Friday

I wasn't aware that I was sleeping badly but I woke up this morning more refreshed than I have for a while - and I'm putting it down to the painkillers! It's good to know, though, that commonsense is still alive and well. When I mentioned to the doctor yesterday that I had, since the injury, begun sleeping on only one pillow (rather than the usual two) and he thought that was a very good idea.

M went off to Brisbane for another seminar today and swung by Latimers on her return on her way to Broadbeach - where she has been invited to a dinner. While she was here, she fed the furries. It could just be my imagination, but I would swear they meow louder when they're all circling in the kitchen, like sharks, waiting for the food to come down from bench height.

ROM isn't back from its service yet - and it's just as well that it's been raining since this morning - and is likely to continue on over the weekend - otherwise mower-withdrawals may have set in. Mind you, that wouldn't have been me because S and I are off to Toowoomba for the weekend to help Mum celebrate her birthday. Hopefully the weather will be kind and it won't be raining so hard that we can't see a couple of metres in front of us. We've certainly had that before and I'd prefer not to have to drive in those conditions.

S made a wonderful spaghetti bolognese for dinner this evening - and there's nothing that pulls at the heartstrings as much as Pearl looking up at you with big doleful eyes because she thinks she should be having some too. She seems to be hungrier than she normally is - could it have something to do with the weather turning a bit cooler and a bit wetter? - and she's started to sneak the cats' cookies as they're eating them. Yes, yes, we know that she's a dog and it's in her nature - but sometimes we expect better behaviour from her.

The cats stay fairly close to home when it's wet. When I came in this afternoon, Pearl, Beazley and Maggie were all with S (who was letting me in) and I asked if Tink was around as well - S assured me she wasn't, she hadn't seen her for a while - and that seemed reasonable enough, until she moved a step to the left (her right) to reveal Tink on the rug - and S hadn't even realised she was there. Of course, once the rain subsided they were out again - but it was nice to have their company if only for a little while.

Thursday

"Do or not." There is no "try". So said the woman talking with her niece and an American accent and an unidentified man at Zarraffas this afternoon. There are two words that should be struck from the English language she said - tried (hence the "do or not" which she attributed to Yoda from Star Wars) and tired. You could use words like exhausted if you wanted to but not "tired" because it has been overdone and no longer really means anything. See, you never know when you're going to learn something new.

The doctor was great this morning - doing a check of my neck - when he equated what I had done to it to a sprained ankle, except in my neck. He took out his model of a spine to show me where the problem was - and confirmed that he wouldn't need to send me for an x-ray or other tests for it because it wouldn't change the management of the injury. As well as some anti-spasmodic painkillers, he also prescribed some exercises which are simple enough to do but seem quite effective.

I was well enough to go out to dinner and Trivia at the local tonight - and just as well too, otherwise we wouldn't have won first prize - a $50 voucher - and another six-pack of beer for correctly guessing (and being the first one up to Nikki with the answer written down) that Mary was the most popular girl's name in 1899. They don't call it Trivia for nothing! But it was quite exciting - and we're not going to let the thought that there were only three teams playing get in the way of our celebrations. We are convinced, though, that we definitely need help with sport and music.

 

Wednesday

B zoomed by in his ute this afternoon - hunting for fuel for his next bonfire. He stopped and picked up the branches from under the Bohemia Tree - putting them on top of the pallets already on the ute - before zooming back out the yard on his way to what would become the scene of the fire.

It was my first time at Zarraffa's during the afternoon this week - I have been going straight home after work to give my neck the best chance of recovery. I think I have finally worked out what the problem is ... all the looking up while I was helping M when she pruned Saturday afternoon. The good news is that I have finally found my anti-inflammatories - the pills I was taking yesterday turned out to be just painkillers - and even though they were prescription-issue, they really weren't touching it much ... it took nearly two hours for the pain to abate after I took them.

S is being fabulous - because it hurts when I bend over and move my head, she has taken over the cat litter tray in the morning - and this is very much appreciated. The good news for her ... and for me ... is that I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow so hopefully he will be able to suggest something to help with the pain management. It certainly doesn't do anything for my (usually) sunny disposition.

S was determined that she would win at Bingo today - and she did - taking out the first game of the day with a full house. I could be wrong but I think I can hear/feel another visit to Spotlight coming on.

M dropped in for a quick chat while I was at Zarraffas before taking herself in to The Big House for another go at Rapid Reel (or the duelling poker machines) - alas, she didn't make it into the semi-finals this time. Hmmmm ... I wonder if it was because she didn't have a big enough cheering squad with her.

Tuesday

My neck is no better today ... it wasn't bad enough to keep me away from work but it did keep me away from Zarraffas this afternoon. I came straight home to Latimers to have a good lie down - and to take my mind off it by watching "Happy Days" and "The Brady Bunch".

We didn't go out for our usual Tuesday night dinner - S made the dish she was planning to make last night - baked steak - and it wasn't bad - a bit like a roast, but done in a very rich tomato sauce. It was a great attempt and it's good to try different things. Pearl liked it too ... she had more steak than sauce! S also did a sliced potato dish - very nice tonight and will also be great for lunch tomorrow if there's some left over. But that wasn't the end of it ... she also made a dessert - lemon delicious - using lemons off the Latimers tree ... only possible because the cockatoos haven't eaten them all!

