Letters to Ann

Dear Ann,

It is the custom for me to meet with the ex-Tupperware warehouse staff members every year. As we get older our numbers are dwindling as some have already left this planet for the gold paved streets in heaven, so we are starting to meet twice a year.

I look forward to these meetings headed by Dianne who organises where we will go & when. That’s after she has conferred with us all, so that we are all able to make it on the same day.

On thinking about the group that comprises Jenny, Margaret, Dianne, Janelle, Donnah & myself, it comes home as to how many of our packing staff have passed away. There is only Jenny left of that section as the others were all secretaries.

I often think of the packing staff as when we became distributors & inherited them back in the nineteen sixties. We found the Distributorship much smaller in numbers than Max & I had been told. We had to tell most of them that they were not needed as the number of dealers & managers were so small.

As a matter of fact the existing four Managers only had four working girls in each Unit. We didn’t need three packers to sell what they sold in a week.

However, we grew rather quickly with some new blood to lead the girls to success. We soon had to eat humble pie & ask if they would all come back again!

And when we built the Distributorship from sixteen working Dealers & Mangers to six hundred within the next two to three years we had to get a few more workers. This was no trouble to us as the packers already working had friends who applied themselves to the work load brilliantly, so it’s no wonder they all became such good friends.

Max & I never had any trouble whatsoever from the staff as each one of them applied themselves to the job so efficiently that they could pack hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of dozens & dozens of different Tupperware items in a week. When we became the first Distributors to sell over a million dollars worth of Tupperware in a week, these girls could still pack it & get it out to everyone in time even if they worked some hours overtime.

The remaining Tupperware warehouse staff with Dawn.

They became known as the most efficient packers throughout Tupperware Australia. Very successful Distributors would visit our warehouse to see how they did it. The leader of this team was Isobel who was one we sacked & quickly hired back again.

She is very much missed from our gathering as she passed on just a few short years ago. So you can see why we were justly proud of our staff.

And indeed the secretaries knew their job too. Margaret was a whiz at helping me in compiling the weekly bulletin, among other duties she had. I relied on her a great deal.

Margaret is now the oldest in our group. I think I follow next as a year younger than Margaret. Jenny comes next & as for those young secretaries who kept tally of all the sums for us, they seem just sooo young to us oldies.

Dianne is a young grandma. Janelle was smart – she never married – while Donnah has a grown up family & a daughter to be married next year.

When I saw her she was as brown as a blackberry, with a smooth even tan from laying in the sun on a holiday beach this year. That’s how young she is. She doesn’t look old enough to have a daughter about to be married.

As for Janelle, she has led a good life without marriage & always looks as if she has stepped out of a band box. I always remember when David was young confiding in me that Janelle was the only young person he knew who didn’t smoke pot! That is an achievement!

They were all smart girls & also diligent workers. It’s no wonder Max could go off & play the pokies at the club sometimes & leave them to it!

Looking back on the years in the business they were good years. Tupperware was so good to us. Our Staff were also good to us & in return we worked hard to be successful, not only for ourselves but also for them as our success kept them all in work.

So you can imagine why I love to spend time with this truly loyal group of girls who shared a life with us, knew our children as we knew theirs. Not many businesses could say what I can say: “we were always in Tupperware one big happy family!”

So in April the six of us met at the General Roberts Hotel, which was packed because the service & the food is so good. I certainly enjoyed mine & didn’t hesitate when I saw pulled pork on the menu!

The waiter, actually the Manager, was very new in the job & certainly performed A1. He was witty, quick & very friendly & didn’t mind when the whole restaurant emptied & just the six of us remained! We decided a tip was in order specially for him seeing as we met at noon & departed at 5 p.m.!

After that  I just went straight up to David’s place to partake of his Roast Chicken dinner!

Hope you are enjoying walking on those streets of gold & I send my love always. Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

I missed Prime Timers in April all because of my freezer, which had developed a split in the rubber which sealed it. I rang the appropriate people a couple of weeks before, who said they would let me know when the replacement seal arrived as they has to order it.

So in April I was all ready to drive off to the get together at Prime Timers when the repairer man rang me early in the morning to say he would be delivering the necessary item between 11 a.m & 1 p.m. The meeting officially starts at 10 a.m. I asked him was it possible to come later in the day & he curtly said ‘NO’ so that put a stop to my organised plan.

