Mortality

It had to happen some day but I was not really prepared for it to be so soon. Last week I attended a funeral for a girlfriend who was the same age as me - 56. This was the first funeral of my generation of friends that I had attended and the thing that makes me so sad is that it could possibly have been prevented. Breast cancer, which affects so many people had crept up and claimed her all because, like many others, she put off going to the doctor when she found the initial lump. Why do they do that with all the publicity these days? I know Dawn was not the sort who liked going to the doctor unless there was no other solution but I suspect it was probably sheer fear, fear of what the doctor will say, fear of what treatment will be required and fear of your own mortality.

My dear friend Dawn and I met in 1976 when we were in our early 20s and living in share accommodation in Paddington. She was going with Gary, they lived in number 51 and I was going with Tony, we lived in number 47 Elizabeth Street. We became firm friends and had great times going to the pub on the corner or to Angelos Pizza parlor, the Paddo markets. Then there were regular Sunday lunches at no. 47 where we had up to a dozen friends turn up for a feed. A whole lot of good, fun times.

Dawn and I both married these blokes of ours between 1978 and 1979 and Dawn went on to have 2 beautiful daughters, Kylie (now 29) and Amanda (now 28). The four of us kept in touch over the years spending many Christmas's and long weekends at Gary and Dawn's house they built on the lake at the central coast until sometime in the early 1990s, we all separated and subsequently divorced. Such is life, you grow, you move on and life changes for everyone.

I had lost touch with Dawn over the past 10 years and had made a new life for myself meeting and marrying Matthew who turned out to be my true love. Having gotten into the internet a few years ago, I found Kylie and Amanda on facebook a year ago and it was then I learned of Dawn's cancer. She was not a computer person so I immediately phoned my old friend and began catching up on our last 10 years. Little did I realise during that first long conversation that 12 months later I would be attending her funeral. I phoned every few months and we had a lovely chat. I never got the impression from her that she was suffering though she had had both breasts removed and was undergoing chemo for bone cancer. She was always a positive and upbeat person yet quiet and dignified. Not one to complain about her lot in life. Dawn was a great sketch artist working mainly in charcoal and pencil and I admired her for her talent.

So, after many years, last week I caught up with Gary again, Kylie and Amanda, Kerry (Dawn's sister), Diane (Dawn's mother) and a few other folk from way back when. What a crying shame that it had to be at Dawn's funeral. It was a lovely service, some of Dawn's artwork was on display along with a digital display of photos of my friend from when the girls were little. I am not ashamed to say that I cried a lot for her. Still I can look back and say what a wonderful person she was, what a truly remarkable artist she was and what a wonderful mother to those two delightful daughters. I will miss her.

Finally, rest in peace Dawn and know that you were loved by many. Also, ladies, check those boobies regularly and if you do find something suspicious, get yourself to the doctor immediately. I don't want to attend any more funerals for friends my own age until we are all 80 something.

Spring is sprung the blossoms are out

Ahhh..... Spring. Don't you just love spring. The weather is a little warmer, the days are longer, the blossoms are opening on the plum and cherry trees, the buds on the wisteria are growing and will soon flower, the sneezes start and the nose turns into a tap. Well, I have never suffered from hay fever until I moved to Cowra but the last 2 years have been quite uncomfortable. Sneezes and sniffles most mornings and they are gradually getting worse as more blossoms bloom. Of course these days I have to be very careful about how I sneeze because it was just over 12 months ago I fractured my T7 vertebra with a big sneeze. Not nice but thankfully I think it has calcified by now though I am left with some residual aches and pain if I over do it. Nothing that a 15 minute lie down won't cure.

I have had to Baygon the scrap/craft room today as a troop of ants had decided to take a shortcut across one of the walls. I found the odd ant on my work table over the last few weeks and thought little about it but today I noticed a trail of the little blighters across one wall when I moved something on the table. So now the room is out of bounds until the smell dissipates. A couple of days should do it. So here I am at the computer instead.

It is September already and I am wondering if we will be lucky enough to sell the house now that the weather has warmed up and the garden is starting to look good again. I had really hoped that we could be in Lismore for Christmas and at this point in time that is still possible if a buyer appears in the next few weeks. If not, no matter, someone will come along eventually. So dear readers, cross your fingers for us and perhaps, if you know anyone who wants to move to the country, tell them about our house for sale.

Ah..... Spring ............... aahhchoooooo.............

