The Healing Waters Festival

Saturday September 26. When I woke just before dawn, I could smell dust, so I hurried around to shut all windows. Dawn broke but the butcher birds were silent, as they were on Tuesday during the dust storm. We were enveloped in the orange-brown cloud again but not as thick as last time. I smiled to myself when I thought about all the cars that had been washed during the week! (We had decided not to wash the truck!)

By 2pm, we judged that it was clear enough to go to the street Parade. Emily and Carissa were very pleased about the decision! The four of us went in Nev's and Lindy's car and got a parking spot not far off the main street, which was blocked off. The Parade was reasonably good but not as long as last year, nor as attractive. Still, we applauded the efforts and had a good time. As always, each of the Princesses rode on the float of their sponsor.

Next was the Carnival and the inevitable argument about money. Every year, Lindy gives the girls ample money and we try to get them to spend it sensibly and have some left over. Every year, Steve says, "Give it up Laurie. They aren't your kids!" Old teachers never die!! This year, most of their money was spent on food! We had Maccas for our evening meal. Oddly, it was the most nourishing food we could find!

The Rodeo commenced at dusk and the wide metal bleachers filled up quickly. We all cooled down quickly, so Steve and Emily drove home for warm clothes and blankets. Our butts were freezing!! They returned with an extra child, Jackson, the girls' cousin. He had just arrived from Brisbane.

I'm ambivalent about rodeos. I want to say that I dislike them because they are tormenting, frustrating and cruel to the animals. Yet, the atmosphere and action excites me and I'm caught up in the enthusiasm engendered by the spruikers. They spoke frequently about cruelty to animals and some of the calf roping contestants were disqualified on those grounds. There were all kinds of events ---- bucking bulls, bucking horses, with and without saddles, two different kinds of calf roping and a terrific barrel race. A program explained exactly what was involved in each event, but as it all happened so quickly, it was a bit hard to see. Fortunately, Steve gave me a running commentary.

As the evening wore on, the kids became more and more restless and there were numerous visits to the toilets, trips for food, play fighting with those big plastic bats, general teasing and a lot of texting and exchanging of ring tones and photos! There was no bad blood, even though I delivered a couple of lectures! They were all high on sugar and no longer interested in the rodeo, so we headed for home. We had promised sundaes at McDonalds to finish the day, so that was our last stop before home, around 10pm. How did they fit in more food????

It was difficult to take photos of the rodeo and most of them have the metal bar of the safety fence across the middle. I haven't put any captions on the obvious photos; you'll work them out for yourself.

I have embedded a slideshow here. Click the arrow and it will run automatically.




Another method to view the photos in a larger style is to click on The Healing Waters Festival title at the top and then click on slideshow on the new page.

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Dust 2 Dust

Everyone is cleaning up after the big dust storm on Tuesday night and Wednesday.

Steve went outside late on Tuesday night and reported to me that there was a fog. If we had only realised that it was dust, we would have battened down the hatches!
It was unmistakable when we woke on Wednesday ------ a thick layer of dust covered our world, inside and out. I still haven't decided what is the best way to clean the venetians. They look as if they have been commercially sandblasted.

The sad part about this terrible dust storm which blanketed much of NSW, ACT, southern Queensland and northern South Australia is that many farmers have lost their top soil and the growing crops. Broken Hill farmers report that they will have to sell or agist their sheep, as there is no food for them.

The media made a big thing about reporting it in Sydney but ignored it in the rest of NSW. If I see one more photo of the Harbour Bridge or Luna Park shrouded in the golden glow of dust, I'll be sick. That is so typical. The Victorian drought was ignored for the first 5 years until Melbournians began to feel the effects.

Looking towards the Highway

The hidden Airport

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Massage

When I went for my massage at 3pm on Wednesday, Tom greeted me with just about all the English words he knows, "Baby, sleep, Wednesday 3 o'clock". I understood. He has a wall of photos and I've watched as his baby granddaughter grew. His daughter and granddaughter were up from Sydney on a visit and I had suggested that he might bring the little one to the massage room so that I could meet her. It was quite understandable that the baby was napping in the afternoon.

Tom kept repeating, "Thursday, 11 o'clock." Ah, he wants me to come in on Thursday and he'll have the baby there at 11am, I thought. He handed me a piece of paper and a pen and asked me to write ........ what? So I wrote my mobile phone number. Although I couldn't see why he would want that!! At that point, Steve left, believing that he understood all that was happening!

