ANZAC DAY 2025

It only comes once a year but it is the time I remember my father who served Australia overseas in the Air force during WW2.  He went away a young 22 y.o. and came back broken in body and mind but always believed it was the most important thing he did with his life.  So every ANZAC day I go to the dawn service to remember him and lay flowers in his memory.  (He died of his wounds in his 50's.)

To day it rained.

We all stood there in the rain and remembered.  The young cadets stood there, in the rain, for the whole time, with no complaining but with respect.

As the dim light of dawn came into the sky the hunting eagles swept low over our heads as if they too added their thoughts to ours.

Less we forget.

A slow return

Life still hasn't returned to normal as yet.  The island is over run with workers trying to repair the damage.  They have cut most of the damaged trees that are a danger but there is still a lot to go, some of mine included.  Huge piles of green waste are pushed up everywhere.

I keep thinking about all the birds that have lost their nests but they are making a racket up there in the trees and I am still getting visitors to my bird baths, but less of the little birds.

So today I will go to my patchwork group, then the gallery on another and then restock the pantry.  (My insurance covered my spoilage of food). I ordered more threads which have arrived for the canvas work and now that I have sewn new curtains to replace the ones that were damaged I am doing a little each day on the scrap quilt. I put that little cross stitch I was working on into this.  Can you spot it?

Doing just a bit each day, no major goals, seems to be the way to go.

Connection back to the world

Oh my goodness.  We survived.  Battered and bruised but still in one piece. 

I can't say the same for the trees and all the plants and the beaches are ripped to pieces.  The big sea eagles are hunting on the front beach and there are lots of sharks out there in the water, their dorsal fins announcing their presence.

Physically I am fine but mentally I am still in survival mode.  I slept fully clothed on top of the bed for nearly a week.  I had my shoes positioned ready to take shelter under the house if the roof came off.  And you know I couldn't stitch.  There wasn't a good enough light.  I kept myself busy knitting.  I have 3 booties, of the same pattern, which are all different where I couldn't see what I was doing!  I will have to go back and knit matching ones.  The world could have ended and we wouldn't have known.

All the food has had to be tossed out, no power and all the ice melted.  I hope there is something in the supermarket to replace some of it.  I lost 5 kilograms living on survival foods.   It will be some time before I can eat pasta or rice again and the force of the wind flexed a window in my car so I have to dry that out. 

Added to this my grand daughter has given me Ted to repair, again.

Now it is time to pick up the pieces

Weather again

We are on alert!!

There is a super cyclone out in the Pacific and heading out way.

It isn't so much the cyclone it's self that they are worried about but the high winds, over 200k.p.h., that will cause the damage.  So on Sunday night all boats have been warned to take cover in the creeks etc.  For us on the island we will loose ferry and barge services and all other boats that we could travel on for 3 or 4 days.  I hope no one gets ill because choppers will be grounded as well.

But then cyclones are notorious for changing their minds, so we will wait and see.

Slow Progress

The weather here is super humid.  Trying to do anything physical leaves one in a lather of perspiration.  With the help situation still unresolved I have decided that my limit, in the way of doing housework, is one or maybe two rooms a day.   And I can count on the dog to lay just where I have cleaned!  But I am managing.

The next big improvement has been with my lymphoedema.  I have been swimming most days and this has seen a big improvement in my condition.  Then the algae appeared in the water and the rashes started on my skin.  Also, I have had the feeling I am not alone in the water so have kept to the shallows.  Then this happened.

So I joined the local YMCA so that I can use their pool.  Now I have to get a pair of water socks because the bottom of the pool is rough and I have found that 20 laps of the pool is too much exercise, I have to scale that back. 

Surviving

I am in survival mode at the moment.  My auto-immune problem is in overdrive, caused by sand fly bites this time, unbelievable rashes.  But I am swimming everyday, which is part of the problem, this is where the sandflys find me.  Not in the water but on the path too and from the beach.  I didn't pay attention to my surroundings when I started swimming.  The creek that runs behind the beach hasn't been flushed out with rain for a while and the nasties in the water started the problem.   (Waterlilies live in dirty water.)

