Niece, Nigeria and Neighbours

It was so nice having my sister, Jen, in town. She had just returned from 6 weeks in the Galapagos Islands, Peru and the Amazon Jungles with stories of her encounters with creatures from land and sea. Because Jen was only here for three days we made the most of it; visiting Mandurah, one hour south of Perth, a catch up with our eldest sister Trish who came around for morning tea, Christmas shopping and Yum Cha lunch (which is called Dim Sum here).

Australia is a peculiar place. It’s amazing how the accent and names of things change from state to state. Take for instance the garment you go swimming in – WA calls them bathers (possibly the English influence) NSW says swimming costume, I think QLD says togs or it that the Kiwis and then there’s swimsuit and swimmers, budgie smugglers, boardies (board shorts) and so on. There are many accents too. Ok yes from those who have moved here from abroad but also from across the states too. I remember when I live here in the past I could hear the difference in accents from visitors from Melb, NSW and QLD and we all know the accent of our neighbours the Kiwis.

Between Jen’s visit and her daughters visit I was invited to attend the Nigerian, Igbo Community, Yam Festival. My friend Grace, had organised the whole function. I was so impressed. She had also arranged for all the woman’s costumes to be made and flow in from Nigeria. They were amazing! I was intrigued at how the headdresses were tied. Made of a fabric that felt like it had been highly starched they were fashioned into a multitude of shapes which all looked very impressive. A group of women brought in traditional Igbo food which was delicious. It was a night full of tradition and flavour reflecting the Igbo culture.

After my weekend away helping Grace I drove home Sunday night where I recieved news that Jen’s daughter Kate and boyfriend Richard were arriving on Monday. They had followed my footsteps or should I say my tyre tracks and driven from Melbourne to Perth through Adelaide.

Meanwhile back at my unit (villa’s) the asbestos fences were taken down and replaced with new colour bond fences. While this was happening the unit secretary, Linda, who is so involved and a great organiser of all that happens at the units, was cleaning out the back yards of her own and my neighbours units. This debris needed to be cleaned out to put the new fences in and removed while the fences were down. My neighbour’s tree was also removed at this time as it was far too large for the back yard. The branches were in the roof gutters and the roots uplifting the pavers. I was glad to see it go. Unfortunately I was not there to supervise the removal of all this rubbish and it was removed over my limestone wall and through my native garden. When it was dragged across my garden it flattened a small tree. I wasn’t impressed! I hope propping it up and tying it to a stake will help it survive. I was also shocked to see that the area I needed to pave was now piled high with garden debris! AAAHHHhhhhhh!!!!   I needed this area clean! I needed to work on levelling it out ready for paving. I was also told before paving I needed a clean the area of all vegetation as vegetable matter in the soil would decompose causing the pavers to shift and drop. Linda reassured me it would all be removed in time. Well, although she had arranged with the guys doing the fencing to remove it the boss later told me it was not his responsibility as it was not his mess. Ok, so let’s not argue who’s mess it is I need it moved! Looks like it was up to me as Linda was working. I took one of our large green rubbish bins, which is on wheels, and started loading up the heavy cement blocks which were part of the old fence which Jen and I had dug out. I lugged these to the top of the driveway where I made a pile of the rubbish. As I removing the rubbish I noticed some of it was part of the fencing rubbish including the gate posts of my old fence.

On Tuesday I roped in my niece, Kate and Richard to help level off the sand. Some was put behind the limestone retaining wall and some in an area I will develop as garden. I’m still not sure how I will eventually arrange the design of the area to be paved. Jen had suggested I leave out the side fence so as to make a larger open area but Linda was concerned about the security of the other units. She thought that if there was free access to my back yard people could use it to access my neighbour’s homes. I thought if I ever moved in I could remove the fence later, by this time the trees and new bushes will, God willing, have had time to make a thick hedge of privacy. With the bulk of the soil removed I could now start on levelling out the area for paving.