The Markets were good fun although everyone else was there by the time I arrived (I had been doing a Skype call and suggested S and M go on ahead and I would meet them there). S bagged some good bargains and seemed to be having a good time. The coffee (thanks Mouse) was scrumptious - you know how some days it's just better than others - and there was a good crowd at the table to talk to, including young N who has taken a job as an analyst in Canberra and leave in just under a month to take up her role there. She will be missed!
After the Markets (did I mention that the potato man - David - is currently off in the Northern Territory working on a "life skills" program with indigenous folk there) we made a change to our normal routine (okay, we still went to JB Hi-Fi) and joined M, Mouse and F for lunch at the Ferry Road Markets. Yum. They have a lovely selection of shops there too including "The Tea Specialist" which is probably where I'm going to buy my next "tea cup" from. It's funny how we get attached to certain vessels for drinking out of, isn't it? I know lots of people can just use whatever cup there is but for others, it's not so simple. It has to be the right shape, the right density, the right volume. And, of course, it can vary, too, depending on the beverage.
I missed Hermes in his paddock today when I finally managed to get on the mower and go down to do the "bottom two". And when I say "missed" I mean that he wasn't there so I didn't have to keep looking for where he was so I could mow around him rather than "I didn't run into him with the mower". He was in the yard over, though, and did seem interested in what was going on in "his" paddock.
It was a little wet in the very bottom one and while I managed not to get bogged there are some furrow marks to show where it could have happened - but at least you can see them now the grass is at a more manageable level. And yes, there was that "ah" Colorbond moment - and despite a snake having been seen on the property, I did stop the mower to savor the moment. It was easy to do too, because I had already had to actually get off the mower earlier when it "caught" in the rough. (Sounds like golf!)
As twilight approached, S and I sat out the front, me writing, S listening to the radio, and waiting for M and Pearl to return from their power walk to the road (and back). We're fairly sure that there are new hatchlings in the swallow (yes, swallow) nest again - which would mean it really had not been empty for a day since the last lot hatched. We never were able to tell if three or four were in that clutch - or how many might be in the new one. There are also some nests on the go in the tree near the front gate and it will be interesting to see when those little ones emerge. Yes, it's a special time to be at Latimers! Even the cats think so because they spend a fair amount of time out under that tree - and don't even seem to mind or be deterred when they get swooped for their efforts.
