Pearls of the Sea & Other Gems

It is fantastic to live in a small country town and see our local Seniors perform in their annual variety concert. The Super Troupers have been performing at the Bijou Theatre for well over a decade now, and the opening night of their latest production 'Pearls from the Sea and Other Gems' was a delight.

Sally Ashbil is the director and she has presented us with a very slick production that was inspired by the recent Esperance Waterfront project that is currently underway, and opens upon completion in August this year. Let's hope the Waterfront follows in the footsteps of this year's Seniors' show. If it does we are in for a real treat.

On opening  night we were regaled with numbers including Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside, Faraway Places, Pedro the Fisherman, Red Sails in the Sunset and the director herself giving a beautiful rendition of La Mer. Sally was born in Cairo and speaks fluent French. There was dancing, synchronised swimming (with the boys looking gorgeous in their bathers!), skits, poetry and jokes, all delivered with vim and verve. The set and costumes were superb.

The Seniors' Theatre Group has spent the last few months preparing this show, and several of the artists are in their eighties. I was left in no doubt that being involved in this production has ensured they remain active mentally and physically, and have fun and laughter in providing our vibrant community with another great night out.

As Miguel de Cevantes said "He who sings scares his woes away." Well done Super Troupers. We had a ball!

'Pearls from the Sea and Other Gems' concludes its season next weekend. For tickets visit the Esperance Theatre Guild website www.thebijoutheatre.org.au

Seeding Time Blues

I'm feeling very uncharitable atm. A tad menopausal maybe. A little tense-nervous-headachy. Seeding has not started and I've had people living in my house for six weeks now and we haven't even turned a sod, sod it. Where's the rain?

I was brought up to be polite and welcoming with visitors but after thirty years of having people in my house at seeding and harvest I'm getting a bit toey. A bit nit picky. A bit totally unreasonable and intolerant. A bit 'they're coming to take me away, ha-ha'. Pass the Valium, please.

I mean how can one workman go through so many toilet rolls in a week for God's sake? What is he doing with it in there? Though come to think of it he's in there lengthily three times a day. THREE TIMES A BLOODY DAY! Hasn't he heard of Morning Glory? That's when you do it....not Afternoon Ablute and Evening Empty as well.

I should have smelt a rat the first night when I cooked home made hamburgers for everyone. Generally one of my hamburgers satisfies a man of all descriptions. Great big bun, bacon, egg, cheese, beetroot, grated carrot, huge beef hamburger, lettuce, lashings of tomato sauce....the works. Being polite, after we'd finished our burgers, and seeing there was a burger left in the pan, I asked "Would you like anymore?" The reply was."Yes, please, could I have two more?"
Two more? THREE burgers in one sitting? This man has an appetite. He hasn't stopped eating since he got here. He can eat a massive box of NutriGrain and six litres of milk in three days. The poor lad has taken to buying supplementary bags of chips and Dorritos, and the Hill Plains mice love him for it. I say, politely, "Please do not leave open bags of chips in your bedroom as the mice will find it and shit everywhere. (I am getting a little loose tongued in my anxiety)" I say this every week....and yet, as the good Bible says, 'and some seeds fell on stoney ground'. *sigh*

But back to the bog.....it doesn't matter whether you fold or scrunch for God's sake, whatever you do it still gets the job done (ouch! terrible pun)....but Lordy, let's have some restraint with the amount you pull off the roll!

Enough said. Get a grip on yourself woman. It's only for a few weeks says the husband. Maybe....but six weeks in and with no rain to get the tractor wheels turning I'm feeling a bit precious and down in the dumps. Things can only get worse.....so stay tuned.

Chocolate Cleavage

Things NOT TO DO when attending a meeting at the local Shire, on a very hot day, with all the region's movers and shakers.

1. Dress in gorgeous Alana Hill rose and cream dress which exposes inviting cleavage. The look might be corporate with a twist. The message is 'hello boys'. The air con might be cranking, but the cleavage will be glowing.

