This is just my blog about things I do

The fires in Victoria proved to be horrific and the loss of life exceeded everyones’ estimates.

Alan and Val continued their trip and followed the fires – however they swear blind they didn’t see any. Last we hear they were in Moe – parking the van on 11 March and heading for Melbourne to fly out to UK next week.

A friend at work had some tickets to see Busting Out so another friend, Bron, and I went – we had a nice meal at a Thai place at Albion which we thoroughly enjoyed and then went on to the Twelfth Night Theatre – up behind the Ecca grounds, sort of. It was a lovely quaint theatre, the sort you would have seen at uni in the 70’s – tacky and old but it was airconditioned – otherwise it would have been totally unbearable. The show started off with a stand up comedian and went downhill from there – the jokes were off colour and the humour was just above the gutter – however the delivery was slick and it somehow came over well – it was so horrifyingly awful that I laughed till I cried for the first hour and a half and then I started cringing and was so glad when it finished – yes it was funny, yes it was awful, yes it was confronting – there was a lot of opportunity for a breast cancer message to justify this disgustingly awful yet funny show – however none came and it was a bit of a let down in the end. My friend Michele who gave me the tickets would not have enjoyed it at all.

Max and Carol asked us to accompany them to Kings Beach for a nite but Max ended up in hospital and so John and I kept Carol company for 2 nites – we had a lovely time – BBQ Saturday nite, trip to Montville on Sunday for lunch and coffee and then BBQ Sunday nite, brekkie at a lovely cafe Monday and the day off to boot. Max’s ex flatmate John came along on Sat nite and Sunday and his mother came on Sunday – it was a really enjoyable break from the mundane and we had an excellent time. Max is out of hospital and should be back at work soon. He is still recovering from his bike accident last July – more and more convinced that he wants to retire.

The next weekend we went to Reedy Creek to visit Robyn and Alan for Robyn’s 50th birthday – had a good nite – as always the last to leave – one day John will be first and I won’t know what to do. We got home about 2am – lucky we both had nanna naps Saturday arvo in anticipation. We knew Robyn would have family stay and so we were prepared for a late drive home.

I had been nagging John for months to get rid of the fence around the patio at home. The concrete was filthy and all the colour was fading – we had to do something so we called in Kleenit who, for half the price of a quote I had to do only the driveway, came and scrubbed clean all the concrete and pavers around the house and resealed all the concrete areas. Everything looks so nice and new and so I was able to finally convince John to demolish the fence – however we have a problem with the fence supports and may have to thing of something quite imaginative to get rid of them. In the meantime the back patio is now very open and useable and far less claustrophobic.

Ruth & Phil had some friends from UK come to stay so on the Tuesday when John was at work I asked them out for tea – Will was dispossessed of his place at the apartment while they were here and was coming to stay with us for a week so Bill & Chris, Ruth, Phil & Will all turned up for tea – each day I would take Will into Chermside with me and he would go to uni or whatever. We had a great night but Will had a bit of a bug that he was struggling to get over – he went to bed. After a week they all went home and Will is now installed back in the apartment in the Aurora Building – Ruth looks like she has found a house at Twin Waters and their house at Stanwell Park may well sell. With the diving property market it appears they are taking far less than they hoped but are paying far less than they expected. Either way our opportunity to stay at Aurora is stymied for the time being as Will is there and we dont want to encrouch on him by staying – not the same feeling of fun when staying with someone. However there is no reason we cant.

On 7 March we had Deb Hong’s wedding party at Patonga Beach. We flew down on Saturday to Newcastle – it took us 3 hours to get to Ettalong where we were staying – twice as long as it should have – then onto the Patonga Beach Hotel for a wonderful evening to celebrate Deb’s wedding. Deb and Jamie had married on 20 February on Newcastle Beach with only Karl as witness then had gone onto a cruise for 7 days – they were exceedingly happy as they partied with all their guests in a very casual atmosphere. Deb positively glowed in her wedding dress which was beautiful. They have a challenge ahead of them managing a marriage where they live 6 hours apart and have some details to work out but they are determined to make it work.

On Sunday we had breakfast with many of the party guests at Ettalong Markets which is quite novel – the accommodation is overhead and the markets are below – the owners appear to be Italian and I think they are trying to emulate an Italian village where people live among the shops and it appears to be quite successful – apart from the awful smoking smell in the rooms and the left over smell from the laundry catching fire we had a nice stay. All the staircases are a bit rickety and they were not very open to allowing me to use the lift so I found it a bit inconvenient – however we weren’t there long – had I been there any longer I would have found the stairs up to the accommodation intolerable and the place was a bit of a maze – however the reason we were there and the company made it quite pleasant and the shortcomings were only minor.

We moved onto Michaels at Lane Cove – starting with meeting mum and Mike at Longueville Hotel for a quick coffee and then onto the Chinese Kitchen in the main street – excellent meal – Ron Rundle and his mate Mac joined us and we had a very nice lunch – we later retired to Mike’s place and had toast and bread rolls for tea – I fell asleep as did John and when we woke Mike and mum were watching a movie – the Water Horse then Die Hard 4 – even mum enjoyed it – then we watched the end of Jurassic Park before hitting the sack again quite late – Mike woke us at 9am so we could head off to the airport, after dropping mum at Central.

A quick flight home, pick up the car at the long term parking. We have found that if 2 of us are going for a couple of days it is cheaper to park the car in the long term carpark at the airport than it is to catch the train to the airport - $20 each both ways - $80 for the train and $65 to park at the airport – cheaper if we have time to go to the one that is off airport.

The last few months of 08 were pretty ordinary. Nothing special happened and we just go on with life.

John settled in to working from 5pm to 11.30pm. He had been given a regular shift cleaning the admin offices at the hospital. Apparently being a patient support officer didn't guarantee that you ever see patients. He has put in for a few other jobs with Qld Health and hopefully he will get something different. However he has become quite an adept cleaner and now picks me up on things that I miss. However as I "don't do domestic" I just blame the cleaners.

My work has been just the same - no real pressure, just constant and ongoing. I actually like the job I am doing and look forward to work. The people I work with are great and there is no negatives in my work life at the moment. I don't like the hours John is keeping and would like that we saw each other a little more. We had recently commenced going to the movies on Tuesdays and doing stuff - all that went by the wayside when John started the evening shifts.

My legs are  still giving me problems and after 3 years of doing laps I got a bit sick of swimming so have opted for aqua aerobics which, at first, crippled me. After a couple of goes I found it was quite good for me and I thoroughly enjoy it - I go when John is at work or asleep about 3 times a week when I can. The storms in the evenings in October and November has played havoc with the night sessions but things seem to have settled down now and we dont have as many evening storms. My doctor has issued me a certificate for disabled parking so that I can get a parking spot under the building at work - the building presents major difficulties when leaving as there is no way you can get out without walking downhill or down stairs and I have major problems walking down either, especially when tired.

Bron (from work) and I went to see Turandot at QPAC and had a great nite - however we both decided that we prefer musical comedies. I was disappointed that the Nessum Dormo song didn't seem to last very long. There were subtitles over the stage and a lesson in the opera just before the show and there was lots to read up on before we went so we were well prepared.

John, Kim, Alana, Chris & I went to Jupiter's Casino for the ABBA Mania show - which would have been fine if we paid $20 at the local club but at $135 for dinner and the show it was a bit of a rip off. We had a good nite anyway but I wouldn't pay for a show at the casino again - the last one we went to was paid for by FlyBuys and it was OK - I wont use my hard earned money to pay for one though.

In November Deb came up and met with her friend Jamie - that weekend we had a doozie of a storm. 120kph winds - lost a shade sail, the umbrella stand broke and my car got hit with a couple of unidentified missiles - the shade sail is now with the manufacturers and hopefully they will replace it - but as it probably isn't rated for 120kph winds maybe they wont. I didn't bother claiming as 1000's of people in Brisbane sustained real major damage that will take years to overcome. Some of the people have been told that the damage will take months to fix. Makes our minor damage fade into oblivion. We lost power for 6-8 hours but did not suffer anywhere near what others did. We played Jenga by torchlight to fill in the time.

In December Evan and Sarah moved to Kaniva in Victoria to live and so they wouldn't be around for Xmas. Things did not go well with the move and the work they had been promised did not eventuate however Evan has since landed work and things are looking up - they now have the keys to a house and plan to move in this week (12 Jan). Evan is working in a timber yard and Sarah is still searching for work - hopefully once they move to Horsham, from where they are in Kaniva, work will fall into place.

Pat is in Airlie Beach and worked over Xmas - Katie's mum flew them to Shellharbour on 2 January but he is now back in Airlie and at work again.

Several things came together and we decided to spend Xmas in Sydney with Mum and Mike.

We were a little late with our Xmas newsletter and had to post it on the way to Sydney - thank god for all the people with emails. Kirrily from down the road promised to look after the house and clear the mail in the letterbox.  The kids were given the OK to use the pool.

In Sept Val and Alan from UK boarded a bus in London and headed out to Australia - we had a few emails and Val said they would like to come to Sydney for Xmas with mum so John and I headed off on the Sunday - quite late due to the hours John has been used to keeping while working the shifts he has been doing. We made it to Woodburn by teatime where we had a great steak at the pub and found a B&B at Ulmarra.

Monday morning, after a really good night's sleep and beautiful breakfast we headed off to Coffs Harbour to see Sis & Johnny Castle at the carnival at the Jetty. However by midday I pointed out to John if we didn't get moving we would never make it to Sydney. Monday nite we arrived at Alan and Sue Hird's place where we stayed for 2 nites.

Tuesday we met up with Mum, Val and Alan. We headed up to Mt Toomah Botanic Gardens and over to Mt York to view the convict track down the back of the blue mountains - we arrived back at Alan and Sue's a little late for dinner but had a good day out. It was Alan's birthday and the whole family was there for tea.

Wednesday we went shopping for Xmas lunch and John and I went to Jo's for the nite - the house was choc-a-bloc with Jo, Raymond, Matthew, Jess, John and I but we had a great Xmas breakfast on Thursday. John and Jo cooked and I really appreciated not having to organise it - Jo took it all in her stride and the table was beautifully set and brekkie was great.

John and I set off to Mum's and we all headed down to Mike's for lunch - on arrival Mike had the outside area set up and al Val and I had to do was whip up a salad and serve out the food we had purchased. John did the honours with the BBQ and we all had a great time with the chocolate dipping sauce that came with Cheryl's hamper she had arranged for us.

I spent the next couple of days at mum's and John stayed with Jo. On Saturday we went to visit Judy and Nicole and then on to Chris and Kerrie's at Campbelltown. We stayed the nite at Campbelltown and moved onto Arthur's for the next day. Had lunch at Geroa Boat Fisherman's club and stayed the nite. We ordered pizza in for tea and just had a quiet nite at home. Next day we headed off to Ruth and Phil's at Stanwell Park - promising to return the following week when John went to Thirroul for the family picnic.

On Tuesday nite Jo had us all over for a BBQ with the kids which was great. We finished up quite late and poor Raymond was trying to sleep so he could go to work.

On Wednesday we headed off with Val and Alan to Mike's to see the fireworks at Sydney Harbour - as it was so hot and the Kombi doesn't cope well with the heat John and I led Alan down the Great Western Highway to Rosehill, left to Victoria Road and onto Burns Bay Road - avoiding the motorways which required 100kph. It was the spookiest trip we had ever done - there was only ever about 6 cars travelling along at any one time - apart from Parramatta area and Gladesville where the traffic was pretty normal. We had never seen so little traffic on such major roads. As we drove thru Parramatta the outside temp hit 37C. However as we arrived at Gladesville/Hunters Hill the temp dropped to 28C in no time at all. Alan said that the Kombi was giving him some concern until we got to Gladesville but once near the harbour there was a visible drop in the oil temp and he knew it would be ok.

