On the move - and into storage!

Friday 5 a.m. we rise, and pack and tape the last boxes, we are ready at 7 a.m. for the arrival of the truck with attached containers to store our belongings. 7 a.m. comes and goes, the phone rings - England calling, so we had a great half hour or so (your bill Kev) catching up with Margaret and Kevin - at this stage we were feeling quite relaxed.. Truck with 2 containers arrived just after 8 a.m. - had to park on the road and our "steep" lawn, as our driveway is not "big truck friendly"

This is the 4th time we have used Bay Removals, Mittagong to the Bay, Longbeach to Surfbeach, Mum's move from Vaucluse in Sydney to the retirement village down here, and now for our move to "who knows where"!

Bruce thinks to himself, not another damn print; Liz says to Bruce, this is the 4th time you have packed and shipped my Indian Princess, didn't seem to impress him, as since the last move we now have a few of Mum's which I just couldn't part with.

Sooh many boxes - 132 I am told!

Right in the middle of this, two dear "old" volunteers for the Salvation Army turn up to pick up their stuff - fortunately the guys from Bay Removals helped them up and down the driveway with the bed, bookshelves, washing machine etc. etc.

The 2 containers eventually left (avec truck) at 2.30 p.m. We vacuumed (Nal's machine) and did some other stuff - still in good spirits, but physically stuffed - back to the van, oh no says the Brigadier, I have left our drugs (the ones that keep our blood pressure in tact) at the house, so off he goes, picking up a chinese takeaway on the way back - a glass or two of wine, a few phone calls, a bit of T.V. (David Attenborough on Australia) and then we hit the sack - and slept like logs. Life is good!!

Ole mate Keith, has gone walkabout!

Keith, an old friend from our "goat" years, who we spend most Christmas's with, and who had a 7 way bypass some 15 years ago, decided at the age of 79 plus to buy a camper trailer and go out to the red centre (a part of the world he has never been too). He has lived all over the world, and now has a small farm, breeding goats of course, in the high country in Victoria. We spent last Christmas there, and in fact our bedroom was the camper trailer!! Anyway being the outrageously enthusiastic travel guide that I am, he took advantage, and I obliged, and now he is overloaded with information, he did ask!!!! But, wonderful news, our old mate calls in every night, he is now at Cooper Pedy (opal mining), drove out to William Creek Pub (remember that place Lois when we were there in 1985, Keith said the steak sandwiches were still great), he loved it, and took a flight from the smallest town in Australia (William Creek - 3 residents, the 2 pub owners and the pilot) over Lake Eyre - which is 60% full right now, pelicans everywhere. I look forward to every call - his enthusiam for the outback equals ours. He heads off to the Rock, (Ayers - now known as Uluru) tomorrow. then Kings Canyon, followed by the Alice.

Keith is on the left, Marg and Kev (Frank's sister and brother in law) on the right at the 20th NATS Anniversary in Goulburn on 7th March, this year.

'Tis the night before!.

It's Thursday night, and we are all packed, sooh many boxes, sooh many brain cells tested. What will we need, when will we need it - damn it who cares! The removalists are due to wake up our neighbours around 7 a.m., apparently everything will be dropped into 2 containers for storage - not an easy task with the lay of our land and driveway. Of course we have invited the Salvation Army to pick up as well - they could only do the same day, so should be fun. We picked up our house on wheels (for who knows how long) from Storage on Tuesday, packed her, and dropped her off at a very nice van park in Batemans Bay yesterday, we will actually move into her tomorrow after the removalists have cleaned this place out. Yesterday was hectic, flu jab (resulting in a big fat arm) and check up for me, plus obtaining my medical records to take north, all good, Frank did all this last week with his Doc. Then of course the packing of, and moving the van. It is just another new experience - one I am starting to get very excited about - but will really feel great after tomorrow.

Preparing to move is sooh much fun!!

Guess it is very official now, "It's Sold" was slapped across the For Sale sign early this week, must say we were wondering when it would happen.. So pleased about this - after all the packing - with boxes everywhere, numerous trips to the Salvation Army avec anything useful, Library with books, Hospital with magazines and the dump for everything else we aren't taking.

The man is hoping this will be his last rake up of gum leaves at 25 Parker Ave.

