Happy New Year

We are a week and a half past the winter solstice and have endured ten days of miserable cold weather with dull days of wet air, mist fog and drizzle and near freezing night temperatures. Last night when I got home at about 6pm I checked the thermometer when I fed Pip, it was 6C. When I fed her this morning it said 0 degrees C.

The floor of the house has been so cold that slippers are essential. Even the open fire has struggled to lift our spirits and the wood is damp and cold despite being under cover for weeks.

But this morning the sun is shining brilliantly, I'm waiting for the machine to finish its cycle so I can put the washing on the line and not just dry, but absorb the sunshine. Pip's bedding is already sucking it in on the deck and Pip is stretched out on the carpet by the window.

I told Lib this morning as she went to work to be extra careful and drive very slowly on downhills and corners, there could be ice on the road. Gord has gone to the local footy, Emerald versus Gembrook, always of great local importance. He's team manager of the reserves and it worries him doing all the form filling and organizing but it keeps him involved and gives him a social life that he possibly wouldn't have otherwise.

Last Sunday he took me to a function at the footy club, the guest speaker was former player manager Ricky Nixon. Boy o boy did he have a story to tell. I have to say I admire his courage to stand up and talk about the depths to which he sank and the huge social disgrace and losses he suffered financially, personally, and to his health. He started his talk asking the crowd if any one in the audience had never mucked up or done the wrong thing, please put your hand up. Nobody did. This was after an earlier segment of 20 minutes of stand up comedy which I thought he did very well.
He explained later that the comedy, and the talk about his story, was a big part in his recovery, to face challenge head on after admitting his failures and not trying to lay blame elsewhere. I found listening to this quite inspiring, and helpful to me, as I find at my age now, 65, things flash back to me about my life and events, and my actions at various times, many of which are not good on reflection. We all have skeletons in our cupboards. It's a bit like religion..we have all sinned but can be forgiven and saved. That's an age old message. In Ricky's case, it's don't keep beating yourself up. admit you have been a fool and a dog, and move on and do good and help others. I wish him all the very best into the future. The key word is redemption. There are times in life when we all need to redeem ourselves.

The good news of the day apart from the magnificent sunshine is that our electricity bill came by email yesterday and I was astounded that I was in credit $99 despite the heavy usage we've had with heaters in bedrooms and bathroom and lights on for so long. I was expecting a bill of $700-800. The reason for my surprise was $570 credit paid at the end of the financial year for the long blackouts we suffered during the storms, which when added to our small solar system input and usage discounts put us in credit.

Happy New Year to anyone who reads, especially my friends. May 2017/18 have you in good health and prosperity. We are putting our prices up for our produce, some have been the same for more than five years. If they don't buy that's Ok, there's plenty other areas to put our energy. Yes, things are looking good.

Even the town of Gembrook is having respite. That is until Thomas the Tank and the crowds and traffic comes back, and the tents and rows of portaloos go up. How did that Joni Mitchell song go, something like "Save Paradise, put up a parking lot."