17/08/2007 by Pat.

Hi Richard, nice to hear from you. You sound a friendly lot anyway – that’s nice too.

I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression about my walking Rabies. I guess it must be where I say that we hop. I did try to synchronise my hop with Rabies’ a long time ago but it was no good. I guess you have to be another kangaroo to do that. And I’ve never tried a pogo stick. No it is a kind of he leaps and I jerk thing. It gets painful after a bit but it’s not too bad for the first mile or so. I tried towing him along from a truck at one time but he couldn’t get the idea right. I nearly ran over him and killed him so I gave that up. I just have a long leash. He’s on one end and I’m on the other and he hops and I jerk until he’s had enough. Trouble is that he has much more stamina than me nowadays – when he went after that female - that was really painful. I thought my end had come. But at home he is an old softie. He lies under the table as good as gold. When the table starts bouncing I know it is either time for his walk or a feed. Then I have to get a move on or the door takes a battering. But he’s quite domestic really.

I have some lovely photos of him and I will put one on the blog as requested. And you can meet him for yourself is you get over this way. We would both be happy to see you.

Must go now as I am getting ready for my trip to see my brother. I take Rabies with me and sometimes it takes me half a day to get him into the plane. I have to tie him down so that he can’t leap around when we are in the air – or on the ground for that matter - and he doesn’t like being tied down. So it can be quite a struggle getting him in. I did think of having a big net on a rope under the plane like they have on those rescue safari programmes on telly, but I haven’t worked out a way to do it yet. I’m still working on it though.

Best regards,

Pat.

This one was when Rabies was quite small - but cuddly, don’t you think? He is a lot bigger now. If you want some more I’ll put them up.

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17/08/2007 by Pat.

Hi Ted, hope you’re well,

Nice fish them. Well done. And who is Richard – the one who posted the snow shots? He wasn’t driving around in that lot really, was he? It must be nice to be part of a big family like that. I tried to count them on the photo but had to give up. I gather that that is your mother in the Old Folks Home. She looks pretty. And 94 years young eh? Wow!

I’m having to think about Rabies – my kangaroo. He’s growing up now and getting a bit hard to handle. And he’s getting randy. On our walk the other day he picked up the smell of a female and he was off – dragged me for miles and I couldn’t do a thing. Fortunately he lost the scent and when he had calmed down he came home quietly enough.

I’ve had him a while now and we are good mates really. I accidentally shot his mother one day in the bush. Didn’t know he was there until I saw him standing over his mother crying. Did you know that roos cry tears? So I picked him up and brought him home. He was still suckling which was a bit of a worry. But we had just had our second kid and I thought Leticia might be able to help him along until he was weaned. For some reason she didn’t like the idea and when I tried to insist she upped and left me. She took the kids and left me Rabies. So I coped with a bottle and some baby feed and he made it.

I saw a funny thing the other day. I flew into town for some rations and while I was there I had a walk around. There was a sports meeting going on and this guy was walking across the sports ground when a javelin hit him point first straight in the chest. He didn’t half look surprised. He was bleeding a bit so the air ambulance flew him to Queensland Royal. Made a mess of the javelin though.

Saw some news about the UK on telly the other day. It’s not funny over there. I feel real sorry for you. How do you manage?

I’m going to see my brother in a couple of days. He has a bit of a farm up-country – you know, a few chickens and cows and things. Anyway, he heard that his neighbour was having trouble with foxes so he went out and bought a dog to protect his chickens. The dog got into the chicken coop and killed them all. So I’m taking a couple of crates up to console him. If you don’t hear from me for a day or so it’s not because I’ve abandoned you. I’m just busy getting a stinking head for which I know I’ll be sorry. But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

I am posting a photograph of Leticia. She was a bit prettier when I met her. She was a funny woman in some ways. She wasn’t teetotal but she always said that she preferred me to liquor. I was never sure what she meant by that. Anyway she’s gone now. I may look for a replacement one day but life is OK for now.

I’m going to have a look at the family tree you sent me and see if I recognise anybody. I’ll certainly let you know if I do.

Regards for now,
Pat.

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17/08/2007 by Richard.

Hi Pat,

you’ve made our day.love your sense of humour,had us both in stitches. You could well be related to redheaded side of the family,she had a great sense of humour too.

Do you really have a pet roo and do you walk him on a pogo stick?Post us a pic of him and you we would love to see him

got to go time to walk the termite

regards from us in worcester

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17/08/2007 by Ted.

Nearly five pounds weight of Rainbow Trout caught at Baystone Bank this morning, all caught on artificial Floating Fry. The one I cooked in my microwave for dinner exploded like microwaved rainbow trout sometimes do.  When I told Pat in Australia (see post below) he said that it must have been a Muslim. Apparently they are allowed to make jokes still in Australia.  I told him that I wouldn’t have dared to say that here in the UK.  Anyway I dont have his address or details, just that he lives somewhere in the Outback, so he is safe enough.

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