Letters to Ann

Dear Ann,

It was a fortnight ago & my friend, Cheryl asked if I would like to go to something different on Saturday, 25th March.2016. Of course I would.  I am all for something new on the horizon, so she bought the tickets for us to attend a fund raising event.

What was different about this particular fund raiser was that it was to be held in the home of a friend at a suburb called Belmont. It was opposite a well known & very old popular restaurant called Squid’s Ink that Max & I had frequented on occasions, many moons ago. Little did I know that just opposite, hidden by palm trees was the house we would be walking into last Saturday.

Now in no way should I be calling it a house. It was certainly a home but also it was a mansion. No one would have known what was hidden behind those palms.

When Cheryl drove up the dead end side street we took no notice & didn’t even see the house. Partially the reason for this was the fact that so many cars were parked on the side of the road in the little dead end street & we were also looking for a place to park.

Cheryl being the good driver she is, managed to squeeze her lovely car somewhere in between two others. Then we walked down to where we were going where there were two drives leading to the front door, one on either side of the grassy glade with the palm trees in the middle.

I should have taken a photo of this but I had no idea it was going to lead to a mansion as I have never been in one before. I have been in grand homes, but never in a mansion & I was impressed.

Even when I got to the front door I was impressed. There before us was an entrance before we got into the main entrance. This is hard to describe, but I hope you know what I mean & it was almost all glass.

It had a sign outside the front door to let all know that inside was a function to raise money for what is known as “Hearts & Hands’.

We stepped inside the front door into a glass space stepping into the vestibule & what a sight confronted us. I didn’t open my mouth & gape at the grandeur as I consider that I could take my place in Buckingham Palace if I had to but I knew I was in a palatial mansion & it almost took my breath away!

It wasn’t just me that felt like this, but also Cheryl & I told you how beautiful her place is. I also considered that the home Max & I had lived in – prior to moving to where I am now – was not just an ordinary house, but one of note that people wanted to walk into & view it all, which they did! Our home there was considered to be quite opulent, but not to be compared to a mansion.

This was a most beautiful home & I will try to describe what we walked into in the vestibule. To start with it cost us $15 entry fee, & we were very happy to pay that.

All around the vestibule & most beautifully arrayed was a massive supply of all the craft work the ladies belonging to this group had made. I could not begin to even explain how many different crafts were on show, but almost immediately I walked in I saw crotched, knitted & padded coat hangers which looked so pretty.

I have had a yen for those to hang woollens on & every time I have been to the Maeter Hospital when I had to see my cancer doctors I would purchase some from the trade table in the hall. The ones in front of me on this occasion were just so pretty I chose all the pretty colours to match the woollen garments on which I wanted to hang them.

There were truly so many different craft things that I can’t begin to describe what they all were. Just imagine all the different craft work you can think of & I will guarantee the same kind would hsve been in that vestibule & more.

It was all so beautifully arrayed & very tempting. I picked up a cute little medium sized bag handy to use for a few things in mind at the time. Then I went on to purchase raffle tickets for the hand made quilts & so it went on.

I forgot to say, behind all this activity was a big recess with white pebbles for the floor & black pebbles forming the words ‘Tea Party’ with a little table holding tiny cups & saucers & teddy bears sitting on the chairs.

It’s a Tea Party.

By this time we were opposite the lounge room which actually took our breath away. It was huge (the photo I took did not do it justice) & the big bay windows at the end of it looked out onto our Lake Macquarie. I ascertained later that all the windows had been programmed to look out over the lake which was magnificent & what a good reason to get up in the morning to view the scene!

I also ascertained that all the downstairs part of the home that we were in was very demure as it was all cream, white & glass. The lounges & chairs were upholstered in cream, the carpets were cream, the glass tables sponsored little cakes of every kind, & all home made. Cheryl & I whispered to each other, “And they eat over that lovely carpet!”

The view is magnificent.

