Never a Dull Moment

As the new day dawned on my home coming, I took advantage of a lovely lie-in.  It was the last Sunday of July and my first morning home. I was also in no hurry to get out of my nice warm bed. When I eventually dragged myself out I went for a jog.  It was lovely out in the bush breathing in the welcomed scent of the eucalyptus and listening to the birds. I was delighted to see the Carnaby Cockatoos, which are on the endangered species list, carousing in the trees tops.  I did so miss my morning runs while I was away.  Then back for a cold shower as it was a bit too cold for a beach swim that first morning home.  I piled winter clothes on in layers to keep myself warm before facing the world.  It might take me awhile to adjust to Perth’s colder weather.  A hot pot of porridge was a welcomed start for the day and later hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.  There are some benefits of the colder weather.  That first day home I restocked my larder and fridge and caught up with neighbours, thanking those who had cared for my place while I was away. I wandered around my garden observing the changes, still plenty of unripe passionfruit on the vine, the grape vines were just starting to put out new buds, the pomegranate had dropped its leaves for winter but so too  had an evergreen creeper  I’m wondering if it just didn’t like the extreme cold that Perth had experienced this year.

As the sun rose on my second day home I got myself ready for our Monday Bible study group.  It was good to catch up with most of the ladies there and to share some of my adventures. Some of the group were away or unwell. On my walk home I met Ee, an 80yr old Malaysian woman who lives just three houses up from the church.  I’d seen her and her husband, Michael, before but never officially introduced myself.  Ee, a retired nurse, has lived in Australia many years. She told me a little bit about her life story before I had to leave, I promised to call in again for a chat.  Which I did about a week later, being shown around her house and offering her an invitation to ShareIn, our church’s craft activities open day the following Friday.

Monday afternoon I called my bank to see why I was unable to add their debit card to an Indonesian taxi service while I was there and again when I’d tried on my return.  While on hold I kept trying and eventually got it working.  When the attendant finally got back to me, I said don’t worry it’s fixed but I don’t think he heard me as he put me on hold again.  So I hung up.  I made some curry, cooked up some rice and prepared kimchi before finishing off my 207^th blog – Ipoh. Then it was an early night.

It wasn’t long before I was back into my old routine.  Up early on Tuesday’s to help out with the church’s coffee team, making and delivering coffees to the primary school teachers across the road from the church.  It was lovely catching up with the team again and with Jan who helps out with the church gardens on Tuesdays.  Jan’s grandson was helping out too, I hadn’t seen him since July 2017!  Boy had he grown.  Glenda who does the gardens and helps out with the coffees often gives me a lift home, coming in for hot drink, chat and a look around my garden.

There was lots to be done in my garden since my return; pruning the fig, pear and roses were a must before it was too late and a general clean up and weed.  I actually didn’t have the motivation to get into the garden when I first got home, I think I was just too cold.  It took me over a week to get started and that was because I knew I was running out of time, the window for pruning would soon close. Once done, I put my fig prunings on Gumtree and Facebook Market place and had a few responses, including my friend John from TAFE.  He and a woman, Annora, from FB came around with cuttings and helped me graft some of their cutting onto my tree.  We did six grafts of three different varieties. I do hope they all take.  Annora was a very interesting person with similar interests.  We exchanged phone numbers to keep in touch and maybe do some more exchanges with cuttings.  The rest of my cuttings were given away to quite a few people from both FB and Gumtree.  To many I was able to give a mini lesson on how to cut and grow their cuttings. The rest of the cuttings I put into water and covered them with plastic bags to keep in the humidity, hoping to promote growth. I potted up the pear and avocado cuttings into potting mix and put them into my mini greenhouse. We’ll see if they grow.

