Day 44 (Monday)

A sadness has descended over the Latimers valley with the loss of Lindy and her foal. The vet had visited on Saturday and all seemed okay, but late last night the situation worsened. The foal was dead and Lindy was having trouble ... and then started haemorrhaging. M and L took the decision that she had had enough; and L and C were with her when the vet helped her pass.

We only found out this morning. S had heard some commotion from the horses late last night, and she heard M and L too, so she knew something was going on but figured it was under control. It was only this morning when she went to check - when she was opening the gate - expecting to see a foal in the paddock with her - that she saw Lindy on the ground, covered. She raced over to see if perhaps she had had a false start last night and was foaling this morning when she realised that Lindy was gone.

We had never for a moment considered that Lindy, being the veteran mother that she was, would have any trouble. When we realised she was gone, we had hoped that at least they would have been able to save the foal, but when S spoke with C this morning it seemed that the foal was already gone by the time Lindy went into labour.

When S and I were talking about it a little while ago, she said she could just imagine Lindy and the foal galloping around in a paddock somewhere - because surely animals must go to heaven if there is such a place.

S sent our condolences with C this morning and hadn't seen L and M by lunchtime and didn't want to bother them. C was saying that they were both very upset - so much so that they may not be breeding on the property anymore. I spoke with M on my way home this afternoon and she was not at all happy with the vet and thinking they may have made the wrong choice with him especially since he had said he would be on call all weekend and they hadn't been able to contact him last night. But they were able to contact two vets who were there for Lindy at the last. It's all just too sad.

The other animals (not just the horses) obviously sense that something is up. Pearl has been at S's side all day, resting her head on her knee when they were both on the couch; and E had taken up her "comforting" position on S's chest when she was in there earlier in the day. For our part, we have given everyone an extra hug, cuddle, pat and chuck under the chin - for us and the traveller - so they all know they are especially loved - because they are. I can't imagine what we would do if anything happened to any of them.

But at least Hermes finally gets to share a paddock with Holly. I'm not even going to think about how much more distraught that might make him the next time she leaves him and goes off to play with Gundy.

We are apparently inching slowly towards a LNP Government although it is not yet confirmed. (Shudder.) Postal votes stop this Friday which surely must be a hangover from the days when they had to carry the mail throughout the land on horseback - or from overseas by ship. Or it could speak to the amount of trust the Australian Electoral Commission has in Australia Post's ability to deliver.

There have been more informal votes this election than ever before. While some of Queensland's informals may be intentional, there is some suggestion that the State election "put a 1 in the box of the candidate you're voting for" policy may have confused people who this time had to number every box.

And so we arrive at rubbish day again and I resisted the temptation to tow the garbage bin up with me this morning. But it had to go. When I asked S if perhaps the third-full bin might not wait until next week, she reminded me of our little Rattie who was still there from last week ... enough said. So off we went, bumping our way over the newly-graded road. Where did I hear someone say "has to get worse before it gets better" and why did they have to tell the road folk that? The macadamiser has been joined by a tiny grader, a wee steam roller, and a truck to carry the little things on. Not quite sure how much (more) they're planning to do - but hopefully they won't leave it as it is now. It wouldn't be so bad except that the newly graded bits don't quite cover the width of the road. Let's see what they do with it tomorrow.

Day 43 (Sunday)

The markets were not quite as busy this morning and we managed to get a table without problem. Not that we needed a big one as we were only a few having missed A (neither husband M nor daughter N were attending) who was there at the usual time which none of the rest of us were. So much for good intentions. So F, mother E, S and I were it except for a brief drop-by by N and her recently-arrived-from-France niece . Good ol' F immediately offered the services of his sons to show her around the Coast. She's here for the next 11 months so there's plenty of time for that. The other drop-in was D who was doing a very quick visit before going home for morning tea. Her news: they have finally found somewhere to go and J starts a new role in Melbourne in early October. They will be packed up and gone by the time the traveller's return. There is nothing as constant as change ... but as D said, in this instance she prefers Melbourne to Dubai, which may still be on the cards but not for a few years now.

Not sure how but we didn't get that much markets shopping done but S did manage to get some potatoes from J's brother as well as some Turkish bread. I fell down on the fruit shopping duties.

On the way home we stopped in at JB (nothing came home with us), Bernie's (Beazley cookies) and Bunnings (more plants for S's garden). The garden is coming along nicely - which is why S is looking to extend but probably with none of the vegetables I suggested since the soil isn't right or it isn't the right season for growing them.

F came over this afternoon, accompanied by his sister-in-law, her mother and the little one who is in the throes of a very painful teething. F had come over to spray those naughty ants on the front patio - and to check out where the houses and vege patch would be on the Kibbutz. S thinks F may have lost sight of that they are playing a game. In any case, they both agree that a revamped garage would be perfect for Mouse and that the veggies can go on the bottom paddock. There will be a deck off from Mouse's, overlooking the gardens, with a side entrance so all could gather there to welcome in the new day. Mi, with experience in this field, is slated to be the barista.

Back in the real world, Pearl was exceptionally good with the visitors although there were a couple of times when I thought the teething rusk at her mouth level would be too much of a temptation and it and several child fingers would be devoured. But no, she remembered her manners and only pounced when L dropped one and she was told she could. She did very good demonstrations of ball fetching, stick fetching, going back to the house, looking cute, sitting and dropping. She seemed to enjoy the company. The others animals absented themselves with Beazley only coming out after they had left. He's taken to using the little nest in with the towels - and loves it. It's quite a set-up, and there's even a little pillow for him to put his head on!

At the end of another week of Ramadan, F reported that he has lost 1.5kg and added that he usually loses more in the third and fourth weeks. He had them all in the car and ready to leave at 5 so he could get home and cook (steak, potatoes, salad) in time for sunset.

It was Egyptian night at the Mosque last night (according to A who rang this evening to find out why we weren't at the markets) and Malaysian night tonight. She had chosen to stay home and catch up on some things.

And did we mention that "Dancing With The Stars" has its final tonight. We haven't been watching it and probably won't tune in to "The X Factor" either - which was due to start about now but has run into a hiccup with its presenter (Matt Newton) being unavailable to continue as he has gone into rehabilitation after an incident with his girlfriend while they were overseas with the program.

We have been sparing some thoughts for sister W and wondering how it's going on retreat. She is a very strong-willed individual and we think she'll be fine. Hopefully she will start finding some of the answers she's been looking for all these years and the strength to make the changes she wants to in her life.

I cannot believe how fast the grass is starting to grow again at Latimers. I'm almost beginning to think that it grows faster the closer you cut it - but surely there can't be any scientific credence to that. Luckily we're in for fine weather for the coming week so perhaps we won't need a machete to make our way up to the stables. And yes, it was only last weekend that it was mowed! Haven't had a chance yet to ask L if he knows what made those holes - but I hope to catch up with him in the coming week.

Well, it has been a wonderful three-day weekend and it's going to be hard to get up early and go off to work again tomorrow.

Day 42 (Saturday)

What a great welcome to Saturday - bed tea and toast and a very lazy start to the morning. Alarms were set for this morning - but not particularly early and I do remember setting it for an hour later when I woke up at one point during the night when Pearl was barking. It was my own fault, I'd opened the door too early (not until the lights are on at the stables down the road, says S) and Pearl must have followed Beazley out ... and then started barking at the "possums". I remember just lying there, listening, trying to work out if it was Pearl, if she would stop by herself, and whether it was annoying the neighbours ... before finally dragging myself up - and wondering why S hadn't stirred.

One of the fantastic things about Latimers is that you get to see nature up close. This morning there was a juvenile kookaburra out the back and this afternoon we saw the sparrow hatchlings for the first time - or, more correctly, saw one and heard others. This is a relief after finding a broken egg under the nest earlier in the week. The paddock below the garage is literally swarming with wee birds - and not just ours - flitting back and fro in their quest for food. We think there might also be some kind of animal visiting the top paddock - when I mowed last week I kept finding holes gouged in the earth - quite deep - about three fingers - and lots of them. Someone suggested it might be burrowing bandicoots. I've taken a photograph of some of them and will see if I can find someone to ask - L might know.

This evening we headed to J's for a pizza and video night. "What movie are we going to see?" asked S on the way there. I told her that it hadn't been decided but anything would be okay along as it wasn't a chick flick (not the words I actually used) like "The Blind Side". One response later I knew that that was the film that S actually wanted to see because she had heard some very good things about it - and Sandra Bullock had won an Oscar for her role. I then started on about it being manipulative American fare and I might as well be bringing ... and before I could say the name of a movie she offered "Heart and Souls". Hmmm ... how on earth did S know that was the one I was going to say?

Well the good thing is that when there are three people you can go with the majority vote. When we arrived at J's, and after she met with the person who is looking to take over renting her spare room, conversation turned to which movie ... and straightaway she said "The Blind Side". Now any other person might have thought S had gotten to her first to rig the vote, but I had had her in sight since we arrived so that wasn't the case. So "The Blind Side" it was ... and I tried to be good-natured about it, thinking, well, I could always have a nap if it wasn't any good - but then it occurred to me that the DVD store might be out of copies. I mentioned this as we were about to go in. Well, what do you know ... they were out of copies, so we spent the next while trying to decide between all the new releases - again, majority rules - which is an interesting concept when everyone is trying to pick something they think everyone else will like - not because they want their own choice - but so that everyone will have a pleasurable experience. In the end, we decided on a S selection - "A Single Man" with Colin Firth (who J loves). I was just happy that they were happy, and as it turns out, for a '60's period piece it wasn't bad - but it was sad.

