Saturday

Do pigs have knees? S and I could not remember even though we were trying very hard - even trying to remember if pigs walk with stiff legs. I had a feeling that maybe they did on the back legs but they might be backwards. How do they get up and get down off the ground we kept asking each other but after several minutes of to-ing and fro-ing we were no closer to an answer - and we weren't sure that the internet would work on the Gatton Bypass so unless we saw one on the road, we were going to have to wait until we arrived at Mum's before we had a definitive answer. So, how did we come to be asking? S had seen a cooking show where they were preparing good German fare including big juicy knuckles. So what part of the pig is the knuckle? We thought we knew the hock and the trotter but besides that we were coming up blank. (During this conversation, we decided we would need to track down the German Club here on the Coast and try some sauerkraut!) So that took care of part of the drive to Toowoomba - and the sun was well up by then. I think it was a bit of a change for S to drive out of Latimers while it was still dark and I was glad we did because I had a chance to show her the planets I have been watching all week, where the missing Moon should have been, and the cars parked outside the hall where there was some kind of secret morning business underway.

Since it was only a day trip, we left Pearl in charge at Latimers ... and with a bone so she was happily licking it (we think, it was hard to,see for sure once the headlights were off her) as we left.

The trip to Toowoomba to see the new great-nephew was fantastic. He is a cutie ... and absolutely photogenic. T has recovered from the birth and seems to have taken on the responsibility of being a mother of two as easily as she did being a mother of one. She and D are wonderful parents - and M, now an older sister at 2, is very protective of K-P - and wanted to get in on the action of photographing him as well.

T and D have a great sense of humor as well - as S was nursing K-P she looked at the two of them and said “thanks for the surrogacy” - and they got it straight away and burst out laughing.

We made it away from Toowoomba by 3 and arrived back at Latimers just before dark and in good time to give the furries their dinners - and insulin shots for those that needed them. Then it was time for our dinner - but not with MasterChef as it's Saturday.

Pearl brought her bone in. We're not sure if it was the one S found yesterday in her phase-planting garden but it was covered in dirt so it must have been buried somewhere. But it does solve a mystery from earlier in the week. We noticed one evening that Pearl's bed was filthy in one corner and we were worried that one of the animals had been sick there - there were little bits of something in it (S investigated more than I did) ... but since they all seemed fine and there was no further occurrence, S washed the bed covers and we didn't give it another thought until Pearl plopped her bone in the same place on her bed this evening, sat down and proceeded to start settling in for the evening. Alas, for Pearl, this was not to be and we told her so - or I did and as I was telling her to pick up her bone and bring it outside ... now ... I glanced across at S and saw what I thought was the same thought I had just had flit across her face ... and that was - it didn't matter what I said all Pearl was hearing was “blah blah blah Pearl blah blah blah”. So I confiscated the bone, promising to give it back tomorrow - if she still wants it!