Michael has nearly recovered from our latest Sundowner. In spite of his good intentions, he and indefatigable Lawrence Jones were awake(ish) and sober (not) until half past three on Sunday morning. Michael was silly enough to leave me a cryptic text at a quarter past three "I have tried...", which alerted me to the lateness of the hour. In spite of wishing I could, I'm afraid I couldn't cast any blame on either of them. How was I to know that Lawrence wasn't a responsible adult and certainly not able to keep my beloved husband on the straight and narrow?
Hence, Michael spent most of Sunday looking pale and wan. Having given both his lungs and liver a hammering they won't forget in a hurry, he was loath to venture too far from the facilities. Not that I took pity on him...
I frogmarched him out of bed at ten o'clock. After supplying Panadol and an omelette to the boys, I left for the Gallery to survey the carnage. Impressive. Whilst greeting guests and inviting them to tiptoe through the wreckage, I cleared the remains and returned the Gallery to some semblance of order. This task took me most of yesterday.
We celebrated the curiously named "WA Day" public holiday today. This was the reason for our opening. The weather was glorious. Our guests were enthusiastic and complimentary. I was busily giving the East End Gallery experience and directing them to our Visitors' Centre, now well staffed with eager and articulate volunteers on the weekends.
At this point, I must confess to a deplorable lack of attention towards the Beverley Visitors' Centre. Situated in the stunning Cornerstone on our main drag, Vincent Street, the Centre has had a few teething problems, through no fault of their own. Funding opportunities, which allowed the Cornerstone to be built, and the Visitors' Centre to be developed, naturally had no contingency monies towards staffing. As a result, the task of training volunteers to open the Centre on weekends took time and energy for all concerned. However, the Centre training has paid off and now a home for Beverley tourism is reliably open on weekends and public holidays.
So, I made the decision that I must make a proper appraisal of our Visitors' Centre. Saturday morning, the cheerful, knowledgable and efficient Wendy was behind the counter. A number of visitors were taking in all the information. I followed suit.
The interactive displays within the centre were terrific. Anybody out there who believes Beverley is a quiet country town should take a second look. From murder to magnificent men in their flying machines, a changeable and stunning local landscape, a motorbike riders' paradise, wildlife and not-so-wildlife, Beverley has so much to offer the day-tripper, the grey-nomad, the art lover, the photographic enthusiast and the glider fanatic. And the Visitors' Centre is a fabulous addition to promote all that Beverley has to offer.
This weekend, the cafes and the hotels have all done a roaring trade. Although the farmers desperately need rain, we have been grateful for the wonderful weather.
Now we need to get outside and undertake ongoing rain dances to get the crops growing.
PS we have a rain stick waiting to go to a new home in the East End Gallery! Hell, what have we got to lose?
Meanwhile, at the East End Gallery Sundowner -
And introducing, the Beverley Visitors' Centre -
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