I wonder what it's like for people to have relaxing weekends. Perhaps a nice walk, a lunch out, a barbecue. I can't even imagine. I think the only way we'd be able to do that is if we were on a tropical island with literally nothing to do and even then we'd want to re-arrange the palm trees and make a hammock out of coconut husks...

On Friday night I made a really kick ass king oyster mushroom gnocchi. Wierdly, these were baby king oyster musrhooms. If you fry them with smoked paprika, garlic and salt and pepper and add a good SPLOODGE of wine and then a great whacking knob of butter and simmer then for another little bit, and toss through your gnocchi, they're next level good. Kinda like bits of sausage when you're not having sausage. We like to have a special dinner on a Friday night so it feels like your weekend has began.

On Saturday, it was fine weather and kinda warmish, so we whipped the Defender out of the shed and got him ready for painting. More of this later in the week - @galenkp's already had the big reveal, but I was just trying to make him jealous of our Uber 4x4 Beast.

After that we went for a long lunch at Ipsos in Lorne with the family. It was Dad's 75th birthday and the first time he'd been brave enough to risk being out in public - well, he only had his booster recently post cancer treatment. A miracle he's still around. We had a huge banquet in the sunshine - truly a lovely meal which seemed to go on for hours. Quite pricey, but every single dish was extraordinary -I think my bro in law nearly cried at how good the mussels were.

Then, Sunday was more work on the Defender - here's my love cutting a roof in two (more on this later).

Meanwhile, I collected two more chickens to add to my flock - hopefully they'll lay green and blue eggs to make up my rainbow egg boxes.

I also did a lot of gardening, and started doing an upcycle of this awful stained sideboard. Again, more on this later.

A few beers in the late arvo sunshine, and then whipping up this post whilst the bath is running - man, why don't we enjoy four day weeks and three day weekends?

So my answer to the Weekend Engagement question is of course, bring on the four day week. We could actually rest on the third day of a weekend, having completed a huge amount of creative projects that we just can't stop doing, because that's who we are.

I don't even care about getting paid for that fifth day - I'd rather take a pay cut. Sure, it makes sense if people can squish their productivity into four days - but that doesn't work for teachers. Some careers it lends itself well too. Start an hour earlier, perhaps, or go an hour later, just to have that extra day to breath, rest, surf, garden, build stuff, you know? See family and friends. Live a little, instead of work your fingers to the bone and then some.

Life's too short. We've all learnt that this pandemic, haven't we? Work life balance matters.

Saying that, I don't even have to go back to work tomorrow. Poor old hubs does though. He's sitting in the sunshine and listening to the birds and having a beer and just wishing he had Monday off.

I'll be, you know, surfing, gardening, sanding a table, talking to my chickens and stuff.

That's what it's all about.