Wednesday 28th November 2007

Today was a busy day with some shopping to do and some gardening to catch up with.
At lunch time I visited Mum at her Nursing Home to see how she had settled.
Mum was very tired after a big upheavel from being moved from the hospital the day before & settling into a new strange place was a bit traumatising for her. It will probably take Mum a few days to settle down to sleep properly in a new environment.
I was able to take over for her some framed photos from home and some new flowers to brighten up her room & make her feel at home.

Dale & Barry bought her some lovely wildflowers (photo attached).

Images attached: Mum's respite room; lovely wildflowers from Dale & Barry; Mum asleep waiting to be put back into bed after lunch.

Golf Closing Day Tuesday 27th November 2007

Today was our season closing day and Christmas Day - our day to dress up and be in the Christmas Spirit. It was not supposed to rain - but rain it did and we all came in looking like drowned rats - not a good look in all the Christmas gear. We were determined to enjoy the day regardless of the inclement weather and our team soldiered on until the end. My playing partners today were Shirley Daly, Carol Farrel & Yvonne Cummings & I have to say they were the strength of the team today.

After we dried off we had a nice lunch and a wine in the clubhouse. At presentation we had some funny trophies handed out by the Club Captain. I received a garden gnome for being associated with the course gardens.

Today Mum was transferred from Gosford Hospital to Tarragal House Nursing Home to begin her seven weeks respite care. After Golf it was a quick trip out to settle her in to her respite room.

Monday 26th November 2007

Today it was lovely to get a visit from my cousin June and her husband Jim. They are just completing a trip around Australia and have been away from home for something like seven months. June and I lived next door to each other as children, went to school together at Moree & have stayed friends all of our lives.

I was dissapointed that June could not be at our school reunion held in Moree recently (check out : www.jansschoolreunionblog.blogspot.com ) however we had fun reminising over all the old photos today and we talked about all the good old days.
(June and Jim were in WA at the time of the reunion)

June and I are actually twice related in as much as her mother is my mothers cousin and June's father is my fathers brother (if you can follow that). Thankfully we both have ten fingers and ten toes.

Images attached : June & I sharing a wine; June & Jim Primmer.

Golf - Sunday 25th November 2007

The Event today was an American Foursomes for mixed couples whereby everybody hits off; then you hit the others shot. After that pick the best ball and play that out in turn. Diabolical rules if the mixed couple are not playing to expectations.
We call the event the "Naggers Cup" with the expectation that one does not nag to the detriment of the other & the best result is achieved.

Well, what can I say.... it was lovely to be out there on such a nice day finding places on the course where we have never been before. The highlight of our day was watching a flock of cockatoos and a plover escort a hawk away from the course where it was threatening young birds.

Our playing partners today were Dick & Joyce Bosley - they were great company & we stayed back after the game for a few drinks and dinner .....as one does.


Images: Myself, Dick & Joyce Bosley & Pete at the 13th tee; Myself with Graham Brown at the after party.

Saturday 24th November 2007

Today Mum received a visit from Rachel, Ellie and Olivia. Rachel is Mum's granddaughter and Ellie & Olivia are great-granddaughters. Rachel drove from Maitland for the day & Mum was pleased to see them.

Images: (from left to right) Ellie, Mum, Rachel & Olivia taken at Gosford Hospital today.

My garden this week - 22nd November 2007

This week my garden has been so full of beautiful colours it has been hard to tear myself away to deal with more important matters.

Golf - Tuesday 20th November 2007

Today was a great day for golf - just enough breeze to keep the heat down.
It was a Stableford Event & the course was playing very easy. That does not explain my score for the day but I did have some good holes along the way - the highlight being a 5/3 on the 6th. With good run on the course I managed to find a lot of trees and bunkers today. My playing partners were Georgina Lamb, Robin Incoll and Deborah Wright (picured on the 11th tee)& it was an enjoyable day in spite of not winning the day.

I had some surprise visitors at the clubhouse when I came in - Dale & Barry had called in to see Mum at the hospital & managed to catch up with me after golf before they left to go back to Armidale.


Images: Myself, Georgina, Robin & Deborah at the 11th tee; Beautiful mixture of folliage trees on the 17th green.

