One week of house-sitting

Well, it's another warm day down in The Shire. It's just me and two dogs that would keep a dog psychologist in business for years. Today marks one week since my aunt headed off to Thailand for her son's wedding. From what I've seen of the pics on FB, I'd say everybody had a good time. The rest of the time there will be spent seeing the sites, including the Bridge on the River Kwai and the Tiger Temple.

Me, well, I'm wondering if I can actually get through the next week and-a-half without completely going off my rocker. The dogs, I must say, are very trying. At times they can be extremely annoying, to the point where I'm yelling at them. However, I soon remember that both of them are (supposedly) deaf, and there is no point raising my voice. That, and I can't stay mad at them for too long. After all, they're just dogs.

When they're asleep, and that can be quite often, they're good. The problem is that every time I move around the house, they're behind me, or under my feet. They have to be in the same room as me, and have to know what I'm doing at every moment. Anything I pull out of the fridge (according to doggy reasoning) is food that they can eat. Anything I pull out of the cupboard, is food that they can eat. Anything that I have in my hand (occasionally including my hand), is food that they can eat. The food that they're allowed to eat, are the dog biscuits, although when I'm cutting some chunks off the big leg of ham in the fridge for sandwiches, I throw them some tidbits. The small white one (which I now refer to as the “Bewildered Hoover”, on account she wanders around aimlessly, often sniffing the floor looking for food), walked around for fifteen or so minutes with three small chunks of ham in her fur before she realized that they were there.

She's also (mostly) blind and I feel she's quite senile as well. She knows that I'm around, but at times doesn't know where I am. She walks into things – doors, chairs, tables, even the base of the fan the other day. The funniest, yet saddest thing to watch was her walking behind the door in my room (my aunt's music room), which was ajar, then having to reverse when she walked into the wall. I'm keeping an eye on her at the moment. About half-an-hour ago she threw up a pile of undigested dog biscuits all over the kitchen floor. (I couldn't get her outside in time.) Then in true doggy fashion, she started eating the regurgitated biscuits. She's eating the biscuits again, so I'm keeping one eye on her, and one eye on this. I would rather hose down the verandah than mop up the floor...

The other one, the larger of the two, is black, and I refer to him as the “Shadow Inquisitor”, seeing he generally is right behind me everywhere I go, and must know what I am doing at every moment. I have managed to get him under control, seeing I can chase him away with either a) the clothes basket, b) the TV remote control or c) a pen or pencil. However, for the last three mornings he has been leaving lumpy deposits on the kitchen floor. He just wants to be the center of attention. You must acknowledge him at all times. If I go out, he will perch himself on the top of the couch near the window, so that he can keep watch on the driveway. Anyone that comes up it gets a furious barking, regardless is it's friend or foe.

I'm glad that I managed to escape yesterday. Rod, from the soccer team, turned up yesterday and we went for a drive around the local shopping centers. I picked up some cheap cartridges for my aunt's printer, plus a cheap mouse so that I can use on the laptop that I'm using now, and will take home with me so that I can replace the old one that I have there currently. We 're planning a drive up to Gosford for Saturday's Mariners vs Newcastle match. The local derby should draw a good crowd, and with the Mariners in fantastic form (club record of 12 matches in-a-row without a loss) there is no reason why there shouldn't be a good crowd on hand. The last two home matches drew close to 28,000 spectators, which is pleasing to see. The team also managed to win back-to-back games inside five days, with a 2-0 win over Melbourne Victory at home (last Wednesday the 4th), and last Sunday (8th) a hard fought 1-0 win over Sydney FC at the Sydney Football Stadium. Though we have lost our leading goal-scorer Matt Simon (took up a $400k a year contract to play in Korea) we are still doing well enough. (From what I've heard, the 1-0 scoreline did not reflect how dominant the team was during the match. We just have to get tougher and learn how to really put sides away.)

Anyway, a trip up will be good. It will give me a chance to take home all the stuff that I have finished with, deposit some clean clothing that I won't be needing, and bring down some more washing that I can get done during the week. (Whilst I have the chance, I'll use the machine!) I'll bring the old laptop down too, seeing there are some DVDs I wouldn't mind getting a copy of. (Zombieland, Season 4 IT Crowd, even some Frasier wouldn't go astray... )

So, despite the dramas with the dogs, this hasn't been too bad. I've been content to just veg out, watching DVDs, play Blood Bowl on the laptop, write, print up stuff, scan material, even spend some time with the rels. (I have a cousin not far from my aunt's place. She is the daughter of my aunt Rete, who still lives in Inverell.) I have learnt a fair bit about the family, from her extensive family history research. She has sent on a lot of material, and has even borrowed some stuff off me. I got a copy of a newspaper clipping of my folks' wedding, which I promptly scanned and posted on FB, plus discovered that we might have a peer in the family. One has to go back to the 1600's to find him though...

Currently, I have moved the laptop from the music room to the kitchen, and have the afternoon sun at my back, and whatever windows that I can open to get the strong breeze that's whistling about currently. The house at the moment is decidedly cool, and I have recently discovered that there is a USB slot on the telly, so I'm now listening to my MP3 player. Bliss! The toughest decision I will have to make today will be what to have for dinner.

Well, there's not much on my “to do” list that needs to be done. Currently, I need to just type up a Blood Bowl blog (long overdue that one is), the hand-written notes I made for the second Feudball book whilst I was away for Xmas (and finish the respective chapter), scan a couple of books, and finish reading one.

Then what will I do for the second week? Hmmm...

Ciao!