Red Rob 1976,

The last two days have been both busy and sleepy. They have been busier than I normally get but few people would call my lethargic life busy.

Today I rode the mobility scooter all the way to Toukley and dropped some books off at the public library then went on to Toukley art supplies and paid for the last framed drawing. That drawing was the first single shell I drew and came up as the largest of the framed single shell drawings. I put two more of the drawings of buildings in to be framed. Those frames are larger and thus cost more. With all the legal stuff I am struggling to find things I can give up in order to be able to afford these frames so there is a little stress about that. I am going to frame one more of those ones and then no more for a while.

I rode back and enjoyed a coffee at the Budgewoi Convenience Store and changed the middle drawing of the ones I have hanging there for the new one. The collection looks much better with that range of sizes. The idea of my being there is that there is an artist who comes with the paintings available sometimes but today it was a useless gesture as I was tired from the long ride over. It was pleasant though. I enjoy being there. The chairs are comfy, the coffee is strong ans we all chat but usually one person at a time comes in.

Yesterday I managed a little gardening around here and a visit to the store then I slept all afternoon.

Sleeping is much better as the soft-tissue damage pain is almost gone. The nightmares from the stress have disappeared and all the new meds, heart surgery and filtered water (it has to be one or all of them) seem to have worked towards a much better recovery. A year or two back this much effort would have crippled me for a week or more and I would have been as miserable as anything. At the moment I am dropping off to sleep easily and although I am tired I am happy and enjoying chatting and sunshine and stuff.

I was told today that my best mate back in the mid-1970s had died in 1987 or so in a car accident. Red Rob or Rob Gogarty (I have no idea which spelling he used) and I were members of a group of friends that rode motorcycles and worked together for years. He was a cherished friend and I always imagined one day I would bump into him again.

Some fat guy with a pony-tail on a mobility scooter