Category Archives: retirement

Fun and Frivolity

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Last weekend was Easter. We did not go away, host family or eats lots of chocolate.

This was the first year we have been in Maldon at Easter so naturally we were curious about the Easter Fair. It is billed as Australia’s oldest Easter Fair. There were numerous events from the Great Scone Bake-Off on Thursday evening, dancing in the street, a Hole-in-One competition at the Golf Club and so on.

But the undoubted highlight was the Grand Parade of Easter Monday morning. We were part of the Maldon Golden Movies (MGM) entry and everyone had a fun time.

Getting ready to go.

I was Dorothy from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and shared the limelight with no less than Marilyn Monroe, Calamity Jane, Taylor Swift, Alfred Hitchcock and Sherlock Holmes.

I made my costume from a doona cover (dress) and tablecloth (blouse) which both came from the op shop along with the red shoes which cost the princely sum of $2.50.

If you want to check out the whole parade you can watch it here. We are from 9:03 – 9:33.

A Load of Landscaping

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This was the view of the front of our house when we first looked at it just over 12 months ago.

It was relatively unremarkable but we were not keen on the wide expanse of dusty blue metal.

We have been working on how to change it but still enable access to the driveway at the far side of the house.

Most of the plants have been removed and/or relocated as most of them were in the far front corner which has been repurposed into a vehicle parking/turning area. GMan also removed all of the metal edging from that area but since it was one continuous length we have reused it to border the new garden area.

This is a photo from an earlier blog post.

The first of the plants have been in for some time now. We had a load of mulch delivered a couple of days ago so have been busy covering the ground with layers of excess newspaper sourced from the local newsagent and then covered with a generous layer of mulch. The product we chose is called ‘bush bark’ and provides the most natural-looking cover for this area of the garden.

There are not many weeds to suppress in this area but the addition of a thick layer of mulch should help to moderate the soil temperature, particularly on extremely hot days like tomorrow with a forecast maximum temperature of 37C.

The two small raised vegetable gardens will eventually be relocated but the zucchini and eggplant are happily growing there at the moment.

We still have a small area left to finish, but not in the heat tomorrow. GMan is also creating a wire barrier to isolate the stormwater drain from the mulch during heavy rain.

We are looking forward to adding some more plants to this area to provide habitat for the local birds and wildlife.

Some Sewing

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In my last post I promised that I would share a bit more about the French-themed event.

It was a film night at Maldon Golden Movies, our local community film society, where there was a screening of the 2021 film, Delicious. While GMan and I had actually seen it previously, it was fun to have the hall set up cabaret-style and provide some French-inspired nibbles including galettes and quiches from the local bakery.

I did not manage to get a photo in my full French outfit but this photo shows the navy trousers, Breton top and shoes that I teamed with the red beret which I shared previously. It drew many comments but the interesting thing is that apart from the beret, they are simply regular clothes from my wardrobe. I actually picked up the trousers and top in op shops late last year and have both become some of the most worn items in my wardrobe.

I made 8 white tablecloths from 2 sets of good quality cotton sheets which I sourced from the local op shop. These are bound to see numerous uses in the future as the format of the evening was very well received.

Hemmed, pressed and ready to go.

Tables set and patrons ready to enjoy the movie.

Gifts For the Garden

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Well, Christmas is over for another year and I do hope your day was pleasant, however you may have spent it.

We had a quiet but enjoyable Christmas. GMan received a gift voucher from our daughters which was for a garden nursery that he was planning to visit.

So, today we went to check out what was available that he might like. A specific focus was dwarf varieties of citrus trees and he was pleased to get a grapefruit and an orange tree. These will go in large pots on the front patio along with an existing citrus which he previously rescued from an unsuitable spot in the garden. We are not 100% sure but we think it may well be a lime tree which is very exciting. He also chose an olive tree which is a small variety which is supposed to grow to about 2m x 2m rather than 7m x 7m like many of the other varieties.

Finally, we added a selection of Australian native plants for the new area to be landscaped at the front of the house. There is a mix of different sized flowering shrubs and groundcovers which are bird-attracting. We will add more over time as it is quite a large area but we are starting with 2 banksias, 2 callistemons and a grevillea.

This is what it looks like at the moment. We recently repurposed and repositioned the rusted steel edging. There will be updated photos in due course, once we have added plants and mulch.

And yes, the sky today really is that blue. It is a welcome change after having received over 100mm of rain in 24 hours on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. Thankfully, it was just rain and not the wild storms/tornado/cyclonic conditions which have hit other parts of the country.

Living in Town

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Our move from Queensland to here has been a complete turnaround in several ways. We have gone from 1.5 acres of sub-tropical rainforest to 1/4 acre in a relatively dry area of regional Victoria.

As if those changes weren’t enough, we used to be 8km from town so it was a 16km round trip for even the simplest chore. We are now 1.4km from the centre of town and it is a safe and easy walk to most areas.

