Letters to Ann

Dear Ann, 

The entertainment at Prime Timers for both October & November were choral, but entirely different.

First, let me tell you about one of the lasses that assists Joan in organising the organisation. Her name is Terry Waters, a delightful young lass who works in the back ground, but if needed she can adapt herself to what’s needed in the foreground. For example, when Cheryl is away & unable to conduct our physical exercises we do at the beginning of the get together, Terry is available to do it.  

I have been impressed with Terry ever since I joined Prime Timers. She is not only friendly & charming, but she is also very loveable & caring. She is just one of those people you know you are going to have as a friend.

The reason I am mentioning her is that some months ago after I returned from LA I put two  silky scarves on the trade table that I had bought at the Fashion District.  It was a couple I had doubled up on. They were not there for five minutes before they were snatched up & the ladies were asking “Where did you get those beautiful scarves?” 

Terry was one who asked & happened to say “If you ever go back there would you get me a blue one?” I knew I had one at home exactly the right color:  a very vivid & pretty blue. So I wrapped it up as a Christmas gift for her & gave it to her today.

I made a point of saying it came from the LA Fashion District, which made her more excited. When she opened it she was just over the moon. I love doing things like that for lovely people like Terry people who don’t expect it & it made my day as she was in raptures.

I missed our Sept. meeting with all my good friends at Prime Timers because I was saying goodbye to my sister when she was going back to Tasmania, but I was so glad I didn’t miss the next two months.  

In October we had the Waratah Men’s Choir & had to move from the hall into the Church so that we could accommodate them all.  

I love men’s choirs & it brought back memories of the times Sharon took me to hear the Los Angeles Gay Men’s Choir who were numerous in number & absolutely amazing.  I enjoyed those times very much & on a smaller scale I also loved the choir we had that morning to entertain us.  

I was surprised, though that they had a female conductor, a very tall, lean lady who was absolutely marvellous at what she does & it was easy to see that all the males respected her highly. She really fascinated me. There was something about her which was very striking.  

Twice she joined with the men in two small segments & she had one of the most remarkable voices, which was very audible over the whole choir.  There was also three other ladies apparently attached to the choir: the organiser, the pianist & another lady who sang a solo. She had a voice like an opera singer.   We really enjoyed that morning.  

Waratah Men’s Choir. Oct. 2016

A little incident happened as we were walking out of the church back into the hall for lunch.  One of the men came up to speak & was obviously pleased to see me. I recognised him straight away. It was Kevin Goodwin, a retired  printer. He’s a bit younger than me, but he did the very first labels for my pudding business & continued to do them until we retired from that business.  

It is so nice to meet up again with a business associate who becomes almost a friend. He was equally as pleased to see me as I was to see him.  We had a lovely chat & caught up with the current events in our lives with the outcome that I now have his address so that I can send a Christmas card to him & his family.

When Joan was thanking the choir she mentioned something about the puddings that I had on my table as the members buy a few near Christmas.  This prompted me to give her one to present to the choir to have at their Christmas party & I had the feeling that Kevin really appreciated that.

Our November get together was equally as nice, but in a different way.  We had ‘Friends For Life’ to entertain us whom we have heard many times before.  It’s a much smaller group comprising seven women & two men. Well, that’s the number singing for us today.  

This choir too were excellent, the best we have ever heard them. The leader, John, his wife, Nancy & their daughter, Sharon sang together at times. I guess they have a lot of time to practice because they were good.  John & Nancy did a little skit as they sang ‘I can’t help falling in love with you’ & later Sharon sang a solo & also a duet with her Dad.  

The first half of their programme were songs all about love & very jivey.  We loved it.  In the second half of the programme they sang some old favorites, but particularly mine: ‘Amazing Grace’, ‘How Great Thou Art’ & ‘Unchained Melody’.  For some unknown reason that I can’t explain, these three always brings tears to my eyes.

In connection with the latter, sometimes when Max had a few wines & was fast asleep I would put on the Righteous Brothers singing that & revel in it while I listened to it blasting through the house as I lay in bed!  I loved it

Prime Timers – Friends for Life. Nov. 2016

Friends For Life always have something different on the front of their lectern & this time they had a picture of Elvis Presley on it along with some religious words.  John, the leader, told us that once when Elvis was singing someone in the audience called out “Elvis is king.” It is reported that Elvis stopped singing to say he wasn’t the king, but that Jesus was King.  

I had never heard that before & it may or may not be true, but we certainly enjoyed almost an hour & half of listening to songs sung by Elvis.   We had a delightful morning.

