Day 134 (Tuesday)

It was threatening to rain this morning but managed to come to its senses before I left Latimers. Word from the Department of Meteorology is that we are in for a few wet days. M is looking forward to it so she can see if the roof fixings to date have caused any new leaks to develop. That's one thing about Latimers, and probably every other property that is bigger than your average suburban block - there's always some kind of maintenance required - and that's even before the mowing gets a look in!

We've off to see Harry Potter 7 tonight with F and M; we will be sans M though because she has business elsewhere and no amount of pleading, crying or begging would convince her to come with us instead - if we had tried; she seemed so resolute that we knew we would be wasting our time to try to change her mind.

The new Zarraffas has finally opened in Nerang and I am sitting t/here as I write this. Of course it is like every other Zaraffas, but that is part of the charm - it is the same yet different. The only problem with it, I think, is going to be a lack of parking spaces. When I drove in this afternoon, the car park was packed solid except for a single disabled parking space. Luckily someone was coming out as I was coming in or I would have had to resort to takeaway - or going across the way to Maccas. I did find myself wondering if Maccas had sent all their employees with cars over to park in the Zarraffas car park - as a way of protecting their McCafe turf. It does surprise me that in times of the not-yet-fully-recovered-fully from the Global Financial Crisis, a new coffee shop can compete so successfully across the road from an existing coffee establishment - and it's not like the McCafe fare is terrible!. There are currently a number of franchises for Zarraffas currently on offer throughout south-east Queensland so they obviously think the economy can sustain the business.

The mobile car detailing people were at work today and I decided it was time for Lars to leave the ranks of the great unwashed. They did an amazing job and suggested a wax and cut back next time which could do wonders with removing some of the scuff marks on Lars. I think it's definitely worth a go - even if I take myself off to the auto store and buy some - or find the can that I know is somewhere ... in the shed I think. Hmmm - maybe I need to give that more thought before I commit to it - I know I am still trying to find a couple of things in the shed some weeks later - but it is much more organised in there now.

We are almost to the end of the home-grown bananas. The bunch that has been hanging in the garage has been eaten or given away to the point where there are now only a few bananas left. They were yummy though.

Day 134 (Monday)

I missed it when I drove in the gate at Latimers this afternoon - although I did notice the wonderful cleaning job M had done on the stonework out the front. Mind you, I'm not quite sure how I missed it because it is an amazing feat of construction. In an effort to help the mother bird - who is still alive but nursing a damaged wing - M put up a walkway so she could hop up to fence level - and one from the fence to the tree - a distance of some metres - so she could hop across it to where their nest is without fear of running in to the cats. M did a great job - the bridge, made of several long poles taped together, is sturdy enough for the willy wagtail but not strong enough to support any of the cats. Hopefully if there are any possums in the area, they will give it a miss as well.

Speaking of cats, it's only a few days ago - and I'm still trying to remember how it came up in conversation - that we were talking about that coffee which is harvested after it has been digested by the lawak, a cat-like member of the civet family in Indonesia. It (the coffee not the cat) is a delicacy and for December only it is available right here on the Gold Coast. Called Kopi Luwak but commonly referred to as cat poo coffee, it is supposedly a delicacy and gives the flavour of coffee without the bitterness. I would like to know what the circumstances were surrounding that discovery. I'm not sure if we will avail ourselves of this one but we have a few days to decide yet - we just have to be able to find where Merlo Coffee Southport is - and have our $10 ready to buy a cup of it!

We had a quiet night in tonight - watching some television, catching up on correspondence and M booked some accommodation for her forthcoming trip to Sydney. Unfortunately it's in the same week as Oprah is doing her broadcast from the Sydney Opera House so accommodation is a little scarce and what there is is a tad more expensive than usual.

There's a new fence going in on the Latimers lane-way up near Bernies' - well, the poles are there and laterals are on the ground waiting to be fitted. Oh, and the mailbox is off being fixed. It had started to rust up the top and was about to become a bit less useful as a mailbox - either because it would be swinging from one chain only and the mail would fall out - or because it would have been rusted through completely and the mail would have not stayed dry.

Even though the yellow breadbox may have been up to the task if it had a tow bar, it doesn't so M towed the rubbish up the front with the 4-wheel-drive this evening. Pearl couldn't go with her because it is too high for her to jump in, so she stayed with us. I'd already given her a game of "Fetch" and "Throw" so she was content to just "be".

