Tassie Wanderer

Well I have made it back again. Despite our best intentions life sometimes takes over and we don’t get around to the things we want to. Anyway time for an update.

My big news is that I have purchased a unit in Narrogin. After renting and lving here for 17 months I really feel this is my home now and when a unit came up for sale in a complex I had been watching, I looked at it and purchased it within 24 hours! It is just perfect for me……3 bedrooms, great covered outdoor area, SMALL back yard and ducted airconditioning. I am so excited and can’t wait to move in on Feb 11th. Since Eric died things just keep getting better and better and working out for me at exactly the right times. After really enjoying my time in this little house, in the last couple of months I had become frustrated at the lack of a spare bedroom and a bit more room….and the huge back yard. And suddenly……this unit comes up for sale. This type of unit rarely comes up in Narrogin so I knew I had to move fast.

So now need to sell my house in Tassie. The tenants want to break their lease and move out and I am well and truly ready to be rid of that house. It no longer has any place in my life. Houses are selling at a pretty good rate in Burnie…so here’s hoping it sells quickly.

Had the MOST MOST amazing Christmas. ALL of my kids and partners, Petrina’s in-laws and all of my grandkids together. Despite a week of incredible heat we all had a fantastic time and surprisingly for strong-willed Alcocks…not even one argument. We were all just so happy to be together. Lots of fun, food and water activities. Now I have the job of sorting our combined 2000 photos and editing and getting back to everyone. So good to have the memories as I sort through them all.

Then the day everyone left Mel & Mark started the mammoth task of moving into the new house which their boss has built for them on the farm after the old house was partly wrecked in a storm 2 years ago. What a job that was…and in the heat!!! I spent quite some time out there helping move and helping with the kids while they moved. The house is very large and all nice and new and they are really enjoying being in it. The old house did have so much lovely character but so many things were breaking down and it was getting to be a real effort to live there.

So I have told them they have got the experience in moving now…so it is their turn to help me!!! Of course, I have very little to move. I will buy some of the furniture, household goods from the house here as Thelma is planning to paint and sell this place, but will have fun buying some new stuff. I have decided this is the bright, airy stage of my life and will decorate in bright dolours. When Jett & Mateya came to visit the unit, their first question was “Which is our room Grandma?”. So got the tick of approval from them.

Going up tomorrow to pick up Kara & Jada for a couple of night’s sleepover with Grandma…their last in this house. The kids have all enjoyed this place as almost an extended motorhome, and know they will love my new place.

So now have a spare room for the kids and then a sewing room/office…..and a room for when you all come to visit. Spare parking room for motorhomes/camper vans/caravans too.

Lyn and I have not yet booked another trip for this year yet…I am a bit reluctant to commit to anything until I am moved in and see what happens with Burnie. But we are determined to do another trip while we still can…..we are both getting older.

So life is amazing. And things just keep going so well. Who could not be happy.

OK…my New Year’s resolution…to get this blog under way again.
After the last 10 days of around 40 degrees C it has finally cooled down and some energy has returned, so all sorts of plans.
for now, that’s all…but promise more for the year.

Twin Shell orchids.

Have been so busy the last few days since my return….out chasing orchids every single day…and finding lots of great ones. Photos later.

So back to our trip. Lyn stayed with me the night before we left, and then we headed to Perth in my car, leaving it at the long-term car park. Of course, we were at the airport in heaps of time…in fact before they even opened our check-in, but we are both sticklers for being on time for things…and don’t mind if we are super-early and have to sit and wait. While waiting to board we heard other people complaining about a travel company and on questioning them..yes, it was ours. So it wasn’t only us who had problems.

Anyway, after purchasing out duty-free alcohol to be collected on our return we boarded and 6 hours later arrived in Singapore. As we headed off and down the walkway, another flight from Melbourne had just arrived and as our two lots of people converged we suddenly looked up and there were Jim and Rosemary, the couple who were on our China tour with us! Talk about major, major coincidence. so after screams and hugs we got inside and caught up on all our news as quickly as possible. They were heading to the UK for a 6 week walking tour. And of course they were amazed to see me walking so painfree and well. For a moment Lyn and I had to stop and remind ourselves which tour we were on!!! China or Europe???

Two hours later we boarded the next plane for our ghastly 14 hour flight to Paris……no human is made to sit for 14 hours on a plane!!! 14 tortuous hours later we arrived in Paris in the early morning…sorry, but Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport is MOST unimpressive. Our guides met us to take us to our respective hotels. With 60 in our group, we were not all able to fit into one hotel. Lyn and I stayed at the Concorde Montparnasse…a great hotel situated right near the centre of Paris and the main train station. Emil, one of the clerks there, was sooo helpful and made our visit so much more enjoyable. We left him a good tip on departure.

