and for the first time ever I can say the weather was much nicer in Ballarat than back home. 020
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 26/08/2026There was a charity set up called “Rosie’s Reading” in Tasmania that is trying to get Dolly’s imagination library going for every Tasmanian child. In conjunction with Rotary clubs around the state. They have made a good start around Launceston so far but are looking to launch statewide soon. 020
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 08/08/2026I know. There was a scene where he sings a song reminiscing about his adult child about to leave home with a bunch of junior Wednesdays and Puglslys and we were absolutely sobbing at the irony of it all. One of the junior Pugslys was my cousins grandchild. Time goes too fast. 010
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 08/08/2026We do a separate system in Tassie for year 11 and 12 so it’s a very different and supportive vibe. A big thanks goes to his high school drama teacher. She arrived when he was in Grade 7 and built a program and culture up from scratch. It was cool to see so many Wynyard kids in the cast in key roles. 110
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Tonight he is in a supporting role for the alternate cast before two more performances as Gomez next Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Can’t wait for the rest of the family to see him in action next weekend. They will be blown away. 3/3 120
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 08/08/2026These are completely foreign skills for my son so he’s been on a steep learning curve this year. Learning to tango has been particularly challenging. Till last night, we hadn’t seen any of this growth and development. He absolutely blew us away with his performance. 2/3 120
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Proud father moment last night. Watching my 18 year old son play Gomez in Hellyer College’s production of the Adam’s Family. He’s had an interest in drama since Grade 8 but he’s always leant towards sketch comedy. This production is a musical so involved lots of singing and dancing. 1/3 250
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 25/07/2026This is as far as we will get for now. The window needs a little more work and the built in wardrobe needs a lot of work. Also need to install the fire fascia when it arrives and tidy up the fireplace. Tomorrow we move our son back into a mostly complete room till we next get a block of time. 010
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Tomorrow is the last day working on the room before my holidays are over so we will have some things left to finish. The fireplace is going to be left unfinished for a few weeks and the old built in wardrobe needs a lot of work. 010
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Haven’t posted for a few days. Been slugging through the hard bit. Getting the last bits of old paint off the timber. Some finishes are going on now. First coat on the walls and the dado boards have been freshened up with a new layer of shellac and wax. 120
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 21/07/2026For those who are wondering why I pulled the old one out it was riddled with borer holes and was very brittle. We happened to have a length that was taken out when the kitchen was done so it was good to be able to reuse that old piece. 020
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 21/07/2026I wasn’t coping so well a few hours ago but got close enough on the second attempt. A coping saw would have been helpful but I was able to make do. Each room we restore I seem to have to learn a new skill. 110
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Not a lot of visual progress today but the door frame and window have had all the paint removed and a light sand. The cornice was stained today so the next job will be preparing the walls for painting. I’ve included a picture of a finished room to show the look we are going for. 010
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 16/07/2026He’d be about 45 now and probably has some very problematic views on immigration. 010
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 16/07/2026Day 4 of the bedroom restoration. Window 95% stripped back and doorway is 99% stripped back. Ceiling done. Next few days will probably focus on the garden and then back into stripping skirting boards while my wife stains the timber. 020
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 16/07/2026After 5 consecutive rainy days and over 100mm of rain, how good is vitamin D? 200
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Cornice is now back to bare timber. Ceiling boards have been scrubbed with dry steel wool (0000) and are now ready for two coats of shellac then wax. After that we will stain the cornice with walnut stain to match the cornice in the other rooms. 110
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Day 2 of the bedroom restoration. Discovered from watching YouTube restoration clips that after they have stripped the bulk of the paint off they use a wire brush to get paint out of the grooves. Wish I’d known that trick 20 years ago but it has sped up the process a lot. 110
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Started stripping back the pink paint off the timber in the final bedroom. Forgot to take a before picture so this is a just after we started photo. 010
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Adding to yesterday’s finds there was a Queen Victoria 1886 penny and a King George V 1944 penny hiding behind the skirting boards. The oldest penny is pretty beat up and in poor condition. 020
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 12/07/2026She’s moved her daughter to Tasmania to try and get One Nation going down here so it seems she also moves her allies to islands as well. 010
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 12/07/2026Things found behind the mantle I pulled out today so it could be restored. The bit that I was curious about was the butchers receipt from the 8th of February 1966 in decimal currency. I’d always understood it was changed on the 14th but there must have been a transition period 040
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 08/07/2026FIFA and the IOC should be dragged before the ICC for what they’ve done. Those cricket guys could teach them a thing or two about embezzlement of development funds, bribing public officials and rigging World Cup draws to favour certain teams. 020
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 06/07/2026You can go weeks without seeing one then see seven in one day. 020
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Never get tired of seeing eagles close up in the wild. Their population seems to be recovering well in my area. 3647
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 30/06/2026I’d go a strong disagree on that. To be visible online it’s true that you have to stand out and appear a bit more fucked up than those that came before but most teens I know (parent of two) just choose not to be visible. In a lot of cases they are much more sensible than their parents. 000
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 26/06/2026And before you tell me to organise my phone book by surname I will add that I’m Tasmanian and organising it by surname is much much worse. 020
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 26/06/2026I work in agriculture and the Mark, David and Robert parts of my phone book is 15 to 20 people deep. 120
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 24/06/2026My only advice is the charities with the most visibility tend to have the highest percentage of donations being eaten up by admin fees. Charities that have a strong volunteer base tend to make each dollar work to do the most good. They can get $50K impact from $20K in donations 010
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 15/06/2026There are many joys to owning animals but traipsing through the mud in the rain at sunrise to feed them isn’t one of them. 030
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 10/06/2026It’s so much funnier when you realise the reason they are putting those signs out is a last ditch effort to recruit new members to prevent clubs folding from lack of membership. 010
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 06/06/2026We’ve found no evidence of feathers to give the slightest hint of what it could have been. I’m not a big fan of cameras in the house but I’d give anything to know what went down today. 010
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 06/06/2026None. There was a juvenile wedge tailed eagle hanging around in the morning and we are wondering if it chased a magpie or a currawong into the window. 100
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 06/06/2026The cats are still traumatised and have only just come out of hiding. It took us two hours to clean up the mess. Now the fun job of trying to convince a glazier to come out on a long weekend to replace the broken windows. 510
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 06/06/2026A large bird had flown into the window on one side of the house and had then escaped by smashing through a window on the opposite side of the house. There was glass everywhere and one of the cats had cut themselves and walked blood all through the house. 110
Brent Smedley @boring-smed.bsky.social · 06/06/2026Today we went out plant shopping at some small independent nursery’s in my area. It was a pleasant day out and I was not prepared for what we found when we got home at the end of the day. 110
