So here they are, my hits of the week…

1.  I lost my Bean Hunter coffee cup a while ago.  Spewing.  So if you’ve found it, feel free to drop it in to me.  In the meantime I go this baby from the bookshop in Eumundi.  It’s by Keep Cup.  It reckons that it would take about twenty take-away cups to make one of these, so I guess I’d better not lose it before then.  I’ve had five so far.  Seriously though, don’t you love these cups?  I love drinking my hot bevvies out of an adult sippy cup, and I like to imagine myself all New York-y when I drink on the run.  Not sure if the colours are NYish though. There was a black and grey one, but hey, I live at the sunny end of the continent.  We do colour..

2.  I’ve mentioned my day-time writing space before, but do you wanna check it out?  This is the view:

And this is where I sit:

Nath constructed a kick-arse bar table and six stools up here- it took four blokes and my brother to get it up here.  For a while we wondered if the balcony would actually hold it.  Anyway, I call this place the iDeck on weekends, but during the day it is Top Deck: World’s Best Treat.  (Nath calls it Bar Up, but that’s another story).  It is perfect in Winter- a slight breeze, but the walled-in sides keep you warm, and it gets the arvo sun.  Right now I’m sitting here in a singlet.  In the WINTER.  Once, I mentioned to Nath that we should get some lighting up here, and quick as a flash he was off to Bunnings to get these:

The dude is an idiot.

3.  Catching up with friends.  Do you have different friends for different things?  Seems I do.  And this week I got to catch up with two different types.  1. My piss head mates.  They are our ‘before kid’ mates.  Poor things, ‘cos now we are hopeless at playing like we used to, but we can bring it on the odd occasion.  2. An after-kids mate.  In fact, so ‘after’ that she still has a rugrat of her own making, in tow. So we do take-away coffees and parks, to avoid the disapproving stares of cafe owners (Yes, I’m looking in your general direction Eumundi, and NOT at the Boho, which was unfortunately closed), where we can talk about the world and our lives and solve many things.  Hey there friends: you make me ol’ heart swell, you do.

4.  Afternoon tea, arriving unbidden from a patient.  If you are a parent at STM, then you’ll probably guess who popped in with this date loaf- all packaged up in cello like it was from a shop, and tasting even better.  If you still can’t guess, think: adult onset ADD, think: brings you soup when you’re crook, think: can organise your entire school holidays to the very last minute.  She handed it over with a breezy, “It’s a bit dry, but you won’t mind ‘cos you don’t bake.”  And she is RIGHT.  On both counts.  She KNOWS me.  Thanks luv.  Just what the (pretend) doctor ordered.

5.  I know I already told you about Pene and the astro-charts that she has been doing for our family, but my goodness, can I stress again how good they are?  I got Liam’s done this week, and it was eerie, listening to someone describe your kid with words that your brain had been hovering around.  I think I mentioned last time, that I got them done not as some “Let’s predict the future” thing, but more to get some clarity around the kids I have.  Maybe what motivates them, what makes them tick.  I’m a sucker for any sort of personality profiling, and this felt like another version of that, but with more personalised detail.  Pene said she can do consults over the phone, so you don’t have to be a Sunshine Coast local to have a go.  I took notes like I was in an embryology lecture, listening to the miracle of a life unfold.  Good darts.

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS

Pene, the astrology consultant to the stars me has just messaged me (perhaps she predicted she would be on the blog, or maaaybeee she just read it) and said she would give 20% off to any  From The Ashers blog readers.  Ring her now on 0414562162 or email her on penelopy.walsh@gmail.com and book in before she changes her mind (I think she’s a Leo or some such and they’re always changing their minds*).  Seriously, do it.  Use this code: ALISONisGROUSE** to redeem your offer***.

*Might not be an actual astrology fact.

**Also might not be a fact.

***There really is an offer though.  Pinky Swear.

Well that’s about it… Happy Long Weekend everyone.  I hope it’s relaxing and fun and you get to have a good belly laugh at least once, oh, and that the horrible couple get kicked out of House Rules.

…From The Ashers xx