It has started to get a bit colder now. This morning as I went out for my run, it was about 4deg. I could feel the chill, especially on the legs, and wondered if I could persist with just running shorts for much longer.
It has been just over a week of me being all alone. Tress looked like she is having a great family time with her parents and brothers and their families. That has been wonderful to see.
Last Friday night, nothing much happened. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to have anything nice as we normally do on Friday nights, so I just picked a movie that was streaming, and munched on nuts. “The Lighthorsemen” was a coincidental choice – with Anzac Day around the corner. It was a slow going, old fashioned film but the Aussie ensemble was a fun experience. Numerous hitherto unknown actors (to me) proved such delight I wondered why I wasn’t watching more stuff with them in it. The only guy I could recognise was Gary Sweet and after the movie finished, I had to google the cast to find out more about them. “The Lighthorsemen” turned out to be quite topical not just because of Anzac Day either. The battle scene was in Beersheba and talk about how Gaza was also to a potential hotspot with the Germans/Turks made it all sound like it was quite current. Well, the charge of the Aussie mounted infantry to capture the German/Turk controlled Beersheba was a victory that is supposedly etched in Aussie military history. I should have known this better. Better late than never, it was a wonderful way to spend a quiet Friday evening at home.
On Saturday, I slept in a touch, walked that little fellow, then went around on some errands. I picked up a couple of toys nearby (from a FB page that gives stuff away for free). Tress had contacted that young mum who had wanted to part with a few items and I drove , as the crow flies, to that home in Blackburn for the pick up. I then went and picked up the mower from the mower shop on Springvale Road. They fixed the height adjusting locking pin for $44 – that saved me a bundle from having to explore other options, including picking up a new mower which can cost an arm and a leg these days. Just from browsing in that mower repair shop, I saw that mowers were starting at about $750…I was so grateful they could repair the locking lever instead.
I got home, did some clearing on the back eastern end of the garden and removed all the old and dying tomato plants and cleared up that little patch to put in some flowers instead. Tress thinks we should put in the hydrangeas we also have in the front yard and I thought that was a great idea. When I was done with all the work and tidying up, I got cleaned up and headed out for some lunch and grocery shopping, before coming back to walk the little fellow again. I also dropped into The Glen to pick up the HDMI splitter I bought from JB online. Only the outlet at The Glen had it so I had to get there, instead of that trusty FHC outlet I normally visit.
Later that night I searched for something else to watch and I landed on LA Confidential. It was such a treat and seeing another Aussie ensemble (Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and James Cromwell) along with that genius that is Kevin Spacey, was to revive that wonderful experience of a really good film. Kim Basinger was a bonus. It was also a wonderful way to spend a quiet Saturday evening at home.
At St Alf’s on Sunday, Shannon Hood preached and Peter lead the service. I wondered if that was going to be the last one Peter lead, before he finishes up mid May. Tress and I have booked ourselves in for a farewell dinner for him in a few weeks. After St Alfs’s, I went to that Chinese noodle and dumpling place at FHC, and had a wonderful bowl of “jiajiang” noodle. I had wanted to just go and get a ban mih at FHC but that shop (“Baowie”) looked empty with only 2-3 customers in there (read: quiet, no waiting) and sitting down to a bowl of noodle in a quiet spot sounded pretty good so there I was, slurping away at the mixture of shredded cucumber and carrots, minced pork and whole soy bead kernels, mixed into very nice noodles. I poured in some chilli oil and voila – super yum.
Later that arvo, I went into Bunnings and got a shower caddy to replace the one that had come off. Decent shower caddies are harder to come by now. I wondered if that’s because newer showers now have recessed space in the wall to house all those bottles of washing liquids. Back home, I got that caddy fixed, and also installed the HDMI splitter on my work desk (at home).
As I settled down to watch that mindless but entertaining “I’m a celebrity…” and exchanged messages with Tress who was having a wonderful dinner with her family in Klang, I realised how much I was missing her. It has been just over a week, and it’d be just under another week before this house welcomes a touch of warmth again…
Ante 