Saturday

Where has the month gone? Already we're only a day away from August 1 - traditionally known as the horses' birthday.

We went to breakfast at Sisters with Pearl - after we had a game of "tug-of-ball" with her new red ball with the short rope at Latimers. I wish I could track of what we do with her tennis balls because there's never one around when you want one ... and while the red ball is fun, she invariably chews both ends of the rope so that makes it a bit ... wet. But still it's good fun, and after breakfast, we went for a walk around the dog park with her. It's really her first outing in a while and she really did seem to enjoy it - except for the riding in the car there and the riding in the car back ... I don't think Pearl is one of the world's best travelers.

This evening we went bowling ... and this time S came too. I wish I could say we excelled but certainly mine was a lacklustre performance of epic proportions. Hmmmm ... I was just thinking - isn't it interesting that Strike is used in two types of sport (at least) - ten pin bowling (where it's a good thing) and baseball/softball (where the third one usually means you're out!).

Post-bowling we went to the pizza and pasta bar, Vapiano, in Surfers Paradise. It was good - and reminded us of Mi telling us how she had been to the Vapiano's in Vienna. We truly live in a cosmopolitan centre. One of the interesting features of Vapiano's is that they don't have a "bill" as such. Each diner gets a "cash chip" - a card which they swipe as they order - and then they pay individually at the cashier.

Then it was iff to Ripley's Believe It Or Not with H. M didn't go because she thought it wouldn't really have changed from when she went years ago, and I think she is probably right. But what they did have that was "new" was ... the tunnel. It's a visual illusion - you walk across a bridge which is in a rotating tunnel of lights and you very quickly feel disorientated and if the whole bridge is tipping. H and I both thought this was the best thing there and we went through it a number of times. I found the effect got "more" each time I did it - but when I questioned H to see if this was happening to him too, he didn't think so.

Friday

Family & Friends dinner - was good and crowded! it was lovely to meet D's significant other, Y, finally. She has been over here from Moscow for less than a month but seems to be settling in well although she said it was very different - since everything closes so early here in Australia. They were telling us that in Russia everything stays open until late - including financial institutions so you can actually even do banking at 8 o'clock at night. I wonder how big a population Australia would need to have to keep European hours? The other thing she is fascinated with is our birdlife here and certainly around Latimers and environs we seem to have (more than) our fair share.

It was also interesting to hear how they met. It was through work - both of them ran transport companies - D in Sydney and Y in Russia. And because of the wonders of the interweb (it does have some good uses) they were able to get to know each other and ... The rest is history.

Mouse was concerned and disappointed with her cooking for the guests though. She made borscht and vereniki - which we all love - but she thought the borscht was overcooked and she had to remake the vereniki because the first batch had the wrong cheese. Of course, we just all thought the meal was amazing - and we took some borscht home for the weekend. But even she couldn't doubt the dessert - F's favorite rhubarb crumble. And who knew that rhubarb leaves are poisonous ... and paw paw leaves? (It's amazing what topics get a look-in at dinner - although now that I think about it, I do wonder what Y and D thought of our talk of such things.)

Y (and how do you pronounce her name?) was good company - I wouldn't have liked to have been her ... thrown into the deep end as she was. But she seemed to relax more as the evening went on - realising that Mi (who was in good form) was joking with a lot of the comments she made ... mmm, rhubard leaves.

We finally got to ambush little H with the other nerf gun this evening - as well as ambushing M who didn't know that there was another nerf gun in the house, so while she and H were shooting each other, we ambushed her! All good fun. The Great K, usually more reserved, even had a go and he was a good counter for little H. It was too rough for me so I ended up reloading guns (and doing a little ambushing) and clearing jams. That's probably the biggest problem with the guns - the darts get stuck in the barrel - and until it's cleared, you can't fire any more.

We all went home tired but happy!

Thursday

Another frost this morning and I can't believe I missed it again! M reported it as she drove off soon after me on the way in to collect H for his surf lesson - I think it was surfing this morning because she later said that H and Brad had gone so far out that she could hardly see them. H seemed to do well today - but I hope he was wearing that wetsuit because it was 2 degrees on parts of the Coast this morning. I wonder if the water was warm again - over the last few weeks (while H has been doing water sports) the water temperature has consistently been higher than the air temperature.

Ah well, I'll just have to keep my eye out for that frost on mornings which feel colder - and hope that the days continue getter lighter so I have a chance of seeing it when I drive out of Latimers.

What I also missed this morning - and glad of it - was the bevy of bike riders zipping past the gate. Luckily they were going in the other direction so I didn't have to follow them out of the valley - or risk overtaking on the way to the bridge.

It was another glorious day on the Gold Coast (we have a fair few of them - I think the tourist folk are boasting 300 sunny days a year at this point - hmmm, does this include or exclude flood season?).

I had to stop off and do some shopping on the way home (peanut butter, sugar and some custard to go with the [rather excellent] apple crumble S made for dessert). I had hoped to get home in time for a walk with S and Pearl, and M if she was home - but it was a bit late but Doug was still there - doing some work clearing out the shed - so we stopped and had a bit of a chin-wag. He and his significant other are coming to Family & Friends dinner tomorrow night. She is Russian and Mouse is cooking borscht and vereniki. The Great K is also coming so, with Ma and H as well, we are going to have a full house. It will be fun!

S was planning to use her birthday tagine for the first time this evening - and while she has suggested this on a couple of occasions previously, she told me this morning that the chicken has been defrosted so it has to be today. I was particularly looking forward to it because she has said she would do it with mashed potato rather than the traditional cous cous because she knows I am not a fan of the latter.

Well, it was almost the birthday tagine ... but S wanted to test the recipe first ... and it didn't specifically say it needed to be made in a tagine - so it wasn't. But it was very yummy - spicy chicken and very lovely mashed potatoes. (Some are definitely better than others and S, Ma and T make the best ones I have tasted - except for mine of course - but it has been a while since anyone has seen me doing anything in the kitchen besides the dishes!)

Wednesday

It's been a while - mainly because I thought the grass was too short to warrant it - but I finally climbed back onto ROM today and did the yard. I hadn't realized how much I had missed it ... it's very relaxing just focusing on the lawn and how to cover all of it in the most effective/efficient pattern - made more challenging because the grass is fairly short and in the lengthening shadows of the afternoon it can be difficult to tell where the last "row" was. And after blowing off ROM and putting him back in the shed (and recoiling all of the compressor hose to make it as tidy as possible), and sweeping off the back area where clippings had blown, I was able to take a good look, a deep breath, and enjoy a "Colorbond moment". It doesn't get much better than this - except if you remember to check the lawn first and pick up the single avocado and pile of dog droppings so you don't have to skillfully manoeuvre around them and come back and pick them up at the end because you didn't want to stop the mower.

Comedy Night at The Big House was fantastic. Mi and M were there, but luckily M missed out on the support act before the break. I'm sure some people thought he was funny - but it was a stretch. He was loud, having a go at bike-riders, and seemed unable to complete even a single sentence without using the F word. At one point in his act, every third word was the F word ... and it wasn't "funny". Steady Eddy was great though - and worked from the simple premise that the world is a strange place - and much changed. I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed his gig more or less without some of the audience participation - one woman was determined to let SE know that her companion who she was not "with" (as it later turned out) had an iPhone 4 - when he told of his iPhone 3 as part of his routine. She continued interjecting from that point on and SE was able to counter her interruptions with good humor and understanding, but really, we paid our money to see SE not her!

