Sunday

Event

There was a big event going on in town this morning so all the swimmers decided that we would meet a bit earlier so that we could avoid the mayhem. This fitted into our plans as we needed to get back to the house this morning.

Swim

The water had been churned up after yesterday’s storm and that made it a bit like swimming into a thick green mist. The storm had all but gone so there were only a few ripples, it all made for a pleasing swim to the tree and back.

Late

We returned home to pick up Mum and Dad so that we could drop them at the railway station. I’d not looked at the paperwork but felt we would have them there in plenty of time. We arrived to find that the staff had been waiting for them and that we should have had them there at least half an hour ago. They were fast tracked though check in and driven to their sleeper compartment in a little golf buggy. A few minutes later the train pulled out of the station and we waved them goodbye. A few minutes later the train came back into the station to pick up the rest of the carriages on the other platform. We didn’t wave goodbye again.

Pies

We returned to an empty home, whilst it’s nice to have guests, it’s lovely when they have gone and we have the place to ourselves. We had picked up some pies on the way home and we ate them with a cup of tea whilst sitting out in the garden and appreciating the quiet of a Sunday afternoon.

Nap

There were lots of things we could have done but an afternoon nap seemed like the best thing. I like a sleep after swimming as it restores my balance. When I woke up I felt as if only a few minutes had passed but in reality, I’d been asleepmuch longer.

Weeds

The sun and rain had provided ideal growing conditions for the weeds out the front. Loved One had been mentioning them for about a week now so it seemed the ideal time to deal with them. Armed with a Dutch Hoe and the green bin I set about removing anything green from underneath our juvenile fruit trees. Loved One couldn’t resist expanding the task to a few more of the common areas that she felt needed attention. She even roped in a few neighbours to help.

Patties

Loved One made some curried lamb patties for tea, made to an old family recipe that she guessed at as she couldn’t find it in the book. We had them with a big salad and a range of homemade chutneys. We both agrees that the lime chutney was the one to have with curried things.

Drinks

We cleared away and made everything tidy, then sat on the sofa to while away the evening watching telly and sipping whisky.

Saturday

Rain

I woke up to the sound of rain pounding on the roof and wind whistling around the house. This didn’t bode well for this morning’s ride. I looked at the clock and realised that it was far too early to be worrying about things like that and went back to sleep. It wasn’t quite as bad when the alarm went off so I fortified myself with a cup of tea and headed off to the meeting point safe in the knowledge that I’d probably be the only one.

Ride

One other person turned up and he was very keen to do the route I’d laid out so we headed off into the hills. Today, I’d planned to climb up to the bollards. It’s a long steady climb that is usually very popular but the wind and the rain earlier had put people off. We had the road almost to ourselves. We were only passed once by a whippet thin girl with legs like pistons, she was on her second ascent and left us standing. She passed us again when we were nearer the top, she was descendingready for her third ascent.

Top

Although the climb finished at the bollards, the climbing didn’t we were heading for the highest hill so that we could take the obligatory selfie to post on the club site. There were rules about this sort of thing and we didn’t want to be made fun of over coffee later.

Descent

The great thing about being at the highest point is that everything is downhill from there. After putting all the effort into getting there is was wonderful to almost freewheel all the way to the café. The wind may have been in our faces but gravity was the stronger force today.

Café

We had expected a few to turn up at the café but we found we were the only ones. We had our hot drinks and second breakfast whilst discussing the state of the world and then went our separate ways.

Park

The plan for the afternoon was to take Mum and Dad to a wildlife park so that they could stroke Kangaroos and cuddle Koalas. There were other animals to see too but the visit was centred around those two activities. We slowly wandered roundthe park peering into enclosures and trying to spot the animal. I’m sure the enclosures had labels but we just didn’t see them. We just had to guess what the animals were called.

Cellar

As we still had plenty of time and we all fancied a cup of tea we decided that we really should visit the local wine estate for afternoon tea and a wine tasting. We arrived in the café and felt slightly under-dressed. There were a number of groups there who had clearly been there for lunch and had chosen extensively from the wine list. We settled for a pot of tea with cheese and biscuits.

Tasting

Once our pallets were ready we moved to the cellar door for a tasting. Mum and Dad don’t do red wines as a rule but they tried one or two just to confirm that they didn’t like them. The white wines were more their thing, right up to the point they noticed that the last two wines were actually ports. They like port, they like it a lot.

