Edited by author 04-09-2004 01:38
Thanks, Clara, re pretty pictures! Poor sore Clara. :-( What's u-frisbee? A game, obviously...

I've emailed you about the link. No it's not broken, it just won't work for us. Pity. :-)

Anyway I'm off to go for my morning ride. I can't find my helmet cover flappy thing so I'm going to go somewhere shady. North, today, I think.

And when I get back, I'm going to do some *really* drawing. With paper and ink, even. (Sorry Snagglepuss at the Laff-A-Lympics has been a bad influence lately.)
                                  * * *
Back again! What a lovely ride it was, I had a good meander through deserted streets. Very sunny, I should've put sunburn cream on. Light winds. Wandered through the suburbs, heading vaguely NW. Wandered onto West Coast Highway and wandered N. There's some sort of surf event happening at South Trigg Beach, lots of people and 96FM. Stopped at the dog beach, I think it's Waterman's and watched a man throwing a stick for his dog, who'd swim out and bodysurf back. Very peaceful and idyllic.

* * *

Tonight's gaming involved Rob and I & Mark, we played El Grande, which Mark thrashed us into the ground in, and before that Expos' which I won, apparently through no fault of my own. :-)

Monday morning. A couple of good friends were sent to hospital on Friday, one of them is now out, but the other is going to be in for some time. Terrible. Get better you two.

So Saturday we had a quiet night with Poss, as the birthday celebrations for the hospitalised friend would have been in rather poor taste without him. We walked to the local watering hole, and I had a pint of Little Creatures and a Surf & Turf. mmmmmmm. Yummy!

Sunday, it was Father's Day here in sunny (ha! it's bucketing out there!) Australia so we had a lunch with Rob's family at Lights restaraunt in Tuart Hill, which do an unusual gourmet taster of 6 light courses. It started with Inari sushi, then calamari salad, then veal parmigian, then crumbed snapper, then lemon chicken and apple pie in caramel sauce for dessert. The food was delicious!
We gave Rob's father, in conjunction with his mum, a breadmaker and some breadmixes. We left him cheerfully watching the progress of a pumpernickel. We came home, and then went to the hospital and dropped off a card and a rather oujii board looking construction and laser pointer, that we made for our car accident victim friend, who can't speak at the moment. Then we came home and kind of flaked out.

The afternoon continues on...my real drawing is going well. It's a mug design with dragons curling around it. It should be finished this week, hopefully in time to put it up as the special of the week.

Tuesday. Phew. Did some colour work this morning, on the new mug design. Drove one of the car accident victims to see the other (more seriously injured) accident victim. They are both doing as well as can be expected. And that's about it for today. Phew. I'm quite done in.

Very dull and overcast this morning. I'm tired out, I'm going to have a quiet morning and then take M out to see S. Then we'll both go down to Scarborough for the Wednesday night thing. *clink* To absent friends.

Edited by author 09-09-2004 10:13
Today is Thursday!

Well, yesterday, did some colour work in the morning and sorted the clean washing, which had begun to Lurk. Then I picked up Maureen and drove to the hospital, where I did some layout and inking of yet more mug designs while drinking too much coffee in the cafe.

Because Steveg is in ICU non-relatives aren't allowed to visit, in case you think I was being a big meanie. :-)

After the hospital we went down to Scarborough and met Poss and Rob, and had some nice hot food and a bit of an unwind.

Last night after we came home we were nearly killed laughing, looking through The Gallery of Regrettable Food and related sites, that Poss mentioned in her blog a couple of entries ago. Tears streaming down my face I was laughing that hard.

I have to go and change the products of the week and then do yet more colour work before taking Maureen for some tests and the hospital this arvo. So I'd better go off and change 'em, heh?

Thursday continued...

Went out and did the driving around and did an acceptable drawing in the cafe at Charles Gardiner Hospital. It's a pretty good cafe, Charlie's Garden Cafe' it's called. I haven't had anyone come and complain at me for sitting on one cup of tea for an hour and drawing, anyway. Forgot my sketchbook so had to buy one from the newsagent, and I think $4.50 for a lousy A5 sketchbook of uncertain acidity is darned exorbitant if you ask me. Captive audience. Feh.

