Anzac Day week came and went the week before last. I started a post but didn't get far, such is the depth of emotions it provokes, in my case mostly anger at the stupidity and callousness of politicians who lead nations into war through economic strategies and hubris. I just wish these bastards would fight amongst themselves and leave the man in the street his taxes to be used in a more positive way. The occupation of Afghanistan is a case in point, it's my opinion that the $billions being spent could be far better utilized.
I find it difficult to write about. I'm not qualified in any way to expand my opinion into a valid article. I do know that late on Anzac Day on SBS there was a show on the Gallipoli campaign that upset me greatly. I turned on the TV for relief after wrestling for hours with the computer to get my book keeping up to date in order to complete my BAS. The show followed the campaign by way of the letters of several soldiers there, some of whom died, and others who survived. According to the show, 8000 Australians died there in 8 months. Altogether including British, French, New Zealanders and Turks, 120,000 soldiers breathed their last. At least the Turks could say they died defending their homeland from invasion. For the British it was a complete waste. The British war cabinet expected the Turks to turn and flee at the sight of the all powerful British Navy. Such is the arrogance of power.
Sister Meredith gave me some information around Anzac Day about my great great grandfather on my father's side, Charles Brown, who died in Terang in 1906, aged 73 years. Meredith took a few days off in March and found Charles Brown's grave in the Terang cemetery. She has researched on the internet to find that he changed his name from Karl Heinrich Bruhn which was his birth name when he was born in Hamburg Germany. He first visited Victoria at age 14. He spent 7 years sea voyaging between Hamburg and Australia. It's believed he jumped ship as a young man, would have been around the time of the gold rush and settled in the Barrabool Hills district where in 1862 he married Emily Parker who arrived from England on 'The Aden' in 1849 with her family when she was 10 years old. One of their daughters married a 'Williams'.
So my grandfather's grandfather was full blood German. I don't know how many brothers and sisters he had in Germany, but there's every chance my relatives were trying to slaughter each other in WW1, for God, King and country. Same God too.
Sunday, May 06, 2012
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
First Mushy
I picked the first pine mushroom of the season on my walk today, on this last day of April. With all the rain we've had lately I was looking each day with anticipation and thinking it has got too cold too quickly. Perhaps some warmer temperatures followed by rain will bring a flush.
My friend Pat bought me two tickets for a mushroom tour for my birthday as a gift. Lib has said she'll come for the tour at Mooraduc which is guided by an expert in wild mushrooms. They run them on weekends through May and June and ours is booked for the 20th May. I'm looking forward to learning about more edible varieties, and the dangerous ones to avoid.
April was a full on month with some large difficulties but the bell rings to end round 4 and I'm feeling strong. We've lit the fire early with the April cold snap and it's grand sitting by the open fire in the evenings. Business is depressed, something we do not suffer alone if the reports are believed. My intention is to put a big effort into growing vegies this year, beginning now, eg broccoli, broadbeans, garlic, but planning also for the new season in spring. The thing is about food, you can always eat it. And I reckon it'll be good for Gord, to learn more about it as we go.
I was very happy tonight to receive a phone call from Peter De La Rue thanking me for my article on Grace for 'Signpost'. I worked hard on that one, having been a good friend of Grace and knowing the grief of her surviving children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Peter said I got it spot on and it was beautifully done. I was happy with it but it's always a relief to get a nod of approval for your work. It does take a bit of pluck to put your work out there for others to read and possibly judge harshly.
Another major filip was a comment on my blog from Chas Stewart who moved from Gembrook to Pakenham a year or two ago. I failed to get the comment published due to some internal glitch in the system but Chas thanked me for blogging and encouraged me to continue. It was especially good to hear from Chas because the last time I saw him he was recovering from an operation for cancer of the oesophagus and had lost a heap of weight and had no appetite, hardly being able to force himself to eat the smallest amounts of food. Fantastic to hear from you Chas.
My friend Pat bought me two tickets for a mushroom tour for my birthday as a gift. Lib has said she'll come for the tour at Mooraduc which is guided by an expert in wild mushrooms. They run them on weekends through May and June and ours is booked for the 20th May. I'm looking forward to learning about more edible varieties, and the dangerous ones to avoid.
April was a full on month with some large difficulties but the bell rings to end round 4 and I'm feeling strong. We've lit the fire early with the April cold snap and it's grand sitting by the open fire in the evenings. Business is depressed, something we do not suffer alone if the reports are believed. My intention is to put a big effort into growing vegies this year, beginning now, eg broccoli, broadbeans, garlic, but planning also for the new season in spring. The thing is about food, you can always eat it. And I reckon it'll be good for Gord, to learn more about it as we go.
I was very happy tonight to receive a phone call from Peter De La Rue thanking me for my article on Grace for 'Signpost'. I worked hard on that one, having been a good friend of Grace and knowing the grief of her surviving children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Peter said I got it spot on and it was beautifully done. I was happy with it but it's always a relief to get a nod of approval for your work. It does take a bit of pluck to put your work out there for others to read and possibly judge harshly.
Another major filip was a comment on my blog from Chas Stewart who moved from Gembrook to Pakenham a year or two ago. I failed to get the comment published due to some internal glitch in the system but Chas thanked me for blogging and encouraged me to continue. It was especially good to hear from Chas because the last time I saw him he was recovering from an operation for cancer of the oesophagus and had lost a heap of weight and had no appetite, hardly being able to force himself to eat the smallest amounts of food. Fantastic to hear from you Chas.
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Nearly 60, going on 16
As I begin this post at fifteen minutes before midnight I'm 59 years old, about to turn 60 at 12.00pm. No big deal hey. But I bumped into Elise at the local supermarket this afternoon, she's a part time casual worker there as she studies phsycology at university, I think second year. She has worked there for a few years and I recall clearly her telling me about her her VCE final year so time flies. She's drop dead gorgeous and however tired and worn down I am by life in general I feel this huge spark whenever I meet her and a tinge of jealousy when she mentions her boyfriend. Weird hey, but I'm thinking it is not peculiar to me and is common amongst silly old blokes of my vintage.
Truth is I've had my turn and I am what I am. The youth has gone. I hope I enter into old age with dignity and not become too attracted to young women and become an old 'perv', and that I can still be useful and productive for some time yet. I'm surprised at my increased awareness of peoples' virtues, particularly women of all ages, as I climb or descend the ladder, depending on your perspective.
I had an amazing week. Monday I was videotaped for posterity at the museum as part of the dismantling of the Gus Ryberg display, then attended Grace De la Rue's funeral in the afternoon. Grace's daughter rang me the next day asking me could I do an article on Grace for 'Signpost', to which I replied I'd have to clear it with the the editor, and also on Tuesday there was a Park Advisory Group meeting which of course I had to follow up with a report to attendees, Wednesday I started a job pruning Hughesy's camellia hedge and Thursday I was interviewed live on the telephone on the local radio station about NHP and bee colony collapse, after learning of it only the previous evening, then more at Hughesy's. All this on top of my normal work and chores and for someone who really only wants to be left alone to a simple life.
After I came home from having a drink with Steve and Anne across the road on Thursday evening Lib told me there was a water leak in the bathroom. I went out to shut the water off at the meter only to find the valve was buggered and the water could not be turned off completely, meaning we had a leak all night, which went from under the wash basin down the pipes and through the floor to under the house. I had been so much looking forward to a quiet time of recouperation at Easter and this was exactly the the complication I didn't want. I rang a plumber I knew and left a message on his answering machine explaining my predicament. I went to bed on Easter Eve wondering why the water couldn't be turned off and planning my strategy for the next day. Sleep came after not long, I was exhausted.
Lib worked on Good Friday and after she left I rang Yarra Valley Water on the Emergency fault number reporting that I couldn't get the water turned off completely. They sent a man out and within 2 hours a new valve was fitted and at least the flow was stopped. I then rang more plumbers, no one could come till next day Saturday. No big deal, I could now turn the water on and off if someone wanted a shower and the leak was not flooding the house when it was turned on.
The phone rang, it was Grace's daughter Margaret, returning my call of the previous evening, who said she was available over Easter for an interview. I said how about today at 2.00 pm and that was fine so off I went expecting an hour would do the trick. Three hours later Margaret and her husband Trevor were still telling me Grace stories and the history of Cockatoo. Trevor, I learned, is a 'Jack of all trades' and an inventor. After explaining my water problem at home he insisted coming home with me with his tool box and many fittings in the expectation that he could fix it. With the end of daylight saving there was not much day left and there was not much light under the basin to see anything but Trevor had a torch light that fitted on his head like a miner's. It turned out quite a complicated job too difficult for me descibe in detail. Trevor, in his late seventies, on his knees and working under the basin for about an hour and a half, said to me that everytime he leaned to left he got dizzy for some reason. "Wonder why is that?" he said. The previous day he'd had a massage for a very painful shoulder which he'd damaged lifting a fuel drum up onto a vehicle. He also said that two years ago he'd had major heart surgery in 13 hour operation to replace arteries from his heart to his neck and shoulders with some sort of synthetic pipes. As he told me all this I was formulating my next plan to ring 000 should he keel over. It had been a big day and I was dying for a drink, alcohol that is, but I dared not till the coast was clear.
With some amazing improvisation by an amazing man, the leak was fixed, enabling me to ring the the plumber and tell him he was not needed the next day. There were wrong fittings that had been used on installation 25 years ago and Trevor said it was lucky the house hadn't been flooded long ago. Trevor went home at nearly 7.00pm with some honey and plants for Margaret to sell at her gate stall at which she sells plants to raise money for poor people in Malaysia. Since she started she has raised $8,500, all of which goes right to the people, the on costs being covered by the charity she works with, the name of which escapes me.
And so ended Good Friday. Exhausted as I was I could not go to bed till late and needed several glasses of red wine and some time to recover my equilibrium. I only hope I can do Grace and her family justice with my article. Grace had 9 children, 8 surviving to adulthood and still seven alive, an alcoholic husband who was not there much of the time, and Margaret is an ex school teacher. My dead line is next Wednesday and I can't possibly start on it till I've refreshed. I think because of the circumstances and the expectations of the family it will be my biggest test since commencing the 'Signpost' articles.
I bought myslf a bag of M and M's as a treat for tomorrow for my birthday. Well it's today now, but after a sleep the celebrations can begin and I can open my pressies, a number of which are sitting there waiting. I'll wait till after Lib comes home from work. We're having a loin of pork roasted in the Webber. Happy Birthday Carey!
Truth is I've had my turn and I am what I am. The youth has gone. I hope I enter into old age with dignity and not become too attracted to young women and become an old 'perv', and that I can still be useful and productive for some time yet. I'm surprised at my increased awareness of peoples' virtues, particularly women of all ages, as I climb or descend the ladder, depending on your perspective.
I had an amazing week. Monday I was videotaped for posterity at the museum as part of the dismantling of the Gus Ryberg display, then attended Grace De la Rue's funeral in the afternoon. Grace's daughter rang me the next day asking me could I do an article on Grace for 'Signpost', to which I replied I'd have to clear it with the the editor, and also on Tuesday there was a Park Advisory Group meeting which of course I had to follow up with a report to attendees, Wednesday I started a job pruning Hughesy's camellia hedge and Thursday I was interviewed live on the telephone on the local radio station about NHP and bee colony collapse, after learning of it only the previous evening, then more at Hughesy's. All this on top of my normal work and chores and for someone who really only wants to be left alone to a simple life.
After I came home from having a drink with Steve and Anne across the road on Thursday evening Lib told me there was a water leak in the bathroom. I went out to shut the water off at the meter only to find the valve was buggered and the water could not be turned off completely, meaning we had a leak all night, which went from under the wash basin down the pipes and through the floor to under the house. I had been so much looking forward to a quiet time of recouperation at Easter and this was exactly the the complication I didn't want. I rang a plumber I knew and left a message on his answering machine explaining my predicament. I went to bed on Easter Eve wondering why the water couldn't be turned off and planning my strategy for the next day. Sleep came after not long, I was exhausted.
Lib worked on Good Friday and after she left I rang Yarra Valley Water on the Emergency fault number reporting that I couldn't get the water turned off completely. They sent a man out and within 2 hours a new valve was fitted and at least the flow was stopped. I then rang more plumbers, no one could come till next day Saturday. No big deal, I could now turn the water on and off if someone wanted a shower and the leak was not flooding the house when it was turned on.
The phone rang, it was Grace's daughter Margaret, returning my call of the previous evening, who said she was available over Easter for an interview. I said how about today at 2.00 pm and that was fine so off I went expecting an hour would do the trick. Three hours later Margaret and her husband Trevor were still telling me Grace stories and the history of Cockatoo. Trevor, I learned, is a 'Jack of all trades' and an inventor. After explaining my water problem at home he insisted coming home with me with his tool box and many fittings in the expectation that he could fix it. With the end of daylight saving there was not much day left and there was not much light under the basin to see anything but Trevor had a torch light that fitted on his head like a miner's. It turned out quite a complicated job too difficult for me descibe in detail. Trevor, in his late seventies, on his knees and working under the basin for about an hour and a half, said to me that everytime he leaned to left he got dizzy for some reason. "Wonder why is that?" he said. The previous day he'd had a massage for a very painful shoulder which he'd damaged lifting a fuel drum up onto a vehicle. He also said that two years ago he'd had major heart surgery in 13 hour operation to replace arteries from his heart to his neck and shoulders with some sort of synthetic pipes. As he told me all this I was formulating my next plan to ring 000 should he keel over. It had been a big day and I was dying for a drink, alcohol that is, but I dared not till the coast was clear.
With some amazing improvisation by an amazing man, the leak was fixed, enabling me to ring the the plumber and tell him he was not needed the next day. There were wrong fittings that had been used on installation 25 years ago and Trevor said it was lucky the house hadn't been flooded long ago. Trevor went home at nearly 7.00pm with some honey and plants for Margaret to sell at her gate stall at which she sells plants to raise money for poor people in Malaysia. Since she started she has raised $8,500, all of which goes right to the people, the on costs being covered by the charity she works with, the name of which escapes me.
And so ended Good Friday. Exhausted as I was I could not go to bed till late and needed several glasses of red wine and some time to recover my equilibrium. I only hope I can do Grace and her family justice with my article. Grace had 9 children, 8 surviving to adulthood and still seven alive, an alcoholic husband who was not there much of the time, and Margaret is an ex school teacher. My dead line is next Wednesday and I can't possibly start on it till I've refreshed. I think because of the circumstances and the expectations of the family it will be my biggest test since commencing the 'Signpost' articles.
