On Sundays I do my laundry. It was very quick dry and got it inside. Listened at 11 am to the Dutch radio, which is send out here in Brisbane. Get to hear what had happened in my birth country. Cannot call it any more my country. It is now Australia, although I am not naturalised. Maybe I will do it one day but not at the moment.

In the afternoon I got a visitor without me noticing. My neighbour has a slasher and he did some slashing, which I appreciated very much. There is on my side of the fence a couple of holes. Will fill them up with soil and then his horses can graze here on the property and the pressure of mowing all the time will be a bit relieved.
It makes me very depressed.

On Monday in the afternoon James the plumber came. In the new year he will install a new laundry tub and a toilet suite. It will be a dual flush. He had a look at my gutters and I do not have to replace them yet but they could have a realignment, which he will do also. That saves me a bit of money.
Had that day finished the train on my gollyville quilt.



Yesterday I went out and had a look at a mower. Have seen some beauties they are expensive too. Between the $500 and $700. Have been today again looking for a mower and was in a shop where I was told, I could have the engine changed, a whole new engine in the chassis for $320. A lot cheaper. Will have to think about it.

Have started with knitting, have not done that for ages and straight with 4 needles. Yes I am knitting a little bear. Am using only one color. Will make more than one it is very relaxing.

On top of this have started on my cross stitch ufo, a cockatoo.

Mower had it, will buy a new one.

Wednesday I went to the Instuif. This is a group of dutch people, who get together every second Wednesday in the city in the Meyer's Centre for a cup of coffee and a talk. Last month I went for the first time and I liked it. So will continue to go there for some time. We were to get a Christmas cake but the owner of the cafe had forgotten about the cake. We could buy a piece of cake for $5 each with about 15 people there, the cake was $35.
Thursday I went to the quilting group, the last time for this year, we will meet again in February. January this often too hot and too humid. The schoolchildren are also home because it is school holiday.



My quilting buddies

Yesterday I have been mowing again the front lawn this time, was half way and ran out of petrol. Filled up again and had problems with the mower. Have been playing a bit with it and it started, but when I started mowing after a while it said Puff and out was the mower. It is the last time that I have been mowing with this mower. Go Monday out and buy myself a nice Christmas present a new mower. Have spend already a fortune on it. This one is 5 year old and it has done a lot of heavy mowing and is not good anymore. Had bought some time ago a BBQ at Aldi. Had it already assembled with a friend but the big wheels were not done yet because the washers Aldi had supplied were just too small. Had bought a file at Bunnings(hardware store) and filed the hole a bit bigger and put the wheels on. Now i can push it out of the garage and have a BBQ.
Went today to Alice's place and picked the TV up. It will replace mine which went on the blink. It is at the moment still in the car. Tomorrow Koos a friend will come and help to get the tv out of the car.
Between all of this I do a little bit a applique on the gollyville quilt. Do also a bit of cross stitch. Have done a christmas chicken. Will try if I can use it for my
365 challenge.

How stupid can you get.

Have not done a lot today, cleaning bathroom, toilet and a bit of mowing that's all.
Had some problems to get the mower going. Was already inside again and could suddenly hit myself. So stupid was I, well when you switch the petrol switch off and the machine does not get petrol of course the mower goes out. Run outside again and started it again but now the switch switched on. Got my clothes changed again. When I work outside, I change of clothing, wear then a blouse with long sleeves and put loads of sunscreen on my face and wear boots.
At about 3pm I ran out of petrol and had done quite a bit.

Christmas luncheons

In the month of December there are a lot of parties. With me no exception. Have them too. There were 3 and I have finished with them. The first one was last Thursday with the quilting group, we went to the Logan Village Pub and had a very nice meal.
The second was last Saturday at the end of the street with all my neighbours. Had a bottle with cordial with me and there was comment on that I had a big bottle of wine. They would not believe me that it was cordial till I let one taste a bit and he said: "It is cordial, when I still have to drive a car then I do not drink."
Today's luncheon was with the Babes without Boobs club. It was in Boonah about an hours drive. At 3.45pm I was home again.
It was clouded all day and I got myself on the iron horse and ran it for about 2 hours. Was very stiff when I came off the ride-on. Checked on the mailbox at the front gate. That mail lady comes at all sorts of times. Never sure when, last week she delivered my mail very late, had checked already. Next morning I saw that there was mail delivered and it had rained during the night. She had it put in the box which is for parcels and it was wet. There were 2 letters with siggies in it.
While i am writing this I am listening to krontjong(indonesian music)

Never a dull moment

It's nearly a fortnight that I have been writing here. In general I am busy with mowing the yard. The council strip is looking good again. The front of the property also. Have that done the last two evenings. Cannot work outside during daytime. It is too hot and too much sunshine then. Even with using suncreen I will burn. The big pieces of lawn is done with the ride-on, a big machine with 12hp engine in it and go with a speed of 20km over it. The corners you have to do a bit slower.

