It's almost Saturnalia

Let Misrule Rule.

Well, this term has gone by pretty quickly. We go down on Friday although judging by the campus and Uni Quarter this morning it seems like a mass of undergrads have vanished into the ether already. We are spending the night at home on Friday then heading to Tallentire for Christmas (or Saturnalia) with Dad, Louisa and Chloé on Saturday morning (21st).

I have done two things I didn't think I would ever do this term:

Eins: Had a 2nd wedding celebration (vow renewal actually) for the UK contingent und
Zwei: I have been on Strike! 8 Days of industrial action as a member of the UCU (University and College Union).

For nummer eins we had Reinhardt over from Germany, which was a huge surprise. Sadly, we hadn't enough beds (or space) in any of our collective houses for him and Gritta (his wife) so they ended up staying in a hotel. The first I knew of this was Dad saying, "Book two more places at the meal," (when we got back from Aus) but he wouldn't say who they were for.

Imagine my surprise when we saw Reinhardt's delivery van (it's an Opel, like an Astravan) pulling down our driveway on the Thursday evening before the bun fight. It was full of wine - Dad's usual order; Phil's usual order and my usual order. The difference this time [apart from Dad and I driving down to Cochem] was that Reinhardt told me to put away my check book, the 3 dozen cases were our wedding present - that's German cases BTW.

Gran stayed with Mum as expected and we had a long, serious, private chat about the upper age limit for safe IVF - I think she would love to have grandkids from me too... She never actually said that though. [Oh Gran, I don't think I want to be a Mum....]

The meal was a lunch - at about one pm, an hour after the vow renewal which happened in a annexe to the same hall... The choice of the double use venue was appreciated by everybody.

Dad and Laura's Dad gave father of the Bride speeches having tossed a coin to see who would go first.

There was obviously no best man but Charlotte (Kaybers) did a 'best woman' speech instead. She has known me since we started school together aged 4! Fortunately she didn't reveal any of my skeletons and believe me she could have if she'd wanted...

We decamped at 3.30 pm back to Mum's house which is a fair bit bigger than mine to then reconvene at the same hall for 7.30 where the Ceilidh band had set up. All of the vow renewal guests came back as did about 40 of the friends and colleagues (and students) we'd invited for the evening bash.

Some were gobsmacked at the idea of a Ceilidh (at first) but after a few dances almost everyone ended up on the floor whirling around, stripping the willow and dosey-doeing  etc etc. They'll all remember Shona and Laura's weddingish thingy whatsit, that;s for sure (that's how most people pronounce my name, BTW).

Part of the success was down to the woman caller who was clear and precise in her instructions - and explanations before each dance began. When they had a mid-evening break and put on a CD you  could almost touch the disappointment. Even my dickheaded brother had to admit it was not only as unusual as he'd expected an event organised by me to be, he'd thoroughly enjoyed the dancing too...

I had to sit down to get over the shock.


Nummer zwei: der STREIK.

I signed up to a Union in order to have legal protection against spurious claims against me of a personal or professional nature, Someone said it was a good idea, Mum agreed having been in the NUT ever since she qualified in the early 1970's as a teacher...

I abstained in the strike ballot but we (fellow abstainers) were persuaded to go along with supporting the action as it had something like  70% support. I spoke to the Union rep and asked if it was OK to still see my Masters' candidates and Year Threes and she agreed that would be OK. I also said I would help man the Student Support office in the Students' Union for the duration of the action - which I did.

It was a bit weird as the place was sort of like a vacation campus but not quite. There were a lot of students milling about for most of the days and I got taken out for a cuppa by a few of my freshers and second years, especially once they realised I was helping out in student support...

I only actually did 6 days of the 8 as two of those were when I work at the solicitors. I am still not sure if it has actually achieved anything, to be honest, but if it makes the people who award salaries cut back the eye-wateringly inflated sums Uni Chancellors seem to be getting, that has to be a good thing...

However I feel a sort of solidarity with workers everywhere now, as I have been involved in 'Industrial Action' against my employers.

A few verses of "The Red Flag" anyone?

Australian vacation - July (plus a smidgeon of June)

A selection of happenings during our stay.

27th June. Arrived 20 minutes early. Picked up by Annabelle (Bella) and whizzed first to Swanview Gardens to dump our gear and then to S&P's for a meal. Barry & Sally were there too. Drove back to SG in Dad's car Bella stayed at home, being discrete maybe?

28th June First visit to Freo Markets (on Dad's electric bikes). Went to Aqua Life for a 3 month pass. Stocked up with supplies.

1st July. Chilled until Sunday night then Rotto for the week (managed to get Fitzhardinge, Yaaay!) Usual touristy sight seeing things all week. Pretty cold though. One day it was only 14 degrees! Brrr.

