Friday - on the road

lt's Gold Coast Show Day and because we weren't going to the show, we went to Toowoomba instead. We had an early start and probably just as well because there was a bit of traffic on the way up. And not all the drivers were good ones ... and we were very lucky to miss out on some very concerning moves - one in front and one behind.

The family is good and We and Ma hosted a BBQ at their place for us, Mum and Ch and his new girlfriend (of two weeks)! It was great and the only way it could have been better was if the kids had arrived down from the Coast. They had arrived but were on with Dr's folks having a BBQ there. We'll see them tomorrow.

We were stunned by the charges they're wrought on the Toowoomba Range supposedly for highway improvements but it's like they've just strip-mined a third of the visible range. Pretty spectacular to see but a lot of a worry for the natural environment.

Thursday

There was heaps of traffic on the M1 on the way to Jo's this morning - much more than I've seen before. As I came off the highway, there were cars backed all the way down the ramp and, to top it off, a fender bender as well.

Breakfast with Jo was good at the usual spot up there because, as Jo pointed out, we've been to Maccas at Nerang the last couple of times.

The fires are still ablaze in and around the Hinterland and we're hoping that it's back-burning, getting ready for the Summer. S thinks we are in for a long hot Summer - so it's probably a good thing.

Wednesday - Bingo and fires

Fires

There are fires in the area. We could see them last night and they are still burning this morning - leaving a thick pall of smoke over the Hinterland.

Maggie wanted to go out early this morning - before 5. I told her no but she didn't seem to appreciate that. I tried to buy her off with "special cookies" but she wasn't having any of that either ... although Tinka did magically appear out of nowhere and have the cookies I put down for her - and the ones Maggie didn't even touch. In the end, I went back to bed and Maggie followed and meowed at the door to go out until ... I'm not sure when ... because I fell asleep and when the alarm went off a coupleof hours later, she was sound asleep in the "nest" S had made for her.

Alas there was only one Winner at Bingo - M with a single line, as she said "lunch money". Em had joined them again today and they trooped across the road to Daniel Stuart for lunch.

Kookaburra

Despite the smell of smoke heavy in the air it was very pleasant at Latimers this afternoon. I was out enjoying the outside when the others arrived home. Pearl was out with me too, watching the kookaburras ... or ... kookaburra - there was only one around today and it was being very cooperative ... or maybe it was just the camera settings and the light but finally I was pretty happy with a shot ... so much so that I may give the birds a rest tomorrow.

 

Tuesday - dogs and kookaburras

Poor Mouse... Poor Prince. But the good news is that they both appear to be okay after Prince's run-in with another dog today. M got the call from Mouse just before 8 to say Prince had been attacked while they were out walking this morning.

They were both shaken up and grateful that a man had come running to get the dog off Prince. Both Mouse and Prince had done well. Mouse (despite Mi's instructions that she should) did not let go of Prince's lead lest the other dog (much bigger) carry him away. Prince did, according to the Vets, exactly the right thing - he didn't resist and didn't make a sound. Smart dog. If he had, the Vets think it would have been much worse - especially if the good Samaritan hadn't managed to beat the other off. There was blood but the Vets weren't able to find a puncture mark on Prince, and no bones were broken. They kept him under observation (and contained) for the day to make sure he was/is okay. Meanwhile, M was doing the same for Mouse to make sure she was okay too - although she took her for coffee and shopping - and riding shotgun while M took care of some errands around town - rather than giving her a mild calmative.

M picked Prince up from the Web this afternoon and took him back to Mouse's. It was a very big day for them but with, hopefully, no lasting damage. Poor Prince... he has been in the wars since his folks left!

It wasn't nearly as eventful back at Latimers. S did do the washing and was up to the final load by the time I arrived back from town (and a job interview - fingers crossed). The kookaburras seem to like washing day too and the three who have been around the last few days were here again. It must be time to ROM Hermes' yard and get some more worms for them. There is absolutely no doubting their eyesight! They can be sitting on the power line and then swoop straight down on a worm 20 metres or more away. Magnificent! S saw two almost crash together, going for the same worm from different directions. I almost captured it with the camera, too, in that I did but it's a lousy shot. Hopefully they'll be back tomorrow and I'll have another attempt.

