Such a waste

What I’m about to say is not rubbish (well I don’t think it is) – it’s ABOUT rubbish.

Walking along the coastal track behind the beach the other day, I was saddened to see a lot of rubbish in the undergrowth along the edge of the beach.

It was mostly fast-food packaging, with recognisable logos, alongside plastic drink bottles, plastic bags and a few beer bottles (clearly not left in the right place for recycling). Interestingly, no food waste – no half-eaten burgers or soggy left over french fries. Whoever had left the containers behind had enjoyed ALL of the contents. I guess that’s a positive….. er, unless the seagulls had been at it….

But…. not a banana skin or apple core in sight. Although, maybe they had composted already? Huh.

And there were a few cigarette butts thrown in for good measure. Hmmm – are they compostable?

Whoever had sat there (in paradise, mind you, looking out at the expanse of the glorious – now whale-filled – Tasman Sea), enjoying their meal/drink/smoke/party, must not be TOO concerned about their destructive (to body and environment) habits. Which is very sad, for them and for us.

There’s a great show on telly tonight (ABC 8.30pm) – Craig Reucassel’s ‘War on Waste‘. Exceptionally engaging viewing with a strong message about what we hoomans are doing to the only home we have (our Earth). It’s so worth watching, pretty convincing stuff.

And from now on, I’ll be taking a bag (and gloves…) with me on my walks, so that I can collect any rubbish – some of it will be recyclable – ‘cos I think that each and every one of us, every day, CAN make a difference.

As for the food that we put in our gobs (into the only body we have), there’s mounting evidence to suggest that it not only keeps us fuelled up, alive and kicking, it affects our emotional state of mind. The right food – probably not ‘junk’ food – can also help prevent (and heal) disease.  Which all makes sense to me.

I’m pretty sure that MOST fast food companies and the tobacco industry are not TOO concerned about our state of health, body and mind.

Even if you don’t agree with my stance on nutrition, you’d have to agree that leaving rubbish on our beautiful beach in this way is careless, to say the least. What I’m saying is that if we feed ourselves REAL food, it will make a difference to how we feel, physically and emotionally, and the decisions we make. And we will think twice about rubbishing ourselves and our natural home.

So if we have a party at the beach and we eat food that we’ve prepared (so we know what’s in it!), brought in containers that we’ll take home and re-use, even if we decide to have a drink or two out of recyclable glass bottles, we won’t be leaving behind a challenging legacy for future party-goers (although future party-goers may have to find higher ground for their party). And I’ll bet you pounds to (organically grown) peanuts, you’ll feel happier.

And isn’t that what you want?

Don’t waste (your) life – love it!

Somewhere in Tassie 

 

 

 

 

Heading North

Because South is so cold at this time of year.

Whales have just started heading north along this stretch of coast, to warmer waters, for the benefit of their young. And this morning I saw my first pod, not far off the coast, easy to spot on a clear, windless morning.

It was early, the sun just up, and I was fresh out of bed too, with cup of tea and home cooked Anzac in hand (for dunking).

It appeared to me that the whales were having fun, breaching high out of the water, splashing around, waving their huge fins (at me, I guess).

I’ve tried to put some words together to describe the beauty of what I saw, but what’s the point? I think you get it. And I wouldn’t do it justice with my words. I’ll leave that to Tim Winton.

So why don’t I do this more often? Granted, it’s my first early morning beach walk for a while – and it happens to be a cracker, weather-wise. So it makes me feel real good. And seeing the whales, chatting with the other early morning types – surfies, walkers, beachcombers – I’m like, ‘Look what I’m missing!’.

So, I’ll be up again tomorrow morning, tea in hand, hair askew, hopefully to catch the next family of whales heading north, and another salty conversation.

Although it’s meant to be cloudy, cool, maybe raining…..

Here’s one I prepared earlier – on another day. No whales here.

