Sunday & Monday, September 6 & 7 2009 (diary, bridge)

Sunday morning it is back to the bridge table with Mairead. We both find today much more enjoyable than yesterday as there are many interesting hands coming our way.
There is a Dutch saying : "Een vos verliest zijn haar maar niet zijn streken !" (A fox may lose his hair but not his tricks), and that is me all over. I lost my hair but will never stop taking rather over adventurous gambles at the bridge table. Today several of them don't work out, so we move happily up and down the players ranks all morning.

We get a full hour off for lunch, and wander down the street to (how appropriate) The Fox 'n Fiddle, a redecorated look-alike old English Pub. They have Bangers and Mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) on the menu, one of my favourites and I feel that it really is Happy Father's Day today. Mairead has the all day large breakfast which is not bad either. We wash this down with a large beer, then back to the tournament.
We keep steadily improving (thanks to some more red wine from my car supply) and finish up 22nd overall of a total Nation wide field of 92 pairs. With 191 Victory points we are just 6 points behind the highest ranking NT pair in 11th position overall. Not bad at all.

Jeroen and Lisa returned from Singapore this morning and Jeroen phones me to wish me Happy Fathers Day. Babette too sends me an email to that effect.

Monday I am tired and am resting up, but in the evening still back to the regular bridge evening in Darwin. Mairead is away on a job in Central Australia this week, so I play with her other bridge partner Lisa Hambour. There are only 5 tables tonight as many players are having a rest after the hectic weekend. Lisa only started to play bridge this year, but played "500" before (Australian card game similar to the Dutch "Klaverjassen"). We do well and finish up 2nd for the night.
During the evening we suddenly hear rain drumming on our club house roof. The first rain after 5 months of uninterrupted dry weather. As I drive home later all the streets are wet and it is still raining lightly when I arrive at the Mango farm.

Tuesday, September 8 2009 (diary)

After the previous night's rain Tuesday is of course a very humid day. I have lunch and a read at the Palmerston Library Bistro and in the evening it is off to my acrylics painting class again.
Frankly I have had just about enough of this, as when there I am either bored or annoyed or both. "Michael you should do little specks in the water, not streaks." "You have not painted the birds yet." "Where are the shadows in the water?"
The realisation comes to me that I am entirely at the wrong place here. I don't want to learn how to paint a picture, replicating closely something you superficially see. I want to paint a painting, an expression of what I feel about the subject.

Both teachers I have now had here at the College are competent and in good faith try to pass on various techniques, and for most students in the class this appears to be fine. But I feel very restricted to have to paint the way they see it. Being stubborn, I can take only so much of that. So I probably give the remainder of the course (another 2 lessons) a miss.

Wednesday & Thursday, September 9 & 10 2009 (diary)

Wednesday is again overcast with clouds most of the day. At lunch time I drive to Casuarina for lunch at the new Bar Zushi. I like it there better than their main Sushi train establishment, as that is very crowded every lunchtime. I take some photos of the eatery and promise the staff a CD with the photos. In the evening we have again some light rain at the Mango farm but it is not wide spread.

Thursday a clear sky again, and the first Mango geese (also called Magpie geese) have arrived (two weeks earlier than last year), picking up the green unripe mangos that have been blown from the trees by the wind. Bridge in Palmerston in the evening. Mairead is still away so I play with an old lady (Felicity) who also has come by herself. As I return home late I spot a small kangaroo which has managed to jump the fence, feasting on all the green grass on our farm.

Babette has been to Zürich and München for a couple of days on business, but now has returned to St.Peter to spend a few more days with my sister Wivica. Then she will head for south France for a week long writers workshop with Hollywood screenwriter James Bonnet.