Long Weekend

Last Monday was the Queen's Birthday holiday  in most of Australia.  It seems slightly unfair to me that we get a day off to celebrate but the poor queen does not!  However, it doesn't seem so unfair that I would turn the day off work down - although I don't usually work on Mondays anyway so I don't suppose it really made much difference to me.

Anyway. Lindsey, Jim and I left Ballarat fairly early on the Sunday and moseyed down to the Mornington Peninsula.  We dropped by Beleura hospital and kidnapped Tony and took him home for lunch.  We certainly had a magnificent feast.  Lindsey had laid in steak, potatoes, salads and veg.  Our niece Susie came down as well and brought pulled pork and the makings of a pie.  Tony celebrated his (temporary) escape from the hospital by having a doze in his favourite chair, a glass off quality red wine and eating very much more that we had expected him to. It was good to have a chance to chat with Susie.  We usually see her at big family gatherings when there isn't much chance to talk to anyone much.  Tony went back to the hospital.  Susie went home.  Stella, Lindsey, Jim and I settled in for the night.

On the Monday holiday we took Stella to visit Tony and then we went to The Rocks for lunch.  Not The Rocks in Sydney but a rather nice seafood restaurant in Mornington.  We were quite lucky to get a table as we hadn't booked and it was very busy. Lots of families there with parents, grandparents and mostly remarkably well behaved children.  We all had plates of fish and chips.  We were getting ready to leave when suddenly Stella and I were unexpectedly covered in water and a glass bounced down by our feet.  It seems that the children on the next table had been amusing themselves by seeing if they could actually tip over the supposedly untippable glass that they had.  I don't think they did succeed in tipping it over but they did manage to bounce it off the table, and jump it in the direction of our table.  We were surprised to find ourselves being splashed with water. We were even more surprised that the glass didn't break.!

So we took Stella home again and the three of us went back to East Melbourne ready to start a shortened working week.  Various people will go to visit Tony and to take Stella to various places. And Jim and I will go back down on Thursday, ready to take Tony and Stella to their appointment with the specialist on Friday morning.