Cyclone Jacqui hits Busselton

It's been full house here at the Holt Press Hotel this weekend. Mum and Walter were here as previously reported while Walter went to a wood turner's workshop.

Tonight The Hair is entertaining two guests from Perth, Angela and Alannah, who he met at a church camp a couple of years ago. They are going hiking on the Cape to Cape track for the next few days so are staying the night here before setting off in the morning. Just the girls that is. The Hair still has two exams this week.

Sport Boy had a friend, Gabriel, here for the afternoon too.

It's been nice to entertain some guests and offer some "country hospitality". The high point of which was a traditional BBQ for dinner including some fresh herring caught off the jetty last night. Not by me I hasten to add, someone gave them to Mrs Holt Press at work.

Now, any readers who have visited the Holt Press Hotel in the last 12 months or so will remember that the place has been a mess to put it mildly, or more specifically the outside has been a mess. The arrival of the boat and the construction of the shed combined to create havoc in the car port and patio. The boat has become the repository of more and more stuff but the shed, due to the lack of the concrete floor, has not been usable. So there's been stuff everywhere, making life crowded and outdoor entertaining nigh on impossible.

But not any longer!

Everything changed today with the arrival of one of the most powerful forces known to nature, Cyclone Jacqui!

She instigated the dramatic events by cleaning up a large pile of cardboard that was destined for the tip when I got round to borrowing a trailer. By the time she was finished it had all been cut down and crammed into the recycling bin.

Shamed into action, I set about tidying up, one thing lead to another and by the time we'd finished, the house had been transformed!

I started by sticking as much of the stuff on the patio as I could into the little (original) shed, then the remainder into the new shed, complete with sand floor! I figure that when we get round to pouring the concrete floor I'll just move it out again but in the mean time it's undercover and out of sight! It's mostly big stuff and not too hard to move.

That left the patio clean and tidy and much more inviting. As if to prove the point Walter and Mrs Holt Press both spent time out there reading the paper in the much more pleasant surrounds this afternoon.

Next I turned my attention to the boat and decided to move it into the backyard. It's been in the carport so it could be under cover but I have covered it with a tarpaulin and tied it securely which will hopefully keep the rain out of it.

While rolling it through to the backyard I couldn't resist parking it in the patio for a brief time for the benefit of Mrs Holt Press, who sadly, failed to see the funny side of it. I on the other hand thought it was hilarious. The Heir didn't like the idea much but was willing to go along with the gag but The Hair was aghast :

"This will not end well for anyone except Mum" he protested weakly!

With the boat safely moored in the backyard, the carport able to accommodate the entire Holt Press fleet and the patio again fit for entertaining, we cranked up the barbie and enjoyed a nice meal and the warm Spring Busselton evening.

Life's good.

PS. I hereby publicly declare that the Holt Press Boat will make it's maiden voyage this Summer and that it will no longer be either a storage facility, or the centre piece of a water feature in the backyard as cruelly suggested by Mrs Holt Press and my mother!