S cooked oven sausages and vegetables for dinner tonight - very enjoyable - for Tinka too who seemed to forget her very best table manners and insisted on joining us. Pearl was nearby as well - and I ate part of my meal with a dog chin on my knee! (She's no trouble, really!!)

Monday - Trivia

Winners are Grinners! Finally we were back on the Trivia Podium tonight - First place!! It surprised me because I didn't think our 69 (out of 80) was going to be good enough. The next closest was 67. We were five tonight - Fl, S, Va, Nu and me. St had said he would try but ... not to be tonight.

It was another good day at Latimers - not a washing day though because S had her first morning volunteering at the play group. She had a good time although she was exhausted by the end of it. They had put her in charge of finger-painting - she enjoyed that and the young girl who refused the plastic smock because she was wearing "an old shirt". S mentioned this to the girl's mother who confirmed her daughter was wearing a "playgroup shirt". After her gig there, S wandered down to the local Library to return Chagall - and let the staff know that the pages had been falling out. They offered to get her another copy in from one of the other libraries for her to read (and no she had not finished it yet).

Back at home, the furries were taking it easy. M was back to feed them before she went back into town to pick up Mouse so they could go to the Movies at The Big House - it was "White House Down" which M said reminded her very much of another movie but she couldn't quite remember which one.

The Weekend - Polly and Pearly

It was a wonderful weekend starting on Saturday (as weekends often do) with breakfast at Sisters. S and I took Pearl with us so she didn't have to wait in the car while M was at Deep Water Running. By the time we arrived, M was there, as were Mouse and Prince. They had chosed a good table - bhalf in the sun, half in the shade, so that allowed everyone to sit where they wanted.

It was a good breakfast and the biggest dilemma was sharing bacon with S and Pearl but not Prince. Both the dogs liked the scrambled eggs and toast although we didn't go so far as to offer them coffee - they probably would have said yes and then it would only be a matter of time before they started to become addicted - and no-one wants that.

M took Pearl around the Dog Park after breakfast and I went along for the walk as well. Then, Mouse, M and S were off to a movie at The Arts Centre: What Maisie Knew. They all liked it very much, as did Margaret and David, the film reviewers. I had read some reviews as well and they had talked about the brilliance of the child actress who quite accurately and heartwrenchingly conveyed what it's like for a child going through divorce.

Where is Polly Puzzler?

S is still working her way through Chagall and the quota still stands ... time is running out though since it's due back early next week. She'll make it; she's determined like that.

M was out tonight (she had swipings to do) so I was in charge of furry feeding time. I'm not sure what was in the cats' cans but neither of them seemed to like it; Maggie took herself down the back to have some cookies there and Tinka demanded some "special cookies" - which I was happy to give her given I had seen what came out of the cans! I'm sure it resembled something found in nature but I'm just not exactly sure what.

There was no call with Tr on Sunday. She and her partner were off to a work event (aka a fair) and had an early set-out time which meant no call.

The Markets were good - and it was a great turnout. We were surprised to see St (back from France) and Ca (up from Melbourne) ... they had popped in to say hello after a very hard week - burying St's father who had died while he and Ni were overseas. Ni will follow in a couple of weeks, as originally planned. St may try to make it to Trivia tomorrow night - it just depends on how he goes with his mother in Brisbane.

It was one of those Markets where the table was again groaning under the weight of food - bread, butter, jam, cheese, olives, Croatian sweeties, blueberry muffins, strawberries ... the list just goes on and on ... oh, and the usual coffees!

They had to be pushed out of the way though when I enlisted the help of some of the others in finding the Polly Puzzler graphic in the Take5 magazine. Mouse had tried,I had tried and S had tried - but to no avail. The others were happy to help, and everyone who was close enough was keen to have a look. Nu, after not being able to find it on his third time through the magazine, offered a cash reward of $10 to anyone who could find it! But by the end of the Markets, Polly Puzzler had still not be found and while I pretend that I'm happy to send the puzzle entry coupon in without all the answers but we all know that isn't so.

