Friday

My alarm went off at just after 5 this morning and I would have gone straight out to start doing the furries except a voice next to me said "It's minus 3 in Toowoomba and 5 here." I put my Ugg boots on and was glad of it. Sooz, her job done, then went straight back to sleep, certainly not stirring before I left.

They say that it's warmer near the coast and that was certainly true this morning. As I left home, Lars' thermometer said 4 ... and by the time I had driven into Zarraffas at Nerang, it was up to 6. Not even a coffee could take the chill off however - especially when I made it to the office - where, quite seriously, the space under my desk just traps cold air there and leaves it until 11 o'clock or so. Today I wore a hoodie - and then I had my work vest over my knees to try to keep my legs warm. I think this is what the rest of Winter is going to be like - only worse.

Syl came out to Latimers today - and she called Sooz on the way out asking if she needed her to pick up anything for her. Max came with her and found some of Pearl's toys while she was visiting. The turkey/chicken made a re-appearance and was in the carport sans squeaker - I'm not sure if it was like that before I ran over it - but it certainly was afterwards.

While Syl was here she suggested that as Sooz and I check out real estate options, we include retirement villages in our search. Hmmmm. I won't lie, that rocked me a bit. I've never thought of myself as old enough to live in a retirement village but, alas, on reflection, I actually am. More hmmmm.

We had dinner tonight at Syl and An's - and that included a game of Scrabble. The food was wonderful - An, not sure how Syl would be after her dentist visit, had made a "mushy menu" - Spicy Pumpkin Soup, Salt Mashed Potato, beans and stew, and Stephanie Alexander's Lemon Pudding to finish. Yum, Yum. And yum again. An wasn't absolutely happy with how some of it turned out but I think she was being overly critical!

Their furries are all in good form except for the cough that one of the cats has picked up - the vet has suggested it's allergy-related but the jury is still out on that.

Ricky and Micky

Well, we now know when it's time to put Pearl's nightie on. She was a little unsettled after we arrived home tonight and in the end I followed her up the back and as she stood there I decided to try to put her nightie on - she had refused last night - and this time she let me - and then she settled. They really do have a way of letting you know what they want!