Letters to Ann

Dear Ann,

I am a catalogue shopper & I still haven’t worked out which is the greater temptation: going window shopping with a friend just for a look, or browsing through the catalogues that appear in my letter box frequently & sell almost everything that tempts the pocket.

I guess catalogues win though. A couple of months before Christmas I ordered a tall rotating fan, which would fit into any small corner. It was one of those items that you could buy at half price if you bought a certain amount. I thought it reasonable so sent for it.

A few days later I walked out of my bedroom & saw something quite large propped up by the window next to the front door. My immediate thought was that surely the fan was much larger than I thought.

However, on investigation it wasn’t the fan at all. It was half my verandah ceiling, which had fallen down in a storm the evening before. I had heard something crash, but was not going to venture out in the howling wind & heavy rain so forgot about it.

Collapsed verandah roof.

It was evident that water had accumulated inside the roof causing it to crash. Beside it was a strange looking parcel shrink wrapped in blue plastic. I examined it & came to the conclusion that the wrapped parcel had been up in the ceiling & dropped down with the collapse, so I left it where it was.

Then, after notifying the body corporate of the collapse who asked me to take photos for them, I forgot about it.

It was getting close to Christmas & I had things to do. First, I had to go to my bank to get some money & that was my first port of call. I hadn’t been in there for a couple of weeks & when I went in I saw a large bin holding lots of parcels & gifts for the needy. Many of the larger businesses & shops have them.

Later that day when I came home & as I was going through a few things, I came across a big blue teddy bear & a rag doll clown. The latter I acquired from my niece, Michelle at her garage sale when she was relocating to live in Tasmania again. I took a liking to it so brought it home with me.

The teddy bear was your beloved bear Ann, given to me from your car by Richard after you gave him your vehicle. He knew the history behind the bear & told me how it had been given to you by your first love & treasured by you.

I brought teddy home with me after a trip to LA & have had both the teddy & the clown for some years. I loved them nearly as much as their original owners did, but somehow this year I decided to let them make some other little girl or boy happy by placing them both in the bin.

Ann’s Bear & Michelle’s Clown before they headed off on their new adventure.

After my visit to the bank I had arranged to meet Pat & Judy for lunch.  We do this every week, it’s a ritual we all enjoy.

Normally we do not give each other Christmas gifts, but I decided to break that tradition this year & give them a kilo Christmas Pudding each. After all they were the backbone when working in the Pudding Kitchen for many years. They could run rings around the younger people.

I thought a Christmas pudding would not go astray this year & that I would break with protocol. I put them into two matching Christmas bags that I had bought from a very special place in LA – Swaines – & had been saving for special people so I used them.

I was glad I did. Pat & Judy were delighted with all the love & thought. It didn’t go all my own way though, as next week they had gotten together to buy a very life like brown rabbit with a white baby one to put in my garden, both of which I love. I have lots of gnomes & little animals in my garden most of them given by my two friends & I love them all.

After this interlude, my friend, Ursula had also arranged to meet with me again later in the afternoon, as she had forgotten to give me one of her gifts. That made it another full on day, but that’s what Christmas is all about.

Afternoon tea saw me drinking more coffee as she brought out more Christmas parcels. The sad thing was that our mutual dear friend, Jean was in & out of hospital a few times so it does look as if some Christmas parcels will be taken into the New Year. Jean lives quite a way out from Newcastle, more into the country.

Ursula & I had another lovely hour or so together, with her going home a few days before with a new navy handbag to enhance some new clothes she has been buying &, of course, a Christmas Pudding as well.

She needs that as she was off to spend Christmas with famiiy in Queensland. There are no less than ten of them – daughter, hubby & eight children – so they need an extra pudding!

I came home to hang a New Year Calendar showing some rather nifty ladies doing some rather different things that you would not expect them to be doing, such as walking on stilts, water skiing & playing leap frog!

I don’t know where Ursula gets these great almanacs from but they are certainly different & bring a smile to your face.

I do love Christmas. I also loved my new verandah when it was repaired, so alls well that ends well.

Dawn’s package had to wait until Christmas.

However, let me make you smile & you sill see why my Dad always told me it took awhile for the penny to drop. The blue shrink wrapped parcel that had dropped out of the ceiling had stood by the rubble for two days & when David came down for our chat the following Saturday he naturally had a look at the damage.

When he came inside he remarked that I had a parcel at the front door. “No”, said I, “that’s something that dropped out of the ceiling & I have no idea what it is or why it was there.”

