Mock-tober

 If I were in any way superstitious, I would be quaking, I know, but I feel like October has a sense of humour about things.

I think that October is a ginger cat

Rolling us in his playful paws.

Yes, occasionally the claws come out 

And blood is drawn 

But it's mostly fun (hey October?)

Image: Eddie, our old ginger puss, in front of Paris's long toes - from some month way back when.

I wonder if it has not been helped by my listening of choice most of the month, the third series of The French Revolution through The Rest is History podcast. (Perhaps they had the right idea, getting rid of October altogether!)

Today I did leave the compound. I even left town.

I started a new audiobook, Edenglassie by Melissa Lukashenko. Radio National, as the name implies a station covering the whole of Australia owned by the Australian people and this year they did a Top 100 Australian books.

Image: proof

I will have to dig out my votes. A few got in - many didn't but that's okay. I remain hopeful others will discover my favourites but my taste is sometimes not the popular.

That being said, Cloudstreet by Tim Winton is a pretty good book.

That being said, other readers were the ones voting and there may be many that I have missed.

My driving today took me through half of it. It's going well.

October colour is often something talked about in the northern hemisphere, with fall leaves. But this is when many flowers bloom here.

Image: Lilac and Magenta blossom surrounded by a sea of petals in a park.

The purple of the Jacaranda always signal exam time in Queensland.

There was also an amazing sight of these white crocusy things popping up in yards the whole way through this little town I go through. I must get my aunt to identify next week.

Image: said quaint little town 

I got to the resort that Mum and Dad have moved to by mid-morning.

High points of the visit were -

• Having lunch with Dad and "the boys" - half a dozen octogenarians - and discussing food aversions.
• Bridie, whose next birthday will be three figures, regaled me with her tale of coming to the area seventy-five years ago after growing up and marrying in Clare in Ireland.  She and her husband previously owned the property Mum and Dad have had and lived in for twenty years.
• Seeing my uncle and aunt 
• Seeing my sister and sister-in-law 
• Making Mum smile (it was oh so brief and fleeting but it happened)

Image: Mum and her sister many, many years ago 

Then I hopped in the car and came back to my own little home in anticipation of a whole day at home and not at work.

Image: meme - all text (all caps) "when you ask me what I'm doing today and I say "nothing " it doesn't mean I'm free, it means I'm doing nothing. So don't get any idea"

I know, still in October though. We will manage.