Something similar happened to me with the Moonies way back. Made a donation of $20 (big for then) but the spruiker kept getting at me for the rest of the contents of my wallet. Eye opening.

Time to get dressed and head over to my sister’s place for a bbq. Lovely day for it, I’m glad I got assigned to do a salad.

Hugs. This sort of thing seems to be getting more frequent. There are some shopping areas I just don’t go to anymore (South Preston Woollies anyone?) because of the aggro beggars crowding the entrance. Was worse when there was a parcel locker there - things got pretty tense with people getting harassed when collecting parcels. So they took the lockers away and things calmed down a bit. Still a horrible experience having that happen to you. Again, hugs.

Chicken and champagne please. And some swedish meatballs (and you know what’s in them) in honour of this day in the calendar.

Separate boxes are your friend when packing books. Keep a ‘read again’ separate box. Done this many many times - then pack up all the rest and tape them up for moving. The read again box is the last one to be taped up and the first to be unpacked. Put a biiiiiig asterisk of tape on the top so you can find it again quickly.
Do the same for pantry items - the stuff you use all the time goes in a separate box for last minute packing. Then unpack that box once everything else is packed up so that stuff is available for daily use and can be quickly packed back up on moving day into a box where you know everything will fit. Procrastipacking is a real thing. It’s hard to get on with the necessary when you really really don’t wanna.

Hrrmph. I’ll let it go, this time.

No sardines? Or bananas? A wasted opportunity imo.

Back in the early 2000s there was a NZ horse racing in Melbourne named Richard Cranium. This was a translation of his kiwi name which was deemed unsuitable by the authorities in Melbourne. Quite a good horse too.

Oooh, I like it! Very appropriate for a racehorse.

Yes please. I don’t usually bet on the cup but this is too too tempting. Let the darts decide!

This one has been scratched - failed the vet check

Lips make sense in that context. For ‘hot blooded’ horses they are very level headed and trainable. Also about the right size and type to be plausible as the Nisaian horses that the Romans just loved for chariot racing. I’ve seen the stadium or what’s left of it at Arles, and yes it’s tiny compared even to Moonee Valley racetrack.

The Ben Hur chariot race sequence always gets me - the horses start off the race then get sweaty and magically unsweat themselves at intervals throughout the sequence. Then they get sweaty again, and then unsweaty. I did an analysis of it once based in what I knew then about horse physiology - and reckoned they filmed all the walk & trot sequences AFTER all the galloping bits going by the sun angles. Over at least a couple of days - as the charioteers swap around and drive different horses in different chariots for different bits of the race. Always cracks me up to watch it.

Glorious day, crisper drawer stew with chicken wings in the slow cooker for tonight and tomorrow’s lunch, glass of cold white whine in hand, laundry all done including household linens, nice music on the music machine. Nowt to do but eat, drink and be merry. Life is good.

Tortellini (genius idea!) with a nice seafood sauce rich in smoked salmon and oysters and a cup of tea please Chef.

And was your date yesterday enjoyable?

quiz

20/50 - missed a couple of easies (or shoulda been easies)

Yumm.

Me too. I don’t fully understand the grief people go through over allergies, as I don’t have any myself. I too credit my lax (by current standards) parents who turned us kids out of doors a lot so long as we stayed in a pack. Also many childhood pets, cleaning with soap and water only (no anti-bacterial shit). And home cooking by Mum, a survivor of the Great Depression and rabidly anti-waste of good food. Tea yes, but no coffee or lolly water for us kids either.

Pickle pikelets is doable, as there are recipies for gherkin filled cheese scones. They are very yum. Particularly with bacon or peanut butter on them.

Good luck! Hope you have a fun time!