Flying High

A month after the wedding in Port Douglas and off I go again.  This time it's much more local returning to the Swan Valley for a few days away.  Mel was off to Busselton for a ladies getaway with friends, so I took a break from my caring role.
I miss my handful of friends in Beechboro even though many of them have already taken the opportunity to visit me in my new home.  I spent a couple of nights in a farm stay B & B.  It came with a most delicious breakfast and acreage of cows, sheep, chooks and amazing pigs!  Then there are the stories...Marija said her husband found some eggs and brought them home placing them under the brooding hens and out popped two beautiful peacocks!
While at the B & B I visited friends morning, noon and night.  I spent a relaxing hour picking two bowls of plump purple mulberries from low hanging trees for Marija to make her famous mulberry jam.  I was introduced to chooks and pigs and the family dogs.  The younger dog we were warned enjoyed munching on visitor's shoes.  I kept mine safely on the inside!
It was a fabulous getaway followed a few days later with a family engagement party, finishing only a few days later with Mel's 39th birthday.  Mel was born on Melbourne Cup Day all those years ago.  Melbourne has a  public holiday to celebrate their world famous horse race.  It just so happens this year Mel celebrated her birthday on Cup Day.  Her friends celebrated with her, it was a fabulous day.
The getaways and celebrations have finally finished it's time to get back to everyday living.

Chooks, Chooks and more Chooks at the B & B

One of many many pigs

Merv and his girls, a happy man

Mel blowing out candles on her cake

Should I Go or Should I Stay?

There are times when a decision is needed.  A decision which turns around in your head, a cranial torture chamber.  You think and think some more.  You ponder, you weigh up the odds before laying your cards on the table and betting for a good outcome on the decision finally made.
It really shouldn't be a difficult choice
Mel is going on a three day/night getaway with a group of girls in the south-west.  A perfect opportunity for me to sneak away and enjoy a bit of peace and quiet.  I hummed and hawed, I found a B & B and pressed the button.  I'm booked.
I know if I stayed I'll pull up the weeds in the back garden.  I can't believe how much energy my weeds spend on growing bigger and more prolific than my plants.  There are armies of them in my garden.  I slaughter them and they come back for full revenge!  Enough about weeds and my dirty windows.  It's time to pack a small bag and drive to my refuge.
The community service staff are geared up to spend more time with Merv while I'm away.  I am forever grateful for NDIS who provide Merv with fifteen hours social support per week.  He is so isolated choosing to stay in his room all day.  I am happier knowing I can enjoy the rest of my day while they keep him occupied with singing and playing games.
There will be little opportunity to sneak away after this opportunity.  This time of the year we all seem to be busier and choices are not always available.
Yes I'm going and I'm going to have a great time!

A Beautiful Wedding

Over six months ago Mel and I booked our accommodation and flights to Port Douglas.  We didn't know what might lie ahead but we gambled Merv would be well enough for us to escape for five days.
The bride and groom announced their engagement over two years ago and the wheels were set in motion for the 'big day.'  They chose the amazing back drop of the beach at Port Douglas Queensland for their celebration day.
Like many of the guests we made our trip a mini holiday.  Mel and I booked an amazing tour after the wedding to the Daintree rainforest and Mossman Gorge. It was a fabulous experience.
We bought gorgeous dresses for the wedding.  Oh and then there were shoes and bags and makeup, the list goes on and on!  It kept us busy and we soon forgot about going to the gym or why we even signed up!
We flew on a country jet to Alice Springs, smack in the middle of Australia and then directly on to Cairns airport.
Port Douglas is an hour north by car.  The weather was a warm inviting thirty degrees celsius.  So much warmer than Perth at the time!
A day later the bride walked with her father among the wedding guests to meet her groom waiting expectandly for her.  She was a vision in white.  It was a truly wonderful wedding.  The reception was relaxed and fun.  The wine flowed and finger food was delicious.  Everyone enjoyed a most wonderful wedding.
The bride's mother fell and broke her arm the day before the wedding.  It wasn't planned, it just happened. It didn't take away from the two years of careful planning.  The bride had her most wonderful day and her Mum and Dad were there to share it with her.

Pamela & Mel dressed for the wedding, beautiful scenery behind 

Unexpectedly Lavender

On Saturday Mel and I went out for a healthy lunch followed by a trip to Pinjarra for some shopping.  I was looking for a variety of things including a birthday present for my neighbour.  She's turning seventy soon.  We checked the Edenvale craft shop and the quilting shop but nothing inspired me.  Edenvale display crafts from local artists.  There is an ever changing display of goods.  I have bought all sorts of things there but not this time.
We checked the local shops for bathers.  I should have tried on a bigger (or much bigger) size, nothing fit!  We did the grocery shopping and headed for home.
I wanted to stop at the local nursery on the way.  It's a sprawling rather unkempt eclectic display of plants, ornaments and landscape supplies.  I've bought an assortment of plants here before.  I spied an indoor plant for $12 but couldn't find anything else of interest.  I wondered, I prodded and wondered a bit more.  I had seen the plants out the back, at the front, under the shade cloth but not the vegetable seedlings.
As I walked aimlessly past the tomatoes, cabbages and beans there in front of me were true French Lavender plants in small pots.  I stopped, I stared, I smiled, I beamed.  Oh yes!  In my previous house I had fourteen lavender plants which made a hedge in my front garden.  When in flower the display and scent was amazing.  When I planted my garden in my new house last year I could not find true French lavender.  I checked everywhere.  There are lavender bushes at Merv's care facility and one of the residents suggested I propagate.  Did I want to wait that long?
I scooped up the four small pots at the nursery and added them with my indoor plant.  I beamed.  The woman said she had only had them in for a week.  'Finders, keepers,' I thought to myself.
Digging holes, getting dirty, making plans of how the garden should look.  My lavender might just have to stay in their pots for a few days while I get myself psyched up but it won't be too long!

