1^st August 2016

Barry removed the 90% shade cloth from the bedroom courtyard as it was cutting out too much light that wasn’t appreciated by the plants.

9^th August 2016

Richard arrived in the afternoon for a short stay with us which was very conveniently timed to help Barry with the new shade cloth job.

10^th August 2016

Between Richard and Barry the new 70% shade cloth was fitted over the bedroom courtyard with Richard doing the bulk of the crawling around on the top.

11^th August 2016

Barry attempted to overcome problems with the front lights on Richard’s recently purchased second hand BMW.  The only lights that worked were the parking lights and the high beam and Barry was convinced it was a relay problem which he successfully proved by changing relays but after buying a non-BMW relay from Repco to install in place of the defected one.  It turned out that the replacement one wasn’t an exact copy and only blew fuses and a globe.  They were unable to correct the problem and left it for Richard to sort out in Perth where he had access to BMW spare parts.  They then discovered that the stop lights didn’t work either, but not connected to anything they had done.  It was expected that the stoplight switch was defective.  He didn’t realise it but he had been driving around without stop lights for a few weeks.

12^th August 2016

Richard returned to Perth without stoplights and was actually followed by a police car for a while but didn’t have to use the brakes during that timeframe so wasn’t caught out and arrived home without any problems

14^th August 2016

We took a drive out into the inland areas of the Midwest to look at the wild flowers that the area is renowned for.  The intention was to visit an area known as Coalseam Conservation Park.  As it turned out we missed a left turn which eliminated the shorter route but it was a blessing as it introduced us to ‘Depot Hill’ just short of Mingenew which provided a three quarter hour walk amongst the wildflowers, which included Orchids.  We moved via Mingenew - the long way round - to several Coalseam Park areas, Erwin Lookout over the Erwin River from the cliff tops, the Miner’s picnic area for lunch and then the day use area on the other side of the river, all of which were lovely, but without Orchids.  From there we drove via dirt roads to join the Morawa/Yalgoo road as we were informed during our lunch break of the whereabouts of some of the rather unique ‘Wreath Flowers’.  It was a bit of a hike but well worth the time and fuel but left us with a 180km drive home.

15^th August 2016

Richard rang us today to inform us that his relays and switches have been replaced and all lights work correctly.

12^th September 2016

We bought a small flat pack chicken coup with the intention of keeping a few chickens which keep us entertained and frustrated for a while.  The instructions left a lot to be desired and despite the pack claiming to include everything we had to return to Bunning’s for a few additional items.

13^th September 2016

We continued to erect the chicken coup and mounted it behind the garden shed and then Merry bought three bantams which proceeded to invade the flower beds and help themselves to the snow peas.

14^th September 2016

The flower beds now have protective fences around them and the coup has been reinstalled in the far corner of the garden which offers more shade.

15^th September 2016

The chickens were doing fine until this afternoon when a visiting cat ripped the neck out of one of them.  The two remaining girls are now confined to barracks.

16^th September 2016

Barry has started to build a chicken run around the coup which will allow the girls much more room although nothing like the bulk of the back garden.

17^th September 2016

The chicken run is completed and two new bantams introduced in place of the one that was killed without too much arguing and are safe and happy despite being restricted to about 10 square metres between them.

19^th August 2016

I spoke too soon. One of the newer chickens is not happy and refusing to associate with the others and is not eating.  Merry phone the shop where we purchased it for advice and they offered to swap it for another one, which has on this occasion turned out okay.

22^nd August 2016

The offending grey striped cat has returned on a few occasions to check out the prospects and on one occasion managed to catch and kill a dove, so it definitely has killer instincts.  What it doesn’t know is that it is on borrowed time and that my instincts aren’t all freindly.  We have been informed that the owner actually has three cats, which is above the council allowance, and as we know it’s colour as opposed to the others which, are one black and one ginger, we can nominate which one is the troublemaker and should be dealt with.

16^th October 2016

We started checking out costs, etc for an overseas trip.

20^th October 2016

We finalised the details and paid a substantial deposit on a trip next year in May to Anchorage (Alaska) where we will do a seven day circular tour and then Sail down the Canadian Inside Passage to Vancouver.  From there we will be flying to Toronto for a couple of days were we have booked a tour of the Niagara Falls, including the trip behind the water and will take the opportunity to do the helicopter ride over it if we can.  We then pick a pre-booked hire car and drive on the wrong side of the road the road to Lively, a suburb of Sudbury, nothing to do with cricket or the Ashes.  We will be staying for a week with Gill and Maurice who were great friends of ours in Zambia, and are Garon’s Godparents.  We haven’t seen them since leaving Zambia in 1979 and only tracked them down again fairly recently as a result of coming across another of our Zambian friends by chance on facebook.  We then drive back to Toronto and fly to Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island for a two week stay with Merry’s younger sister Gay who we last saw in 1985.

