Summerabbacat

Well it certainly ain't for his sparkling wit, dashing good looks, large bank account or immaculate personal hygiene @drsawzall. Although @John Henry has never stated as such, perhaps she is blind, at least partially deaf and has no sense of smell. The latter could well be true given she is a human chimney.

I fixed them after you wrote your comments in response to my comments as I was so embarrassed.

For me @Lee Wilson any time the temperature drops below 27°C I have to have a light coat on. Once it gets below about 24°C I have a full on sweater or heavier jacket as I start to get cold. I have no difficulty sleeping in the summertime when the temperature on occasion is 30°C overnight and humid. With a top temperature today of about 15°C and torrential rain it has been winter for me and bloody awful. My eldest cat Frida has been in bed most of the day and when she has come downstairs she has pushed herself against my laptop for warmth when I have not had the heater on (and she has about 3 coats of fur in winter).

A mixed bag in this chapter. Crusty is clearly not impressed with Counsellor Clarke and even less so with Michael Thomas aka Thomas Walker. His treatment of Caleb was a pleasant surprise so he is clearly not a complete arsehole. Caleb's testimony was a very pleasant surprise; he appeared to speak truthfully and grew in confidence as he spoke. What really surprised though was that he has hardened in his opinion of Calvin, he is clearly not the pushover I believed he still was, his trust in Calvin has all but vanished. His testimony will not have done Calvin's case any good at all. Now to Bryan. His testimony started out very well, particularly his recall of events before Calvin abandoned him and the life he had led since Diego had become his father. He lost the plot though when Counsellor Clarke started to cross examine him. I think he got a little too cocky and Crusty finally lost patience with him which led to Bryan's complete explosion. I don't think Bryan will be at all happy when he realises that his performance has resulted in Calvin withdrawing his suit to reclaim Bryan but not to reclaim Caleb. Bryan may vacillate on many things in life, but one thing has always been certain, his desire to protect Caleb from the clutches of Calvin. A very compelling chapter @John Henry. Calvin's motive for reclaiming the boys has been clouded somewhat by his decision to now withdraw the suit to reclaim Bryan (I am not sure if this is the correct terminology), but not Caleb. I like many of my fellow TTW fans have always assumed the motive is financial, but this latest development is somewhat confusing. Perhaps @drsawzall may be able to present a logical explanation for this. Perhaps not as it seems he "snuck" his comment in whilst I was writing, editing and mulling over mine.

That is my kind of temperature, although I like it higher still, but I am one of those rare creatures @drsawzall who also prefers humidity to dry heat. I would do well in Florida but would hate Arizona.

I find winter physically and mentally very challenging @Cane23. To quote the fabulous Billie Holiday The Blues Are Brewin'.

‘The road to our future,’ he replied. ‘We can go that way, or we can go that way,’ he said, pointing to each line of headlights that stretched off for miles in both directions. ‘Which way do you want to go?’ I asked him. He laughed, then said, ‘Whichever way you want to take me.’ Luke appears to have a gentler nature than Matt, however, Matt is certainly not lacking in the ways of lurrrvvve. He has on a number of occasions now surprised this reader with his expressions of love, expressed with such conviction ant depth of feeling you cannot disbelieve him. Hoss' "true" nature is perhaps coming to the fore. With the support of his "real" friends he will work it out. Harry did not instil me with any confidence that he will be able to secure a 'not guilty' plea for Matt. I don't have a good feeling about his impending trial at all, unless Tony the turd tells the truth and withdraws his accusation. Not much to laugh about in this chapter @Mark Ponyboy Peters, but I did get a chuckle with Luke's statement "just as the car load of hoodlums came through the lookout gates, we were going out of them, heading home". Said hoodlums are possibly of a similar age.