Cheryl & I spoke to the hostess & I asked if I could take some photos. She was a very humble lady, told us they had lived in their home for 22 years & could honestly say it had been a real home for their family, even the carpet had been down all that time, which was amazing as it was all the way up the staircase which looked grand.

The grand staircase

Now the staircase was equivalent to the one in the film ‘Gone With The Wind’ & very impressive. it was no wonder Cheryl & I were a bit ‘ga ga’ but we didn’t show it. We sadly missed our friend, Sandra who would have also loved it, but she was in hospital.

After we did our shopping spree we walked into the kitchen/ dining area to more ‘sumptuousness.’  Everywhere there were home made savouries & cakes sitting at every table that would have done anyone proud.

I hadn’t seen such a huge amount of cream cakes & all that luscious stuff since the last family reunion (when I was too sick to participate)! However, all these little cakes & tempting delights were in tiny portions.

It was all very much like a ‘high tea.’ Even though I have never been to one except in Harrods of London, but I know what ‘high tea ‘ is. And we made the most of it!

I just have to tell you about that kitchen that was the size of Micheles Patisserie, with about fifteen people making coffee & tea, cutting up more cakes & generally looking after the visitors.

There was a wide bench between the kitchen & the dining room. & the floor in both areas was all white tiles. The dining area held quite a number of tables etc. At the end of the dining part there was a cream carpeted bay shaped area holding two big cream lounges &, of course, looking out over the lake where lots of boats were moored or in use.

Outside this big glass bay window was another big bay area which housed a spa bath set down in the floor, but still overlooking the lake. You could just imagine being in there holding a glass of crisp cool white wine!

To get back to the kitchen, Cheryl & I sat with others around the glass table with all the little sweet & savoury titbits beside us. A lovely lady was working at the bench & made us a magnificent cappuccino with all the proper machines, everything in this home was the real thing, no substitutes!

Beside these working ladies was a table set up with punch bowls with taps on to pour your cool drink – I thought my crystal ones were grand but…!

Marshmallow and strawberries ready for the chocolate fountain.

On the other side of the room near another table of tiny cakes & savouries was another table sporting two fondue machines which continually dripped melted chocolate over the side. Next to this was a huge bowl of strawberries & marshmallows ready for the dipping.

And still I haven’t mentioned the flower arrangements in every possible place. The arrangements were absolutely beautiful & took your breath away.

The whole place was opulent & magnificent. It could be said that maybe less could be spent & more money donated to the charity for which they were working. I may say more on this in another letter as I still have lots to tell you in connection with this day.

Suffice to say that I don’t really know the amount raised for their charity, but at a rough guess it was probably a few thousands dollars which is a great effort from some very dedicated people.

With my little camera, my photos do not give justice to what it was actually like as I was trying to take them in & around people which meant I was not always in the right spot. However, I hope you enjoy them & what is not shown in this letter will probably come to the fore in my next letter when I try to explain what these ladies have done for those in need.

I love you dear friend. Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

I have often said to you that you have to have a reason to get up in the morning. It was my pudding pal, Pat Cox, who first made this remark. I don’t know what made her say it, but she did say it one day when we were working in the Pudding Kitchen & I thought at the time no truer word was ever spoken.

To say that I have quoted it a few times is an understatement as it is one of my favourite sayings & should be recorded in the book that my dear friend Sharon gave me when I first visited Burbank. It is titled The Quotable Woman & is a delightful book quoting favourite sayings from famous women. My friend Pat may never be famous on a global scale but to me she is worthy of a lot of accolades.

A mutual friend brought Pat into my life many years ago when I was in need of some good stalwart workers in the Pudding Kitchen & she was recommended to me. This resulted in us employing Pat &, along with Judy whom I have told you about.

I could not have had two more diligent & dedicated employees. They never looked at the clock waiting for knock off time as a lot of workers do. They gave more than one hundred percent of themselves & adapted to any task needed doing at the time it was needed. This meant that they could handle any part of the business from mixing, to weighing out, tying up puddings in their little cloths, boiling them, hanging them on the line when it was time & then decorating & despatching them.

