TIS THE SEASON

Memories of Wild Flower Trip

At our doorstep

Can you believe we are now in late November 2011??!! Just where did the last 12 months go? I hope and trust that the last 12 months have been kind to you and yours and sincerely wish you a wonderful, happy, healthy and prosperous 2012.

Last time we spoke, we had just accepted an offer to stay at a pretty 50 acre property around 50-60ks north of Perth in a picturesque area called Bullsbrook. My darling DD keeps looking for the bull folks! He feels sure that there is some old hoary beast lurking alongside the local brook and hence the name!
I mentioned too that my daughter in law was having a few health issues. Well, as these things go, the health issues escalated just as we moved considerably further away from their home. We received an emergency call the day after we moved, advising us that Nom had once again been taken to hospital. As my son Brett had flown out to Sydney the day before on business there was quite a problem. Brett’s long time mate Brook, who should from here on be known as BTB (Brook the Brave) BTB had responded to Nom’s emergency call during the early hours of the morning and had hastened to their home to stay with Daniel the furiously fast four year old and Jack the jaunty 10 month old. BTB, bless his bachelor socks had stayed the night and then somehow, without any real idea of what he was doing, fed and dressed both the boys, ironed his shirt (with baby under arm) and managed to deposit them at day-care before getting himself off to work.
His plaintive call reached us mid morning. The brave and wonderful man was, he said, willing to sally forth back into the fray that evening and do it all again, but he was not quite sure that he would be able to cope very well. What an amazingly good mate he is. We had little choice but to give a backward glance at our new country abode and make haste for the ‘burbs’ again.
One of the problems associated with looking after the boys, is the matter of appropriate car-seats. Of course, these days one cannot just grab the kids and throw them into the back seat as we would once have done. As those of our generation well know, back in the dark ages, we would have just placed the 4yo in the back of the car and I would have nursed the baby. Not today of course. Now we are not very experienced in all this new fangled stuff and as the Cruiser (Zed) is a very large vehicle, we were unsure about how to transfer the car seats from Nom’s toy car into our big bus. This meant that DD had to drive the little silver toy that Nom drives. The toy is a manual, and yours truly, whilst holding a licence to drive a manual, has not driven one since acquiring her licence (you know, back then when Noah was a boy!!) As you all know we are fairly large people! My proportions, whilst not tall are very wide and DD is tall and nowhere near as sylph-like as he once was. DD also sports a size 13 foot and has habitually driven automatics for the past ............years. So........... after managing to squeeze ourselves into the toy (remember we are used to Zed where one almost needs a ladder to gain access) we proceeded to drag our bottoms along the road – at least that is how it felt – whilst bunny-hopping from spot to spot. DD was having terrible trouble with the clutch and the brake as his large foot seemed unable to move from one to the other smoothly and the ability to manipulate each pedal independently of the other was causing quite some stress. At the same time, my right thigh my dears, was attracting more attention than it had seen since we re-connected some 9 years ago! This was as a result of the gear stick being situated somewhere around my mid thigh. We must have made quite a spectacle, with DD hunched over the steering wheel (where else was he going to hunch?) and me squished up against the passenger door.

Basking in the late sunlght

Anyway to cut a long story short we had a couple of days and nights where we proceeded across to pick the boys up from day-care, stayed the night and then drove back to our ‘country estate’ in an exhausted state the following morning. Oh, just one more humorous tale to relate here. Young Daniel, the fast and furious four year old, has a habit of stealing into the main bedroom in the early hours of the morning. The process went a little like this, as one was sleeping lightly, with one ear posted for any sounds on the monitor in the baby’s room, one would hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet through the room, followed by the soft thud of the overnight ‘pull-ups’ hitting the floor in the en-suite. Then I would hear the musical tinkling of a wee in the loo followed by the soft foot-falls re-entering the bedroom. There the fiendish intelligence of the four year old cut in as Daniel, rather than risk refusal by trying to climb into bed next to us, would quietly insert himself into the bed from the other end, tucking in the process, his small but cold and bony feet into my doubtless warm and soft bottom. Now there followed about 3 hours (well at least 30 minutes) of twitching and squirming until he finally found his way back to the land of nod.
Now I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here, on the first night, there was only one person conscious of this activity, as all through the process we were accompanied by the loud and vigorous snores emanating from DD’s side of the bed. In the morning, DD awoke reasonably refreshed only to find a fairly fractious and irritable old woman in the kitchen. The second night however, my beautiful man wasn’t sleeping quite so soundly and after Daniel had once again inserted his cold little bod into the other end of the bed, DD would periodically sit bolt upright in bed and peer in an alarmed manner at the foot of the bed. I would then murmur something reassuring about it only being Daniel and DD would subside back down under the covers and the snores would then increase in volume as he sought to find a deeper sleep. After this entertaining (not) behaviour had repeated itself a few times, Daniel started to whine also. When I somewhat caustically asked him what the matter was, he informed me in a very peeved and hurt tone that he “just wanted him (DD) to go to sleep!” Eventually somewhere around 4.30 DD informed me that he felt he would have to go and sleep on the couch. Now girls, I think that this was my cue to do something heroic like demur gently that no, indeed it would be me to go to the couch, or that I would risk waking the entire household by moving Daniel unwillingly back to his own room, but my dears, by that time, having been up to Jack a couple of times, having settled both DD and Daniel back to sleep a couple of times, I was in no mood for self-sacrifice. To what must have DD’s considerable disappointment I said with great feeling “Well one of you certainly has to go!” At that my DD wandered sadly out to the very commodious and quite comfortable couch. Poor boy!
Anyway, we all lived through the experience and Nom has since then been fine. Hopefully we are finally at the end of the whole birth and subsequent ill health episode. Jack will turn one on the 30th November and doubtless, Brett and Nom will look back at this past year in some wonder in the future, wondering indeed how they all survived.
During all of this, Mother was having major problems with her eyes and we were also involved in taking her to a series of appointments with GPs, opticians and eye specialists, none of whom could find any evidence of any new problems, or indeed any further deterioration of mum’s eyesight. The trouble had started on the very day that I had taken her home after our wild-flower tour. She said it was just as if someone had dropped a shade over her eyes. This situation seems not to have changed a great deal since then I’m sad to say. Tomorrow we take her to the Blind society to have yet another test done and to determine what if any aids will make her life a little easier. This is all very hard to digest as she has just been declared fit to drive for yet another 12 months.
We, mum and I that is, had yet another falling out, this time as a result of her lack of trust in me. I won’t go into gory details, suffice to say when she does these sorts of things, it feels very much like a blow to the solar plexus (that’s a kick in the guts for anyone who needs a translation) and it takes some time to recover from the subsequent hurt. She is indeed a hard person to love from time to time, and yet, God help me, I do love her. Oh well, it has never been particularly easy, why should it change now at this late stage?
Well, all of this and I still haven’t told you about Bullsbrook! As I said earlier it is around 50ks north of Perth situated alongside the Gt Northern Highway. The property belongs to the daughter of a friend. We had visited our mates while they were looking after the place for their daughter and her husband. There is a long and convoluted story attached to the place, but in simple terms, our friend’s daughter and her husband purchased the property around 1 year ago with the intention of moving both their home and their business here. Due to some issues with disclosure (or more accurately lack of disclosure) they were unable to move the business here. The property went straight back on the market and hopefully in the not too distant future, some resolution to some sticky legal matters will be resolved for the owners.
The owners are a delightful young couple with 4 kids, their own thriving business and a super busy lifestyle. The property consists of 50 acres of undulating pasture and native bush. The bush is a glorious mish- mash of majestic trees, gravel, sand and banks of banksia and native Christmas Trees. Due to some regulatory matters the property is deemed almost to be a nature reserve and as such is a haven for the wild creatures which abound in this area.
There are two old houses on the property and for the first 6 weeks or so that we were here we had the whole place gloriously to ourselves. There are now two of the couple’s employees installed in the other house, but we rarely see them.
We have declined the chance to move our stuff (still in storage) into the house and have opted instead to stay in the van. I have however made myself a studio inside the house and we use the veranda each afternoon to watch the shadows lengthen over the land and see the roos come out of hiding to forage.
There is a lovely swimming pool which we are making good use of and I have to say we are loving being here. The peace and quiet are addictive. For excitement, we are quite close to the RAAF base and so are entertained quite frequently with the comings and goings of the aeroplanes and helicopters from the base.

