Letters to Ann

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