Tress went out with her colleagues last Friday night. There was cricket on tv so on the way home, I dropped into the local Coles and picked up a salad and a handful of cooked prawns. A glass of chilled white washed it all down very nicely as I watched the game at home with LBJ but could not replenish the glass as I was meant to drive to the station to pick Tress up later and I didn’t know what time that would be.
So I decided to watch a movie – and chose the Battle of the Bulge starring Henry Fonda and Robert Shaw as the German Colonel charged with commanding a battalion of Panzer tanks as a final resistance to the Allies’ march to defeat Hitler’s Germany.
I had cherished the Band of Brothers’ interpretation of the Battle of the Bulge instead, which had such intimate details of the soldiers’ travails as they battle the cold in the episode known as Bastogne. It had none of the tanks which blazed through in Ken Annakin’s direction. The Panzer Tiger was featured in all its agility, strength and power, defeated only by a fortuitous bombing of a fuel depot which deprived Robert Shaw of much needed fuel.
The cous cous salad was great for my battle with my bulge and as soon as I picked Tress up from the station and got home, I got rid of a bad under fueled problem and promptly topped up my glass with a full glass of red, which on a Friday night in front of a satisfying classic, tasted magnificent.
Saturday morning we decided to go to Maling Road in Canterbury, for a proper breakfast. The plan was to then skip lunch and then go to the dedication service for the Hipo Girls, in Cross Roads at 4pm, to be followed by dinner and then adjourn to the Hipos’ home for coffee. As we walked up to Maling Room, I saw my boss sitting outside, decked out in his Lycra. A bit awkward but after introductions (Tress to him and his mate and his mate to us) and handshakes we went insider for our breakfast while he stayed outside. He was a gentleman (as always).
After breakfast we went to the Acorn Nursery on Canterbury Road, and then to the Strawberry Point grocer – also on Canterbury Road. I said to Tress it was a day everything we did was on Canterbury Road.
Later that night as it poured (there was about 40mm of rain between Sat night and Sunday morning) and as we had coffee at home on Sunday morning, I said to Tress it was 10 years ago around the same time when it rained just as much on Canterbury Road and Uncle Seng’s house (where I was temporarily staying) flooded and I was awaken in the middle of the night as the family attempted to dry the place out. After church and lunch we went home and as we were resting in the arvo Kiddo messaged us to say Ban and family were going to catch up with her for lunch. They had gone down to Johore Bahru for a wedding and decided to make a detour to Singapore to catch up with Kiddo – really nice of them.
We finished the day with Tress helping me with the ironing while I did some cooking, and rested up before going to bed. It was a quiet weekend – spent mostly along Canterbury Road.
Ante 