Not much happening on the election front this weekend, although one of the LNP MPs has apparently phoned two of the independents demanding to know why they weren't supporting them. Mr Abbott has had to go into "hose down" mode. There isn't anything quite like calm rational Government and decision-making, is there?

Still no foal but M and L must be thinking it's close because M has chosen not to go to an Awards dinner up north tonight so that one of them is around should the time come. The two L's are in various paddock arrangements, sometimes both in one, sometimes apart - but whatever it is, they're never far apart.

S had her hair cut at a little place in Nerang yesterday and was very pleased with the result - and knows that she has now found her hair stylist. It's in the same complex as our beloved Aldi so I will have plenty to do while I wait for her. I'm happy to just look most of the time, especially if I haven't found time to be on top of the specials - especially those I'm so keen about that I rock up there a week early!

S will be excited when she learns (thank you Fathers' Day catalogues) that the next season of Grand Designs had been released on DVD.

It will give her something to do since we are still without internet and now hold out little hope of a "tech" visiting before Monday at the earliest. It is amazing how much you get used to being able to pull up the latest news, weather etc whenever you want it. S misses that a lot - she can still do it of course, but that means using one of the mobile devices.

We heard from F tonight - he is back from NZ and we will catch up with him at the markets tomorrow.

Day 41 (Friday)

Natasha Edwards was in the paper again - doing more publicity for the Swell Festival which is now only two weeks away (where is this year disappearing to?). That's also how long it will be before we pick L & E up from the airport - so we're thinking there may be the opportunity to combine the two.

They, being the nurses that they are, will be pleased to hear that, contrary to reports earlier this week, there is no Swine Flu pandemic on the Gold Coast. Fewer than 100 people have contracted it this Winter.

Well, Show Day has been fantastic. Latimers had a late start to the day - well, some of us anyway. S had already been up and fed the cats, Pearl, and Emma by the time my eyes opened.

My first job for the day was to get the internet back up and running. Seemed like it should be doable given there was a new modem to connect, all new cables to try out, and the splitters. Alas, no go but being Friday the Faults Department was taking calls and promising second level technical support within six hours. Leaving a mobile number so they could make contact we set out for our second breakfast at Crave (that would our second breakfast at Crave as opposed to our second breakfast today). We had a feeling that we wouldn't be bumping into anyone coming out of the Brazilian Butterfly - given that it's a public holiday and the only person we know who goes there is currently overseas!

We had a great breakfast although someone was being very picky and particular about their order - but it's important to do that if you know exactly what it is you feel like and, despite suggestions otherwise it really wasn't anything to do with developing peculiar eating habits - well no more than usual.

We postponed our visit to the Show, movies and other outings until the weekend deciding instead to have a quiet day at home with the kids. And very pleasant it was too. Sooz had an afternoon nap while I watched "Meet Dave" ... as _____* (and it's hard to find the right word there) as the reviews had said - although it did have a couple of good points. (*Maybe it was "bad" or "formulaic")

The warm weather has returned and it is truly wonderful to sit outside and lap up the sunshine - especially when you know the mowing has already been done - and you can live with not doing the bit where Hermes had been standing until tomorrow or the next day.

It may fast be approaching "shredding day" - which comes when I begin to feel my desk is so crowded with paper that I have to get rid of it somewhere ... and that's usually not in the filing system. It's amazing what you find though especially if you decide to clean out a handbag as well - a betting ticket for the 17th July for UB, two pillow chocolates from Jupiters, a few Roulette cards, Strata meeting agenda, a worksheet for R's last homework assignment on populations (the results this time on the three parts: Great, Great, Good - we're getting better - or are more suited to Geography than Mathematics). Oddly, there's something quite soothing about having a good paper purge.

The internet issue remains unresolved. Following no follow-up by level 2 tech support, we rang them and after line checking, system checking, and other types of checking, they were able to tell us that the internet stopped working for us at 6am yesterday. So ... their tech asked ... had we done anything then to "break it" - these were not his exact words - but might as well have been. After pleading ignorance and innocence, he said they couldn't tell what was wrong remotely but it seemed as though we had done everything "right" as far as troubleshooting was concerned - and they would need to send a tech out to check. This might happen over the weekend; it might not. (Isn't it great that "tech" has entered the English language!) So we are still without effective Skype communications with the world - although we are able to use the 3G-enabled devices to spread the word that we are still here and all is well at Latimers.

The search for a Government continues - although what that search may look like varies. Some politicians, including Bob Brown from the Greens have suggested that Mr Abbott is seeking to force a second election. He emphatically rejects the notion - which, coming from a politician, leaves me totally unsure if he means yes he does want a second one, or no he doesn't. How well the Liberals "play" with the three rural Independents in coming days will give more of an indication. It would be interesting to know if this situation has previously happened in Australia and if there are any constitutional precedents in such a situation.

Can't help wondering how much longer the resolution will take - after all, it will have been a week since the election tomorrow.

Day 40 (Thursday)

There's nothing like continuous improvement and it's good to know we are doing our bit ... this morning on the way to the station, I managed to catch EVERY red light! Which is actually okay because the thing you don't want to catch on the Gold Coast is flu. People are being advised to use caution and good hygiene practices - and if you have it - people are being advised: stay at home. The woman sitting next to me on the train this morning - and sniffing the entire way - may not have heard this advice. And yes, it may have been a simple cold, hay fever or allergies but having the red lights all the way in, which I took as something of an omen of course meant I thought this was the start of the next wave of the flu pandemic and she is/was Patient Zero.

As well as being awash with flu germs, it seems that the Gold Coast is currently home to other "non-desirables". At Pacific Fair a fellow was approached by a "holy man" who asked him a series of questions, getting him to write down the answers, and then he guessed them (no iPhones in sight apparently) ... and then asked for a $200 donation to help ensure his good fortune. Elsewhere bogus $50 notes are doing the rounds - first being used for taxi fares and now for general purchases. And who knew that KPMG runs a Fraud Barometer which has Queensland as the country's major hot-spot.

Not rating on the fraud scale, except perhaps with the ATO, is Paul Hogan - who probably won't be going anywhere for a while. Soon after returning to Australia last week for his mother's funeral, the ATO slapped a "no fly" order on him preventing him from leaving the country - it is supposedly something to do with a certain $36+ million he owes ... them?

These are dollars that could well be redirected to the health care system, especially here where all hospitals were closed yesterday for a few hours. Patients transported by ambulance were taken to Logan or Brisbane for treatment.

Still no election result although it appears that there are now only three seats left in doubt - Liberals are leading in two, Labor the other. The election has slipped from the front pages but isn't that far back. Except for the story of Germaine Greer suggesting that the country would be severely disadvantaged if Mr Abbott becomes the Prime Minister. She didn't have that many kind words about Ms JG either ... that was towards the front of the papers.

It was almost cold and windy enough for Hermes' coat to be left on today - even if he had been in Brisbane for the day. Luckily he wasn't though because he would have missed the band of happy traveling farriers who came to attend to his feet. S had only been commenting to him earlier today that she thought it was about time but still she was taken a little by surprise when she heard a noise at the gate, Pearl barking at same and a wagon zooming past the house on the way up the back. Farriers.

"There's a mouse in the house", well, actually it was "Beazley's got a mouse". So into lockdown we went - with Beazley on the outside for a little while. The others didn't seem that interested in going out to join him - for which we were thankful.

We are less than thankful that the internet connection seems to have been lost. It wasn't the same for S here today without the weather on tap, or her email, or the SMH online ... or Skype. She and then I have done our best at troubleshooting - we have unplugged, replugged, turned power off, turned power on, tried the new BigPond modem, gone back to the old modem, tried over the LAN, over WiFi, on a different socket, with different splitters (three new ones came with the modem) etc etc. We have not yet solved the problem but will get Telstra on to it tomorrow.

Day 39 (Wednesday)

Morning was a bit of a rush today ... especially since I managed to catch just about every red light on the way to the station. It's funny how it's so easy to dawdle in the morning - and luckily S was around to do the gate, and play ball with Pearl, and give Em her breakfast and her shot otherwise I'd still be trying to get to the 6.43am train.

For those people who are still asleep at that time of morning, or wanting to be asleep, they're in luck. Yesterday Queensland Rail introduced the "quiet carriage". Customers (gives it a very commercial feel) will be asked not to have loud conversations or use mobile phones, portable music players and other noisy devices in the last carriage of all train services. So I didn't sit there - didn't want the tapping on the iPad screen to upset people. Or the chattering of teeth - because it had turned quite cold after I left Latimers and it was freezing by the time we made it to Brisbane.

It was reportedly a quiet day at Latimers except for Jenny who rang to say she was going to be late, but was on time besides that. And there's no denying that she does do a good job (once she's here). S said she was a bit chatty today though.

S is watching lifestyle programs again tonight and I am watching a movie on the iPad - "Rogue" - which is about some day-trippers in the Northern Territory whose boat is attacked by a rogue crocodile. They are presently stuck on a tidal island in the middle of a very lovely lake at night ... and you can hear the crocodile coming closer ... (The song over the closing credits? "Never smile at a crocodile".)

It reminds me of the story I was reading today about Bozo the Clown whose memoirs included stories of him running for president, bonding with dangerous cannibal tribes in New Guinea, and escaping from being swallowed whole by a "murderous python in Thailand thanks to his size 83 AAA clown shoes".

