14 Anderton Street,

ISLINGTON NSW 2296

11th. December 2016

Dear People,

Poss and I hope you had a fulfilling 2016 and are looking forward to an exciting 2017.

Douglas Adams said “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by”. I know this. Every year about mid November I think 'should start that Christmas letter' then suddenly it is mid December and there's this whooshing sound. So it's time to grapple with the newly acquired computer with the newer operating system and the untried printer.

My bypass operation is now a dim memory. I feel fit, and realise in retrospect that there were signs warning me of heart plumbing problems which I had put down to getting older. Now I've not quite the energy of a 40 year old, an afternoon snooze is welcome, but not laid low by a bit of hard work. One outcome is the veranda balcony is now finished, almost the last piece of the renovation jigsaw. As always there is still some work to do. The final external touches are a proper path down the side of the house, a front deck, and painting the front entrance. The path is under way, it has to be completed so we can use the back door while decking and painting the front.

We have another granddaughter, Ivy Liger Milne born 10^th of February to Andrew and Nicole. A Liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion and a female tiger. Pretentious? Maybe, but I like it. Without telling anyone, they opted for a home birth. Their reasoning was sound, the respective mothers were quite against it but it was all over before they could say anything. I gather it was not the easy birth that was hoped for, but nothing the midwife couldn't handle Nicole has since said she preferred it to a hospital birth so it was the right choice for them. After giving the couple time to get used to their new family member, Poss went to Melbourne for a couple of weeks to help out. I was able to stay a couple of nights a few weeks later to make Ivy's acquaintance. Given there is more than 1,000km between us, we've not seen Ivy as often as we'd like. Fortunately Facebook has kept us well informed, Nicole is a prodigious documenter with the camera. And distance hasn't been too much of a barrier, we've had several visits since. Andrew, Nicole and Ivy will stay with us a day or two before Christmas, on their way to the Woodford folk festival. Hopefully we can get the family together if we can get a time that fits in with everyone's working hours.

Beth has changed jobs since last year, and there are indications she could do so again after Christmas. The chef's world seems very volatile. She is working split shifts at The Beach Hotel in Merewether, which worked out when she was living in Adamstown with less than 10 minutes commute. But she and Steve are now renting in Wallsend (less than a kilometer from Scott and Joanne), with a much longer drive to work. The impetus for the move was lack of space in Adamstown, a lovely house but too small for the large furniture pieces they own. The 'new' house is much larger with bigger rooms and more of them. But driving home and back in the break between shifts is unappealing so the house move may trigger a job move. Steve is well settled at Coco Monde so seems unaffected by the extra driving.

Sandra may have turned a corner in her life, more decisive and certain of herself. She is seeing a different psychologist, which could be the explanation. She was not doing well at university, which isn't like the Sandra of old. She said she has lost the ability to learn a lot, perhaps from her mental condition or perhaps from the medication to deal with it. Whatever the cause, she has not enrolled for next year and is working part time. She is back at the same firm, Peter Evans & Associates, that she was working for before her breakdown. That in itself was a big step for her as she felt the working environment was partly responsible for her problems. She is assisting one person, and only works when he has something that needs doing. That is usually every day unless he is not in the office. So far it is working well. Sandra appreciates the extra money and it benefits her to leave the house every day. She and I also resumed our early morning walk several days a week. It is more a ramble than a workout but we cover over 3km in less than an hour so we hope it is doing some good. We chat about the most inconsequential matters, which has Poss bemused. I sound like a schoolboy when I get back and she asks what we talked about – 'not much' is the usual reply.

Visiting Scott and Joanne is like taking a step back to the time when we had a plague of ankle biters. All seems familiar, the cacophony of everyone speaking at once, the chaos in the playroom, the half eaten sandwich. And the never ending pile of clothing going to the washing machine, to the line, to the ironing, to the drawer, being worn, being collected and round again. Not that I'd know anything about that. This year there was academic excellence all round. Joanne managed to fit in enough studying to do well in her post graduate library course, and Anna and Emily received awards for excellence and achievement.

