08:00 Lois and I tumble out of bed early again - deliveries of groceries coming any time from 9 am, and a zoom call at 10 am with Sarah, our younger daughter, who lives in Perth, Australia, with Francis and their 8-year-old twins Lily and Jessica.
The girls started their new school on Tuesday this week, and they seem very happy. Their local friend Samara is in the same class, which makes all the difference. Sarah, however, isn't very impressed with the school generally - it doesn't measure up to the private school they've been attending for the last 2 years apparently: oh dear! They're talking about maybe moving back in England in time for Christmas 2022, after 6 years down under, but we'll have to see.
we also see some reusable stickers they can stick to their keyboard
to tell them which note is which, which is nice.
The twins are as cute as ever, if not more so. But they run away as soon as mummy (Sarah) starts describing the traumatic events of last Sunday.
It was the family's first attempt at getting their new 20-foot boat "Rioja" out on the water. Francis decided to wait till the dock was quiet, and they started out, when the "safety boat" came in at speed and scraped the back of their motor, although Sarah thinks it only suffered superficial or cosmetic damage.
Nedlands Yacht Club on the Swan River, Perth, where
the family's 20-foot boat Rioja is moored
After a brief inspection the family sailed out onto the water, but at some point the motor stopped - they didn't have enough petrol, it seems. They emptied their spare can into the tank, but then the motor wouldn't start. They were now being blown towards a big red flag and "Danger" sign, warning of rocks. Fortunately they missed the rocks and drifted on to a sandbank, but then the boat became grounded.
Sarah called the WA water police on her mobile, but before they arrived, the yacht club's "safety boat" turned up, and it towed them back to the dock, where Sarah and Francis managed to moor it. There was more trouble, however, when they tried to load it back on to the trailer - it got wedged down the side of the trailer. They summoned help from the clubhouse and 4 men arrived including a helpful ex-Navy guy, and they managed to load it back on the trailer.
Meanwhile it was dusk, and they had started to be bitten by the "mozzies" (mosquitoes), all apart from Lily, who seems to have inherited my "talent" for mosquitoes not liking me.
Sarah says that in the end it was a positive experience. It was their first attempt and they learnt a lot, she says. The twins, however, don't seem as positive about it as their parents. Lois comments that she hopes it hasn't put them off sailing for life.
flashback to earlier this month: the family's boat Rioja
in happier times - before they tried to take it out on the water: yikes!!!
What a crazy world we live in !!!!!
12:00 We drive over to Eckington. We've been invited for lunch by Andy, Lois's sect's chief local elder and his wife Angie. Two other sect-members, David and Richard, have also been invited.
We decide to take the quickest of the 3 routes showcased, the so-called "blue route". Call us mad crazy petrol-heads if you like!
Angie has cooked us a huge lunch, about twice the amounts Lois and I normally eat. The conversation is pleasant although both Lois and I don't say a lot. I think we are both feeling a bit nervous through not having been involved in any social occasions for so many months. Oh dear! What's happening to us??!!
Also there are many topics that we can't relate to - the virtues of various vintage cars and motor-bikes, housing deals and car deals where somebody is proud to say they made a big profit, that kind of thing. It's not really our scene, but never mind. We're all different, aren't we!
To my surprise Richard reveals today he was at the super-expensive Clifton College boarding school at the same time as John Cleese, whom Python-worshippers refer to as "The Comic Messiah". Who would have thought it, eh?
Andy and Angie have a lovely house with gorgeous views of the hills. We last visited Andy and Angie in May, for the total immersion-style baptism of new sect-member Clare in the hot tub in Andy's back garden.
new sect-member Clare steps into the hot tub to join Andy,
as Andy's wife Angie looks on
Andy baptises Clare
15:30 The conversation continues full-blast and the afternoon wears on.
Lois can see I'm getting sleepy so she rescues me by saying that we've got to go now. We drive home, and waiting for me is an email from Steve, our American brother-in-law, whose brother Mahlon has traced their maternal lineage back to, amongst other forebears, various Anglo-Saxon kings.
One of these is Edgar the Peaceful, and Steve postulates that he's inherited Edgar's eyes.
Edgar the Peaceful (reigned 959-975)
He does look like a nice king, though, doesn't he! Bless him!
19:00 Our stomachs are still too full after Angie's colossal lunch, so I just do us a couple of pieces of toast each, one with jam and one with marmite.
We watch some TV - the latest crazy programme in the Grand Designs series.
Sixty-three-year-old ex-boxer Geoff's 32-year marriage has broken up. He's got his divorce and now he wants to settle back in England after 20 years in a Spanish villa.
The site he chose is highly questionable: the Essex flood plains.
But most of all: he's entirely on his own now, so what possessed him to build a massive house like this?
WHY, just tell me WHY !!!!!!
And why doesn't presenter Kevin McCloud ask him about that ?
Presenter Kevin McCloud (left) - not asking Geoff the right questions!!!!
Who can forget the famous scene in 1990's sitcom "One Foot In The Grave", where Victor Meldrew thinks he's died and gone to heaven, and he asks a man he thinks must be God, to tell him why He doesn't make packets of Rich Tea Biscuits easier to open?
So, Kevin, this was your moment too! Why didn't you ask Geoff.....
1. Why do you want such a big house with massive rooms and just a few sticks of furniture dotted about, when you're living entirely on your own?
2. Why do you want such a big dining-table with far too many chairs round it?
3. Why do you want sofas to seat a dozen people, sofas that are so deep that you can't sit comfortably on them?
4. Why do you want wooden floors with no carpets, so that every sound echoes?
5. Why do you want these massive windows that will be impossible to keep clean?
WHY, JUST ANSWER ME!
21:30 Lois and I discuss the programme, and try to figure out why there are never any answers. And I suddenly remember - didn't even Larry David had trouble opening a packet of Rich Tea Biscuits in that old episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"?
Larry David struggles to open a packet of Rich Tea Biscuits
in season 7 of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
What a crazy world we live in !!!!!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!
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