Dear Friends,

Here I am in early November 2008 to tell you of my doings this year.

We had a wonderful Christmas Dinner in 2007 with Barbara, Bob Toby and the senior Barnes.   Neil phoned during the meal.    We were chatting away … when suddenly there was a huge BANG!  The pudding had boiled dry and it exploded all over the place.  It was such a mess!  But after the shock we were all laughing as it did not do much real damage, just created a lot of cleaning up!

The year started very well, as Kim decided to visit in Feb.  She first visited Sydney to see Jim, Neil and his family before coming on down to Adelaide where she had about 5 days, including the week-end, which was wonderful as that gave time to spend with Barbara also.  Kim was able to stay with me, but since I had sold my spare bed, when moving from Apt 50 down to 41 to become Normans neighbour, I had to borrow a camp bed from management.  I think it was possibly not the most comfortable, but "needs must as the devil drives", as they say.  We had several dinners together as a family.  I also took Kim to the city, as she had lived down here many years ago, and wanted to see some of the places again.  We went to the Festival Centre, as she had not visited there, and also down to Elder Park which is used for special things; recently they had a huge screen there for folk to see the Soccer from Japan. 

I have a few photos from Kim's visit, and love to take a look at them every now and again.  It was just lovely to be together again, so much to talk about, and the time passed so very quickly.

Kim with Barbara in Adelaide	Kim with Barbara & me in February
Kim with Jim & Neil in Sydney	Kim with Jim & Usa (Front) with my grandsons Roger & Rex (back)

During March we had a coach trip up into the hills to visit a venue known as Camelot Castle.  The trip up into the hills was very pretty, the coach stopped up at the Mt. Lofty Gardens, and as it was Autumn many of the trees were starting to change colour, and made magnificent sight.  The Castle was built of stone, and indeed looked like one imagines a castle to look.  The site was on a hillside, on the lowest level there was a very little chapel suitable for wedding ceremonies.  On the upper level was the dining hall where we had lunch.  After a short break the coach took us on further to a village called Gummaraka where they manufacture wooden toys to sell. Then we journeyed around the hills again via an area known as "The Chain of Ponds".  Due to the drought, alas it was really only a chain of puddles.

During the year we have been entertained by several musicians.  These visits were arranged by our committee with funds raised by holding raffles.  I am not on this committee although Norman was.  These entertainers have been varied, all providing us with light musical interludes, and much appreciated by our residents.  The sing-a-longs are quite funny as mostly we do not know many of the words, and no one is able to really sing.  It is fun to try and the management is very generous in providing refreshments during the evening.

Barbara and I went up to Sydney to visit Jim on Fathers Day.  Sadly this year Jim's wife Mildred had a stroke and died just a day or so after her birthday in early March. So he is now on his own and that is a big adjustment to make.  This was a good opportunity to make a surprise visit.  As it transpired he had arranged for Mildred's daughter to visit on that day, to see the site of the memorial at the crematorium!  Also he was to have lunch with Betty Gamble, so Neil had a few diplomatic phone calls to make to smooth our path.  However, all went well.  We took a taxi from the airport, and met Neil and his family at Jim's.  We all had dinner together that evening as the Sunday was also Usa's birthday (Neil's wife).  Neil picked us up on the Sunday, we met Usa and the boys at Neutral Bay and went to a Japanese Teppenyaki restaurant for lunch.  It was cooked as we watched.  We also got to choose the type of meat we wanted.  The cook performing all sorts of tricks along the way … throwing the dishes to the diners, and then some of the food as well.  It was great fun.  Just so wonderful to have a few hours with the Family.

[L-R] Neil, Rex, Jim, Barbara & me; Roger [sitting]	Me with Rex (L) & Roger (R)
Me & Jim	[L-R] Barbara, Neil, me & Jim at dinner

 

Just last week we all went by coach to a special day on The Fleuriou Peninsular, which is about and hour and a half drive from Balmoral.  We were provided with morning tea.  Out hosts, Rhonda and Peter, entertained us and then some special guests dropped in.  "Elvis" paid us a visit.   Quite a surprise!  Also Frank from "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em" with one of our ladies playing "Betty".  After the show we had a BBQ lunch followed by fruit salad and ice cream.  There were also photos taken during the show for sale as well as many craft items suitable for Christmas gifts.  It was a full day and we were all weary when we arrived home.

