Possum Galore
A life ‘Down Under’!
Hey up! It's Elaine!
It's Thursday here already.......the week has gone quick! It's hard to keep pace of time. Dulcie thought it was Friday yesterday.Will has finished work for the week so it is the start of his weekend.We had a lazy morning really.....well, I did clean the bathroom and the kitchen but some of us had a chance to take it easy.Will made a lovely pasta lunch with some left over 'chook' and a load of things picked from the garden and we ate it listening to the Green Tree Frog stuck in someone's down spout over the road."What shall we do today?" asked Will, meaning when 'respite' came at 2.00 pm."I don't know," I said but we eventually decided on continuing the Vimto hunt.At 1.00pm a car pulled up but parked out side next door. I didn't think anything of it."Someone's coming Nick," said Dulcie.A small round lady with close cropped grey hair, possibly a wrestler or a rugby playing lesbian, appeared at the door." Hello!" She waddled in.'Who are you and why are you here?' I was wondering but didn't say it out loud.......she gave no clues from here appearance."I'm Elaine." There was the whiff of 'smoker' about her."Are you here for respite?" I asked."I am and that's a Pommie accent! Where are you from?" She asked"Near Manchester," I said for ease.....everyone has heard of it."I'm from Nottingham.""Oh, Andrea, who usually comes today is from Nottingham too." I said....thinking there must be a big recruitment drive for Blue Care in the Nottingham area."She must be on holiday," said Elaine. She settled into Dulcie's orthopaedic chair at the table.I had to say it......."Well, we usually have respite from 2.00 until 4.00 pm on a Thursday," I said."I know........I'm early. That's ok," said Elaine. Who was I to argue?........ and besides she could probably 'bodyslam' me to the kitchen floor.....If she did, at least I knew it was clean."How long you been 'ere?" She went on."Well, actually it is exactly one year today!" I said."Ay! Come here!" she cried held out her hand, I took it with mine and she crushed it...." Congratulations!""How long have you been here?" I asked."Since 1963," she said."Oh, I was one then!" I said............. and then wondered if I should have mentioned it."Are you a hippy?" She asked Will. He was wearing the very bright and colourful t-shirt I brought him back from the U.K."What's it like over there now?" She asked."What do you mean? Like the weather?" I asked."I've 'eard it's bad. Loads of towels....." I think she was referring to people of Middle Eastern origin."Yes, it is very cosmopolitan these days," I said like Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet) trying to remain PC."There are lot's of Poles too and Germans and .........oh........where is it?......""Romanians?" I offered."Aye, Romanians! I were speaking to my uncle and he said they were killing and eating all the swans! There's none left!"I was disturbed to hear this news and was surprised that I had heard nothing of it on 9News and Tracy Grimshaw of 'A Current Affair' had said nothing. At least her Majesty still had her Scottish homes and the prospect of another Great Grandchild to take her mind off this evil destruction of her birds.It was a conversation killer.....I think we were both picturing the horror of rampaging Romanians at loose in the parks of Great Britain, killing and eating swans.Elaine broke the silence."Has she got Dementia?" she hissed."No, she's just a bit forgetful." I said trying to be discrete."My husband is in palliative care.".........bang went the wrestling lesbian theory!......well, at least the lesbian part."He's got dementia..." she went on."Oh," I said."......and lymphoma......""Oh," I said."They won't let me look after him because I'm too busy working!""Oh?" I said."Would you like a tea or coffee, Elaine" asked Will."I'll have a coffee, white with two sugars. Ta."She was very comfortable in Dulcie's chair, leaning back and stretching out her legs under the table."Have you been to Scotland?""Oh, yes we did some touring around Scotland when we were there," I said."I used to live in Glasgow for two years," said Will."I've heard it's dirty. Is it dirty? I went to Dundee, Inverness, that were nice, the island of Skye, the loch.......(I wondered which one)......and Blackpool. Oh, I really liked Blackpool!"I wasn't surprised."They had one of them things that burned down in that other place.""A pier?""Aye, I think it began with a 'B'.""Bournemouth?" I said."No, Brighton." She said.It was actually Eastbourne."Ooh, it were bloody hot yesterday weren't it? Not so bad today though."I was beginning to wonder if we would ever get away...."Well, shall we make a move?" I asked Will."So you are here until.......?" asked Will."3!" said Elaine.We went downstairs."Flippin' heck! This is ridiculous! She comes early and then expects us to be back at 3!" I was grumbling in the Man-Cave.We heard Elaine shout from upstairs. I went back out......she was on the back verandah."What time are you usually back? 4? " She asked."Yes," I said, "Respite is usually 2 until 4.""Well, stay out till 4.....have a bit of extra time," she said.I went back in to the Man-Cave."Do you think she heard us?" I asked worried.We got back just after 3 anyway........we didn't want to leave Dulcie with her for longer than was necessary.
