In this age of wisdom and foolishness, the best of times at "Riverbend" are when I have something constructive to do, and there's nothing more constructive than constructing not just one but two very cosy reading rooms "far from the madding crowd".
The red one near the house I named "Canberra" and the one far away past the bend in the river with the green roof is "Sydney", which means that if the phone rings and someone asks for me, Padma can truthfully say, "Sorry, but Peter is in Sydney", and leave me to my quiet reading.
"Sydney" even has a comfortable bed in it and a kerosene lamp because, unlike some people who have to get ready for bed, at my age I'm always ready for bed, especially if the ABC's Radio National lulls me to sleep.
Perhaps I should have called the green one "Loloho" because in size and layout it is very reminiscent of my construction donga in Camp 6 at Loloho on the Bougainville Copper Project but then callers would be asking, "Where is Loloho?", wouldn't they? Also, our wall decorations in Camp 6 at Loloho were more explicit than these, weren't they, Des?
Anyway, don't bother to phone, Des; I'm away in Sydney reading Dickens!
