Think I may have to change the name of the blog

While we're at home I've decided to treat this as a journal, it's good to sit here typing and getting everything off my chest (such as it is).  I have no idea who reads it because no one leaves a comment but I think it's quite liberating to dribble on and on and on............

Steve and I went to see Beth and Paige this morning in Princess Margaret Hospital.  We took a special tube that we have at home for when Paige is staying here.  She has to have supplement feeds which are high doses of fat to try and keep her weight steady.  A special machine is used which Beth has hired but she's hoping to buy her own, there's one on Gumtree for $600.00 and they're $1700 new. Beth forgot to take the tube and the nurse on duty last night had words with Beth saying that they couldn't keep giving out these tubes because they're expensive and if she already has one then it's a waste of tax payers money to hand out another!

Feeding peg 

We've paid our taxes and it really annoys me that the staff at PMH treat Beth as if she's a nobody but I'm not allowed to say anything or contact them although I did last time when Paige was in because one of the nurses came into the room to give her a dose of insulin.  She told Paige she was diabetic and fortunately she knows she isn't and told the nurse to check the file.  The nurse had picked up the wrong notes!  Honestly, it really doesn't bear thinking about.

The peg goes directly into her stomach

The tube goes from the syringe to the peg.
She looks to have a bit of a muffin top in this photo to the right!  We wish.

I'm going to be talking about books next.

Depression

I'm sinking into depression today, which reminds me that I haven't had my morning pills which does indeed include a Happy Pill (or mental as my daughters call it).  They say it takes 3 weeks for them to be out of your system but my family know within a few days if I've not had them.  I'm not nice when I don't take them.

No, the reason for my sadness today is that I've just calculated how much money comes out of our bank account to pay home loans, finance on vehicles, insurance including funeral plans for Steve and moi etc., etc.,

So, it's unlikely that we'll be staying in the Eastern States when we return to the mainland after visiting Tasmania.  Instead, we'll come home and get the house ready to be sold.  When we're not on the road we're going to live in the caravan either in Beth's back yard or we have some friends who have a lot of land in Pickering Brook and they've said we can go there.  And when we have money in the bank we'll start looking at Plan B with regards to seeing the rest of Australia.

If Beth and her family weren't moving in while their house is being built we could have had it on the market while we're away but I don't think it's fair to ask her to keep it looking nice when there's three kids, a dog and cat and Jimmie living here.

This is Lily, Louisa's daughter.  She used to be referred to as the demon child, I think you can see why!  However, we seem to have exorcised said demon and she's a delight now.

I downloaded the Fifty Shades Trilogy to Louisa's Kindle and a few weeks after reading them she surprised me by telling me she's pregnant with Harry who's due when we're in Tasmania.  For years they had problems conceiving, there was a couple of miscarriages and Matthew was born at 26 weeks and lived for only three hours so when she was pregnant with Lily (and then Adam) we were all anxious in case all was not well but everything was great.

So when we get home there'll be a new baby for me to cuddle.  I just love new babies.  When Adam and Beth's youngest daughter Sienna were babies they used to breast feed which ever baby needed it.  Beth is wondering if she should take some tablets to bring in her milk, she had gallons of the stuff with Sienna, then they can take turns feeding Harry.  Unfortunately I no longer have real bosoms or I'd be wanting to feed him as well, I breastfed all of mine and loved it.

Caravan upgrades

The caravan has had its first service by Kye from Quality Caravan Repairs (0428 897 746).  He's a really great guy and his children go to the same school in Pinjarra that Paige went to before she was registered at Byford.  Both Paige and Charlie will be at the same school this year because Beth and Andrew are building in Byford.  When they move out of the rental they're coming here while their house is finished off.

The reason they're moving to Byford is so that the Hospital in the Home Service, who don't go to Pinjarra, can go to their house instead of ours.   As it is now once she's stable in PMH she comes here and the treatment carries on here.


We've had solar panels fitted to the roof of the caravan.  We should be totally self sufficient now and will be able to do more free camping because we have an extra 49ltr tank for water and another one for diesel.  We always have lots of drinking water which we've never run out of but I panic if we don't have enough to flush the toilet.

Steve went to BBQs Galore last week to fill the 9kgs gas bottle.  They've increased the price from $19.95 to $29.95 so he went to BCF and it was $19.95.

After speaking with a guy when we were away last time Steve went to a place in Osborne Park and bought a new digital satellite finder as the one we had was more trouble than it was worth.  The new one is brilliant and he's got it all wired up and fixed the dish to the same mounting as the spare wheel at the back of the caravan.  It looks really good but it does cover up some of the address for CFWA but this may encourage people to do a search on it.  Once they get into the site who knows what they might find. 

