Saturday 27th June 2009

It has finally stopped raining thankheavens. We have had enough rain to do us for quite a while.

The golf course is still very wet underfoot which does not encourage happy golfing so I am hoping for more sunshine so that our big golf week planned for next week can be much friendlier.

This last week has been very busy with the Ladies Golf Championships being finalized on Tuesday and Thursday through all the mud and slosh on the course. I was a non event this year along with a lot of other players - some were having so much trouble that they abondoned their efforts. We have been working a lot on the gardens and grounds of the course to get everything looking good for the Ladies Veterans Comp that is on next week.

Sunday we played golf with Warren Gray & Mary Bromwich who are great company. We stayed for dinner at the club afterwards so it was a good day even if the golf was not great.

Monday was F-Troop work & I finished off planting the last of the Bird of Paradise plants and a couple of gardenias that had been donated to the club.

Tuesday was the second round of the Ladies Championships. My playing partners were Julie Hazzard and Lesley Gregory. Julie played really well and came in winner of the daily event which was great. If I can't win myself then I like to bring home the winner.

Wednesday I had to renew my drivers licence. My RTA experience this time was not too bad considering previous times when I have had to wait in queue for ages. However the photo experience was just as bad as before. I was looking forward to being able to throw away my old 5 year licence that had a disgusting photo of me. Alas I got another photo nearly as bad that I am going to be stuck with for another 5 years. I spent the rest of the day with Anne & Joel. We had a walk over to the shopping centre at East Gosford & had a nice lunch at the "Taste" Restaurant & a wander through the baby shops along the street. I managed to find a few people that I could show Joel off to.

Thursday was the final round of the Championships. The course was still wet & sloppy & we all struggled to find some highlights of the day. My playing partners were Chris Dekker and Dawn Cook. Some of the good golfers came in with respectable scores & those that won the Championships in their divisions deserved their trophies as it was very hard going out on the course.

Friday we needed to replace all the hired indoor plants at the Golf Club with Indoor plants of our own. It was quiet a big job to move them all into pots and place them around the rooms. The board had decided that it was more economical to have our own plants and look after them ourselves. I spent some time after that tidying up the "Ladies" garden on the 13th - which is one of my 'special interest' gardens. Friday night we went to the Raffles night at the Club & had dinner there. Rod & Anne bought Joel over for his first visit to our place. They wanted to watch some Foxtel so they looked after the place while we were out.

Saturday after grocery shopping I was back at the club securing all the potted indoor plants & getting them right before handing them over to our volunteer who is going to maintain them.

I slipped out between golfers & did a bit more gardening on the Ladies Garden before going out to the Narara Valley Nursery to pick up plants that we are "borrowing" to dress up the front of the clubhouse for the Lady Vets events next week.

Saturday Evening was the bi-annual get together of the "Gosford Townies" footie group at the "
Time after Thyme: restaurant at Bateau Bay. We had a good number of attendees given that it is mid winter.

Ian & Julie Gunn were the 'surprise' guests this time, travelling about an hour to get to the restaurant from where they live. Ian & Julie are both tragic golfers and play with the Waratah Club so we had lots to talk about. Others were Garry & Carolyn Morris, Trevor & Margaret Andrews; Dennis & Evelyn O'Toole, Garry & Chris Wilkinson, Bub and Sue Wilkinson, Bruce & Rhonda Fenwick, Peter and Jackie Clarke, Ron & Marj Payer, Wendy & Ross Shepherd and Les place.

We are never lacking with conversation at these events & it was good to catch up with everyone.

The evening passed very quickly & I was talking so much that I forgot to order my coffee before the kitchen closed at the restaurant so we called in to McDonalds on the way home for a coffee fix. Photo attached of me having my coffee with all my friends late at night at McDonalds at West Gosford.

Friday 19th June 2009

Another busy week has flown by - most of it wet & unfriendly weatherwise but things still got done.

Saturday 13th we had a visit to Anne & Rod's for a "Joel" hit & then called in to Ken & Marg Gardiner's for a catch up with all their news. There has been a lot of rain at Dorrigo where Carolyn & Brett live. A big hello to Carolyn & Brett if you check into the blog. Carolyn & Brett have a new little daughter "Ella" a sister for Bailey and Kye. Saturday night we celebrated George Foster's 70th birthday at "Alexander's" restaurant in Gosford. We all had to wear the red/white/black colours of Manchester United - George's soccer team. A good time was had by all (32 members of the golf club and some of George's family). It was a surprise party that George was not expecting as he had already had several celebrations leading up to this one. He told me he would have turned 70 well before this if he knew it was going to be this much fun.

Sunday 14th Graham & Anne had a day in Gosford to meet Joel and to have a game of golf with us on Sunday afternoon. We had morning tea with Rod & Anne & had our cuddles of Joel. We were lucky with the weather & got our game of golf in just at the last rays of sunshine were settling. We had a good day even if the golf scores were not outstanding.

Monday 15th was F-Troop work at the Golf Club until about 2.30. We got most of the new garden finished bar a couple of bench seats and some top up mulch & also finished the new table and chairs area among other things. It was a nice sunny day so it was good to work outside.

In the late afternoon Col & Lauren Matterson called in to see us for a catch up & stayed for dinner.

Tuesday 16th was the first day of the Club Championships and of course it had to rain. It was miserable out on the course but we had to stick it out to stay in the Championships. I was wet through to my skin & had to come home for a change of dry clothes before presentation. I am not a happy golfer in the wet and the bad news was that we were to play our second match on Thursday with continued bad weather forecast. I did not play all that well, but neither did anyone else because of the state of the course. I finished well up in the top half of the scoring so I had to be happy with that.