 

Monday 27th June

Today –

winter has set in, no mistake. It’s cold and grey, with snow down to the lower slopes (which feel pretty close to here….but we’re just a bunch of softies living here on the mid-north NSW coast). We have reverse cycle air conditioning in the house (two units, one in the lounge room, one in the main bedroom) however they’ve not been used since we’ve been here (just short of twelve months now). And we’re not about to start….;

after our usual brekkie, we head off to Hardly Normal to buy ourselves a small electric heater that can be set up in the main area where we are sitting working on our computers, doing Yoga, playing guitar (I mention these last two items with a wry smile. One day, they will happen…) – to take the chill off the air. I spent all my working life sitting in air-conditioned discomfort and have developed a healthy aversion to unhealthy air conditioners. We plan to put our two (as-new) reverse cycle units on eBay, one of these days. Apart from any other benefits that may flow from letting go of them, I reckon they will be glorious in their absence from the interior of this house. They are so ugly. The one in the living room is situated right above the beautiful old fireplace – you would have to admit, that’s strange. Or, more likely, I’m strange;

we are now sitting in relative comfort, with the house a little warmer than outside, not suffocatingly so. All good;

Catie arrives home from a sleep over with her bestie, with the unhappy news that Dave has had an accident whilst zooming around on the beach and is currently ensconced at the Vet,  with a nasty wound in his side. As the day pans out, Dave eventually arrives back home, after surgery to investigate, drain and stitch up the wound, a round of antibiotics and a deep gash in Catie’s bank account;

the afternoon is spent in front of the computer, chatting with Catie about her business and a possible role for her Ma (that’s ME!). I spend time updating my journal (as you know) and eventually go for a half hour walk to the beach. And do you know, there is not one person on the beach. That I have never seen before. The tide is coming in, washing a fair way up the beach. There is wind out to sea (white caps showing) however at the back of the beach under the pine trees, my vantage point, there is no wind. It’s really lovely. I walk north along the coastal track, up over and along past Rocky Beach to the top of the Doctor’s Walk. A lovely view in the late afternoon. Brisk;

Andrew cooks dinner (lamb chops from Thomas’ Butchery with grilled local garlic and steamed fresh veg) as Catie and I share thoughts on her business. Not much on tellie tonight – it’s all about our looming Federal election and Brexit (Britain exiting the EU). Makes us feel all warm and fuzzy as we settle in for a relaxing evening….not;

 

 

Sunday 26th June

Today –

a quiet Sunday;

it’s very cold and grey today, no sunshine. One of those days where I just can’t get warm. Some time spent this morning reading the weekend papers, more budgeting with the man (because its important), baby-sitting Dave (coz his mum has gone out for a large slice of exercise with her other-than-Dave bestie);

all of us together for lunch and computer time. Love the lunch, don’t much like the computer time……;

then, because I JUST CAN’T GET WARM, I’m off for a walk. It works. Not long into the walk, I have to shed a layer of clothing – I always make that mistake of putting on too much clothing when I exercise on a cold day, I just need to toughen up and be a bit cold to start with, knowing that I warm up and then all is OK…. Now I have to carry the discarded top, or tie it around my waist. Duh. But it’s a lovely walk, I step it out pretty quick, running up the hills to get the heart pumping, enjoying the downhill bits. There are a lot of people about. Again, the sea is the most amazing colour. I’m drinking in the brisk, fresh air, beats sitting in front of a computer. Around the coast and along to the break wall, where the clever ones are skateboarding on the ramps – hang on, how did he do that? – lots of us look on in amazement. The skateboarders (all ages) are pretty cool and they know it;

an hour walking and I’m back home, warm, fresh-faced, feeling invigorated. And excited. For dinner, we’re having roast chicken with loads of fresh roasted and steamed veggies. Followed by stewed rhubarb/apple with delicious vanilla ice-cream. Yum. That’s why I’m excited…;

tonight’s my TV night, although it’s the last in each of the three series I’ve been watching these past few weeks. Ah well. More time for Sunday night reading.

another aside

Something else I’ve been meaning to tell you (hmm, have I told you? I may have, sorry if I have). Andrew and I have bought tickets to the ‘Bello Winter Music 2016’ festival. Check it out here. We’re excited! We’ll be there for the whole three day festival, camped in KK at the Bellingen Showground. Just gotta hope that the current state-wide cold spell has worn itself out…. oh well, UGG boots and warm Nepalese jackets will be the preferred dress code, I’m sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

tickets to Bello Winter Music Festival

Saturday 25th June

Today –

starts as a VERY cold windy morning;

