Heavenly Beverley : We're All Mad Here...

This week has been particularly topsy-turvy in a Mad Hatter's Tea Party kind of way. There has also been, fortunately, a generous dash of enjoyment thrown in for good measure. There are some days that I realised, with the benefit of hindsight, that perhaps I just should have stayed in bed and pulled the covers over my head to avoid falling down the rabbit hole.

Monday was all about a discussion with our friendly solicitor David, who drove up from the Hills in his tiny and ancient sports car. Being a fairly large chap with a shock of curly hair plus a fulsome beard, I often wonder how David actually levers himself in and out of this rather low and very cosy form of transport.

Anyway, I've digressed. We sat around the table discussing the state of our stable and unlikely-to-increase finances and strategies to be employed to keep faith with Centrelink. Dealing with Centrelink is certainly an example of madness at work and encounters with the agency tend to derail my mental health for months afterwards. Their staff have obviously become emersed in recreating "Alice in Wonderland" to bamboozle all unsuspecting clients.

Monday afternoon, I hurtled down to the Edges of Civilisation for shopping. Since the Commencement of the Diet, we have been eating increased quantities of fruit and vegetables, which will certainly be doing our bodies a favour, but means that I am having to stock the fridge at least once a week. Hills Fresh in Mundaring has seen me much more regularly than ever before.

Tuesday was a slob day, which I thoroughly embraced. I saw the bottom of the washing basket once more and we were delighted to have Kerri from Cairns (in Perth to visit rellies) arrange to come for a sleepover in Heavenly Beverley in other forty-eight hours. A longtime buddy of Gary, Michael and the inimitable Leigh, I busied myself preparing for her to stay in our little studio, so Wednesday morphed into a day of spring cleaning. I even dusted...

Thursday was an uber weird day. Running around like a headless chook prior to opening the Gallery, my vacuum cleaner hose discombobulated from the Mother Ship and I failed to notice the abrupt loss of suction for a disturbingly long half minute.

Once the lack of sucking had been identified, I was then faced with the awful truth of trying to attach the hose back onto the source of power and doghair catcher. Those who know me well may remember my abject terror of reading those dreadful words "some assembly required". I do not assemble, I do not fix. However, I was now faced with my most feared predicament.

Eventually, after much huffing and puffing, I managed to detach the plastic dooverlackie from the base of the vacuum cleaner's body and screw the hose back into position. On my second attempt...Then I expertly (!) clicked the contraption all back together again and completed the task at hand.

Worse was to come. Once in the Gallery, I prepared to launch the internet for the day. Except, my computer refused to cooperate. The screen remained disconcertedly black and silent. This was a potential disaster. A few minutes later, one of our familiar guests wandered through the door. Tracey, having had two leadlights on lay-by, came in to take them home. With her was nephew Jamie. This young man - "I take computers apart for fun" - sat and deconstructed my laptop to try and fix the issue. He dusted and poked, peered and blew, eventually working out that the battery was having a hissy fit and needed to be removed. Now I have a much lighter computer that still runs perfectly well plugging directly into a powerpoint. Jamie's lunch went cold at home and he only accepted a bit of pocket money because I insisted. He renewed my faith in human nature once more.

The other events that convinced me the entire planet has disappeared down the rabbit hole this week were my reactions to two news items. The young man who was fatally mauled in the Whitsundays by a shark was tragic, for him and everyone close to him. Once again, we had the predictable outcry to Cull the Sharks and Make the Water Safe!

When the Average Joe begins to bellow and protest about the road toll or the suicide rate or even horses and cattle killing people, then maybe I will be convinced that we are moving away from insanity as a species and facing the bigger picture.

I was moved to tears by the grief and rage - white-hot rage - of a mother whose daughter died in the latest killing in the US. "Don't you dare send me thoughts and prayers", she shrieked, "Give us gun control". Simple and succinct. When will the gun lobby accept that this indiscriminate killing has to stop and the Second Amendment did not refer to high powered automatic weapons?

And then today, a bloody awesome Good News story. Our former canine neighbours from Brooking Street, Spooky and her son Tramp, were bitten by a Dugite in their yard two days ago. Heroics from Doctor Tracey and the team at Heartlands Vet Hospital saved both Jack Russells and they are home with Mum and Dad - Shane and Marci - once more. Their treatment has cost a Pretty Penny, but these two little dogs are unashamedly adored by all who know them.

And funnily enough, nobody has suggested culling snakes. Or even hippos. Food for thought?

I'm sure I can see the Cheshire Cat's smile still hanging in the air.