It’s not Friday the 13th today, but it was the other day.

Our plumbing got blocked and we had a crowd coming over on Saturday the 14th.

We rent our house, so should have been able to ask the estate agent to get it fixed, but we knew from experience that it wasn’t going to happen in time. So we called a plumber ourselves, and $332 later he announced forlornly that he could not fix it—the blockage was terminal and the pipe would need to be dug up and replaced.

By evening Frank and I were exhausted. We were standing there collapsed in each other’s arms, barely able to move. The plumber did get things flowing enough for us to feel our plans would not be threatened, but we had been doing all that cleaning you put off till the last minute, and combined with the stress of the plumbing dilemmas (and extra not-so-pleasant cleaning), we wanted to fall into bed early.

But we had to go out because Frank had a sound mixing gig he couldn’t get out of. And it was FANTASTIC!

There were three acts, and they were all boys still at school. Kids that age aren’t allowed in pubs without their parents, so the place was full of both teenagers and their parents. The quality of talent was amazing. First up was a singer-songwriter, followed by two bands.

Saturday the 14th

Our party went off great, and the plumbing held out (and is still OK). It was based around a fire in the backyard—we put carpet on the grass and chairs out. We love having a fire in June when it is freezing cold. At this time of year the weather is usually cold and clear—the rain doesn’t really set in till July. We have a great fire dish and a friend supplies us with hardwood that doesn’t smoke. The fire is really hot, and no-one seems to want to go inside. Here’s a photo:

About half the people there were musicians. There were some guitars and other instruments seeing some action around the fire, and the piano inside got a workout. It was different, because at our other fires we just had iTunes playing most of the time. This time they kept wanting it turned off so they could play!

One really exciting thing for us was getting hold of a CD Frank recently recorded. It’s the second CD he has done where the artist went off and got it duplicated to sell it. The artist’s name is Sanna Lund, and she dropped into the party for a while to give us a copy. She is a traveller from Sweden who came into our lives via the open mic night Frank and I run on Tuesdays. She is a wonderful singer-songwriter with a fantastic voice.

As I write this she has not had a chance to upload the new songs to her MySpace—she has just left yesterday in a combi van for the warmer climes of northern Australia, as Swedish travellers are inclined to do at this time of year. When she does upload them, I’ll put one of them on the music player on our website. Here’s a photo of the CD being proudly held by Frank:

Sunday the 15th

The last people left at about 6.30 am—Mike was too sloshed to ride his bicycle so he fell into our spare bed. I guess we must have put the carpet and chairs away and cleaned up the mess, because it’s all gone now—I don’t really remember.

I do remember staggering down the street for pizza like we always do on Sunday nights.

Monday the 16th

Well it’s my birthday today! Fifty-five years old! Oh how we Geminis like to chat about our birthdays. Frank and I are going down the street to the Indian restaurant for tea—at the moment I’m just enjoying writing this and not doing much else. I just want to say thanks to my new blogosphere friends—when I began this blogging adventure 3 months ago I didn’t anticipate the feeling of community that has come with it.

I seemed to have strayed off-topic. I promise I will be back to ernestly discussing physical immortality next post—I know you are hanging out for it. Oh to have a niche with more than one person in it. (And I must say I REALLY appreciate everyone who has taken the time to leave comments.)

Cheers – Robin