Gaynor's World

VISIT TO HYDEN

2011-11-20T14:05:00.005+01:00

Here I am with the dirty car and a net over a hat to keep the flies at bay!!
Cherith has since bought me 3 so I am all geared up for
my overseas friends to beat the flies!!

On 2 November Irene drove us to Hyden, approx 370km's east of Perth to spend 5 days with our sister Cherith and her husband Ken. It was also the annual Hymnfest in Hyden. Roger and I attended last year, which is when I formed the idea I would love us 5 girls to get together and have a singing reunion!! Jillian, Cherith, Irene and myself were able to sing at the Hymnfestin Hyden on Friday night. Brenda could not make it up for the weekend as she had been to Kalgoorlie the weekend before.

What fun we had, even though darling Roger wasn't well the whole time we were there. Very weak, continual coughing and just not feeling like partying. But we all took it in turns to look after him, sit with him and keep him company.

Jillian and Jonathan drove from their farm in Badgingarra (about 6 hours). It had been raining quite a bit and they had to come through some parts with water across the road. But they made it safely on the Thursday.

We talked, ate, sang, walked, laughed and basically had a wonderful time together. It was so wonderful to get together and sing. We still haven't lost it and can harmonize well together. Maybe we will make a comeback (ONLY JOKING)!!

Cherith and Irene. Irene being very silly with a net food cover over her head.
No, she didn't wear it on the walk!!

Gaynor and Roger at Gerry's place. She cooked scones for us all on the Saturday morning. What a precious thing to do. Gerry is my nephew Darian's wife.
Their son Jasper is gorgeous.

Cherith, Jillian and Jonathan over morning tea.

Our Front Garden

2011-11-08T13:43:00.007+01:00

At last I have taken a couple of photo's of our new garden and fence. No volunteer's to paint the fence yet!! Maybe our son Tim will do it whilst he is here (only joking Tim!!). I am very pleased with the garden and everything in it is growing nicely. The petunia's have started to flower with a flurry, especially after all the rain we have had.

So we have lavender, rosemary and roses and lots of petunia's to add instant colour. Watch this space and I hope I will be able to post photo updates.

Bathroom renovations

2011-10-07T05:58:00.004+02:00

Bathroom renovations started last Monday 3 October. I was silly enough to think I could live in the house whilst they were taking place!! I also was silly enough to think I could work as well!! Who do I think I am! What a mess! The dust! I've never seen anything like it.

Got home from work Monday night and decided I would clean - SO I DID!

Got home from work Tuesday night and decided I would clean - SO I DID!

But as I was sitting in Roger's chair Tuesday night, I was thinking that my glasses were very dirty and needed a clean - WRONG! The dust was just whizzing around and settling where I had cleaned. Needless to say I was beside myself so Irene took me in hand and made me move to her place - SO I DID!

Irene told me I had to stay in bed all day Thursday - SO I DID!! I can't believe I actually slept all night, all day and all night again! What is this telling me! It's Friday and I am walking around in a bit of a daze and wondering how on earth I am going to cope with all the cleaning.

There were complications with the plumbing, but all is sorted now. The lovely big white tiles are on the walls and Eric has started on the small floor tiles. He has been so good and caring to me. He was the one who said STOP CLEANING!!

I had a Porta Loo delivered but have hardly used it. Roger comes home from Respite at Bethesda Hospital on Monday. He would have been there 2 weeks. Just as well it has been a lovely experience for him. It has made life easier for me not having to look after him as well, especially now he has the tube feeding, which we will now refer to as 'mains' (dear Colette's idea).

Everything seems to be so complicated at the moment and I seem to have so many little things to do. If only I had a secretary for a day.

Today I received the most beautiful card from my lovely, lovely 'Girls' in Schopfheim. If only they knew how much this thoughtful gesture has lifted my spirits and arrived just at the right time. How very special it is to have friends who care.

This post is the colour of our floor tiles in the bathroom!! Ha! Ha!

IN MELBOURNE

2011-09-18T13:03:00.003+02:00

Roger and I travelled to Melbourne by plane on Tuesday 16 August. Our lovely son Tim picked us up at the Airport. It was so good to see him again. He drove us to Glenda and Tom's place (we arrived around 9pm) so we could have a glimpse of our beautiful grandsons Edward and Nathan.

Friends in the same street as Glenda and Tom had offered their house for us to stay in as they were away for 6 days skiing. It was very convenient and meant I could head down the road to take Peach for a walk around 8am and then back to Roger as he was waking up. It worked well for a week.

We had a lovely family afternoon on Sunday and took some gorgeous photos of the family and the new additions! We enjoyed evenings with the kids and tried to spend as much time as possible with our beautiful little babies.

I had a lovely time in the city with Jocelyn on the first Friday and she had arranged a make up treat in the afternoon for us both. We visited our favourite French Pancake Cafe off Port Phillip Arcade.

Friends Simone and Brad offered their car for us to use whilst we were in Melbourne. This was a huge help for us and a good car for Roger to get in and out of. Also easy to put the wheelchair in that we were able to borrow through MND Melbourne (Thank you).

My darling sister Irene and husband George joined us in Melbourne on 21 August so that Irene could help me look after Roger for 10 days. We moved into a nice little furnished unit together on Tuesday 23 August. Roger and I stayed there for 2 weeks.

The kids had organized tickets for us to go and see LOVE NEVER DIES - a Wednesday matinee. Oh my goodness what a magnificent show! How brilliant is Andrew Lloyd Webber. We LOVED it. We had fantastic seats (thanks darling Glenda for organizing). Would love to see it again (is that being greedy?).

We didn't really get to catch up with any friends as Roger was unwell the whole time we were in Melbourne. But Roger was able to have a couple of beers with Tom on their back terrace (Roger loves 'beer o'clock'!!), and also for Father's Day Tom organized to take Roger to the Football at the MCG to see his beloved CATS - GEELONG - defeat Collingwood by 96 points. Although he wasn't well he did enjoy himself very much. Tom handled the wheelchair with aplomb and made sure Roger was looked after and enjoyed the experience.

We were able to have breakfast with Irene and George at one of my favourite cafe's which I try and visit each time I go to Melbourne - STONEHOUSE COTTAGE in Warrandyte. I just love it. Then we took a drive to Panton Hill and just happened to bump into friends Marcus and Barbara who were cleaning St Matthew's Church (Roger was minister there from 1988 - 1992). This was truly incredible.

Cheryl helped in the care of Roger when Irene and George went back to Perth. It was a huge relief for me to have her help, especially as Roger was so sick. I wanted to be able to spend as much time as possible with Glenda and our little treasures.

Tim and Amy flew off to the USA on Thurs 25 August for 3 weeks. We were able to catch up with them a couple of times.

Tom and Glenda had Edward and Nathan Dedicated at ONE, the Church they go to in Blackburn. It was a wonderful service of celebration and rather emotional for us all. We had such a nice morning tea after the service at Keith and Heather's (Tom's parents) in Blackburn. There were about 30 people at the morning tea. As it was Father's Day we headed to Glenda and Tom's around 4pm to open a bottle of champagne I had received for my 50th Birthday. And yes, it was still very, very nice!!

It was such a shame Roger was not well, as this will be his last visit to Melbourne and quite likely the last time he will see his precious little grandsons. By the way, Roger will be called Gramps and Glenda has really decided I will be called Nana! I'm okay with that!!

Father's Day 4 September 2011

2011-09-09T02:18:00.000+02:00

Roger with Nathan and Keith (Tom's Dad) with Edward

Edward's first piano lesson

2011-09-07T14:19:00.000+02:00

Our Lovely Family

2011-08-23T03:16:00.000+02:00

l-r Amy, Tim, Glenda, Edward, Tom, Nathan, Gaynor, Roger and Jocelyn

Taken Sunday afternoon 21 August 2011 at Glenda and Tom's in Melbourne

MY BIRTHDAY

2011-08-14T15:40:00.004+02:00

My Birthday Cake at the office

Bronwen, Emma, Irene, Colleen, Grace and Joanne

Edward and Nathan

2011-08-10T15:47:00.000+02:00

Roger speaking at Church

2011-08-10T01:45:00.000+02:00

Our lovely friend Joel downloaded this picture of Roger speaking at Church. Small, but at least you get the idea, and the miracle that it actually happened.

OUR GRAND BABIES

2011-08-09T13:10:00.000+02:00

Tom and Glenda with Edward and Nathan in their front garden

Their fabulous twin pram. Off for a walk with Peach

THOSE WERE THE DAYS MY FRIEND I WISHED THEY'D NEVER END

2011-08-04T14:44:00.000+02:00

DISTANT FRIENDS

2011-07-23T14:17:00.004+02:00

Here we are at Centrepoint in Basel back in September last year
with Mark, Kevin and Christine

Tonight, (Saturday) we received a lovely phone call from dear friends Johnny and Bettina who live in Zell in Germany. Both have come from Ghana to live in Germany. Johnny was our special driver when we lived in Schopfheim and looked after us in many ways. It was so good to hear from him and we were a little overcome by his phone call. How lovely to be remembered by such special friends.

I also received a phone call from my dear and special friend Christine from Basel, and again I was quite upset, but managed to calm down and have a good chat. It was as if we spoke to each other yesterday.

Dear Kevin from Basel rang us last Saturday to make sure we were travelling okay. What a joy it is to always catch up for a chat. We are blessed to have such dear friends who still think about us.

We miss our distant friends. Each one is special to us in a so many different ways.

WE'RE GRANDPARENTS

2011-07-21T14:24:00.003+02:00

Our beautiful tiny baby boys (Nathan Elliot 1.8kg) and Edward Peter (1.4kg) were born to Glenda and Tom (6 weeks early) on 1 July. They will be 3 weeks old tomorrow and are still in hospital in Melbourne. They will probably be there for another week or so. Both are putting on weight and doing nicely.

Glenda and Tom are coping amazingly well, as they travel to the hospital each day to be with the babies. We are so VERY proud of them both. We will get to cuddle our babies on 16 August when we arrive in Melbourne for 3 weeks. We can't wait. How lucky are we to have 2 tiny treasures. Glenda and Tom have been giving us regular updates and pictures. We won't share any at the moment as they are so tiny. But when we come back from Melbourne, I will be sure to post some.

Roger wants to be called Gramps and I am still unsure what I will be called. Nothing seems to suit. Maybe you had better give me some suggestions, especially those who really know me!!!!!!!!!

RIDLEY UPDATE

2011-07-21T14:07:00.002+02:00

I keep apologizing for not keeping this up to date. I am finding it really difficult to write these days, but know I must try and keep it up. I do love writing normally, but when we are going through this horrible time in our lives, it isn't easy and putting things in writing just reminds me how awful it is.

I think I will keep Roger's Motor Neurone Disease quite separate from this blog and will try and update on MND on our http://www.rogngayn.blogspot.com/. That way I can update on what each day holds, so if you want to keep up to date, then go there.

Since Roger's birthday we have had quite a good couple of months. We have both been positive and trying to do lots of lovely things together and with our family and friends. We have settled nicely into our Church family at St Barnies, West Leederville and they are very supportive and loving towards us. We are particularly enjoying the friendship of the young marrieds, no children. Rog often goes off to watch the guys play Soccer on a Monday night and friends drop in and keep him company and amused, which is quite lovely.

I went to Melbourne for 6 days from 17 June to see our beautiful family. It was rather cold and wet, but good to see the kids and have hugs! To spend time with Glenda helping her to get organized before the arrival of the twins was lots of 'fun' as well.

When I arrived home on Thursday afternoon 23 June, Irene and Roger met me at the Airport and brought me home. I unpacked and then packed again for the 2 of us. We drove to my sister Jillian's farm at Badgingarra (3 hours) and stayed for 3 lovely days. It was divine. We had breakfast in the rotunda (glorious Saturday morning) and surrounded by Jillian's amazing garden. We had a good laugh at the CWA (Country Women's Association) annual concert when all the local areas come together to perform Choir items, etc. We have lost this in the city unfortunately. Jillian was a hit. She plays the piano beautifully.

We are slowly making our little home more and more cosy. We both love the kitchen. It works very well for us both (and I LOVE the dishwasher!!). Last Saturday we bought a couple of rugs and are very pleased with them. We still don't have pictures on the walls. That's a bit sad. But all in good time!! I am hoping to have someone look at the front 'garden' and give me some suggestions. It is so hot here in the summer, I am going to have to be careful what I plant out there. It is only a small area, so shouldn't have too many problems, but I do need advice. Also I don't want people to pinch the plants that we put in there! Yes, these things do happen.

I pulled it off ! ! !

2011-05-22T12:07:00.001+02:00

After quite a lot of planning - e.g. emails, lists, shopping, cooking, coordinating with Irene, etc I managed to pull a surprise Birthday party off for my darling Roger. Now if it had been me, I would have guessed that there was something in the wind!! But not my Roger.

I must say I was rather distraught Friday morning when I eventually left for work around 10.45. Roger was upset because he had had trouble shaving and of course he is realizing that his right arm is becoming weaker. We find once he starts getting upset he finds it hard to pull out of it. I went to work, but reluctantly, and the Irene called in to see him. When I got home around 13.30 he was still upset. I gave him lunch, then some sprays into the mouth of 'calm me down' medicine Irene had got for us. I decided I need some as well!! I had arranged for a friend to pick Rog up and take him out for a few hours.

Well, it all turned out magnificently. Irene arrived to help me out then Roger's cousin Bruce and his wife Sandra (visiting for a couple of days from Sydney) arrived so I put them to work. Friends started to arrive just after 17.00 and then the party got into full swing. Steve arrived back with Rog around 17.30 - perfect timing.

We had a wonderful evening celebrating Roger's birthday (which was actually on the 19th May) and we again realized how much energy people give us and how important it is for us, even in our circumstances, to have family and friends around us to continue to make special memories. There were 23 altogether and it was such a joy to have people in our home.

Of course I forgot to get someone to take photo's, but here are just a couple of the evening for you to enjoy.

Colette and Gaynor

Toby and Anna

Irene, Roger and Jonty

Bruce, Sandra, Roger and Gaynor (watching the football!!)

This is the card our son Tim gave to his Dad!! It does take a
little while for people to 'GET IT'

Are we besotted ? ? ?

2011-05-22T11:59:00.000+02:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DARLING ROGER

2011-05-19T02:12:00.003+02:00

Here we are sitting on a bench in Fremantle when we had a lovely evening with Dave & Sue back in March. Rog just giving the thumbs up that we are having a good time (and need a rest as well)!!

Roger turns 58 today. Currently he is sitting on our lovely leather lounge entertaining Pepper, who is bringing us a lot of joy. We have given him a new toy this morning (with a rattle inside). Roger and Pepper are both cute, cute, cute ! ! !

This time last year we went to Riquewihr, in the Alsace in France with Stephen and Barbara James for a very happy day in the lovely old village which we have visited many times before. What special memories we treasure in our hearts.

Around this time we also had lunch with friends in Basel, Sheldon and Shelley Jones and said a sad farewell to Anne Scheidel who returned to the US of A.

Then our cycling tour for 5 days with Joshua, Jayne and Angela in the Loire Valley in France. Joshua visited us from Sydney last week and reminded us of the amazing time we had together. What an adventure.

So today I want to pay tribute to my wonderful husband of 35 years. With God's help, Roger has made me into the woman I am today (Mum helped as well). God still has a lot of work to do I am sure!

Roger has taught me tolerance, patience, how to be non judgmental and kind. If you don't have a positive word to say to someone, don't speak.

Nothing seems to phase Roger. Sometimes he's a bit too placid for my liking, but he also loves a good time and if I'm prepared to organize things, he happy tags along, or lovingly accepts all the people I invite into our home! I remember how busy he was on Sunday when he was a Parish Priest, but he would always welcome visitors to our table for a Sunday roast. I love and admire him for his willingness to keep working when all he probably wanted to do was have an afternoon nap!

Now, as Motor Neurone Disease (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease) overtakes him, he is determined to keep going and being as independent as he possibly can. He only asks for help with dressing or food when he absolutely has to. He stays positive most of the time, and his sense of humour has blossomed in these last months since coming back to Australia from Germany. We don't even want to think about the road ahead, but try and live each day to make more happy memories!

I love my precious Roger with all my heart and with God's help and all you lovely family and friends praying for us, we will get through this time that Roger has left on this earth. For none of us know when our time on earth will end, Roger is just more aware of it than most.

Thank you for 35 precious years my darling. I love you very, very much.

Gaynor xo xo xo xo xo xo xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Happenings in our lives

2011-05-17T15:33:00.003+02:00

There is one dear friend whose care and love for Roger and me I value very much. So, when he sent a message asking for a more personal update I thought I'd better get to and deliver!!

We celebrated our 35th Wedding Anniversary last night. We started the morning by exchanging cards and having a good cry, which was interrupted by Pepper jumping up on us and wondering what all the noise was about!! It was a good distraction for us and we did have a laugh! My lovely sister Irene drove us to the Darlington Winery Estate in the hills for a lovely lunch, (which was rather late). We did enjoy ourselves and have no photos to show!!

We are getting on okay. We try to laugh more than we cry, but we do both quite well! Roger is being overtaken by Motor Neurone Disease and it is so dreadful to see a very special and very loved husband deteriorating in this way. He is being very brave and is fighting to keep walking and being as independent as he can be. I help with the odd button or two, cutting up the food, etc, but he is doing so very well to keep going. Yesterday we had a visit to the Neurologist and it was okay. A few things were discussed that were upsetting to us both. I must be honest and say I can't read anything about MND or what the near future is going to hold for me as a carer. I have asked Irene to read up and tell me only what I absolutely have to know.

I have been put in touch with a lady whose husband died of MND not long ago. I hope to catch up soon and share friendship and information with her. We just haven't quite been able to connect with our busy programmes.

We have seen all our kids in the last couple of months and this has been special for us. They do find it hard with us being in Perth and them being in Melbourne. We do try and keep in contact via phone calls, but we must try and do something about Skype soon. It would be so much better. Our internet connection is not very good here in Perth. Our daughter Glenda is now 27 weeks pregnant with twins. They are due on 12 August, but we are expecting them to come early. We were thinking of visiting Melbourne in June, but Roger is not keen to do this and would rather wait until the twins arrive. I am not sure if I might go for a few days in June. It will depend on work and how Roger is.

Speaking of work. I work 24 hours/week at Star Settlements and ijrproperty. I am the Office Manager and I do all sorts of things. I do have to laugh sometimes when I am at work and learning all these new things. When we were living in Germany I was thinking I would never work for money again! Just shows you should never say never!! I do enjoy my work but sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed about all the things I need to do. I have been so very spoilt by a husband who is always willing to lend a hand and was willing to cook, clean, etc that it is hard to take not having him do it anymore! Poor me. Not really, being in a small home is very convenient and not much cleaning to do really. Roger comes to work when he feels like it. He might do between 10 - 12 hours week, but he is a volunteer. He is in charge of scanning files into the computer so that we can get rid of all the paper files!! He is very good and thorough at this. Just last week a special chair was delivered to work so that he can rest when he gets tired. This means he doesn't have to come home and be by himself (though now we have Pepper this isn't so bad).

We have a wheelchair at home so that if we want to go for a long walk, I can take Roger in the wheelchair. It is very easy to use, but not so good to load in and out of the car. Roger has also been fitted with a neck collar which he can use whenever he likes. This will help with his weakened neck muscles. The neck brace comes from Canada. It doesn't look too bad actually.

So, how's that for an update? I'm not going to read it back, otherwise I might delete half of it. I hope it makes sense.

Roger's 58th Birthday is on Thursday. I'm trying to think what we did last year. I know we had a special celebration after one of our Monday hikes around Schopfheim. Ah, those were the days!!!!!!!!!

Introducing Pepper

2011-05-16T15:15:00.005+02:00

Pepper on Roger's lap. Roger is sitting in his very comfy chair

As most of our friends would know, we having been looking for a dog since we dogsat Jonty and enjoyed him immensely. In fact, everyone has been looking for a dog for us. We have had disappointments, when we thought we had chosen one, only to be told "Oh, he's on hold"!! But, now we realize that one wasn't meant to be anyway.

Pepper (once named Bandit because of the black around his eyes!) became available on Friday 13 May and Joanne, my boss, took Roger to have a look at him and of course the rest is history.

We think Pepper belonged to an older lady who could no longer look after him. Pepper tends to follow me around more than he does Roger and we want to change this. So, if there's treats to be had, I try and get Roger to give them rather than me.

I don't think Pepper has been walked. He is hopeless on the lead and when I take him out in the morning and leaps along like a spring lamb! It was funny at first, but it is wearing thin after 3 days!! He is also full of energy and always wants to play. He needs to settle a little.

Pepper is a Shih Tzu crossed with something else we think! We have a lot to learn about how to look after a little dog.

Out with the OLD, in with the NEW ! ! !

2011-05-16T14:41:00.004+02:00

About time I posted a couple of pictures for you to look at!! Our old kitchen was removed on 15 April, the day Tim/Amy and Glenda/Tom arrived from Melbourne for a wee holiday with us!! Just as well we were taking off to Mandurah for 3 days! Our new kitchen went in on 20/21 April, just in time for Easter and the arrival of lovely friend Christine on a 2 day visit from Basel and Mary and Bruce from Adelaide. So, the kitchen has been well used. I love it. It's very user friendly and I love having a dishwasher. Lucky me.

Cheryl was visiting from Adelaide when Roger took this photo of the new kitchen. She is making the most of the bench space to read the paper. One of these days we will get a couple of bar stools for the kitchen bench.

This is the old kitchen and the 'wall' separating the kitchen from the loungeroom. I didn't like this at all in our little home. The cupboards were very ordinary and hard to use. No bench space at all and the sink was very silly!!

MOMENTS IN TIME

2011-04-12T12:53:00.002+02:00

We were blessed to have Jonty come and stay with us for 5 days. He is the most wonderful little dog and brought us both so much joy. We even took him to work for a couple of days and we thought he would make a good work mascot!! So, here is Jonty in one of his favourite positions.

We have felt a bit spoilt of late. We had an overnight stay at the Parmelia Hilton in the heart of Perth a week ago last Sunday. We were upgraded to a King Deluxe Suite and felt very, very spoilt (maybe stay 2 nights next time!!!!). This overnight stay was something Roger auctioned for at the Motor Neurone Disease Fundraiser back on 12 February! He bid and won for a very good price!

We also managed to see our beloved Geelong Cats Football Team play at Subiaco Oval here in Perth and beat the Fremantle Dockers so we were pretty stoked about that.

Now we await the installation of our new kitchen on 20/21 April. Not good timing, but at least it will be in. The tiler won't be able to come till after Easter, but we might have the dishwasher working!!

Saturday night 27 March

2011-03-29T16:10:00.002+02:00

As you can see, we are still trying to party and this was a successful night!! Here we are taking a bit of a breather as we wait for David and Sue who were busy taking photo's!! We had a great night together, eating our way through the evening (and changing venues of course). We started in Swanbourne in a lovely restaurant overlooking the Indian Ocean then went to Fremantle for dessert. I then drove everyone to King's Park. We were a bit tired on Sunday!! Poor us!

Special outings

2011-03-27T15:22:00.003+02:00

Roger's brother David and his wife Sue are visiting us for 4 days. Dave has been to Perth before but Sue hasn't. We have enjoyed showing them a little of Perth. We had dinner looking over the Indian Ocean last night and how wonderful to watch the sun set once again. We never get tired of seeing the sun set over the ocean.

Not a bad view eh? And our meal was just so delicious. Staff were fabulous. After dinner we drove to Fremantle. We found it difficult to find a car park. It was a balmy evening and there were people everywhere.

We ended up at Florientina's for hot chocolate/coffee and dessert! Very nice indeed! Roger ordered this peach gelati (oh yum). It was covered in white chocolate.

Then we drove to King's Park to show off the beautiful city of Perth. Truly an evening to remember.

Marching away from March ! ! !

2011-03-23T14:45:00.004+01:00

Roger, George, Gaynor and Irene drinking a toast to the grandparents to be!!

Kevin has given me a timely reminder that I have not blogged for a very long time. There are lots of reasons for this I suppose. I haven't been keeping up with my diary, or the writing that Roger and I do together. Life seems to have overtaken us at the moment and also it has been so very hot here in Perth, we don't really feel like doing much at all.

So, what have we been up to. I was very sick for 12 days with a flu/virus and a cough is still hanging around, though isn't too bad. I don't like the air conditioning at work, so this is not helping. Rog was very good at trying to look after me but most people kept away as they didn't want to catch my dreadful virus. Roger kept very well, which was a relief!

We continue to do renovations to our little home. We had a brickie in to pull out the window and door to the laundry, brick it up, so that we can make it into a walk in pantry. We need to have it plastered and then painted. We then need to think about shelving! We also had the ineffective air conditioner removed from our bedroom wall and that needed to be brick up as well. We are slowly getting more furniture, but it all takes time and energy. The spare bedroom is starting to take shape but we still need to unpack boxes when we get our new kitchen in April. We did manage to have a new air conditioner installed on one of the hottest days in Perth! We ran it for 72 hours non stop!

As I update this blog we are having another heat wave with temps 35C/36C. Far too hot for this time of the year and NO RAIN. We haven't had a decent rain since we returned from Europe in September. The drought is very bad in Perth.

We enjoyed a lovely visit from our daughter Glenda for 4 days from 10 March. I don't think we have mentioned that we are becoming grandparents to not one but two babies. Glenda is pregnant with twins and will be born end July/early August. She is 19 weeks now and all is going very well for her. She is still teaching but gets very tired. The darling put together some Ikea furniture for us and also took Roger on a supermarket shop (in the wheelchair) for snack food that he might like. A huge success. Glenda has just sent me some lovely pictures but I don't know how to get them from the email to my blog. I need Rog to help me and he is currently away for a couple of days with Jocelyn in New Norcia.

I mustn't write too much or you won't have time to read it. So, more soon I promise!

Australia - a land of contrasts

2011-02-10T00:42:00.002+01:00

We are getting emails from friends worried about us here in Australia! So, I'd better update.

We are both well. We have been spending a lot of time getting quotes for this and that to do with our little home. My goodness it sure does take time to do all this, and also it is very tiring trying to co-ordinate all the comings and goings of tradespeople (and we're only getting quotes). It has been hot here in Perth, but we love the blue skies and warm weather. We sleep with a fan on each night as we can't have our bedroom window open. It's too noisy with the freeway (motorway) going past!!

We have both been devastated by the flooding in Queensland and then Cyclone Yasi. Our hearts have gone out to the many, many people affected by what has been going on. Then we have just had fires here in Perth in the suburbs of Kelmscott and Roleystone. The dreadful this is that the loss of over 70 homes could have been avoided. A man was using machinery that gave off sparks which started the fires! How tragic is that!

The fires were nowhere near us, but up in the surrounding hills east of Perth. Actually we were sitting having lunch down on the Canning River with our friends Julie and Richard Waterman who were visiting us for a few days from Cornwell, England (we knew them in Basel and Richard has now retired). Roger mentioned that he saw terrible smoke and we actually thought it was a lot closer than what it was.

We've had a lovely time with Richard and Julie, though to tell the truth, we get very tired these days with extra activities and I have to really pace myself, which is not always easy. We went on a lovely cruise on the Swan River down to Fremantle and back and then met for a picnic at Kings Park. Irene joined us which was great fun. Kings Park overlooks Perth and is quite beautiful. We took them swimming at Cottesloe Beach and it was perfect. I even managed to coax Roger into the water. Then we had fish and chips and watched the sun set over the ocean. They are now traveling down the south of Perth and having a wonderful time I hope.

More later. I must get myself ready for work. The big office move is tomorrow and it's all go!!

Dass Schnapps Trinken

2011-01-23T09:59:00.005+01:00

Just to wet your appetites!!

This has become a bit of a Roger and Amy tradition whenever they get together. So, on Christmas Eve when we were celebrating at Tim and Amy's, out came the schnapps and Roger and Amy enjoyed a drink together. They didn't have to worry about sharing the schnapps.

Here's to you!!

Up the teeth and over the gums, look out stomach, here it comes!!

You're on your own with this one guys. Looks say everything!!

Christmas Day

2011-01-16T07:46:00.001+01:00

All dressed up for Christmas Day 2010

Ready for the big feast (we dined outside)

Roger being presented with a Family Album put together by Glenda. A VERY emotional time for us both. It is just beautiful and a real credit to Glenda

Roger and I celebrated Christmas Day 2010 with our beautiful family at Glenda and Tom's in Nunawading. We began the day at ONE (the Church Glenda and Tom go to) as Glenda was singing in the band. Then home for drinks and nibbles before the rest of the family began to arrive. Glenda and Tom did an amazing job with the food which including prawns, turkey, ham, lamb cutlets and lots of lovely salads and vegetables. An incredible spread for us all to enjoy. 12 of us sat down at the table and here we all are:

l-r from back: Roger, Amy, David, Gaynor, Sue, Tom and Tim
seated: Anna, Glenda and Peach, Amy, Cheryl and Jocelyn

Here we are with David, Sue, Anna and Amy

Adventures over East

2011-01-15T02:14:00.004+01:00

Roger and I flew to Sydney at 23.45 on Wednesday 8 December. We didn't sleep on the uncomfortable plane so arrived rather tired on Thursday. What a blessing to be met by Roger's cousin Alan who kindly took care of us and drove us up to his home in Springwood with his wife Carolyn who had herself just returned from a visit overseas (good timing for us).

They lent us their car and we drove from Springwood (in the Blue Mountains near Sydney) to Wentworth Falls to visit Roger's Aunt Margaret.

We had 2 lovely days with Alan and Carolyn and then they drove us to Sydney for Aunt Jean's 90th Birthday celebrations on Sunday 12 December. We enjoyed catching up with all the extended family. It was a very emotional time for my darling. Dave and Sue (Roger's brother and his wife) then drove us up to Newcastle to spend a couple of nights with them until our adventure drive to Melbourne with them beginning Tuesday 14 December. We sure did have a great time together and have Dave to thank for wonderful, comfortable accommodation along the way. Just a couple of photo's for you to enjoy.

Our weekend in Hyden

2010-12-05T14:13:00.003+01:00

We had only been in our little home for a week when we drove to Hyden, 4 hours from Perth to spend the weekend on Cherith and Ken's farm. Cherith is my second sister. We had a wonderful time together. It was so peaceful and relaxing, though we were certainly introduced to the Perth flies whilst there. But they didn't worry us when we were inside the house.

On the Friday night we went into town to take part in a Hymn Fest. This is an annual event to celebrate the lives of 4 wonderful people who were great contributors to the community of Hyden. We had a great time singing and mixing it with the locals. And there's nothing quite like a country supper. Oh my goodness. Yum! Yum!

Whilst singing my little heart out I decided I would try and get my 4 lovely sisters together at this time each year to join in the fun. Jillian, Cherith, Irene and Brenda! We all used to sing together when we were teenagers. Jillian played the piano and Irene the guitar. If we got together for long enough we could even put on an item! You'll have to keep tuned in to see what actually happens next November!!!!!!!!!

Saturday night we had Cherith's amazing roast. My 2 nephews and partners were there as well. Then Sunday morning they arrived again to join in Uncle Ken's famous breakfast. Oh my goodness. What a cook up.

Ken in action. Just putting in the mushrooms.
He certainly had it all under control.

Country bacon. What more could you wish for! What an absolute treat.

Cherith's happy smiling face. She just had to do what
she was told and to hurry up about it!

After our very full breakfast we were treated to a ride into town in Ken's old Humber! Wow! What a beauty. Look at that chrome. We hardly know what chrome is these days. We were given a right royal tour of the town, finishing off with a Drumstick each. No, the dog (Sammy) wasn't allowed to come. Spot the legs!!

The country town of Hyden is famous for WAVE ROCK and that get hundreds of tourists a year coming to see the rock. Once you've seen it, you wouldn't come all this way to see it again. But we would certainly come again to visit my darling sister Cherith and my gorgeous brother in law Ken. What wonderful country hospitality we received. We didn't want to drive back to Perth Sunday afternoon, but the city beckoned unfortunately!

19 Cayley Street

2010-12-02T14:15:00.001+01:00

Gaynor and Mary 2 days after we moved into our little home.

Roger and Gaynor at the front door

Here's our little letter box. The poor front garden is some how surviving without being watered. I want to change it completely so I'm not doing anything in it. But I have to wait until end of February when the sun is not quite as hot!

Mary and Gaynor at the kitchen table with the famous
coffee machine in the background. We are hoping
to remodel the kitchen early in the New Year.

Dinner at the Beach

2010-11-30T13:55:00.000+01:00

Roger and I have just come back from the most delightful time at the beach with sister Irene. It has been so hot in Perth we decided it would be a good idea to go down the beach after work and have dinner. We called in to our Fish and Chip shop - closed on Tuesdays! So we bought Chinese and set up camp on the lawn at City Beach. Irene and I had our bathers on, but the wind had whipped up so we decided a swim was not a good idea (we will go tomorrow morning at 7am instead!). The photo above of Irene and Roger was not taken tonight but a couple of months ago when we had the same idea for tea at the beach with the family. It gives you the general idea of the fun we have.

We were intrigued to see all the activity that goes on at the beach. Here were 2 beach volley ball nets set up and training going on. It was fun to watch. Isn't this beach just so special. This is Cottesloe Beach, probably our favourite, but not as close to our home as City Beach which can be reached 15 minutes by car. I absolutely love the beach.

We're still in the land of the living ! !

2010-11-28T13:51:00.004+01:00

At last we have the internet connected at our new home and we are feeling a lot more civilized! How very frustrating it has been for us not being able to access the internet easily, especially after our amazing connection in Germany. Very spoilt we were. Even now we keep losing the connection. Unbelievable in this day and age!

Thank you for your patience as you have checked to see if I have updated! It's a wonder you haven't all given up, but I know you haven't as I have now checked my Cluster Map!!

We moved into our lovely 2 bedroom home on 5 November after having to move for 2 nights and stay with my sister Irene as Brenda's house was full for the weekend (great nephews baptism). This was rather traumatic for me I must say. Our house settled and actually became ours on 12 November on which day we took off to Hyden (4hrs drive East) to my sister Cherith's farm for the weekend. How wonderful that was for us both and we didn't really want to come home so soon.

Our home is in a very convenient location. We are 5km's from the city of Perth, 5 minutes from my sister Irene's home, 6 minutes from Church, 6 minutes from work, 300 metres from the train station and most importantly 15 minutes from the beach (the lovely Indian Ocean). I am starting to lose count of how many swims I have had, but I know Roger has only had one!! The last couple of Friday nights we have gone down after work and had Fish and Chips overlooking the ocean. How special is that? (especially when we hear Schopfheim and Basel has had snow and it is rather chilly)!!!

Things are coming into place for us, though we still have a bit of organizing to do. We are badly lacking in cupboard space so have stopped unpacking until we update the kitchen, which probably won't happen until February. But basically we are enjoying being in our own home and are very comfortable and happy. We have a cute little courtyard out the back and even have some lawn, which we feel is a luxury. I am now the proud owner of a lime tree and whilst pruning it yesterday I discovered 3 limes on it! The thorns are a bit much though. Why do lime trees have such nasty thorns? I don't know how I am going to be able to pick the fruit.

Well, this is just a brief update to get me started and I promise there will be more in the next couple of days.

We have had 2 days of 34C and it is going to be the same for the next couple of days. Not very nice really. We have had quite a few days over 35C. It's a bit early to be getting such temperatures, but we can usually sleep at night and that is the main thing.

Good News

2010-10-27T14:54:00.003+02:00

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

2010-10-17T15:29:00.003+02:00

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

2010-10-10T12:36:00.004+02:00

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!

2010-10-03T15:32:00.004+02:00

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.

Beginning week 3 in Perth

2010-09-29T03:48:00.003+02:00

Irene picked us up on Monday morning and we went down to Cottesloe Beach for a lovely walk and then a swim in the Indian Ocean. It wasn't really hot (about 24C) but after a walk I felt like a cool off. It was divine. The water is so cool and refreshing and you can feel it doing you good. If only I could swim every day (well, I'm not actually swimming, I'm doing little exercises and just enjoying being in the water with the waves washing over me). What a shame Roger doesn't enjoy swimming and water in general.

I had been carrying on about swimming to Irene so much she decided she would annoy me and swim on Sunday just to say she had started before me. What sort of a sister is that!! Oh, we are really going to enjoy each other company. It is going to be great.

After our swim we had a coffee and special raisin toast at Beaches Cafe then headed back to Irene and George's for a curry and just a few games of Chinese Checkers. Irene and I are CC's buddies with just a little competition thrown in. She is currently winning 4/1! Bit sad isn't it? But I will improve my game. We just love playing this game and each time we get together out comes the board.

We checked out another Church on Sunday morning. We loved the singing and the message, which was 'You must not stea' was pretty good as well. But why oh why don't Churches get their act together and learn how to make new people feel welcome and comfortable! Roger will get his choice of where to go this Sunday.

Roger washed Brenda's car yesterday after her visit to the farm this past weekend. It was very 'buggy'!!!! I planted some petunias in the front garden and I can see them growing already.

Roger is off to the GP again this afternoon. I am finding it hard having to do all the driving. I was always very happy to leave it to Roger in the past and only drive when I had to.

So, this is a little update for you and to let you know things are going okay.

A new beginning

2010-09-26T07:11:00.003+02:00

Roger and I arrived safely in Perth at 15.00 on Tuesday 13 September. We had a good flight though did not sleep. We caught up on a few movies instead!! It sure is good having your own personal screen.

My sister Irene picked us up from the Airport and drove us to my younger sister Brenda's home in Brentwood. A lamb roast was in the oven cooking away. How yummy for us. We had a good first nights sleep and a little sleep in, so didn't really experience jetlag.

Irene drove us to Roger's first GP appointment Wednesday afternoon. We were both upset, but the Doctor was wonderful and very understanding. We have made a good choice (made the appt from Germany!). Irene took us for a nice coffee and to have a wee peek at the unit we will be staying in for 3 months from beginning of November.

In the evening of drove Brenda's Honda CRV for the first time. Brenda had a knee replacement about 7 weeks ago so is unable to drive at the moment. It was good to have her sitting beside me and she gave me a lot of confidence. It wasn't really a problem driving.

Thursday Irene picked us up and we visited the Neurologist. He has a few ALS patients and it was good to chat with him about things. It also helped to have Irene with us. He will start the ball rolling for Roger to have ongoing help, but this will take a while to get into the system.

The first few days we were feeling very lonely and missing our wonderful friends in Schopfheim and Basel. It is such an empty feeling to go having so many friends and finding it hard to catch up with them all, to no friends. If only we could have brought them all with us! We had a bad day last Monday but have kept things in balance since then.

The good news is that Roger has bought a City Bike (European name - he is going to start a new trend!!!) and is now enjoying the freedom this brings him. He has had a nice big wire basket installed on the back so that he can be useful and go shopping for us all!! He will have to leave his bicycle helmet on though as he finds it hard to put it on and take it off. His new bike is a soft light blue and helmet to match! We are not sure how long Roger will be able to ride the bike for, but I personally am very pleased we have bought the bike straight away so that Roger gets maximum use of it whilst he can. When he can't ride it any more, then it will be my turn (ho hum!!). Sorry I can't show you a picture of the lovely bike. You will have to wait until November when we can access the internet more readily and download our piccies. So, be patient.

We went to Church this morning and Roger wanted to drive. And now we both know he can't drive anymore and this makes us feel very sad. It is sad to see Roger losing so many things. It is actually breaking my heart. It means I am having to pick up a lot more things that Roger was always willing and able to do. So many adjustments are having to be made all the time and this will continue into the future.

At the moment we are both in good spirits and really we do have so much to be thankful for. Staying with Brenda is a real treat. She has such a lovely home that she moved into on 16 August. We are very comfortable here and she is spoiling us. The weather in Perth has been amazing. Rather cold in the morning and evening and beautiful and sunny during the day with temperatures between 22 - 28C. I would love to go for a swim, but my swimming pal (Irene) said it is still too cold for her. But maybe I can convince her soon.

I will try and blog regularly to keep you all up to date with our happenings. It's not going to be as exciting as being in Europe though, but I'll see what I can do!!

Goodbye Schopfheim and Basel

2010-09-06T19:12:00.005+02:00

What a few weeks it has been for us both as we have met with wonderful friends to say our goodbyes from this beautiful place.