S chose MasterChef over Comedy Night and even though I'm not quite sure if it was a challenge apparently Michael is through to the Final Week (so at least we know when that is now) and Elli and Dani will fight it out in an elimination round - except Dani has an immunity pin - which if she uses could mean they will pull Alana back from safety into the elimination round. It didn't make sense to me - if you're not up for elimination how can you suddenly become so - unless they have a program to fill? If this is the case, not fair - because it's supposed to be about the dish you produce on the night not about whether someone can produce an immunity pin!

Tuesday

Thank goodness for M and S and getting bananas at the markets otherwise there would be nothing on my toast at Zarraffas in the morning! The commercial price of bananas is still high ($13.99 kg - irregardless of variety) and I think (hope) they are getting them at a better price at the markets.

There was yard work at Latimers - or so I hear. M reported that she had swept up leaves out the front and on the driveway - which is more productive than I was today - because I ran out of work at half-time. I have been worried about this for a while ... there is nothing harder for me than having to "make" work or to keep hounding people to give me things to do. And really, I have run out of systems here that I can refine. Hmmmm. Will have to think about this because at this rate there might have to be a filing blitz and even "make" work is more fun than filing.

M went off tonight to pick up Ma and little H from the airport on their return from Sydney. We won't see her for the evening because she will debrief with them and get all the news from the South. So, we settled in for a evening of television watching - that would be S who watched the MasterChef immunity challenge which saw Michael pitted against a chef to see if he could win the pin that would take him straight through to the final week; I went to bed - still not feeling totally 100% after being laid low by the lurgy last week. It was great to have over 8 hours sleep for a change and while it would be nice to do that every night, I just wouldn't feel as though I was having much of a life - and certainly wouldn't be able to go out to Comedy Night at The Big House (planned for tomorrow night - Steady Eddy is the headline act).

Monday

The mornings are definitely getting lighter if not warmer. I still cannot fathom how it gets colder once the sun is up ... when I arrive at Zarraffa's in the morning, usually just as the sky is starting to lighten, it's not too bad (especially coming out of the car where the demister has been running - I refuse to use the heater!) but by the time I emerge half an hour later, thermo mug of coffee in hand to get me off to the right start at work, it's freezing!I ran out of "real work" again today and had to resort to some scanning and filings - which worries me because that's now Donna's job - and I wouldn't want to take that from her. I was helping her today with our online document storage facility, ProjectWeb, onto which we need to load electronic copies of all of our contracts in order to comply with audit requirements. I guess there's filing and there's filing ... and given how long it takes for one contract to upload, I'm glad she's the one doing that filing.

I met J this afternoon in Broadbeach so we could go to R's graduation from modeling school. She has been doing a course on Saturday mornings over the last eight weeks where they have been teaching them how to do hair, makeup, walking - the things that R hopes will help her move into television at some point. It's good that at 13 she knows what she wants to do and is working towards it - and that she has a mother who supports her in that. Of course, as we listened to the speeches at the Graduation - before and after we had seen the Toddlers, Senior Actors, Young Models and ... what was the name of the fourth group? ... strut their stuff - we knew that all the parents in the room had supported their "loved ones" and helped them towards success.

R had to be at the venue for rehearsals early - the show started at 6.30 pm and she was there by 4 - so J and I had a couple of hours to take a wander around the Pacific Fair shopping centre, have a coffee, and then find the last place in the complex that was open and still serving food to have a bite of dinner. We weren't sure how long the show was going to last for so we didn't want to be sitting there with grumbling tummies.

Meanwhile, back at Latimers, M had gone off to the Cocktail Party - in the end I'm not sure if Mi or Mouse went with her - but I was pleased to hear that she was going to see Mouse and was planning to introduce her to the new iPad. She is going to love it!

S spent the evening in - for some reason she hadn't wanted to come along to the Graduation - and was enjoying Family night challenge on MasterChef. The star of the evening was Kate's daughter Maya who did a very reasonable impression of food critic and show staple Matt Preston.

Except for Beasley, all the furries were in ... and when he did come in, we had lock-down for a few minutes before he started looking longingly at the front door and we decided it was better for him to go out if he wanted to rather than leaving him to find some kind of mischief inside.

Sunday

Another early start at the markets for me as I made my weekly Skype call to Trish. S and M followed later, and even though they were planning to come via Nerang Markets they were delayed leaving home and came straight in instead. They beat Mouse and the others so it was a great effort!

I had some time before my call (did someone say ridiculously early) and was able to fit in some blogging and I was astounded that there were so many people with their Bluetooth connections "on" (I know this because they all showed up on the iPad as I was trying to connect with my wireless keyboard) - I'm not sure if it's still so but that used to be. Great way to leave your phone open to collecting viruses (or is there another term for the plural of virus?).

We finally made it into The Big House (The CSP jackpot has climbed again!) today for that Christmas in July lunch - S was the only one who had it but she did enjoy it and I certainly enjoyed sharing her eggnog mousse dessert. M will be off there again tomorrow as she has been asked to a function where she and the other invitees will be shown the new vision for The Big House and be given the opportunity to give their feedback and suggestions. She can take a guest with her and at this stage I think it may be Mi. I, of course, will be off watching R strut her stuff on the catwalk (the finale of her modeling course).

There is bad news about the treadmill at home. Despite my best efforts (silicon spray on the platform, tightening and realigning the belt) I don't think it can be fixed to the point where it is "safe" enough to use - so we'll be replacing it. At least we will be making a positive contribution to the economy! I think have found the new one online but I'll do some more research to make sure we are getting the best deal.

Tonight we finally saw "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2". We opted for the 2D option at the local cinema and it was fantastic - the over two hours we were in there just flew by. The effects were amazing and I can't imagine how incredible it would have been in 3D; even though the technology and glasses have improved over the years it's still difficult for bespectacled folk to get the full effect of 3D comfortably.

The Great K took a break from his studies to come with us and he seemed to enjoy it as well. It will be interesting to see if he's a starter for this week's Family & Friends dinner which is going to be Mouse's borscht and vereniki (yummmm).

After the movie, he came back to Latimers with us and stayed to have a cup of tea and watch tonight's episode of MasterChef (thanks for remembering to tape it S). He likes Michael and was probably the only one who was happy that he won tonight's mystery box challenge with a twist (the contestants picked each other's box contents). We must be almost to the end of this season of MasterChef but I haven't been able to find out when the final is on. It has to be soon.

Saturday

What's that saying ... what goes around comes around? I was standing in the kitchen this morning, doing a changeover of the paper towel roll when I heard a noise which I didn't quite recognize but decided, as one does, that it must the hair dryer. Well, I was wrong ... and I only have myself to blame. M had told me that she had purchased a nerf gun so she could ambush little H but she was worried because it was noisy and surely that would take away the element of surprise ... well, let me tell you, not so much! Before I could put together "too early for the hair dryer" and "nerf gun", projectiles were flying at me from a very GI Jane M who was gleefully giving everything that nerf gun had to give. Luckily it only takes 12 and she had not yet purchased spares - but she would have needed to stop to reload anyway. Great fun. Now, if only we had another nerf gun (the nerf gun manufacturers would really be very happy!).