Uncharacteristically, Maggie is sleeping on the table and all the others are in as well, and it's not even 9.30pm. Pearl is not as ravenous as we feared she may be although she has been pretty good of tooth today. S managed to feed her her steroids and antibiotics hidden in a piece of mince this evening (and our spaghetti bolognese was very nice too).

We obviously weren't having what Poh was cooking tonight - it had a Russian theme - Piroshki which she and her French pastry-chef mate dipped in Borsht. (Have I mentioned how much all of us at Latimers are missing O's cooking?)

S made sure I was watching the report on television this evening which talked about some businesses specifically looking to employ older workers - those that are over 55. At that point she also got to asking if I was one of the oldest people working at the site. This is truly something I had not thought about until that moment - especially as S started rattling off names of people who she was fairly sure are younger than I. Looks like I'm going to have to ask people - I think there might be one or two who are older ... just (and even if there aren't - heh heh - there may be).

No firm word on what's happening about a decision regarding Government yet although Ms JG has said she's preparing to sit down to talk with the Independents. These are the same Independents who have drawn up a number of points that they want to discuss with both sides before they make a decision about who they will help to form a Minority Government. Included in their list of 'to talk to's is Ministers and Shadow Ministers and they want to drill them (or is that "grill them") about their plans for government and also how they will ensure that the Government will stay to the full three-year term. They also want to compare Treasury costings for the election promises/policies which will be difficult in the first instance since Liberal's haven't been (following the pre-election leak of their first lot of costings). They chose to rely instead on certification by independent accountants. Hmmm ... interesting times ... and even more so is the number of commentators who are coming out to say what a good thing a hung parliament is for the country.

Beazley continues to amaze us with his skills. He almost scared the living daylights out of S last night when she went through to the bathroom. She must have woken him - and he must have stood on one of the remote controls because S was assailed by a sudden wave of loud music. I slept through the whole thing - which is why M, L or C will have to knock very loudly when the time comes for the foal, although hopefully Pearl's barking to let us know they are here will help.

Otherwise all is well at Latimers. We are very much looking forward to a three-day weekend with Show Day. I'm sure I read somewhere that Bernie's is sponsoring a pet show there and if there are any freebies we will be sure to pick some up ... unless it's actual pets in which case we won't since that might upset the six already ensconced at Latimers!

Day 38 (Tuesday)

There are some phrases you hope never to hear - for example "They don't like going to the vet so much that they vomit in the car on the way there." Fortunately S didn't mention this until we were pulling in to the car park at the vet's ... although it may have been politic to warn me just in case it had happened (especially given my sympathetic reflex in this area!). It was Pearl visiting the vet - the one who sits in the ground with her - and she did a sterling job of being a patient. She let the vet investigate the area on her tail which she has been worrying and didn't snap at her at all. Mind you S and I were supposed to be holding that business end and once again I found myself wishing I had experience dancing with cattle dogs (which Coco truly is according to Sy's research at the Ekka this year) or any other dogs when I was growing up. Thankfully S has that experience and did a very good job of Pearl wrangling. I did my bit too though, letting Pearl hide behind me on the occasion when she had had enough of the vet's ministrations and just wanted to go home - or next door to go swimming. That was not to be but she will get a bath with medicated shampoo tomorrow - weather permitting.

The weather was humid in Basel today - which is the first report we've had from the other traveling M. She is traveling with a laptop, with camera, so we are hoping to see some of the sights of Switzerland in the background as she Skypes.

Election controversy continues and this time it centres on the payment to candidates returning more than 4% of possible votes in their electorate. Apparently Labor is set to have a "massive pay day" for the votes returned on the Gold Coast where candidates only seemed to be so in name only with little support and few resources provided by the Party for their campaigns.

And it's not the only popularity contest in the news. Local girl now Sydneyite, Jesinta Campbell took out second runner-up and Miss Congeniality at the Miss Universe pageant. Still no extraterrestrial contestants though so that casts a bit of a pall on the proceedings. Word is that Jesinta met Donald Trump and that he is a very nice man with a kind word for the contestants - but no suggestion that she had shared any hair-styling tips with him. There is apparently also a Miss Photogenic awarded in the competition which I think went to the first runner up. Is this the way it usually works - Miss Universe, Miss Photogenic, Miss Congeniality ... and then everyone else? When she appeared on local radio here, in the days before her version of an Australian national costume made headlines, the DJs were giving Jesinta practice questions ... none of which was the one she drew on the evening - about banning the burqa and whether governments should have a say in determining what women wear. In her response, she drew on comments from Iranian fashion designer Tala Raassi, whose Dar Be Dar swimwear was worn by this year's Miss Universe contestants. In a nutshell "fashion is freedom" ... which is why Latimers MWC will always have a place here!

Following the recent Westpac EFTPOS outage, and obviously not wanting to be left out, the ANZ had their own today. If one were suspicious, there could be a case here for checking what was happening with the other banks and whether they had suffered service disruptions as well. I can't help but think of the Lisbeth Salander character in this situation. (I think I read somewhere that they had found an unfinished fourth work by Steig Larsson and that there was enough of the manuscript there to make it viable to have someone else finish the work.)

Each night we go to bed, wearing PJs, expecting this to be the night when M, L or C knocks on the door in the wee small hours to say that it is "foal time". It still hasn't happened but it has to be soon. L doesn't seem overly worried though although he did mention to me the other day what the service fee was worth ... I think/hope I looked suitably impressed!

There have been no more rat visitors since the slashing - for which we are thankful. Don't know what we would have done last night if that rat had been alive. It was an interesting theory that they could be attracted to Latimers since there is a Rat currently in residence ... so much so that I'm now keeping a close eye out for them ... and Dragons!

And on the subject of things astrological and, by extension, astronomical, scientists today announced they have discovered a new star system - complete with planets - five definite but possibly with two more - meaning it would have just one less than our eight. (I can't believe that I keep forgetting that we don't have nine any more
since they decided Pluto was too small to count! Or that I still haven't heard the new mnemonic to replace "My Very Elderly Mother Just Sat Upon Nine ______" or ... I'll have to ask S what one she learned at school.)

Finished on the Coast for this week and off to Brisbane in the morning. Please let them have something besides filing for me to do tomorrow.

Day 37 (Monday)

And then they were two (not counting all the animals) ... after we had dropped D at the airport this evening ... repeat "this evening". His early morning flight turned out to be an early evening flight - a move designed to give him more time to work on is thesis. And work on it he did ... he spent most of last night and most of today fine-tuning (read "finishing") it - while Sooz fed him little snacks. I think was key to him submitting it at (timestamp) 3.59pm - just scraping in before the 4:00pm deadline. For the most part, he said, he was happy with it - as I'm sure was his mother who spent the day remotely checking references etc.

Who knew there were so many animals that started with "R"? "What did Ross see while he was doing the slashing today?" S asked as we drove in the general direction of the airport. "A squirrel.". "Close, but this isn't North America'". "A wombat" (because there's no way I'm going anywhere near "snake). "No." "A raccoon." (Yes, yes, still not North America.). "It starts with R." "Rabbit." A sigh from Suzanne which I ignore as I start to go through the alphabet, sure that the first two letters are "R" and "A" and I've made it all the way to "F", just, when this voice from the back seat pipes up with "Rat". We have a winner ! Yes, Ross was fairly sure he had slashed through a rat's nest - which was good to know when later this evening Pearl went out the front door to attend to dog business and became very interested in something between S's vege garden and the house. A big rat, not alive, which is just as well otherwise L, M and C would have been wondering what the screams coming from Latimers were all about. S was kind enough to attend to it while I tried to keep Pearl, Maggie (it's mine, it's mine), Beazley and Tink from pouncing - pity I wasn't doing a very good job of it. It is of course Monday which meant the rubbish was already at roadside so S asked if it is usually empty by the time I drive out in the morning ... well, sometimes, so let's not give me rattie to dispose of there just in case they're already empty and I have to dispose of him elsewhere (d'oh - the whole problem with that thinking has only just hit me - but B might have ended up with a rat hat when he lifted the bin into the ute if I'd left it in there).

The bananas are coming along nicely and finally we have an answer to what's eating the lemons. Cockatoos. (What's that S - don't say anything about the tractor getting bogged? M would only worry? But it wasn't really bogged, just stuck, and they got it out pretty quickly ... thank goodness Larry was around to offer help/advice - and that it hadn't been raining that heavily.)

We ended up going to the local for dinner last night and the place was almost deserted. There were only a couple of other diners, four drinkers, three cars in the carpark, and the staff - ah, yes and we have no direct evidence of this but we strongly suspect that the chefs had company in the form of a big vat of MSG which they were liberally using in their cooking.

And before that, on the way back from the airport, we took a drive past a gate to the Hinze Dam construction work. The lights were on and someone at the pub was saying they do work around the clock. S was pretty stunned that we ended up there at all - following Gilson Road and Gomez the GPS to what was supposed to be the Advancetown Town Centre. My but the roads are dark in those parts - and I was on the lookout for wildlife and BIG things. And who knew that "no through road" signs meant just that ...or that I would resolutely ignore three or four of them. And isn't it incredible that the Advancetown Town Centre is supposedly exactly where the gates are!

And speaking of the Dam, in the letterbox today was an invitation to a residents' BBQ on site. That is scheduled for sometime in September - a week night. I think we should go and have a look there - and this weekend at the show ... and "Ghost Writer" ... and the Eisteddfod ... there's certainly no shortage of things to keep us going and to distract us from our almost hung Parliament. Wonder if anyone will come up with the headline "Ahead by a nose" if/when Labor gets an advantage ... seems like a good headline (she suggests not quite clairvoyantly) for the Gold Coast Bulletin tomorrow!

