Letters to Ann

Dear Ann,

After three weeks or more of steady rain the sun came through & we were blessed with beautiful sunshine. It was the loveliest Easter – weather wise – that we have had in years & we took every advantage to enjoy it.

I like to be rather quiet at this holiest time of year. My only plan was that I had asked Riley & Charley if they would like to come & have lunch with me on a day that suited them. Then when David came down for his visit the Saturday before Easter he suggested that maybe the girls would like to come for lunch on Easter Saturday as there was to be quite an event in Warners Bay which is where I live (Lakelands is part of the bay).

I mentioned to you about David’s Kombi van & all the time, money & effort he had put into it in the past twelve months or so & he is just so proud of it. He wanted to have it in pristine condition for Easter as Kombis were congregating from allover Australia & meeting at Bus Stop at Swansea, which is a suburb a few kilometers from Warners Bay. Bus Stop is the name of the meeting as the next Bus Stop will be held next Easter at Stanthorpe, Queensland.

David belongs to the Kombi Club online & corresponds with other Kombi owners where they share all sorts of things in connection with their beloved vans. David shared with me – the week before the meeting was to take place – that he was quite excited about it. I was pleased for him as he has put a lot of time, effort & money into restoring his 1976 van into looking as beautiful as it ever did.

David’s Kombi on show.

All the Kombi members met & stayed at a caravan park at Swansea for the whole of Easter. David’s news was that on Easter Saturday morning there was going to be a convoy driving to Warners Bay where a whole car park was reserved for them to park when they arrived.

For sure I didn’t want to miss seeing this event & neither did the girls as it would be something one wouldn’t see too often. We also wanted to be there for David too. Riley arranged to pick me up from home & we met Charley at the venue.

It was quite exciting & something different. I must say that the array of Kombis was quite spectacular & they all looked wonderful, the whole 102 of them.

Charley particularly liked the one painted in black & cream like a jersey cow. Indeed, she called it the cow Kombi! I just enjoyed browsing & looking at them all taking a few photos, but I rather liked the pig Kombi!

They all looked wonderful in their lovely colours. We could see inside to view how they were fitted out so that when on holiday they had their own kitchen facilities & bed inside. I guess if the Kombis could talk they could tell some good stories like my dining room table!

Riley and Charley with the Cow Kombi.

David’s love for his van goes back many years to when he was courting Jenni. The van was used for the wedding – with other Kombis – when David & Jenni were married. They spent most of their young life when Charley & Riley came along, going away camping. It holds a myriad of memories both for David & the girls.

So that was how we all spent Easter Saturday morning.

After our little tour David took Lauren & us three to the Warners Bay hotel, just opposite the car park, where we enjoyed a nice cool drink as the day was quite hot. I certainly enjoyed my Lemon, Lime & Bitters, which I always find a very refreshing drink. The hotel is a very nice venue in which to enjoy it.

When the special Chicken Wings arrived for David & Lauren’s lunch we left them to it & returned to my little villa where I had lunch prepared for me & the girls. I had gone to quite a bit of trouble to make some salmon patties.

As it had been years since I had made them I sought the help of my friend, Pat, who gave me the recipe years ago. I have lost the art of cooking these days as I don’t do much anymore. I look back on when I could & would entertain a dozen or more people for dinners at home & wonder how I did it!

However, they weren’t too bad at all (with Pat’s input) served with a tasty salad.

When Charley & Riley get together there is no shortage of conversation. They are like two chirping birds & I love listening to their bright chatter.

I had decided early in the year that I would not give them chocolates for Easter. Charley would like, but doesn’t want to eat them while Riley can have no dairy in her diet, so I did something different.

I had saved all my coins since Christmas & I put them all into two small coffee jars with the glass lids. I filled them up to the brim with the coins. I tied them up in cellophane using silver ribbon for Riley’s & gold ribbon for Charley’s.