Would you believe he arrived right on time, walked in with the replacement, took one look at the fridge & stated “the fridge door has dropped, you need a new fridge & freezer & I have just saved you $110 towards it”.

With that he walked out with the replacement rubber & left. I didn’t actually bless him for saving the dollars! I had missed the meeting that I enjoy so much & I was not by any means ready to buy a new fridge/freezer! I wondered what his employers would say when he reported back to them along with the replacement!

The outcome of this was that when David came down the following Saturday he said he could fix the rubber with some silicon. I fixed the offending dropped fridge door by ramming a thickish wadding of paper at the top of the door, so that when it closed it kept out all the air. Problem all fixed with no expense & it just left me irked that I had missed my meeting.

The ladies in their full-on tap routine.

However, the May get together soon arrived, as time does go by quickly. I was at the venue ready for my coffee & biscuit while chatting to my friends until the meeting commenced. And I had relish for the trade table, despite selling out the previous Saturday.

I was informed that because of my gift for the table I didn’t have to pay the entry fee that pays for lunch. I hadn’t known that rule existed until then. As I take relish every month & have done so for years I mentally tallied up how many $6 entry fees they owe me!

I am joking. I love what the Salvos do for the community & the world & have contributed in small ways to help them to this end.

This coming weekend is their annual door knock appeal & on tele this evening they mentioned it saying anyone interested in door knocking or spending a couple of hours at a shopping centre would be welcome. I have half a mind to offer for the local shopping centre. People would be happy to give when it’s a lady nearing ninety collecting!

We do love the dancers who come to entertain us & this month I felt they really excelled themselves. They are basically tap dancers, which brings back memories of my tap dancing days that I loved as a child.  Their repertoire was all new & very enjoyable.

The ladies in their blackbird costumes.

New costumes were also in vogue & considering these ladies are not celebrating their youth they do an excellent job. They danced to some good old tunes: I just want to be with you; To Sir with Love; It’ll be the day when you make my cry‘; & All That Jazz. For each of these (& others) they changed costumes giving a great variation.

The soloist with the amazing voice.

Cheryl took plenty of photos for me as she has more ‘get up & go’ than I have & doesn’t mind being the conspicuous official photographer. I am a bit shy! My very favourite dance was done to Bye Bye Blackbird.

I thought their costumes to be very applicable. They had flowing black tops featuring a very soft pattern, black pants, long red gloves & a red hat with a black feather, in my book they looked really great.

To give the ladies time to change their costumes, a young lady in a gorgeous gown of silver & black sang for us & had a truly lovely voice. Makes you wonder how many people who have beautiful voices are never recognised but I suppose they can’t all go on stage & be a star.

I don’t know the name of the lass who sang, but she did a great job of entertaining us with some well known lyrics while she swayed in her lovely dress. Sometimes we couldn’t helping joining in & sometimes she encouraged us to join in, but all in all we had a very enjoyable morning at our Prime Timers gathering & hope to see the dancers back in some future date soon.

My love to you dear friend. Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

It was the day before Mother’s Day & the second Warners Bay Market. Even though I had asthma I was hell bent on soldiering on, as it is quite an up market & the people in charge look after me really well.

When I arrived at the venue at 7 a.m. Rhonda, from the Chamber of Commerce, who knows me from the Christmas Pudding era had two people ready o set up my gazebo, tables & unload the car for me. This is a tremendous help so all I have to do is arrange the produce on the tables.

I have always been good at sales & thought I was fairly good at marketing too, but I have learnt quite a lot since attending markets. On that particular day I set up my relish differently & wondered why I hadn’t been doing it that way all along, as it certainly made a difference.

I also learnt something from Charley who saw my market relish set up on my kitchen bench ready to load in the car. When she saw what I was charging for the very large bottles she advised me to put the price up as she said The Farmer’s Markets (huge affairs & very businesslike) sell jars that size for double the price, so I am learning!

I was well ready before starting time at 8 a.m, which was just as well as some of the stall holders who have others to help them come looking around the other stalls. That is something I can’t do being on my own.