On Monday brought my car to the mecanic. The car needed a new headgasket, this would take a couple of days. Got it back this morning. Bought a pruning saw and did a bit of pruning. Had to stop because it started to rain.

When it was time to feed Jaynne, I neede some hot water.Turn the tap and tap gave way and was in my hand. Could not turn the water off. Ran outside to the waterpump and closed the water off there. Now I had to fix the tap. Got a screwdriver but saw I needed a spanner. Could not find any but something else which I could use. Ran inside looked at the hotwatertap how to fix the coldwatertap. It's working oke now. Looks like that everyday something is breaking down and I have to fix it.
Once a fortnight I clean the gutters so there are no leaves so the water runs easely in the tank.

History

Yesterday we had elections and Australia got a new government. Liberal (Prime Minister John Howard)lost the elections with 22 seats and several still in doubt.
John Howard not only lost the elections but it looks as he is also losing his own seat. He will be the second prime minister losing his own seat. He is losing it to a former ABC journalist Maxine McKew. Maxine has claimed victory. Good luck to her. She will need it, she has never been in politics, however she was a very good journalist.

Have done this week a bit of quilting. Put blocks from a landscape block swap done in 2006 together. Have still to do the binding.


Landscape swap.

The blocks are from several countries. Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, USA and Australia. The theme was a landscape of your neighbourhood or township.

Quilting retreat

Just home from quilting retreat. What a weekend. It started on Friday. Had first to pack all my stuff which had to come with me. Bedding, cloths, toiletries and of course my quilting equipment and projects.
Picked up Alice from Browns Plains, she came babysitting Jaynne, the dog. Had bought on Thursday her food, had asked for a list.
At about 2 pm Linda was here, we packed my car and away we were. We went via Beaudesert and Boonah to Lake Moogerah. On our way we got very heavy rain there was a van driving before us and I stayed behind it so I could see the road so heavy it was.



Arrived a bit after 4 pm and Julie greeted us, we found our places in the lounge room. The tables were already set up and also in the dormitories were we were sleeping.




Unloaded the car, our quilting material and equipment went in the lounge room and our bedding in the dormitories. After that I had first a cup of coffee. Set myself up and away I was with quilting. Marvelous to be able to stay quilting and only stop with it when it is time to eat. At 6.30 pm we had dinner.
At about 10.30 pm I stopped and had a shower and went to bed, but first relaxed a bit by reading the book, which I had brought with me.
At midnight I switched the light off and went to sleep. At 6am I had dressed myself and went back to the lounge room had a cup of tea and started sewing again. Worked quite nicely away and finished that day two quilts. One needed only a sleeve, the other the top had still to be finished. Had no wadding with me. Margaret had brought with her some of her fabrics plus also wadding and bought this. Sandwiched the quilt and got it also finished.



Had also Alice her 21st birthday quilt finished. It is a big one. The size is good for a queenbed.









Did after this my homework for quiltvirus a mystery.
Had to do 6 blocks with a tree and then make 2 rows of it.



Then I went to work on my little houses. Done quilt a bit and it was nearly time to go to bed. This night I went early to the dormitory. Read still a bit and switched the light early off. On the Sunday I was not that early. Linda and I with 2 others had cleaning duties in the kitchen



Did this morning not so much. After lunch we packed our bags and equipment in the car and went home. First we had a look at Lake Moogerah. It is very low the water.
After a good drive we arrived safely at my place and Linda packed her car. She got her worms and went home with Alice, who she gave a lift. We had a marvelous weekend.

Last week

Last week Wednesday I went to the Craft and Qld. Quilting Show. Went to the city with the bus and enjoyed the trip. There were the challenge quilts. The first was the Alaska challenge and the second was an ordinary challenge. The quilters got a fat quarter and this fabric they had to use in the quilt.



Challenge fabric.



Alaskan challenge.



Ordinary challenge.

Last Saturday was a busy day. Had to go to computer club first and did a little bit of shopping. In the afternoon changed first my smoke alarm. This is now compulsory here. For every level at least one.




Took the old one out and had a couple holes in the ceiling.



Could not put the alarm straight in there, had to use some plugs for the screws.



The smoke alarm is installed and tested. It is working fine. Now have to test it every week.

Started late in the afternoon with baking of speculaas for the birthday party for Ernst. Of course I forgot a present for Ernst so went on Sunday first to the shops and got a present and made mum very happy by giving him felt pens and a colouring book. Ernst became 3 years old.

