My friend abused me but it's all okay
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325815)
Rockingham, Australia
September 10, 2018 6:04pm CST
We have our house concert on tomorrow night and two days later we’re heading to Ravensthorpe in the south-east of Western Australia to visit friends and to attend their wildflower show. The population of the town swells considerably during the ‘Spring Festival’ week and there will be at least 500 different wildflowers on display. Twenty-five local people have licences to pick the flowers and they have signed to say they will take only a very small sample of each type.
We will park our caravan at a friend’s house. They are older than us but have been wonderful community-minded citizens. The wife is heavily involved in the wildflower show. The husband fell heavily some months ago and dislocated his shoulder. It has been an ongoing nightmare but he is now home from hospital and told me on the phone he now has not one but two new shoulders. When I asked him if they had put one each side of his head, I got a mouthful of good-natured abuse so I know he is doing well. Australians tend to show their affection in this way – by ribbing and abusing each other. Is that the case with your friends or are you more circumspect?
The photo is of a royal banksia, one of the wildflowers we expect to see next weekend.
13 people like this
13 responses
@moffittjc (118451)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 Sep 18
I think in any good friendship there is a level of friendly bantering and abuse. It lets each person know they are comfortable enough in the relationship to to be a little mean-spirited without fear of running the friendship. I've always said to my friends, "If they're not making fun of you, then they're not really your friends."
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118451)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Sep 18
@JudyEv I love your good-natured joking and poking fun at me! It's refreshing when people can be themselves and just have fun! And thank you for not putting any big words in your sentence, although that second word was a tough one for me.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325815)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Sep 18
@moffittjc Sigh - I only wrote one sentence and the second word is 'is'. I'm guessing you might mean 'example'. 
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
13 Sep 18
I'd love to see that wildflower show. I'm sorry for your friend's husband. He must have hurt terribly with those injuries. I'm glad he's healing well.
Time sure flies. It doesn't seem so long ago you were getting ready for last year's concert.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325815)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 Sep 18
Thanks. We have our concert today then head their way on Friday. We are staying in the house with them now so that will save us taking the caravan. We'll take a casserole for the first night and hope to be able to talk them into letting us do the cooking while we're there as the wife is very involved in the wildflower show.
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
15 Sep 18
Many times we have known people who like to Joke and kid about things. My husband is one of them most of the time as well. Helps shed a little hope and joy in todays busy world
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325815)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Sep 18
Yes, I think so too. It's good to be able to laugh and joke with people.
@snowy22315 (170010)
• United States
10 Sep 18
Sometimes yes..Pretty flowers for sure.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (95225)
• Marion, Ohio
11 Sep 18
Lovely flower. You know he is feeling better if he can do that.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325815)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 Sep 18
That is what I thought. He has had a lot of pain since he fell so I was really pleased when he was so rude to me. 
It means he is on the mend.
It means he is on the mend.
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
12 Sep 18
That should be quite a flower show. I hope your house concert does well. Especially with my ping pong group, the ribbing is virtually lethal.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325815)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Sep 18
I'm sure the pingpong is heaps of fun. Vince's golf group is like that. They tried being nice to each other once and their shots all went to pot!
@acelawrites (19273)
• Philippines
11 Sep 18
It is nice to attend a flower show; more so of a wildflower show.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325815)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 Sep 18
The population will swell by hundreds as they have a herbarium there now. It's only a tiny town but has a great community spirit.