Oh Doctor, I'm in trouble

There has been a shortage of doctors in country areas for years and Cowra is no exception. My chosen GP - let's call him Dr Dave - is so busy that it takes literally months to get an appointment to see him in the usual way. The usual way is:

* ring the surgery and ask for an appointment with Dr Dave. (12 months ago there was a 6 week waiting list.) - today it is 3 months wait.
* if the ailment is serious, ask to see another doctor.
* an appointment is made, usually that day, to see one of the junior or foreign doctors. (No racial slur intended), or
* get told to come in and get your name on the "express lane" which is a list of patients who just turn up and get seen by whichever doctor(s) are rostered to take care of this. You wait as long as necessary so bring a good book. Don't get me wrong, all the doctors are qualified and competent but I prefer to see the same doctor each time if possinle as they know about my various aimlents and problems without me having to explain it all or them having to read the voluminous material about me that is on their computer.

However, for those in the know like me, there is the sneaky way:
* Dr Dave only works 3 days a week and I know which 3 days, one being Mondays.
* My neighbour across the road works part time on the reception desk, bless her, and she has filled me in on the sneaky way.
*Call Monday at 8.30am and Dr Dave has 2 appointments during the day that are saved for the first 2 patients knowledgeable in the sneaky way of doing things, to see him. Only 2 so if you are caller number 3 - bad luck to you!

(I should mention at this stage that all the senior doctors including Dr Dave, are rostered on call at the hospital regularly so if they get called away for an emergency or to deliver a baby while you are waiting for your appointment you made weeks and even months ago, you have to wait until they get back or see another doctor)

Well, yesterday a minor miracle happened. I have been suffering from terrible back and leg pain for a few weeks now and my next "usual way" appointment with Dr Dave is 12 November. Yesterday being Monday, I was on the phone promptly at 8.30am and after several tries, I got through and asked for one of Dr Dave's 2 appointments. The receptionist told me Dr Dave was on call at the hospital so was not taking any appointments. Bummer! I was disappointed but I did ask her to email him and ask him to book me in for an epidural steriod injection as he had done this for me about 18 months ago during another episode of back pain and I felt that it had it really made a difference. I then moped about the house resigned to another day or 10 of achy leg and back.

However, an hour later the phone rang and the receptionist said "Dr Dave will see you at 10.15am" - yippee - I couldn't believe it. I rocked up at 10.10am to see him and only waited 15 minutes. Almost always when you have an appointment with Dr Dave, an hour's wait at least is the norm. I get in to see him and he says "I am on call at the hospital anyway, why don't you come up there at 2pm and I will do the injection then." A-bloody-mazing! It is usually a 2 to 3 week wait for this procedure. I couldn't believe my luck.

Needless to say, 2pm I was there with bells on and had my injection. I had to stay there 3 hours until the local anaesthetic had subsided. It makes both legs and your backside numb, something like having a needle at the dentist and they won't let you get out of bed until your legs start functioning again.

Today I woke after a good sleep and feel a lot better. Now the way my luck is running, I had better go out and buy a couple of lottery tickets as I may just win and when I do win the big one, I will sponsor a program to train more doctors with the proviso that they come and work in the country. Lord knows we need more doctors as the population increases - especially the aged population which I am rapidly becoming part of.

Happy days to you all............

Cheap Italian eats in the 1980s

I was thinking the other day about the wonderful Italian food I used to have when I was living in Paddington between 1979 and 1991. A lifetime ago it seems as so much has happened since I came to my senses and divorced Mr Wrong in 1991 and left town. However the memories of Little Italy, sandwiched between William and Oxford Streets, Darlinghurst that I have will live on forever. It has been 18 years since I was last there but I believe there are a few of the old restaurants and cafes still there, still serving good, solid home style Italian food and delightfully strong and aromatic coffee with gelato in every flavour on the side. A little more pricey these days of course, but still worth a visit.

Bill & Toni's was a favourite open 7 days a week, with it's coffee and gelato on the ground floor and where you would queue up the stairs till you reached the dining area on the first floor for lunch or dinner. The place was packed every time I was there. There were at least a dozen tables seating 4 or 6 scattered around the floor all filled with diners. No seat ever got cold there for as soon as there was an empty seat available, it was filled by someone in the queue. You always had to share a table unless you came with a group of friends, but it was a nice way to meet people too. No mucking around, the service was fast and you ate fast because there was still that queue up the stairs full of hungry people waiting for your seat. It was generally a 2 course meal of pasta followed by a meat, chicken or fish dish, all served with a large bowl of crisp iceberg lettuce lightly dressed with a vinegary dressing. It was sooo good and I could never quite copy the same tasting salad dressing at home. Two pastas and 3 or 4 mains only to choose from. Made it simple for the chef I suppose but the food was always good. A fixed price of $8 per person ($9 if you had the schnitzel) was a bargain in those days when I was of an age where I was earning reasonably good money working full time as a legal secretary. The house specialty was schintzel and cheese, a very popular dish. Beef schnitzel crumbed and deep fried then topped with a little bolognaise sauce and cheese, grilled till the cheese was melted and bubbly. My God my mouth is watering as I type this. I must have eaten there dozens of times and I never had a crook feed. Now whilst Bill & Toni's was good there was another establishment that was even better and much cheaper, just down the road.

