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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