Poss collects Lucy from preschool most Wednesdays and Thursdays, and takes it upon herself to do some gardening and housekeeping while there. We also did a bit of house renovation. Many years ago the people Poss works for were taking out a panel with full height window panes, a sliding door and a burglar proof screen door. Poss thought it would be a good replacement for Joanne's french door style back doors. The panel was duly moved to Scott and Jo's and has been waiting to be installed ever since. Poss saw the demise of the fly screen (which was never convenient to use at the best of times) on the existing doors as justification for a concerted effort, which we undertook over two days. In a rare piece of serendipity the replacement was almost the same size, and all that was needed was a bit of packing and a can of expanding foam to fill the voids. Scott and Jo find the doors so much more functional than the old ones, and thanked Poss for making it happen.

Poss is still cleaning Monday and Friday morning for the same family. Although the money comes in handy it is not essential, the arrangement has a large component of friendship. Even though she will get the pension next year, there is no talk of retirement. I'm thinking Poss's joints will eventually tell her when they've had enough, no guessing when that will be. The family are very flexible and don't mind if she skips a day or two, if for instance we want to go away for a long weekend.

I guess I'm a slow thinker. For quite a while now I've wanted to do 'something' with the 80 hectares of bush inland from Woolgoolga that we bought many years ago. The problem was getting there. Poss was using our Honda sedan almost daily, for grandmother duties and for work. Our other vehicle, the old Holden 1-tonner, was impractical. Uncomfortable on a long trip, no power steering, leaky when it rained, fuel inefficient (over $200 to go to Woolgoolga and back), and the dubious reliability of a nearly 40 year old vehicle. Its advantages were good ground clearance and ability to haul a load, very useful for getting in and out of the block. There is 1.2km of right-of-way from the nearest road, which at the time was considered unsuitable for a sedan. Until this year I put the problem in the 'too hard' basket.

The solution was to negotiate with a neighbour to leave the 1-tonner on his property, and buy a second car for Poss to drive around town. That allowed me to drive to the neighbour's property in comfort in a frugal sedan, then swap vehicles for the final leg of bush bashing. And so it came to pass: we bought a used Mazda 2, then the 1-tonner was driven to the neighbour's property. Since then I have visited the block frequently, staying several days each time with Poss's mum Dawn in her Woolgoolga retirement village home. I think Dawn appreciates having someone around at night, and to open jars or reach top shelves. Otherwise she is in good spirits and involves herself in various village activities. She also watches Family Feud on the TV which is my cue to do a bit of reading.

The eventual 'something' is still not clear. The dream was to build a dwelling which could be used for extended periods. What and where still remain unclear. The short term goal is to establish a temporary camp from which the rest of the block can be explored. To that end, I looked for a flat area close to where the right-of-way enters the block. Then I cut by hand a track from the right-of-way to the flat area and started clearing it. I was offered a caravan which was well past the days when it could be used on the road and it now resides in the clearing. Progress was slow as I was relying on an old chainsaw and not much else so more recently I purchased a 'proper' chainsaw and a tractor with a front end loader. The chainsaw is a Stihl, arguably the best brand and it is proving itself. Choice of tractor was not so clear cut. With limited funds I could get a very used 20 yr old reputable brand tractor or a much less used tractor of dubious lineage. I bought a 3yr old Dong Feng ZB25 with 150 hours on the clock, time will tell how wise this is. It has not been used extensively yet, but already has cleared as much in a few hours as took me a few days.

