Monday

There's still no sign of Choo Choo Ma Ma but there are new horses - well, let's say "other" because we know that I have no facial recognition skills generally and even less so with our equine friends - how do I know if it's Hermes Sooz said the other day ... "by his feet" - in the paddock between La's and Latimers. They're quite nice looking too and I did take a photograph of them but I'm not sure I caught their best sides in the shoot, and they were being a bit manic at the time as well!

Chill mornings

I wasn't as cold on the way down to B's with Pearl this morning. When I was attending to tray business I noticed our "Sydney Winter Coats" hanging there and I popped one of them on ... toasty! I felt a bit sorry for Pearl because she still has to go with bare feet - and that fur never really has grown back on her tummy! Still she seems not to feel the cold too much ... still during the night she is moving off her bed and onto the tiles.

An came out to Latimers to pick Sooz up for Aqua today. She enjoyed it very much ... but it wore her out and by the time I arrived home, she was fast asleep - with the screen door locked. I whiled away some time by bringing the washing in off the line, having a "chuck under the chin" with Tinka, wondering how much more the frost will damage the grass, and why it is that Pearl no longer seems interested in chasing ducks off the Latimers lawn. Finally, I had to go and try to get in - through the screen door in the bedroom - and while I did wake Sooz up, she didn't mind so much. It didn't give her as big of a fright as she had the other night ... when both of us approached the front door at the same time and she looked at the door - thought it was her reflection she could see ... and when she opened the door I was standing there. She went straight into her "frightened" mode because, as she said, even though she realised it was me - she couldn't stop it. It was one of more unusual greetings!

I didn't mention that Mi had phoned yesterday and she said she might come to Trivia with Fl tonight ... and ... and this was a lovely surprise ... there she was. It was good too, because none of the rest of us had any idea who the additional judge on the dancing contest program was (Paula Abdul). I think the Club may have had a record attendance at Trivia tonight - 23 teams and 105 players! It was stiff competition as well ... and, as we all agreed, but for some very poor choices in our bonus round ... we still would not have been on the podium!!!

New horses

We were home by 9:30 and as Sooz sat down to watch Q&A in real time, I sat down to work on a document that's due tomorrow (not work-related) and catch up with yet another episode of "Breaking Bad" ... not long to go now ... and by the end of the night I had only the last episode of the last season to watch. I couldn't justify staying up past midnight to watch it, so I am saving it for tomorrow night.

 

Sunday

A body*, hand degloving** or technicolour yawns***. That was part of the conversation at breakfast this morning with Syl and Anita at a new place they have found near the Arts Centre. It's called One Fifty Public House. Max and Coco were waiting outside: all four had walked up from the house. Even so, they arrived well before us because we had unexpected car trouble .. . unexpected in that we had taken the BMW out yesterday to give it some time away from the garage - and it behaved perfectly well but today, when I went to turn it on ... nothing except a clunking noise of sorts. So, rather than call the RACQ and wait, we jumped into Lars and headed for Bundall.

New Dyson tap - washes and dries!

Syl, of course, and An, posited that the problem might be a flat battery. And it was ... as the RACQ man diagnosed. The battery, which did need changing, had done very well indeed ... it was the original battery that came with the Beamer! He was suitably impressed. Although perhaps not with the fact that the tyre/battery compartment (who knew the battery was in the boot?) lid would not stay up on its latch ... although once Syl and I had unloaded some of the things out of the boot (including the bag of "shrapnel" - and I truly was expecting to find the lost iPhone in there) there was no problem. While Mr RACQ was there, he checked Bertha as well - and one of her batteries was flat - but not in need of replacement - so Syl left it on the electric charger to charge overnight.

Mr RACQ

I did think about going into the Big House this afternoon but by the time we had finished car play and started to do the swap-over of the iPads .. there just wasn't enough time. Oh, did I not mention that ... Sooz's iPad - one of the originals - is no longer accepting some (vital to her) updates so I suggested it was time she had a new one. Yes, a whole new one all to herself - not one of my technology hand-me-downs. So we ummed and ahhed a little bit until we were actually in JB Hi-Fi and she said she would be happy for me to upgrade and then take my old one - truly ... she insisted ... so rather than being a simple exercise of swapping hers over - she has so much less on her device than me - I started to re-build mine on the new one. It isn't finished yet ... and I fear I have lost some data ... like a couple of blogs. Never mind ... I've worked out a better way to store them now ... thank you Evernote Premium!

It must have been a bit strange for the furries to have both Sooz and I, and Syl, around for most of the day. It was just a shame they didn't get a roast for dinner ... that looks like being Tuesday night now!