I also put a small jewellery gift with each one & was particularly pleased with what I had found for them. Charley’s gift was a very pretty pointed bead with colours inside on a black necklace which I knew Charley would like. I had to search for Riley’s gift as I am not sure what she likes, but I found a very dainty silver bracelet with a little thing hanging from it on which sprouted the tree of life.

Then before I gave them the packages I asked had they seen the magnificent new Gold Ingot chocolate which Cadbury had put on sale. They hadn’t, which I knew as it wasn’t true, but I handed them the really heavy jars of money instead. Riley said “Good one Gran!”

Riley and Charley with their “Small Change”

I told them they could busy themselves counting the money as I had put it in willy nilly & didn’t know how much was there. I didn’t know who had what & I wanted to occupy them while I got the lunch ready.

Riley let out a delighted squeal when she found her bracelet. She just loved it & I was so pleased. Charley liked her necklace too & they both donned there new finery on the spot.

How they kept counting AND talking I don’t know but they have a non stop patter. Charley finished first with a total of $106.05 cents. Riley got the jackpot,:$120 & five cents!

Poor Charley came off second best & little sister offered to share her excess with her big sister who gently refused, as it was all fun. I am sure on the roundabout Charley is not treated too badly by Gran!

So we had a lovely lunch, I enjoyed every minute of their company &, as always, make the most of the time I spend with my very special & very delightful & very lovable grandchildren!!

God Bless you Ann & I send my love. Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

I am really into the swing of things now at Fennels Bay market now & getting to know the ropes of selling at markets, so can almost call myself an expert at it. I know a lot from past experiences at big fairs & fetes, but markets are a little different & I found there was still plenty to learn.

I am delighted with the third gazebo I purchased as it’s a lot easier to erect & the Lions Club men do a great job in helping me get set up. I have a ritual on market mornings which goes like this:

1. Wake up on time. Get up & get going.
2. Arrive at the market, line up & book in, as I am not on the permanent list yet. I think someone has to die before I can on get on that, as I believe there is a lengthy list of ‘would be permanents’.
3. When my turn to book in comes around, it is my cue to ask for help to erect my gazebo. Then I have no trouble in waiting as the ‘booking me in ‘ chap gets on his walkie talkie & arranges it immediately. There’s no waiting for things to happen.
4. Get the produce on the tables & organise the financial side. The last thing is bringing out my chair, but I don’t get to sit on it straight away. Believe it or not, lookers are out & about early on Sunday mornings, which makes me think that there is more insomniacs around than I thought. I can’t imagine anyone in their right senses getting up at that hour on a Sunday morning to mooch around a market! However, I am not averse to early morning sales!

Having done two markets at Fennels Bay I was all keyed up for March & had a grand amount of stock all ready. However, the elements had other ideas & for three weeks we had nothing but wet weather, on & on & on.

I wasn’t sure what happened in these circumstances being new to it, so on the morning itself I looked out the window before my get up time. Sure enough, God had not stopped the rain just because I had a market to go to so I went back to bed.

That happened three times when finally I succumbed to ‘plan b.’ I waited till 9 a.m. then got up & drove to the venue – in the rain!

I hit the jackpot.there was not a sign of a gazebo, a car or a person, so I went back home now knowing what happens with adverse weather! I wasn’t disappointed. Looking at the silver lining was the fact that I had all the stock made for the next Fennels Bay market still another month away.

However, the powers to be intervened on that score as it was not going to be the next market at Fennels Bay, but the local Chamber of Commerce advertised that they were about to start monthly markets at Warners Bay, which is where I live.

They had told me last year at the one market they had that this might come to fruition after they had consulted the Council Chambers & here it was commencing trade only a few days away, on the 2nd Saturday of every month.

I hadn’t received any communication from them & it happened to be Greg who brought it to my attention with an email from LA. I was very quick then to contact my pal, Rhonda, at the C of C who helped me so much last year. She wasn’t aware that I had been missed with the initial notification.

