The Bell Rings

Here we are on 4 Jan, it's 7.55am as I write, a storm cell is causing intermittent torrential rain, lightning and crashing thunder. The dogs are terrified and are inside with me, right at my feet. It's prudent for me to forget the morning walk.

Round one of my 2012 fight is well and truly underway. I'll take a month at a time, a twelve rounder. The bell went off on New Year's day with me on roster duty in the Emerald museum. Beryl accompanied me, as she accompanies the rostered person every Sunday if she can, whoever is on roster. Beryl is elderly and unwilling to be in the open museum by herself, understandably, so our policy is for two people to be in attendance. Dennis (treasurer) visited to discuss matters park and museum. June (secretary)came with her old school friend Roland Betheras who grew up at 'Tivoli', a Clematis farm of note in earlier times.

Roland, whose son Rupert played football for Collingwood in fairly recent times, reminisced about his own footballing days after a quick tour of the museum. He said he played in the 1955 Emerald premiership team as a seventeen year old, after being promoted to the seniors as a sixteen year old with two others by coach David Cairns whom he said was a marvellous footballer. The coach was criticized picking such young fellows but he stuck to his guns. In the grand final against Monbulk Roland was given the job at centre half forward to play on the oppositions star player 'Sennitt', a huge man who played centre half back and was a fabulous mark and could kick to the Main Rd. ('Sennitt' was from the Sennitt's Ice Cream family at The Patch, which was a major ice cream company distrubuting all over Victoria. My friend Ida Pullar's husband Allan drove a delivery truck for 'Sennitts' for much of his working life and Ida said they treated Allan like one of the family and were wonderful to work for. I think they sold out to 'Streets' in the 1960's.)

Roland reckons he was BOG in the grand final, without having a kick before half time. His instructions were to lead one way to take Sennitt away from the ball as the kicker played the opposite flank. It took Monbulk till half time to catch on to what was happening but by then Emerald was eight goals up and held on to win.

Roland has three sons who are artists, including Rupert. He says they got their talent from their mother. He lives at Sommers now but it made my New Year's Day a rewarding one for me meet him and hear his stories if briefly. There was an interesting old man nicknamed the 'Scrub Turkey' who figured comically and managed to have himself innebriated and locked up regularly. If anything went missing 'Scrub Turkey' was said to be responsible. Once at the football club after training when they'd raffle a dozen bottles of beer somebody bought a ticket for Scrub and it won. They found Scrub asleep at the station and put the box of bottles next to him. The police came along and nicked Scrub thinking he must have pinched the bottles.

On Monday the forecast was for 40C. I picked some abutilons at Pepsi's, pansies and cornflowers at Hannah's for the restaurants, and went to the farm about lunchtime. I whippy snipped grass for a couple of hours in the steep bottom paddock, heat or no heat, determined not to lose the momentum I'd built on the previous Friday and Saturday. Monday night was stinking hot, we slept with an electric fan blowing on us all night.

Tuesday, yesterday, was hot again. I had an order from Foxie for thirty bunches of copper beech and ten green. Gord and I mowed at Hannah's in the morning. Hannah left on about Dec 20 for Cairns to be with her daughter for Christmas and is due back today, I didn't want her to come back to long grass everywhere. After lunch I climbed a tree to cut copper beech with Gord underneath to quickly get it in the shade if it fell in the hot sun. We were working bunching it when Shane came to pick up Australian Herb Supplies order and he said he wanted 30 copper beech for today so it was back up the tree again to do it then to give me some breathing space so I can pick restaurant flowers comfortably and maybe call in on my friend Maria this afternoon and cut some grass for her as I said I would if I could.

I've arranged to interview Leo Buckley tomorrow for my first 'Signpost' article for 2012 which is due next week, and my mind is ticking over on NHPEM business which I need to get activated this month. So the first round is fast furious and somehow I don't think I've had long enough between bouts.