23^rd October 2016

We drove down to Perth and stayed with Ann and Ashley, as usual, for four nights which allowed us to visit Elizabeth Quay, the new Perth tourist attraction on the Sunday and attend Emma’s (our granddaughter) graduation ceremony at the Perth Concert Hall on Monday.  Tuesday was used for shopping in the morning for clothes for merry now that she is considerably smaller than she used to be, by 21 kilograms, and more guitar tuition for Emma in the afternoon.   Barry shows her how to play chosen tunes in basic form and she then perfects them in the classical style that Barry encouraged her to use even though he can’t play classical style himself.  The fingers never learnt to in his younger days and now they just can’t do it.

27^th October 2016

We are back in Geraldton again and Barry is continuing with the high kerbing around the veggie gardens and installing the uprights of the shade cover over the central veggie bed.  Meanwhile Merry planted another heap of plants as we always go to a nursery close to Ann/Ashley’s whenever we are in the area as they are superior to those available in Geraldton.  One of the chickens decided to start laying eggs the day we left for Perth so Ron and Pamela had the benefit of them as they were coming across the road to feed them as well as looking after Foxy.  We arrived home yesterday and found one egg but today we were presented with two, so it would appear that the egg factory is slowly coming on line. 

3^rd November 2016

The egg factory has improved to 3 eggs a day with one participant still a work in progress.  Barry is continuing with the high concrete kerbing around the veggie beds.  It is a long process as he is limited by the amount of form work material that we have available.

22^nd November 2016

The kerbing round the vegie beds is finally finished.  It has taken a while but Barry can only so much at a time as he is limited by the amount of timber he has available for the formwork.  However, whilst he been doing the kerbing he has also erected a shade cover over the central vegie patch to help when the really hot weather arrives.  Merry is just getting over a virus of some sort that has left her shattered for a couple of weeks but is now ready to start her walking, etc and get back to normal.

December 10^th 2016

Nothing noteworthy has happened in the last few weeks except to acknowledge that summer may actually have arrived, albeit late.  We had a bit of unfortunate excitement a few evenings ago when Mary knocked on our door at 9.00pm and asked us to go to her house two doors away to help Nigel up.  She had arrived home from her choral society evening and found him flat on his face on the floor totally unable to move.  He claims he had been there for ten minutes but he might not really know, especially if he was unconscious for any period of time.  I suspect he got up out of his armchair, possibly to quickly and kept going in dive.  It took both Merry and Barry to get him onto his feet with a real struggle, as he wasn’t able to offer any assistance so becoming a dead weight.  Mary has since taken him to the doctor again and he seems okay at the moment but is losing the plot unfortunately.  He is about 85 years old and has a fair number of problems such as deafness, poor eyesight, bad balance and was born with only one kidney, to mention a few.  He started riding a motor scooter about a year ago which was not a great idea but stopped and used his car during the colder weather.  About a week ago he asked Barry to help him get it started as he was not having any luck with it after the lay-off but Barry only pretended to try as he doesn’t think he should be let loose on it.  If he falls off he’ll never get up again on his own.  He shouldn’t be allowed out in his car if truth be known, and we suggested this to mention this to his doctor who could then have his license withdrawn which would suit her despite the chauffeur work she would have to do.  We haven’t seen them for a few days so we don’t know what the story is now.

4^th January 2017

This blog was intended to be posted in time for Christmas but it didn’t happen so we now hope you had a pleasant Christmas and have a great New Year.  Ours was pleasantly quiet.

Nigel, our neighbour two doors away, spent a week in hospital prior to Christmas but did have Christmas at home and then back into hospital again where he had another fall.  He was  taken to Perth just after the New Year in readiness for his specialist appointment on the 6^th January.

On the more cheerful side, our eldest son, Garon, should have arrived back in Perth yesterday but this hasn’t been confirmed as yet.  He was due to return in December but was asked to stay on in Singapore a little longer to finalise the project/contract he was working on.  That allowed him and Sue to have a Christmas holiday in Sri Lanka.  Sue is staying in Singapore for a few more months to finish her job contract so she gets the job of packing up all of their belongings.  Meanwhile, we imagine Garon finds appropriate accommodation for her to send it to.

9^th January 2017

Colleen, Emma and Abby came up from Perth had had a belated Christmas dinner with us and we were able to gather all of the information on Emma’s School results which are in the 90 and will get her into university

10^th January 2017

We received the news via Kerry, next door, that Nigel saw the specialist and he and his relatives were at the Perth airport and were recalled by the hospital as they had spotted a  problem with Nigel.  They returned to the hospital and were told his pancreas had failed and was re-admitted where he passed away as a result of pneumonia.  Probably just as well he didn’t get on the plane. What happens now with Mary we will have to wait and see?

As yet we do not know if Garon is in Perth or prolonging his stay in Singapore yet again.

Richard has got Rory with him for a few weeks but could make it to Geraldton with her unfortunately.  His son, Jack is on his way to Melbourne with his girlfriend where they will be going to one or other university.  Jack most likely in Geelong.  

