Home At Last

We arrived home after 11 pm last night from an almost 1,000 kilometre round trip to Sydney. I didn't do the whole 1,000 kms. I was dropped off at Josh and Frances place while Graeme, Justin and Savannah proceeded to Lidcombe. Justin has been living there for a while now and is now moving back to the Riverina. I had a great time catching up with Josh, Frances and my granddaughters while Graeme and co slaved away packing all Justin's worldly possessions in the back of the car.

I have a back injury that causes me quite a bit of pain and I was a bit of a mess when we arrived home. I crawled into bed and left, Graeme, Justin and Savannah to sort everything out. Not that there was a lot of things to get in last night. Billy recognised my signature hobble and escorted me to the back porch personally. He has assumed the role of assistance dog (chanelling his Swis Alps ancestors I reckon) and last night he stood beside me and helped me up the stairs by giving me a strong back to lean on. I was so sorry to have to disappoint him a few minutes later when, he started to hint that something was missing. Billy turned on the charm and tried all sorts of subtle (well, subtle for an over grown St Bernard) hints to make me aware that he hadn't had his tinned dog food - I told him there wouldn't be any tonight as I didn't have the strength to use the can opener. He continued to try and charm some tinned food out of me, even offering to work the can opener himself. I pointed out the lack of oposable thumbs problem and he said he'd chew through the can if necessary. Poor Billy was doomed to disappointment.

The cats on the other hand dispensed with the niceties, complained bitterly about being put outside early in the morning and not let in until some ungodly hour of the night. They then placed themselves besides their bowls, ignoring the bowl full of dry cat food and pointed out that there was not tinned cat food and it had better arrive pretty smartly. They too were disappointed and consoled themselves by lashing their tails and bashing each other up for a while.

The ferrets were already tucked up in bed when we arrived home. I winkled them out of their hammock and sleeping bag, and Savannah and I carried them into the house. I had to head Savannah off at the pass though. She was getting ready for a good play session with the ferrets despite the time of night. I had to read the Graeme/Ferret Treaty of 1998 to her so she understood that when Graeme is inside the ferrets aren't and if they are they are in their inside cage. Savannah wanted to take them all to bed with her and play with them there. This too was sadly vetoed because I doubted anyone in the house would get any sleep if ferrets were roaming free, so Savannah sadly put her share of the ferrets in their cage to join Miette and Ebony, who were already in there and claiming the best sleeping spots.

Savannah is very pro-ferrets (I divide the world up into two classes - pro and anti ferrets). I can see I'm going to love this girl.