I bought myslf a bag of M and M's as a treat for tomorrow for my birthday. Well it's today now, but after a sleep the celebrations can begin and I can open my pressies, a number of which are sitting there waiting. I'll wait till after Lib comes home from work. We're having a loin of pork roasted in the Webber. Happy Birthday Carey!
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Denny and the Bees
It was I think close to two years ago that my phone rang and a man identifying himself as Denny said he wanted to buy a beehive or two, and asked could I help him. My friend Laurie Begg had told him I may be able to help him.
Now this was around the time my friend Harry in La Souef Rd. had suddenly died in his sleep. Harry had two beehives which in recent times I had helped him with getting off the honey and extracting it. After Harry died his widow Hannah offered me the beehives which I declined explaining I had more than I could comfortably handle but that I would help her if I could to manage them until she could arrange a sale.
Denny seemed like the perfect solution so I told Hannah of his desire to buy beehives and a deal was tentatively agreed that Denny would buy Hannah's bees and equipment at an all in price which was low but reasonable in the circumstances.
Hannah was happy about this and all was well until one night I was in the bath and Lib brought me the phone with Hannah's daughter Sue on the other end. Sue lives in Cairns and expressed her dissatifaction at the proposed sale of the beehives, her reason being that the season was about to start and surely Hannah should have the benefit of the honey. I backed right off and said hey I have no motive other than solving Hannah's problem and I would tell Denny the bees were no longer for sale. I also said I wouldn't have time probably to look after the bees for Hannah into the future. Someone else took the bees away eventually and I have no knowledge of the where with all.
Denny accepted this no prob, but asked me could I come and look at his beehive as he didn't really know anything. He offered to pay me, I said bugger that and looked through his hive with him and told him I'd help him get going. I actually took some frames of honey off for him and extracted it while I was doing mine, so we are talking about summer 2010/2011. I told Denny if I came across other beehives I'd let him know, he was so keen to get into it.
My phone rang again about 9 months ago, the caller being a lady who lived in Officer, who no longer wanted her beehive, the reason being that she had developed an allergy to stings and her husband, a doctor, was insisting she get rid of it. Now this may well be the truth. However, I'd been told, by a 100% reliable source, that the property in question was about to be subdivided into 80, yes eighty, residential blocks and the vendor was to to receive a price into the many millions. I had helped this lady move her beehive from Menzie's Creek some years previously and then did the helpful honey extract and bee management thing as a 'Freebie' for awhile, until she kept ringing me with questions. I suggested she ring the Apiarist's ass. for updated info but she said no that would cost her $2 per minute on the phone. At that point our relationship suffered a serious rift as she realized, I think, I was somewhat offended. Don't get me wrong, she's a delightful lady, full of goodwill and good intention, but every beekeeper could tell you a similar story I'm sure.
When the lady in Officer rang and offered me her beehive, I said I didn't want it, but I knew a bloke who did. I said I'd need to come and look at the hive and plan for picking it up. I rang her late last winter or early spring saying I was coming. The return phone call was from Mt. Hotham where she was on a skiing holiday. The bottom box on the hive when I did call in was rotten. I had to come back and replace it ( Denny gave me a box). Then I came back yet again with Denny to move the hive back to his place.
Denny is of Chechslovakian origin and we have become friends. Through all this mucking around you will be happy to know that I had some recompense. Just when I was short of magnolia grandiflora foliage, there was a hedge of it at Denny's, that Denny was more than happy for me to prune.
Denny's wife rang me on Thursday, Denny was worried about his bees. Could I come and have a look? I did yesterday. I have never seen anything like it in March. Denny had built up to six hives and two have starved, the rest are on the brink. Almost unbelieveable. The hives were totally dry- no honey at all- no stores for the coming winter. Denny has been feeding sugar syrup the last two weeks, if he hadn't he would have lost more. Amazingly again, just when I needed herb flowers there was plenty at Denny's that he was happy for me to take.
I haven't checked my bees for a couple of months, when I looked there was no honey to extract. If mine are as bad as Denny's then it is a disaster I have not had to contemplate for about thirty years when I last had to feed bees.
Far out man.
Now this was around the time my friend Harry in La Souef Rd. had suddenly died in his sleep. Harry had two beehives which in recent times I had helped him with getting off the honey and extracting it. After Harry died his widow Hannah offered me the beehives which I declined explaining I had more than I could comfortably handle but that I would help her if I could to manage them until she could arrange a sale.
Denny seemed like the perfect solution so I told Hannah of his desire to buy beehives and a deal was tentatively agreed that Denny would buy Hannah's bees and equipment at an all in price which was low but reasonable in the circumstances.
Hannah was happy about this and all was well until one night I was in the bath and Lib brought me the phone with Hannah's daughter Sue on the other end. Sue lives in Cairns and expressed her dissatifaction at the proposed sale of the beehives, her reason being that the season was about to start and surely Hannah should have the benefit of the honey. I backed right off and said hey I have no motive other than solving Hannah's problem and I would tell Denny the bees were no longer for sale. I also said I wouldn't have time probably to look after the bees for Hannah into the future. Someone else took the bees away eventually and I have no knowledge of the where with all.
Denny accepted this no prob, but asked me could I come and look at his beehive as he didn't really know anything. He offered to pay me, I said bugger that and looked through his hive with him and told him I'd help him get going. I actually took some frames of honey off for him and extracted it while I was doing mine, so we are talking about summer 2010/2011. I told Denny if I came across other beehives I'd let him know, he was so keen to get into it.
My phone rang again about 9 months ago, the caller being a lady who lived in Officer, who no longer wanted her beehive, the reason being that she had developed an allergy to stings and her husband, a doctor, was insisting she get rid of it. Now this may well be the truth. However, I'd been told, by a 100% reliable source, that the property in question was about to be subdivided into 80, yes eighty, residential blocks and the vendor was to to receive a price into the many millions. I had helped this lady move her beehive from Menzie's Creek some years previously and then did the helpful honey extract and bee management thing as a 'Freebie' for awhile, until she kept ringing me with questions. I suggested she ring the Apiarist's ass. for updated info but she said no that would cost her $2 per minute on the phone. At that point our relationship suffered a serious rift as she realized, I think, I was somewhat offended. Don't get me wrong, she's a delightful lady, full of goodwill and good intention, but every beekeeper could tell you a similar story I'm sure.
When the lady in Officer rang and offered me her beehive, I said I didn't want it, but I knew a bloke who did. I said I'd need to come and look at the hive and plan for picking it up. I rang her late last winter or early spring saying I was coming. The return phone call was from Mt. Hotham where she was on a skiing holiday. The bottom box on the hive when I did call in was rotten. I had to come back and replace it ( Denny gave me a box). Then I came back yet again with Denny to move the hive back to his place.
Denny is of Chechslovakian origin and we have become friends. Through all this mucking around you will be happy to know that I had some recompense. Just when I was short of magnolia grandiflora foliage, there was a hedge of it at Denny's, that Denny was more than happy for me to prune.
Denny's wife rang me on Thursday, Denny was worried about his bees. Could I come and have a look? I did yesterday. I have never seen anything like it in March. Denny had built up to six hives and two have starved, the rest are on the brink. Almost unbelieveable. The hives were totally dry- no honey at all- no stores for the coming winter. Denny has been feeding sugar syrup the last two weeks, if he hadn't he would have lost more. Amazingly again, just when I needed herb flowers there was plenty at Denny's that he was happy for me to take.
I haven't checked my bees for a couple of months, when I looked there was no honey to extract. If mine are as bad as Denny's then it is a disaster I have not had to contemplate for about thirty years when I last had to feed bees.
Far out man.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Silverwells
With the coming of the narrow gauge railway to the present site of Gembrook in 1901, as 'Silverwells wasn't considered a suitable site for a railway station, the focus shifted and 'Silverwells' slowly faded into history. The top picture shows the butt of the tree, the trunk not visible from this angle. The second picture shows a corner section of the wall. The photos don't really convey the magnitude of the destruction, the tree being to big for this amateur to do justice.
I was asked to attend as there was a beehive in the old house visible in the top photo (red roof and chimney) which was not part of the original 'Silverwells', but was also damaged by the tree. The bees had to be destroyed to allow work to happen. 'Siverwells' is on private land and the owners have contacted the National Trust and the state government and local council, so far no one is offering assistance to remove the tree and see what can be preserved from the wreckage of this wonderful piece of history. The building contains many items of great interest including account books, crockery, hand tools etc.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Baby Grace Claire Hargraves
When I called at the farm a couple of Sundays ago Matt and Rosie were visiting with their new baby Grace who was born on 1 Feb. Matt was taking photos so I asked him to send me one, which he did the other day. It's not a close up of Grace but I put it up because it's four generations, Great grandma Elvie, Grandma Meredith, Mum Rosie and Baby Grace.
Rosie had a dose of post natal depression or so it was thought, but when she went to hospital with it for a few days to help they diagnosed it as anxiety attack. Grace is doing the well but has done a good bit of crying and keeping the young parents on their toes. It was Meredith's 58th birthday yesterday. I hope I'm not telling things I shouldn't but hey, we're all in this life together. What an amazing roller coaster ride it is.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
A Sense of Humour Helps
I have been preoccuppied lately and regret that I have not had time to post. The local councillors are making their move to take over maintenance, and possibly management, of Nobelius Park, removing it from the Committee of Management, of which I'm chairman.
One councillor in particular has been an active opponent over a period of years and various means have been employed to destabilize our committee, to the point of almost total destruction a couple of years ago. The museum was about to be closed down and management of the park taken over by Emerald Lake Park, perhaps the whole sorry tale is a story for another day. We survived and have rebuilt our committee and active participation, with sheer persistence winning the day against silent lack of support and tactical manoevering to make everything we try so painfully difficult.
Over the past two years, our committee has resisted two major pushes to put another track/ maintenance road through our park. The first of these came from Council itself, put forward by the councillor I referred to above. The second came from The Emerald Village Committee, the chairman of which was chairman of our committee, an appointment organized by the same councillor, who held the position for eight months before his sudden resignation, which was pivotal in our near demise at crisis point in 2010.
In my naivety I was unaware of the political tactics but they became clear to me as time went by.
As a committee we resisted the new path, in fair and logical judgement as is our right, voicing our non support. With council elections due next October, the knives have come out . Their way of dealing with a differing view that holds up some grandiose masterplan is to obliterate the obstacle.
You can get the gist of the recent developments by going to-
berwickleader.com.au
and scrolling down to the article and clicking on the poll. Alas, so far, comments supporting the COM have not made it to the site. Due to some initial glitch someone had, the people commenting our way have been sending to the journalist, and the emails do not appear on the website. I could weep.
I'm about to be the victim of a group of old puffed up egos exercising the last power they'll ever have. To some people power is all important, better than currency. They crave it like an addict a drug. But don't be concerned for me, I have done my best and have a full life. Nothing in this world is permanent. When I leave NHP it will be much better than when I arrived. That's all I can do. And I have respect of people that matter.
TO VINCE AND LEIGH, who have both enquired about A Sense Of Humour Helps, this was an article I wrote on the other computer on Word, then put it on blogger so that I could copy it onto the other computer and send it to the editor of 'Signpost'. I'm not really up to speed with this technology I'm enjoying dabbling with. Apparently in doing this blogger puts it up on my followers' dashboards but when you go to it it's not there as I didn't intend to post it.
Here it is V and L. I hope Editor doesn't mind me putting it up before the April edition is published, I don't think she will because my blog readership is small and the magazine circulation is larger. I chose Bill Holmes because he's helping us with a display in the museum topical for ANZAC Day, but learned when I interviewed him that he's been in 'Signpost' a few years ago, and his wife Erna was in last year. So I tried a different approach with a humanitarian message of understanding. I think it worked but it's not for me to judge.
With a twinkle in his eye and a hint of a grin, Bill Holmes says of his wife Erna, who is standing by his side, “When she comes to the club I say to the blokes, ‘Here’s the leader of the opposition’.” The grin breaks into a chuckle.
After the defeat and destruction of Germany, Erna’s homeland was given to Poland and she became a war refugee forced to beg for food and live by her wits. She eventually found work and shelter with a Polish boot maker, Leon, who had spent nine years in concentration camps where he made boots for the SS. Erna and Leon married, and migrated to Australia in 1950.
After moving to Emerald in 1982, Bill and Erna have been active in the community with the Emerald RSL, Probus and the Emerald Evergreen’s, and have made many friends. In 2010 Bill was awarded the RSL Life Membership with Gold Badge in recognition of his outstanding service to the League over many years.
Both Bill and Erna had four children in their first marriages. Bill has lost one son to cancer and another following an operation for misdiagnosed lung cancer. Erna has lost a daughter to multiple sclerosis and a grandson to cancer. All the hardship and grief, and advancing age, have not dulled Bill and Erna’s zest for life, or shared humour. Laughter heals.
“I have no grudge against the Japanese,” Bill says. “There’s no point, it would eat you up.”
Erna says, “Before the war, where we were near the Polish border, everybody got on well, there was no problem. But Germany invaded Poland because of politics. It’s always politics. Look at Vietnam, and now we have so many Vietnamese people here. My grandfather told me that in World War 1, on Christmas Eve, the German soldiers would sing ‘Silent Night’ in German, then the British, who of course knew the tune, would sing it back in English. They met in ‘no man’s land’ to show each other photos of their families. The next day, because someone said it should, the fighting and killing started again.”
Listening to Bill and Erna it becomes clear that not one of us has a say in where we are born, or the political circumstances of the time, or our early life.
On Anzac Day, when we say, “Lest we forget” for our fallen servicemen, and women, let’s not forget the millions of others who pay with their lives for being born wrong place wrong time.
One councillor in particular has been an active opponent over a period of years and various means have been employed to destabilize our committee, to the point of almost total destruction a couple of years ago. The museum was about to be closed down and management of the park taken over by Emerald Lake Park, perhaps the whole sorry tale is a story for another day. We survived and have rebuilt our committee and active participation, with sheer persistence winning the day against silent lack of support and tactical manoevering to make everything we try so painfully difficult.
Over the past two years, our committee has resisted two major pushes to put another track/ maintenance road through our park. The first of these came from Council itself, put forward by the councillor I referred to above. The second came from The Emerald Village Committee, the chairman of which was chairman of our committee, an appointment organized by the same councillor, who held the position for eight months before his sudden resignation, which was pivotal in our near demise at crisis point in 2010.
In my naivety I was unaware of the political tactics but they became clear to me as time went by.
As a committee we resisted the new path, in fair and logical judgement as is our right, voicing our non support. With council elections due next October, the knives have come out . Their way of dealing with a differing view that holds up some grandiose masterplan is to obliterate the obstacle.