To all outward appearances, it was just another old two storey house in need of a coat of paint, on the corner of Stanley Street. No signs, no indication that it was a restaurant at all. In fact, calling it a restaurant would not be correct either. It was known by various names. To me it was called "Slys" (because it operated on the sly) but it was also know as "Nazore"(sp?) (Italian for "nose") because the cook had a big one, a real honker. But it was also know as "Hole in the Wall" to others. There lived a portly, middle aged Italian bloke who was the cook and his 3 kids who waited on the tables. Every night he opened the front room of his house and fed anyone who came in and had $5, whatever was on the menu that night. You had to enter via the gate in the side fence then cross the back yard, go up the path past the laundry and into the house, past the kitchen where "Nazore" was sweating over a hot stove and into the dining area. More often than not you would have to queue up that path and wait your turn but it was worth the wait every time.

For your $5 you would get pasta of the day, a main, bread, lettuce and wine, yes WINE was free with your meal. It was red or white in flagons plonked on the table by the kid waiters who really worked hard. It was pretty good wine to wash your meal down with. I liked the red best. The meals were large servings of good, Italian, peasant food and the place was full 7 nights a week. You could help yourself to a piece of fruit as you left from a large basket by the door. I ate there almost every week for a couple of years. The atmosphere was what I would imagine would be like in Italy at a big family gathering, lots of talk, laughter, a general buzz of good vibes and the miriad of delicious aromas wafting out of the kitchen.

I don't know how long "Slys" was in business for and whether or not the authorities caught up with "Nazore" but that is one place I will remember for the rest of my life. They don't (or can't) make 'em like that any more.

Ciao for now

The Real Estate Blues

This is our beautiful hallway painted expertly by my dear husband with hand crafted quilts on the wall from my friend Marilyn in Ohio. Special quilt hangers that fit on the picture rail in animal shapes also hand carved and painted by my multi-talented husband. I didn't know he was artistic until this year.

So far 2 lookers for the house and no offers. Not really surprised as winter does seem to deter house hunting for some. Plus it seems that half of Cowra is on the market so prices are low and buyers are thin on the ground. We did drop the price a tad after a similar house in the next street sold at auction last weekend for $145k. Shocked! We are getting impatient to move north. Might have something to do with the weather - brrrrr.....

Nevertheless, our hopes are high for a timely sale and we have our lifestyle change to look forward to once the money is available. The house is a unique place with so many things going for it and that special person who will fall in love with the place on first glance has yet to materialise, but they will, dear reader, they will. Bwahahahah - *wrings hands with glee* - Oh well, you have to be positive or you may as well cut your throat.

Keep on Smiling........

For sale - one federation style house in Cowra

We finally have the house on the market and have had our first inspection last weekend. I was so excited to see the house on the web (http://www.realestate.com.au/ and search Cowra then look for the house with the heading "easy walk to town"). The photos turned out really well and the old place looks great. The first inspection was by a young couple with 3 girls. Unfortunately for us they have their house for sale as well and naturally, must sell before they can buy. They seemed keen as the second bedroom and sleepouts would make a great girls bed and playrooms.

The sign is on the fence and we are willing a buyer with a fat wallet to materialise and take the house off our hands. The orange tree is laden with sweet, juicy fruit and thanks to the recent rain, the garden is looking wonderful.

So if you have been thinking about a "tree change" now is the time. Come to Cowra and for a measily $220,000.00 you can have this beauty on a 1011sqm block only 2 blocks from Woolworths.

Any takers???

The Foot Saga

It continues....... after a visit to the surgeon a couple of weeks ago, I have decided NOT to go under the knife. He said 5% of them don't work, 5% chance of bone infection, by fusing one joint the surrounding joints get extra strain and will eventually break down. It is 8 weeks in plaster with no guarantee of success. The waiting list for surgery is 12 months minimum. So, I am going to have a couple more cortisone injections on 15 June and see how they go. It can only be an improvement on what I have now.

The pain is mentally and physically draining and I am fondly reminiscing about the days when I used to be able to walk around the park with the dogs. I am flat out doing a circuit of Woolworths these days before I start limping. My foot wear consists of slippers and one pair of sturdy laceup shoes from the Athlete's Foot. The rest are unwearable.

Well, no more complaining about the bloody foot. I am stuck with it and I will try my best to just live with it. "What can't be cured, must be endured".

Shit!