Now that I know what it sounds like, I hope not to be caught out again ... and (fair warning) I just have to work out a way to mask the sound so I can launch my own surprise attack.

Hmmmm ... it does raise the question though of whether we, as adults, actually do "play" enough and why people who have never played with guns - certainly not since they were children - suddenly take it up again. Is it a question of exposure to products and is this one of the reasons that toy manufacturers advertise ... and should they really be advertising in prime-time slots rather than in the children's hour?

It is a glorious day at Latimers again and S and I spent most of it here except for a brief foray into the outside world to go to breakfast (boiled eggs with toast soldiers) at Bumbles at Budds Beach.

On the way we went past Sweetie who was out of the "box" and in the paddock. She is such a pretty little thing - little being the operative word. Now that she isn't standing next to her mother - or in her general vicinity - there is no point of reference and she again looks like a wee foal.

She was joined by an array of birdlife including one which looked similar in shape to an ibis but which had an iridescent blue body and wings and a slightly more curved beak. It was partnered by a lorikeet - the last one I'd seen was in a photo of Mouse from their visit to the Sunshine Coast earlier this week - and it took a moment to see it - perched on her head as it was. It reminded me of those photographs from childhood visits to Currumbin Bird Sanctuary at feeding time when there would be a flurry of lorikeets lining people's arms and shoulders and heads.

The CSP jackpot is now over $236k and despite our best efforts neither M nor I managed to bring it home this evening. But, on the bright side, M did manage to avoid some close calls - three before we were more than half a kilometre from The Big House - reinforcing again what S has always said, and reminiscent of Dustin Hoffman's character "Rainman" (where some of the action also takes place in a casino) ... she is an "excellent driver".

Friday

They don't make days much better than this. It's another beautiful Winter's day here on the Gold Coast and at Latimers. We're not experiencing the winds we had last night and that they're currently having in Sydney - which is a good thing otherwise the cranes on our construction site wouldn't be able to operate and heavens knows we've lost enough days through strike over the last couple of months.

Family & Friends dinner was at Olga's tonight and The Great K came as well. He has been extremely busy with his studies (I guess they expect a lot from you when you're doing a Masters) and he does seem a bit under pressure. When talking with him, it seems they are absolutely bogged down with reading for each of their courses and he is talking again about the possibility of doing a speed reading course (although I don't think that's what he called it).

Everyone was in fine form at dinner - except for Olga who was a little quiet because she is feeling unwell. Hopefully the cold and flu tablets M got for her will help - and since the visitors are off to Sydney for a few days it will give her a chance to put her feet up for a while. Mouse is just so energetic and "with it" that I think we sometimes forget that she is 85!

We had fun with little H this afternoon - we arrived at dinner before he did and set up an ambush to shoot him with the nerf gun when he walked in. They are amazing things - this one has a magazine of cartridges and works like a machine gun and while I am opposed to guns on principle, this one is actually great fun! Now, if only we had another one ... and another one ... wouldn't the nerf gun makers be happy?

While little H was off playing with Uncle F and the boys this afternoon, the girls took themselves off to see "Larry Crowne", the romcom starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts that we saw at Movie Night at The Big House a couple of weeks ago. M said it was just as funny in the second viewing - which is good; I still can't understand why it received only lukewarm reviews. And despite best intentions, we still haven't made it to see Transformers 3 or Harry Potter (the final chapter - can a movie be a final chapter?).

I think Pearl was really not pleased not to be coming to Nana's tonight but with The Great K in the car as well, there just wasn't room for her. Hopefully we will get to spend some quality time with Pearl on the weekend so she knows how truly cared for she is ... although M bringing home fillet steak from her lunch in at The Big House the other day for her should have been a pretty good indicator!

Thursday

It has to start getting lighter in the mornings soon otherwise it's just going to be too dangerous for the folks out on their bikes early in the morning in and around Latimers. I passed a group of them this morning - only half of them with lights and riding in a "bunch" rather than single or even double file. Usually they are much better than this so I can only think they have been overtaken by the spirit and joie de vivre of the Tour de France which is nearing its conclusion for this year. Perhaps they are wishing our Australian contender - right up there with the current leaders - well and pedaling for his success. Between the bicyclists and kangaroos, it can be an interesting drive to work sometimes.

We took ourselves off to the Emerald Lakes Markets this afternoon. They used to be monthly markets but they're now held weekly and seem to be going well. There are more stalls there than I remember and thanks to S's superior recognition skills we were able to say hi to J's brother who is back in town after his teaching stint in the Northern Territory. He has sold his potato concession and instead was handing out samples of kiwifruit (very delicious they were too) as he helped a friend out with her stand. From our brief chat we know that it is the end of the kiwifruit season and he knows that his just teenage niece is about to make her catwalk debut next Monday.

We met J from work at the markets and had a wander with her and then she and S went off to have a coffee as I waited for at the hairdresser's ton have my hair cut. My appointment was for 5:30 and I was there on time but they were busy - "won't be a minute" I was told at 5:35 as she continued cutting someone's hair and then, ten minutes later as she fetched someone from the hair-washing area and started cutting their hair. Finally at 6 when she was still cutting hair (but not mine) I decided I wouldn't wait any longer and excused myself and went off to join J and S.

"I forgot to put MasterChef on to tape" S told me when I arrived. Hmmm. It was an elimination challenge tonight - taking the contestants to the top five - so we really wanted to see it. But we also wanted to have dinner at the Indian Halal restaurant there as well. Enter J with the plan. We could (and did) watch MasterChef at her place - there at Emerald Lakes - so we wouldn't have to scoff down dinner and race home, or do takeaway.

Meanwhile, after another day of activities with little H, M went off to The Big House with Ma to a Cocktail Party (not CSP ... but hopefully she will be able to report back on the state of that jackpot!). She is doing a very good job of entertaining the visitors and we are looking forward to seeing them again at Family & Friends dinner at Mouse's tomorrow night.

Wednesday

Not totally a hundred per cent today but I was well enough to pull myself out of bed and go off to work. I and our paramedic at work (one of the benefits of working in construction) were a little concerned at my swollen eye but it had returned to normal by lunchtime so it can't have been too bad. Probably the way I slept on it for nearly 30 hours "yesterday".

I was surprised by a pack of Anzac Biscuits on the kitchen bench this morning (thanks M) and resisted the temptation to have some for breakfast - especially hard since they do have oats in them and you could run a good argument that they are as nutritious as porridge - especially if you have them with a glass of milk!

While I was looking forward to more chicken soup this evening, it appears it's now off the menu - replaced by Hungarian Goulash Soup. S's brother M dropped in today - passing the time as he waited for his eldest to sit the preliminary entrance tests for the Australian Defence Force Academy - and he and S had the chicken soup for lunch! Ah well, it's good for what ails you - even if you're not aware there is anything ailing you.

M took H to DreamWorld for the day - flying solo I think - and H went on all the thrill rides he had passed on last week when they were there. He went on the Tower of Terror II three times and The Giant Drop twice and numerous times on the others. Who thinks of the names for these rides? The Reef Diver, Shockwave, Rocky Hollow Log Ride, The Cyclone, The Claw ... are the names designed to make you want to ride, to give you an indication of what the ride offers, or so you can mumble something intelligible as you wander, dazed, off the more spectacular rides? Must remember to ask H what he thinks. M posted some great photos of him riding and enjoying other activities at DreamWorld? It will be interesting to see what they are up to tomorrow - body surfing I think - which means M will need to make an early start (up and at'em at 5:45am!!!!).