You can get the gist of the recent developments by going to-
berwickleader.com.au
and scrolling down to the article and clicking on the poll. Alas, so far, comments supporting the COM have not made it to the site. Due to some initial glitch someone had, the people commenting our way have been sending to the journalist, and the emails do not appear on the website. I could weep.
I'm about to be the victim of a group of old puffed up egos exercising the last power they'll ever have. To some people power is all important, better than currency. They crave it like an addict a drug. But don't be concerned for me, I have done my best and have a full life. Nothing in this world is permanent. When I leave NHP it will be much better than when I arrived. That's all I can do. And I have respect of people that matter.
TO VINCE AND LEIGH, who have both enquired about A Sense Of Humour Helps, this was an article I wrote on the other computer on Word, then put it on blogger so that I could copy it onto the other computer and send it to the editor of 'Signpost'. I'm not really up to speed with this technology I'm enjoying dabbling with. Apparently in doing this blogger puts it up on my followers' dashboards but when you go to it it's not there as I didn't intend to post it.
Here it is V and L. I hope Editor doesn't mind me putting it up before the April edition is published, I don't think she will because my blog readership is small and the magazine circulation is larger. I chose Bill Holmes because he's helping us with a display in the museum topical for ANZAC Day, but learned when I interviewed him that he's been in 'Signpost' a few years ago, and his wife Erna was in last year. So I tried a different approach with a humanitarian message of understanding. I think it worked but it's not for me to judge.
A SENSE OF HUMOUR HELPS
With a twinkle in his eye and a hint of a grin, Bill Holmes says of his wife Erna, who is standing by his side, “When she comes to the club I say to the blokes, ‘Here’s the leader of the opposition’.” The grin breaks into a chuckle.
Erna counters, “Ah, he is my toy boy, he runs and I chase.
The jokes and laughter flow when you talk with Bill and Erna. Bill is 88 and Erna 90 this year. Not long before their marriage in 1974, Erna’s first husband died of a heart attack, and Bill’s wife “took off with another bloke."
“That was my 30th wedding anniversary present; she did me a favour I think, in the finish.”
A spade is a spade to Bill. He grew up in Moonee Ponds, his father died when he was 14 in 1938, and he joined the AIF in 1941 at age 17. His battalion was on its way to defend Timor when Darwin was bombed. They camped by the side of the road, outside Darwin, where there was nothing much left, and it was some time before they had tents to sleep in. They finished up staying in the Territory preparing for more air attacks and possible land invasion, for 23 months. The battalion went on to fight in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Bougainville. Bill was a Bren gun operator. The motto of his battalion was ‘Cede Nullis’, which means, Bill said, “Never give up.”
He returned from the Islands in June 1946, going back to work as a costing clerk as he was before enlisting, but he couldn’t stand being inside and retrained as a carpenter. He had a number of bouts of malaria and was hospitalized four times. He worked for the Housing Commission and then Mayne Nickless, where Erna’s daughter also worked, resulting in him meeting Erna.
Erna too was caught up in the Second World War, but on the other side of the world. She grew up in Germany and was seconded into a munitions factory to make bullets in her teens, before being drafted into the Luftwaffe. She worked in the radar room monitoring plane movements, and later in the glass towers to spot planes. She was lucky to survive one attack in particular when her tower was strafed by a Mustang fighter bomber.
“The voice on the radio screamed ‘Achtung! Achtung! Stay by your post.’ To hell with that, I was out of there in a flash and down the ladder like greased lightning.”
After the defeat and destruction of Germany, Erna’s homeland was given to Poland and she became a war refugee forced to beg for food and live by her wits. She eventually found work and shelter with a Polish boot maker, Leon, who had spent nine years in concentration camps where he made boots for the SS. Erna and Leon married, and migrated to Australia in 1950.
After moving to Emerald in 1982, Bill and Erna have been active in the community with the Emerald RSL, Probus and the Emerald Evergreen’s, and have made many friends. In 2010 Bill was awarded the RSL Life Membership with Gold Badge in recognition of his outstanding service to the League over many years.
Both Bill and Erna had four children in their first marriages. Bill has lost one son to cancer and another following an operation for misdiagnosed lung cancer. Erna has lost a daughter to multiple sclerosis and a grandson to cancer. All the hardship and grief, and advancing age, have not dulled Bill and Erna’s zest for life, or shared humour. Laughter heals.
“I have no grudge against the Japanese,” Bill says. “There’s no point, it would eat you up.”
Erna says, “Before the war, where we were near the Polish border, everybody got on well, there was no problem. But Germany invaded Poland because of politics. It’s always politics. Look at Vietnam, and now we have so many Vietnamese people here. My grandfather told me that in World War 1, on Christmas Eve, the German soldiers would sing ‘Silent Night’ in German, then the British, who of course knew the tune, would sing it back in English. They met in ‘no man’s land’ to show each other photos of their families. The next day, because someone said it should, the fighting and killing started again.”
Listening to Bill and Erna it becomes clear that not one of us has a say in where we are born, or the political circumstances of the time, or our early life.
On Anzac Day, when we say, “Lest we forget” for our fallen servicemen, and women, let’s not forget the millions of others who pay with their lives for being born wrong place wrong time.
Friday, February 24, 2012
HOPE
I live in hope,
in 24 hour brackets, that each one brings peace and understanding.
I hope each day there is no natural catastrophe, no nuclear holocaust, no tragedy.
I hope many things.
I hope we have no more enviropole ashtrays for Gembrook's streetscape.
I hope for end to injustice, everywhere.
I live in hope.
Without it,
The game is not worth the candle.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Spiritual Diary
It has been a confusing couple of weeks for me. There's so much to deal with every day. I'll not dwell on my workload or current affairs or politics or business anxieties. They mean nothing, amount to nothing, here today different tomorrow.
What moves me spiritually is what lifts and prevents me drowning in the cesspool. My dog resting her chin on her front paws as she waits for my every movement. The two grey fantails flitting about in the garden. The dead eastern spinebill I pick up from the road. The fresh blackberries I eat while claiming back sections of the farm from rampant weeds. The dead chestnut tree I'm cutting up for firewood, which succumbed to armelaria after 35 years of good health and growth. The fresh eggs from Lib's chooks. Watching bees yesterday belting the blossom on a lilly pilly hedge. The warmth and resilience of my friends who give their time at Nobelius Park as volunteers, against the odds, in defiance of the dark, powerful negative forces.
These things in this last week give me a spiritual connection to the earth and my human tribe.
What moves me spiritually is what lifts and prevents me drowning in the cesspool. My dog resting her chin on her front paws as she waits for my every movement. The two grey fantails flitting about in the garden. The dead eastern spinebill I pick up from the road. The fresh blackberries I eat while claiming back sections of the farm from rampant weeds. The dead chestnut tree I'm cutting up for firewood, which succumbed to armelaria after 35 years of good health and growth. The fresh eggs from Lib's chooks. Watching bees yesterday belting the blossom on a lilly pilly hedge. The warmth and resilience of my friends who give their time at Nobelius Park as volunteers, against the odds, in defiance of the dark, powerful negative forces.
These things in this last week give me a spiritual connection to the earth and my human tribe.
Saturday, February 04, 2012
With Not A Little Help From My Friends
Who knows how the judge scored it, but I reckon I won round one (January 2012) on points. I have some good people in my corner. Reading in my blog about my fall from the tree, my good friend Vince made available his expertise on a trip back to Belgrave when not only did he give me a thorough realignment with his healing hands blessed by a working life's experience as an osteopath(no charge), he also made me a nutritious salad lunch with his home grown lettuce and tomatoes and we talked with frankness about life, spirituality and aspirations. Soul replenishment.
A few days later , on one of those very hot days, I picked up the old bloke who lives in Collie Road and hitch hikes regularly up Launching Place Road to the shops and drove him home. He has long grey straggly hair and his remaining teeth are yellow. "Thanks buddy," he said. He always calls me "buddy". I'd prefer "mate", but it's not important enough to raise it with him, besides, he can call me whatever he likes. "Are you busy", he said.
"Always so much to do," I said. "But it's no good wishing my life away and wanting to be retired like many people do."
"Yes, I'd love to work, but I can't."
I dropped him off and he thanked me profusely. He's a good old bloke, but he stands on the road with his thumb out right in the path of traffic. I fear he'll be cleaned up one day but so be it. The police will have another stat with which to wage war on motorists exceeding the speed limit by a few kph and the community will not be required to fund his welfare in old age, if it doesn't already. They need all the money they can get to fund the capture or kill missions and the occupation of Afghanistan. My concern for the old man's future is tempered by a conversation I had once with Andrea Stretton, ABC arts presenter and daughter of Major General Stretton of Cyclone Tracey fame. I sat next to her at a wedding reception in Sydney some years ago, that of Lib's cousin Shiela, a journalist with the SMH. I was telling her about my old friend Ida who worried me greatly that she'd burn her house down as she chain smoked but left burning cigarettes all over the place with her mental deterioration into Alzheimer's. Andrea said, "What does it matter if she does? If she likes to smoke so be it and if she goes that way, so what? It's better than slowly fading away non compus mentis." As it happened, as the deterioration progressed, Ida forgot about smoking and gave it up without having to try, she was forcibly removed from her house and, after a few years of not knowing what day it was, who she was, or where the hell she was, she died in a nursing home. Andrea Stretton, I read in the newspapers not very long after our meeting, died of advanced liver cancer a few weeks after being diagnosed.
As I backed and turned around in the old bloke's drive I looked up into my friend Vilma's back yard and thought of the young camellias I planted there in the spring. "I hope Vilma has been watering them," I said, to no one listening. I often think out loud. I tell myself my own dark secrets sometimes, then realize I hope no one is within earshot. So I drove to Vilma's house in Launching Place Road and knocked on the door with a watering can I'd picked up in hand. "Have you been giving the camellias and lilacs a drink?" I said as she answered my knock, opening the door.
"Yes I have, they've had plenty of water. Would you like a sit in the massage chair?" She too had read my blog about the tree fall. So I spent a good half hour in Vilma's magic chair while I enjoyed a cup of green tea with honey an lemon, and Vilma and I exchanged views on life and death and old age and life generally. Her passion is painting. I don't think she would mind me divulging her age, I won't in case she does, but Vilma has been married three times, has a son about my age with a terminal illness as well as daughters so she has much to offer in the philosophical stakes. She heads off with her caravan by herself to places like Broken Hill or the Flinders Ranges and paints landscapes and trees. She showed me her favourite painting which is a nude with a lovely pinkish pair of buttocks, female I add. I left Vilma uplifted in spirit.
I get by with not a little help from my friends. I have received well wishes, personal messages and encouragement from many people this year so far. There are too many to recognize all of them and there's a fear I may leave someone out by accident if I name them. 'With a Little Help From my Friends' is a Lennon/McCartney song I think, made famous by Pommie rager Joe Cocker. People of my era would recall the highly dramatic performance of the song at 'Woodstock'. When doing National Service training at Puckapunyal, Barry Tunnecliffe, a Pommie bloke in my hut a couple of years older than I, and the only married one, said he knew Joe Cocker in England, they used to drink in the same pub. He said Joe was a wildman pisspot even then. A bit before Xmas I saw in the death notices that Barry's wife Leslie died. I hadn't seen them for nearly 40 years but it was my intention to contact Barry via the funeral directors if they would give me his address, but I didn't get around to it and lost the details. Maybe this amazing thing called blogger will somehow bring this post to Barry's attention. If so, you have my condolences Barry, and I'd love to catch up with you and share some of the last decades. I'm a much changed man in my thinking to the right tending conservative I was forty years ago.
A few days later , on one of those very hot days, I picked up the old bloke who lives in Collie Road and hitch hikes regularly up Launching Place Road to the shops and drove him home. He has long grey straggly hair and his remaining teeth are yellow. "Thanks buddy," he said. He always calls me "buddy". I'd prefer "mate", but it's not important enough to raise it with him, besides, he can call me whatever he likes. "Are you busy", he said.
"Always so much to do," I said. "But it's no good wishing my life away and wanting to be retired like many people do."
"Yes, I'd love to work, but I can't."
I dropped him off and he thanked me profusely. He's a good old bloke, but he stands on the road with his thumb out right in the path of traffic. I fear he'll be cleaned up one day but so be it. The police will have another stat with which to wage war on motorists exceeding the speed limit by a few kph and the community will not be required to fund his welfare in old age, if it doesn't already. They need all the money they can get to fund the capture or kill missions and the occupation of Afghanistan. My concern for the old man's future is tempered by a conversation I had once with Andrea Stretton, ABC arts presenter and daughter of Major General Stretton of Cyclone Tracey fame. I sat next to her at a wedding reception in Sydney some years ago, that of Lib's cousin Shiela, a journalist with the SMH. I was telling her about my old friend Ida who worried me greatly that she'd burn her house down as she chain smoked but left burning cigarettes all over the place with her mental deterioration into Alzheimer's. Andrea said, "What does it matter if she does? If she likes to smoke so be it and if she goes that way, so what? It's better than slowly fading away non compus mentis." As it happened, as the deterioration progressed, Ida forgot about smoking and gave it up without having to try, she was forcibly removed from her house and, after a few years of not knowing what day it was, who she was, or where the hell she was, she died in a nursing home. Andrea Stretton, I read in the newspapers not very long after our meeting, died of advanced liver cancer a few weeks after being diagnosed.
As I backed and turned around in the old bloke's drive I looked up into my friend Vilma's back yard and thought of the young camellias I planted there in the spring. "I hope Vilma has been watering them," I said, to no one listening. I often think out loud. I tell myself my own dark secrets sometimes, then realize I hope no one is within earshot. So I drove to Vilma's house in Launching Place Road and knocked on the door with a watering can I'd picked up in hand. "Have you been giving the camellias and lilacs a drink?" I said as she answered my knock, opening the door.
"Yes I have, they've had plenty of water. Would you like a sit in the massage chair?" She too had read my blog about the tree fall. So I spent a good half hour in Vilma's magic chair while I enjoyed a cup of green tea with honey an lemon, and Vilma and I exchanged views on life and death and old age and life generally. Her passion is painting. I don't think she would mind me divulging her age, I won't in case she does, but Vilma has been married three times, has a son about my age with a terminal illness as well as daughters so she has much to offer in the philosophical stakes. She heads off with her caravan by herself to places like Broken Hill or the Flinders Ranges and paints landscapes and trees. She showed me her favourite painting which is a nude with a lovely pinkish pair of buttocks, female I add. I left Vilma uplifted in spirit.