Dinner - Saturday 17th November 2007

Mum has been in hospital recovering from anaemia. Today Mum was still in hospital waiting to get stronger so we can hope to bring her home.

It seemed a good opportunity to catch up with some long time friends, John & Lynn Cattaway, that we have not had an opportunity to meet up with for some time.

We had dinner at Aree's Thai Restaurant at Wyoming and had a very pleasant evening catching up with all their news & future plans. Lynn is just starting to learn to play golf so I am hoping to see more of her & John at the golf club in the near future.

Golf - Sunday 11th November 2007

Today was the mixed District Foursomes Championships hosted by Gosford Golf Club.

We played with Mark & Jill Lavery and Jan & Elly Van Den Berg & they were great company for the day.

We started out slow & finished reasonably well, in all not scoring more than six shots on any hole. The three pars seemed a problem today. We finished with a net 74 & won a ball so we have to be happy about that.

Lunch - Saturday 10th November 2007

Today Leo & Leveda (from Melbourne) came for lunch after spending a holiday week at Norahville resting up at George & Tosca's beach house. They had a wonderful week in spite of the weather and enjoyed the relaxing ambience of the place. They also spotted a whale off Norah Head which is rather rare for this time of year. Leo & Leveda commented that they went all the way to Canada to see whales and had a better view here.

While at the house they had a reunion of the "Canada" group of which we are a part.
We all met while on a Canada/Alaska tour in 2002. We have been firm friends ever since. They had a great day talking over old times and future holidays. The next reunion is scheduled for next November in Melbourne. I was unable to attend the reunion day on Wednesday unfortunately as Mum has had a bad week and is currently in hospital recovering.

Leo & Leveda called in on their way back to Sydney. They are flying off to Norfolk Island for a couple of weeks which should be great.

We had a loooooooong lunch and a wine or two - travel was a big part of the conversation as we told them of our China adventure and they recounted their week at Norahville & other holidays.


Image attached: Leo & Leveda at lunch today.

Thank you gift- 7th November 2007

I had a lovely surprise this afternoon when I received a beautiful basket of flowers, wine & goodies as a thank you gift from our local group that did the China 2007 tour.

I really enjoy participating in the organising of these tours as much as I enjoy the tours themselves so no thanks are necessary. I do appreciate your thoughts & I am happy that everyone had such a good time in spite of the few hickups that we had along the way.

My thanks to: Georgina & Judy; Jan & Neville; Di & Ron; Fay & Wal; Kay & Arthur; Helen & Frank; Robyn & Doug; Yvonne & Des; Wendy & Ray; Maureen & Rod; Dawn & Rod.

Melbourne Cup Day - 6th November 2007

Melbourne Cup day is always a special day. This year the boys stayed home and had a BBQ at our house & watched the race and the girls went to golf/luncheon/fashion parade and watched the race at the Golf Club. That seeemed a pretty good arrangement to me. I enjoyed watching the race with a nice glass of red wine - it was not too hard to take. I did not pick the winner but got second in the sweep with 'purple moon'.

The golf was a shotgun start at 8 o'clock team stableford. We had all four seasons out on the course; sunshine, showers, wind and an absolute deluge for the last three holes. However we enjoyed the afternoon with a luncheon, fashion parade & the cup race.

Images attached: my golf team Shirley, Allison, Yvonne & myself in our black & red theme we had chosen for this year; later at lunch carrying on the black & red theme with our matching red hats; modelling in the fashion parade; the boys at the BBQ.

Gosford Townies reunion-3rd November 2007

Tonight was the annual Christmas Reunion of the Gosford Townies Rugby League held at the "Yellow Piano" restaurant at Wyoming. In conjunction we also celebrated Peter's 65th birthday.

We had a good attendance this year - 42 people including Alan & Beveley Grady who came from Tasmania for the event and Terry & Heather Goovan came from Sydney. This is the first time that Alan & Terry have attended the reunions & it was good to see them and to catch up with everyone.

We had a good time, enjoying the meal, wine and dancing - as usual (See photos attached). Trevor & George provided the entertainment and were in top form.