Splendid Fellow

We are spoilt for bird life. We have all the usual suspects in maggies, mudlarks, butcher birds, ringnecks, galahs, black cockatoos and of course a couple of crows. In addition to all of these we also have splendid wrens and amazingly a couple of red cap parrots. Of course we have taken to putting feed out for the birds on a daily basis (as the practice was before we arrived) and now also put out feed for the roos. It is an absolute delight to sit on the veranda in the late afternoon and watch the antics of the wildlife.
We have been fortunate enough to see this place at it’s very best as we arrived at the peak of spring. The grasses were verdantly green and the wild-flowers were prolific. Now we have fields of gold decorated with the olive green of grass trees and the vivid orange of the Christmas trees. We are sooooooo spoilt!

A couple of the locals

The place is a magnet for anyone who cherishes the peace and quiet of the Australian bush and we have found that visitors fall in love with the tranquillity. We have had a few visitors and love having people come to share our world with us. Because of all the space, and an empty house there is plenty of room for friends and family to visit, even to bring a van and set up camp for a couple of days. We are on the power grid but have no scheme water. A bore supplies water for the garden and pool and a large rain tank provides water for the house.
We have decided that if we cannot be on the road then this is a pretty good substitute. Of course, as the place is on the market, we don’t really know just how long we will be able to stay here. With all of this in mind, we have made the somewhat difficult decision to travel to Tasmania early next year. The intention, was until a week or so ago, to leave mid January and return mid- year. We were (and still are) very happy and excited at the prospect.
Fate, as it will do, has stepped in however. DD went off to his GP a week ago to have his 6 monthly check up and to get his medication for the next 6 months. While there he mentioned that he had been very tired of late and his very careful Dr decided to have a good look at him. Thank God that he did! It turned out that his heart beat was very irregular. This meant a fast appointment to see a cardiologist. Long story short – atrial fibrillation was the diagnosis. DD is now on medication to regulate his heart beat and also on blood thinning medication. Blood tests every 4-5 days will determine how much of the thinners he needs in preparation for an ultrasound to ensure that there are no blood clots formed in the heart. Once everything is stabilised then they will ‘shock’ the heart in an attempt to get it back into the correct rhythm. This, we are told is usually successful. If the shock treatment fails then we think it will be a matter of medication ad finitum.
Since starting the first medication to regulate his heart beat, DD has been sleeping much better, his snoring has decreased in volume and his sleep apnoea seems to have improved considerably. It is interesting and something to be aware of – if anyone you know has sleep apnoea, it is recommended that they have their heart beat checked! It seems there may be a correlation between the two problems.
All of this of course, sent me into a spin and I dare say frightened the you know what out of our lad. Doug being Doug tho’, he has handled the whole thing with great aplomb and considerable calm (unlike me) and has an unassailably positive outlook. That is something we do share. We are both confident that this episode with turn out well and a better quality of health for Doug will be the outcome.
This has all coincided with a major health campaign we had already embarked on. We are on a diet and we are as a result of the necessity of moving around a great deal more on this property already feeling fitter and healthier. The pool is a major plus and every afternoon when it is warm enough (and sometimes when it is not!) we are out there enjoying and exercising (in a gentle and restrained way of course).

From the veranda as the long shadows fall

Onwards and upwards is our war cry, albeit, perhaps not to Tassie quite so soon. DD doesn’t go back to the cardiologist for a check up until mid Jan and from there they will plan the shock treatment. We are not sure how much longer we will have to wait after that, but have hopes that we will get away early February. We have high hopes of still going to Tassie, but being the positive types that we are, if that is vetoed, then we will simply find another closer spot to visit. It is tough, because Mum does need us so much more now, but we really do have to look to ourselves and our own needs. This latest health scare is a huge wake up call – not that we really needed one, we were already aware of the risks we are taking in not doing what we wish to do, but at the end of the day, it has to be somewhat of a juggling act.
In the midst of all various dramas, we have celebrated being together for nine whole years! It seems impossible, but there you are. I have also managed to do some reasonable (and some unreasonable) paintings and we have managed to have both fun and some peace and quiet.


We join to wish you all a harmonious and joyous Christmas and New Year.


Doug & Steph

Travelling with Mother

Amazing Florals

A soft bed for an old soldier



Incredible Contrasts




Travelling with Mother



While DD and I were travelling through our wonderful wild-flower country I was so incredibly impressed with the absolutely jaw dropping beauty I decided I would like to take mum on a brief road trip. Mum has pretty well lived out her life in a small geographic area which would probably cover about 10ks. She really is a person who needs the reassurance of being in her own space, but she also loves beauty and is responsible for instilling a love of nature in me.


Having said that, she recently expressed the belief that the hospital must have given her the wrong baby as my love of the open road is completely foreign to her. DD and I have tried to share some of our experiences with her by taking her on short road trips to Augusta, Walpole and Esperance. She enjoyed all these little sorties albeit also being glad to return home.


Anyway.....I came up with this marvellous idea while we were driving between Mullewa and Morowa and couldn’t wait to call her and give her the good news. I thought it would be lovely opportunity to have some quality Mother Daughter time together. Mother had often expressed disappointment at never having seen Kalbarri so I thought I would do a round trip incorporating Kalbarri.