Elvis isn't dead - he's alive & kicking in Adelaide!

There is another musical evening planned for late November.  But I will be away to visit Christina and Bon, then we are going on down to Sydney for a very special occasion, which I will tell you about in a moment.

We had a very special smorgasbord on Melbourne Cup Day.  Lots of fine foods, meats, fish, salads cheese, fruit, pavlova, strawberry barbarian, an extra special chocolate gateau … talk about being spoilt.  There were several sweeps so I bought a few tickets, and remarkably one even had the name of the winning horse.  I am one very lucky girl.

Letter continued on 28 November:

Last week I flew up to Brisbane to stay with Christina and Bon.  They were married on 1st October.  They had invited me to their wedding, but I could not manage to attend the ceremony.  The solution was to visit later as Kim Hawksford had invited us to Sydney to celebrate her 50th birthday, and also be present with some special friends to attend her marriage to her very special and beloved Rolf.

Christina met me at Brisbane Airport.  The night before Brisbane had suffered a freak storm, causing vast amounts of damage.  Fortunately the storm did not hit Loganholme, but they had received lots of rain.  While I was there lots more rain fell.  I was very jealous as here in Adelaide the drought continues to be unrelenting.  I was keen to meet Bon, as they have been together for a few years and certainly have lots in common – both love animals and they have quite a menagerie!  There is a dog, a desert lizard, a lorikeet and a fish tank full of a variety of quite large fish.  I loved most of them but did not even look at the snake – I'm just a squib.  Bon is the cook, a skill that Christina has not acquired; she has other talents.  They showed me lots of photos taken at the wedding, celebrated in a rainforest setting.  Christina was a very beautiful bride in a lovely satin gown with a most elegant train.   They will send me a photo or two later (maybe not in time for this year's letter).

There was lots of news to catch up on after 5 years, so it was a real talk-fest.  Christina has been battling poor health.  Fortunately she persevered, finally finding a doctor who has tracked down her problem.  She is at last putting on weight and feeling much better, so that is wonderful.  She is gradually repainting the house and they have long term plans for a move to something more spacious.

On Saturday morning we all had reservations on the same flight from Brisbane to Sydney where we were met by my son, Neil.  Since Christina and Bon were to meet up with her parents at a hotel near Darling Harbour, he drove them there before going on to Cremorne to be united with Usa, Roger and Rex.  Usa was very helpful to me, advising on what to wear, as the dress request for the evening was simply "Glam!"  Everyone tried to comply, but nobody guessed that the weather would turn really chilly. 

The celebration was for Kim's 50th birthday, combined with her marriage to Rolf. This was celebrated very romantically on the little beach adjacent to the restaurant where the reception was held.  The ceremony was conducted very appropriately by a German speaking celebrant, but fortunately in English.  During the ceremony there was a message from Rolf's family, who live in Germany, concluding with a little piece of music by a German composer, then his daughter read a poem and his son played the trumpet.  Tory was Kim's witness, supported by Tristan, so it was a real family affair.  During the ceremony a brisk breeze started to blow off the water.  Kim and Tory both must have been very cold.  The men at least had their jackets to protect them.  The service concluded with the signing of the certificate and the sharing of a glass of red wine.

The whole evening was informal although Greg made a speech to the bride and groom.  He at least had practice as Christina's wedding was only about 6 weeks earlier.  Later Rolf's brother Helmut gave us a brief history of their parents and grand parents, aided by several pictures he had copied on the computer, a little like a 'This is Your Life' programme.  Since only one guest had had the foresight to wear a coat most of the ladies were very cold.  The management of the restaurant brought out some tablecloths for us to wrap up in which we all accepted gratefully.  Well that just added to the Glamour!!!

There were several guests present who knew me and we all had a great old chinwag, catching up on events of the past 5 or so years.  I also met some of Rolf's friends and a great time was had by all.

Now you know about my very exciting visit to both Brisbane and Sydney.  I will leave this portion of my letter and give you a very brief run down on the activities of the Families.