More ramblings

I'm so lucky with the people who look after me, starting with Steve who I really couldn't live without.  He does everything for me.

Saw Caroline, my dentist today.  I've been with her since 1990 and there is no way I'd ever go to anyone else.  She must have been quite young when I first met her because she's not that old now.  It takes us 45 minutes to get to her but she's well worth it.  Today she was taking the impression for the plate she's making me.  I had to cave in and let her remove one of my side teeth.  The damn thing had been rebuilt and repaired so many times, all because I wouldn't let her take it out because I didn't want to look like White Trailer Trash.  Well, I've done that for the last two weeks and I have another two before I'll be like Beth and have a one tooth plate.

WHITE TRAILER TRASH

Beth had to have the same tooth out and she's so funny with her plate.  She only wears it on special occasions, never in her house and she'll come here and take it out and leave it on the worktop.  Steve said I should try it for size and if it fit I could borrow it.  Caroline said to make sure I don't leave mine next to hers or we might try putting the wrong one in.  I suppose you had to be here to appreciate the humour.

PAIGE'S FIRST PORT 

Paige and Beth are in Princess Margaret Hospital so Paige can have a tuneup and learn some muscle building exercises so that she has more strength to put into her coughing.  The bathrooms have mould in them and mould is detrimental to Paige's health so they'll stay there for as short a period as possible and come here to do Hospital in the Home.  That means Gavin, the physiotherapist and Sam, the nurse will be coming to visit. There's others as well but they're my favourites as you'd expect.

LAST HOSPITAL VISIT

Paige has a port so that when she has her massive doses of antibiotics they don't need to take her to theatre.  She also has a peg into her stomach so that she can have very high fat fluids introduced in an effort to put some weight on her.  Poor little soul has probably had more visits to the theatre than I have and I've had a few.  This week she also had a C.T. scan and other tests to see how the Cystic Fibrosis is going.  All the team know she's vegan now and the dietician says they can deal with it so it'll be interesting to see what they feed her.  Steve used to do up frozen meals for the people who stay with Paige overnight but there's no point in him doing it now because they've removed all the fridges in the rooms.

http://www.cysticfibrosis.org.au

I had a lovely surprise earlier in the week.  My friend Sue Chook called me to thank me for the birthday wishes I'd sent her.  I can't forget her birthday because its on the same date as my dad's.  I didn't realise it was five years since we'd caught up but because she's computer savvy she called me again on Skype. She looks just the same, as does Frank, her husband.  They were in Bali when it was bombed but it doesn't stop them going back and they spent the new year there.

Chook was very supportive when I had breast cancer in 1998.  She came to see me nearly every day after the bosoms had been chopped off.  She always came at lunch time and would drape herself on my bed so she could watch The Bold and the Beautiful.  It got so that the lady, who was known as Cuddles, who brought the lunches round would bring her a plate of sandwiches.  Funnily enough when she left the hospital she went to work at the same place as Chook.  

Getting ready for Tassie

and we're hoping all the fires will be out by the time we get there.

I can't imagine what it must be like to be surrounded by fire, watching it and wondering if its going to come your way.  My heart goes out to everyone who's affected by fires, anywhere.

Our intention is to leave Perth on the 1st February.  We have appointments through January with my dentist, orthopaedic surgeon and Bob, our doctor and Steve also made an appointment with the physiotherapist people, just to make sure all is well.

Our pharmacy is putting together six months worth of medication for me, I had a heart attack in 2003, a month before Louisa's wedding and take medication to keep everything okay.  My cardiologist (who looks as if he should be playing rugby for Australia) doesn't know why I had the heart attack.  He tells me I'm unique but I already knew that.  I may have already written this, it seems familiar but I don't have the patience to read through what I've already written.

Oh, I broke my foot a few months ago.  The floppy one and this is  photo of Steve covering it in cling film so I can go in the shower.

He makes the joke that I've done nothing for the last 12 months and he's right.  He's fed and watered me and kept me clean and I'm forever telling him how important he is to me but he just laughs it off.

Mind you, since I read the Fifty Shades Trilogy and my libido came back with a vengeance he can't complain about his sex life, other than to say he's too tired (because he's looking after me).  It's like going round in a circle.

I had to stop working in February.  I loved my job, it was the most cruisey job I'd ever had.  I couldn't walk properly, still can't.  I spent most of 2012 in a wheelchair being pushed by Steve or Louisa and Beth, sometimes with small children sitting on my knee for the ride.