In the afternoon I checked the gutters and cleaned them. We were expecting a thunderstorm. As soon as the storm hit as the electricity went off. Rang Energex to know the reason. It went off because of the high wattage use in the street.
Heard then outside a noise as if I had a waterfall. It was a waterfall, the gutters were overflowing, it could not cope with the amount of water which was coming down out of the sky. During the night we had 18 cm of rain.
The electricity was not earlier on then about 2 am during the night. Woke up and set the clock, woke again about 3 am and the clock had to be reset again.

At 7 am I was again cleaning gutters but this time in the rain. Have water damage in the face boards.




My dam got some water too, a 10 cm for sure.

The joys of country living

This morning my dog started to bark suddenly and made a racket. I looked up and saw to my surprise a snake as thick as 2 fingers and about one and half metre long. Could see that Jaynne had bitten the snake. Called the dog off and the snake got away. It was a green tree snake. It is spring now and with the warmer weather the snakes are more active. This was the second one I saw.
Here where I live there is no water or sewerage. Have a big tank for my drinking water and are dependent on the rain to fill it up. My sewerage is a septic tank. Everything of the toilet goes into it and now that I am on my own, have to pump it empty over about 8 years. The water which is used in the house is collected in another tank and when full is then pumped empty with a sullagepump.



The pump to be connected

Some time ago I had lots of trouble with my pump, it was still under warranty. The shop people did not wanted to give me a new one. They said that the pump was working excellent. However every time I wanted to use it the electricity was cut off. My safety switch went off, when I switched the pump on. Could not pump the tank empty.
Went to another shop and said that I wanted to buy a new pump and was going to claim on my insurance but I needed another test. Got the pump in the second shop and they tested it and it was not good. I was right, the pump was OK but the electrical lead was burned out.
The end of the story I got a new pump on warranty and they made a copy of my invoice.



Sullagepump installed by myself.

The mowers and the pump are now working. Tomorrow I am going to the Brisbane Craft and Quilt Fair.

Spring weather

This week we had every day a severe storm. The storms started on Sunday night and the every following day we saw on tv the damage it had caused. Specially the northern suburbs were on the receiving end. We had also a bit but not that bad as they had.
What we got was a bit of thunder and rain, good, nice, steady, soaking rain. Tonight we still expect a storm. This will go on till the end of this week. There is for thousands and thousands of dollars of damage.
Today went to the quilting bee and have been cutting some trees for of a misery(mystery)quilt from www.quiltvirus.nl.
Had this week also some more new siggies and started with kit 8 of the gollyville quilt.

Homework

There is a lot of yard work to do here. My mowers are working properly now. The hand mower is fixed and works good. Have done the council strip (There is a strip of grass between the property and the road) which we have to maintain. If council has to do it then our rates will be going up. The rates are already very high and we do not get much services from them. Now the sullagepump start playing up.
Have no sewerage and the water used in the house is collected in a tank, which has to be pumped empty regularly. My neighbour came to help me to get it out of the tank and brought it to the people where I bought it. They had it working all day and did not play up. Will get it back and in the tank again. Got today kit 9 from gollyville quilt. Just doing kit 7, cannot work that much any more on quilting, however it gets hotter and then by 9 am it gets too hot to work outside. So will get more time.
Mowing can be done in the late afternoon, have dinner at lunchtime and lunch at dinner time. Had finished lunch at the computer at about 7 pm.
Tomorrow have to do shopping will be the first time this week that I am going out. Am getting a hermit this way. Saturday will be also going out then to the flea market in Beaudesert with a Jenny.

When you want to become an Australian citizen you will have to do a test.
This one is from the Australian government.

Here the link to it

Have done the test myself and had 20/20.
On the very first day one person failed the test.
Have seen on an Australian quilting mailing list another test. Would have failed this one.


Cultural diversity is fine, as long as there is a base-line of cultural
understanding and respect thereof…

