Back in Melbourne

I have returned to Melbourne and the weather is HOT- 40 degrees and higher. The balcony plants are all looking fried. I will have to reconstruct my garden now I am home. I have returned to a tip in the lounge room because I have all the furniture from the second bedroom in there waiting to be emptied and removed. The new pull down bed is fabulous as is the new desk but I haven't had time to get on top of the cleanup. Because it was my birthday the  week i returned I have been out lunching and dining most days as well as minding Ziggy. 

Dinner with the family and Ziggy for my birthday at a Vietnamese Restaurant.

 I have also had an all day art class in the Botanical gardens which was challenging and fun. 

This  week I have finally realised that I am not returning to paid work and it feels a bit odd. I would usually be at enrolments and getting ready for classes. It feels wonderful to be free but also strange and disorienting. I am sure I will adjust. I have signed up for a Thursday art class and will attend Dawn's monthly workshops but I will attempt to keep a freer schedule this year. I need to save the money too with Japan coming up as well as Jonathan's wedding! 

Punting on the lake in the Botanical gardens. 

January 5 Th Ballina

We have finally settled down and started to relax. The rhythm of the days is wake with the morning light, read awhile, have breakfast then swim ,  read, lunch, read, swim, dinner and read in bed.The weather has been really wet and so swimming hasn't been on the agenda so much and the surf is very choppy even if it is warm. Irene and I spent a morning soaking in the rock pools.

We tried meditating but I kept feeling little critters  nibbling my bottom which was rather disturbing!

We have been shopping and to the Byron Market where I had a Tarot reading. Haven't done that for awhile but it was fun and maybe useful. At least the reader thought I was younger. I have been having some flirtatious emails with the country romance but the power keeps running out and it takes ages to charge. He rang one morning because I hadn't sent any communications for a day or so but it is rather inhibiting having conversations in the tent. Everyone can hear everything you say!

We went to see Starwars with Jan and Ron which was fun.  Irene and I went to browse the shops and I saw a new bikini which I liked. They are so pricey though and I wanted to be more frugal this year. I have a few bills yet to pay from the holiday but it is a well made bikini and looks good. I will put it on hold and make do. We will be going out to dinner tonight because we like to alternate and the esky doesn't keep much food overall.

Today I bustled Irene and Bill down to the beach before it rained so we could get a swim. It seems to take ages to get ready with sun screen and gathering our towels and hats, I get a bit frustrated and just want to get going. It rained while we were in swimming but the temperature was still warm. I managed a few great rides on the boggy board.

Cousin Jan made a visit to check out the camping and ended up staying over night. She was pretty stoic about sleeping on a mat in her sleeping bag. We had a good day though with swims and walks and then dinner at a new burger place in Lennox head followed by delicious ice creams.

The tent opposite us were very noisy all night which made everyone cranky( though I actually slept through most of it amazingly). Not good camping etiquette. If you want to party past 10:30 pm you need to go to the beach where no one will hear you. 

On my last morning I had the best surf. The water was glassy green and perfectly clear. No white foamy backwash either. I had several great rides in to the shire and on my final run I was laughing with joy until I stopped at the feet of this young woman. She made a comment about me enjoying myself so I offered her the boogie board.  She was taken aback at first but when I explained it was given to me second hand and that I couldn't take it on the flight home and I always give the boards away she was thrilled to take it. As I left the beach I saw her plunge into the surf. It is good to share the fun.

Bill and I pulled down my tent and surprise, surprise even mamged to get it back into the carry bag. Once in the suitcase , I finished packing the wet towels and bathers and after a shower I was ready to go.

Christmas Day and following

Christmas Day was a fun but an exhausting day. We went across to Roger's place for lunch.(Another brother-in-law , I have five!) There I met up with cousins Selina and Jaquie and several of Roger's friends who had travelled from Melbourne, Canberra and Cairns to celebrate with him.  About 18 of us. The food everyone brought was fantastic and so a grand feast ensued.

We played a KrisKringle game where you could take your other guests KrisKringle or select from the pile. It was hilarious and played with such good spirit. My two other B-I-laws turned up after their stint at the Wayside Chapel where they had served about 800 less fortunate people at a charity lunch. The Wayside Chapel Christmas lunch is a highly sought after volunteering opportunity because many celebrities ( current prime minister  Malcolm Turnbull is a regular) donate their time to this charity and this day. My brother-in-law Gary has been doing this for several years now.  

Talking with to so many people at Roger's who I only see spasmodically became pretty intense so that by about 4 pm I felt myself flagging and retreated to the stairwell for respite.  The young ones decided to leave and then it was a matter of bargaining as to who would return to collect us.  

Eventually we returned home to Clovelly and ate some more for dinner! David, Gary and I decided to play cards. 21 at first then 7s which I had learned from my English friends and played continually in Spain on the Camino. It was only then that we realised the pack was three cards short. Not to be deterred we made makeshift  substitutes and continued playing.  It was a fun tussle and we each one a game.  Thanks to Gary's hospitality I've discovered French Champagne doesn't give me a hangover!

Next day it was a casual breakfast and then niece Mitzi, who is learning to drive, drove me to the airport for my flight to Brisbane. Tim my brother picked me up and we drove to my elder brother's home where another Christmas/ Boxing Day lunch was taking place.  More champagne and present sharing then off to Southport with Mum to stay with Tim and Donna for a few days before moving onto Ballina and Flat Rock camping.

Tim and Donna have had a stressful time recently so we were a welcome diversion, playing scrabble ( always when Mum is around!) which created lots of laughs and good natured ribbing. Mum and I took in the movie 'the Suffragettes' which we really enjoyed and found quite enlightening. We then spent time in the Art Gallery before returning home. It was a good time and the next day I took everyone to Yum Cha and Mum off shopping. She always says when I am around she spends money, which is true because it is one of the few times she gets to go browsing in the shops.  

Next stop, Ballina and Irene and Bill at Flat Rock. The coast has been blasted with strong winds and squalls such that one of Bill's tarpaulin poles was bent horizontal from the force! He was adjusting the wind break when we arrived and Tim helped him out but was quite happy to return to his apartment and leave us to the wind and rain in the tents. My new tent was erected on our site but in what had become a walkway for a group of kids from several families holidaying together. Irene wanted to deter them from walking through by hanging a washing line, but the kids just run under her knickers anyway!

It seems more crowded this year somehow but they are all good natured and happy so really no complaints. I persuaded Bill to go surfing with me, a first for the season despite the wind. It was exhilarating but a challenge keeping my bikini on!

We went off to the Ballina RSL for New Years Eve as we have for the last few years.  They run a comedy night with excellent comedians and a meal  with all the hooters and glow sticks etc thrown in. We share a table and this time we are in the front table again but with a very different group of people. Cody and Kay the couple opposite Bill were interesting. He was about fortysh, obese and blind from a tumour and macular degeneration and no longer works. He supplements his pension with being the' Blind Blues Busker' around the surrounding towns. He blames his obesity on the illness but I wondered if the bottles of Coke he was drinking was also part of the problem. Kay his fiancé seemed a kind pleasant woman but I didn't get to talk with her much. Roger and Denise were from England originally and now retired; she volunteered with an animal rescue group, then there was Noah from Kentucky who came out to Australia in the 70s to avoid conscription to Vietnam and never went back. He was a nice guy and we had some good conversation but no sparks. He made a point of thanking me for a great night afterwards. He knew Mandy Nolan (MC) and the first support act. Irene was digging me in the back asking if he had ' potential'? Then there was Karen and Bill a younger couple who became a feature of some repartee with the comedians. Karen got carried away and wouldn't shut up and when she was dismissed by Steady Eddy quite politely, she retaliated by raising her top and flashing her breasts! Most people didn't realise when Steady Eddy made comment that she really had flashed her boobs. It was so inappropriate and they were not fabulous looking breasts either. The couple had a few playful spats through the evening too and I thought they were both ' very common' as my mother would say. I mean, this wasn't a music festival or a pub that does wet Tshirt competitorns!  The comedy seemed particularly raunchy this year but it was funny most of the time and we really had a lot of laughs.

