Letters to Ann

Dear Ann,

The powers that be are really treating us all at Prime Timers with great music for the first two months of the year. At our February meeting we had Bill Blackall’s Big Band which is quite a mouthful. I find it hard to get my mouth around that!

When we have treats like that we do our first part of the meeting in the hall, but for entertainment like this we move into the Church where there is more room. This month everything was set up in the Church & I don’t think the good Lord would mind one little bit. This time when we went to the Church we weren’t sitting in pews, but our tables were set up individually which was really nice.

So we saw & listened to the band as it was tuning up & warming up! The whole band looked grand dressed in all black shirts & trousers, a smart grey tie with a very smart black & silver vest.  They looked very smart & I was so sorry I discovered I had left my camera at home, a very rare thing for me to do. I could have kicked myself. So I am sorry I didn’t get any photos, but I am sure they will be back sometime in the future.

The band consisting of fourteen musicians on the day. An all male, all brass band except for two females. They played some well known & much loved favourites for us. I could see a lot of foot tapping going on, which is always a good indication that the audience is loving it.

I don’t know if it was Bill himself who was the leader, but when he stood up to say something I thought he was the sexiest looking man I had seen since I was a teenager! I know an eighty seven year old should not be thinking such things, but I did say this to my friend Cheryl who agreed, so it wasn’t just me thinking it.

He just came across as a very nice virile man who, as teenagers used to say, ‘I wouldn’t mind having his shoes under my bed!”

In addition to all that, he was not only the leader of the band, but also the singer of the band & had the smoothest & most beautiful voice.

I couldn’t help thinking how many people with voices like that are not recognised in the musical world because they have not been discovered. In any case, he sang some very well known songs with the band as accompaniment. It was certainly a morning where we all appreciated the entertainment,

As well as this our leader, Joan, gave us some information I had been waiting to hear: namely how much the trade table raised last year. I think I mentioned before that it was one of the goals I set myself at the beginning of the year to help make it the best annual trade table yet.

I not only nearly drowned everyone with Curried Zucchini Relish every month, but I took along some of my beautiful tablecloths I had stored in my linen press & no longer used. I also took along some other memorabilia I had been hanging onto, probably hoping my grand children may like it, but decided not to pressure them with it as they like to buy what is modern for the day.

Everyone supports the trade table & Joan announced that it had raised no less than $475. I do not know if this was a record, but I do know it was approximately $100 more than the previous year.

For the recipients in a third world country it bought three pigs ($205), four goats ($226), two sewing machines ($90) & two Shovels ($64), which I think is a great result from sixty Prime Timers’ members bringing along bric a brac to sell. As they say ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’!

It was a great morning & I will leave you with ‘The Children’s Bible in a Nutshell,’ which Joan had printed on our monthly brochure…

‘In the beginning which happened at the start there was nothing but God, darkness & some gas.

The Bible says “The Lord God is one”, but I think he must have been a lot older than that.

Anyway the Lord said ‘Give me Light’ & someone did. Then God made the world.

He split the Adam & made Eve.

Adam & Eve were naked, but they weren’t embarrassed because mirrors hadn’t been invented yet.

Adam & Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple so they were driven from the Garden of Eden, not sure what they were driven in though because they didn’t have cars.

Adam & Eve had a son, Cain who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.

Pretty soon all of the other people died off except Methuselah who lived to be like a million or something.

One of the next important people was Noah who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham.

Noah built a large boat & put his family & some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him but they said they would have to take a rain check.

After Abraham came Isaac & Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother Esau because Jacob sold Esau his birthmark in exchange for his pot roast.

Jacob had a son called Joseph who had a really loud sports coat

Another important Bible guy is Moses whose real name was Charlton Heston.

Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt & away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh’s people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice bowels & no cable.

God fed the Israel Lights with manicotti.

Then he gave to them his Top Ten Commandments. These include don’t lie, cheat, smoke, dance or covet your neighbour’s stuff. Oh yeah, I just thought of one more, Humour your Father & thy Mother.

One of Moses’ best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies.

Joseph fought the battle of Geritol & the fence fell over on the town.

After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot.

He had a son named Solomon who had 300 wives & 500 porcupines. My teacher said he was very wise but that doesn’t sound wise to me.

After Solomon there came a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah who was swallowed by a big whale & then barfed up on the shore.

