07

The Government has overpaid a few thousand people accidentally. It has done a complete turnaround, first of all saying it would not ask for the money back, and now saying it will, but if those given the funds chose not to, they wouldn't have to pay back a red cent. We are one of the blessed recipients, and we have used that money to pay off some longstanding bills. Brian is of the opinion that the Government can afford what we cannot, that this is an election year, and that they will probably claw it back in tax in any case. I don't feel all that good about it, but I understand his point of view. I'll be amazed that if the current Prime Minister gets back in power, he won't demand it back, with substantial penalties for those who don't pay back within a certain time. He is on record for lies, but has camoflagued them beautifully. And I am not happy with the major political alternative. They are anti-Christian.

Alice is back from the Salvation Army Kid's Camp, tireder but happy having learned a bit of rap dancing. She admitted to boredom, since she had not chores to do there. I gave her some, and I thing she is beginning to wonder if she should have said anything at all!

They had a concert on the last night of the Camp, and I forgot the camera, so I apologise that there are no photos of the worlds most beautiful daughter hamming it up, but there you go. I bawled my eyes out every time she was anywhere near the stage, and as I said to Major Nikki, what am I going to be like on her wedding day?

The ducks are laying some beautiful blue eggs, and really yummy they are, too! Marlene and Ken very kindly gave us a rooster to kill, and it has, in the interim, decided to take cover from the other roosters in the peafowl enclosure. I'm calling it "Murder", because, owing to its age, its our little own pot boiler.

For sheer indulgence, when you whip cream to put on fruit salad, add a half teaspoon of vanilla essence and some very fine sugar. Whip until stiff. Yummo. At least the fruit salad is healthy.

Quote of the week: "Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry." Tom Mullen.

I am sorry this is not as long as normal, but it is actually my second attempt, as the computer decided to re-boot just as I was finishing, and ninety per cent. of what I had typed was lost. C'est la guerre.

Muppet and Heather seem happy together, I spotted them today rubbing horns. Muppet has a slight limp, which Brian attributes to bullish activity.

We have a re-hash of a programme on Channel Two (ABC Television, the Federal Government funded one). It's called The New Inventors, and people are coming up with all manner of wonderful ideas. Last night, for example, a very much older lady has put together a working example of an attache-case-sized treadmill for people on long flights, bus trips or in nursing homes to guard against deep vein thrombosis and other cirulation problems. Her husband had, I think, died of dvt.

Another clever chappie has come up with a way of processing sewerage using worms specific to the area in which his unit is sited to give recyclable, usuable water within half-an-hour. How marvellous!

The third bloke has invented a lawnmower engine-driven sweeper of kerbs that eliminates the costly and back-breaking job of ridding gutters of stones when a street is being made or re-made. It's a light-weight, portable, inexpensive method of doing a job relatively quickly, a job which every Council worker hates. And it frees up employees.

To make an easy fish-scaler, affix with nails, three bottle caps in a line on a flat piece of wood. To make scaling even easier, wash down the fish with vinegar.

Salting down haystacks not only prevents fires but is also good for stock. A little sulphur on the stack, between layers, discourages mice. You can also sprinkle sulphur on sacks of grain.

Snoozin'

I know it's time to go to bed

My eyelids are heavy

and swollen red

I'm swaying in the chair

and dreams are running

through my hair

I stagger off to rest awhile

close my eyes

and sleep a smile

But it seems as soon as I lie down

my time is up and I groan

feet hit the floor and the shock tells me

I'm finally awake - I just wish I could see