Saturday, February 28

In a typical example of the state of our luck, our car has had a major heart attack.  The automatic transmission stuck in 4 the other day so I took it in to the Ford dealer.  The Service Consultant (!) was a boy who probably had left school at 15 and got a job because his dad knew the owner of the business.  I told him it was over-heating and might need some fluid.  'Oh, no,' he said with great authority. 'It will be more than that.' And it was.

LSS, it was a total collapse of the transmission and cheapest way to repair it would cost  $5400.  What!  Time for a family conference.  We fly out on Monday so one option was to wait until we got back but, in the end we bit the bullet and a new car will be ready for collection when we return.

We had already been thinking that we might get a new car at some time later this year. The caravan was to be sold so a much smaller vehicle was the go, so  but I like to take months to research, check reviews, watch the sales, and so on.  I spent most of a Thursday afternoon and evening on the Internet and we fronted up to Mitsubishi on Friday morning to look at the Outlander.  However, at the front of the car yard was a very smart ASX with a panoramic sunroof and we couldn't go past that.  A bit smaller than the Outlander but certainly cheaper to run than the Territory.

I'll have the Territory repaired at a local garage, much cheaper than Ford, and sell it privately.

In other news, the goats, Ted and Bill, have been moved on to a friend's property around the corner.  A whole new world of blackberries awaits them.  

Tuesday, February 3rd ....

What an exciting few days in politics!  First, the PM has a brainstorm and makes a 'captain's call' to anoint Prince Philip as a Knight.  What was he thinking?  And how out of touch is he with current Australian thinking? 

Of course, this starts the call again for a change of leader of the PLP.  But Tony won't go.  The Government is stalled and there needs to be a circuit breaker.  This story can only get better.

Christopher Pyne, interviewed by Virginia Treoli, says solemnly that it's not a personality competition and that the Australian people are looking for a PM who is competent and has their respect.  I'm afraid we're missing out on both counts.

Then there's the debacle in Queensland with a double digit swing against Campbell Newman.  The interesting thing is one problem feeds the other.  Tony's nonsense about Sir Prince Philip has a negative effect on the Queensland election.  In turn, the Queensland result has a negative effect on Tony's future.  Delicious!

To cap it all, there's the midnight coup against the NT Chief Minister.  The 'new' Chief Minister stands proudly on breakfast TV announcing his elevation but mid-afternoon, the 'old' Chief Minister calls a press conference to announce some inquiry.  'Are you still Chief Minister?' was the first tentative question.  Gilbert and Sullivan couldn't write anything more farcical.

I read an article recently which bemoaned the fact that Australians were too ready to change leaders.  Maybe if political parties gave us leaders we could trust and respect, we would support them.  I think of Billy McMahon, Mark Latham, Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott who all made their way to the top of their respective political trees but none of whom had the personal integrity or personality to be true leaders.  Having said that, Kevin was enormously popular with the public but I'll never understand why.

Monday, February 2nd ....

Last night Marilyn told me to eat something 'with a poon'.  A simple and silly comment but part of our shared history.  It goes back to a show we saw before we were married where the catch cry was, 'with a poon'.  

We remembered it was called The Crazy Gang and involved someone called Tibor Rudas but it needed a trip to Google to get the details.  The original Crazy Gang Revue was English but Tibor Rudas brought one of the stars, Freddy Sales, to Australia to perform in an Australian version.  There were seven international comedy acts and The Rockettes as well.  We found an ad for the show in the SMH of June 14th,1961.  The show ran through June and July at the Capitol Theatre in Haymarket.  We drove up from Wollongong and parked outside the theatre!  Try doing that now.

We remember Freddy dressed as a baby and we laughed hysterically every time he said, 'With a poon.'  Great memories and 'with a poon' has become part of our family vocabulary.

Tibor Rudas produced the show.  He was a Hungarian refugee who came to Australia in 1948; he later worked with Luciana Pavarotti and is credited with developing the concept of The Three Tenors.  He died in New York, in December last year, at the age of 98.

By the way, The World of Suzie Wong was showing in town on the same weekend  and G.I. Blues was on at the Bass Hill Drive-in.

Monday, February 1st ....

We've fallen into a comfortable routine since moving back to Dilston.  We're generally woken at about 7 o'clock by our two goats demanding to be fed.  At first, I dragged myself out of bed worrying about whether the neighbours might be disturbed but I've got beyond that and can happily turn over for another hour or so.  After all, next door has chooks and they're a well-known noise hazard.

After a couple of cups of goat food, Ted and Billy trot cheerfully to their designated work area for the day.  I have to tether them for safety so I move a couple of star pickets from one clump of blackberry bushes to another when they've decimated the current spot.  Blackberries are definitely the food of choice.

On the way back to the house, I let the cats out of their 'cottage'.  We've taken them back from the friend who adopted them on our retirement at the end of 2009.  She now has a baby and another on the way so two hairy cats are a complication.  We put them into their 'cottage' at night to protect the local wildlife.

I feel a bit like Farmer George by the time I remove my rubber boots and head inside for breakfast.

It's comfortable to be  'back home' but we still have itchy feet and are constantly planning holidays, imaginary or otherwise.