5th July. S & P Anchored the yacht in Thomson Bay (nominal fee as they have an anchorage in Stark Bay). They'd brought Dhufish for the evening meal. First one of our visit... Rah rah and indeed rah!

6th July. Diving on the wreck of the City of York. Sea really, really clear. It had an archaelogical grid affair laid out over it. No idea why and Jill was no help either. (She works for DPaw so might have known.) Afterwards went diving for clams (masses) and crays (none at all) in Catherine Bay. Another meal on the yacht.

7th July. Diving again this time on the Lady Elizabeth. Water much warmer than Saturday (we were on the south of the island). Caught masses of yabbies for the evening meal. There were absolute hordes of people on the island - first weekend of the two week mid winter break so only to be expected.

8th July. Rotto Ferry backto Freo the cycled back back to Swanview Gardens. Grocery shop then off to the Concert Hall to collect our tickets for the concerts and theatre we'd booked, then down to collect our luggage from B Shed - the Rotto Ferry point.

Here are Ms J-S & Ms T's cultural activities selection:

July 21st (Sun)
Perth Concert Hall

Proms night (in the afternoon):

WALTON Crown Imperial
HANDEL arr. HARTY Water Music: selections
JOHN RUTTER For the Beauty of the Earth   
RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN You’ll Never Walk Alone
COATES The Dambusters March
KARL JENKINS Benedictus from The Armed Man
RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN The Sound of Music: Climb Ev’ry Mountain     
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Wasps Overture
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a theme of Greensleeves
LOEWE My Fair Lady: Ascot Gavotte
LOEWE My Fair Lady: I Could Have Danced All Night
WOOD Fantasy on British Sea Songs
arr. SARGENT Rule, Britannia
PARRY Jerusalem
ELGAR Pomp and Circumstance No.1 ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ 
******************************************************
August 2nd*  (Fri )

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.4
BRUCKNER Symphony No.6

Simone Young conductor
Javier Perianes piano
******************************************************
August 16th* (Fri)
Perth Concert Hall.

ELGAR Violin Concerto
BRAHMS Symphony No.2


Asher Fisch conductor
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider violin

*******************************************************
August 25th* (Sun)

BEETHOVEN Fidelio: Overture
BEETHOVEN Fidelio: Abscheulicher! wo eilst du hin?
MAHLER Blumine
STRAUSS, R. Four Last Songs
WAGNER Tannhäuser: Entrance of the Guests
WAGNER Tannhäuser: Dich, teure Halle
STRAUSS, R. Salome: Dance of the Seven Veils
STRAUSS, R. Salome: Final scene

Gun-Brit Barkmin soprano
Asher Fisch conductor

*******************************************************
August 30th* (Fri)

MENDELSSOHN Ruy Blas: Overture
SCHUMANN Piano Concerto
STRAUSS. R. Don Juan
STRAUSS. R. Death andTransfiguration

Nikolaj Znaider conductor
Asher Fisch piano
******************************************************
September 21st (Sat)

His Majesty's Theatre
Giselle
WA Ballet

7.30pm
*******************************************************


The August concerts were co-sponsored by Uncle Alex and Aunt Chris we were asked to be meeters and greeters at all four!

Also arranged to go and stay with Jill in Geraldton for a few days - arriving mid-arvo on the 11th.

July 9th & 10th. Into Perth shopping (Lindt shop mainly fort pressies for Jill and Alex & Chris). Went for a meal at A&C's in Baldivis. Then across to S&P's where we had so much collapsing juice we had to spend then night. Suze took us to Aquajetty for our morning swim the next morning - a great hangover cure - NOT.

11th July. Geraldton is 420Km from Dad's (OK just over). We decided to use State Route 60 as it sort of follows the coast. We were up before dawn to avoid the rush (6am) and there wasn't any! ! Bloodty lazy lot these Okkers, eh?

We stopped at Jurien Bay for a late breakfast / early lunch. I wanted to stop here because of the weather forecast. The presenter gives coastal waters predictions and one of the areas is Jurien Bay to Mandurah. (Mandurah is much nicer, btw...) Got there early so visted Jill at work in the brand spanking new DPaW building on the waterfront, to get the key. On her arrival she'd brought takeaway.

Her unit is in a terrace that, madly, runs between two roads, not along side one road as usual. It's the end one on Simpson Street - overlooking the Indian Ocean - where we were head on Friday.

12th July. Up with larks (or even before) to get the DPaw boat out to the Abrolhos Islands. 4 hours out and 4 hours back for just 2 and a bit hours on the island. It was worth it though. Tourists aren't allowed and it is a small archaepalago which makes Rottnest look huge! We were allowed on the way marked paths while Jill gathered up the crew who been here all week. They were doing a non-indigenous predator removal programme - it's an on going thing.

