Preparing for Ocean Grove

Early December I wanted to repot many of my fig and grape cuttings before I left them for two weeks while in Victoria.  My neighbours very kindly look after my garden while I’m away so I wanted to make it easier for them.  I re-potted 14 figs, two grapes, two longan, two small ornamental palms, a plant from the community garden which was dried out and dying, and an indoor mini monstera.  I also dug up some Rhoeo or Moses basket which my neighbour has said he would like to grow out the front of his place, as it is opposite my place I’m happy to share, as I too will get the benefit.  The re-potted plants I put in a shaded place where the sprinklers will reach them, leaving only the permanent hanging pots and larger pots on the paved area, which do need so much watering, for my neighbours to care for while I’m away.  I then needed to work out how to make a self-watering device to rig up for my beautiful Maidenhair fern.  I bought a contraption in Bunnings but it was only for indoor pots and far to small, I will need to trust my neighbour to keep it well watered.

Unfortunately out of the ten grafted figs on my trees, only three survived.  I’m still very dubious about whether they will continue to survive as the graft was so brutal.  I have since bought some pruning and grafting compound which I have sprayed into the gaping wounds of my tree hoping this will help it heal over.

Christmas and end of year parties were in abundance before I left Perth.  There was our Bible Study group morning tea which ended up more like an early lunch, with lots of fellowship and yummy food.  Then on Saturday we had our last prayer breakfast for the year which of course include some special snacks.  At 2pm I was off again, this time to MP Ian Goodenough’s 40^th anniversary of his arrival in Aust from Singapore.  Which made me realise it is my 60^th year since arriving by boat in Bunbury.

En route home I stopped off at Bunnings to get a few things, then later that afternoon wandered down to our street party.  I arrived an hour early as I thought it was at 4pm.  I knew if I went back home I wouldn’t have had the energy to return so sat chatting to another guy who was also early having just finished helping set-up.   By 5am people were slowly trickling in with a plate of goodies.  It was lovely catching up with those who knew me.  I recognise faces but not always the names or which house they are from so it’s a good thing we have name badges with our house number.

Then on Sunday was Bob’s end of year unit party where all those in our unit block are invited plus some of Bob’s friends and x owners.  It was an interesting night with people rocking up all the way through.  Matt, who lives opposite me, even came down and surprised us with his wit and humour.  Poor Ann needed reminding as she had forgotten, having been down there the previous week thinking it was on then.  It was a yummy spread which I really shouldn’t have participated in, having been eating all day plus it was well past my cut off for my last meal.  I politely excused myself at 7:30pm having been up since 4:30am!  On parting I gave them all a flyer inviting them to the Christmas Carols, receiving some derogatory remarks as I was leaving which I ignored.  The Bible warns us in John 15:18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first”.

There was so much to do before going away.  I asked the Lord to give me motivation and to help me get it all done.  Firstly I wanted to finish a sun blouse which I’d been thinking of making for over two years.  I got stuck into it one day and finished the next.  I put up two lots of shade cloth, re potted and rearranged my potted plants so that the reticulation would water them, taking the pressure off my lovely neighbours Kath and Bob who both volunteer to water the gardens of those who are away or unwell.  Matt said he will water the section I usually water for him in his garden as I have a longer hose.  I had to extend some of my reticulation to water a section that I usually water by hand when I water Matt’s section.  Both his and my garden got treated with a soil wetter solution to help the hydrophobic soil absorb the water.  I also scattered potash around the fruit trees, hung bird deterrents and netted as many bunches of grapes as I could and closed off the door to the fig cage with shade cloth also to help keep the birds out.  I got all my washable mats washed, I do like to clean up the house before I go so that I can come back to a clean home.  It’s like coming back and starting afresh.  Washed, cleaned and vacuumed the car and house. I did three loads of washing so that I could put away my winter clothes.  The day I did two loads on the same morning, I asked Ann my neighbour if I could also use her line as I ran out of space.  And then it rained and I forgot I had washing out!  Praise God it wasn’t heavy and it all dried by the end of the day.

Then there was the preparation for the painter who is coming in to do all my flaking ceilings while I’m away.  I took everything off the top shelves and most of the surfaces which could then be covered with drop sheets.  Wow!  The house looks totally different, a bit like a minimalist home.  Well not quite, I still have a stack of things on the shelves which are constantly dusty.  This was something I had never wanted as I really disliked all Mum’s ‘dust collectors’ as I call them.   Mind you, most of them have been relocated from Mum’s place anyway. 

I was truly blessed to have Naomi, Ann’s daughter offer to take me to the airport at 6am on Saturday for my flight to Melbourne.  I took something to help me sleep through as I hadn’t slept well for several nights.  Unfortunately it didn’t work and I woke again at 2am not being able to sleep again till close to 4am.  Praise the Lord I had put my alarm on for 4:45am wake up.  I then had plenty of time to finish all the things I needed to do before I left.  The final pack included something to eat when I arrived in Melbourne and snacks on the plane.  Then closed all the windows, and make sure things were unplugged.  Naomi had also had a disturbed night but woke 10 mins before 6am and was ready to leave when I was.  There was not much traffic at this time of the morning and the airport wasn’t busy either which I was glad about as I needed some advice regarding putting my luggage through.  Domestic travel is so much easier than international as I could take some water, my ice coffee in my keep cup and my breakfast through to the departure area.  I was then able to relax and wait for the flight.

Photos:   1. Barmaid     2. Bible study end of year morning tea    3. Monstera obliqua or Swiss cheese plant

Prayer & Praise Points:

I praise God for this lovely spring weather, a bit of rain and some beautiful sunny days. I’m so grateful for the weather at this time of the year. What an amazing God we have.

Praise the Lord for the opportunity to catch up with Jen, her daughter Kate who is visiting from the UK and Kat as we stay at Jen’s home in Ocean Grove for Christmas.  Please pray that this is a lovely time of bonding and sharing.

Please continue to pray for Gayle’s health, for Anthony Higgs; Elsie and Ross Winchester as they continue their treatment and recovery. Believe with me for the Lord’s intervention and total healing for all of them.

Continue to pray with me for world peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Russia, and all countries dealing with major disasters, wars and the unbelievable hardships they cause.  Pray for all those caught up in the suffering these events have caused.  Pray that God’s peace may be known by all people especially for those who live in despair, that they will find hope in Christ Jesus.

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