A Year Down Under.
So......it is one year since we arrived Down Under....and to celebrate this milestone the Universe has put on a lunar eclipse!Thank you Universe and thank you readers!
Frogknot - The First Time.
'The Biggest Indian Festival in the Southern Hemisphere."
DJ and PJ arrived yesterday.....DJ has driven all the way up from Canberra.Our day today started at 6.15 with Will's new phone reminding me to take my blood pressure tablet. We were going to the markets and the change of routine has in the past meant that I have forgotten to take my tablet as usual.We had quite a table full at breakfast at the markets with Andrew down from Toowoomba and Martin Pearson, up from Melbourne to do a series of gigs, Ros and her friend Kim, Will, DJ, PJ and I.
Phoebe and Daddy Phoebe enjoys her 'Babychino'
We got back at 9.00 ish just as Dulcie was getting up.Last night as we were sat around the table having tea we heard loud wailing outside and discovered that the largest Indian Festival in the Southern Hemisphere was being held just down the road......yesterday and today.We decided to all head there at about 10.30 to experience the festival for ourselves.Will and PJ dressed in suitable Indian garb.
Will gave me his wallet as his Ganesha pants had no pockets and he didn't want to take a bag."I know, put my money in your wallet," he said," as yours is less bulky"......that's the Carer's Pension for you.Just before we left he changed his mind and decided to take a bag and threw his wallet in the top. I decided to leave mine behind as he was taking his....so off we went to 'The Biggest Indian Festival in the Southern Hemisphere."Ros and Kim came specially too and we all walked with Dulcie in her wheel chair. We were a bit thrown by another celebration that was going on in the nearby park which seemed to be more Muslim.....but eventually found 'The Biggest Indian Festival in the Southern Hemisphere."It was $3 each to get in."My wallet is in the top of the bag," said Will.........have you guessed what happened next?I pulled it out and opened it and.....there was no money in it. I had taken his money out and put it in mine and then promptly left mine at home when he took his.I ran/walked/ran/limped home and found Danny outside the house......wondering where we all were. Poor Danny, the last time he called to see his Mum we were all up in Toowoomba at the flower festival. He didn't have time to join us at 'The Biggest Indian Festival in the Southern Hemisphere" so he left and I picked up my wallet and drove back to 'The Biggest Indian Festival in the Southern Hemisphere" in Roxy.'The Biggest Indian Festival in the Southern Hemisphere" was a major disappointment.......there was hardly anybody there and half the stalls were not open. We stayed 20 mins then left.
Phoebe hunts for a new outfit. 'The Biggest Indian Festival ?.......dead!"This afternoon DJ wanted to go to Ikea to look at kitchens so I went with her. We were away nearly four hours.....Will was getting worried by the time we got back. At one point I did have to rescue DJ from the maze that is the Ikea Showroom........we had arranged to meet at the restaurant but she couldn't find her way out of the showroom.We got back about 4 ish and Will gleefully informed me that I had missed Jonathan who had come for the remaining bees......finally! Damn!Wendi , back from George Clooney's wedding, and Geoff came over for a barbecue tea which we ate to the sounds of more wailing from 'The Biggest Indian Festival in the Southern Hemisphere."It had obviously picked up since we had been there.We are having an early night.....tomorrow we are all going to Frogknot.....PJ has never been and yes, Dulcie is coming too. It is going to be our trial run of taking her for a night at Frogknot......if it is successful.....we may be able to begin weekends away at Frogknot again.
The Fish and the bees.
The bees are still with us.Will texted Jonathan yesterday.....no reply.Today Will rang Brisbane Beekeepers but Errol, who he spoke to, said that it would be better to get Jonathan back to finish the job seeing as he took most of the original swarm.Will rang Jonathan and left a message.....that was this morning.......it is now evening and we still have had no reply.....perhaps he died as a result of the bee sting he received....or maybe he is out surfing or modelling.We will have to find another beekeeper to come and free us from them.While Andrea provided respite this afternoon Will and I went off to buy fish for the pond he is creating from the old bathtub ripped out of Dulcie's old bathroom.We found them in the biggest pet shop n Brisbane, Pet World, which was like an underground cavern of pet supplies.We got 6 Pacific Blue Eyes.....they were $6 each!........way more expensive than cod per kilo!
Will chose these because they don't eat frog spawn but do eat mosquito larvae.
The bath is filled and he has borrowed some plants from Oxley Creek. We are leaving the water to settle for 24 hours before we add the fish.