There was also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don’t have to worry about them.

After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of the New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. I wish I was born in a barn too because my Mom is always saying to me “Close the door were you born in a barn?” It would be nice to say “As a matter of fact, I was”.

During his life Jesus had many arguments with the Pharisees & the Democrats.

Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrrible vegetable after him.

Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards & even preached to some Germans on the mount.

But the Democrats & all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn’t stick up for Jesus, he just washed his hands instead.

Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again.

He went up to Heaven but will be back again before the Aluminium. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution’.

With Fond Love Always. Dawn X O X

Dear Ann,

You will know where I will be on the third Sunday of every month: at the Fennels Bay Market with my little jars of Curried Zucchinni Relish & I am having a ball.

Incidentally, I said this to a friend of mine over the phone recently & she said “Oh my, I thought you were going to say you were having an affair”! I assured her that after a fifty eight year affair with my husband that I will not go astray as I am enjoying myself too much & very content with life as it is.

So in February I took myself off to my favourite market early in the morning, complete with my new tables, pretty tablecloth & my very new concertina gazebo that I was dying to see put up.

I asked Mr. Lions Club man when I booked in if some of the men could help me, so the good man took me to my site where he had phoned for two men to erect my gazebo. It was done in minutes. It’s so easy with legs to stand on while the concertina part unfolds out; the roof placed on the top & buttons to press which pushes it up to its full height.

This all means that I can sleep in an extra half hour on market mornings & leave home at 6:30 a.m. instead of 6 a.m.

It doesn’t take me long to unpack. By now I am quite adept at that, which is just as well as buyers come around looking soon after 7 a.m. I was selling produce well before the appointed time to start.

It’s quite interesting as I had forty five different sized jars of relish in bigger jars than last month, which looks good although the jars are not prettied up at all. I just leave them plain.

It’s interesting – as I sit there giving out the tastings – to watch how the supply dwindles, usually just one by one. Although one very enthusiastic customer came along with a friend & when she tasted the relish she fell for it, & said it was to die for! She immediately grabbed the biggest jar ($12), then grabbed the next biggest, ($9), then an $8 jar, which she said was one for the office, one for Mum & one for herself!

That has been my biggest sale so far & I am sure she will be back next month. So I am slowly & quietly building up a good clientele.

Dawn’s relish on sale at Fennels Bay Market. 16/4/2017

One of the ingredients in the relish is capsicums (a.k.a. bell peppers) which are really expensive in the super markets, so when the lady in the stall next to me said that the fruit & vege man had them for $1 I dashed over to get a dozen, as this is a great saving.

They are usually $9 per kilo at the super market, which is nothing short of outrageous, but I can’t be bothered shopping anywhere else unless its in front of me as this was. At least it wasn’t the Chinese lady!

When I went to purchase, the gentleman also had tomatoes for $5 per case with 10 kilos in each case. Wow that’s a bit different to paying $7 per kilo! I went a little mad. I bought six cases & the gentleman carried them over & put them in my car for me. I knew I could use three cases & I had plans for the other three.

I make a delicious relish & David makes a super Tomato Chutney. He grows his own tomatoes & last year he made 25 kilos of his chutney, which gets great accolades to all that he gives it to. They yearn for more & I think he practically supplies all his street as well as family.

When Philip & Greg went home they were well equipped with some rather large jars of David’s chutney in their baggage. So much so that they almost had to leave behind the two pairs of binoculars I had given them for Christmas because of excess baggage, so you can see how popular David’s relish is!

However, this season David’s tomato plants have done ‘diddly squat’, they just didn’t come into fruit & David had been waiting for the price of tomatoes to decrease to a reasonable price so that he could make his relish.

So that Sunday night I went up for dinner as usual. When I went inside I told David I had something in the car for him, but it was too heavy for me to carry. So, of course he said he would get it for me & we walked back up to the car together.

When I opened the car boot & he saw I had three cases of tomatoes for him he put his head back grinning, put his arm around me & said “Only my Mum would buy me three cases of tomatoes!” I left him that night knowing what he would be doing other than attending to his roofing business for the following week!

As for me, I wasn’t rushed at the market. There was just a steady flow until one & half hours before the market was due to end. It seemed that all of a sudden I only had one bottle left.