Day 36 (Sunday)

Nation in Limbo. Deadlock. A Nation Divided. That just about says it all - and were the headlines on three Sunday newspapers here. I'm not sure that reports of a "bloodbath" are wholly accurate except perhaps in a figurative sense. And I don't understand why no seats have reported Mark Latham's "informal" vote returns - although a calculator will provide the answer quickly enough ... hmmm, looks like a consistent 5%+ of votes counted so far in each seat in Queensland were/are informal - and this appears to be a national trend. Did these folk take notice of Mr Latham's call for the public to follow his lead and put in a blank ballot, or is it because they simply didn't understand how to vote - or they chose to write something else on their ballot which would immediately make it "informal". And what have been the rates at other elections?

There is nothing as satisfying as a cold something or other at the end of a mowing session on a warm Sunday afternoon. Unless it's being able to have it sitting in the sunshine and listening to the bird song in the near distance and D in the office area tapping away on his computer putting the final touches on his thesis. The great news is that he is not, as we had thought, a vegetarian so there will be a roast for dinner tonight. Yumm. It doesn't get much better than this,

There is activity in the swallow's nest although it doesn't appear to be swallow tails that we see hanging over the side of it. Or perhaps it is and someone fails on bird identification as much as they do on facial recognition. Thank goodness S has that otherwise I would not have seen J's eldest daughter and her boyfriend at the markets this morning - or her brother. It turns out that he is the potato man that S has been buying from since we arrived. Small world hey?

It was M's last markets before she flies out tomorrow. We managed to resist the temptation to wrap a shoebox for her to deliver for us. It would have been fun to see the look on her face - especially as we had previously assured her what we were sending with her would be "small". I wish we could say that we chose not to play the trick because we knew it was mean - actually it's because we suspect she can give as good as she gets and we don't want to be on the receiving end of that particular exercise.

We visited the meat market at the roundabout earlier today. That doesn't sound very good does it? It is of course the butcher and S was very pleased that she finally got to go there because she had heard it was good. Shanks are now on the menu for us - and Pearl. But not eggs - or at least not the egg that was laid in Sydney in the last couple of days. It is apparently four times the size of an ordinary egg - and 8.5 cm long. The owners think they will take out the Australian record for the biggest egg - and then they'll be selling it on EBay.

L popped in this afternoon to bring the 4WD back and to make sure we had enough hay! He missed seeing S do the face-washing thing with Hermes. How brave is she! C was with her while she was doing it - keeping an eye on things (I hope she realized I turned the electric fence back on after I finished the mowing). Which reminds me - I thought I was doing well being in the paddock with Hermes who seemed much more sociable this afternoon and then I realized that I am only incredibly brave with him if he is incredibly far away. I'll mow the rest of that paddock next weekend - and truly there isn't a lot I wasn't able to do - he did move around a bit and when he did, I mowed.

The kids obviously like D because they are all in in time for the ABC news (special election report -no change/decision yet) - or perhaps it's the cold - very chilly here at Latimers now the sun has gone down - or maybe they want to see what all the election fuss is about. Or maybe they all just want to make sure they get their seats since there's another person here tonight who will want one. No, no, they are not spoiled at all.

The markets were good - especially when Fl and S started dreaming out loud about what roles people would have on the Latimers kibbutz - although she didn't use "kibbutz" except to tell me in the car that she had managed not to say it. It was interesting to see that they (since they were the only two there at the time - well, I was there but only to take notes) had cast people in roles that weren't that far from those they currently have - she and F would garden, O and M cook, Sy and F would do repairs, I would be the tech person, and M and An would be in charge of investments. What was that old Russian saying - "From each according to their ability ...". I liked the thought of people driving to Latimers from near and far (and maybe even on motorbikes) to see the set-up.

Vote counting is set to continue in the morning. Tr reckons Labor will end up forming alliances with enough of the independents that they will be able to govern. Maybe we will know more tomorrow.

Day 35 (Saturday)

Election Day. Finally. What is it they used to say in the "olden days"? Yes, that's right - "vote early and often". It still is possible to do that ... when we lined up to have our names crossed off at the polling station, in this case the Nerang High School, the attendant asked "have you voted already today". No. I/we had not. She then checked my name and address in the book she had, and drew a little line next to my name with a little ruler and a pen. A pen, hey? None of those for the voters - and no chance of making off with the pencil that was in the cardboard voting booths either, because it was tied on with a piece of string. Luckily I had remembered to bring my pen - and not one of the erasable ones either. S, seeing this, told me that she had once worked as an scrutineer and there was no tampering with votes. Hmmmm. I know she's right, but somehow, deep down it just doesn't seem right that we exercise our constitutional right and legal responsibility to vote with nothing but a pencil. I also discovered as I numbered my ballot paper from 1 to 5 (as you needed to, even though the Greens "how to vote" illustration was slightly misleading and suggested you only needed to put a "1" next to the name of the Greens candidate) that despite my best intention to put a certain party last, I was unable to because I wanted more than anything for the Family First party not to stand a chance. I can't help but wonder how many other people folded their Senate ballot paper in the shape of an airplane.

It was strange to think that three electorates converge on the Gold Coast. At the School, votes were being taken for Moncrieff, Fadden and Wright. We were grateful that someone had thought of this in the planning for the day - as we'd just joined the end of the very long queue - from the hall to the gate of the school - when a woman came up asking if anyone was in Fadden or Wright ("pick me, pick me") to go to the head of the queue and then to the end and right in the hall. In that moment we had saved at least half an hour.

This gave us time to set out in search (again) of the lost suburb of Worongary and the nearby pie centre of Mudgeeraba. Both were found and conquered and we have left a breadcrumb trail so we can find them again as needed. Can't help but think though that we still haven't found the shortest way there. Hmmmm.

Wikipedia: a bellwether is any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to presage future happenings.

8.16pm. Booths have been closed on the East Coast for over two hours and the election results have started to come in. Eden-Monara, the bellwether seat, has gone to Labor. However, elsewhere, 16 seats which had previously been held by Labor look to have gone to the Liberal National Party. Counting continues as, across the nation, people hold Election Evenings waiting to see who will govern and whether they will govern in their own right. Here at Latimers, S is glued to the television set while I watch another version of the world as we know it heading downhill rapidly ... "Knowing".

9.19pm. No decision yet. Except perhaps that at least one person we know has said they will leave the country, taking their family with them, if Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister. It is possibly not an idle threat.

But back to Latimers ... where it was mostly a reading day. Those who said the third book in the Steig Larsson series was the best were absolutely right. For a moment I even forgot about the irritation I'd felt about the two characters (the twins) introduced at the beginning of the second novel. And now that that's finished, maybe tomorrow the lawn will get done etc etc. But not before we do the markets, and some grocery shopping, and get ready for D's visit.

9:55pm. No decision yet - although with Labor people saying things like "we hope ...", we're not hopeful. At this stage it looks like a hung Parliament - Antony Green is predicting: 72 seats Labor, 73 seats Liberal National Party, 1 Green, 4 Other. It's unlikely that there will be a definitive decision this evening - and probably not until the end of next week. In the meantime, we have yet to hear from Ms JG and Mr Abbott this evening ... maybe tomorrow?

Day 34 (Friday)

Fear-mongering and finger-pointing: thank goodness we are on the final countdown because I don't think the Australian public - voting or otherwise - can take much more of this. The full-page ads in the daily press are brutal: Don't Let Gillard Do To Australia What Bligh Has Done To Queensland; Thinking Greens? Think of the Consequences (followed by 7 points designed to generate the most concern in a non-informed voter); The Greens are the Watermelon Party - Green on the outside but RED on the inside (and their radical left policies are anti-family, anti-religion and anti-industry). Yes, as one commentator in the Courier Mail put it: It's hard to remember an election which is driven by such negative motives and arguments. And let's not forget "Tomorrow, take the smile off her face" with a picture of the New Federal Labor Party President Anna Bligh - or the action contract that we've seen a lot of lately "End the Waste; Pay back debt; Stop new taxes; Stop the Boats; Help families". Doesn't really make one feel proud to be Australian.

Almost as unfathomable are the current odds. 90 per cent of punters betting on the election have their money on the Coalition but Labor remains favorite at $1.28.

So $2.05 doesn't look too bad. Being a local and a regular seemed to count for something today as the woman behind the counter at Maccas watched as I counted out pocket shrapnel (totalling the princely sum of $2.05) to see if I had enough for toast and coffee. Serves me right for thinking there would be no problem with not going to the bank to cash up and splashing out and buying two papers on the way in because ... Maccas has EFTPOS. Not this morning. Seems like all of Westpac's connections were down. The change left after the newspapers purchase wasn't going to take me far although maybe there was a "free" coffee card somewhere in my wallet. Anyway, to cut a (very) long story short, she rang up my order and didn't charge me for it. And it wasn't even my old school buddy!

No word yet from D who we are supposed to be taking to the airport tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it so I can see the huge feet and spider's web there - both of which are part of the lead-up to the Swell Festival as curated by Natasha Edwards. This year they're planning to have 56 artists exhibit their works along the Currumbin Beach foreshore in mid-September.

Not sure if there will be protestors there (at the airport) having their say about the new charge some say the Gillard Government (if/when they get back in) is thinking of imposing. The real question is "When is a departure tax not a departure tax?" ... and the answer is: when it's called a "passenger movement charge". This is how out of touch I am - who knew that it hadn't been called a departure tax since 1995!

