MEMORIES FROM 1988

1988 was a big year for us. We sold our little house and had a bigger one built. Unfortunately, the builder went broke. Fortunately, our Building Society Bank pulled us through the mess. We ended up with a new house but it took 18 months instead of 18 weeks to build. In the same year the World Expo was held in Brisbane and our girls were performing there nearly everyday in their school marching band. Australian schools had very few marching bands but the girls' school brought out American and Canadian Marching Bands to teach our kids. 

This little house was getting too small for two teenage girls and only one bathroom so we bought a block of land and engaged a builder.

Every weekend we visited the block to see the progress. Sonya and Bill.

We built on the corner of a cul-de-sac.

At first progress was good but when it reached this stage it slowed down and took ages to finish.

Because of the delay we had to rent a house because we had sold the little one. The girls were both at John Paul College.

They both joined the JPC Marching Band, they both played the trumpet (like their father). They practiced on the school oval.

EXPO 88 was held at South Bank, which had been a run down wharf area and transformed into a fabulous entertainment area.

The girls marched in the daily parade.

They often played in the Piazza, marching in complicated routines.   Sonya is on the end.

Loads of people came to watch everyday. Carol in the middle.

Carol third from left  and Sonya fifth from left with hat blown off. The JPC Marching Band was invited to play at the Calgary Stampede where they won the competition. The Canadians taught them so well that they took out the top prize. We were very proud of them.

THE RACE THAT STOPS A NATION.

 On the first Tuesday in November there is a horse race called "The Melbourne Cup" which is very famous in our country and overseas in the racing world. Melbourne is the capital of Victoria and the whole state has a holiday on that day and at 2:00pm the whole nation stops work and watches or listens to the race unless they work in emergency occupations.

Those who attend the race or race parties all dress up. Some in beautiful clothes and a fascinator or crazy hat, some dress in carnival clothes. We had a Melbourne Cup lunch in the community centre put on by the staff. We had delicious prawns, chicken and salads with bread rolls. many dressed in their best with a fascinator or hat. One of our residents, Annie, makes the hats and rents them out for $10:00 and she donates the money to a dog shelter.

We buy the names of horses for either $1, $2, $5, or $10 it is a sweep where you blindly pick a paper with a horses name, like a lottery.

The ladies looked cute.

Our table

Us

After lunch we watch the race.

Bill won $60

Annie pretends to take his winnings.

THE DANGEROUS TREE HAS GONE

Our neighbours, Gay, Sue and us have been concerned about a very tall top heavy eucalyptus tree opposite our units. The first gardener we had cut the lower branches off to provide more sun for our neighbour Gay, which I thought was silly. He should have cut the top branches off. Anyway he left the village and we have had a series of no good gardeners since, but now we have a good crew run by a female. During storms and windy days the tree would sway dangerously about and we were scared that it would fall on our units. So we asked the manager could it be removed. Well, to cut a tree down is so complicated these days. We have to apply to the local council for permission to remove a tree. So our manager did that months ago. Then council arborists had to inspect the tree to make sure it needs to go. Luckily, they were convinced that it was a danger to our units during storms. And we are getting more and more storms especially now and through the summer. Finally, the day arrived for the tree to be cut down. As it is just across the road from our unit we had front row entertainment for the morning. These guys are so clever and noisy. They had a mulching machine on site and chewed up the branches as they came down. I hope the photos show how tall the tree was and how good these guys were.

Bill has found a good viewing spot.

This is the tree causing the problem. It has already lost a big branch in the last storm. The tree lopper is climbing up to put ropes up.

Now the trunk.

That is all that is left. 

Safe at last

View from our balcony sans dangerous tree

GETTING USED TO THE NEW CAR

I decided that I need to drive the new car to get used to it instead of leaving it in the garage until shopping day. So we took it for a drive to Tamborine to the Bearded Dragon Hotel for lunch. It drives so smoothly and quiet. After about 45 mins we had arrived. I was a bit nervous about parking. There were so many cars in the car park but I found a space and squeezed in. All the cars must have been belonging to people having a conference in the special room because there were not many people in the restaurant. So we enjoyed a quiet lunch together.

(photo from the web)

Because I'm driving home, I only drank a Lemon, Lime and Bitters.

Waiting for Bangers and Mash.

After a quiet leisurely lunch, we set off to find the car. We have to remember to look for a white one and not our old red one.

There it is all sparkly new Hyundai Kona. I erased the number plate.

BLACK AND WHITE DINNER

So it was time for our monthly dinner at the community centre in the village. We were asked to wear black and white and the tables were decorated in black and white. The meal was a German Feast of chicken and vegetables to coincide with October Fest. We were entertained by the Village Singers and waited on by the catering students from the local Rochedale High School. It was their last night with us as they sit their final Year12 exams next month and finish school.

Village Singers

The Black and White crowd with one blue shirt.

Noni even had one black and one white shoe.

Ian, our Resident Committee Chairman and Anne our Dinner Committee Chairperson thank the chefs and teachers and students for their help.

Because it was the end of their time with us the students and teachers were each given a gift from us. The two teachers  are at the front of the line. It is so good of them to give up their evening to help the students and us.

We enjoyed the evening too.

DUCKLINGS IN SPRING

 When I walked in the morning with my buddies, I saw these ducks with ducklings dangerously crossing the road. I jumped out on the road and held up my hands to stop a car driving towards the ducks. The driver kindly waved and mouthed thank you. 

Every Tuesday evening I play cards with a group of friends in the village. Dot and Peter are the hosts. Last month it was Dot's 80th so Ann (looking on) baked a cake for Dot and we had it for supper. There are quite a lot of village residents turning 80 this year. 

NEW CAR

 Because we don't travel any more our bank account has been growing. I decided That I would like a new car. Bill agreed so off we went to the local Hyundai Car Yard. I have been looking at a Kona for some time and wishing I had one.  It is higher off the ground being a small SUV, which makes it easier for Bill to get in an out. We had a test drive and told all the wonderful things it can do, which I promptly forgot. The day we could go and pick it up, I had a panic attack and thought,"What have I done? This is ridiculous at my age." Anyway when I drove it home it was beautifully easy to drive but it was bigger than our Mazda and I had trouble getting it into the garage. But after a few weeks I can do it okay. Still get nervous about parking next to posts and walls. I haven't learnt how to use all the bells and whistles yet.

Our first outing was to take a friend to the golf club for lunch. All went well.

Then back to the village with its spring flowering trees.

Then home to our pretty lavender.