We were all in this evening for another round of MasterChef, the last team challenge of this series, with the remaining contestants running service for 90 minutes per team in the Qantas First (Class) Lounge. Then, M and S tuned in for the Season Finale of Offspring - which I hope isn't a serious drama because there were peals of laughter coming from the viewing area.

Everything seems quite peaceful in the valley at the moment and it's still warm enough after work to sit outside and enjoy the late afternoon sun. Come to think of it, I'll try to get home early tomorrow (wonder if my teleconference will go until 4:30pm as scheduled) to go for a walk around Latimers with S and Pearl.

Tuesday

Well, so much for not taking the "staying in bed" option because that's exactly where I spent the day - and not nicely. I was, by all reports, a bit like a bear with a sore head (sorry S). But it was lovely to have S make me chicken soup for this evening when I finally emerged from the cave that is the bedroom. S makes a wonderful chicken soup and I managed to slip down a good bowlful before dragging myself back to bed to finish my recuperation so as to be ready to return to work in the morning. (IIF training is on the cards - and since I have missed this mandatory session the last two times it was offered, I really don't want to be a non-starter again.)
I really can't report much of what happened at Latimers today - M was due to (and did) return home from the Sunshine Coast with the family, S had done the washing yesterday so that wasn't on the agenda, and besides nursing me (with Emma's help) I'm not sure what S got up to but I did feel sorry for her because if I had been awake and well I would have been able to play with her. I think I remember her saying that Beasley spent most of the day out - which is a bit unlike him - but for the twenty minutes or so I was up for soup, the other furries did seem to be around. Hopefully we'll all be back to normal tomorrow.

Monday

Well, I wouldn't have liked to have been M driving up to the Sunshine Coast today. Before she went off to bed last night, she asked if I would check she was up when I left for work (at 6 am). Up? Up? I haven't seen anybody faster asleep and when she didn't wake when I knocked on the bedroom door, then called from the door, and then from closer I finally realized I would have to nudge her a little - or get one of the two cats who were sitting on the bed to do it for me; and she did wake up, obviously very tired still, saying that the cats had had her up early. No wonder they looked so rested! I doubled back to ask S to check M in five or ten minutes to make she didn't go back to sleep - because I knew they wanted to make an early start up to the Sunshine Coast.

We received a text from M mid-morning to say they were waiting to see the elephants - so we knew they had arrived at Australia Zoo. It's a great venue and hopefully they will all enjoy it, especially little H.

With M away, I finally got to take the rubbish and recycling up to the front gate again. I would have taken the four wheel drive up but I think L still has it next door, so I took the other car - being very careful not to get it dirty because it has only recently been cleaned (in preparation for M putting it on the market).

Pearl was waiting for me to arrive this afternoon and after we had a game with the new "big" ball, I know she wanted to come up to the road with the rubbish but she couldn't. She did do her usual trick of biting at the wheels of the garbage bins each time I loaded one onto the tow-bar. It was good to know that I hadn't forgotten the sequence at the other end - unhook, untie, align - with the "untie" being an important part because if the bin isn't untied, the rubbish or recycling will stay inside it - and there was no room for the recycling not to be taken away this week.

S ("fresh"[?] from her trek of the Hinterland in the Kokoda Challenge) and A (who did a fantastic job as part of the LLAMA support team) dropped in to have a cup of tea with S on their way back to Brisbane today. S is feeling good after the weekend of walking but doesn't think she will be doing the Kokoda Challenge again - but she's glad she did it this time. (Yesterday they were saying that some people say they won't do it again - for the first week - and they're then keen to start training for the next one!)

S is cooking a roast chicken dinner tonight - and is threatening to turn it into chicken soup if I start to feel crooker - I had a sore throat yesterday, and the sniffles and sneezes today but not so much that I am even going to contemplate the "staying in bed" option S is suggesting for tomorrow if I don't feel better. However, I do reserve the right to revisit this decision in the morning - especially if there's another frost at Latimers - or if I forget to take the cold and flu tablets this evening.

It's cold enough for the cats to be in - and they are, except for Beasley, but I have a feeling her will come in before it's much later as it is a bit chilly out there, and he has to be starting to feel hungry soon.

Sunday

We couldn't believe how many people had turned out at the Nerang Velodrome to see the bush-trekkers come in after their 96km tour of the Hinterland. We were there in good time to see the LLAMAS (Lovely Ladies Attempting Massive Acts of Stupidity - that's what I was told it stood for) romp in - looking surprisingly fresh for their over-30 hours on the move. S had taken a couple of tumbles during the walk, and one of the team had fainted and been pulled from the race for medical reasons - but they were all pleased with their efforts and performance. How fit must they be to be able to do that!!

The Markets were good as well - although a little low key when compared to the end of the Challenge. The general attendance was good - and we didn't make it into the sunshine yet again - and there was sunshine - because the markets had set our usual table up but this time with padded chairs. There's nothing like a few creature comforts to keep people close.

Then after the markets we went off to JB HiFi and M purchased an iPad 2 for her Mum and sister to use while she is visiting. Mouse was very excited at the prospect at getting an iPad and had already decided she would install a dictionary app and an app so she can play Mahjong - which would be okay if someone actually made one. Every Mahjong app I've looked at in the AppStore is a tile matching game - and even a search of the interweb hasn't helped in this instance.

We were planning a quiet afternoon in while M did things with the family, but we were lucky enough to get a visit from S's uncle and aunt who dropped in for (late) afternoon tea on their way back from visiting a friend on Mt Tambourine. They would probably have been here earlier if their friend would have let them drag themselves away ("but you saw S only a couple of days ago") and if they could have returned their GPS to a functioning condition after one of their grandsons had played with it - changing the voice (they didn't mind that) - once they could hear it - since he had managed to turn off the volume as well. In what is probably a very fortunate coincidence, their GPS is the same model as mine and I was able to talk them through the screens - so they could navigate - by hearing rather than by sight.

It was great to see them again - but even better that Pearl managed not to eat the small dog they were minding that they had brought with them. I was fairly sure M had told me that Pearl doesn't like small dogs so I hope this one didn't take the non-welcome to heart.

MasterChef tonight had the Dalai Lama on as a guest - but not as a guest judge - because His Holiness, as a monk, can only accept food; he cannot judge it. He was, as always, his calm, lovely self. Wouldn't it be great if we could all be more like him?

M arrived home just as we were getting ready to bed - so we had a chance to have a brief chat - knowing that she is off with the family to the Sunshine Coast - to visit the attractions, including Australia Zoo, and show little H some new scenery. Hopefully they will have a fantastic time!

