Johnblog

First day back at work – too much work, too little time. Sigh! I arrive home to the news that there is a BIG rat in my workshop – Jan says she just
decided to shut the door on it and leave it alone. The rat has
chewed the inside of the exterior door frame in an attempt to
escape. I arm myself with a 5-iron, open the exterior door, and
rootle around underneath the various shelves and benches to evict
the recalcitrant rodent. I grab a couple of cats and plonk them
down at strategic points to help the hunt, but they are a bit
alarmed by the 5-iron and they run off. Pathetic cowards. Maybe I
should have used a pitching wedge. Eventually I disturb
the creature and it runs outside. Now the cats are interested.
Ripley, the Maine Coon, chases it and grabs it, but then lets it go
and it runs up our Jacaranda tree. He sprints up the trunk after
it for a good few metres, but then realises he is quite
high, gets a touch of vertigo, and creeps down again. The rat may
still be up the tree, but at least the workshop is rodent free. And
thank goodness the little plague-carrier did not chew up any of my
model aircraft. Phew!

At the restaurant

It’s a merry Christmas morning here. Breakfast by the pool in the warm sun. Lovely day again, will be 27 degrees later, the weatherman says. Turkey is in the oven and presents opened. Some lovely things and some useful things and some lovely useful things. Mike got some piano music and is now trying it out on the electric piano here.

Last night we dined outside under the stars at a local restaurant – Yum Yum at Hardys Bay. Orion and his belt were to the north and Jupiter to the south. A good time – and good grub – was had by all. The waitress took a picture of us all.