Tom made it clear that the phone number wasn't what he wanted.
Eventually, after much pantomiming and the repetition of, "Thursday, 11am", I got it! Or I presumed that I did. So, I wrote down the address of the caravan park and our site number.

Right on the dot of 11, their car pulled up. What a nice surprise! I had hopefully set up tables and chairs outside in the dappled sun but I wasn't totally certain that I had understood the arrangements correctly!!

Tom's wife Annie and her daughter, whose name we never discovered, hurried across, carrying little Belinda, pointing at me and repeating the Chinese word for Grandmother, which sounds very much like Nana. (Pronounced Nanay.) Eventually, the little one, about 18 months, was calling me by that name! I felt quite honoured!

Annie speaks a little English and Tom speaks very little. We thought that their daughter, being young, would be very fluent. Wrong! Inexplicably, after 15 years here, she speaks none. Bang went my plans for asking some of the questions I hadn't been able to get through to Tom or Annie.

Despite the language difficulties, we had a lovely hour or so together. They were thrilled to look through the caravan, darting here and there with sudden expressions of delight, like excited kids. Maybe they had never been inside a caravan before.

I had got some Textas and paper to entertain Belinda and was a bit worried about her getting the colors on her skin and clothes. I stopped worrying when Annie drew a watch on Belinda's arm!! She is a really lovely, relaxed Grandmother.

It's hard for me to imagine being forced to have just one child, with the possibility of having only one Grandchild.

Tom had handed Steve a bag on his way in. After they left, I investigated the contents. It was 2 packets of Chinese cigarettes, named Eighth Happiness!!!!!! Oh my!

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Mr. Olemayt

Finally, after years of hearing about him, I became acquainted
with Mr. Olemayt.

The locals here are always talking about him. He's an incredibly colorful character, who appears to have had many jobs and lived in a variety of places. His life experiences astonish me. He seems to have tried everything, both good and bad. I have often thought that I wouldn't like him but then I will be told something about him that is most compassionate and appealing.

Last night, he sped out of the caravan park, with a police car immediately behind him and turned right without blinking, then tried to outrun the police. Neville told us this when he was unblocking sewerage pipes next door to us.

We came inside and I asked Steve if he had ever met Mr. Olemayt. Steve looked very nonplussed and stuck for an answer. Then kindly and carefully, as if talking to a dimwitted child, he explained.

As with most places, Moree has particular speech patterns and habits. Obviously, I don't know all of these variations. The accepted way of referring to a man whose name you don't know is to call him, "old mate" ------ or as it is pronounced, "Olemayt".

Damn!

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Moree Healing Waters Festival

For years now, we have gone to the Moree Golden Grain and Cotton Festival, taking Emily and Carissa with us to the street parade and carnival afterwards.

This year, the Council has put together a number of celebrations and has made the Healing Waters Festival, running from September 19th to October 4th.

The timing is good for us. The old festival was held in November and we would have missed it this year as we are going home earlier than usual.
Andre Rieu on November 1st in Melbourne, courtesy of Rachel and Tom!!!!


Click on the Title Moree Healing Waters Festival to read more about Moree, the great Artesian Basin and the events being celebrated.

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McDonalds Lunch

Wednesday. To celebrate the addition of the new cool pool, the owners of the park, the McDonalds, put on a BBQ lunch.
Marion (who runs the kiosk) and her daughters Lindy and Tracey and Angela McDonald were the cooks.
Countless sausages and onions and delicious rolls filled the air with that mouth watering BBQ smell.
It was held on a balmy, 20C day, at the old BBQ area at the front of the pool complex.



From left, Marion, Angela and Tracey.

Lindy and her famous, happy laugh.

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BABY MATILDA

Being a Grandmother is the most spectacular feeling. Immortality springs to mind.
When my friends become Grandparents, I live that wonderful feeling all over again.

When Trent was born, I joked that I would be "the paternal Grandmother". For years, he called me Nana Laurie. I made a speech on behalf of the Grandparents at his 21st birthday. Logically, I am now the paternal Great-Grandmother.

Congratulations to Trent and Janelle on the birth of sweet Matilda.
Didee, I wish you many, many years of great joy.
Verna will be watching over the little one.



Trent and Matilda



Tilly with Didee, GG Harry and Mummy Janelle.

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Market

Sunday was Market day. We had forgotten that this month there was a large display of veteran cars, and the crowd was enormous.