We've changed Kathy from Friday to Wednesday for cleaning this week, and I'm wondering where to write the note to remind M about the shower ... because she's usually the first one to use it after Kathy's been in there and gets hit with the stream of cold water because the shower head is pointed outwards rather than into the shower.

Maggie was doing her best to look cute this evening and she did a very good job. I couldn't resist taking a photo of her and posting it to FaceBook so everyone can see just how cute she is. I think she is the most photogenic of the animals - or certainly the one that stays still longer so you can take a decent photo of her - and, yes, she does seem to pose!

Day 133 (Sunday)

What a fantastic day! True, I didn't get as much achieved as planned but we did lots of other stuff instead.

First up - a computer call with T in Sydney. She has just started three weeks holiday during which she and her partner will be spending 7 nights in Cairns in far north Queensland. Unfortunately they won't be changing planes at Brisbane so we won't have the opportunity to have a coffee with them at the airport but we will catch up with them one day. In the interim, the computer chats work just fine.

Then ... Markets! They really have become part of our weekend ritual and it was a happy bunch that congregated there this morning (except for M who seems to be missing "home" and seems to be wishing that she was back overseas). M and A were there - which was a little surprising as they had spent the night at a hotel in Surfers Paradise and it seemed they might opt for the buffet breakfast there rather than for coffee and croissant at the markets. Perhaps it's the company they prefer - or that they had checked out the food and they didn't think it was as good as it could be. F's brother and his family were there as well with their eldest son still in the recovery stages from the stomach bug that's doing the rounds of the Coast - we know because it had stopped with us here at Latimers already.

Next stop - Southport Cemetery to visit M's dad and for Mouse and M to tend the gravesite, water the plants, and place fresh flowers. Mouse asked which side she would be on (hopefully for not a very long time) and S borrowed a line from "Avanti" to indicate whichever was K's good ear - so they could "talk".

F and M went home after that and we continued on to The BrickWorks aka Ferry Road Markets for lunch where M, Mouse and I all had the calamari - and M counted the number of pieces on each plate - to confirm they were very generous serves. S had the fish.

Some small shopping - sausages and lamb chops followed - for the BBQ this evening - before S, M and I all piled into the yellow breadbox and headed out to HarbourTown to meet up with friend J who was camped there waiting for her daughter and friends to finish watching Harry Potter 7. Jo had her housemate there for company and we resisted the temptation, and slight pressure, to finish her homework assignment for her. I, for one, am happy to help but the days of actually doing someone else's homework - especially when they slip away to do some shopping - are over.

But it was good to catch up with J and find out that her older daughter will be graduating next month. It seems like only heartbeat since she was a baby! She's recently returned from a trip to Bali with her boyfriend - her 21st birthday present from J - during which she tracked down and met Ketut - as "featured" in "Eat Pray Love". He was apparently very easy to find which led to some cynical remarks about whether it was the real Ketut or one of many impersonators trying to cash in on Ketut's "fame". We weren't being totally serious.

Then it was off to F and M's which M was visiting in an official capacity. While she and F did what they had to do, we talked with M and watched as she prepared a very yummy Turkish/Albanian coffee. Who knew that M and M could "read" coffee. S's wouldn't settle although she thought she could see the Eiffel Tower; I'm sure I saw a buxom woman and a snake.

Finally home - after a drive through the parking lot of the new Zarraffas at Nerang - which is due to open tomorrow but which certainly seemed to be open and serving customers this afternoon - I settled in to BbQ mode - possible because M showed me how to determine how much is left in a gas canister by pouring boiling water down its side. The chops could have been cooked a little more for those who like "medium-well" but I didn't think I'd done too badly with my first ever BBQ where I was in sole control of the grill. It did make me realise that I certainly could have taken more notice all this times I've stood next to people who have been BBQing.

Phew ... It was good to finally stop and settle in for the evening - which included S falling asleep in front of a lifestyle program on the television. She must have been tired. I have plans for the television tomorrow - it's time to install the Blue-Ray player!

Day 132 (Saturday)

Pearl has a new collar! I'm not sure how long she's had it but I've just noticed it - thanks to the clinking tinkling noise she now makes as she walks. It reminds me of a film we once saw where a woman clinked as she walked - and that turned out to be the chains she was wearing under her clothes. It was a different type of movie. And I'm glad that's not what's causing Pearl's clinking. Her collar, as well as having a big loop for her lead also has little coloured beads decorating it - and these also add to the tinkling. Being a cattle dog, she likes to have a collar on so she feels like she's part of the pack (I think that's how M explained it).

