I had also suggested that it would be a good idea for him to come, as he hasn't been since November last year, and he is planning to come up with his mates on Monday to stay for a few days during mid semester break
I drove up, and stopped to get him a Maccas breakfast, and we arrived at Inglewood just after 11am.
Was pretty cold, down to 4.5 degrees over the Dividing Range
There must have been some more rain, as it was much greener than last time
And Charlie, Ben's son had also done another coat of the veranda rail again - as I had noticed it was rather weathered last time. Looks much better. Ben had said that Charlie would do 3 coats with the tung oil to get it to soak in, and then a final coat with some sort of tough varnish
Went up the street together, and then back to the house, where he had a nap upstairs (had a big night on Friday)
I pottered around, read the paper, had some lunch, and then an afternoon coffee with Denise at The Royal.
And then we went driving, or rather Fraser did with me supervising. Drove around the back roads of Inglewood for a bit, and I'm pleased to say that Fraser was much more confident and skilled than last time.
We then drove up to Melville Caves, and saw a lot of wallabies there - as the sky was quite dull, and even though it was only 3.45pm, it was sort of dark...
One of the wallabies had a joey poking its head out of her pouch. Below is a photo of Fraser taking a photo of the Mum and joey
So had a quick wander around here, and saw yet more wallabies, plus more on the way back
Dropped in on Terry on the way back to say hello, and he gave me a cup of coffee, and we chatted for a while before leaving around 5 or so, which is really kangaroo o'clock
Saw some in the paddocks, but none on the road, Fraser drove yet again
Stopped at the IGA and bought some supplies for tonight ie nibbles and some creamy soda for Fraser, and then parked the car around the back, as the Footy Club was having a Masquerade Ball at the Town Hall, and I figured there'd be lots of cars out the front.
I then got Fraser to make up/prepare the fire in the top room, while it was still light, as I wanted to see that he could set up a good fire. He did it Justin style ie 2 larger logs on the side, paper scrunched up in between, and then criss crossed smaller sticks on top. And yes, he did a good job.
Had nibbles (dips, guilty cheese puffs etc) on the veranda together, bit cold for Gin and tonic, so had wine. Saw Chrissie going into the town hall, so invited her up, but she couldn't come, had to help set up, and then a bit later saw Chris and called out hello
It was a lovely evening, with clear skies and lots of stars
And then off for dinner - Fraser chose the Empire.
Saw Charlie ordering there, so I invited him to join us, as he was by himself. He gladly accepted
Fraser had the Outback Parma, and I had cutlets, both served pretty quickly, and pretty good. Given our previous veranda nibbles, I only ate half of mine, and took the rest away in a takeaway container.
Had a bit of a chat with Steve (publican) too, who introduced me to his girlfriend.
Back to the house, and it was pretty cold, so we lit the fire upstairs, and settled in
Watched a dvd that Helen had given us :- City Island with Andy Garcia, was pretty good
Back to the house, bit more of a chat with Fraser, and then to bed and read for a little while. I have a suspicion that Fraser stayed up for quite a bit longer.
Sunday morning, and I stayed in the warmth of my bed reading the Age online until around 9am, at which time I got up to start with breakfast. Cooked up the bacon first, and then went upstairs to see if Fraser was going to get up, I didn't want to cook his eggs if he wasn't coming down.
Well, yes, he did eventually come down, and we had bacon and eggs in the dining room with the sun streaming through.
It had started out as a lovely blue sunny day, but got progressively greyer.
We put sheets on the beds, as even though I said I wanted his friends to use sleeping bags, I didn't just want them sleeping on the mattress protectors. I also advised him about the do's and don'ts of the house, and how to turn on the gas for the hot water etc
Then it was time for a bit of fun, so he drove us to the oval, and we hacked around with golf clubs. I must admit I was still pretty good, hitting nice straight air born shots, with of course a few grubbers. Fraser was a bit frustrated, as he was hitting mainly grubber shots, although with a lot more power than mine.
He did at the end hit a lovely long, straight air born shot, and that was the hit of the session - better than all of mine.
And then more driving, around the back blocks of Inglewood again, and then onto Tarnagulla. Had a quick wander around here, and then he drove us back to Inglewood.
This time had lunch at the Royal, I wasn't all that hungry, so had a half parma, while Fraser had the burger. Al;so had a nice chat with Margie
Then back to the house, more of a tidy up, and I explained how things worked/where they were for Fraser
And then he drove us home. I must admit that I got a bit nervous when it was pouring with rain, as the visibility wasn't great, but he did a pretty good job. Stopped in at the service Station at Calder Park, where we swapped seat, and I drove the rest of the way home on the Monash (he wasn't sure about driving on that)