20^th January 2017

 Merry returned home by car with her relative who proceeded to clear out the garage into a huge skip bin.  This was completely filled and removed the next day and several trips to the tip undertaken with the trailer.

I visited to see how Mary was and asked the son-in-laws about the future of the trailer as we had recently had a new base inserted and had intended buying from them as they never use it.  It apparently had already been discussed and we now own the trailer for the exchange of a carton of Corona lager.

23^rd January 2017

Mary returned to Perth with the relatives and will eventually decide what she wants to do, such as stay here in her house which really is too much for her or sell and down size in Geraldton to retain her friends, etc, or down size to somewhere near the relative in Perth.  She is due back here in a few weeks so we wait with baited breath.

7th October 2015 to 30th January 2016

7^th October 2015

We have now started going to the Community Centre again on a Wednesday morning to attend the gentle gym sessions now that we are back from Singapore and Merry’s foot seems to have recovered.  We took a long walk yesterday that didn’t cause her foot a problem so we assume it is fully recovered from whatever its problem was.

9^th October 2015

We attended the Friday morning gym session and then moved on to Bunning’s to price some wood to make a cabinet to fit on the back of the kitchen cabinet under the so-called breakfast bar that we never use as such.  We came away empty handed to rethink the design with what they have available.

10^th October 2015

Today we have planted capsicum, sweet corn and beetroot now that the weather has warmed up plus we don’t exactly know why but we have some more potatoes coming through.  We must have cut some and left pieces behind when we dug out the last lot.  The tomatoes that self planted are still producing well whereas the Roma plants that we planted are nearly finished, but we had a good crop, although on the small side.  Radishes have gone mad and we just can’t eat, or give them away, quick enough as we should have started using them about the time we went to Singapore rather than three weeks later but some are still usable. We still have some Brussel sprouts  although they are small but the cabbages were almost destroyed by avids and snails and we only managed a couple of usable cauliflower, so in future will stick to broccoli which seems to do okay in this area.  The cover that we had over all of the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage allowed them all to grow to a good size but tended to keep the Cabbage white butterfly in, rather than out, and made no difference to the avids.

12^th October 2015

Spent some time modifying the reticulation system to the vegie garden so that it all gets a much better soaking plus we have put a 300mm fence around the centre vegie bed so that we can use snail pellets without the risk of Foxy getting to them.   We will be doing same with the other beds after we have finished modifying the reticulation system.   Barry has also started a continuation of the veranda paving around the side of the house where the water tanks are situated.  This will give nicer access to the tank tap when we need to top up the fish pond.

13^th October 2015

The reticulation is now completed with the exception of one possible alteration and the paving at the side of the house has progressed.  All of the Brussel sprouts and cabbages have been removed and passed through the mulcher was going to be dug back in but Merry put it all into the composter to end that scenario.

31^st October 2015

Nothing of note to report in the last few weeks except there has still not been any rain despite the overcast weather, however, the vegies are still doing well without the rain as the modified reticulation is doing a good job.  We have arranged to go to Perth for Christmas this year rather than staying here, so we will be staying with Ann and Ashley as usual but will have Christmas Day with Colleen, Craig and the girls and Boxing Day with Ann and Ashley as they will be at Ashley’s daughters place on Christmas Day.  Richard will be joining us at Colleen’s for Christmas Day.  Colleen and Craig usually go camping way down south for the rest of the holidays with a group of friends although the style of camping changed to camper trailers and some have now graduated to caravans.  Colleen has been working on that update for a while but it hasn’t happened yet.

November 22^nd 2015

Another period with nothing special to report other than the garden is producing well.

January 4^th 2016

As we drove down to Perth to Ann/Ashley’s place and then spent Christmas Day including dinner with Craig, Colleen, Emma, Abby and Richard which worked out good.  This gave Barry several hours with Emma teaching her to play ‘Unchained Melody’ on her guitar as she takes her guitar to their camp performs around the campfire.  She has a few songs that she sings but they are all so-called modern songs that we know nothing about, whereas Barry is teaching her tunes he knows and plays that she likes, such as ‘Stranger on the Shore’, ‘Memory’ from the Cats show, ‘Theme from Exodus’, ‘Apache’ ‘Eye of the tiger’ ‘Chariots of Fire’ and many more from that era.  Emma is learning very quickly and because Barry introduced her to ‘House of the rising sun’ and how to play it classical finger style she now uses that style for most of her playing.  Barry claims she plays better than he could after a twenty year head start, but she has the advantage of tutorial information, etc, on the internet.

 We then had another Christmas dinner with Ann/Ashley on Boxing Day.  We also spent New Year’s Eve and day with Ann/Ashley before returning to Geraldton on the 3^rd January.

14^th January 2016

We travelled back down to Ann and Ashley’s for Merry’s six monthly throat check-up.  