2007 Australian Citizenship test

1. Do you understand the meaning, but are unable to explain the origin of, the
term "died in the arse"?
2. What is a bloody little beauty?
3. Are these terms related: chuck a sickie; chuck a spaz; chuck a U-ey?
4. Explain the following passage: "In the arvo last Chrissy the relos rocked up for a barbie, some bevvies and a few snags. After a bit of a Bex and a lie down we opened the pressies, scoffed all the chockies, bickies and lollies. Then we drained a few tinnies and Mum did her block after Dad and Steve had a barney and a bit of biffo."
5. Macca, Chooka and Wanger are driving to Surfers in their Torana. If they are travelling at 100 km/h while listening to Barnsey, Farnsey and Acca Dacca, how many slabs will each person on average consume between flashing a brown eye and having a slash?
6. Complete the following sentences:
a) "If the van's rockin' don't bother ?
b) You're going home in the back of a ?
c) Fair crack of the ?
7. I've had a gutful and I can't be fagged. Discuss
8. Have you ever been on the giving or receiving end of a wedgie?
9. Do you have a friend or relative who has a car in their front yard "up on blocks"? Is his name Bruce and does he have a wife called Cheryl?
10. Does your family regularly eat a dish involving mincemeat, cabbage, curry powder and a packet of chicken noodle soup called either chow mein, chop suey or kai see ming?
11. What are the ingredients in a rissole?
12. Demonstrate the correct procedure for eating a Tim Tam.
13. Do you have an Aunty Irene who smokes 30 cigarettes a day and sounds like a bloke?
14. In any two-hour period have you ever eaten three-bean salad, a chop and two serves of pav washed down with someone else's beer that has been flogged from a bath full of ice?
15. When you go to a bring- your-own-meat barbie can you eat other people's meat or are you only allowed to eat your own?
16. What purple root vegetable beginning with the letter "b" is required by law to be included in a hamburger with the lot?
17. Do you own or have you ever owned a lawn mower, a pair of thongs, an Esky or Ugg boots?
18. Is it possible to "prang a car" while doing "circle work"?
19. Who would you like to crack on to?
20. Who is the most Australian: Kevin "Bloody" Wilson, John "True Blue" Williamson, Kylie Minogue or Warnie?
21. Is there someone you are only mates with because they own a trailer or have a pool?
22. What does sinkin piss at a mates joint and getten para mean?

And should we add some general knowledge of an international level?
Something like "Why did they build the Great Wall of China"?

Quilting

On Thursday I started again with a fire at 7.45 am. It took about an hour and half before the fire was finished. Got myself then ready for quilting was there an hour too late. Afterwards did some shopping.
The next morning went to a friend with the jinxed mower to get it fixed. It is going but it goes out. Had some morning tea with him. His wive was at work over 2 weeks she will retire and then they go to Hervey Bay. This is on the Sunshine Coast.
Yesterday and today I was working on my gollyville quilt. Gave Jaynne early her food and at 5 o'clock I was on the ride-on and mowing the left front lawn. It looks very nice now. Do not have to scrape the grass together. At 6 it was nearly dark and stopped. Got straight under the shower. Watch at the moment the movie Robots and after that we get Judge John Deed. See ya some time.

Alice has a job

This afternoon at about a quarter past 4, Alice rang me and she was screaming through the phone: "I have a job". They had just rang her and offered Alice a full time job. She can probably start at the end of October. They have still to do some checks.

Last Sunday I went to Linda's party, to celebrate Lennart's promotion and Linda and Koen's birthday. Had made gado-gado(indonesian salad) with satay(peanutpastesauce) and kroepoek(prawn crackers). Those were a success with the young ones. They were gone in no time.
Alice came later, at about 7 we went home and had a good time.
Dropped Alice off in the city and myself went home.

Monday I had an appointment with someone from Taxhelp. You get help, to fill in your tax form. This has to be done before the 30th of October. The tax year is here from the first of July to the 30th of June.

Tuesday had to go the the doctor and got a new appointment on the 8th of November.
Today I went with Frances to Adams, a delicatessen shop and bought dutch licorice(double salted), pumpernickel and some bratwurst. Had some of the bratwurst for lunch and dinner.

The mower is still not going. It looks like it is jinxed the machine. I brought it in on Tuesday. The mechanic had a look at it and the machine started and was going. Got it home and it started but does not keep going.
Even today I was trying to get it started.

This week

In a week lots of things can happen. This is also true for me. Monday had BWB club but before I could go there Alice rang me early in the morning at about 6.30am. She was the day before home to pick up her degrees, because she had an interview for a job and she still had forgotten to take them with her. Had to bring them where she had the interview before I could go my way. As usually it was in the opposite sides so had to go first into Brisbane before I could go out of Brisbane and towards Beaudesert.
On then Tuesday did clean my home, has to be done once in a while. Do it only once a week, think this is enough. However do the floor every day.
Have been doing a little bit of quilting this week. Worked out one of the puzzle blocks and cut it. It was made for paper piecing, made an applique pattern out of it. Have now to make it up and iron it on the quilt. Have the quilt extended ran out of space for more houses. Thursday went out, had to pay a bill. Whatever I did, haircutting, shopping, post office but paying a bill. When I was home noticed that the bill was still standing on the coffee table and not paid. so got the car out again and went to the post office to pay for Internet, otherwise they will cut me off.
Friday I wanted to do some lawn mowing and ohhhhhhhhh, I hate to say it the blooming thing was not working. Could get it started but after half a minute it stopped. Same problem as before I brought it away for repair. Now I have to do it again. I will complain as they fix it and tell me it is all right, it should be going then.
Today was computer club and was talking with the fellas about the mower(instead computers) and one will becoming and have a look at it. Showed also two ladies how they could save attachments(by copy and paste) in outlook express and then delete the email.



