August / September 2012

August 2012

Well we have settled back into a sort of routine after getting back from Holidays. Joy started back on a short project on the Monday after we got home but the project only lasted for about 2 ½ weeks – and Joy was happy that the project finished as she was not enjoying it. We have been to Maitland to celebrate a friend’s 50^th birthday.

 

September 2012

We have been away for another weekend away as we have just celebrated our 10^th Wedding Anniversary. Yes it was 10 years ago on the 1^st September that we got married. How time flies when you are having fun. We went back to the same place in Kangaroo Valley (last time was in May this year for Les’ birthday short break).

The day we arrived we had hail (very light) and steady rain for a while. Good thing the place has a carport and covered access to the house.

 

On the 1^st we headed off to Coolangatta Estate Winery near Nowra  for a very nice lunch but something that Les ate upset his stomach and he was in bed early that night which sort of put a dampener on a romantic night in front of the fire. But we did get to watch 2 DVDs that he made showing the 1^st 5 years and then 2^nd 5 years of our married life. Brought back great memories!!!

 

 

 

Beautiful foggy mornings that cleared to sunny days but a bit windy some days.

 

 

 We had a lazy day on the Sunday and played a few games of Bocce – Joy won both games. Les was putting it down to still being a bit off-colour but Joy said it was just her skill!!

We also got to see the cows that were there last time and see how they have grown in the last 4 months. Had a cooked breakfast sitting on the verandah on the Monday and then came home via Shellharbour with a picnic lunch along the way.

Now we are working on finding a place in Bathurst with a lot of the leg work already done. Our house at Buttaba has sold and contracts exchanged with settlement by the 4 October.

We have replaced and added to the plants in the garden to prepare it for sale next year. With still no set date for the return of the car, we headed to Bathurst to look at real estate now that we have made the final decision that Bathurst is our “tree change” location. This time we had fine weather so we know that Bathurst can be fine.

Looked at about 8 or 9 houses and have narrowed it down to 5 with 3 on the short list. Finally put them in order and made an offer on the 1^st on the list which we agreed to split the difference between the sale price and our offer.

 

The car is now ready so a quick trip to Albury on Friday afternoon, overnight stay at Albury and collected our car Saturday morning, drop off hire car and then trip home. Lots of canola growing along the highway.

 Les started packing boxes of books so we can “de-clutter” the house a bit and Joy has been sorting clothes.

On Friday 28^th September Les was taking the dirty washing out to put in the washing machine. Maggie (our cat) has a habit of walking under your feet and so Les could see her he was holding the basket out in front of him and at some point has twisted and hurt his back. Nothing out of the ordinary as it happens every so often but today it got worse as the day went on. He had a lie down in the afternoon with the heat pad and when Joy went to see how he was he could hardly sit up let alone stand without being in extreme pain.  He was shaking and in severe pain, so Joy called an ambulance and we were packed up and taken to Canterbury Hospital at about 5:30 pm. Les’s first ambulance trip in 45 or so years and Joy’s first (she sat in the front seat and Les lay in the back). After several pain killers (morphine) and tests at the hospital things settled down and it was decided that he would be fine to head home with more painkillers.

While Les waited in the waiting room Joy went to the chemist across the road from the hospital to get the prescriptions filled and when she came back Les had lost colour and was sweating profusely so he was taken back into emergency and more tests. It was thought it was just the morphine and shock of being in hospital and so after more rest it was OK for him to go home. After waiting over ¾ hour for one taxi we ordered another one which only took about 5 minutes to turn up. Home at about 11:00 pm. Les has been recuperating ever since, but it could be several weeks before he is back to normal.