We had a BBQ with Mike and headed off about 8pm to find a parking spot within walking distance of Greenwich Point - without too much trouble we found a spot and had a short walk to a vantage spot. After the 9pm fireworks we had 3 hours to fill in - and the midnight fireworks were well worth the wait.

Next day, after a great bacon and eggs breakfast from the BBQ, we headed off to Lane Cove River Park where Alan rowed Val and I in a rowboat. We then called into Macquarie Park Cemetery so I could see if I could find my great grandparents' grave and take a photo. After dropping off Val and Alan at Mike's John and I headed back to Penrith. Val and Alan were to set off and see the north of Sydney while they filled in time till the VW place at Penrith opened on 9 January.

On Sunday John and Jess headed off to Thirroul for the yearly get together with his family - I spent the day with Ruth and Phil - mum came down for a run and as usual Ruth served a great lunch. John learnt never to trust a teenager to put blockout on - the hard way - poor Jess was red as a lobster at the end of the day.

On Monday Jo headed off to our house and we also took off heading towards home - John and I met up with Val and Alan at Morrisett and stayed overnite at the Lake Macquarie Caravan Park. The next day we headed off to Newcastle to visit Deb, who had Karl visiting from WA, we had lunch at the pub outside the tax office and then headed off again - we got as far as Macksville where we stayed overnite - then onto Maclean to stay at Bob & Ree's place. We missed Angela and her new baby, Anthony, but caught Ladina, Liam, Tara and Ladina's partner. Anthony and Bob left early Thursday morning to head back to Blackwater. Ree was staying down for a couple of months before heading back to the heat in Blackwater.

On our trip home this time we went via Windsor, Wiseman's Ferry, Peats Ridge, Morrisset, Newcastle, then headed west just as we got to Coffs harbour and went thru Nana Glen (missed Russel Crowe) and Grafton which was a great trip - one I had been hoping to do for years and finally did.  We also did a diversion via South West Rocks and a few other places - just driving and taking our time - looking around at the places we zoom past on a regular basis and cursing we hadnt taken the tent.

We arrived home on Thursday and had 2 nites with Jo before she headed off home. We then have a nice week of doing nothing before we have to go back to work. John had a recurring problem return and he has a problem with a disc in his back. He spent the first few days at home flat on his back. He is slowly recovering and we are just doing nothing for a few days.

After our trip away I came home to pick up mum from the airport and we had a week at home. Got lots of jobs done and spent a good few hours washing dirt out of every crack and crevice in Kermit.

We all went to Kim's 50th birthday at Ashmore Steakhouse - which was a lovely surprise for her as I had convinced her we would be away for her birthday. Leo and the kids came up from Kiama, Alana was off in Europe, Tracey and Cesare (Chesay) came up from Sydney and Robyn and Alan came along too. It was a good nite and the meals are massive - great place to visit.

The day we arrived home I got a call from a friend at work to say my friend Max had come off his motorbike and was in hospital - a quick call to his partner Carol established he was in a pretty bad way but not life threatening. Carol and I were planning to go to Hervey Bay for a few days after mum went home.

Well mum and I ended up going to Hervey Bay and it was raining and miserable. Max was in hospital and wouldn't be out for a while. We met up with Cheryl and Ron, Garth was there from Mackay and Diane, Ron's sister and her husband Stan arrived. We had a nice couple of days, I went for a couple of bike rides and then we headed home. Mum flew back to Sydney and I had a week off work.

I went to Alan and Robyn's at the Gold Coast for a day to finalise their website www.aknightonthetiles.com.au and then Robyn and I met Kim at Robina for a morning's shopping. Then back to work.