I get by with not a little help from my friends. I have received well wishes, personal messages and encouragement from many people this year so far. There are too many to recognize all of them and there's a fear I may leave someone out by accident if I name them. 'With a Little Help From my Friends' is a Lennon/McCartney song I think, made famous by Pommie rager Joe Cocker. People of my era would recall the highly dramatic performance of the song at 'Woodstock'. When doing National Service training at Puckapunyal, Barry Tunnecliffe, a Pommie bloke in my hut a couple of years older than I, and the only married one, said he knew Joe Cocker in England, they used to drink in the same pub. He said Joe was a wildman pisspot even then. A bit before Xmas I saw in the death notices that Barry's wife Leslie died. I hadn't seen them for nearly 40 years but it was my intention to contact Barry via the funeral directors if they would give me his address, but I didn't get around to it and lost the details. Maybe this amazing thing called blogger will somehow bring this post to Barry's attention. If so, you have my condolences Barry, and I'd love to catch up with you and share some of the last decades. I'm a much changed man in my thinking to the right tending conservative I was forty years ago.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
31 years married
Today is our 31st wedding anniversary. I had to this post up before midnight.
Other news- I found Myrtle's nest on the weekend , with 6 eggs in it. And today I found Henny's with 13 eggs, so the mystery is now longer mystery ie where are the eggs. Oh, and there's no honey on the bees.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Fallible and Fragile
Last Friday week I fell out of a beech tree landing flat, face down. It was my friend Jane's tree, a large, mature tree I've picked foliage from most years of the last twenty. Jane, an elderly lady in her eighties was entertaining a visitor for afternoon tea and they saw me plummet from the tree and rushed out to see if I was alright. They found me with the wind knocked out of me and blood coming from my nose and mouth. My nose hit the ground and my teeth had torn the lip inside the mouth.
I have not felt well since with a chest of sore ribs front and back and some probably related neck soreness/stiffness. Indeed I have not felt energetic enough to do my morning walks knowing I had to continue working each day with the pain in the the ribs slowing and tiring me easily. I can only thank my good luck to not have broken an arm, leg or shoulder or worse and I can report that I'm now quite well recovered though I expect the ribs to be sore for some time yet. I did the morning walk today for the first time since the incident and enjoyed it immensely, waving to my catholic friends going into church, and chatting to Stevie and Annie whom I met along the way.
Last Tuesday I came down with some sort of gastro virus, which remains with me yet and made the working week extra tough coping with the the ribs and general debilitation from the gastro. Yesterday I made a dash to the chemist in Cockatoo to catch him before he shut at 12 midday to get some 'Gastro Stop'. I was conscious of keeping under the speed limit through the town but forgot about it departing and got booked for doing 77kph outside Clappo's garage. There was a couple of cops in a black Commodore station wagon with a radar gun hiding just before the Ure Rd. corner and the light started flashing as I got there. An expensive mornings shopping it turned out to be when the $244 fine is factored in and the 3 points I lose. The sad thing is that we have lived in Gembrook for over thirty years and for the first 28 years or perhaps more the speed limit there was 80kph. Old habits die hard, and it is only in the last year or so that our Gembrook Rds are now saturated with traffic branch police from Pakenham in all manner of ruses including irridescent bright green utes and innovative camera concealment tactics. A sad state of affairs, after a quiet existence here for so long, and a sure reason why I'll not be unhappy to leave this town when the time comes. It has been spoilt by increased traffic and bureacratic interference on many fronts, more of which I'll write about on another day, the suburbanization of our little town.
It has done nothing but strengthen my resolve to "not let the bastards beat me." I've set about retrieving my $244 by cancelling my Weekend Australian subscription and charities and telemarketers will find me a more difficult prey. I'm about to continue cleaning out my shed and setting up the extactor and the tanks to start after a bit of honey. There'll be less given away and the price goes up. This month has been a realization of my fallibility and fragility but will leave me with a hard edge.
So I copped a punch or two I didn't see coming in the first round of 2012 and went to the canvass, but I bounce straight up without taking a count, and expect to finish the round full of fight. I landed a couple myself, we learned on Jan 6 when our first electricity bill arrived since our solar system installation that we'd been approved for the the premium buy back rate. And our carbon emissions reduced from 1.7 tonnes to 0.4 tonnes on the same period last year. That makes me happy.
I have not felt well since with a chest of sore ribs front and back and some probably related neck soreness/stiffness. Indeed I have not felt energetic enough to do my morning walks knowing I had to continue working each day with the pain in the the ribs slowing and tiring me easily. I can only thank my good luck to not have broken an arm, leg or shoulder or worse and I can report that I'm now quite well recovered though I expect the ribs to be sore for some time yet. I did the morning walk today for the first time since the incident and enjoyed it immensely, waving to my catholic friends going into church, and chatting to Stevie and Annie whom I met along the way.
Last Tuesday I came down with some sort of gastro virus, which remains with me yet and made the working week extra tough coping with the the ribs and general debilitation from the gastro. Yesterday I made a dash to the chemist in Cockatoo to catch him before he shut at 12 midday to get some 'Gastro Stop'. I was conscious of keeping under the speed limit through the town but forgot about it departing and got booked for doing 77kph outside Clappo's garage. There was a couple of cops in a black Commodore station wagon with a radar gun hiding just before the Ure Rd. corner and the light started flashing as I got there. An expensive mornings shopping it turned out to be when the $244 fine is factored in and the 3 points I lose. The sad thing is that we have lived in Gembrook for over thirty years and for the first 28 years or perhaps more the speed limit there was 80kph. Old habits die hard, and it is only in the last year or so that our Gembrook Rds are now saturated with traffic branch police from Pakenham in all manner of ruses including irridescent bright green utes and innovative camera concealment tactics. A sad state of affairs, after a quiet existence here for so long, and a sure reason why I'll not be unhappy to leave this town when the time comes. It has been spoilt by increased traffic and bureacratic interference on many fronts, more of which I'll write about on another day, the suburbanization of our little town.
It has done nothing but strengthen my resolve to "not let the bastards beat me." I've set about retrieving my $244 by cancelling my Weekend Australian subscription and charities and telemarketers will find me a more difficult prey. I'm about to continue cleaning out my shed and setting up the extactor and the tanks to start after a bit of honey. There'll be less given away and the price goes up. This month has been a realization of my fallibility and fragility but will leave me with a hard edge.
So I copped a punch or two I didn't see coming in the first round of 2012 and went to the canvass, but I bounce straight up without taking a count, and expect to finish the round full of fight. I landed a couple myself, we learned on Jan 6 when our first electricity bill arrived since our solar system installation that we'd been approved for the the premium buy back rate. And our carbon emissions reduced from 1.7 tonnes to 0.4 tonnes on the same period last year. That makes me happy.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Fifty Bucks is Fifty Bucks
It was with some alarm that I opened the mail yesterday to find a renewal notice for Lib's car insurance saying that the premium payment was overdue and must be paid immediately, and that the car was currently uninsured. I don't recall the first notice at all, it must have slipped by me pre Christmas.
I didn't have time to act straight away, but I rang another company at about 5.30pm looking for a quote for comparison, being mindful also that Lib was now home so there was little risk till the morning of the car being damaged before I could sort out new cover.
The company I rang is based in Sydney, Real Insurance, and I thought they'd be worth a try as they were cheaper when I shopped around last year for cover for Ian's Subaru, Lib's old car, which is still with us here in Gembrook and available for our use. I took it to Pakenham yesterday to drop some documents to the council and do some shopping. After a wait of 5 minutes listening to music a girl spoke to me apologizing for the delay and explaining their office worked till 8pm so she would take my details and someone would ring me back at a time that suited me if they could.
I said 7.30pm and gave her my home phone no. The phone duly rang a little after 7.30pm, just before Lib was to dish our Atlantic salmon that I'd bought on the way home, much to her irritation. The young man took all details of the car and came up with annual premium $53 cheaper than AAMI which could be paid monthly on credit card in 12 equal instalments with no penalty for the monthly choice over one annual payment, the same deal I'd taken on the Subaru. It makes sense to me.
So I grabbed it and we finished up quickly without any spoilage of the meal. I have two more cars covered by AAMI, my carryvan and Meredith's Ignis and as they fall due I'll try Real Ins too. Fifty bucks is fifty bucks, and it may as well stay with us. I had said the same thing recently when I wrestled with the farmpak insurance on the farm, for the house and sheds. The premium jumped from $2800 to $4200 with no explanation so I spent quite a bit of time seeking alternatives. One came in at $3450, I waited a bit another came in at $3250 by email after some delay. I rang and accepted that over the phone, the broker said he'd send me the paperwork. The very next day another one came in by email at $3200 so I rang and accepted that. Fifty bucks is fifty bucks.
The next morning I emailed the broker who offered $3250 saying I was not proceeding. The phone rang ten minutes later, it was he. "Why not", he asked. I told him a cheaper price had come in, different broker, same insuring company. "How much cheaper," he asked.
I wasn't going to tell him so I said, "Three figures woud cover it." He then offered a premium of $3030 so I grabbed that and rang the other broker saying I was not proceeding. She was fine about it. So I saved over $1000 on the original gouge but the insurance still costs about 7% above last year's.
Also yesterday we received invoice for our water diverting licence and entitlement fee, $577, increased 15% from $502 last year. We used no water last year because of all the rain, (you pay for it whether you use it or not or lose the licence), and are unlikely to this year also as it is pouring rain outside and our recently acquired tanks are full. We installed tanks because we weren't permitted to use the creek water the two years previous because stream flows were so low. They waived payment in those years. We have to pay now because if you lose the licence you wouldn't get another one. I'm intending to look into possibility of selling the water, 14 megalitres, but who wants water in wet years.
Speaking of rain, this lot is accompanied by a cold snap and a thunderstorm and strong wind. The dogs are peculiar and I missed my walk choosing to do this post instead. The radio news just said squalls of 100kph winds are expected in tha Dandenongs. I'll have to go out and pick later but i have some slack this morning so I'm off to cook up some eggs.
I didn't have time to act straight away, but I rang another company at about 5.30pm looking for a quote for comparison, being mindful also that Lib was now home so there was little risk till the morning of the car being damaged before I could sort out new cover.
The company I rang is based in Sydney, Real Insurance, and I thought they'd be worth a try as they were cheaper when I shopped around last year for cover for Ian's Subaru, Lib's old car, which is still with us here in Gembrook and available for our use. I took it to Pakenham yesterday to drop some documents to the council and do some shopping. After a wait of 5 minutes listening to music a girl spoke to me apologizing for the delay and explaining their office worked till 8pm so she would take my details and someone would ring me back at a time that suited me if they could.
I said 7.30pm and gave her my home phone no. The phone duly rang a little after 7.30pm, just before Lib was to dish our Atlantic salmon that I'd bought on the way home, much to her irritation. The young man took all details of the car and came up with annual premium $53 cheaper than AAMI which could be paid monthly on credit card in 12 equal instalments with no penalty for the monthly choice over one annual payment, the same deal I'd taken on the Subaru. It makes sense to me.
So I grabbed it and we finished up quickly without any spoilage of the meal. I have two more cars covered by AAMI, my carryvan and Meredith's Ignis and as they fall due I'll try Real Ins too. Fifty bucks is fifty bucks, and it may as well stay with us. I had said the same thing recently when I wrestled with the farmpak insurance on the farm, for the house and sheds. The premium jumped from $2800 to $4200 with no explanation so I spent quite a bit of time seeking alternatives. One came in at $3450, I waited a bit another came in at $3250 by email after some delay. I rang and accepted that over the phone, the broker said he'd send me the paperwork. The very next day another one came in by email at $3200 so I rang and accepted that. Fifty bucks is fifty bucks.
The next morning I emailed the broker who offered $3250 saying I was not proceeding. The phone rang ten minutes later, it was he. "Why not", he asked. I told him a cheaper price had come in, different broker, same insuring company. "How much cheaper," he asked.
I wasn't going to tell him so I said, "Three figures woud cover it." He then offered a premium of $3030 so I grabbed that and rang the other broker saying I was not proceeding. She was fine about it. So I saved over $1000 on the original gouge but the insurance still costs about 7% above last year's.
Also yesterday we received invoice for our water diverting licence and entitlement fee, $577, increased 15% from $502 last year. We used no water last year because of all the rain, (you pay for it whether you use it or not or lose the licence), and are unlikely to this year also as it is pouring rain outside and our recently acquired tanks are full. We installed tanks because we weren't permitted to use the creek water the two years previous because stream flows were so low. They waived payment in those years. We have to pay now because if you lose the licence you wouldn't get another one. I'm intending to look into possibility of selling the water, 14 megalitres, but who wants water in wet years.
Speaking of rain, this lot is accompanied by a cold snap and a thunderstorm and strong wind. The dogs are peculiar and I missed my walk choosing to do this post instead. The radio news just said squalls of 100kph winds are expected in tha Dandenongs. I'll have to go out and pick later but i have some slack this morning so I'm off to cook up some eggs.
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
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.
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.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Christmas Day
I just realized that today, Christmas Day, being the last Sunday of the month, is curry pie day. Lib has gone to work, Gord and Rob are still asleep, and Pip and Snow aren't here, they're staying for a couple of days in the kennels where I took them yesterday. I didn't want to risk leaving them here with all this thunder happening while we won't be here much today and tomorrow. They have developed extreme anxiety to thunder, a result of neighbouring young bucks using fireworks at odd times close by.
It'sraining, so I'm not doing my morning walk, and even if I was and the dogs were with me, the baker wouldn't be open anyway. I guess I'll have to make do with Christmas lunch with my family, then dinner with Lib's. I kick started with egg, bacon, cheese, and tomato toasted sandwiches for breakfast and look forward to the feasts later in the day.
And I'll take my curry pie credit through to next Sunday, New Year's Day, when the baker is sure to be open, you'd think.
It'sraining, so I'm not doing my morning walk, and even if I was and the dogs were with me, the baker wouldn't be open anyway. I guess I'll have to make do with Christmas lunch with my family, then dinner with Lib's. I kick started with egg, bacon, cheese, and tomato toasted sandwiches for breakfast and look forward to the feasts later in the day.
And I'll take my curry pie credit through to next Sunday, New Year's Day, when the baker is sure to be open, you'd think.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Reflections
Fortunately I find myslf in good health and happiness as we near the end of a difficult year. A year ago we were renovating the "clinic" at the farm where Vince had been a good tennant with his osteopath business. He'd scaled down over a few years and had been semi retired for some time. When he left we decided to renovate the building into living quarters which turned out to be a more tiring and expensive project than was anticipated. It took our savings. Meredith, Elvie and I contributed to make up the cost. So we started the year skun out and not a little anxious. The prospective tennant we had lined up pulled out but Jod took the opportunity and moved in as soon as it was finished. He pays rent so over time our expense will be recouped.
