Life's Longing For Itself

It amazes me that we settle down here so quickly. Six weeks have passed and it feels like months. I know that we will return home and settle back there equally as quickly. It's wonderful to have two places where we feel comfortable. The major difference here, is being so far away from family and missing them very much. Thank goodness for technology!

The other thing I miss is my house ---- although we love caravanning, the very size of the house seems to add solidity to my life. Just before we left home, my son made a joke about collecting the insurance on the house. When I thought about it, I realised how much the house has grown on me. Despite its rather derelict condition, it has a good feel about it. It's so large that you need to take a picnic lunch to go to the toilet. During winter, we shut up one half of the house and live in the other half, which conserves firewood. In summer, I will be happy to open it all up again and spend time in each room. At present, these rooms consist of: a lounge room, with music equipment, and walls of photos covering the peeling paint ; a room with exercise equipment, sewing machine and craft activities for the kids; the spare room, which has one double, two singles and easy enough room for more beds; and the last room is in the late stages of transforming from a junk room to a "museum"! I love having my collections of old books, comics, patterns and personal memorabilia where I can rummage through it. This last can't be done in a caravan!

Due to a couple of downpours of rain, over 2" in total, the land has become green again. The bulbs have come up and even though they are late and quite stunted, they have bloomed. Gibran calls that "Life's longing for itself", (according to my loose interpretation.) I've always admired that about plants --- it seems such an "honest", basic thing to do. We human beings often have to huddle down in the deep and conserve our strength, ready for the big battle to raise our heads. So what, if we're a little stunted and battered when we emerge--- we still show our true beauty.
A collage of the flowers that have bloomed.

Can anyone identify this very low growing shrub, with white flowers, shiny leaves and red seed pods???

After sending Peace cards and receiving answers, I was very disappointed to find that no one could tell of celebrations for International Peace Day on September 21st, anywhere in the world. Given the number of conflicts throughout the world and the number of countries and personnel involved, wouldn't you think that there would be celebrations happening somewhere??? My friend Rosemary, from the USA, wrote, "Only one little article appeared in our paper about today's soldiers were to hold up on firing to observe the day of peace."

I'm going to write to the United Nations and ask them why they think this day is a "global holiday". In my opinion, this should be the biggest day of the year, religious or non-religious. Peace involves love and love is a basic concept of any religious or human belief. Anyone care to join me in trying to promote International Peace Day for next year?????

Apologies

It occurs to me that I should change the heading of this blog .......... "Travel the Australian countryside and unravel my eccentric mind."
There's little travelling in it, especially as I slept all the way on the drive up here. Although I'm still happily eccentric, nothing much shows through at present. I haven't got enough energy for eccentricity. My sleep pattern is all over the place --- I've been awake for 36 hours on a few occasions and haven't had more than 6 hours of sleep at any one stretch. I've slept more in my chair than I have in my bed. I think this is due to the chair arms supporting my painful arms and shoulders.
I can't complain though. My good friends Carole (USA) and Carla (Holland) are fighting secondary cancers. I think about them so much and feel as if I'm fighting with them. They are both inspirational!

Book Week, old cars and reminiscing

A mini cyclone blew through the door last Monday. It was the girls' first day back at school after being off sick for a week. They were hit with the news that the next day was Book Parade day and they had to choose a doctor in a story, give a speech to the class and dress up. Emily said she had chosen hers, although I never did understand who it was. Carissa needed a doctor. Without being able to read a book, it was easier to choose a real doctor, so we looked up info about Patch Adams, the clown doctor. They had seen the Robin Williams movie, so it was easy.
Bright and early next morning, Lindy had them up here in their costumes. I still didn't find out who Emily represented but predictably, beneath her warm jacket, her costume was skimpy!

We've had 2" of glorious rain and everything is much greener. The crop dusters have been busy at the airport beside us but we don't know what it is they are spraying.

The monthly market was on yesterday and we spent a lovely morning browsing. It seems that the Council would like to remove this market from the park because they are trying to charge the stallholders $55 a month each, for insurance.
The vintage car display was excellent and I chose a nice old Rolls Royce! We spoke to an older couple who were pleased to tell us about their elegant old car, a 1928 Packard. They drive it everywhere, with a similar or better fuel economy to modern cars. The lady loved the features like the tasselled side curtains and the brass rail that holds a rug in the back seat. They said that all of their children and grandchildren want it left to them. As they can't work it out fairly, they plan to leave it to no one in particular and "let them fight it out for themselves."