What is it they say about good intentions? When I called mother to share this wonderful idea with her, before I could mention the subject she gave me a long and disturbing tale of how bad her eyes had been and that she was trying to see her Dr as they were so much worse than usual. She felt that the problem was different to the usual Macular Degeneration (MD) and thought that perhaps she had conjunctivitis or similar. Well, dramas! I explained my plan to her and she was both dismayed and thrilled at the prospect. There was an element of urgency to my plan as from what I could glean the wild-flower carpets would not be around for much longer and I really did want her to see them when they were at their best. After a bit of deliberation we decided that if she could not get in to see her Dr then she should get a cab to the local emergency department at Swan District Hospital. We decided that if she had the go ahead from the Dr we would leave on the first Thursday after our return home. Doing anything like this with Mother is difficult due to the fact that she ALWAYS has her hair done on Wednesday morning and everything has to be arranged around this absolute.


I was so disappointed when I thought that we might not be able to go through with the trip – I had all sorts of sentimental thoughts of a wonderful mother daughter bonding experience. Isn’t it amazing how your memory banks fail to function effectively sometimes?

Fields of Canola and Wheat

Well, Mother managed to get in to see a Dr and was given some antibiotic drops just in case there was an infection. The Dr could see nothing obvious wrong with her eyes. There was, according to mother some marginal improvement in her eyes and so we started to make arrangements for our journey. I had to laugh, when I first mentioned my plan to mum, she wanted to know where DD was going to stay – she had imagined that she and I would be taking the caravan! Now that really would be something! DD of course would be staying in the van. He really is Douglas Darling, as he fully supported my endeavours even though he realised he was putting himself in the slot for going up to Mum’s house twice daily to feed The Wombat. Mum’s dog Sparky, a very rotund Staffy needed not only to be fed twice daily, but of course also needed walking and a bit of company. People who are not into pets and dogs will have difficulty understanding that Sparky is mum’s only child at the moment and her mainstay, company and bed-warmer. I fully understand her concern for him.


The plan was to stay in motels and or apartments in Perenjori, Northampton and Kalbarri, leaving on the Thursday morning early and returning on Monday. A good plan!


Boy, the first thing I have to say is that during the next four days I came to understand and appreciate all the things that DD does for me (and for mum) as I became the surrogate ‘bloke’ and had to do all the carrying and toting for the two of us. Fortunately I had the foresight to veto mum’s big old suitcase and purchased a couple of cheap and cheerful carry bags for both of us. You would have laughed had you seen our matching pastel pink bags.

The famous wreath flower

Colour!

A couple of well disguised trouble-makers

Do you have any idea of just how much stuff you need to carry with you for such an enterprise. As we planned to eat out for just one meal a day I needed to carry sufficient tucker for breakfast and lunch. Silly girl! Of course as it turned out, we mostly supplied our own breakfast but not much else. Now those of you who are familiar with my ample figure would assume that I was the culprit with the over -supply of food. Especially I might add if you saw my diminutive mother. Not So.......during the days leading up to our departure I was bombarded with request s for certain types of biscuits and various other delicacies – mother seemed to think that we may perish from lack of nourishment on our journey. As I wanted this to be a special memory for her I went out of my way to provide all her favourites including I’m sorry to say, a bottle of Scotch (her request). She also requested some beer which fortunately I failed to provide. All the provisions required a chiller bag (for milk and the cheese mother habitually has for breakfast), a supply of her beloved bananas, butter and her favourite dark chocolate ginger).


As I had KO’d her suitcase, I suggested she just leave her clothes on hangers which I could drape over the back seat of the Cruiser. Of course I had my own stuff and I think that between us we could have provided the stock for a well provisioned Pharmacy! So, we had a total of at least 6 bags, my laptop, handbags and various clothes on hangers. Lovely! Off we went.


The first day was weather perfect as we made our way through Moora, Carnamah and on to Perenjori. Sadly for mum, her MD means that sparkling days like that one are somewhat difficult for her. Dark glasses are an absolute must. When we arrived in Perenjori we went straight out to view the flowers. There was rain forecast for the following day so I wanted her to see the carpets of flowers while the going was good. Blissfully, it was everything I had promised and she was duly amazed by the spectacle. I know that her eyesight is impaired because of the MD but her eyesight is adequate for her to enjoy most things still.

Just by the by, one of the things that was causing mother some stress and consternation was re-sitting her Driver’s Licence just before we left home. This was her main reason for being concerned about her eyes in fact. Amazingly, she passed! I don’t know how she managed to pass the eye test but once again the powers that be have decided that she can legally drive. She has vowed and declared to us however that she will only ever drive when absolutely compelled to do so. Thank goodness for that. I know it means a great deal to her, but truly, I don’t believe she should be driving. She has also vowed that she will not attempt to sit it again next year. Of course, she keeps telling me that doubtless she won’t still be around then. She also declares that if her eyesight continues to deteriorate she has no wish to remain here. I can understand that.


Anyway back to Perenjori. On the way to the best of the blossom we were lucky enough to spot a Mallee Fowl beside the road. I know I am pathetic, but it was my first Mallee Hen and I was stoked. Having seen the best of the flowers we went to book into a lovely little unit situated at the Perenjori CP. These are lovely little one bedroom units with all mod cons. Thankfully we managed to get one with two single beds. Mother seemed to think that we could share a double if necessary and was somewhat put out I think by my shuddered reaction to that suggestion. When I consider the matter, I am not sure why the thought repulses me the way it does, after all she is only little, doesn’t wet the bed and doesn’t snore anywhere nearly as loudly as DD, but .....................no!

Snow?

This is when I really began to appreciate and miss DD – there was a little walk and a few steps to manage with the luggage etc and what with being unfit and suffering very badly with my knee I found it quite exhausting to manage all the bits. Of course, you need to understand here that Mother Dear does absolutely nothing. This has very little to do with her age or supposed infirmity. Mother does Royal very well and simply expects that her loyal servants (namely me) will do everything. This does include seeing her safely up the stairs etc. Not that I mind that, after all she does need my help for these things. I think it is just she really does absolutely nothing when I am around. She would never consider making a cuppa for instance. When I am not around, she manages these little tasks quite well. Even when we go to see her, she never, but never makes me a cuppa. Everyone else yes, but not me. It is a very old habit of hers which goes right back to my childhood and I have to say, pees me of considerably.


