Good News

Hello Dear Friends

I know many of you have been checking my blog to see if there has been an update. My apologies. I seem to be on a bit of a roller coaster ride at the moment! Even more reason I should be keeping you up to date!

We are both doing well. We are feeling very, very blessed and cared for. We are settling in and finding our feet here in Perth. We know the road ahead isn't going to be easy and this makes it even more important for us to settle quickly, find good networks and friends to journey beside us at this difficult time.

We had a lovely time with our son Tim and his wife Amy last week. The 4 days went very quickly with all we wanted to do. Plus I had to do some work, so this cut the time even shorter. They were both very refreshed after their time in Bali. I am so glad they were able to have this time. Irene and George were also there with them.

The 3 of us had a lovely swim together at our favourite beach Cottesloe (Roger guarded our gear!!) and then enjoyed champagne and fish and chips on a balmy evening. Watching the sun set over the Indian Ocean was amazing. We hope there will be many more times like this.

Wednesday evening Amy and I enjoyed going to see the musical West Side Story. What a treat this was for me. We had brilliant seats as Amy knows someone in the cast and they allocate good seats for their friends, even though you have to pay the same price. It was fantastic. And I got to meet Alinta after the show. Tim and Amy went to a Jazz Club after the show where some of the cast were meeting together.

Our big news is that we have put an offer on a small 2 bedroom unit in a suburb called Glendalough. This is north of Perth and is quite close to the city (2 train stops). It is also close to work for me. We are hoping to get a quick settlement for 12 November. We will move in on Friday 5 November and pay 1 weeks rent for the privilege. But it will be worth it. How exciting is this? Beyond our wildest dreams actually.

George and Irene have also given us their 12 year old Volvo. It is in very good condition and we have been enjoying driving it and having lots of independence! We are so grateful to George and Irene for the loving care they have given us. They have been truly amazing. But so has my sister Brenda who we have been living with for 6 weeks. Poor darling I am sure will be glad to see the back of us. She has been very loving and patient.

We had the best dinner last Saturday night at Brenda's. There was Brenda, ourselves, George, Irene, Cherith (another sister), her husband Ken and son Ashley. Talk about laugh. At one stage I was laughing so much my stomach started to hurt. It was a great evening for us both and did our hearts good.

I'm sure there is much more I could tell you, but if I go on much more you are not going to have time to read it all!!!!!!

10 things I love about Perth

• Being near my sisters is a real treat. We are staying with my youngest sister Brenda and I am loving her sense of humour. We are having lots of fun together.

• The weather has been amazing since we have been here. Cool at night and beautiful during the day. It has been very good for our spirits and just what we need (though I am saying prayers for the farmers who really do need rain). I don't want to be too selfish.

• Living near the Canning River. Each morning last week I walked Archie (Brenda's King Charles Spaniel) along the river. What a lovely way to start the day.

• Travelling on the train. So different to train travel in Europe. But as I mentioned in my last blog, the trip along the river is spectacular.

• Not having to worry about speaking bad German! Roger and I do a little communicating in German, but not much. Our ears do prick up when we hear 'anything German!!'.

• At the moment, living so close to the city. Perth is such a beautiful city. We haven't had a lot of time to explore, but we will in time!

• The friendliness of people. Everyone we have contacted has been very polite and helpful. This has been such a blessing to us both at this difficult transition time.

• Getting dressed up and going to work is a treat. I hope it lasts! I don't want to work every day and are still working this all out. Stay tuned!

• Fish and chips down at Cottesloe Beach (with a wine or 2 thrown in). Must get a good photo so you believe me how wonderful it is! Hope to go down this week when Tim and Amy are with us for 4 days.

• Revisiting old haunts that I haven't been to for 30 years. Wow! How things change. I think once we have settled in we are really going to enjoy our time here. We just need to take one day at a time. All of us need to do this and not get ahead of ourselves.

Till next time........ Gaynor

MY WEEK

Well, life goes on and we continue to settle in here. We've had quite a busy week with lots of paperwork to do in many areas. We've even managed to transfer our driver's license to W.A. and had a very helpful lady to help us. I was sent a letter from the Victorian Motor License Board giving me a discount on my driver's license for the next 10 years because I have been a good driver with nil demerit points. Unfortunately there's no such scheme in Western Australia! Oh well.