And if we needed another reason to go to the Gold Coast Show (GCS) - here it is ... Dances with Dogs. Watch out Pearl because you might soon be doing the "spin, twist, turn and leg weave" which has come to represent modern interpretive dog dance. A Benowa dog trainer (and former ballroom dancer) competed with three of her Belgian shepherd malinois at the Ekka, and took out second and third; she's planning to make an appearance at the GCS and who knows - the winner might turn up with the #1 Dancing Dog as well.

We haven't heard much about the Vuvuzela lately - and wouldn't you know that I didn't win one in the Bulletin's competition - but even so, many will be glad/amazed/intrigued to hear that "vuvuzela" was voted the word of the World Cup in a survey of linguists, and is set to have an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of English. Of course, it is already in other dictionaries so it's not totally surprising then that "It was one of more than 2000 new entries in the third edition of the dictionary". It seems they have a lot of catching up to do.

I am still occasionally using the vuvuzela app on the iPhone but have not taken the next step to see if it is represented on the range of coasters currently being offered on www.meninos.us. The coasters are washable and are made in the design of the key iPhone app icons - so they're colorful and cool - and just the thing for Apple "fan boys" like M's son Lu who went out last night wearing an Apple sticker on his chest - placed over his heart. I haven't seen such excitement over a sticker since S and I got temporary tattoos from the SSS Steakhouse!

At last ... word from D whom is now not heading back south until Monday morning and asked if he could spend Sunday night here. So we said yes - and that a lift to the airport was still on as long as it was an early flight and/or he didn't mind going early. Now we just have to work out what to feed him for dinner - besides S's leafy garden greens - and reds - because her tomatoes are fantastic!

So, jobs for tomorrow include mowing (happy dance!), checking what's happening to the bananas under the blue bag, looking in H's troughs for any signs of red worms, ensuring we have diesel fuel on hand for the tractor, finally going to Crave for breakfast, and, last but not least ... voting. Oh, and seeing if I can power through to the end of "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" ... it's going to be a busy day tomorrow.

Day 33 (Thursday)

It's amazing how many things you can learn in a day.

It's worth having a Go Card if you're planning to do more than a single journey. From Nerang to Roma Street is $11.20 for a single adult ticket or $7.70 with a Go Card - for which you have to pay a $5 deposit - hence the "if you're planning to do more than a single journey" otherwise you end up paying more.

The iPad with Telstra 3G gives access all the way on the train. It would have been good enough for Skype if anyone else had been online although perhaps the other people on the train were happier that there wasn't.

The new Supreme Court Building is going to be 17 storeys high but because it will have higher than standard floors it will actually be taller than the building across the way which has more floors. There will be multiple holding cells for prisoners in the building - hadn't even considered that as an option so that came as a bit of a surprise.

You can know you're dreaming even while you're dreaming. Padtheway had huge gouges out of the screen in my dream and I remember saying to myself that it was okay because it was just a dream (nightmare more like).

The two mothers-to-be (no sign of foal #1 yet) do not like being kept in separate paddocks. L has divided their usual paddock into two and is keeping them apart. Lindy seemed quite ornery this morning as I drove past.

Pearl has me absolutely well-trained. If she sees me outside now in the morning before I go off to work, she'll follow me out and drop the ball at my feet as if to say "how about it?". I don't have the heart to say no to her. And ever since we talked about taking her to the vet, she's been fine! Do you think that perhaps the vet's isn't her favourite place to visit?

The drive out in the morning is going to start to take longer. More and more birdlife is showing up at Latimers and I'm thinking I need to walk up in the morning first to get some shots. I missed out on some magnificent kookaburras this morning - and some wee black and white birds sitting on the back of one of L's horses.

The hoons (that's hoons not loons) are back on the main road again. We heard them last night and just as I started writing this I can hear them again. This morning on the way in I noticed rubber had been laid on the road from the bridge up to the Hinde turn-off - on both sides of the road so we're probably lucky that no-one was hurt. I haven't seen them on the roundabouts on Gilston Road but they usually don't do that unless it's wet.

"Don't try to board this train: you will be disappointed" the announcer at Roma Street Station said as he cautioned people, for the final time, not to board the train standing at Platform 5. It was a different way of getting the message across.

It was less than satisfactory today to hear that Ms JG, at last night's forum, had taken potshots at Mr Abbott. Thought it was a bit of bad form. There is no reason to stoop to that level. There's also probably no reason that Mr Abbott has to take a leaf out of David Campbell's book and say that he is going to stay awake for the next 36 hours (until the polls open) so he can touch base with as many Australian voters as he is able. He will allow himself some cat naps, but that's about it. There is some concern among some in the media that a tired Mr Abbott will be a reckless Mr Abbott ... not sure if they mean we will again see that Mr Phony Tony. Not sure exactly what he hopes to achieve by doing it - especially since, as most radio folk have pointed out, everyone else is going to be asleep during this "heroic" gesture. Will it make an impression on the undecided voting public ... we'll find out on Saturday - or Sunday when the result of the election selection is known. (It is nice, though, not to have to watch the election ads.)

After a day that was warm enough to be Summer, it has cooled down this evening and a light rain has begun to fall. Maggie has taken to sleeping in her basket down the end again - she has been sleeping on the top of one of the couches,and just before we settled down for the night, P decided she needed to sleep on the couch where Beasley was. It wasn't quite tears before bedtime but it was most definitely a hissable offence. Tink stayed right out of it - she's still comfortable on the recliner.

Oh, and the other thing I learned today was if you are going to go trekking all over a building site for an hour, going up and down stairs of different heights, and then stay on your feet the rest of the day, except for the hour sitting down on the train on the way home, chances are that you might just be a little stiff come evening. But it was good to be wearing PPE (personal protective equipment - hard hat, safety goggles, bright yellow vest, steel capped boots and gloves)- just a pity there's not a pic of it. While it was fun, I'm looking forward to being back at the other site tomorrow.

Day 32 (Wednesday)

As luck would have it, the work mail needed to be taken to the Post Office, so after dropping that off, I was home just after 5. P greeted me at the car and we settled into a nice game of Fetch until she grew tired of it, took her ball, and went inside. I followed her and did mail sorting (keeping with the Post Office theme) and in a little while, S and I will do date night at the local. Will we be able to cope without the Trivia competition in full swing? We think so. As long as they have their steak and salad special, and the salad includes coleslaw. (Wonder how that woman who won Gold Lotto is coping with her new-found wealth.)

J came today and it looks as though her regular day will now be Wednesday. S said she seemed much better today and that the small "boundary setting" exercise seems to have worked. Now as long as I remember to go to the bank on a Tuesday (changing my diary note now) all will be well with the world.

Looking out towards the stables, the afternoon light is absolutely amazingly soft and golden. I keep wondering if someone has left the light on over there -but no, it's just natural illumination - and a little reflection from the kitchen light on the glass up the other end.

S had occasion to ring N this morning. They had fallen down on the job of looking after young Hermes, but they are back on track now. We thought it was good that Candice had noticed as well, and actually mentioned it to S. And no sign of those worms over here yet ... and why did someone have to say that this is the time of year for the worms. I was quite content thinking it was an isolated incident - on the other side of the fence - and not something we have to worry about. I cannot imagine what's worse now - thinking about finding them here (and why does M waggling that worm finger come to mind) or actually doing something about it?

The Lisbeth Salander role, for the US remake, has finally been cast. Rooney Mara will do the honours. I've just had a look at her entry in the IMDB and watched the trailer for the latest "Nightmare on Elm Street" film - she is in it - and while she is the right age, she just doesn't "look" like Lisbeth to me - I see her as more angular - and with a few tattoos and piercings ... yes, yes, all of that can be added but it just doesn't feel right. Must have a look at the lass who played her in the European version - or versions since all three books have now been movified.

Well, if Thursday is Trivia Night, then Wednesday is steak special and raffle night. There were a good few people there although not so many we couldn't get the table of our choice - or have to sit outside because it was too hot and/or noisy. We did buy some raffle tickets hoping we would win a meat tray, but it wasn't to be this time. We may try our luck again next week.

We were saying on the way home that we are going to miss M while she is away. As it turns out Friday dinner may still be on Friday; here it is Wednesday and we've had no word from over that way. Hopefully she hasn't inadvertently packed the phone in her suitcase.

Em had another hypo yesterday so we are looking at possibly changing her food. We have both noticed that she has been getting a bit, but not dramatically, thinner and wonder if she is finding it difficult to digest the cookies - which could be contributing to the low blood sugars. It may be clutching at straws - but it's worth a go. We have been careful about making sure her friend Pearl isn't vacuuming up her cookies - as she has a tendency to do with everyone else's if you don't watch her closely - but we know she's just being a dog.

Right now Ms JG and Mr Abbott are due to be at a "town hall" where they will each - at different times - answer an hour's worth of questions from 200 swinging (as in "undecided") voters. These folk have been handpicked by a polling company - not sure what criteria they used. The one thing we know about this election for sure, as someone commented today, is that clubs have taken the place of town halls - in that that's where the meetings/forums seem to be taking place. Not a place for the young or those faint (or is that feint) of heart. A suggested second debate - on the economy - did not eventuate and you would be forgiven for thinking that this is not an election that will be won or lost of the cut of the respective parties economic jibs. I think jibes is the word that comes to mind.