is a very special day in any month (i.e. the fourth Saturday)….. coz the Wauchope Farmer’s Market is on! Yay! Love it! Yeah, it’s just another farmers’ market and we have lots of them around these parts – we know most of the stallholders really well – but because it’s Wauchope, it’s spesh to me. Read about the market here. Today, on this very cold, windy morning, we felt for the farmers, up early in order to get their amazing produce to the market. And then standing at their stalls, waiting for out custom, some without any warming sunshine at all. But does that wipe the smiles off their faces? Nup, they are so passionate about what they do, it’s ok by them. Without exception, they all love to tell us about their produce and so often, they throw a little extra something in to our basket. We bought truck loads of fresh local produce, wood-fired organic sourdough, pure goats milk soap, buffalo meat sausages, pasture raised-Humane Choice accredited chicken, organic garlic, rhubarb, bush lemons, mandarins, unbelievable cauliflowers (so fresh, small, still wrapped in their protective leaves, with pale green stems, really, really good)… AND we learned so much about the production of the food and when it was harvested etc. Dinner tonight will be all the more delicious because we’ve connected in this way;

we had planned on heading to the community garden when we got home from the market but we didn’t. We’ve been spending a bit of time lately getting our tax paperwork ready AND revising our budget, so more of that today;

I was meant to be at the Glasshouse Gallery at 1pm, volunteering, however ‘brain fog’ (and the fact that I was having a jolly time with the budgeting) enabled me to completely forget about that until around 2pm. So a quick clothing change and I’m off to the gallery. It’s always a great afternoon, I meet some very cool people;

after the gallery, an enjoyable walk home along the coastal track, the afternoon still a little windy and very cold (a few layers of clothing on today, not the usual Port Macquarie attire). But there are many people out and about, enjoying the beautiful late afternoon light, sipping coffee, hands wrapped around the warming cup. Mad-keen surfies are out at Town Beach, looks like the swell is up. Sublime, I love it;

the evening at home is very relaxing, another Rugby match for Andrew to watch, with me sitting beside him on the lounge, under a warming blankie, with my book. He’s very good when he’s watching the Rugby, not too demonstrative at all, not too much yelling at all, in fact, none. He just loves the game.

an aside

I’ve been meaning to tell you about the books I’m reading at the moment. Because, well,  you may be interested. I’ve just finished ‘Lost and Found’ by a young Australian author called Brooke Davis. A beautiful book, I loved it. I’m now starting ‘All the Light we Cannot See’ by Anthony Doerr. This book won the Pulitzer Prize last year. Which does not mean that it will be a good read, but I’m prepared to give it a go. After the first few pages though, it feels special. Tim Winton’s ‘Shallows’ is also by the bed, because sometimes it just has to be Tim. Then I have a book called ‘Not in Your Genes’ by Oliver James, with the by-line ‘The real reasons why children are like their parents’. I’ll let you know how that one goes, sounds extremely interesting.

Friday 24th June

Today –

is it just my imagination or are the days a little longer, a little brighter at late afternoon? I think so. That’s my story anyway and I’m sticking to it;

the mornings are still dark though and this morning is cold. We’re finally getting winter, which I don’t mind in short bursts. The ocean sparkles with the low-angle northern sun. I like the feel of brisk air and warm winter sunshine on my skin. It’s great to exercise without the risk of melt-down. And the season is actually having a go. Nice for a couple of months but that’ll do;

as it’s meant to be sunny and windy, I wash everything that’s not bolted down. The line fills up. We’ve got one of those old-fashioned Hills Hoists in the middle of the backyard, a tad rusty and unable to be wound up or down, but so thoughtfully placed right in the centre of the yard. A statement. Dave actually ran into it the other day when he was hooning madly around the yard. He was pretty disgusted, looking accusingly at it, probably wondering why the hell it had moved.

(rewind – prior to push-button domestic bliss, doing the laundry must have taken hours. I remember helping Mum – we had an old pebbly concrete wash tub, divided down the middle, and a big white barrel of a washing machine, that could be wheeled into position at the tub and plugged in to the electricity no less (it was actually very modern, painted white with blue trim – every housewife’s dream), complete with a huge lever on the side (for turning the agitator on and off) and a wringer (two heavy rollers in a matching white casing – all very spesh) that you could swing around to hover over one tub then the other. The heavy sudsy clothes would be manually lifted and fed from the machine through the wringer into the first water-filled tub (first rinse), then man-handled from that tub, through the wringer, into the second water-filled tub (final rinse), then wrung again into the basket for carrying out to the Hills Hoist. (Please note – there was a safety mechanism that allowed the wringer to be snapped open in an emergency, for example if you tried to stuff too much wet laundry through, or you needed to release the hand of a screaming child). Mum used a product called Bluo in the rinse water (I think you can still get it) that helped to keep things from going brown when the town water quality wasn’t too good (for instance, after rain, our water would be very murky, with lots of sediment. Under these conditions, Bluo helped the sheets etc to maintain some dignity.) Using the same water in the machine and the tubs, the first load was always the whites, moving through to the last load being the dirtiest (Dad’s timber-mill work clothes, for instance). In terms of energy and water saving, definitely five star. There’s no way you would fit a fifties style laundry, as I’ve described above, into a cupboard, as is the modern way. And can you see how beneficial it was to do laundry this way? The great wash-day workout, which is lucky because there were no gyms around, and who had the time anyway? Whatever, I love my Hills Hoist because it takes me back to those Halcyon days…..;)