Dolly seems to get cuter each day; and, surprisingly, Spot doesn't seem to be chasing cars nearly quite as much - but you can tell that he's still quite interested in them. L has apparently taken over dog duties at their house and it doesn't seem that Spot and the others are complaining.

It rained today so even though M had thought she might make it on to ROM before it goes away for servicing (I wonder how long it will actually be gone) she didn't get there. D did get to do some slashing though - so the bottom paddock should be a little more under control. Such is the grass growing here at Latimers.

Monday

The Great K rang at lunchtime today saying he was planning to come back to the Coast this evening and would it be okay if we could give him a lift from the airport. Not a problem I told him - knowing that either I or M would be able to do it. I had hoped the planets would align so S and I could go to dinner at The Beach Shack at Currumbin and then swing by the airport to collect The Great K afterwards, but when I rang to check, they told me they were closed Monday nights.

As it turned out, M, who had been planning to be in this evening, phoned late afternoon (her phone had chosen to have a day at home - which explained why she hadn't replied to the call I'd placed to her after I heard from The Great K) - and she said she would collect him. I wasn't going to argue ... well, I did try, but I didn't get very far - so I continued on with the mowing. ROM is due to go off for a service on Wednesday so I wanted to make sure that we did as much mowing as we could - just in case it doesn't come back as quickly as we want or expect and then are forced to watch the lawn grow longer and longer. I don't think using the tractor and slasher is an option for the house yard. I managed to get most of it done before the drive belt came off ROM again. M who knows about these things had a quick look before she took herself off to the airport and she can get fix it in the morning if she wants to do some more of Hermes' paddock.

I had an early night, even before M and the Great K arrived back from the airport (The Great K had left his car here) - I have developed a sore neck - must have been something I did, but I'm not quite sure what. Hopefully it will have fixed itself by morning - and then I can find out how the Great K went in Sydney.

 

Sunday

Markets Day comes around fairly fast ... and here it is again. I took the call with Tr at home today - it was only scheduled for half-an-hour because she and T had to go over to her father's place to put the finishing touches on and be ready for his 80th birthday celebrations.

We weren't exactly half-an-hour but we won't that much longer - which means I had an extra half-an-hour to spare before it was time to jump into the car and rush to the Markets. So, while I waited, I got some carrots and fed them to Hermes, and took Pearl for a walk down the lane to B's shed. Dolly, when she saw us, started to gallop over but Holly was faster and cut her off and shepherded her back to the far side of the paddock. Pearl didn't seem to mind and concentrated on getting to the shed - only so she could turn around and go back. I suspected that she might have known that M had prepared her breakfast and it was waiting for her at home.

Mi's sister is over from New Zealand at the moment - which is why she had posted on FaceBook that they were at the beach - before 8am. They had gone for a swim and a walk - and were quite hot by the time they arrived back at the Markets. R and her husband, E, are lovely and I was surprised that E kept getting up from the table to have a wander around the markets - coming back with a good deal on cucumbers, plus bananas and something else which I can't remember.

We didn't tarry out again and went straight home after the Markets. I had been thinking about mowing but, feeling a little off-colour, I decided to spend the time on/with the television instead - with S and the furries for company!

 

Saturday

We decided to try a different place for breakfast today - which was good for us (variety is the spice of life they say) but not so good for Pearl because dogs aren't allowed. We ended up at the Ashmore Nursery and even though M and I had planned to go different ways to see which way was the fastest - that did happen, but by default, but she didn't keep a record of how far it was - and since we left at different times, it was impossible to tell who had won the "race". Next time. Breakfast was good though - and the coffee wasn't bad - and I would have to say it was better than raw last Saturday.

We had chosen Ashmore because it was on the way to Spotlight - where S was wanting to go so she can get some supplies for her newly-found knitting hobby. I know I say that I won't use the dish-cloth she's planning to knit but I'm sure I will give it a go at some stage.

We went almost straight home after Spotlight - it's good to spend a weekend just hanging around especially as we will be off to Toowoomba next weekend.

M arrived later in the afternoon and we finally managed to get to a job on her list ... pruning the tree out the front. My job was holding the ladder for her, and passing up the secateurs, saw or pruning shears. I did have a couple of goes with the pruning shears myself! That tree will never be the same again - but at least most of it is still there ... we didn't do the bad haircut thing - where you take off a bit this side, then that side and so on, until there really isn't that much left.

Just for a change we had Saturday night in - I was catching up on some viewing and odd jobs - until we put Homeland on to watch that. A few people have been recommending it of late and M and I wanted to see if it lived up to expectations. It wasn't bad and after the first episode none of us could tell if the returning serviceman has been "turned".

 

Friday

Even though it wasn't Family N Friends Dinner, Mouse asked us to dinner anyway and we were all set to go until the last moment when S decided she was feeling a little unwell - and decided she wouldn't come. I was already out so she told me to keep going to Mouse's, but to bring her something home because she might beel better later - and "better" might mean "hungry".

