Well the weekend has come to an end but I must say it was rather full on and very enjoyable. I'd actually been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks, so much so that I actually had a bit of trouble sleeping on Friday night (as I do when I'm excited).
On Saturday I got up early and headed up to my Mum's place to see her for Mother's Day. Mum works on the weekends and since we were going to see Margaret (my mother-in-law) on Sunday I didn't want to miss out on seeing my Mum for her special day. On the way up the hill I stopped in at the shops and grabbed the usual pressie for her which consists of a heap of Dove soap, Nivea body lotion and Olay face cream. It might sound a bit boring but Mum uses it all every day and always tells us that no matter how boring it may seem to us 'Who else gets to use their birthday/Christmas/Mother's Day present every single day?'.
Fair play to her.
So I caught up with Mum for a bit and then at about lunchtime Jo, Darcie and I took Shiver for a walk along the old railway track (variously called the Bridle Trail or Heritage Track).
This is Darcie with the stick she found and wanted to walk with. I just think she looks like Gandalf.
I tried to get some photos of Shiver but I have never in my life met such a photo shy dog! As soon as you grab your camera out she turns her head and scoots away. I think Christian has gotten to her dammit!
We headed out towards Sawyers Valley but when the track met up with the pipeline we doubled back and followed that instead. When we were kids my sisters and I would play on the pipeline, usually always at Jacoby Park where we went for barbecues but when we headed out to the bush at the back of the school we'd always climb on it and run along it and always had a great time. So Jo and I introduced Darce to it's wonders and although she was a little hesitant at first and needed her hand held, she was soon off and running along it. It wasn't long before I clambered up as well to join her.
We left the pipeline when we reached my old school and headed back into town via the footpath where we came upon this masterpiece. Darcie was a little worried when I stopped to take a photo and just couldn't understand why I thought it was so funny when she just found it gross. I don't think she's had anywhere near enough experience with the 'carrot effect' yet to fully appreciate such a fine example.
After our walk I headed back home and pottered about doing nothing that I really should have done. Then we headed out to Jimmy Dean's for dinner, a 50's style restaurant in Midland where my 'leaving do' was being held. I'm not actually leaving any more, staying on for four more weeks full time and then taking up a part time position but we didn't let that stop us from still going out for a meal.
We had a great time out, although the partners we bought along might have been slightly bored since they couldn't join in with the whinging and gossiping that followed. My friend Joanne and I tried to get our hubby's to chat but although Christian and Myles get along fantastically between the two of them they say about two words and so 'chatting' is not something on their repertoire.
This morning Christian and I headed up to see Margaret and we spent the morning watching her partner Garry play with the deck he's building. Garry is a perfectionist and it can be very frustrating watching him try to fix the gap between the decking that is 2mm wide instead of just 1mm. We had a nice morning tea and Christian gave Margaret a CD he'd made for her and then we wandered about the garden looking at everything that's changed since we lived there. Margaret is more of a green thumb than me and so the yard looks much better than when it was under my care.
After lunch we headed out again, this time for Damian and Wendy's place all the way up north in the middle of nowhere. Honestly I don't know how people manage to live so far away! It took us a while to get there but it was worth it when we did because we got to meet Denzel and Indie! Damian and Wendy have two dogs and I've only heard lots about them and seen their profiles on Dogbook so we were looking forward to meeting them.
Well, it was an experience all right!
Indie is just so cute and as ball mad as Molly. She's a Blue Heeler crossed with a Staffie and has the cutest ears! They stick straight up and are folded at the ends, a bit like Dog from Footrot Flats.
Denzel is big, playful and slobbery. He's a Bull Mastiff and is the sweetest dog you'll ever meet. He weighs 60kgs and is still growing as he's only a puppy. He loves to meet new people and fell in love with us straight away. At one point I made the mistake of getting down to his level and he then proceeded to lick and nuzzle me all over my face and neck all the while holding me down with his massive paws. Christian managed to pull him off me but by this point I was dripping in slobber and laughing so hard that I couldn't actually get back on my feet.
After meeting the dogs we all headed out to the Botanical Gardens for a few games of Mini Golf. Botanical Golf was just like regular mini golf although I must say our mini golf courses are just so lacking. You hear of courses in other places that have windmills and other obstacles and then play on a course in which the only obstacles are bits of wood in the middle of the green or a little pipe tunnel. A little disappointing. It was fun nonetheless and even though Damian scored three hole-in-one I actually managed to win. Yay me! Damian tried to gloat about his flukey shots but Wendy and I made sure that his head stayed good and deflated. It's a bit hard to have a huge ego when there's two women cutting you down at every opportunity ;-)
We then moved onto Billiard Golf and this one bloody sucked! You weren't allowed to hit the ball into the hole without it bouncing off the guard first. I found it to be rather impossible to be honest. Let's just say I was coming a distant last by the end of the first hole! At one point Christian jokingly made some comment at me and so I jokingly waved my golf club at him. What I didn't mean to do was smack him right in the nuts with it. Oops. I don't think we're having kids any time soon...I don't even think we'll be trying until the bruising disappears...
I don't think I've ever said sorry so many times in one hour before!
My poor hubby! He did win that course though so he had something to smile about!
It was getting dark by the time we finished and so we headed back to Damian and Wendy's house and had fun playing with the dogs for a bit. Indie loves chasing the ball and Denzel loves chasing Indie so it was rather amusing. It was getting late though and so we thought we should head home and make sure our poor puppies got fed. Saying goodbye to Damian and Wendy is actually quite nice though because Wendy gives you such a big hug before you go and Damian gives me a big kiss and they make you feel so nice. I really don't think I've ever met nicer people before :)
And lastly, I thought I'd finish up with one last camping photo. Mike copied all of his photos onto our spare hard drive and this is one of my faves. It was taken on the walk out of the site at this really cool tree that we'd all noticed on our way in. I just think it's a nice photo of the whole gang.