The reefs looked really amazing. I bet they'd make great diving. One of the guys told us they were a great location for WA Dhufish, my favourite fish meal ever. Shame we didn't have time to catch one...

Back at Simpson by 6pm to a gorgeous smell of cooking stew. I offered to make some dumplings nut had to go and buy suet and flour!

15th July. We watched the cricket world cup final at Jill's. It started at 4.30pm and went on to 2am. Jill gave up at midnight but we watched to glorious and surprising end. Rah, rah rah England! We didn't get up to see Jill go to work. The annoying thing about the final was Dad being at Lord's to watch. He had hope the Aussies would be finalists but when he bought the ticket it was months before the first ball had been bowled. Jealous Much!

16th & 17th July. Went to Kalbari and had two nights at Kalbari sea front villas. It does what it says on the tin.  On Wednesday did the whole of the Loop walk which was really enjoyable.

On both nights we had our evening meals at the Gilgai Tavern - recommended by the people at the Sea Front Villas. Seafood platter (sharing) on Tuesday and steaks on Wednesday night. The booze was a bit expensive ($8 for a glass of wine - large glass) but the food was excellent and not as expensive as the drink prices would have suggested...

It got a bit rowdy over in the bar side but the restaurant was more civilised. We went into the bar and had a couple of games of pool and then got challenged by a couple of guys who failed to pick up our lesbian vibe. 

Best of three, we won the first so they insisted on best of three, we aced that too winning 2-1. Close but fun. We got the 'you are too beautiful to be lesbians' line from the two guys. But they were quite harmless. They bought us a couple more glasses of wine as our winnings and went on to have a more raucous game with their mates...

19th July. Back at Dad's. We drove down highway 1 instead of the coast road and did the journey to E Shed car park in 3½ hours. We drove straight to Freo to have lunch with Heidi at the Monk on South Terrace opposite Freo Market. She is my former colleague at Myers Department Store in 2005/06 and 2009/10. 

We keep in touch via e-mail and occasional Skype. She's now assistant store manager at David Jones, Garden City (that's in Booragoon, between Bicton where Suze and Pete used to live and Hurlingham where Dad's flat is). DJs is one of the 'posher' stores in WA.

She'd booked a terrace table for 1.30 but we were there easily by 1pm. Parked up at just after noon at E shed and had done all our shopping - and market visiting by 1.

Had a good old catch up gossip and got an invite to her place near Bibra Lake for one night the following week. It's at Lachlan Way (maybe name after General McQuarrie) and is opposite a nice green space and stand of trees. Wed or Thurs depending on her other half... She was moved to Myers in Perth with the promise of promotion in 2015 but it fell through so she skipped back to Freo at the end of that year. In 2017 after being promised promotion but being thwarted again she got the job at DJs.

Lunch was good. I had the langoustines which were so succulent. We decided we'd better do a week's worth food shop on the way back to Dad's. We stopped at our local outlet, Meadow Vale and bought a mountain of fresh stuff and and a dozen bottles from Vintage Cellars - can't keep quaffing all of Dad's Penfolds, now, can we?

21st July. The Proms weren't quite proms.

There was a packed house for a 2pm start but we had a major, major, major disappointment - there was no walking about, promenade area at the front a la Albert Hall. Boo and indeed Hoo!

We decided not to posh frock it in the end and were glad, people had mad cossies on and they were selling hats, streamers, whistles, scarves and items on sticks for the audience. I bought a cardboard crown hat (Shades of Bon Jovi's "These Days" not a styrofoam crown though...) and Loll bought opera glasses on a stick. We also bought tinsel scarves.

The songs from shows were not cheesy at all - I was so worried they would be. The singer was a pucker opera diva, Jacqueline Dark, whose last opera gig was also in Australia.

They opened with Walton's "Crown Imperial" and closed with "P & C no 1" with obligatory audience singalong - sadly the programme had the words printed in it! Land of hope and Glory, indeed!

We took the Mends Street ferry there and back, which was fun but definitely not something we'll do in our posh frocks for Uncle Alex's 4 sponsored concerts.

Oh BTW, more about Heidi. I forgot to mention, she wanted to meet because she has lost her job at David Jones. There has been a serious slump in posh department stores in WA and about 200 staff were made redundant last week (well, given notice - 3 months). They used a last in first out policy hence Heidi got the push. She's not fussed - she's already got another to step into once her notice is served.

23rd July. Swan River wine cruise. Have done it before. Wanted to sample new wines and enjoy the meal and company. Didn't buy any as we are off to Margaret River later to stock up... The Houghton AWB as delicious as usual.