Roast

Loved one prepared a lamb roast for the evening meal. It was meant to be a Sunday roast but Mum and Dad will not be here tomorrow so we had to do it on Saturday instead.

Friday

Dominance

There was a battle for dominance of the duvet during the night and I have a feeling that the cats won as I woke up teetering on the edge of the bed. Loved One was pressed against me whilst the cats were claiming possession of the remainder of the bed. This didn’t make for a good start of the day.

Ride

I met the others in the usual place for the usual Friday ride down to the coast. The sun rise is now getting obviously earlier so I could turn some of my lights off within a few moments of starting the ride. It was a lovely ride down aided by the wind but coming back was a little harder. Despite the wind I enjoyed the ride and would have liked to stay at the café rather than heading off immediately as I had to get ready for work.

Breakfast

Mum was in the kitchen when I got home and handed me a weak cup of tea that had far too much milk in it. I was happy to accept it whilst I dived into a bowl of plums and yoghurt to replace the calories I’d just used.

Meetings

Two of the three meetings I had in my diary for this morning were cancelled within five minutes of me arriving at work. The third one was meant to have five attendees and only on turned up. I couldn’t be bothered to chase up the others. I’d decided by this point that I will be working at home during the afternoon.

Podcast

I filled the rest of the morning by listening to a podcast. I wasn’t particularly interested in the content but it was convenient background noise to blot out the tediousness of being in the office.

Zoo

I got home to find that Mum and Dad had been to the zoo today. They told me all about it, I was jealous, I would have much preferred going to the zoo than being stuck in an office.

Quiet

We were all quite tired this evening so we spent a quiet night in.

Thursday

Early

Loved One had to get to work early today as some of her colleagues were away. She had obviously been worried about sleeping through the alarm as she had set two alarms on her phone plus the two radio alarms. Sleeping in this morning was not an option.

Meeting

I had one meeting this morning, it lasted for less than 5 minutes and required about 10 minutes of follow up. I managed to make that fill the entire morning. It left me with a feeling of emptiness

Walk

I needed to get out at lunchtime, I needed to get some cash as well, this was the perfect excuse to wander over to the shopping centre the long way. I came back via the even longer way. I was not inspired to actually be there in anything but body.

Numbers

The afternoon was slightly more interesting in that I had to sit through a meeting that reviewed a spreadsheet that had hardly changed since the last time I looked at it. This was followed by another few minutes meeting and a lot of listening to podcasts. I could have been at home, no one would have missed me.

Spin

I got home and was presented a cup of tea by mum, then I felt that I needed something to eat as I’d not had lunch. I had intended to get on the trainer for a bit of sweaty fitness training but sitting chatting to Mum and Dad about their day seemed like a better option.

Late

Loved One rang to say that she was going to be a late home as she had been held up at work. She was going to drop into the butcher on the way home so there wasn’t much I could do to get ready for tea apart from peel potatoes.

Schnitzels

We had schnitzels with mashed potatoes and a big salad for tea. It was simple to make and very tasty. Mum and Dad hardly ever have schnitzels so it was a newish experience for them as well.

Tired

Mum and Dad were tired after their visit to the Botanical Gardens, Wine centre and Art Gallery so they didn’t last long past nine in the evening. I was quite thankful for that as it gave me the perfect excuse to gravitate towards bed. Loved One had different ideas. There was washing to hang out and plants to water. I eventually crawled into bed at something past ten.

Wednesday

Ride

I got up at early o’clock to go for a ride with the club. I was quite glad of the extra sleep last night. There were a fair few people at the meeting point. One of them commented that I was wearing more clothes now than I had in the winter. I didn’t really want to explain exactly why as it had a lot to do with habit and laziness. The ride headed off down the highway and despite my feeble efforts to stay at the back I was soon on the front of the peloton taking a big turn. This was probably a mistake. Once we got to the coast the wind hit us and made the peddling a lot harder. The people on the front were taking shorter turns and it became obvious that I’d be taking another turn. At the end of my turn I felt a little spent and lost contact with the bunch. Taking turns was not a good strategy for hanging on. Three of us cut the ride short and headed back whilst the fast boys and girls disappeared into the distance. The return journey was at a slightly gentler pace and much more acceptable. We got back to the café before the fast boys caught us. That is always a good thing.

Breakfast

I got home at a reasonable time and then procrastinated over breakfast and getting ready for work. I could have been on time but I managed to make myself very late. No one noticed.