I do understand that as she has to ‘do for herself’ these days it is just lovely to have someone else ‘do’ for her, but it could be tempered just a bit I feel. Before my father died, he ‘did everything’ for mum too, it has always been her way. It always amuses me when she complains of her own mother’s propensity for regal commands when she is just so much like her. I know DD does a great deal for me, but truly guys, it is not all a one way street. After all I do all the cooking etc and the darling man that he is, would not know where to find a can of baked beans on his own. I did make sure that I cooked all his meals before I left and gave adequate descriptions of where he would find all the necessary in my absence. Please, oh please tell me I am not like my mother!!!


During our drive to Perenjori we had stopped at a servo somewhere and bought sandwiches and chips for lunch. Chips are my mother’s very favourite food, and I have to confess to a partiality myself. Despite this, we decided to go to the local pub for tea. The food, I already knew from when DD and I had eaten there, was not marvellous, but the atmosphere was decidedly country and very pleasant. While we were at the pub Mother engaged in conversation with some fellow travellers. She discovered that the male partner was a volunteer driver for her neighbouring shire and they had an interesting if somewhat one -sided conversation. Mum had a beer with her meal and I had a white wine spritzer. After our meal we returned to the camp. Mother was both fascinated and appalled at the dress-code of the female caravanners. I (being one of those caravanners) am accustomed to the dress-code but mum just couldn’t get over how dowdy and unfeminine some of the campers appeared. She did however get an inside view to our lives and I think started to gain some perspective and appreciation of the lifestyle. During the course of the afternoon/evening I introduced mother to the joy of a coffee laced with a good dollop of scotch. Would that I had not introduced her to this little luxury – one that would turn around and bight me on the bum several days later!


I had a rather restless night sleeping across the room from mum. She however appeared to sleep fairly well. Not so I was informed in the morning when she declared that she had not slept at all. Hmmm, what then were those snores that emanated from her during the seeming hours when I could not achieve such somnolent bliss? Why then did she have no memory of me getting up early and preparing her breakfast while she still slumbered on? Mmm.


Sweeping views



Anyway, we breakfasted royally on all mum’s favourites. Fresh bananas, fresh dates, walnuts, brie and raisin toast drenched in real butter. What amazes me is that there is really nothing of her. The day dawned bleak and overcast and it had rained briefly during the night. I did the dishes, packed up our stuff, loaded the car, saw mother down the steps and into the Cruiser and we were off. I must tell you at this point of how we post mother into the car. The Cruiser is quite high off the ground, due not only to its design but also to the inflated air-bags under the rear suspension. I have to really stretch myself to get in and out. Mum is only little and as her legs have the habit of once in a blue moon giving way on her, I help her to find the hand-grips inside the car then when she is ready place my hands under her bum and give her a good posting into the car. I have seen many a person break into a broad grin watching our manoeuvres. I guess it looks all the more odd as mother has a distinctly royal appearance.


Despite the overcast and rainy weather mum really enjoyed our travels that day. The dim conditions were easier on her eyes and she liked the contrast from the previous day. She had never really experienced out-back storms and was amazed and thrilled by the events. The weather didn’t really make the driving very easy as we passed through constant little storms and the visibility was often very poor. We took all the back roads (and very nearly one wrong road that really would have taken us off the beaten track) and somehow ended up more or less where I had planned. For some reason I cannot convince DD that we need some new maps and whilst I had meant to get some myself before leaving home, had overlooked that minor problem and so had to do a little guesswork. I usually do all the navigating when DD and I are travelling, but had for once not been responsible for the route we had taken from Kalbarri to Mullewa and so was not too sure of my way there. I must have zigged when I should have zagged as instead of coming out just below Northampton we came out around 50ks above. Not a major problem.


I had decided that we would not stay in Northampton but continue on to Kalbarri that night, so we drove back southwards through the picturesque town of Northampton and onto the coast road leading into Kalbarri. I could have taken the inland route but wanted mum’s first impressions of our beloved Kalbarri to be via the ocean. The countryside along that route is very pretty and the Pink Lake that day was almost magenta in colour, really striking! We were amazed to see a sleek fox speed across the road ahead of us and also saw a large black feral cat. I know very well all the reasons why these creatures are abhorred and should not be here, but I cannot help but feel a pang of admiration and pity for them in their tough existence. Despite all my best intentions the weather was such that the visibility across the ocean leading into Kalbarri was very poor and all we had were misty images of the ocean.

Spider Orchids

Waves pounding the Bluff

Kalbarri across the river mouth

Best laid plans! I had thought that we would stay at the Kalbarri Hotel as recommended by DD. When I enquired there however it evolved that the only room available was really grotty being one of their ‘un-renovated’ rooms and it contained no toaster, no rails in the shower for mum and was basically basic. The girl there was lovely and very kindly warned me of the room and showed it to me just in case it met my needs. So, onwards and as it turned out, upwards! Egged on my Mother who was quite rightly for her, treating this as a once in a lifetime event, we looked for accommodation along the ocean/river front and finally found a lovely self-contained unit overlooking the break. Sadly for yours truly it was on the first floor! Wonderful! The lady who booked us in managed to get us some help getting our stuff up to the room and there were vague promises of help again when we were leaving, yeah, right!!


That was Friday afternoon latish. Once again we had found food at a servo in Mullewa (more chips!) and really did not feel that we could manage eating out that night. Moreover, eating out would have required me to walk and down and back up those steps again. My knee, after driving all day, jumping in and out of the Cruiser and lumping stuff up those stairs was really giving me curry, as they say. Needless to say, we decided that I should go and get some supplies from the local IGA and eat in that evening. Neither of us wanted a proper meal but thought we could eat something. As an oven was provided I thought some oven heated nibblies would suffice. And so they did, we dined royally on odds and sods washed down by more scotch laced coffee. I had also taken a cask of Cowboy with us and that also sustained me during the evenings. Don’t get the wrong idea here, we had one magic coffee each and then Mother would have maybe 2 glasses of scotch and something and I would have the equivalent in Cowboys. Very modest all things considered.


I must say Mum really did very well, after all she also had to climb those stairs – I really think she is far fitter than me, she just has trouble seeing where to put her feet. No small problem of course. Saturday morning dawned reasonably fine with brief squalls flitting over the area during the day. I took mum out and showed her those of the ocean cliffs which were either easily viewed from the car window or had small and easy walks. The wild-flowers alongside these walks were prolific and the day was lovely. We had lunch at Rosie’s overlooking the break (mum had her favourite fish and chips) and we took home some goodies for tea for that night and the next. On returning to the unit we rested and watched the break from the comfort of our unit. We had a tiny little balcony where we enjoyed our morning coffee but it was a little too windy later in the day. That night we ate sparingly but continued our now usual drinkies. Mother retired to her bed at around 8.30 leaving me to watch the movie on TV. Incidentally, she had the double bed in the bedroom with all the luxuries whilst I managed on a single bed in the main living area. She felt a bit guilty about this, but had declared when we first arrived that she needed ‘drawers’ next to her bed in which distribute all her gear. I didn’t really mind and was happy to have access to the telly after she went to bed. Once again she had suggested we share the bed. No, no, no...............


