Saturday Night

We had a great trip to Perth. Most of Thursday was spent at Adventureworld with Favourite Daughter, Leo, Casey and the kids from Halls Creek (not Kunnunurra as I stated the other day!). Everyone had a good time there and it was really good meeting Leo and going on a few rides with him and the other kids. Sport Boy was in his element and even Spike hooked up with some Cornerstone kids who also happened to be there for the day. The weather was good and it wasn't too crowded, a handy combination.

We checked in at Chatteau d'Taffrail and collected some keys from Sal before heading over to Leederville. First stop was The Heir's place to deliver his new washing machine. Mrs Holt Press wisely decided against entering the "house" which is due for demolition in the near future! A 21 year old male may be able to handle it but there are some things it's better for a mother not to know.

We collected Favourite Daughter from SIDE where the Halls Creek mob were staying and went to look for a place to eat. The Malaysian place was booked out, the Mongolian place was empty but didn't grab us so we chose the Cinnamon Club, a very nice Indian restaurant around the corner. The service was ordinary but the food was delicious and even Sport Boy found something he liked. Spike ordered the prawns but found them a bit hot to handle and had to ask for a glass of milk to help him through dinner!
It was a lot of fun having the whole family together for a meal and there was lots of laughter and discussion, including our plans for Christmas. We're going to Esperance for 8-10 days over Christmas although it looks like work will prevent either The Heir or Spike from joining us there.

For dessert we moved on to a huge and very popular cafe in Oxford St and sampled some of their huge range of cakes before I played a game of pool with Spike. Several of FD's friends turned up so we left her in their happy company and set off for "home" at the Chatteau.

Friday morning we went to Galleria in Morley and I collected a large bag of old and broken watches from a guy called Ali who I'd met there a couple of months ago in a watch repair booth. After a quick look in the AFL shop to drool over all the Geelong Premiership merchandise we drove over to IKEA in Innaloo. The kids wanted food, Mrs HP wanted a washing up bowl and a towel rail and I wanted frames. We all left happy and satisfied.

Because we were so close I suggested we drop in to visit our old friend Miriam who lives in a retirement village nearby. She turned 90 this year and has some health problems, including the loss of sight in one eye, but she was delighted to see us and catch up on all our news. When she hugged Spike, who recently turned 18 she said "I remember when you were born"!!
I told her about my foray into art and got one of my paintings from the car to show her. As she seemed to like it I offered to loan it to her and we hung it on the wall. I hope to enter it in an art competition at some stage but it has found a happy home in the meantime.
Miriam and her late husband Jan adopted our kids as surrogate grandchildren when we lived in Warwick and I worked at the Chip Inn drop in centre and for many years would visit us at Christmas time and give presents to the kids. We were all really glad we made the effort and took the extra time to visit her, even though it meant I was late back to Busselton for last night's shift in the taxi. I let the boss know and he was fine about it but as soon as we got home I had to head off to work and a 10 hour cab shift. It was steady rather than busy.

When I got home it was nearly time for Mrs HP and Sport Boy to get up and get ready to go to Bunbury for a tennis tournament he was playing in so I stayed up to share breakfast with them. After they left I felt fresh enough to go garage saling and managed to find 16 garage sales over the next couple of hours. I bought several frames and a few other bits and pieces for my art, a couple of CDs, a book and 4 good towels for 50c each!
By the time I got home I was well and truly ready for sleep and with the house empty and quiet enjoyed a good long sleep until about 5.00 this afternoon.

We're off to Bunbury in the morning for day two of the tennis then on to Mandurah for the last Beach Mission team meeting before we all meet in Augusta on New Year's Day, which is only three weeks from now, a scary thought!
On Monday we're going over to Bridgetown to visit Mum and Walter and see Vicki before she flies home to California.

One more piece of good news, the high school have offered to employ me on a contract basis to run some of their special events, starting with the Beach Carnival in February. Not sure about all the details yet but it could be the beginning of my new "career" working for myself and offering services and programs to schools, organisations and businesses.


Sport Update: With 6 minutes to go Spurs are trailing 1-0 to Wolves at White Hart Lane, not the sort of result I was hoping for. Way back in 1973 I became a Spurs fan after watching a game between them and Wolves (Wolverhampton Wanderers) on TV with my neighbour and best mate Anthony Long. My Spurs obsession grew and at times has rivalled my love for Geelong.
This is the first time they've played one another in a very long time following Wolves' promotion to the premier league this season.
Drat, Final Score, 1-0 to Wolves!!!!