Attached to the hall where we gather is a ‘Nourish Cafe’ where people train in the catering industry. They make our sandwiches for lunch, which are second to none, they are delicious.  Every month I make a batch of my Curried Zuccinni Relish to sell on the trade table, which raises funds for people less fortunate than ourselves.  A lass from the cafe came in to buy the remaining four large bottles of relish on the table so we sold it to her at a discount.  

Today as I was leaving, the lass came racing out to see me before I drove off & asked if she could buy some more as she had sold the bottles she had in no time.  This relish is extremely popular & disappears like hot cakes, so it looks as if I am about to get into the wholesale business with relish as I promised the lass I would deliver a whole batch to her next Tuesday!  

My mind is ticking over, I am starting to make plans!

All my love my dear Ann XOXO

Dear Ann,

Jim was quick on the uptake asking if i would be interested in interviewing his wife, Judy, who was currently working on a Monday morning only.  He assured me she was a good worker who would give more than one hundred percent of herself.

With a recommendation like that, of course I was interested & Judy came along to have a chat with me.  My immediate reaction upon meeting her was one of absolute approval & she was on the job the next day. I never regretted my decision.

From this she then learnt to deal with the transition of taking them from their boiling cloths to the decorating section, which entailed cutting either cellophane or cloths to the various sizes required. The cutting of ribbons to the required lengths all of which was hand done.  

She became as keen about the business as I was myself. When the really busy season started she took it upon herself to take home bolts of material to her own place to cut with pinking sheers. She bought back hundreds of material squares to decorate the puddings next day when she arrived for work.  

The materials would be used up during the day & Judy would have more ready for the next day.  She was a tireless worker.

In addition, she took over the responsibility of ordering ingredients for production, items for decorating such as cellophane, material, ribbon & labels.  This was indeed no small task as we had several different types of puddings & yuletide logs which required labels for each type & size.  

She organised the working teams for production & decorating of the products she needed next.  She also took on the position of checking & packing the orders ready for despatch, which meant a lot of heavy lifting & certainly very fast work in the three months preceding Christmas.  

The stress at times was terrible. Looking back I ponder on how she managed to do it all.  I can only say that my bank manager was spot on when he told me his wife was a good worker.  There might be some as good,  but I would go so far to say that there would be none better.  

Judy, Pat & Dawn at Michele’s for Judy’s birthday 2016.

Judy became our right hand man & Max & I certainly had a first class worker.  Over the years a very firm friendship eventuated & in our retirement from the pudding industry we have celebrated our birthdays together for over thirty years.  

We are now at the stage where – at our age – we don’t know what to get for each other, but with a lot of wracking of brains, or maybe rattling of brains, we always come up with some token of our love for each other when the day comes around.  

For the past twelve years, since I came to live at Lakelands, we have met at Michele’s Patisserie every Monday. When I say ‘we’ I am including our friend, Pat, who was also part of early pudding days & has a similar story when it comes to the value of her work.  The three of us have a great bond.

I also know that she loves cats, which has always been her pet.  So, when in Burbank with Charley on my last trip, I was looking through some cards in the local pharmacy & found the most delightful birthday card.  

Judy and the amazing singing cat card.

It was the most expensive birthday card I have ever purchased & was worth every cent.  It was a pull out card & featured cats of all kinds & when extended to its fullest the featured cats meowed  the ‘Happy Birthday’ song in full.  I would have bought it no matter what the cost as it was so appropriate  for Judy.

No matter what our gift was for Judy, I knew she would love the card so I planned it well.

When the small cafe was full of patrons!  Judy pulled out her card & everyone heard a rendition of Happy Birthday that they had never heard before!  It was fun, as birthdays are meant to be. 

Dear Ann,

I think I started dating when I was fifteen & going out to dances & balls frequently, which kept me very poor on my meagre weekly wages of fourteen shillings & seven pence that is all I received when I started out in the work force at that age.   

I took to ballroom dancing like a duck takes to water & soon found myself with plenty of partners. It didn’t take me long to become besotted with dancing, so I started going to more & more. In those days there were plenty to attend in the town & also in the rural areas.  

To get to the latter, my girl friend Joan & I would dress up in our finery – often in long gowns if it was a country ball – & wait at the bus stop for the right bus to come along.  If it was raining we would take our raincoats & umbrellas along & hold our long gowns up off the ground, we were keen!  

On the way home in the bus we would sing all the current songs including “Roll me over in the clover, roll me over & do it again!” Truly I didn’t appreciate the full meaning of that. I was too young, which I guess was why my Dad had great concern for me!!

