Hn. <glancing up into corner of the lounge room> The first huntsman of the season. Didn't see many inside last year - hope that doesn't mean we can expect twice as many this year...

The cubs and I have just spent a few days with Mum. Mum'd got it into her head that we were staying for 3 nights rather than the 2 I had planned - it threw her slightly. Ah well.
First thing we did was head up to the Healesville Trolley ride. Lots of people there (nice weather, middle of the holidays) and consequently I ended up perched at the very end of the last trolley, squished between the rear diesel engine and the none too secure rail. It's moments like that I'm uncomfortably aware - because of my size - the sorts of places I won't fit.
Anyway, we trundled off, happy and smiling and enjoying the sunshine and stuff, until we got to the middle of the hill just before the tunnel (steepest rail gradient in Victoria, apparently; 1:35). The very full trolley ground to a halt, unable to make it up the slope. The drivers conferred, the front trolley was uncoupled and went off to complete the journey leaving the rear one to have another go. The driver went back to a relatively flat spot so we could take a run-up. Twice.
No luck. Just as I thought we'd have to give up on the tunnel and go back to the station, the front trolley - free of passengers - came back down the track to give us a hand. We cheered when we finally made it through the tunnel...
It was fun on the way back though. It was all downhill and we rocketed along, and now I was at the front of the trolley, with nothing between me and the track save a couple of bits of timber. Weeeeeeee! With my hair streaming out behind me I wondered if this was what it was like being a figurehead...

The next day the cubs and I wandered around the village while Mum and her friend went to the gym. The cubs found an excellent model train magazine - which they've been poring over ever since - and I stocked up on biodynamic rice. One of the things I like about where Mum lives is that there's a lot of organic/biodynamic produce readily available. It helps of course that the Biodynamic Research Institute is just down the road I guess, but I don't have to go hunting for the goods there like I have to in the 'burbs.
Once Mum and Jean had finished exercising we all piled into Mum's little car and headed up to the Patchwork Teahouse in Warburton. Had a cup of tea and picked up a handful of cute buttons, and a few scrappy bits of material for one of the projects. Didn't spend anywhere near as much as I'd anticipated, which was a good thing.

Today, the last day, we met Soulsis and her chicks to go and see the Wallace and Grommit movie. It was fun, simplistic, with most of the really funny things happening in the background. Wallace's bookshelf holds titles like 'Waiting for Gouda' & 'East of Edam', and one of the stained glass windows in the church shows the angels blowing their horns and the three wise men blocking their ears. <g> The animation was a good as ever, there were lots of in-jokes from all over the place and a number of things that had the adults in the audience chortling. I was entertained the whole way through - and the bunnies drifting about during the credits were awfully cute.
After a drink in the nearby shopping centre, Mum dropped the cubs and I off at the station to catch the train home. So good to be home... for a change. Usually I'm pretty meh about being here but today it was different. I wonder why?
It's interesting, the more time I spend at Mum's the more I like the area. I asked the cubs what they thought it would be like to live there and the M cub replied 'peaceful'. By the tone of voice I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not. Eh well, if it's meant to be...

And, hah!, I've got a yellow kougra now, too. Not bad going, really: 4 kougras, 3 different colours.