Finally Home

We slide, or perhaps I should say staggered, in the front door of our new house just before 9pm. I was shattered after an 11 hour drive. There was some euphoria. Then all I felt was overwhelming tiredness and that confused feeling that comes with unpacking. No matter how carefully I pack it I can never find things easily at the other end. 

It is nice to finally climb into my own bed. I feel like I've been camping for so long. I forgot to buy milk and that sucked, because I'd been pretty excited about using my new teapot. I was too tired for wine so I tried to have a black tea instead. However tea without milk is The Devil's Work I've decided. 

Maxie seems to have settled. I've reluctantly put him in the laundry overnight though, because he will pace and prowl the house with all the windows open. 

I got rattled coming in to Melbourne. Was it because I was trying to find the quickest route from the Hume Freeway to Eastlink?  It probably wasn't. Apple maps took me along the Metropolitan Ring Road, then Greensborough Road, Lower Plenty Road, Bulleen Road and then finally onto Eastlink. The kids were tired and fractious by this stage, sick of the car. I grew tenser and more tired with every turn and every suburb sign. I was glad to finally reach Eastlink. Perhaps there is a better way....

There are unfamiliar sounds outside my window. No doubt it will take us a little while to get used to everything. I joked to Lyn on the way down that I was getting good at doing that Feline twist in the air to make sure I land on my feet. This is the biggest landing I've ever attempted though so I guess it is natural to feel daunted every now and again. 





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Legacy of Eight Carat: From the Vault Volume I

Image
We have been back in lockdown here in Victoria. Lockdown 5.0 to be precise and as a result it made us go back to feeling like sad sacks.  After having seen off Lockdown 4.0 a teeny tiny bit triumphantly, where we saw off both Delta and Kappa variants (evil beasts that they are - curse you stinky COVID - curse you), we had literally only just gotten back to work before being very suddenly plunged back into Lockdown 5.0 after the visit of those very nice removalists.   'Thanks very much!!!!' we all shouted indignantly!!!!  A key difference with Lockdown 5.0 was that half the country also into lockdown at the same time which made us feel slightly less sad.  The Victorian Government doesn't muck about anymore when it comes to outbreaks.  Their reaction is swift and severe and not at all namby pamby.  I just wish the same logic would be applied to Sydney which continues to deteriorate, much to my dismay.  This week we took our first tentative steps out of Lockdown 5.0, hurrah f
Read more

Vale Sadler's Wells - champion stallion dies in Ireland.

Image
One of the most important racehorses, and later stallions of our time, the great Sadler's Wells died in Ireland on the evening of Tuesday 26 April 2011.  He died at Coolmore's Tipperary Stud in Ireland, his home since his retirement in 1984.  The stallion was retired from breeding in 2008. His legacy worldwide is immense.  He has left sons and daughters,  and three of his stallion sons, in Galileo, Montjeu and High Chaparral, are leading stallions in the Northern Hemisphere.  In Australia, Galileo and Montjeu had less success, however the impact of High Chaparral was immediate, and immense.  While the horse still has to repeat the success he achieved with his New Zealand bred runners, from which the Group 1 winners, and champion So You Think, were conceived, High Chaparral is still leading the Australian General Sires Title with only a couple of months of racing left. In Europe, Montjeu and Galileo have both sired Epsom Derby winners, in Authorized and New Approach respective
Read more

The physical drain of riding horses

Image
Most people agree that the life of a jockey is a difficult one.  There are a handful that rise to the top, and do extremely well out of the Sport of Kings.  The vast majority however struggle with their weights, and do their best to avoid and/or overcome injury.  Anyone who has ever been pelted off a horse would know that it doesn't tickle!  And of course the older you get, the more it hurts!  We used to fang around on our ponies, bareback, in headstalls and leadropes, never wearing a riding hat.  Completely fearless, and I am sure that on the odd occasion I parted company with my horse, I used to bounce.  In fact I rarely used to fall off, unless the horse came down as well, I guess all those years of galloping around bareback meant my balance and ability to swing my body with the horse was pretty good.  I'd like to say that I could still ride the same, but age and the maturing mind catches up, and you start thinking of the consequences of 'what if I come off', which
Read more