Sunday we once again started the day with coffee on our little balcony and then went forth to explore. We managed to get into the local homestead and mum was fascinated with the enterprise there. The lass who admitted us, was a German backpacker and mother engaged her in a long conversation. Mum always claims to hate people, but also claims an over-riding interest in others. This I would have to say is true. She was truly interested in what this girl was doing. The scenery into the homestead was majestic and made all the more so by the cloud shadows cast by the scudding clouds overhead. Vast red cliffs set against the green and gold of the spring bush were just amazing in the early morning light. From the homestead we drove up to the lookout enjoying more spectacular scenery along the drive.

Day's end



The Bluff



Mum was starting to lag a little but we went to the Rainbow Jungle to see all the beautiful parrots and the very pretty water gardens. After enjoying a coffee and muffin there we drove out along the shore again once again enjoying the cliffs and ocean. We were fortunate enough to have a big swell that day and so the surf was quite spectacular. We saw surfers cheating death along some of the breaks, being towed in by surf skis to surf the huge waves.


I had promised mum lunch at the pub while we were there and this was our last chance. As luck would have it there was a huge party going on at the local and so we were compelled to go around to the local tavern instead. Once again mother indulged in her favourite fish and chips. She joined me in a white wine spritzer and after a leisurely lunch we returned to the unit for a rest.


We duly rested and then enjoyed a scotched coffee and a couple of drinks as we had on previous evenings. Whales were cavorting just the other side of the break and whilst we couldn’t actually see them, we had a good view of the giant splashes that ensued. All was good until I had a phone call from my daughter-in-law. Perhaps it was the scotch, perhaps it was that I was by then pretty tired or perhaps it was just the law of averages that specified that Mother and I could not spend more than 3 days together without a little of our past catching up with us. Whatever it was, suddenly she was on the attack! It was completely out of the blue and took me by surprise. Sadly for mother where once sat a meek, mild and obedient child, now sits a fairly feisty female who will not be attacked in that manner. Heated words were spoken, I’ll save you the pain of what they were about, suffice to say my mother is eternally jealous, particularly where my time is concerned and I am defensive of those I love.


The evening deteriorated more when I was accused of belonging to the ‘selfish generation’! Oh dear, I cannot imagine many words set to inflame me more! Mum really has no idea of just how much we have put our lives on hold for her or just how much we have altered our lifestyle for her benefit. I of course, was incensed. It seems that part of her logic spanned around ‘spending the kids inheritance’ – it shows you how unreasonable she was being by that stage as she had obviously read this on a bumper sticker and decided to use it to her advantage. This is not like her at all. She is generally a highly intelligent individual who makes up her own mind about things. I guess we had been slightly at odds all the time too about politics. She had been particularly outspoken about her thoughts on all things political since we had left home and as we are almost diametrically opposed on those matters, I had been having difficulty not biting on some of her caustic comments.


The other issue was her language. You who know me well, know that I am capable of using some fairly colourful language myself when the moment calls for it and I am by no way a prude. BUT.... when your diminutive, regal , 86 year old mother insists on using the word F...ck at every possible opportunity, for some reason it grates. The amazing thing is that when DD is around she rarely exposes this side of her nature. The other unrelenting commentary from mother related to duty, a daughter’s duty to her mother that is. This infuriates me as I am not here for duty, but ironically despite all that has happened between us over the years, I do what I do because I love her. Unfortunately some old wounds were re-opened, probably on both sides of the line and we were a very prickly pair indeed when retiring for bed that evening.


Early Monday morning I woke and packed up all I could prior to breakfast and made a series of painful journeys up and down those bloody stairs to the car. By the time I woke Mother I was showered, breakfast was ready and she only needed to eat and shower before we could leave. Coffee on the balcony was a slightly cool affair, but as I cannot stand that sort of tension I managed to make amends and we were back on reasonable terms by the time I had her safely in the car.


The trip home was beautiful. We drove home via the Midlands road and the fitfully cloudy day provided us with stunning scenery. Mum particularly loves the deep blue cloud shadows which play across the landscape on these sorts of days. We stopped at the Cataby Roadhouse for lunch and then made our fairly leisurely way home.


Whilst mother did really enjoy her break and I know she was very appreciative, it was a shame that it had to be marred by our tiff on the Sunday night. She really is driven by some strange gremlins at times.


Since I dropped mother off on Monday afternoon two weeks ago we have had more dramas with my daughter in law being taken to hospital in an ambulance twice within a week. They are still not quite certain as to what caused her serious pain but it would seem to be related to both a blockage in the small intestine caused by scar tissue and some sort of tummy bug associated with her auto-immune system. All seems to be OK now, but this week she goes back to hospital to have some repair work done on her scars.


We have been offered and have accepted the chance to live at/caretake a 50 acre property in Bullsbrook. We move out there next Sunday so stay tuned for our country adventures.


In the meantime, BE NICE TO YOUR MOTHERS even when they are not nice to you......Steph.

Back to Kalbarri

Red Bluff in the morning light

A perfect moment in Time



Early morning on the Murchison



Well, hi there! We are back in lovely Caversham in the beautiful Swan Valley. Since we last spoke we have been to Green Head where we caught up with good friends Steve & Sylvia and then onwards and upwards to Kalbarri. I know it’s not that long since we visited Kalbarri, but during the Perth winter (and we really did have one this year), Kalbarri is a good spot to be. Close enough to town for the trip up to be done easily and yet far enough away to give us a breather!



Surprisingly the weather in Kalbarri this winter was also just a tad on the wintery side with daytime max in the low to mid 20s and night temps plummeting to somewhere around the 8 degree mark. On top of that it rained and then it rained some more and yet more! Not surprising you may think, BUT Kalbarri generally has a very low winter rainfall, but not this year. Did any of this bother us? Not one little bit! As usual we loved our stay there. I won’t bore you with any descriptions of the place as I’m sure I did enough of that last year as we passed thru’ the place.

One small thrill for us was the Tawny Frogmouths. When we pulled in there last October the tree next to the van was occupied by a pair of Tawny Frogmouths. For the duration of our stay they spent their days roosting in a sad little paperbark tree with very little foliage or protection. They became quite special to us. Lo and behold when we pulled into the same spot again this year the same pair was still happily ensconced in the little tree. They remained there once again for the first 5 weeks of our stay and then one of them failed to return leaving the other to keep solitary vigil for the remainder of our 6 week stay. We very much hope that the missing bird has gone nesting and that no harm has come her way. During the day they barely moved except to ‘stump’ if they perceived any danger and at nightfall each evening they would steal away on silent wings. DD has managed to get an abundance of shots of the pair, some of them quite good. Their camouflage is exceptional as you will see from the photos.