15^th January 2016

We had dinner at Outback Jack’s in Cannington along with Richard and Rory, Colleen, Craig, Abby and Emma.  This was a chance to catch up with Rory who was on holiday with Richard as she goes home in a couple of days’ time.  Jack didn’t come to Perth with Rory this time as he now has a girlfriend so life has to pear shaped (change) for him, but saved his dad an airfare.  Unfortunately nobodies meal matched the quality of the company which seemed strange as the meal in Outback Jack’s in Northbridge that we had a few months ago was really good.  Richard has had several meals in the Cannington outlet recently that he claimed were good, so maybe we just picked a bad day.  We followed this up with a walk along the Swan River bank in South Perth to walk the meal off and enjoy both the walk and the view across the river at the lights before heading back to Ann and Ashley’s.

16^th January 2016

We met Richard, Rory, Colleen, Abby and Emma at Lake Leschenaultia for lunch and a swim for those that were interested, which turned out to be Richard, Rory and Merry only.  The day was cut short when a storm blew in with some close lightning that cleared the lake quite quickly.

17^th January 2016

Richard gave us a call when he got home from seeing Rory off at the airport and Barry drove up to his place to collect the sleeping bags, airbeds, pump and gas cooker that we had lent him so that he and Rory could go camping if they chose, but the 36+ degree temperatures didn’t encourage that.  One of the airbeds was necessary anyway for Rory to use whilst at Richard’s place.  Merry went with Ann to the Joondalup Shopping Centre for an inspection as it is now supposedly the largest shopping centre in the Perth and suburbs area.

18^th January 2016

We drove up to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital for the throat check which proved to be okay with Merry being told the swelling was still going down, which is excellent seeing as she was not aware of any swelling.  In the afternoon we successfully took the 6km walk around Bibra Lake.  Last time we tried that it rained about a quarter of the way round.

19^th January 2016

Once again we have returned to Geraldton from Ann and Ashley’s via the Indian Ocean Drive, but this time without a 20km detour around road works.

30^th January 2016

Not much to report of note other than all is well and that the Indian Ocean Drive that we use for our trips to Perth is currently closed due to a bushfire in the area.  Apart from that the only other thing is the strange weather that we have had for the last fortnight that has been more like Singapore, overcast, steamy and hot, and probably will not improve for a while with the Pilbara area due to have a cyclone arrive tomorrow which will spread more cloud our way.  Not real good for the solar panels.

The photo of Harbourside in Singapore is to show the Sumatra smoke and one of the taller towers, not sure which one,  is were our son Garon and wife Sue live on the fourth floor.  This was an experiment as the Picaso program hasn't been letting me put pictures in for several years now, unless I would like to pay for storage room.  That will not happen. 

11th July to 3rd October 2015

11^th July 2015

Today we reverted back to a long morning walk, about an hour, and backed it up with another half hour walk in the afternoon after doing about half an hour of gardening.  This was followed with Barry taking his first drive around our local streets to test out his legs response and knee’s ability to cope with emergency stops, and it looks like he will be back in the drivers’ seat again.

With Barry being slightly out of action and Merry attending diligently to his needs, plus some surprising rain in the order of 60mm, the weeds have gone mad.  There are also a lot of old dead lettuces, beans and sweet corn stalks to remove and soil to turn over before replanting.  The relatively new raised section of the garden appears to be producing some healthy broccoli that hasn’t succumbed to caterpillars or Avid.  This may be because this area is circular and we used three fibreglass tent poles to form a dome shape and covered it with curtain netting held down with rocks.  This kept the white cabbage butterflies out.

12^th July 2015

We started out on our long morning walk but soon gave it away and settled for a short morning walk as the breeze was directly of the Antarctic and cut straight through the extra jumpers we were wearing.  When the breeze dropped in the afternoon we embarked on our long walk for the day which Barry chose to extend even further to put his knee to the test.  This meant walking down to, and along the beach, so about a quarter of the walk involved soft sand plus clambering back up the sand dunes back to the footpath and then the uphill grind back home.  This walk took 1.5 hours and was fairly gruelling but we both survived. 

19^th July 2015

We are still walking twice a day so that Merry achieves 10,000 steps according to her Fitbit gadget that counts the steps.  She actually tries to achieve 17,000 steps which is supposedly the equivalent to 8kms.  Today only produce one walk but was a hour and a half walk which took in the beach.  This was in the reverse direction to the last time we did it with the same exhausted result.  The beach which used to be firm to walk on has changed dramatically since the high tides we have experienced and is now very soft and saps the strength out you.  This doesn’t help the next few kilometres of steady uphill struggle to get back home, whichever way round you choose to go.  This time we came off the beach slightly previous to our usual exit which unfortunately had a much higher, steeper sand dune to negotiate.  The type where your front foot slides back to where your back foot is planted as you try to move upward which nearly beat Barry’s new knee.  However, he did eventually make it but it took a while, and just for a change is the first time Merry has had to wait for Barry in these situations. 