It's still chilly in the evenings and Maggie has definitely moved into the bedroom with us. I just don't know who likes that Electric Blanket more - Maggie, Sooz or me!

* Unfortunately, a body was found under the bridge near the Arts Centre this morning.

** Sooz had found an image of a hand without its skin and was keen to show it to Syl and An.

*** Well, they didn't call it "technicolour yawning" ... the used the "v" word which, in this instance, is definitely not Voldemort!

 

Saturday

It was fantastic to wake up this morning and remember that it's not a work day ... and, even better, that it's a shooting day! Syl and I hadn't arranged to meet at the Pistol Club but there we were, both just before 8.30. We had a range of kindy's to choose from and we opted for ISSF, hoping we would have a different instructor from last time. We didn't though, but we did have an additional one, and with only three of us turning up to do the kindy (I had originally put that as "shoot the kindy" but that seemed not the right phrasing) - it meant we had quite a good ratio - two range officers, to three shooters. We had only two pistols though, so we took turns, with Syl and I shooting at the same time. I was less than impressed with my performance today - and while I think it could have been the pistol (we don't get the same one each time) and something to do with the sights or the balance ... or anything really ... it could just have been plain psychological or physiological - Sooz reminded me that there are some times when I can't even park the car straight - so keeping front and rear sights in line with a (sometimes moving) target might have just been too much of a challenge this morning. But it was still great and I'm very much looking forward to next week too!

Cat pouches and tinnies

Sooz had wanted to go somewhere new and exciting to do the shopping today so the plan was to go to Harbourtown. As I said ... that was the plan. We ended up going to Nerang instead as Sooz wasn't feeling 100%. We did the shopping - and, no surprises here, cat food was among the items on the list - and a fair bit of it.

The day started out misty and I couldn't help but think''White out!". It wasn't too cold thiough - or maybe it was just that Pearl and I were out walking a bit later - and in the sunlight, Bonus.

Keith came looking for avocados today - there are more than a few on the tree and he offered to cut down some for us as well. So we now have six avos - which we would have been taking to the Markets if they were still on tomorrow -but since they aren't, they might just make it to breakfast with Syl and An's. Yum.

Balloons

We're not sure why the balloons were out at the entrance to the laneway (or at the turning on Gilston Road) - Sooz suggested it may be that Ca is coming home (we haven't heard anything direct from La but there has been encouraging news on FaceBook over the past weeks).

And is it coincidental that Choo Choo Ma Ma is missing from the bottom paddock?

Az phoned this evening to say hello and to see how we are going ... she was at home alone which Mo was out and she was using the time to catch up on her phone calls. It was greatly appreciated ... especially as we haven't been seeing folk at the Markets. ≥

 

Friday

The only person on their own at Zarraffas this afternoon was me. I was glad of it too: there was no way I would have wanted to be the woman/mother with three boy children - each playing on a mini-tablet - they may have been iPods. They continued to play as the woman coaxed them out of Zarraffas and as they trailed along behind her - not even looking up as they walked on the "road" with cars likely to come round the corner from the Drive Thru at any time. They survived though so she obviously did have it under control. Hmmm .... anxious .... me?

Kathleen O'Rourke's Never More

When I arrived back at Latimers, Sooz was in the middle of furry feeding - with Pearl sitting patiently on the mat - no doubt easier because she had her back to Maggie and Tinka as they ate. But they weren't the only ones she had thought of ... she had also made a chicken curry for the non-furries (that would be us) and it was good ... so good in fact that even the furries wanted some ... but we had to tell them no.

On the work front - the good news is that it is Friday and we have almost finished EOM - and that is cause for a sign of relief and just a little celebration. Of course, there will be more on Monday but that is still a whole weekend away.

Back on the home front though, Sooz had a job for me. This afternoon she saw something yellow running across the wall and going behind the "Never More" painting. She asked me to lift up the painting to see what it was. That wasn't going to happen! Ah well, it's only a couple of weeks until M gets back ... and if it's still there by then, Sooz will finally get to see.

 

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Thursday

Somebody was busy yesterday, and I'm thinking it was Jason. All the tree/shrubs down the lane had been pruned - and their branches are still where they fell, waiting to be collected. It's amazing you can take off a tree and still have it not seem to have been touched ... I guess there is a real skill in that as the Latimers Lemon tree can attest. You can absolutely tell that it has been pruned.

Pruning down the lane

Je came today ... she had phoned on Tuesday night to see whether we would prefer her to come on Wednesday or Thursday. We decided it didn't really matter ... although I was curious about the question because I thought it had been decided that she would come on Wednesday. It doesn't matter though, especially as she has agreed to take over from Ka while she is away in Thailand.