Pat and one other decorating puddings in 1992.

As I have mentioned to you in my letter about our star, Judy, she very quickly became the person who was a natural at dealing with orders & getting them packed on time. Pat also very soon came to the fore with the skill of getting the puddings decorated as needed for each individual order & have them done in time for Judy to pack & despatch. The two of them worked together so well you would think they could read each others mind.

There were times when we needed staff to work back to get the orders done in time & decorating was a very important part. Each order had to be decorated as the order stipulated. This could mean different assortments of cellophane or cloths & countless colours in ribbon to cut & of course each cover & each ribbon had to be cut to the size required.

I know there were many times when Judy took material home to cut so that we would have enough to work with next day. Likewise with Pat, she would take ribbon home & bring it back in the morning all ready for use. These commodities amounted to thousands of pieces of material or cellophane & thousands of certain lengths of ribbon.

Husband Max would be out in the office cutting string for dear life to tie up thousands of puddings, plus stamping labels with ‘use by’ date & all that had to be shown. Dawn would probably be walking around a table for 8 hours a day weighing out the correct weight of puddings to be tied up & boiled next. We had to be ahead all the time so that no time was lost in waiting for anything to be done & we needed good workers.

With all that ribbon cutting it didn’t take Pat long to perfect it as she solicited her good husband, Colin, to come up with a few little devices in wood so that the correct length could be quickly wound around it & then cut in bulk. These were introduced to the kitchen.

Sometimes it would be bedlam with getting things done on time, but as I look back over those years the two people who stand out as dedicated people were Judy & Pat.

I remember one time when I was not available, nor anybody else, to do some important decorating for an urgent order. I don’t know if you are familiar with a health problem called Polio Myalgia ,which affects the limbs, but Pat was suffering with this complaint at the time. It was hard for her to even use her arms & hands. She could not even comb her hair, but because there was no one else to do the order, she came back to work one night, in pain & did the job. You can’t get much more dedication than that.

Pat and her 80th Birthday cupcake.

It is no wonder then that Pat, Judy & I have remained friends well after the pudding business was sold in 2003. From then on we met every Monday fortnight for lunch at Micheles Patisserie until I came out of hospital two years ago with the thought of a death sentence from cancer hanging over my head. The two girls then decided we should meet weekly instead.

I remember leaving the table one day for a few minutes & when I returned I was given the verdict! I knew they had conferred in my absence & made this decision, because I was not going to live much longer! It has been my pleasure to prove them wrong.

Ever since we meet every Monday & have spent thousands of hours together & blown out the candle on a little cup cake to celebrate a birthday more times than we care can count!

And so it was that on the 18th March, 2017 we had another cup cake candle to extinguish & Pat was to do the honours. It was her 80th Birthday & there never was a woman born that belied here age so much without cosmetic surgery.

Though there has been huge ups & downs in her life she does not look a day over sixty. This must be due to the placid nature she portrays. Although her friends have been known to get very rattled & upset at times when the going was tough, we have never heard our dear Pat raise her voice.

Judy, Dawn and Pat celebrate Pat’s birthday.

She is one of those gorgeous girls who finds it difficult to be hard to get along with, remaining softly spoken, say what needs to be said without anyone needing to turn over in their grave!

It has not only been the Pudding Kitchen that endears me to Pat. There have been other times as well.

When Max was taken to hospital very ill, just six months after we had moved to this villa, Pat made it her business to tell me to call her at any time, day or night if I needed someone to talk to. She also iterated this after Max passed when she & Colin came almost daily to put the jungle garden I inherited into something more attractive.

I appreciated this more than I can say. Even now that the garden has been given a big face lift the little plants that Colin studiously planted around the garden to make a hedge remains there today, proud & tall. Pat Cox made a big impact on my life.

So on the 18th March it was a privilege to celebrate Pat’s 80th birthday & she blew out her candle in one puff! Judy & I had flowers & an exceptionally lovely 80th card for an exceptionally lovely person. Plus we gave her a photo frame with 80th Birthday written on it holding a photo of the three of us taken on some previous birthday.

