It’s time …

I knew it was not going to be a good trip to the Goldfields.  I left my camera home and took too many files with me instead.  And, I was right.

The TV and phones were still knocked out at the hotel … some three weeks since my last trip.  The hotel has changed management and it would appear the size of their meals, too.  The main, the only meal I ordered, appeared to have lost more weight than me, and appeared as an entree.  The vegetable stack, felt like I did … appearing on the plate horizontal.  There were two sachets, TWO sachets of coffee, when I needed more to work through late.  At 11 pm I found the water bottle is $6 in the mini bar.  Grrrr!

I’m off again today and then will be home for two weeks.  When working for oneself, taking time off is an expensive option.  But, I’ve visited more than 40 sites since the beginning of the year.  It’s time to smell the roses.Taking time off has been a necessity.  My son gets married early May.  The last minute preparations for a simple wedding has gone into overdrive.  The young couple are doing it their way.  There will be no conventional wedding cake, I’m told, because, apparently, no one eats cake these days.  But, there will be a token one baked by the bride.  The bride bought her dress at a vintage shop, unpicked it and has created her own dress.  She is a talented seamstress and I’m looking forward to seeing her in it.  There will be singles and couples and the plus ones (I’ve just discovered a new concept – polyamorous relationship) at the reception.

Dr T and I got married under the gum tree in our front yard.  It was the second time ever I had worn a sari but he wanted to see me in one again.  If you don’t know much about a sari, it is around 6 yards long and traditionally worn as one piece.  Dr T loved the thought of ‘unravelling’!  The sari was beautiful.  A lustrous creamy South Indian silk with a red and gold border.  The incongruity of my wedding attire under a gum tree!  But it was my wedding and I loved every moment of it.  During our vows, the couple next door was shushing their children while unloading their car of groceries.  We had only 10 guests and enjoyed a BBQ after.  (My sister had a sit down wedding dinner for 800!).  Dr T and I had lived together for some years before that and it was just a formality for us.  There was no honeymoon.  We went back to work on Monday.

I wanted something different for my son.   When they said they planned a high tea reception, I envisioned an elegant high tea with canopied ceiling, fresh flowers, etc, etc.  And I admit, I went through a phase when my inner mother-of-the-groom-zilla started to make an appearance.  Finally my ever patient son said to me quite simply, “we want to do it our way, the best gift you can give us, is to be happy for us on the day”.  What I wanted and what the young people wanted was worlds apart.  So I graciously stepped out of the picture and asked him to send me the bill but with a caveat … I insisted no short cuts with the food so they have agreed to a caterer.  They are not a couple who wastes money and have been incredibly resourceful.  They have not broken the bank … yet.

Back in a few …

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird