What a bloody good do. Those of you who visit Green Gully in person will be forced to listen to... err, be treated to John Williamson's music, and to hear it live in a marquee with no more than a hundred or so other peeps who have travelled to a winery well off the beaten track was ... well, bloody good. An unexpected treat was that John's daughter Ami (hmmm, where have we heard that name before?) did the first set, and was also excellent. We drank too much wine (also excellent), and our table managed to win the trivia quiz. Not too shabby, seeing as there were only 3 of us on it, and the other bloke didn't answer any questions; nonetheless we won 8 bottles, 4 of which we gave away (did I mention that we drank too much wine?) We will definitely be going to more of those gatherings. Oh, no shed parts, of course - Queensland's a long way away. No email saying when they should turn up, either, even tho' Jaynee has re-iterated that they need to give us notice so that we can be sure we're available to accept delivery.
We have hangovers, so play Diablo all day. 'nuff said.
Jaynee phones shed peeps, only to discover that its a Public Holiday in Queensland; Labour Day, which we used to get in Victoria, as well (although not now), and which, of course, equates to the early May Bank Holiday in the UK. A plaintive phone message is left. I was trying to be forbearing, but I suspect that it just came out sounding wussy.
Its no good, we can't just shilly-shally around waiting for phantom shed parts. As its Tuesday (ie Jaynee has orchestra rehearsal in Bendigo this evening), we decide to take another load over to Green Gully in the small trailer (2 leather recliner chairs and a few boxes), then David will stay in GG and Jaynee will head up to Bendigo earlier than necessary for her rehearsal, and buy another plastic carport thingy, which we will use instead of the tin shed (or tin-minus-three, as its being referred to bitterly in the Palmer Place area of Kyneton). Jaynee also has a doctor's appointment in Castlemaine, so that ties in. Trailer is loaded, and halfway over to Green Gully, the mobile rings. Its the shed peeps in Queensland, and guess what? The shed parts are being delivered to Kyneton today. Jaynee manages to convey (amidst the sound of grinding teeth) that we won't be bleedin' IN Kyneton today. "Oh", they say, and give us the TNT phone number so that we can have a nice chat. Jaynee's molars are fast disappearing.
One good piece of news, tho - whilst Jaynee is seeing the doctor, the peeps who we ordered the 2 mattresses from phone David and say that they are both ready to pick up from Bendigo. So off Jaynee toddles to Bendigo. And whaddya know - at last, some more rain - everyone is happy, except for Jaynee, who has bought another placcy carport packed in a cardboard box, then picks up the 2 matresses, and loads all into trailer, tying down with tarps to keep dry whilst she spends the next 2 hours rehearsing Dvorjak's 8th Symphony and Rossini's Semiramide Overture. An hour drive back to GG and unload, then its time to try pushing a few zeds out on one of the matresses which now graces the 4-poster bed. We're staying at GG overnight, 'cos Jaynee's new doctor has her seeing a specialist in Bendigo tomorrow morning, so pusses are all alone in Kyneton tonight....
After trip back up to Bendigo, its back to Kyneton sans small trailer and newest placcy carport, to feed and cuddle the poor traumatised pusses. We've phoned TNT, and the only way we can see of getting the shed parts is to drive down to Gisborne to pick 'em up from their depot. Bollocks. Jaynee fancies a stress-free phone call, so she phones Qantas. Here's the back story:
When we left the UK, we'd already lost the deposits on 2 business class return tickets, because the first house sale fell through (at this point, you are all obliged to tut disparagingly and mutter "Those Moynaghans! What is the landed gentry coming to!"). Of course, we are all now happy because from this disaster came our meeting with Vic and Richard, current proud owners of 4 Jonas Cotts, but I digress. By the time we needed to rebook tickets, we were well into peak season, and with not much notice, tickets were about four times the price, so instead, we booked 2 economy return tickets, AND one one-way ticket. This used to be fairly common - its a way of ensuring that 2 people get a reasonable amount of elbow room 'cos they have the use of three seats, and I also know more than one musician who has bought an adjoining seat for their instrument. We wanted return tickets because the price difference between a single and a return isn't all that huge, and also the price for a return ticket from Australia to the UK is almost double that of a return ticket from the UK to Australia. If we could afford it, we could keep buying annual return tickets from the UK ad infinitum, spending at least some of the summer months in the UK. We only asked for a one-way on the third seat, because we weren't absolutely sure that we'd make it back in July 2008, and what the hell, we may have lost weight by then... you get the picture, I'm sure.
Organising these tickets could not be done through a travel agent - Jaynee dealt directly with Qantas (who were also flying the cats out on a different flight), and although it seemed to take an inordinate amount of faffing around in these post 9/11 days of "one seat, one bum", at last it seemed to be sorted. They were electronic tickets (ie just a printout of an emailed receipt), and we had to confirm the arrangements at the Qantas desk before boarding at Heathrow (we got the extra baggage allowance for the third seat, too), but that all seemed to go OK at the time.
Now, the return flight was originally dated for the 7th July 2008, and as we're running a bit late on getting everthing sorted at GG, Jaynee phoned Qantas to see if we could rebook the return, for, say, mid-August instead. "No problem", the cheery Qantas person says "so that's just the one flight, yes?". "No", says Jaynee, "My husband's ticket too, please". "Err, but your husband doesn't have a return ticket" says the marginally less cheerful Qantas person. "Oh yes, he does" says Jaynee (rather than continuing the conversation and thereby risk breaking into panto mode, I will assume that you can see where this is headed, and spare you the rest of the drama). The pillocks in the London Qantas office sold us one return, and two one-way outbound UK-Aust tickets. Jaynee can go back, but David needs to buy a new return Aust-UK ticket. Jaynee would, of course, need to buy either a one-way or return ticket in the UK to get back to Australia. The Australian Qantas person apologised profusely for her London colleagues, and offered to give us the cheapest price available for David's ticket. I said that I'd call her back later this week, (after I'd finished reducing the stumps of my molars to the level of my jawbone).
Yesterday and today we unpack food and clothes, put the painting up and get most of the office sorted, and construct a support surround for the dresser, which we move to allow the painting enough wall space. The cats are very happy; no noisy neighbours, dogs or cars, and they have loads of outside to explore whenever they want to (Honor has a quick look out the back deck, then curls up on the 4-poster). Greebie not only sits on David's lap (only the 2nd time he has ever done it) but falls asleep there!
Haven't taken any photos for a while, so here's a few:
Mothers Day, so Jaynee drives down to Glenroy to pick up Jo, stopping off at Kyneton to drop off some rubbish into the bins there (we don't get rubbish collections at GG, so we figure we may as well use the bins at Kyneton if we're there for anything else), and put on one load of washing, as we haven't taken the washing machine to GG yet. Jo and Jaynee then head down from Glenroy to Cape Paterson, where much girly stuff like inspecting mum's crockery hoard, reading her House and Garden magazines and drinking more Pink occurs, and a second load of washing is done. David and Ted have (seperately) stayed at home to look after cats.
Jaynee and Jo drive back to Melbourne, via every Op shop (aka charity shop) in Wonthaggi, and the big St Vincent's one in Cranbourne. We also stop at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (now known as RMIT University, bless it) where Jo is a PhD student and also teaches, to pick up some bolts of cloth she has stashed there, in case Jaynee wants to nick any for decorating. Back at the house in Glenroy, Jo personfully girds her wossnames and plunges into the cobwebby murk of the back bungalow to try to find the Russell-Clarke stash of Biggles books, as David has finished reading the ones we bought on ebay recently. After an hour or so littered with interesting asides ("ooooh look, its my stamp collection") we are just about to give up when she finds them - yay! Jaynee phones David on one of our two pay-as-you-go mobiles to let him know she's leaving Glanroy.
Its now nearly 5pm, so Jaynee sets off on what should be the last leg via Kyneton to put the bins out and pick up the first load of washing, but she has what seems like a brilliant idea at the time, and comes off the freeway at Gisborne. TNT, you may recall, left a note last Monday saying that the shed parts had been taken back to their depot in Gisborne, so Jaynee phones them to find out where the depot is. She is put on hold, and quite some time later the phone beeps cos its run out of money. Jaynee tries asking at a couple of shops in Gisborne which are still open, but no-one knows of a TNT depot, tho' they have some suggestions of where it might be, so she spends an hour or so trolling around a few industrial parks in the dark, gets confused and winds up in Riddell's Creek instead of back on the freeway. Of course, she can't phone David to let him know she's been delayed, so spends a further x frustrating minutes (where x is a number larger than it should be) finding a pay phone. Then its back on the freeway, but back off again in Sunbury to get petrol, then finally to Kyneton.
Jaynee puts the bins out for collection tomorrow morning, then stuffs as many boxes into the back of the car as possible, and heads for GG. Its been a rather long day, and she's looking forward to speaking to TNT on the morrow.
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In Jaynee's absence, David has erected most of the 2nd placcy carport, all except for the second set of leg extensions on the back, so it looks rather charmingly pissed. Greebie supervises his parents in finishing it off. |
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We spend the rest of the day in unpacking the boxes Jaynee brought over yesterday, and Jaynee postpones phoning TNT. Orchestra rehearsal seems like a bit of an effort to get to, but Jaynee does it and is glad she did (as is always the case).
Jaynee phones TNT, and they say they can't re-deliver until Friday, although they can leave the package if Jaynee signs the authorisation on the back of the card that they left and leaves that out for them. Jaynee agrees that the card will be left under a brick on the front steps for delivery anytime on Friday, and asks that the package be left by the back door of the house, assuring the TNT person that there are no pets of any kind on the premises (they are quite reasonably worried about dogs, and presumably other furry, feathered or scaled guards).
We buy another bookcase and lotsa other stuff from the Go-Lo in Castlemaine, which is bigger and with lots more cheap crap, err, I mean goods, than the one in Kyneton. We reckon Castlemaine is a better town to live near than Kyneton.
We want to move the tools from the laundry into the new placcy carport to use it as a workshop as well as a storage room, so we hitch up the trailer and head for Kyneton, 'cos one of the chests of drawers that we bought yonks ago isn't suitable for inside the house, so we'll use it for tool storage instead. While we're there, we also pick up the microwave ('cos Jaynee needs one to reheat her cuppas, which she always lets get cold halfway through), the deep fat fryer ('cos we're sick of being healthy, and it doesn't bloody work, anyway), the 2 etageres we originally bought only to make Jonas Cottages look light and airy instead of the acres of forest that went into the bookshelves in the living room and then decided to bring with us, and a few more boxes.
While we're there, we also pick up a card from TNT, saying that they tried to deliver a package this morning, but we weren't there so they've taken it back to Gisborne. Jaynee's language when she read that was a colourful addition to the Kyneton vocabulary.
We pop in to the Post Office in Newstead, which is the village only a couple of kilometres from Green Gully, and arrange for a PO box, because organising a mail box is going to take longer, and we need to receive mail here rather than in Kyneton. So, our postal address is now:
Jaynee & David (or David & Jaynee, if you must)
PO Box 113
Newstead
VIC 3462
Australia
We get the tools into the placcy workshop, with the side seams taped and a tarp laid on the floor and up the side walls, because it has no integrated floor, and unlike the first placcy carport we want this one to be completely weatherproof if poss. It now looks like this:
It's weatherproofnessmentiosity gets a good workout that evening, 'cos it pisses down all night. Lovely, glorious rain, and lots of it. We keep meaning to get a measuring stick, to see how much water we have in the tanks. And we're brushing our brains to see if we can come up with a way of putting some form of guttering onto a placcy carport. Oh - and we trust that TNT has delivered some shed parts to Kyneton, but we don't trust enough to actually go over there just to pick 'em up.