Pat with her card and present.

And as I have been writing this & reliving moments mentioned I am not ashamed to say that the memories have choked up my eyes a little!!

Friendships are a very important part of our lives, one could not imagine what life would be without friends. I am looking at my wonderful book The Quotable Woman & I have this little quotation from someone I have never heard of called Letty Cottin Pogresin is worthy of mention:

Friendships aren’t perfect & yet they are precious. For me, not expecting perfection all in one place was a great release.

How very true.

And Ann, the short friendship I had with you I have treasured & it will go with me to my grave. Like you so often said to me. “I wish I had known you twenty years earlier’.

God’s Blessings Dear Heart, Dawn X O X O

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

Dear Ann,

She was christened Riley Rose Louise Hodgetts & she just happens to be my beautiful Granddaughter. I am certainly not prejudiced in any way, as all the family plus practically all her friends, think that she is very bright, clever, earns her living serving people at Subway with a smile on her face while studying at Uni to get her degree in Communications, majoring in Public Relations. She aims to finish doing her studies to this end by the middle of the year: six months earlier than the norm.

She is also very adult & has her feet firmly planted on planet earth. In my book she is quite exceptional & needless to say I love her very much. She is so smart that she can wrap her Dad around her little finger when it comes to a debate with him & not many people can do this.

When I witness an occasion like that I am reminded of when I rang my little sister Jill on the day Riley was born to tell her I had another granddaughter. Jill, being the ever present astrologer, asked if I would like to know what this baby was going to be like. Of course I was all ears.

I have never forgotten Jill saying that Riley will very definitely have a mind of her own & that David, her Dad, would have met his match. I have seen that happen more than a few times too. She certainly did have a mind of her own from a very early age.

No use buying pretty little dresses for her when she was little as, if she didn’t like them she simply would not wear them & I learnt very quickly to consult her first. And when, at that age, I was often wont to call her my little princess, she would smartly say “I not a little princess, I a little girl!”

Dave and Riley on his birthday Oct 2016.

I have told you about her romance with boy friend Dave, it was obvious they were very much in love & considered to be a strong item. Therefore when I went up to David’s place for dinner last Sunday night & saw Riley coming down the stairs to greet me in her usual loving way I remarked on how pale she looked: she was almost as white as a sheet. I received my usual hug & kiss while she told me Dave had been out to visit her during the past week & that they had parted company as a couple while remaining good friends.

Dave apparently, broke the romance between them explaining that he was very unsure of himself, his job & his future & wanted some time to sort himself out. Riley was naturally shocked, but in her adult way explained that she loved him so much that she would be something of a hypocrite if she didn’t do as he asked.

This news didn’t come very lightly as it was obvious they thought a lot of each other. David had given it a lot of thought, they spent a long time discussing it between them, with the outcome that both were extremely upset.

When Dave left, Riley told David & said that Dave was too upset to say goodbye & relayed what had happened. With that David looked outside to see if Dave’s car was gone, but he was still there.

When David went up to him he was sobbing. David got him out of the car, gave him a big man hug & said all the right things for Dave’s sake & said he would always be welcome to visit anytime, should he wish to do so.

Of course Riley explained all this to me before we had dinner. I felt so sad as we all thought the world of Dave & of course we all felt Riley’s pain. I could only say in great truth how sorry I felt. Although there was nothing I could do to help her over this hurdle I truly understood.

I have always felt that we never forget our first true love. It is something special. So dinner was a bit hard for all of us to really enjoy that Sunday evening.

However, I came home with it on my mind & for some reason two lines of a ‘would be poem’ kept going over & over in my head so much so that I turned the tele off & continued to write a poem for Riley’s twentieth birthday, which was to take place the following Friday.