20^th July 2015

We did a similar walk to yesterday but used the coastal road rather than the beach which reduced the effort required and saved some energy for the uphill drag.

 

24^th July 2015

We only took one walk today as we had to go shopping but the walk we did take was one of our longer treks. Merry had a visit to her specialist for the results of her colonoscopy only to be told exactly what he told her in the hospital recovery room.  This presumably is the specialist’s way of extracting another heap of money out of you by charging a huge gap over the top of the regular fee.   

25^th July 2015

We didn’t do any walks today as we were busy getting ready to drive to Perth tomorrow.  We will be staying at Colleen and Craig’s place but in our caravan that is still after Richard used it for his contract at the Mint.  He is currently on some other shutdown contract at one of the mine sites with another one following on from it.  Merry has an appointment at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital on Monday for her six monthly throat check up which proved to be okay and now only has to have 3 yearly checkups for that end of her body.

28^th July 2015

We drove into Midland and bought a LED light fitting for our kitchen.  We noted that Colleen and Craig had new lights in their Kitchen and Family room and quite liked them so bought a similar one (not the same design) to replace our old kitchen fluorescent light.

29^th July 2015

We travelled back to Geraldton with our caravan which included a stop off for a cuppa at Nilgen’s Lookout that we have passed many times but ignored and it turned out to be a pleasant view with a short walk to the viewing area looking out over Cervantes and the ocean in one direction and rolling farmland in the other.  It also had a longer loop walk through the newly blooming wildflowers.  August through September will be a good time to visit if you happen to be in the area.  We also stopped at Jurien Bay as usual for our lunch break.  Diesel fuel in Geraldton is currently $1.38.7 but interestingly the same fuel in most garages around where we stayed in Perth (Lesmurdie) cost $1.41.9 with variation down to $1.36.9.  We found a garage on Orrong Road in Welshpool selling it for $1.31.9 where we topped up twice.  However, on the way home we topped up again, about 2 thirds of a tank, in Leeman in the middle of nowhere for $1.29.9.  Until recently diesel has always been about 10 cents cheaper in the city so I guess times are changing. 

31^st July 2015

We are still experiencing rain so there will be now outside activity today other than trips to the shed or garage as required for various items.  Barry has removed the old fluorescent light in the kitchen that was looking very unstylish and has filled the mounting holes, sanded and painted the area where it used to be so that it doesn’t show, in readiness to mount the new LED light fitting.   There is one more coat of paint to go on and the light should be fitted a bit later this afternoon.

1^st August 2015

The light fitting is now in use and is much brighter and more efficient than the old fluorescent light fitting, plus looking much more stylishly up market.

6^th August 2015

Richard returned to Geraldton (us) this afternoon. He has just completed two mining shutdowns downs and now has a five day break before flying out to the next one.  The day he was flying out of the last job he was asked to fly out the next day to another job but had to turn that one down as he is committed to moving his processions from here and Colleen’s home to a room he is now renting.  This is at the same place in the Perth suburb of Wilson that he rented some time ago.  This will make him more accessible for the shutdown job offers as they seem to be coming thick and fast currently.  We have borrowed Nigel and Mary’s trailer once again to take his gear to Perth on Sunday which gives him some of Sunday and Monday to settle in and then fly out on Tuesday to his next job.  We will deliver Richard and his processions to his new address, go up to Colleen’s and collect the stuff we left there when we removed the caravan, and continue to Ann and Ashley’s to spend the night before heading home again.  It makes life easy having such great friends in the Perth area to call upon when a bed is required.

8^th August 2015

As a precaution Barry regreased the trailer bearings as the trailer is old and we have no idea when they were last serviced, if ever.  We then loaded most of Richard’s processions in readiness for an early start in the morning.

9^th August 2015

We did the final packing which took up the back seat as well as the trailer which meant Merry couldn’t travel to Perth with us.  We then checked that the trailer lights did the thing before leaving and found that they didn’t.  We have to use an adaptor to convert from the trailer socket to our car plug and have found in the past that we have to jiggle the plug and socket to get things to work, but as time was at a premium Barry took a chance and headed for Perth with only a right hand indicator, no left hand indicator and stop lights.  This was not a problem for the bulk of the open country journey but dodgy in the Perth area.  Barry checked them again at Rick’s new address and discovered nothing was working at all so dropped the trailer off after unloading  Rick’s gear and went to Colleen’s for his other stuff.  After dropping that off with Rick, Barry went on to Ann and Ashley’s hoping for the best and made it alright without police interference.  He disconnected the trailer and went into the nearby shops and bought a new socket for the trailer cable.

10^th August 2015

Barry fitted the new socket to the trailer cable and the lights now work as they should and also are much brighter, probably due to an improved earth connection, but it made the trip back to Geraldton more relaxed knowing that you are now totally legal.

11^th August 2015

Barry returned the trailer to Nigel and Merry after confirming that the lights are still okay and explained that Nigel will need to check that they are okay when connected to his car. They should be okay as they are wired exactly the same but he has never mentioned a problem with them, but my never have checked.