What a nightmare

What a nightmare it's been to get into this to update it.  It's taken me hours, yes hours, to get to this point and now I'm tired and dizzy so I'm going to rest and I'll come back to you later and tell you everything that's been happening.

Lots of news and gossip

Fifty Shades

New baby

New houses

Old houses

Health issues

etc., etc.,

Home now

14.10.12  Sunday.  We're at home now.  We left Cliff Heads on Friday.  I'd not been out of the caravan the previous two days because of the wind and flies.  When we first arrived it was great, there were a few flies and bees but we weren't too concerned.

By Friday Steve was taking Timmy for a walk with my fly net on to keep them off his face.  I don't know where they came from, there were thousands of the little suckers.

We did some shopping in Dongara and had called in Geraldton a few days before.  We leave Timmy in the caravan now when we go to the shops.  Fortunately his little legs can't get him onto the bed so he sleeps on the floor under it.

We have a list of stuff we have to get before we head off to Tasmania.  We've spoken to a few people and Steve has almost decided on solar panels to keep the battery topped up together with an inverter that does something with the t.v.  We also need a digital satellite finder because the one iTech sold us is worse than useless.  In fact I would go so far as to say that we should have researched satellites more comprehensively and bought a different make.

Steve has made a few short films.  I'm sure you'll find this one particularly riveting.

We've got the 'guide to Free-Camping in Tasmania' by Sue and Steve Collis and we'll be using it together with Camp 6 (or 7 if its published) when we leave in February.

We come back to Australia in April and were going to spend time in the Eastern States but we now have a new baby due in April so it's good that we're free spirits and not time poor because we may have to change plan a to plan b or even c.

Forgot to tell you:  In which country is it acceptable to get off your push bike and attend to your toilet needs (knickers and shorts around her knees showing her thighs and bum) on the gravel a metre from the bitumen?

We've seen and passed this couple before, just not that much of her although it could have been her in a bikini and fly net over her face a couple of days ago on her way to the toilet with her toilet roll in her hand.  Steve has waved to them a few times and they've ignored him.  Obviously from a country where privacy and discretion is not embraced.

Cliff Heads

8.10.12 Monday:  We were surprised when we pulled into Cliff Heads.  We thought there may not be any room with it being school holidays but there were only three other caravans here.

It’s a lovely spot; overlooking the ocean with cliffs at the back of us, mostly windy but the flag is flying (the right way up this time thanks to a lesson from my brother-in-law) and the sun is shining.

We just had a visit from the people who we were parked next to in Kalbarri.  They have a trailer tent, which they’d parked at Dongara and had come to check this site out.  They recognized the flag and called in.

Yorkshire Rose Flag

Steve and I had a laugh last night during Happy Hour.  One of the guys was talking about an old couple.  ‘Oh’ he says, ‘they were old, in their middle 50s’.  This guy was no spring chicken (obviously not yet 50) but we thought it was hysterical that he thought middle 50 was old.  We didn’t let on how old we are.

There’s 4 other dogs here and no fighting between them so we’re not fastening Timmy up.  We have to keep him out of the long grass because there’s ticks, snakes and goannas hanging around.  Timmy has been really good; he’s a little ball of fluff with a big bark and doesn’t let anyone who he hasn’t seen before get too close without alerting us.  

Kalbarri

4.10.12  Thursday     We’re at Murchison Caravan Park in Kalbarri, getting up close and cosy with the people on either side of us because the sites are so small.  Steve said last night that if they were any closer they’d be in bed with us.  I have to say that being so close to people is a tad inhibiting, we can hear them speaking and snoring so they can hear us. 

We leave here on Friday and will be free camping now until we get home on the 14^th October.

2.10.2012   Tuesday.  The flies are terrible.  I’m sitting here typing with a fly net over my head.  Steve keeps making facetious comments but I’m not laughing.  The alternative is go inside but I don’t want to do that.

A family has just approached us from Thornlie and I thought they were going to ask about Cystic Fibrosis but she wanted to talk about the caravan as they’re upgrading their pop-top into a larger one with a shower and toilet.

We’ve been parked at Galena Bridge ,#444 in Camp 6 since yesterday morning.  We were going to have a night at Water tank rest area  #445 but the flies there were even worse than here and there was a lot of broken bottles and cans around the place.  We were at Nerren Nerren, #446 the night before and ran into a couple who’d been at Shark Bay.  He explained a few things about the satellite dish to Steve.  We just cannot get a signal and now Steve knows why.  More expense I’m afraid.  I really feel ripped off by iTech who we bought the gear from.  Their after sales service is non existant.