The first Wednesday back I was up early for my jog, then down the beach for a quick dip.  It was a very quick, exuberant and refreshing dip in the turbulent, freezing surf.  No one else was foolish enough to join me.  I must admit I really did enjoy the sudden impact of the icy water although I didn’t stay in for long, getting well rugged up before walking home.  I also finished unpacking my suitcase, leaving in it some of the things I will need for my next trip. I started a few sewing jobs, including making a pair of lightweight summer bras which I don’t seem to be able to buy anymore. I then made some date loaf and another seedy loaf which someone had given me the ingredients for.  Later in the week I started my kimchi.  The Kafir which I had brought back from my travels continued to produce although it took three days instead of one to mature.  The ones I left in the fridge and freezer while I was away also slowly returned to production.  I was very surprised but thankful as this means if I can’t bring my batch back into Australia I’ll always have some to start again at home.

This first week back the weather wasn’t too bad, beautiful in the sun when it wasn’t windy, the wind still had its winter chill.  We had a hurricane force wind one night and then the temperature dropped to 5⁰ Celsius which felt like 1 degree! I’d just gone for a run and decided it was a bit too cold for a swim, even turning on my air conditioner to warm the place up while I had breakfast.  So cold!

The other thing that I noticed on my return was how cold the toilet seat was!  This got me thinking again to investigate an investment into a heated toilet seat which then led me to a bidet.  There were different opinions on this commodity. After looking at a few, I rang a retired plumber who said they were not worth it as I’d need to pay for someone to check the valve every year. I called another place and was told the new bidet had a built in air valve which didn’t need checking.  I asked about the measurements to see what would fit my toilet and was told one would.  I then bought a seat and booked my plumber and the electrician.  The plumber arrived and while removing the old seat, broke one of the hinges.  Oh dear, what if the bidet doesn’t fit, he said! I must have jinxed it as the holes for the attachment were too wide!  What, even after I’d checked!  The plumber drilled two new holes closer together, burning out his drill bit, then was unable to attach the bolts so with a bit of fiddling and some super epoxy, glued it all together.  God willing it will last my lifetime.  It was suggested I didn’t use the loo for at least 15mins and to make sure I didn’t sit on it till the next afternoon.  Praise God I was able to squat above it! The following day after being out all morning and most of the afternoon, I turned on the power and was delighted to have a warm seat to sit on.  I wasn’t so impressed with the water sprays and drying fan, I think they may need a little getting used to.

Another challenge I faced this month was when I had forgotten to renew my webhosting. I had put it in my diary but somehow still overlooked it.  When I went in to renew it, there was a warning that if it wasn’t renewed, my blog ‘Sally’s Adventures’ would be down that day!  Oops! I tried several times to pay, even trying different cards.  Then I received a message from my bank saying they had stopped a payment (which was to the site I was trying to pay). There was a different price, much higher than what I was trying to pay which was a bit concerning.  I finally contacted the company through their online chat and was told my card had been declined due to insufficient funds.  What?  It was then I realised the sum my bank had displayed as fraudulent was the price I needed to pay, the cost was in US dollars and I had tried to pay it thinking it was AUD!  Once I realised, I put the extra amount into my debit card from another bank and the payment went through.

That night I woke at 2am with buyers regret!  Why had I rushed things?  I could pay much less with an Australian company.  The following day after my very busy morning helping my neighbour (I’ll explain later) I sat down, got back on line and negotiated with the online chat person. He was very polite trying to help me out.  First he said he was unable to give me a refund then when I explain that I could get a much cheaper price here in Australia, he spoke with finance and they offered me one hundred US dollars refund.  I sent them a screen shot of an advertisement their company were now offered offering in Australian Dollars and was told that was only for new customers.  I explained I had been a faithful long term customer and I was hoping for a better deal.  Finally after much consideration, I was offered nearly half the price I’d paid.  Although it wasn’t as much as I’d hoped for, I thought I’d better take it as I might not get a better deal and they might withdraw their offer all together if I was to push the point.  Thank you Jesus for your favour and leading.  I then contacted the bank which had put my card on hold, to get it reversed.

My neighbours Guillermo and Sofia who had looked after my garden beautifully, now left me their place and garden to look after while they are off to visit family and friends in their homes, Italy and Spain. I will miss their cheerful faces and greetings.  Before they left they joined me at church and were greeted with many familiar faces whom they had met either at my place or when they had visited the church on a Tuesday morning for a coffee.  After the service which they seemed to enjoy, we went to our favourite satay place for lunch.  A farewell for them and a welcome home for me.

