I had been able to remove one of the stitches in my mouth but couldn't get at the other one. I went to the emergency department in the hospital to see if they would remove the stitch. We had a bit of a wait due to an administrative bungle but a very nice nurse took pity on me and took me onto a treatment room to do the necessary. He was puzzled to find no stitches, only some exposed bone which I had mistaken for another stitch.
We went to the local shopping mall for lunch and to get Jean's spectacles repaired.
Back to the rally site and chats with all the nearby people.
Happy hour was inside a pavilion and so noisy that Jean had to leave to avoid a bad headache. I stayed on to pay our dues and then escaped. I was caught by some other people who had the same idea but who wanted to chat outside.
Philip and Helene turned up after dark so we were able to have dinner with them. We drank some wine until the queue had dissipated and we found that the caterers had miscalculated and there weren't any potatoes or vegetables left by time we were served. The person serving said we should have been there earlier! I negotiated free pudding to make up but it was still a bit of a disappointment. It doesn't bode well for the rally but I suppose they might have learned from this experience.
We repaired to the Motley for coffee and a long chat with Philip and Helene catching up on the last five months.
In the morning, we went with Philip and Helene to the Jondaryan (pronounced, in typical Queensland style , John-derry-n) Woolshed to see the draught horse show. The horses were wonderful and the girls of the Kamilaroi Vaulting Team were very impressive. Philip touched bases with the proprietor about including the Woolshed in "The Book".
There was a monster half price sale of sports gear in the pavilion at the showground so Jean and I went in search of some cheap winter clothes. Well, everything was odd sizes and odd selections and all jumbled up and the prices were no better than in the stores so we left empty handed.
To avoid the incredible noise of the "organised" happy hour, we sat around in the open air until the night chill drove us back to the warmth of the Motley.
We slept in in the morning and eventually cleared the site. Only a short drive to Toowoomba to go to the mini rally at the showground. We settled in and went into town in the Little Motley
In the morning, Jean, Helene and I went into town to go to the market. We saw much that was kitsch and lots that was rubbish but I did buy a replacement casserole dish for a knock down price.
On the way back to the car we came upon the stall of the Gowrie Mountain Winery. We had enjoyed some of their wine at dinner on Friday night so I stopped to chat to the guy. It turned out that he was the proprietor of the winery and the present owner on the house built by my great great grandfather. We talked about the family connection and I found that he is deeply interested in the King family and he extended an open invitation to visit the house which he has refurbished over the past five years.
I rang my sister, Barbara, to extend the invitation to her and she said that she would probably be up here in a few weeks time and would certainly visit the old family home.
In the afternoon, we went to the wine show in the pavilion at the showground. We all tasted lots of different wines and some of us indulged in much drinking. At the end of the show they offered us a dozen bottles of our choice for $120 and a dozen opened bottles for $20 so we all stocked up in a big way.