The lady next to me who had already had bought a jar & was eating it on the sandwiches she had brought with her said “I will take that last jar & then you can go home.”

So I drove myself out of the throng of stall holders, onto the open road heading for Michele’s patisserie where I had my usual lunch about two hours earlier than expected.

While munching away I made a list of ingredients I would need for my next market. I already had tomatoes & capsicums & left there with a trolley load of everything else I needed.

The lass at the checkout asked was I making pickles, so I put her right on what I was about to make so she ordered a bottle before I left. I don’t think that’s too bad selling produce to the supermarket staff as I did with the Christmas Puddings. I learnt a lot about selling when in Tupperware & I don’t let an opportunity pass me by.

So by the time I went up to David’s for dinner that night, I had shopped, chopped, weighed & was prepared to make two batches next morning, which I did. I now had sixteen jars ready for next month’s market.

Then I went to have lunch with Pat & Judy at 11.30 a.m., which is a ritual each Monday. I don’t get home until 3 p.m. I had a batch of relish to take to Prime Timers on Tuesday morning.

I continued chopping, weighing, cooking & labelling for the rest of the week. I had made ten batches by the following weekend & was almost out of jars. However, my good Prime Timer pals have sent me in two cartons of jars already, so it all looks good.

I am very pleased with my new hobby, my new gazebo, my sales & my production, but more importantly is the fact I just feel so healthy & very content with life itself.

I love you. Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

I was hooked, lock, stock & barrel. I think markets are going to be the boon of my life until I leave the planet or until God ceases to give me the energy to continue.

Along the way I have learnt quite a lot. To start with it was the fundamentals I needed to learn. These were to have a cover in case of inclement weather & I needed jars to put relish in because now I was into the throes of this new hobby I was going to run out of jars very quickly. I will tell you the story of jars first.

Last year when taking a batch of relish to Prime Timers each month I soon ran out of jars, just any old ordinary jars that most people put in the recycling bin. I put out an SOS via Joan, our leader, who announced my dilemma to all & sundry, asking our members if they would bring any unwanted jars to the monthly meetings for me.

Well they love the relish, so I got the jars – some hundreds of them, all shapes & sizes. Just before the end of last year I had to ask Joan to put out another SOS to thank them all for their support, but as I had four hundred & thirty four jars housed on every available shelf to please stop!

So they did. Then with the advent of needing them for markets, after two months I had to put out another SOS via Joan, to please bring them again as Dawn desperately needs jars! I could see myself running out of them within the next month as I am currently using at least seventy a month & I don’t want to have to buy jars. I am hoping the members will respond as they did before so that’s the first part of this story.

With gazebos, I was lucky last year as I didn’t have one but the weather was kind. However, that won’t always be the case. With the Christmas puddings particularly, that was sheer luck & I could see it was necessary to have cover.

My lovely lass, Sue, who was doing my housework almost weekly at that stage, brought along her gazebo to lend to me, but it wouldn’t fit in the car. She suggested I take my car & go to the home hardware store & say that if they had a gazeo that would fit in it I would buy it on the spot.

This I did & the day before the Warners Bay Market was held last year I mentioned to the organiser, Roslyn, who was going to make sure I had cover under a tree, that I had bought a gazebo.

She happened to say that she hoped it wasn’t one of those that ‘a’ had to fit into ‘b’ & ‘c’ into ‘d’ & so on with masses of poles to fit into one another because she had seen the menfolk at the council putting them up before & they were a real hassle.

Well, you guessed it, when I asked them to put it up at the market the next day, that is exactly what I had! Finally, the stall holder next to me said that he had better come & help them as he was very familiar with that type of gazebo & knew what a problem they could be.

He got it done & I had good cover that day. Needless to say the nice lad did not go home empty handed for his help.

That particular day as I was leaving, an elderly gentleman & a stall holder from way back gave me the name of the gazebo that was the best & easiest to erect. He even spent time showing me how it was done.

I went off armed with the information thanking him for his help. This information eventuated in Philip taking me to the Boating, Camping & Fishing stores that had been suggested. We did this on the way home from Line Dancing as I had my next & last market for the year the following day.

The first store we went to didn’t have any in stock & said they thought the manufacturers were no longer making the particular one I needed, but he was kind enough to suggest another store further on. When we called there the salesman did not have that particular one either, but showed us another which he stated was similar. I was very happy to get it & it was sitting on the back seat of my car as I happily drove off.