The third week of August I was busy both Tuesday and Wednesday helping out with barista duties for a pastors conference at church.  This came with the benefits of a great coffee team and an amazing morning tea.  Wednesday afternoon I had booked myself into a Thai massage which Sofia and Guillermo had introduced me to. She too said my back was very tight.  Afterwards it felt great but it didn’t last!  So I booked a visit with Ray who does the Zone Therapy. He reassured me that things will get better and although it wasn’t 100% it felt a lot more supple and less painful.

That afternoon I arrived home to find an ambulance parked across my carport.  Ann, unbeknownst to her neighbours had had a fall during the night.  I only found out when her daughter sent me a message just before I arrived home to say Ann was in hospital.  There were mixed stories about what had happened and how she got to hospital as Ann’s memory is not as good as it used to be.  She was now being brought home by ambulance.  That night I checked in on her to make sure she was ok before turning in for the night.  The next morning I called in to check on her again.  Her front door was open, praise the Lord, as she was again on the floor.  She said she had only just fallen but I wasn’t so sure.  I called for an ambulance, as being on my own I was unable to help her get off the floor.  I was told it might take a few hours before the ambulance would come.  I saw that she was comfortable and warm then kept popping in to check on her in between stuff I needed to get done at home.  She eventually got herself to a sitting position so I was happy to give her something to eat; water, tea and toast.  The ambulance people kept checking on her via me and asked if there was anyone who could help me get her into a chair.  At that very moment our neighbour Bob came to my door and together we were able to assist Ann into one of her lounge chairs.  The next time I checked on her she was walking around WITHOUT her walking sticks!  I eventually cancelled the ambulance. After I had several people dropping in to pick up fig cuttings and my electrician coming to put in a power point, I drove Ann to the hospital where she had an appointment for the following day.  This had been moved as I was able to get her there that day.  Praise God the hospital was able to admit her for an overnight assessment.  I was so relieved as was her daughter, who lives in Exmouth, which is twelve and a half hours north. What a day!

This all led to Ann’s carpet needing cleaning so I contacted neighbours to see if they wanted any done too, and came up with a total of seven units wanting carpets and rugs cleaned.  After getting two quotes, we were able to arrange a date within the week.  Then two days before they arrived I received a call from Ann’s daughter to say that Ann was coming home that day!  NO! It’s not possible, I had all the furniture out of the lounge piled in the kitchen and some on the beds.  I sent up a quick prayer and called to social worker at the hospital to explain.  Praise the Lord they understood and were able keep Ann another two nights.

The cleaner came early Wednesday morning, starting with my carpet and the smaller rugs which neighbours brought up to be done in my carport; he then worked his way through the units. We were quite impressed with the work and how well the carpets came up, although it took a while for them to dry in the cooler weather.  My underlay was wet so I put it and the carpet over my cane chairs, turned the fan on and then the heating, both being turned off before going to bed.  By the morning it was dry enough for me to rearrange my furniture which I had cleaned all the spider webs off.  I hadn’t moved the lounge for quite some time and it showed.  Kath, Bob and I put Ann’s furniture back before Kath and I collected Ann from the hospital.  I had rung ahead to the ward to let them know I was on my way.  I had previously been told Ann would be waiting down stairs for us but when Kath arrived she was still in the ward still not having been checked out!  I wasn’t impressed!

Ann was delighted to get home and was very appreciative of her clean carpets and fridge stocked with fresh and frozen food. It was good to see she was back to her more comprehensible self, although the following day when I suggested she come down to the church for scrabble, which she used to do, she said she was being picked up by people from the Autumn Centre.  Kath later saw her waiting at the top of our driveway and offered her a lift, just to find out that nothing was on; she then dropped her at the church an hour early.  It looks like we’ll need to keep a close eye on her Ann.

