Tarpeena Tales 3

It was a perfect evening yesterday and surrounded by citronella candles we could enjoy the balmy evening of a type which occur all too infrequently for our liking in Tarpeena.

With 80’s music providing a background to the sound of moths frying themselves against the Christmas lights and me providing the chorus to well known hits, all is right with the world if you don’t listen to the TV news and read the papers. And as it was too dark to read and there is no TV on the back veranda all WAS right last night.

The next door neighbour still hasn’t got TV into his spare room and I have now given up trying to get it for him. I think Sodoku may be easier to solve. He is going to buy a new aerial after all, let’s hope that works.

Our TV went to the repairers and as we found that it was still under guarantee, the budget for the repair went on buying a digital set top box for the kitchen TV. We have perfect reception now.

The neighbours dog “Alfie” escaped from their yard today. Being a stranger to Tarpeena he is always keen to go exploring and the new fence and gates to confine him in have yet to be installed. So Alfie was tethered to a stake but showed enough ingenuity to effect his escape. A distraught Judy came over to se if he had visited our dog but there was no sign of him so I clapped on my sunhat and jumped on the bike armed with a completed description of Alfie's lead and dog collar tag. Alfie however has one distinguishing feature that few animals in Tarpeena possess and wouldn’t be too hard to spot.

Yes he only has three legs.

Now a dog with three legs can only hop so far in a given time and he was found down the back street trying to make friends with two other dogs and he was brought safely home to his doting owner.

The other big local news is that Tarpeena is going to have a skate ramp. Immediately the NIMBY* in me surfaced but I am relieved to find that it will be over by the old tennis courts which is where most of the local lads skate anyway and far enough away not to bother me. Let them have their fun.

John is down from the big smoke for a spell of R & R and Nuran’s cooking and the dog got washed so she could greet him in something other than the dirty white coat she normally wears. This meant that she had to be kept off the dirt patches she normally likes to lie on but that wasn’t so hard today as it was pretty warm.

Too warm to do any work out side so here I am penning this.

The snakes are around at the moment as the weather has been so nice. A big tiger snake narrowly escaped being run over by me on my Sunday bike ride. I don’t know who got the bigger shock but I bet IT didn’t have to check his pants to see if it was just sweat which made them feel damp. Maybe it shed its skin instead. And on Monday a large copperhead which I thought was dead turned out not to be as I ran over it’s tail. Lucky the wind was behind and I had a fair head of steam up at the time.

I am on the alert now.

I have been pushing for broadband for Tarpeena, you know the yokels who live in Kalangadoo have it, by writing to the local federal MP. I received a nice letter back saying he agreed with my point of view which was that as the school had broadband only 50 feet from me and the fibre optics actually run through Tarpeena why couldn’t we have it in town. He was writing to the appropriate Minister. So maybe I can spend more time connected to the net in the future as Nuran won’t need the phone line.

A DVD of Bill’s and Olivia’s wedding has arrived and at last I can hear what I actually said at the reception. It must have been the shock of having to speak publicly that erased it from my short term memory module.

Actually my short term memory module is getting shorter in its term all the time; old age is creeping up on me. The dog and I are good company for each other. She goes for a walk now and wonders what she is doing and stops and has to be hunted along to keep walking. The only thing she still does that she always used to do is crap four times every walk.

Well we are all heading down her path it’s just whether we jump off the track sooner or later that is the difference.

Ah life is great on a balmy evening with the citronella keeping the mozzies away so let’s enjoy what we have while we still have it.

And tell those you love that you do love them whilst they still can hear you.

1.12.05

*NIMBY “ not in my back yard”.

Tarpeena tales Index Picture gallery Home Page Nurans recipes Great Discoveries Scottish Fling