Housesitting # 2

Arriving back at Kat and Duncan’s, Wednesday the 2^nd June, I had been beaten to the post by Jen and Dave who had just returned from their fishing trip on the outer reef.  They brought with them four amazing fish they had personally caught, 2 red emperor and 2 small mouth nannygai one of which was cooked up for our dinner that night. It was delicious!  The other nannygai was to be taken with them the next morning as they headed north to the Daintree for a two day camping trip returning on Saturday.  The red emperor, which Jen had caught were frozen one for Kat and Duncan and the other to take on their trip to Darwin.

In the meantime Linda, who was to housesit Kat’s place, was still stuck in Broome, which means I would be staying on to house-sit Kat and Duncan’s home. Praise the Lord I didn’t have any plans and in fact was pleased to be able to stay on to enjoy the beautiful warm Cairns weather. I am not really looking forward to when I must head south, although I am of course looking forward to catching up with friends in Brisbane and Sydney; it’s just the cold blustery winter weather that awaits me there that puts me off. Weather in Cairns is getting cooler, which began with lows of 18 degrees then a blast of a low 15 degrees one night when instead of just a sheet at night I needed a blanket and a dooner, but the daytime temps are usually around 25 to 29 degrees. I’m told Cairns is having an unusual winter, as it’s not usually this warm. Am I complaining?  I’m pleased the Lord has turned on the warmth while I’m here.

Looking for cheap flights from Cairns to Brisbane in peak season with school holidays at the end of June in both QLD and NSW is a no-show. One way is nearly as expensive as my flight from Perth to QLD!   I then thought I’d have a look at relocating hire vehicles.  This seemed a good option, except for all the driving, 2,265km plus more if I want to stop off to visit friends en route.  I laid my plans before the Lord praying for guidance.

Sunday the 30^th of July our service at church was all about living the Kingdom life now. At the end of the service the minister asked all those wanting healing or a miracle in their lives to come forward for prayer.  I have been praying for years for a touch of God for healing to my lower back and hips.  I had been diagnosed with arthritis in this area but continued to stand upon God’s promises of healing for us today. During the service I felt this was the day for my healing, so went forward believing.  After prayer, the pastor asked if I could do anything to see if there was an improvement. I said I would know for sure the next day, as in the mornings it had been difficult for me to get out of bed with some pain and stiffness when bending. I did notice for the rest of the day I certainly felt more flexible and there definitely was no longer pain as there once was.  That night I noticed there was no pain as I slept and the next morning I woke pain-free and not at all stiff. What rejoicing and thankfulness for God’s grace and mercy.  I continued this way for several days till Thursday when I started getting pain in my left hip. Friday it was getting worse and then on Saturday I could hardly walk.  I knew this was an attack on my faith so I stood firm on His promises. Then it occurred to me that I had stopped jogging on the grass verge, due to it being sodden by recent rains, and instead I was jogging mostly on the pitchman roads, avoiding the cement paths. These roads are build for rain and are not level, with slopes on either side for the rain to run off into the gutters. They are very sloped, which meant as I ran, one leg was lower than the other and yes mostly my left leg downhill. Thinking about the pain, that’s exactly what it felt like, muscle pain, not joint pain which I had in the past. Resting and not going jogging the following four days really helped. But after that I was eager to get back to jogging, this time keeping to the flatter areas beside the road and on the grass verges which had since dried out.  That seemed to help but my hip still was painful, mostly at night.