 

being Friday, I’m off for an adventure with Mum. Today, she is needing to go to an afternoon funeral in Wauchope. So rather than our usual morning shopping jaunt around Port, I’m at home for the morning, getting those pesky chores done. Then it’s a delicious lunch at Mum’s and the short trip west to my hometown, a thriving, vibrant, friendly place, that appears to be undergoing somewhat of a transformation. Great to see. As there’s a little time before the funeral starts, we decide to visit the old butcher shop that Mum used when she was raising us, all those years ago. This is Thomas’ Butchery, up the top end of town. Back in the day, it was owned by Jack Thomas – he used to have his own farm and was meticulous with how he raised the animals. The butchery is now being run by Jack’s grandson, still in the same old stand-alone shop. How good is that? Mum and I wonder if it’s the same as we remember – the classic cream tiled (yellowing with age), sawdust floored shop, with a huge wooden chopping block and carcasses hanging from huge hooks along the back wall. I guess the sausages were hanging there as well, I can’t remember. A simple counter ran along one side of the shop, behind which we would stand and hand over the weekly order. There may have been fly-screens along the counter, I’m not sure. There was no pre-cut, pre-prepared, plastic wrapped meat in a brightly lit cabinet. I remember the sound of Jack sharpening his knife, ready to slice off the cut of meat that was needed. He would lift a carcass or hunk of meat off one of the hooks and, again, I remember the unique sound as it was slapped on to that chopping block. We used to take our own plastic bags for the meat, I remember washing them and hanging them on the line to dry. Recycling at it’s finest, it’s just what we did – there were no supermarkets selling Glad bags. Back then, maybe the oceans were a little cleaner too…. Anyway, back to the future. The shop still stands with the same name and the same yellowing creamy tiles but now there is a brightly lit cabinet displaying all the different cuts of meat. No sawdust, no chopping block (that I could see), no hooks along the back wall. As we’ve reminisced for so long, we’ve now run out of time and I leave an order with Jack’s grandson that we will come back to collect later this arvo;

whilst Mum’s at the funeral, I’m off shopping down the main street, finding a couple of really interesting stores, scoring a trendy denim jacket and a top. To match the jeans, trousers, shoes etc that I’ve been acquiring from the second hand stores lately. Of course, I could have acquired a bizillion second hand items for the price of the jacket and top. But I’m happy. As it turns out, the funeral is a long one and Mum decides to leave a little early, she’s in need of a cuppa. We enjoy tea and carrot cake at the cafe before heading to the Co-op Department store for more shopping (here Mum finds some trackie dacks, a beautiful jumper and a pair of trousers, all on sale. She’s happy). Mum and I agree – for a number of reasons, we always enjoy Wauchope;

back to the butchery to collect the order, then back to Port, dropping Mum at home and heading back to Andrew for Friday evening drinks and of course, sausages for dinner. Tonight we’re watching the second series of ‘Life on Mars’ – it’s so good. A fun, relaxing night, which is what a Friday night should be.