I had already sold some largish jars to these people before the public came wandering in. It was only 8.15 a.m. when a lass arrived saying “Thank goodness you are here & I have found you. I have been out of relish for the past three weeks because I had all my neighbours in for them to try the relish on some biscuits & they all loved it.”

She then smartly said she would have two of the largest jars & two of the next size down. She wasn’t sure it would be enough to last a month, so bought another jar just in case.

I had a wonderful start to the day! It’s a good sign when customers come looking for you & love the product so much. So far I have not had an inkling of any complaint, only how much they love the relish. Good, good, good!

Dawn’s table at the Warner’s Bay market.

A lot of people ask for my ‘hobby’ card (I don’t have a business card) so I am very glad Philip arranged these for me when he was home in December. I am very liberal in handing them out. It is good to let them know I will be there with Christmas Puddings in September.

It looks like I will be handling relish as well, as it seems to be so popular. Another lady who bought some said she had a small takeaway business & could I make relish for her business? I assured her it was no problem!

Then Mrs. Killjoy came along mid morning. I am sure you have met this lady as she is pretty well in most parts of the world. As she went past the stall she informed me it was illegal to use used jars. Said it just like that!

I replied that I thought I was helping the environment with the recycling & that the jars are all sterilised. She again said it was against the law then mentioned the lids. I said they are sterilised too & asked would she like a taste? She declined with disdain & a very firm “No thanks” & walked off.

Life is interesting! Since that episode I have had some educational lessons from my logical-brained son on how to deal with this so I keep on learning, it’s no hardship!

And life is good to me too as I am having a ball. I enjoy not only attending the markets, but also making the produce.

After a market selling the relish I come home & five days later I have ten batches made, bottled & labelled ready for the next market. I give out a biscuit (cracker) with a teaspoon of relish on it & it goes down well.

The activity has given me a new lease on life, with a reason to get up in the mornings. However, I don’t get up early, unless it’s market day & still have time to sleep in & rise when I am ready.

I still have plenty of time for leisure as it only takes me one week to do what I need to do. There are still two weeks completely spare, but I think that that will be a little different with the advent of Christmas Puddings this year.

This might have to change, as making ten batches of relish makes no more than 65 – 70 jars of all sizes. With my new marketing strategy when I sold it all at this last market I came home with record sales.

David was absolutely floored when he came for our weekly Sat. afternoon chat & asked casually how it went. He was impressed so much that he went home & told the family before Mother’s Day the next day with Lauren saying when I arrived “I believe you had a good market day.”

Philip & Greg were also thrilled for me. I must admit I was pretty pleased with myself too. I have to also say that I like being successful! It’s much more fun!!

My friend, Sandra, absolutely loves this relish & won’t let me give her a jar because she gets the largest jar & prefers to pay for it. She uses it in about two weeks & sends the jar back for a refill. I give her a $5 discount each time, as anyone who uses it like that deserves a bonus. Sandra is my best customer up to date.

I had to get used to the markets as it usually starts off slow & I think to myself that I won’t sell all that I have brought along, but slowly & steadily it gradually disappears, mostly one jar at a time.

Then all of a sudden there is nothing left. It’s a great feeling. I enjoy just sitting there for six hours especially if it’s a nice fine day, I just sit & think & do nothing, but serving customers as they appear. Much better than sitting in a cafe drinking coffee!

Sending big hugs & lots of love, Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

Over the last decade I have spent Mothers Day with Philip & Greg in LA, except for one occasion when they were not going to be home, but the last two years have been a little different. The first of these two years I had been hospitalised for over five weeks & not well enough to go to LA.

That was when Philip came for a visit & surprised me by being here & what a surprise it was. I shall never forget it. He had come ‘home’ to not only see me, but to present me with a car after the accident I had. He not only gave me the car (another wonderful surprise), but David had also had taken care of registration, insurance & anything else a car needs.

Then this year after Philip’s visit for a month at Christmas it wasn’t practical to come over for Mothers Day, but the celebration started for me two weeks before the event when a large parcel arrived at my door from Philip.

When I opened it up I found a huge supply of all my health supplements that he had sent to tide me over for the next few months. That’s something I appreciate greatly as I have continued to take these on the advice of Dr. de Mello gave me over two years ago.