The big rain of February set the tone for a wet and wild ride which has continued for most of the year with rampant growth of trees and shrubs and grass and weeds creating a high work load which has not eased up. Our scratchy financial position meant we had to chase every dollar we could in the way of keeping customers supplied and happy. Somehow customers have a habit of requiring the difficult or scarce rather than the easy and plentiful. That's the way it goes.
The last three months have been good from a financial viewpoint. Two wet springs in a row made for terrific blossom and beech foliage. We have at last a small buffer in the bank which should tide us over the next couple of months as business quietens after Xmas and we concentrate on farm maintenance eg grass cutting and weeding and pruning and mulching. Not that we are flush by any means but we've gained a little breathing space.
Aside from the sheer brutality of meeting financial commitments there's a psychological endurance needed in small business, and I think I can be pardonned if I have become cynical. It was not long ago that I had a letter from the Fairwork Ombudsman suggesting that I had been selected for a possible audit of my workplace arrangements and payments, and that if I was in breech of any regulations it would be far better for me to disclose my errors beforehand than be detected by the auditor.
Not long after that a letter came from the Tax Office telling me that my figures were below "industry average", and seeing that I was involved in an industry where cash was often transacted, there was chance that I'd be selected for audit shortly and it would be wise of me to make disclosure of any receipts that had not been declared before thy were discovered at audit. I was informed there were hefty penalties and that the tax office had access to my bank accounts, and they worked from information provided to them by other parties.
Now I have nought to hide from anyone but I still find this communication intimidating, and when you are a small business scratching a living out of a few acres and employing a few people honestly and diligently you can't help but feel offended, remembering that as an self employed toiler I have no perks like sick pay or holiday pay. Every dollar is hard won.
Lately when I get home if I watch TV there are advertisements for WorkSafe directed at employers with the theme "We're coming to get you, the inspector is on his way". Of course I pay work cover insurance and we've never had a claim against us. I guess my premiums help pay for the ad.
Nowadays also as I drive to the farm and return there's every chance the police are aiming their radar speed gun at me or there's a speed trap set up to photograph the car's number if I transgress. I have not been booked for speeding for many years but Meredith, one of the slowest drivers I have known was detected and fined for doing 63 in a 60 zone a while back, and Lib copped a $240 fine for speeding whilst going shopping for the nursing home in her lunch hour. I have been pulled up dozens of times and asked to blow in the straw this year.
My farm pack insurance renewal came with a 50% increase in the premium and reading the fine print I find that a healthy portion of the total due is stamp duty and fire levy. There was no explanation for the rise in premium and we've never made a claim. The council rates have gone up double the CPI for two years in a row. It never seems to end. And everybody knows what is happening to electricity and water charges.
So I do feel I'm under constant harrassment. I regard myself as an honest, law abiding, hard working citizen, contributing much to the community above my business interests in voluteer work. My feelings are not diminished by the knowledge the harrassers receive holiday pay, sick pay, healthy superannuation, not to mention compassionate leave, long service leave, maternity leave. Mostly they are public servants whose tenure is 'safe' from economic fluctuation.
I make no apology for what may be perceived as whingeing. I intend to speak my mind more in the future. Despite the grinding oppression, I repeat I'm fortunate to be in good health and happiness and ready to take up arms for new battle in the New Year. I wish my friends and readers a happy and safe Christmas and festive season. May God be with you.
The big rain of February set the tone for a wet and wild ride which has continued for most of the year with rampant growth of trees and shrubs and grass and weeds creating a high work load which has not eased up. Our scratchy financial position meant we had to chase every dollar we could in the way of keeping customers supplied and happy. Somehow customers have a habit of requiring the difficult or scarce rather than the easy and plentiful. That's the way it goes.
The last three months have been good from a financial viewpoint. Two wet springs in a row made for terrific blossom and beech foliage. We have at last a small buffer in the bank which should tide us over the next couple of months as business quietens after Xmas and we concentrate on farm maintenance eg grass cutting and weeding and pruning and mulching. Not that we are flush by any means but we've gained a little breathing space.
Aside from the sheer brutality of meeting financial commitments there's a psychological endurance needed in small business, and I think I can be pardonned if I have become cynical. It was not long ago that I had a letter from the Fairwork Ombudsman suggesting that I had been selected for a possible audit of my workplace arrangements and payments, and that if I was in breech of any regulations it would be far better for me to disclose my errors beforehand than be detected by the auditor.
Not long after that a letter came from the Tax Office telling me that my figures were below "industry average", and seeing that I was involved in an industry where cash was often transacted, there was chance that I'd be selected for audit shortly and it would be wise of me to make disclosure of any receipts that had not been declared before thy were discovered at audit. I was informed there were hefty penalties and that the tax office had access to my bank accounts, and they worked from information provided to them by other parties.
Now I have nought to hide from anyone but I still find this communication intimidating, and when you are a small business scratching a living out of a few acres and employing a few people honestly and diligently you can't help but feel offended, remembering that as an self employed toiler I have no perks like sick pay or holiday pay. Every dollar is hard won.
Lately when I get home if I watch TV there are advertisements for WorkSafe directed at employers with the theme "We're coming to get you, the inspector is on his way". Of course I pay work cover insurance and we've never had a claim against us. I guess my premiums help pay for the ad.
Nowadays also as I drive to the farm and return there's every chance the police are aiming their radar speed gun at me or there's a speed trap set up to photograph the car's number if I transgress. I have not been booked for speeding for many years but Meredith, one of the slowest drivers I have known was detected and fined for doing 63 in a 60 zone a while back, and Lib copped a $240 fine for speeding whilst going shopping for the nursing home in her lunch hour. I have been pulled up dozens of times and asked to blow in the straw this year.
My farm pack insurance renewal came with a 50% increase in the premium and reading the fine print I find that a healthy portion of the total due is stamp duty and fire levy. There was no explanation for the rise in premium and we've never made a claim. The council rates have gone up double the CPI for two years in a row. It never seems to end. And everybody knows what is happening to electricity and water charges.
So I do feel I'm under constant harrassment. I regard myself as an honest, law abiding, hard working citizen, contributing much to the community above my business interests in voluteer work. My feelings are not diminished by the knowledge the harrassers receive holiday pay, sick pay, healthy superannuation, not to mention compassionate leave, long service leave, maternity leave. Mostly they are public servants whose tenure is 'safe' from economic fluctuation.
I make no apology for what may be perceived as whingeing. I intend to speak my mind more in the future. Despite the grinding oppression, I repeat I'm fortunate to be in good health and happiness and ready to take up arms for new battle in the New Year. I wish my friends and readers a happy and safe Christmas and festive season. May God be with you.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
December Rain
As I went past the rain gauge on Saturday as I whipper snipped I tipped 25 ml out, which had fallen Friday night. I tipped out another 35 ml this morning which fell on Saturday night accompanied by much thunder and lightning.
Since my last post we've had a holiday to South Australia where we found considerable relaxation if not peace and quiet. We stopped overnight on day one at the Kaniva motel having failed to find a vacant cabin in the Nhill caravan park. We cooked on the communal barbecue in company with several shearers who were having a quiet drink after a long hard day. The motel owner had warned us there'd be some rough looking and talking characters at the barbie but they were "good boys" who often stayed there. Lib thought she brought some frozen steak but when she took it from the esky thawed out it turned out to be a big fish head, whatever that was doing in our freezer I know not, perhaps it was put in there with the intention of putting it in the bin on garbage day but was forgotten. We had enough sausages to get by.
The next two nights were in a motel in Adelaide, on Sth Terrace near wher Rob is living. Adelaide is great. The city centre is surrounded by parkland and it's an accessible city with excellent public transport. People are relaxed and friendly and there's far less traffic and hustle and bustle than Melbourne. We dined out at a Greek restaurant one night and a Chinese the other with Rob and his friend for company. We did a tour of the Adelaide oval and St. Peter's cathedral and explored the city.
We then moved south to the beach and stayed 3 nights in a cabin at Adelaide Shores caravan park which itself is only 15 minutes from the city. The airport is right next door so we watched (and heard) many planes coming and going. Saturday we went to Morphetville races just up the road with mixed result on the punt. Our best collect was when I put the money on the wrong horse for Lib, No 4 insted of 5, she didn't want me to but I went back and put some each way on No 5 and as luck would have it 4 and 5 came first and second. We drove to the Clare Valley one day and Maclarenvale another and bought some fabulous wine to enjoy over Christmas.
Everywhere through Western Victoria and rural S.A. the wheatfields looked fantastic and harvesters were busy and grain trucks delivered wheat to mountains of it in the storage yards. It was a great thing to see, and probably the best harvest for many years.
We've been back a week and I been very busy picking beech and flowers and catching up on bookwork, grass cutting, weeding and other business concerning the park and museum etc. Never a dull moment.
Gotta go, very tired. Great win by NZ in the cricket. As I write it's raining again, I can hear it on the roof. I hope the heavy rain has missed the broad acre crop areas. I must buy the Weekly Times on Wednesday to find out.
Since my last post we've had a holiday to South Australia where we found considerable relaxation if not peace and quiet. We stopped overnight on day one at the Kaniva motel having failed to find a vacant cabin in the Nhill caravan park. We cooked on the communal barbecue in company with several shearers who were having a quiet drink after a long hard day. The motel owner had warned us there'd be some rough looking and talking characters at the barbie but they were "good boys" who often stayed there. Lib thought she brought some frozen steak but when she took it from the esky thawed out it turned out to be a big fish head, whatever that was doing in our freezer I know not, perhaps it was put in there with the intention of putting it in the bin on garbage day but was forgotten. We had enough sausages to get by.
The next two nights were in a motel in Adelaide, on Sth Terrace near wher Rob is living. Adelaide is great. The city centre is surrounded by parkland and it's an accessible city with excellent public transport. People are relaxed and friendly and there's far less traffic and hustle and bustle than Melbourne. We dined out at a Greek restaurant one night and a Chinese the other with Rob and his friend for company. We did a tour of the Adelaide oval and St. Peter's cathedral and explored the city.
We then moved south to the beach and stayed 3 nights in a cabin at Adelaide Shores caravan park which itself is only 15 minutes from the city. The airport is right next door so we watched (and heard) many planes coming and going. Saturday we went to Morphetville races just up the road with mixed result on the punt. Our best collect was when I put the money on the wrong horse for Lib, No 4 insted of 5, she didn't want me to but I went back and put some each way on No 5 and as luck would have it 4 and 5 came first and second. We drove to the Clare Valley one day and Maclarenvale another and bought some fabulous wine to enjoy over Christmas.
Everywhere through Western Victoria and rural S.A. the wheatfields looked fantastic and harvesters were busy and grain trucks delivered wheat to mountains of it in the storage yards. It was a great thing to see, and probably the best harvest for many years.
We've been back a week and I been very busy picking beech and flowers and catching up on bookwork, grass cutting, weeding and other business concerning the park and museum etc. Never a dull moment.
Gotta go, very tired. Great win by NZ in the cricket. As I write it's raining again, I can hear it on the roof. I hope the heavy rain has missed the broad acre crop areas. I must buy the Weekly Times on Wednesday to find out.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Vale Molly
The last week seems a blur of travel, emotion, nostalgia and hard work. Lib and I left for Wangaratta last Saturday morning. We took Ian's Subaru, Lib's old car, as I'd had it serviced during that previous week, a run would do it good, and Lib's Hyundai had a fault with the electonic locking/unlocking, we couldn't open the tailgate at all and doors other than the driver's door which needed a key because the button wouldn't work, could only be opened from the inside. Yet another case of modern technology causing more trouble than it is worth.
The roadsides and farmland was lush and green after the wonderful winter and spring rain and Eildon reservoir was full to the brim, a sight to behold at Bonnie Doon. I had strong memories of my introduction to fishing there with Billy Edward's family in late 1967. We were camped on one side of the Bonnie Doon arm of the lake and Billy and I took the dingy to row to other side to sneak a smoke too far off to be detected. We took the fishing rods as part of the ruse, tied up to a tree near the far bank, dangled a couple of worms over the side and lit a fag in bliss. Bang went the rods, we caught over 50 redfin in an hour which astounded Bill's dad, who said, "Remember this well because in your lives you'll be lucky to see such once more."
Lib's sisters Pat and Marg and Marg's Phil were at Molly's house when we arrived. They said Moll was lucid but in pain and discomfort and wanting to sleep all the time. When Lib and I arrived at the private hospital we went to room 8 where her husband Bill had died eleven years earlier. One side of her face was still scarred by the shingles and the other bruised by her fall that had caused a brain haemmorage causing her to lose her cognitive ability for a day or so. She was a skeleton with skin. She said she had a constant headache from which she could not get relief. Conversation was difficult as the shingles made the hearing aid too painfull to wear. I stayed in the background but she recognized me and gave a smile and small wave. After an hour or so I went to the tea room for a cup of black tea, which I enjoyed uncustomarilly with a half a spoon of sugar. On returning to the room Lib suggested I go to the supermarket and buy some salad and penne pasta to go with the meat sauce we had brought from home for dinner that night.
I took the shopping back to Molly's house and gave the others an update and when I returned to the hospital Lib told me Molly's GP had been in. I was sorry I'd missed him as Molly had spoken so much of him over the years, she was friend's with his parents and knew him from boyhood and was besotted by him too it seemed, a not uncommon thing I'm told in the circumsances of Molly's long slow loss of health and self reliance.
In my absence a morphine injector had been installed on Molly's thigh, part of the palliative plan she and her doctor had agreed on. As we left I kissed Molly on the cheek and she clasped my hands in her beautiful hands, which I had admired earlier, twitching and wringing as she fitfully slept and dreamed. We shared an intimacy at that moment, her eyes conveyed her love for me and I knew it was the last time I would see her. It was goodbye.
Next morning I walked early with Lib. We took Molly's binoculars to observe birds. The case had an inscription, "Presented to Clarence Browne to recognize 50 years service to the British Footwear Company September 1954." Clarence was Molly's father and must have started work there in 1904. Molly was born in 1919. Lib went to the hospital with Pat. Molly was in less discomfort but still lucid, it was expected her death to be some days away.I rang the railway station and booked a ticket to Melbourne, catching the 1.20pm coach to Seymour. Just north of Violet Town I thought of my old friend Norm Jenkins, a recluse old beekeeper whose house was right where the freeway now runs. His house was compulsorily acquired, he refused to leave, but died of a heart attack well before a final confrontation. Awaiting the train on Seymour station I remembered standing there on first week end leave after a month national service training at Puckapunyal, 39 years ago. The express train to Southern Cross rolled through new housing developments into the northern suburbs of Melbourne. I was struck by the general look of industry and delapidation for the most part.