Winter this year has been very cold - or we have become acclimatised - in the past years we have only pulled out a light doona for our bed and a cotton blanket - this year it was a polar fleece blanket and our old pure wool quilt from Shellharbour. I had relegated the gas heater to the shed last year in disgust as we rarely used it. How I rue that day as it refused to play this year and kept going out. Garth dropped in for a while and he took to wearing beanies and John's Freightcorp wool jumper he was so cold. He also took on the gas heater and was determined to make it heat the house - a frustrating effort.

As a present for Evan's birthday Evan and I went to a 4wd driver training course with the 4wd club - we have decided that we probably wont stay in Caboolture as there is one person who is so unpleasant that we don't want to waste our spare time in dealing with him - he is one of the club officials and is so rude and arrogant that we just do not want to have anything to do with him. It's a shame as we have had some good outings with the club and on the whole the people are really welcoming and pleasant. He turned up at the driver training and that made up our minds. However we have met some of the people from Kallangur club and it is much closer and more convenient for Evan to attend. For me it is 6 of one and half a dozen of the other - but with summer coming up Kermit will sit in the driveway for a few months as it will get too hot to be comfortable.

For my birthday I had hinted to John I wanted to see the Mikado but it had finished before I got it sorted. John told me I had to be ready at noon on Saturday to go out and we had a lovely day - he had organised to be at the art gallery for the Sydney Nolan exhibition and a tour of the art gallery with 2 volunteers. We went onto the museum and saw the VC exhibition and then over to the casino for a while, a casual tea of turkish bread, ham and cheese at QPAC and then onto My Fair Lady - it was a great day and I really appreciated his efforts.

On Fathers' Day (my birthday) Evan and Sarah came for lunch and I had a nana nap as I was beat from the day before - we had done a lot of walking and I was feeling it.

Then it was off to Newcastle to see Deb, who happened to be moving to a new house and then onto Sydney for lunch with the girls from school.

Deb has been living with her parents since her son Karl went to WA to live with his father and had located a small terrace house close to work in Newcastle. It was a bit off-putting as it was not in a very good state but once the landlord saw it and a couple of friends dropped in it was spruced up and ready for occupation.

I picked up a hire car and went to meet John at Joanne's. His uncle Reg had died and he had unexpectedly flown to Sydney for the funeral. On the way to pick up John I got to the M4 and the hire car started beeping at me - flashing a picture of a coffee cup on the dash - I got Jo to bring John to Macca's on Mamre Road and then we headed off to Campbelltown to meet Chris and Kerrie for tea. We stayed the night with them and then I had to pick up Sue Beashel from Sydney Airport to go to the class reunion.

Arriving at Birkenhead Sue and I struggled through scaffolding and stuff and got to the restaurant. What a great time we had!!!

44 of us met for lunch and it was wonderful to see everyone. The photographer Kaylene had organised was a bit of a pain and he was late and people wanted to leave but the photo got done and we all had a great time - some of us retired to Ann's house at Annandale and I finally folded into bed at midnite. John had gone onto his school reunion that he hadn't planned to go to and he turned up at 7.30 after having no sleep at all. We had breakfast with Ann and David and then John and I headed off to mum's.

I had asked Alan and Sue could we come for tea on Sunday nite as mum doesn't get out much at nite and so it was great to have John with me and we all went for tea.

I dropped John off at the airport and then back to mums - heading off to the airport again on Monday morning.

Back to work again!!!

Joanne came up for a few days and so her and I went to the movies on Thursday and then off to see The Carpenters from Kempsey on Friday. We stayed at the apartment on Friday and Jo headed home on Saturday - John and I went out with Max and Carol on Saturday to a Ulysses Club Trivia Nite where Max's team won silver medals for coming second.

Max has ended up with a broken leg in a metal frame and his hand suffered a bit of damage - he will be off work for a few months and is restricted to a wheelchair but otherwise he is ok.