As usual our stay in Kalbarri was very social, made all the more so by a chance meeting with fellow members of the Supreme Owners Group, John and Margaret. They were travelling with a couple of old mates and we became sort of swept up into the ever expanding group of people who gathered each afternoon for sundowners. Disastrous for my ever expanding middle! I don’t know what it is about munchies, but I just don’t seem to be able to ignore them if they are sitting in front of me. Quite embarrassing really! After a while I tried to abstain by simply not attending drinkies. I dare say I was considered rude but sadly I have come to terms with my own limitations.


We made some great new friends and also caught up with some from previous years. We have been to Kalbarri now for 5 years running, all at different times of the year and one thing we notice is that the place has a loyal following of annual visitors.


The park has a bum-fight each Thursday evening with $3s a pop for either home -made soup, a burger or a sausage in a roll (with the trimmings). More often than not there will be someone talented there who will entertain the troops so to speak. This time we had a fellow with a piano accordion as well as a country and western duo. The fires are lit for the occasion and a good time is had by all. This custom also brings campers together.


We spent our time happily checking out the coast, searching for wild-flowers, painting, reading and in DD’s case, playing the market. Steve and Sylvia took time away from their beloved Green Head and came to stay for a day or so and many a game of cards was played and a couple of dollars changed hands. Sadly I think I lost most of my ‘washing machine money’ in the process. Although we travel with our own little washing machine, I do occasionally use the bigger camp machines if I have a larger load than usual.


Yellow Orchids



Due to the very wet season the wild-flowers in and around the township were coming into bloom in considerable abundance. We probably left just before they peaked but they were wonderful nevertheless.


Kalbarri had a couple of very large swells whilst we were there also and this made for some spectacular surf and good photo opportunities. I even managed to get up at dawn one day and shoot the Bluff in the early morning light. All of this gave me the perfect excuse for a couple of very Kalbarri-esque paintings. Once I remember to have DD photograph them I will post them for your entertainment.

Big waves crashing in on the cliffs

As seems to have become the norm, we extended our initial stay of 5 weeks to 6 and then reluctantly said good-bye once again to this little paradise. This time however, instead of heading straight home or home via the coast, we took an inland route in order to better experience the wild-flower season. We are told that due to the perfect weather conditions experienced this year it is the best season for some 50 years!


From Kalbarri we travelled to Mullewa, a small wheat town with an appalling name for racial unrest. It seems that a fairly serious brawl had been fought a couple of weeks prior to our visit pursuant to a local footy match. I have to say that the town, despite some effort to the contrary was not particularly appealing with mesh and bars across most of the windows and doors. Broken glass littered the sidewalks and most of the commercial buildings seemed to be closed and boarded up. Dogs of every size and description mournfully wandered the streets and sitting in the car waiting for DD outside the local servo I felt just a tad un-nerved and vulnerable as a few likely types
sauntered past taking what seemed an inordinate interest in the Cruiser. I dare say I was uncharacteristically over-reacting.



The Caravan Park there is run by the Shire and would have to be the easiest park we have seen so far to stay in without paying. Don’t get me wrong, incurably honest types that we are we certainly payed, but how on earth they keep tabs on it was beyond us. The park itself was quite good and the amenities block was surprisingly immaculate and well maintained. I suspect that the local church ladies keep it under control as they seemed to have a fair number of ads and pamphlets posted on the walls there. A good system it would seem. Whilst the park was fully serviced we ended up with a site without water due to the sheer number of vans there. The wild-flower season combined with the Country Show/Field Day season saw a huge number of vans on the country roads and in the parks.


The first day rained non -stop so we turned a 2 night stop-over into a 3 night stop-over and spent the first day there gloriously luxuriating in doing absolutely nothing. I know it sounds weird after relaxing so much at Kalbarri, but frankly the social whirl there leaves you just a little jaded and some quiet time with books was really welcome.


The second day was beautiful without a cloud in the sky and so off we went to see the famous Wreath Flowers. We did finally find them and were duly amazed. They really do look like Christmas Wreaths, circular with cream and red flowers. Quite special! More special tho’ were the carpets of everlastings and such. I had heard about these wonderful displays but had never fully understood just how amazing they are.


From Mullewa we moved on down to Perenjori and still with wonderful weather once again went hunting for blossom. We took a gravel road out to John Forest Lookout and found there the most amazing display of floral splendour you could ever imagine. Acres upon acres of pink, white and yellow interspersed with glowing purples and blues. We have some good photos so instead of boring you with my dialogue I will post some photos instead. You will see that the deep red of the soil, the dead branches of trees and the brilliance of the flowers is an absolute feast for the eyes.


The crops this year are also amazing so we were blessed with acres of deep green wheat fields mixed with the brilliant yellow of the canola fields. Occasionally we would spot a field where the farmer for whatever reason had departed. Sadly not a few farmers have walked off their farms, particularly in those marginal areas where we were travelling. Years of drought combined with all manner of disasters often culminates in the direst of consequences. The untilled fields were sometimes gold with dandelions whilst others were silver under the sun with the stubble of the previous year.


From Mullewa we moved down to Perenjori, another tiny wheat-belt town. Perenjori was delightful, a clean and neat little town with a great deal of local pride on display. We thoroughly enjoyed the local caravan park which sported facilities for open fires. DD was in his element, getting a sparkling fire going late each afternoon and then cheerily inviting fellow campers to join him for sundowners in front of the fire. We met some lovely folk this way along with their 4 legged friends who also came along to enjoy the warmth of the fire.


The CP was run by the local shire and we found it to be a well maintained and cheerful spot to stay. On the other hand good friends of ours have since stayed there on our recommendation and have found the amenities block to be somewhat lacking. As I shower in the van perhaps I was less than observant about the showers but they did seem OK to me. I guess it depends on what you are looking for. We love the aspect of a bush camp, especially when all mod-cons are offered. It seems to be the best of both worlds to us.


We spent 3 nights in Perenjori and then drove straight back to Caversham from there, passing through Carnamah and Moora on the way. We delighted in the Midlands Road which was also coming alive with wild-flowers. The drive down through Bindoon was just stunning with all the green fields, canola crops and undulating hills set off to advantage under the scudding clouds of a blustery day.


Rather than blather on more I will attempt to post sufficient photos to convince you of beauty of our wonderful home state.




Carpets of blossoms along the roadside

 Love for now, be tolerant and share the joy – Steph.