And that's about it for another glorious day at Latimers. The kids are all in and P has just woken up from her post-dinner nap, stretched, licked her lips to tell us it is supper cookies time, dutifully gone outside for a drink and ablutions, come back in and sat patiently by her bowl for someone to serve her. The others have already had their supper cookies and are content to stay on the recliner (Tink), next to S (Beas) and on the back of the other couch (Maggie). Em has been out for her lap around the shower and is tucked up in bed - which is where we're off to next - have to have an early night because it's off to Brisbane on the dawn (almost but not quite) train tomorrow.

Day 31 (Tuesday)

Coming to an iPhone or iPad near you ... "Australia Votes 2010". As the blurb at the App Store says "Get up-to-speed with the latest news on the Federal Elections while on the go ...". It's not a bad little app and I'm wondering how much use it will get on the big day. It has, among other things, a link for watching ABC 24 which works on 3G and Wi-Fi. And polls - which show that Labor is just leading. It's based on an automated phone poll in marginal seats throughout the land. There has been some negative criticism about the poll and how the results have been interpreted/communicated - but there's bound to be a bit more of that in the coming days. 4 days to go now - the app has a countdown function as well - which means the pesky election ads ("We'll stop the boats") will come to an end at midnight tomorrow. Although listening to some of the other ads on one of the radio stations this morning, I don't think we've been getting the best/worst jingle ads up here.

The Pakistan floods continue to make the news here and the reaction of some sections of the Australian public sicken me. There have been calls for donations to help those affected by this disaster and people are responding with "no" and comments suggesting that this is Karma finally catching up with them. More, or as, concerning is news that the Taliban is encouraging those affected not to take aid from the West. I will never understand the way the world works.

The Treasury Casino must truly be loving the latest publicity for a dish created by chefs there. The 21 Burger - so named because it has 21 ingredients and was created in Cafe 21 - has been billed by a dietitian as "a heart attack on a plate". The creators are hoping it will set them apart from the competition and become a tourist attraction.

Fire ants are on the move again with outbreaks being discovered at Ormeau and Clontarf. They have also found electric ants at Mission Beach. And who knew there was something called Biosecurity Queensland which has 191 staff fighting infestations?

Petrol prices are also on the move. In the last few weeks the cheap fuel day has moved again. It was Friday afternoon, then Saturday morning, and now it has pushed out to Sunday. I am still managing to get it before the price goes down some days.

It was lovely out at Latimers this morning. S came out to open the gate for me and was stunned by how close - and low - some balloons were as they drifted by. They may have been too low as one kept engaging the burner, but that didn't seem to help much. I caught up with it near the roundabout where you turn right to go to Maccas - and it was pretty close to landing then. I was thinking about staying around to take some photos but as it was supposed to be my first day at the new site, I kept going - not being sure what the traffic would be like on the Southport-Nerang Road at that time of the morning. You have to be careful with first imoressions because generally speaking you don't get a second chance to make one.

I ended up having coffee at Zarrafas at Molindinar - and I would have had it at Crave (which we've heard so much about) if I had found it when I arrived rather than as I was leaving. It looks "welcoming" but will have to wait until a weekend as I won't be working at the new site after all - going to divide my time between the current site (3 days) and Brisbane office. Thank goodness I have some books and videos stacked to watch. I might get to finish Larsson's third book which I'm not avoiding but which isn't top of the digital pile either.

There have been more fisticuffs on the campaign trail - five episodes so far I think it is. And these are the people who think they should have the opportunity to help govern the country? (Was funny then - the computer put "thud" into that sentence all by itself although "thump" may have been more appropriate.)

The other recent "debacle" of the campaign happened at yesterday's Labor launch were, except for dot points, Ms JG delivered her speech pretty much "au naturel" - as the "real" Julia - or so it was claimed. The media is in an uproar now that it has been discovered that she was working from typed notes that had been surreptitiously placed on the lectern - and while she may have delivered them almost word-for-word and without seeming to be reading, reading she was. Shock, horror - how can this woman ever be trusted if she lies about something like this? Did we say it would be nice if someone thought it a good idea to concentrate on policy rather than personalities and/or what some folk consider to be personal failings? It would certainly be refreshing - but unlikely to happen me thinks.

Election material has started arriving in the mail and even that has a flavour of "finger pointing" about it especially the Liberal candidate's. I have to agree with Ms JG's sentiments here when she talks about "moving Australia forward" as long as it also includes moving away from childish (as opposed to child-like) behaviour.

Must be about time for an early mark, to be home in daylight, throw some balls to the girl, and sit and watch the sun setting over the paddocks <deep sigh> ... Tomorrow!

Day 30 (Monday)

Maggie has decided that she doesn't want to come to bed with the rest of us but hopefully she will come in before we call it a night. S has retired already, to listen to Philip, P has her night dress on and has been out for the last time for the evening - although she protested a lot, and everyone else is settled - as I will be once Maggie deigns to come in - which she finally has.

It was another busy day on the political hustings. At the Labor party campaign launch today, Bob Hawke likened elections to horse racing and suggested that everyone "study the form guide" before they voted. At that point Ms JG must have been hoping she would win by at least a nose. Which just goes to show how impressionable children are. The Bulletin today ran a feature asking school children to say who they think should win the election - and to draw a picture. The most striking and recurrent features - a long nose for Ms JG, and speedos for Mr Abbott. Some were concerned about the back-stabbing - others weren't.

So how do these youngsters have their political opinions formed? From where does the information hail? Not sure if it's at all related, but over at St Hilda's they're planning to replace their 700 desktop computers with iPads. Students will start receiving them from next year with an option to purchase or lease their own devices. While, not quite so down to earth, on JetStar you can now hire a iPad for the duration of your flight - well, the duration of the time one is at cruising altitude anyway.

I'm not a big fan of newspapers slipping advertising into editorial so, I'm not totally sure if I believe the results of a survey, run by a new website - www.manofthehouse.com - which found 91% of fathers agreed they get along better with their significant other when they share household chores equally. At least it doesn't contradict that other piece of anecdotal lore that no partner was ever shot while doing the washing up. But would they have been shot if Alan Hunter, the Nationals candidate for Richmond had found them mucking around with his election trailer? It has been attacked for the second time in a week by vandals. Last week they painted it, today they pushed it across the road from where it was parked and into the Tweed River. Alan Hunter didn't seem perturbed though - "This is the best publicity we've had" he is reported as saying, which to me, seems more than a little sad.

So what cost for a Federal election? I may have gotten this wrong but I think the current payment for a vote is $2.31 as long as the candidate polls over 4% of the ballot. This will cost the Australian taxpayers over $50 million this election - paid retrospectively. Would it be fairer if all candidates received the same amount of money with which to run their campaigns - which would be given as soon as they register to run and would cover campaign costs including accommodation and travel etc? Would this give a greater illusion of democracy? My contribution will be voting in pen this year even if I have to take my own into the voting station - which we all know I will because the Australian Electoral Commission only provides pencils. I've never been able to work out why this is so.

The Council is about to commit another half a million dollars for efforts to win the Commonwealth Games for the Gold Coast. They say the benefits from the sports facilities the State Government would build alone is enough to make it worthwhile. And failing that we could all move to Oxford, England, where a new radio station has just started up. It plays only songs from "Glee". I can understand why you would want to listen to tunes from this top hit US show from time to time (I know, I downloaded two albums) but not non-stop. The station is apparently targeting women under 30. And women who know English are apparently targeting staff at American coffee shops. An English professor claims she was ejected from a Starbucks because she refused to order according to their rules. She had ordered a toasted multigrain bagel and when the barista asked if she wanted cheese or butter on top, she refused to answer as she wanted it plain - and, she insisted, "When you go to Burger King, you don't have to list the six things you don't want". But she wasn't finished making her point. "Linguistically, it's stupid, and I'm a stickler for correct English" ... even, it appears, when she is calling someone a rude name. Lynne Rosenthal was removed from the store by police who had been called in by the manager. The report didn't say if she had ordered coffee to go with the bagel and if she had asked for it "to go".

We are now officially on "foal patrol" with M telling us that the first of the little ones could be along any day now. We have asked them to let us know when - even if it's in the middle of the night. Very exciting to be this close to nature - just another of the wonders of Latimers. Who would have thought that a couple of city slickers and their cat could love it here so much?

Day 29 (Sunday)

It was great to see S and A today and catch up with them after their European vacation which included a trip to Strasbourg but not the Villeroy & Boch birthplace there. They did take the 15 Euro river tour and highly recommend same to other travelers. It is always nice to have adventurers lead the way.

As it was lunch, A had cooked a quiche and that was yummy - more so than the one that followed us home from the markets. (Snap.) It was accompanied by a lovely batch of greens - hand-picked from S's garden - and also very delicious. Good food, good company - a lovely way to spend a Sunday.

It was almost too short a stay for us at the markets - and it was very hard to drag ourselves away as the table was just starting to buzz nicely. We have come to enjoy this Sunday morning ritual very much. You could have knocked us down with a feather though when we saw the KOM mobile there, until we realised that M must have had it out for a run. (Okay, for a moment we thought the traveller's might have made an early return and be going to surprise us ... even though they know we want to pick them up from the airport on their return! But, alas, no ... the more pedestrian explanation won out.)

Max and Coco were very well behaved on the visit and did a great job of rounding up all of Pearl's toys. Maggie spent the duration of their visit in the room as planned and I was very impressed that S remembered to let her out as soon as they left. I fear I would have remembered when I asked: "Where's Maggie and why hasn't she come in for her Supper cookies?"

S left the manual out so S could see what a great job had been done to prepare us for the caretaker role. She was suitably impressed.

