AT HOME

 It's hard to find stuff to write about when you don't go anywhere. Lately, it has been raining too much to go out. It was so wet and muddy in the forest that we couldn't do our usual morning walk. When the rain cleared up the cold came out. We have had the coldest recorded temperatures for Brisbane. Remember we are in a sub-tropical zone. These temperatures are rare:-

(42°F) It was so cold for us at 6:00am that my walking buddies said it was too cold to walk so we stay in our warm beds instead. I walk around the village when it warms up. Here are some of the things I see in the village. 

It is also unusual for us to have Autumn leaves because deciduous trees are not found in the subtropics unless they have been introduced like the ones in our Zen Garden.

We have a lot of flowering trees throughout the village, which attract the birds. This one is a White Throated Honey Eater.

This cheeky one even hopped onto our balcony and helped itself to the pot plant's nectar. It is a Noisy Minor and it is not a very nice bird. It is very aggressive towards other birds and squawk noisily if other birds go into their territory. They chase them away and consequently very few birds will be found in their territory. Luckily we still have other birds visit.

Some of our residents like to work in the gardens as well as our employed gardener. This garden has been developed by Malcolm and Dot. It is next to the workshop. They have recently added a bright orange table setting.

Other residents, Beryl and Rex, find interesting wildlife in their garden.

50 YEARS OLD TODAY

 I can't believe my eldest daughter turns 50 today. We can't celebrate together because she is on holidays in Tasmania but we did FaceTime this morning. I know I'm biased but I think she is an amazing person and I love her to bits. Here is a quick jaunt through her life:

First day at school.

Last year at school

First degree at uni, no pics of second degree.

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Built Environment.

Got married

Worked and travelled around the world.

Came home and worked hard.

Now she has been travelling Australia for the last 18 months. She loves hiking, running, cycling and painting.

Happy Birthday Carol-Ann.

A FRIENDLY WALK

I have a friend in the village, who was a vibrant, energetic woman. Jan loved travelling, photography and riding her bike up until six months ago when she had appendicitis. She went to hospital and ended up there for three months. She had a previous lung disorder but she coped with it but after the op she could hardly breathe. She came home with an oxygen machine. She lost weight and needs a walker. Now she has been diagnosed with aggressive cancer and has not a good prognosis. It has been sad to see her deteriorate so fast. However, she has a good attitude and is okay with her lot. 

Jan has always loved making photo books. She had started one about the gardens in our village street by street before she went to hospital. Now she wants to finish it before she goes. However, she likes support when she pushes her walker, oxygen tank and camera around the village. She asked me if I could go with her while she finished photographing the last two streets and the zen garden. I'm amazed at her determination to push on. We spent three days finishing off her photo shoot. She is now compiling the book.

I took some shots while I was with her:-

My friend, Jan.

I took some shots while I walked with her.

We bumped into Mrs Wallaby with a pouch full.

The Zen Garden

UNDERWOOD PARK WALK

 We went to Underwood Park. It has been raining for weeks and the lagoon flooded over the boardwalk but we had a little dry spell and the water subsided but left the lagoon brown. We enjoyed our walk in the sun.

ANZAC DAY

ANZAC DAY is on 25th of April. It is the day that we remember all the Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women who lost their lives in war. On 25 April 1915 ANZAC troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. By the end of the day, 2000 had been killed. The campaign was a failure, but the bravery, ingenuity, endurance and mateship shown on that day has become enshrined in the Australian character.

Each year the village has their own little ceremony, while much bigger ones are held in all towns in Australia. We have quite a few veterans in the village and they proudly wore their medals and laid wreathes. Children and grandchildren of veterans also wore the medals of those no longer with us.

Usually the veterans march around the village streets and then hold a ceremony at our little cenotaph but this year rain forced the ceremony to be held inside the Community Centre.

