When we first moved into our home, someone said something about the James Stirling Pittosporum plants that were planted along the fences. These will grow a meter a year, was the wise saying by that someone, who did landscaping for a living. Grow they did and after all these years, they continue to provide me with the most work in our home maintenance. Thankfully, they grow slightly slower in winter so I’d have to do less.
On Saturday, we slept in and the weather forecast said it was going to rain. I was saying to Tress that we’d swap around our weekend routine and cook on Saturday when it rains, and do the James Stirling Pittosporum hedges on Sunday arvo. After walking the little fella on the weekend extended route, we came back and the rain had yet to arrive. Tress and I thought it might hold out a little longer and so we jumped in to work on those James S hedges. Out came the power tools, cables, ladder, mower, etc.
About 3 hours later, the hedges looked far less unruly, the lawns have been mowed and the pavements, driveway, deck all swept and tidied. Just then, the rain began to trickle in and by the time we were seated in one of our favourite Malaysian places in Donvale for a late lunch, the rain finally poured. So, we’re grateful that the work was all done and we enjoyed the lunch in peace. After lunch, we did some grocery shopping and when we got home, the skies have turned really grey and the rains continued to pour. So we stayed in, and waited, along with most of the country, for the big game to start.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup has been going on and the Australian team, a.k.a. “The Matildas”, got to the quarter finals stage where the French team awaited. The game was to start at 5pm in Brisbane and the holy cows like the Channel 7 6pm news and the AFL game start time (Carlton v Melbourne, big game) were to be sacrificed so the whole nation can bathe in the excitement of watching the Matildas’ game uninterrupted. Women’s football is no where near men’s and for folks who have watched competitions like the English Premier League or the European Champions League for many years, watching the women’s game takes some effort. The excitement is there all the same however, because the sense of occasion is of the highest level, the different level of quality of football notwithstanding.
So Tress and I settled down and watched, along with well over 4 million other Aussies. The Matildas were superb. They gave everything. The game ended in a goalless draw even after extra time, so the nerve wrecking penalty shootout ensued. After 10 kicks each, Australia finally prevailed. We sneaked through by beating the French, by the slimmest of margins. England, the old enemy, awaits at the semi final stage but that is a story for another day. For now, we bask in the glory of arriving at the doorstep of FIFA World Cup nirvana.
At St Alf’s the next day, the service leader started by asking for a show of hands by those who watched the Matildas the day before. I thought it was easily 3/4 of the crowd of maybe 350 persons. The excitement remains. After the service, we headed to Syndal for lunch, and then went home to do the cooking. Tress had one of her ethereal events so I cooked, as I listened to the footy on the radio. Amazingly, the Hawks got up against the Bulldogs in Tassie. 2 wins -back-to-back – against first the Pies and now the Doggies, is a testament to how well Sam Mitchell and his team are doing with the rebuild. I said to Tress it may not be unreasonable to expect finals footy as early as next year. Sure, we all need to tamper our expectations but the Matildas have injected a sense of excitement and I’m just being carried by that wave, so Go Hawks!
Ante 