MONDAY 29 JULY     FORREST BEACH

Mornings had begun to settle into a routine. I would get up by 8am, take dog off for a walk and her morning toileting, give her breakfast, get my breakfast and sit outside with it. Then I would read and maybe give dog some ball chasing down on the grassy hollow, until John eventually got up.

Today was pleasant weather. Very good for sitting outside and not too hot for walking.

We managed to almost crack low tide for today’s beach walk, meaning the sand was firm to walk on, and there was a fair expanse of it between the water and the start of the soft sand beach.

Couey was getting bolder. The waves, without the wind blowing, were fairly low. She started running into the water and trying to chase the waves. Seemed like she had stopped being a wimpy dog and learned to love the beach.

I kept a pretty careful eye out, as we walked along the beach. We had been told there was a fairly large croc that sometimes cruised along between the creeks to our north and south, a distance of several kms. It had taken several crab pots recently. Crocs love to eat dogs and I didn’t want ours to become a meal for one.

We walked as far as the houses to the south. We didn’t speed walk, so took about two hours, out and back. My problem ankle was sore from the previous soft sand walks.

Back at Bus, after lunch, I knitted and finished a dog coat that would be put aside to go to the animal refuge back at home. I’d finished all the e-books borrowed from my local library; John didn’t want me to download any more until the end of our data month. He was not sure how much of our allowance we were using, yet. God forbid that he should run out of data capacity for accessing WOW! So I decided to try to finish the biography of John Howard that I’d begun over a year ago, and brought along in case I needed hard copy books. Even though my days of teaching Political Studies were well past, I retained an interest in that subject.

Late in the day, we gained a new neighbouring rig, the previous one having departed this morning, presumably to chase the next community markets. The new ones put out a sign saying haircuts were available. Now, that I could relate to. I went next door and booked to have mine done, tomorrow.

Used a bottled sauce on fettucine, for tea – pretty ordinary.