A half hour wait for a connecting train to Belgrave was followed by more than hour stopping at 27 stations on the way through Melbourne's eastern suburbs. The railway reserves, once we left the inner city where nothing much of anything grows, were a mass of weeds, low growing like blackberry in particular, and many tree weeds like pittosprum and cotoneaster. If you had a beehive at each station I reckon you'd have a blackberry honey flow, such was the rampant growth and proliferate flowering. A unkempt man carrying a bulging laundry bag sat near enough to me so that I could fill my nose with his scent resembling a municipal tip. He picked up a paper cup with a lid and straw that had been discarded by a previous traveller and consumed the remaining contents. Then he took a spray can of deodorant out of his laundry bag and sprayed his face and hair and torso with it. Fortunately he alighted at Surrey Hills. I hoped he was aware that soon he'd be able to have his fill of wonderful fresh blackberries if he could compete with the birds.
The train pulled into Belgrave at 6.20pm. I had a half hour wait for a Gembrook bus. I knew there was left over home made soup at home in the fridge, but by now I was hungry so I snacked on four steamed dim sims from a noodle shop in Belgrave's main street before the 695 bus came. I took a leak in the bushes behind the station, rather than find the Belgrave public toilet. Gord told me a while back when he was in there some queer tried to lure him into a cubicle. I was in no mood for rubbish like that.
Six hours on the road, I was home at 7.20. I'd rung Gord from Belgrave and he was waiting at the bustop which saved me a twenty minute walk home, not that I minded walking but I rang him to let him know I was coming so he didn't have to worry about feeding the dogs or putting the chooks away. The ticket in Wang cost me $22.90 and covered me on Metlink so I paid no more to get to Gembrook. Good value I think.
I'd booked the Hyundai in for a service on the Monday at Clappo's garage. I told him to have a quick look at the electric locking but not to spend time on it if it couldn't be rectified easily, as it was a warranty problem and Hyundai wouldn't charge me but I'd have to go to Dandenong. He fixed it, it was a loose connection at the fuse box.
I had a lot of picking to do on the Monday and then an appointment with arborist Steve Major in Nobelius park to appraise tree work. Lib rang Monday night to say Molly was comfortable and still communicating. Marg and Phil had left on the Sunday as I did and Pat went back to Bendigo that day. Lib, having taken a weeek off work, was to call them to return as Molly approached passing.
I went for a walk Tueday morning and the the light on the answering machine was flashing when I came back. Molly was in my thoughts on my walk. It was Lib's voice on the message, telling me Molly had passed away at 2.00am, peacefully in her sleep. I had a lot of picking to do, beech foliage, they're all screaming for it this year, and a Park Advisory Group meeting at 3.30 pm, followed by a meeting with the Emerald Village Committee at 4.30.
Lib came home Wednesday afternoon and cooked roast lamb. We played Molly's CD's of her old 1930's music that she loved. The busy week continued to a crescendo yesterday in 35 degree heat with a horrible north wind that left me exhausted. It rained overnight and continued this morning with a peaceful calm that has allowed me to reflect on the last seven days which saw us heading of for Wang this time a week ago.
Molly is survived by three of her sisters, all in their nineties. She lost her oldest sibling Nell last year aged 99 and brother Lin a couple of years ago at age 94 I think. Lib has been now four days without her mother alive and I can see it has shaken her to her core. I'll miss the lady who has been mother-in-law since 31 Jan 1981. She was an amazing intellect, well educated, well read, well travelled, a lady of strong opinion who could mix and match with people of all ages and backgrounds. We loaned Molly my grandmother's photo album when 'Old Nanna' was still alive, which contained letters and postcards from my grandfather from France during WW1. This family treasure is now held for safety by Meredith's Annie and it contains Molly's letter to "Annie" (Old Nanna), thanking her for sharing it with her, and saying how wonderful it must be for her to look at the the letters and photos and feel 18 again. Molly was all class.
Molly's death notice was in Wednesday's Age and is as follows-
MEEK
Ina Mary (Molly)
07.01.1919 - 15.11.2011
Beloved and loving wife of Bill(dec) much loved mother, mother-in-law and grandmother of Margaret and Philip- Alexandra, Lizzie and Pippa; Pat and Michael- James and Jonty; Libby and Carey- Gordon and Robbie.
Dearly loved sister of Nell (dec), Cath, Lin (dec), Pat and Margaret.
There will be a Memorial gathering on Molly's birthday, January 7th, 2012 at 16 Willow Drive Wangaratta, 2-5pm. All Molly's friends and acquaintances are invited to attend.
The roadsides and farmland was lush and green after the wonderful winter and spring rain and Eildon reservoir was full to the brim, a sight to behold at Bonnie Doon. I had strong memories of my introduction to fishing there with Billy Edward's family in late 1967. We were camped on one side of the Bonnie Doon arm of the lake and Billy and I took the dingy to row to other side to sneak a smoke too far off to be detected. We took the fishing rods as part of the ruse, tied up to a tree near the far bank, dangled a couple of worms over the side and lit a fag in bliss. Bang went the rods, we caught over 50 redfin in an hour which astounded Bill's dad, who said, "Remember this well because in your lives you'll be lucky to see such once more."
Lib's sisters Pat and Marg and Marg's Phil were at Molly's house when we arrived. They said Moll was lucid but in pain and discomfort and wanting to sleep all the time. When Lib and I arrived at the private hospital we went to room 8 where her husband Bill had died eleven years earlier. One side of her face was still scarred by the shingles and the other bruised by her fall that had caused a brain haemmorage causing her to lose her cognitive ability for a day or so. She was a skeleton with skin. She said she had a constant headache from which she could not get relief. Conversation was difficult as the shingles made the hearing aid too painfull to wear. I stayed in the background but she recognized me and gave a smile and small wave. After an hour or so I went to the tea room for a cup of black tea, which I enjoyed uncustomarilly with a half a spoon of sugar. On returning to the room Lib suggested I go to the supermarket and buy some salad and penne pasta to go with the meat sauce we had brought from home for dinner that night.
I took the shopping back to Molly's house and gave the others an update and when I returned to the hospital Lib told me Molly's GP had been in. I was sorry I'd missed him as Molly had spoken so much of him over the years, she was friend's with his parents and knew him from boyhood and was besotted by him too it seemed, a not uncommon thing I'm told in the circumsances of Molly's long slow loss of health and self reliance.
In my absence a morphine injector had been installed on Molly's thigh, part of the palliative plan she and her doctor had agreed on. As we left I kissed Molly on the cheek and she clasped my hands in her beautiful hands, which I had admired earlier, twitching and wringing as she fitfully slept and dreamed. We shared an intimacy at that moment, her eyes conveyed her love for me and I knew it was the last time I would see her. It was goodbye.
Next morning I walked early with Lib. We took Molly's binoculars to observe birds. The case had an inscription, "Presented to Clarence Browne to recognize 50 years service to the British Footwear Company September 1954." Clarence was Molly's father and must have started work there in 1904. Molly was born in 1919. Lib went to the hospital with Pat. Molly was in less discomfort but still lucid, it was expected her death to be some days away.I rang the railway station and booked a ticket to Melbourne, catching the 1.20pm coach to Seymour. Just north of Violet Town I thought of my old friend Norm Jenkins, a recluse old beekeeper whose house was right where the freeway now runs. His house was compulsorily acquired, he refused to leave, but died of a heart attack well before a final confrontation. Awaiting the train on Seymour station I remembered standing there on first week end leave after a month national service training at Puckapunyal, 39 years ago. The express train to Southern Cross rolled through new housing developments into the northern suburbs of Melbourne. I was struck by the general look of industry and delapidation for the most part.
A half hour wait for a connecting train to Belgrave was followed by more than hour stopping at 27 stations on the way through Melbourne's eastern suburbs. The railway reserves, once we left the inner city where nothing much of anything grows, were a mass of weeds, low growing like blackberry in particular, and many tree weeds like pittosprum and cotoneaster. If you had a beehive at each station I reckon you'd have a blackberry honey flow, such was the rampant growth and proliferate flowering. A unkempt man carrying a bulging laundry bag sat near enough to me so that I could fill my nose with his scent resembling a municipal tip. He picked up a paper cup with a lid and straw that had been discarded by a previous traveller and consumed the remaining contents. Then he took a spray can of deodorant out of his laundry bag and sprayed his face and hair and torso with it. Fortunately he alighted at Surrey Hills. I hoped he was aware that soon he'd be able to have his fill of wonderful fresh blackberries if he could compete with the birds.
The train pulled into Belgrave at 6.20pm. I had a half hour wait for a Gembrook bus. I knew there was left over home made soup at home in the fridge, but by now I was hungry so I snacked on four steamed dim sims from a noodle shop in Belgrave's main street before the 695 bus came. I took a leak in the bushes behind the station, rather than find the Belgrave public toilet. Gord told me a while back when he was in there some queer tried to lure him into a cubicle. I was in no mood for rubbish like that.
Six hours on the road, I was home at 7.20. I'd rung Gord from Belgrave and he was waiting at the bustop which saved me a twenty minute walk home, not that I minded walking but I rang him to let him know I was coming so he didn't have to worry about feeding the dogs or putting the chooks away. The ticket in Wang cost me $22.90 and covered me on Metlink so I paid no more to get to Gembrook. Good value I think.
I'd booked the Hyundai in for a service on the Monday at Clappo's garage. I told him to have a quick look at the electric locking but not to spend time on it if it couldn't be rectified easily, as it was a warranty problem and Hyundai wouldn't charge me but I'd have to go to Dandenong. He fixed it, it was a loose connection at the fuse box.
I had a lot of picking to do on the Monday and then an appointment with arborist Steve Major in Nobelius park to appraise tree work. Lib rang Monday night to say Molly was comfortable and still communicating. Marg and Phil had left on the Sunday as I did and Pat went back to Bendigo that day. Lib, having taken a weeek off work, was to call them to return as Molly approached passing.
I went for a walk Tueday morning and the the light on the answering machine was flashing when I came back. Molly was in my thoughts on my walk. It was Lib's voice on the message, telling me Molly had passed away at 2.00am, peacefully in her sleep. I had a lot of picking to do, beech foliage, they're all screaming for it this year, and a Park Advisory Group meeting at 3.30 pm, followed by a meeting with the Emerald Village Committee at 4.30.
Lib came home Wednesday afternoon and cooked roast lamb. We played Molly's CD's of her old 1930's music that she loved. The busy week continued to a crescendo yesterday in 35 degree heat with a horrible north wind that left me exhausted. It rained overnight and continued this morning with a peaceful calm that has allowed me to reflect on the last seven days which saw us heading of for Wang this time a week ago.
Molly is survived by three of her sisters, all in their nineties. She lost her oldest sibling Nell last year aged 99 and brother Lin a couple of years ago at age 94 I think. Lib has been now four days without her mother alive and I can see it has shaken her to her core. I'll miss the lady who has been mother-in-law since 31 Jan 1981. She was an amazing intellect, well educated, well read, well travelled, a lady of strong opinion who could mix and match with people of all ages and backgrounds. We loaned Molly my grandmother's photo album when 'Old Nanna' was still alive, which contained letters and postcards from my grandfather from France during WW1. This family treasure is now held for safety by Meredith's Annie and it contains Molly's letter to "Annie" (Old Nanna), thanking her for sharing it with her, and saying how wonderful it must be for her to look at the the letters and photos and feel 18 again. Molly was all class.
Molly's death notice was in Wednesday's Age and is as follows-
MEEK
Ina Mary (Molly)
07.01.1919 - 15.11.2011
Beloved and loving wife of Bill(dec) much loved mother, mother-in-law and grandmother of Margaret and Philip- Alexandra, Lizzie and Pippa; Pat and Michael- James and Jonty; Libby and Carey- Gordon and Robbie.
Dearly loved sister of Nell (dec), Cath, Lin (dec), Pat and Margaret.
There will be a Memorial gathering on Molly's birthday, January 7th, 2012 at 16 Willow Drive Wangaratta, 2-5pm. All Molly's friends and acquaintances are invited to attend.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Elvie's Birthday
It was Elvie's 83rd birthday today. I had a present for her but I forgot to take it when I left for the farm in rather a hurry. It was an oxtail, which she adores, as do I. It remains in our freezer. I'll take it tomorrow unless I forget again, but it doesn't matter, Elvie is not one to be worried about who does what for her birthday.
She made me a posy of flowers at my request, as I was boked as guest speaker at the November meeting of the Emerald Garden Club to talk about the story of Chamomile Farm. I was approached a couple of months ago about it, of course the date struck a chord, and I accepted thinking I'd have no trouble talking about the family's work over nearly four decades as I'd lived it.
So my preparation was over the last three evenings, mainly in my head, mind mapping as I did other things, or lying in bed after having fallen asleep in the chair when I should have been organizing it.
It went alright I think, they were such nice people so it couldn't really have flopped big time. The posy was a big help, it gave me a start then something to go back to right up to the end.
I didn't have dinner. I was asked to be there at 7.45 pm so I worked picking and bunching beech to help for tomorrow, till 7.15, then after changing clothes I went up to the Silk Palace Chinee and ordered a Singapore noodle box, thinking I'd eat it after I got home, reheated. There's a lovely lady, Jayne, who works there some evenings. She asked me about my day and what I was doing and she suggested why don't I come back after my talk and get the noodsles on my way way home, then they will be fresh. Good idea! They shut at 9.00pm, that should be no problem. I paid in advance.
So I go to the venue, find there's a bit of business before I'm on, do my stuff, have a cuppa, give my nod for speaker's choice of display, then head home knowing I'd missed my noodle pick up.
Here I am enjoying a glass of red wine, satisfied that I gave the talk a go, even if there were many things I left out by accident. Chamomile Farm has played a role in Emerald's history. The wonderful Elvie has been a major driver.
On a less happy note, Molly is fading fast and not expected to live past the weekend. I think Lib and I are going up on Saturday. I'm trying to help Lib through without being obvious about it. How does it feel when your mother dies? Lib is a brave soul and working in an aged care facility death is no stranger to her. But this is her mother. When Bill died, after the funeral, in bed that night, Lib cried and cried her heart out for hours. I am prepared for a similar reaction but am hoping it's easier this time given we're eleven years on and Molly is 92 and has been so frail and failing for so long.
She made me a posy of flowers at my request, as I was boked as guest speaker at the November meeting of the Emerald Garden Club to talk about the story of Chamomile Farm. I was approached a couple of months ago about it, of course the date struck a chord, and I accepted thinking I'd have no trouble talking about the family's work over nearly four decades as I'd lived it.
