Safe and sound

During one of Melbourne's sweltering days last week the girls cooled down with a water fight. Not sure why Rosie put on the rain gear though.

Carlton Gardens was once again taken over by the annual flower and garden show and this time Kasi and several members of the family put in an appearance on Sunday, the last day. Leaving just a few minutes before closing time meant there were lots of cheap flowers to be bought.

Later that night we (minus Jessye who was feeling too tired and teenagery) went for a meal at our usual Lygon St haunt - the whole footpath was packed with diners out enjoying the balmy night.

Then came the terrible drama of Fred and Barney going missing. Luckily a lady who lives miles away in Heidelberg saw them running out on Nicholson St and stopped to pick them up or they would no doubt have been flattened. She took them home to Heidelberg. Our cleaners had made their fortnightly attempt to bring us back to civilisation and probably left the door from the courtyard to the street open while they took their apparatus out to the van - long enough for Fred and Barney to make a break for it. Peter and Wilma were home at the time but didn't notice the puppies were absent for half an hour or so. They searched every alley in the neighbourhood and called city councils and lost dog shelters. It's a long story fraught with letterbox drops, posters everywhere,a sleepless night, false leads and wrong phone numbers but the happy ending is that the Yarra City Council put the two parties together and Wilma, Jessye and Rosie collected the boys at 5:30 this evening from their rescuer in Heidelberg and gave them treats on the way home. After dinner of fresh beef mince which disappeared in seconds and lots of cuddles Wilma took the boys to the park while Jessye and Rosie donned rollerblades to remove posters from round the place. They all met in the park and J and R tried to persuade Barney and Fred to tow them home on their wheels. It worked pretty well for a while.

Finally, home for a quick game of spoons with Kasi.