That week I had spent time in the garden, planting more vegetable seeds and making sure all the seeds and seedlings had enough water. The plant-guard had mostly kept the chooks off the newly planted garden bed. I had meant to cover it with chip-wood, but due to my hip, hadn’t got around to it till the following week. Due to my injury, I had lots of time to do online office work, including applying for the NSW Opal Card with a concession for seniors, to be sent to me here in Cairns. I also followed up on the reimbursement for what I bought after my luggage went missing.  I have been waiting for weeks to get a reply from Qantas for the money I spent.  Eventually after several attempts to speak to someone on the phone, and waiting for over an hour both times before hanging up, plus two inquiry emails to their customer care, I called back to the Maroochydore airport. Here I spoke to the Qantas staff, who informed me I couldn’t make a claim if my baggage arrived within 24 hours.  Well thanks for letting me know! I had been told by their staff on arrival that I would be reimbursed and what’s more Qantas customer care was not very caring, having not replied to my emails now for over 6 weeks, when their automatic response email stated “Please allow up to 14 business days to look in to this matter for you. If you have further comments relating to your file or wish to add attachments, please reply to this email.”  Which I had!  I was then told by Qantas staff to contact my insurance provider.  Looking at the travel insurance agreement, I saw that the excess was just a little less than what I had spent, so that didn’t help either.  I’m not at all happy with Qantas for giving me the wrong impression the night I arrived, as I wouldn’t have bothered with the items I needed.

On the Friday I caught up with Natasha (whose house and menagerie  I had looked after) over a coffee and returned things I had borrowed for the move to Kat’s.  She said she was going away again the following week if I’d like to housesit again. I would have, but now that I’m settled at Kat’s with chooks and Poppy to look after, I decided not to.  She suggested we catch up again on her return and maybe go out for dinner at an Indonesian restaurant.

Saturday I took Poppy for a run along Holloway’s beach, stopping on the way to stock up with the cheap bananas from the roadside stall before Jen and Dave returned from the Daintree. The next morning, having not slept well due to my hip, I woke before Jen tapped on my bedroom door to make sure I was awake to drive them to the ferry for their overnight at Fitzroy Island.  We had to leave early as there was an Ironman event from Port Douglas to Cairns, with many road closures, which meant getting to the ferry area could be difficult (as this was one of areas to be closed).  Praise the Lord, leaving early meant I was able to drop them where needed.  En route home I stopped off at Bunnings with an item to return and to see if I could find the number 9, which had previously been out of stock, but still no luck.

Back for breakfast before church, I’m now on their door register which makes me feel like a regular. Another good message about peace and joy.  I liked the quotes the pastor gave on peace from the Amplified Bible Philippians 4:7: “the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is”.  Plus the quote from Samuel Dickey Gordon “Joy is distinctly a Christian word and a Christian thing. It is the reverse of happiness.  Happiness is the result of what happens of an agreeable sort. Joy has its springs deep down inside. And that spring never runs dry, no matter what happens. Only Jesus gives that joy.  He has joy, singing its music within, even under the shadow of the cross.”

While Jen and Dave were away I had looked into the possibility of taking a bus or train to Brisbane. I then thought I’d ask about seniors concessions, and was pleasantly surprised to hear Queensland trains offered interstate seniors a 50% discount bringing the cost to much lower than a flight. Yes, it was a just a seat (rather than a bed) and it takes 24 hours, but there is lots of room and I would be able to walk around. What a blessing. I rang my friends, Ted and Mary, in Brisbane, where I was hoping to stay; I’ve known them since my Bible College days in Perth.  Ted offered to pick me up from Caboolture Station which is about 20 mins from their home, just north of Brisbane.  God is so faithful.  I’m also hoping to catch up with other long-time friends from both Thailand and Sydney while I’m there.  I then booked a train to Sydney.  Because it’s a NSW train there is a coach from Brisbane to Casino NSW, where we would board the overnight train, arriving in Sydney around 6:30am.  For this leg of the journey I booked a sleeper, as it was much cheaper, being only 15 hours duration.

I received an email back from NSW transport asking me to fill in the same form I had filled in on their website. Praise the Lord I had saved the original so forwarded it back with a copy of my WA seniors card. It only took a few days for the reply to say my card was being sent in the mail and not much longer for it to be posted to me.

Monday evening I picked up Jen and Dave from the ferry, before being taken out for a birthday dinner at Lana Thai. I was very impressed, as it was the best Thai food outside of Thailand that I had tasted since leaving Sydney. My first impression after calling earlier to make a booking, was that it probably would be genuine Thai as I needed to speak Thai to be understood when asking if it was authentic Thai food. From there, we walked to the night markets, where Jen had previously tried the Japanese crepes. They too were delicious, but boy were we full after all that amazing food. I certainly had been spoilt.

