All in the stretch of a couple of weeks 😎
I promised myself I’d not mention the weather for a while…. BUT………this is just ridiculous – from days of ‘cold enough’ to have the heating on……progressing to hot (as in over 30c) and humid enough for several days to have the cooling on….. then reverting back to cold enough for heating and a hot water bottle in the bed accompanied by pouring rain!
The Spring Racing Carnival began last Saturday- watching the Derby Day punters on tv trying to keep out of the torrential rain I discovered that from what I could see of the crowd huddled under cover, $2 plastic ponchos are made in many more colours than clear 😊🌂
Tomorrow is the first Tuesday in November otherwise known as Melbourne Cup Day.
That’s the race that used to stop the nation –  it’s still a public holiday here in Victoria but many shops are open especially in large shopping centres.  It’s a day usually filled with fun and frivolity, frilly dresses and posh hats for the ladies, champagne in the car park (https://www.flemington.com.au/social-news/2019-10-29/carnival-in-the-car-parks) and a punt on the big race.  Lots of restaurants and pubs have Cup Lunches for groups who want to have fun and watch away from the course – everybody dressed to the nines, with the ‘race’ on big screens and a sweep in progress.  The forecast is 18c/64f with a chance of rain.  Not very nice at all.  Usually the weather is warm and sunny so there’ll  be lots of ‘changing their minds’ over the dresses they planned to wear and how the car park picnics are going to be arranged.
Us?
Well we’ll be in front of the telly and if it’s as cold tomorrow as it is today (10c now at 3pm) it’ll be a mug of hot chocolate and a slice of fruit cake in front of us instead of the usual flute of champagne accompanied by cold chicken salad.
Who do I fancy?
Well here’s today’s run down on the field https://www.news.com.au/sport/superracing/punters-life/melbourne-cup-2019-the-ultimate-form-guide-for-race-that-stops-a-nation/news-story/8cefffc8b2bce14dc5b617ce29902b05.
Last years winner has come back for another go but will be carrying extra weight so may not manage it. Â There’s a whole swag of Irish horses there, the Brits are back in town along with a load of others. Â 24 in the field…..at the moment the Japanese horse is the favourite, it could change dramatically by ‘horses at the barrier’ time tomorrow – somehow I think it might be stab a pin in the paper time as I’ve no idea who the winner will be.
Right, I’m off to look for penguins – won’t find polar bears here in the Southern Hemisphere – even if it is cold enough for both of them outside!
What are your plans for tomorrow- oh, and what’s the weather like where you are?
Still Waters 
When I was a child, my Dad was a big race meet kind of guy…and we would pour of the Best Bets and select horses for which ever race he was going to bet on. I got quite expert at reading the local notes, shorthand and other things…
I would see a grey coloured horse was racing, I remembered them by name often and I would say “come on Dad, you know greys are the best…” of course he then point out their race record and nothing much came of it.
We often went up to Te Rapa or Tauranga or similar to the races…and I have a couple of photos of me at the races, sometimes walking along with Dad…
I would always drag Dad over to look over the horses in the show ring – and if there was grey – that was THAT, I had to get up close with the grey…and I would nag him to bet on the grey…
But ask me to get on a horse at the farm, I would run a mile, I was only little and I was real scare of them…
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Omg. I too had the heating on today. I tried to put it off for as long as I could. But I was so cold
The next few days are going to be cold and hopefully the heat will start to come back slowly! Don’t want another sudden change
I won’t be backing anyone so I guess I’ll be a winner by not losing lol
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That sounds fun! Races I mean, not the weather. Races was a thing when I was a girl, and everybody knew the winner’s name. Now it’s not like this any more. I don’t know why.
Yoir closing remarks remind me of this old joke:
Do you know why polar bears do not eat penguins? From what you wrote, you know know the answer to this trick question.
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Our building has warmed enough to not need heating, but we did have the air con on for a couple of days. Will have our usual flutter on each race today after a moral debate. I want to go out in one direction and partner wants to go the opposite direction. Picking up his contact lenses is more important than me taking photos?
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