Burning love

I have so much to tell you.

I have been VERY busy since I last blogged. And VERY hot.

I went to see the premiere of EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert with my sister at the Hayden Orpheum. It included an Elvis impersonator performing with a full band and back-up singers, then kissing all the ladies crowded around the stage after his final number.

Bulk fun!

And the movie itself … glorious! At our session women in bedazzled jumpsuits were dancing in the aisles and the full house cheered and applauded after every number. It was a blast.

Phwoar Elvis is soooo gorgeous in it, I was giddy with lust for the whole 96 minutes. Drawn from 10 professionally shot concerts, multiple rehearsals and a handful of interviews in the early 70s, it’s an homage to him before the food, drugs and boozed took their toll.

And he looks mighty fine in those tight jumpsuits with that cheeky grin.

The set list was fabulous, I’m not surprised the soundtrack has shot into the top 10. I need a copy! I’m a CD girl. Where does someone buy CDs these days though? Is it purely an online ordering affair? It’s on this week’s to-do list, along with joining a gym.

I was weary on Friday – I didn’t sleep too well on Thursday night, probably because of Elvis lightin’ my mornin’ sky with burning love.

But I had to be up at the crack of dawn to drive the dogs to DDs ahead of us going away for the weekend.

We were heading to Newcastle in the afternoon to visit my dad on our way to Morpeth.

Fortunately DD’s sister was visiting and could mind the annoying little furballs for me. I am fairly certain she didn’t enjoy the experience. They are very naughty boys. So much barking and widdling.

Dad was in a pretty bad way when we saw him due to issues with his pain meds, so my plan to feed him dinner went by the wayside as he was too ill to eat. His bed has been lowered to about 20cm off the floor, with sensor pads on either side in case he falls out as there’s no way he’d be capable of getting back in.

DD didn’t realise, stepped on one and sent the staff into a complete panic.

After kissing dad on the forehead and hoping relief was on the way via a tele health appointment, we hit the road to our AirBnb.

It was a cute little place. So little, in fact, that there was less than a 20cm gap between the bed and the wall on all three sides. So our bags had to sit in the living room. After dropping them off we headed to dinner at the Commercial Hotel.

Our group of 19 had the whole upstairs balcony to ourselves, which provided a gorgeous sunset view of Morpeth Bridge.

The next morning DD and the rest of the blokes on the getaway pedalled off for a 70km cycling trip in 35C heat. Madness.

One of the cycling mates happens to be married to a former Woman’s Day colleague of mine – because the world is too small – so she and I went shopping together in Morpeth while the others went to Lorn for brekkie.

I was in a strange shopping mood that led to me buying a toy tawny frogmouth before wandering into Campbell’s Store. The historic building is filled with antique stalls selling everything from uranium glass to seasonal Bernard King cookbooks and a startling selection of Nazi memorabilia that totally freaked me.

I had spent a wonderful few hours wandering through the rabbit warren of treasures in Campbell’s Store and buying the Bernard King collection, only finding the Nazi section at the end of my visit.

I’ve since discovered the store has attracted news headlines in the past for the items.

I found the Third Reich materials in on display unsettling.

In the afternoon we immersed ourselves in a more wholesome slice of history at the Audrey Wilkinson vineyard. Wilkinson was a pioneering Australian vigneron who took over his family’s Hunter Valley vineyard at age 15 after his father died. Ironically, according to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Audrey was a lifelong teetotaller.

I haven’t been wine tasting in years, and it’s changed a lot. You book tables at cellar doors and pay for tastings and cheese plates to accompany them. Audrey Wilkinson’s cellar door is blessed with the most spectacular views and we spent a gorgeous hour or so there.

DD made it back alive from the sweltering ride and we backed up for dinner at Boydell’s in Morpeth. My sister was very envious when I told her we were going there, apparently it’s got quite the reputation.

I loved the bottle of Miss Harriet pink sparkling we ordered with our meal and I feasted on cured salmon with smoked trout pate, followed by beef cheek with truffled potato gratin. I don’t have any pics of the food, unfortunately, as the room was too moodily lit.

It was hotter than Hades on Sunday as well. We missed the next morning’s brekkie gathering as we wanted to check on my dad. He was looking heaps better following a review of his pain meds and tucked into the bowl of tinned peaches, frittata and sausage and fruit toast with jam and butter than I fed him.

Again, we couldn’t stay long because we were due back in Sydney to take DD’s mum to her boyfriend’s 99th birthday party.

Bruce is looking mighty fine for 99 and gave a speech on optimism being the key to his longevity. Bless him.

I must work on my optimism in addition to my abs.

We ducked to the beach for a swim after Bruce’s birthday cake was cut and the speeches were concluded. Then I scooped up the dogs and returned to the real world, knackered and needing another weekend to recover.

How was your weekend? Take a look at the trailer below and tell me you’re not transfixed …

Geez it’s hot again this morning. Or is that just me after watching too many Elvis clips?

Song of the day: EPIC