Hello, it’s Me and Mister C…

Hiya! We hope you are staying well and haven’t been drowned out by all the rain we have been having lately! On our property, we have had more than one-hundred and twenty mls over the past two weeks (give or take a few mls, with my dodgy measuring of the rainwater gauge). So much so, the grounds have been soaked and are very soft, where we sadly lost a limb (huge branch) off one of our big grey gum trees at the end of last week. Unfortunately, the limb took out two other smaller gum trees, a trampoline and clothesline on our neighbour’s property along with it (oh no and a few other added words!). My dear neighbour contacted me while I was at work, letting me (kindly) know that the branch was in danger of falling imminently (such bad timing). Being at work, there wasn’t much I could do, after an emergency at work (I had to stay back later than usual); I raced home (in the pouring rain) to find the carnage down at the back of the property. Not a good situation (thanks again Mother Nature!); I offered to call the SES and to help with the clean up over the weekend (of which we did- as good neighbours do). It was also very strange that husband was working from home that day, but did not hear a single thing!

Thankfully the damage didn’t affect our neighbour’s house and their shed was still standing strong (phew!). We all pitched in and helped to clear away the tree branches, debris and move wood pieces (great job with the chain-saw B.W!). In the morning (over the weekend) Husband was chatting with our neighbours and just at that point, another big gum tree fell on our other neighbour’s roof and house, to the right side of our property (it was raining trees!). Husband and neighbour jumped with fright and came straight back up to the house and called out, “Wife, it’s raining trees! You must go see the damage next door and if the neighbours are okay, please!” I ran outside and to our dismay another big (beautiful) gum (on the next neighbour’s property) had succumbed to the rainfall. The SES was promptly called (thanks so much!); we all checked on our neighbour with her young family, breathing a sigh of relief, as everyone was safe and accounted for (phew again!). Of course, we all need rain for crops, habitats, flora and fauna and to live (drink and shower) with, but not SO much it literally disintegrates it literally disintegrates the soil to the extent that tree roots cannot hold up! …

Our two children’s book events at our local library (Storytime) went ahead last week; it was a special (very heart-warming) time, after much planning and preparation over the past several months (hoping Covid wouldn’t knock out our plans again). Me and Mister C wish to send out a BIG thank-you to the library events manager and staff who helped to arrange our events (thanks M.H!). I also wanted to thank my zany son, Mister C for joining me on Tuesday; while also send out another a big thank-you to my dear friend (H.C) who joined me on Thursday (we did it!). We are so very humbled to have met some lovely children and their families, over both days; we were so please to have seen all of the happy (and focused) faces when I read our first two books. Emotions were running high (with the unexpected loss of our sweet budgie too); along with all of our hard work over the past two-years, that has now finally paid off (I truly think). I am super proud (naturally) of our four published children’s books; we have created over this two year time frame too (pretty good huh?). We wish to also thank Husband, Widy, Flossy, with our family and friends, for their continued support over these years; we couldn’t have done it all without you! Now it’s time for a little rest (for a couple of weeks anyway- perhaps with some more gardening and festive errands to do); I have just started working on our fifth book manuscript (can we, do it?)- I will never stop really (as Husband always like to point out!).

Along with my (very) busy nursing shifts and book events, Husband had booked a long consultation with his GP (thanks heaps!) to have a suspicious and painful lump removed from the side of his left hand, at the end of last week. I had mentioned to Husband it was going to be a super busy week and perhaps he could have made the consult for the following week; but the lump had been worrying Husband and the right thing to do, was to have it (safely) removed and the skin tissue sent to pathology for further testing (it was irritated with the hand resting and moving on his work desk each day too- how very annoying!). Husband took himself off to his appointment in the morning (getting a sick leave day off work too), while I picked up my dear friend and went to our book event in town. I said to Husband to try not to faint at the sight of any blood loss and mentioned the local anaesthetic needle the GP will most likely use to numb the area, may hurt a bit too. Husband texted me saying the small procedure had gone well and he was home resting his numb hand. Husband commented, “The only pain I experienced was the local needle and that I had better put several reminders on my phone, to not forget the prescribed antibiotics!”

Wonderful news, Widy went for her driver’s licence test on Monday, after waiting over two months for Covid restrictions to ease, with the bookings to recommence through service NSW. I am thrilled to report, Widy passed with flying colours (phew!), attaining one-hundred and seven points for the testing (well done!) to achieve her ‘P’ red plates. There will be no stopping her now, as she wants to drive to school everyday and drive herself to work and back through the week. Not knowing the next steps once Widy attained her licence, from going to having a supervised driver in the car each trip with the Learner’s licence, to no-one is a bit of a change (for everyone?). I asked Widy to ease into the new routine of driving herself around town and she agreed; particularly when some (bad) driver ran a red light right in front of us, just minutes after leaving the service centre with the brand new red ‘P’ plates on my car (I didn’t catch that number plate- damn it!). The near miss incident rattled both of us; hopefully Widy will drive (extra) safely until she gains more experience and time as a good and confident driver, before anything sinister does happen (hopefully not for a very long time yet?) … Well done angel! We are so very proud of you, for achieving what you wanted this tough year! It was wonderful (and heart tugging) seeing Widy confidently drive out from the carport this morning, to drive both herself and our sweet Flossy to school together…

A Word from Mister C…

I went to pick-up Mister C from after school care one afternoon last term; Mister C came to the door looking quite sad. “Hi, my son, are you okay?” I said, looking a little worried. “Oh, hi, Mummy. I’m okay,” he replied, giving me a big hug. One of the friendly educators came out smiling, “Mister C was a bit sad earlier, as he found a sick bird on the ground outside over there. He thought it had died and was very sad for a bit.” … “Yes, I was sad, Mummy,” Mister C replied; “I couldn’t see the bird moving and got worried.” Giving Mister C a big hug, “Oh, dear, was it okay?” The educator nodded and then replied, “Oh, yes, Mister C took me over to see the bird and it moved it wings, then hopped up and then quickly looked up and flew away!” Mister C smiled, then said, “I was so happy to see it move and fly away, Mummy. I love birds and I didn’t want it to go to birdy heaven today!” … 🐤

Stay tuned…

It’s hard to believe the end of term four is now only a couple of weeks away; what are you going to do for the upcoming Summer school hols? Stay tuned for some more zany Mister C stories (I’ll try and not bore you with too much family routine stuff!?). We look forward to a little (special) family getaway to sunny Wollongong early January- we can’t wait to see the glorious beach again (has been quite a long while). Let’s get through the festive silliness (and other festive events) and enjoy catching up with family and friends in sunnier weather… 🌈