FAMILY TIES

80 Mile Beach

Wharton Beach

Dawntime at Denmark

Hello, hello, hello. I am sorry to have been out of touch with so many of you over the past few months. You may have gathered life picked up a little pace for a while there and we were on the run so to speak. We arrived home on around the 9th of April and our Daughter in Law Naomi went into hospital on the 11th for major reconstructive surgery. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the situation, Naomi (Nom) gave birth to beautiful Jack on the 30th November. Due to a whole range of health issues, we very nearly lost our girl during the birth. During the course of the operation to remove Jack ,Nom had amongst other problems, major issues with bleeding. As a result of this they left (from memory) something like 16 metal clamps inside her. The cumulative effect of all of this was that having survived the birth, Nom needed substantial surgery to enable her to live a normal life again. Soooo, back into hospital. Once again, things didn’t go as smoothly as we would have liked and Nom was on that operating table for another 5 or so hours. The operation was successful but only on the proviso of certain post operative rules to be obeyed. One of these rules meant that Nom could lift nothing weighing more than 2ks. A big ask for a mother of a Ferocious Four Year Old and a five month old babe. Of course, she also had to take everything else very slowly and easily.


As luck would have it, whilst Brett (my son) had been able to take extended leave during the dramatic events surrounding Jack’s birth, he was out of luck this time around. His workplace has been wonderful and super supportive, but at the end of the day they needed him back on the job. To make the situation just that little bit more ‘exciting’ the Thursday after Nom’s op he was to take over the role of his own boss for an undetermined time. Those of you who have climbed that corporate ladder will know that opportunities like this only come along once in a very long while and careers are won and lost during these times.


OK, so the scene is set. There is really nobody else the kids (Brett & Nom) can call on in these difficult times. Nom’s mum works as does the rest of the family. We were the nominated Cavalry. I have to say my dears, I am too old, too fat and too unfit to be a mum. Nature really did know what she was about when she arranged for families to be born while we are young. Knowing my limits, my son very wisely arranged for Daniel (the ferocious 4yo) to be in full time day-care and/or kindy during Nom’s recovery. I am so grateful for this, as I really don’t think I could have coped with him as well as Jack. Jack of course, is just beautiful. He is however a ‘windy baby’ and as a result of that can be a little un-settled and fractious. One of the biggest problems for us was that the kids live a good 40 min drive away from us and I had to be there before 7am in order for Brett to leave for work, dropping Daniel off on his way. I have always hated driving in the dark. I have very bad ‘night-vision’. Fortunately, I had just been prescribed new driving glasses which help diffuse that ‘light problem’ and they did help. When I first started going over to help, the days were dawning as I left. By the time I finished just a week or so ago, I was driving the entire trip in darkness. To add to my woes, we did have some of that stuff rarely seen in WA, rain. Of course, a goodly amount of it fell during my dark trips in the mornings. Likewise, we also have some very thick fogs which made visibility very tough in this low lying part of the country. Just to make it all the more colourful, the roads I had to travel, wend amongst paddocks that are just thick with kangaroos! Wonderful.


Initially I was stopping off on the way to pick up a heart-starter for Brett – a Muzz-Buzz was a must for both of us initially. Once we were sorted out tho’ this stopped and Brett doubtless picked up his own coffee. This was probably a good thing as I can see how those things can become habit very quickly. To arrive at Brett’s by the designated time I was getting up at 5am. Because I knew I had to wake early, I generally woke every hour on the hour during the night. I don’t know about you, but that has always been the way for me when I have an early start. My rather feeble point is that I became pretty sleep deprived pretty quickly. I am one of those people who really need their sleep and I have to confess to not being nice to know when I am over-tired.


Anyway, I digress (how unusual!). I was a little nervous with Jack initially. After all, I only had 2 babes and both of them were some 37 years ago. I didn’t have a great deal of interaction with my other grandchildren when they were babies. It didn’t take me long to find my feet tho’ and before long Jack & I were getting along just swimmingly. Babies really are wonderful people! I consider myself to be blessed by being able to share a small part of his life and to have been there through a couple of major events (first roll over and stuff like that). During her recovery Nom would stay abed until 11 ish and then would get up and potter around the place. I know it is really difficult to be the good patient and poor old Nom was chastised by yours truly on several events of trying to do too much. There were times I think, when she simply forgot that she was not supposed to do things. Life for Brett must have been pure hell. I know my son is made of seriously strong stuff, but just how close we came to breaking him, I guess we will never know. His job is full on and very stressful at the best of times. Add to that having to get up and do all the night feeds, change wet beds and look after a sick wife!!! On top of that he is on call 24 hours a day (albeit on the phone) and as his job involves life and death scenarios calls relating to downed phone systems etc must have been just delightful.


BUT...........we all soldiered on. Nom’s mum Gloria came in on her one day off each week and I was there for the other 4 week days. On the week-ends Brett soldiered on alone. Nom’s step-mum Winnie came to the fore with bulk cooked meals for them. She brought them over on the week-ends. I am ashamed to confess that I was ‘crying tired’ at the end of each week. Looking after someone else’s baby is somewhat taxing and although I bonded very well with little Jack I did find it nerve-racking. Just trying to maintain his schedule to his parent’s expectations and in such a manner as to get him sleeping better during the nights was a challenge. It’s different when it is your own child and you can make up the rules. This is in no way a criticism of Brett & Nom’s parenting incidentally. It’s just that we all do things differently.


During the 7 week recovery period there were a few crisis points involving infections etc. and Brett found himself in emergency one evening with Nom (and both the children). As I said, I don’t know how he coped and maintained his sanity.


Early in the piece we were visited by a Registered Nurse who arranged for Nom to have a cleaner come in for a couple of hours each week to do the housework. Of course, I tidied the house on a daily basis and kept the washing etc up but the house still needed extra attention. This service was free. The concept is to allow patients to recover at home thus freeing up hospital beds. Interesting. There is a very long and convoluted story about why this op was performed under Public Health and not Private. It was all to do with the Dr and not a choice made by Brett & Nom. In addition to the house-work, a nurse called every couple of days to check Nom’s dressing etc. In the middle of all the chaos, Nom had to go in for her monthly infusions. We had two of those during the time I was there.