Travel Plans

I was watching Anh does Italy on catch up TV.  How I loved Italy when Merv and I went in 2008.  My head swims with the most amazing memories.  I could just sit all day and recapture a different one every minute!
As I watched  the program I thought back to why I wanted so much to travel there.  I wondered what made me want to go to China the following year or New Zealand in 2011.  The answer is perfectly simple. I wanted to go because other people shared their lives, their memories, their joy in either living there or holidaying there.

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I used to work as a carer for a 101 year old Italian Nonna.  Her family cared for her and they agreed to have a carer in after she turned 100!  Nonna had dementia and didn't speak a word of English.  Her family shared her story, their story and their heritage.  Nonna died at 102 and I had lost touch with her family before I touched foot in Italy.  I will always treasure their memories of their beloved homeland.
China in 2009 was a different story.  I worked with a friend whose son went to Beijing to teach English at a school.  My friend visited him during school break and she shared her stories with me.  Yes, I wanted to go to China.  Merv and I took the opportunity to take a five day cruise to the southern islands of Japan before beginning our China tour.  Afterwards we visited Hong Kong for three nights.  So many memories which we made our own.
New Zealand was something I had promised myself to share with Merv.  Though Merv became symptomatic in 2010 he was able to walk, talk, eat and drink with little concern in 2011.  We booked a disability cabin and cruised around New Zealand.  His parents had travelled to New Zealand in the seventies, not longer after we were married.  It took us over thirty years to do the same.
Now I travel alone or with Mel.  I miss the times Merv and I travelled together but we always knew our travels were to be treasured.

Celebration of Life

A few years back I went to a man's funeral.  He had HD but died from a stroke.  His wife was dressed beautifully in a flowery summer dress.  The invitation I received did not mention the word 'funeral,' but a celebration of the man's life.  It was held in a function centre overlooking the Swan River.
The room was filled with his family, friends and those who knew him.
It was a celebration.  It was a delightfully happy celebration.  His wife and his brother spoke of his life.  There were photos of him and memorabilia of his life plus his pursuits adorned the walls.  He was a lover of traditional morning tea and everyone delighted in indulging in the foods he had loved.
I spoke with Merv recently about what he would like; a traditional funeral or a celebration of his life. Merv loves a party - a celebration it will be he replied!
It certainly creates more work and commonsense suggests I have photos and memorabilia ready long in advance.
Merv is what you might call the average Aussie bloke.  He worked thirty years at the bakery,  loved his kids and spent time with them, enjoyed family life and much more.
Just the other night I decided to explore the depth of his life.  I shouldn't have been surprised when I listed two pages of achievements and interests.  So often we forget to look back at the whole picture.
Yes, I can put together a Celebration of Merv's life, it's going to take awhile but it will be project of love.

Doing the Dance

The last month of winter is upon us and soon we'll be seeing vibrant colours in the garden, enjoying warmer days and wearing less clothes.
Time for a bit more shaping up.  Mel and I have joined the community gym.  We have tried all types of gym classes;  Zumba (which Mel enjoys but not me), ABT (abs, butt & thighs) which I can just about master.  I have done a few classes in Tai Chi which I enjoyed.  My sister and I have done a few Pound classes (complete with plastic drumsticks) and a couple of Step classes.
There is a problem.  We all have a genetic flaw when it comes to balance and for me my brain and my legs work quite well together but my brain and my arms have absolutely idea how it should work with the footwork!  Therefore I work on the old saying, 'Fake it until you make it,' which in theory  is great but it doesn't look so good on the gym mat.  Oh well.
Our weight loss adventure began months ago with early, very early 5:30am walks which came to a halt with the change of weather and winter keeping us inside and me still in bed.  After that it was the excitement of the 'Little Book of Big Weight Loss,'  which had us inspired and helped with a few bad habits.
I asked Mel a month ago if she wanted to join the gym.  She had lost her inspiration with weight loss and from her previous experience she enjoys the routine of the gym and the easier classes.  Mel even booked a personal trainer for mid August.  Good for her.
Last night I'm flipping through my latest edition of Better Home & Garden magazine.  There is an article about yet another diet plan.  I roll my eyes but I'm already sucked in and I read the blurb.  I tilt my head as I'm thinking.  Yep, it's just another version of the Atkin's Diet.  Memories past return and  I remember I had renamed it the Constipation Nightmare.  I shudder and snap close the magazine.
Enough diet fads, I have the info, I know what works, I know what I need to do.  Do it I will.