Saturday

The Kokoda Challenge starts today and over porridge and a cup of tea, M and I checked out the website where one could be a Virtual Spectator and track the teams as they trekked through the Gold Coast Hinterland. Unfortunately, it has started raining which is going to make the going even tougher - because even if it doesn't keep raining, it is going to make the bush tracks they are walking over (where there are tracks) very slippery indeed.
We couldn't get the site to operate as expected so while I set off on the trip to Kyogle to fetch S (and the electric blanket), M went off to the Advancetown Hotel which was a sort of "command central" for the event ... well, it was supposed to be but when she got there, there were just two cars in the parking lot - one leaving, and the other belonging to the person who was tending the lawns!
The trip to Kyogle was uneventful but good with the new mix "tape" (actually CD - two of them) that the dentist had done up for me after I had commented on how much I liked the music they played in the surgery the two days I was there. Luckily, playing them didn't take me back into "the chair" which is just as well because it is a fantastic mix of music! The other great thing about the trip was seeing the mill at Condong - the white steam (is it steam?) from the chimneys was magnificent against a dark grey sky and mountains backdrop - and it was coming out of the single chimney in a double plume and just hanging in the air. I would have stopped to take a photograph but as S would confirm, I don't stop. Pity that, because it could have been a good shot. It would have made a better shot if Mt Warning had been visible - but it wasn't - robbing me of the chance to do a chorus of "Good Morning Mt Warning".
All the Kyogles were in good form and the most relaxed I have seen them for a while. Might have something to do with school holidays!
We left early so I could do the return drive in daylight - and because there was a possibility that I might finally get to do ten pin bowling ... which we did (although S opted to stay in and have some quiet time after spending four days with the family). It was magnificent ... even though I came in at the bottom of the leaderboard - I have almost perfected the art of the gutter ball!

On the way home, M and I stopped in at the Advancetown Hotel which was absolutely packed with cars and support crew for the Challenge. A wasn't there though - she was sitting back at the "resort" (apparently an exaggeration) getting some shut-eye before getting up at 4 for the breakfast shift for the team - but S and the others were apparently making good time and at 9:10pm had passed Checkpoint 7. They are expecting to finish the Challenge at 10 in the morning.

Friday

S is still in Kyogle and seems to have found a new love - an electric blanket which is keeping her warm and comfortable on these cold winter nights. There's even talk that she's going to bring one back to Latimers with her. This is an interesting development because she gets so hot at night sometimes that she's been known to kick off all the covers - and it won't be all that easy to kick off an electric blanket. But I think (and she says this too) that it has a lot to do with the warmth when you're getting into bed - and while Emma the cat does her best to keep the bed warm, she is only a small cat in a queen bed.
Family & Friends dinner tonight was with Mi and F. It was a very yummy chicken curry followed by Mi's first ever apple crumble - and she did well. As an added bonus, there was rice custard - which I had completely forgotten Mi said she was going to make the last time we had dinner there - before her NZ trip - because it is M's favorite!
I went for my follow-up trip to the dentist today and they were able to remove the 7 dissolving stitches that hadn't dissolved in the two weeks since they had put them there. Of course, that there were actually 8 wasn't something I found out until after I cleaned my teeth this evening with the little brushes - and discovered another thread (now gone).
I think all the animals are missing S as much as M and I are. I've told them that she'll be back tomorrow and they seemed happy enough with that - but only because they had to be!

Thursday

Bastille Day. I wonder if the draw for members at The Big House this evening will have a French theme to commemorate the storming of the Bastille prison which marked the start of the French Revolution all those years ago!
I visited Crestwood Zarraffas this afternoon (rather than Nerang) so I could have coffee with J who has had some indeterminate news about her thyroid. Despite a couple of years of negative reports, in the latest yearly tests they have found an abnormality - which required ultrasound - which found more abnormalities - in two lymph nodes - which means she will have to have a biopsy to make sure nothing untoward is afoot. She went from being scared yesterday to being terrified today. She's not sure how soon she will be able to get in to have the biopsy done. Poor J. But at least the coffee is good at Zarraffas - and I was in place early enough to be able to get us a table. Who knew that coffee shops filled up after school with students and parents (and two people apparently having a business meeting of some kind as they huddled over a computer - there is no mistaking Excel spreadsheets - even from a distance!)
S starts her mini-tutor sessions with nephew P this afternoon (the reason she has gone South) and I hope he learns well because I am driving down to pick her up on Saturday. Hopefully he has sorted out his computer problems from the other evening - S was unable to report back on it's progress when I contacted her this afternoon.
The itinerary for Ma and H today included DreamWorld and WhiteWaterWorld - which they seemed to enjoy. Mouse and M went as well - and they all went on at least one ride with H although he did end up doing a few by himself. They did identify a ride which everyone (?!?) would enjoy which you need four people for. Between us all, I'm sure we could manage that!
Well, the draw didn't have a French theme but even though M did tell me what the feature was, I now cannot remember it. Hmmm - does this mean I wasn't paying attention (unlikely) or that I lost interest when I realized The Big House wasn't capitalizing on history - or at least showing an interest.
The CSP jackpot is still climbing and is over $223,000 now and, not surprisingly, it is still difficult to get a seat at the table but not impossible. Alas, that jackpot is still climbing after M and I had a session with it tonight - but that means it's there to chase another day.
The grass really does look unhappy at the moment so hopefully we have seen the last of the frost for this year. It was quite clear on the way home from The Big House this evening - no mist in the valley at all - so it should be warmer in the morning - which wasn't that far away by the time we had dinner with Ma and H (with his new drumstick souvenirs from Stomp), drove them back to Mouse's and headed for home.

Wednesday

I know Lars is a car and not a thermometer but I am inclined to agree with it that it was 3 degrees this morning. I was disappointed because of the lack of a frost though - but not in some ways because looking at the grass today (this afternoon when I got home - when it is actually light enough to see the grass) it looks worse-the-wear for its experience. Does frost burn grass or do something else to it?
And speaking of burning ... the fire appears to be out today - there was no sign of the smoke this morning or this afternoon - but there was a slightly brownish-smudge look to the sky generally - but still a brilliant sunrise ... which went with the even more brilliant sunset M, Ma and H experienced in Byron Bay this afternoon. They had gone down with S for a get-together with S's family (including H-aged children) at Brunswick Heads and then on to Byron. The photographs M took are spectacular - beautiful red clouds over the bay as the sun sets behind the headland. What was even more amazing was the photo she took of H at the same time - to the east - where it was still "daylight" - the photo looks bright enough to have been taken with a flash! I'm not sure if the sunset pics were taken from the "Most Easterly Point in Australia" - but it's the photo of the group at that point which seems to include a far-off whale in the ocean background! (Which reminds me, I'll have to start doing some research into whale-watching tours here on the Gold Coast - or maybe in very northern NSW: I want to do this again and it would be good to take H along too!)
Mouse had made a big pot of soup for tonight for the adventurers and rather than sit at home alone, I went in for the company and what was a very yummy barley and vegetable soup - and some vereniki (hmmmm, the interweb says that's the right spelling but I am still dubious) and a dose of MasterChef in New York where, very surprisingly because it looked as though the couple in question would never make it to the kitchen to cook their dish - the yellow team won! The NY elimination challenge happens tomorrow but at this stage no-one will be home to watch it - just as well S thought to set it to record before she left for the South - but not the Deep South of the US which, judging from the shorts, is what the cooking style for the elimination will be. Grits.
While there was no frost on the grass at Latimers this morning, apparently there was a kangaroo with joey in the paddock below the garage. Sooz had been out there but it was Pearl who drew her attention to it - or was it M - but at least Peart didn't go bounding after it. That makes two lots of wildlife up close and personal now - Mr Python (a couple of months ago now) and Mrs Kangaroo (oops, almost called it Mr but it couldn't be if it had a pouch). Wonder what (or who) will be next.