After midnight we went downstairs to the dancing but the band only played on for a while and that was a fizzer.. Murray and Belinda ( friends from the campsite) joined us but got talking about another couple who used to camp near us who were great friends. They have fallen out and the other couple have gone bankrupt and the husband has told lies to Belinda and Murray apparently. I didn't want to hear it and felt really sad. I was a bag of mixed emotions I couldn't quite explain. Uncomfortable about the prodding from Irene perhaps, the boob flashing that seemed to denigrate women in my view, the fact that I didn't want the negativity of the conversation about the messed up lives, a sense of wanting to escape, a wish to be talking to the 'country romance' instead perhaps. I don't feel sad very often but perhaps it was just one comedy night too many and time for a change. Roll on 2016 and new adventures.

Happy New Year.

Christmas Eve

I have been out and about with Micky and we have had some great talks as we have dropped off presents and picked up biscuits and last minute Christmas goodies. Micky took me to visit her friend the artist Wendy Littlewood. She is a potter and ceramics painter. She paints life on her pots and they seem so whimsical but they are fabulous and so unique. Micky has quite a few pieces and they are a cross between mosaics and painting. She paints beautiful stories onto the objects she creates. Her terrace house is in East Sydney and full of her art. Very charming in this tiny terrace house. It is almost like a dolls house in size but it is jam packed with art, cats, and a dog.

When we returned home we needed to get organised for the dinner tonight. We prepared all the verges and the meat was pretty easy. I'd made the brandy sauce yesterday so we were on schedule. The margaritas came out and the meats went into the oven along with the vegetables. There were twelve for dinner and soon we were all assembled.

There was a lot of joking. We talked about what Christmas means to us and generally had a great time together. I feel so lucky to be part of this family. Even though Peter has passed away I am considered still very much part of the family. That sort of inclusiveness isn't always there as my mother found.  I feel so fortunate that I get on well with the whole family.

Driving north with Nick and Bec

Instead of flying to Sydney for Christmas I decided to drive up with my son Nick and his girlfriend Rebecca. They planned to camp at Jervis Bay to explore the beautiful beaches there.

In the sunshine 

Lovely even in the rain.

Nick loves the sun and the beach but while the drive up from hot Melbourne was quite uneventful, setting up my hiking tents for our overnights was marred by a downturn in the weather. The camp ground had lots of tame kangaroos roaming around, some with joeys too.

My boudoir is the green. Not the Hilton for sure.

I heard bandicoots during the night as well.

It was a privilege to be with them and fun to to be the one to say, 'are we there yet?' for a change.  I listened to a lot of new music , some good some dubious but all interesting. Observing the rapport between the two lovers was a joy. They are well suited and Bec is gorgeous.

It was fun to be included and share some time with them. Jervis Bay villages were quaint. Kitchen closed at 8:00 pm so nearly missed getting dinner! Saw an old school fish and chip shop that was the coffee shop too with pretty cakes as well. That was different. Due to the rain which got worse and worse we decamped and headed for Sydney and Gary and Micky's place at Clovelly. The rain was so fierce that we could barely see in front of us. Nick did a great job and Bec is a good navigator. We were very relieved to finally arrive. Poor Micky had a major leak in the roof which was pouring through the ceiling. It was great to see her and the three children. Gary had returned to Brisbane but will come back on Christmas Eve. 

Early the next morning a plumber came to survey the damage and put a hole in the ceiling to let more water out to avoid it collapsing. I have been charged with making the brandy sauce and glazing the ham while Micky goes to work. 

Life on the move again

Mum and I have taken the cruise around New Zealand on the Holland America Noordam. It was fun and we met a few really nice people. The cruise was a bit confronting for me because everybody seemed so old.. Better look in the mirror Kath. I realised I am used to mixing with many younger people generally and the mean age was probably in the late 70s even though they were well travelled and pretty mobile generally. Crossing the Tasman was interesting with huge swells making walking a little difficult.