24th July. Long bike ride around the Swan heading east first but then back on the north bank to King's Park, Lunch in the cafe there - Yummy as ever. Mum Skyped to show me how hot the UK was with Callie and Teela luxuriating under her air con unit to escape the heat wave. 34 degrees she had yesterday! Phewee Muskey.

26th July. Busy old day. Freo markets and shops in the morning. Visited the Maritime Museum on the banks of the Swan and found, on one of the displays, a photograph of Jill and a write up all about the non-indigenous predator removal programme on the Abrolhos... It is weird to see a rellie in a museum exhibit - especially as they aren't dead! I called her to tell her this. She was quite amused, I think.

After a food court lunch we headed over to Alex's to sort out arrangements for our meting and greeting. I can't see why he's worried, he runs a pretty big concern himself so organising this should be a doddle. I guess it has taken him out of his comfort zone a bit. It isn't as though he's the sole sponsor of the concerts there are a whole slew of them.

Suze & Pete joined us for the meal. I had a bet with Loll that they would ask why they haven't been invited to the events. They have never been to any of the Classical Music stuff we've attended whist over here in the past- which should be a pretty convincing reason by anyone's standards, don't you think? However, we are talking family here and noses being disjointed, so who can say what would happen? Not me, as it turned out because they never mentioned it at all (their not being invited, that is...)

Laura has had an e-mail from a bod at Sheffield Uni asking her if she'd be interested in working in the field of "Statistical Physics" when she completes her PhD. It is a new field of scientific research which she thinks sounds quite interesting. She has e-mailed back arranging a meeting for early October. It's all unofficial at the moment, more of a jungle telegraph type thing, I think.

She has been bogged down (her words) with Quantum Mechanics of Simple Systems for a while, which she is not enjoying. Professor M (from Bristol U) thought she might find Ted Davies' work on QM of SS interesting but she feels it's a dead end as far as her Maths goes...

It could be a 'watch this space' situation.

29th July. Bella is back, she came over to Swanview Gardens on Sunday (28th), Uni began again today. She spent the morning being a bit of a prima donna about us having Dad's car. I mean FFS, she has claimed the kid's clunker from Jeff, so he should be the stresshead, not her. The clunker is a 12 year old Corolla Ascent, which is in great nick, TBH.

Bella can't have been too stressed out with us, she had cooked one of Suze's old favourites for our meal when we got back after a jaunt round the shops in Perth - shepherd's pie. (I will avoid old jokes about where did she find the shepherds to put in the pie...)

31st July. We have just taken our bikes on the train to Mandurah. Caught it at Canning Bridge station and about 45 mins later we were at Mandy Station. Outside the station is a modern art installation which from some angles looks like a pair of testicles and a penis sharpened to a point!

The trip saved us 140 Km of cycling (there and back) but we did do about 45Km according to the on board computer, cycling round the town and across to Hall's Head and beyond.

I like Mandurah. It has a really attractive waterfront and feels a bit like the area of Perth where Dad's flat is... We had a meal in a café overlooking part of the Peel Inlet and watched dolphins in bay looking like they were herding fish.

August will be the next post... Don't hold your breath!

Marriage and Giselle. (Not a usual pairing..)

Sunday 22nd September.

Well, we did it. Laura and I tied the knot on Tuesday (17th).

As defined by the 2017 amendment, marriage in Australia is  'the union of 2 people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life' that is exactly what Laura and I did on Tuesday 17th September at 11 am on Rottnest Island, Western Australia. In a ceremony that had absolutely no mention of a deity of any kind or the word children.

C W, a marriage celebrant, lives in Swanview gardens [it's the block where Dad's apartment is.]. We had a chat with her some time ago (at the beginning of July) and she agreed that she could do the ceremony actually on Rottnest Island, on Tuesday 17th. It cost us $400 plus her travel costs to and from Rotto. We had to give a month's notice of intent to marry before we could go ahead in the end we had two months notice owing to C's other commitments.

Loll and I spent ages mulling over the pros and cons of doing it out here and decided there was no way we could get Suze, Alex and crew over to the UK without huge expense and upheaval. Plus, I owe my life to Suze (as mentioned elsewhere in these ramblings) so it is a brilliant way to show her much I love her for being the best sister on the planet.

We are now wife and wife. (That still sounds a bit weird, actually).

The guests were my sister, brother-in-law and their three kids; my Uncle Alex, Aunt Chris and their two kids Plus Suze's great chums Barry & Sally. Alex gave me away and Pete gave Laura away. Heidi (my old colleague and mentor from Myers) was over in NZ for a month and couldn't make it...