One breath of wind - and he'll be at it again.

I know he is really going to miss this much loved past time!!!

Something he will miss is"Toohey" (named after an Aussie beer) a gentle female border collie who visits us quite often, taking a short cut through Ross and Nal's.

She obviously knows something is going on as she is spending a lot more time here than usual, of course getting her "treat" on each visit!

Don't worry Toohey, I will give the new owner an introductory letter for you, mentioning your favourite treats of course !!

Off with the birdies!

After days of packing, labelling, and far too much decision making - "do we really need this - when did we last use it?" we took some time off to take in the bird life in our garden. This is my first attempt at uploading a video onto the blog - the birds are the Eastern Rosella and King Parrots. Hopefully you can pick them out - looks much better on a full screen.

We finished off another busy mind numbing day, with an early dinner at a little Italian Restaurant on the Boardwalk with Nal and Ross, fun evening.

Happy Anniversary Sarah and Ian

26th April, 2003 - Bristol, England

Honeymoon in New Zealand

followed by a week in France

Enjoy your 6th Anniversary today.

Dad and Liz

ANZAC DAY - Remembrance

ANZAC Day (Australian New Zealand Army Corp), is for me, the most emotionally moving of all days on our calendar. It seems that each year the support for our "old diggers" grows stronger and stronger, and the involvement of the young and old taking part in the memorial services in small towns and large cities on this day throughout New Zealand and Australia can't help but make us proud, and for some (moi) bring a tear to the eye, 'specially when "Waltzing Matilda" is played, doesn't matter if it is via the bagpipes, brass band, guitar, piano or whatever - it still gets to me, always did, always will!!!. Today, like most other years we are watching the Dawn Services at Gallipoli and Villers Bretonneux (which we visited in 2003) being relayed on the ABC. Last ANZAC Day we were in the town of Bright, in the Victorian high country, cousins' Susan and Nalda, Frank and I rose very early, it was a cool morning (very cool), and attended the town's Dawn Service - so very stirring - The Last Post.

Frank and I then went back for the 11 am Service and March. The whole town was there and taking part - very impressive to see the young being so involved in the march and ceremony, Scouts, Cubs, Brownies, Girl Guides, different Schools and organisations..

I found a poem by Bernard Sprunt, which says it all. The photos I took in Bright last Anzac Day.

ANZAC DAY

Each ANZAC Day is a reaffirmation,

Of this nation's sorrow and pride,

As with gratitude it remembers and honours,

Its sons who fought, and the many who died.

In every corner of this wide country,

Frail old men, many bent with pain,

Are carefully polishing their medals,

Before marching with old comrades again.

Each year the roll-call is shorter,

Some faces seen last year won't be there,

Their Epitaph, the verdict that "they were good blokes",

And the sadness of their passing all Australia will share.

By battalions, ships and squadrons they muster,

Though just fragments of war time strength remain,

Instead of rifles, walking sticks are now carried,

As they dress ranks, by the right, once again.

As the pipes skirl, and the bands strike up,

Backs straighten and white heads are held high,

And the crowds lining the route wave and cheer,

As they watch the old warriors march by.

Though passing years have sapped their strength,

And they have to struggle to maintain the pace,

In their minds they are briefly reliving their youth,

Where there was no challenge which they could not face.

ANZAC Day mirrors the "soul" of our nation,

And shows the price it was willing to pay,

To secure our freedom, knowing if it was lost,

That "soul" would sicken, and would wither away.

Where have the last 33 years gone?

Cannot believe that 33 years ago today - in the USA, we were married in Waltham, Massachusetts. We followed up this very simple ceremony with breakfast at MacDonalds, then a couple of hours at the Jordan Marsh department store for me to buy something to wear that evening (can't remember what I had on that morning), then back to our Apartment in Boxborough, Massachusetts for the wedding party. No members from either side of our our families were able to attend, but we were really fortunate to have 2 ladies who basically organised the whole wedding party for us, yes, they were in competition with each other, but who cared, they were wonderful. They were - Mrs. Croft who Frank used to board with when on training in the USA, she and I just hit it off from our first meeting, she normally didn't accept couples to board with her, but made a special exception for Frank and I when we first moved to the USA till we found an apartment - in fact it was her warmth that made me love the place immediately. Then there was Stella, our Godchildren's grandmother - wonderful character, and she basically took the role of my Mum for the day. Mrs. Croft (Frank's Mum for the day) was Finnish/American and she made the most delicious swedish meatballs, and of course Stella who was Italian/American made the best italian meatballs - both were served that evening. Why not - not sure who won the meatball "cook off" - it was just a great night with so much caring for us - will never forget it.