Also inside the package was a very large envelope & a smaller envelope. On the front of each it read ‘To be opened on Mother’s Day.’ I am proud to say I did what I was told & placed them on my buffet until the day itself!

On Mothers Day I was out of bed to see what the envelopes contained. I knew the smaller nvelope would hold a card. In true Philip fashion he had sent the most beautiful card, which he is noted for. The whole front was covered in gold glitter which sprinkled everywhere when I brought it to light. In the centre of the glitter was printed ‘Thank you Mom.’

The words were equally as beautiful as the card & said:

‘You’ve been the best mother role model I could have asked for and your influence didn’t stop with me. Over the years, I’ve seen you reach out and extend your ‘mother love’ to anyone who could use a little extra time, a few kind words, or a helping hand.
You’ve given so much, not only to your own family but to everyone who knows you. You’re just that kind of Mum ..that kind of wonderful person.
Happy Mother’s Day with our love, Philip & Greg’.

How beautiful is that.

The large envelope contained an exceptionally nice photo of Philip & Greg that I was delighted with. I have been looking for a nice frame to place it in. Then it will hang in a prominent position in my home so that I am looking at it every day.

Philip’s card to the left, David’s to the right, with the portrait in the middle.

Mother’s Day itself dawned sunny & warm. I had, for the previous two weeks, been under the weather with asthma & not feeling as bright & sunny as the day itself. I had thought it only to be a cold, but felt bad enough to get medical advice.

My good Dr. Bourke sent me for xrays, gave me antibiotics, a puffer & other medication, but I just didn’t feel myself. It’s about thirty years since I had the complaint, but Dr. says it never goes away fully.

However, I was not going to miss out on David & Lauren’s luncheon for the big day when all the family were assembling at their place. There was  Lauren’s Mum, Pat; her son & daughter in law, Ian & Vivian; Georgia & Mic; plus Charley & Riley. Next Mother’s Day Georgia will be a Mum herself.

Despite my condition I still enjoyed the day & the tasty luncheon of sausages, bacon & accompanying salads that I would have enjoyed much more if my taste buds had been operating as they should.

Lovely as the food was it is not everything. I did enjoy being with all the family. I had met Ian & Vivian on Christmas Day so they were not real strangers & are a delightful couple.

After lunch, Georgia beckoned Pat & I out onto the back balcony where she had two very lovely pot plants for each of us, which was a lovely thought & very much appreciated. She gave us both one last year & mine was thriving until the possums ate it to the roots, but it is thriving again now.

This year I have a gorgeous purple cyclamen & I sure do love that colour. I will nurture it as it grows to its full strength.

David’ and Dawn with the bouquet of flowers.

David also had a beautiful arrangement of flowers for me with the appropriate card. I had to smile at the card as it did remind me of David as the outgoing, full of life little boy he was when little as it said “Mum you deserve the BEST – That’s why you’ve got me. Happy Mother’s Day & have a wonderful day, love, David.”

And so not only wih David, but also with Philip I really do have the BEST.

And so after my sixty second Mother’s Day celebration I can only say it was another great day to remember & I am so very thankful that i have two wonderful sons who are at the centre of my heart. I know you will understand that.

God Bless & Fondest Love. Dawn X O X O

cDear Ann.

I had the most marvellous day last Sunday, quite different to the norm. At line dancing the prior Friday, our teacher Jean, asked me if I would like to attend a multicultural service at St. Lukes Uniting Church at Belmont. She explained that they were having a service at 9.30 a.m. & the sermon was being delivered by Francine Bell, a famous singer, actor & preacher, which was to be followed by morning tea & a multicultural luncheon.

That evening I was sitting contemplating the idea of going on my own & decided in the affirmative as it sounded like something a little different. Later I called my friend, Ursula on the phone who is a devout Baptist Christian. During the conversation I told her where I was going next day. She asked if she could come along with me & I was as pleased as punch to have company.

I arranged to collect Ursula from our shopping complex at 9 a.m.as I have never been to her home & this was an easy meeting place for both of us. Then we tootled off to Belmont where I go line dancing.