Wednesday 17th was another wet and miserable day. I spent the day with Anne & Rod looking after Joel & doing a few helpful things around the place for Anne who is still confined to as much bed rest as possible however is gradually improving. Joel is really doing well & getting more alert. He had on his red soccer shirt that he has just grown into & looks so cute. We went to the pub across the road for a drink later in the afternoon & Rod found that a dog was running by the name of "Father Rod". Rod confidently placed his bet & came off with a winner so he was very happy.

Thursday 18th was good news day. The Championship match was abandoned due to the poor state of the course. We have had so much rain it just has got nowhere to go. I was not at all unhappy about the cancellation. I was not looking forward to slogging it out in the mud & rain again. To make my day one of the lady golfers rang & told me that she would like to donate the two park benches that we needed to finish off the new garden. Happy days!

Friday 19th (today) I rang the local nursery to "borrow" some plants for our special vets day that we have coming up. I like to give the club entry a fresh look when we have a special day & it is good advertising for the nursery. The owner also offered all of our Club Members 12.5% permanent dicount off of private plant purchases. As of this week we have sold $415 worth of timber for firewood which we can spend in the course beautification. So all up it has been a good news week for me.

This afternoon I went shopping for timber benches. It is like trying to find hens teeth at this time of the year. They are either cheap and nasty or so,so expensive. I will continue to search the net to see if I can find some bargain buys. I did some browsing in my two favourite browsing shops today (Officeworks and Bunnings) & came home with printer ink, a new maibox, various must haves for my garden and a new mop for Rod & Anne. Not too much damage done!

Friday 12th June 2009

I had a very busy week one way or another. Peter was away all week playing golf at the Gold Coast with his golf cronies. It was a good test to check that I could cope on my own after the last disaster. The only bad incident was the demise of the hot water heater & I was lucky enough to get some good service & get that cleaned up with some help from Shane.

Monday I had a day at the Golf Club with my F-Troop co-worker Martin Gallagher working at planting some new trees, trimming back the crepe myrtles & working on the native garden.

Tuesday I played golf - very badly, but the company was good & the weather held off coming in cold & windy later in the afternoon.

Wednesday was a cold wind day so I spent the day on indoor chores, the hairdressers and went over to Rod & Anne's for a Joel "fix". We had lunch at the Elanora Hotel Bistro (Rod's office on an ordinary day).

Thursday I had another few hours at the Golf Club gardens catching up on some of the weeding that is required after good rain. It was a much nicer day than Wednesday so it was okay to be outside. Thursday evening I went out with a group of friends from the Golf Club to the Laycock Theatre at Gosford after having an early dinner at the Grange Hotel Bistro. The Entertainment at the Theatre was by Marty Edwards impersonating "Kenny Rogers" and Sherry Gordon impersonating "Dolly Parton". It was a good foot tapping, hand clapping night & we got to meet both of the singers after the show. (photos attached) I got home just in time to pick Peter up from the train after his return from the Gold Coast.

Today, Friday 12th, was the court hearing day. We had the best outcome possible getting a 'guilty' plea for each of the eleven charges - so it is all up to the Judge now that a sentencing date can be set - hopefully before Christmas. After court we had a couple of hours with Rod, Anne & Joel and was able to catch up with Anne's family & friends.

Nothing left to do now but to celebrate a good result and to start a new beginning to the rest of my life.

Sunday 7th June 2009

So much for my well laid plans for today. I woke late this morning with plans to wash the bed linen & spend the day working in my back gardens.

I was walking to the laundry & the closer I got the louder I could hear rushing torrential water.

Sure enough the hot water system had exploded sometime during the night & the laundry floor was deep in water & rust sediments from the heater. The water had also overflowed under the house & garage floor & was running out into the street. What a disaster! I did not hear the explosion but it made an enormous mess.

Peter is away on a golf tour so I called Shane who came to my rescue until the maintenance man could get there. Being a long weekend I did not think I would be able to get anyone to come.

To their credit, the "Hot Water Maintenance" team - they sent me out a new heater & had it installed just after lunch which I thought was a great service considering that it is a long weekend.

Shane was a fantastic help because he was able to move the fridge, freezer & washing machine so that I could clean in underneath them. At the end of the day I have hot water again & a sparkling clean laundry. The only damage done was to my bank account - needless to say the heater was just out of warrenty time. I think they are only made to last 10 years. Any time after that is a bonus. Shane was very good about me rearranging his morning - so I owe him a favour now.

It was such a nice day that I did manage a couple of hours out in the sun & got one garden under control. Everytime Peter goes away we somehow seem to have some major drama here - this time it was the hot water. Just as well we were not both away - I hate to think how much water poured out overnight. I guess we will find out when the excess water bill comes in.

Saturday 6th June 2009

It has been a long week working out in the gardens & at the golf club. It has been a perfect time to weed and plant as the soil is very wet from all the rain we have had in the last couple of weeks. I could not put off an opportunity to get in more plants.

My own garden is still a blaze of colour with the roses still responding to the rain & giving me some lovely blooms. The pansies have really come on & are showing good colour.

Joel is developing well & we had a couple of visits to see him this week. He is more alert and has more 'awake' time. He has a lovely nature enjoys a cuddle. Anne thinks his first words will be "No worries"! I am inclined to agree.

I am holding Joel's first plant in trust for him. (photo attached)

We have had enough rain now. There are mushrooms growing everywhere & my garden is wall to wall clover so I have much weeding to do which is on tomorrow's schedule.