Owing to the fact it was early in the day Oz time and only 7pm UK time when we'd finished the ceremony we made about six conference Skypes to family and friends in Britain (and one to Norway) to spill the beans and invite everyone to a 2nd event in November. Those without Skype we e-mailed.

They all were thrilled, some not surprised but the best bit is all of them will be able to attend. Laura and I will put up Charlotte, Jan and little Hakan plus Dad, Louisa and Chloé. Mum is having Gran, Molly, Eric and Steven. Phil will drive down and back from Leeds for the day

Laura's two sisters and their families are going to book a couple of nights at a hotel.

Sara & Dave, Mrs Briggs & partner and Catherine & Heather (from Manchester) are all coming as are the key Scampi Tails quiz team members. 

We weren't sure what to do about Amelia but since we have all slept together it seemed churlish not to invite her too. She has agreed as well...

We had booked a space at Thomson's restaurant for the post nuptial scoff so, after the mega Skyping, we had a massive amount of sea food, steaks and 'neck oil' between us. We then trooped back to Fitzhardinge for a continuation of the quaffing.

Unknown to us S&P and A&C had booked Jackson and Timperley (the next two units to ours) for the night. We boozed until midnight in their units (as we had a neighbour in Parker - the second unit in our pair - and we didn't want to cause trouble.)

We left at midnight and, of course, consummated our marriage almost before we got through the door at Fitz h.

The next morning (Wednesday) I found a text from Phil saying I was a bit selfish, wasn't I? Then a second one apologising for the first one. He's not always a twat but it lurks under the surface.

Mum also called me on Wednesday at about 2pm our time. She had a second cry down Skype at me and to tell me she loved me and Laura. And... would I mind if she married Edward? I told her if she did what I had just done I'd kill her...  

We are now officially Ms T and Ms J-S. Yaay! We spent the rest of the week on Rotto finding quiet places to have al fresco sex as a married couple. It is the start of spring out her but Rotto is still pretty quiet so it was no problem find a suitable place to spread the groundsheet and then our legs...

When got back to Dad's apartment on Friday afternoon we found the mail box so stuffed with cards, notes and letters that Mr O'Connell had taken some out and put them in a box for us...

We spent Saturday saying a fond farewell to Freo market and shops (it only opens Fri, Sat Sun) and in the evening went to see Giselle. I am never sure whether to love the story or hate it. I love the idea of the Wilis tormenting the men who foresake their women but why the F  does Giselle not damn Albrecht. It doesn't make narrative sense to me.

The Giselle dancer Chihiro Nomura was excellent, as was Albrecht - at one point he did a lift so stunning it seemed to go on for ever and defy gravity. It produced spontaneous applause (not what you usually do mid routine).

Several of Uncle Alex's co-sponsors and guests from his concert season were there and we had heaps of congratulations from them on hearing of our nuptials. In fact we had so many drinks I think we may have been seriously over the limit on our way home. Luckily Alex drove us and Bella back to Swanview Gardens because he refused to let us get the ferry back to Mendes Street in case we fell overboard. To be honest Bella was more sozzled than Loll & I.

We had to put Bella to bed, which was no mean feat as she became the typical bendy, rubbery drunk.

Eventually we got her undressed (down to her knickers) and she started crying, saying stuff like, "Why did you have to get married? I'm so upset. That means you'll never sleep with me now..."

We've just got back from Sunday lunch at Suze & Pete's and are going to chill out for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow we are going to bottom out the flat so that Bella will have a nice clean place all to herself again on Tuesday.

I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly.

The problem with blogging

August 17th

The problem with blogging, especially when on vacation, it seems to me, is the fact that often-times nothing much is happening. Since the Dockers' defeat on Sunday to Alex's 2nd concert last night we have done a massive amount of not very much and sod all...

Dad bought a pair of Bosch electric bikes for when he, Louisa and Chloé came out for their trial living experiment. On returning to the UK he left the bikes with the unit. (Each one has a secure storage space - on to which Dad had a steel door added instead of the bog standard wooden one. Each bike cost about $4000!

These bikes are amazing. They will go up to 30mph - a ridiculously fast speed and have about a 45 mile range depending on how many hills you climb using full throttle (more if you just pootle along). We use the motors only for negotiating the bumps along the Swan.

This week we have pootled to places along the Swan. Down river to Freo, over to Heidi's place in Bibra Lake and up the Swan as far as Midland. We were really just divvying about really, testing the limits of their range and seeing how much of a problem traffic is. (Not much as it turns out.)

Every day we have been to Aqua Life, although one day the gym facilities weren't available for some reason. As we only ever use the pool there it made no difference to us but it made the car park really empty. A couple of mornings it was so chilly as we got to the pool the water was steaming slightly... That is quite surreal.