Steve jabbered on happily about cars he had owned and disposed of before he was 15 ......... A '26 A Model Ford and a '48 Mercury with a V8 and "big as the side of a house, iridescent black". I could have cheerfully clobbered him!! Where are these cars now when he would really have appreciated them!!! He and his mates, who all had cars too, used them to go to each others' houses, through the bush. Long before they were licensed to drive, they learnt how to manoeuvre their cars in difficult circumstances and to do basic repairs. This is an opportunity I would love for our grandkids.
After we got home, I discovered that his A model Ford had no body; it was just a chassis on wheels; his mate Greg built a wooden tray for the back so that they could transport the tent and other camping gear, as the group of 7 or 8 often went camping and fishing. What an idyllic childhood! What smart parents they had! Another tale that came to mind concerned Graeme Bruns, the older brother of Neville Bruns, who used to play for Geelong. Graeme told the gang that his parents were going to Bendigo with another family, for the races, so the bunch of them wagged school and Graeme "borrowed" the family car for a day out in the bush. Unfortunately, the car got scratched and Graeme was found out. Pity! Graeme didn't hang out much with that group of boys because he was a big footy star in the making and was frequently at practice. Sadly, Graeme came down on his head at a footy match when he was a teenager and ended up with brain damage.

We went out for a beautiful dinner last night, courtesy of Dom and Mandy, as a Fathers' Day present. I don't think we should eat for a week. What a pity it doesn't work that way!

Off now for a massage with Tom. I haven't been swimming at the main pool, where he is located. The two hot pools there are 39.8 and 41.8, too hot for me. The cool pool is 28C, too cool at present but not for much longer.

Love to my family and friends,

Laurie

Lovely Spring Weather

Happy Spring to the Aussies!

We have had to put the air conditioner on to cool down on a couple of days. Yeeeehaaa!!! I feel the heat quickly but Steve is slow to warm up. This can be a little difficult in a caravan, where we can't split up and go to different rooms, where we can adjust the temperatures to suit. Most days are around 26C at present. As soon as the frosts finished, green leaves shot up from the ground that Neville had raked over. They were helped along by an inch of rain over the weekend. The jonquils and freesias threaten to be quite stunted but the lilies and gladioli look as if they will grow normally.

Emily and Carissa haven't returned to finish the jigsaw because they became very sick. Carissa was in hospital for 3 days. When we went up to see her, she and another girl from her school were in beds side by side. Apparently some mystery virus was rampaging throughout the school.

Steve is enjoying not having to work frantically on the caravan every day. He had become quite sore from lying on concrete and working above his head or climbing up to the roof and down a few dozen times a day. He announced today, while he was soaking in the pool, that his aches and pains had disappeared. He is slowly getting bits and pieces done. The pantry was completed before we left home but we forgot to latch it on the trip and the slide broke. He bought more from the Internet and has it repaired now. I do love that pantry!! These pictures show it closed and open. You can see Steve's computer terminal at the bottom. A door matching the pantry goes over it but this isn't on yet. It holds a great deal and it is easy to see in and reach everything.

I bought a glass cutting board which pleases me very much. It has the "right" colors and the high shine makes the picture look 3D from some angles.

Steve has made the bedside drawers. They are big and deep and slide smoothly. It's a relief to be able to have clothes close at hand. Nothing is painted yet. I keep offering but Steve keeps refusing (wisely.) I'm not known for my tidy painting skills.

We've set up an eating area near the door, with folding chairs and temporary tables and are experimenting with different positions. When we are satisfied, we'll replace the folding tables with a wooden one that folds down from the wall. As we are usually eating when my favourite "Something In the Air" comes on TV, we swing the television around.

Sam has starred as Mowgli in a musical, The Jungle Book. It was disappointing that we couldn't be there to see him. We shouted Talitha, Maddy and Josh the tickets and they attended in our absence. They were full of praise for Sam's performance.

Madeleine starts secondary school next year and is enrolled at Box Hill High School. I looked it up and was quite impressed with what they offer.