Saturday

Going home day! 

It wasn't a bad drive back up the Coast although I was a little surprised when I woke up this morning - a couple of minutes before the alarm - and realised that I had set the alarm - actually all three of them - for the wrong time.  Instead of setting them for just before 5 so we would be ready for a 6am start, I had set them for just before 6!  S was fantastic and together we were ready to leave, all showered, packed and the guest room tidied, before 6:30.  

As a reward, we stopped for breakfast at Maccas at Heatherbrae with a crowd of other people - and while we were there we thought of the other trips we have made on this road and the friends we have shared breakfast with here.  

I don't know what it is but some days I feel fine driving and other days the old joke I make "if I get tired, I'll just have a sleep in the car" (S doesn't drive) could easily come true.  This happens even if I've had brilliant sleep In the days before and if S takes responsibility for getting us up and moving on the morning of travel (so she's the one who wakes up frequently lest the alarm be slept through - and she does!).  Today was one of those days and we were stopping frequently for breaks as soon as I started to feel fatigued-affected - until, just about Kempsey, I felt fine - and continued to feel fine - if a little sick of actually driving - for the last five or so hours of the trip. 

Emma was out of the room with M when we arrived - and she seems to have survived our absence with flying colours.  She does seem to have missed us though because as soon as I went inside she followed me and when I laid down on the bed, she bounced up to sit on my chest.  

"One of them [the furries] is a murderer!" M told us when we were settled with a cuppa. Before the afternoon was out we knew it was Mr Beazley, with no special instrument except those nature provided him with, on the front lawn!  M said she should have known that this was the location of "the killing fields" because all the cats, including Emma when she was out of the room, had been drawn to it to have a sniff and an investigate.  

It is great to be back at Latimers - watching the evening close in, listening to birdlife in the near distance, and seeing the cows in the paddock next door.  B roared past in the ute but stopped long enough to say he was off to do another Bern-Off down the back and watching it with a glass of champers in hand might be a great way to ring in the ... Happy New Year!