Author: Melissa

The other day I discovered a freezer full of partly defrosted meat, because silly me didn’t close the freezer door properly the night before. This is a freezer the size of an average fridge, and it was full of about three or four months worth of meat – snags, chops, steaks, a couple of bigger cuts for roasts. H likes to buy our meat in bulk from his favourite butcher – and it is always very nice meat. Kicking myself!

We could have had a giant barbeque but it was a bit too spur of the moment, so instead I loaded the esky into the car and drove around giving family members their pick. I felt like the “meat fairy”.

As a short diversion from studies I went a long with Mum and Jo yesterday afternoon to see a locally produced play, Brush with a Body.

The play was performed at the local auditorium, we were in the front row and had a good view of the set – a living room with back door to the garden at back, and a doorway leading off to other parts of the “house” on either side of the stage.

Written by an English playwright Maurice McLoughlin, the story is set in London a few years after the second world war. A situation comedy, it is about a middle-class family who discover a body stuffed inside the chimney of “father’s old study”. This creates a dilemma for the two elder siblings who wish to avoid scandal. The younger sibling is more concerned about being allowed to go out and meet her new boyfriend. A tug of war ensues between the three siblings trying to avoid scandal, prevent the news from creating shock for their widowed mother who is returning from holiday in Scotland.

The comedy emerges with the involvement of the Irish chimney sweep, a gossipy fellow who agrees to keep a lid on the scandal in return for certain considerations. When “mother” returns home her reaction to the news is quite unexpected and rather suspect as she is less concerned about scandal than the involvement of the local constabulary.

Naturally the police appear on the scene, although unaware of the situation in the house. They are searching for the runaway daughter who happens to be a patient of the psychiatrist elder sibling. Through a series of misunderstandings and wild assumptions the “body” is finally disposed of, the missing patient goes off with the youngest sibling’s boyfriend and mother telephones her friend in Scotland, who turns out to be her “dead” husband.

It turns out the body belonged to a thug who had been sent over to sort out the father while the family were evacuated from London during the war. The thug was killed accidentally from a fall down the stairs and the father, fearing reprisals from the thug’s mob boss, stuffed the body in the chimney. When a bomb hit the house during the London blitz, it provided the perfect opportunity for the father to disappear to Scotland.

An odd choice for an Australian theatre group, it was such a lame story it was quite funny! The acoustics weren’t too crash hot, with a number of live microphones hanging above the stage the dialogue sometimes drifted in volume, particularly as the actors moved across the stage. I enjoyed the acting talents of the Irish sweep and the detectives who seemed to perform to the greatest comic effect.

It was a nice diversion to study; at intermission time we had a lovely cup of tea and scone with jam and cream! Then had to move our seats as the rainstorm outside started blowing down through the ceiling vents!

Last night I went to bed happy, I’m finally getting back into the swing of uni. I spent most of the day studying – didn’t really get much work completed but got my mind back into ‘thinking’ mode. I have two weeks until my next assignment is due, and a bucketload of work to do – I’ll be working overtime to catch up, but the end is in sight.

This week I have to try and organise somewhere to do my exam. I’m working for M today, but tomorrow I will pop out and visit a couple of local libraries and schools to see if one of them can help me out. Failing that I’ll go to the nearest TAFE, which is not so local. Failing that I will I have use the services of a professional invigilator in Brisbane.

H is on holidays this week, and the next two weeks. So far he has gone into work three times to finish off urgent paperwork that can’t wait. We were discussing it this morning and he says the problem is he doesn’t switch off. Unlike some of his colleagues he keeps going full steam right up until his last day before holidays, generating all this extra paperwork that has to be done. Sounds similar to the way I was when working in an office.

We moved our bird bath to another part of the garden a couple of months ago. H reckons it is the best thing we could have done, the birds hardly used the bath at its former site. This morning the bath was empty but there was still a bird running around in it. H filled it with water and had barely turned his back when the birds were back in it splashing around.

A friend sent me a cute birthday card, on the cover is a fairy with sparkles wishing me a “sparkly birthday”. Inside my friend has written “the cover reminded me of you all sparkly and cheery”.

I felt sparkly the last time I saw her, but since then I’m still trying to get back into the swing of things after the recent disruption at work, and feeling decidedly un-sparkly.

I am about three weeks behind on my uni studies and still procrastinating. This week I have to start organising an invigilator for my exam at the end of November (about six weeks away, OMG!). There is nothing for it but to FORCE myself to get stuck into it, no ifs or buts. Once I get into it again I know that I’ll keep going.

Saw my brother yesterday, first time for ages. Hubby and I “gatecrashed” my nephew’s birthday, I think they were just about to serve cake! We have a habit of doing that, must be annoying – although the kids don’t seem to mind! We spent a couple of hours chasing kids around and giving them piggy back rides before my brother started ushering us away (he had to go to work poor bloke).

Prior to this, Hubby and I had spent an hour wandering around Toyworld looking for a cool prezzie for our nephew. A bit disappointed that we couldn’t see anything so in the end opted for a gift voucher. Pretty boring, but we thought our nephew would appreciate it better than a daggy toy from his old aunty and uncle!

Hubby is trawling dog rescue websites looking for a dog. We still have Sashy of course, who is a great little companion for me but not much chop as a guard dog! Hubby also misses his ‘little wolf’ who used to follow him around the yard and with whom he felt a special bond. She was also a brilliant watch dog and since she’s been gone, we’ve all felt a bit unprotected – particularly at night when Hubby’s on night shift.

Hubby has always had a soft spot for dalmatians, we both also like shepherds. A belgian shepherd would be nice. Two important stipulations though. It must get on with Sashy and not try to eat the local wildlife! We’re waiting for a call back about a shepherd.

My feet have blisters. I’ve been wearing a pair of sandals that mum had bought for Jo, they didn’t fit her but fit me. Nice sandals. Not the best shoes to wear when playing with nieces and nephews. I must have looked a right site yesterday, hair all mussed up, red in the face from all the running around. It was fun though!