This is an update on my arm. It is nearly healed only a couple of scabs left.

We had a thunderstorm this afternoon the second already this summer. There will be a lot more before summer is finished. Jaynne my dog is terrified of thunderstorms, as soon as I notice there is a storm coming, I bring her in the house, so she can not run of.

Second thursday of the month

Today is quilting day at 10am start. Had quit a bit of work to do. Cleaning and tidying up the house. Make some lunch and a flask with coffee and a bottle of water.
Looked if there was also some shopping to do, had to go to the post office.
At 10.15 am I was there, as usual the first one.
Started with my puzzle block (house), this has to be send out on Saturday. Had to check if I made a mistake and the house can be made. The others had a look and they liked it. Could make some for them. After this I got back to my gollyville quilt.
Have done already 6 kits. Working on kit 7. Here are some pictures of the quilt.

Top of the quilt.




Bottom of the quilt.




Up date of my arm. It start looking good. The blisters are down and it starts healing.



Alice rang me, she has an interview for a job on Monday. Sunday she comes home for a couple of hours to pick up her qualifications.

First female premier of Queensland.

Today we got the first female premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh. Peter Beattie will officially retire tomorrow and there will be also a new cabinet. Good luck to her. She will be the 3rd female premier in Australian history. The first one was Dr Carmen Lawrence from West Australia. She became premier in February 1990. Joan Kirner from Victoria was the second on the 7th of August 1990. Now it is Queensland's turn.
The Federal government could do with a female Prime Minister.

Have worked very hard at my pattern for a quilting house block. This month it is my turn to produce a block, cannot show it because it is to be a puzzle. Send the pattern and the other side has to put it together but they do not know how it looks like.It is my second australian house, the first one I can show you.




Here is the original picture, so you can see how I interpreted the picture.




Had today my eyes tested. There were minimal changes and not worth to get new glasses, have to come back over 6 months. The pressure on my eyes is high but still good and they want to keep an eye on it.

The start of renovating

This week got a new backdoor, new locks and both doors and a weatherstrip on the front door. The creepy crawlers can not come inside anymore. The push mower is fixed and can be used again. The brush cutter will also be fixed, that takes a bit longer, they had to order some parts for it. The second tradesman could not come because it was raining was his excuses. I told him, he could at least ring me that he was not coming and told him, he did not have to come anymore. So the first one got the job and he did a good job. He can do more work for me, there is still plenty to do. Thinking of the pergola, so I can sit outside in summer.




Have been burning again this afternoon. The fire got a bit out of hand and started to run away a bit. Got it in hand again but had my arm burned quite a bit. There are a lot of blisters on it. The best is to keep it open and dry.



Arm with blisters.

Riverfestival 2007

Last Saturday went to the fireworks with a friend Jenny. We left home 5pm and had the bus from 6.35 but it did not come till 6.45. We went on the bus without paying. It was almost full. We stopped only at two other stops or when people went off the bus. It was packed where the fireworks were. It started with F111's coming over with dump and burn because it was already dark, the tail burned like a comet.

It was on the river but also from some buildings came the fireworks. It was as if the buildings were exploding and later on fire. There was a little girl next to me and she was terrible upset by the nose of the exploding crackers.
At about 7.30 it was finished and then the crush came of going home. Thousands of people went over the bridge to the city. We had first a cup of coffee and a sandwich before we went home. At 8.30 we were ready to go home and we had to wait almost an hour before we got a bus. One after the other passed us full. In the end I went to one of the bus people who arranged everything at the platforms and made enquiries of when there was a bus coming for us. It was not long after that a bus came. Again free transport. Very often with events like this the transport is for free. At last we were at 10pm at home.

During the week there was here a lunar eclipse.
Have a look at the pictures, you see the moon in all sort of shapes, colours and stages of eclipse.

Have not much luck at the moment with my push mower. Changed the sparkplug cover myself and could get the mower going but it does not keep going. Got the mower in the car today. Put a cover over the back of the boot then two planks, which I used as a ramp and got it in the boot. After that a brush cutter went on the front seat.

Had a tradesman for a quote for a new backdoor and new locks on both outside doors and a weatherstrip on the front door. He will ring me tomorrow and an other tradesman will come, so I have a choice. Know approximately how much it will cost.

Have been hanging a new curtain and washed the windows. Hope this will stay a bit longer then the last one(see 7 August).

Quilting and sampler

Today I have done a bit of quilting. Last year I bought on the Brisbane Quilt Show a quilt, it contains 12 kits. Have done already several kits.