I was out at Zarraffas at Crestwood Plaza, then tootling around Bundall and Benowa - until finally I remembered that I had wanted to drive past the sand sculptures and see how they were going on the 40-tonne one. It was the first time in a very long time (perhaps ever) that I have driven into Surfers in peak hour and I was not surprised that there were so many people around - just surprised how many of them were on the road! As well as groups being out and about for the start of a "big night out" (you could tell from what they were wearing, and from the coloured wrist bands), there were a good few people out for the marekts - and to stroll past the sculptures. The 40-tonne was visible for the road - there was no way a park was going to open up quickly - and I could see that it was not the pirate ship I had hoped for. It is a conglomeration of sand castles - very good - but not a pirate ship. in retrospect, I do realise it would have been quite an ask - especially if it had been 3D rather than as a frieze.

Dinner at Mouse's was good - a wonderful soup, followed by vereneki and stuffed capsicum, with watermelon to finish. Very yummy - and luckily there were leftovers for S. It will take me a while to forget the evening - I had parked behind the dumped car and as I walked beside it, I disturbed the bat in the tree next to it and it flapped its large wings almost close enough to touch me. It was definitely not a case of ... "Come to me creature of the night."

 

Thursday

 I made a quick trip to Harbour Town at lunchtime today to collect my new shoes which are now travelling in the back of the car and will eventually make it from there to the house.  

Tink must have suspected there was something exciting there because she ran over to greet me as soon as I drove in the gate.  Mind you, she has been doing the "meet and greet" a bit lately - and I hate to say it, but she's currently better at it at the moment than Pearl. But I'm not fussy ... as long as someone runs out to do it, it will be okay. Pearl at least barked when I drove in - or so S reports and she would know because Pearl was with her - watching as she folded up the washing!  She was being a wash dog for a chance. 

M had a draw in at The Big House this evening and was taking Mouse with her.  Unfortunately the draws were every half hour so they had to stay in the Casino because there wasn't enough time to go anywhere between the draws. (It will be marginally better on Sunday when there are draws on for all members and you have to be there at 2pm, 4pm, 6 pm and 8 pm.  Someone may have forgotten to mention that this should be fun - but there's little chance of that now the gelato barrow has disappeared from the foyer of The Big House - even though the promotion on Sunday is called "double scoop". I don't think so. 

There were no ice-cream questions at Trivia at the local tonight - although, for the regular players, there was a question for next week:  what elements are Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the Periodic Table?  S and I looked it up while were there, waiting for the final scores to be tabulated and cross checked.  

We were one lot of "honest" away from second prize.  In the first round, Nikki had marked one of our incorrect answers as correct and the score tracked through.  We would have been equal second had I not said anything but if we're going to win a prize (first, second, secondlast), I'd prefer it to be on our own merits. S keeps pointing out that we are one of the very few tables there with only two people - so it's harder for us because we don't have a brains trust.  But it's also good fun - and S knowing that that the sacred bird of Peru is the Condor earned us another six-pack. Now we just have to work out what to do with them.

Wednesday

I'd like to say that I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning but that wasn't so but it wasn't enough to keep me away from the Big Workhouse. Which is a shame because I would have enjoyed a day off.  As it was, it wasn't the world's best day at work but we did find out that one of our supervisor's at work is leaving in a fortnight's time - this is the same one who has been saying that no-one can take holidays until the end of the project because we can't afford to have the project understaffed. Ah well, it will be interesting to see what a change of middle management will do for the day-to-day running of the project. 

Tonight M and I went off to CSP (the jackpot is just over $50,000 now) and I think we excelled in the efficiency with which we were able to hand over our stakes to The Big House.  Luckily  M could take us upstairs for a "free" coffee - and a chat with Kathy who was just passing and lamenting the general state of play at The Big House. 

Then it was on to dinner at Spinners - where I had the Thai Beef Salad and M went with the special - a "whole chicken" dinner except that it was actually the size usually associated with spatchcock but it was roasted whole, not split down the middle and grilled as is usually the style with spatchcock. 

On the way up the lane, past a Spot who was being mostly well-behaved, we stopped so M could investigate something on the road which looked like and turned out to be a dead snake.  Luckily, it was not the carpet python which she had finally seen again last night on her way home - it has been quite a while, and this time it was heading in the opposite direction - obviously on its way to or from its usual stamping grounds.  M had taken a photo out of the driver's window of the car - saying she hadn't wanted to startle it by taking a photo, with the flash, while she was too close to it.  

The girls made it to Bingo again today - and I think both S and M had wins.  Neither Mouse nor E were as lucky.  S had plans for her winnings too; she has been partaking of a blog she has found called ... is it "Down to Earth" - by Rhonda Hetzel which looks at bringing one's focus to the home and enriching your life and that of those around you by making it a warm and secure place. The blog is full of good information on how to do that - and lots of other things too - including how to knit a dishcloth - which is S's current project as funded by her win at Bingo. (It took a while but we did get there.) 

Tuesday

"Do you know what day it is?" asked S as I gave her a quick farewell peck on the cheek as I was setting off for work.  Not wanting to wake her too much, I guided her hand to the chocolates I had already placed on her pillow - to surprise her when she did wake up!  She would have to wait until later for the card ... especially as I was breaking from tradition and going electronic!  I missed standing in the newsagents and going through all the cards - the funny, the corny, the schmaltzy ... there is no shortage of them but no, I was making my own this year, electronically, so she could take it with her wherever she went.  I don't think it was a bad effort - S liked it, Mouse liked it - and I'm not sure how many times S had played it since it arrived in her mailbox. I wonder if children still make Valentine's cards for distributing within their class/school.  I can't remember if we used to when I was at school - it's a good couple of years since then.  Maybe we didn't because it was Queensland and American television hadn't yet pervaded the local culture - but perhaps the American service folk, out here during World War II, had.  