I was so sure until David said “Well it’s addressed to you.” Yes, it was the fan I had ordered among other things!

Love You Dear Friend. . Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

It was the Thursday before Christmas & I only had two appointments. First, the usual early appointment with my hairdresser after which my friend Cheryl & I had arranged to meet to exchange Christmas gifts with one another.

Cheryl called to pick me up from home & we thought it a good idea to exchange our gifts in the privacy of home rather than in a cafe as we normally do. That proved to be a good idea as Cheryl had a living plant that she had been nurturing for me. It was quite different to the norm with young cacti in a low circular container that I fell in love with & that I have been nurturing myself ever since.

Dawn’s living plant.

Our mutual friend, Sandra, was intended to be with us for this occasion, but a last minute vacancy meant she was called into hospital for a much needed operation for an issue that needed to be taken care of.

I was a little disappointed at this news as Charley & I had made a special jar of our Curried Zucchini Relish especially for her. What made it special was the fact that the jar was nearly a foot high with a nice silver screw cap that took almost the whole batch of produce.

Normally a batch would fill eight of what Charley & I term as our “$10 jars” which is a lot of relish. I had planned this for Sandra for a long time as she is the most avid user of our relish. She absolutely loves it & buys four very big jars per month.

Christmas with Cheryl.

I gave all the gifts to Cheryl to give to Sandra along with her other gifts in the huge gift bag & she was thoughtful enough to take a photo for me. Sandra was delighted.

So, minus Sandra, Cheryl & I went off to a nearby nursery, a venue we enjoy as we sit amongst the flowers & had a delightful morning tea, which we rarely ever do on our own. I had given Cheryl a frog which measures the rainfall. She loves frogs & this one was a little different to the norm & far from real!

By the time we parted company that day it was almost lunch time & I was wondering what to do for the rest of the day.

When I arrived home there was a message on my phone to say that my friend, Ursula, was hoping to see me at Micheles Patisserie where I usually go for lunch almost every day. So I didn’t waste any time getting there & sure enough along she came soon after I arrived.

It was gift giving time again & it’s times like these when I have short notice of the event that I am pleased to be as organised as I am for Christmas. I had Ursula’s gifts all wrapped & ready. Normally our mutual friend, Jean, would have been with us, but again this wasn’t to be as Jean was in & out of hospital at the time.

So Ursula & I exchanged our gifts; had lunch; drank coffee; & talked! Nothing unusual about that & we sat there in relaxed mode for the next three hours!

Christmas with Ursula

Then mid afternoon I sensed rather than saw, a figure standing in front of our table. I looked up & got such a lovely surprise. It was Nicole & Christopher, my nephew & his partner.

You haven’t heard me talk of them before, but Christopher was my first great nephew, son of my niece, Michele, daughter of my sister, Joice. I will digress a little here to explain how this couple came to be in my life recently.

Nic, as she likes to be called, met Chris at his younger brother’s wedding when she was bridesmaid. They apparently hit it off very well from their first meeting & became partners. When my sister, Joice, broke the news that she was going back to Tasmania to live, both niece, Michelle & Nic were in my home. I got a real shock at the news & why I did what I did I can’t explain, but I was nearly in tears. I turned to Nic saying she would have to take Joice’s place. Nic put her arm around me & assured me she would.

We had met quite accidentally on a couple of occasions before & since. Chris called at my home just before Christmas before last 2016 to say hello, which I was very pleased about as it was unexpected & it’s not every day the constabulary call to check up on me. Chris has been in the police force for some years now.

Recently I met Nic somewhere when she informed me that she & Chris intended to visit me before Christmas. There she was before me with Chris holding a lovely bunch of flowers along with a Christmas card. I was so thrilled, Ursula took a photo for me, then went on her way & I found myself drinking another cup of coffee!

The three of us chatted for awhile & among the chat they said how much they had enjoyed some relish I had given them some other time. I suggested they follow me home saying that Charley & I had some gift packs left over & maybe they would like them for gifts.

So we met again at my little villa & had more chat! I was just so thrilled that they had taken this trouble to see me, as they live quite a way out of Newcastle, so I knew it was done with a lot of thought.

I must say that although I did not know Chris as he was growing up I did have a special feeling for him as the very first great nephew. When I got the news of his birth I was in Heidelberg, Germany. I remember buying a very lovely baby towel with a hood on it, which was quite unique at the time, & mailing it to Michelle.

After Nic & Chris left I was pondering on how much I had enjoyed the day when my phone rang. At first I did not catch who the caller was & had to ask. When the voice answered saying it was Christine I almost screamed with joy.