This picture was taken by Brigitta who did a great job taking photos at our farewell afternoon tea yesterday in Basel. We are standing in the window of our friends apartment. What a view!!

We had such a special afternoon with about 60 of our friends. It was perfect as far as we were concerned, though quite a few tears shed. We are exceedingly blessed to have so many great friends who have loved, encouraged and helped us along our way whilst we have been here. Each one is so special to us and adds something to our lives. We are certainly going to miss them.

We have had some lovely emails from people and we do feel encouraged and loved so much. But I think the email that has touched me and caused me to really think about what lies ahead and how to go ahead was this "all the best to you both in these times of letting go". Good advice don't you think?

So, a new chapter in our lives is about to begin. At present we are both very tired but indeed happy. It will be good to see family again (though have to wait patiently until October to see Tim and Amy and then our other children at Christmas). But who knows?!!

We are helping each other to get through these last days. Rog might only have one arm/hand that is good, but boy can he do things! He has helped and encouraged me so much in these days when I feel emotional under charged! We have laughed a lot about many things and done our fair share of crying (as you can imagine).

We leave Schopfheim and our beautiful home and friends here and will be taken into Basel by dear friend Dave who will pick us up Thursday afternoon 9 September. We will stay with friends for 3 nights then get the train from Basel to Frankfurt where we will stay overnight. So, it will be quite a trip, but I feel this is the best way of doing a long trip.

Stay tuned to read how we are getting on and setting in to beautiful Perth.

Our visit to the Basel Zoo

2010-09-01T21:48:00.003+02:00

Roger and I were pretty happy that all the animals in the Zoo were active and not sleeping after a yummy lunch!!!

We were most impressed with the way the Basel Zoo was set out in lovely grounds. The monkeys have been relocated whilst their home is being upgraded. I think this is going to take a while.

Although the weather wasn't warm and it looked like it was going to rain, we were able to enjoy a good walk around and were glad we had made the effort to go. We've been here 4 1/2 years and we haven't been to the Zoo. Not good!

FAREWELL TO OUR GORGEOUS BOYS

2010-08-31T09:51:00.007+02:00

So, here is the 'family photo'!!! Kevin very kindly sent me a copy from his camera. Aren't we happy? Aren't we gorgeous??!! MY BOYS ! ! !

Kevin has had our Formal Farewell Dinner on the calendar for about 5 months! Kevin and Mark certainly pulled out all the stops to make it the most wonderful, memorable evening and we had such a delightful time with them both and Judy and David. The picture of the 4 of us didn't turn out so I am going to have to get Kevin to send it to us and maybe I can post it later.

Below is our delicious meal beginning with cream of parsnip and leek soup. I think the rest is self explanatory and I am scared of explaining them all in case I get it wrong. The sorbet is mandarine! Oh my goodness, what a meal.

Day out with Bernhard and Lorraine

2010-08-26T06:45:00.007+02:00

Roger and I had a very special day out with lovely friends Bernhard and Lorraine the other Saturday. Bernhard drove us about an hour from Basel, Switzerland. They treated us to a lovely boat ride on Bielesee (Lake Biel) and we ended up on a little island called Erlauch. Above is the boat we travelled to get there.

Just some of the beautiful scenery on the island. Such a cute small Swiss Village.

Ah, those mobile phones. Such a nuisance! I think Roger is
going to give his to Lorraine!

We walked an hour to this rather excluded restaurant and had a very delicious lunch of fish and then yummy dessert - as you can see.

By the time we were ready to go home it had begun to rain and become quite closed in! But we had such a precious time with Bernhard and Lorraine. We have such treasured memories of special times together 'chewing the fat'. They have loved and supported us here over the past 4.5 years and we are going to miss their company and stimulating conversation.

Another chapter is about to begin............

GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS WEEK

2010-08-21T20:52:00.002+02:00

I am going to copy my blogging friend Pat's heading! Thanks Pat. Love you. xx

* Special dinner with our lovely Swiss friends here on Monday night

* Getting the top of the kitchen cupboards cleaned (yes, this was a good thing!)

* Having a delightful dinner on Tuesday night with special German friends. Being picked up and brought home again without having to worry about train timetables (and missing the last train!)

* Baking on Wednesday. I love baking. I made an Apricot Cake and Oatmeal (Anzac) biscuits. Of course we don't eat them. I give them away! If Roger is lucky he can grab a couple before they go out the door.

* Wednesday night we had dinner with another German couple. They live up in the mountains near our place, about 40 minutes drive from Schopfheim. Marianne is one of my 'Girls' Night' ladies but is such a treasure to me. It was rather an exhausting night for me as we had deep and meaningful conversation! They had their heater on as it was so cold there and we had fog on the way home!

* On a mission to find black Linen trousers, but I've left my run too late! (this really isn't a good thing!)

* My lovely Hooks & Needles ladies on a Thursday afternoon in Basel. I LOVE THIS GROUP.

* Centrepoint Basel morning tea and lots of hugs. I love hugs.

* Dinner at Gasthaus Sonne in Schopfheim with gorgeous, entertaining, funny, lovely US friends. Time went all too quickly and they just managed to get on the train before it pulled out of the station!!! Phew, that was close.

* So now it's Saturday and we are pleasantly tired. We have been to the annual Centrepoint BBQ and then to a friends community garden for afternoon tea.

* GOD IS GOOD

* Roger and I love each other very much

I'M BACK ! ! !

2010-08-13T20:12:00.006+02:00

Oh dear, I really must try and redeem myself! I can hardly believe it is so long since I have posted on my blog and I am feeling rather ashamed. I know I have some faithful followers and I am going to try and reform.

So, what have I been up to since my last post back in June. The usual things, catching up with friends, dinners here in our beautiful little home, lots of walking, activities at Centrepoint and of course JULY WITH JOCELYN! What a treat that was, but I must say she fairly worn us both out.

Roger and Jocelyn met at Frankfurt Airport on Friday 2 July and travelled by train to Dresden for a little time together. This gave me a chance to have some "Gaynor time", which meant enjoying my own company. I loved it and realized how important this is going to be for me in the future. I really didn't do much of anything.

Roger and Jocelyn arrived back in Schopfheim on Wed. 7 July and we had happy days together doing lots of catching up and fun things together.

We travelled to Rome on Easy Jet on 15 July and spent 5 very hot days there. I was able to book our flights in February so got a really good deal. I also managed to find a good hotel close to the railway station that wasn't going to cost us too much money.

We arrived home late on a Tuesday night, had 2 days to wash, etc and then caught the TGV (French Fast Train) to Paris - just over 3 hours from Basel, so not a bad trip!! We stayed with lovely friends Keith and Deborah (though Deborah wasn't there this time) and again saw many of the sights of Paris. I just love this city and its people. I could have stayed a few more days. It was also wonderful to catch up with Keith again and he was an amazing host. We felt very spoilt all the time.

Then it was home to spend 2 last days with Jocelyn before she flew back to Melbourne.

Jocelyn left on 31 July and it was PACK PACK PACK!! We both felt exhausted before we started, so you can imagine how we felt after a couple of days. Not good. But we got it all done in 4 days and then waited and waited for the boxes to be picked up. They left our home only last Monday 9 August and we are now trying to get back into a good routine to enjoy the last month here in beautiful Schopfheim, our home, visiting our friends and doing all sorts of lovely things.

Remember we are living in a fully furnished little home so we can continue to live here very comfortably. We plan to move out on 9 September and will stay with friends in Basel for 3 nights until we take the train to Frankfurt on Sunday afternoon 12 September and stay there overnight.

We have our good days and bad days. Roger's ALS is progressing but we are continuing to try and be upbeat and positive. Not always easy, but it's the best way to be. Roger has done amazingly well through all the packing and the emotional stress. We will sit back now and enjoy the following weeks.

END OF CYCLE TOUR CELEBRATIONS

2010-06-24T21:06:00.002+02:00

So, here we are at the end of our cycle tour in the lovely city of Angers where we finished up. We decided to shout ourselves to a drink in a rather 'young' bar before heading off for dinner together. We are all smiles, but you can be sure we were all rather exhausted!! To make matter worse, both Roger and Jayne had rather bad hayfever. Jayne was not happy having to wear her glasses. I do hope she never sees these photo's or I am not going to be very popular. She doesn't like being seen with her glasses on!! Ah, what fun we had.

We then moved on to a delightful restaurant that had been recommended
by the Hotel where we were staying. Angela shouted a bottle of champagne,
which we all enjoyed very much. I had the biggest steak you could
imagine and couldn't eat most of it!!

Here's to good friends and a great tour.

I wonder when the next one will be and where!!!!!! (ONLY JOKING)

LOIRE VALLEY CYCLE TOUR MAY 2010

2010-06-22T19:55:00.004+02:00

At last we have some photo's to share with you of our cycling tour we did beginning 25 May. There are many photo's so I have just chosen a few people shots!! It is bringing back many happy memories (especially now that the pain has gone!!!!). I will also upload a heap to Facebook for you to see.

The first day when we set off from Tours, France. All fresh and happy!! Here is Joshua and Jayne ready to peddle out!

Roger and Gaynor showing off their tandem.

Jayne took this photo of us in action!!

Taking a breather by the lake

Jayne showing off some of the beautiful countryside

NOT HAPPY!! We have come to the end of the road and there is no way across apart from a barge which is locked up on the other side of the river!! This caused us quite some angst!!

The boys needed this drink!!

Uncle and nephew enjoying some time together!!

Exhibition and World Knitting Day (12 June)

2010-06-13T15:19:00.000+02:00

2010-06-13T15:18:00.000+02:00

2010-06-13T15:16:00.000+02:00

HOOKS & NEEDLES OPENING EXHIBITION JUNE 2010

2010-06-13T15:07:00.001+02:00

Last Wednesday was the Opening Night for our Hooks and Needles Exhibition at Centrepoint in Basel. A few of us gathered on Tuesday to put up our masterpieces with the wonderful inspiration and help of Jane, the Artwall Manager.

Then for me it was home to cook some delicacies for opening night. Here are some pictures of a memorable evening.

I'm just having some problems with uploading photo's and it is VERY frustrating. Bear with me please and you will see quite a few, but I think I am going to have to do them in separate posts. Grrrrrrr!!!!

Another Birthday Celebration

2010-05-21T22:38:00.001+02:00

We have just come from Centrepoint where we had a party to say farewell to Anne. BUT, Roger almost stole the show again!! Not that it was his fault, mind you. Stewart and Katja presented him with this gigantic Anzac Biscuit for his Birthday and sang 'Happy Birthday', etc. We didn't have the camera with us, so had to take a photo when we came home!!

What a Birthday WEEK he has had.

Yes Carole, in Australia we celebrate our Birthday all week.

But you know we are not in Australia!!

Roger's Birthday

2010-05-20T20:32:00.002+02:00

Roger celebrated his birthday in style yesterday. He woke up to cards from friends, a parcel from Cheryl, spoiling over breakfast by moi and then a ride in a Mercedes extra large stretch limo (bus) to Kandern where we met friends who took us on an hours car ride to the lovely little village of Riquewihr in France (we're in love with this quaint very old village). We arrived and immediately had lunch then a walk around the village, into the shops and a stop for coffee/hot chocolate as well. We eventually arrived home around 8.00pm to many messages on the phone and lots of Facebook messages!!

A very special day indeed for us both. We just shake our heads and say to each other "how blessed are we".

The cake is a Lumberjack Cake which I baked for the Hiking Group from Basel that came to lunch on Monday. We led the walk from Maulburg to Schopfheim, about 2.5 hours (our usual one we lead) and afterwards there were 11 of us for lunch - zucchini and chicken and leek soup (yes, most had to try both), lovely olive and garlic bread, I made Honey Joys and the Cake. We finished a lovely time together with Roger's special coffee's for those who requested them, tea and chocolate.

Thanks to friend Louise for the collage photo. She's a whiz.

Celebrating our 34th Honeymoon

2010-05-12T21:12:00.007+02:00

We feel very spoiled that some dear German friends paid for us to have a 3 day trip into the Swiss Alps last Monday till Wednesday. We left home at 9.35 and arrived at our destination in Chur around 13.30. We immediately changed trains and went on a trip to Davos. On the weekend prior to our visit there had been a snow fall, so it was very pretty, but rather cold! Also it was raining every now and then. We stayed 2 nights in Chur at the Stern Hotel and were treated to a Superior Room, red wine, fruit and chocies! Yum. Also a lovely note from our friends. We were a little disappointed that we didn't have time to explore Chur because we were too busy riding the trains!

On Tuesday we wanted to take a day trip to Tirano (10 hours turn around), but the weather was not good so we decided to go as far as Pontresina, find somewhere for lunch and then get an early train back to Chur. As it was we left at 9am and didn't get back until 18.30! A huge day for us both.

Wednesday we went on the best trip, an hour from Chur to Aroso. W O W ! ! ! The scenery was spectacular even though the weather wasn't good. When we got to the top we could see the beautiful lake and Alps, but by the time we left, 1/2 hour later, it was all clouded over and raining. It was a shame we didn't get to see any wildlife. One of the conductors told us you often see wild animals close to the train on this route. We got back to Chur and then took the train to Disentis/Muster. A nice trip, but not the best we had done.

We arrived home Wednesday trained out and very tired!! Wanna see some photo's?!!!

One of the many viaducts we went over

Amazing to think people live here. Would love to go back to this little village. It has the cutest restaurant right on the river. We kept passing it on our many trips. The village is called Tiefencastel,

Look at that wood pile. They always look so neat!

It has given me a real taste to want to see more, but that is not going to happen any time soon!!

E N J O Y

OUR TUESDAY 11 MAY

2010-05-11T19:37:00.003+02:00

We've been out all day today. Firstly we headed into Basel to celebrate Lily's 2nd Birthday. Lily was born at 500gm so she really is a little miracle. What a lovely time we had seeing her and catching up with lots of our other friends at a Cafe in Basel.

Then we headed by bus across the border to France. While waiting at the bus stop we watched a lady be most helpful to a young lady with a pram. Very special. We had to visit the Railway Station in St Louis to change all our internet train tickets for REAL train tickets. This was done with the minimum of fuss by a very efficient employee of SNCF. We then visited the Post Office. Now remember, neither of us speak French, so it's always interesting to visit the Post Office. We wanted 20 .85c stamps!! To complicate matters, I asked for 'pretty ones'!! Although the man didn't speak English, he knew exactly what I meant. He only had 6 pretty ones so off he went to find some more! Some of you might benefit from this little visit by receiving pretty French stamps on one of my letters!! These little incidents always give us warm fuzzies inside as we think of kind people.

Whilst in France I just had to buy Self Raising Flour and real brown sugar!!

Then we headed off to the movies to see 'The Blind Side'. Roger was given 2 movies tickets for his Birthday last year, so they were able to expire!! There wasn't a lot of choice. We really want to see 'Invictus' one of these days. It's just about finished at the theatres in Basel but is on at 11.00 on Sunday's!! Not a good time for us.

The movie was great. Sandra Bullock sure is a star. It started to absolutely bucket down just as we arrived at the theatre, so we were glad to be safe inside!! A great way to spend an afternoon.

Then it was home safe and sound and feeling rather tired from a lovely day out. Tomorrow I really must get some serious work done before we celebrate Ascension Day holiday on Thursday. Hopefully it won't be raining and I can get a bike ride in as well. Also need to do some baking to take to friends. Fun, fun, fun!!

BIKE RIDING

2010-04-27T13:56:00.003+02:00

Gaynor is on a 'mission'!! I don't think I've mentioned on my blog (for fear of raging jealousy) that Roger and I have planned a cycling tour of the Loire Valley in France. Here's the link if you want to have a peek! May I just say that this adventure has been on the top of our 'bucket list' and it seems unbelievable that it is only just over 3 weeks away. We leave by train for Paris on 22 May and on the 23 May we meet up with Joshua and Jayne (Roger's nephew from Sydney and his wife) and we will travel to Tours together. We are VERY excited, as you can imagine. We have organized a tandem, so I might even be able to get away with less leg action - oops, don't tell Roger!

http://www.cycletours.com/bedbike/france-spain-greece_along-loire_86.php

As you can imagine, one can't just go on a cycling tour without some physical preparation! I have never really enjoyed bike riding. Roger LOVES cycling and almost lives on the bike. What I am getting to is that I am particularly proud of myself at the moment. Yesterday and today I have been on a 10km bike ride and it has felt great. Bottom is a bit sore, but could be worse!! The idea is that I try and do this at least 5 days in the week until we go on the tour. Then I just might pension my bike off!!

Here are some highlights of my bike riding in the last couple of days:

Traffic stopped as I crossed the intersection near our home (embarrassing!)
Gentle climb going out of town along the Weisse River but nothing I couldn't handle
Saying 'Guten Tag' to everyone I passed!
The eagles soaring overhead near the golf course
Bike path fantastic so no cars to worry me once I got on it
Coming home a nice tail wind and slope to help me make it back
A very good feeling that I can actually do it all by myself without Rog!!!!!

Sorry, no pictures as I was too busy cycling. Besides, I don't exactly look a million dollars when I get on the bike! A bonus is that this is helping to get rid of my 'winter warmth' in a nice kind of way (plus being very careful what I am eating for a couple of weeks). So far so good.

Filling our days

2010-04-22T18:46:00.000+02:00

Spring has arrived and we can't get the smiles off our faces!! Gone are the heavy coats, scarves, hats, gloves, socks, etc!! Even the heating has (just about) been turned off!! The trees are getting lovely new green leaves, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom and the tulips are bursting forth. We have so much to smile about.

Although life for us has had a big turn around with Roger's ALS, we are trying to remain positive and are doing pretty well. No one wants to see a long face, or to see misery, least of all us! The friends that surround us here in Schopfheim and Basel have been incredibly supportive and helpful as we face the uncertain future. But we all need to realize that we only have one day to live, and live it we must, to the very best of our ability. Our faith in God and trusting him for each day is the highest priority for us.

So, here we are having just climbed a rather tough 'hill' at the back of our home in Schopfheim, but the view is worth it, as you can see. We were with new friends Alan and Sandra, Fabiano and Debora. We were rewarded at the top with various drinks all round. I settled for champagne (!!) and Roger for a large glass of beer. Then we were ready for the walk down the hill.

EASTER ESCAPE WITH RUTH and ANDREAS

2010-04-20T18:53:00.004+02:00

I have no excuse for not uploading these photo's sooner and putting them on my blog. I have had gentle reminders from several quarters about my lack of blogging these past couple of weeks. I'm not liking the computer very much at the moment! That's the only excuse I can give.

Roger and I travelled to a little village called Huels where our lovely friends Ruth and Andreas live. We left on the Wednesday before Easter so that we could get cheap rail fares. We had a wonderful trip up (just love train travel - I'm always saying this), taking about 6 hours and a great week with our friends. We did all sorts of lovely things together, but most of all relaxing and lots of talking. Here are just a few pictures of our trip.

A small castle where we had afternoon tea whilst visiting Essen

Andreas loves to photograph old trees, so we had to get in the act as well!

It has been an Easter tradition that we have Easter Day lunch at Maria Karsten's home. We come away very well fed and not needing to eat for the rest of the day.

l-r Phillip, Stefi and Jan tucking in!!

Easter Monday we visited Cologne - a very beautiful city

We had a good walk around on a very pleasant Monday. Lots of people around
because the weather was so nice.

My week from 22 March

2010-03-25T18:33:00.002+01:00

I said I would let you see my lovely miniature daffodil open up and bloom. I have loved this process and it is giving me great delight. I'm not the best photographer, but I'm sure you will enjoy these pictures anyway. Most of the blooms are double (amazing) and I have one that is a triple. I tried to capture it but didn't succeed and I haven't Roger here to help me and tell me how silly I am that I don't even know how to use a digital camera. I have so much to learn that I have happily left to Roger. Sometimes it quite overwhelms me.

We had our first Skype conversation ever with Tim, Jocelyn and Glenda all together. What a good idea this was, and will be, in the future. A good start to our week Monday morning.

We have had the most beautiful weather this week and have been for a couple of lovely walks. Sunny days mean happy people and I have enjoyed being out and about doing little jobs around Schopfheim and being welcomed most enthusiastically in conversation.

I called in to see Stefanie who I bought my new MBT shoes from. They have been giving me blisters so I needed to find out what I was doing wrong. She was wonderful and helped me to solve the problem (I hope). I also bought a backpack (rather bright green) which was on special. I need one when I go hiking and also I was thinking of our cycling tour coming up in May when I would need to carry water, etc (stay tuned for that one, more details to come).

I have discovered these very comfortable crochet hooks, so I went back to the wool store in Schopfheim to buy another one. I am currently working on a little project for Jocelyn for winter and I am getting much enjoyment from this. Quite a challenge, but nothing I can't manage when I put my mind to it.

I had my hair cut this morning and had a delightful talk with my hairdresser Antje, who I am going to miss very, very much when we return to Australia. I gave her a hug whether she liked it or not!! On the way home I saw Stefanie having a coffee outside in the sun, so we again shared greetings. I love the way the German's shake your hand in greeting and are so enthusiastic when they see you.

We had dear Swiss friends for dinner on Monday night. Christine ordered Pie and Sticky Date Pudding. So I made my darling Jocelyn's favourite, Strasbourg Sausage Roll and it went down a treat. Christine gave me the most beautiful bunch of mixed tulips which are doing swimmingly in the entrance hall of our little home. The last few days we have not had the heater on and it has been such a pleasant change. But I don't think the cold weather is over and we will be in for some rain again this weekend.

Wednesday night we had our beloved young men from our FeG Church in Loerrach. I made an Aussie Shepherd's Pie and we had left over sticky date pudding (cheating)!! Reuben and Matthias took all Roger's theology books (5 big boxes of them). Although these guys are German, they were thrilled to bits to receive these precious books. We loved having Matthias, (2 Matthias' came to dinner) who has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, in our home again. He lives in an institution so we love feeding him home cooked food and he appreciates it very much. Johnny also joined us but had to leave early to go to work.

Today I had German conversation with Kevin and Christine (teacher) and then Hooks and Needles, which I absolutely love, but didn't do anything but talk! Hope to make up for it tonight as Rog is at Men Modelling and won't be home till late.

So, aren't I the happy one!

Special moments

2010-03-20T16:26:00.001+01:00

There are daffodils aplenty sprouting all over the place at the moment and what colour they are bringing after a rather drab winter! We went from sleet on Monday to 17C on Thursday! Our poor bodies can hardly cope with the change. It is amazing how quickly gardens come alive at this time of year.

Roger and I have had a tough week but we have been loved and supported by our family and friends. When I arrived at my Hooks and Needles group on Thursday afternoon a dear friend handed me a parcel all beautiful wrapped up. Inside was this pot of sprouting daffodils and I hope to be able to share its progress with you. Also inside the parcel was this little prayer of serenity:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.

A timely reminder to me to take each day at a time, to know how much my Heavenly Father loves me and cares for me. I just wish my emotions were a little more consistent and not all over the place.

Roger's speaking was badly affected on Thursday but is okay now. This is seeming to be the pattern for the progression of ALS in Roger.

We have just returned from a lovely walk this Saturday, up the hill and past the horse stables. (Our favourite walk which we are going to miss VERY much). We went right up the hill, with a few breath breaks (!!) so covered about 5 km's and we arrived home just before the rain. So, now I blog as I drink my cup of Lady Grey Tea!

Men Modelling

2010-03-16T09:22:00.002+01:00

Here is the project that Roger and the guys (Stewart, Curt, Bob, David, Evangelino) have been working on for many months at the English speaking club 'Centrepoint' in Basel. I would have given up long ago!!

Curt's wife (they are from Denmark) has made the sails beautifully so I will have to blog another photo of the finished product in the coming weeks! I wonder what they are going to do next!

Brigitta took this photo last Thursday night (11 March) and made the comment:

"Good looking guys. You should model!"

I thought it was very cute!

ROGER'S MODEL RAIL LAYOUT

2010-03-06T18:23:00.006+01:00

So, here are the adventures of Roger over the past weeks (?months). You are looking at one happy chappy!!!! I can tell you, he can't take the smile off his face! So, he's just arrived home exhausted. I will put a beer in his hand and place a lovely Thai dip on the table. I think if he settles in front of the TV and starts to relax he will fall asleep. It's been quite a week.

Last Saturday Stewart (Aussie) and Curt and Louise (Danish) came out for the day and did a lot of work on the model rail layout. Talk about amazing transformation. Then on Tuesday Stewart came out again for the day and did a lot of work Roger is not able to do because it requires 2 hands. On Thursday Bob (American) came out and did all sorts of things!!! Then the boys - Rog, Stu and Bob went out for dinner then came back and worked on the layout until 11.30pm!!

This weekend Roger is displaying his model rail layout - N gauge, Japanese layout - at the FES (School) in Stetten, near Loerrach, Germany. There are many displays but of course Rog is pretty chuffed and thinks his is the best!

So, here are some photo's you have all been holding out for!!!!!

What did I tell you about this grin?

Wils, Louise, Curt and Stryker-Ann

Paul taking a video (he transported the layout for Rog)

Bob on Thursday

HOOKS and NEEDLES

2010-03-03T11:09:00.004+01:00

I'd love to share some photo's of the Hooks and Needles group at Centrepoint in Basel. We meet every Thursday afternoon 14:00 - 16:00 and the time goes very quickly. We have such a great time together and a lovely group of ladies. We've even had one young man in the group and that was a pleasant surprise. Now we have Zac, who is 10 years old and comes with his Mum. He answers the door, makes coffee, does the dishes and is generally very helpful (it's rather touching actually - he fits right in).

Here some of us are showing off our creations! We have new ladies joining the group each week.

BOYD, STEVE and THE TEN TENORS

2010-02-17T23:46:00.002+01:00

WOW!! What an awesome couple of days Roger and I have had. Boyd and Steve from The Ten Tenors (an Australian group) came to our home in Schopfheim yesterday. We took the boys on a walk up the hill from our place (we all needed to blow cobwebs away). It was a lovely sunny day, but as you can see from the photo, freezing cold! We then brought them back to our place for cheese, pate, beer, relaxing in our home, watching the Olympics and a good old Aussie Roast followed by Butterscotch Self-Saucing Pudding. What a treat for them as well as us. We put them on the train back to Loerrach at 21:45.

The Ten Tenor's Concert was tonight in Loerrach. They have another one tomorrow night. Boyd was able to get us 6 tickets so we invited very special friends to share the evening with us. It was the most wonderful concert entitled "The Power of Ten". We were thoroughly entertained and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Thank you Boyd and Steve. What great guys.

Up the hill and looking back to Schopfheim - Roger, Boyd and Gaynor

Steve, Roger and Boyd

You guessed it. Here we are all dolled up with the boys after the Concert

Carla and Johanna with Steve and Boyd

Stephen, Barbara, Roger and Gaynor after the Concert

MY COUSIN - MS ELIZABETH BENNETT ! ! !

2010-02-10T15:58:00.005+01:00

Did I really have a 24 hour visit from my cousin Liz a few weeks back? I keep asking myself this question, as I am sure it was a figment of my imagination. But no, there are photo's to prove she was actually here in our little home in Schopfheim.

Liz had a whirlwind tour of various places in the world (as crazy Aussies do in the European winter). I was lucky enough to be on one of her destinations this time, even if it was only overnight. It was absolutely wonderful to see Liz and we talked and talked and talked. It was a bit sad saying goodbye actually. Liz lives just outside of Canberra, NSW in a gorgeous home she has been renovating for as long as she's been there! I think she's almost finished. My darling cousin.

All kitted up and ready to head out the door.

Rather Liz carry the luggage on her back than me!

Off to the train station with my darling as an escort! Rog was meeting a friend in
Basel and bringing him back to Schopfheim! Never a dull moment around here!

FRANCOISE'S 50TH PARTY IN FRANCE

2010-02-04T17:22:00.004+01:00

We were invited to Francoise's 50th Birthday party. Roger helped her design her invitations and had a lot of fun doing it. Francoise had found this special little Bistro 2 villages from her place and we had such a special night with her friends celebrating this special occasion. We travelled into Basel by train and then Kevin and Mark drove us to Biederthal. Francoise organized a B & B in her village Leyman so we didn't have to worry about leaving early to catch the tram. It would have been quite impossible actually. As it was, we didn't get to bed until 1am!!

Francoise looked stunning in purple. She requested that her guests wear some purple.
Here she is cutting her lovely Birthday cake.

Gracie (from Crossroads), Mark and Kevin

Gaynor speaking with Francoise's brother Michel and wife Caroline

Francoise with friends

Friends from Crossroads

Francoise's husband Uli and his 2 brothers

Aussies loving the snow ! ! !

2010-02-02T18:56:00.004+01:00

This is certainly the snowest winter we have had since we've been in Schopfheim. The last few days have been white and beautiful and now the roads are just starting to get slushy and hard to walk on. But we have managed to do the shopping and get in supplies we need, so all we have to do is walk to and from the Bahnhof (station) to catch the Zug (train) into Base in the coming daysl!!

Putting my darling to work!! Roger has found the metal dust pan is the best way to shovel the snow off the steps and get rid of the ice around the front gate! He wears a glove on his 'bad' hand as it gets too cold. But doesn't he look the picture of health? He is actually. I can tell you he's eating like a horse this winter.

Looking down Gartenstrasse (our street) with our neighbour Heinz
hard at work. There is much more snow around now (photo taken on
Saturday and it snowed round the clock till Sunday afternoon).

Taken outside our front door looking towards the railway

line and the way we walk to the station.

Neighbours at the back. Such a lovely picture and it still looks like this.
We always marvel at the beauty of the snow and how
different it is living with 'white'!!

GIRL'S NIGHT - FRIDAY 29 JANUARY 2010

2010-01-31T09:39:00.004+01:00

Carla and Gaynor just before eating. I met Carla at a Ladies Day back in 2006. She lives here in Schopfheim and we often meet in the street or on the train. She's a lovely friend and we have meals with her here or try and catch up for coffee whenever we can.

I met Johanna through the German Church we go to in Loerrach. When we first arrived Johanna, Erik and Juro took us to Church in their car each Sunday. They have been such great friends to us, always looking out for us, inviting us for meals, playing games together, walking.

We had been here 2 months when we went to a local pub for English chatting (and to see who was there). Marianne was at the pub as she was wanting to improve her English. We instantly had a connection - and the rest is history. I absolutely adore her and love spending time together whenever we get the opportunity. Marianne lives up in the mountains about 35 min. from our place and she is a teacher. We are the same age!!

We met Anke and her South African husband Francois through our Mosaic website actually. They moved from England and eventually have settled in Schopfheim.

This post is purely for me really! I am going to cherish my Girl's Nights held here in our home in Schopfheim. If I'm lucky I will have 7 more! Carla has told me I must have one everyone month until we head back to Australia. Carla made a yummy chicken dish, Marianne brought the most delicious salad, Anke brought dessert, I made rice and Johanna brought wine! We always have such good laughs together and this time we were googling together and being rather silly!! We watched clips of Susan Boyle, The Ten Tenors, Kevin Costner (trying to sing) and Oettinger trying to speak English. We were in fits of laughter.

We decided we had to celebrate our birthdays in the months we have left. Carla's is in October so I told her she could have February or May!!

So, you can imagine, when I wanted to get a good group photo of my 4 girls, they just weren't co-operating. I've decided to post the 4 photo's just to teach them a lesson!!! I just love these ladies and am trying not to think about life without them. It's hard.

Johanna, Marianne, Carla and Anke

PS Just to let you know Roger wasn't out in the cold while I was having fun with the girls. He met a friend from Basel in one of our lovely local Gasthauses and they thoroughly enjoyed being entertained by a lively band. They had a great time together!! Roger did have to help me with the dishes Saturday morning!!

Boxing Day walk

2010-01-30T12:58:00.003+01:00

We awoke to the most glorious sunny but bitter cold day on 26 December 2010. Having eaten so much the day before we thought it a good idea to go for a 8 km hike up the hill just at the back of our place. It sure is up, up, up and a good test of our fitness. But we made it without too much trouble and it was worth the effort as the views are spectacular. We knew we'd be able to see the Swiss Alps from the top. We climbed Hohe Flum for a better view (a tower right at the top of the hill and no mean feat for me as I don't like ricketty, wooden stairs at all). But I was determined to do it, just for the view. There were so many people out and about enjoying the sunshine and the exercise.

The Swiss Alps (you can just see them) from Hohe Flum

A view of Schopfheim. We never tire of this beautiful view

Yes, there was a little snow on the hills in the distance!

Christmas Day - back tracking!!

2010-01-30T12:36:00.006+01:00

I have so many photo's I want to share with my family and friends the best place is here on my blog. Apologies that I haven't blogged for such a long time. Life seems to have taken a dramatic turn for us and sometimes I find it hard to write, especially when I'm not feeling very happy.

Christmas Day was spent with good friends who came from Basel and France. We ate so much food and had so many laughs it was a great day and eventually ended with goodbyes at 10pm. We didn't have snow on the day, so I still can't say I've had a white Christmas. Oh well!!

Around the table - Gaynor, Uli, Mark, Francoise, Kevin and Ilona

Uli and Francoise

Mark and Kevin

Here we all are with the salmon!

Ilona and Gaynor

Mark was insisting the salt grinder wasn't working!!

The flaming Christmas Pudding made by Kevin. Very, very yummy! Very, very filling!!

HIKING - Maulburg to Schopfheim

2009-11-25T20:45:00.008+01:00

We led a hike the other Monday, meeting the group at Maulburg, 2 stations from our place. Unfortunately it was a rainy morning, but it didn't deter the 19 of us that met for the walk. Promised at the end......soup and cake! I made a yummy vegetable and red lentil soup (with coconut milk added) and a Mulligatawny soup, rather spicy but everyone seemed to enjoy it. We had garlic bread and also Weisental Brot! I made a very large Apple cake for dessert, which we had with cream. In the end there were 21 of us for lunch!
Oh how I love doing this for my friends.

Here are a few Autumn pictures as a treat. There are not many leaves left on the trees now, so this is a good reminder to me of how lovely Autumn is.

Kevin and Stewart in our sunroom

Susan, Sue and Nick enjoying dessert

Wow, we love this Apple Cake!

Morag, Roger Deborah and Angela

Janet, Elinor and gorgeous Lilly

OUR SUNDAY

2009-11-15T20:23:00.004+01:00

I am home alone tonight (Sunday). Roger has gone off to a concert near Zurich to hear the band Delirious (from England). It is their farewell tour. Our German Youth Pastor Dave rang up on Thursday and invited Roger to attend. I bet Rog will be thoroughly enjoying himself. I hope so.

Roger spoke at Crossroads International Church in Basel this morning on "Jesus, the living water". John 7:27-39. It was a dynamic message, probably all the more because of what is happening in his life at this time. Towards the end of his message, he shared very personally about what has been going on in our lives these past few months. There were many visitors in the Church today and it was a joy for us to speak to some of them after the service. I particularly had a great chat to 4 young ladies (2 Swiss, 1 German and 1 Australian). I am hoping to connect up and encourage these girls.

When we got to the Church this morning, Roger realized he had left his lovely blue corduroy cap on the train! Oh hear! (Hold this story!!!!!)

We had arranged to visit our dear friends Fritz and Ilona Weibel with Anna and Jakob after the service and for lunch. They live in the cutest little village in Switzerland called Hochwald. I love to visit them here, but not really in the winter!! Fritz picked us up at the tram stop and took us to their place. Jakob was delighted to see us both. He will be 2 in February. We were wined and dined in a lovely way, went for a walk through the woods (not suitable footwear, but, oh well, who cares - nothing that a bit of water can't get off).

(photo of Fritz, Ilona and Jakob taken back in June)

I decided I would keep an eye out for Roger's cap when I got on the train to come home. I mean, you never know!! Well, guess what? Yes, it was on the luggage rack and I couldn't believe my eyes. In fact a friend from Loerrach got on the train with me and she was amazed that it would still be there. Naturally we are both very happy. I sent Rog an sms because I was so happy.

It has been raining off and on today and I don't think we will be going hiking tomorrow morning. If it is raining, it just isn't any fun being wet for hours and then having a long train ride home! I think we will snuggle up in bed and have a sleep in. Goodness knows what time Rog will get home tonight anyway.

Thanks for keeping me company!!!

Rheinfelden Spa

2009-11-10T20:04:00.003+01:00

Roger and I managed to get to Rheinfelden Spa, just out of Basel, on Monday morning. We have a good friend that has been there many times and offered to take us and show us around. Our daughter Jocelyn went to this Spa when she was with us back in January 2007, but we hadn't been. In true Swiss style everything is run with high efficiency and cleanliness is paramount.

Water, water everywhere. We were truly amazed. We started in the salt baths which is just 12 months old and a new feature, then went to various other water baths. A fantastic facility and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I thoroughly enjoyed the outside pool with various jets used as water massage, a whirlpool and jacuzzi.

We were there 2 hours. Roger was probably not as keen as me but it beats the price of a massage hands down and you're in control of all the things you want to do. I love that. We hope to go back at least every month!

Needless to say we both had naps in the afternoon when we got home!

Sharing some sad news

2009-11-06T17:01:00.003+01:00

I saw one of my special English friends at Centrepoint today. She was commenting about my silence in keeping my blog up to date, especially whilst in Australia. Of course she has now realized the reason for this. I told her it was time I wrote on my blog what has been really going on in our lives these past 3 months. What I need to write will be helped a little by what Roger has written recently to our friends. Here is what he has had to say:

"Gaynor and I need to tell you something about Roger and we thought it best to tell you this way. The reason will become clear soon.

When Gaynor and I went to Australia to catch up with family and friends in 5 cities in 4 states we did not anticipate the difficulty of the time “home”. On 5 August I visited my GP for a check up and to talk about my problem fingers on the left hand. The Dr. suspected Motor Neuron Disease and sent me off to a Neurologist and he in turn set me off for special tests including an MRI. To cut a long story I have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed. (courtesy ALS Assoc. website http://www.alsa.org/als/what.cfm).

Naturally this came as a great shock to us and as we have so many good friends (like you) who get concerned or upset when we personally tell them. We then in turn upset ourselves again. So purely for selfish reasons we have decided to stop telling people individually (hence this group email) and to let the news spread of its own accord. ALS is a very unusual disease, it affects about 2 people in every 100,000 and the usual survival rate is 2-5 years.

So we have to say that our time in Europe will not be as long as we anticipated. Roger’s symptoms are a minor nuisance at this stage and it is not preventing us from doing things, although we tire easily at present and that skews our emotions. Roger still rides his bike, shops, works, hikes, cleans and typed this email!

Enough said, we still plan to participate in Centrepoint (you can’t get rid of us that easily!) so we are volunteering as usual and I will be hanging around the library if needed. Feel free to talk to us as you usually do and if you have any information about ALS because you are one of those rare people who have heard about this, don’t hesitate to tell Roger (preferably not Gaynor) - more information is good.

Sorry to have to be bearers of not such good news. I have faith in a loving God who knows me better than I do. He did not send this disease to me; I know I got it because I live in a broken imperfect world that isn’t quite the paradise that God created. Why people get ALS specifically is unknown. For my part I intend to live life to the full so whether it is 2 or 5 or 10 years to go, there are still going to be lots of parties!!"

We are still processing all that has been going on these past 3 months and coming to terms with the impact this is going to have on our lives in the near future and the future. We have felt emotions never felt before and have shed so many tears we know we have kept the angels in heaven working hard.

We are happy to be back in our lovely little home in Schopfheim and will make the most of each day that we spend here. It is winter here already, but our home is cosy and warm and we love the haven it provides us as we go out each day and come home to such comfort.

I have so much to blog about and will try and continue to blog regularly. Thank you for your patience with me in this regard. We can feel the love of our family and many friends surrounding us during these days.

NEWCASTLE with the family

2009-11-04T19:02:00.006+01:00

Roger, Jocelyn and I had a lovely sunny 2 weeks in Wagstaffe and then Newcastle, at the end of August, meeting up with Roger's brother Dave, wife Sue and family. It was a very precious time spent together and all too short. Newcastle is on the Pacific Ocean so we thoroughly enjoyed smelling the sea air. It was just a little cold to be swimming, but there were actually people in the water.

Gaynor, Roger and Jocelyn

Roger and David

Gaynor, Roger, David and Sue

The brother's

Anna (niece), Jocelyn and Roger. We had a lovely picnic together.

Amy, Gaynor, Jocelyn and Matthew

Jocelyn, Anna and Dave

A game in action (Jane, Sue, Joshua and Gaynor). Two balls! All too much for me.

LET'S P A R T Y ! ! !

2009-11-03T14:33:00.005+01:00

Australian Football is the blog theme at the moment, so bear with me. All will be revealed in this post!!

We arrived in Australia to Football mania, and this was particularly relevant to Roger and myself because our team - The Geelong Cats - were second on the ladder and doing particularly well.

So, during September they had all the preliminary finals of the various teams who were on top of the ladder. The Geelong Cats made it to the Grand Final. This was held on Saturday 26 September and Roger and I were ready to PARTY!!! It was a real family affair, with only Tom missing as HE WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY BE AT THE GAME!!!

There was lots of noise, lots of food, lots of decorations and lots of people. Even Peach the dog managed to join in the fun of the day.

It was a a very good tense Grand Final, coming down to the last minutes of the game. The rest is history. The pictures will tell the story!!

Here's Jocelyn, my niece Heidi, great nephew Zephyr and Roger cuddled up on the couch!

Roger and Amy in the loungeroom having a toast to something! Note the impressive decorations!

Roger and Gaynor are pretty happy! GO CATS!!

Glenda and Peach enjoying the day

Adrian (Heidi's husband), great nephew River and Tim enjoying time on the couch!

At the table!! Jocelyn, Tim and Amy (displaying Geelong colours)

Roger and our lovely niece Cherith who was visiting from Geraldton in Western Australia

THEY'VE W O N !!! "WE ARE GEELONG THE GREATEST TEAM OF ALL!!"

Gaynor and Jocelyn were pretty happy and so we celebrated on into the night! What a day!

I'M BACK ! ! !

2009-11-02T16:51:00.005+01:00

MCG Members Bar - Footy with the kids, Friday night 7 August
Gaynor, Glenda and Jocelyn

Apologies to my lovely family and also to my faithful blogging friends for the silence of GAYNOR'S WORLD! But I'm back (having received a little pressure from a certain source!) so I will try and communicate to you all that has been going on in the lives of Roger and Gaynor Ridley these past months.

We left for Australia on 31 July and came back to our little home here in Schopfheim, Germany on 14 October.

We had a very special time with our lovely family - Tim and Amy, Jocelyn and Glenda and Tom in Melbourne. We stayed with Glenda and Tom who were very patient with our comings and goings. We also made a big decision to get our few belongings out of storage, cull and then re-store them with a friend (about 8 boxes in all). As you can imagine, this was rather a painful few days for us and we became rather ruthless in what went back into storage. I wouldn't be surprised if it all eventually WENT!!

So, just to keep your interest and get you used to reading my blog again, here are some pictures of our time in Australia. I will explain each one as we go along!

Roger, Tom and Gaynor

Tim and Glenda

Tim and Amy

We spent the day with Tim and Amy on Saturday 8 August and they took us to a few of their favourite haunts. We had a wonderful time and were all very happily tired by the end of the day!

Tim with his girls!!

So, this is me partway through the day. We had just done the Kakoda Steps in the Dandenongs and then the walk up the hill again. At least I made it.

So, this is a start to the beginning of blogging for me again. Please be patient with me and I'll try and continue to tell the story of our last few months. xx

JANET and THOMAS' WEDDING

2009-07-28T18:09:00.008+02:00

We were guests at Janet and Thomas' Wedding last Saturday 25 July. The Wedding was held in Basel and we had a lovely time catching up with our Centrepoint friends and meeting other people. Here are just a few photo's of the happy occasion.

We all went from the Church to the restaurant on a special tram. It took us on a 'scenic' tour of Basel!!

RUNNING FOR THE TRAIN (Zug in German) !

2009-07-22T10:46:00.003+02:00

Roger and I arrived in Germany on 2 March, 2006. We first saw our new home in Schopfheim at 6.00pm on 10 March. We seem to have been running for the train every since!!

When we first arrived our timing to the train station was not good! It was okay for Roger, he walks faster than I do with bigger strides. To get round this I would leave for the train a little earlier than Roger (if I was organized)!!

It is a comfortable 6 minute walk to our station. That's okay, I can manage this no problem.

We do have some issues coming back from Basel though, especially if we are having dinner with friends and enjoying ourselves. Our train runs every hour from 7.50pm until midnight.

Why am I telling you all this? If you ever read in the paper about "Couple both die of heart attack running for the train at Badischer Bahnhof", then you will know it is Roger and Gaynor Ridley!! What a way to go ('cause we're always doing it').

So, Roger is recovering from his hernia operation last Friday isn't he? He has done really well and is trying to take it easy, but is a tad frustrated.

Last night we dined with our lovely Swiss friends who have a beautiful apartment on the Rhein in Basel. It was a balmy night and we were thoroughly enjoying their good company, good conversation and good food! We had already told them we didn't want a late night.

Roger and I both looked at the time and it was 9.20pm. Must go, we tell them. But 10 minutes later we were walking down the stairs. "Must hurry", Rog says as we come out the front entrance! Yes, we see our tram no 6 in the distance! Too late.

We don't want to wait 1 hour 10 minutes for the next train at Badischer Bahnhof so we decide to hot foot it to the Station. We have 14 minutes! Now remember, Rog is recovering from an operation and I have inappropriate shoes for walking fast in!!

Needless to say, we did make it, Roger walking very fast and Gaynor trotting beside him every now and then and trying to walk fast at other times!!

(Tried to find picture of our trains, but it is taking too much time!! - apologies!)

The train was running late! Roger got to the train 2 minutes before me and held the doors open. As I was coming up the stairs I heard him yell "Gayn"!! "Yes, I'm coming, hold the door"!! We both collapsed into our seats, puffing, panting, etc. My goodness we are CRAZY!!

Needless to say neither of us slept very well last night. I couldn't breath out of my nose and Rog was whacked!! We are so silly! But, "you gotta love those trains"!!

EMOTIONS

2009-07-20T20:50:00.003+02:00

Happy

I have so much to be thankful for. Living here in the most beautiful part of God's creation and being free basically to do whatever I want. Knowing each day I have a husband that cares for me very much, and a wonderful family and extended family that love me. Friends galore. Where do I start!

Sad

Some of the things that are going on in the world that make me feel so sad, especially as I know I can't do anything about these things, apart from pray.

Anxious

Roger went into hospital for a hernia operation last Friday and I was a tad anxious, especially as he was going into a German hospital where language could be a problem. He came through the operation with flying colours, but we were very disappointed with the post op care, hence he discharged himself 24 hours after the operation to come home and recuperate. He's doing very well and we're both very happy to have these next 11 days to relax before we head back to Australia on 31 July for 10 weeks.

Concerned

For people we know who are experiencing difficult times at the moment.

Excited

We are going back to Australia for 10 weeks after being here in Germany for 3 1/2 years. We are very excited and can't wait, especially to see our beloved children - Tim and Amy, Jocelyn, Glenda and Tom

Loved
Where do I start! We have just come back from our neighbours. There was a knock on the door and "Bitte Komm" (please come). Off we went and had cake and champayne in the cool of the evening for several hours! Just as well there's nothing much happening tonight!!

Cared for
Again, where do I start. My goodness, the phone calls, emails, letters, cards we have received of late. Yes, we are very well cared for.

11 days to go. Australia here we come!!!

The Story of the Pencil

2009-07-13T20:09:00.003+02:00

I have been reading the most amazing book by Paulo Coelho "Like the Flowing River", Thoughts and Reflections. It was given to us to read by our good friend Kevin, who thought we would really enjoy reading it because it is basically what we are trying to do here in this little part of the world. I highly recommend you buy this book and read it often. It has many, many treasures to read about, learn from and reflect on.

"The Story of the Pencil

"A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point he asked, 'Are you writing a story about what we've done? Is it a story about me?'

His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson: 'I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I'm using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.'

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn't seem very special. 'But it's just like any other pencil I've ever seen!'

'That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.

'First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.

'Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards he's much sharper. So you too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

'Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.

'Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.

'Finally, the pencil's fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.'"

TOUR DE FRANCE

2009-07-10T17:53:00.004+02:00

Roger and I have been watching the Tour. It has been so much fun this year to follow the action. Why, you might ask?!!

I was speaking to our son in law Tom on the phone a few weeks ago and he wondered if Roger would like the Official Guide of the Tour De France (Australian Edition of course). Well, of course I said he would love it. If only I'd had the camera ready when the post arrived with the rather thick (225 pages) guide arrived. Roger was absolutely thrilled to bits. He loves bike riding and maybe in another life would have liked to have been one of the participants!!!!!!!

So, each day he reads the Official Guide, marks in all the winners and statistics and generally enjoys finding out who's who, and all in English!!

The highlight of this tour is that it is coming very close to our little corner of the world - Colmar in France, just about 1 hours drive from our place on Friday 17 July and we would love to go. Well, actually I AM GOING, but Roger is a little poorly at the moment, so it remains to be seen whether he will be able to go or not.

A visit to see Ruth and Andreas

2009-07-04T08:06:00.007+02:00

We went up to Krefeld, near Duesseldorf by train the other week to have our yearly visit with good friends Ruth and Andreas. Ruth had asked if there was anything we would especially like to do! As they live so close to the Netherlands border (about 27 km's) we asked if we could have a trip to Antwerp, Belgium. Ruth lived and worked there for a short while. It was a 2 hour drive and we had a wonderful day together. Pictures to prove it!

Ruth and Andreas

Belgium Beer !

Australian Ice Cream ! (not sure about this!)

The Cathedral

What some people do for a living (go the green)

Main Government Office in Antwerp

We had dinner near this lovely part of town - so yummy

Sorry you can't have a taste, but this is Belgium chocolate!

EARLY MORNING CONSTITUTIONAL ! ! !

2009-07-03T19:28:00.007+02:00

As promised in a previous post, some photo's showing the walk I try to do a couple of times a week from our home. It's so beautiful and one day I'd love you to come with me - I INVITE YOU (as my German girlfriends would say!).

I did this walk last Tuesday.

Walking out the front door

Start of the walk up the hill

View from the top

Cherries!! (no, I didn't pick any)

Walnuts

Beef ! ! !

Horse ! ! !

Lovely cool green foliage to walk through coming down the hill

Across the bridge (busy Route 317 underneath)

Street behind our place

The back of our house (house in middle of picture)

Couldn't resist taking a picture of the canal (our garage on right front)

Back home! Takes about 40 minutes so not bad!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DARLING JOCELYN

2009-06-10T22:37:00.004+02:00

Today is Jocelyn's Birthday and I'm not there to spoil her.

I do hope you've had a wonderful day Jocelyn (even though you had to go to work) and that you had a great dinner with the family.

Another year has passed and I am sure you have learned many things about life, yourself, other people, work and leisure. May the year ahead be a very happy one for you and may the dreams you have become a reality.

Thank you for being so special and such a wonderful and thoughtful daughter.

I love you very much.

Your Mum xo xo xo xo

(sorry about the photo - I don't have any up to date ones - that's terrible isn't it?)

WEDDING OF STEWART & KATJA

2009-06-06T13:01:00.005+02:00

On Thursday we had the absolute privilege of attending the Civil Ceremony Service for our Aussie friend Stewart and our Swiss friend Katja. In Europe you officially get married in your local government office where all the paperwork is done. Then you can have another service, in a Church or whatever you choose.

Stewart had asked Roger to be a witness at the wedding. It was the most beautiful afternoon/evening and we enjoyed the intimacy of being part of the family for this time. Very, very special for us both. We began with an Apero at around 2pm where friends gathered to enjoy a drink and finger food together. Then the service was held just down the road. The 8 of us then drove to Gempen to enjoy champagne and nibbles together. We then drove back down the mountain to enjoy a very yummy meal together. We eventually arrived home at 11.30pm.

Here are a few photo's for you to enjoy.

Katja's father and best friend Eta

The groom and best man

Wedding certificate being handed over

Yep......."Just Married"!!

The happy wedding party high up the mountain in Gempen

(we had hiked up here a couple of week's ago)

Pictures from hike last Monday

2009-06-01T14:25:00.004+02:00

This was our walk from Dornach to Gempen and back to Dornach. I'd forgotten Roger had taken some photo's. Just the most beautiful countryside and so very green. This is in Baselland, so a 7 minute ride on the train from Basel. We have friends living in this area so visit regularly. The bus ride from the train station to Hochwald is so beautiful, but on very windy roads. Then there is a rather steep walk uphill to Fritz and Ilona's.

Karen (leaving to go back to the US) and Roger

Sue, Deborah and Julie (and mystery bike rider!!)

Gaynor and Terry (maybe I'm smiling

because I actually made it!)

Roger beside the Weisse on our way home from our bike ride today

SUNDAY 31 MAY

2009-05-31T19:46:00.006+02:00

Another sunny day today, though a little cool as we walked to the train this morning to go to Church. There was a slight wind blowing (like yesterday), but once on the train we were fine.

"Our boys" came to lunch today. Reuben and Joshua were unable to come because of prior commitments but they were 'replaced' by Marcus, Stefan and Daniel! Peter and Matthias were the regulars.

I made a Banoffee Pie yesterday and then made He Te Min for lunch. A great hit. Roger thought about inviting Daniel yesterday so whizzed off an email to him. We met Daniel at Centrepoint and he has been in Basel 10 months. It was great to welcome him to our little home and he blended well with our German boys. Daniel is from New York City. His mother is Swiss but she never spoke anything but English to them in the home. Daniel is trying to learn German and to get a job in Basel.

So, the dishes have just been done and it is time for me to put my feet up and relax for a couple of hours before I go to bed. It is 8.00pm and feels like 4.00pm. It is so light outside and the sun is shining brightly.

We are getting organized to go back to Australia on 31 July. On Friday I thought we only had 8 weeks to go. I was very disappointed to learn that it is actually 9 weeks, so I'd better not start the countdown just yet!!

Here we are at Hohe Flum just up the hill from our place. We took Angela up here for a BBQ for one of the May holidays we had. It's just so beautiful and you feel you could be anywhere in the world. (I can walk 'up this hill' a lot easier these days - thank goodness!!). It's cherry season soon and there are many cherry trees around here. The farmers sell them outside their properties so I will be taking the long walk up to buy fresh cherries very soon.

BODY WORKOUT ! ! !

2009-05-30T19:59:00.003+02:00

Well, I've certainly put my body through its paces this week. Roger and I went hiking with the Basel hikers last Monday (our usual routine). We knew the hike was going to be challenging but......

We arrived at Dornach station at 9.20am and waited for the rest of the group to arrive. It was going to be a warm 35C so walking was actually not going to be a lot of fun in the heat. We also knew the height difference was about 500+ metres. We were walking from Dornach to Gempen and back to Dornach (a round trip). Well, up, up, up we went. My goodness. But we had good breaks and lots of water. Once we got to the top, we realized it was worth it! The view was spectacular over Baselland. No pictures (sorry). The walk took 3 1/2 hours and we were all pooped at the end of it. We left home just after 8am and arrived back home at 2.20pm. And yes, we were couch potatoes for (almost) the rest of the day. I did have to do some baking in the evening as I wanted to make something special for Fritz Weibels birthday on Tuesday.

Wednesday I decided to head up the hill for my usual walk and did it without any problems. Next time I go I am going to take my camera and take photo's along the way so you can see what a beautiful walk it is and why I don't hesitate going walking!

TODAY (Saturday) we received a phone call from our Aussie friend Lisa who lives in Basel. She wanted Roger to go bike riding with her. Well, I decided to tag along as well. We had a good wind to help us along the way and road from Schopfheim to Weil am Rhein - 20km's. It was a fantastic ride and none of us felt tired at the end of it. Roger and I did catch the train home though, but got off at Schopfheim West and rode the 2km's home! Not bad for a Saturday. I enjoyed it so much I think I might do another one on Monday. We have another holiday coming up, which is Pentecost. Just can't get used to all these holidays around this time in Europe. I thought we could cycle to France, but Lisa said they have the holiday there as well.

So, I'm feeling rather good for my nearly 57 years! Seeing the sunshine sure does make a difference to the way we all feel.

HAPPY SUNNY SUNDAY

2009-05-24T19:24:00.005+02:00

We've had a great day. Had to catch the train to Church this morning as our Ghanan friend Johnny has gone back to Ghana for 4 weeks holiday. So, this was an experience in itself. We haven't had to do this for many years!

We had to make sure we caught the 12 noon train back to Schopfheim or we would be hanging around the station for 1 hour. Didn't want that. But this meant we couldn't catch up with some friends we wanted to chat to. Oh well.

Roger invited Stefan to come and have lunch with us. He arrived around 1.30pm and we had lunch together. Roger and Stefan had a great afternoon 'chewing the fat' together! Stefan has his own investment banking business and is also dabbling in other things very successfully. He's such a great guy and we do enjoy spending time with him. He was actually wanting to get our views on German politics, etc. Just up Roger's alley so I was able to excuse myself!

I got the 'speakies' SMS from my sister Irene in Perth, Australia so I lay on the bed and we had a good natter for one half hours!! What a luxury. We sure can talk, but also have a good laugh about ourselves. She is taking off for 12 days in Bali at the end of this week. She sure does need a holiday and Bali is so close to Western Australia. I think it only takes 3 hours to get there, so it is closer than a flight to Melbourne.

The weather is hot at the moment. Fancy 30C in May. Amazing. Of course it is lovely and cool in our home, and with the shutters halfway down, even better.

Have a reasonably busy week coming up, but nothing that I can't handle!!

This photo was taken on our visit to Solothurn. Also a warm day and you could say I was a little 'over dressed!'. A wonderful day with Angela though. We must go back there again sometime.

Surprises

2009-05-24T12:49:00.003+02:00

So, Roger's birthday has been and gone. What a lovely day it was for us both. I had written an email to his Choir mates to make sure they sang Happy Birthday to him at Choir. Well, he was sung to twice actually. So Roger was very touched by that. No photo of that unfortunately.

I had sent Roger on a little buying spree in Loerrach just to delay him for a little longer! This meant I could work a little longer in the kitchen making a Lumberjack cake without him becoming suspicious! When he arrived home he was happy to relax in the loungeroom, but I eventually had to ask him to stay out of the kitchen as I wanted to set the table for 4 and he wasn't expecting any visitors!! I made a beef roast and yummy vegetables. We had cheese, pate, grapes and nuts to begin with and the surprise visitors (below) Kevin and Mark, brought a very nice bottle of champagne. Kevin also brought a cake (which he is still holding in the picture). Yes you're right, we ate too much cake!!

Kevin arriving - surprise !!!

Mark arriving with the champagne !!

Then on Friday afternoon/evening we had Andy and Angela over here for a walk up the hill and a very yummy vegetarian dinner. I had never made these 2 recipes (Punjab before and I was very pleased with the result, as were Roger, Andy and Angela. Here is Angela with a Cafe Mocchiato that Roger made (his first attempt). Angela and Andy were most impressed as it swished around in the glass!!

THE MAN I LOVE

2009-05-19T11:14:00.004+02:00

A WONDERFUL HAPPY BIRTHDAY

TO MY BELOVED ROGER

What an adventure we are both on and what a joy it is to share this adventure with the man I have been married to for 33 years.

Roger is:

An amazing husband

A loving father

A great friend

Thoughtful

Considerate

Very loving

Easy going

Dreamy

Suave

A good cook

Quite adventurous

A lover of all things 'train'

An avid reader

An avid TV watcher

Much more ! ! !

All those that know Roger love the way he is. Sometimes I would like to change things, but then I realise I'm far from perfect myself!!

My Darling, may you have a day FULL OF SURPRISES. They're coming and you don't know anything about them!! (More to follow for my blog readers!! - photo's too I hope!)

SOLOTHURN, SWITZERLAND

2009-05-15T17:36:00.003+02:00

WATCHING THE WORLD GO BY!

Great past-time, especially if you like each other.

GIRL'S NIGHT - 8 MAY 2009

2009-05-09T13:44:00.004+02:00

Life couldn't be better. I have a wonderful husband, a family that delights me, a lovely place in which to live, a community of friendly and helpful people, great next door neighbours, the best friends from all different countries of the world, good health and the sun is shining!!

Angela has been here from Adelaide, Australia for 2 weeks and we have enjoyed having her come with us to meet friends and to see what we do here in Basel. We've had a great time together and tomorrow we say goodbye.

Before Angela came I made sure I organized my next Girl's Night (for my Germany girlfriends to practise their English) whilst she was here. I also organized for her to bring a pair of stainless steel tongs for each of them. You just can't buy them here in Europe. Funny isn't it?

We had traditional German food and the most delightful and fun evening together. Here are some photo's of us enjoying ourselves. This is the first time there have been 3 Aussie girls on the night. What a scream! We are much louder than our German friends and they had a good laugh at our antics!

l-r: Marianne, Renate, Angela, Lisa, Anke, Johanna, Carla and Gaynor

Outing to Mainau with Angela

2009-05-04T22:11:00.006+02:00

We have been enjoying Angela's visit with us. She is staying in a small bed sit about 1 km from our place here in Schopfheim and it seems to be working out well for us all. We used a convenient "Baden-Wuerttemberg" ticket for 5 people to travel together to go to Mainau Island. It was not a good day weather wise, but didn't stop Roger from taking some lovely pictures. We were just saying tonight over tea how we'd love to go back there, just the 2 of us and spend THE WHOLE day there enjoying all the beautiful flowers, butterflies, etc and having a picnic.

ANZAC DAY DINNER IN SCHOPFHEIM

2009-04-30T20:31:00.007+02:00

A group of 14 Aussies and New Zealanders got together for an Anzac Day Dinner last Saturday 25 April at one of the Schopfheim's Gasthauses. The food was magnificent and we enjoyed just catching up and also meeting new friends.
Here are a few piccies of us all.

In the garden having a drink before dinner

Katja, Stewart and Roger

3 Aussie girls - Lisa, Angela (just arrived from Oz) and Gaynor

2 of the yummy desserts

The place where I live

2009-04-25T11:23:00.005+02:00

We have woken up to the most glorious Anzac Day here in Schopfheim. Today we remember those soldiers in Australia and New Zealand who have given their lives for our freedom. We will gather for dinner tonight with other Aussies/New Zealanders. Pictures to follow.

Also I am looking forward to the visit of Angela from Adelaide who arrives this afternoon. I will head into Basel to meet her. She will be staying in a little bedsit quite close to our place. I am looking forward to some lovely girlie times together.

I've just come back from a quick shop at Aldi. Wish I'd had the camera. Must remember to take it with me everywhere! As I left the store there was an old man getting into his OLDER tractor (after doing a bit of shopping). As he headed out of the carpark and looked with amazement and a big smile on my face to see his dog standing in the tiny open cabin on the wheel hub. This is where I live! I hope you can picture it a little.

Now for some photo's of our Spring. Roger has been out and about with the camera. ENJOY.

Covered foot bridge in Wehr a short bike ride (up hill) from our place

HIKE and BBQ Easter Monday

2009-04-19T08:26:00.007+02:00

I decided to send out an email inviting friends to join us for a Hike and BBQ on Easter Monday. I knew there would be a lot of people away, but also that there must be people with nothing to do.

I didn't want an early morning hike, like we usually do on a Monday morning, hence the BBQ! Good idea I thought.

Roger met people at Schopfheim station and then Lisa and I met them as they started to climb the hill up near our place. We went past the horse stables and up, up, up!! Nice walk actually, but some of us needed a few stops!

We finished the hike at our place for coffee and cake/biscuits, etc!!!

We had a 'downtime' Tuesday. We were both rather exhausted and in need of some recovery time from a wonderful Easter weekend. We both had 'leg/foot' problems. Me with blisters still not recovered and Roger with badly strained calf muscles on his left leg. He ran up an embankment on our Monday hike and he said it felt as if someone had thrown a rock at his leg! Poor darling. He needed to be transported back by car from the hike! Not nice.

EASTER DAY

2009-04-19T08:04:00.005+02:00

Apologies that I'm a bit slow with this post. Have been thinking about downloading the photo's all week and posting them on my blog!!

We very much enjoyed the Easter service at our German Church and there was good translastion from our young friend Peter. The music was great so enjoyed a good sing, but nothing in English! Sometimes there is.

'Our' boys then came back for lunch. I had made Lasagne / Salad / Trifle and there was certainly nothing left!

Matthias, Reuben and Joshua 'chewing the fat!'

Peter, Johnny and Roger

Squeezed around the kitchen table !

Johnny, Reuben and Matthias left around 3.30pm and then Peter, Joshua, Roger and I played a game of Wizard. It went on for so long we decided to give the boys a light tea (scrambled eggs) made by Roger - yum. Peter left just after 8.30pm and Joshua an hour later.

We feel these are special times as Peter, Reuben and Joshua are all asking God to direct their future and they could be on the move in the Autumn. So we want to make the most of time spent together to encourage them in their journey.

WEEK PRIOR TO EASTER

2009-04-11T18:54:00.006+02:00

Wasn't feeling 100% this past week so I enjoyed 5 days at home. A rare treat. When we went into Basel last night on said to Roger that it had been a week since I'd been to Basel and on a train actually!

I needed the time out. I wrote some letters, did some spring cleaning, had lovely walks (and have blisters to show for it). Wednesday night at 8.45pm a couple of the young people from our Church turned up to say hi. They were on their bikes. They're in their 20's. They didn't leave until 12.45am!! My goodness.

After our massive dinner party Saturday night we had a visit from Karen and Carolyn. They rode out to Schopfheim from Basel (and back) on their bikes. We treated them to a light lunch and tea/coffee.

Roger and I went for a nice walk on Thursday. The weather has been absolutely glorious here. But I ended up with blisters (again) and so I'm nursing sore feet. A friend has taken me in hand and we went off to buy new walking shoes today. They look quite horrible actually, (brown) but of the 15 pair of shoes I tried on, these were by far the most comfortable. I just hope they will be comfortable when I do a long walk. Madge told me I must change them every 2 years, especially with all the walking I do!

We had a busy Good Friday. The Vosteen family (5) came to lunch and that was a treat for us. Then we took ourselves off to St Michael's to hear St Matthew's Passion being read. I had thought there was a Choir, but none was forthcoming!! It was lovely though. Roger had printed out the readings in English so this helped.

We said goodbye to the Vosteen's and then our neighbours called us over to meet their daughter who lives in Switzerland. She has very good English. We were treated to cake, coffee and wine! Had to rush off at 5.20pm as we needed to catch the train at 5.45pm to go to Kevin and Mark's for Dinner.

So the photo's below are of the Dinner party with them and Christine and Gaudenz. A lovely evening and a late night. Kevin sure does know how to cook up a treat. Not sure if you'll be able to read the menu, but it sure was special.

This is a Pavlova. How does Kevin do it. We had a little discussion about the origins of the Pavlova. New Zealand claims it as their own and so do Australia. It was named after the Russian Ballerina Anna Pavlova. I just can't make them here and I'm not sure why. Watch out family, when I come back to Australia I will be making them every day just to get my confidence back!!