Acclimatization

I'm still adjusting to the time (12 hours) and climate (very warm) change, and trying to get by without luggage. Christobel, my ever resourceful hostess, found me a few old Mambo T-shirts - not my usual style, but they fit.

I got to spend time with Tom, who's grown quite a bit in the two years since I last saw him. He's as bright and sweet as ever. Precious, his cockatiel, is still around, and he's acquired a new dog, Honey.

Tom planting seeds from Precious' food to see what grows

Christobel refers to Honey as the "$10,000 dollar" dog; although she was a sweet mutt saved from the pound (and part dingo, we think), she's run up at least that much in medical bills in her short life. Something to do with an immune system collapse and marrow suppression.

Christobel and Honey (with her sad puppy dog face)

We had a bunch of visitors come by today. First was Christobel's friend Ramesh and his son Jonathan. The latter had a nice time playing with Tom; here he is shown with Sunny, another new member of the household. Sunny is a small, non-venomous viper; in keeping with the naming theme (think Ab Fab), (s)he should have been named Sweetie.


I also had a chance to briefly see an old friend, Siobean, who moved to Australia last year. She now has two lovely daughters, here shown with the aforementioned Jonathan on the mailbox post.

Jonathan, Flora and Sadie