The artwork is due on Monday, but (utterly astoundingly) was completed today. I think this could very well be a first in this family (except for Don who is a total swot and hands everything in early).

Bessie had done much planning, the idea had evolved a good deal and many mock-ups were constructed so it all came together quite easily in the end.

Had to be a sculpture with the theme of: Real, Not Real, Too Real

Bessie’s journey to straight teeth. The wee vial in front contains the extra teeth¹ she had to have removed.

It turned out quite well (the barbed wire is brilliant and the photo at the back is Ace!) and we’re hoping she’ll gift it to us after it is marked.

boozing!

Oh weekend! How I adore thee.

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For the second evening in a row, we have come home to this:

drinking sencha sensation (I scored a couple of samplers when I spent a fortune in T2 a last week) and curling up with a compelling book.

drinking vanilla mint tea and grocery shopping.

SML was somewhat challenging on several levels today and I was very, very tempted to swing by the bottle shop and grab a nice dry riesling to sip while packing away groceries and prepping for dinner, but then I recalled my pact with myself and made a nice pot of tea instead.

Dinner has been a good deal later in recent times than we are accustomed to (9:10pm and we’re only just setting the table) and we’re a little out of sorts. Don has been working late for the last couple of weeks and I can’t say I’m a fan. Fortunately I have Joe/Frank and kitty to entertain me and fortunately it will all back to regular hours in the not-too-distant future and we can celebrate with … errrmmmm … another nice pot of tea.

drinking green rose tea, folding seemingly endless laundry, tidying The Palace (Of Love) and changing the sheets.

drinking chamomile and lavender tea and cooking bangers and mash.

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Yes, I’m trying to reduce alcohol consumption during the week again. Unfortunately it is all too easy to slip into that “what a rotten day, I’ll just have a couple of winez to relax”, which becomes a bottle, which becomes every day. Less than optimal.

The toasty nougat smelled wonderful, but was rather too sweet to drink, so we’re now keeping it in a jar for burying our noses in

Kitty also very much appreciated Joan’s thoughtful offering:

I am a huge fan of infusions and had resisted the loose variety, preferring a wee bag as the delivery system, but I am now a convert!

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On Vaccination Day, Don and I wandered into T2 at DJs and picked up organic peppermint, a mesh basket for our horribly cheap teapot (see aforesaid delivery system) and some Melbourne breakfast (in bag form) for Joe/Frank who is a huge fan of experimenting with various black teas (but has previously mostly confined himself to twinings).

horribly cheap ($3) teapot – handily labelled in the event that we confuse it with the rice cooker or vacuum cleaner

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The Vaccination Day teas were so successful that during the Lunchtime Of Spendering, I grabbed a one-mug teapot and some interesting loose tea for Joe/Frank (so that he might continue his experimentationing) and a couple of infusions (black tea making me hideously unwell) for me and a two(ish)-mug teapot. Two(ish)-mug teapot also for me – because I am very much trying to cut down on the booze (yet another post) and find infusions are lovely to sip as a wine replacement of an evening.

artful still life – a mere sliver of the spoils of my spending

I warn you now that there will be a good deal of “I am not drinking and am doing x” posts in your future.

There is definitely a post in how I spent way too much money (with way too much wild abandon for someone who has her soul owned by WhichBank) on Friday lunch, but for now I will leave you with how I am spending my weekend …

As it is my last full week of freedom, I took the opportunity of grabbing an annual leave day on Thursday. I’d have have taken two, but MrsCranky goes off on maternity leave in 4 days and I, being the Ace! manager that I am feel as though I should be there for the remainder.

Don took the day too (and the tomorrow, having no knocked-up employees to fuss about) and we dragged poor kitty to the vet for her vaccination, acquired some kitty-scratching devices and headed out for a most excellent lunch at Jamie’s Italian, after which we spent way too much in DJ’s food hall. We travelled home on the train and marvelled that there was daylight! And it was during the week! And we were on the train! And we recalled fondly the times when we could actually leave the office while the sun was still out and resolved to try and stop leaving work in the dark (at least sometimes).

Henceforth this will be known as Vaccination Day and, like Taxation Day – an annual event where the morning is to be consumed by administrivia & the afternoon by Feasting and Shopping and Wine in not necessarily that particularly order.