 

 

Thursday 23rd June

Today –

an early morning cuppa as usual, with a very interesting discussion, a happy one (I’m not ready to divulge the content, sufficient to say that one day you’ll hear about it…);

after our delicious golden yolky brekkie, with sourdough and freshly brewed coffee, and an early medical appointment for Andrew (nothing serious), we’re off to the community garden. Today I meet Rachel (diligently digging over and composting a raised bed) and Irene (yet to become a member who today planted out lettuce and spinach seedlings). Adrian and Bruce are busy building a beautiful raw timber gate. I’m digging and mulching, as well as creating some brightly coloured fabric ties for the sharp ends of the steel trellis that Marion and I erected last Saturday (for the snow peas and butter lettuce garden). Andrew is again playing in the compost bins – rejuvenating the weed tea and spreading compost/mulch around the garden. At the moment, the garden is producing spinach, lettuce, leeks, broccoli, beetroot, eggplant, purple runner beans (on a tee-pee) and numerous herbs (on an eye-pleasing herb spiral). Over the coming months, there will be spuds, carrots, broad beans, snow peas, to name a few. The energy of this healthy food garden is palpable, everyone feels it. A lovely place to work, or sit and absorb, maybe watch the butcher birds hopping around, scrounging grubs, etc. And all of us workers with our cute little ‘Lost Plot’ hats on, ready to answer questions, show you around, share a cuppa or some produce. You must visit one day;

a late lunch, a little more financial planning, etc, then I’m off for a very late walk to the beach. It’s quite cold, windless and beautiful. I head down to Flynns Beach and am surprised at how many people are in the water. The surf school (which appears to operate all year round!) has a number of young people out in the small waves, all heavily wet-suited, really enjoying themselves, with a smattering of watchful parents at the water’s edge. I’m so inspired by this, it’s a wonderful, unexpected, winter sight. Again, in the late afternoon light, the colours in the sky and water are very hard to describe, they are so unique. Could not be matched by an artist’s palette, I feel. I briskly walk up and down the length of this magnificent beach, smiling at the apprentice surfies’ antics, then marvelling when I reach the other end, where the recent storm has taken away so much sand, and exposed tumbled boulders and craggy bedrock. It’s vaguely alien, breathtaking. Deep, deep breaths, with upturned face and closed eyes. Meditative;

back home to the warmth and comfort of a delicious roast dinner, then a planning meeting with Catie (I’ll tell you about this one day as well) and music/reading;

life is good.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 22nd June

Today –

we have one second more of daylight than we did yesterday. If only these clouds would roll back and allow a little sunshine in. I cannot complain though. Living on the northern NSW coast, we hardly experience ‘winter’. Not like those hardy (nude) souls in Tassie who, as part of Dark Mofo, plunged into the Derwent River at daybreak yesterday, to celebrate the winter solstice. There was quite a pack of them. I notice they didn’t stand around happily splashing each other or taking their time getting in. I take my sunhat off to them;

we woke later than usual, the morning light was so dull and cosy. A relatively quick brekkie (although for us, nothing is as ‘quick’ as it used to be) and we’re off to Mrs York’s Garden (MYG) for the morning. If you start the day feeling a little blue, you only need a dose of outdoor work (with like-minded, crazy souls) to lift your spirits. Working with these Friends of MYG is always uplifting. Today we (once again) shifted a mountain of mulch from the top of the hill (where it had been dumped away from the lower muddy section where trucks cannot now go) down to the new (very wet) garden area that is being planted with (amongst other things) elephants ears. So this area has been dubbed ‘the elephant walk’. Being low and marshy, there will be a small footbridge here, joining up with a path winding through littoral rainforest around to what was once the waterfall (complete with a small windmill). I’m not sure if we are going to be able to recreate the waterfall (as Mrs York had it) but it will be a quiet and restful place. We’ve already noticed that those who were frequenting this area before we cleaned it up and leaving lots of ‘interesting’ rubbish (mattresses, empty grog bottles, fast food rubbish (have you noticed that there are never any ‘organic’ or ‘healthy salad option’ food containers in these piles of rubbish? I rest my case…)) have apparently moved on as they can no longer hide in this refreshed area. Maybe they are displaying some sort of respect for what we are doing (the view of an eternal optimist);

we celebrated Glad’s 84th birthday, with a couple of sponge cakes and mugs of tea and coffee. Glad is amazing – a volunteer with so many different organisations, she looks much younger than her years and has a wonderful energy about her. Glad looks after our ‘trade table’ every Wednesday morning, setting up with her red market umbrella and selling home-grown produce, home-cooked goodies, home-made beanies, scarves, rugs etc. She’ll tackle any passer-by and encourage them to open their wallets to buy something, anything, to benefit the garden. All whilst we are down in the garden, doing our bit. That’s what I love about a real team, a real community. There’s a role for everyone;

back home for that verandah lunch (Dave is now in the habit of taking a bone down to the back yard for a gnaw, whilst we’re eating our lunch on the deck. Happy doggie.);