Unfortunately our rooms were not ready till much later….and all we wanted to do was lay down for a bit and get our legs off terra firma!!!! Lyn and I headed out to have a wander and get our first look at PARIS. After being very keen to see the Eiffel Tower we soon realised that you can actually see it from most of Paris…we could see it from our hotel.

So to the real beginning of our trip….Paris. Photos and more to come next time.

Can’t resist a couple of orchid photos!!

Well so sorry that I have not been able to keep you up to date with all the amazing sights I saw in my Europe trip, but internet access was difficult and so expensive most of the trip, so now have to make up for it all.

So how was our trip and cruise? Well, let me see…how many superlatives can I come up with? Amazing, fantastic, unbelievable, life-changing, trip of a lifetime etc etc. As each city went by Lyn and I would sit and marvel that we were so lucky to have visited each one. We left Australia knowing that we had limited time in each place and accepting that we probably would have to miss out on many of the major, well-known tourist attractions. Well….somehow we visited far, far more than anticipated and got to see almost all of the major sights in each country. Yes, we did have to limit time spent at each…and many we simply did not have time to go into…but we saw (and photographed…and photographed…and photographed!!…4,500 photos in all!!) them. Each seeming to outdo the previous. Each new city we came to, I would say…this is my favourite…then the next would come up and I would revise my feelings!!

We have both arrived home totally, totally blown away by our trip. Both feeling we got great value for our money …and wishing we could do it all over again. Yes, there were further problems with our tour company….believe me they will be getting many, many letters of complaint. But we all (60 of us in the group) refused to let anything spoil our holiday…and nothing did. And we met some great people in the group and made some memorable friends.

So now we try to get our bodies to adjust to the ghastly jetlag and return to Aussie time. Over time to come I shall attempt to take you along on our trip and share some of the photos with you.

One little grand-daughter (Mateya) having a sleepover tonight with Grandma…got woken at 8.30am by them arriving!! So to try and get some sleep in normal time tonight.

Case packed…..helping at Jett’s school done……lunch with the swimming ladies done…..Mateya asleep in my bed! All ready to go.
Wow…it is here at last. Can’t believe I am going to be in Paris, London and Barcelona in the next week. And then for the Mediterranean Cruise. Can feel all that rich, fantastic food already!!

Very overcast here and looking like there might be some much-needed rain soon..Farmers will love it. Hopefully it will be nice and wet and green by the time I get back. Will be sad leaving my new little car behind for 3 1/2 weeks….but plenty of time to make use of that when I return.

OK…so hoping I can access the internet while I am gone…think I have it all set up, but never sure till I get there. Bye for now.

Oh dear…here I go again..apologising for being slack in my blogging. On Friday (just 2 mre sleeps!!) Lyn and I head off on our 23 day European trip so, after a couple of gentle nudges from friends, decided I had better up date my life before I go.

So what have I been doing the past month? Mmmm…lots and lots. Orchid season 2012 is well and truly under way and I have already done many kms to see these amazing wonders. I have spent lots of time with all 4 grandkids…..my first passion in life. Each time I see any one of them reinforces to me that I so totally made the right decision in moving to WA. I can keep in touch with all my friends via phone, email and skype, but nothing compares to a hug from a grandkid…and I get lots of those. And then I have been busy swimming and catching up with the several groups I have joined here in Narrogin. And finally…any spare moment has been spent at my very own sewing machine finishing off the 3 quilts I commenced several months ago.

And finally, I am enjoying my brand new car. A couple of weeks ago when I was staying at Bronte & Bec’s, I had a few hours to kill, so went into the Hyundai dealers to look at what might be on offer and what changeover price I might be looking at in the future…..and walked out with a brand new Hyundai I30…a lovely vibrant blue automatic with cruise control and blue tooth and all the neat bells & whistles. It was the last of the new 2011 models they had and they wanted to make room for the new 2012s coming in, so offered me a deal too good to refuse. Even my salesman said I got a better deal than him when he bought his…and he works there!!! After 4 days where I travelled down south for an orchid excursion, my new little car was ready for its first service!!! So now everyone is having to get used to me turning up in a bright blue car…and I have to get used to looking for a blue car in the parking lot!