I had formed a plan in my head as to what to give her for her birthday. I will relate the poem to you so that this mystery will unfold but in doing so my mind was so active that when I did finally get to bed I hardly slept a wink! However, the effort was well worth it & this is what I wrote:

Dearest Riley

I didn’t buy you a birthday card I know that’s miserly & sounds very hard, but I wanted to write my own words to you because you mean so much to me. I love all that you do.

Your very own story you gave to me in your very own version I felt so sad & thought you needed a good diversion.
So my thoughts came together in one mad whirl
As I thought what I can do to held my wonderful girl.
While it’s no substitute for your romance gone amiss I needed a grest inspiration to help you get over this.

Then I thought, I know, diamonds are a girl’s best friend
But thieves broke in & left nothing worthy to this end.
So Riley take this package & hope for the best
Count the blessings left & say bugger to the rest.

I figured the best diversion I could give you honey Was for you to tip this out & count a bucket full of money.

With my deepest love always, Gran.

David had printed this out for me & put Happy Birthday in coloured letters all around the poem with a bundle of balloons at the bottom & it looked really good.

So I gave this to her to read while a little white bucket of money was decorated in cellophane & sitting in front of her. It had a little new hand towel ready for the money to be tipped out onto. So there in front of her was a heap of money all jumbled up which contained 100 each of five cents, ten cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, $1 coins & 75 x $2 all mixed up.

I offered her another $50 if she could guess the exact amount of money – she tried hard, got close & just missed out. Her comment after it was all done was “Gran I love it & although money is not everything it certainly helps.” I was pleased that it created a lot of fun for her at a time when she needed it.

After all that was over, David, Lauren, Riley, Pat. (Lauren’s Mum) & I went into the city to the Parry St. Garage restaurant which is very popular with the young folk. Georgia & Mick were already there waiting for us & our only family member missing was Charley who was at work.

The ‘Garage’ was certainly in full swing on that Friday night, the 13th January, 2017 as we had never heard it so loud. That doesn’t affect the young folk, but I doubt I spoke more than a dozen words throughout the evening as the competition was a bit too much.

Towards the end of the evening I saw Pat say something to Lauren who took her arm & escorted her outside where she promptly fainted! However, being made of tough stuff she recuperated quickly.

We all enjoyed the great food that the Garage is noted for before calling it a day.

And this momentous event marks a big change in David’s life as he no longer has any teenagers! Time marches on.

Love to you always, Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

Certainly the market bug had bitten me & I was all fired up. One thing leads to another. When you get to know the stall holders they are a breed unto themselves & I have to say the nicest kind of breed ever.

The Lions Club told me of another market to go to on the other side of town that made me more nervous than ever as I don’t know that area very well. However, David gave me instructions on how to get there.

I was fine, but got up even earlier to leave home in plenty of time. It was easy & stall holders were well established as I could see countless gazebos again in a huge park, but I evidently went around to the back end of the markets.

When I parked the car & entered the park two people were still setting up their stalls under the shade of a huge tree & welcomed me to put up my tables in between them. I didn’t mind that it was at the quietest part of the market, as I found out later, but was happy to settle in to any niche available.

This market was organised by Veterans Affairs & I had no sooner got my display up when a gentleman virtually bowled up to me asking if I had a food licence? I was pleased I had it with me.

The only other time I saw anyone from the club was when they came round the stall holders to collect their fees for the space. This market was only a week away from the last one when I had been on top of the world.

One thing I learned is that there is a vast amount of people who go out very early on Sunday mornings to get the daily newspaper & then they wander through the markets, which accounts for some very early morning sales.

I was certainly starting to get to know the run of the ropes as it was all experience to me. It was lovely sitting under the shade of the tree on a lovely day, chatting to friendly people as they passed by & stopped for a tasting.

It was quite uncanny but I sold exactly the same amount as I had at the previous market, so I was very pleased & went home a happy little vegemite after an enjoyable day,

All of this happened prior to Philip & Greg arriving from Burbank. We had been out one day when – on the way home, very close to home – Greg pointed out a sign on the road advertising a market at Warners Bay, which is where I live as Lakelands is part of ‘The Bay.’