It was not surprising Davo was the hater who sprayed Matt's beloved Holden Commodore. What did surprise me was how Hoss no longer has any time for his former friend. He may be the odd one out (for now anyway), but he clearly is not threatened his three best friends from school are gay and two are in a relationship with each other. And it was with great amusement to me that Hoss was way bitchier than the four gay boys when he remarked Julie had gotten fat. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I believe Tony is the "heavy breather" who is calling Matt on his mobile. Now he has returned home him with The Monolith and his siblings he may have had time to reexamine his behaviour and found it wanting. How he will sell this to The Monolith will be the challenge. I cannot recall if he has any relationship with his father and if so if the relationship is a close one. If so, perhaps his father could be a source of support in any ensuing difficulties he faces with The Monolith. Although Luke's father may have appeared interrogatory I believe he is making an effort to be inclusive of Matt and trying to understand the relationship between him and his son. Delightful chapter @Mark Ponyboy Peters. If only you could wave your literary wand and improve the ghastly winter weather Sydney is experiencing at the moment. Those singing magpies made me pine for summer even more than usual. I would happily live in a climate with summer weather all year round.

Very "deep" @Cane23 and quite possibly true.

Wes and James make their first appearance, with Wes' exuberance and James' temperance demonstrated immediately. It was good to see Blair loosen his self-imposed restrictions sufficiently to enjoy time socialising with Wes and James rather than being stuck in the library. I had a chuckle at Blair's thought "renowned writers and acclaimed politicians once walked these halls, fourteen and gangly and confused" as if this added further lustre to Edgewood's reputation. The writers perhaps, but the politicians, I doubt it. Unlike Blair who described the architecture and the eternal gray colour scheme wth admiration, I thought the colour scheme at least sounds clinical, uninviting and downright depressing. Alex's relationship with his father, Joshua, is adversarial. I suspect the nasty divorce has affected him far more than it has Matt. I hope in this revised edition of the story @matcha that we learn about Alex's mother. I don't recall we ever learnt anything of her in the original version of this story, other than what we already know regarding the nasty divorce.

I just read my comments again and don't think I have ever made as many mistakes in any comment to date on GA. It must be the weather (it is very cold and very wet in Sydney, Australia - bloody awful weather).

I think Manny will need as much emotional and psychological therapy as physical therapy. The former two is where his friends and new "family" will come to the fore. I think the speculation of the good doctor @drsawzall may well prove to be true; I see Rocky providing Manny with lots of love and affection, which will be returned in spades I feel, something which has been sadly lacking in Rocky's life at least. "If I had a million dollars for every brain cell among those three I'd be broke". You should be writing comedy @weinerdog, and you are right in your assessment of Wally's three friends. As Bass was demolishing them I thought of the Gatlin boys and the story behind Kenny Rogers' Coward Of The County. Although there was no rape committed in this story, it well could have been if those morons had harassed Taylor further. Very well written chapter @Lee Wilson.

Delia and Maria, Deirdre and Connie. You have created some ghastly female characters to date @Robert Hugill, but I think Delia takes the cake. Nouveau riche trash with a spiteful tongue. I could wax lyrical and speculate her background and upbringing, but suffice to say all she is now is a rich man's ho. The meeting with Maria was a little disconcerting for Keith. I was pleased he did not let Maria bully him as I have had the impression that she did this frequently whilst they were together. She displayed how truly shallow she is by skiting about her fiancé's apparent wealth, demonstrating that just like Delia she is a rich man's ho. Both may find themselves "traded in" in a few years time when whatever looks they have begin to fade, unless of course they surgically enhance themselves and end up looking like they have been embalmed. I almost gave this chapter a ha-ha emoticon @Robert Hugill because of how ridiculous Delia and Maria are, but Delia's toxicity was too much to be overlooked. I did have a great chuckle at Greg's statement “Probably not. And if I do, it will be to bulldoze the old lady and create the glass box.” because I momentarily thought he was referring to Delia as the "old lady" and the image or her being bulldozed was just too funny.

OMG @chris191070 how wonderful. Do you live in a house or an apartment? I seem to recall you are chef. Do you cook for them too? Do they sleep in your bed with you?

More beauties, just like @Paladin's. Whenever I hear Dionne and especially the late, great Luther Vandross sing A House Is Not A Home I always think this is the case if the house is without any domestic pets. My apartment is so quiet at the moment with only 2 cats, the first time since December 2007 that I have had so few.

Your cats sound adorable. I must get one of those bags @Paladin. Do you recall where you got it? I have a small stone wall plaque which states 'the more people I meet the more I like my cat'. I can attest to the truth of this statement with the utmost conviction. My favourite maxim about cats comes from Mark Twain “If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat."