The church was only a small distance away from there & easy to find, although I should know it as I went there last year for Jean’s husband’s funeral. We still had a few minutes up our sleeve when we arrived, but already the church was packed & we had to sit in the back row which was okay, we could hear it all.

What immediately attracted our attention when we sat down was what looked like a huge painting of The Last Supper, although it looked a little different to a painting. It was very large & looked quite beautiful looking down on us from behind the lectern.

Later we ascertained that a man had woven the whole thing with wool & to give you an idea of what it was like I will show you the photo I took. It was beautifully done & Ursula & I were very impressed with it.

The Last Supper Tapestry.

The church service started with a bang in the modern way as it is done today. No drawling out the hymns as in earlier days, but they had the drums, guitars & the organ. There was an excellent vocalist up the front with the microphone leading the singing, with us following the words on the screen before us.

Two very nice young men came in taking a seat next next to us & we joined hands with them when the time come to participate in getting to know each other. It was all really nicely done. I must admit it’s been a long time since I have been to Church & even though the service was longer than usual I don’t think anyone cared as it was very enjoyable, jolly & full of warmth.

When Francine stood up to talk to us she had our attention immediately. You could have heard a pin drop when she started to sing with no accompaniment. Francine is an American negro & just oozed personality.

Her voice is spectacular & in a very slow & deliberate manner she sang the first verse of ‘Jesus Loves Me’ then went on to sing ‘Were You There When They Crucified My Lord’ closing it off with the first verse of ‘Jesus Loves Me’ again. It was very distinct & beautifully sung. I doubt any of us will ever forget it as it was sung from the heart & very meaningful.

There must have been close to two hundred people at the service & after it we went out in the vestry area where we shared morning tea. This was followed by us all moving to the very large Church hall where several tables held centre position in the middle of the hall covered with white cloths plus the names displayed of fourty countries.

The myriad of casseroles,& all sorts of different things which were brought out were then placed to show where the recipes originated from. When it came time to eat the lass with the microphone (which she needed with so many people) advised us to take small portions so that we could try as many different ones as we liked, knowing that there was plenty more to come for the second time around!

The ladies of the Church had prepared all this food with the help of five people from different countries. It was magnificent; a feast to feed an army. We did great justice to it all as it was so delicious.

Before we dined, we had the lady on the microphone explaining that we were to have a mystery parcel which she held in her hands. On each layer there was an instruction. I can’t remember all the instructions but they had concocted up about a dozen or more things applicable to a multicultural gathering such as:

“Stand up all those who were born in another country & came to live in Australia.”

“Who was born in Australia & attended a wedding in another country?”

“How long have you lived in Australia since moving here?”

And so it went on. The winner each time got to open the next layer.

Ursula was pipped at the post as one other person had been here longer than her 63 years, but I got to open a layer for being the one to attend a wedding in another country, Switzerland, which was further than anyone else had been who had attended a wedding outside Australia.

When it got down to the last message she announced that anyone born in another country to come out front to sing the National Anthem in their native language. As you might imagine, no one stood up!

A young lass of about 8 years of age walked smartly out with great confidence, took the microphone & belted out very confidently & loudly our Australian National Anthem! It was quite funny as the audience realised what had happened, but followed it through with a great round of applause when the little girl finished & took charge of the prize.

That wasn’t all the entertainment either as after we had lunch, the tables were disassembled & we had a bus load of young people along with their teachers from the Central Coast about an hour’s travel away. They were all residents of Australia, but originated from New Zealand. They were there to entertain us with a large rendition & display of their NZ culture.

They were all in their maori costumes & sang & danced beautifully. Mostly they were very young children & did their parents proud with their renditions as they danced, swinging their pois & doing a variation of their national dances & songs.

The cheeky little 3 year old performing with the boys doing the Harka.

The little girls did the Harka on their own, but not allowed to poke out their tongues which the boys did! The youngest little girl of about 3 – 4 years old did the Harka with the boys & was just so cute.

There was one little lass of about 9 years that I couldn’t take my eyes off as she was just so good. Her steps & rhythm was absolutely perfect in every rendition.

After the show was over I jut had to find her to say how brilliantly she performed, she was a joy to watch & I took a close up photo of her, but when talking to her I forgot to ask her name.