Welcome aboard champagne  for Edna

Delayed departure meant leaving in the dark which was a little disappointing because I was really looking forward to going through the heads.

Mum loved the shows and the piano bar or blues club. She loves music. Every night we would finish the night in either the piano bar or the blues club. We went ashore at most of the ports except for Akaroa because it was too windy and rough to get the tenders off the boat.  We played a lot of scrabble during the day and took in a trivia and bingo game. I went to the Cha Cha dance class and got selected to be in the fi al of the dancing with the stars at sea. I got the opportunity to dance with John a professional dancer from New York. Umm! That was nice. What a fit body he had. I didn't win but had a good time. My 5 minutes of fame and 12 hours of celebrity was great for my self esteem. Lots of the audience complimented me which was nice. All good fun and an incentive to take up dancing in 2016.

Cruising into Milford sound

Peter Jacksons larger than life models for the Gallipoli exhibition at the National Museum Wellington.

charming  Russell village in the Bay of Islands, ship in the background

 A pretty sloop in the Bay of Islands.

I have an email friend who has put a little pep in my step. It has been fun to develop and continues to evolve slowly. It has been a revelation to me to be so sparked by another's interest in me. I thought I was quite happy, and I am, but I guess I repressed my natural desires. I am not a dried up old maid after all it seems! If nothing comes of it I will have had a bit of fun and realised that a companion may be more attractive than I had given credit before.

I have packed a lot into the last two weeks between returning from the cruise and heading to Sydney for Christmas. I have had my new fold down bed and desk installed in the second bedroom. I am thrilled with it.

I was a bit anxious about paying for it but fortunately the dividends came in on time! I was a little anxious about all the bills and started to think about working again. I was strong and resisted that anxiety.
Lots of Christmas parties so I have been out nearly every night. A good life now with a little romance on the horizon perhaps.

Cousin's weekend

Cousin Jan came to visit. Her plans had been delayed by the prospect of selling her apartment t but in the end that fell through and so she came to Melbourne after all. I picked her up from the airport and we had. Quick catchup before I had to go out for dinner. I was taking a dessert which had a spectacular marshmallow frosting.

Jan helped me finish the cake and then I left her for the dinner at Angies's place. When I arrived I was two hours late! I had completely confused the times and they had been worried about me. I was mortified, thank goodness I was bringing the dessert and not starters! 

In the end we had a great time and ended up playing a trivia game combined with charades. Bec and George, Tim , Angie and I had a lot of laughs. Lorraine had only recently returned from a week at the Gaia spa in the Byron Hinterland and was tired so she left early.  

I have never quite mixed up times so badly before and I was very embarrassed about it. Fortunately they are old friends and forgave me readily. It was a fun night. George and Rebecca were looking a lot better than we had seen them for some time. George's heart condition is chronic with half the heart muscle damaged but his attitude seemed greatly improved. He finds it challenging finding things to keep him occupied as he can no longer work.

The next day I took Jan up to the Yarra valley to the wineries and lunch at the Healesville hotel. We visited Domain Chandon and enjoyed the tasting so much we signed up for the club! Jan did her usual questioning about food matching and wines and the young French man was up to the challenge and we had an enjoyable visit.  The lunch at the hotel was wonderful and also met her gourmand expectations. After a wander around town we moved along to Tarrawarra but we're not so impressed with their wines although she loved the setting. Home late with toasted sandwiches for tea much later!

Monday was a shopping day in David Jones and a Chinese lunch. All of which was highly successful. I bought two quality tops for half price( the half prices I can afford) and nearly forgot I had to pick up the car that had gone in for service! Next day was Ziggy and we all had fun with him in he pool and at his place before I took her to the airport.  Ziggy kept calling her my daughter which is a bit confronting. He didn't quite get the cousin relationship. 

 Tarrawarra estate