2. Hold a cup of coffee in one hand and a chocolate covered biscuit in the other whilst talking to male CEO of Chamber of Commerce and Industry during the coffee break.

3. Bite into aforementioned biscuit so that one piece ends up in mouth, one piece remains in fingers, and third piece falls, chocolate side down, onto cleavage. Note: No free hand to remove offending refreshment.

4. Stand horrified as conversation grinds to a halt and all eyes fall upon cleavage.

5. Attempt to bend down and lick piece off yourself.

6. Ask CEO if he would mind lifting it off, but perhaps not a good idea if he looks as if he'd prefer to have a go at licking it off himself.

#awkward

I've been AWOL on the blogging scene for a while since taking up a role on the local Esperance Shire Council. They said it would be a challenge, and by God it is. Not only have I had to address items on which I know very little (and so have to learn about very fast)......but quite often when there is an objection to an item on the Council agenda I personally know both the proponent and the objector! Hmmm....

One of the wonderful Shire staff ( hey, Liv!) has been helping me organise my social media bits and pieces, so this is a test blog of sorts to see if we can link it all in with Facebook and Twitter and any other tool in order to keep the 'flutterings' of 'A Bird in the Bush' heard about the planet.

In the meantime......back to tomorrow's Council agenda. NBN fixed wireless monopole tower locations in the Esperance area. Pithy to say the least!

Message from her Majesty

What a tardy old QVII I've been. Not a peep or a tweep of a blog for two months! Here I am, at left, with HRH Prince Thomas at the Royal Wedding banquet at Hill Plains for Wills and Kate. What a night!

I'm dressed from head to toe in red velvet darlings, and looking very regal.

The toaster was a wedding gift from the Emporer and Empress Bivonius of Beamont. Such a thoughtful pair, even though it doesn't work. I have had the servants take it up to the tip to dispose of it. The King and Queen Consort of Prussia brought Geraldine Brooks' latest novel 'Caleb's Crossing' which I have just devoured. (Not through the toaster, I was speaking metaphorically good people.)

Well, time and tide wait for no Queen or King for that matter do they Canute? So I must away to oversee the crop being put into the fields and check on the yeomen.

"Don't stop one now, One's having such a good time, One's having a ball....."

QVII

Royal Wedding Invitation

Still not received your Royal Wedding Invitation? Not to worry. Here's some advice. Fabricate your own and celebrate the event in royal style.

Here's mine, from Queen Victoria II, commanding my husband HRH Prince Thomas, Duke of Mount Ney to invite our scaley mates to the wedding at Hill Plains Palace.

For one night only, April 29th 2011, why not elevate the status of your friends to Kings, Queens, Emperors and Empresses, Dukes and Duchesses and Counts and Countesses. I can assure you they will rise to the occasion. Delusions of grandeur are pouring out in the incoming RSVPs, complete with family crests (which some of them have quite obviously nicked from some bona fide royal). Envelopes, sealed with candle wax are droppng into the Hill Plains Palace mail box with comments about how they are all looking forward to parading the family jewels.

Prepare yourselves a banquet table groaning with all your best silver, crystal glassware and candelabra; grab a couple of good servanty types (might I suggest the children....they will charge however......so hard to get good staff these days); create a menu fit for a king, pour forth the fruit of the vine and get the flat screen sorted.

Great thing about living Down Under is that we'll be partying all night. More on the guest list tomorrow.

Gin o'clock, darlings. Must fly.....

Queen Victoria II (Pretentious?.....Moi?)

Start ya bastard!

Just what we all need for those tricky little moments when the pull start, or any bloody start for that matter, won't work.

Who needs a man when you've got a can of Start Ya Bastard! Check it out now right here:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGMUGjlV5HU

That's the handy hint for the day. Now it's top off time! I'm off to mow the lawn.......