THE CHAMBERLAIN FAMILY

Greg and Heather are both working with their Jims Mowing franchise, as well as raising some chickens.  Heather's Father, Doug, is living on their property and able to help out when they go away.  He is an expert vegetable gardener, so has plenty of strings to his bow.  Greg and Heather were the very proud parents when Christina and Bon 'tied the knot' in October.  Bon was welcomed into the Family and I am sure they will be very happy.  They are both animal lovers with many pets between them.  I just hope that Christina's health will continue to improve.

Kim is now divorced.  She and her new partner Rolf were married on 22nd Nov, just 2 days after her birthday.  It was a very joyous occasion.  I certainly wish them well.  Bob and I were very happily married for a second time for 22 years.  I sincerely hope Kim and Rolf will be as happy.  Both Tory and Tristan were there to support Kim.  Tory sat for her HSC this year and is planning to go to Madrid; I hope she will pick up the language.  Tristan completed Year 10, and will go on to his HSC.  Alister is back from UK and attending Brisbane Uni.

THE GAMBLE FAMILY

In 2008 we have had a visit from my Kim.  She arrived in Sydney first, visiting Jim, Neil and his Family, then coming down here to Adelaide for 5 days.  This included a weekend so there was plenty of opportunity to spend time with Barbara, too.  The management here loaned me a camp bed, so I was able to have her stay with me at Balmoral.  We had a dinner here and were able to go to dinner with the Barnes Family at Tea Tree Gully.  One day I was able to go with Kim into the city.  We had a walk through the Festival Centre, then over to Elder Park for some refreshment and a little rest before walking up to Rundle Mall.  Many years ago Kim worked at the Repatriation Hospital so remembered quite a bit about Adelaide.  It was so very good to see her again.  The last time was when I met her with Christian, Neil and his Family in Hawaii in 2004.

Kim is now a Marriage Celebrant and lives in San Francisco, no longer doing radiography.  Instead she is working at a Retirement village similar to Balmoral.  How life changes!

Barbara, Bob &Toby are all working together at her business 'Barbs Delights', which has been operating now for 13 years. They have 11 vans on the road, so it is a busy life they lead.  Barbara comes to visit every Saturday afternoon and again on Sunday morning, when we go for a walk.  I am blessed with such caring, loving Family.   Toby has been involved with the business since being old enough to be employed.  He, of course, at 24 becomes more involved each year.  He is also very musically talented and plays his guitar in his church band.  This takes up a lot of his spare time.

Neil has been working in Sydney for an American company, EDS, for the past 18 months.  He was in fact commuting between Sydney and Brisbane for seven months this year and also managed to move house in Sydney from Mosman to Cremorne.  Being in Sydney Neil is able to see his Dad, as well as showing his family some of the sights of the area on the weekends.  His two sons are settled in school, Roger at Mosman High School, while Rex is completing primary school, and will commence at Mosman High next year.  Roger enjoys Japanese, while Rex is more interested in music and is taking singing lessons.  Usa has had a very busy year, moving house, settling in, becoming an Australian citizen, then successfully applying for the canteen manager position at Rex's school.

Neil has been a very great help to the Family this year, during Kim's visit, then when Barbara and I went up to make a surprise visit to Jim for Fathers Day.  He did all the organising to make our visit possible.  Then lastly when I visited last week he met us at the airport, delivered Christina and Bon to the hotel to meet up with her parents, then took me to Cremorne, where the Family were so helpful; he then transported me to and from Kim's wedding.  The next day he drove me to Balmoral Beach, then we picked up Jim at Drummoyne before driving on to North Ryde to visit Val Ayers, one of my oldest nursing friends, for afternoon tea.  Lastly he took me out to Sydney airport again to send me back home here to Adelaide, where Barbara and Norman were waiting.

Talking of Balmoral beach, I spent a lot of time there as a child as my grandparents lived at Mosman and I spent many very happy weeks with them.  I even learned to swim at Balmoral.

Val Ayers & me (Nov 2008)

Strictly speaking that is all my news for 2008.  Norman and I are constant companions.  We try to support each other in both the good and not so good times.  We have a lot of good times together.  He gets on very well with Barbara and often comes shopping with us on our Saturday outings.

This has been very long letter, which I do hope you will have enjoyed reading.  Lastly I want to send you my greetings for this festive season:

MERRY CHRISTMAS, GOOD HEALTH, SOME WEALTH AND PEACE ON EARTH. 

Cheerio, Gwen.