When I called home at lunchtime, I discovered that S had decided to make dinner for us rather than us  going out to our regular Tuesday evening out. That sounded good - and we were able to resist when M was in touch later in the day to say there was a Valentine's Special in at The Big House - $80 per couple including seafood entree, steak and seafood mains, and them a dessert to share - topped off with a couple of glasses of champagne!  No, S wanted to cook a special dinner and I wanted to share it with her - so "no" Big House special for us.  And, as it turned out, it was probably just as well because as we were sitting at home this afternoon, the phone rang and it was The Great K who had decided to go home (he had literally just made the decision) and he was after a lift to the airport.  He had called M but missed her, so we told him to come on over and we'd drive him down ... or rather, I would while S made our dinner.  Because he was on an 8pm flight, that meant I could get him to the airport and be back by 8 - so dinner would just be half an hour later than planned -  and we'd have done a good deed as well. He was in the need of a good deed - he's been having a bad run with his back and, for the first time since I've known him, he was not "relaxed" - although he often seems anxious - but it was like he had his face "set" and was, as S observed, "holding himself together".  

Pearl loved her marrow bone!  At one point this evening she was sitting out with it - lest it try to run away - either by itself or alone - and even after M came home and took her into her room, Pearl had a restless night and needed to keep going out to check her bone was still where she had left it. 

Monday

 It's Valentine's Day tomorrow so on the way home I stopped in at the supermarket and picked Pearl up a present - a marrow bone.  It's almost as big as her so hopefully she will have a good time with it.

While we were watching television tonight I saw lights on the side fence but  didn't think anything of it until a short while later when I saw tail-lights in the backyard.  It was, as M pointed out, because she had already mentioned it ... Nick coming to collect the trailer.  

 Tink brought herself in this evening.  I had called her - but it was still a bit early so it wasn't a totally serious call - but when I came back out, there she was - sitting on Beazley's cookie table (where we put the cookies up off the floor so Pearl isn't tempted to do what dogs do - eat cat cookies!)

Pearl and I went for a walk down to B's shed and Dolly came along for most of the way there and back.   Tink was sitting in the grass outside their paddock; I couldn't tell if she was hunting something or just having some time away from home. 

Sand Sculpture results:  The big pirate sitting on the barrel (of rum) was first; Lost in Paradise - with the pirate on one side and the artist as meter maid (complete with very skimpy bikini bottom) before he trimmed down was second; and the iPod-themed piracy in modern times piece placed third. 

Sunday

 Early? Early? Yes, it was a bit early to be up on a weekend but I wanted to get to the beach so I was up at 5 and walking up the street towards the Surfers Paradise front before 6:30.  I couldn't believe how many people were already around at that time of morning - absolutely lots - and that didn't include the "security guards" in place to look over the sand sculptures.  Yes ... sand sculptures - the reason for the early-morning roll-out.  It's the Australian Championships which started yesterday and will be judged this afternoon.  There are eight pieces in competition - and each has brought their own vision to "Pirates in Paradise".  It's well worth a look and the pieces - plus the 40 tonne piece which some of the passing crowd suggested was a pirate ship - wouldn't that be amazing! - will be on display until next Sunday.  (Now that we're not going to Toowoomba next weekend, I might see if I can get in there again for another look-see!)

Photographs of sand sculptures taken, Skype call with T done (why does the reception on Skype go south after 8am when you're on a 3G network?), a quick chat with Mouse (who was at the Maccas where I was calling T from, herself out for her morning walk and a look at the sculptures), and after a transferring of pictures to the iPad, I made my way to the Markets ... and was absolutely stunned that F and Mi, and S and M had beaten me there - and I wasn't late.  M and A (and N) finally rocked up 15 minutes or so later - so we could sing Happy Birthday to him again - since today is the actual day.  I'm not sure he likes the attention - he didn't seem to be joking when he suggested people should celebrate their birthdays only up to their 21st, and then not again until they're 80! A had made a cake - and that was wonderful ... in fact, come to think of it, the table had heaps of food (more than usual?) this morning - cake, watermelon, pide, croissants - all very yummy.  And that is why I don't usually have breakfast before I get there ... but this morning I had broken with tradition and had something at Maccas ... so I could hardly fit another bite in at the Markets.

Even though we had considered catching a movie this afternoon, we came home and had a quiet afternoon with the furries.  Just as well the mowing had already been done as we had a big storm come through this afternoon.  Luckily the roof didn't leak ... It must have been coming from the "right" direction or not heavy enough ... but we had laid out the towels and buckets just in case. 

Saturday

We tried a new place for breakfast this morning - raw, at Sanctuary Cove.  M had read about it and the menu looked pretty good - including nutella pancakes (which none of us had), baked eggs (S), vege stack (M) and the Big Brekky (me - because it included Bangalow sausages which I'd been trying to have at Bumbles at Budds Beach for a while but they haven't had it for some time).   When we saw the nutella pancakes, we were pleased that we hadn't had them - we had thought they would be filled with nutella rather than having nutella trowelled over each of the three pancakes they served.  