Yes I agree. You will see he made comments on the next chapter regarding cats in response to my comment regarding cats. I adore them more than any other living being.

OMG @Al Norris. You have been binge-reading. Most bingeing of anything is not good for your health, but "dining" on this sumptuous Aussie fare prepared by and in the "kitchen" of @Paladin is not only good for your health, but good for your soul too. The man loves cats so all is right with the world for now.

As have mine @Paladin. I had 13 cats at one stage, 5 of my own and 8 foster cats (1 of the foster cats was Missy whom I ended up adopting). I used to belong to a rescue group and fostered cats and did the cat adoption interviews.

Definitely not my "cup of tea" @Cane23 (and I don't even drink tea).

I know nothing about art and did not realise Oscar Kokoschka was an actual artist; I thought it a name you just made up @Robert Hugill. It was only the comment of @Cane23 which alerted me to him being an actual artist.

I am pleasantly surprised such roles still exist in NSW schools, particularly after we had a coalition government in the state for what seemed forever. A cat man, well done. I had 6 until June 2021. In the space of 1 month my two eldest, Bassey and Ava passed away due to kidney disease. In February this year my 17 year old Kiki passed away due to a suspected brain tumour (which manifested itself and grew within a few weeks) and two weeks ago my beloved 14 and 1/2 year old Zelda passed away due to lymphoma. I only have Zelda's sister Frida and my youngest Missy left. I am devastated when they pass away.

Francis Heyward is an enigma. Just when I am convinced he is a complete con-artist and not to be trusted he does something which clouds that certainty with a degree of uncertainty. His derision of his father appeared to be genuine, or was he just making such a statement in the belief that Vaughan would hold similar beliefs of his father. Some of his decoration of his home appeared tasteful and understated, wheres other appeared grotesque and garish. And what of his engagement of Vaughan to talk to about his collection? Is he perhaps a lonely man (not unlike "Mr Russ"), someone who believes he does not have any real friends, only "hangers-on" and "yes people" who are after his money, which may or may not be as significant as many apparently believe. An interesting chapter @Robert Hugill as Vaughan learned a little more about the "real" Francis Heyward, or at least the Francis Heyward he is intent on presenting to the outside world as the "real" Francis Heyward.

I don't know if you intend disclosing why Ollie's mother is behaving as she is @Paladin, but I sure hope you do. I have not made any scathing comments about her on this occasion, but I have certainly thought them aplenty. "Ollie had a suitcase which contained all he owned. Elizabeth explained that it was mainly clothes and some personal possessions they had, with difficulty, collected from where Ollie had been living. Ollie’s mum had not been cooperative." Talk about kicking him when he is down. It appears she is still blaming Ollie for Jeff''s conviction and incarceration. Chocolate chip biscuits and a dinner of pizza. Oh to be able to eat like that again without any repercussions. I very rarely buy take away food and never eat take away burgers, but I do enjoy pizza. I have not eaten it for such a long time though that I have almost forgotten how much I enjoy it. Last time I had one I was even able to get it with vegan cheese, which to my great surprise was not disgusting (I have tried many vegan cheeses and getting one which is tasty is akin to finding those elusive hen's teeth). Excellent chapter @Paladin. Although David advised Chris and Andre to be very discreet in disclosing any information about Ollie and the ordeal he has gone through, I have to wonder if it is something which should be disclosed to the school principal and/or school counsellor (if such a role even exists now). I had to laugh how Skye was the voice of reason with the impending arrival of Ollie, remembering how "annoying" she was when delivering instructions on how to care for William when she went back to work part-time. It made me recall how 2 years ago I went away for 2 days to visit my mother for her 80th birthday. I gave instructions to my next door neighbour on looking after my then 4 cats (and she has a cat of her own). She was so kind and sent me short videos she had taken of my very timid cat (whom I was the most worried about) eating salmon on the staircase whilst my neighbour was patting her (an extraordinary feat in itself).

@drsawzall summed up my thoughts perfectly and for once I cannot add anything further, other than agree with @Paladin that both Rocky and Manny are developing a real affection for each other, which is beneficial to both.