Dawn in her new gazebo at the Warner’s Bay market.

The market was being held in two days so I had no time to lose. When I rang the number I found it to be the local Chamber of Commerce so I told the lass what I was about. She laughed & said “I recognise your name Dawn, The Pudding Lady & would you be wanting to sell Christmas Puddings?” Spot on Roslyn!

That lass did everything she could to help me get my application & the papers required, in to her before the market. I realise there are some nasty people in the world, but there are also some wonderful & good people too! Roslyn was so keen for me to attend that she even called at my home to collect a copy of my Insurance Policy which is required before you can go to any market.

This market was right up my alley, just a couple of streets from home. I had that inner feeling it was going to be a really good one. Warners Bay has been crying out for a new market, as the monthly one they held a couple of years ago that was popular, had to close because of complaints from the local supermarket that some stalls were selling produce that they sold.

I even had a new gazebo for this one which the council men running the market put up for me. I had a pretty display with my Christmas table cloth made for me by my friends in the Philippines embroidered with Christmas trees & Santa Claus & all my puddings in sparkling cellophane with their appropriate labels. One little girl came up to me, touched the cloth & said “I love this”.

I sat in my gazebo on my comfy chair (some of the time) & I think I chatted to everyone who passed by. I had taken my usual stock of puddings & sold out completely an hour before the market was due to end. I had a lovely, lovely day!

It was a Saturday, so I called in to see the butcher in our shopping complex (also an excuse to have a well earned coffee at Micheles) & bought the best looking beef steaks in his window. They were called Viking Steaks priced at $52 per kilo. I bought three & nearly swallowed my tonsils when the nice butcher asked for $54!

Part of just one of the Viking (Rib Eye) steaks.

I managed to keep my tonsils, as it was my celebration to share with family whom I don’t see very often & I knew they would enjoy this treat. I would never dare cook steak with my boys here as they are pros when it comes to steak so I let them do the honours.

However, the steaks were so large (weighing almost half a kilo , or a pound) that they had to halve the steaks for another meal. We had a delightful dinner as Philip brought out one of his stash of birthday wines & we had a dinner fit for a king!

Love to you my dear friend. You are forever near. Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

I don’t look in my letterbox every day as I can usually see from my car whether there is mail for me or not, but it was two nights before the Toronto Spring Fair was to be held in the middle of November & a Friday so I casually went to have a look.

There was an envelope inside just with ‘Mrs. Hodgetts’ hand printed & in the bottom corner was the date & time the envelope was placed there. I recognised the printing immediately. It was from John Smith alias ‘Em’: knowing that person it was very characteristic to have written time & date of delivery.

That happened to be the previous day when I hadn’t checked the mail. The note inside the envelope was in a different handwriting from the envelope. The note was from the local Council informing me they had received a complaint about my business. The writer, Lisa, asked that I ring & speak to her.

I was naturally disturbed about the contents in the note & rang David who laughed it off, telling me not to worry about it. However, he had second thoughts on it too & rang Lisa the following Monday, which turned into a lengthy phone call.

The outcome was that David said it was best for me to contact Lisa myself, as she was merely doing her job.

I did that by driving to the council the following week & made an appointment to see Lisa on the 3rd November. I thought I would get my birthday over first!

I can’t say I was jumping over the moon when I arrived for the interview, but I wasn’t altogether in a flap about it either. I felt reasonably calm as Lisa was only doing her duty & I hadn’t sold any puddings on Etsy, which was the real thing in question & also Toronto Spring Fair.

She didn’t keep me waiting for long & we went into a private room where we had a long talk that I think we both felt was good. I had decided to be very open with her & just tell the truth as we went along as there was nothing to hide.

To begin with I told her how all the people in Newcastle with a business selling Christmas Puddings on a commercial basis were trained by me. The Adamstown Pudding Kitchen was the first business.