We drove a block further on, intending to walk and gopher back, but ................ The parking spot was right in front of the old second hand shop that has been closed for most of the year and it was open!
I went in, telling Steve that I would ride up to the market to meet him later. Famous last words!
2 hours, 2 large boxes and $23 later, I phoned Steve to ask him to come down and open the truck. By the time he had looked around the shop a bit, the market was packing up and I never got there.

There were goodies of all sorts, including lots of Christmas decorations. A Breville blender was one of the treasures and we've had some good use out of it already.

Another "treasure" shows up my eccentricity in the worst way! For the grand sum of $3, I bought a skirt and matching top. They are purple with bright pink trimming. The skirt has a nice shape to it. The top has the most garish piece of mostly orange flowery material inserted on the diagonal. I took a photo for Madeleine, who thinks it looks lovely. When I protested, she said that she was looking at it with a fresh eye! I'm putting in a tiny picture of it, just enough for you to see but not enough to make you vomit. (At least, I hope it's not enough!) I'll never wear it outside the house, so why buy it??? The only answer is eccentricity!!!!!

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Who Listens??

• Remember how I had trouble getting rid of a cold?

• Remember how the doc wouldn't even look in my throat and wouldn't give me anything for a viciously sore throat?

• Remember how I was getting new dentures?

Let me put both things together ... and demonstrate how people don't listen.

I picked up my new dentures on Friday, Aug. 28th. As the dentist was about to put his ungloved fingers into my mouth, I said, "I have a terrible sore throat; mind my germs." (To tell the truth, my main reason for saying this was that I never saw the man wash his hands. To be fair to him, he did have 2 rooms, so he may have washed in the other.) But his answer didn't console me at all. He said, "Oh don't worry; you should have seen some of the foul mouths I've put my hands in." YEEEEEK. That's exactly what I was worried about!!!!!

By the following Thursday, one side of my throat felt a little better but the other side was still puffed and very sore, so I went to the doc again -- a different one. I explained the whole story of a 3 week long sore throat and felt obliged to add that I also had the difficulty of a new denture that was rubbing and making my gum sore.
This doc "kindly" looked in my throat. The first thing he remarked on was that a big ulcer had formed where my denture was rubbing. "Oh yes, but that came recently; the sore throat is much older than that and it's in a different place." Then he spent 5 minutes explaining why my throat could feel sore from the denture -- referred pain, and other explanations that went over my head. My throat was getting sorer from explaining! He prescribed antibiotics, so I gave up explaining!

The very next day, I went to the dentist to get him to adjust the denture. He was quite doubtful that the denture had caused the ulcer. "Oh yes, it has only come since I got the denture; I had a sore throat for much longer but it's in a different place." Then he spent 5 minutes explaining why my gum could develop an ulcer because of the sore throat. My throat was getting sorer from explaining! He went away to rub the offending spot on the denture, so I gave up explaining!

WHO LISTENS????

Would it have helped if I had told doc #2 that doc #1 had seen me because of the sore throat, well before I had the new denture?
Would it have helped if I had reminded the dentist that he knew about my sore throat before the denture began rubbing?

By the way, both throat and denture ulcer are getting better!

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Sam, the Mad Hatter

I had a good talk to Sam on Monday night. He told me that the three performances of Alice in Wonderland went really well and he had a lot of fun.
With the aplomb of a professional, he explained how a tape was played too early, over the top of the people speaking --- but that it was neither here nor there and didn't spoil the play.

I love how both Sam and Madeleine talk about their enjoyment of the performances, not about their own abilities.

Break a leg for the last 2 performances next weekend, Sam!!

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Out of the past

Jeanie McMillan arrived today and we have spent the evening talking ---- trying to catch up on nearly 30 years.
It's amazing how we meet so many old time friends up here in Moree, thousands of kilometres from our homes.

I first met Jeanie in Wonthaggi in 1967. Barely out of her teens and with her own newborn baby boy, she became nanny to 4 little girls who had lost their Mother. That was the beginning of my great admiration for her courage and fortitude. As I said to her tonight, I have always wanted to write her biography. That really surprised her. Modesty is one of her virtues.

Today she has 15 grandchildren and 4 great-grand children. Driving a Toyota Troop Carrier, towing a camper trailer, she is returning from the very tip of Australia, Cape York. A grandchild has printed a sticker for the back of the truck --- Nan's Tonka Truck. I'm sure that they must all be very proud of her.

Men see her backing into a camp site and ask where hubby is. (Sexist pigs!!) I would love to be there to tell them exactly what this amazing woman has achieved on her own, over the years. I'm in awe!

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