Things that go swish, honk, and toot in the night

We've had several odd incidents during the last two nights. The first one began two nights ago around 10:00. We were both busy reading our books when we noticed a strange sound that kept reoccuring. It sounded like a cross between an animal snuffling and a strange clicking. There are several dogs and cats that seem to roam the neighborhood with their owner's permission so we thought nothing of it. The sound kept going and seemed to move to right outside our window. Around 10:15, curiosity got the best of me so we turned out the lights to see in the dark and I went to the window to see what it was. THERE WAS NOTHING THERE!!! We went back to our books and the sound continued again only it moved a bit further off. Around 10:30 the sound was starting to irritate me again so I turned the lights off and looked outside again. THERE WAS STILL NOTHING THERE!!! I could here the sounds clearer now and it sounded like someone jiggling keys or scraping something. There are a number of cars parked outside so this seemed logical. I kept looking until I found out what it was exactly. Our batty old neighbor upstairs was pruning the hedges in the front yard!! At 10:30 at night!! She was bent over so her face was nearing to the ground and she had a little pair of handshears and she was clipping away. We've had several conversations with this woman and knew she was a little nuts, but yard work in the middle of the night puts her squarely in the nut house.

The second incident happened the next morning. The ferries start running around 5:30am. Sometimes the harbour gets crowded with little boats(yachts and motor boats) so the ferries have to honk their horns so they'll clear the way. This is very common and it doesn't even register with us anymore. So around 5:30 one started to honk....and it didn't stop. Our apartment is around 200yrds from the water(as the crow flies only) so it was very loud. We were firmly awake with no hope of going back to sleep and it still kept honking. It kept going for around 10 minutes until it shut off. The sound continued though, as it echoed back and forth across the harbour for 15 more seconds. We asked the security guards at the Admiralty House what happened and they said "Ahhh, we don't know. It was probably the fog horn that got stuck. We started worrying about it, but then it stopped." This is how our day began yesterday.

Today started a little stranger but thankfully a little later. Today was the ANZAC memorial day(Australian/New Zealand Army Corps). All the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought in WWI and WWII were out in force today in their uniforms with all their medals and green jackets. This morning at 6:09am, a bugler began to play some reveille. We woke up and hoped it was just some solemn ceremony and the Governor General's house down the street with some war veterans. The bugler kept playing and repeating the little jingle over and over until he began to get tired. He finally took a break and we got up and looked outside. There was a very young guy playing the bugle wearing and ANZAC WWI uniform. Another young looking guy was in a suit nearby looking very cold. There were two other men, one with a light and the other a video camera filming the cold looking guy in the suit. We have no idea what this was for or why the guy NOT in uniform was so important. Anyway, the bugler started playing a again but his lips were getting tired so a bunch of the notes started to sag. He kept at it with fervor dispite his embouchure being entirly shot. He tried to salvage his playing by doing a few embouchure excercises but it did not work. By the last time he played the reveille at 6:30, almost 2/3 of the notes were painfully flat. We had started to put some warm clothes on and go out to take a picture of him, but by the time my shoes were on he had finished so, you'll have to take our word for it.

Tonight, we are hoping for a quiet night's sleep!

~Mike

On a sort-of related side note, today we had to go buy another blanket. We bought one a few weeks ago, a lovely blue knitted one that was cozy at the time. But alas, our apartment is not heated, and 55 degrees at night in a poorly insulated 70 year old apartment building with hardwood floors with the bed by the window can be a bit chilly! We trooped up to our favorite Tar-jay, since that was where we found Blanket no. 1. We had seen several quilts for about $50 and hoped to give one a good home. Alas again, Tar-jay was participating in seasonal price gouging, with said quilts now going for $140. Electric blankets were no better. Mike managed to find a plain white, institutional-like quilt for about $55. Aparently, when you buy a plain white quilt here, you're also supposed to buy something called a "quilt cover." In other words, buy the quilt, but then spend another $50 or more on another SHEET to spread over the top of the quilt. ??? White works just fine for us!

We have, however, managed to find a happy place to buy Cheap Stuff. It's called "The Reject Store" and carries everything from mixing bowls to Easter candy. Today I managed to find a "clothes airer" (read: clothes drying rack) for only $10, which is amazing in Australian terms. And now, while I'm writing a roundabout email, let me just expound a bit on Australian laundry. Clothes dryers hardly exist here. There's no room for one in our apartment, nor has there been in any others we've looked into (although corners for washing machines are very common). The towels and sheets (and now the quilt) we've purchased here actually tell us NOT to tumble dry, but to line dry in a semi-shaded area. My parents sent me clothes-pins (and a clothes-pin bag...what a surprise, Dad!) and I have to say I actually enjoy hanging laundry up outside. The clothes airer was purchased to we don't have to hang our underwear up for the batty neighbors to inspect or make off with, but everything else can go down on the community clothes line downstairs. It's in a semi-shaded area but you get a clear view of the harbour as you hang away. And it's been dry enough that if something is hung up first thing in the morning, by the time we return home it's nicely dry. Fabulous!

And now, having written a completely pointless blog, I'm going to go try out that new quilt. Ta!
~Ruth Ann