Powerless!

Back tomorrow!

Driving Miss Dulcie II – Return to the Doctor.

I was dead to the World when Will woke me to take him to work this morning. I yawned all the way to Chelmer and was pretty much still half asleep on the way back, though I did remember to get in the right lanes at the traffic lights. I got back at 7.55 and Dulcie was all ready to go...her appointment was not until 10.00!We had bacon and egg for breakfast. I cooked and she looked over my shoulder the whole time making me nervous. She enjoyed it. She normally has cereal but there was not enough milk left for that. I washed up and we still had an hour and a half to go. I tried to pass the time by fiddling about as much as I could up and down the stairs. She wanted to take the Eski (cool-box) for the shopping on the way back so we packed that and left the house at 9.25.Thankfully I’d asked Will to remind me of the way the day before so I was able to drive straight there without a hitch. She was happy with the parking spot; we could hardly get any closer. She took my arm and I carried the tin with the ‘slice’ and we walked slowly to the Doctors. We got there at 9.45.Marie was on reception. She was of a generous size and was wearing festive deely boppers! She clasped Dulcie’s hands and said,“How are you Dulcie?”“I’ve been better,” was her reply.“I was just saying I thought I’d won the lotto last night when I got the first 2 numbers,” said Marie, with two sparkly Christmas trees bouncing about on the top of her head, “but then I didn’t have any of the other numbers.”Dulcie passed her the ‘slice’ in the tin.“Oh you shouldn’t!” said Marie. I was thinking the same. Marie didn’t need it but I bet she could fit it in.“I have a helper.” Said Dulcie, gesturing towards me. Marie was still clasping her hands but turned her head and the Christmas trees went mad.“Yes,” I said “ when I don’t put the ingredients in, in the wrong order!”Dulcie explained my joke then said,“...but we all make mistakes,”“We do,” agreed Marie.Dulcie hadn’t finished...”but if he does it again I’ll kill him!”The Christmas trees wobbled with glee as did various parts of Marie’s anatomy.“Oh, I know,” she said, “with all this rain we’ve had the ground is quite soft for burying people, but then people will wonder where he’s gone and you’ll have to explain his absence. I often think of doing that to my husband but we have two dogs and they would dig him up.”Dulcie extricated her hands and we sat down. Marie opened the tin.“Ooh, I might not tell Dr Hew about this until well after dinner.”By which time, I guessed it would have all gone...on Marie’s hips.She came over and clasped Dulcie’s hands again.“You feel a bit warm dear. Have you got a fever?”“No, I’m fine,” said Dulcie.“Follow me, Barbra” said Marie to another lady in the waiting room and she, Marie and her Christmas trees bounced off around the corner.“I’ll go and get some birthday cards when you go in,” I said.“No, go now” she said, “I’m alright here.”So I left. I found the cards in the newsagents and paid for them and wandered back.“She’s just in with Dr Hew.” Said Marie’s head, peeping above the reception desk.I sat down. The posters hadn’t changed and thank fully Marie didn’t want to talk comas like Glad had. Marie just hunkered down behind the desk on Facebook or something.There were two other patients waiting, an elderly husband and wife. He was large with a zimmer and she was very much like a tiny elf. She even had ears that curled over at the top. They didn’t speak either. He was reading a very rare copy of Readers Digest...they are only ever found in waiting rooms these days.I glanced around and could just see the pair of Christmas Trees trembling above the desk. I looked at the magazines spread across the table. The one that stood out was a copy of ‘Backyard Builder” which had a picture of gnome on the front with an axe in its head, pouring with blood! I was just about to reach for it when the elf picked it up. I think she must have recognised him, perhaps he was a relative or something. She flicked through eagerly.Dulcie was not long. She wished Marie a happy Christmas and we left. We went to the fruiterer for her oranges. We wandered in slowly with Dulcie on my arm. A Vietnamese woman looked up and smiled and said aloud “Aw, Nice!” I hope she didn’t think we were a happy couple!We got chicken from the butchers and then headed off to Aldi.Someone nipped into the parking space Dulcie had picked out for us as we drove in but I found another one close to the entrance. Dulcie pushed the trolley but it was quite difficult trying to manoeuvre it carefully myself out of the way of others...she stopped for no one. I apologised quietly a few times to people as we passed. We found cereal with iron in it, and got most of the things on the list...but at the till remembered we had not brought bags! Doh! I just piled it all back in the trolley and wheeled it to the car.Dulcie got in Roxy while I unpacked the trolley into the boot and then wheeled the trolley back to the trolley park. Walking back to the car I felt for the keys but they weren’t in my pockets. Yikes, where were they?Back at the car I rooted through the boot again and found them under the free range eggs.Back to Celtis St and it took about 6 trips up and down the stairs to bring everything in without shopping bags.Dulcie got out all of her prescriptions she needed and I headed off to the Pharmacy and Woolies.I put the prescriptions in and then went to Woolies to get the rest of the shopping we couldn’t get at Aldi. Dulcie had given me $50. The shopping came to $25. I went back to the Pharmacy. A voice called out ‘Not long for Dulcie Rodgers prescription.’ I didn’t have to wait much longer...as the voice had said. The Pharmacist came out and said “Has Mrs Rodgers got a free calendar?”“I don’t think so,” I said. She put one on the counter for me.The assistant holding all the medication then looked at me and said,“That comes to $44.”Heck! I didn’t have enough money. It was all usually free. I just paid using my credit card and left.I never told her I didn’t have enough money.She was pleased to have all her medication.“Oh and they gave you a free calendar,” I said...my voice trailed off as I remembered I’d left it on the counter.If I don’t post anything on here tomorrow...I’ll probably be buried somewhere in the garden!