I have now moved up the beach but this leaves me open to those sandflys.  A no win situation I'm afraid.  But the swimming has got my lymphodema problem sorted.  I don't have to use the machine to get it under control.  First time in over 20 years.  And, being forced to rest and not do anything is probably a good thing as well.  I sleep lots and lots because of all the hystimine in my system.

We are having a very hot, humid summer and I am thankful for the air-conditioning.  The island has been flooded with visitors.  This has been caused by the combination of the heat, school holidays and the 50c fares on all public transport offered by the State government.  The ferries and barges are full all the time.  We will all be pleased when the school year starts again.

But it is lovely to see people enjoying the water and wandering along the bush paths,

and our local businesses have lots of customers.

There was one day that was a bit worrying.  The kids must have designated the island as a meeting place on social media and hoards of teenagers, all looking for trouble, descended on the island.  I had read about this kind of thing happening all around the world never thinking it would touch us.  All the businesses evicted their customers and locked up, things looked really nasty.  The ferries were targeted by out of control boys bringing them to a stop.  The police were called and they have their own barge with lots of engine power and every police officer is armed.  I don't think the kids knew about this and they were quickly escorted onto the barges and ferries and taken off the island under the watchful eyes of the police.  The police did look intimidating.  A full compliment of fully armed police standing on the deck of their barge taking photos of the crowd, traveling right behind the ferries and barges was enough to put the wind up those kids.

So now things have returned to a slower pace. 

These bites are making me very slow.

 

A small world

Whilst waiting for the barge the other day I noticed that one of my neighbours had a nifty box mounted on his bike.

He had brought this all the way from the UK when he moved here and then found a use for it even using it to hold the wiring for his bike light.  It holds all kinds of stuff.  Wooden boxes are hard to come by at any time and one like this is a gem.

Ducklings

We have a new family that has arrived to help us celebrate Xmas.

The word has gone out, "be careful driving near the creek!"

Devils of the Skys

Like most of the residents of this island I park my car in the parking lot near the jetty (if I can find a place) and then catch the ferry home.  But the denisans of the sky's sit around waiting for us to park.

Those lamp posts are just the right size for a pelican to roost.

and then strike when we are gone.

This is minor damage.  You get a full load or multiple strikes, it is a disaster.

You NEVER park under a light post .

There are no water taps anywhere close and last time I was hit it took 10 litres of water to get the droppings off the car.  There is something in those droppings that eat straight through the duco so you have to remove it quick.  They are beautiful to look at but they have this evil side as well!

 

Another year gone by

This past year has been a challenge and I think that the challenges will keep on coming in the future.  Nothing really prepares you for old age, it is just kind of there on your doorstep and you have to deal with it the best way you can.  

I have inherited a set of auto immune diseases which have made this time even more complicated.  But, it shortened the lives of most of my relatives and I have survived, despite all the predictions of the medical profession, who started the doom and gloom predictions from the time of my birth.

The hot, humid, stormy weather upsets how my body works and that is what we have at this time of year. 

I have air-conditioning in my bedroom and sewing room so that I can lock myself away from some of the effects this has on my body.  I bought a fancy reclining chair to sit in when I put the pump on my legs and a laptop computer so I can use this in the chair.

Also, a Lowry frame to hold my embroidery (and the compression bags for my legs.)

I know the children will give me flowers and chocolates for my birthday but what I really wanted was a magnifying light for when I sit and embroider, so I bought one for myself.  It is both a floor and table light.

I have had my old table version since the 1980's and the plastic handle has broken, although the light is still working.  You know I bought a replacement light for it just in case it gave out.  It never did.  That was because I bought that replacement!

So, one adjusts to keep the pleasure of embroidery a continuing pleasure.