June, 2020 Mum & Dad’s place, Qld

1^st – Queenslanders can now travel freely within the state except for Bio-security areas (eg Aboriginal lands), the state borders are still closed for tourists as there are still CoVid19 cases occurring in NSW and Vic.

Rebecca popped in for a cuppa in the afternoon which was lovely.

2^nd – Bit of excitement in the morning with Police asking us and neighbours about an abandoned ute across the road. Beck had called them when she noticed it this morning – nice ute too. Someone had stolen it from Port Douglas and the Police had been tracking it but lost it in Manoora on the other side of Reservoir Road. It was dumped here about 4.30-5am. The one morning Mum wasn’t sitting in her chair early so she missed seeing the car arrive and the culprit/s run off. Last month we had two cars dumped at the bottom of the street!

3^rd – Erica rang to say she had the pain in her leg investigated – struggling with walking up and down stairs. Unfortunately they found a cancer on her hip (not sure if in bone or tissue yet) and they found two big lumps in her breast but none in the lymph nodes. Who would have thought since she is so well and doesn’t take medication for anything. She will have radium soon so hopefully that will help with the hip pain. Looking forward to seeing her when we go down south to pick up the camper.
 

6^th – I joined Wendy and Rebecca for lunch, very nice at Dundees on the Waterfront though it is raining so the view wasn’t too flash.

Rang Erica – Radium starts on Thursday for 5 days.

7^th – Mum and Dad’s 59^th wedding anniversary. I bought a little carrot cake and put on their wedding bell from their 50^th wedding anniversary for afternoon tea. I arranged for the boys and their ladies to come over for a dinner celebration. Greg has Katie coming too.

I put on their old photos on the TV and we all had a great time chatting about their wedding etc. Dinner was great and they cut the other carrot cake for some photos. Sadly Daniel had organised a lovely cheesecake for them but the lady must have put it down to collect on Monday – Fran wasn’t happy to not have the cake for tonight - hopefully they can get a refund.

I posted up the photos on Facebook and lots of lovely messages came in.

8^th – The new water tanks came for under the truck. Unfortunately they weren’t packed well so the inlet/outlet pipes were bent. The company said they would replace them though Steve thinks he will just get Dan to weld them up rather than waiting for the replacement.

10^th – Joined Valerie and Christine at Susan’s place for cross-stitch and a cuppa. Nice to be getting back to normal with visits etc.

11^th – Margaret sent me a parcel with two lovely pot holders and a letter. She had recovered my old pot holder when we were with them in Mandurah and decided I needed new ones for the new camper. She is such a gem. Rang her to say thanks and catch up on their news.

12^th – Tim’s birthday. He called in for afternoon tea, bringing his own cake which was yummy. He is looking so well.

13^th – more rain.

14^th – Erica rang as David and Amanda were visiting so she decided to do the draw for the gemstone boxes. They are the cut stones that she and Terry have found over the years. Amanda sent me a photo of Steve’s box – a beautiful collection.

19^th – Shane and Doreen are back in Cairns and staying with Kaylene. Their 12 months world trip was very short due to Covid unfortunately. Their daughter Kym and her husband Chris are heading back to WA to work for BHP and Shane and Doreen are going over with them to help with their dog as they are fly in fly out to start with. Shane wants to then get a caravan and meander Australia.

20^th – the rain is back.

21^st – the sky is clearing. Saw Shane and Doreen again for a cuppa before they head west. Will be a bit of a process as the borders are still closed due to CoVid and now Victoria is having more cases again. Hope they get over their ok.

Mum and Dad enjoying their TV!! - they are both sound asleep.

24^th – Jenny’s birthday at work so Carolyn decorated her till area and the students had a great time wishing her the best. We also enjoyed a very delicious Black Forest Cake to help her celebrate.

Of course we had to get a selfie too - Me, Jenny, Rochelle, Caroline and Emily. Wendy was off shift that day.

Steve picked up Glen’s digger which he will use to load the dirt from Rob’s lease onto Rick’s gold shaker table (that he made) and hopefully find some gold.

25th - Steve's all packed ready to head off early tomorrow. He is looking forward to seeing out 'Smokey' goes with the lazy axle and extension up and down the windy hills around the Palmer River area.

26^th – Steve left before 6am this morning to meet Rick and head up to the Palmer River. They have their border crossing permissions (as they need to go through BioSecurity area – protecting the aborigines which is silly as they are allowed to drive down to Cairns and back!) and a letter from Rob saying they are bringing up machinery for his mining lease. Hope they don’t have any problems getting through.

I took the last day of work off as Mum and Dad need someone around full time and now I have two weeks off with the school holidays.

27^th – Once Mum and Dad were sorted for the morning I joined Wendy and Kaylene for a cuppa on the Esplanade. We took our chairs, thermos and some cookies and had a nice time chatting in the shade of the large palm trees overlooking the mudflats – unfortunately the tide was out but it was still lovely to be out. We then went for a walk till it was time to head home to make lunch.

28^th – Uncle John rang to say Aunty Jocelyn (Dad’s sister) passed away yesterday. It is a blessing for her but still sad for the family. I sent of messages to Roz and Janet so say we are all thinking of all the family. Unfortunately CoVid19 has flared up again in Victoria so nobody will be able to go down for the funeral.

Brian rang to say he was watching the Supercars racing today. This is the first weekend of racing since CoVid closed down everything. They are racing at Sydney Motorsport Park and had one race yesterday and two today. I got lunch ready early for Mum and Dad as the racing started at 12.15. It was great to watch and catch up with news with Brian.

More drizzly rain – not helping with getting the washing dry.

30^th – A bit cloudy in the morning but then the sky cleared to a beautiful winter day. Julie was down so I went shopping – need something to wear to Jakob and Anna’s wedding in two weeks in Millaa Millaa which will be cold but hopefully not wet. Had my lunch on the Esplanade then went for a long walk. As the international airports have been closed since CoVid I was surprised to hear so many foreign voices as I walked along.

Janet rang about the funeral and I commented about Dad calling his sister a fiery redhead. Janet sent through this photo to prove it.

This picture shows Dad and his siblings in 1981 - Jocelyn and Audrey; Dad and Thorold. They all lived into their 90s, Jocelyn was 92, Audrey 91 and Thorold 93. Dad will be 88 on the 8^th July so he still have a few years to do. Their father, George lived to 82 but their mother, Ivy passed away earlier aged 68.