I was out of Latimers early this morning - I had to visit OfficeWorks as my last favourite pen ran out at work yesterday. Added bonus was that the woman behind the counter knew exactly where "my" pen was in store - and that it now had "Friends" in that it now came in red, blue and black as well as the original purple. She either really did love stationery or she was on excellent example of "do you want fries with that?" as she was able to identify the erasable pens in my purchases and suggest I could be interested in the same manufacturers new line of erasable highlighters. I limited myself to just the one!

Stationery in hand, it was then time to meet S and M at Crave for breakfast. It's always good there and we hadn't been for a while. As we found out later, we weren't the only ones who had given Crave the "once-over" - F had been wondering if we were in the area ("pheromones" said S) and have even driven past, and then wondered again as he did some Bunnings shopping in the retail complex next door. It's surprising that he didn't bump into M there - because that's where she had spent over an hour - putting most everything back on the shelves as she approached the checkout except the glue that she had actually gone there to get. As she said, she had just wanted to bring the rest of it home because it looked ...and I can't remember which word she actually used there - but it could have been "pretty". It's the whole thing of manufacturers putting things in bright and shiny packages to make it look as though you want their product - or need it. She was able to resist - although hearing of F's purchases there, he may not have been quite as successful at resisting temptation.

While M was off doing Bunnings, S and I stayed on at Crave for a second round of coffees and a good catch-up - including talking about her mother who is of the age where she is soon going to need more care and help around the home. She called her after we arrived home, and it seemed that the call had gone well. It's sometimes difficult dealing with parents who are in remote locations!

S arrived home some time after us, and we all had a cuppa and a catch-up and tried out one of the devices she had purchased at Bunnings - a flying insect deterrent - which comes in a battery-powered pack and puffs out insect repellant every few seconds. And it seemed to work very well - usually when we are sitting out the front at that time of day, we are constantly chasing off flies and mosquitoes, but not this evening. Good buy M!

M went out this evening and S experimented with a vegetable pasta bake which was very nice. I can see it becoming quite a good quick dish especially in winter because it is both warming and hearty.

Tink was in trouble this afternoon. Her cat genes had her chasing, and almost catching, one of the willy wagtails at Latimers. We're not sure how much damage she did it but she does appear to have grazed the wing of what we think was the mother bird. She hopped (not flew) over to a glade of trees where she was joined by the young ones. This nature thing can be hard to watch - and if Tink doesn't watch out, she may soon find herself wearing a collar and bell to give the birds a fighting chance - it may be that their mistake is when they look at Tink, they see her as a cat that can't move very fast. Not so - and it's not a lesson we want them to learn the hard way.

Day 131 (Friday)

Last day of the working week and I'm looking forward to a Latimers weekend. But before the weekend there's dinner at the Latin Quarter - a restaurant in Broadbeach which M had read about. Even though I can't remember what type of food it is - although I know it does start with an "A" - I am looking forward to it.

S confirmed when I asked when I arrived home that it is ... Algerian. I would never have guessed that - and hadn't on the numerous occasions during the day when I had tried to remember.

It was in the heart of Broadbeach - next to the cafe where we didn't have breakfast a couple of weeks ago. I drove the yellow breadbox in - which was good because on a Friday night, parking is at a premium in that part of town. We sat at a table nearest the footpath - giving it a wonderful cosmopolitan feel - until it started raining - just a little - but we just moved everyone a couple of feet into the restaurant, and then when it stopped, a couple of feet back out to where we had been.

Everyone was in good form - Mouse, M, F and M, S and I, and N's parents M and A. N has just finished her first week in the Nation's Capital and by all reports, she seems to be enjoying her relocation and new role. I predict she will go far - figuratively as well as literally since one of her aims is an overseas posting.

The food was good - but I'm still not sure what "Algerian" food is. The fare seemed to be a mix of different foods - Cajun Fish, Crepe Suzette (oops, should have taken more notice of the spelling on the menu) and Moroccan Cigars (which weren't really cigars at all but more like Lebanese Ladies Fingers - mince wrapped in pastry). Or perhaps that's what Algerian is - a melting pot of different cuisines - a melting pot of very delicious cuisines. It wasn't a late night but it was a good night. Thanks M for taking us - much appreciated.