Can someone please make them stop the election ads? I cannot imagine how much money is being spent on television ads for this campaign. When we watched last night it was wall-to-wall which might have been okay except they kept repeating the same ones. It reaches "old news" territory very quickly! Not to mention full page ads in the press. Ah well, only this week to go and then we'll know how many people followed Mark Latham's advice tonight to cast an informal vote ... what, a donkey? (You have to love punctuation.)

It is the official launch of Labor's campaign tomorrow and they will be doing it in Queensland. We are not going. They are expected to announce some low-cost policy initiatives (according to educational radio) and use some more staged publicity shots - if you believe the aforementioned (not-a-good-look) Latham. It will be interesting to see if there is any follow-up on his almost throwaway reference to Kevin Rudd being the source of the recent Labor leaks. Not sure what Channel 9 thinks they are achieving with him - especially as he interviewed (a very loose term) Pauline Hanson - the (other) redheaded woman in Australian politics - so she could declare that she neither likes nor trusts Julia and that she blames Tony for spearheading the campaign that led to her imprisonment.

We missed Kevin's interview - I think it was on earlier than we thought. Hopefully they will run a summary in the paper tomorrow. Perhaps he made reference to daughter Jessica who has just had her book published. The story revolves around a Prime Minister who is deposed by his female Treasurer. Sound familiar? In this case it's life imitating art because she had hers first. There was an article about it, and her, in this weekend's SMH.

M is starting to be a little anxious about her impending departure - and how she's going to have enough room in her bag (a recurring theme). Friday dinner may be on Tuesday or Wednesday night this week so she's able to fit it all in.

Still no closer to working out who's eating the lemons - although I doubt it's the aliens that Chris suggested. I discounted the strategy of sprinkling talcum powder around the area to see what paw prints turned up when I realised I would not be able to sleep again if it was a BIG paw print! (This is a filmic reference to something called ''Paranormal Activity" - a movie best avoided by those who are "suggestable" and have even a modicum of good taste. S hated it!)

No lawn mowing this weekend but I am planning to get into it next weekend. The good thing is that Hermes is tending to use the mowed part of the top paddock so it's not too strenuous for the people doing the pick-ups. The girl we saw doing it yesterday was using a bucket and rake but S said she had seen someone picking it up with a machine the other day. I would love to see that!

We're hoping to get to the movies this week - it has been a while since we saw Shrek soaring over rooftops and being his "old ogre self" as the Carpenters sang "On Top Of The World". "Ghost Writer", the new Polanski film, is heading the list at this stage. Haven't really heard anything about the plot - but have listened to an interview with one of the cast who was saying that Polanski was his usual meticulous self - even telling actors how to say their lines - which some found "interesting" given English is not his mother tongue. But the result is supposedly spectacular - which we'll be able to confirm after we see it ... tomorrow?

Day 28 (Saturday)

They are everywhere - on trailers at the side of the road, halfway up hills, in yards, in paddocks - yes, advertising billboards are taking over the country! The amazing thing is that our electorate seems to stretch from here almost to T - can't remember where I saw the last Wright one but it was pretty close to Gatton. Who would have thought that such diverse demographics would have been clagged together into an electorate - and how do they (and who are they?) decide on electoral boundaries anyway?

The Labor figures are looking okay at the moment - it is "hers to lose" as one paper headlined. It makes me think of that golfer - you know the one - he's always snatching defeat from the jaws of victory - but hopefully that will not be the case here. It would be interesting to see, though, if the churches (aka Religious Right) are giving their partitioners any advice about voting - and whether Ms JG's self-professed atheism is an issue. But I suppose if the US can elect Obama, there's every chance that Australia can elect a woman! (I'd go to a voting website and check out the odds but they don't make sense to me - oops, sorry, that's "old news".)

The trip to T was good. Baby M was there this time and she is just the cutest thing. She is crawling now, almost able to stand unassisted, doesn't like wearing her pink floppy hat, and loves being in her walker - she reverses better than I do! We didn't see nephew C this time as he is now working full-time at WOW and doing very well; but he wasn't working today - he was off helping one of his mates set up for his birthday party this evening. W will be minding M while the kids go - and I think she was looking forward to that ... more than Mum is looking forward to moving into W's for 10 days in a couple of weeks while W is off on retreat so there is an "adult" presence.

We called into Sprengers on the way there - wasn't sure they would be open on the way back - and secured a bag of carrots, some liquorice (who knew the actual plant has large purple flowers) allsorts, a cauliflower and some celery - and some of those roasted peanuts! We're just glad the traffic wasn't that heavy otherwise we might still be there waiting for a break in the traffic so we could cross the highway (and continue on to T).

We saw a couple of police cars with speed cameras on our travels - both "hiding" behind bushes - but we don't believe either of these will result in our getting photos of Lars in the mail. As part of the long-running dispute over pay rates for Queensland Police, the Premier has apparently suggested that civilians can person speed cameras. Revenue raising? Some think so, especially given the high rate of return from speed cameras in Victoria where a similar system operates. Here it would be about returning police people to the beat rather than having them spend hours at a time monitoring traffic. Of course there would be the added benefit of people not seeing police cars - meaning they wouldn't drive or stop as erratically - as shown by that recent research.

Define "regrettable" ... and perhaps the Liberal Party definition is not the one we should be working to because that's what they described it as when a campaigner for their youngest candidate Wyatt Roy punched a Labor campaigner in the face. It happened at Caboolture and was caught on video - not difficult since it took place over the better part of 20 minutes. If you can believe reports, Roy who was just a few metres away while this was happening, did not step in to intercede - that was left to a female LNP campaigner - who tried but was unable to stop the attack. Bad language was also involved. So, in the words of the LNP spokesperson, "The incident is regrettable."

Hopefully this will be the only incident of political fisticuffs for the weekend. Mr Rudd is due to appear on Channel 7 tomorrow night and the promos (so we've heard) suggest there is some "bitterness". Not sure if we will watch that, or Mark Latham (newest, most highly criticized political journalist for Channel 9) on 60 Minutes ... or (and this is probably the most likely), Frasier or anything on the lifestyle channel.

The Ekka finished today and we didn't make it there - so no strawberry ice creams for us - although Mr Abbott did, as it turns out, have one. It seems not to have improved his disposition. Or the quality of the LNP advertising.

The kids were very happy to have us home this evening - we were back by 6:30 but that's still past their usual dinner-time. They settled in for the night quite quickly so that was good - keeping S company as she caught up with the lifestyle programs and I did some transferring of television programs - which I will need to finish tomorrow.

Day 27 (Friday)

The end of another working week and news that a decision about the Project has been delayed again. At this stage, we are not expecting to know until the end of September - which is a few weeks away yet. All staff who can be redeployed have been - including me who will work one day a week on the project for the next couple of weeks - then at the Hospital site for the other days. Then they're trying to find me some work in Brisbane that I can do from down here to keep me busy until the client makes their decision. Not the way we prefer to do it but it means I'll get to try out some coffee shops over that way for a bit. GJs here are going to miss us all - but maybe the team will be back together for their grand opening - usually held 40 days after an outlet opens.

No J today - so it's just as well that S had tidied up before she was meant to be here. And we may need to do a little more before S and A arrive on Sunday. Not sure if we should tell Maggie now that she's going to be in the traveller's room while they're here - or the others that they're not.

No Friday night dinner so S and I had to be content with the company of each other, Pearl and the four cats - oh, and Frasier. It was a particularly good episode last night - although not quite as good entertainment as F & M - can't wait for the markets.

It's time to call it a night and we are already in "lock down" with everyone in and had their supper cookies - so why is it that Pearl is following me through the house, dropping the ball every few steps. Doesn't she realise it's nearly 11 and we're off to T to see the family tomorrow - and planning an early start? Or that it's dark outside, with no moon, and it will be very hard for her to find even a "short throw" ball? And that we're not allowed to play ball in the house?

Well, some people say that June 20 is the shortest day of the year - I think it might be today - or tomorrow.

Day 26 (Thursday)

Trivia anyone? One night we will go to the pub to play trivia rather than to just have dinner. Mind you, we might actually go to play the new machine they've installed up there ... "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". You have to pay to use it but there are "cash prizes" although I dare say if you actually win the million, they'd draw you a cheque - that's if the name is to be taken literally. Hmmm ... perhaps not. And how would you stop people Googling the answers?

The wind today reminded me of South Africa where it gets so blowy that they've installed handrails on some corners so you can hang on for dear life while you're waiting for the lights to change. Sometimes even that is not enough. We did a check of Latimers to make sure there was nothing that could turn into an airborne object - not for a moment ever thinking it could be as bad as it was at Mt Hutt in New Zealand over night where car windows were smashed in by the wind - and hundreds of people were stranded on top when they closed the mountain because of the bad conditions.

J didn't come today - she rang mid-afternoon to let S known she was not well. She was thinking about coming tomorrow but S said she should wait and see how she felt - so we shall see.

L and D are going to come tomorrow or early next week to tend to the back paddock where the grass is almost as high as an elephant's eye. He has been flat-out lately and seemed very apologetic that it has taken this long to get to. We were able to tell him that we are doing a Sprengers run on Saturday and will pick up some carrots for all the horses.

Did I mention that we are in the middle of an election campaign? Cannot credit how much personal criticism of the candidates there is ... even to the point that they are repeating their answers - not surprising given people are asking them the same questions. Western Sydney seems to be full of marginal seat opportunities because both the major parties have been playing out that way. But only just over a week to go now and we will know what fate awaits the nation.