Sooz offered to cook meat tonight (that is not a euphemism for "you know what" in this instance) but I said no, and took her out to Advancetown Hotel instead. Yes, it all had to do with me not wanting to clean the griller when she was done ... but I thought it would be nice for her to have a night off as well. She has been doing a fair bit of cooking lately and - somewhat totally altruistically - I don't want her to get sick of it.

Sooz's favourite - crumbed lamb cutlets - was on the menu and she had that. I had the roast, eschewing the "No Soup Nazi Here" signed soup and roast deal. The lamb cutlets were very much to Sooz's liking - and she, somewhat reluctantly I thought, agreed to give me a taste (a swap for some of my crunchy outside bit of the lamb) ... which I also liked. But I loved my lamb - and the vegetables - including (wait for it) peas and pumpkin. And the gravy was pretty good as well - not the thick glubby sauces we have come to know and "love" at various pub and club-type eateries.

The bonus was that Thursday night Trivia was on and we played along without actually playing. We were almost stymied by an anagram - the three word name of an American celebrity: SEEN ALIVE SORRY PAL. I would love to take credit for getting it but it was a (prolonged) joint effort by Sooz and I. I didn't tell her and I'm not sure if she noticed but I actually had a quick nana nap during the deliberations.

We've been doing the SMH Trivia quiz most days ... and we are now wondering why Trivia is so forgettable - especially since it's something we who do regular Trivia play, are keen to remember. We realised how bad it was though when we were trying to remember the Trivia questions from earlier in the night ... and sometimes we could remember the answer which (Jeopardy-style) led to the question but it was a very poor score.

Still, it's of the same ilk of my effort today. I filled Lars at lunchtime - and after I went in to the service station to pay the bill, I went to get some lunch at a shop down the way ... and it was only after I had had a sit-down lunch (at least 20 minutes) - to have a proper break from the office - and came outside to drive back to the workhouse, I realised I had left Lars parked at the pump. Definitely not like me but it is EOM and that has a way of doing odd things to a person.

Have I mentioned I love the electric blanket? Hmmm ... what happened with the electric dog bed M bought Pearl some time ago ... is it still at Latimers? I think Pearl might be just about ready to give it another try.

 

Wednesday

What a long day! It's EOM again; it's funny really because it seems like it was EOM only a moment ago. Hmm, it would have been nice to have had the chance to draw breath before diving into it all again.

Tinka is such a big purrer! She's still watching MasterChef with us of an evening. Maggie has noticed her as well now and shoots her "a look" as she walks by, as she did a couple of times tonight. But she didn't do anything -except do that look! Both she and Tinka are staying inside this evening - the only one who wants to go out is Pearl because she knows there will be a treat in her future.

Spoke too soon: there was just a bit of a cat altercation over near Sooz - just noise but Sooz has moved over to be with her. It's all calmed down though.

It was Aqua today for Sooz and she was glad they'd gone otherwise there would have only been 4 people there. Not enough!

I know we joked about the amount of cat food M had amassed for the furries while she was away and that it would last until she returned. Well. if she had been back as per the original schedule it would have. But we'll have to go shopping this week ... and I'm going to feel way more comfortable consulting the "manual" before we go to make sure we get the "right" goodies for them. We don't want a riot on our hands!

Tuesday

I'm certain of it now. The weather forecasts I get on my device are wrong. There is no way it was 11 degrees this morning, l believed Lars more - he said 3 degrees and while I know Lars is a car and not a thermometer, he does seem to have it more right at the moment.

The electric blanket is a winner too. It's only been on the bed a couple of nights and already I am in no rush to lose it. Mind you, I can't imagine what it would be like if I left it on all night tather than just turning it off when I crawl into that lovely warm bed.

Sooz has just finished watching the second season of Last Tango in Halifax and she now wants to go back and watch it from the start of Season One.

We aren't the only ones feeling the cold at the moment - as I was driving home this evening (it had just turned dark) I saw the huge fire burning off to the side of Latimers Crossing Road - on the other side of the creek near Hinde Road. You could see it from the laneway - and I tried to take a photograph of it - not very successfully I fear - but Bernie came along as I was putting the camera in the car and checked to make sure that everything was okay. That was nice of him. He had already been around, dropping the empty rubbish and recycling bins back to the house. They'll stay there until tomorrow though - it was too cold to go get them tonight - that's my excuse anyway.

I asked Sooz if she thought I'm feeling the cold more this year than last and she said yes but there is a reason for that, she continued, it's because it is colder.

Pearl is obviously feeling the cold too. She was a bit stiff tonight - but that may just be that she was on the cold tiles rather than on her bed or the mat. We'll just have to make sure she does lie on something warm from now on.