We had a serious chat with Bella about sex. She wants to make love to both of us (I am seriously concerned about this, as you can imagine), it's something she has stated on numerous occasions before. 

We told her that this has to be a total non-starter. I told her she is gorgeous and if I wasn't her aunt I would have no problem with indulging my / our predilections. While I am not sure of the legality of a same sex incestuous relationship I know in my head I just can't.

She sort of gets it and seemed content that we had aired all the possibilities and that we (Loll & I) were united in being adamantly against her suggestion. We actually quoted the line from the The Rolling Stones - "...you can't always get what you want..."

The 2nd concert was as successful as the first. More so, in that Alex wasn't like a cat on hot bricks all night. The Elgar violin concerto was much better received than the Brahms symphony. I was surprised at its inclusion - I would have thought no 4 would have been a much better bet than no 2.

We did our meet and greet much the same as last time, except that Laura wore her taupe mini dress which is a total stunner and one which she can't even lean forward in, never mind bend down and I had my cornflower blue skater dress which has a slightly more modest skirt length. Although unlike Laura's taupe number the flare on the dress means it is much more likely to flare up in sudden winds or quick movements. In order to titillate beyond belief I wore my flesh coloured knickers, guaranteed to cause a heart attack if my skirt flies high - as from a distance it looks like I haven't any on.

The buffet was denuded as much as before and the catering supervisor, Glynnis, had brought a different selection of desserts which were much more to my liking. I mean who really wants a huge lamingtons as an amuse bouche? She had brought tiny ones this time - about the size of four dice together. Yummy in my tummy.

Home well before midnight to discover the test had been rained off - 80 for 4 sounds like a good bowling effort by England though.

In a few hours we are all (well, all the women) are trooping along to the Optus stadium for the Dockers final home match of the season against Essendon. Their form over on the west coast has been quite dire over the last few seasons, so who knows. It is still a mathematical possibility that the Dockers could make the play-offs although Laura has done some number crunching and the probability is seriously high that they won't. 

Even Jill whizzed down from Geraldton for a long weekend to see the game. She cadged a seat in a private plane owned by one of her co-workers - the colleague isn't flying back until Wednesday so we have arranged to go in to the bush for a barbie on the Monday or Tuesday - depending on the weather. Mundaring weir has topped the poll so far.

Match report in my next blog, probably the middle of next week.

Yallingup and the hostess(es) with the mostest.

July 26th to August 12th

Spent the afternoon and evening of the 26th with Uncle Alex looking at the preparations for the concert sponsorship. For someone who runs a pretty big concern he's quite nervous about it. It isn't even as though he's the sole sponsor, there are a whole group of them.

We went over to his place at Baldivis for the afternoon and stayed for some scoff. Suze & Pete joined us for the meal. I had a bet with Loll that they will ask why they hadn't been invited to the events. They have never been to any of the Classical Music concerts we've attended whist over here - which should be a pretty convincing reason by anyone's standards, don't you think? However, we are talking family here and noses being disjointed, so who can say what will happen? [PS Lost the bet, they didn't ask.]

On the Saturday (27th) went to the Maritime Museum in Freo after our trip to the market and found an exhibit all about the non-indigenous predator removal programme from the Abrolhos Islands. Jill was in one of the photographs! It is really weird seeing your relation in a museum exhibit. The Abrolhos Islands are where she took us when we went up to Geraldton.

Laura has had an e-mail from a bod at Sheffield Uni asking her if she'd be interested in working in the field of "Statistical Physics" when she completes her PhD. It is a new field of scientific research which she thinks sounds quite interesting. She has e-mailed back arranging a meeting for early October. 

She has been bogged down (her words) with Quantum Mechanics of Simple Systems for a while, which she is not enjoying. Professor M (from Bristol U) thought she might find Ted Davies' work on QM of SS interesting but she feels it's a dead end as far as her Maths goes...

It could be a 'watch this space' situation.

Bella is back at Uni and being a bit of a prima donna about us having Dad's car. I mean FFS, she has claimed the clunker from Jeff, so he should be the stresshead, not her. (The clunker is an 11 year old Corolla Ascent.)

31st July

We have just taken our bikes on the train to Mandurah. Caught it at Canning Bridge station and about 45 mins later we were at Mandy Station. Outside the station is a modern art installation which from some angles looks like a pair of testicles and a penis sharpened to a point!

The trip saved us 140 Km of cycling (there and back) but we did do about 45Km according to the on board computer, cycling round the town and across to Hall's Head and beyond.