Here you can see the whole quilt.

Last week I received from Annelies a pattern from Amsterdam's coat of arms. As I am born in Amsterdam, I will embroider it and use it with my genealogy. Found a picture of the coat of arms.



Love embroidery, have done a bit of it myself. Got also a sampler from my mother which has been in my family since the war years. During these my father had a second hand furniture shop and had bought it from a deceased estate. The lady was a "diaconess". My mum had it framed. It is nearly 200 hunderd years old.



Am a member of the dutch yahoogroup puzzleblocks, this year each has a turn and makes a pattern of a house. Next month it is my turn to make the pattern for a house. Tomorrow will have to start with it, have a look aroud my area and see if I can find a nice queensland home.

BWB's fundraising

Have not been writing for some time. Have been too busy with a lot of other things, like gardening(never ending story), selling raffle tickets(this is now finished). Have been to the hairdresser, had my hair cut a different way as normal. Had an electrician change the plugs on the walls, these had to be replaced as I could not get the leads out the plugs and they were cracked.

Made enquiries about a parcel, which Alice send on the 31-3-2007 in England and the post office said to ring back over a couple of days. Well the next day the parcel got delivered. Customs had opened it and taken a sort of game out, because it was made of plant material. We can get it back but have to pay for the treatment. According to Alice it is not worth to pay for the treatment, to get the game, so it will be destroyed.

Yesterday I had a fundraising function van the BWB club. It was a day in the woods with jazz. Lots of people came although the rain was threatening to come down.
We had a nice band and the music they made was very good.

The band


At 10am there was damper with syrup and a cup of coffee. The damper was baked the old fashion-way. It tasted beautiful.
There were also raffle tickets for sale and I bought a couple. Let me win a bottle of wine.

The raffle prices are at the back.


At 12 there was lunch. Was helping out in the kitchen and had to put carrots on the plate and then it went to the people.
After everyone had their food, the workers got theirs and then the dish washing had to be done. Luckily there was only the cutlery and the containers. We had used throwaway plates, which are marvelous. It was time to go, the rain was going to come down. It took me an hour to get home.

The BWB-Club

After I had collected for the leukemia foundation had the money banked. Collected $52.70, which is for about 17 a 18 houses very good. On the Tuesday Alice came back from Sydney. The plane arrived at 4.30pm. Had told her to go by airtrain back to the city and then with the bus to Browns Plains, where I picked her up. Traffic at the Airport Drive is too busy, it is really bumper to bumper, 3 lanes thick. Rest of the week busy with getting ready for my week at the Gold Coast. Had arranged for Jaynne, our dog, a house sitter, who was coming twice a day, to check and feed her. Was very upset when I got a phone call that Jaynne went mad in the house. She had pulled down one curtain



and ripped to pieces.



In the laundry there was the skirting board and some tiles gone.



The damage is not too bad, the curtains were very old and had to be replaced, now I have to do it. Have to get a new skirting board, can get that cut to length and nail it then down. The tiles were coming loose and had to be glued back again. Have to do a bit renovating anyway, a bit more or less makes no difference.

On the Gold Coast we had a very nice unit, we lived downstairs.



Did a lot of beach walking




and before the coast was a platform and was told is was the desalination platform for our drinking water.



Every morning and afternoon you can see the helicopter going to the platform and bring or pick up people. Probably it is cheaper to do it this way instead of people living there.

Every lunch we went to a pub close by. We had a good feed for only $4.95 with any drink and it was daily a different meal. At nighttime we did some games and had a lot of fun and laughter. The fridaymorning came to quick and we had to go again. Hope next year to go again.
Oh, by the way BWB stands for Babes without Boopes.

Collecting

Yesterday the doorknock for the leukemia foundation started. Today I went up the road and went to all the houses in the street and got quit a bit of donations.



Here when you donate $2 and over you get a docket for it and you can claim it as a tax deduction. The tax year is from July 1 till June 30. So you have to keep it in a safe place for next year when you fill in your tax form. Most people can do it themselves. If it gets a bit complicated you let someone else do it.
Collected over $50 in about 3 hours, had everywhere a nice talk and got even a cup of tea.
Yesterday I got Alice's copy of Harry Potter's book. It is laying in her room and waiting for her. Had a look at the end and was only interested in that. How it finished. Know that now. You have to read for yourself, will not tell you.

My eye looks good now that the stitches are out. It is as if I had a face lift. It is still a little bit blue but that will be going.



Here still a nice picture of me with the plaster on.