Jeepers, that was like taking away my life at that stage so I almost pleaded & after much pleading he consented to let me go to three dances per fortnight.  Now and then when a ball was held that was not allowed, but as an extra.

I was more concerned about my gowns which Mum made for me. I had a few, plus a garland for my hair. All this kept me poor for years, but I had a great lot of enjoyment in my teens.  

Max with Dawn in one of her ball gowns, 1949

The boys would arrive in the droves after 10 p.m .when the hotels closed & most of them would be pretty ‘happy,’ including my future husband!

Before the main stream arrived we girls would be dancing with the teetotalers  which was pretty boring, but there were some nice chaps who were more interested in dancing than drinking. It was nice having a male partner as it really wasn’t the ‘thing’ to dance with your girl friend!  

I was having a great time with different beaus for a few years, until Max came along & that changed my history: even though I thought he was a loud mouthed smart alek!

I really didn’t like him at all but as he deigned to ask me for lots of dances I got to thinking he wasn’t too bad as he could dance really well.  What’s more we sort of fell into step together naturally.

The cheek of him! I told his mate to tell him where to go!  However, history is history & I let him take me home the next time when he asked me himself.  

Besides, he was the only young chap in town who had his own car, a Ford Prefect that he had bought with his winnings as an athlete. He was a long distance runner.

Anyway, I swallowed my pride, accepted his offer, which was better than walking back to Morva’s home after the ball so I thought that on the whole he may be a good catch!  

As I said, life is different now. Even though Dad is very astute he said he got one heck of a shock when Riley casually said one day, “Oh by the way Dad, I will be staying at Dave’s place tonight.”  I had to smile when David told me how he felt, but with his own experience as a youngster he didn’t have a leg to stand on, so he just swallowed his tongue.  As Riley’s Gran I just wished it had been that open when I was a girl!  

It’s a year now that they have been dating & Dave is part of the family – well at least for the time being.  He even cleaned up Riley’s mess when she vomited one night after drinking too much. You have to be Mr. Nice Guy to do that!  

Dave & Riley at Kristen Close on Dave’s birthday.

Dave comes to family dinners; stops over at Riley’s place frequently &  annoys David greatly. When Dave has a shower he moves the shower higher because he is so tall & David is so short he has to get a step ladder to get the shower down again.  

And Dave is no mean eater either, but when a chap is as tall as him he needs a lot of sustenance to keep him going. I witnessed all this & after eating two or three of David’s bruschetta that he make for us all as a pre dinner snack on Monday night family dinners & are pretty substantial. Then Dave has his normal meal of three real thick fillet steaks with all the trimmings.  

You would think he wouldn’t be able to eat another thing.  However, one Monday I took up some of Riley’s favourite Apple Coconut Slices that she loves & when Dave thought no one was looking I saw him pinch of couple of slices out o the refrigerator before he went home, so I guess he likes them too.

Dear Ann,

However, let me tell you about my  birthday.  A couple of months ago I mentioned to David that if he couldn’t think of a thing to give me as a gift I would love a little old wooden rocking chair to put out on the front porch for me to rock in while I read in the sun &  survey my new garden that I must tell you about later.

I also suggested to my girls that my door chimes had tossed it in. I was hoping to plant a seed in this direction too as I am aware how hard it is to buy gifts for little old ladies like me.

So the night before my birthday he rang to say they would pick me up at 6.45 p.m.  I asked ‘Why”, he answered “Because it’s your birthday.”  I answered “It’s tomorrow.” So he said  “Well we’ll go out tonight because it’s Melbourne Cup Day”.

I stopped writing the letter I was doing & we went.  Lauren was in Adelaide at a conference for her work so David, Riiley & Charley called to pick me up with flowers & cards. My lovely card from my grand daughters told me how much they loved their Gran & I received a lovely bunch of flowers.

Then we drove off to the restaurant where I noticed David had a card ready to give me at the appropriate moment, which I felt sure would say ‘you have an old fashioned wooden rocking chair.

Family 87th B’day dinner for Dawn at Lena’s Rest. David doesn’t hand over a rocking chair!

We had the most delightful meal of Lobster Mornay with a lot of little seafood side dishes, which was so good after my very mundane meals I had been having.  I really lapped it up & felt the restaurant did us proud.

However, there was this slight little feeling of disappointment as there was no mention of a little old wooden rocking chair.  I am not sure why I had my heart so set on that but I did. Being a positive thinker I didn’t give up hope.

I still hadn’t given up hope, so when they left I popped my head out the front door to see if they had left a little old wooden rocking chair on the front porch to be a surprise in the morning which would actually be my birhtday.  However, I must have misheard what Riley said as the veranda displayed no surprise!

