The Not-So-Secret-Life of Sunflowers

These guys are headed for the little shelf inside our shop window. I’ve known them since they were just wee little things last week. Sigh. Time does tick on doesn’t it? Raised in an egg carton just next to the outside loo, they’re all grown up and repotted and ready to take on the world.

Let me introduce you.

There is Dudley and Ethel Jones- Ethel’s been feeling a bit droopy lately due partly, I think, to yesterday’s weather. You can see she’s not herself in these photos, but we’re hoping it’s nothing serious. Ethel told Dudley that she’s just fine and the Doctor said not to worry. Dudley’s trying to divert attention from droopy Ethel by playing Neil Diamond on the piano and slapping his thigh loudly.

Then there is the other couple, Doreen and Vincent Thunk. Vincent’s obsessed with keeping up with the Joneses, and the Joneses think that Doreen and Vincent are a bit superficial. Doreen loves to drink shandies in the afternoon to keep things nice and fuzzy. The Thunks like to buy all the latest gardening magazines and are trying to remodel their pot so they can fit in a bigger plasma screen. Doreen is secretly hoping for some new fertilizer. Vincent seems to be working late an awful lot these days.

Now, the singles. There is Irma Dewitt. She’s rather bookish, gave up the internet last year and thinks anyone who uses Facebook is uneducated. Irma prefers to sit in the garden wearing Nanna frocks and canvas shoes and gobbling coconut ice from a plate with roses on it. She loves to devour vintage Penguins, and forms her mouth into silent words as she reads.

Laverne Longbottom is Irma’s cousin. A pretty girl, she’s often seen unkindly making fun of her less pretty cousin in company. Known to accept lifts from strange boys, drink shots and table-top dance, Laverne longs for a timeshare holiday apartment in Surfers Paradise and a new Subaru. She is waiting for her Prince. Sometimes she visits Trevor from next door when his wife’s at the supermarket. But no one’s supposed to know about that. Laverne thinks she might be in love with Trevor, actually, and thinks age doesn’t matter.

Mike Menadue is the small thin boy in the corner. He’s very polite and has a smattering of freckles and sandy red hair. He really only cares about his music and spends his days searching dusty crates for old Parliament records. Usually he only finds Rod Stewart records, but he knows that his luck will change some day. He’s trying to learn to drink short blacks and program the old synthesiser he found at Savers. He wears a vest and always carries a notebook and a fineliner.

Trudy Thunk is the wayward daughter of Doreen and Vincent. You will usually find her behind the potting shed with a Sharpie marker and a cigarette lighter. She’s never quite recovered from the terminal fungal infection that finished off her baby brother Walt, and spends her days looking cross and putting on liquid eyeliner. She refuses to say more then two words to her Mother and secretly laces Doreen’s shandies with gin to ensure she dozes off on the couch by about 7.50pm and doesn’t give her any trouble. Trudy stays up late watching Clint Eastwood movies every night. She turns them off when she hears her Father’s car in the drive and sneaks off to bed before he comes in. Mike thinks Trudy’s misunderstood and gives her money for ciggys sometimes.

You can find out more about the Secret Lives of The Mike’s Sunflowers by peeking at them in the window. Or you can check in here for sporadic updates.

xx Pip