Heavenly Beverley : Changing the Tempo.. in the Upward Direction!

Enough seriousness for one day. Having deep and meaningful conversation is all very well, but stress does tend to increase my blood pressure, cause flatulence and direct me to reach for Mother's Little Helper (I am currently sipping a gorgeous Bombay Saphire gin and tonic).

Today is the eighth anniversary of some random woman named Lunachick hooking up with Spider52. Interesting combination, you may deduce. How I ended up with Lunachick as my moniker on the Oasis Active dating website is quite simple. Being born in July, I am a loony moon maiden. Spider52 earned his stripes by a mutual attraction with spiders and being 52 years of age when he began dabbling in photography online.

So, there we were, two lonely souls, meeting on the internet. Actually, we had both been through a series of disastrous first dates with other people. I was considering becoming a lesbian. Michael wondered how "the outback" translated into "caravan park" for the women he had dated. He'd been on one particularly hot date with a guilty divorced Catholic lady. I'll leave it to your imaginations to predict the outcome of that evening. We were each other's Last Hopes.

A match made in heaven. Or more specifically, at the Whiteman Park dog exercise area. The dogs had to meet as well as us. We have heard a story or one couple who did get together, only for their residence to turn into Stalag 13 because two of their dogs did not favour the usurper.

Fortunately, Ruby is both amiable and brainless. Pip was quite happy for another female to enter his harem. Sascha has been and always will be the most agreeable dog on the planet, And thus, the Beagle was tolerated from the first day.

And the rest is history. We are delighted to be celebrating our anniversary. We are off to the bright lights of the Hotel Beverley shortly for a celebratory dinner and drinkies. One of the excellent advantages of living in town is there is no driving home from the pub. I can feel a double Baileys in the offing.

Eight years. We have moved from separate houses to live in my duplex in Marangaroo, then to the House that Rocks and now the Residence (*whispering* or hovel). Station House, our brand spanking new home is tantalisingly close to completion.

This week we have had the wonderful Aude and Sebastian enter our lives. Two fit, cheerful and enthusiastic young people from New Caledonia, they are a few months into twelve months travelling around Australia. The prospect of painting was really starting to wear Michael down. This is what happens now we have become old farts. The spirit is willing but the body just laughs.

So Aude and Sebastian are painting the inside of Station House. And they are meticulous. Yes, we are paying them, but their expertise is a gift to us, compared with having the house professionally painted. We are thrilled.

Bedroom one and the walk-in-robe are complete. The living room is mostly complete, thanks to Gary's efforts. Bedroom two has received its first coat. The colour, Red Terra, is very familiar to us but has taken on a whole new hue, given the different light in the house.Our bedroom has turned into an exotic tropical clearing. I have experimented with bright colour (again) and crossed my fingers that Green Paw Paw would look fantastic in our bedroom. What a wow factor.

We have the services of Aude and Sebastian for next week. Given their skill and speed, Station House's transformation from beige to bold should be completed.

Stay tuned!