It was a nice setting though - at the Marina - and M took us for a drive around so we could see what it was like. I was surprised at how homogenous it was - the same white houses with the same green lawns.  But there are McMansions and other different houses on the older part of the island.  We didn't see them today though. 

S & M went to a movie at Harbour Town (Any Questions for Ben) while I took myself off for a much-needed walk around the complex. I don't think I have ever walked all the way around.  It's pretty big and there are so many shops it was hard not to fall into a few ... but I was restrained and bought only one pair of shoes from the New Balance shop - which they have to order in so I didn't even get to carry them out with me!  

I managed to squeeze in some ROM this afternoon - but even though I was excited to do it, I was a little disappointed because it definitely was not my best mow ever.  I just couldn't seem to get the geography in my mind to do the most efficient mow.  Also, the cutting deck's a bit down on one side again which leads to a not-totally-even finish.  M says it (ROM) is about to go off for service and as well as the service, she'll get them to look at the drive belt, and the deck.  

Dinner tonight was at The Big House - Food Fantasy - to celebrate M's birthday which is actually tomorrow.  M and A picked up the tab (thank you!!) and it was a really nice evening - even if the prawns were a little salty!  M, taking advantage of M being only a day away from being eligible for a Seniors Card, attached an application form to the front of his birthday gift!

Friday

There was no FNF dinner this evening so S and I stayed home with the furries.  Hmmm ... I know other things happened today but since I'm writing this a little later - and didn't take notes at the time as I usually do - Friday will remain a mystery!

 

Thursday

It was lovely driving out of Latimers this morning. The full moon was hanging over the hill at the back of Latimers,  full yet pale against the darkening blue of the sky.  There was a mist (not the Stephen King variety) hanging over the next valley which looked wonderful from the distance.   Closer to Latimers,  there was a little mist but more just wisps playing above the cows.   One of L's horses has its head through the hole between the top and second rails of the fence.   At first I thought it might be stuck because there didn't look to be any grass it was reaching for but as I watched I could see what it was doing - scratching its neck against the wood of the rails - and from the amount of scratching it was doing,  it was fairly itchy.  Sweetie,  in the paddock next door, was paying it some attention and I was glad it was scratching and not wind-sucking. We don't want her picking up any bad habits. 

I made it out of the Latimers lane and on to the road before the cyclists came powering past.   It's a while since I've seen them out in such force (was it Tour de France time?) and I felt the need to flash my lights once at oncoming traffic to let them know there were cyclists ahead - yes,  I know they would not have known that it was specifically cyclists but they may have realised that there was some kind of hazard ahead and not speed blindly around the Latimers corners. 

So,  I was very much enjoying the drive along the main road - I'd seen a gentle and beautiful start to the day,  marvelled at the stamina of cyclists,  noticed that the relative position of the sun in the sky was changing which means the days are getting shorter, was again puzzled about the orientation of Lattimers and how I seem to be driving into the sun even when I am sure I am driving north - and was then rudely dragged out of this whole "being one with the world" when I passed two teenagers standing beside the road with their surfboards and one raced towards the car and tried to spit on it - poor Lars - but luckily he missed! I considered a range of actions in response but in the end contented myself by waving a finger at them as Lars and I drove off.  

S and I went off to dinner at the local tonight - Trivia Night - and allowed ourselves to be talked into actually playing trivia.   As the woman who runs it told us: it's taken two years but I knew you'd come around.   We came third - which surprised us as we did very poorly on all the music questions - and who knew that the longest shotput on record wasn't over 100 metres; it was closer to 30 but luckily S talked me out of putting it as an answer otherwise that may have looked less than intelligent. She wasn't able to convince me not to put "rat" as the (incorrect) answer to "What is Bombay Duck?" - her suggestion (she wasn't sure of it but could have been as that was the correct response) was "fish".

While we were off there,  S and Mi were off with 4,998 other people watching Rod Stewart at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.  Mi posted a photo on FaceBook and it looked as though there were just about sitting on stage with him!  It was, by all reports, a fabulous concert and I now regret not having entered S and I in the Hot Legs competition to try and win tickets to the show!  

Wednesday

There's something to ber said for "hump day" and in my note to S and M this morning,  I drew a picture of "hump day" which was just like a little hill (or hump) and a sun (for day).  If I had been feeling really artistic (but I wasn't) I could have drawn a picture of Bingo - although I'm not quite sure how that would have looked.   It may have had something to do with the party hats we had worn at the Christmas Bingo at the Greek Church at the end of 2010,  or perhaps a big computer board with the numbers displayed,  although that could have been mistaken for Keno.   (Do the games have the same numbers?)

We almost did yard work this afternoon except that as I drove down the Motorway,  it started spitting.  I rang S to ask her if it was raining at Latimers.  No answer.  About 5 minutes later M called to say she and S were in Nerang shopping and not to hurry back to Latimers because it was raining.   I should keep doing what I was doing.  That,  of course,  was heading for Zarraffas and they said they would meet me there - which they did.   I like it when people join me for coffee because,  as well as enjoying the company,  it also means I get more points on my Z (Zarraffas) Card and get that much closer to a "free" coffee.  I just wish I was better company for them because this afternoon it was all about me or, more correctly,  all about my dissatisfaction at work.   