Came home, had some lovely chicken in curry with rice for dinner, then went over to Karrinyup and picked up Something Rotten, the latest Jasper Fforde, and some donuts, and the Divine Madness DVD. So we've had a lovely evening watching Grim & Evil, Madness Videos, Ground Force in The Falkland Islands and drinking coffee and eating donuts. Very pleasant.

Edited by author 11-09-2004 00:24
Friday and...

I've stayed home and finally finished Fire Drake and Sea Serpent, uploading it and putting it on products, which can be viewed in the dragon section at the webshop. Looks fine.

I've spent a large portion of this day persuading my uncle not to go ahead with what quite frankly sounds like a dodgy roof coating 'deal'.

Looks like we'll be light on on gamers tonight.

Later...

Well, as it happened, we were not light on after all, R & C were good enough to come over and keep us company. We didn't play anything, we just sat, drinking hot drinks, eating chocolate and talking. It was very therapeutic.

Past midnight now. Heading towards beddy byes.

Saturday

Sympathy to the victims of, friends and families of those affected by the terrible events now and past. Peace to you.

Got up this morning, had donuts for breakfast! Yum! Rob and I then whisked (OK, vaguely shuffled) Maureen away to a good, fine cafe we know and we cheerfully stuffed down lunch. We then droppen Maureen off at the hospital, went and fixed my grandmother's computer problems, went back to the hospital, had a cup of hot stuff with Maureen and took her back home.

Steveg is out of ICU, you'll be pleased to hear, they were just moving him when Maureen got to him.

Rob's just done things to my home page. I like the changes.

No Mystie tonight, Poss's mum back in hospital. Our thought are with them.

I'm tuckered out and feeling a bit gaming deprived.

Well, Sunday was cooking chicken mole in the morning, lunch and sitting around reading Something Rotten in the afternoon while Rob watched Discovery Channel. Then we stirred ourselves, rode around the Herdsman lake/swamp again on our bikes and this time we had a decent camera,
Rob took some really neat shots of the great cormorant rookery. Rode to my Dad's place and Rob tuned his tv for him. Rode home, had chicken mole for dinner and kind of flaked out.

Edited by author 13-09-2004 22:08
Monday Morning!

Mum's off to Araluen today, so I'm left in a bit of peace.

Not much happening this morning for me, had a phone call from maureen, re going to see Steveg tonight. That will be good.

I'm just sitting here at one of the computers, adding a bunch of tote bags to the shop...done zebras, done elephants, done the velociraptor / protoceratops battle,
done Ancient Waters (that's the one with all the mososaur, pliosaurs and plesiosaurs in it.) Just working through.

Kind of a warmish day outside, with high, streaky cloud. It's quite cool indoors though.

Rob and I took Maureen to see Steveg today, he looks a lot better than we were expecting. It was good to see him. Hope his recovery is a speedy one!

Edited by author 14-09-2004 16:58
Tuesday morning. Added a few more bags, went to Dewson's. Rob got an SMS from Steveg, the drain is coming out today, and he was able to stand again today. Great news! He also had some solid food for the first time in nearly two weeks, which he described in loving detail and wouldn't save any for me. :-)
Tonight we will go and give him our combined birthday present to him, Rob is on his way home, we'll have some more chicken mole for dindins and then we'll go get the Maureen.

After adding still more bags to the website, I did some more work on Steveg's Dragon, so called because it started life in the cafe where I was waiting at the cafe at the hospital for Maureen to come back from visiting Steveg. It is turning out reasonably well, I'm pleased with it.

Edited by author 15-09-2004 21:13
Steveg was in pretty good shape last night, he has been
able to eat and was clear minded, it was a good visit.

Wednesday morning, and I'm just back from my 15 km ride. Phew. Hazy morning, quite cool, pleasant ride and tiring. The low light of the ride was that about 500 metres from home a bird whacked me in the back of the helmet. I looked back, and I could swear that it wasn't a magpie.

It looked much more like a butcherbird. Has anyone out there heard or seen anything like that happening with them?

I've only had trouble with maggies if my lips have been too dry to whistle that three tone territorial call they have, you know, not the warbling, but the O-VER Heeeeeeeeeeeere!
NO-Ova Heeeeeeeeeeere call they make to each other across long distances.