Tuesday was my birthday and it was a busy day of packing for Jen and Dave who will leave me to resume their travels to Darwin.  I will miss having Jen around, it’s been such a blessing having had so much time with her.  My morning was filled with cleaning out Poppy’s bedding and mopping the floor where she sleeps, as there was an overpowering stench of urine.  Kat says when Poppy is stressed she suffers from incontinence. Maybe she didn’t like all the comings and goings.

All of a sudden I heard a lot of swearing and cursing so went downstairs to investigate. There had been some miscommunication and the side metal flap at the back of the ute which levers upwards, had been left open and was now partly off its hinges, hanging at an angle!  Oops! I sent a quick prayer up for the Lord’s help, as it needed to be fixed that day. Jen rang the welding guy who had done some other jobs on the van just after we arrived and surprisingly (well not to me as I knew the Lord would provide) he had gone home sick and had just woken up and was able to come and take a look.  Praise the Lord!  It wasn’t long before the hinge was taken off and bent back into shape before reattaching where, praise God, it worked. While he was here, Jen got him to do a few more little jobs, so it all worked out for the best. I know it shouldn’t, but it always surprises me how the Lord cares about our every need and is there waiting for us to ask Him to intervene. What a mighty God we have.

Being Tuesday, I decided to call the Tuesday coffee team back in Perth for a chat.  I knew they wouldn’t know it was my birthday, so I told them I had something to tell them which if I didn’t and they found out later, they would be upset.  Then I told them “today I am 66 dyslexically”. They all laughed and sang me happy birthday.  I’m so blessed to have such lovely church family.  How ironic I have turned 66 and am writing my 166^th update for my blog.

Kat called to wish me happy birthday from Broome; she is on her week off before returning to the ocean waves.  Duncan too send me greetings.  I told him “I’m trying to get rid of these hanger-on-ers!  They tell me they are leaving tomorrow so are doing a big ute pack today”.  Dave blessed me with mowing the lawn, so I don’t have to do it before Duncan returns. Plus friends sent greetings through social media. It was truly a blessed day.

That evening I met one of the neighbours, “Spook” and partner (can’t remember her name) when I put out the bins and the guy across the road shouted thanks for reminding him about the bins. Friendly neighbours.

Then on Wednesday the roofers came around to work on the leaking roof and downpipe; they were real characters. It seems Queenslanders (well at least those in Cairns) often finish their sentences with; ‘sweet’, ‘too easy’, or ‘ah’.  They were supposed to have arrived at 7am but arrived half an hour late then twice had to leave and come back as the roof was still wet with the overnight dew making it very dangerous, due to it being a very steep metal roof, two stories up and slippery. When they eventually did get up there, there were some very loud bangs, scaring the daylights out of me, as I thought they were falling off the roof. I was sitting on the balcony expecting to see one of them rolling off in front of my eyes.  It made me jump every time. Eventually they completed the job, replacing some cracked wooden beams with steel ones and sealing the hole in the downpipe. It had been a big job.

Thursday I decided to go into Cairns Central to buy a neck pillow for the train trip and to see if I could find a Gloria Jeans store for my free birthday coffee.  The store that was supposed to be there wasn’t.  When I returned home, I called customer service, to be told it had closed and the closest store was in MacKay or Brisbane!  I was very disappointed.  The woman said to call her when I got to Brisbane and she would try to organise a coffee voucher for me.  Now that is what I call service.

I just realised I had a missed call.  When I returned the call I could hear an accent which sounded Thai. This led to a long chat.  The lady lives in a retirement village in Brisbane and had dialled the wrong number.  We had a lovely chat, partly in Thai and partly in English.

