May 09 – Ghosts and Pancakes

Well! Where do I start?! For those of you not lucky enough to join us, I shall regale you with tales of our terror and woe, and for those of you who did, I'll remind you of the fantastical evening that was had by all!

We began with a tour at night by torchlight, at the old Adelaide Gaol, to be followed by a much awaited visit to the Pancake House.

Upon arriving at the Gaol, my first impression was of my extremely loud conscience saying "no, no, no, no" in an annoyingly repetitive tone, warning me not to go in. Suppressing that, it was quickly replaced with a shock of how large a group we are now! 26 in total this month, wonderful to see, but it did mean that we were too large to be taken through in one group, having to be split into two. Quickly assessing the situation, I positioned myself in the group that looked to have the slowest runners – if a long – legged beastie was coming at me, I wanted to make sure it had easier and slower targets to take first.

Our tour guides were a husband and wife team of Penny and Rob – who I might mention, commented with authority, that I was by far the most prepared tourist he'd ever seen. I think he was referring to the garlic. Clutching my bible in one hand, rosary in the other and with a potent form of New Orleans voodoo, a protective gris – gris, around my neck, I had decided to add a head of garlic and a wooden stake to my ensemble at the last minute – I've never been one for under dressing. I was, however not impressing those in my group with my pungent scent and was forced to relinquish my garlic, but was allowed to keep my wooden stake (finding a real wooden stake quite cumbersome, I had settled on a bamboo bbq skewer instead. As they were both made of wood, I figured the principle was the same). It was pointed out to me too, that among the various goings on in the Gaol, they had yet to find a record of a detained vampire, that was then hung, had turned into a ghost, and would then decide to attempt to bite anyone with ghostly fangs. Taking this into account, garlic free, we set off!

Knowing we were the only ones in the Gaol, with the dark cold night, added to the atmosphere wonderfully. Although a few of us could have chosen our shoes more wisely – not that we walked that far, but standing on concrete in the cold, can get to your back. A fact, though that could be circumvented by the addition of a hip flask to your hand bag, was pointed out by Lady Carol – her first Ladies Day and she fits right in, doesn't she?!

My first ghostly experience was provided by Lady Chef Steph, whose camera flash from behind me had me jumping out of my skin, there where however other more tangible experiences afoot. We had cell door knobs turning on their own and back again, faces appearing out of stone walls, in photographs on display and I myself had the sound of a man walking briskly past me with his keys jangling – and no one around for miles. Others were told to remove their earrings as "someone" likes to take trophy’s without you knowing it! (and lucky they said, as Lady Rebecca Two was able to make sure her solid platinum, designer earrings made it through the night). Whilst it was spooky, (and I wouldn't go into the Tower where they had the gallows!), overall none of us felt that it was a scary place – with the exception of one story about a serial killer that I'll leave unsaid, for those of you who will go another time! We all had a great time and it was made so by the wonderful volunteers who ran the tours. Freezing cold and scared, we were now more then ready for the welcoming warmth of the pancake house!

Many Ladies had cameras, and while nothing stood out on the night, if you DO find anything, please e-mail it to us here at Ladies Day so that we can pop it up on the web page.

The Pancake House is an Adelaide Institution that needs no introduction. The food was delicious (with the Jamaican Banana pancakes top of the list!) and the drinks scrumptious. As we relaxed away the last feelings of being watched, Awesome Anita and I made our few announcements. We welcomed new members, Lady Carol, Lady Leanne and Lady Julie – who was also the winner of this months raffle! What a way to start! She won a gorgeous white and blue cake stand that reminded me to have a talk to Awesome Anita about rigging the raffles – I haven't won anything for ages. And because no one died of fright on the tour, to be awarded posthumously, the LEGEND for the month of May is LADY HOLLY! Because her birthday is on Tuesday the 5th. Congratulations Lady Holly on being a LEGEND before your even 23! Our lovely LEGEND Lady has made it to month two without the need for surgery, thanks to the care of Lady Trisha, keep up the good work! Whilst we're on the topic of Lady Trisha, I'll just give you a heads up that at future Ladies Day events, take as many "compromising" photo's of her as you can. In three weeks, it may be confirmed that she is running for a seat in the government of S.A. And WHEN she gets in, those shots will be worth a fortune – just thinking ahead.

Our collection of silver 5c and 10c "shrapnel" for the R.S.P.C.A., came to a whopping $15.50! Well done Ladies and keep your eyes on the R.S.P.C.A. Counter on the home page and feel proud of yourselves for really making a difference.

We would also like to sends lots of love and kisses to Lady Cherie who only has 12 weeks to go until we get to meet "Buster" as he has been nicknamed – warm wishes also to Lady-In-Waiting Tiana who will soon be a big sister xx.

Welcome to our newest Lady-In-Waiting, born to Lady Cathrine, Isabella Kate. Weighing in at a precise 7 pounds and arriving promptly on her due date. I think we have the next generations Ladies Day organiser in this one! For little Isabella, the hugs of 65 honorary Aunties coming her way xx. Well done Lady Cathrine and love to all the family.

And that's us done for the month of May.

With love and til next month,

A & A