When a loss makes a winning opportunity.

 I lost a bet a few weeks ago. Richmond versus Collingwood. Long time AFL rivals and a silent part of our marriage. You see, Daryl is a staunch Tigers fan and I have barracked for the Pies since forever, so when we wed the rivalry continued year in year out. This year, Daryl decided to sweeten the game and throw in the suggestion of a wager - the loser takes the winner out for tea. I suspect he knew he would win and planned something he would benefit from in no uncertain terms. For me, I wasn't too fussed, didn't even watch the game but noted the score with a little more interest than usual. As luck would have it, the Pies dive bombed and the Tigers roared, I was now responsible for a night out on the town. Having started a

new job at work, the last couple of weeks have been hectic and I have been fatigued and I suspect running on adrenaline. As such, planning dinners out was not on my priority list. But not to renege on a bet, the loss niggled at my subconscious. At some point during this last week I decided that this bet offered me an opportunity - a chance to create some "us time".  A short getaway, designed to recharge the batteries and enjoy some uninterrupted time away from the responsibilities of the farm. So in a few hours I had booked a night away, with views over the water, near the beach and a room with a spa. A combination of the things we both enjoy. The sounds of the sea, the taste of salt in the air, the clear blue sky dotted with seagulls in the air and the elegance of the swans in the lake create a backdrop of relaxation and romance. Dinner out at our favourite

restaurant along with a cocktail or two and a bottle of red, made a beautiful night seem magical. A late check out the next day afforded us a sleep in. At the end of a long week the timing was just perfect. My loss gave us the chance to talk, to laugh, to remember how much we care about each other, and our life as a whole. We talked about how fortunate we are to share common goals, dreams and aspirations, the joy we share with friends along with the struggles and frustrations that fracture our days. Seems to me my loss was definitely a win for us both. The Lakes Entrance economy also benefited from our presence!

Of course after all great retreats, reality returns wth bite. Today we spent the day catching up. The cows needed hay, the chooks needed their pens cleaned including removing all the old flooring and replacing it with new sawdust. The old stuff, will make the best fertiliser and is filled with enough chook manure to fill a very large trailer. The task took several hours. Wearing a dust mask and safety glasses we raked and shovelled and got covered in grime. The white masks ended up a putrid shade of black and my hair resembled dreadlocks gone very wrong (although personally I never think dreadlocks go right). In our down time, Daryl thought loading up

the bonfire pile with more random tree branches would be a fun filled activity! Following our morning adventures I spent the afternoon in the kitchen, cooking up a storm of soups ready for quick and easy meals, along with fritters and naturally everyone still wanted to eat dinner, so a main meal was also on the agenda.
Now, after a glass of wine, a delicious meal and all the jobs completed I am well and truly ready for a nap. Daryl is out walking his gun, I haven't heard any gunfire so I suspect he has not found any vermin to shoot, as yet. Another week of work looms ahead of me. Daryl's holidays are over and he returns on Tuesday. We look forward to our next retreat, whatever form that takes; maybe the next time the Tigers and the Pies line up I will be the one getting whisked away for some romantic rendezvous.

Until next time,
N

Escaping to an Escape Room

Ever been to an escape room?
If not, I encourage you to do so. It is one of many recent crazes to amuse our small minds but I must admit this one has got me. After hearing about it, from my son and his partner, we decided to surprise Daryl with a belated birthday trip to a 'Clockwork themed' Escape Room in Oakleigh, a short time ago. Armed with only our individual problem-solving skills, friends Zac and Carol joined Daryl and I on our adventure. In the beginning, Daryl was indeed skeptical but by the end he was a converted fan. According to a Google search an Escape Room is a real-life team-based puzzle game, where you are locked in a room and have to solve puzzles together to get out. The escape rooms are team based, and we found four an excellent number of people due to the limiting size of the room, but also allowing enough diversity in problem-solving skills to enable us to work together. Escape rooms have a clear objective which is to "escape" the room, which will involve finding a key, a key combo, or activating some sort of mechanism that will unlock the final door. Escape rooms are usually themed under some kind of "story". Some of these themes are stories, where you play some sort of character who was trapped in X and need to find themselves out. We chose clockworks, which was about travelling back in time, given Daryl's attraction to old clocks. The rooms were decorated from this theme and I have to say the designers are very clever. The puzzles involve finding hidden objects around the room, using tools to find clues,  pattern matching and recognition, ciphers, visual and spatial reasoning, putting together related physical objects and so much more. The puzzles aren't really the "logic puzzle" type - usually these puzzles are highly biased towards ones that require mostly creativity and a little bit of "thinking outside of the box". Our escape room had two rooms and we had to find a number of keys and codes, allowing us to progress to the next step. It is time limited, so there is a little pressure, especially if you want to succeed. We found the organisers very helpful and only had to ask for help twice. As we endeavoured to unravel each clue, there were moments of small tensions and frustration but mostly it brought the best out in all of us. We worked well as a team and we were determined to solve it. And we did, after they gave us an extra ten minutes. What conversation it created when we finally escaped, what fun it was to re-visit the scenes and scenarios. So if you looking for something different then why not find an escape room near you! 

The escape room was one of a number of activities we took on as part of Daryl's surprise weekend. Taking him away from the farm, can be a challenge, finding someone to mind the animals and ensure they are all ok, is not always simple and I know he worries while we are gone. But taking him away is important not just for his physical health ( he needs to rest even if he doesn't think so!) but also for our relationship and the relationships we build with our friends. Farming is not everyone's cup of tea and it's nice to play in someone else's backyard on occasion. 

So the escape weekend consisted of dodgy accommodation (thanks to it being grand prix weekend); shopping at DFO (sorry Zac we know you hated it); fabulous food at a variety of locations, of particular note souvlaki at Stalactites Restaurant (go there, its just divine);  club style tenpin bowling, (or disco dancing Carol style with encouragement from tequila shots and cocktails); Go-Kart racing; food truck festival and lots of coffee and other liquid refreshments. We didn't realise that when we organised the trip it would be the Greek Independence Day and therefore found ourselves among thousands of Greek descendants as they celebrated their day in Oakleigh. Lots of noise and colour and barely a space to walk between the crowds we managed to miraculously find a table in a restaurant and enjoyed the delectable delights of Greek cuisine. The weekend was busy and terribly indulgent but if you can't indulge now and again, then life is simply hard work and where is the joy in that?

Speaking about hard work, the hole from my previous blog is still not big enough so Daryl spent a few hours this morning digging some more. At least he got some reprieve after escaping the hole and enjoying the delights of the Tinamba Food and Wine Festival. The hole will wait another day. Will keep you posted.

Until next time,
N