Orchid season has commenced with a wonder ful array of fantastic orchids already on display and most weekends I head off somewhere in the south-west of WA. And at least 2-3 days each week I go exploring in areas closer to home. At the end of April, after a field trip with the Club, I then headed down along the south coast, stopping at orchid-promising areas and found hundreds of the beautiful Bunny orchids. I clambered over huge rocks and searched out these little treasures growing in moss-filled depressions and underneath bushes on the rocks. I even came across a sleeping snake (a dugite…yes, poisonous!!) on one of the rocks and gave him a wide berth. My hip is standing up to all this activity extremely well and I do not even feel it now, altho I do take a hiking stick with me just to prevent any mishaps.

Apart from the tiny orchids on the rocks I also came across some extremely tall Bunny orchids…a slightly different species and quite stunning. The weekend before last I spent in the south-west corner of WA at Augusta where we once again found hundreds of orchids…mainly different types of Bunnies and walked many kms over rocks and through the bush.

Last weekend, after having Kara & Jada for the night at a cabin at the caravan park, and having my car serviced, I headed up north of Perth to Toodyay (remember that place Mort & Barb) to search out the Winter Spider orchid. This total miracle of nature flowers when it is still so dry underfoot the litter crackles, and it is so tiny, yet so perfect. The flowers are between 3-10cm high…so miniscule…and are maroon and cream, so they disappear into the leaf litter. I had seen them before so knew what I was looking for, et still had trouble finding them. And they were worth every km…so, so beautiful and perfect.

Mel & Mark are busy watching the new house being built on the farm which they will move into, hopefully before Christmas. The concrete pad has been poured and the brickies are now putting up the walls…this bit goes pretty quickly, but the rest takes more time. When I was at the fam babysitting on Monday I had to take the kids over to the new house (just 2km away) 3 times so they could see the progress.

So I now have my case all packed, documents all organised, camera packed and LOTS of SD cards ready to go. So Paris, London, Barcelona and Mediterranean cruise…here we come. Our tour company, Bicton Tours, has been woeful and last documents have only just arrived, so we are expecting problems along the way…but figure we will enjoy the trip anyway and just make the most of what we do get to see. Hopefully I will get a chance for some descriptions along the way, but if not…lots of photos on my return.

Whew! Where oh where have the past 3 weeks gone? Life has become so busy…but so good too.

I left Sydney after such a fun visit and returned to spend 3 nights over Easter with Bronte, Bec and the girls. Was so good to share the Easter egg hunt with them. The girls really don’t eat that much chocolate, they just love finding the eggs. On the Sunday afternoon we went up to the nearby Serpentine Falls where B&B and the girls climbed up the rocky hillside to the top of the Falls…no, I did not venture up there at all. My hip is great, but not that great!! And I sure do not want to risk a fall and damage to it.

On the Monday we went to meet up with Bec’s family at a park area on the river front. The most beautiful day and we all returned home tired, but satisfied. The young adults and kids all enjoyed the extended park cricket game.

Then on Tuesday I eventually made it back ‘home’…yep, it so truly is home now and was so good to get back. Of course there was the inevitable mass of washing and getting organised at home again, then on Thursday I worked in the Plant Nursery so Kevin & Renee could go to a clearing sale. Gave me a chance to catch up on some computer work as my computer still had not been returned.

On the Sunday I went out with the Naturalist Club to retrace the 100km Walk that Mel and 99 others did 12 months ago. We drove the 100km and at the end of the day were all exhausted. It was a great experience to see where they had walked…mostly through the bush. then at 5.30pm I took part in The Great Cocky Count (yes, a ccoky is a cockatoo for the Canadians!!). Oddly enough not a single bird was seen in the Narrogin area that night…most unusual. The Carnaby Cockatoo, which is the one we were looking for, is becoming less and less common due to habitat degradation and clearing. After an hour sitting and desperately trying to find even a single bird, we headed back to one of the member’s places for a great bbq and get-together.

Then last week Bec and the girls came down to the farm for 3 days, so I spent some time out there with all the grandkids. On Wednesday I headed up to Perth for an Orchid Society meeting. It was so good to catch up with the group members and to hear about orchids starting to appear. I stayed with Bronte that night and headed back home the next day.

On the Saturday I headed out to Corrigin (about 100km away) with the Orchid group to look for the Pygmy Orchid…very aptly named as the plants are only between 4 and 20cm high and each flower is about the size of a match head….and being brown and green they sure are hard to find. Between the 8 of us we found 50 plants, so were very happy. When I got back to Narrogin I quickly headed to a local reserve and found the first of the Bunny Orchids out..also very small, and despite being white, very hard to spot.

On Sunday I went up and picked up Kara and Jada for them to spend 2 nights with me. They had heaps of fun and Jada did not want to leave. Jett also spent the morning on Tuesday with us and the kids all played non-stop…Jada slept all the way back that afternoon.