Sydney

This morning at 6 o'clock the phone went. Got out of bed and was near the phone when it stopped. Do not we all hate this. Decided to wait and see if it was to go again. Good I stayed there. It went for the second time. It was Alice. She was in a panic, she did not have her passport with here for going to Sydney well you will say, she does not need it. The plane was going from the international terminal and she did not have it with her. Found it in her bag in the bedroom. Got myself quickly dressed and drove first to my neighbour and gave her the key from the backdoor, so she could get the dog Jaynne. On the M1 motorway there was quit a bit of traffic. Had to stop several times. Was about half past 7 at the airport. Went to the departing hall and with her passport she checked in. Told her she owned me breakfast. Then the crush came, she could have travelled on her 18+ id card.
Oh, don't you love them on occasions like this.
Went back home and went to the chemist because I needed some more bandages for my eye. My neighbour gave me a cuppa and it tasted very good. Got myself some breakfast at home.

Life goes on

On Sunday 31st of July Alice went off to Biofutures and I got stuck in the "garden". You can better say yard, it is 1.3ha big, a bit big for garden. Will have to see that I get my ride-on mower going.
That week I made an appointment with a molesafe clinic. Got checked over and the doctor burned straightaway a couple of sunspots off and did a biopsy of another spot under my left eye. Got 2 days later a phone call to come back it was a skincancer and had to be taken out.
A friend drove me to the doctor and had it cut out, I am now walking with a big plaster under my eye and the eye is black. Look like a pirate.
The piece which was taken out went to pathology for a check that everything is out, otherwise I have to go back and she(doctor) will have to cut deeper to find the roots. Cannot make a picture because Alice has my digi with her to Sydney. Hers was broken at the Biofutures. Hope mine will survive Sydney.
Start slowly taken up my life again, went back to selling raffle tickets for breastcancer research. We sold for $88 tickets. Afterwards went to quilting. Got tickets(for taxdeductions) in the mail for leukemia fundraising. When people give donations over $2 then they can claim it as a taxdeduction. Hope to collect around $50 in the street. There are not that many homes and $50 is very good.

Celebration of Bob's life.

Since my last post and this one a lot had happened. On the Saterday 30th of June a we had Bob's wake in the frontgarden. It was a small occasion. Now that I look back at it, do not know what Bob would think about it because he lived almost like a hermit. We are glad we did it and had the support of our close friends and neighbours.
This is what Alice had to say about her father.

My dad lived a very long life. Born 9th of October 1928, he passed away in his home of the past 23 years on the 6th of June 2007 at the age of 78. Hobart Broos was born in Petjangaan on the island of Java in Indonesia to dutch-indonesian parents. Older brother to Rob and younger brother to Wynand (or Nandi), they lived a peaceful life running amuck at a rice plantation until the Japanese invasion during World War 2.

After the war my father suffered hard times as a teenager being put into concentration camps by the Indonesians where he was beaten tortured and starved almost to death. After this time, he studied hard to finish high school while working as a police man. Just before his final exams, he found out where the police superintendent was going to place him in the community. Immediately after this knowledge, my father decided to go to the doctor where he was medically disqualified due to a bad lung infection. He would not have survived in the place where the superintendent wanted to place him because policemen were specifically targeted by the freedom fighters of Indonesia.

Because of all the troubles in Indonesia and the discrimination against the dutch by the Indonesians, he went with the last boat out of Indonesia before the independence to Dutch New Guinea (now Irian Jaya) where he worked hard and became a hydro-engineer. After several years, he started a trucking business with Rob with left-over trucks left behind by the Americans after the war. He was the first to import a truck from Australia to Dutch New Guinea.

At this time, Indonesian soldiers were infiltrating Dutch New Guinea and my father decided to move on towards the United States of America with a visa in his pocket. This was in 1958.
He travelled via Australia but did not have an entry visa, luckily customs let him into the country and he came into contact with Peter Rusch of the dutch consulate, who convinced him to get a visa and stay in Australia.

I remember one story of dad’s first impression of Australia was his first trip to the bakery. He asked Peter, “What are they selling here? Hot piss?!” To Peter’s reply, “No sorry Hob, it’s hot pies…not piss”. Gotta love dutch translations.

After trying several jobs, he went to Mount Isa and worked in the mines. When first meeting the miners, he was asked what his name was. When he replied Hobart, this was too difficult for the miners to comprehend and pronounce so it was shortened to Bob.

In 1960, he went with holidays to Holland but unintentionally got married and had a daughter. Dad decided to come back to Australia because the weather was too cold in Holland but Cato did not wish to come. Unfortunately, they divorced several years later without Cato ever coming to Australia.

When my father returned from Holland, he went to Tasmania, which funnily enough is similar to the dutch weather. Peter, the guy from the dutch consulate, also helped him here with a job in the zinc works.

