Thursday

We won! We won! Which is to say that Queensland thrashed NSW in The State of Origin "The Decider" - by one point! They were only crowing about it (not giving details) on the radio this morning so I don't know if the game was as close as the score.

It's sunny again here on the Gold Coast - making 5 fine days in a row - which means the grass is growing in those paddocks - but not quickly. It probably is time to take ROM around the Hermes paddocks again ... although (unlike the three foals) Hermes and his companion are doing a fair job of keeping their grass under control.

Holly and Dolly had a change of scenery yesterday. They swapped paddocks with the next door horse at some point before S and Pearl took their first walk of the day and, said S, "I had to pat another horse". This puzzled me, because as I'd driven into Latimers, I had stopped to have a chat with Holly and Dolly who were in their usual paddock. “Hay” I had said to them, and they whinnied “yes” as that's what they were eating. So, to solve the mystery, S and I took a wander to see if there had been a switcheroo in the time between when S saw them and I saw them - and, yes, that’s exactly what had happened. On reflection, it seemed odd to move them for only a few hours but no doubt L has his reasons - and at least Holly and Dolly are where S can reach them again now. Sweetie is still in the top paddock and I'm always amazed she hasn't done herself an injury going up and down that hill.

Tink did well at the Vet this afternoon. We needn't have worried about not being able to corral her when the time came ... early this afternoon, she let S scoop her up from where she was basking herself in the sun over near the tank and take her inside - onto the couch where she stayed for the rest of the day - snoring loudly - until it was time to go ... and then, and only then, did she make herself scarce. But as long as she's in the house ... suggested S, until I pointed out that our Tink has been known to put herself in the wicker basket on top of the wardrobe out in the office area. Clever girl (I just remembered the scene from Jurassic Park when the Bob Peck character says that ... just before he becomes lunch for the velociraptors). But Tink had only put herself under the wooden coffee table this time and while I didn't like to scruff her, I needed to to get her out. Once in the car, she was fine - especially as I had promised (and it was an incredibly difficult promise to keep) not to mention the roundabout! Sonya is pleased with her. She had a reading of 5, is 5.77kg (an increase of .07 kg since last time) and has had her insulin reduced to 3.5 - and she gets to go back again in a week. And she needn't think there will be any rash promises about no roundabout talk then! And neither should Pearl when she comes out for breakfast on Saturday (weather permitting).

I didn't see any frost on the way out of Latimers this morning, but I had thought there might be, because there was mist. The full-ish moon hadn't set yet but it was low enough on the horizon to startle me when I saw it reflected in the rear-view mirror.

S's phase planting seems to have stood her garden in good stead. We were out looking at it this afternoon before taking Pearl for a walk before taking Tink to the vet, and S even has tomatoes on now. The trick, she said, as she was told, was to make sure that the tomatoes don't touch the ground so she had staked the seedlings when she put them in. Yes, her garden is lush and green - and very inviting to the cats because of that freshly dug soil. There weren't any dog paw prints in there so it may be that Pearl has found somewhere else for her bones.

It was a MasterChef elimination this evening but we were a reduced audience. Beazley came to watch, but recluse Maggie was in her chair down the back again, and Tink had asked for (and been granted) entry to our bedroom and Pearl had gone with her to keep her company. They obviously didn't want to see who went - more so as it was a double elimination - especially when, at the end of the first round, we knew there was no chance it would be Audra who had successfully not-led her amateur chefs to victory in the pop-up restaurant team challenge ... but don't get me started!