Saturday

It's lovely to be home at Latimers when the sun rises and to see the mist hanging over the Valley.

Don't know what got into (or after) Tink this morning but after she'd had her shot and gone out, ten minutes or so later she came tearing across the yard at full speed and it was all I could do to get the door open in time for her to run in and go down into the living room. She recovered fairly well though, making her way soon after down to "special cookie" land where she wanted some, and then some more, and then another lot.

Pearl was hard to rouse this morning and only opened one eye when I was up to do the cats - and didn't even try to come out to help Beazley with his cookies. S was finally able to rouse her when she got up - and then I made Pearl come out to help feed Hermes some carrot (yum!!! - Hermes enjoyed it, and Pearl quickly gobbled up a little piece that had fallen on to the ground). Then Pearl and I trekked to the bottom paddock to have a look at the stump ... that is no longer. There is a huge clearing where the tree used to be - a perfect spot for future B fires - before the horses go in there. By the time Pearl and I returned to the house, I was saturated up to my knees and needed to change my shoes, socks and jeans - and Pearl needed a good dry down. Yep, there was a heavy dew again this morning.

Then we (the humans and the dog) bundled into the car, and went to breakfast at Sisters leaving the cats in charge, except for Maggie who we left in M's room. (We did remember to let her out when we arrived home.) Pearl was so excited when we arrived at the cafe, I think because she was thinking she would see M or Mouse there. She was disappointed at that, and tried to eat a small dog, but we managed to pull her back before any damage was done - and apologized to the owners - as if we had no idea that Pearl didn't like small dogs!

Next stop was Nana's (and, we fear, more disappointment for Pearl because Nana wasn't there) but we left her so she could have a play date with Socks. We were a bit concerned at first because when we arrived there were two strange men in the yard - so I went in and asked if Olga was home. The older man told me she was in Russia - and at that point, I realised they did know her and weren't just using the sound of lawnmowers to cover any nefarious activities there were up to. We chatted for 15 minutes or so (D told me his life story) before I was able to extract myself so I could let S (still waiting in the car with Pearl) know that all was well.

Pacific Fair wasn't that crowded today (has the Global Financial Crisis started to affect the Gold Coast or was it just a slow retail day?) and we were able to do everything we needed within a couple of hours and made our way back to Mouse's to pick up Pearl - past the Gold Coast Convention Centre where the Rodeo was in full swing. I have decided I do want to go to a rodeo - but one that's held outside in the sunshine - not inside.

Back at Latimers, S was out reading the Sydney Morning Herald and having an apple slice when K stopped by on his way up from down the back. They had a great chat as I hid inside and powered through the Stephen King book I have been trying to finish for some time.

I am so proud of S the way she has been taking Pearl for walks down to B's shed - and absolutely delighted when they came back from their walk this afternoon and she told me she had seen the Plovers. We went out and sure enough there was a parent Plover and THREE Plover chicks. The big bird was busy moving them from Hermes paddock to a paddock two removed, closer to B's, hopefully taking them out of the fox's territory. Nature does find a way.

We're in for another cool evening ... not as cold as it will be next week according to the weather forecasts but cold enough! Beazley and Maggie haven't come in yet but hopefully they will soon so we can close the doors! Good night Latimers!