Podcasts

I whiled away the morning listening to podcasts and drinking tea. I must have devoted at least ten minutes to actual work. To say that this is becoming tedious would be an understatement. I rather resent being bored all the time and I feel that I’m falling into a pit of apathy as I now don’t want to do the little I have.

Stroll

I took a stroll to the shopping centre at lunchtime mainly to get out of the office and to buy an anniversary card for my parents. I bumped into the woman from the fruit shop and she took a while to recognise me in my work clothes. I didn’t think that I looked that different but then she has only ever seen me in my scruffy clothes.

Work

The afternoon at work was much the same as the morning only with the added excitement of a webpage not working and having to get support. There is nothing better for wasting time than talking to support. They have to go through everything step by step and there is no way to short cut the process, I gave up trying that a long time ago and just let them tread the long and winding path to the solution knowing that they probably regard me as a completely incompetent person as their knowledge of this specific area is much greater than mine.

Home

I slipped home early today, no one noticed, in fact the office was almost empty so a lot of people were obviously slipping off early too. I got home to find that my parents had what they class as an easy day. They had strolled to the shopping centre, bought a few supplies and then walked home. They had spent the rest of the day sitting around and reading. It sounded like a perfect day to me.

Mexican

We had decided to go out for a meal this evening to celebrate Mum and Dad’s anniversary and Loved One had booked us into a very up market Mexican restaurant. Loved One and I had been there before so we knew what to expect. We ordered the banquet as it gave us a chance to sample nearly everything on the menu in small portions. The food just kept on coming. I think that each of us had a different favourite. For Dad it was the lamb whereas for me it was the soft-shelled crab burrito. Mum and Dad loved the restaurant and the food.

Whisky

Every good evening ends with a small whisky and this evening was no different.

Tuesday

Rising

Both of us had to go to work this morning so there were a lot of slothful attempts to get out of bed. Neither of us were too keen to get going this morning, Me because I didn’t have much to do and Loved One as it was essentially her first day back at work since the operation (Friday didn’t really count).

Walk

I eventually started the stroll to work complete in the knowledge that I would be late at that absolutely no one would notice. It felt a little soul destroying and didn’t fill me with enthusiasm for the work.

Podcasts

I spent the morning listening to podcasts whilst typing meaningless junk into my computer. There were one or two things that had to be done but they took less than five minutes. I felt that I was just wasting my time

Lunch

I wasn’t intending to go home for lunch but by the time lunchtime came around I didn’t want the be in the office anymore. I strolled home and had a glorious half an hour of drinking a cup of tea and doing a few bits and pieces that I wanted to do. It took a massive amount of self-control to force myself to go back, I only went as I’d left all my things at the desk, if I’d taken it with me I would have had no hesitation in staying at home.

Meetings

My entire afternoon was taken up with listening to people on the phone. The first session was a long and tedious review of a set of slides. This was followed by listening to someone explain what needed to happen after the previous meeting to produce a report. I should have been listening carefully as I was meant to be doing this next week but I wasn’t that interested in much of the process. At the end of the calls I felt so disengaged with the entire process and company.

Summary

I got home to find my parents sitting of the sofa drinking tea. They had been for a guided tour of the Botanic Gardens today and had thoroughly enjoyed it. They had then gone to an art gallery and they were not that impressed. The main feature of the day seemed to be getting onto the correct busses

Dinner

Loved One looked very tired when she got home from work. She had had a long day and been informed that for the next few days she would be on her own. This didn’t do anything to her state of mind. She insisted on cooking dinner even though the tiredness made her emotional. She created chicken marinated in honey soy and served it with broccoli, mashed potatoes, spinach and tomatoes. It was absolutely wonderful.

Tired

Loved One did not want to go to bed as it wasn’t after ten o’clock so she sat on the sofa and fell asleep instead. Eventually she gave up and went to bed. It was a long way before Ten but that didn’t seem to matter.

Monday

Reluctance

I wasn’t in any mood to go to work this morning. I tried to stay in bed until the last possible moment and then stayed a little longer. There was no one clocking me in and very little to do so it seemed rather pointless to don a suit and actually sit there whilst a lovely day happened outside without me. Eventually I got myself ready and headed in a work direction only to realise halfway that I’d forgotten my wallet. This was a problem as I wouldn’t now be able to have my mid-morning cup of tea. This was not a good start to the week.

