Skittle- scat! Our ancient charge.
This has been a month revolving around the care of a dear and very frail aged cat – Skittle and the time required to delve into archival work. We pored over old Howman albums and loose photographs spread between four sisters and steadily gathered them altogether in chronological order to form an illustrated record of the lives of Lea’s parents. Thanks to technology all the information we have managed to glean has been collated with the aid of Leecy’s scanner, and stored on computer preparatory to wider distribution. Bringing clarity to events that are so easily confused with the passing of time has taken the best part of a month.
Our first Sunday we were back up the Central Coast to attend Leecy’s birthday. A few friends congregating at Bell’s for lunch due to a husband of one, a musician, playing there. Perfect winter weather in the lovely setting of an old homestead with an understated nautical décor opened out onto an enormous verandah overlooking rolling lawns on which the Jazz Trio played, should have made for a blissful occasion had it not been for up-market meals that not only left hunger in its wake but hurt the pocket!
Leecy, proud of her newly organised home invited everyone back to party on…
We nervously dashed back first thing the next day to check the welfare of our geriatric Skittle
For light relief, our senior citizen excursion tickets for $2.50 each have taken us far and wide using bus, train and ferry services, each of these giving us the opportunity to enjoy some of the pleasures that Sydney has to offer. Leecy had suggested we take in the 16th Biennale of Sydney which meant little to us plebs until we learnt that it is one of the world’s oldest, most celebrated and respected festivals of contemporary art.
Revolutions – Forms That Turn was the theme presenting works by more than 180 artists from all over the world in assorted venues that certainly challenged our preconceived notions about art today and all for FREE – even charter ferries laid on to take folk across to Cockatoo Island, one of the art venues in the middle of Sydney Harbour.
Seriously weird stuff – methinks!
This proved to be an amazing adventure aside from the art as we ambled on the Lower Island amongst disused naval and ship building yards with their rusting machinery. A doglegged tunnel built to get men and equipment from one side of the island to the other more easily fascinated us as during World War 11, it doubled as a bomb shelter. To add authenticity, as we walked the tunnel, we became aware of an atmospheric soundscape recording of the Japanese submarine attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942. Trudging up Burma Road linking the bottom of Cockatoo Island with the top known as The Plateau which housed convicts from 1839 we became enamoured not only in the superb outlooks surrounding us but the history steeped in this place. The prisoners themselves built their dingy barracks using quarried stone from the island before their labours were turned to building Fitzroy Dock and manning workshops to service the Royal Navy. By 1869 this Penitentiary was closed due to its appalling conditions, yet – unbelievably, this same place immediately gave rise to an Industrial School for orphaned and neglected girls along with a Reformatory for young women convicted of crimes. What kind of life could that have been! Just off shore a training ship load of neglected boys were kept under strict authority learning skills and according to history there were unseemly and unscheduled meetings between the girls and boys that before long (thankfully for the young girls we are sure) the girls’ institution was moved to Parramatta. In general, it was hard to believe Australian preoccupation with duty of care allowed for the public to wander through the maze of antiquated buildings which were an art form in themselves.
On every city trip we have rested our weary legs by taking in a movie at the conveniently located cinema in the heart of Circular Quay a few steps away from the express ferry that per chance, always awaits us for the river trip home. Dendy Cinema is our kind of movie house providing us with the lesser known and unusual art films that we hanker for, so often.
World Youth Day celebrations dominated more than a week and we liked nothing better than watching some of the half million pilgrims roaming around – whether it be Circular Quay, Parramatta or Kings School with their national flags, singing and dancing. In contrast to the normal drug and alcohol crazed lifestyle that dominates the media the refreshingly wholesome attitude displayed by the pilgrims was heart warming. By the time Papa Benedict was making his public appearances in Sydney we were content to watch events unfold on TV and recall our excitement of sighting the Pope in his pope mobile in St Peter’s Square itself, in 2006.
At times, we have popped into Getaway safely stored beside Forrest House and it has been like stepping into a fridge making us all the more grateful to have the comfort of a heated home. On one occasion, after a blast of cold Antarctic air swept in from down south, “soft hail” (resembling snow) began to fall bringing with it temperatures close to zero. And with climate change and reduction of carbon emissions being the hot topic these days (that is apart from all the gold medals the Aussies are going to win at the Olympics!) it has been interesting to listen to the widely differing perspectives being debated in Parliament and elsewhere.
One of George’s great joys over the past month has been feeding the birds that arrive at different times of the day for a snack, the flock of noisy sulphur-crested cockatoos being his favourite. He has yet to be able to give them a tickle behind the head without being bitten, but claims certain of them will soon learn to drop their defences! Kookaburras, butcher birds, currawongs and magpies arrive at the kitchen window wait for Lea to give them bits of meat, making the backyard look like an aviary at times. These birds were Lea’s Dad’s daily pleasure during his life here, although he sat with a pile of sticks to throw at the greedy, argumentative ones – generally the multicoloured lorikeets!
The joy of feathered friends…
A pupil from Lea’s Kariba School days had us round to a delightful Sunday evening with her family. Catching up on the Gregory family left in South Africa and introducing George to Louise’s husband Graeme and his amazing mother Joan (in her 90’s and yet she barely looks 70) and their two super daughters. Louise made contact with her kindy teacher eight years ago when she was down visiting her parents from Darwin. The Royden’s had recently immigrated and Louise was pregnant with her youngest at the time. These make for joyous occasions with past and present to catch up on. We have also enjoyed quality time with nephew Sheldon popping in for meals after work and George was able to help him tow his “pride and joy” from Killcare to Parramatta so he can work on it, of an evening. This freed up valuable space in his mother’s garage which delighted Leecy.
In closing, it has been a quietly busy month - lacking in some respects from the stimulation we normally derive from being on the move, while at the same time an opportunity to put our feet up, in a warm house and enjoy television each night. Having an oven to bake scones, biscuits and try out cake recipes not to mention roast dinners and home-made pies has also made Lea very popular.
