Hello Spring!

And goodbye in the same breath! Lovely warm days in the mid 20s C, then cold again during the evenings.

The week has been busy. Well, the week has been busy for MOTH. Not necessarily for me. The Elder and Burrich are looking to move down this way so MOTH has been at their beck and call doing house inspections. It's not easy to find one that is pet friendly.

Once upon a time the Teen had a facebook. Just recently she's deactivated her account. I miss being able to snoop on what she was doing, how she was going and things of that nature. Who would have thought that it would be such an inconvenience? I guess it's a sad state of affairs relying on electronic communication so much but neither of us like to use the telephone for what it was actually invented for!

My Norwex products arrived during the week. I had almost forgotten about them. Although the hole in my wallet should have reminded me. Bestie and I thought the best way to hand them over was to join up for a late lunch/early dinner. Excellent. All set.

We had decided to revisit that pet store and pick up some diet food for Fatty Jerome. Yes, I know that could give him a complex - that's why I'm typing it here. Where he can't see. That outlet stocks all sorts of cat food brands including Royal Canin and Science Diet. But gosh they are expensive! A small bag of Royal Canin *i didn't check the weight* is around $40. Today though I am after the wet food. A very friendly shop assistant finds MOTH in the toy aisle while I make my selection. I join them and they are talking toys, pets, pet dietary requirements, rugby league, rugby union, NZ in general.

During the course of the conversation he asks what we are feeding Jerome. I tell him that at present, we have Purina and something else. He suggests that supermarket food is mostly fillers and not nutritionally complete. Hence the desire to eat grass. I just nod sagely. He could be right for all I know but as far as I remember, the Purina brand is put through some very rigorous testing. Well, it used to be.

While we are up that way, I recall that we don't have any cheese knives. I thought we had, but we don't. Not a one. We look to see if Loot might have any. There is an outlet in that centre. Nope. I didn't think so, but hey, you never know.

The Elder has asked us to inspect a property for her this morning. It's a small place, but the yard is fenced. There are about five other couples looking. Open house inspections these days only last about quarter hour. The bedrooms are tiny. There is built in wardrobes in the main bedroom but barely enough room for a queen sized bed.

We head back via the usual haunt *the village* and MOTH decides to check out the cheap shop to see if they have any. This isn't a cheap shop, I say. What is it then? It's a junk shop. *it's a small space with lots of things crammed into it. like dollars and cents and all of those 'junk' shops* But it turns out to be a junk shop with cheese knives. Cheap ones, but functional all the same. Two knives is just under $6.

Home again and clean up time. Vacuum the floors, wipe the benches, clear stuff off the table and Mr Sheen it. The kitchen looks tidy, the loo is clean. Now just time to settle and wait. I settle on the couch with a book and the tv. Aaaaannnndddd ... suddenly I'm awoken by a text message! She's let me know she's on her way.

The afternoon/evening went very well. Chicken thighs done in maple syrup, soy and sage, chicken sausages, rump steak *just for bestie as she doesn't eat dark meat and isn't keen on sausages* Boston baked beans, lots of salad and a cheese platter for dessert. Bestie brought along a bottle of Brown Brothers .... you know, I didn't look at the label! I think it was Crouchen Riesling.

Bestie mentioned that the sausages were quite tasty and after all that, I have a bit of salad left over and one piece of steak. I think it went down well. They trundled off around 9pm, tired kids in tow.

Cleaned up a little on Sunday morning, and Bestie left me a note to say we should do it more often, even hubby agreed it had been a really good night. MOTH went out to check up on the Babysitter's Club. In a way previous blog post I had mentioned the woman who approached them on the topic of religion. She approached again and MOTH introduced the Club. By his telling, she said three happy ones and one grumpy one, while pointing at Wombat.

Wombat has really been getting on my wick lately, and stressing MOTH. His digs at MOTH are becoming less polite and barely disguised as humour these days. On previous occasions he has been known to tell MOTH that someone will punch him one day. And by god if he does, that shopping centre will see a witch whaling on an old man whose mouth is too big for his head. Who knows, I might even make it bigger by physically taking his foot and shoving it in there.

Although, having said that, he's a different person when his wife is around - he doesn't speak much. And Saturday, he was pleasant and laughing.

After lunch we head out to do a drive by on another property. No inspection on this one but just to see what it looks like from the outside. If the net photos are anything to go by *HA!* I think I might move in myself. Nothing too flash but very tidy looking. And much cheaper than the place we are in!

It's a brilliant Sunday afternoon drive, and we top it off by looking at car yards. Again. We aren't in the market for a car really as we are only on one wage, but maybe in a couple of years? Who knows ...