This 24 hour stop is at the side of the river, which is home to black swans, both adults and youngsters.  We watched them yesterday afternoon: One adult was keeping an eye on two little ones which didn’t seem to want to be with the rest of them.  It was quite funny how the littlies kept swimming away from the adult.

Steve took a photo of a lizard yesterday, which was sitting on Timmy’s cushion, and I’ve just seen another one running towards me, and then veering off to go underneath the caravan.  Lizards don’t bother me, snakes do but we’ve not seen any of them.

It’s nice and peaceful; when we got here at about 10.00 yesterday morning there were three caravans.  By the time we went to bed there  were approximatelyt 30.

 I’ve read about ‘Cuddlers’ which are people who get as close as they can to other caravans and we experienced it last night with a family in a motorhome.  We always leave what we think is a suitable distance between other caravans and this motorhome squeezed, yes squeezed, into the space between us.  Talk about being inhibited.  As Steve said, we could hear them so they could hear us, so I put my favourite playlist on to drown them out.  Don’t know if they appreciated some of the songs and classical pieces but I really didn’t care.

There’s only five of us left now.  The people behind us are waiting for a space at Kalbarri, we move there tomorrow for two nights.

Steve disappeared inside the caravan and when he came out he’d made scones for morning tea.  What would I do without him.  He’s the most special person to me, takes care of me in every way, complains about it but smiles when he’s doing it.


What do I give him in return?  I think you know………..

I think the floppy foot is getting better.  It’s not healing fast but I’m sure there’s more movement in it.  I wonder if I should have another nerve condition test done to see if I’m kidding myself or there is in fact something going on but the test is so painful, really really painful.  It’s a decision I’m not going to take lightly and I wouldn’t have it done until January anyway which will be 12 months since the damage occurred.  The orthopaedic surgeon said it would be 18 months and 12 months is 2/3 of the way but if there wasn’t a significant improvement or even none at all which means I’m fooling myself I’d be devastated.  It’s the thought that ‘one day’ I’m going to be able to walk like a normal person that keeps me going.

This trip has been so much more than the last one when I was only two weeks after having my right hip replaced.  I was unable to walk anywhere, getting in and out of bed was so painful, getting into the caravan and truck was like climbing a mountain but this time it’s been great because everything is healed (apart from Floppy).  I still don’t walk anywhere, Steve goes off a few times a day with Timmy and I read my Kindle.

 

Denham/Shark Bay

27.9.2012  Thursday.  At last we seem to have left the red dust behind.   We’re in Denham/Shark Bay in a caravan park and the ground cover is a fine white sand and tiny shells.  We’re staying here until Sunday morning so that Steve can watch the grand final.  We haven’t seen any television since Saturday.  We have no idea as to what’s going on in the world.  Steve has filled the tanks already, the electric is on and we’ve had coffee using water from the electric kettle. 

We have phone reception so will call our girls later.  Just something to make you laugh:  Lily (age 5) was learning about Italy at school and asked her mum did she know about the leaning tower of penis.

26.0.2012 Wednesday.  We keep forgetting what day it is.  The plan is to stay here tonight then move to Denham tomorrow.  When we get reception we’ll see what caravan parks are available so we can get charged up, filled up, cleaned up etc., before moving off to Kalbarri.

We’re overlooking the Shark Bay Marine Park and the weather today is a bit grey and cooler than it has been for the last few days and it’s just started raining which Steve is pleased about because he’s hoping it’ll wash some of the dust off the truck.

There’s no phone reception here although there was some at #462.  We didn’t feel comfortable when we looked at that site.  It reminded me of the place in ‘True Blood’ where the inbred panther family lived, it was really creepy and there was a guy using an angle grinder.  He had a big sign advertising repairs.  When we were parked at Quobba we were told that someone had been living there for 7 years.  It just seemed a really strange place.

24.9.2012    I’m not exactly sure where we’re parked for the next few days.  It’s supposed to be New Beach (#461 in Camp 6) but we seem to have taken a long way round on a badly corrugated road to get here.  It’s supposed to be 6kms but it had to be over 20, maybe even 30+.

Not to worry, we’re in a nice little spot where we can see water.  The book says not to get too close to the water so we’re back a bit.  It’s doubtful we’ll be doing any paddling and Timmy doesn’t like going in it anyway although he’ll be having a bath when he gets home so he returns to his natural colour of cream.

We called into Carnarvon this morning but didn’t stay, just spent $84.00 on essential groceries and $17.00 on two apple turnovers and two coffees, which we had for lunch.  We like to put money into the country shops.