Andrew’s then off for a run, whilst I walk (briskly, of course…). We head north along the coastal track, which takes us from Flynns Beach, high along the headland behind Rocky Beach, then down along the Doctor’s Walk to Oxley Beach, past Flagstaff Hill (for a quick run up/down the stairs) and around to Town Beach and the southern breakwall at the mouth of the (Hastings) river. The rocks in the breakwall have been painted with many messages from holidaying families. Messages of love, hope, happiness, grief. It’s been an institution for as long as I can remember, although I’ve just read that it actually started as some sort of art competition in 1995, a mere 21 years ago. Hmmm, good remembering Robsta…..;

I ran into someone I know (recently met, as most of my friends here are) so of course stopped for a chat and it wasn’t long before Andrew came huffing and puffing back along the wall on the return run. What a champ. Here’s the house key, Andrew, I’ll catch you at home when I’ve finished chatting….;

dinner is a heap of steamed veggies smothered in a fish mornay (made with tinned ‘Fish 4 Ever’ Tuna, read about them here, a brand dedicated to utilising small scale fisheries focused on sustainable fishing methods). The white sauce is made using organic local milk, organic unbleached flour, organic butter, mineral salt, organic black pepper, local vintage cheddar, fresh local lemons…. YUM!;

we then tackle the (i.e. our) budget, as we have been recently getting our tax stuff together and focusing on all things financial. Nothing like it for putting yourself to sleep…..

 

 

Tuesday 21st June

Today –

is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of our (southern hemi-sphere) year. I love it! It’s all rosy from here on in, until the Summer Solstice, when we start the downhill slide again….. Give me an endless summer, I’ll be happy with that;

is a grey, overcast day, with a little weak sunshine struggling though every now and then;

is a day for celebrating, but no time to write, such a short day, it’ll definitely be a ‘small’;

library this morning, as we still have a (frustratingly) dodgy internet;

back home for a delicious (occasionally sunny) lunch on the back verandah. You know, the usual stuff;

a longer walk this afternoon, to Tacking Point Lighthouse and return, along our beloved coastal track. So beautiful today, crisp, breathless, quite cold this afternoon. The winter light is amazing, with everything sharp, defined but soft. The sky is like a silver-grey blanket with great folded clouds spreading out over the ocean (actually, we try to define the colour of the ocean as we walk but we can’t, it’s so different there is no word for it). It’s completely windless. Over to the north-west, the last of the sun is catching the edge of the cloud-mass, with blue sky beyond. Wow. The tide’s pretty high and we get unexpectedly wet scrambling back over rocks newly exposed by the destructive storm a few weeks ago. Laughter, squishy shoes, cold legs;

there are surfies out on the last wave of the day. They’re really tapping into something, aren’t they?

back home, with man, daughter and dog. It’s heart-warming, it’ll do.

 

 

 

 

Sunday 19th June

Today –

we woke late – a lovely overcast Sunday. No need to rush. To start the day, a cup of tea, propped up in bed with the radio on, listening, discussing stuff. Fun;

Dave has his brekkie then heads back to bed. He’s happy, not even looking like needing a walk. It looks like rain, why would he want to go get his paws wet? Duh?

Brekkie for Andrew and I consists of soft boiled eggs (locally pasture raised), toasted organic sourdough with lashings (I kid you not) of organic butter, then freshly brewed Byron Bay coffee (i.e. organically grown and roasted just up the road) with more toast (smothered in local raw honey and cinnamon);

the weather deteriorates, very windy and wet. It’s a great opportunity to get indoor stuff done, like catching up on blog posts (this is my third one today!). I’m not a fan of sitting at a computer for long periods of time (I did that in my working life), particularly when the sun is shining and the outdoors beckons. But today is a cosy indoor day. Unfortunately, we’re having all sorts of problems with our Telstra internet – constantly dropping out. Very soon I’ll have to give up and resort to reading a hard copy book…..;

other than that, a quiet day. The daughter returns this evening – Dave WILL be happy. He’s been stoic and suffered in silence, he’s been very good, but he just does not like living without his master. Fair ‘nough;

there will be some good tellie viewing tonight. ‘Grand Designs’ – some like it, some don’t – and a couple of British costume dramas. My sort of TV, my answer to Andrew’s rugby viewing. It’d be a bit boring if we were all the same.

(Due to compete internet failure, this post to be added tomorrow… hopefully)