In the meantime I faced another challenge.  As my bank card had a block on it from the online bill I had tried to pay, I had received a SMS saying my request was denied. That day I had a call from a Victorian number.  As I’ve had scam calls I ignored it, then called back with my phone on no caller ID.  Unfortunately it took me through to the bank’s call line where I was put on hold.  Eventually someone answered then needed to put me through to the fraud team so I was put back on hold again.  After listening to the repeated message ‘… we apologise for the delay we will be with you shortly” I decided, while still on hold, I would drive to the bank and asked if they could help.  I remained on hold while talking to the assistant at the bank who then sent through an email to the fraud team.  He then told me I could hang up, nearly two hours since I called!  I thought that would be the end of it but no, the following day I had another call from Melbourne.  Unfortunately I was on another call so couldn’t answered it immediately and by the time I had finished the first call they had hung up.  So I called back again, this time asking for the fraud department. This time I was only on the phone for 40mins.  Even so I needed to go through the whole story, only then did they tell me my card would be unblocked within the hour.  They had no previous notification from the email sent the day before or that I’d tried contacting them by phone.  I also asked that she make a note that I’d been on the phone for two hours and that on this occasion when I tried to answer their call, the phone hung up too quickly for me to get off the call I was already on.  Poor lady she really got her ear chewed off by me.  She was then surprised when I thanked her in her native tongue.  I try not to get overly heated on the phone but when people are not listening to what I’m trying to explain I do get a bit animated as my friends will know.  Praise God another challenge completed!  And praise the Lord, when I tested my bank card later in the week it was working well.

One Friday while visiting friends at ShareIn I also noticed they were needing help with caring for children of some of the attendees.  As I was free this term I volunteered.  The first week there were three children and three helpers so I excused myself and came back the following week after applying for my police check and working with children’s certificate which had expired.  The second week there was just me and one child.  After asking permission from her mother we went for a walk in the bush to check out the wild flowers.  Being the Noongar season of Djilba it is the season of the yellow and cream flowers including the Acacias.  We counted over 6 different yellow flowers, two purple and a red banksia and bottle brush as well as a variety of cream hakea and grevilleas. It was such a lovely sunny day for a walk and the flowers were out in full bloom.

As the month draws to a close my passionfruit have started to ripen and drop.  The grafted figs look as though some at least have taken and begun to send out green buds.  John who had helped with the grafting contacted me to say that covering the grafts on deciduous trees may cause mould.  I quickly removed the bags and sure enough one had black mould.  I’m hoping a spray of bicarb and warm dry weather will solve the problem.  My pear tree is covered with flowers, there are also new flower buds on the orange, mandarin and lime trees.  I’m praying this year the orange and mandarin will produce fruit as in the past the flowers have all fallen off.

The weather and the water have become warmer with whales migrating up our coastline towards their breeding grounds in the north. On one of my early mornings, while changing after a swim, I heard voices proclaiming they had seen whales. As I walked home I kept my eyes out for them and sure enough there they were, dark forms rising just above the water line.  People had paused with phone cameras at the ready to take it all in.  I must admit there wasn’t really very much to photograph, no overt display of frolicking or tail splashing just a slim dark shape appearing and then descending out of view as they dove below the surface. How blessed are we to live beside the sea and to witness one of God’s largest creatures migrate along our coast.

Photos: 1. Photo from my bush walk    2. Wattle    3. Fig bud graft    4. Hardenbergia violacea    5. Sofia’s cactus in flower    6. Carpets drying    7. Mugshot of me for police check    8. Lime flowers

Prayer & Praise Points:

Praise the Lord for watching over my place while I was away and for my lovely neighbours who kept an eye on things.

Praise Him for this beautiful weather… Spring is here!

Please pray that I will continue to adjust to being back in Perth and find opportunities for me to share His love to those around me.

Please pray for Jen as she continues her travels in the UK and Morocco.  Pray also she gets a good price for her campervan which she is selling before returning home.

Continue to pray for world peace and for the refugees who are caught up in the suffering this war has caused, both in Ukraine and Russia.

Please keep my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat, in your prayers.  Pray that they will come to know the love of Jesus.