We're comin' to Melbourne! Both of Gary's kids are expecting babies so we're planning to go over in mid-September, probably in the tray truck, because 7 motorcycles are not enough apparently and we need to pick up a couple more that Gaz has stashed in a shed somewhere. Plus his stereo & record collection, my stuff and any stray alpacas I find on the way. Gosh won't it be fun to sleep on the back of a truck? It's very noisy in the truck and I'll be deaf by the time we get there, so brush up on your Auslan skills.
I think we'll be going via Kalgoorlie / Nullarbor (NOOOoooOOOOo) / Adelaide. Anyway, we'll see what actually happens! Things are always so unpredictable.
Cool weather is here; I'm digging up the front yard ready for a big planting session - creating a security and shade fence with prickly pear, bougainvillea and hopefully some of those flesh-eating plants like the one in Little Shop Of Horrors (must train the attack panthers to stay clear). We even have cloudy skies, which is good because Boy ate my gardening hat last night.
Another big funeral in town this weekend, this time for a well-known old local named Bomber, so the whole town will probably be there (those who aren't drinking themselves blind on their funeral travel allowance, that is).
Our hostel manager is away again. We haven't seen her for ages and none of us are sure who's actually in charge. I covered a shift for one of the other girls who "couldn't come in" at the last minute, and then no one turned up for the night shift, so I had to get on the phone and find someone. Apparently Raelene changed the roster around and didn't tell any of us before leaving town. Normal Meeka stuff! The sewage pump is still on the fritz and it's astonishing that the place doesn't just get shut down. The hospital kitchen are headhunting me so maybe I'll have to take them up on it. I'm sure they're much more organised ha ha ha...
The aboriginal women elders of the town are having a big parents' meeting this month, presumably about the escalating problems with the town's nasty horrible children. Every white person you talk to in town says the same thing these days - that one day someone will just snap, toss one of the little bastards down a mine shaft, and then we'll have civil war on the streets. I don't think it's an exaggeration.
My Junior Reporter articles on Anzac Day and Walga Rock both got published in the Meekatharra Dust! I got the first stapled copy literally hot off the presses at the shire office and have been getting lots of compliments as well as a big thank you from the editors for contributing to the paper. Svenja, our town photographer, is now challenging me to get something on the front page! Everyone is so supportive. I'm madly writing things up for next month.
Well, time to get ready for another day of hard yakka on the house - Kev Sawtell is coming round later to get cracking on the last bits of lounge room preparation. Then it'll be time for Kitchen Armageddon - Last Stand Of The Cockroaches. Then starting on the bus refit, the moped, the outdoor laundry room, the pavilion shed complex out the back, the sleepout & road train viewing platform, the machine gun nest, the alpaca play center, wheeeeee
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