Birthday blog.

Goodness, it's two weeks since I last wrote a blog. The time seems to have flown by. I have enjoyed the past two years of travel, and have enjoyed writing a regular blog about what I have been up to and where I have been. But it can be very time-consuming, and it has been quite a relief not to feel like I have to write an update every day or so. But I do miss the interaction that the blog offered, the comments and questions from people.

I have been using the saved time wisely though, and am progressing well with the first draft of the book. I hope to have it all written by around mid-August, spend a month or so editing and polishing, and hopefully be in print sometime around October. I will keep you updated on the new blog, which will be a little less frequent than the 100goals blog. See the new website and blog here:
www.IanUsher.com blog page

Since the last blog a couple of weeks ago life has been busy and fun. I am now pretty-much settled in to log cabin lifestyle. I remember to turn the inverter off when I am finished on the internet, and I am much more water-wise now. A bath in a shallow tub of luke-warm water is just the norm now, but I do look forward to a once-a-week shower at the swimming pool in town.

It was Moe's son Finn's 11th birthday a week before mine, and he had a few friends round for a party, which involved egg tossing, water ballon fights, food fights, races, and a big bonfire. My present for him was board game The Settlers of Catan, which is a great game, and we have played several times already. I was introduced to it last year in Colorado by Eric, Jackie and Dylan.

One of the presents Moe got for him was four chickens. They are doing very well, and have been producing plenty of delicious eggs. I am in charge of them throughout the day, and have to feed and water them. They are very entertaining creatures.



I had my first experience of being a couchsurfing host, as we had Italian motorcycle nomad Dany pass through here and stay with us for a couple of nights. He is on his own incredible journey, and regularly blogs about his travels too. It was very interesting to compare notes with someone else on an extended voyage.

Check out Dany's site here. He has some great photos and video:
Long Way Dany

There is an open invite to anyone who wants to come and visit, see my couchsurfing profile here for more info:
Couchsurfing profile

And today it's my birthday. We had a small party last night, and I met a few of Moe's friends. Egg-tossing was involved again, as was a fire and hotdogs, but the bottle of tequila was an extra that hadn't been included at Finn's party. I've had an easy day today, as it was after 3am before I got to bed, and I've been nursing a dull headache all day today!