It was my friend of 44 years calling from Munich in Germany. I was over the moon as it was so unexpected. You would have thought that we saw each other yesterday as our conversation picked up from when we last spoke & went on for over half an hour.

We talked of many things including Charley & I going to Munich to stay with her for a holiday, to her coming to visit us when we are next in America. Christine came over to Los Angeles & stayed with me at Philip & Greg’s apartment in 2009.

I think the odds of her meeting me in LA is greater than me going to Germany. She is now 73 & still a spring chicken compared to me! We discussed Charley going to Germany, as even though they have never met I feel rather certain that those two would get on like a house on fire despite the difference in their age.

Charley is keen, so we will see how things pan out in the next couple of years as we make our fortunes at markets!

Having spent a winter in Europe in 1982/3 I must admit to feeling a touch of nostalgia when Christine said, at the end of our lengthy conversation that after our conversation, that she was putting on her overcoat, warm gloves & going off to visit the Christmas Markets in Munich. Charley & I would absolutely love to be with Christine at a special time like that would put us over the moon.

I wonder if there are any pills to remove wrinkles & put a spring in my step?? I went to bed that night after such a wonderful day with all kind of possibilities going over in my head. Sometimes dreams come true!

Love you, God Bless. Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

It was several months since the Tupperware girls all met. It doesn’t take long for time to pass & Dianne had been on the phone to us all organising our Christmas luncheon. These are the girls who were our packers & secretaries when we were Tupperware Distributors.

Our venue was to be a little old hotel well on the way into the city known as The Junction Hotel, one of those little places that’s great to know about, but you could drive past & never know it was there.

I must admit that I no longer feel confident in driving into the inner city or anywhere near to it, so our young Janelle – good hearted soul that she is – came to the rescue. It seems that I was not the only one either, as Janelle ended up driving to our homes to pick up Dianne, myself & Jenny, while Donnah went to collect Margaret who is in a retirement village out in the country a little at a place called Medowie.

Janelle & Donnah particularly still have youth on their side. Dianne & I can remember back when I was confident to drive anywhere, even in Sydney, but times have changed, or at least people have!

None of us are getting any younger. Joan, one of our flock who lives at Cessnock, which is almost an hour’s drive away, now finds it too far for her to travel to Newcastle. We missed her at our gathering.

The Tupperware girls. Back row: Donnah, Dianne. Front row: Janelle, Dawn, Jenny, Margaret

When we arrived & walked in, the whole hotel had gone through a great face lift & was looking young & elegant again, bringing back all its popularity.

It was indeed pleasant & we not only enjoyed a delightful meal, but also nearly four hours of chatter. Margaret had been on a trip to Scotland to a relative’s wedding, so she had lots to tell us. Despite her age she managed touring around & enjoyed it immensely.

Margaret is our matriarch, being the eldest, with Jenny & myself not far behind, but there’s still a lot of life in the old girls yet!

I took the all the girls a baby pudding as a little Christmas gift, which they all seemed rapt about. The steady flow of chatter didn’t let up for four hours before we had to part company.

I was the cause of the early parting as I had a date with my son, seeing as it was Saturday afternoon & I didn’t want to miss valuable time with him,  but we are all looking forward to meeting again early in the New Year. Each year is precious to us!

A few days after this event I had a big package left at my front door. As an ex-Tupperware Distributor I had received a letter from Head Office Australia previously to say they would be forwarding & sharing the magic of Tupperware with me at Christmas.

Charley with her gift bags and the Tupperware special gift.

When I opened the package, magic it was. Before me was a beautiful modern set of gorgeous black & gold Tupperware Salad Bowls complete with servers. I fell in love with them & even though I knew I wouldn’t be using them as I don’t entertain anymore, I knew who would also love them!

Charley loves black & I thought how fitting it would be to pass this great gift onto her. Tupperware had even included a big shopping bag, of course, with their name on it, so I put all the bowls together to give to her on her 25th birthday that was coming up soon, packed them in the bag & handed it all to her.

Needless to say, she was absolutely delighted, so we can chalk up another crash hit to Tupperware for their ingenious planning in supplying such a beautiful gift. I still love it all & thank Tupperware for not only a wonderful product that is still sought after, but also for a great life because of the opportunities they gave us.

My love always. Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

It was so many moons ago when Judy & Frank Vandenberg came into our lives: too many to remember. I don’t even recall how we got to know this great couple, but we recruited Judy into Tupperware. She worked diligently until she became a Manager of her own group of Tupperware Dealers.