Meeting

Loved One and I had planned to take Mum and Dad for lunch today so I’d blocked out some time in my diary to stop anyone trying to arrange a lunch time meeting. What I hadn’t realised was that Loved One had organised the Lunch from one till two. Someone had put a meeting in my diary for two. I now had to cut short the lunch.

Realisation

It dawned on me on the way to lunch why I was hating my job so much at the moment. Not only was there very little to do, I now had no one to work with. The entire team had been assigned to different projects and I had little by little picked up all the remaining bits and pieces. This left me in an office surrounded by strangers with nothing in common with any of them as they were all working on different things. I might as well be at home for all the interaction I get during the day. In fact, working at home would be far more preferable as I wouldn’t be surrounded by a whole host of people nattering on about things I have no interest in.

Lunch

Loved One picked me up and we headed towards town, only to turn round as she had forgotten all her cards. We arrived at the restaurant a lot later than we intended and this meant that I didn’t have too much time to join in with the conversation. Most of the people there where at our wedding so it was nice to see them all again. I was disappointed that I had to leave so early.

Handover

The meeting went on for most of the afternoon and concerned the handing over of the last remaining tasks. I felt by the end of it that I’d been demoted to an administration assistant and that didn’t do anything for my state of mind.

German

I arrived at German to find that it was only me at the tutor. We both decided that just having a chat for the lesson would be much more instructive and then the others arrived and that plan was dashed. The annoying couple in the front row carried on being annoying and I puzzled over the complexities of German grammar.

Soup

I got home to a frustrated Loved One, she had been trying to organise my Mother and I suspect that my mother was trying to organise her. That is a sure path to frustration. Loved One had prepared our usual Monday meal of soup with cheese on toast. Mum and Dad didn’t need anything else as the had had a big meal at lunch time but that didn’t stop them having a helping of crumble and ice cream for dessert.

Sunday

Beach

We’d given Mum and Dad the option of coming with us to the beach this morning but felt that they would probably sleep in. I was quite surprised to see then up and ready to go. We met up with the swimmers in the club, once we were ready we all strolled down to the sea for a little splash about. Loved One strolled with Mum and Dad along the shore watching us fight against the current. It was a lovely swim and I felt that I could have gone further.

Breakfast

We all met up in the surf club for breakfast. We had warned Mum and Dad about the size of the portions and I think that they were quite glad that they had heeded our advice. They split one of the big breakfasts in two and that was enough for them. We introduced them to the swimmers whilst they had breakfast.

Drive

We took a drive along the coast to show them I little more of the area. We stopped at the beach before the deep-water channel for a stroll about on an almost deserted beach before carrying on into the port to look at the port river and the port area. Once done we headed back home.

Sleep

After a morning of strolling and sightseeing Mum and Dad needed a little nap. The jet lag was still working its way out of their systems so they were having bouts of sudden tiredness. We needed them to be awake for the afternoon’s entertainment.

Football

Mum hardly ever watches sport, in fact, she complains about the amount of sport that Dad watches. We disguised the fact that we were going to watch a football match by telling her that we were going to visit the Oval. She may have worked out what was going on when we gave her a team scarf and Jacket. I think they both enjoyed the match even though they didn’t really know what was going on. Luckily there were plenty of people around who were willing to voice exactly what the players should have been doing and how the game should be played. We made sure that they had the full football experience by having a pie at half time. Although it didn’t seem like they would at times Loved One’s team managed to take the win and will now be in the Grand Final in a few weeks’ time. I feel that we will be visiting the Oval again soon.

Salad

We had planned on fish and chips for tea but Mum wasn’t keen. We had salad and cold meats instead.

Sofa

We gathered round the telly and watched Mum slowly fall asleep. Dad woke her a few times and then persuaded her that it was time for bed. Loved One and I stayed up a little longer and fell asleep on the sofa.

Saturday

Ride

I had a feeling that not many people would be on the ride this morning and I was right. I was the only one there. I could have gone on the ride on my own but going home for breakfast seemed a much better idea. I stopped at a bakery on the way to pick up some bread. I stuffed it into my cycling jersey and it made me look like a fat man on a bike

Eggs

There were some signs of life when I got back to the house. It was a lovely morning so we decided to have breakfast outside. I knocked together some poached eggs on toast. We sat in the sun and the cool breeze and planned the day.