My last thought as I went to sleep was that I had had my birthday with my family & I had no plans for tomorrow & my birthday was mostly over before it had begun!  However I slept well.

As I put the phone down it rang again & a voice sang ‘Happy Birthday to you.’.  I didn’t recognise it at first, but of course it was Philip from LA  whose voice had improved so much I thought it was someone else.

Then cheery voice said  “Happy Birthday darling & what are your plans for today?” It was my dear friend Cheryl & in answer to her question  I said ‘Nuthin.” She said “Nuthin’? well we will fix that. I will go & pick Sandra up & we will meet you at Micheles’ Patisserie at 1 p.m.”

q  Dawn’s 87th birthday with Sandra & Cheryl

They did just that & came  complete with more flowers, pressies & cards.  They saved the day & I was so animated that in my enthusiasm I spilled my coffee all over my  new top, not once but twice!  Cheryl mopped me down, no harm done & I had a lovely time with my friends.

However, I love unwrapping gifts, so when it arrived in the post next day I made sure I had everything done so that I could enjoy the process of doing just that. Maybe I am into my second childhood era!

Kim always thinks of something a little different to the norm, which makes her gifts so exciting. When I unwrapped it I had a real surprise.  I had a pack of coloured pencils & three colouring in books, which is all the rage now. This is what Kim said they are doing for people in nursing homes.  The books are quite thick & although I have never done anything like this for many years I can see a challenge ahead of me should I ever go into a nursing home.

Our conversation ended around 10 p.m. which was why my other four siblings couldn’t get a word in, so I never heard from them until the next day or so.  I also heard from some nieces who are very dear to my heart & I can tell from their cards & messages that they love me as much as I love them.

That gesture just made my day as it was so unexpected & very thoughtful.  He also had the paper with the crosswords waiting for me on the table.  I thought that was so very sweet & the unexpectedness of it made my day.

Dawn’s 87th birthday with Ursula & Jean

Ursula, our mutual friend also rang me late on the night of my birthday after Peter & I had stopped talking & she had had the most disastrous thing happen which, again I will tell you about later.  The outcome of these two calls was that we would all meet at Michele’s on Sunday.

This was four days after my birthday & I had completely forgotten about it, but when I walked into the cafe I saw two birthday bags sitting on the table.  It took awhile for the penny to drop & to realise there was one birthday bag for Ursula who recently had a birthday & one for me.

In addition Ursula also had gifts for me. If all this gets confusing it’s just because there are too many bithdays at once among friends.

Ursula had told me abcout the Royal Flush, which is not to be muddled up with playing poker.  This was some very highly centred perfume to be used in the toilet using two drops into the water before use to absorb any odors.

I had never heard of it but it’s marvellous. I am sure the Queen must use it herself as her royal flush!  In additional was a book I know I am going to love, an autobiography by Chick Norris titled ‘Against All Odds.’ I am looking forward to reading it.

All the gifts were also lilac. There was a nice soft face cloth, a tube of very upmarket hand lotion in a lilac coloured tube & a lilac scarf.  I couldn’t help thinking that, for a person who is far from well, she did a fabulous job.

In addition to all of this excitement they had organised for a birthday cup cake complete with lighted candle  to  present to me which Dianne, a staff member did with grest aplomb & sang ‘Happy Birthday.   It was a belated birthday but I so enjoyed it & the love they conveyed.

Judy had asked if my birthday could be delayed as she went on a holiday to her very much loved Fiji where she was born. No one minded, so the birthday went on for almost a full week.

When we met on Monday they had thought up something special for me.  They knew I was getting my garden completely revamped & had bought for me a lovely gnome who had his arms crossed, a pick axe over his shoulder & a very grumpy look as if to start an argument so I immediately called him Grumpy.

He caused a lot of laughter at lunch that day & now sits under a special bush in my garden.  I also received a cute little drink bottle to keep my water cool for when I go to line  dancing, which I never had before & now am wondering why because it is so handy.

I receive about thirty cards each year & keep them displayed for a week or two, as I like to read & reread them.  However, my friend Judy gave me one which is so cute, so meaningful & so different I thought I would let you in on this one which read:

‘To a Special Friend, A friend like you is hard to find, hard to lose & impossible to forget.

Happy Birthday with lots of love from Judy’.

That was my 87th Birthday, another one to remember with love.

He suggested going to a couple of Bric a Brac stores in a nearby suburb. So one of my line dancing pals, Joyce, made a date with me for the following Saturday when we would go together & have a look.

When she arrived to pick me up she came inside saying “Come & have a look at my car.”  I thought & said “Whatever for, I know your car?”