Tuesday

Word is that there was a good frost on the ground at Latimers this morning but, alas, I didn't get to see it. This may have been because I was too busy looking at a sky that was magnificently reddy-pink sky (and trying to remember if that was the warning sky or not) rather than looking at the ground. The road doesn't count as "the ground" because there isn't any grass on it. M said it was like snow had fallen and she tried to wake S so she could marvel at the sight too, but S was still sleeping and wasn't yet ready to be waking up. This, is, of course, just the time when a camera could come in handy! As one would have the other morning when the hot air balloon almost came down at Latimers. Or when you are tracking a fire from the Motorway. It looked massive - with both black and brown smoke - and while it looked to be in Nerang somewhere, there was no way I could tell exactly where that might be. I kept an eye on it as I drove towards Latimers and each time I was sure I knew where it was, I was wrong. In the end it turned out to be between Latimers and the Advancetown Hotel - off the road, and seeming to pose no danger.
This was good because we had decided to go to the Hotel for dinner as S will be off to Kyogle tomorrow meaning our usual "date night" wasn't going to be possible. We haven't been up there on a Tuesday night (why am I having so much trouble keeping track of the days today?) before - so who knew that it's Poker Night ... or that so many people in the Hinterland play poker?

Monday

Washing day - and you have to feel sorry for anyone (thanks S) hanging things on the line when there's a chill wind blowing! And even if there wasn't a wind there was still the chill part of it. But those clothes need to get washed - although there is a philosophical argument in some parts as to whether outer layers need as much laundry attention in cooler months. Then same could be argued for what's inside the clothes and if we were without water, that's certainly an argument I could run (as well as taking advantage of the showers at work).
Lacey has left Latimers and it didn't seem to be as upsetting to the foal as we had thought - or perhaps she is just not as demonstrative as others. Apparently the greatest upset comes when the horses are calling out to each other - and this has a flow-on effect with the other animals - but this doesn't appear to have happened, probably because L had mother and foal together in the small yards the night before Lacey went off.
I meant to do some work on Samagrams this afternoon but allowed myself to be sidetracked to finish watching the two episodes left in the Outcasts series. That was a mistake because while I thought it would wrap up neatly - as one expects British short-form drama to - nothing was resolved and, in fact, it looks as though they have set the scene (hmmm - is that where the saying comes from?) for a second series. I haven't had a look on the net yet to see if that second series is in production or if the Americans are doing a remake of the series - not something they haven't done before - but will so I can have an indication of how long we have to wait for the second season!
But I did get to have a tour of the Harvey Norman website this evening doing some research into a new computer for Mouses's house - specifically so Ma can Skype home and email and do some web surfing while she is visiting. I hadn't realized what a good job Harvey Norman's had done until I realized they have a Compare function where you can look at the different models side-by-side to see which has the best mix of what you're after in a computer ... and then you can email that comparison sheet (less the ones you've already decided are not going to be suitable) to yourself and/or someone else. Great stuff! What will they think of next?

Sunday

It looks as though Lacey and the foal are about to be separated. They had both been moved from the bottom paddock up to the yard near the box that Keith built. The electric fence was still down at the gate so we know the move was only or had only just happened. It will be interesting to see if L keeps them both there to a couple of days or whether Lacey will go later today or tomorrow. M says that the separation, when it does happen, will upset all the horses in the valley - a bit like the last time Holly went off to the stud and Hermes was distraught.
The Markets were good again this morning although a little quieter than usual. I felt sorry for the new coffee cart - there for its third week I think - and not yet doing anything like a roaring trade. There's no denying it's Winter though because there are times when a freezing add wind blows through the "food hall" and everyone clutches their coats or jumpers around them a little tighter. F has called for a move to the outside area - in the sun - from next week and there was a great deal of support for the suggestion. Of course, there is no reason that we couldn't have done it today, except we were already settled by the time the suggestion was made to the group at large. And it's not as though we wouldn't have had luck getting tables outside - the Markets were fairly deserted today - someone suggested that it might have been because people had taken themselves off to the Greek Festival instead.
Hermes has torn his coat again and it is hanging up on the fence. I'm not sure if it can be repaired or whether M will be buying him a new coat. Not quite sure what he keeps doing - maybe engaging in a bit of horseplay with the others.
The MasterChef contestants were in New York tonight and it certainly looks warmer there than it is here. All the furries were in to watch it - or maybe it was to bask in the warmth of the heater like the rest of us!
In the end the pull of CSP ($219,000 now) was not enough so we (S and I) didn't make it to The Big House for that or for Christmas in July dinner but M and the family did. Instead, there was an afternoon nap (a rare pleasure - for some reason they frown on it at work), finishing off Mouse's magazine puzzles, and some series watching for me and newspaper reading and radio listening for S. But there's no doubt about it, once the sun goes off the front area at Latimers, it gets a bit chilly. But it is wonderful out here and again yesterday I couldn't help but marvel at what a wonderful environment it is - and hope much birdlife there is! I'm also wondering how the banana experiment is coming. M harvested two hands of bananas on Monday - one which is here (still green) the other in at Mouse's. Will they ripen off the tree? Which will ripen first? Will the cost of bananas ($13.99/kg) ever come down?

Sent from my iPad

Saturday

What a great day! We started with breakfast at Sisters, with Pearl coming along for company. It was a good breakfast - except it was fairly cold sitting in the outside area of the cafe. There was a cold wind blowing which gave us the opportunity to don scarves and flanny shirts and hoodies (we didn't all have all of them) - and even though you would have thought Pearl would have wanted to lie in the sun but she kept making a beeline for the shade. As we were leaving (we went in separate cars to the dog walking park) M thought she had forgotten something but seemed to have everything - including the newspaper she dropped and which almost managed to get away from her - wind-assisted as it was.
It was still cold on our way around the dog park but it did get warmer - to the point where, when we got back into the car, some layers were peeled off. but we didn't put them too far away because we didn't know when we were going to need them next.
H did want to go boogie-boarding and as it turned out, he was keen to do it for a while. Even when the shadow of the Soul building was overtaking the Surfers Paradise beach, H kept forging out into the water and then riding the boogie-board back in. Nik was there as well and managed to get a few decent shots of him - and not surprisingly, H's favorite shots were of his "crashes".
Then it was lunch at NoodleBox (we didn't find Sushi Train in time) before rushing off to join the Aquaduck - which is how you "Experience the Gold Coast by land and water without even leaving your seat". The Aquaduck (hmmm, I wonder if there is more than one of them) is an amphibious vehicle that takes tourists for an hour tour along the beachfront and then onto the Southport Broadwater before returning to base at Surfers Paradise. It was an interesting experience and H was very pleased to be given the opportunity to drive the Aquaduck - and Nik and I were pleased tom have the opportunity to photograph him driving it - and to post the photo on FaceBook while we were still on the tour!
Then it was time for a cup of coffee before we went back to Mouses's (thanks for the presents from Turkey Ma) before going off to Thai dinner to finally celebrate those birthdays. It was a lovely meal but we may have over-ordered just a little but that was okay because it's going to either be dinner tomorrow evening (although I am still holding out for Christmas in July at The Big House - and a hand or two of CSP - jackpot still growing) or work lunch on Monday.
I'd like to say that we went home and had an early night - and that was true for the others ... me? Imwas up until after midnight watching a television series (Outcasts) and computing ... and loved it!