First we had a little Dawn Ceremony, which is held at the same time that the troops landed on the beach. We had it next to our rose garden but the rain kept a lot of residents in bed.

The gathering for the ceremony in the Community Centre.

I discovered at one of our dinners that this guy, Brian, and I were in the same year in high school in Sydney back in in the 50's.

All the veterans in our village with our managing director Chiou See Anderson and our local federal senator, Amanda Stoker. the wreathes are in the centre.

The ceremony was followed by a morning tea and a sausage sizzle for lunch. After lunch we had a social with music provided by our very own Elements Band.

It was a big day but quite successful despite the rain, which is still falling today. We have never seen so much rain at this time of year.

APRIL DINNER

Every month we have a dinner in the community centre of our independent living retirement village. The residents have a dinner committee, which organise the dinners and guest speakers. This year we have two teams of catering students from Rochedale High School and the team that was on duty this night also had musicians as well. So when we arrived we could get a drink from the bar, mingle and listen to dinner music.

There are between 70 and 100 people attending these dinners. We have a visiting chef and helper. They prepare alternate drop meals. We used to have a main course and a dessert but the format has changed to an entree and main instead. This is so the students can start cleaning the kitchen earlier so that they can get home on time and there is less for the residents to wash up. Each month residents of a different street are asked to wash up. We have two industrial dish washers that wash in 90 seconds. So it's not so hard. 

For the entree we had salmon mousse or vegetable pate with salad. The main course was deconstructed steak and kidney pie or chicken and leek pie. It wasn't one of our best meals but it was okay.

Our Guest Speaker was one of our residents, Robin Kleinschmidt. He is a member of the Order of St John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller and he told us about its 1000 year history. He is a Knight of Justice and wore his robes as he entered the room.

Students entertain us with singing and music.

Managing Director, Chiou See Anderson's mother had flown from Singapore to spend time with her daughter. The  first time since the pandemic started. Ann in the blue dress in front organises the dinners at age 82.

She explains to Robin where to walk through the tables.

Ann helps Robin disrobe before the talk.

Our Managing director, Chiou See, stands with the students and chefs while they were being thanked by our residents' chairman. 

EASTER WITHOUT FAMILY

We had a quiet Easter with village friends. It was very pleasant having a BBQ on Caren and Eddie's back patio in the warm Autumn weather.  Although our family were not with us at least they were with each other. Carol and David live in Sydney and Sonya, Bernie and the boys live in Melbourne. However, Carol and David are on the hunt for a rural property either in Victoria or Tasmania. They have had enough of city life. So they drove from Sydney to Victoria and found a place to stay in Macedon about an hour out of Melbourne. While there Sonya and the boys visited them.

The sisters were pleased to see each other again.

After playing at making a fake moustache, Banjo helped Aunty Carol make a Pizza. Sonya and the boys returned home but the next weekend was Easter. They all decided to meet at the bush shack retreat near Gordon and spend Easter together. Bernie and his brothers built the shack out of recycled materials. There is no electricity or water connected. Mobile phone reception is poor. They take their own water and use gas for cooking. They have a composting toilet. However, they love going there as it is back to nature and quite relaxing. The boys can run wild and they cannot use their iPads.

Driving into the property, I think it's about 40 acres.

There are also a few caravans on the property, which are used as bedrooms and storerooms.

It's quite comfortable inside. There are bunks and an open fireplace.

They all love mountain bike riding.

Sonya

Carol

There is a dam nearby.

David, Bernie and Banjo, Carol and Fox.

Riding in the forest.

They stopped to collect chestnuts from an abandoned orchard.

On Easter Sunday too much chocolate.

It is nearly as good as being with them having all these photos sent to us.

 The saddest thing is that Bernie's family received a notice that this property is going to be claimed by Ausnet to put pylons through. The shack and everything will be bulldozed. The family will be compensated but they wouldn't be able to find another property for that price in the same area. So the family went to Melbourne with neighbouring farmers and protested.