I like Mandurah. It has a nice waterfront and feels a bit like the area of Perth where Dad's flat is... We had a meal in a café overlooking part of the Peel Inlet and watched dolphins in bay looking like they were herding fish. When we got back La Bella nipote had cooked us a delicious cottage pie, she obviously has forgiven us cadging my Dad's car.

Friday 2nd Aug

Uncle Alex was in a panic about the concert this morning. We were at the hall this morning witnessing his mini-meltdown so we dragged him back here (Swanview Gardens) to chill out. He likes our outfits - tasteful and refined. Jersey dresses, about knee length with Roman legionary style leather sandals. My dress has vertical rainbow stripes and Laura's huge daisies. He gave us "Sponsor" badges so we didn't get mistaken for catering staff when we did our meet and greet. 

I am not sure how many people in the audience actually knew the Bruckner symphony at all. I thought the applause was far more restrained than for the Beethoven Piano Concert. Maybe that's just me being critical.

The hospitality event was a bit nerve-wracking as Alex was still so tense at first. We tried our best to charm every guest we spoke to.

I got collared by one guy who knows Alex really well and I was subjected to the third degree about his older brother (Dad). He was shocked that my Dad had a double First from Balliol and that he'd made his home in the UK. 

I guess I should have been speaking in my usual accent instead of sounding like a local [ I was copying my Dad's accent...]. I thought it would make for less explaining - why is a cut glass voiced English Sheila part of the hospitality? You know what I mean? I slipped into my Mum's voice and my usual one to try and illustrate my point. He laughed and called me a ventriloquist... [Doesn't work as a joke, does it? I didn't tell him that.]

I was later offered a seriously indecent suggestion by another one of the guests whom I told, "If you don't want my wine thrown in your face and me shouting 'How dare you?' at max volume, I suggest you shut your mouth and move away right now." He did.

Only briefly chatted with Simone and Javier they performed well, though. 

Afterwards we stayed for about 30 minutes for the aftershow where the orchestra were like a plague of locusts over the remaining food!

Sunday 4th Aug

We arrived at Yallingup an hour after admittance time, 3pm. We started by testing their free wi-fi. The Dunsborough Railway Carriages where we usually stay seems to have closed down. We couldn't raise anyone when we tried to book...  Took a walk down to canal rocks after getting on-line in our room.

Yallingup was one of the places we passed through on our Cape to Cape walk, 2 years ago. The Seashells Hotel is a nice one and it over looks the Indian Ocean, which is a bonus.

We booked the booze taxi to take us to our five cellar doors on the Monday. The plan is to go to ones we haven't visited before. We are going to use it again on Wednesday. Tuesday we are doing a circular walk based on part of the C2C walk. (Unless the weather's grotty...)

Found this about Yallingup. Can we pick 'em or what?

https://www.margaretrivermail.com.au/story/6311875/yallingup-named-australias-best-town/?cs=1429

Monday 5th Aug

We took a vineyard Cellar Door tour today. Visiting 5 vineyards and tasting their wines. Tomorrow we are doing the circular walk taking in part of the Cape to Cape trail. (We did the whole trail two years ago.) and then on Wednesday we are touring 5 more vineyards. We may swap this if the weather is inclement. 

Today's vineyards were: Credaro, Arimia, Marq, Swings & Roundabouts and Deep Wood. There is a taxi service which takes you from one cellar door to the next, giving you about an hour in each place. It means you aren't driving after boozing... 

We have deliberately chosen vineyards we haven't visited before. There are over 200 in the Margaret River region and over half have Cellar Doors - where you can go for a wine tasting and buy some. We bought one bottle of the wine we liked best from each place. On Friday Suze & Pete are driving down in their camper van and we are going to have a mass wine tasting of each of the wines we bought... They are staying until we leave on the Sunday. [Well that's the plan...]

Friday 9th Aug

Sorry for the multi day hiatus. It's currently about 2.45pm and we are awaiting the arrival of Suze & Pete in their camper van. They are going to help us taste the 10 bottles of wine we bought from the two days of sampling tonight and then tomorrow we have booked the taxi service again to take us to the vineyards three or four we liked the best. Plus we are putting in a serious buying trip to Happs - our favourite producer ever, on Commonage Road, Dunsborough. That will be done by driving ourselves there before heading back north.

Our 2nd wine day (Wednesday) got moved a day as we decided to go on another circular bush walk, because the weather was glorious. We walked the Ten Mile Brook Trail along the Margaret River itself to the 10 Mile Brook Dam. There is a picnic area here (which you can drive to if you wish) with barbeques and tables. We brought a huge salad and a couple of steaks in our rucksacks so we could cook lunch there and saunter back afterwards. We also brought along a bottle of red as well - posh hiking or what?