Yesterday I spent the morning in the bush orchid hunting again, but only found 2 in bud…a frustrating morning. I spent the afternoon unpacking my crate which arrived from Tassie…was so good to get a bit of my stuff, especially my own sewing machine and other sewing stuff.

On Saturday I go up to stay with Bronte & Bec for the night then head off next morning on another orchid excursion. After that I plan to head south to visit Lyn and organise our time in Paris, London and Barcelona….and look for some more orchids down there.

Well my extended holiday has almost come to an end and I am making use of Jacki’s computer before I leave.

My computer has been diagnosed with a screen which has had it, not the motherboard as first thought. However, that still is going to be expensive to fix and I won’t get it back before the end of next week….so a week home without it…rats. Oh well, I sure am getting very familiar with my iPhone…probably a good thing. Now the big decision….what do I take overseas with me……iPhone, iPad …both or just one…starting to think just the iPhone might do…smaller and easier to carry…and of course my Kindle…..no way I would travel without that. Have less than 2 months to think about it now, so have to make a decision soon.

Have had a lovely time in Sydney with Jacki and Petrina…so nice to spend time with them. Jacki has had since Tuesday off so has been good. Have done so much walking with her….not sure I could keep this Sydney lifestyle up!! My right hip has improved remarkably since Tassie…still a little twinge, but so very much better. Think it confirms that I just am not meant to live in ‘Tassie!! The arthritis which is rampant in my back gives my beans at times….bad luck there is no vertebrae replacement available!!!

Went with Jacki, Petrina and a friend to see the movie ‘The Hunger Games’ the other day….definitely not the sort of movie I would choose to go see…but hey, made the most of it and just got into the spirit. Actually quite enjoyed it. But NOWHERE near as much as ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’!! That is such great movie…fantastic actors, fantastic cinematography , great story …and lots of laughs. So many people I have recommended it to…and they have all enjoyed it. One friend said she felt like standing and clapping at the end!

Have had the most wonderful array of foods here in sydney…Japanese, Chinese dumplings, Jacki’s amazing rice and Tallegio cheese pies and exotic deserts, Petrina’s bbq. And much of it vegetarian due to both Petrina and Jacki being total vegos…no meat at all. Although Benji did bbq some delicious meat.

Today Jacki and I went to the launch of a fabulous mural painted on a huge factory wall alongside the community garden Jacki works in when she has time. The Sydney Mayor, who very much supports local community projects, dedicated the mural and we heard how it all came about…in very short time after the garden group got sick of all the graffiti on the wall. We heard from the artist and I was totally amazed at the mural…incorporating many native and garden flowers and the animals in the area. Some of the school kids assisted in the paintowrk and were very proud of their efforts. There is a large indigenous presence in the area and their influence was also seen in the mural. What a truly wonderful achievement. And now the factory whose wall they painted (a furniture factory) is going to donate some furniture to the garden!! True community spirit.

So much happening n my life. Due to Pete’s efforts, all the equipment in Eric’s workshop has been definitely sold to a local Men’s Shed group which is about to get under way. Such a massive relief for me…and such an incredible beginning for them. They also will collect and transport all the gear, so a great outcome. Pete is also having an antique dealer look at the Grandfather clock today…he seems very keen to take it on consignment and just wants to check the details re its construction. Wow….things still going so well for me. I did get out some more things from the locked room in my house and Pete will ship some to me in another crate and he and Doreen will bring some more over in their bus on their planned visit to WA in Aug-Sep. Still some stuff left in that room, but that will have to stay there till I sell the house.

Beautiful weather since I have been in Sydney……their Summer was totally washed out but they are having the most amazing Autumn, if a little warm for me. Sure glad I brought mainly Summer clothes.

I go back to WA on Saturday…may stay a night or two with Bronte and Bec & kids if they do not go camping, but will be good to get back to my own place too. Gosh, have been away nearly a month. So till next time.

Thank goodness I bought a new iPhone two weeks ago. On arriving in Sydney yesterday I tried to turn my computer on and nothing..nil..zilch!! So got a ‘mobile geek’ in to look at it this morning and sad news. It has to be sent away to probably get a new motherboard. Oh dear…..at least a week without a computer!!!! So was all ready to write all about my visit to Adelaide, then Tassie and now Sydney. Suffice to say the visit back to Burnie went very well and I was pleased to find it no longer felt like home. But had a great visit with friends.
My Mum spent the entire week I was in Adelaide in hospital with severe pain…and it was the Eric experience all over again. Talk about a battle with the medical system. She is 89 and deserves to be pain free!!!!

So till I can get to my computer again, although am finding this iPhone getting easier to use all the time.