Friday

There is nothing quite as exhilarating as seeing a kangaroo at the side of the road as you're driving out of Latimers in dark of a Winter's morning. It took me ages to calm down because it was standing with one paw on the road and I wasn't sure what it was going to do. I hit the brakes and didn't even have time to take the lights off high beam (just as well they were because I may not have seen it on the bend of the road otherwise) before it looked in my direction and serenely hopped away.
Luckily (?)I had put my shirt on backwards first thing this morning - and just as well I realized before lunchtime (it took almost that long the last time I had a wardrobe malfunction for anyone - including me - to notice my shirt was on inside out!) It is lucky to put your shirt on back-to-front isn't it?
A communication misfunction meant we were able to spend a quiet dinner with M rather than the usual Friday night Family & Friends Dinner tonight. There is an old saying that too many cooks spoil the broth - yes, yes and one about many hands make light work but we're talking about food here not electricity - and it seems true in some cases that the more people are involved, the harder it can be to decide on and execute a plan. M is talking about rescheduling for tomorrow evening - out - because the dinner was, as well as the end of week get-together, to celebrate Ma and Mi's recent birthdays.
Dinner was at what used to be the Sisters pizza and pasta place but which became just the pizza place when one of the sisters moved on. Now it is something else completely although still pizza, pasta and ... bistro. It was very nice and good to remember that is is an option for dinner in the local area. We forget sometimes.
Tomorrow we are going to spend at least part of the day with little H. I am looking forward to it because there is nothing quite like seeing the world through a young person's eyes. It will be interesting to see what he's like - generally and with boogie-boarding if it's warm enough for him to go although it would probably need to be freezing before he said he didn't want to go. The water over the last couple of days has supposedly been very warm - especially compared to the outside air temperature.
We were home fairly early this evening and were able to go into lockdown with the furries way before our usual bedtime.

Thursday

Wouldn't it just be easier for them to say "we don't do waffles here any more"? We made a trip to Robina for afternoon tea to go to The Shingle Inn, hoping their waffle machine, which has not been operational/away for repair/turned off for our last several visits, would be up and running today. Not so. "It's not working" she told us. We had no option but to walk away because nothing else was going to do it - once you're in a waffle mood, you're in a waffle mood - except maybe a since, which is what S had while I settled for a pot of English Breakfast Tea before we set out for a "mall crawl" so I can start to get my steps up over 10,000 for the Global Corporate Challenge (just under halfway now) - they've been a bit on the average side since last week's dental adventure. I have to start researching a walking machine to replace the current gigantic paperweight that looks like a treadmill. I could have it serviced - I have a starting quote of $250 (excluding parts) from the one guy I could find who was willing to come out to Latimers to look at it, but given it is 10 years old, if I can do better than this with a newer machine, perhaps with an on-site service contract, that might be a pursuable option.
The fola and her mother are still together and it now appears that Lacey is going off to northern NSW, not Singapore. That seems like a better option for her - but I will miss seeing the two of them gamboling in their paddock. (Mmmmm ... gamboling - I wonder what the CSP jackpot is up to now. I may have to interest S in a Christmas in July lunch at The Big House on Sunday.)
It was a little colder today but to be fair I had stripped off the extra (flannelette) shirt, the vest and the hoodie by morning tea time (which comes early in the construction industry). But it is noticeably colder in the morning and I was so glad my hands weren't wet when I let Maggie in the front screen door this morning because it had been I think it would have been stuck fast and S would have found me still there when she emerged.
S and I had Ma's spinach stew for lunch and I thought it was absolutely magnificent. I had taken small portions of it and S's Hungarian Goulash Soup - nothing like variety - and there were a couple of others in the lunch room who would have preferred what I was having. Yummmm.

Wednesday

I cannot credit how quickly this week is passing. Blink and another day has passed! But that's probably because there is lots happening - keeping us all engaged psychologically and physically.
Pearl needs more exercise. I threw the ball to her twice today and even though she did fetch it both times, getting it off her to throw the second time was very difficult. I can't help but think of her last year when she and I would play ball when I got home from work and in the end after many goes I would be the one to call "time". I did yesterday after the second throw because she was puffing too much. While M is busy entertaining little H and giving Mouse and Ma a break, I might look at taking Pearl (and me!) for walks around Latimers in the evenings after work. It would be nice if S came too.
Mat has finally left the MasterChef building - and it was handled quite humanely. In the program we saw (which would have been edited for brevity) he did not argue that he had broken the rules nor did we see enough of the conversation between Mat and Matt to know if Mat had offered his reason/s for breaking the rules about having a personal (smart) phone in the House. But I am wondering whether they edited in images of Mat looking "sneaky" in programs since the actual expulsion (the show is prepared some weeks in advance) so people would be less inclined to question the disqualification.

Tuesday

D's betrothed is supposed to arrive this evening and he is very excited at the prospect of having her in the same country. It has taken years for them to get the necessary papers for her to come here from Russia. Hopefully she will like it here in Advancetown (even though D has moved from Latimers, he's still in the general vicinity which is good because he's still doing the slashing here) until they decide where it is they are going to live.
Sweetie, the foal, and her mother are still together but the "box" that will be Lacey's temporary home en route to her new owners in Singapore is ready. Lacey has done such a good job of bringing up the foal and it has been a pleasure to watch them - the days when the foal would be tired and lying in the grass sleeping with her her mother watching over her; or the times when the foal would be testing herself and moving further away from her mother, and then hurrying back over to be with her; or the times when both of them run along the fence line to keep up with people passing by.
It's still dark in the mornings when I leave Latimers for work - but it's not quite as cold in the mornings.
M has been spending a bit of time away over the last few days - taking young H to different activities. I think it was surfing today and it will be skateboarding tomorrow. Alas he wasn't as successful (straight off the bat - to mix metaphors) at his first go of surfing as he thought he would be. But he'll have another go at it on Thursday and hopefully he will be a little better at it. But at least he's getting to do a lot of things while he's here - including jet=skiing with E and the boys the other afternoon.
We tried to go into early lock-down this evening - after last night's late night, I needed to have an early one tonight otherwise I will just be ruined for work in the morning and since this is Cost Report week, I cannot afford not to be on top of my game.
I don't think S is going to Bingo tomorrow - since M is taking H to skateboarding.