Did sod all yesterday, except pop into Castlemaine for another bookcase and a few essential food supplies. Don't get me wong, I still love dear old Blighty, but Australia does self-saucing pudding mixes, quite a few of which now grace our cupboard space. I s'pose I ought to bring a few over to the UK for friends... which has just reminded me that I need to contact Qantas again, buggrit.
Anyhow, this morning was the great Chough vs Cockatoo standoff.
Now, I haven't got the best digital camera in the world ("You're telling us, Jaynee"!) but in the centre of the photo above is the bird feeder (immortalised by the bird feeder dance, I'm sure you recall) and on the right hand edge is the bird bath. Since we moved in, a group of choughs have rather loudly and aggresively declared these to be their exclusive property, making sure Greebie is well aware of this simple fact of nature. But when it comes to loud aggresiveness, choughs aren't a patch on cockatoos, a mob of which flew in this morning to contest the claim. There are at least 10 sulphur-crested cockatoos in the photo, and plenty more out of shot, and they all have an earsplitting raucous squawk, which they employed for a good half an hour to make their case.
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I must say, I was impressed with the chough's performance - they are a much smaller bird (about the size of a wood pigeon, and black except for the splash of white on their wings which is only visible when they're in flight), but they didn't give in. Here's a detail from the above, with 2 choughs on the ground and the cockys above: They all buggered orf together when I went out on the back deck to take photos, with Greebie leading from the rear. |
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We've worked out that a removalist\remover\whatever they're called would probably charge us of the order of $500.00 to move the rest of the stuff in Kyneton (no, we haven't actually asked anyone; we're justifying here, if you please) so that means given that we use between $40-$50 of petrol each time we do a trailer load between Kyneton and GG, we can do a few more and still save money. Its been a few days, so we hitch up the trailer and head down to load up again - and dump more rubbish in the bins. This load consists of the chest freezer, washing machine, tumble dryer, two 2-drawer filing cabinets, bench vices (how can a bench have any vices? I hear you ask), nail gun, router with table, bench sander, drill press, and a few boxes with books and files. And guess what? If I could be arsed, I'd invent a psychic webpage interface so that your computer would play a drum roll, or the organ entry from Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony at this point, before I tell you that ... the shed parts were by the back door!
Whoopee - Ballarat has a cinema with comfy armchairs and table, with food and drinks served to it (the table, I mean), so we book a couple of said seats to see the new Indiana Jones film on Thursday arvo (posh artistic types that we are). We also put together the next bookcase, wheel in the filing cabinets and unpack a few files, and Greebie does his Schroedinger's cat impersonation:
No, the bookcases aren't really that pissed. We've also put up the device-for-hanging-things-from in the kitchen. Some of you may remember that it used to have various plastic things dependent from it before the Wadhurst kitchen was renovated for grownups, but in GG it is now coyly kitcheny, ie:
instead of original Wadhurst version 
Hmm - the Austar saga.
Jaynee goes up to Bendigo for a follow-up appointment with an ENT specialist about the rather annoying thingywhatsit growing on the roof of her mouth, which is fortunately not cancerous... well, so far as one can tell at the moment. Still, not a situation one would like, so she's going into l'hôpital to have it l'opped off Friday week. The appointment is late morning, and she has orchestra rehearsal at 7:30pm, so this gives a perfect excuse, I mean reason to perform a few shopping activities. None of which is particularly interesting, but did involve an amusing encounter with two people sitting at a trestle table outside Woolies and trying to interest passers-by in signing up for a new contract with satellite tv provider Austar.
Now, our terrestrial tv reception is crap at the moment, and I am vaguely interested in getting sattelite tv, so I made their day by stopping to chat instead of brushing them off, as everyone else was doing. I learnt that Austar is the only provider in rural Victoria for pay-to-view, which I hadn't known, and that there was no local equivalent to the deals available in the UK, where you can get bundled phone, broadband and pay-to-view tv in some areas. Austar also has what sounds like a pretty good deal on for new subscribers - free installation including equipment, and you only have to sign a 6 month contract, not the standard 24 months. All useful stuff, so then I asked if they could confirm whether a decent signal could be obtained in Green Gully - a common enough question in the UK, and usually easily answered by making reference to the postcode. Not easily answered by these two, unfortunately.
