Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Sunday, 22 April 2018

Internet is terrible at the flat.  Telstra was to move the ADSL internet service from the house to the flat, but after 2 weeks and me calling them, they were not able to find an ADSL port on the switch serving the flat.  We have some kind of wireless wifi for now that they have provided which is worthless for the PC (the blog is on the PC) and half-way ok for mobile phones.  I went to the meetinghouse to use the wifi there, but it is not terrible, but not acceptable, so I will need to reboot the ADSL modem here.

Comments about the District Conference held the week prior to this post - Ministering is not about how many times you checked on people or that you reported your visits, but how much did you love the people you visited - Love and concern will entice you to be more like Jesus Christ and take care of those around you, whether assigned to you or not. Just live the two great commandments and all will be well with your soul - Love the Lord with all your might, mind & strength and love your neighbor as yourself - This is the Law and all other things are appendages to it.

16 Apr - We picked up Barry at 615am to get him to the hospital by 7am for his cataract surgery.  It went well and I was back home by about noon, having dropped Barry back at his home near Halfway Creek.  Then nap time and work on unpacking the flat.

17-18 Apr - lots of unpacking and putting things away.  We now have walk space in the flat, but still lots of things in boxes or on chairs.  We need to get rid of some of the chairs and folding tables as well.

19 Apr - Continued working on getting the flat in livable condition.  Mike also made a taxi ride out to get Barry for a check up in Grafton.  All was well.  Then a short shopping trip so Barry had food at home while he continued to recover from the cataract surgery.  Then back home to help unpack/store items in the flat.

20 Apr - More unpacking and storing.  Spent the afternoon and evening helping the Prices get ready for their 40th wedding anniversary.  Joyce Price was doing HEAPS of baking and we went over to help her, since she had cataract surgery the previous day.  We brought some things home to bake and ice.

21 Apr - The big day of the 40th Anniversary for the prices.  We helped with finishing the baking in the morning and pushed the Prices out the door so they could be on time for the Anniversary lunch.  We followed shortly after.  It was held at the Crown Hotel and a good turnout by family.  We had a good time and enjoyed ourselves.  Joyce fainted shortly after lunch, so the rest of the Anniversary party was dropped.  It was a shame, but she is going ok.

22 Apr - The flat is in livable condition and we have most everything put away, so we were able to enjoy the Sabbath without doing any "clean up" or "putting away".  The Sabbath was a delight.

Back side of table runner made by Sister Haley for Sister Cox

Other side of the table runner

Sister Haley with roses as a house warming gift from the Normans as we moved into the flat

Our "make do" breakfast in Coffs during the District conference.  We did not have any butter or jam, so we smashed up strawberries to make a topping for the bagels

Kookaburra in a tree on the beach

Large Goanna (monitor lizard) in the park near the beach

Beach turkey

Sister Haley on the walk around the beach area

One of the beaches from the walk

One of the curves on the Grafton bridge

Just after we made it through the curve

Still have "stuff" to get put away and organised

The logs on the left side of the culvert go all the way through and under the highway for animals that feel more comfortable walking on poles versus concrete path

Anniversary cake - chocolate cake with tim tams on the edge and crushed peanut brittle on top

Garry & Joyce Price seated - 40th wedding anniversary

Some of the attendees of the 40th Anniversary

More attendees

Prince Street in Grafton just before the ANZAC parade started

The beginning of the ANZAC parade.  Not shown yet are the bag pipe & drums from Grafton








Sunday, 15 April 2018

Mon, 26 Mar -  We headed from Grafton to Newcastle for a Zone meeting to be held on Tuesday.  We left around 8 am and arrived in Newcastle around 2 pm.  Margaret went to John Hunter hospital to visit with Sarah and Mike went on to the motel to sign in and check email - oh yes, and take a short nap.  Around 5:30 Mike picked up Margaret and we went to the Charlestown shopping Centre to catch a bit of dinner.  As we were looking at various restaurants a lady (Sister Little) walked up and introduced herself.  She and family were out for a daughter's 8th birthday.  We found out that Sister Little is the sister-in-law to Esme Little who is one of the RS presidents looking after our member, Sarah, at John Hunter Hospital - small world.  We ended up eating at Grill'd Healthy Hamburgers.

Tue, 27 Mar -  The Zone Conference started at 8:30 am and we were there on time - miracles happen every day.  President Checketts and Sister Checketts presented the training before lunch.  We helped with a little bit of lunch set up - not much to do this time.  We met with President Checketts and found that we are to move into the young elder's flat when we move out of our house at the end of April. The elders will be reassigned to another branch/ward while we are still in Grafton.  When we leave, the young missionaries will be moved back to Grafton.  After lunch we got our flu shots - oh boy. Then climbed back in the car and headed back to Grafton.  We got home around 8 pm.

Wed, 28 Mar - We played taxi driver this morning, taking one of the sisters to Coffs Harbour (1 hour drive) for a medical appointment.  While Margaret was with the sister at the doctor's, Mike went to the airport and picked up our friend, Rhonda Crosbie,  who flew in from Sydney.  Rhonda will be with us over the Easter weekend.  After we got home, Margaret & Rhonda ran some errands and delivered somethings to members that Rhonda had brought from Sydney.

Thur, 29 Mar -  This morning we helped with the FHC.  At 11 am, Barry Ward came in from Halfway Creek for a Dr appointment and Mike went with him.  After the appointment Barry came back to the house for lunch and a visit.  After FHC Margaret & Rhonda made a trip to the rail station and booked a ticket for Rhonda.  Orange glazed chicken for dinner tonight.  This evening is FHC for Margaret & Rhonda, and Presidency meeting for Mike.

Fri, 30 Mar - Good Friday.  All the shops are closed today. Going Platypus hunting today. We drove to Nymboida which has a decent platypus community, but we were not able to get into the area that was recommended by a friend of ours. We will try some other places and also try to get back to Nymboida again. We still have a good time out in the country and met some nice people who tried to help us get to some platypus territory.  This evening we went to Maclean and watched some of the preliminary Scottish activities - bag pipes and dancing.

Sat, 31 Mar - Maclean Scottish Highland Gathering.We got to Maclean around 745 am and found some front row street curb to watch the Highland Gathering parade - 21 bag pipe & drum corps. That was something.  Then after the parade we walked over to the show grounds to watch bag pipe & drum corp competition and some of the Scottish Highland sport competition. The bag pipe & drum corps are made up of both men & women.  The Highland sport competition is separated between men and women.  The sport included - throwing the stone, throwing a stake & ball backward over the shoulder, tossing the pole.  And Yes, the women competed in all the sport, just like the men.

Sun, 1 Apr - April Fools!!!!  Fast & Testimony Sunday.  After church we ate and then changed clothes  so we could go to Brooms Head to see if we could find a Roo on the beach.  We did not find any roos on the beach, but we did see plenty in the camp grounds and the field across from the camp grounds.

Mon, 2 Apr - The young missionaries in Grafton have been transferred to other cities.  We are to move into their flat by 15 Apr.  The next two weeks will basically be cleaning and moving, but I will try to interject a little bit of what else we do. Rhonda left for the Gold Coast this evening, so now Margaret has to one to talk with except me - poor girl 😋😉

Tue, 3 Apr - We played taxi and held the Primary activity - just sport today.  In between we started to clean out the Elder's flat.  This cleaning job is going to be a challenge.  We have found food cans dating back to 2012.  Margaret found a loaf of french bread in some of the bedding that was stuffed in the hall closet.  So much for the missionaries cleaning their flat before they leave for the next town.  Ah well, what can you expect from 18-20 year olds - some cleanliness, is what I can expect 😖😕😛😪😢

Wed, 4 Apr - Last day this week for seminary - that is good as getting up at 5 am and then having to clean the elder's flat all day is a bummer.  We are quickly filling the red (trash), yellow (recycle) and green (organic/compostable/food) bins at the flat.  We are to put out the bins tonight as the rubbish man comes by tomorrow.  I wonder if we are ever going to get the flat clean.  We did have some help in cleaning today from Amber - she is a good cleaner.