After all this entertaining was completed the organisers took photos which they hope will be considered for the front page of our telephone directory next year. The people involved in the photograph were all those who immigrated to Australia plus the group of youngsters with a New Zealand background who entertained us so beautifully.

I do hope they succeed as the whole of the multicultural gathering was so extremely good in the promotion of how we should all accept each other in the true sense of love.

But yet again, the proceedings were not at an end. While these photographs were taking place the church members were putting tables in place to hold the deserts they had prepared.

My goodness, after the feast we had enjoyed how could we hold more? Apart from whatever else was placed on the tables, Ursula & I heard the Aussie word ‘PAVLOVAS. Which resulted in another inch on our hips, but we cant refuse a PAV! It was very appropriate because the pavlova was invented in New Zealand then became an Australian favourite.

A colleague & friend of mine from line dancing, Ann, was next to me at that time. She hails from South Africa, but she knew that word PAV! We looked at each other took off on the same leg, got to the table & picked up 3 plates with PAV including all the trimmings, fresh fruit, whipped cream & ice cream. Oh, we did add a tad helping of bavarian cream whatever it was & headed back to our seats with three plates full to the brim: one for each of us including Ursula who by now was in deep discussion with Penny, who was the lady leading the singing in the church on the microphone.

On the way out from the Church, Penny had stopped to acquaint herself with ourselves & it seemed an immediate friendship with Ursula. So, armed with the PAV, Ann & I returned.

Perhaps the cover of next year’s phone book?

Well, let me say by this time Penny had pulled up a seat next to Ursula, which was fatal. For the next twenty minutes those two did not draw breath, nor did Ursula nibble at the PAV nor the Bavarian ‘whatever’ that she was brought up on & I know she loves.

They were so engrossed in chatting, it went on for an eternity, I couldn’t even get a word in to say “Eat your Pav Ursula”!

Finally, & I will swear on the Bible that this is the truth, Penny & Ursula were sitting on the last two seats in that huge hall. The men had taken the other two hundred back to storage!

Imagine me suggesting & nudging Ursular with eyes directed straight on Prnny who took no notice. Ursula still with PAV not eaten & the two of them sitting on the last two seats in that huge hall!

The men worked around that pair until there was nothing left but two ladies still eating PAV & sitting on the last two chairs! I wished I had taken a photo of the last survivors on the block!

Suddenly ( or not so suddenly) the two of them decided they should relinquish their chairs & Ursula managed to eat her PAV! I I think she enjoyed it, but feel sure she enjoyed the conversation with Penny more.

By this time, being the only visitors left in the place, I went off to get the car to save any walking for Ursula as she had a knee replacement not too long ago & was still using a walker. You are not going to believe this, but when I got back with the car those two were still there talking & saying lengthy farewells.

They say that if you look hard enough you will always find a ray of sunshine in the dark clouds. I could not find a dark cloud, but there was plenty of sunshine as I thought of this new friendship between Ursula & Penny, so spontaneously.

I would not be the least surprised to find that a dedicated Baptist could turn out to be a staunch member of the Uniting Church (or vice versa)!

Enough to say that the function was to end at 2.30 p.m & we arrived home closer to 4.30 p.m. having loved every minute of the whole event; marvelling at the planning, timing, cooking & entertainment that was carried out by the men & women from St. Lukes.

It was a credit to them all & both Ursula & I had a truly magnificent day.

My Fondest Love, Dawn. O X O

Dear Ann,

It was many moons ago, when I was looking in particular for an item of clothing that I really wanted & bemoaning the fact to my friend who was with me at the time, that I couldn’t find it anywhere. I can’t recall just who that friend was, but she suggested we go & have a look at Millers Boutique, explaining that they had a wide variety of clothing which they sold at very reasonable prices.

I had never heard of them before, even though it is a very well known trade name in most of the States in Australia. The suggestion sounded like a good plan to me, so we drove off to Toronto, a suburb quite close to home, to visit Millers.

When we arrived I was pleasantly surprised at the large variety they had on show. It was here that I met my very dear friend, Cheryl along with her behind-the-counter working partner & friend, Yvonne, whom I thought were two delightful assistants. They didn’t hesitate to show me all they had to offer.

The shop was a little quiet when we were there, so these two girls waited on us hand & foot. My friend also suddenly became interested in ‘casing the joint’ as we used to say. It wasn’t hard to get interested in the garments as almost everything we looked at was ‘on special’. Cheryl explained that if you bought this on special & then bought another garment you also got a discount.

This went on for some time & I felt we were being treated so well that I made a stupid remark. It was close to the festive Christmas season & naturally I had Christmas puddings on my mind & told the girls if they went on like that giving us all these discounts I would give them one of my special home made Christmas puddings when it came time.

It took a while before I realised that Millers was a retail store & were never without specials!  It was well stocked with more than I needed after taking advantage of all the ‘specials’ & left the store very happy with my purchases.

Since that first time I have been a regular shopper at Millers. When it came round to Christmas, I took a baby pudding to both girls as promised. The day I gave them to the girls I was some way down the street when I heard a voice behind me calling my name. It was Cheryl who had read the label on the pudding, came running after me to say how much like me the lovely label & the words it conveyed.

I admitted that my son had worded the labels for me, as he knows what I would like to say. It was obvious that Cheryl was quite rapt with both the label & the pudding. Then she told me about the group she attended, Prime Timers, & how friendly it was. I promised to go along to the next meeting as it sounded interesting & I had time on my hands.

Before we parted that day I had also mentioned to her about my hobby: writing letters to my friend Ann. She was so interested that she asked if I would bring one of my volumes along as she would like to read it. Hence, a strong bond was formed between us from the start.

Since then – for well over a decade – Cheryl & I have met on an average of once a fortnight for lunch. For the past couple of years our friend, Sandra has joined us. Cheryl collects us both from our homes & decides where we will go.

This year she took us to Poppy’s Nursery in a nearby suburb that not only serves delicious food, but has a real serenity about it. We went there just recently when Cheryl returned home from a ten day holiday when she had heaps of photos to show us from the trip.

Dawn, Cheryl and Sandra at Michele’s Patisserie after their Girls Day Out.

She & husband, Gary had driven a few hundred kilometres to Victoria & then travelled along the Great Ocean Road, which is rather spectacular with huge rocks, twelve of them, rising up from the ocean. These are known as The Twelve Apostles.

It brought back memories for me as Max & I with Philip & David as little boys (6 & 4 years old) did that route over fifty years ago.

Then they travelled on to various places in Victoria stopping wherever it took their fancy.

Sandra & I really enjoyed all the photographs & it certainly brought back lots of memories for me. One of their favourite stopping places was at a rural town called Ballarat that is steeped in history. From the photos it seemed the place hadn’t changed much.

Most of the noted places are heritage listed. One in particular, which belonged to someone of note way back in the eighteen hundreds, still remains as it was back in those olden days. Those responsible for taking visitors through dress up just as they did then. It was really interesting seeing it all again on paper.

I remember one old place where you could stay overnight & they still had an old fashioned potty under the bed because the toilet was not close. Imagine those good old days!!

One of the main reasons that Ballarat is so historical is that in 1854 there was a rebellion by the gold miners known as the Eureka Stockade where the miners revolted against the colonial authority of the United Kingdom.

Many were killed in the battle that followed, but the moral support was such that it ultimately resulted in new Electoral Acts in Parliament. The rebellion is identified as being the birth of democracy in Australia.

As we digested our pulled pork enchiladas we also digested Cheryl’a stack of photos. We also decided that when Philip & Greg come back for a visit next time we are going to take them to Poppys as Cheryl & I think they would enjoy the food & the atmosphere for an hour or so.

We missed Cheryl while she was away & certainly welcomed her back. We had a lovely day out ending up at Michele’s patisserie for coffee after lunch, so that both Sandra & Cheryl could do some needed shopping at the super market opposite, as Sandra had also been away for a few days.

For me, I have always been thankful that my friend had introduced me to Millers & ultimately Cheryl as she has been, from the start of our friendship, a true & loyal friend & my greatest fan. She loves reading my letters to you. She has purchased all the fourteen volumes as she loves them so much.

The old saying goes that you are very rich if you can count five friends on one hand that are true friends & I can honestly say that Cheryl is one of those.

How glad I am that we also became close friends, you changed my life & I love you. Dawn X O X O