Friday I booked my flight back to Perth, arriving Perth on 27^th July just in time to start the third term of Share-In drawing. So all my travel arrangements have been done.  I’m now praying there will be no Covid shutdowns, so I can avoid the solitary confinement. I took Poppy for a drive, stopping at the road side banana stall en route to the Holloways Beach.  I avoided the walk along the beach due to the sloping sand, as my hip is still playing up at night. Then coming home I made two stops, one to buy rye sourdough from a specialist bakery a bit off the beaten track and then at Woolworths for a few groceries.

Saturday I wasn’t up to jogging, so had a lie-in, snuggled under the covers, which was nice as Cairns has had a few colder days. I didn’t have much planned except to water the garden and visit the markets. I’d planned to go later that afternoon as I also wanted to buy the special crepes at the night market. Unfortunately, I still got the time wrong and had to wait over an hour, but it was worth it. It was good to clear my head too as I’d had a bit of a stressful day thinking the coffee I had bought to replace Kat’s had gone missing and I was thinking all the wrong thoughts. Committing all to the Lord in prayer, I was relieved when I eventually found it in an extra safe place.

Kat’s chickens are such characters.  I keep them locked in their pen most of the day to keep them out of the gardens, letting them out around 4pm when I collect the three eggs they have laid and shutting them in once they have gone to bed around 6pm. When I let them out, all bar one cluster around me; she isn’t as friendly as the other three.  These three, when I’m about to take Poppy for her evening walk, come running up to me and follow me to the back gate.  I stop and pick them up as they love to be stroked.  Their feathers, ruby with speckles of black, white and red, are so silky and soft. If I had somewhere to keep chickens in Perth I’d definitely get three.

Poor Poppy doesn’t like the chickens and has to be coaxed past them to get to the back gate for her walk.  Recently I’ve noticed she has an itch, which I realise has been bothering her for quite some time, so with Kat’s consent, I took her to the vet for his opinion. Firstly I went to the clinic five minutes down the road from Kat’s place but realised I had made a booking at their other clinic a little further out of town. Oh well, Poppy didn’t want to get out of the car anyway.  Praise the Lord she followed me in at the next place.  Kat says she doesn’t usually like getting on the scales, but I was able to coax her on, but then she didn’t want to go into the vet’s consultation room. She just lay down refusing to move, until the vet got behind her to help her along.  After looking at the rash, he said it looked like a fungal infection caused by yeast which she probably got from running through the bush. I was given instructions to wash her once a week with an anti-fungal wash and to use some topical cream when necessary. She was also required to take two enormous tablets, twice a day!  Washing her wasn’t as bad as I had imagined.  After a walk to keep the solution on for 10mins without her licking it, I hosed her down, which was surprising as every time I turn on the hose to water the garden, she runs upstairs. Mind you, this time I had tied her up, so she was going nowhere.  A quick rubdown, drying off in the sun and then I applied the cream and tried giving the tablets.  I’m so pleased she is not a biting dog. I had my fingers down her throat and clamped around her jaw but to no avail, she kept spitting them out.  In the end I ground them up and rubbed them over a chicken neck which she loves. At first she refused to eat them but then the temptation was too great and she chewed them up. Well I think I found the solution and I don’t have to put my fingers down her throat!  Eventually, I ground them up and mixed them into her food, which she also accepted. That first evening she looked so much more comfortable, not one attempt to chew the rash as she had previously.

Photos:  1. Tropical fruits at the Rusty’s Market    2. Homemade Som Tum made from carrots    3. Poppy at Holloways Beach    4. Jen, Dave and I at Lana Thai    5. Japanese crepes     6. Roofers    7. Poppy wary of the chooks

Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord for providing more time to enjoy Cairns warm weather and to help Kat and Duncan by looking after their home and pets.

Praise Him for the time I had with Jen before she continued her travels.  Please pray she and Dave have a lovely and safe time traveling to Darwin.

Praise the Lord for providing accommodation for me for the whole time I’ve been in Cairns.

Praise Him for my healing and continued good health on my travels.

Please pray for my trip to Brisbane and Sydney that I will not be caught in any Covid hotspots or lockdowns and have to go into isolation.

Please continue to pray for my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat, to come to know Christ’s love for them.