Monday, January 23 .....

There was a breakout from Hobart’s Risdon Prison over the weekend. This is not unusual but there were red faces all around for the prison guards because the escapees announced their intention on Facebook. So, all their on-line friends knew it was on. Of course, the question being asked is, how can prisoners get access to Facebook? Apparently, one of them had a mobile phone – highly irregular in prison and raises questions for the effectiveness of the security measures. I hope their re-capture gets some space on Facebook too; it’s only fair.

Our cat disappeared yesterday. She didn’t turn up in the evening and she wasn’t around for her morning milk. We weren’t particularly surprised because she’s pretty independent and spends a lot of time outside. Our routine is to lock her in the laundry overnight but she had a cat flap and we know she gets out during the night but she’s always back in bed by the time we wake up or waiting on the front doorstep to be let in for breakfast. Over the past few weeks, she’s been reluctant to go to the laundry but we haven’t been bothered about that; she doesn’t do any damage if she sleeps under my desk overnight.

By mid-morning, Marilyn was a bit concerned and searched all the cupboards, under the beds, in the caravan cupboards as well and even went next door to check whether the cat might have been inadvertently locked in their shed. However, there was no sign of her. Sandy, who’s been sleeping in the caravan, told Marilyn he had heard someone prowling around during the night and I think he was trying to convince her that there had been some evil beast about who grabbed the cat for a midnight snack.

Because it was a nice day, I opened the boot of the caravan to get out the folding chairs – and the cat jumped out of the boot! What we call the boot is, in fact, a compartment under the caravan bed accessible by two doors on the outside of the van. It turned out that Sandy had put the chairs away the night before and had, apparently, not noticed the cat when he shut the doors. Not a very plausible story, I would have thought. It certainly explains the odd noise he heard during the night. Anyone who would lock a cat in a caravan boot deserves to have a disturbed night.

Sandy’s sister-in-law, Sandra and her husband Geoff arrived yesterday to stay for a couple of days. They’re currently touring Tasmania in a caravan and Sandy’s grandson Ty had been with them for the last week. Sandy and Ty were travelling back to Sydney together so Sandra and Geoff were delivering him into his grandfather’s care. Jamie and Ty cooked a terrific barbecue for us and we sat outside until the cool night air drove us inside to play cards. A good night all ‘round!