Surprise surprise, I'm still making books - although there have been some differences.
The printer I buy my parchment from asked me if I was interested on making leather-bound wedding albums for him to market with his stationery line. My quote was quite reasonable, but the cost of leather scared him.
SSABSA provided me with some business - repairing a family bible (which turned out quite well) and creating a custom-made book ordered by Cath Courtney for her sister's birthday.
Cath has since become good friends with Kristie and I and has joined our regular quiz nights with Joe at the Astor Hotel. (We normally do quite badly but Joe and I generally blitz the crossword - do any of you drink VB?)
Cath's company has provided Kristie and I with an inspirational boost - we're now going to gym again and planning adventures for the future.

The Second Follett Visit

Well, 'nee' Follett. My sister Christine O'Brien came over with a friend to spend a week in Glenelg and to see some of Adelaide. By the time Kristie and I caught up with her at the end of the week Chris had seen plenty.
We spent some time at our house, took a short trip on the OBahn busway, wandered around the plaza and went home again.
It wasn't terribly eventful, but it's always good to see family and I hope Chris enjoyed it too.

People ask me "When are you to marry Jason?", to which I reply, "I've got my man, my cats & a ring, what more do I need?".
Dad & Margaret came to visit earlier this month. I took the week off work and played chauffeur for the week. A fleeting visit to the Barossa Valley and a peek at Lameland.
Lameland... a place of imagination, what life was like before TV and video games and paint and gardeners. Racing lizards, a bucking bull and other truly scabby things. Although I did like the BIG rocking horse.
The Thursday night of the Fogues' visit we (Jase, Cath, Joe, Fogues & me) all went to the quiz night at the Astor. We won a 4-pack of Rhubarb Rhubarb as we finished the crossword first (correctly). The food is always yummy.
Earlier during the Fogues' visiting week we went to the show. Jase & I went on a ride. I screamed all the was through it, though Jase loved it. Cath said to me that all she could hear was me screaming!
I had a really good day. We got to see all the animals including pig racing (YAH). The Red Beret Parachuting team did a jump. The pre-firework entertainment was great - Hot-to-trot, a man with a trotting sulky, horse and heaps of fireworks, Dragosaurus Rex - a mechanical fire-breathing dinosaur, dancing bobcat bulldozers. I love the show.

The election weekend will see Jase, Cath and myself do a flying trip to Vic to see Nan (recently Octogeniarianised!) and give her a new computer.
Then on the 31st of October, Cath, Jase & I will go hot air ballooning over the Barossa Valley. Hoorah! But Joe won't be coming with us because he is going to work in Canberra for 3 months . Boo hoo, sad, cry, sob. Because it's Joe's birthday while he is away we are going to have a bit of a celebration for him before he goes.
Who is this Cath person? Well, she used to work at SSABSA with Jase. Jase and I have decided to keep her - actually it was all Matthew and Zoe's idea, they've both adopted her as "that lady who pats us and is nice".
Jase and I have been adopted by Frodo, Cath's Burmese beastie cat as "them people what play with me and have nice jumpers". Is this what is meant by natural selection.
The four of us went to the zoo one weekend, for something to do. The meerkats were Cath & my favourite. The Golden Tamarind monkeys have been set loose and run free-range around the zoo.
Work at Telstra is interesting. Earlier this year the supervisor, Jim, left. Why? Well it is estimated that he stole nearly a quarter of a million dollars of mobile phones and accessories. I'm most impressed. He might even be on the news when he goes to court.
We got a new telly and a new book shelf. The telly is huge and in stereo and is great for playing games on the Playstation. And the book shelf has nearly all our books on it, still not big enough. The end...

Bluff says he isn't really designed for dumbells