Australia this year finds itself in the unusual position of having a negative population growth. For the first time since 1946, more people are leaving Australia than arriving. Or, to be more accurate, fewer people are able to travel to Australia -- reports suggest there are thousands still stranded abroad.
9:33 PM 6/10/2020
Weather much better today then the weekend (it could hardly be worse -- one day I tried to let the cat out but when he saw what it looked like, he turned and ran back into the house!). Long phone call from Helena, then played croquet for three hours. Long phone call from Keith, then time for the quiz night.
Antananarivo is the capital of which island nation? Five of the team there for this week's quiz night. We did a little better with the puzzle question, thanks to us working out it was the Swiss Army Knife. Competition fierce again; we finished fifth with 70 points, while the winners had 90 points out of a possible maximum of 110. (And I was applauded by my team for picking Antananarivo as the capital of Madagascar -- it was a lucky guess.)
1:45 PM 8/10/2020
Wednesday was a fine Spring day, so sunny and pleasant that the cat spent most of the afternoon frolicking outside. At one point he meowed at me until I took my coffee outside and sat in the back yard with him for a while.
Alas, the last 24 hours the media have been full of severe weather warnings and the Bocce Club have postponed the first game of the new season till next week. The chickens are already sheltering under the carport and I don't expect to see the cat outside this afternoon.
If the weather this evening is as bad as predicted, it could be a good night to stay in and start on that DVD boxed set of all 195 episodes of LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT.
10:14 PM 11/10/2020
Saturday night I meant to get to bed early, but it didn't work out that way. At the time I should have been settled down in bed, I was still wide awake. I couldn't understand it. I was always careful about my caffeine consumption, never drinking coffee after sundown...
I'd forgotten about Daylight Saving hadn't I?
11:53 PM 13/10/2020
On paper, Tuesday sounds like a downer. I played croquet and lost both games (7-3 and 7-2), then I spent an hour preparing for tonight's quiz night at which we finished in fourth place.
But I had a pleasant afternoon playing sport in the fresh air and sunshine, and enjoyed taking part in the quiz after a tasty fettucine. In fact we might have had a perfect round in one category if I hadn't forgotten how many Narnia novels there were. And I made people laugh several times. So all in all, it wasn't such a bad day.
5:59 PM 15/10/2020
Thursday there was a going away party for Mariandl at Kaye's lovely home. Everyone had a good time then I went home and took a nap to recover from that big lunch.
4:59 PM 16/10/2020
The laptop was being temperamental, but I had stuff to do today so I wasn't home to battle with it. Now that the church kitchen has started up again, I had a page-long shopping list to stock up with stuff. I visited the refurbished Coles Supermarket and did a bit of sticky-beaking while I filled up four shopping bags full of supplies.
So it seemed a good idea to drive in and drop them off in the church hall, otherwise I would have had to take them out of the car Saturday m0rning and replace them Saturday evening. After I did that, visited newsagent, pharmacist and bought some more cat food. I tried to go to Officeworks too, but after driving around their car park for five minutes I gave up.
At least with daylight saving there was plenty of time to let the cat out for a bit of fresh air and sunbathing while I sat down with a coffee.
8:42 PM 17/10/2020
This Saturday was not as hectic as last time. Instead of visiting four different op shops, confined our activity to just one -- thankfully one of those that had not removed all the chairs from the book department. [B6 C4 D16]
Keith and I had a leisurely lunch at the coffee shop across the road, and Keith entertained me by recounting the plot of one of his unpublished novels . He also gave exhaustive details of a film script he'd written, which an agent had suggested he re-write to take place in San Fransisco rather than Sydney. (When he dies, his executor could probably put together a sizeable volume under the title "The Uncollected stories of Keith Curtis").
Afterwards, I called in at Officeworks looking for something to store my CDs in. That's an hour of my life I'll never get back.
2:35 PM 18/10/2020
Yes, it's nice that we are able to be back in church but there are differences on a Sunday morning. When I started going to St John's some 25 years ago, I usually sat down the front because that's where the vacant pews were. Now, with social distancing rules, we only have half as many seats in use and I often end up in the back row. And since we no longer use hymnbooks or printed Orders of Service, the words are projected on a big screen at the front -- which always reminds me that I need to have my eyes tested and get new glasses. At least we are now able to get a hot drink after the service, which is nice.
We are supposed to be resuming communion services soon, but I don't know the details of how that's going to work. Ushers in Hazmat suits dispensing single-use glasses maybe? We shall see.
10:30 PM 19/10/2020
Monday made for a lot of running about. I slept well, which was a good thing because the cat woke up at 6.15 this morning. Between breakfast and morning tea I went out to the Salvo store to pick up a book Keith had changed his mind about buying. After lunch, down to Kingston for a committee meeting. Back home in time to gather together some stuff I had to take with me when I had dinner at some friends' place. Between that and a couple of long phone calls, I think that's enough for the day.
7:51 PM 24/10/2020
Saturday was a long afternoon.. Left home at 10 a.m., returned at 6 p.m.
Went round the usual places and dined at the Green Store cafe. Traffic a little light, probably because a lot of people added the Show Day holiday to make a long weekend for themselves. Went home to feed the animals and received a big welcome from the cat and the goats.
Keith received a parcel of stuff from overseas including an item that he gifted to me -- an autographed photograph of Caroline Munro. Does he know me or what?
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