We left S at home (with the furries and the television) while we went off to The Big House and CSP - or it would have been that had we not decided on the way in to have something different for dinner - not in the Casino.  In the end,  after a quick stroll up and down the eatery street,  we decided on Aura - which turned out to be quite nice and accommodating.   They have a special where you get 3 tapas-type dishes of your choice  plus 4 others (surprises) for $45.   But they aren't a total surprise because they do ask if there's anything you don't want - ours were pork and seared tuna - meaning the chef had a bit of leeway although it would have been useful if he'd had some help in the kitchen!  At one point I commented that they must have only one chef and one hot plate - the dishes were taking so long to come out.  One dish would come,  we would finish that, then have to wait a short while and then the dishes would be taken and then ... and then ... after a short wait,  the next dish would approve.   Needless to say, it was a wonderful experience and I know S would love it - but it was so late by the time we left there,  it was too late for me to go to The Big House (I'm no good if I go to bed too late on a "school night").   

Tuesday

I went up to see J this afternoon and after a quick paddle in her pool, we went off to dinner at one of the local pubs which was offering a Tuesday night special - $10 steak dinners.  It was good to the last bite - if I'd been able to stay for the last bite.  We were most of the way through dinner when it started raining - on me!  We should have been okay - we were outside but under cover ... but the cover was not that good.  Admittedly it was a downpour - and quite a downpour at that - but that's no reason that the roof should leak.  At first J and R thought I was joking about getting wet but when I showed them some drops and then many drops - they realised I wasn't.  But you know, even though at the end it was pelting down, I couldn't leave that steak not eaten,  J understood (she's already eaten hers) and when we were finally able to drag me out, we only had to race a little bit to get back to their place to close the windows before everything go saturated. 

J has taken up knitting again.  The acoutrements were a gift from an old friend from her early nursing years who has re-entered her life after 20 years.  The jury is still out as to whether this is a good thing.  It seems that DW has had a few trials and tribulations over the intervening years - and they haven't finished yet even though she has divorced the husband (apparently a plant by a friend of the family who was/is keen to keep her "quiet" about past events).  She has suggested that J might like to escape with her to Route 66 (in the U S of A);  DW suggested that J might like the respite from what has become of her (J's) life - which didn't meet DW's expectations of her dreams for J.  J doesn't think she'll be in that.  Hmmm. 

M took her car to the mechanics today - to fix a window and for a general service I think.  She returned with news of a rather large carpet snake - unfortunately a non-live one.  She told S that she soon realised that if there are dead slitherin's about, there could very well be live ones as well - and since she was on foot between the mechanics and Nerang, she may have found this a little concerning ... although, I'm sure she has had lots of experience with them - and knows how to stay out of their way ... plus she looks as though she can run fairly fast!  

Beazley is on a restricted diet at the moment and while he is trying his best,  he does seem to be hungry a lot of the time.   M measures out his daily biscuits into a jar and we are to ration those throughout the day - and try not to let any of the other cats eat them - so we know what he is eating (not counting special cat cookies or local wild life - and hopefully he's not getting not too much of either of those).   Sometimes he's happy with just a pat when he's meowing as though he is hungry so we try that first!   

Monday

I'll have to check with S and M whether they received one,  but today I had an SMS on my phone informing me that I had won £615, 000,000 - all I had to do was send them all my details ... and they didn't even want my banking details!  I hope it wasn't foolish to delete the message without responding - or before I'd looked up the exchange rate to see how much my £615, 000,000 is worth in Australian dollars.   It puts the $ 31 million one person here in Australia won in the PowerBall to shame (was that only last week?).

D came yesterday to slash but was thwarted by a flat tyre on the tractor - so now M is in search of someone to come and fix it or,  failing that, a way to get it to the tyre place for them to (a) diagnose the problem and then (b) fix it and then (c) get the tyre back on the tractor.  It is a tubeless tyre and I'm not quite sure how they work - but chances are they won't be solid rubber like in the olden days.   Mind you,  I did see something a couple of years back where one of the tyre companies was working on a wheel/tyre not unlike that of a bicycle with "spokes" radiating out from a central hub and solid rubber (no inner tube) running around the outside.  Mind you,  it may not have been a goer - I think tyre companies rely on tyres wearing out and people getting punctures and this new design looked as though it could fail on both those counts.

S and I had a Skype call this afternoon with L & E in Sydney and that was good - and it was nice to sit in the back area, outside,  for that.   While we chatted,  M took care of the rubbish - taking it up to the road - and took the opportunity to follow the pink triangles affixed to light poles which seemed to be pointing somewhere.   She followed them a good way (to the Dam) but they kept going so in the end she turned around and came back.  It remains a mystery until we have some more time to investigate. 

Sunday

It was a good Skype call with T this morning although I was trying to be quiet as the others weren't quite up yet - which may have had something to do with last night's late night.  Worse was that it is my second late night in a row and I was feeling just a little on the tired side (read: could easily have crawled back into bed and stayed there for a couple if days!). Nonetheless,  I was pleased to hear that T and partner had gone to last week's Chinese New Year's Parade in Sydney and will send through some photos of the event. 

The Markets were good and even though I was aiming to be there at 9:30,  we didn't quite make it - but still we were the first there if you don't count everyone else who was at the markets - making it incredibly difficult to secure a table for two let alone the table for 11 that we needed.   In the end Mick took charge and we "borrowed" tables and chairs from the bookmakers' area (making sure we returned everything when we were done!) 