In order to find out if I could get it, I'd have to apply for it. Dubious, I agreed after receiving assurances that no money needed to be paid, or signature given, just details taken. I handed over my Victorian drivers licence, then they asked for phone numbers. I gave them my mobile number, saying that I didn't have a landline yet, which was incidentally why I'd asked them if Austar provided bundled phone services. OK, they said, but could they have a second phone number. "No" I said, which seemed to stump them for a bit. "But we need 2 phone numbers" they said. "I don't have 2 phones" I said. "Work phone?" "Nope - retired". "Well, what about a family member or friend?" "Pardon?" "We just need 2 numbers; anyone's will do".
I stared at them for a bit then said "Well, what's the point of that?" "We need a 2nd number in case we can't get hold of you on the first number, for, like, the installation, and stuff". I'm afraid I got a bit Jaynee-ish then. "So how could it be useful to talk to a friend of mine, who themselves couldn't contact me, as they only have the number that you've already tried?" The logic of this seemed to take a while to trickle through, but eventually the smarter one said "Well, it doesn't matter, we just need to have the 2nd number because its in the Terms & Conditions". I can see why she said it, and she doesn't know me, so didn't realise why it was a Bad Move. "OK." said I "Write this down: 12345678910" "No, it has to be a real phone number" "So you're telling me that it is a legal requirement for me to give you a phone number which is supposed to be mine, but which you and I both know is someone else's? Don't you find that dishonest?" "Not really. We wouldn't mind".
They just couldn't see it. "Well, I would" I said and asked for my Drivers Licence back. "I obvioulsy can't have Austar" I said, and walked away.
Maybe I didn't make their day, after all.
On another note, our apologies for missing Gordon Kerry's concert in Melbourne last Friday. He did send us an email in plenty of time, but we needed to get tools and boxes under cover : ( Those of you interested in Gordon's work might like to check out his online details at http://www.users.bigpond.com/gkerry/index.htm
And belated congrats to Cranbrook Orchestra for their first concert with new conductor Michael Robertson last Saturday; details of their performaces can be found here.
Both pusses decide that mum's lap is the (approximate) place to be, and tough luck if she wants to watch telly or read her book.
A hedonistic afternoon at the pictures in Ballarat, with conciences assuaged by a visit to Aldi's for a few tools, and to Bunnings for timber for a workbench for the shed. We know how to have fun.
Oh - and here's the current state of the dining area, now that we've put up the light fitting and dressed the table up a bit:
Having successfully unpacked or stored the last load of boxes, its time to set up the big challenge; Jaynee's clothes and shoes! In anticipation of this, (and in spite of the fact that each of the three bedrooms has a built-in-wardrobe totalling about 10 feet of hanging space and 18 feet of shelving, and we've managed to shoehorn one of the pine dressers into the main bedroom), we have set up an 8 foot wardrobe rack in the 4-poster bedroom. Jaynee bought this on special in Aldi back in January, "just in case". I am reminded that "on spec" is an Australian term, originally short for "on speculation" eg "He built the houses on spec, expecting to sell them easily afterwards". So it was on spec, on special. Ahem. The bedroom now has only a very narrow walkway, and the rest is FURNITURE, but what the hell.
We do the Kyneton tripthing and again Jaynee forgets to take photos of the magnificent trailer space allocation and ropework performed by David. Those years spent roping down artic lorries wasn't in vain.
On the way, we call in at the Newstead Croquet Club, which plays every Friday morning. Irresistable. We will join Friday after next (as Jaynee's in hospital next Friday). David was not at all keen when the idea was first floated, but is converted by the prospect of joining some nice peeps spending a morning thwhacking a wooden ball around with nice big mallets. He wants to wear whites, and swear in a dreadfully restrained British way when said ball doesn't go where it should. You have to join in village life, don't you?