26^th August 2015

Nothing of significance has happened lately other than we have been enjoying the benefit of our home grown cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. Richard has had several shutdown jobs to do and has more lined up so moving back the Perth area has proven beneficial so far. We are both still walking reasonably walks to make sure we will have built some stamina for walking around in Singapore in a few weeks time in their humid conditions.

29^th August 2015

We drove 98kms inland to the small town of Mullewa where their annual Agricultural Show is in progress, however, we didn’t go there for that event but for the annual flower show at the town hall.  We visited this event about 18 years ago as one of the main attractions is the wreath flower which is only found in this region in disturbed soil such as old quarries.  Unfortunately they are becoming scarce now as people are visiting the area and removing them in the hope of them growing in their gardens, despite the risk of a $2000 fine for any picking, or removal, of wildflowers.  We had forgotten how small the town hall is and were somewhat disappointed with the very small display and the ridiculous entry fee for so little.  We visited the local church as it is a local attraction and then walked two of the wildflower walks, each about an hour long, as the wildflowers are in their element at this time of year.

6^th September 2015

Still not a lot happening other than packing in readiness for a drive to Ann and Ashley’s in Perth in three days times and then fly to Singapore the following day.  Meanwhile, here in Perth we are still walking a fair bit, especially Merry, and we have harvested a ten litre bucket of potatoes and started to pick Brussel sprouts as required. 

25^th September 2015

We arrived back from Singapore late afternoon on the 23^rd and drove back to Geraldton on the on the 24^th.  The Singapore flight takes about the same amount of time (5hrs) as the drive to Geraldton.  We retrieved Foxy from Pamela and Ron across the road who where rather reluctant to let her go as they have all become very attached, including the small parrot that they acquired recently. When it is let out to fly around in the house and lands on the floor it has a nose to nose chat with Foxy, and when it is in its cage Foxy sits and watches it most of the day with quite a lot of chat between them.   We had a great time in Singapore although Barry in particular would never consider living their permanently as there is too much noise and too crowded for his liking.  Neither of us liked having to duck and weave around people looking at their smart phones rather than where they are going, and avoiding a multitude of Selfie sticks.  We were very impressed with the rail and bus services as well as the tourist attractions such as the Gardens by the Bay with the Super Trees and their light show.  The Zoo, the bird sanctuary, China town, Raffles Hotel, the Chinese Gardens, the Botanic Gardens, Sentosa Island, the old Changi village and the airport are also great attractions.  Unfortunately in September, Sumatra burns off their forests to make way for crops and the smoke drifts across Singapore to Indonesia which makes photos rather hazy and not so good for breathing.  We also happened to pick a time when the Formula 1 race was on which meant some of the roads were closed off, which interfered slightly with our plans.   On the brighter side Barry’s knee was no trouble at all during the 133 kilometres that we walked during our 11 day trip, so the walking we did prior to the big event obviously paid off.  The humidity was exceptionally high so we melted each time we went out but it was worth it and was probably why we both lost a couple of Kilos. Garon and Sue’s apartment is in a somewhat upmarket 24 storey high highly engineered skyscraper.  It is one of three in a group known as Reflection on Keppel Bay and they stand out from the crowd due to the curved shaping, as per the photo that highlights Sumatra's smoke haze.  Garon and Sue are on the fourth floor which looks out over the ponds that virtually surround the buildings with views of the wooded hill and the cruise ships as they enter and exit the harbour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

28^th September 2015

We drove down to the landing area for the tenders that come into Geraldton from the cruise liners to meet Jill and Steve (yes, another Steve).  They are a Tasmanian couple that we met in the departure lounge at Perth Airport waiting to board the plane for Singapore.  They were going there to join the cruise ship ‘Legend of the sea” to take them to Fremantle via Kuala Lumpa, Phuket. Bali, and one or two other Asian ports, before heading south to Broome, Geraldton and Fremantle.  On the way down they were unable to call into Geraldton as it was deemed too rough for the tender to bring them ashore buy were able to achieve it on the return journey.  Other people had arranged regular bus tours but Jill and Steve were happy to have us as their guides.  We took then for a drive through the town centre which was very deserted as it was the public holiday for the Queen’s birthday and then up to the memorial for the HMAS Sydney which apparently they could see whilst still out to sea.  It is the best war memorial we and they have seen.  Interestingly, we met several volunteer tour guides who apparently come out of the woodwork whenever a cruise ship arrives and bus tours visit the Memorial as part of their itinerary.  We then took them for a quick look in the impressive Catholic Cathedral and a drive south to the Greenough Heritage Hamlet.  We met another bus from the ship on our way out but then took them where the buses wouldn’t go, to the Hampton Arms as the wooden bridge over the Greenough River is too narrow and probably not strong enough.  The Hampton Arms was a really quaint pub when we were here 15 years ago but unfortunately has declined and the amazing bar with a rabbit head with antlers has been totally cleared out, as has all of the other bars which been turned into a second hand book shop.  The dining room still has Singer sewing machine treads for the legs of the tables and still has rooms for quest available, and naturally is still claimed to be haunted.  It wasn’t quite what we thought we were taking them to but both Jill and Steve were impressed.  On the way back we stopped to take the mandatory photo of the bent Greenough trees and a short diversion to the Greenough river mouth before continuing to the Old Prison Gaol which has a great history (from the volunteer guides again) and is unexpectedly different now as many of the cells are used as craft shops.  From there we went for afternoon tea and then the Museum which is a short walk from where the tenders depart which enabled us to send them on their merry way. We also learnt that on the return trip their ship would not be calling into Broome, but into Port Hedland instead.  If that were us we would be asking for our money back as neither Port, or South Hedland, has anything to offer tourists other than iron ore dust.