I asked had she seen the ABC Compass programme telling the story about how it started that was shown nationally on television twice before last Christmas. In it the ABC reporters & camera men had me making the puddings in my own kitchen here while they told the story of how it all began, by Dawn Hodgetts who had said prayers for the safety of her brother serving in Vietnam.

When her prayers were answered she built up a strong business making puddings made from her Gran’s recipe & after doing this for some years she then gave it to the Church to raise funds for the needy. This was given to the Church with the profits I had already made.

The Adamstown Pudding Kitchen took it from there. They built there own kitchen after Dawn taught them all she could. In the years they have had the business, raised over one million dollars for the needy.

After telling this story (Lisa had seen half the video) I added that I am very proud indeed of what the Church has done. It was wonderful for me to see the video & ABC sent me copies of it for myself & also copies for my friends in Burbank adapted for the American television system, which was very kind of them.

I then went on to say that I built up the business again after giving the business to the Church. I called it “Newcastle’s Pudding Lady.’ We made about 50 tonnes of home made puddings annually, supplying all the major food halls plus hundreds of other stores throughout Australia.

I had also given to the Church the hundreds of letters sent to me thanking me for the best Christmas pudding they had ever had so that they could keep in touch with those customers. As could be seen, I then looked further afield for other business including fetes, fairs etc. as well as stores & over the years built a thriving business that was sold to the new Newcastle’s Pudding Lady.

It was during the time I had the business that I trained two very dear friends who also became interested in the puddings. I could see the potential so I trained them & they eventually became agents for us & ultimately opened up Newcastle’s Pudding Lane in business for themselves.

I made a special note of saying how pleased I am that all three of the businesses mentioned have a thriving business today. I also told her about Mandi’s Kitchen as well, so that she had all the facts.

Of course all this was said to Lisa much quicker than writing it down. Then I told her about my illness in 2015 where I was diagnosed with cancer that meant my family got the right people in to do my house work & garden.

Having been an active person all my life & living on my own, this left me with all day, every day to do nothing in & I was terribly bored. It was at this time that my granddaughter told me about Etsy, which I thought a great idea as it would fill in some time as a hobby which is all I wanted. I really needed something to do & this seemed a great answer.

However, I did inform Lisa that it had not been successful. I also informed her that the cancer had disappeared, but it did not give me back anything to do. I mentioned the fact that if I had a business I would be going to wholesalers for my ingredients instead of buying them at our local super market.

She asked me if I had I done any markets & I told her I had booked into Toronto Spring Fair, which – at the time of the interview – wasn’t being held for two weeks. She mentioned at one stage that if I made puddings in my home as a business I would need to take up the floor as part of the rules & regulations.

I quickly replied that firstly, I could not possibly afford to do that & secondly, I did not have a business & didn’t want one. This was only a hobby, like many other people do when they are retired.

I did ask her how the ladies got on making sandwiches, slices & cakes for fairs & fetes as there are hundreds who do that regularly. She just said some were exempt. So I did ask how to get exempt as I think what’s good for one is good for another.

She replied that she would ask the health authorities & would give me a call within a day or so. As I write this we are now in a New Year & I have heard no more from Lisa.

That was the crux of the interview that probably took about an hour. However, I respected Lisa for the job she had to do on receiving a complaint. I feel at the end of the interview she respected me.

For myself I was pleased that I could tell her very truthfully exactly how all this had come about & I am sure she knew as well as all she has heard about me would make her realize I was telling the truth. I did not even intimate that I knew where the complaint came from, my statements were all positive.

Two of my friends at Michele’s – David & his wife, Roslynn – couldn’t wait to find out how my interview went with Lisa. I told them. David said “I think when she went to the health authorities & told them about a little old lady of 87, with a history of cancer, who is selling a few puddings  would just say to her “Go away!””

He may be right, as Councils have more to concern themselves about. It really it is a mountain out of a molehill, but I did want to share it with you. When you read my mail on all of this – I have more to write to you about yet - I certainly think you will not have time to be bored.

But I must tell you about a lovely young lass who has had a birthday. More to come!

Love to you always my dear friend. Dawn X O X O