Thankfully I hadn't had breakfast because the table was groaning under goodies baked by Mi and A - Mouse had had a break from baking but had brought along a selection of jams (and a pesto), for spreading on the ... what are they called? Oh ... lookoma - although I am sure that's not how it is spelled!  It's a small fried pillow of dough - I say pillow because it was amazingly light and airy inside - not totally like a doughnnut but actually nothing like a doughnut!  A's mini-muffins were wonderful too! A had also provided some brain food - lateral thinking puzzles which we enjoyed very much. 

Post-Markets S and I were off to Budds Beach,  then Harbour Town for lunch (we were thinking of going to a movie but the times didn't work) before taking ourselves back to Latimers for the afternoon and an early night.

Saturday

 Poor Pearl.  She must have known it was Saturday (because it is) and that she wasn't coming to breakfast with us, Mouse and S at Crave but she didn't kick up too big a fuss - not that we saw anyway - I must remember to ask M if she, that would be Pearl, was upset she didn't come. 

I was the first to order breakfast this morning - which is amazing because usually I am the last to order - and still looking for time (and inspiration).   But last night, something amazing happened ... I dreamt what I was going to have for breakfast - well the main ingredient anyway - scrambled eggs - and that made the whole decision thing a great deal simpler.  (In an alternate universe,  someone is wondering if that quicker decision changed the course of ... anything.   It's hard to credit that it might have been a "Sliding Doors" moment.)

But even though we left Pearl by herself for the morning,  S and I did go home and spend time with her and the other furries.  Alas,  it was not all atruism - we are off to Brisbane this evening and I wanted to be home this afternoon so I could sneak in a quick nap - just in case we are late coming back tonight.

The occasion was dinner with A and S - and to hear what they've been up to - including towing the new caravan from Melbourne over the Christmas break.   We gather it would have been a much nicer experience had S and A not contracted lurgies along the way.   Except for S's cough and A's various aches,  they were both in fine form.   We ate at Caravanserai - which is billed (I think,  but am prepared to be corrected) as "Turkish".  But therein lies the opportunity - going to "authentic" restaurants with people who are (M) - while it may be good it is, simply,  not authentic.  

S and A remembered (without reminding - pretty wonderful!) to bring M's thermos travel mug with them - and luckily we remembered that she didn't have it after we left the restaurant.   A quick trip back rescued it, and when I went in to get it,  the woman behind the counter thrust it into one hand and a bag of Turkish Delight into the other and said that we should remember to "come again soon".  

It was a good drive back and all the furries seemed pleased to see us (they were all still awake and waiting for their suppers).    

Friday

 No surprise here but we were back at The Big House this evening for the last day of Swipestakes and to have a bite to eat at Spinners.  The big news there is that Frederic,  the Head of the Casino,  is moving on - to Star City in Sydney.  The guy who was in charge of Star City - according to various newspaper reports - has been sacked/resigned.  Sexual harrassment was mentioned in some of the articles,  and a line of white powder in another,  but this all appears to be speculation.  The timing is interesting - news of the previous chief leaving was in the papers this morning - and news of Frederic's new appointment only hit the airwaves at 7am. The only reason I can come up with for the fast turnaround (he's only been at Jupiters for a year) is that he hates the new car parking arrangements as much as the rest of us!

M went off to Brisbane today for a Seminar and in her travels found two very nice coffee shops - and she brought back presents - wonderful cakey things - yummmm - from French Twist.   She took the train up and managed to fit in a walk through the city,  so she was very happy.  She didn't fall in to the Pen Shop - which is what what have happened if I had gone (perhaps better that I'm locked in at work all day!).  

It was fine enough this afternoon to jump onto ROM and as well at the bits of the house yard that M hadn't mowed when testing the fixed drive belt yesterday, I also ventured into Hermes yard to mow half of that.   Luckily there were no horses there or it would have been a much less relaxing exercise than it turned out to be.  They did bring Hermes' paddock mate back in - but that was after I'd mowed.   As I was doing it,  I couldn't resist thinking about mowing very large letters into (out of) the grass - which would be visible from passing planes - well,  maybe not,  maybe just balloons floating over.   

Thursday

 The "swipe your card for the chance to win a prize" aka Swipestakes promotion continues. M's card came back with a $250 win today which will go towards a few buffet dinners for he and A! The rest of us were $10 winners - so if we get another $10 tomorrow, that will bring us up to $30 - which we didn't have at the start of the week.  

S went as M's guest to dinner at The Big House at Zen tonight. There were 11 or 12 of them and it sounds as though they had an interesting night and good conversation.  Not that it was a late night - they were home in time for lockdown but they were gone a few hours (including travel time). 

I stayed home with the furries.  It's not often that I'm at home alone with them.  M didn't have time to take Pearl for a walk before she left so I took her down to the shed - and you have never seen Pearl in such a hurry.  I'm thinking it was because she knew M had made her dinner before she left and it was waiting for her on the kitchen island.  As soon as we got home she raced straight there and sat and waited for me to hand it down to her.  This was only my second time of feeding the cats in the evening and,  I don't know why (maybe it was because they were watching Pearl wolf down her dinner) they didn't seem to do their usual caterwauling this evening.  You do have to watch them though - I put their dishes a reasonable distance apart so I could control any attempts to eat off anyone else's plate but still Maggie seemed to want to eat Beazley's,  after she'd finished hers,  and Beazley seemed keen to have Tinker's.   Tinker would have walked away had I not moved she and her dinner to safer ground so she could finish as much as she wanted without being harrassed.  These furries definitely have a pecking order! And for whatever reason Pearl will not bark if you forget to let her out of the bedroom - where she goes while the cat furries are eating (otherwise she would be pushing them all out of the way)! 

