Self defense

Hey where did Monday go?  I'm posting on Tuesday instead!

We had a very cool, if tiring, weekend. Schedules with the coms brigade on Saturday morning were up at Wooroloo, which is a nice little town at the eastern edge of our shire.  We were parked under some very nice old pine trees.  I love pine trees.   Well I guess that's a given since i love all trees, but I love pine trees extra!  

      
This little fellow was rustling through the leaves near our post.  i didn't disturb him, but did get a dirty look for taking a photo.

I am not here.  

Saturday night was a bonfire with some of our favorite brigade people.

Andyroo with Tuppy on lead ready for guesty arrivals, pre-ignition.

It was a lovely evening  It's nice to have all your guests know and like each other well because you can be socially lazy and let them look after themselves, which is exactly what I did! 

 

   
The raging fire soon settled into a more mellow glow and we all sat around it and chatted very pleasantly.

Sunday morning, Jen and I took the two youngest kids to a women's self defense class. We decided it was time. We've both had experiences in the past that made us wish we'd learned this stuff much earlier in our lives, so we made sure the girls didn't miss out.  It was a GREAT class, held at the Bayswater home of Perth Wing Chun, so if you are local and want to do a class, I heartily recommend it!

This is me breaking out of a choke hold.

Why is everyone so much taller than me?  :D  I genuinely hadn't noticed at the time!

And this is me grabbing my partner so she can have a turn at breaking loose, with the nieceys in the background.  They loved it too!

And here we all are doing our "Back off!" signals.  Rarrr!

    
The scariest and most useful bits, were the scenarios.  I'd never done anything like that before, but am glad to say I didn't freeze.  I managed to talk myself out of one with a 'nutty lady' in a bathroom, and totally flubbed the other one by attacking my knife-wielding alleyway assailant while yelling, "I don't know what I'm doing!"  I do not recommend this as a self defense technique!  :D 

I think it's time I went back to martial arts class.  Too much of what I learned has gone from my reflexes. 

On a less physical level, I also did a few sessions on a painting, for the youngest niece, of Jerry the angel pony.  It's far from finished and I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I thought this pic of the part-done painting with the shadows across it was very interesting.   

I wasn't sure what to dress Niamhy in, so I asked her yesterday, "If you were dreaming you were riding Jerry, what would you be wearing?" and being a fairy-child she just thought about it and answered perfectly seriously.  You've got to love the arty ones!