This couple are rather unique in the fact that what Judy got involved on, Frank would give his utmost support to & vice versa. They are such a positive couple who would make things happen & not afraid to make an adventure out of life.

Judy proved to be a very successful manager &, as sometimes it happens in Tupperware, they also became lifelong friends. One would have to say that they were special people.

Their lot in life was not always what you would want it to be, but they had a wonderful family of four whom we got to know extremely well. They would attend our private family gatherings as we did theirs. Their youngest son, Frankie, suffered with ‘Down Syndrome’ but he is adorable.

Frank was born in Holland, came out to Australia with his family when very young & no one could find a more dinky di Aussie than what Frank turned out to be. He was as Australian as they come & certainly learnt our Aussie slang.

Towards the end of our own Tupperware career Judy & Frank had decided to return to Holland to live there for two years for various reasons. Soon after that Max & I announced our own retirement from Tupperware & departed in November 1982 to spend Christmas in Denmark with friends.

Knowing this, Judy & Frank made us promise we would go & stay with them in Holland after our time in Denmark.

Frank and Judy Vandenburg, Dawn and Max Hodgetts in Holland 1983.

Never will I forget our arrival in Amsterdam & the welcome we had from the Vandy’s. They had their whole family with them & lived in a house the quarter of the size of the average Australian home.

However, they had a bedroom all ready for us. I am speaking the truth as I tell you &, as the saying goes, you couldn’t swing a cat in it. As a matter of fact you could hardly turn around in it, but what a welcome: a  rug depicting the Australian flag draped on the bed & a vase of tulips on a little bedside table.

The Vandys could adapt themselves to anything. For as long as I knew Frank he was a drummer in a band, or he could get a job driving a truck in a mine. He never lacked work & if he didn’t know how to do a job he soon mastered it.

When we arrived he was firmly ensconced in working in the tulip fields. Judy kept us in stitches telling us how the sticky beaks knew everything that went on in Holland. It  was protocol to never to pull your curtains across the windows so that all & sundry could see inside!

We had the most amazing two weeks with them in Holland. It was fun from start to finish & a never to be forgotten time. If I set my mind to it I could write a whole book on our experiences just with them for that fortnight in Holland.

I learnt so much from Judy & Frank. They are the most positive couple I have ever known. They treat life as one big adventure to be enjoyed no matter what. I have never ever seen them down hearted. They are always smiling no matter what setbacks they may have.

I often think of Frank when I am driving, as he said one day in true Aussie style how he never lets the ‘buggars’ driving behind rattle him when he was driving his car & they could deal with the problem. I often think of this when I am driving.

I have known their son, Frankie, since he was a teenager. Even with Downs he went out to work earning money in what we call ‘sheltered workshops’ doing something that he could handle.

Then one year I started making Christmas Puddings & Frankie got to taste them. To say he loves them is an understatement! Right from the very beginning I always made a special pudding just for Frankie. It is a ritual & if I don’t see the Vandy’s all through the year it is a promise that I will see them at Christmas so they can collect Frankie’s pudding.

A couple of years ago I made a phone call to their home & Judy & Frank were not there so Frankie answered the call. He asked who was calling so I said “Dawn,’ which I could tell meant nothing to him. Then I said “You know me Frankie, it’s Dawn the pudding lady.” Frankie was not slow on the uptake replying very excitedly by saying “Can I have two this year”? I think I gave him half a dozen little ones that year!

So this year was no exception. Just recently Judy & Frank arrived on my doorstep with a lovely bottle of white wine for me, plus a whole ham. I was overwhelmed, but that’s the kind of wonderful people they are.

Nor will I ever forget the card I received from them just after our huge robbery when my beautiful jewellery was taken which devastated me. It said “You might have lost all your jewels Dawn, but you are a beautiful gem yourself for what you do for Frankie”.

So what does a little old lady do with a whole ham? The whole family made good use of it as I gave it to David to care for, so he carved enough for me to have for about three weeks. Some went up to Medowie for Christmas lunch and David & family have fed off it for most of January. I have a huge ham bone in the feezer now waiting until Philip & Greg to come for their next visit because we all love Pea & Ham soup.

You can see now much I love this wonderful couple. Even with Judy suffering from Parkinson’s disease now, it never deters them from being the happiest couple you could meet.

The nicest thing that happened after their visit with the ham is a definite promise that we will meet for coffee in the New Year, as none of us are getting any younger.

Love to you always. Dawn X O X O