So I managed to get all smashed up on the weekend! It's been raining on and off for at least a couple of weeks, and our rather dangerous driveway is pretty steep and notoriously slippery. I managed to do some clever acrobatics on Saturday morning with my feet whooshing out from beneath me and hitting the stone wall on the way down with the side of my face and the top of my head! I was glad I didn't face plant on the ground as I imagine that there is a festering pool of disease down there compared to the wall. Nonetheless, I've been applying lots of antibiotic ointment to the grazes and so far, touch wood, there doesn't appear any sign of infection.
Suffice to say, this little inconvenience put an even further dampen on any great plans for the weekend. Cass went round to Bessy's to grab a haircut on Saturday, and was regaled by tales of granddaughters, daughters, fish and friends. The fish story really is quite funny and she had invited me in to look at the fish "wonders" one day after school as well. She was talked into getting just 5 or 6 exotic fish at a petshop a while back and didn't really think much of it. As it turns out, she is now almost in the fish breeding business, as hundreds of tiny baby fish continue to be born! She's separating them into various other aquariums, but they just keep on coming! I'm not sure what she'll do next...
On Friday, I joined Shaun at Patio 84 and we had a great chat about all sorts of things as Wal had to have a spell, so it was just the two of us for ages before Lonnie and Dave joined us. It was good to catch up on his plans for the future as well as hear more about his latest holiday to America where, amongst many other things, he braved driving a motorhome in and out of LA on their notorious freeways: not for the faint hearted! He was also very taken with Yosemite and their visit to Hawaii on the way back to Taipei.
Cass went downtown to the Hsin Yi district with her "Bookies" mates on Friday evening for a meal at a great restaurant (unfortunately closing down!), and a chat about the first instalment in their reading list for the year. It was absolutely tipping down when they tried to get a cab in Tienmu, so they resorted to a combination of the bus and the MRT to get close. They were a bit late, and Cass described the comical sight of two of the friends being guided by Google maps in the rain and crowds of the eastern end of town on a Friday night. At least, I think it was funny when they looked back on it later! She had a wonderful meal, and they all regretted the fact that the restaurant is closing: apparently they're moving into the home catering sphere as a concentration.
We went and bought all sorts of food and supplies at the Mingde Wellcome supermarket and the local Carrefour store on Sunday. The food shopping was a mega one, you know when the "every-once-in-a-while" items all seem to come at once and we bought all sorts of interesting things at the Carrefour, including a battery for Cassy's 17 year old alarm clock that we bought at La Villette in Paris, a pair of thongs to replace hers that broke most inconveniently miles from home on Saturday afternoon, as well as "special" food items like mince, salmon and cheese (!) and various lotions and potions to put on my face! We did not, however, see any of this crazy stuff: maybe it's an indoor craze!
We're just slowly settling in to Taipei Life again and we'll hopefully get to venture out more boldly next weekend! Photos: Cats, bashed head, another cactus flower ready to open (...they're fascinating!) and my new coterie of support class kids...a few crazies!