Found this photo a couple of days ago of Mrs. Croft and I taken on 24th April, 1976

Who's meatballs are best? - not going there Mrs. C., but thanks for being here for us on our special day. !!!

Today we drove to Ulladulla to have lunch at an Italian Restaurant - Stella's authentic italian cooking still surpasses! Then we went back in time and watched a British film "The Boat that Rocked" the music was wonderful, and we remember very clearly the wonderful heady days of the late 1960's and 70's, and the pirate radio stations. We were due to go to a Tapas Restaurant tonight with Nal and Ross, but the weather is a bit ordinary, so the view across the water from the restaurant wouldn't be much, we agreed we will go some time next week - at which time we will definitely need another break.

In Brazil

We have just received this photo from our sponsor child in Brazil - Jessica, she is sporting the new clothes she bought with dollars we gave her for Christmas. Nice little girl, writes some lovely letters, in portugese, but they are always translated.

Our first and very last Garage Sale

Well, thank goodness it's over. Yesterday was our first, and also our very last Garage Sale - what an experience! We had to succumb to this activity due to the fact we cannot store our plants, and as we are planning to down size, we also needed to get rid of some of the older and larger garden furniture etc.. On Thursday and Friday I raided the kitchen cupboards clearing out anything we hadn't used for yonks, we sort of set up and priced items on Friday afternoon with help from our friend Arthur, whilst being continually interrupted by people just wandering into our garage (closed to the public as everything we were keeping from the garden was in it) wanting to buy all that we weren't selling. Told them to come back at the advertised time of 9am on Saturday! One lady wanted me to go up stairs and go through my jewellery then and there (which includes some of Mum's) to see what I could sell - Bye Bye maam!!! Saturday - we were up at 5 a.m, fortunately it looked like being a glorious day, so we were able to set up everything outside on the driveway with the furniture and plants etc, upstairs on the deck. At 6.40 a.m the first 2 women turned up (these I discovered later, are the local garage sale harrassment duo), as we were far from ready, and I had no inclination to play nickle and dime with these two at this hour of the day, I advised them to come back later, they left muttering as they walked down the driveway, don't think they were used to being turned away. Then within minutes I turned around to find the jewellery pest was back again. No - I had no jewellery to sell - Bye Bye madame. The day was not looking good at this stage - my tolerance level was already being tested, I was starting to doubt if it would stay in tact for another 7 hours??? By 7.15 a.m. they came in their car loads (too many to turn away - 2 against 13 were not good odds in our books) - so guess the Sale had started, we are still in our old dirty gardening gear, and Frank is yet to put out the signs and Arthur isn't coming till 9 a.m. Ross fortunately decided to come down early to see what he could do to help - that meant Frank could finish off his tasks and put signs in various places around the Surf Beach (which by this time we were wondering if the word CANCELLED should be scrawled across them)!!. The early arrivals are the professional garage sale attendees, they have no compunction in arriving way before the advertised time (it is their right), and just wander all over your property, even though it is very obvious where the items "for sale" are. This mob don't buy much, they chat to each other, discuss other garage sales they are going to, and compare health notes and in general trivial gossip. By 8.30 a.m the real people started turning up, apologising for being early, but of course when they saw all the other cars - thought why not go in! These people were here to buy, and the rest of the day went very well, gorgeous weather, lots of laughs, plenty of good natured bartering, ending up in an excellent clearance. The only unpleasant moment during the rest of the day was when the original 2 - the harrassment duo, came back - made a huge fuss about us letting others in before 9am, I didn't get a chance to convey to them my thoughts, that was beautifully handled by one of our buyers (a neighbour) who recognised these 2 serial pests from other garage sales. She was given a round of applause from other purchasers who were up on the deck with me, and the duo quickly left, after all they had been exposed!!!!. After closing up at 2pm, we happily counted the proceeds, farewelled Arthur, I had a long hot bath with loads of Radox accompanied by the dulcet tones of Julio Iglesias, then Ross and Nalda came down for a drink and nibbles. After which we relaxed and watched the DVD on our trip around OZ in 2004 - this reminded us of why we are putting ourselves through this suffering - to move to something smaller with very low maintenance - a place to lock up and just head off. All of a sudden it seemed worth it again, just sooh pleased there is a good reason for doing what we did yesterday!!! There is a pleasant finale - one neighbour is very pleased with her purchases and the fact Ross and Frank delivered them to her this morning, so she has invited the 4 of us for drinks and nibbles next Sunday, Laura wants to show us where her purchases fit into her newly transformed garden.