Nom champed at the bit for the day when she could have the catheter out. Finally the Monday arrived and Brett took the day off so that they could go together to the hospital and celebrate the first day of the rest of their lives. The day was a nightmare and the pain involved was horrendous. I spoke with Nom when she arrived home that afternoon and she sounded terribly down. I was a bit perplexed as I had expected her to be on top of the world, finally being ‘recovered ‘enough to pick up her baby and to move about freely. I had ostensibly been dismissed and was also free to pick up my own life. All Good!! Not to be. Early next morning I had a very confused and teary call from Nom. It was incidentally her birthday! I could get no sense out of her and doubtless, as I could barely talk due to a very bad bug, she couldn’t understand me either. She hung up the phone and I couldn’t get her back. Finally, in somewhat of a panic I managed to get hold of Brett who just managed to tell me that Nom was terribly ill, had fallen in at around 2am and just couldn’t look after Jack. What could I do? I didn’t want to take my bugs into the house, particularly to look after a little one. There really was no choice however. By the time I arrived there, my other son, Troy, was sitting looking somewhat bemused with a happy Jack ensconced on his lap. Nom had sent out the SOS far and wide and poor old Troy had answered the call. He was prepared to stay until 2pm and Brett was able to work from home just for that day. I sent Troy back to his own work and he and I agreed to share the care duties the following day. I felt guilty about these arrangements and finally said I would be there for them. So, me and my germs arrived again for the next 3 days. I have never seen anyone as ill as Nom looked that week. Both she and Brett were of the opinion that she had picked up a viral infection at the hospital. This opinion was echoed by their surgeon, this despite not physically seeing the patient. Nom quarantined herself in Daniel’s bedroom and Daniel took up residence with his Dad. She was not able to get up until Friday afternoon. On one very frightening occasion she did come out to the kitchen to get some pain killers and she could only slide her feet along the ground – she couldn’t lift them from the floor. She was skeletal and pale. I was terrified for her! Finally on Friday afternoon she surfaced and come out to the kitchen and had a bit of a visit with me. I was so relieved to see her looking a little better.


That was the Friday before the long week-end and on the Monday afternoon we had a call from Nom. We (DD & me) both froze when we saw her name on the phone. With great trepidation we answered the call only to hear Nom‘s very cheerful voice on the other end suggesting that they drop in for a little visit. This they duly did and I cannot explain adequately just how wonderful it was to see them looking just like a normal family. I just had a call from Troy and he too has seen a dramatic change in his brother’s demeanour since Nom‘s recovery. Of course, she still has to be sensible and do all the right things for a little while longer, but essentially, hopefully, they are now on the home stretch of what has been an absolute nightmare for them.


Needless to say thru’ all of this there has been Mother. For most of the time she was very good, but towards the end of the nightmare, she did become a little frayed around the edges. She was very, very good about the car. We had her car here for most of the time. This was so that DD could take her shopping, hairdressing, library etc. DD incidentally was wonderful and really did show why I still think he is TBBITW. He became Mum‘s taxi. The old ladies that chat to mum at the shopping centre thought he was wonderful too!! Mother was not neglected in any way, but she was deprived of my company. Mind you, regardless of how tired I felt, I did go and see her every Saturday morning for a long chat. Between you, me and the fence-post, there was an ulterior motive in having the car here. We feel good when she is not driving! It was also handy for a little extra storage space during rainy patches etc.


Poor Old Mum! Once again she has a cold. She claims that every May she catches a cold and it stays with her until the end of the year. She seems to be right. On top of the cold she claimed to have, she then caught ours. Now she is feeling miserable. She went and had a scan done on her nose etc. as she has polyps in her nasal passages and is considering having them removed. She has an appointment with RPH early July to discuss the probabilities of the operation. When she went to see the Dr after having the scans he mentioned that she also has ‘growths’ on her bronchial tubes. She was as they say in the classics ‘nay pleased’. Anyway all of this and missing out on my company culminated in her dishing me out a very large dose of vitriol. This was after we took her out for her birthday (86) to a beautiful venue in Cottesloe. This was so that she could be close to the sea (her request). I will attach a photo of mum on her big day just so you can see how wonderfully well she appeared on the day. I don’t doubt that mum feels terrible, but sadly I feel what she is feeling is simply in the main, old age. I don’t think she gets that. She has been so fortunate during her life not to suffer most of the aging symptoms that the rest of us put up with. She has only just begun to feel a bit of arthritis etc. Where some days I can barely move at my age, she is still reasonably nimble. There are days when she is frailer than others of course and while she has this bug, she is not particularly good.


Anyway, back to the vitriol. This particularly nasty dish was served up to me when I went to see her the Saturday after Nom’s ‘virus’. I was exhausted and not particularly well myself, and yet I was there. You know, I used to be a meek and mild little mouse, but sadly that mouse was long ago eaten by the wild-cat that took its place. I no longer take ‘shit’ and this includes from my elderly and sometimes cantankerous mother. Unfortunately for her, she unloaded it and it was shovelled back at her as fast as it came. We had a couple of days after that where she continued to attempt to gain ascendancy, all to no avail. Needless to say, I think we are now back on a reasonably even keel. I won’t bore you with all the details, but suffice to say that although she has tempered somewhat over the years, My Mother still can be a difficult and prickly old bugger. I love her very much, but I won’t be intimidated by her. Nor will I be made to feel guilty!


Anyway, all is good now and we took her for a drive to Bunbury yesterday at her request. This was to see the windows in the Catholic Cathedral there. The church was very badly storm damaged some time back and rather than have super expensive stained glass windows installed, they commissioned Robin Juniper to paint them. A novel approach indeed and worth the visit if you are in the area. We had a lovely day made humorous by the fact that mum came out with one shoe and one slipper. If I had needed any evidence of her failing eye-sight, that would certainly have done the trick. Admittedly they did look somewhat similar, although the shoe was black and the slipper navy. My Mother is a very stylish lady, even now and very, very particular about how she looks. I saw her gaff when helping her from the car and before I could stop myself broke out laughing and told her of her ‘costume malfunction’. I suppose she would have found out eventually anyway. She did see the humour of the situation but couldn’t help but say “OH NO” over and over again for the next 5 minutes. In consideration of her feelings and to save her embarrassment (and DD some money?!) we found a tiny little tavern in Australind in which to have lunch. All in all the day was a nice one and hopefully a nice memory for her.


We are delighted to have our lives back. I am now back to looking after mother for 2 days per week, plus doing the taxi thing. We leave for our next Sanity Break on around the 7th July. This time we are heading to Kalbarri for 4 – 6 weeks and really looking forward to the time away. This Saturday a BBQ at Brett’s is planned. This is to celebrate all the birthdays. Brett’s was on the Thursday after Nom went into hospital and pretty well went un-noticed. Poor old Nom had hers the day she fell so terribly ill. Troy has his next Tuesday and mine is this Friday. Mother has just had hers and hers is the only one we have managed to celebrate to this point. Hopefully there will be some lovely happy and healthy family photos to come from this happy event. If so I will post them next time around.


Well folks, sorry to be so long winded, but it saves me from writing a whole heap of emails. Once again I am sorry to have neglected my correspondence for so long. I have not had a great deal of time for either writing or painting of late. The paintings I am posting have all been done prior to the main event. I have started a couple more and during the nightmare I did an abstract which my family and friends are all a little non-plussed over when they see it. Oh well – as they say, everyone is a critic.


Love to all – from Steph and THE BEST BLOKE IN THE WORLD (TBBITW)