Come out Polly!

In the end, it was the interweb that came to the rescue! I found a puzzle answer forum and they talked about Polly Puzzler being unfindable - suggesting she was "invisible" or was now under "witness protection" (we'd suggested she might have been out of sight - in the boot of one of the cars pictured throughout the magazine) ... and then that there had been an entry on the Take5 FaceBook page saying that, owing to a printing area, Polly Puzzler was on vacation for this issue. They would take any answer or no answer on the entry coupon and still deem the answer correct. Truly, up to that point, I couldn't understand why we couldn't find her ... and even when S suggested it was a printing error yesterday when she'd looked, I hadn't believed that was possible ... but that's exactly what it was.

I was hoping for a sunny day so I could sit outside this afternoon but while it was brilliant sunshine in at The Markets, by the time we arrived home it was well and truly overcast. I did sit out the back for a while with the camera but the kookaburras just were not cooperating this afternoon. It might have been too cool for them as well!

S is still making her way through Chagall, helped by Maggie who is staying close.

Pearl was a bit odd when we arrived home this afternoon - she was doing Tinka's usual trick - lying in the carport and not getting out of the way until someone gets out of the car to pat them and move them along. We were worried about her at first, but she seemed to just be fast asleep when we drove up. She was fine after that ... once she'd had another little nap that is. All those furries just love a nap.

 

Friday - JPs and card night!

Frost

Frost

It was cold at Latimers this morning - but don't take our word for it ... here are the pictures of frost on the ground - on the freshly-mown lawn. And this is apparently nothing compared to what it was earlier in the morning ... M, doing breakfast and insulin patrol with the furries, was the one who saw that!

It turned into a nice day though, and the sun was shining and casting a little bit of warmth as I went off to Maccas to meet Jo for breakfast. She was travelling on her lone- some today (Ca and Ra were at school and Ke was at work) so we were able to have a good catch-up ... and Jo was able to see Jo, one of our school mates from way back when, who was at Maccas as well. There was news of two others, one now a grandmother, and the other who had split with her husband - in what turned out to be a wrong if honourable decision when she started having feelings for a colleague at work.

JP

While we were at Nerang (my second trip out for the day), we saw the JP queue outside Aldi and sent M (doing her own JPing at another centre) a what-turned-out-to-be-a-rather-indistinct photo of it and the JPs sitting out in at a table in the open mall. She was saying that their lot were fairly busy today as well ... so, what was it about this Friday that raised the demand for a JP?

There are still fires in the area, so lots of smoke about.

The construction - or de-construction - work continues next door. They've now pulled down the (second) fence between L and M's, and the concrete holding the posts in place have been dumped (as a sort of retaining wall) in L's bottom paddock near the road.

Otherwise, it was life as normal out at Latimers. The kookaburras were out again and I had another go at getting "the shot" ... the good news is that now, when I don't get it, I just reformat the SD card rather than having to go through all of the photos frame by frame to see what there is.

Family N Friends Dinner tonight was at Mi's and Fl's - and it was our old favourite, chicken and rice, with a very yummy salad (in separate bowls for Fl and I), then apple crumble and ice cream, and fresh fruit. And, just for a change, we had a game of cards tonight. Remember the old days where people would have card nights? I do miss them, and judging by how everyone threw themselves into the game tonight, they don't mind a hand or two either. It's funny though, how different it seems playing a card game around the table with our lot than it does doing CSP at The Big House.

Cards

All the furries were in by the time S and I arrived home - which may have had something to do with M beating us home and corraling them before we got there. In any case, we were in lockdown by 10:30 and even though I thought I was going to stay up and watch the end of a Bones episode, I was wrong! Tinka complained a little when M took her in with her (and closed the door) but when she scratched and M let her out, leaving the door open, Tinka took herself back in, jumped on the bed with M and Pearl, and went off to sleep.

Maggie did a few laps of our bedroom and for a moment it looked as though she might be wanting to help S with the Chagall tome, but they both settled soon after and it was "lights out" all round at Latimers!