I've found, if I take it easy, the Honda can be driven to the camp and the 1-tonner is not required. This is fortuitous as the arrangement with the neighbour finishes at the end of this year. Early on, another neighbour allowed me to erect a shed on his property where I stored various items that I thought would eventually come in handy. Unbeknown to me, that neighbour sold up to the other neighbour. The arrangement then became I could keep the 1-tonner on his property as long as both the 1-tonner and shed were both gone by year's end. Current state of play? The contents of the shed are in a tent, the shed is in bits awaiting reassembly. Last weekend I acquired some pavers which I shall take in a trailer to the block, to form a level base for the shed. Some of the 'useful items' are batteries, solar panels and an inverter. I have temporarily connected some of the batteries to the solar panels to charge, I calculate that will take several weeks (big batteries, small panels) so when I go back to put up the shed I might be able to hook up a radio to drown out the cicadas.

We haven't strayed much from well travelled paths this year. In April I went to a Moe High School reunion. It was for students attending up to 1960, so there was a room full of grey haired old people. It was a bit sobering to think I was one of them. There were an estimated 70 attending, only a handful still lived in Moe. Good to see a few faces for the first time in 50 years, but our year was not well represented. We took up the July time share week again, this time Sandra came up by bus, and Nicole flew in with Ivy, and Beth joined us for two days so it was quality family time. We caught up with Chris and Jenny McDowell on the way back, almost a ritual for the last few years and always enjoyable. Joanne and family may use the timeshare next year so we'll have to think of something else. One Friday in August we made a mad dash down the Hume driving nearly 900km to Sheehan's for Robyn's 70^th birthday party on the Saturday. On Sunday we drove on to Melbourne for Andrew's birthday bash, stayed overnight then drove the 1,000km back to Newcastle on Monday because I'd been called for jury duty on Tuesday. And predictably I wasn't empanelled.

In September we managed a small get together for the family to honour my parents' birthday. They were born on the same date, the 13^th, ten years apart in 1906 and 1916. We celebrated dad's 100^th in 2006 and it was fitting to do the same for mum. Poss did a wonderful job preparing and the weather was kind so we were able to be in the back yard.

Week to week not much changes. We still do Trivia Tuesday, Walking to a restaurant Wednesday, Fast food Friday, Shopping Saturday. Unfortunately tennis is no longer on the agenda. A series of knee problems has decimated our numbers, and those of us that can still play are not so enthusiastic that we are recruiting. We still plant trees each month, and have the dubious honour of being the longest serving Sunday volunteers, now in our 21^st year. We certainly are not the oldest, several of our crowd are well into their eighties and still making a valuable contribution.

We have been to the movies a few times this year. There is an old cinema called the Regal, run by eccentric people. It was not used for many years because it didn't meet building standards, and the projection equipment was obsolete. In 2014 it was reopened, after renovations and Australian director George Miller organised a digital projector, sound system and screen. It is an experience in itself, entry is $8 for everyone, except for theme nights when it is $10. For $8 we get a glass of wine and nibbles, for $10 a respectable snack. The last film we saw was 'God willing', a much awarded Italian comedy. Included was a glass of wine, a pasta bake, other nibbles and a tiramisu dessert. Can't beat that. We may be going more often.

Here's to another peaceful, healthy and productive year ahead. Please feel free to drop in any time. Or Facebook, email, letter, SMS or phone calls, not as good as face to face but love to hear from you in any way that suits. With love to you all.

Alan and Poss xx

The family gathered for my parents' birthday celebration (two days early on 11^th September). Closest is Beth holding Ivy, then Sandra on the left and Nicole on the right. At the back is Joanne, Alan and Poss standing. The children are (from left) Anna, Michael, Emily and Lucy (peeking out from behind Scott).

Clearing the track. The yellow and red can is aerostart, to prod a reluctant chainsaw into life. Rarely successful. The chainsaw is sitting on the log on the left. Now relegated to a backup saw for the Stihl.

A recent picture of 'the camp'. The 1-tonner has just bought a load from the shed to put in the tent. The tractor is under the tarp between the tent and the car.

The proud owner shows off his tractor.

And finally, the balcony in Christmas livery.