despite the numb face

puppy

Originally uploaded by adelaide writer

…it was a great day

with a birthday feast for my Dad, with all of us happy for this happy birthday, in the shade on a warm day with a cool breeze; and cousins playing football and redefining pecking order as Eldest Boy has surprised us all with his Football Confidence; and them (Dad and partner) making sure there was something for everyone

and I finally made a chocolate and beetroot cake which the chocolate lovers loved, and I think next time I’ll add mascarpone cheese…

then home again to watch Port come in by a point, and all of us happy except Youngest Boy who didn’t find a pen in time to change his tips

and then to meet the puppy, and Youngest Boy, with eight small beagles scampering over his feet, saying over and over again ‘they’re a bit active, they’re a bit active’ and also ‘they’re biting each other, stop them biting each other’ and us ‘they’re just playing the same way you and your brother do’; and the Dog Lady watching Youngest Boy and asking us ‘does he talk like this all day’ and us, in unison ‘yes’, just as we always say; and as the mister said on the way home ‘you don’t go and see a puppy if you haven’t already decided you’ll get a dog’;

and last of all, planting the tree, in the place where the umbrella rose used to be, and we’ll have to water it with a bucket, but with all the people lopping down trees around here, we’ll be glad of the effort one day.

And, because there was birthday cake, this morning, there is cream left for my coffee, and so, despite the extra warmth and pollen in the wind, today will be good too.