My happiness on that score was short lived as, when the Lions Club men went to set it up for me, I realised that I would never be able to manage this one either. I am always going to need help in putting a gazebo up, but I don’t want it to be too much of a difficult job when others are helping me.

I was really disappointed with making another mistake with my second choice, so David came to my rescue after my first market day this year. He looked it up on line & found that it was available at a huge hardware store. Indeed the most popular one in our State, which was also near to where I live.

I took myself there the next day. I should have gone there in the first place as they not only had the one recommended for me in stock, but they also had one erected in the store. The salesman took me through its advantages at length as I didn’t want to make a third mistake.

I was just so pleased at having the right one at last & could scarcely wait to see it up & operating.

I decided it won’t just be relish I would be selling at the market. Sometime in the future I will have two gazebos on sale at very good prices, as both have only been used once.

That’s the story of the gazebos. In addition I bought two new folding tables instead of old fashioned card tables that are a thing of the past.  Now I am starting to look like & feel like a real professional stall holder with all the right equipment! Look out Fennels Bay, here I come!

God Bless & Fond Love. Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

When we were almost half way into the first month of this New Year I was wondering what to do with myself all day. Going out with friends for lunch which, I always enjoy, fills in a little time, but there’s a lot of time left over.

I remember when I first moved here thirteen years ago thinking what on earth I was going to do with myself. It didn’t take me long in our little villa to do the housework, after being used to the large home that we previously had.

I have always been an active person, so with this new move I threw my energy into the garden, which was more than sadly neglected at that time. However, now Hammond Care have taken over the house & the garden (which sadly got very neglected again when I was ill). As much as I love reading, I don’t want to do that all day, so I had to think of something to occupy my time a little without it taking over my life.

I had loved doing the few little markets last year with the Christmas puddings & was sorry when that little stint ended. When the nice members of the Lions Club came around to collect the money for the site, they asked would I be back in January.

I said it was even difficult for me to sell Christmas Puddings in the unseasonal time. They remarked that they would miss me & to come along when I could.

After the first couple of weeks in January I had a thought from the back of my mind & kept dwelling on it. I loved doing the markets & wondered if my Curried Zucchinni Relish that I make for the Trade Table at Prime Timers would be okay to sell. It is very popular & when it goes on the trade table it usually sells within ten minutes, but I had never thought of it as something for me to sell at markets.

However, nothing ventured nothing gained. The more I thought about it the more I liked the thought.

So off I went shopping & bought enough ingredients to make eight batches. That kept me busy for the next week.

By the following Sunday all the various sized jars were priced from $3 to $10 & I had forty eight jars to take along. When I lined up to book in, the Lions Club men (I don’t know their names yet) gave me a nice welcome; took me to the little site I was given; & I was all set up to go by 7.30 a.m. I do make an effort not to sleep in on these mornings!

Warners Bay Market. 8th April, 2017

I also took some plain biscuit crackers with me & plenty of relish to spoon onto the biscuit as I am a great believer in giving out tastings to clinch a sale. It has always worked well with the puddings.

I knew selling relish would not be like selling puddings as it takes the sale of many jars of relish to make up for one Christmas pudding but never the less, people going out to buy their Sunday morning paper started strolling in & before 8 a.m. I had made a few sales: even one $10 jar.

I was really warming up by this time, not withstanding the nice breeze blowing in off the lake as the market is held in a huge park right beside our beautiful Lake Macquarie.

It was not only Mary Poppins who taught about money, but my parents also taught me as I was growing up to look after the pennies & the pounds would look after themselves. This came home to me a little more when, at the end of the market at 1 p.m. I only had eight jars left to bring home!

I was very pleasantly surprised at how much it all added up when I got down to the nitty gritty of totalling all the little sales. I also didn’t come home empty handed in other ways either.

Just opposite me at this market was a Chinese couple selling fruit & vegetables. What else would they be selling, being noted for centuries for their market gardening!

The lady came over & bought a jar of relish, a smart move on her part. Later she came back & said she had lots of cauliflowers for sale, very cheap! I didn’t want any, but she said “You make cauliflower relish!”