However, I did what I was told. You wouldn’t believe it, but she had a dear little rocking chair just made for me sitting in the back seat!  She had just driven a block down from her home, passed a garage sale with a rocking chair out the front with a tag saying it could be bought for the princely price of $25 in almost mint condition.

Joyce was as tickled pink to find this for me as I was to have it.  David had been trying to buy one on line at eBay or Gumtree without success.

When he arrived for our Sat. afternoon chat I was able to show him what his generous monetary gift of cash had bought. He had indeed, bought me a rocking chair for my birthday.

Sending this with heaps of love..   God Bless, Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

I am missing my sister dreadfully now that she has returned to live in Tasmania where she was born, so it probably does not surprise you that I have turned to everything that reminds me of her. I thought it time that I went through again the calendar she gave me last Christmas titled ‘You are one Amazing Sister’. I want to feel that she is still near me & so I read:

Joice and Dawn in 1945

MAY - The Story of Two Very Different Sisters

One is here, one lives there.
One is a little taller than the other.
They have two different colours of hair, two very different outlooks on life, two very different views from their windows.
Both have very different tomorrows ahead.
Each is unique in so many ways.
Each has different work to do & different demands on the day.
Each has a different destination & a distinctly different path to get there.
For all the things that might be different & unique about them, these two sisters will always share so much.

They will be the best of family & friends, entwined together, through all the days of their lives. Their love will always be very special, gentle & joyful when it can be, strong & giving when it needs to be, reminding them, no matter what, how different their stories turn out.
They share the incredibly precious gift of being sisters.
And when you think of some of the best things this world has to offer, a blessing like that is reality…what it’s all about’.

When Lauren Atherton wrote that she must have been a sister herself to know & understand as it is all true. Then it comes to:

Dawn and Joice at Dawn’s wedding in 1952

JUNE – This is from My Heart You Mean So Much To Me.

A sister is friendship, fun & family all rolled up in one beautiful person.
She’s everything special to your heart, the one to lift your spirits, & the dearest friend you will ever have.
It’s funny that a sister doesn’t always hear how much it means to have her in your life.
I wonder why I don’t tell you more often how special you are to me, but I hope you will always know’.

And on reading this again I hope Joice understood what went unsaid as I said goodbye to her at Newcastle Airport a few weeks ago.

Joice (with Kassandra) and Dawn (with David) at the children’s christening in 1958

It is only my friends who know how much I wanted Joice all to myself in that last hour she was with me. I wanted to hold her to myself & all by myself before I let her go. I am selfish enough to love her that deeply.

And as I have written this, my dear friend Sharon, would understand as I know & have witnessed the love that she & her sister Denise share, It is exceptional & reminds me of Joice & I.

Sharon would be one person who understood how I felt that day Joice left Newcastle & me. So perhaps the next chapter says it better than I could of what I might have said as it would have been something like this:

Joice and Dawn at Joice and John Manthorpe’s Wedding

JULY – Sister I’m Sending You My Love.

Though I may not always say it with exactly the right words (or even out loud) I want you to know it makes me feel good & very proud to have a sister like you.

You know where I come from & you do too & no matter what happens in this world I will always be there for you.

You’ve been my friend right from the start, you’ve got a unique place in my life, days & heart.

Even if we fuss or fight I know it will be alright.

Where I come from you do too You’re my amazing sister & I love you.

And as we turn the page to the next month my calendar only expresses further what I wanted to say before she left:

Joice and Dawn for Dawn’s 80th Birthday

AUGUST – Sister I Want t Thank You.

I couldn’t let another day go by without expressing all you mean to me because you have been one of the dearest hearts I’ve ever been blessed to know.

Your heart has been one that I I’ve trusted with my deepest truths knowing that they would remain both guarded & understood.

Your heart has been attentive to all that means the most to me, listening to me in comfort & support.

Your heart has kept me smiling through all the ages & the stages we’ve passed through & it has loved me without question all the blessed days of my iife.

Today I thank you with love & gratitude for the countless gifts of your heart & trusting in return that you will always find a home in my heart too.

I will not go further with my beautiful calendar given to me by Joice last Christmas but as I read, it expresses so much of what I also feel for my sister & that great bonding came the day God answered my prayer for a little sister. Tears have been in my eyes as I have written this because it means so much to me.

I will miss my little trips to Forster terribly as I loved the little shopping sprees with my sister, but most of all I will miss both John & Joice. The love the three of us shared will be a loving memory.

As Philip has always said “Changes in life are inevitable & we must accept them & embrace them.”

God Bless, My Love Always. Dawn X O X O