Monday

"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and know when to _____." (sung to the tune of Kenny Roger's The Gambler ... oh wait, it is!) We could have used M for at least two questions at Trivia tonight ... that one (complete the next word) and what is the second largest Casino in Australia. We did get the lyric, although, as I pointed out to S and F, perhaps taking my word for it wasn't the wisest thing ... afterall, I am the one who always sang "My name is Garfundi" (My Lady Darbanville) and that you'd always be "a docious" (precocious) when you were saying Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (and who knew that isn't in the Australian Oxford Dictionary or that according to Wikipedia it's spelled exactly as it sounds?)

You have to love Trivia - it takes you to places where you've never been before, but, as we were saying in the car home last night, we're not sure if you learn anything ... well, you might learn it, but do you retain it?

It was good that we were able to stay awake for it, though, because Pearl had a bit of a disturbed night last night. I don't know what was lurking outside, frightening her, but twice she started barking and took a while to settle. The first time I let her out, and while she did go, she came back in as soon as she was called.

Also having a disturbed night was S, who does hear Tinker when she scratches to come in, to go out, to come in and so on. I heard none of this, and was surprised to find her (Tinker) sleeping near my feet when I woke this morning. She didn't stir ... which made it very easy to give her the insulin shot. She must have moved at some point though, because when I spoke with S later in the morning, she was saying that Beazley had been in to the bedroom for special time with her. It will be interesting to see how quickly everything goes back to the way it was when M gets back next week!

D came around again this afternoon and yes, it started raining not long after he arrived, so there are now a few more tyre wrinkles in the lawn.

The Crestwood Bakery Deli (CBD) is under new management and I dropped in there for lunch today - or actually, to pick up a takeaway sandwich, which I took next door to Zarraffas. The sandwich wasn't bad, although the way the manager/owner (?) talked to one of the staff there was a bit off-putting. I could see his point though - it's difficult, if you haven't taken the order and aren't making it, to know what a C-T-K sandwich is. I would never have guessed, and neither had he, that it was Cheese-Tomato-Carrot! His confusion came because when he arrived, there was already Carrot (with a C not a K) on there.

I was surprised in Zarraffas by F who was on his way to have a haircut but had just dropped in for a coffee since he had a few minutes to spare. It was good to catch up - although now there appears to be some doubt about his accompanying Lu to the States. If he does go, F will only be back for four days before he jets off to Jordan (he's already booked and paid for his ticket for that trip).

It's still a bit chilly in the afternoons and S put on a flannie for our walk down to B's with Pearl today. I don't know what it is but just near the shelter in Holly and Dolly's paddock, there's a plant, on this side of the fence, which Pearl always stops to have a good sniff of and sometimes even a little chew. She was sniffing at it again this afternoon when Dolly came over and went to give her a little sniff. I'm not sure what Pearl made of that but she quickly moved, looking for a moment as though she was going to do a little snap at Dolly. Of course, Dolly's quite good at that as well, and often snaps her teeth together - but not usually in anyone's general direction.

It was Rubbish day today (phew, almost weekend already!) but we made an executive decision that the third of an Otto bin we had amassed since last week can wait until next week. We're taking it as our own personal contribution to sustainability - and the 4-wheel drive will still get its run this week - Tink and I will go to the vets in it on Thursday ... so we can have a better view of the roundabout roadworks!