3^rd October 2015

Nothing exciting happening since the Geraldton visitors on the cruise ship but we are now enjoying warmer weather and plenty of our home grown vegies.  We haven’t been walking as Merry developed a slight problem with one foot so we have been allowing it to rest as much as possible since returning from Singapore, but took a sensible length walk today as a trial and didn’t seem to upset anything.

15th May to 9th July

15^th May 2015

Merry went to the QE2 community centre to attend her second art class and came home with her first quite good painting.  Barry refitted the reticulation system that feeds the bedroom courtyard and patio gardens to the new veranda in such a way that you hardly know it is there.  He also finalised the odd few touch up details.  All that is left to do is the fancy flashing to cover the slight gap between the gutter and the veranda roof.  This might be done tomorrow if the weather defies the prediction of 10mm of rain for this area.  Barry has arranged for his knee replacement operation to be done in Bethesda Hospital in Claremont, near Perth, to be done on the 27^th May and also arranged to stay with Ann and Ashley for a week or two for the initial recovery period.  This will allow plenty of recovery time prior to our Singapore trip.  This afternoon we had a mad moment and played nine holes of not very special golf as Merry is considering joining our old golf club again.  Barry will not be joining as his rigid right wrist doesn’t allow the required flexibility to get involved with club competitions but may play occasional casual games.

16^th May 2015

No progress with anything today as the predicted rain started about 8,00am and continued all day as predicted and will continue into tomorrow.  However, we did enjoy the ability to be outside under the new veranda during the rain although it was chilly for us as the temperature was down to 21 degrees with gusty wind.  On the other good side is the rain doing the garden a huge favour and also has topped our rain water tanks up.  There is a slight amount of rain sneaking between the gutter and the sheeting as expected and will be overcome after the rain has gone as we have the flashing ready to go, but not in the rain.

19^th May 2015

The flashing has now been applied to the veranda roof and is now waterproof except for about 1 metre at the end that isn’t going to affect anything.  The 10 metre roll of sticky flashing was not a full 10 metres, plus Barry wasted about half a metre in the process of applying it, which was not an easy performance.

21 May 2015

We have now added to the reticulation system and checked it all prior to going to Perth for up to a couple of weeks and provided the fish with feeding blocks to last the same time, plus the fish pond pump is now on a timer to keep the water circulated for a while each day.  Barry has to have a dental check tomorrow so that all is in a good condition prior to the operation as he can’t have any major dental work for 6 months after the anaesthetic.   We have hired some crutched in readiness for his after operation movement for several weeks use.

22^nd May 2015

Barry attended his dental appointment and was subjected to one filling that seemed to take an age and then had to have a total mouth x-ray to obtain a letter stating that he will be dentally okay for at least 6 months after the surgery on his knee.  We are ready to leave on Sunday (tomorrow) to head down to Perth.

24^th May 2015

We drove down to Perth and called into Colleen’s to see Richard and then continued on to Ann and Ashley’s including a minor detour into a Kmart store on the way.

25^th May 2105

We drove up to Bethesda Hospital in Claremont to attend an appointment with the Pre-op nurse and the physio department, and had a tour of the hospital to show us the room with a view that was awaiting Barry’s arrival.

26^th May 2015

We drove to the hospital again to be there for 7.00am and Barry went through the admission performance and then was taken through to get ready for the operation.  His operation was the first for the day and was back in recovery by mid day.

27^th May 2015

Up out of bed and took his first short walk with the aid of a frame to get showered before breakfast.  After breakfast he started his physio treatment and did very well.

31^st May 2015

Merry collected Barry from the hospital and returned to Ann and Ashley’s where we stayed for one more night.

1^st June 2015

We left Perth and headed for Geraldton with Merry doing the driving as Barry is not allowed to, with rest stops at Moore River and Jurien Bay.  Barry had to sit on the back seat across the car as there is inadequate room for his leg any other way as it doesn’t bend enough to sit normally  yet whilst needing supporting.