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The clothes will fit. Somewhere. Here's the state of play with half of them unpacked, and Greebie indicating which box is in progress.
Meanwhile, David puts up a shelf in the bathroom, then begins work on his erection. Its going to be large and needs to be very firm. The erection will take a while, and is to be put up on the back decking, initially, although it will ultimately find its home in the workshop. |
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Did everyone have a nice Bank Holiday in the UK? By the end of today, Jaynee has filled the wardrobe rack, (and all the built-in wardrobes), put a top on it and a curtain rail. Fortunately, she's finally found her sewing machine, so its getting a curtain next, with matching duvet cover and pillow cases. Twee, me? How the hell do people do with less than 30 feet of hanging space??? |
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Jaynee does a quick trip into Newstead (hereafter referred to as "the village", 'cos old habits die hard), to check our post box, where she finds a post-box-warming postcard from Jo. Isn't that a nice touch (hint hint)? She also joins the local library, and puts her name down to volunteer on the desk of the local Rural Transaction Centre, which not only boasts the library, but also half a dozen internet-connected computers, a small art gallery, a childcare playgroup area, a community meeting room, fax & photocopying facilities, 2 laundromat washing machine/dryers and an op shop. She then heads into Castlemaine for some urgent supplies for David's erection. Its coming on apace, and is meeting the spec for sturdiness. You could hold a reasonable-sized tea party on that erection. With dancing. Here's what it looks like so far:
Orchestra rehearsal was a blast. The girl who sits beside the leader in the first desk wasn't there, so I got to play there instead! Rarefied stuff, right under the conductor's baton - fortunately, I'm pretty good at the Dvorjak by this stage, and the first violins were told to give it loads of welly, which is always fun. I require all of you who are in Victoria at the time to make it to the concert, which is on Sunday August 3rd at 2:30pm in St Paul's Cathedral in Bendigo. Program includes Dvorjak's 8th symphony, Rossini's Semiramide Overture, and Wagner's Siegfried Idyll. I don't care if you don't like Wagner; you can't not like Dvorjak and Rossini! There will be B&B available at Green Gully. First in gets the 4-poster.
One more thing. Now I may be wittering to the wind, here, but it would be good if I heard something back. Nick & Wendy, and Jo are the only people who have put anything in the GG guestbook. I want you to go there now (click on the blue "Green Gully Guestbook link at the top of this page), then click on the underlined word "Add" at the top of that page. Fill in your name on the next page that comes up; you don't have to fill in any of the other boxes except for putting in your message in the "Comments" box, then click on the "Submit Query" button (yes I know, its a silly name for it, I should have called it "Submit Message"). Its that easy. Go on, do it now! Tell us what you did on the Bank Holiday. Be part of the extended Green Gully community. Its free. You could even leave messages for each other, we won't mind : )
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Well, what can a wife do when the erection is declared finished? Sprawl on it? Yes, that is another glass of rose. If the yardarm was in shot, you'd see that the sun is over it. I'll have one of my increasingly rare ciggies when I've finished, too. When David told my father that I'd opined that it was over-engineered, my father sided with his son-in-law, saying that it couldn't be over-engineered because you never knew how hard you'd need to hit anything that you happened to have on it. Hmm. Now David's said that he's going to mount a vice on it. Goodness. |
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Jo arrives at Green Gully to travel up to Bendigo with David & Jaynee. Its the day of Jaynee's surgery, which involves a general anaesthetic, so she's not allowed to drive home, and David still has a month and a half until he can sit for his Australian drivers license. The surgery goes well, and Jaynee feels fine for the next day or so, tho' very tired. However, some pain does kick in after that, so she's a bit useless for blogging purposes for the next week. Nephew Lachlan has a better day - its his 11th birthday (Happy Birthday, Lachie).