Monday

What a busy day - and that's not even counting the time I spent at work. By the time I arrived home, S was finishing off a mountain-load of washing and M was just finishing off the mowing (and air-blowing down ROM). After helping S with the folding of the sheets - including a fitted sheet - technique known thanks to Martha Stewart - it was on to the avocado tree to gather more produce - to add to the fruits of the farm that M had already collected including a couple of hands of bananas, a (single) fruit starting with "t" which I can't remember whether it is a tamarillo or a tangello, a lemon and loads of those avocados. It's odd to find them on the tree rather than half-eaten under the tree - or just the seeds hidden secreted somewhere in the house for Kathy to find.
We took the bounty around the front to perch it in the garden in front of S's burgeoning spinach - to take a photograph or two - and it did indeed look like a fantastic harvest.
Then, just before we were to go off to The Big House to see the new Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts film ("Larry Crowne") - we noticed that the water pressure was down. So down in fact that a check of the tank showed that it was empty. We are out of water! Thankfully Allen had had a look at the bore water pump and that seems to be working - so there will be water - as long as the pump doesn't cut out - until a load of water can be delivered tomorrow. The odd thing is that it did seem to rain a bit over the last week so it did seem strange to M (who is more in touch with these things) that the tank had run dry.
But at least there was the movies (although they are still giving out chips rather than popcorn) - and it was good - a very nice, funny RomCom - much better than the reviews had suggested it would be. Then, S was happy to have her first Christmas in July dinner at The Big House - and we do suspect that it will be the first of many! It was, by her account, very tasty except for the accompanying glass of wine.
S made it to the dentist for a follow-up visit and she is healing nicely. I had a call from my dentist as well and I was able to tell them that I was okay as well,
MasterChef - Billie was eliminated but the trailer suggests Matt Preston is visiting the MasterChef house on Wednesday and he does not look happy. He appears to sit the contestants down and starts talking but we will have to wait until Wednesday to find out if it is about Mat and the alleged bending of the rules. (Do Gen Y's see this stuff - rules etc - as guidelines and/or unimportant?)
Today was 4/7/11 which sounds more like a fragrance than a date.

Sunday

Well, that's it then ... another hard drive failure. This time it may have had something to do with my throwing it, accidentally, on to the floor! Ah well, at least that takes care of what was beginning to be a burning question ... once a hard drive has failed, can you trust it again? I was leaning towards "no" (how many back ups of back ups can a person have) - and now that this has happened to the hard drive that failed last week, I have no hesitation in popping it in to the bin to go out with the rest of the rubbish.
I did the weekly Skype call with T from the markets this morning (as planned) and that went well. It was good to have the opportunity to show her where it is we rush off to every Sunday morning! And it was good to chat with Mi in New Zealand too - while I was waiting for T to come on line, Mi did - asking if we were at the markets already (which we were) and to pass on her hellos to everyone, and confirming that she will be back for the markets next week (ash cloud permitting).
It was a good roll up at the markets. At the end of the session, someone counted 20 empty coffee cups on the table! N was there from Canberra and it was good to see her. She is such a wonderful story teller - and a great recorder of details about people - and I, for one, am still wondering about one of her colleagues in Canberra who on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday comes to work as David, and then on Tuesday and Friday he wears a dress (no make-up etc) and likes to be called Helen. I am sure there is a story there - but am pleased that he has found an environment in which he can be himself - whatever that "self" is.
After the markets, H went off to spend the day with E and his family which is good because they have a boy about H's age and given they both like technology - and hopefully other things as well - they will have much in common.
Some of the others went off to Robina to do shopping; whereas S and I took the opportunity to have another quiet afternoon at home - especially since I am now busily burning files to DVD to back them up.
MasterChef tonight was a Middle Eastern challenge which saw Mat, Hayden and Billie up for the pressure test tomorrow night which will see one of them go home. From previous reports, we know that that's not going to be Mat because he goes over some kerfuffle with a smart phone. I hope that happens soon. While it shouldn't affect one's view of him, knowing that he's reportedly going to be expelled from MasterChef for breaking the phone rule, I can't help but think of him in slightly unfavorable terms. (This is something I need to work on!)

Saturday

I had forgotten how comforting mashed potato can be. Thanks to Mouse and Ma we had it for dinner tonight and it was glorious.
The whole day was good - the electrician came only to replace lights and transformers and to have a look at the pump down the back! It was very different from the electrician visiting us back in Sydney where he was so tall and our ceilings so low that he didn't need a ladder. Allen, on the other hand, had the longest ladder I have ever seen - and needed it to reach the high ceilings here at Latimers. The only challenge we face now is being able to point the down lights in the right direction - since it's not possible to tell where the lights are shining during the day. Someone really needs to come up with a tool for helping with that.
While M was out playing with the family today, S and I had a nice quiet day. After lunch at the Groper and his Misses - and boy was it a slow lunch as I tried to get my non-co-operative mouth to chew - we retired home to an afternoon of naps and television (or series I have been trying to find the hours to watch for some time).
M rang later in the afternoon to let us know that H, who last night let us know that he wants to be a chef when he grows up, was going to cook dinner for the family. It turned out to be spaghetti with mushroom sauce.
The furries were in early tonight - which had a lot to do with it being a bit on the cool side. There is still no sign of the snow that's supposed to fall in the Hinterland some time in the near future, but S reports that the outlook for the middle of next week is looking decidedly chilly. You'd be really pleased if you had booked school holidays on the Gold Coast, wouldn't you?
We also had word that N (visiting from Canberra - and just back from her tour of the coal mines inland from Mackay) is coming to the Markets in the morning - and that to make sure we get the most time with her, since she has to fly out from Brisbane tomorrow afternoon, we have been requested to be at the markets at 10am. This is the time we are usually meant to be there - but the time we seldom are there - so we may have to try a different tactic to get there on time - because we really do want to see as much of N as possible. She's one of the nicest and most entertaining Gen Y's we know.
S watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" this evening and thought it was a great movie - and one that could be used to teach young people about the Holocaust - and probably about compassion and morality as well.

Friday

It is amazing what proper pain relief can do! Following yesterday's visit to the dentist I was, as they say, and who knew how true this saying is "in a world of pain". The best I could muster was to sit up in a lounge chair and listen to the television and try to put myself "someplace else" and I was pretty successful at that - so much so that even though we were watching MasterChef, I had no idea who went in the elimination challenge.
Today is a different story! I asked the dentist for, and gratefully received, a prescription for stronger pain killers - and they are working a treat. So much so that I was able to attend Family & Friends dinner this evening - which I had been sure that I would be too miserable to attend (and if it had been held last night, I would have been).
Also attending ... S who has also been to the dentist today and had the abscess on her gum drained. Talk about going out "in sympathy" - and while it is lovely to know that someone thinks of you enough to put themselves through that sort of pain, it would be nice if she didn't have to.
But the problem with pain killers and being souped up on analgesics (if they used 20 ampules of local anaesthetic on me yesterday, I wonder how many they used today) it means you can't think correctly - which is probably whey they recommend you don't drive while you're on that type of medication. They should also add that you shouldn't have anything to do with fruit bowls where the contents are actually made of soap - because if they had, there is no way that the perfectly formed mandarin would have ended up in my custard!!! And if it had been cold custard even if would have stood more of a chance but as it was, warm custard, paper towel and a drug-affected K result in a mandarin less some of its dimples. Luckily most of it survived, but it will never be the same again. Luckily it was only the mandarin that I allowed drop out of the bowl as I was moving it because I fear some of the smaller pieces - grapes, peach, fig and some yellow fruit whose name I don't know - may not have fared as well in the custard bath.
Of course, it's one thing to feel like a goose in usual F&F company, but tonight we were joined by M (M's sister) and grandson H. Ma had made a fantastic mashed potato which was great for recently-treated teeth, and M, not a potato fan, even tried some.
Poor F, who is often one to want to "assume the position" after dinner - hardly made it through dinner. He has had a big couple of days with some mates of his over from NZ and he has been golfing with them yesterday and today - and, I suspect, also trying to keep on top of his business, especially since Mi is still away - and not returning until next Tuesday - ash cloud willing!