10^th June 2015

Nothing of note has happened in the last few days other than Barry visiting the physiotherapist and has performed his exercises ever since but still hasn’t achieved the amount of movement we are after.  He can get into the front seat of the car now.  He acquires more movement during the day due to the exercises but come the next day he seems to back where he started from,  It is still very swollen which makes it stiff.

9^th June 2015

Barry has been taking walks to the end of our street and back which is about a half kilometre walk but today he tossed the crutches and walked round the block which is about a kilometre.

11^th June 2015

Barry had the clips removed from his knee.

14^th June 2015

Despite exercising as required 4 times a day and some days even more, plus 45 minutes per day in the Hydrotherapy pool for the last 2 days Barry’s knee bend still hasn’t improved, or at least not noticeably enough to satisfy him.

15^th June 2015

Barry visited the physiotherapist and was surprised and pleased to be told he was doing much better than expected at this early stage of recovery.

17^th June 2015

Barry walked around the circuit that he used to do each morning with Foxy which is about 1.5km and all went well although it was a bit slower than usual.

18^th June 2015

Barry took Foxy for her morning walk which will now be a regular feature again just as it was prior to operation.  He is still going for up to an hour of hydrotherapy each day whilst Merry swims in the main pool which is improving her fitness along with the eight km walk she does on most days.  Today Merry had to have a visit to the dentist for clean up job which is never a lot of fun.

20^th June 2015

The weather is now definitely winter weather, even by Geraldton standards.  Barry’s knee is still swollen but has gone down quite a bit and he is still exercising it four times a day as well as walking and hydrotherapy.

21^st June 2015

The weather is continuing to be pretty miserable producing 60mm in the last twenty four hours. Fortunately, since daylight it has stopped raining and appears to be improving slightly which is good as Merry is driving solo to Perth to pick up Richard, Jack and Rory and will be returning late this afternoon and evening.  They will probably arrive home after midnight as the kids flight from Darwin doesn’t land until 4.00pm.

22^nd June 2015Merry, Ric and the kids arrived home earlier than predicted, about 11.00pm, but at least it was safely.

24 June 2015

Merry had her annual colonoscopy and all went well and has now been clear to only undergo the procedure every three years.

26^th June 2015

Barry had his return visit to his specialist who is happy with the job he did on his knee and that he has progress well.  Barry’s physiotherapist is also happy with the progress and doesn’t require his attendance any more as he knows Barry will continue with the prescribed exercises.

27^th June 2015

Barry has been gradually increasing the length of his morning walk with Foxy and today did a 3.5km walk that took almost an hour as he is still not as fast as he used to be as yet but still working on it.  As it turned out, this was a bit on the long side so future walks will be a bit shorter but have two of them per day.

1^st July 2015

Ric and the kids returned to Perth and will stay with Colleen and Craig until the kids fly out on Tuesday back to Darwin and Ric flies out to a mine site shutdown for 11 days on Wednesday before returning to Geraldton, subject to more work appearing on the scene.  Meanwhile we have our house back to ourselves along with the peace and quiet and are able to get back into our own routine that also includes the use of our vehicle. Ric has taken the kids to a variety of activities during their week and a half in Geraldton, such as archery Dongara, sand boarding and rock climbing at Greenough river mouth, fishing and the local cinema.

3^rd July 2015

Today’s walk was different in as much as we walked down to the beach and back which is about a 15 minute walk each way under normal conditions. Barry is a bit slower than that currently but the walk involves a steep downhill walk for the middle 200 metres (the type that cyclists get off and push) which means smaller steps to control your speed.  Naturally this also means coming back up it on the return journey and is a real cardiac test but we survived and the new knee managed very well.  Unfortunately, no matter which way we walk from our house we will always have a hill to climb to get back home as the house is almost at the top of Mt Tarcoola which puts us well clear of any surprise Tsunami even though three quarters of Geraldton would vanish.

4^th July 2015

Yesterday’s trial long walk with steep hills went well but cause some knee stiffness today so the walks will be slightly shorter without the severe hills for a bit longer but we will have two walks per day, which is also easier for Foxy.

5^th July 2015

Being a determined type creature, Barry decided today that he attempt to operate the stationary exercise bike that we bought when Barry was in hospital.  It needed some adjustments to the saddle height and saddle positioning front to back, but found a position that allowed his right knee (the operated knee) to move sufficiently to allow his foot to stay on the pedal as it rode up and over its apex.  In the process this meant the knee was forced to bend to the 90 degree position with the help of some force from the other leg.  He then sat on the bike rocking that pedal back and forth over the apex several times to let the knee that he was going to win this argument.  It turned out to quite painful but now that he has achieved it he will continue to do it every day for longer periods until it becomes easy.   

8^th July 2015

We both went to the QE2 community centre to the Gentle Gym session that Merry had been going to prior to stopping for Barry’s hospitalisation and follow up assistance.  She is now able to return and taken Barry also as the exercise may assist his knee.

9^th July 2015

Barry is still doing the walks and still riding the bike even though it is not yet any easier, but is doing it for longer session several times a day.