Yesterday was almost a blue-hand day but not quite…

Pete bought me latex gloves, a small pack – we feared they might come in bulk 100-packs and really…how many does a person need?  NOT that many, surely??  So I put a pair nicely in my jeans pocket at the Domain slip and Pete drove off to pick up the missing safety vest (compulsory on the slip and the cause of much cursing when it was found to be missing) and I started stirring paint and setting up roller trays etc etc in James’s overalls…which did NOT have a pair of latex gloves in the pocket.  So by the time Pete came back my hands were slightly blue.  But…we had turps with us and now I am only moderately grotty and mauve around the cuticle area.

We achieved a lot of blueness in appropriate places ie the bottom of 2XS and we hope it is now completely totally anti-fouled and ready to face the sea and to repel all of the small marine creatures which want to make this space their permanent home.  We also visited the 2XS gearbox in Flagstaff Gully, where Glenn, the wonderful mechanic, has garage full of gear-fixing equipment.  With a bit of luck, this very clean boat will be up and running SOON!

Farewells…oh dear…I have been trying to avoid farewells.  I love my Hobart life.  Everything about it!  I love the city; my friends, my habits, my darling family… I am not embarking on this adventure because I want to escape from anything at all… I am never bored with this Hobart life; it meets all of my needs, aesthetically and emotionally.  Not to mention all of the theatre, music, art and gossip!

For the past not-so-sure-how-many years – probably, we think, since 1998 - I have been going to the Republic in in North Hobart after work every Wednesday night, just for a couple of hours.  What a nice thing to do… It is a loose group of people – the most there has ever been was 25 (this included offspring and hangers-on) and the least has been…one… (yes, me…)  We do include men but men are not the core group… My pubgirl friends are wonderful; I couldn’t refuse an offer for a sort-of farewell at Pauline’s house last Wednesday although I really don’t want farewells… .It was just pubgirls, and I thought we should just go ahead with our usual Republic arrangement.  But my friends all rose to the occasion and served up a five course fabulous feast.  I was very glad I had walked up UP the hill to Pauline’s house to be able to justify eating such a lot of delicious fare…

And today I am having a family farewell in South Hobart at my daughter Katy’s… The good thing is – we aren’t really leaving for at least another week, so I can do a John Farnham and be at the Republic next week, and see my family next weekend….

And last night was – the Royal Wedding!  Last time I watched a wedding with my family it was Diana and Charles…  Nicky was 7, Claire 5, Katy 3, Michael not born yet… Poor Katy fell asleep and woke the next morning to say, “I saw Diana in her cart; what happened next??