Harriet and Frank

I mentioned Harriet, a lady I met at the jetty beach on Monday evening. On Tuesday morning she arrived at our place with the news that her husband Frank was ill and had collapsed. He had managed to get himself back into bed but she was understandably worried about him and as we were the only people she knew in Busselton, she came round for a bit of support. The main concern was the lack of a mobile phone if they needed to call an ambulance or seek other assistance. They had brought a phone with them from England but it hadn't been "unlocked" and was thus unable to be used. Fortunately I had a spare mobile phone that I bought for the Yr 11 camp in December so we were able to give her a phone. I prayed for her and especially for Frank then she went back to the hotel to keep an eye on him.

This morning Harriet appeared again, this time with Frank. He had recovered significantly and was up and feeling a lot better. They were on their way to the jetty to go and look at the underwater observatory then were heading for Margaret River to stay for a couple of days.

We were both relieved to see Frank in better health. We chatted for a while, swapped addresses and emails and they asked if they could buy the phone of us so that they have a way to communicate for the remainder of their trip.

It was a chance meeting over a painting and some Chinese takeaway which had real benefits. It was good to be able to offer some hospitality and support to strangers, something God says in the Bible is important and close to his heart.

Harriet and Frank expressed a desire to meet The Heir upon their return to England in a few weeks, especially as they don't live too far away from where he is living and working.

Sport Boy on Duty

I took Sport Boy down to the Monday night beach volleyball so he could put himself up for hire as a ballboy in the 2-a-side comp. He did two games and got a booking for Wednesday night as well! He even got a write-up in the local paper this week describing his exploits as ball boy. He liked it but said to me, "The writer made it more dramatic than it really was, do writers do that a lot?"
Welcome to the real world kid, Truth in Journalism 101!

Something unusual happened this evening, the beach returned! Every week for the last several months the spot where Sport Boy uis standing has been practically the edge of the water line. (Busselton has lost a huge amount of beach front over the last few years, I'm sure it's the result of global warming!) But tonight the water was nearly 10 metres further out, and it can't be the tide because we play at the same time each week. I don't know the explanation but it was nice to have more beach than normal. While SB earned money I sat at a bench and started work on a painting. At the bench next to me a lady was eating Chinese takeaway and we struck up a conversation.Harriet is out here on a month's holiday from England, the town of Northampton in fact. We talked about my picture and the problems I was having with it, and her trip and family and she told me about her 43 year old daughter who died of breast cancer 12 months ago. Then Sport Boy arrived, hungry, and Harriet shared some of her chicken with him and he told her about the blog and his love of sport. I gave her my card and invited them round for a cuppa or for dinner tomorrow night if they feel like it. She was interested to hear about what The Heir is doing in England and had even heard of Haddenham and Wheatley, the villages where he is working and studying.

I'm about to sit down and watch the edited telecast of the SuperBowl, having studiously avaoided all mention of it throughoput the day in order to watch it without knowing the result.
One of my pet hates is watching a game when I already know who's won.