Home sweet home ...

... where the floor is messy and the toilet leaks (a new discovery)

Yes, I arrived home late last night after an 11 day sojourn in sunny Adelaide (it really was).

The list of enjoyable events was long and included:

• the wedding of number 2 nephew
• watching the surprisingly familiar antics of 23 year olds with great nephew no. 1 (familiar to me, not him)
• discussions about world domination with nephew no. 3 (just remember to occasionally listen to things other than a singular driving ambition)
• nervously observing M&D while the the words to Pink's 'Leave me Alone' pass over their heads
• playing backyard cricket with nephew no. 5, watched by the fish, the birds, the dog, the guinea pig, the frog spawn AND Jonah the statue
• wineries and back roads of McLaren Vale
• more (or fewer) fish at Vale Park
• crosswords, sudokus and target words
• churchbells at 10am
• spacious seating!

Watching test cricket in the heat can be tiring, and paradoxically for me it is also relaxing. Listening to ABC radio while watching the play, crowd and surroundings is eminently peaceful.

Now I'm back home, with a couple of lazy days to wash, shop, (get back into) exercise, house hunt, bank, doctor etc, and also apparently find a plumber. Work for February and March will (as usual) be frantic, but at least I have the memories from a tiring, relaxing and invigorating cricket holiday to sustain me.

So long Gilly - I can understand how a realisation can hit you between the ball hitting your gloves, and hitting the ground

sorry, my fault ... make that 16 going on 14; or even 43 going on 41

Yes, both the Australian team's and my self-belief in discussing the possibility of breaking the record of consecutive test wins BEFORE it happened has lead to the current position ... we fell to 5/61, chasing India's respectable 330. Perhaps it was also the relaxed position of the Australians, not just my words that tested the gods of superstition.

The Australians do look discombobulated (thanks Kirst). Is it the extended time between test matches (10 days); or is it their reaction to the criticism of the aggressive Australian approach; or is it the confidence gained by the Indian performance in the previous test match?

We're now 165 behind, with only 4 wickets in hand. Brett Lee is batting well before he deserves to. Not because of his level of skill, but because his big heart was on display in the big Perth heat, as he took the lead in the Australian pace attack. He deserved at least a day off to rest his tired body.

Perhaps I should focus on my dress/jeans size, or my golf score?

16, going on 17

I didn't think it was possible to combine a few of my favourite things (hee hee) in this way, but there it is - a link between The Sound of Music ... and the Australian cricket team!

Despite the ridiculous over-reaction in the media in the last week, the Australian test team has notched up 16 consecutive test wins, dating back to the 2nd test v South Africa at the MCG in December 2005. I was there at that match to see Phil Jaques' test debut, and magnificent centuries by Ponting & Hussey. Having learned from South Africa's doggedness to hang on for a draw the week before in Perth, Ponting's declaration in Melbourne was aggressive, and he relied on his bowling attack of McGrath & Warne to dismiss the opposition ... which they did in the first over after lunch on day 5.

Well, for match number 17 in the sequence, some of the names have changed (we will rely on Tait & Johnson in attack this time), but some stay the same (the umpires in Melbourne in 2005 were Bucknor & Rauf).

While I won't be in Perth for what may be number 17 (sorry to all of you superstitious ones), my annual pilgrimage to Adelaide for their test match is nearly upon me. This year, I won't be travelling with Roogirl (sorry mate, it's pot luck with a window seat for you this time), but will meet her in Adelaide after I attend the wedding of no.2 nephew. I'll be travelling to Adelaide by road, sharing the driving with Mum & Dad.

So let the games begin. Books on CD for Mum, cricket on the radio for Dad & I. Actually, I think that the last family holiday WAS when I was 16 going on 17. Hey team, I made it to 17 - good luck to you too!

ps I love you

Tonight was a lovely evening. One of those opportunities to get away from the pressure of work, the madness of the world (more of that later) and relax with a kindred spirit. I met my friend Delamare at a large 'edgy' book and music store, where I browsed contentedly and purchased a couple of items for my upcoming holiday.

We then shared a quick plate of nachos over a glass of rose, much to the amusement of neighbouring diners and friendly waiters. I don't think it was our menu choices or eating style that amused them, but very likely our incessant chatter: work, home, kids, school, family, mutual friends, tv, Christmas, cooking, Jane Austen, etc etc. Well, that half hour entertained us!

Next we were off to a small theatre to catch a favourably reviewed chick flick. This is our favourite sort of movie, and in the past we have shared the guilty enjoyment of Keanu Reeves in The Lake House, Drew Barrymore in anything, and turned the supposedly sensitive Becoming Jane (aka 'Becoming Lizzie Bennet') into a rollicking comedy.

Tonight it was a Margaret Pomeranz favourite - ps I love you, staring Hillary Swank, Gerard Butler and Harry Connick jnr. We developed a movie rating system with my former housemates, based on the tear jerker factor, and this one is a 'full box a' (tissues). I finished the movie with red rimmed eyes, and a broad smile. It will definitely be added to my dvd collection in due course.



To Grey's Anatomy fans, it also stars Denny Duquette and this time he's eye-catchingly healthy!!

oh, and to the ICC, the BCCI, Cricket Australia and especially the media - take a bex a good lie down! Even chill out in a dark room for a while. I did, and see how much fun I had?

An epiphany

I discovered the significance of 6th January during a trip to Europe in 1981/82. January 6 was spent travelling from Cologne (Koln) to Innsbruck. It turned out to be a magical day - beginning at Koln cathedral and ending with a bus trip in the dark down the tortuously winding approach to the valley housing Innsbruck, arriving to a fairly land of snow and torchlight.

6th January, aka Epiphany, is the end of the 12 days of Christmas.

I've discovered that despite common mistaken beliefs (including mine), the 12 days of Christmas are not the 12 days leading up to Christmas, but the days between Christmas and Epiphany. Check out this website for more information. Apparently Epiphany is the day in which the Three Magi (3 wise men) arrived to present Jesus with the gifts of gold, frankincense & Myrrh. In fact, the cathedral at Cologne has a shrine to the 3 wise men (hence the elaborate service that I remember 26 years ago).

So who are the three wise men to deliver gifts to me?

Well, I'll nominate Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke.

On the eighth day of Christmas

my true love sent to me ...

aren't you wondering yet where this is leading?

I'm sure that you know it will be an obtuse or obscure piece of trivia , but what ...

(only 4 days to go)

On the seventh day of Christmas ...

7 reminders of how I missed Warnie's 700th wicket

Even 12 months later, I've not been allowed to forget ...

this is Darcy & me on the spot outside the Blazer Bar where we experienced the buzz of the crowd on that Boxing Day, 12 months ago. Darcy's shoes are the shiny ones.