There was no mowing today although, with B's help,  M was able to coax the drive belt back on to ROM so it's right to go the next time we have a break in the weather.  Maybe there will be time tomorrow afternoon - before we go back in to The Big House to swipe our cards - since it's the last day of the Swipestakes tomorrow.  (Hmmmm - we've been at The Big House so much of late that I'm wondering if I should change this blog's name to ...  Life at The Big House!)

Wednesday

 The sun has been out again today - although it is tending to be a little on the humid side now.  Everyone at work was commenting on it and there were moves to open windows and turn on the air conditioners to get some kind of workable(in) environment happening.  Some people are just never pleased are they?  Only a minute ago we were all talking about wanting the rain to go away!  

The January special is still on at Spinners - even though it is February,  but it will finish tomorrow.  Next/this month's special is a "Chicken Dinner" where you get a whole chicken - not quite sure how that's going to work! They must have arranged access to a whole lot of small whole chickens or lots of very large plates!  And the special isn't the only change - they've  changed one of their mocktails - the Passion Brew - usually it comes with fruit pieces in it but this time while the recipe stayed the same (although we never have had two that tasted the same) they had blended it with ice and while both M and I were prepared to complain about it,  it was so nice that didn't even come close to happening. 

They were having a "swipe your card for the chance to win a prize" promotion and M and I managed to score $10 each. Granted, not a massive amount but it's better than not getting anything! And we manahed to get seats on the CSP table - which was not unkind this evening! 

ROM remains unfixed.   M was going to have a look at it this afternoon but didn't have time to.  She and S had only been home for a couple of minutes (both of them had a win at Bingo - and,  good news, their friends there,  Harry and Daphne,  have had a couple of wins lately as well) before I arrived - and then M and I decided to have an early leave for The Big House. 

I'm thinking about thinking up a name for the $25 chips at The Big House.  If they name currency,  and people do - although I can't remember what they call the different notes - or if they have names for all of the denominations,  why can't they do it with casino chips? Or do they and we just don't know what they are?  We have a name for the $100 chip (thanks to an American mate of M's at the Casino) and I know there are names for the bigger chips - but what do you call the $5 and $25 chips?  I think the $25 one should be called an Aussie - because it is the Australian colours - green and gold (well,  more yellow,  but it's not that much of a stretch) - or Wattle - for the same reason - but Aussie seems to go better with Obama than Wattle,  but that's just my opinion!

Tuesday

 The sun was blazing in the sky this morning - so there's a reasonable chance that the almost shin-high grass at Latimer's will get a trim today as long as it does stay dry.  Not surprisingly,  except for the wet weather and overcast skies of the last week, the sunglasses came out for the drive to work - the first time in a while and it is a most welcome change. Now if only the local authorities could keep up with the road repairs!  They do a fairly good job especially since they are never actually "seen" (by me at least) but you will drive over a piece of road in the morning,  avoiding massive potholes and gravel debris,  and the next time you pass that way either the potholes have been filled in or a section of the road (a large rectangle around where the pothole was) has been replaced.  The only problem is that the guerilla repairs don't seem to last and almost at the very next downpour the road is damaged again. Granted it's not easy to keep up with but if there were a way of better repairing the damage,  that would seem to be a good thing.  

After numerous checks with S during the afternoon to see if it had started raining again at Latimers (and it hadn't) I rushed straight home after work - foregoing my afternoon visit to Zarraffas - to jump on ROM.  M and I had talked about the best setting and while 4 was agreed on, once I was out there, 4 just wasn't cutting it - in that ROM was doing it well, but it wasn't making much of an impression on the grass (maybe it wasn't as long as we thought).  So I dropped the deck to 3.5 and continued on - getting most of the yard done before the mower drive belt came off - and I did not manage to get it back on.   But at least we should be able to see any snakes that choose to make their way across the yard - but hopefully they won't. 

Yard done,  we decided on a change for Tuesday night dinner and rather than going to the local hotel,  we took ourselves off to an old favourite - Peter's Fish Market at Main Beach. We weren't the only ones with that idea but there weren't so many of us there that we couldn't all manage to score a table near the water. There's nothing quite as wonderful as being near water with the sun setting off in the West ... although, it's good to be near water at any time (especially if you're a water sign!).

It's hard to credit how many cane toads come out in the wet and certainly it's difficult to miss them as you drive down the lane to Latimers since they just don't get out of the way.  When it's been as wet as it has,  I'm unwilling to drive off the bitumen to miss them because there's always a chance of bogging (I've seen the tracks where the four-wheel drives have had to power out of the grassed areas).   If there are this many out in the open,  I can't imagine how many are hiding in the grass in the yard and in the horse paddocks.  S has taped a show on Cane Toads which will be interesting to watch.  It seems to be an update of a documentary on Cane Toads which was made a few years ago and was almost a world-wide hit - certainly more popular than the subject matter!