Free Weekend

Ahhhh.... a free weekend. One of those where we don't have to visit anyone, and no-one's coming to us, so we're free to chill out. I predict some nice dog walks, especially if the weather stays as sunny and warm as this. There is even talk of Dad persuading Mum to drop us all at Seasalter, so that we can walk home along the creek bank and sea wall. Some good lie-ins for Megan too; she does like her slow mornings. Really she should have been Mum's dog, and Haggis should have been Dad's, with all his leppin' out of bed and straight into action. Me? What ever humans are doing is alright by me as long as I'm not left behind!

In our town there is a nice bit of banked up rockery at the main "entrance" which was always maintained by the corporation and owned by the town. It was admired far and wide for it's lovely flowers and flowering shrubs, all well maintained; a real eye-catching beauty spot enhancing the town. In fact the main gardener at the time was a guy called Walter Abel, and the local nickname for the rockery is still "Abel's Acre"

The town moved on, the corporation got swallowed up in the borough, and the careful gardening ceased. the shrubs grew to tree size, the flowers gave up the ghost, and when Meg and Haggis were pups it was just a scruffy eyesore. But then grand-daughter of Walter Abel, who has an allotment up on Dad's site, decided to do something about it. Volunteers were mobilised and the serious task of clearing overgrown shrubs, re-invigourating the soil and re-planting began, and has gone on ever since, to the general delight of town's people

Even Dad has dug the odd spadeful up there, but his main contribution at the moment is to host "Wine and Wisdom" table quizzes in aid of the "Friends of Abels' Acre". There is one Saturday night, so our spare room is a maze of question sheets, answers, pictures, flip chart, stationery and general preparation. One good round is always the "dog walk" round, where Dad takes us for a nice walk through town and notes down things he notices - brass plaques, shop names, odd signs or eye catching adverts. These he converts into questions; some straight-forward ("What shop is to the right of Woolworths?"); some obscure (What cute view is to the left of the "Chainstore Massacre?").

Usually quite entertaining!

Have a good weekend
Deefer