Once home, Beazley and I settled in for our Friday post-dinner ritual and watched the end of the movie - tonight was the latest Indiana Jones film. I was almost tempted to stay up to watch the next one but given I am planning to be at OfficeWorks when the doors open in the morning, I called it quits "early". Beazley didn't seem to mind. And the others were all in and tucked up in their various sleeping positions as well - so they didn't mind either.

Day 130 (Thursday)

There is always something happening at Latimers! Tink has taken to sitting on the yellow bread box and it is amazing that she has worked out how given it has no flat surfaces for the hood. She seemed to be a little uncomfortable, yet determined, when I spotted her there. She always has been a fan of pre-heated hoods - well, at least for as long as we have known her.

M took Pearl to the vet last week and that, a bath and some drugs have resulted in a much less itchy dog. It's good, too, because its quite distressing seeing her so uncomfortable all the time.

I think I understand now why they call them ''slashers". When Uncle R came earlier this week, he mowed the bottom paddock and took it right back to a No. 1 (in hair-cutting parlance) which has left the grass looking distressed and unloved. No Colorbond moments there. Time for me to have a go! After I've done Hermes paddock - which I did this afternoon when I arrived home from work. There is something incredibly relaxing about being on the mower, out in the paddock, just you and the grass and the sun starting to set in the distance - but not so quickly that you'll be forced to decide about whether you try to find the switch for the headlights so you can keep mowing in the dark - or call it on account of poor light.

Thursday is usually "date night" but as I had been sick earlier this week and because we had leftovers (sent home by Mouse) in the fridge and because I wanted to start looking at an application for a job with Apple, we stayed in. And did someone mention there was also a new iPhone 4 to set up? And get ready for handing the iPhone 3G S to S?

Laddette, aka Emma the cat, is still taking every opportunity she can to streak out the bedroom door whenever it is opened to drink from the outside water. She can move like greased lightning when she wants to and I only realised she had made it out this evening when I'd had the door open an instant to put some rubbish out for later conveyance to the rubbish tin and when I turned back around, the shoe rack which normally sits right way up at the end of the bed was now on its side. "That's odd" I thought and then looked around to see where Em was - and she wasn't. S has the same problem with her just streaking out the door when it's even the tiniest bit open. But it's good that she's still active and agile!

Day 129 (Wednesday)

There's nothing quite like feeling unwell to help you realise when you're okay again. Although, truth be told, I could have done without the nightmares last night. It was my own fault of course! What was I thinking when I chose to watch the pilot episode of a new U.S. series "The Walking Dead"? I know what I was thinking as I watched it - none of it good! Where do they find the cash to produce this type of ... but wait ... I don't want to colour anyone's opinion of a program that could be the next big thing in television land.

Not surprisingly, life at Latimers continues. Thankfully there have only been good surprises like an invitation to the Dam's residents' barbeque and Pearl not hurting herself much when she made an awkward dismount from the yellow breadbox - aka the courtesy car M has while hers is repaired from past hurts.

The grapevine outside M's room continues to flourish and I understood why she had trimmed the longest tendril while I was out sick. Why do they say "out sick" when most people stay ''in" when they are sick? And why do they call it "under the weather" when people who are sick often don't go out in the weather, unless they are practicing the "soldier on" approach to illness. I will never understand the intricacies of the English language!

The kids have all been excellent with their lock-downs except for Tinker who was out fairly late last night but then, no shock here, made sure she was the first one tucked up on the couch this evening. She is exceedingly cute and in fact Kathy the cleaner asserts that Tink is the cutest of the Latimers animals. Some dispute this - as I'm sure the other animals would if they'd actually heard that remark.

Even though it's only been a few days everything is about ready for a good mow again. In Winter, M would caution me about being too enthusiastic with the mowing lest there not be enough left for Hermes to eat. Now, the same could be said but because the cutting leaves too much easily accessible grass. I hope Hermes understands the concept of moderation or of having some friends over.

We're inching ever closer to being able to play iPad scrabble new that S also has an iPhone. I'll miss the clicking of those scrabble tiles but we can recapture that with either a good game of mahjong (it has been an absolute age) or of the not-yet-played Banagrams where the game is played without a board but with tiles pulled from a yellow cloth banana bag.