After some years in Tasmania, Dad went to Sydney where he worked as a truck driver. In 1970, he went to Brisbane where he met my mum and by the end of 1971 they married. Between ’72 and ’74, dad became an interstate truck driver. In 1974, my parents went to Melbourne where they lived for 10 years. In 1984, they came back to Brisbane, built this house and in 1985 I was born. Dad was always playing with me, when I was a baby and as a toddler.

Dad had his own remedies for curing everything and for staying healthy. Eucalyptus oil for the lungs, he breathed it in everyday and everyday I heard him coughing afterwards because he breathed it in too much. By the time I was in high school, Dad was getting quite bad arthritis in the joints of his hands and knees and was treating himself with a bunch of creams like dencorub and later emu oil to help relieve the pain. Isocol, dettol and mentholated spirits were regularly used for itchy bites. Tea tree oil was also used for fungal infections on the toes. Dad always loved the beach, especially the salty sea, he always said it was the perfect remedy for clearing up the skin and any acne.

He really loved Jaynne, our dog. Sometimes I got the feeling that he loved the dog more than he loved us. Anytime dad (and the family) left to go anywhere for several hours, such as going to visit an aunt of mine in Caboolture, or to Hennie and Robs place or when picking me up from swimming or dancing after school or even my high school graduation, the dog always came with us. They had a very close relationship that I feel Jaynne will never forget.

Even up to the day he passed away, he was exercising every day with chin-ups, windmills, pulling hard springs (spring chest pull) and walking around the property with Jaynne, feeding the birds everyday, watering the plants and general maintenance of the place.

Dad was as fit as a fiddle (besides the usual old age aches and pains) until about the beginning of last year. Then he started to feel a lot more pain and of course, was stubborn enough not to go to the doctor for several months. Dad had many problems with his body but we never thought that it would be his heart that would fail him in the end. He died at about 5.10pm on the 6th of June, 2007 at home. I got a phone call at 8.32am where I was still in bed in Glasgow and not expecting such an important phone call. I really loved my dad and I know that he loved me too. I’ll always treasure the good times with him… maybe not so much the bad times but you get that with every family.

I just want to say one last thing. Thank you, all of you for coming today. Mum and I really appreciate all the support that we’ve had the past few weeks during this difficult time for us. Thank you.

After this Alice mentioned that I had received so many cards and letters from quilters from all over the world. Like Holland, America, Turkey, Belgium. Hope I have all countries. Thank you ladies, you have been a marvelous help to me over this difficult time.

Movie

After I had my walk on the road with the dogs, hang my washing on the line. Had put it in the washing machine before breakfast.
This morning my neighbour was back again. Yesterday he had done only two shrubs and there was still one left to be done. He will be back again over sometime because 2 pine trees have to be cut down, they are dead.
Tomorrow I can drag the tops of the branches to the bonfire.
About 11am my friend came, we had coffee and went then to Browns Plains where we had lunch. Had a chicken kebab with sweet chili sauce. Had already bought our tickets for Shrek 3. If you have the chance to see the movie, I recommend it. Had a good laugh. Were about 4 pm home. Had another coffee and my friend had to go home. Luckily I had brought the washing already inside before we went to the movies, it was already dry.
Had an email from Alice that she is in London and flying out on Monday to arrive here on Tuesday night.

Cutting down shrubs

Early in the morning I went to the computerclub and one of them helped me with a photo to enhance it better. I am going to print it on fabric instead of a memory book. On saterday when we have the wake, the guests can put their name on a piece of fabric with crayons and I will make it in a quilt.
This picture of hubby is made some years ago.



After this did some shopping and was about 2pm at home.
At 3pm my neighbour knocked on the window and said he was going to saw down the shrubs which had fallen over with a storm.
His wife came with him and the ute. They took the big pieces for the potbelly and I was left with the smaller branches, can handle those.
During the week I will stack them and then they can be burned.
Tomorrow will go with a girlfriend to the movie Shrek 3. We will be having lunch somewhere.

Wildlife

We have wildlife living in our house. A possum. She is living in the rafters from the carport during the daytime. From time to time we see her as she is moving around.
Here she is climbing on her bed.



Our boarder watching what I am doing



Sleeping between the rolls with her paws in the air.



Possums sleep during the day and feed themselves at nighttime. We have an orange tree and the possum helps itself to it. Found the empty peeling in the garden.

During day we see birds, am feeding them. Specially in wintertime they can use a helping hand. Here you can see a couple.



This week I have been burning some wood and start again collecting more branches.
Sawing fallen trees in short pieces so it can be burned. There are already all over the yard a lot of branches in piles and are now bringing to the place where they can be burned.

Here is my burning earlier this week. Nice fire.



And another picture of the burning. Have to watch that it cannot cause a bushfire.



Like make a fire. My neighbour saw me burning and said he should also start, but his pile is still there.