Our Weekend.

Last Sunday, Neville and I went to Gawler, which is north of Adelaide, to my distant cousin by marriage's 80th birthday party. The lady's name is Daphne, and she has always been like a second mum to me. Her husband and his elder brother and my late dad, all attended Tech college together, and had always been great mates. Two of them are dead now, but we keep in close contact with Malcolm and Daphne. The party was at Daphne and Malcolm's daughter Dianne's home. She and her partner, Dave, have a beautiful home. It would not be suitable for me to live in as it has many levels, steps etc, and I had to be very careful all afternoon when I moved around. The patio, where they held the party, has two levels ad there are three steps made of lovely gray slate and old railway sleepers. The slate does not meet the top of the sleepers, but curves down to the top. A trap for someone with impaired vision and not too agile, like myself. I was able to hold on to the steel post that held the awning, so I felt secure. On one occasion, George, offered to help me down the steps but I declined the offer, as he was pretty well tanked when he got there and drank anything that was uncorked. I met him at Malc's 70th, nearly 11 years ago and didn't like him one bit. I Don't like being around heavy drinkers, and am fussy who I allow to touch me. I am not prejudiced, I have never been comfortable around them, as I am not accustomed to it, and have been pawed by too many in the past.
The food was superb and plentiful. They had chicken mornay, spicy beef, Rogan Josh, I think, fried rice, Shashliks and party pies, pasties, and sausage rolls. Dave and Dianne did all the cooking and would not allow Di's parents to pay for any thnng but the drinks. For dessert we had fresh fruit skewers, cream puffs with Chantilly custard filling and chocolate on top. There were other things but what they were eludes me. The birthday cake was magnificent. A huge square sponge, covered in cream, flaked almonds and strawberries, with a chocolate plaque with Happy 80th Birthday Daphne, on it.
We left at 5.45pm. Just as we were about to go, Yu-Jin rang me and I had to tell him I would ring him back. We got down the road a bit, and Neville agreed to go to the city to find a bed for the night, so I rang our usual motel, and was able to secure a room. I asked for a twin room and we were given a room with a queen sized bed plua a single one. Neville slept in that. I watched a bit of telly, but was very tired, so went to bed and 9.00pm. I had turned the air conditioner on to warm up the room, but turned it off when I got into bed, as I thought Neville would not be able to sleep with the noise. About 3/4 of an hour later, I woke up shivering violently, and thought it was because I was cold, so turned the AC back on. It made no difference, and then I got some twinges in my middle, and thought 'Oh, no. Why now,why here?' Went to the toilet and thought that would be the rnd of it. Not so. I hastily rang reception and asked for a plastic bucket, which the guy brought over poste haste, and I was promptly ill. I do wish 'Murphy' would not lurk around me quite so much! After I had booked the room, I rang Yu-Jin and we had quite a long talk. He is a lovely boy, and I miss him greatly.
I spent Monday with my Mum, and we had a good day. When I arrived, we had a cuppa out in the sun on her back porch. We played three games of Scrabble. Mum won two, but not by much. We
had lunch then went to the local shopping centre to get a few things from Foodland and the post office. Mum said it was good to have someone with her in the car, as she has lost a lot of confidence since her op in March. As mum has recently been in hospital, again, and as I can never visit her there, I took her a bottle of Tawny Port, some chocs and flowers. She asked me why I had brought so much and I explained as above.
Neville got back about 4.30, and we had another cuppa, then we left. We were heading down the freeway, and I got a very urgent call of nature. We had to make a detour at the first exit. We had no idea which town it was, as it was dark by then. We finally found a small service station that was still open, and I made a mad dash inside, and asked if they had any loos. Got back in the car, and we could not find our way back on to the freeway! We drove around a lot of dark towns and winding roads and got a bit lost. These old towns don't always have signage, so we didn't know where we were most of the time. We drove for 3/4 of an hour and Mother Nature came aknocking again!! I very nearly didn't make it. After that, I was OK. We finally found the exit to Murray Bridge, and headed to there, then on to Tailem Bend, to get some tea and see Neville's brother Peter, who has just moved there. Because we were so late getting there, Pete thought we were not coming. We had never been there before, and it is not easy finding a place in the dark, especially as there are few street signs and hardly any house numbers. We found his house about 8.30 and stayed for an hour. We had another cuppa and our tea. I was whacked by 9.30. and said we had better make tracks. This we did, and arrived home at 11.45. I slept most of the way, and for a further 8 hours when I got to bed.