Jack at the Mall of America

Grandson Jack sports his new maori "haka" T shirt on his trip to the Mall of America in Minnesota last weekend.

While at the same time young Immy paints up a storm in Auckland.

Old photos and memories

One of the hardest tasks emotionally in cleaning out closets for our move, is sorting through photos, 'specially the old ones and old correspondence. Some great memories have come flooding back during this exercise - many of them to do with my Mum. These 2 photos of Mum (which I love because she looks so relaxed and at home in her surrounds) were taken in 1977, which is one of the years that she spent many many days at Somerset House in London, tracing our genealogy on both sides of the family, Mum's (Tarrants) and Dad's (Kerrs). No computers in those days, just books, newspapers and microfiche. .

Below - A one off - Mum in gum boots!!! (She was at a cross country horse competition in southern England with Dad's cousin, Aunt Alison}.

Below: another one off - Mum in a swimming pool (like her daughter - she didn't swim) this was taken at our place in Chester, New Hampshire - can only assume that all the work at Somerset House must have called for some drastic relaxation by the time she arrived to stay with us in the USA.

I am just starting to realise exactly how much work Mum did at Somerset House, and the contacts she made from the information she dug up,, so many letters, so many birth, marriage and death certificates, so many notes, and newspaper cuttings etc. When we eventually settle in to a new place - I will definitely be picking up on our ancestory where Mum left off, only this time I can enlist the aid of the internet and its various websites. A project to look forward to.

A quiet and relaxing Easter

Our Easter was very quiet, though the Bay and its beaches were crazy. Susan arrived on Saturday, the weather was lovely up until Monday, so we took advantage of this and did a couple of walks along the waterfront and boardwalk in Batemans Bay.

Finishing up with a coffee at a couple of different cafes We walked down to the Marina to check out our old boat "the Frog Finn" (5th from the right), we sold her in 2003, she is looking a bit unloved now.

Nal and Ross came down, and Susan, Nal and I looked through some of the old black and white photos of our family, when we were kids growing up, and the times we all spent at our grandmother's place.

We caught up on a few movies in the evenings, and snacked too much and too often!! Really enjoyed the french film "Welcome to the Sticks" again, and the english film "The Duchess" and last night we finished up with a particular favourite "Mama Mia".

Lovely and peaceful few days, but now back to reality - only 4 weeks left till we leave this house and the Bay.

Little ones - overseas

IN NEW ZEALAND

For 2 weeks Immy and Ethan, and friends, have played with their monster easter egg trucks, none the wiser that they contained lots of little easter eggs. On Easter Sunday, early morning , Sarah broke the news to them and the bonnet/hood was lifted on each of the trucks. .

Wow! Loook what's in the engine!

Only one thing to do now Immy - taste the contents!

****

IN THE USA

Grandson, Jack snowboarding in Minnesota!

****

AND IN ENGLAND

Kevin and Margaret's grandchildren, Jack and Emily paid a visit to "Leggoland" in Windsor with their Mum (Sally) and Dad (Dan) while the four of us were swanning around the Coromandel, NZ,. Dan sent me photos of the kids with these amazing statue type works of art - all made out of Leggo. Believe Jack came away from Leggoland with very ambitious leggo projects for he and his Dad to get started on!

Easter wishes to all.

We wish everyone a peaceful Easter wherever you are, and hope that spring is being kind to those in the northern hemisphere, as autumn is being to we in the southern hemispere - so far!