I'm a bit disappointed that we are going to miss both the Emmanual College fête and the Mudgeeraba Farmers markets on Saturday. J's brother has a stall there (Mudgeeraba) and I was hoping to get some of his potatoes - but we'll have to make do with some from the Big Windmill, the Big Elephant or the Big Orange. It wasn't until I wrote that that I realised that each of them has something "Big" to go with their fruit and vegetables.

But we are going to the "Big Top" as in ... the Circus. S has agreed, saying that it would be good to do more "fun" stuff and she's not going to get any argument from me on this one. Then I'll see if we can actually make it to Dreamworld so I can get some Tiger shots. I was poking around on the benefits section of the company website and it appears that there are some discounts available for staff so I'll check those out for the theme parks - and whale watching (we are definitely doing that up close this year ... it was thrilling from the Southern Cross balcony that year - so I can't image what it would be like to see them with the naked eye!).

Chico has been visiting Pearl a bit of late and S thinks it may have something to do with secret avocado business - even though we are still gathering the fruit and Pearl is not. But S did notice Chico and Pearl coming out from the undergrowth the other day and she thought they looked as though they had been partaking of some pleasure they perhaps ought not to ... and she's thinking avocados. She was specifically wondering if they might have something to do with Pearl's bouts of itching - which are not as bad as they were - but still enough to have her hissed at from time to time. We will also get S (on her way through to Palmers) on Sunday to have a look and see what she thinks.

L and L are continuing to look more "with foal" with each passing day. They were nuzzling each other's necks yesterday evening - not sure if that was part of a grooming ritual - or trying to stay warm in a coldish breeze. They don't seem to be bothered by the growing numbers of ducks in the area; and we're hoping the ducks stay where they are because Pearl will have her work cut out for her if they decide to come down the hill into Latimers!

Swallows have been visiting the nest and one was sitting in there the other day. We're not sure what this means but we are keeping an eye on it to see if any little beaks pop into view. That would be very exciting ... in a good way - as opposed to news coming out of Russia about fire encroaching on the country's biggest nuclear research facility and firefighters battling to keep it in check. If people in some European countries blame Chernobyl for all their woes now, imagine what they could do with this! We'll be watching the net for an update tomorrow.

Day 25 (Wednesday)

The election has made it to the "pages" of the US press - well, at least the tech pages. Engadget did manage to get it just a little wrong though: "When Australia goes to the polls on August 21st, citizens will vote for more than men and the traditional issues they represent -- the ballots cast will directly impact the country's national broadband plan." Hmmm, "men", hey? They might not have heard about our female Prime Minister ... but then, they probably think that we're the country that's next to Germany ... oh wait ... that's Austria!

Dr Karl was at Robina today, at the Library. I didn't go but it would have been a chance to ask him whether there was any scientific credence to the new treatment that was in the paper this morning. For the small sum of $85 an hour, people can have a session in the coast's first private hyperbaric chamber. It's supposed to help with skin problems - acne, recovering from cosmetic surgery and, the one featured in the report, pregnancy stretch marks.

The rain has stopped, and it has been replaced by wind - and lots of it. It whipped up the sea a bit and helped one of the desalination barges to end it all and beach itself at Tugun. But it's not going to get out of that project that easily - they finally refloated it at 7pm tonight and are towing it to Brisbane to check it out.

Chances are they won't pass any crocodiles on the way, but there was talk of them in the office today. I'm not sure if it was to do with the alligator gar fish on "Monster Fish" (have to love Austar at lunchtime) or people's own experiences, but the guys were recounting (and regaling others) of crocs (and we're not talking the plastic shoe) sightings in both the Nerang and Logan rivers.

The rain hasn't seemed to have made much of an impression on the dams. The Hinze was 94.2% and has, since yesterday, creeped up to 94.6%. At the Little Nerang Dam (and where is that exactly?), there was no change from 90.4%. It's amazing how much you find out from the local paper - like that the Great Franquin - acclaimed hypnotist - is no longer with us - but Jessica Watson will be here on the Coast next week.

Here today - actually next door - though are thick red worms which have taken up residence in the horse troughs. M isn't quite sure where they came from - or how long they have been there - since C usually tends to the horse water. We talked about the possibility they had fallen from the skies, with the rains, as has happened with frogs in foreign countries in the past - but not seriously. We did check to make sure that there was no sign of them in H's troughs - no problems but, not surprisingly, I did have nightmares about it, although it could have been linked to the movie trailer with the human centipede ... definitely do not ask.

Not sure if "worms" is the type of miracle that Pastor Daniel from the Catch the Fire Ministries is encouraging or welcoming. I knew I should have written down where he was going to be on Sunday ... so we could be one of the many who will be "all welcome, come and expect your miracle".

And speaking of miracles, Mary MacKillop the musical, simply titled MACKILLOP, has been cast and rehearsals are underway. Joanna Cole, who played Lindy Chamberlain in "Lindy - The Opera" has the lead role. It will play in Melbourne and Sydney during the canonisation celebrations in October.

R is going to come and blue bag the bananas - and there are a few of them - about a hundred. This will protect them from the bats he told S. Hopefully she will ask him to have a look at some of the eaten lemons when he comes. Not sure what's been at them but something definitely is. I have sought advice on FaceBook and so far the suggestions of what's been eating them have been (in no particular order) - Mihriban, white cockatoos, bats and possums. Funny how it has only started recently - I'm sure we would have noticed it. Of course, it is true that I do like lemons but I'm positive (I think) that I haven't been sleepwalking and/or sneaking out with a salt shaker to raid the lemon tree in the dead of night. Not that I wouldn't like to but there is the question of the wildlife in the area (the ones that get the dogs barking) and whatever it was that scared Beasley the other day.

Sooz is on the couch with them (all) and there is a certain amount of posturing for attention, affection and space. Nice to know they all feel confident enough to do it - and nice that they are all inside - rather than being outside and risking being blown away. It's supposed to be windy again tomorrow.

Day 24 (Tuesday)

Ms JG topped the world-wide Twitter topics for an hour yesterday when she appeared on the ABC's Q&A program. She performed well - especially when asked how she would feel about leading Australia as she was not a "mother". She responded that John Howard hadn't been a mother either. Also, when asked to rate - on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the least annoying and 10 being the most annoying - Mark Latham's outing as a political journalist for Channel 9 - she said, simply, that some things just could not be measured.

Where is our odds expert when we need them - and why are headlines so confusing. "Huge betting plunge for Labor" ... does that mean more people are taking the plunge and betting for them, or people are betting against them? If odds are shortening is that a good thing? (You would think that with a grandfather who was a regular track attender and a father who liked a flutter, some of this knowledge should have been transferred through to me genetically!) And surely it's a big enough gamble just to have these people vying to run the country? Is this why they call Australia "the lucky country"?

Pearl continues to be incredibly helpful - especially as she has been trapped inside all day as the rain continues to fall, and fall and fall. It has turned into a bit of a rally course at the front gate/letter box and for a brief moment there this evening I wasn't sure Lars was going to make it up the first mud hill home. If the rain keeps up I may have to think about taking the four-wheel drive for a run. And where is that rooster noise coming from? It's the first one I've heard since we've been at Latimers ... "it's swimming across the paddock" offered S, before pointing out that it was on the television (more lifestyle programs). But back to Pearl ... she has been helpful, vacuuming up - or trying to - the cats' special cookies. She has been behaving herself - mostly - and I think she would have been better if she had been able to play ball this evening. I gave her a couple of tosses - just so she could catch the ball in her mouth - but that doesn't give her the exercise she's become used to.

M called this evening to remind us that R is starting on Thursday and that we would need to slightly amend Friday night dinner times. She's not sure how it's going to work with her feline charge but we'll call her tomorrow or Thursday to work out the finer details. In the meantime, she's planning to have all the family around for Thursday. And, as she reminded us, she only has two Friday nights before she goes - and she still has lots and lots to do - so much so that she isn't sure that she's going to get through it before she has to catch the big plane.

We're trying to decide what to send over with her ... which of the cats - and whether Pearl should be given the opportunity. We know that they're things that you definitely can't get over there!

S was up before me this morning, showered and ready to leave Latimers for the day. Then she looked outside, saw it was still bucketing down, and thought better of it - but she was kind enough to do the gate - for which I am always grateful.

After overdosing on "The Dresden Files" - about a wizard turned detective - actually very good - I am concentrating on music listening for a while ... especially since it's difficult to get near the television in the evenings. We have created a ... very distinct change in viewing habits. I can't believe that I didn't appreciate full control of the television for the 20 years I had it ... it's often the case isn't it ... we don't fully appreciate what we have until it's gone. It's a nice change though, and it would be even better if I hadn't put together a compilation which seems to tap into a "poignant" streak. Ah well, should it get too bad I'll just pop "Heart and Souls" onto the DVD. That should fix it.

The cats are all in - a record - 8.20pm - but it's too early to do lock-down. Chances are they won't go far though - and if they do, they'll soon realise how wet it is and come back in.

It's a pity they can't see in colour though otherwise we'd be able to show them the new logo for the Gold Coast's bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. It has 72 dots in the shape of the Gold Coast sun. There are all the colours of the rainbow - or more precisely ''Colours in the logo represent the golden sand, blue water, green hinterland and red sunsets of the Gold Coast as well as the colours of competing nation's flags.'' Well, that's what Anna Bligh said when she launched it this morning.

No-one came out to launch the huge pothole on the M1 at Merrimac this morning. It was a metre in diameter and up to 20cm deep. Motorists who went through/over it were not happy. Nor was the person whose car caught on fire near the Q Centre. Can't help but wonder if the continuing rain overnight will add to the general road difficulties tomorrow.