Friday

We had breakfast at Cafe Alfons over at Chevron Island this morning - not because it was our usual Saturday breakfast - it couldn't be because it was Friday - but because it was the last day for one of their floor staff:  the wonderful Sharni who has been making us feel welcome for years - calling us by our names, remembering our orders (quirky and otherwise) - was having her last day there. At first we thought Sharni was amazing because she was so young - I'm not good with ages but I would have said she was under 20. As it turns out, she has just turned 23, is married, and they have two young children (both under 7 or so). As well as being wait staff, she is one of the floor walkers at the cafe. She is so competent ... so nice ... and so going to be missed. It just won't be the same without her - we know because we have been there on days when she hasn't. No one else brings us enough butter! (What is it about butter in restaurants ... will an extra pat really make that much difference to the bottom line?) We are still hoping to catch up with Sharni from time to time ... we have previously seen her at one of our local cafes and as confirmed with her this morning, she and her family will be frequenting there - so we hope to see them there.

 
We dropped in to see Ro on the way back from Chevron Island. She had just finished her OT and physio so was able to join us at the downstairs, on-premises cafe for a coffee. They serve Merlo there so it's quite good, and the cafe's not so busy that they feel compelled to move us along when we've stayed chatting for more than an hour and a half. I can't imagine what it must be like to fill time in a Rehab centre - especially as only an hour and a half or so of each day is devoted to rehab activities! Sure, there are meals to fill in part of the rest of the day, and television (if you could watch without risking an injury with your neck having to be craned at an unnatural angle to be able to see the screen properly) and reading "Better Homes & Gardens", maybe playing a hand or two of "Logo" (board game), and having an afternoon "nana nap", but that still leaves a lot of hours to be filled in. No wonder that visitors are welcomed.

 
Trivia was fun on Wednesday night, but we were nowhere near the Podium yet again ... although, to be fair, we were only one point away from the 6th Place Bottle of Wine - not that we would really have anything to do with it - although Pe did say that she could always cook with it. And speaking of Pe, she is still in training at her new chef's job (trying out "all the stations in the kitchen" I think she called it) and liking it, except for the minor but necessary requirement that she wears steel-capped boots there. As it turns out walking around with them on for a couple of hours a day in the week leading up to the start didn't really prepare her for working full shifts with them on. Pe has been trying new/different combinations of socks to see if she can find the best combination - but she hadn't found it when we last spoke with her.

 
Our morning walks continue down at the Broadwater. We have been rewarded with some wonderful sunrises ... and today we saw four egrets hanging out with the cormorants, seagulls and pelicans.

Oops, quite far away ... need to take a bigger lens with me on the morning walks!