So my preparation was over the last three evenings, mainly in my head, mind mapping as I did other things, or lying in bed after having fallen asleep in the chair when I should have been organizing it.
It went alright I think, they were such nice people so it couldn't really have flopped big time. The posy was a big help, it gave me a start then something to go back to right up to the end.
I didn't have dinner. I was asked to be there at 7.45 pm so I worked picking and bunching beech to help for tomorrow, till 7.15, then after changing clothes I went up to the Silk Palace Chinee and ordered a Singapore noodle box, thinking I'd eat it after I got home, reheated. There's a lovely lady, Jayne, who works there some evenings. She asked me about my day and what I was doing and she suggested why don't I come back after my talk and get the noodsles on my way way home, then they will be fresh. Good idea! They shut at 9.00pm, that should be no problem. I paid in advance.
So I go to the venue, find there's a bit of business before I'm on, do my stuff, have a cuppa, give my nod for speaker's choice of display, then head home knowing I'd missed my noodle pick up.
Here I am enjoying a glass of red wine, satisfied that I gave the talk a go, even if there were many things I left out by accident. Chamomile Farm has played a role in Emerald's history. The wonderful Elvie has been a major driver.
On a less happy note, Molly is fading fast and not expected to live past the weekend. I think Lib and I are going up on Saturday. I'm trying to help Lib through without being obvious about it. How does it feel when your mother dies? Lib is a brave soul and working in an aged care facility death is no stranger to her. But this is her mother. When Bill died, after the funeral, in bed that night, Lib cried and cried her heart out for hours. I am prepared for a similar reaction but am hoping it's easier this time given we're eleven years on and Molly is 92 and has been so frail and failing for so long.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Shot Down
I took Gord to Dandenong last Thursday to see the surgeon who did his hernia op. It was the second follow up appointment, just to check all is well. All is well, Gord got the all clear.
We continued on to do a pick up and on the way back did a much needed clothing shop at Westfield Keysborough. On leaving and feeling ready to fall asleep, a problem I have when I drive anywhere these days, I looked around for a coffee stall and subsequently stood ordering a coffee to go at 'WENDY's DONUTs'.
The girl making my coffee was a pretty young thing and I noticed the word 'barista' on her tea shirt just above her shapely left breast. Until a couple of years ago I'd never herad of the word 'barista', but now know it to mean coffee maker. The similarity to the word barrister occured to me while she busied with the coffee production and a joke came to me. I said to the girl, "The last time I had a barrister, it cost me $1000 per hour."
She did not give any semblance of a smile, nor raise an eyebrow. Totally unfazed she said, "That's about what I'd cost you."
We continued on to do a pick up and on the way back did a much needed clothing shop at Westfield Keysborough. On leaving and feeling ready to fall asleep, a problem I have when I drive anywhere these days, I looked around for a coffee stall and subsequently stood ordering a coffee to go at 'WENDY's DONUTs'.
The girl making my coffee was a pretty young thing and I noticed the word 'barista' on her tea shirt just above her shapely left breast. Until a couple of years ago I'd never herad of the word 'barista', but now know it to mean coffee maker. The similarity to the word barrister occured to me while she busied with the coffee production and a joke came to me. I said to the girl, "The last time I had a barrister, it cost me $1000 per hour."
She did not give any semblance of a smile, nor raise an eyebrow. Totally unfazed she said, "That's about what I'd cost you."
Monday, October 24, 2011
Good Weather for Pansies
It's been a busy month for me, working on the 'vegie garden' at the farm and the garden at Hanna's as well as the usual picking of foliage and blossom. I was impressed by the pansies at Hanna's yesterday a week ago so I have included a photo. The other things visible are love in the mist, cornflowers and calendulas, but there's also rocket, sage and parsley.On a lower level at Hanna's I have coriander, queen Anne's lace, broad beans and garlic and dill. It's a lot of fun and healthy excercise.
A Big Weekend at The Museum
We had a wine and cheese night last Friday night at the Emerald Museum, ahead of an open weekend when the museum was open on Saturday as well as the customary Sunday. The reason for this was that it marked 100 years since Gus Ryberg's birth, so we put on a Gus display for his family and friends to celebrate Gus's community achievements. As president of the committee I had to make a small welcoming talk, which gave me an anxious few days last week as it neared.
I wrote up a script last Monday night and revamped it on Friday morning. I caught the last half hour of my writing class on Friday arvo and after telling the class why I was late and what I had to do later, my classmates were sympathetic and helpful with advice. In particular Judy Anne gave me a pep talk as we were leaving. She said, "Don't read out your script, make notes of about six key points in sequence and speak from memory. Refer to your notes on the small peice of paper to keep your rhythm. If you forget something or muck up the crowd won't know so just move on to the next point. Make sure you project your voice to the far corners, and think of the crowd as all naked with cabbages for heads."
I decided to take her advice and not read out (except the obituary), but to work from notes on a piece of paper. Somehow my confidence built and I was reasonably calm. I forgot a few things I had scripted and added in some others but it went quite well. The night was a real success and the museum was busy both days of the weekend. I copy the script of my talk below.
OUR FRIEND GUS WOULD BE ONE HUNDRED Wine and Cheese Evening 21 Oct 2011
On behalf of the Nobelius Heritage Park and Emerald Museum committee I extend a warm welcome to you, in particular to the Mayor of Cardinia, George Blenkhorn, and his wife Sue, also to council officer Wendy Abbott, and to the trader’s of Emerald and all the friends of the park and museum. Thank you for your attendance in response to our invitation.
Two or three summers ago, I came across a European wasp nest in a particularly awkward position. Usually you can sneak up on a nest from the side to puff in insecticide dust quite easily but this one was hard to get at so I rummaged around in the glove box of a car I used to drive for a bee veil, to give me some protection. I found a newspaper cutting. It was Gus’s obituary in the Herald Sun. It’s not the sort of thing you discard readily but I didn’t know what to do with it, so I put it in my wallet in one of those little hideaway areas. It has remained there.
It is titled ‘Sowed Seeds in Emerald Horticulture’, and I would like to read it as it is brief.
"GUSTAF RYBERG
Horticulturist, historian. Born- October 19, 1911 Died- November 15, 2000
Gustaf Ryberg gave everything to his local community. Better known as Gus, he was the son of a Swedish migrant. They shifted to the Emerald area when Gus was just one month old. He attended Emerald Primary school before getting his first job at Nobelius Nursery. Mr. Ryberg took part in a strike at the nursery in 1939 when employees successfully fought for better working conditions.
A short time later he left for the Northern Territory where he cooked for wartime road workers. But it was not long before he was back in Emerald with his wife Irene and two daughters. A son was born in 1945.
Mr. and Mrs. Ryberg were members of the Australian Communist Party. He often organized house squats, public speakers and even established the local bookshop through the party. During the 1950’s Mr Ryberg contributed to the environment by starting his own nursery which included a popular vegetable section. But ten years later the business closed after Mr. Ryberg was appointed by the Ferntree Gully Shire to assist in the development of Emerald Lake Park.
He retired in 1976 but this did not slow down the dedicated community worker. He played important roles in the preservation of the Nobelius Heritage Park and the establishment of the Emerald Museum.
Mr. Ryberg will be missed in the Emerald area."
That is a brief overview of Gus’s life which makes no mention of his OAM medal or his involvement with the Fire Brigade, the Hall Committee, Garden Club, Arts Society or the Nangana Cemetery. Many of you know far more of this involvement than I do. Nor does it mention the two books Gus wrote after his retirement. Gus was a dynamic man. Yes, he talked the talk as well as any, but he followed up with action.
In 1981, the land now known as Nobelius Heritage Park was the subject of application by its owner Ern Smith of ‘Din San Nurseries’ to subdivide into 27 residential blocks. Realising its heritage value Gus and fellow local Colin Phillips began a public campaign to save it for the people of Emerald. After considerable pressure, the land was purchased by the Shire of Sherbrooke with the State Government contributing $100,000 and the Shire the remaining $51,000. It was now public property.
I didn’t get to know Gus till the mid 1980’s. My family moved to Emerald in 1972 and I lived away for much of the 1970’s, returning in 1981 to live in Gembrook and work at Chamomile Farm. It was by Gus’s invitation that I became involved in Nobelius Heritage Park in the late 1980’s when he was organizing a committee of management with the goodwill of the Shire of Sherbrooke, who owned the property. There being no museum building back then we met at night in what is now known as the Green Shed. The only heating in winter was a single bar electric element. My recall of the meetings is not good but I think Gus mostly reported on his activities as park curator. He organized a local tractor operator to cut the grass 4-6 times a year while he mowed the tracks and high profile areas himself more regularly with his beloved heavy cut mower and a push mower. He enlisted help from the committee members to run the annual family picnic day and the lavender harvest, both of which were important to him.
At that time the site where we now stand was a council machinery depot. Through his vision and personality Gus convinced the Shire of Sherbrooke to erect a museum building in 1993. This has always amazed me. Gus was enormously proud of this building. He attended every Sunday with whoever was rostered for duty. I may be biased but I consider Gus’s greatest achievements, other than his family, to be the establishment of Nobelius Heritage Park and the Emerald Museum which started out separately but became one.
Gus loved trees, flowers, fishing, fossicking, music, a good singing voice, a cup of tea, a sweet biscuit, a veggie garden. Most of all he loved to share his interests and knowledge, which were broad. The first 25 years of his life passed at a time when there was no electricity or power tools, no chainsaws, little mechanization and few motor vehicles. He saw the world around him change through world war, depression and social and technical revolution. He was an environmentalist, a conservationist and a pacifist. When he retired from the paid workforce the council and community gained a full time worker for more than two decades.
It’s amazing where Gus pops up when you talk to people. Gwen Asling told me she and her husband Ron met at a dance in Clematis organized by Gus. He used to play banjo in a bit of a band with a few other blokes and apparently they weren’t bad either. Julian Dyer in Gembrook told me Gus was good mates with his dad, Howard, and the Stielows who were prominent in the timber and potato industries. Jean Haines, editor of ‘Signpost,’ tells me Gus gave her her first job in the late 1950’s when she was about 13 years old, as usher at the Saturday night picture shows at the Emerald Hall.
Gus initiated Heritage Week at the Emerald Primary school where he was always willing to talk to classes, realizing the importance of heritage for children. When my kids were at Gembrook Primary a teacher asked me did I know an old person who’d talk to his class about the old days. I mentioned it to Gus who did not hesitate and finished up addressing several classes together in the multi-purpose room. The kids were enthralled and every one of them left with a gemstone clutched in their hand. My sister Meredith told me of a time when her daughter Rose showed interest in gemstones and Gus invited them to his house to show them his collection and the tumblers and techniques for polishing.
What I liked most about Gus was his austere lifestyle. He was not materialistic. No flash car, expensive holidays or fat superannuation, in contrast to the ‘grab all you can while you can’ influences that seem to prevail these days.
I came across a quote I liked when thinking about today, which seems appropriate to Gus. “Strive not to be successful, strive to be of value.” Gus set a good example, to put in more and expect less out, instead of the other way around.
Thank you to all the committee for their work preparing for this weekend, especially Chris Britton who has put in long hours improving the museum displays. We are excited about our future continuing the vision of Gus Ryberg, which becomes more important with each passing year. Thanks for your attention and please enjoy the wine and cheese. We are always looking for volunteers in the museum and new ‘friends’ of the park. Anyone interested in joining can leave their details.
I wrote up a script last Monday night and revamped it on Friday morning. I caught the last half hour of my writing class on Friday arvo and after telling the class why I was late and what I had to do later, my classmates were sympathetic and helpful with advice. In particular Judy Anne gave me a pep talk as we were leaving. She said, "Don't read out your script, make notes of about six key points in sequence and speak from memory. Refer to your notes on the small peice of paper to keep your rhythm. If you forget something or muck up the crowd won't know so just move on to the next point. Make sure you project your voice to the far corners, and think of the crowd as all naked with cabbages for heads."
I decided to take her advice and not read out (except the obituary), but to work from notes on a piece of paper. Somehow my confidence built and I was reasonably calm. I forgot a few things I had scripted and added in some others but it went quite well. The night was a real success and the museum was busy both days of the weekend. I copy the script of my talk below.
OUR FRIEND GUS WOULD BE ONE HUNDRED Wine and Cheese Evening 21 Oct 2011
On behalf of the Nobelius Heritage Park and Emerald Museum committee I extend a warm welcome to you, in particular to the Mayor of Cardinia, George Blenkhorn, and his wife Sue, also to council officer Wendy Abbott, and to the trader’s of Emerald and all the friends of the park and museum. Thank you for your attendance in response to our invitation.
Two or three summers ago, I came across a European wasp nest in a particularly awkward position. Usually you can sneak up on a nest from the side to puff in insecticide dust quite easily but this one was hard to get at so I rummaged around in the glove box of a car I used to drive for a bee veil, to give me some protection. I found a newspaper cutting. It was Gus’s obituary in the Herald Sun. It’s not the sort of thing you discard readily but I didn’t know what to do with it, so I put it in my wallet in one of those little hideaway areas. It has remained there.
It is titled ‘Sowed Seeds in Emerald Horticulture’, and I would like to read it as it is brief.
"GUSTAF RYBERG
Horticulturist, historian. Born- October 19, 1911 Died- November 15, 2000
Gustaf Ryberg gave everything to his local community. Better known as Gus, he was the son of a Swedish migrant. They shifted to the Emerald area when Gus was just one month old. He attended Emerald Primary school before getting his first job at Nobelius Nursery. Mr. Ryberg took part in a strike at the nursery in 1939 when employees successfully fought for better working conditions.
A short time later he left for the Northern Territory where he cooked for wartime road workers. But it was not long before he was back in Emerald with his wife Irene and two daughters. A son was born in 1945.
Mr. and Mrs. Ryberg were members of the Australian Communist Party. He often organized house squats, public speakers and even established the local bookshop through the party. During the 1950’s Mr Ryberg contributed to the environment by starting his own nursery which included a popular vegetable section. But ten years later the business closed after Mr. Ryberg was appointed by the Ferntree Gully Shire to assist in the development of Emerald Lake Park.
He retired in 1976 but this did not slow down the dedicated community worker. He played important roles in the preservation of the Nobelius Heritage Park and the establishment of the Emerald Museum.
Mr. Ryberg will be missed in the Emerald area."
That is a brief overview of Gus’s life which makes no mention of his OAM medal or his involvement with the Fire Brigade, the Hall Committee, Garden Club, Arts Society or the Nangana Cemetery. Many of you know far more of this involvement than I do. Nor does it mention the two books Gus wrote after his retirement. Gus was a dynamic man. Yes, he talked the talk as well as any, but he followed up with action.
