Carn the Eagles!

The Eagles are thrashing the Swans at quarter time. We’ve eaten homemade hotdogs, drunk a glass of beer… happy days my friend, happy days.

My daughter - sumo wrestler!

Should I be proud that my darling petal of a daughter is the class 4/5 Sumo Wrestling Champion!

She beat all the girls including the Year 5s and emerged the victor - apparently didn’t have to face off the boys (they were too scared!).

I am proud dammit! She is great.

And I’m proud of my son whose artwork graced the invitation to the Art Exhibition and Auction at the school to which notable politicians were present.

Good wine too…

Oh and our bridge competition. We didn’t come last!

Four days until one week’s leave

Not that I’m counting…

I’ve got a mountain of things to do before I go on leave though including editing a pilot for a new show I hope to do… keeping my fingers crossed although it may mean not having a long uninterrupted break over Christmas-New Year… Anyhoo.

Today we spent the afternoon lazing around the artificial lake in the centre of the Children’s Playground in Kings Park. Yes yes it’s all very lovely now with bridges to the little island in the middle and artificial trees and towers and stuff for the kids to play on but I long for the olden days when the only way to get to the island was either by some pretty wobbly stepping stumps - you know - stumps of trees sticking up out of the slimy green water - or - some precariously placed logs one of which rose about a metre above the SGW.

You knew there was a more than fair chance that you’d end up in the SGW and that was part of the fun. Only the brave could play on the island and you were a real wuus (not that we knew that word then) if you chose to cross there and back on the stumps.

My kids got wet anyways…

While we were there we went for an orchid hunt. Truth to tell it’s a bit late in the season but we found some finished donkey orchids, two cowslip orchids and a jug orchid. First time we’ve seen a jug in KP so that was quite exciting.

It was stunning weather too - summer is not far away…

Bloomin’ Art

Yes Art in Bloom is on again at the Art Gallery of WA and once again I took part - as part of a work team. I do love this event and as this is the second time I’ve been involved I thought I knew what to expect. And I did - except I forgot how good everyone else is. Well I kind of remembered…

I went in with Sabrina to brainstorm in front of the painting - and we came up with a range of ideas and then I said - C’mon Sab you know this event we’ve got to take the painting and twist it a bit. So we came up with a cubist version of our painting which I was reasonably happy with.

But translating our ideas from paper to flowers was HARD. First we had to come up with some kind of square containers - and we wanted them to be exactly the same size as an LP. We ended up with pizza boxes which I spray painted gold. Then the flowers we wanted were not available so we had to compromise on that. Still it ended up okay.

If I could do it again… I’d choose to do the boxes “single” sized - so smaller boxes - maybe using those gift boxes you can buy… and I’d personally choose the flowers - so I could be a control freak over them (!!) - and I’d raise the display up and maybe angle it so it made more of an impact as you walk toward it.

But hey - its the sort of thing that you’ve got to LET GO OF and walk away… I hope there’ll be a next time.

And for those of you visiting the exhibition - and I hope you do - there are some sensational pieces there - remember that the florists - both professional and not - pay for their installation - and flowers are not cheap. Looks good but.

And well done to the Dockers for a FANTASTIC season! (I hope WCE lose too or life will be somewhat unbearable)

Toby Tosspot

Was the nickname of our first Prime Minister Edmund Barton. Bet you didn’t learn that at school, and I bet it didn’t come up in our recent History summit! But none the less it’s true.

He was also a racist.

True!

He is most famous for the line: “For the first time, we have a nation for a continent, and a continent for a nation.”

Less famous is his other well known statement at the time: “I do not think that the doctrine of the equality of man was really ever intended to include racial equality.”

So there you go - our nation - proudly created by Toby Tosspot, racist.

At least he was only in power for a couple of years… (after which he became a high court judge!!)

Fantasy

I learned last week of some people who are rich enough to pay people to play in bridge teams with them at international events. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Envious perhaps? Wouldn’t it be nice to be good enough to be asked? Yes it would.

And why am I at home instead of at bridge? Well Groover got a late call to Karratha so here I am babysitting. Sigh.

Still what with Art in Bloom, an impending strike action, the Grand Final parade coverage, two funerals, commissioning and the Royal Show looming, I could probably do with an early night.

Anyway Idol is on.

Idle

I will be as I’ve just heard back from the Sherrif - I am excused from Jury Duty. Yay. I can go on holidays!!

And Idol - how good is it this year. It is good.

Success at last

Oh by the way - I forgot to mention that we - my bridge partner whom I dub The Rock - due to her steady playing and steadfast good humour in the face of all my mistakes - and I - won our two matches on Thursday night. Yes, both of them!

We’re still last of course but it feels a little better.

And I cooked the most delicious beef casserole this weekend thanks also to The Rock who provided the recipe. Really cheap cut of meat (well cheap for the Boatshed) and included olive puree and anchovies. Absolutely stunning result. And I’m no cook.

Still haven’t heard from the Sherrif’s office…

Oh and it’s five years since September 11 - seems like yesterday we were watching The Bill followed by those startling images.

Finals

After the Dockers lost yesterday I was torn. I hated to see Sydney win but really - for the chance of an all-WA final - it was worth it. Finals Calculator

Dying doing what you love

The great comfort to fans, friends and family of Steve Irwin and Peter Brock seems to be that they died doing what they loved.

Why is that a comfort?

When I die, I don’t want to be doing what I love - that would kind of wreck it for me you know?

It would mean dying before I finish the end of my current novel - how irritating would that be?!

I’d rather die doing something like the dishes after winning a national bridge tournament - or falling asleep and dying AFTER making love to my beloved - or karking it just as I’m about to sit down to doing budgets at work or paying bills or having a meeting with the teacher about my child’s bad behaviour or maybe popping my clogs just as I go out to finally clean the pool or clear the gutters or vacuum the carpet. But in the middle of doing what I love? Nup. That’s not for me.

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