At the dam, as it was deserted and our periods were over, we indulged in a bit of 'hide the bottle' fun once our wine was drunk. Too much information?

Thursday's wine tour saw us at more first time cellar doors for us: Cape Naturaliste Vineyard; Windance Estate Wines; Glenmore Wine; Aravina Estate and Abbey Vale Wine. Most of which were mainly along Caves Road, which follows the coast from Yallingup down to Cape Leeuwin. Again we bought just one bottle from each for our tasting.

Sports thoughts... let's hope for the next test match Anderson doesn't lie about his fitness again. It ultimately has to fall on his shoulders, our defeat, because he must have known he was not 100%.

With 2 games to go in the AFL, there is still a chance Freo (The Dockers) can may the finals. This weekend they are away to St Kilda - no not the Scottish Island - and their last game is a home one at the Optus to which we are going. It's just across the river from Dad's place.

I imagine lots of my friends and colleagues back in the Steel City will be excited about Sheffield United's first match in the Premiership since 2007, my old home town's first game back is tonight against Liverpool. They will be doomed.

Don't know why I am writing all this sport stuff. I will sign off...

Sunday 12th Aug

More sport stuff. The Dockers lost to St Kilda. We sat with Bella at Dad's and watched the whole game on TV. They were leading right up to the last kick of the match when SK scored a field goal. There followed a brief text exchange between Jill, Annabelle and Suze who were all distraught. I have said it before, sport turns us all into idiots...

To renew or not renew, that is the question

Monday July 29th, 2019.
8.15 pm
Swanview Gardens, South Perth. Western Australia.

I am in a quandry.
My last entry in this blog was way back in 2015.
I doubt if anyone has even looked at it since then as I didn't advertise it and being a Neo-Luddite I am not on any social media to blather on about it.

Maybe it will keep my thoughts in order.
Act as an aide memoir?
Who can say?

So what's different in 2019?

I gained my PhD in 2016 and was offered a job on the Academic staff.
I also work in Student Support.
I am lecturing for 4 days and working at the solicitors for 1 day - so no real change there.
When I was offered the job at Uni the Solicitors offered to completely fund a full time GLD for me if I would come and work for them as a solicitor. The heart won over the head...

I am still in the same house in Oughtibridge. 
Laura and I are are still together.
Laura got her Master's in Pure and Applied maths and is working towards her PhD (part time).
She does two days at Uni, 3 at the solicitors.

My kid sister starts reception class this September.
My brother is still an arse at times but his kids are still lovely.
My big sister has finished her retraining and is now a Doctor (MD).

My oldest niece, Jill, finished her degree and now has a job at DPaW in Geraldton. Started in January.
My 2nd oldest niece, Annabelle, started her Maths degree in January - also at Curtin.
She came out as gay at the same time and Suze & Pete didn't kill me or blame me in any way.
Sadly she has repeatedly said she wants to sleep with both me and Laura. (HELP!)

My Mum dumped Tony but has a new Guy Edward, who was also an English teacher. They share so many interests and she has intimated the sex is amazing - I pretended to barf. Mum bought a minature Schnauzer bitch which is called Teela - Phil's kids chose the name. Callie and her are best buddies.
[Callie retired from working on January 31st this year. She's 11 but still behaves like a puppy with Teela.]

My Dad, Louisa and Chloé spent about 10 months in the address above last year to see if they would cope with living there (here) all the time. They liked the winter but the summer almost killed them - not Dad,  of course. One of the reasons was over the intervening time Dad's three dogs all died of old age...

Loll and I were out just before Dad & Co came over so we set up his flat after his tenant served his notice. Annabelle uses it now as her base for Uni - it's only a few minutes away rather than 50Km.

I used to say I wasn't sure Loll & I should marry until she'd had sex with someone other than me. In the last semester we both agreed to get a FWB. She had Jayne - over in Manchester (where she's doing her PhD) I had Greg a barrister at the solicitors. The idiot (Greg) asked me to marry him in May. I turned him down of course. Loll & Jayne split up at the end of the year too...

We bought a 2nd car - a 2nd hand Picanto for Loll to drive to Manchester & back for her two days there. It's bright red.

We spent the last four summer (their winters) in Australia - flying Emirates Business Class each time.
If I don't spend any of this year's interest from my trust fund (where Gran's inheritance went) it will hit seven digits at the end of the financial year.

Out here so far we have spent a week on Rotto, several days at Jill's and then Kalbarri, then back to Jill's. We have booked 6 Classical music concerts (1 has been) and 2 theatre shows and we've book places to stay in S & P's camper vanwhen we do a South West Corner Tour in September.

Pretty busy and such a lot has changed.

Phew.

More organised blogging starts from here: