15 November A busy fete and a birthday celebration

All in all it's been a pleasantly busy and ordinary week.
Health-wise, all continues to be going smoothly - my back seems to be healing up from a wound infection, with silver and a dressing doing the trick. (I must be worth quite a bit these days - gold in my teeth and silver to heal infection...)
I never thought I would get excited about being able to do such ordinary things as weed the garden, but the other day I went outside to water the garden, an easy task from a wheelchair (though I usually do manage to get myself wet in the process). Well, it was so pleasant outside that I located a hand-weeder and discovered that I could bend over the side of my red chair without falling out, and before long had filled a container of weeds! The novelty may well wear off, but for now I am enjoying the normality of such things.
Speaking of normality - I gave myself the challenge of contributing to the cake stall for our school fete, held last Saturday. I figure that I can reach into the oven with greater ease than before, so went for it!

It was also good to be able to help out at one of the fete stalls that only required me to be seated, take money and enjoy a chat with people I hadn't seen in a while - not such a hardship.
After church today, it was a privilege to enjoy a meal out with good friends to help celebrate the 65th birthday of a special friend who has had a lengthy cancer battle. Amazingly after having had some weeks of ill health following grueling treatment, the past week has brought him much better health, and he was able to participate and enjoy the day in a way that would not have been possible only a week or two ago. Great reason to celebrate. 

Yes, an ordinary week - and I am thankful for it. 

ps if you are wondering about our friendly local koala, we're not sure where he is currently located, but we do know that it is in the close vicinity as the noisy night-time grunting continues... 

8 November 2015 Healing backs and that darn koala

This week I had two reminders of the wonderful health services we can access in our country.
Firstly, we have been thankful for the home care which came about after my back surgery, one hour per week of housework - and my goodness what our worker doesn't get done in one hour is hardly worth mentioning! Well she informed us this week that she has pursued our 'case' further, and this care will continue for another 6 weeks. Hey that's truly a help and blessing for us - ensuite cleaned, house vacuumed, kitchen floors swept and washed.
And secondly, although my back scar has healed up well it has recently become a little tender where I lean back, so it requires District Nurses to check and dress it every second day, watching for possible infection. These special nurses have been unfailingly cheery and professional, so we are indeed thankful for their services too. 
The picture below (sorry - not the most attractive sight!) was taken about 3 weeks ago, showing my 35cm scar, but the reddish patch has not healed further, and when you press it, it 'wobbles' at the top of the scar. We're onto it though!

It's healing well except for the 'slower' bit, probably from where I lean back on a chair.

Enough about that.

We seem to have had a koala theme recently and this is no exception - yesterday evening Brian took this photo of a koala on our back garden fence. However I suspect Brian would have been a little more 'active' at moving it along had he known the koala's intent, because it climbed onto our flat house roof overnight, making one heck of a din before a loud thump and then things went quiet again. 
There were no visible signs of the activity today.

"Hope you've learnt your lesson - please stick to trees in future, preferably not too near our house..."

 

1 November 2015 The big ....

Yes - another new month has arrived - and I know this well because I can't easily turn the calendar over (without standing up out of the wheelchair) so it's generally a Brian task.

We've had another basically stable week with little change - except that on the whole Brian is experiencing some improvement in his general well-being, though we both experience a bit of fatigue - then again, perhaps we're just getting old!

Actually I like it when we look at things and appreciative the positives  - not only personally but also in our communities or towns. It's one of the things Brian and I have enjoyed discovering in our travels, and it has prompted me to do some homework into just what it is that inspires towns to celebrate and hold festivals for. 
For example, did you know that:
 *Augathella QLD is the 'home of the meat ant'?
 *the 'big wheelbarrow' is found in Port Hedland WA?
 *the 'big koala' is found at Dadswell's Bridge VIC?
 *and believe it or not, the 'big poo' was once built at Kiama NSW!

Well, did you also know that in recent years Portland has begun a celebration of the Bonney Upwelling? 
This is a 7-month-long natural ocean occurrence where krill form dense swarms which trigger a feeding frenzy attracting whales, tuna, seals, seabirds and the like. Hence the Upwelling Festival held in Portland annually in late October, consisting of a street parade, markets, and a variety of artistic, musical and water-based pursuits. 
Yesterday (31 Oct) was the day of the festival and so Brian and I went for a bit of a drive around, although we didn't tackle the considerable crowds during the street parade. Even later in the afternoon there was still plenty of activity, musical performances, whaleboat races, amazing sand sculptures and the like.
It would have to be better than 'the big poo' wouldn't it?

Each school participated in the street parade, after making huge seabird puppets.  

The end of one of the whaleboat races held during the afternoon. 

Our drive also took us to check on Adrian's cricket - we hoped he would see us in the car  and do a bit of showing off, but not a great deal happened while we watched, although Adrian did take 2 wickets for the match.

 

24 October 2015 Some local fauna... and is that flora on a fence??

We've had a stable week - and that has to be good. 
I am going well, and only have about 2 more weeks before I can finally throw away the steroid drug I am on (dexamethasone). The drug has done its job, but it is a very gradual process to reduce and finally stop its use, and my body is giving me some typical withdrawal side-effects - things like bloating on the face and feet, scaly skin, appetite changes and the like - though not nearly as bad as withdrawal symptoms from some people I have heard of. 

The other good thing this week is that Brian has been back to his GP who has placed him on a different (and stronger) pain-relief to trial for a week. While it is not a magic answer, Brian has felt considerably improved in both his foot and bladder issues and is starting to look like the 'old' Brian again.  We'll see what happens when he returns to the GP next week, but I sure hope he can continue on it as it is the first thing in a long while where we have seen a noticeable improvement in his day-to-day wellbeing.

Take a look at this photo, taken on our nature strip this week. It's rather cute but is actually wrecking the tree foliage, as there is quite a large koala population in Portland. They can be very noisy blighters too, especially at night-time (not to mention stirring up all the local dogs). Dale mentioned that a koala was the cause of a 3-hour shut-down at the Portland Aluminium Smelter the other night when it was found in the Electrical Switchyard - no doubt leading to a sad demise for itself (and the potential for a serious smelter shut-down had it continued for much longer).

Mother and child...

And I couldn't resist getting Brian to stop the car on the way to Warrnambool yesterday. Anyone who has traveled this road will have noted the strange 'growth' on the side fence, so take a closer look. It definitely keeps increasing too, so who knows where it will end?

 

 

Friday 16 October 2015 A visit from the Thompsons

In the past weeks we have really been blessed to have opportunities to go away for a few days, or have people come to visit us. During the past week it has been wonderful to have Coral (Brian's sister) and Vivian spend a few days with us. The first thing they did was make the 1000+ km journey from Port Lincoln to Portland in a single day - no mean feat, especially with the strong possibility of getting lost in Gawler - something Brian and I seem to manage with monotonous regularity whenever we travel to Port Lincoln.

On Monday we went to Warrnambool, mainly so I could have a routine post-operative appointment with my neurosurgeon Mr Tiew Han (the same surgeon who operated on Brian's neck about 4 years ago). He was very impressed with my progress, as he'd been concerned I may have been left with a continued legacy of back pain - and he couldn't wipe the smile off his face when I said I basically have none at all. He thinks I must have a very high pain threshold - whereas I think I have a very high prayer threshold! 
He showed us my back xray on his laptop - an intriguing combination of screws and wires. 
I am to have another xray taken in 3 months just to check that I don't have a screw loose - and that is quite literally! Hmmm

After a bit of shopping we headed off for lunch at Fishtales Cafe.

It was a huge lunch at a very respectable price.

Brian was especially impressed with his delectable iced coffee.

 

And on the way home we took the time to drive through Tower Hill (near Warrnambool) - the wildlife reserve in a volcanic crater - something we normally just drive past as we travel from A to B.

I kept my window closed as I've never been all that keen on the beady eyes (and pointy beak) of the emu.

Back in Portland there was some backyard action - with the demolition of the old cubbyhouse. This will enable us to replace the side fence, so it was a great help to have some help to get this task done.

All in all it was a lovely visit, and we hope we haven't worn everyone out with the extra jobs that have been achieved.
 



 

8 October 2015 A Holiday in Dunkeld

Having had to cancel our holiday to Dunkeld several months ago, Brian and I decided the time was right for having another attempt at a stay at the wheelchair-accessible holiday house called Sturgeon View Holiday house. So Monday morning saw us head off in very warm and breezy weather, and discover a slightly dated but wonderfully convenient house waiting for us in Dunkeld. 

It was a very relaxing spot to be and we stayed for 3 nights.

One of the best features for me was the layout of the kitchen - with the low benches I could wash dishes, cook at the stove and altogether just manage the food with great ease, especially as I could wheel under the benches as well. The toilet/shower was very convenient too, and had been well-thought-out. There were no steps anywhere in the whole house, so it was very easy to move around, and in and out of the house.     Despite being a bit low for Brian, it still worked ok for him too.

 

We went for drives, and took this photo (from Mt William) of one of the approx 15 landslides that took place early in 2011 when floods flowed down from Queensland and severely affected this area (including Horsham, when Mum had to be evacuated from Trinity Manor when the Wimmera River flooded).

Naturally there were drives into the bush - but because it has been such a dry year, the orchids were in short supply and difficult to find.

That doesn't mean Brian didn't find any though...

In the lovely warm weather, it was necessary at one stage to enjoy a licorice ice-cream at Halls Gap!

I had a look at the Halls Gap Zoo - trying my best to stay on level ground whilst focusing on the variety of animals that are housed there.

I think the fallow deer were somewhat confused to see me in a wheelchair - they are usually very cheeky  and not exactly backwards when it comes to taking food from any bag held by an unsuspecting visitor. Me? They just looked at me, and didn't come near unless I tossed some pellets straight at them!

So all in all we had a lovely time in Dunkeld and the wider Grampians.
We arrived home on Thursday afternoon -  feeling quite exhausted!
Nevertheless, we are grateful for the chance to have a change of scenery like this, and perhaps we'll do it all again one day - but take it a bit easier next time!

 
 

Sunday 4 October A new month, new horizons?

Well the calendar has turned over again - and it has been a time of stable health for myself, but slightly less stable for Brian just now. It's a shame we can't seem to coordinate things a bit better but this evening we suddenly realised that the last time Brian saw his neurologist, he decided to try Brian on a different brand (but same Levodopa amount) of Parkinson's tablet. We now believe that if Brian is having a 'worse' day, it is worse on this different brand - so we'll go back to the original brand we think - and see if that helps again?? Worth a try we believe... 

The month has started with Caitlin's birthday on the 2nd, and it was a delight to welcome Simon and Caitlin here for the (somewhat controversial) footy finals long weekend. 
We met at the very Hawks-inspired Gollasch household to watch the footy, and tried to be gracious in defeat, having decided to barrack for West Coast.

Early in the game we watched the TV with some interest and passion, but as the match progressed, so did the wanderings away from the TV! What a shame it wasn't a more exciting and closer game.

Meanwhile we had a lovely time with Simon and Caitlin, as they 'to-ed and fro-ed' in glorious Spring weather with little walks around the Portland lagoon, or paddling at Nun's Beach. Along with Adrian and Dale and Kodey popping in and out we had a lovely 'Pfeiffer' weekend together. 

Under the 'Peace' sign at our front porch.

Tomorrow the warm weather is meant to continue - and Brian and I have re-booked the Holiday House at Dunkeld that we had to cancel a while back, so tomorrow morning we will head off for 4 days. We will play it all by ear, and be as quiet or as 'energetic' as we want to be. 
We'll let you know how we go!