Harmony's husband has been fighting a suit brought against him by two business partners but could no longer employ a lawyer in this complicated case. So our brilliant Scrubfowl took it upon herself to act in his defence in spite of a lawyer she sought for advice virtually laughing at her, pointing out that the area was top-of-the-range commercial law which most lawyers couldn't even handle.

But that didn't faze Harmony. I was so proud of her that I thought we ought to honour her at a dinner party I'd planned to celebrate finishing both the book and our pond. I talked it over with Sue and Sally, who also mentioned what her partner Duncan had been up to.

Duncan is an unsung genius. He can put his hand to anything, lopping a tree, building a boat or a room. Yet I really don't think the people of Darwin appreciate him enough. Otherwise they'd all be lining up at his door begging him to work for them!

So the lot of us agreed - we would honour both Duncan and Harmony. I ordered a chocolate cream sponge with Harmony and Duncan's name upon it with the word 'talent' in large letters and a chicken underneath to represent the scrubbers.

At that time there was a stranger, name of Geoff, who had been phoning me about bird watching; I invited him and his wife Sharon to come along, with another old friend, Christine Bond.

The party was to be in the open carport overlooking the pond. so I swept and washed the floor and helped Michael set up the trestle table. An hour before guests arrived we began to cook the chicken we'd brought. Others were bringing vegetables, nibbles, wine and soft drinks.

The night started well enough with first a walk around the pond and the presentation of certificates and the cake. And then Sally read a poem dedicated to the pond that she and Duncan had written. Loud cheers all round.

But the entertainment didn't end there for Duncan and Sally the talented duo, had also created a 'pond dance'. Both are expert Scottish Country dancers, and I expected the pond dance would be of that ilk, which it was. But we needed more light. So Geoff brought his big four-wheel drive into the drive and shone the lights into the carport, and I fetched my bedroom lamp. It was ideal although the big shadows cast made the group look like a bunch of witches leaping about a cauldron!

Duncan started us off - the four in the middle forming a wheel with right hands outstretched and touching; and two pairs at either end with other instructions. The four had to walk in a half-circle while the outer pairs swapped sides. It was fine without the music. But once the tape was added chaos reigned. So Duncan and Sally demonstrated with grace, and then we tried again. And again! Once again - chaos. Obviously some of us couldn't tell our left from our right and the hefty-hipped madams in our midst cramped the space in which we could move.

And then the storm hit! The wind had been picking up for a while but it was only when glasses began blowing over that we noticed. What a storm! Sheets of water blew into the carport drenching the table, the stereo system, and us. Lightning cracked, lighting the place and our startled faces. But did we stop our dancing lesson? Never. Whilst the lightening snapped and the thunder boomed, it was as if the heavens had joined our dance adding a tempo that will never be forgotten. Utter chaos.

We laughed and laughed, and once we started we couldn't stop. Soon we could hardly stand up we were laughing so hard. Valda actually got a pain in her side through laughing. Our only regret is that it wasn't recorded for "Fabulous Home Videos" as it would surely have won first prize.

Soaked we gathered our belongings and fled upstairs where Michael waited with towels. The stairs leading to the top deck are uncovered and in fact, receive the full flow from our iron roof that (being in the tropics) has no gutters. It was like walking under a waterfall in Kakadu. Those who had only been damp, were now bedraggled and dripping. Even Valda's neat bun looked as if it had seen better days. That set us off with more peels of laughter. Downstairs another drama unfolded as the tablecloth blew over a candle and caught fire! Michael aided by Jessie, Sue's young daughter, put it out.

We finished the night in the lounge room sprawled wherever we could fit, sipping coffee and consuming with watering mouths, Valda's delicious strawberries in contreau., followed by the chocolate cream sponge When the first guests left we discovered another surprise. A tree had fallen behind Geoff's car. Michael dragged it away.

What a night, what a party!

Denise