The non-human parts of Adelaide
I'll ease into the Adelaide trip reporting with small furry animals. In large furry animal news I also now have a panda in the fridge, which strained my hand luggage allowance. Actually I brought home two but I ated one already.
I've spent a fair bit of the last few days in the company of a couple of extremely friendly dogs. Monte is a corgi-kelpie cross (kinda) and Roxy is a plump black medium doggie with some labrador and who knows what else. Once or twice the excitement got to them and a bit of chewing ensued, but they were mostly harmless, if a bit slimy. I'd have been less concerned about this had I not been operating with a strictly limited wardrobe and the prospect of flying in sticky trousers.
Smellier and distinctly lumpier than cats, their chief point of difference was endurance. Wolves will run down their prey relentlessly, tailing them for days if necessary until they collapse in exhausion (I believe human babies are like this); cats prefer fast food and a long nap.
Pumpkin has unnatural endurance, and compared to a cat he's a lot like a dog. But compared to a dog he's not like a dog at all. Wow. These were *happy* doggies. Except of course when Mummy left the house, and then the sky would darken and sadness would fall upon the land. They'd perk up a bit as soon as they sighted a favourite toy, but the lights remained dim until The Car was heard in the driveway. And then there was great rejoicing, but fortunately very little barking.
I managed to find a cat, of course, which gave me something to do with my hands at awkward moments with the in-laws. Charlie is a sleek athletic ginger tom with very strong Siamese looks, up to and including his alarmingly kinked tail. I was told that he was using me; I responded that I was using him. Like Pumpkin he has a fondness for throwing himself in front of one's feet, but Charlie does it in a dramatic manner best suited to John Woo movies.
I saw ducks and goldfish doing, well, duck and goldfish things. I saw a dead parrot. There was some discussion of rats, to wit: Charlie's ability to hunt them and bite them in half for presentation purposes. Cats are great conversation starters.
The pandamonium in Adelaide appears to have settled. We only saw three billboards, some stuffed toys, and the Haigh's chocolate ones. They still appeared in the paper and on the TV news every day. Newsflash: Pandas Eat Bamboo, details at 6.
I've spent a fair bit of the last few days in the company of a couple of extremely friendly dogs. Monte is a corgi-kelpie cross (kinda) and Roxy is a plump black medium doggie with some labrador and who knows what else. Once or twice the excitement got to them and a bit of chewing ensued, but they were mostly harmless, if a bit slimy. I'd have been less concerned about this had I not been operating with a strictly limited wardrobe and the prospect of flying in sticky trousers.
Smellier and distinctly lumpier than cats, their chief point of difference was endurance. Wolves will run down their prey relentlessly, tailing them for days if necessary until they collapse in exhausion (I believe human babies are like this); cats prefer fast food and a long nap.
Pumpkin has unnatural endurance, and compared to a cat he's a lot like a dog. But compared to a dog he's not like a dog at all. Wow. These were *happy* doggies. Except of course when Mummy left the house, and then the sky would darken and sadness would fall upon the land. They'd perk up a bit as soon as they sighted a favourite toy, but the lights remained dim until The Car was heard in the driveway. And then there was great rejoicing, but fortunately very little barking.
I managed to find a cat, of course, which gave me something to do with my hands at awkward moments with the in-laws. Charlie is a sleek athletic ginger tom with very strong Siamese looks, up to and including his alarmingly kinked tail. I was told that he was using me; I responded that I was using him. Like Pumpkin he has a fondness for throwing himself in front of one's feet, but Charlie does it in a dramatic manner best suited to John Woo movies.
I saw ducks and goldfish doing, well, duck and goldfish things. I saw a dead parrot. There was some discussion of rats, to wit: Charlie's ability to hunt them and bite them in half for presentation purposes. Cats are great conversation starters.
The pandamonium in Adelaide appears to have settled. We only saw three billboards, some stuffed toys, and the Haigh's chocolate ones. They still appeared in the paper and on the TV news every day. Newsflash: Pandas Eat Bamboo, details at 6.