tasmanian home in the bush

Live simply that others might live - anon.

my home in the bush
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Tasmanian Quaker Newsletter
Tasmanian Communities Online, Dover.

Hello family,friends and welcome strangers.

This is a letter to all my family and friends in UK,Canada,Usa,India and other people I know in other countries and some that I don't.

Some time in late 1981 I and my family arrived in Australia from England via Papua New Guinea. At that time we found the climate of Brisbane cool enough for our taste and settled in Queensland for the duration. A decade and more later, the family half grown and the parent getting older, we moved to a more congenial environment.

We found a place that could be the setting for the

'last homely house in the west'.

The year for 1999 has been a mixed blessing - this is the gist of an email I sent to family and friends a few days ago:-

I thought I would give you a rundown of our year - which hasn't been an ordinary one - Stewart met two of his relations one for the first time, my sister Stephanie who came in February and managed to arrive at Hobart Airport just in time for me to dispose of a cumbersome 'drain' before she stepped off the plane - The trip from Canada had been arranged rather suddenly as a result of a bonus that Peter her Husband had received, but the hospital trip was even more sudden - I left Hospital on the Wed - she arrived for three days on the Saturday. The later, nearly two months of temporary residence in Hobart while treatment was administered and the slow recovery to full strength ment that my garden didn't receive the ministration it should have done during the autumn and winter months. Mum now age 86 arrived for three weeks in October and I wish it could have been longer, specially as Janice ,whom she had already met as a young adult in UK during "96" &"97" was away at University and didn't finish her last exam until a few days after Mum flew out of the country. I think we had a good time and I was able to drive Mum to various places. Lauren was staying with me at that time, as she was completing a complex '6' high glass sided Jewelry display cabinet for a Hobart Jeweler - and the only place she could do it was in the custom built double garage workshop Stewart and a friend put up to house the tools when we first arrived here nearly two years ago. While Lauren was here she drove Mum down to Cockle Creek and I understand they had a really good chinwag. While that was going on I was uploading the Dover Online Access Center website - which I had been working on for over a year (hospital stays apart) if you want to visit it it is here -: http://dover.tco.asn.au/ also another much smaller site has just gone up - the Tasmanian Quaker Newsletter at -: http://oriel.freehosting.net/ this last has several flaws as words have run into each other and one repeated spelling error, you will have to accept my apology until I can spare the time to get back to correct them , otherwise the experience should be good(I hope). I have edited the Tasmanian Quaker Newsletter for 6 months this year and will hand it on to one of the other Editors for a few months next year.

Stewart Set out to complete his grade 11/12 course this year and all bar a 5 day work experience on a fish farm ,has done so. Like all young men at some stage he fell in love with the wrong girl and the story came apart towards the end of the year interfering with his studies. He found a full time job in Hobart and left school prematurely completing the written work in his own time while he has been living the other side of Hobart. The job also fell in the sink after a few weeks, now he is taking on various part time and temporary jobs while he makes up his mind which way to go next. He is still thinking of continuing his education - amongst many other things such as driving up to Kangaroo Valley for Easter next year. The Reno that Lauren and he restored was sold recently and provided enough for Stew to buy the car he has been wanting - a Celica, and enough for Lauren to get the other car she is restoring on the road. Stew still has a "classic" Rover to finish and will get it out of the workshop here and up to Hobart soon. The modified Enterprise Sailing Dinghy(mine) has also heading up to Hobart. I shall be glad to see it used properly and hope that it will be, it is certainly too fast and frisky for me to learn in. - Reminds me of a certain director who lived on Tanara in the Summer Isles( 74 -75) who taught himself to sail in a Fireball - spent more time in the water than on it. Lauren also moved from Sandy Bay earlier this year and both of them are in the process of renovating and completing their respective bungalows. Stewart also works at weekends with a surveyor.

Janice arrived Home from Uni covered in glory having spent a wonderful year being passionate about Photography which she took up for the first time. She received good marks in all the subjects which includes climbing and bush walking. Before she arrived home she informed us that she intends spending the passage of 1999 on a trail hundreds of Km from civalisation she left on 28th to walk from Cockle Creek to Lake Pedder and should be back in Hobart on 13th of January(16 day walk). She has one more year to complete her degree and then doesn't know what she will do - sounds familiar!!!

The weather is very warm - as some of you know we all had Christmas breakfast under the trees in the Garden sitting on the new bench Lauren made - it certainly adds another dimension to the garden . Sometime down the track there will be a a table and another smaller bench or one chair to add to it(possibly) the table top has been sitting in the workshop for a number of years. There are many odoriferous plants in bloom in the garden - the bumble bees are a constant source of amusement as they fall out of flowers - ordinary honey bees and native bees co -exist quite happily. We have seen bandicoots and the results of bandicoots(little conical holes in the ground)rabbits and yesterday a '6' + Tigersnake slithered past the door as we were sitting talking after lunch. There are many sorts of birds in the garden - and they can be quite nosey(appart from being noisy) - specially since the garden seat has been in use, they were fascinated by the Christmas decorations on the Blue Spruce. Cass the cat does upset the Blackbirds they keep yelling CAT CAT CAT when ever she is around but she rarely stirs except to twitch her tail and make rude faces at them. The garden presented us with a gift as well - a bucket of perfect purple Pontiac potatoes - which we hadn't planted and a plated string of Garlic which we had.

As a result of my mothers suggestion Lauren Stew and Janice helped me turn the house back to front(!) - well not really - just the contents - my Workroom is now in what used to be my lounge and dinning area and that is now in the newer part of the house with the glorious view down the garden. Despite everything I still have a tendency to live in the older end of the house. I have actually now completed some sewing projects and am looking forward cautiously to painting again - though I think not until I have the current visitors out from under my feet.

wishing you all a fruitfull and happy new century --

and I'll never be able to say that to any one again

Meryl


The BannerCo-Op - 1-1 Exchange + Cash

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this page updated
27th Dec.1999