It took a bit of getting all the paper work done, but I made it in time & promised Rhonda I now had a really good gazebo & not like the meccano set I had last year! She had two nice young chaps to help me on that score & she gave me the same site that I had last year, which was really nice of her. I think she likes the original pudding lady!

Now wasn’t that good that Fennels Bay market was drowned out two weeks earlier & I had all that stock ready! There was one big difference in the two markets though as Fennels Bay costs $15 for the site while Warners Bay charge $75. One has to sell a lot of little jars of relish to make that amount up.

I didn’t mind at all as I had to look towards the future when it came to Christmas pudding time. I sold twice as much at Warner’s Bay market last year than any of the others. And so it was, I was bright eyed & bushy tailed as it came around to the new venture again.

There was just a steady flow of lookers & shoppers. I am not backward in offering a taste of the goods on sale – be it Christmas puddings or my popular relish. I have packets of crackers, a big jar of relish opened, serviettes & a spoon to serve it out. You can’t beat giving out samples of the proof of the pudding or whatever else it might happen to be.

I had the table packed with Curried Zucchini Relish. I have noticed the difference with markets is that you think you are not going to sell much as there is not the volume of people in attendance as at other larger venues, so it goes slow. However, on the whole the stock gradually dwindles & all of a sudden there is only one or a few jars left. Its quite interesting.

It wasn’t any different at this market either, they all gradually went. There was one big difference. At Warners Bay I had twice as much stock as the Fennels Bay market, but I also sold it all & my sales were amazing: just double Fennels Bay markets.

Dawn’s Relish Display at Warner’s Bay Market which lead to record sales.

It was worth sitting there from early morning – when the market was due to start at 8 a.m. – until 2 p.m. It was also great when unloading the car after I arrived home! It was a lovely sunny day, the first in weeks & I was rapt. I meet such nice people as well as the wonderful stall holders.

It’s not all about money either. Its about the challenge, the achievement, the activity. My sons say I was born determined! I have a strong notion they are right on that score!

So guess what happened now? I had no stock & Fennels Bay market was the following Sunday. No time to pat myself on the back or anything like that. I needed action.

I left Warners Bay market when it closed & immediately went shopping, as I needed to start making produce fast. I needed the ingredients: zucchini, celery, onions, capsicums & tomatoes.

When I walked into the supermarket I was delighted as capsicums were on sale for $4a kilo down from $9 per kilo. Onions were reduced from $3 to $1. Celery from $3 a bunch to $1 & – wonders of wonders – tomatoes were down to $3 from $7 per kilo. I could make my relish for half price.

I needed enough to make 10 batches of relish, but I bought 30 kilos of tomatoes. I needed 10 kilos for the week’s cooking, but I also peeled all of the tomatoes, chopped them up & stored them in all the large Tupperware containers I had. I put them all into the ferezer deep freeze for use after the current week. My freezer is now chock-a-block: filled to capacity.

So you might say I had a rather busy week as it was the week before Easter & Fennels Bay market was on Easter Sunday. It was quite a week. I not only made all the 10 batches of relish in the next 4 days, complete with labelling & pricing, but also dealt with the tomatoes.

I even went to lunch with Judy & Pat on Monday for 3 hours. I also went to a funeral of a very dear friend & prepared & cooked food for lunch because Charley & Riley were coming to have a meal with me over Easter. Looking back now I wonder how I did it all, but if I had to do it all over again I know I can do it, also knowing I have to be sensible because I am old!

As I was leaving the supermarket with my trolley loaded to the max particularly with so many bags of tomatoes, those at the checkout were asking what was I going to do with it all, make pickles? I told them it was the tastiet relish ever & to trot along to the Warners Bay market on the second Saturday in May & I would give them a taste of the finished product! It could possibly result in a record crowd!

My Fondest Love as Always. Dawn X O X O