Pearl and I took a walk up the lane this afternoon and I would like to say we made it all the way to the road but just past B's, she turned around and wanted to come home. Since it was her walk too, we turned around and she seemed pleased with that. There is something very refreshing about walking in the "country" with nature all around and white wood fences, and a dentist working on a horse with what looked like a power drill. Apparently, according to M, when they are working on a horse's teeth, they brace its mouth open so they can do what they need to do. I was so stunned seeing it - I haven't seen a mouth and a drill together like that since "Marathon Man" (Is it safe?) - that I didn't think to ask if there was some kind of anesthetic involved or whether horses have a different sensitivity to pain in their mouths especially since horse dentists do have to take out teeth. I'm learning more about country living all the time.
S is too! When the mower was delivered back to Latimers this afternoon (cheers all around) she drove it back to the shed without Miss Adventure. If we're not careful, she'll want to share the mowing duties as well - not that there isn't enough grass to go around, because there is, especially with the recent combination of heat and water.
Water ... did someone say water? It looks as though the Latimers roof needs replacing. M is currently getting a quote for the work. She said she wasn't surprised when the plumber said it would need it - it has leaked during some of the heavier rains over the last few months and it has been patched (and patched) before. It was, as she said, only a matter of time before it actually had to be done. And given that the Gold Coast is supposed to be facing a very heavy Summer storm season (the word "cyclone" has actually been used - and some say that Queensland is due for around five or six this year), getting the roof fixed may be a great idea. The other thing M was saying was that you can take some really nice photos from up there - and it's not that bad to be up there - as long as you walk where the nails are - because it's a flat roof. That may be an excursion for the weekend.
Also coming up - making sure the swallow nest is completely empty before it is pulled down. There appeared to be no activity in there this evening but as we know from last time, turnaround with the nest can only take a day and M wants to get it before the next lot of parents move in.
S and I took ourselves off for dinner tonight at the Chinese restaurant at Worongary (it's easier to find now we know where it is) and the food was good, except we made a poor choice with one of the dishes. I am always amazed at how many people are out and about on a Thursday evening - as the restaurant people may have been because they had such a full house (and no chance of the owner getting more staff the man behind the counter told me as I paid our bill) they were run off their feet - and there was a surprisingly long wait - understandable given the circumstances!
We arrived home before M and took the opportunity to go into early lock-down, even managing to scoop up Tink who was sitting in one of the chairs out the front - watching a gentle rain fall over Latimers. If only we knew someone who was an expert in toad behavior maybe we could find out what happens to them: as we drove in tonight there were lots of them over the driveway (being careful not to squash any of them) but by the time I had parked the car and come around the back to get my bag out of the boot, the toads had completely disappeared. Odd.
