Monday

I love public holidays - especially when I have taken off a few days after them as well - so ... Day 3 of the break. It was great that we finally managed to get a trailer load of rubbish to the tip - I'm not sure why we haven't done this before but good enough that we were finally getting to it. Although, on reflection, it may have something to do with the trailer and having to back it into position at the tip. Despite my best intentions, I have not been out in the yard practising it at all in the months since the last tip trip. And yes, it is true that rather than using the four-wheel drive to move the trailer from the shed to where it was required under the Bohemia tree, I pulled it over by hand - eternally grateful that the lawn had been mowed recently enough that the trailer could be pulled by person power. M (thank you) offered to drive to the tip and all went well until she was trying to back into position there and a kindly soul (surprisingly male) said pull the steering wheel to the left, to the left, when in fact what he meant - and was doing the actions with his arms was - to the right, to the right. Confusion ensued and finally M, after several attempts, parked where she could and we started ferrying the garden waste from the trailer to the green pile. Not very satisfactory ... so I had a go with the tail gate open so I could see the trailer - and still our kindly new friend gave instructions ... and I managed after several frustrating attempts to get a little closer and we finally agreed it was "good enough". We let the back of the trailer down and tried an innovative approach - just tugging on something - and, amazingly, the whole load came out in the one piece. It had set. We were able to push it up on its end and then onto the pile - still in the one trailer-sized piece. Bonus.

I don't think I mentioned that on the way to Brisbane on Saturday, we dropped Pearl off at Nana's - and she is still there. It's not the same at Latimers without her but it's good for her to be with Nana and be a town dog for a change. So we went in to visit her and have Mouse pancakes today - and it was a lovely thing to do. If Albert's new cafe had been open, I think we would have stopped in for a coffee - and to see if they are serving the cheapest iced coffees in town - hopefully they won't be because Mouse had a couple of suggestions for them about how to price a product - covering all the cost factors!

Pearl stayed in with Nana - although it did look as though she wouldn't have minded coming home with us or M! hopefully she'll come home soon.