In 1981, the land now known as Nobelius Heritage Park was the subject of application by its owner Ern Smith of ‘Din San Nurseries’ to subdivide into 27 residential blocks. Realising its heritage value Gus and fellow local Colin Phillips began a public campaign to save it for the people of Emerald. After considerable pressure, the land was purchased by the Shire of Sherbrooke with the State Government contributing $100,000 and the Shire the remaining $51,000. It was now public property.
I didn’t get to know Gus till the mid 1980’s. My family moved to Emerald in 1972 and I lived away for much of the 1970’s, returning in 1981 to live in Gembrook and work at Chamomile Farm. It was by Gus’s invitation that I became involved in Nobelius Heritage Park in the late 1980’s when he was organizing a committee of management with the goodwill of the Shire of Sherbrooke, who owned the property. There being no museum building back then we met at night in what is now known as the Green Shed. The only heating in winter was a single bar electric element. My recall of the meetings is not good but I think Gus mostly reported on his activities as park curator. He organized a local tractor operator to cut the grass 4-6 times a year while he mowed the tracks and high profile areas himself more regularly with his beloved heavy cut mower and a push mower. He enlisted help from the committee members to run the annual family picnic day and the lavender harvest, both of which were important to him.
At that time the site where we now stand was a council machinery depot. Through his vision and personality Gus convinced the Shire of Sherbrooke to erect a museum building in 1993. This has always amazed me. Gus was enormously proud of this building. He attended every Sunday with whoever was rostered for duty. I may be biased but I consider Gus’s greatest achievements, other than his family, to be the establishment of Nobelius Heritage Park and the Emerald Museum which started out separately but became one.
Gus loved trees, flowers, fishing, fossicking, music, a good singing voice, a cup of tea, a sweet biscuit, a veggie garden. Most of all he loved to share his interests and knowledge, which were broad. The first 25 years of his life passed at a time when there was no electricity or power tools, no chainsaws, little mechanization and few motor vehicles. He saw the world around him change through world war, depression and social and technical revolution. He was an environmentalist, a conservationist and a pacifist. When he retired from the paid workforce the council and community gained a full time worker for more than two decades.
It’s amazing where Gus pops up when you talk to people. Gwen Asling told me she and her husband Ron met at a dance in Clematis organized by Gus. He used to play banjo in a bit of a band with a few other blokes and apparently they weren’t bad either. Julian Dyer in Gembrook told me Gus was good mates with his dad, Howard, and the Stielows who were prominent in the timber and potato industries. Jean Haines, editor of ‘Signpost,’ tells me Gus gave her her first job in the late 1950’s when she was about 13 years old, as usher at the Saturday night picture shows at the Emerald Hall.
Gus initiated Heritage Week at the Emerald Primary school where he was always willing to talk to classes, realizing the importance of heritage for children. When my kids were at Gembrook Primary a teacher asked me did I know an old person who’d talk to his class about the old days. I mentioned it to Gus who did not hesitate and finished up addressing several classes together in the multi-purpose room. The kids were enthralled and every one of them left with a gemstone clutched in their hand. My sister Meredith told me of a time when her daughter Rose showed interest in gemstones and Gus invited them to his house to show them his collection and the tumblers and techniques for polishing.
What I liked most about Gus was his austere lifestyle. He was not materialistic. No flash car, expensive holidays or fat superannuation, in contrast to the ‘grab all you can while you can’ influences that seem to prevail these days.
I came across a quote I liked when thinking about today, which seems appropriate to Gus. “Strive not to be successful, strive to be of value.” Gus set a good example, to put in more and expect less out, instead of the other way around.
Thank you to all the committee for their work preparing for this weekend, especially Chris Britton who has put in long hours improving the museum displays. We are excited about our future continuing the vision of Gus Ryberg, which becomes more important with each passing year. Thanks for your attention and please enjoy the wine and cheese. We are always looking for volunteers in the museum and new ‘friends’ of the park. Anyone interested in joining can leave their details.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Grand Final Day
What a happy result it was. We watched it at Ricky Ralph's and Mon's new house in Berwick, where they say " we are right in suburbia but we love it."
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The Wall Fell Down
Earlier this month we received word that a section of the large retaining wall behind the house at Lakes Entrance had collapsed. I posted about this possibility on 3 Aug after our return from our trip during the big rain in July.
Nothing has been done yet by way of repair, fortunately it's not my responsibility. It will be a complicated and costly project. Just thought I'd mention it before going to bed.
Solar Nightmare, Health Update
My friend Hannah was in a panic today when I called in today to pick rocket, pansies and Chinese lantern flowers. She'd rung her electricity supply company AGL to ask if the paper work had come through from the installers (the same firm that did ours). It hadn't, nor had her application for premium rate buy back contract. All this has to be in by 3o Sep we have discovered or you miss out. Without the premium rate buy back there's no point to go to the expense of fitting solar panels. The installers told her they'd faxed the forms but suggested she ring them to confirm they'd been received.
The fault on our system was corrected last Friday, and we believe was inspected later the same day. The installers rang me this morning saying they had received the certificate and had faxed it through to our supplier, Origin. They suggested I ring Origin, and SP Ausnet, tomorrow morning, to confirm all the necessary forms have been received. I was inclined to ring this afternoon but was too busy and thought it was probably OK to give them 24 hours to sort themselves anyway. Let me say I'm very nervous about this as we have spent close to $5000 on this system.
On a brighter note, Gord is making good recovery from his hernia op which was done nearly two weeks ago. He was told he couldn't lift anything for four weeks, and is to see his surgeon on Thursday.
Jod has had a difficult recovery from his mouth op and has been in great pain and distress. His face face blew up on the weekend, he had ultrasound today, he has infected blocked saliva gland and is now on double strength antibiotics.
Lib's mum molly has had a dose of shingles, most unfortunate for a 92 yr old who is frail and somewhat incapacitated normally. She has been admitted to hospital today. Lib's sister Pat had been staying with her as she is in no condition to look after herself, but if Moll couldn't get a bed in hospital Lib probably would have had to leave work for a few days and go to Wang as Pat has to return to Bendigo.
The fault on our system was corrected last Friday, and we believe was inspected later the same day. The installers rang me this morning saying they had received the certificate and had faxed it through to our supplier, Origin. They suggested I ring Origin, and SP Ausnet, tomorrow morning, to confirm all the necessary forms have been received. I was inclined to ring this afternoon but was too busy and thought it was probably OK to give them 24 hours to sort themselves anyway. Let me say I'm very nervous about this as we have spent close to $5000 on this system.
On a brighter note, Gord is making good recovery from his hernia op which was done nearly two weeks ago. He was told he couldn't lift anything for four weeks, and is to see his surgeon on Thursday.
Jod has had a difficult recovery from his mouth op and has been in great pain and distress. His face face blew up on the weekend, he had ultrasound today, he has infected blocked saliva gland and is now on double strength antibiotics.
Lib's mum molly has had a dose of shingles, most unfortunate for a 92 yr old who is frail and somewhat incapacitated normally. She has been admitted to hospital today. Lib's sister Pat had been staying with her as she is in no condition to look after herself, but if Moll couldn't get a bed in hospital Lib probably would have had to leave work for a few days and go to Wang as Pat has to return to Bendigo.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Brookers Not Quite
Gembrook-Cockatoo were valiant in defeat on Saturday in the YMDFL grand final against Upwey-Tecoma at the Healesville sports complex. In a spirited contest they were a couple goals down at the final siren, making them runners up two years in a row.
I'm not one who says winning is everything. The great thing is competing and giving your best effort. There's a geat Teddy Roosevelt quote I have had stuck inside a cupboard door in in our laundry for probably 20 years, which I won't go check now for fear of disturbing Lib's chickens which still are housed there at night. It talks of admiration for those brave souls who strive for victory yet come up short after having given their all, and of repugnance for their critics in defeat who are themselves too timid to enter the contest.
Lib Gordon and I packed a picnic lunch of salami and salad rolls and found a good viewing spot on what was pleasant sunny day with at times a gusty wind that carried a bit of chill. The downside of the day, besides the result, was the ridiculously loud music played over the PA pre game and at breaks. It was enough to make me want to go home a few times.
Gord took the car keys at half time and went to get a score from the Eagles Geelong game at half time, returning during the third quarter. At three quarter time with the Brookers trailing by 2 points and in with a big chance, I went out to the 3/4 time huddle to hear the coach and soak up a bit of the emotion building in expectation of a rousing last quarter. When I returned Lib told me Gord had lost the car keys, he knew not where, so he and I went off to retrace his course, which he had done already.
We couldn't find them. I went to the kiosk and the bar and asked if someone had handed in a set of car keys. No. I thought I should try the other bar over near where Gord had said he went to the toilet, and on the way look for a Gembrook person to get a lift back with to get the spare keys from home. Yes, the barman said there were keys handed in, he gave them to 'a league bloke'. They wear league jackets. I found one, he didn't have them, but said he'd go and find out who did. I said I'd wait where I was, behind the goals. He was back in five minutes with the keys much to my relief.
When I returned to Lib and Gord they were ready to go home so we left just as the game was finishing. The anthem of the Upwey Tigers was blasting over the PA, the same theme song as the AFL Richmond Tigers. Lib asked me what would be playing had Gembrook won, to which I answered I had no idea. I've since asked around and still don't know.
Lib and I agreed it was a pity about the loud music. We also also found the medal presentations to the winning players of the reserves GF and the netballers before the main game tedious, and the line up of the senior teams before the game to the playing of the national anthem. I mean what the hell for, it seems copy cat to me. I prefer good old country footy atmosphere with the traditional crowd noise and expectation. Spare me the entertainment and pomp.
I'm not one who says winning is everything. The great thing is competing and giving your best effort. There's a geat Teddy Roosevelt quote I have had stuck inside a cupboard door in in our laundry for probably 20 years, which I won't go check now for fear of disturbing Lib's chickens which still are housed there at night. It talks of admiration for those brave souls who strive for victory yet come up short after having given their all, and of repugnance for their critics in defeat who are themselves too timid to enter the contest.
Lib Gordon and I packed a picnic lunch of salami and salad rolls and found a good viewing spot on what was pleasant sunny day with at times a gusty wind that carried a bit of chill. The downside of the day, besides the result, was the ridiculously loud music played over the PA pre game and at breaks. It was enough to make me want to go home a few times.
Gord took the car keys at half time and went to get a score from the Eagles Geelong game at half time, returning during the third quarter. At three quarter time with the Brookers trailing by 2 points and in with a big chance, I went out to the 3/4 time huddle to hear the coach and soak up a bit of the emotion building in expectation of a rousing last quarter. When I returned Lib told me Gord had lost the car keys, he knew not where, so he and I went off to retrace his course, which he had done already.
We couldn't find them. I went to the kiosk and the bar and asked if someone had handed in a set of car keys. No. I thought I should try the other bar over near where Gord had said he went to the toilet, and on the way look for a Gembrook person to get a lift back with to get the spare keys from home. Yes, the barman said there were keys handed in, he gave them to 'a league bloke'. They wear league jackets. I found one, he didn't have them, but said he'd go and find out who did. I said I'd wait where I was, behind the goals. He was back in five minutes with the keys much to my relief.
When I returned to Lib and Gord they were ready to go home so we left just as the game was finishing. The anthem of the Upwey Tigers was blasting over the PA, the same theme song as the AFL Richmond Tigers. Lib asked me what would be playing had Gembrook won, to which I answered I had no idea. I've since asked around and still don't know.
Lib and I agreed it was a pity about the loud music. We also also found the medal presentations to the winning players of the reserves GF and the netballers before the main game tedious, and the line up of the senior teams before the game to the playing of the national anthem. I mean what the hell for, it seems copy cat to me. I prefer good old country footy atmosphere with the traditional crowd noise and expectation. Spare me the entertainment and pomp.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
One Down One To Go
Jod had his operation last Monday to remove the growth on his gum. It was quite an ordeal, not for me but for Jod, and Elvie and Meredith who have helped him with their moral support and with organizing. Gord and Rob drove him to hospital in the morning and picked him up also as I was at a meeting late that afternoon when the hospital rang.
The growth was thought to be precancerous, but the biopsy the week or so before revealed a few cancer cells apparently. The surgeon said the op was an enormous success, they removed all the growth with no complication and there should be no problems in future. Jod is supposed to be giving up smoking and he's trying very hard but still having a few I think.
Gord goes in for his hernia op tomorrow after a 3 month wait. I have to have him at Monash Medical centre at 6.45 am so the alarm will be set for 5.00am.
I had wanted to post about Marrianne Summers' beehive which I picked up at Officer last Friday evening and moved to Gembrook, but I'd better hit the sack and write that up next time.
The solar panels aren't hooked up yet to the grid. An inspector came and found a couple of wires wrong so the electrician has to come back then the inspector again, and we still need a new fancy metre that can go backwards. I'm starting to get a bit anxious. We've paid up, but nothing's working yet.
(Believe it or not the inpector's name was CARL AXEL NOBELIUS, which will only mean something to those familiar with Nobelius Park)
On AFL football, my association with it is over. I will not be buying a club membership in future and will never pay at the gate to see another game. Melbourne losing our priority draft pick to GWS which is an AFL creation working on AFL money to burn goes beyond all reason and is my tipping point. The AFL is a vile organization.
Prayers for Gord tomorrow, it's his fourth hernia op in his nearly 26 years.
The growth was thought to be precancerous, but the biopsy the week or so before revealed a few cancer cells apparently. The surgeon said the op was an enormous success, they removed all the growth with no complication and there should be no problems in future. Jod is supposed to be giving up smoking and he's trying very hard but still having a few I think.
Gord goes in for his hernia op tomorrow after a 3 month wait. I have to have him at Monash Medical centre at 6.45 am so the alarm will be set for 5.00am.
I had wanted to post about Marrianne Summers' beehive which I picked up at Officer last Friday evening and moved to Gembrook, but I'd better hit the sack and write that up next time.
The solar panels aren't hooked up yet to the grid. An inspector came and found a couple of wires wrong so the electrician has to come back then the inspector again, and we still need a new fancy metre that can go backwards. I'm starting to get a bit anxious. We've paid up, but nothing's working yet.
(Believe it or not the inpector's name was CARL AXEL NOBELIUS, which will only mean something to those familiar with Nobelius Park)
On AFL football, my association with it is over. I will not be buying a club membership in future and will never pay at the gate to see another game. Melbourne losing our priority draft pick to GWS which is an AFL creation working on AFL money to burn goes beyond all reason and is my tipping point. The AFL is a vile organization.
Prayers for Gord tomorrow, it's his fourth hernia op in his nearly 26 years.
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