As is often the case in recent months, Tress and I found ourselves depleted of all useful energy on Friday night. So we did a lazy dinner at home – picked up some cooked chicken from Safeway – and just stayed in front of the TV.
Uncle Jin had rang earlier so I returned his call and spoke about his will and stuff for a bit.
We then trailer-surfed on Apple TV for a bit and found this Afghan flick titled “Kite Runner”. It was cheap too – $0.99! So we sat down and enjoyed this movie and what a wonderful film it was. It was a tale of loyalty, fear, making right a wrong committed a long time ago and the courage the act of self-redemption took (and the rescue of a child). When we purchased the movie we thought we would struggle to keep awake (due to our tiredness entirely) but the story was such a compelling one we were wide awake right to the very end of the 2-hour “reel”.
On Saturday Tress went to get her hair cut while I prepped to do some gardening. I didn’t want to start the hedge trimmer and mower till at least 9.30 in the morning, to avoid becoming a pesky inconsiderate neighbour but when it was finally 9.30, the hedge trimmer wouldn’t cut. I had bent the blade a couple of months earlier and had sent it into a repair shop. Obviously the repair wasn’t effective. So I waited for Tress to get home and then we both took the trimmer back to the repairman. It’s only a little Ozito unit and I had spent $40 on the repair bill so I told the guy if it was going to cost more money I wouldn’t want it done. These machines – while not cheap – are not expensive enough to warrant large repair bills. There’s a high chance now I probably need to get a new hedge trimmer soon.
Anyway, we got home and I did some work manually, having already taken out some tools as well as the ladder. I spent a couple of hours trimming, mowing, weeding and cleaning while Tress got the laundry done, vacuumed the rooms and got the guest room ready for Ruth and Jonathan who were going to visit and stay the night.
After lunch at Penang Inn (Madam K was packed) we went to the estate agent (Noel Jones Blackburn) to sign some docs for them to manage the Blackburn South unit for us. We then did some grocery shopping and went home where I vacuumed the lounge and did some general cleaning while Tress walked the little fellow.
Just after 4, we drove to St Kilda Road and picked up Ruth and Jonathan. We then headed straight to Old Kingdom at Surrey Hills. After dinner we headed straight home and talked with them for a bit before retiring for the day.
Sunday all 4 of us went to church which happened to be an “All Age” service. Ruth knew Karen Winsemius’s (the children’s pastor) brother from Canberra so caught up with her for a bit.
We then took them to Madam K – it was just as packed as on Saturday but we weren’t in a hurry this time, and we had a hearty brekky too so we didn’t mind waiting for a table.
After lunch we headed for the Tulla and dropped Ruth and Jonathan off. It was really good catching up with them again.
We then headed back towards home and on the way, stopped by the library at Nunawading. Jonathan had told us how they used the library resources at Adelaide and we realised how we’ve neglected this wonderful resource. We had used the Mount Waverly library quite a bit when we first arrived but had not used the Whitehorse services. So we signed up at the Nunawading library, Tress got a few DVD’s and I got a Zadie Smith book. I also tracked down an aboriginal history/community development book (Richard Trudgen’s “Why Warriors Lie Down and Die”) that Bill Walker from the church home group had recommended. The book was in the Doncaster library but the librarian had kindly rang and asked that it be sent to Nunawading and I should be able to pick it up tonight if I wished.
We then went home, I did some cooking (pumpkin soup) for later in the week while Tress did some ironing as well as putting away the linen and stuff from the guest room. It had rained all day so the little fellow didn’t get his walk but he was very good all the same. Later, a friend dropped in with some “Zongzi”- rice dumpling for the dragon boat race festival. Tress and I shared one and it was delicious.
We settled down that night somewhat happy and satisfied – we’ve caught up with very dear cousins, the house was cleaned, we had quite a bit of food in the fridge and things have settled into a peaceful and hopeful rhythm. I only hope my dear friends and brother/sister – Jason and Mel – could also move ahead and settle down to such serenity.
Ante 