Boulder blocks The Gap!

I guess we won't be heading to Stanthorpe via Cunningham's Gap this Thursday!

Euchre-d out!

Dulcie and I played cards yesterday evening. Will had to go out to yet another meeting for his work.She doesn't like to think of me sitting alone, waiting for him to come home while she is tucked up in bed.We played Euchre and I thanked her for her kindness and thoughtfulness by thrashing her 90 year old arse!Apologies...some of her quaint phrases appear to be rubbing off on me.At breakfast this morning she stared menacingly at me across my slice of toast and without blinking said:"Today I want revenge!"I was genuinely scared for a brief moment...and thought it might be something to do with putting the flour in the sugar or creasing the tablecloth and my lower intestines gulped...until I remembered the cards, and laughed.She had to make a 'slice' first. The doctor is not getting biscuits tomorrow he is having a vanilla slice topped with coconut icing.I had jobs to do too. There were some seat covers I had brought from Frogknot that needed washing. They came out looking worse than when they went in, covered in little white hairs and patches of clogged dust. Clearing up at Frogknot Will had found one of those velvet like fabric cleaners that if you wipe it one way it collects fluff and if you turn it round all the fluff collected is released. Do you know what I mean?Anyway, luckily I was able to clean the covers while they were hanging on the line with the nifty velvet fluff collector thingy. When I had finished I remembered the rug we picked up from the dump in Stanthorpe. It looked quite good until I got it back to Brisbane and washed it and realised that it smelled of wet dog and and contained the body hair of a pack of hounds. On my first attempt two weeks ago I scrubbed it with a nail brush and removed enough hair to cover a little Shih Tzu, before I gave up.Today I laid it on the garage floor and scrubbed the nifty velvet fluff collector thingy across it. Even it couldn't cope with the amount of hair enmeshed in the pile...I got a 'chihuahua' of hair off it before I gave up.The slice was finished and so we hunkered down for the Euchre Grudge Match. Never was there such revenge in all the revenges that ever have gone before. Three games and she whipped my fundament completely and with utter glee.After a pickled Pork lunch and lettuce picked from our very own garden(!), (yes, I know. I can't believe it is ready to eat either!) we played three games of Knock Poker. It was utter humiliation!I didn't win a game. I weakly packed away the cards. In triumph, she said,'I think we'll pinch a bit of the Doctor's slice!'It was delicious. He is in for a treat!I'd been sent an email from Australian Immigration, a customer satisfaction survey. They said my responses would have no bearing on the outcome of my visa application so I told them their website was rubbish and stupendously difficult to navigate. I said having to wait 8 to 9 months for visas to come through was ridiculous. I said paying £260 for a 20 minute medical was a ripoff and having to leave the country for three days when the visa finally comes through, which we can ill afford, is stupid! I was pleased to get it off my chest.There were starlings in the garden this afternoon...more immigrants...but it was nice to see them here...though I doubt they are welcome.After tea tonight Will felt left out on the card front and wanted a game. We played Euchre again. Dulcie played a blinder of a first hand and her luck still seemed to be in but it was her last golden shining moment for the day. I took the lead and pressed ahead until right at the very end Will caught up and beat me!He always does that! I don't know how he does it!

Breaking News!

Our Telly has crept up on us and arrived in Australia! The ship it originally was on is still meandering about the South China Sea. Methinks it sneakily jumped ship in Singapore and caught a lift upon an unknown vessel. We now await its passage through customs but the end of its journey is nigh!