Pass

We had to make a quick trip into town so that we could pick up a few bit and pieces. The main objective was to get mum and dad a bus pass. What we hadn’t realised is that the travel centre didn’t open till a bit later. We killed time by wandering along the main shopping street and doing a little window shopping. Mum was very taken by the opal shops.

Bus

The plan for the day was to go to the agricultural show. The bus ran directly there so it was pointless to take the car and struggle with the overpriced parking. We arrived a little later than we had intended as Mum and Dad needed an afternoonnap but that didn’t spoil the enjoyment.

Dogs

We started with the dogs as Loved One used to show her dogs at the show. Many had gone home but the retired greyhound trust hadn’t. Mum likes greyhounds, she likes them a lot. She misses her old greyhound and burst into tears when she was confronted with lots of young greyhounds.

Racing

We bumped into the pig racing. We watched as four pigs ran at great speed round a small course, cheered on by the large crowd of mainly little children. As a finale they had flying pigs, they pig ran up a ramp and then leapt into a pool of water. It was definitely a spectacle and one that Mum and Dad would have never seen before

Sheep

We visited the sheep, there weren’t that many left to view. Here we discovered just how big Marino sheep are. They are huge.

Pigs

There is something about a baby pig that makes the heart melt. The pig hall contained row upon row of little pink pigs suckling their mothers. They were all surrounded by a mass of dewy eyed people looking on.

Samples

Now that we had seen the animals we moved onto the food tents. Many of the stalls were very generous with their samples and we took full advantage by trying anything that we were offered. We worked our way through cured meats, wine, cheese and various preserves. I stopped after a sample of the ghost chilli chutney. I couldn’t actually taste anything after that.

Fireworks

The evening ended with a firework display. Seven minutes of booms and bright flashes later it was over and we walked away satisfied. Loved One likes a good firework display.

Friday

Early

We had to get up early this morning as we were meeting my parents from the first plane into the airport. This meant that the alarm went off at a ridiculously early time and we had to attempt to move from the warm and comfortable sleepiness of the bed to the stark reality of a hardly awake world.

Red

It felt like we were stopped at every red light there was between our house and the airport. The fact that nothing was coming the other way and we were just sitting there looking at an empty road just added to the rising paranoia that the office of inconsequential delays had targeted us today.

Airport

We had timed our journey so that we wouldn’t have to wait for too long based on our experiences of landing and going through customs. What we hadn’t accounted for is for my parents being the first off of the first plane of the day and beingprocessed so quickly. I found them sitting on a bench waiting for me.

Tea

We whisked them through town, Loved One was in full flow as a tour guide whilst Mum and Dad looked sleepily out of the windows. We got home and filled them full of tea. It seemed the best way to keep them awake.

Meeting

I felt like it was the middle of the day as I wandered to work and I had no doubt that the early start would catch up on me sooner or later. I found that a meeting had been arranged to discuss the work I was meant to be doing and how it was going to be split. The upshot of the meeting was that I would be doing everything. I’ve long since lost any engagement with the job. It’s just become a tedious series of trivial tasks that I do for money. I accepted my fate and started plotting how better I could use my time between the bout of pretending to be enthusiastic.

Bread

I gave up pretending at just gone midday and went home. I set up the computer so I could be contacted and then chatted with Mum and Dad for a while. They had been for a short stroll down by the river this morning and then eaten all of thefresh bread for lunch. They were now ready for an afternoon nap. They asked me to wake them a little later as there was every danger that they would sleep on into the night.

Hills

Loved One returned from work a little early so we decided that we should take Mum and Dad for a drive into the hills so that they could see the sunset over the city. We took the long route up the twisting roads to get the full effect of climbing into the hills.

Pasta

We arrived at the lookout in time to see the bright orange sun hang in the sky over the sea. There were a few other people enjoying the view and taking pictures. This included a young couple who seemed to be taking pictures of a packet of pasta with the views as a back drop. It was very strange. As the sun went down the city lights started to twinkle.

Wallaby

Mum was thrilled at the slight of her first wallaby. She stood within a few meters of it as it placidly ate grass on the edge of the path. It was obviously used to the passage of people and to posing for photographs. We made our way back down to the city by the scenic way. The road swung round to give dramatic views of the lights below. I have a feeling that Mum and Dad were gently falling asleep.

Dinner

Loved One put together a light meal of Salmon and salad, it was getting late and Mum and Dad had had a long day. They went to bed soon after and within minutes we heard the sound of snoring coming from their bedroom.