Thur, 5 Apr - We helped with FHC from 10-12 and 630-830pm today.  It was a nice break from cleaning. Scott came over for dinner tonight. Oh, and Beth was sick so we had to run Young Women.  We played scriptionary and the girls really got into the game of drawing things from the scriptures.  They did a really good job of thinking of many scriptures and drawing the action/thought of the scripture.

Fri, 6 Apr -  Today was moving day.  That is, we moved all the things from the flat to the storage area - a part of the shed in the back of President Norman's property.  Garry Price brought his Ute and furniture dolly, and the two of us moved the fridge, washing machine, dryer, and all kinds of other stuff.

Sat, 7 Apr -  We had to run the videos of General Conference today, so we did not get much cleaning done today.  Watching General Conference was a good thing to do, and get pumped up spiritually.

Sun, 8 Apr - We watched the Sunday sessions of General Conference today.  Then home and relaxed.  We went over to Peter & Lois's house (next door) and chatted with them for a few hours.  It was great to learn more about them.  We are very sorry that we have to leave all of our neighbors, as they are all such nice people and have been very kind to us.

Mon, 9 Apr - Seminary is first thing of the day.  Then home for a quick breakfast.  Our plans are to finish cleaning the flat by 1 pm.  We almost made it - it was about 1:15 pm when we finished.  We did the final vacuuming and then mopped all the floors and a final swipe over all the closet shelves.  We contacted the landlord and submitted repair requests for a leaky shower and oven door that does not close.  They did get a plumber out around noon to fix the shower - thank goodness as the shower was really leaking badly and splashing water all over the bathroom floor.  We are not sure when the oven will get fixed, but we hope soon.  I guess that Mike will have to rattle a few cages this week to get this taken care of.  The afternoon we started packing up things at the house.  We quit sometime in the evening and had dinner.  Then took a break - Mike worked on taxes and the blog while Margaret worked on the binding of the table runner.  She has one side sewn on by machine and is working on the other side which has to be done by hand.  This is her way of relaxing and de-stressing. Sarah gave birth to Rachel today.

Tue, 10 Apr -  Seminary is the starting point.  Then back home for breakfast and start packing some more of the house.  We have to have everything packed up today so that we can start to move on Wednesday.  The plan is to move all the things that will go into storage Wednesday, and then move all the things to be put into the flat on Thursday. We were able to get a lot packed and sorted.  We have all the things from Brother Beaton packed and much of the house things that we do not need immediately.  Mike is getting tired of boxing up things.

Wed, 11 Apr - Seminary - Sister & Elder Haley were asked to participate in the lesson today, so we were seminary students.  Then back home for breakfast and be ready for the moving team at 10 am.  We mainly moved things to storage and some things to the flat.  Sister Haley went to hospital to visit Sarah & Rachel.  After the move, we worked more on packing the rest of the house for the final move on Thursday.  We are moving our bed and dressers so I guess this is really for real.

Thur, 12 Apr - We were going to move to the Elder's flat today, but have put it off for one more day since we did not have anyone to help move the final items.

Fri, 13 Apr - Friday the 13th.  Not a bad day for the 13th. We finished moving the last of the items (like our bed) today.  All is set up and we are sleeping here tonight.

Sat, 14 Apr - Made our way around all the "stuff" that is in the flat.  Headed to Coffs Harbour for District Conference. We are staying in Coffs for the night and Sunday night as well. The Conference was good.  We learned heaps about Ministering and what is expected. We also heard several talks on being one with each other in the District or Branch (Unity).

Sun, 15 Apr - District Conference continued and the Sunday talks were really good.  Both Margaret and Mike took heaps of notes. We took a walk along the beach in the afternoon.  We met up with Brent, Katie, Thomas & Charlotte Jeffree on the beach, as they stopped by on their way home from the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.  Tomorrow we get up at 4 am to pick up Barry Ward and take him to Grafton for cataract surgery.


Sister Haley & Sarah Rapmund at John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle NSW.  The maternity ward

Newcastle Zone Conference, Charlestown Meetinghouse

The grounds around the Charlestown meetinghouse

The Clarence River along the Great Marlow Road

Cattle grazing along the Great Marlow Road

Cattle taking protection from the sun under a tree along the Great Marlow Road.

Someone forgot to shear this sheep.  Actually all the sheep in the field needed shearing.
A big grasshopper, as you can see that it is as long as the brick

Our favorite mottled calf is growing up

A local map of Nymboida

One of the roads we were on in search of a place to see platypus

Mailbox - a replica of Ned Kelly a local NSW criminal

Another mailbox.  lots of ingenuity goes into their design

This mailbox is for airmail only 

Just to prove we really were in Nymboida and that we know how to spell the village name

Part of the Mann river, where we hope to see platypus

A pretty leaf

Rhonda and Margaret

Elder & Sister Haley.  Nymboida bridge in the background

The Wattle tree - the national tree of Australia

The Mann River and near where we want to be to see Platypus, but not quite close enough to the best spot

Some still waters, but no platypus

Margaret in Maclean at sunset

The sign says it all

Scottish dancers

Cannot play a video on Blogspot, but this was one of the bag pipe corp on Friday night

Saturday morning, parade

Bagpipes and drums

more bag pipes

The "drum" major and corp

I wish that we could have the sound of the bag pipes on the blog.  To hear the bagpipes go to Michael  P Haley's FaceBook page

This man is retiring as one of the Drum majors this year.  He is 90 years old

And more bagpipes

And some more

An Irish bagpipe corp.  GO Irish

The Irish bagpipe corp

Scottish dance contestants at the show grounds

Dance competition

More Contestants - both girls and boys

More dance competition

Bagpipe & drum corp competition

One corp marching onto the competition ring

Elders Palmer, Lankford, Haley & Sister Haley

Some of the Grafton branch members - Tui & Stafford Paewai, Beth Norman, Tabitha Best, Willow & Rain

Mrs Roo & child

Another roo at Brooms Head

Rhonda Crosbie, Elder Haley - Brooms Head

Margaret & Rhonda

Margaret & Rhonda, Brooms Head beach in the background

The lovely Sister Haley

Some crotchety old man and the sunset

Now just the sunset

The sunsets are beautiful here in the Grafton area

Not sure who is looking at who

Rhonda and some roos

Rhonda and some more roos - Brooms Head camping area

Roos in a field across from the camp grounds

Getting ready to send Rhonda on her way

Rhonda on the train to Gold Coast

The spare room in the elder's flat, before we made some changes

Clothes left from the last several years of elders and sisters

4 foot high rubbish bin filled with recyle material that was cleaned out of the flat

Mattress covers and bedding left by Eons of young missionaries.  Margaret washed at least 7 loads of bedding left by previous missionaries.

Sunset

Sunrise on a foggy day in Grafton.

A slug on the drain in the shower of the missionaries' flat.  It is time to do some major cleaning. To be fair, the shower head was leaking badly and water was constantly pouring onto the floor.

Sister Haley taking a well deserved break.  She is working on the binding of the table runner that will be a going home gift for Sister & Elder Cox


Boxing up the living room

Side view of the boxing activity in the living room

The garage. Almost all of what is in the picture belongs to Brother Beaton, but he is in in Bundaberg which is 8 hours away, so we need to box up and store his things.