I went to work on Monday and Thursday. It was a bit scary. So much to learn. I'm not sure if I like the computer. I'm much better on the phone and doing other jobs. But I will learn it all in time. I hope I am not taking on too much just at the moment. I do get a tad anxious about things. But the girls in the office are very understanding and helpful and I do enjoy getting all dressed up. I've been enjoying catching the train as well. It must be one of the most beautiful train rides in the world along the Canning and then Swan Rivers. All the black swans and pelicans along and in the river. Just quite something.

Roger and I went to a Bach lunch time recital on Wednesday at St George's Cathedral. It was only about 40 minutes but the organ was magnificent.

Roger rode his bike to West Leederville and then on to where I was working on Thursday. He then had to ride home. It was too far for him (about 35km's) and he was exhausted for the rest of the day. I think he now realizes he can't do these long rides any more - unless there is a very long break in between.

On Tuesday night we met family down at Cottesloe Beach for a fish and chip dinner. It was rather cold, but we rugged up and enjoyed ourselves. I look forward to many more of these dinners at the beach. The weather is so balmy.

My swimming partner (sister Irene) has gone to Bali. How dare she!!!! I should have gone for a swim yesterday, but don't like going on my own. Roger doesn't really like swimming. I think I've mentioned that before.

We are missing our lovely friends so much. Each one is so special and we feel such a long way from them all - AND WE ARE!! But it is lovely to hear from many of them. It will be good when we can Skype and see everyone in person.

I got my hair cut on Tuesday - well shorn more like it. The only person that would like it is my dear friend Christine. I don't like it at all. But, as they say, there's only 2 weeks between a good and bad haircut. It's almost a week! I do miss my dear hairdresser Antje in Schopfheim, although she's not there anymore.

We are off to Shenton Park Rehabilitation Centre tomorrow afternoon. Roger has an appointment to see his Neurologist who will introduce him to a physio, speech therapist and occupational therapist. I wonder how we will get on?!

I am having all sorts of emotions at the moment, particularly as Roger seems to be getting worse and there is so much we are not able to do together anymore. It is really hitting me and I don't like it one little bit. Even walking down the street together is a struggle. It will be good when we have our shopping trolley. Our boxes have arrived but we have kept them in storage until we move first week of November.

I'll keep you posted if anything exciting happens here!!

Working Girl!

It was fun to get all dressed up on Thursday and head over to my sister Irene's place for 'work'. I think I looked rather nice in my work clothes!! (sorry, no photo's - you'll just have to use your imaginations!!!). Irene had an appointment at 10am and so she was trying hard to tell me all that she wanted me to do for her before she went out! Well, she left in a flurry and I was sitting in the office with computer that wouldn't connect to the net and 5 huge files on the desk. And I was wondering...."what on earth should I be doing"!! At least I could laugh about it and then when Irene got back I could say to her "what on earth were you thinking".

I am hoping to do some serious work over the next couple of weeks so will keep you posted how I progress and what I will be doing.

Roger is enjoying his bike riding, but doesn't always get out each day. When we were driving together on Friday he told me his left hand fell off the handlebars and he was in a bit of a pickle. He told me he said "hand, now you just get back on those handlebars", and it co-operated. Well, I did get a laugh out of that. My darling Roger is really going against all the odds and he is truly developing his sense of humour. We might be going through many chances at the moment, and a lot of uncertainty, but we are blessed to have each other, that's for sure.

The weather here in Perth is amazing. It hasn't rained since we arrived nearly 3 weeks ago. I have 2 sisters on farms and they sure do need rain. It will not be a good season for them unfortunately. We were out in the garden today helping Bren to clean out her water feature. It looks lovely now. It just needs some coloured lights in the evening!

We didn't go to Church today. We couldn't agree on where to go. Bit sad isn't it?!! But we are hoping to go to a Bach recital at St George's Cathedral in Perth at lunchtime on Wednesday. This will be very special for us both.