I said that I didn’t have a recipe for that, so she said to get a recipe so I could make cauliflower relish! To quieten the rather pushy lady I bought all her cast off caulies for $10, deciding I would share them with friends.

Not to be outdone, the lady came back. She informed me she had a huge box full of fresh corn, still in their silvery jackets for only $25. “You make corn reslish” was the next words she uttered!

I did tell her I didn’t want to make any other relish than the one I was making, so I also ended up buying the corn which was a  very substantial thirty five cobs all up!

I gave some to the lady next to me at the market for her family. I took another lot up to David that night; another lot to each of my friends the following day; & had enough corn left to live on for a whole week! I enjoyed two fresh corn cobs every night that week for my dinner, so I guess I came out in front after all.

With the cauliflowers I had left over, after sharing, was enough to make a month’s supply of my delicious Cauli soup. This is easy to make & is very nutritious with crushed almonds as one of the ingredients.

I can honestly say that for my dinners for three weeks I lived on corn cobs & cauliflower soup with enough soup left in the freezer for another week. I take my hat off to Chinese people, they are smart but I guess this was a win win situation for both of us.

So after a lovely morning sitting outside in ideal weather, talking to the public, giving out tastings, selling ordinary jars of relish to people who seemed to really appreciate the product, &, of course, my encounter with Mrs. Chinese, do you think my appetite for markets was whetted?

Love to you dear friend, Dawn. X O X

Dear Ann,

I think all of Prime Timers were looking forward to a return to normal for the New Year. It so happened that our first meeting back was to celebrate Australia Day, held annually on the 26th January.

This special day marks the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships which landed at Port Jackson in New South Wales & the raising of the flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Philip, our first Governor.

On the day itself the names of several noted Australians are announced for their services in many walks of life & given the appropriate award. So far my name has not been announced!

However, I take pleasure in viewing those who receive these honours at a special ceremony, which is televised. I find it very interesting to see them receiving their awards & can only imagine how proud they feel at being on this list.

Many of them give an oration of the work they do. As an Australian, I feel very proud of them too as they come from all walks of life. It is especially nice to see some of the original inhabitants of our country, the Aborigines, who rise to fame for their life long dedicated service. Each & every one can be very proud of their achievements

So as we all trooped into the hall for our get together, we can’t help but feel proud when we see all our tables decorated with lovely yellow cloths & our native flowers decorating each table. There was a great hum going on as we all lined up for our morning coffee & biscuit, as it was so good to see each other again after all the excitement of Christmas.

I had a very nice surprise too, as one of the ladies, Valda, who sits at the table I am at, had a little gift for me. She had made me a very lovely kitchen hand towel, quite a lot larger than the normal ones that has a little loop to button over a drawer handle where I have had it hanging ever since I received it.

Valda is a very quiet person & doesn’t talk much at all. She said she made it for me because I do so much for others. I think she must have been referring to the relish I take, among other things, for the trade table & probably because I do the Christmas puddings for the whole group. Anyway I found the gesture very touching & her gift very special, particuarly as it was so unexpected.

We could not have had anyone more appropriate than Bill who came along to sing for us with his partner. He is such a lay back chap just what Aussie men are depicted to be & sang some good old Aussie songs for us along with his partner.

I am not sure if it was his wife or whether she is just his singing partner, but they sang well together. Sometimes, I suppose because it was our old Aussie songs, we joined in too & had a singalong. It was really nice, very homely & definitely the right theme for the day.

Lunch was also given a lot of thought as the menfolk had an Aussie Barbeque all ready for us, with tasty snags (sausages), buttered bread & good old fashioned Tomato Sauce!

And for sweets? What else but the age old Lamington, a square sponge cake covered in chocolate icing & dipped into cocoanut. There is nothing more Aussie than that!

Joan, our leader, left us with a special message for the NewYear which is sung to an old tune but I think it is worth while sharing with you…

Telephone to glory, oh what joy divine,
I can feel the current moving on the line.
Made by God the Father for His very own,
You may talk to Jesus on this royal telephone.
Central’s never busy, always on the line,
You can hear from heaven almost any time.
‘Tis a royal service, built for one & all,
When you get in trouble give this royal line a call.
There will be no charges, telephone is free,
It is built for service just for you & me.
There will be no waiting on this royal line,
Telephone to glory always answers on time.

God Bless you, love you heaps. Dawn X O X O