Not sure if these little bunnies are too "rapt" in this photo shoot

Well last weekend saw the changeover in daylight saving here, so we in NSW are now 9 hours ahead of the UK, 14 hours ahead of the east coast of the USA, and as always 2 hours behind New Zealand. (This bit of trivia is for relatives and friends overseas!) It's been a busy week sorting out drawers, and closets. The man has just about finished organising his garage and carport in readiness for a Garage Sale next Saturday (18th), and we have already sold some pieces of furniture via the local paper. The removalist is booked, everything will be stored first, until we find somewhere to buy and call home, then our belongings will join us. Unfortunately we need to sell/give all our potted plants away, as they can't be stored. The plan is that Frank will travel in the Patrol, pulling the van, and I will follow in the Subaru - communication between vehicles -via "walky talky". We tried this out while Margaret and Kevin were here, when we were travelling in separate vehicles - worked just fine, well when Marg turned hers on!!!. We will probably take about 4 to 5 days to reach Southern Queensland, where we will park ourselves in a van park and start, what we hope will be a load of fun, the search for a new abode. We have a firm criteria of what we want and believe we need, which will definitely be a lot smaller than this house and its garden - should be interesting to see what we end up with. Fortunately I have quite a few relatives on Mum's side (including 2 of her younger sisters- one being my Godmother) in southern Queensland. Last weekend, my cousin and his wife (Ash and Sue) checked a property out for us and reported back, they moved up there 20 years ago, and love it. We are going to take time off to relax this weekend, my cousin Susan is coming down, we always enjoy her company, so looking forward to the next couple of days, before we have to get back down to reality and pack. Frank has just finished his last job for the weekend, he has been up on the roof for a couple of hours blowing all the leaves off, now the poor thing has to clean up the mess its made on the ground. I am sure happy hour won't come soon enough tonight!.

Wroe's in the USA

Have recently received a few photos which I thought I would upload of the "USA Wroes" introducing 8 year old Jack Wroe, (US citizen) lives in St. Paul, Minnisota. son of Frank's eldest son, David and Jennifer (who comes from St. Paul). Great School Photo. These following photos were emailed to me by Sarah, the event "father versus son ice hockey" competition, recognise the 3rd from the left - that's David.

Think young Jack is the 3rd or 4th from the left, but not sure (masks et all) - what's important is "who won" guys!!

Back to OZ, REALITY and our gentle King Parrots

Last Monday we left Auckland early on Air NZ - excellent flight again - reached Sydney to discover that the Qantas ground staff had held a stop work meeting, which led to an "on the spot strike". This meant that we passengers, the crew and staff of many airlines (who contract to Qantas to do their ground work,) were all left high and dry. Something to note - Air Singapore flights were not affected as from what we heard, they have their own ground staff at Sydney. My bag arrived yesterday morning (Thursday) and Frank's tonight, his had travelled via Melbourne to Moruya airport, just south of us. REX airline staff very aimiably delivered our bags to us on both occasions and told us that this 4 hour strike caper had cost Qantas over 3 million buckies to date, but that will go up once Qantas receive the bills from all those who took part in the delivery process, and of course the claims from passengers. Not sure what this strike gained in such a "job crucial" market, certainly no sympathy from the travelling public. As always it was nice to get home - well it is our home for the next 6 weeks!!! This Wednesday - April Fools day - the contracts were exchanged on our house, and our completion date is scheduled for May 13. We are now over the shock of being homeless soon, and the painful dealings with our Real Estate agent, and are now very excited about where we might end up!!!. Things are back on track, with a new adventure to look forward to!. We have started sorting out things in the house, I just need to keep the Brig in his territory and out of mine and we will survive this exercise!!!

When we move, we will miss the birdlife who visit, 'specially the gentle King Parrots. Have decided to leave some information for the new owner along with - some feed, our bird feeders and bird baths. The native trees that surround our place (which we constantly complain about - due to their leaf and bark shedding) are the main reason they visit as they provide food and plenty of cover , assisted by a little bribery in the form of "seed" from Frank every morning. He is quite passionate about them. (This photo was taken this evening outside our dining room - left is the male king parrot, and right the female king parrot).