But I'd swear this was a butcher bird. I'm glad I had my helmet on, because there's a star-shaped beak impact crater in the back of it now. I wonder if I should get a new one?

So leece's plans for the day are to ring H&R Block to Do The Tax and then do some more work on Steveg's Dragon. And then go early down to Scarborough, and do some more drawing there, and await the coming of Rob, Poss and Maureen.

Off I go to put the kettle on.

Accumulated wisdom of leece No.1: Don't cut the bread with the electric knife while the agitator is still in the loaf. Thank you.

*later*

Too many scales on this here dragon, that's all I can say. What possessed me to do them so small and with such a fine pen - 0.05 mm?! Oh well, leece is known for her perserverence. Isn't she? <small voice> isn't she?

*still later*

Back from Peter's by the Sea, where we met Poss, and Rob & Ros said their bye-byes. I'll be seeing the Poss off tomorrow. I have a mudmap. Well, sort of more an elegant inscribed cuniform hard baked clay map, actually, it's too good for just a mudmap.

Just showed Rob some more Grim & Evil. I gotta respect a cartoon that has Lovecraft and Frank Herbert references, I really do.

Report on Thursday. Or "It must be Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays"

Well, I didn't get time to blog yesterday. So here we are. Drove over to Poss's Dad's place in Gosnells yesterday, saw some Red Tailed Black Cockatoos there, which were absolutely gorgeous. I've not seen these guys so close to the city before, it was great.

Picked up Poss, drove to the International Airport, where we waited and waited until I had to go. Oh, and I nearly lost my phone, but the good staff at the airport kept it safe, and were able to give it back when I realised it was lost.

Then I drove home, spent about 20 minutes updating the website, so that Tote Bags are now the product of the week, answered some emails, and then got on the bus, got off at Sir Charles Gardiner and went to the cafe to wait for Rob and do some work on Steveg's Dragon.

While I was waiting a friend of mine, the only one of which I have kept in contact from from high school came by, and we sat and talked and talked until Rob came by. Then we talked some more. Christopher left, we had a quick dinner and went up to see Steveg, who was looking very well and animated. He's out of HDU and in his own room. Don't know how long that will last, though.

Had a good chat, and then off we went to UWA and the UniSFA quiz night. Where we came third along with our other team members, the Amazing Nick, The Astounding Evan, the Mark of All Knowlege of Things that Grow, The Jocelyn of The Wise. It was a fun night!

And a very tiring day.

Edited by author 18-09-2004 09:22
Went shopping this morning to get Stuff for tonight and tomorrow. It is going to be a very game rich environment coming up, and boy, am I ready for it.

The pea and ham soup which Mum and I have argued our way through making is gently simmering as I speak. Smells pretty good, I'm hungry now.
 
Now for some lunch and then hopefully some more work on Steveg's Dragon, wretched thing that it is.

Then gaming, where Mark and Jocelyn will join us, and maybe Richard and Clara and Gary. I'm vaguely thinking of a deputation to visit Steveg, but I don't know, that might be a bit too many people...

*later*

Steveg's Dragon now has a bit of neck and pretty much its lower jaw completed. Oo, and it's got teef. Rotten thing it is, I sometimes think Steveg will be completely recovered by the time it'll be ready to put up on some produce. Poss asked me yesterday would it be coloured. *Sob*.

Rob is on his way home and I'm very interested in dinner and games, not sure just which I'm more interested in at the moment... dinner....no, games! Ummm...

Had an SMS from Poss. She hath arriveth in Britain. I told her to enjoy her jetlag.

Joceyln and Mark came over and we played a couple of friendly games of Mahjong. If there can be such a thing. Then Richard and Clara joined us and we played Expos' and boy what a game that was! Despite going massively into debt, Richard, by adroitly cornering the market in a discerning way :-) still ended up with well over a million Euro. Wow. Highest scoring game of Expos' I've seen, I've never seen anyone get to a million before! Well done.
I came second (I think), but it was a long way away. Expos is an art game, from the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay where it helps if you can recognise artists, but it isn't necessary. With 126 different paintings, it can be quite difficult...
It was a good night. I got a very bleary SMS from Poss about walking into things. Then we came home.

Not so bleary now. Slightly wavery but hoping that will pass.

Hope the gaming goes/went well. Bloody different time zones.