Today has been a classic example. GMan and I have each gone out twice yet the car has not left the garage. I walked to the hairdresser this morning then went to a volunteer training session for the Folk Festival where we are volunteering this weekend. Meanwhile, GMan has been assisting with the set-up for the festival and went into town this morning and again this afternoon.

I expect that we will both spend quite a bit of time walking to and fro over the next 4 days.

The Mundane Stuff

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Apart from the one-off things like new-to-us furniture, there are lots of mundane tasks that are required to keep things ticking over smoothly.

When we moved in I unpacked the refrigerated items from our camp fridge into the existing refrigerator which we had purchased with the house. This was convenient as we had sold our refrigerator with our previous home. This one is a little different to what I was used to so the positioning of various items is somewhat different. Where everything belonged had just evolved without a great deal of thought.

Yesterday, I cleaned the interior of the fridge and rearranged things a bit more thoughtfully with respect to where, when and how often I use them.

There is plenty of space in the body of the refrigerator. The top shelf which is a bit high for me to easily reach is reserved for GMan stuff – sourdough starter, ground coffee, beer mugs and beer.

The right-hand door is my ‘go to’ space for milk, juice, assorted condiments and ingredients used regularly in meal preparation.

The left-hand side is mostly taken up by the reservoir for the chilled water/ice dispenser so a block of cheese and container of yeast are the only occupants.

I find that by keeping items in a logical and consistent location means that things are much less likely to be forgotten and end up being wasted.

As a result of tidying the refrigerator and refreshing my mind as to the contents, I was able to plan meals based on ingredients (particularly perishable ones) for several days.

While I gave up diligently menu-planning when I retired from paid employment, I still generally have a rough idea of meals for at least a few days. As well as using up ingredients it helps to ensure a balance of meat/vegetarian meals and also not having the same carbs for successive days.

The current plan looks like this:

Monday – Baked potatoes with refried beans, sauteed mushroom, onion and capsicum and coleslaw
Tuesday – Grilled sausages and vegetables with cheesy cauliflower sauce
Wednesday – Zucchini quiche and quinoa tabouli
Thursday – Stuffed capsicum with coleslaw
Friday – Chicken, mushroom and spinach pancakes

A Wish List

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Numerous posts have mentioned some of my various op shop finds. In fact, in my last post GMan went with a specific goal in mind and found exactly what he was looking for. Sometimes you can be lucky. More often than not, you have to be patient if you have a specific item in mind.

Most of my op shopping for clothes is generally just good luck. Having a relatively streamlined wardrobe means that I know exactly what I have and can quickly identify something that will work with existing pieces. This method has generally stood me in good stead and I have very rarely made an unwise choice.

Excessive shopping can happen when op shopping just as it can if you are choosing brand-new items from retail outlets.

It is almost 5 years since I made a rather brave declaration that I was not going to buy any brand-new clothing for 5 years. Have I succeeded? Almost. I bought this navy dress to wear to my niece’s wedding in early 2021. It was massively reduced in price to $21 and I have worn it many times, including today. It was cold and we were headed to Ballarat so I added this warm scarf which I picked up when op shopping last week. I had really thought that it may not get an airing until next autumn but the weather today dictated otherwise.

During the afore-mentioned 5 years, my circumstances have altered considerably. I have retired from full-time work and relocated from south-east Queensland to regional Victoria. While most of my existing clothes will continue to be worn there will be some rebalancing of seasonal items required.

So, I have decided to take a leaf out of the book of my dear late friend, Mimi, who was a dedicated and successful op shopper with what appeared to be a knack for finding the perfect item. However, it was quite clear that she shopped intentionally and with purpose. I have begun creating a list of gaps I have identified in my wardrobe so that I do not wander aimlessly or feel overwhelmed when entering an op shop.

Some of the things I am searching for are:

Slim fitted trousers in both black and navy
Hip/thigh length winter coat
Navy cardigan
Dark blue slim fit jeans
Small backpack style handbag

My other criteria is to search by colour, fabric and pattern.

Colour – red, navy, blue, white, black, grey, emerald green
Fabric – natural fibres – cotton, linen, wool
Pattern – plain, spots, stripes

I will let you know how I go with this new strategy.

What’s In a Name?

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Today I can unveil the name of our home and the sign we chose.

I like the idea of a house name but I am not fussed by some of the tried and true ones that are frequently used. Nor am I keen on ones like ‘Hilltop’, ‘Seaview’ and so on.

The first house that we named was our home in Brisbane where we moved in 2001. We decided to choose something that was unique to our family so we looked at the many and varied surnames and place names associated with some of the family history research I had done over the years. It eventually came down to 2 – Boswell or Pembroke. Boswell was GMan’s maternal grandmother’s maiden name while Pembrokeshire in Wales was where my father’s ancestors originated a few generations back. With nothing more than the flip of a coin, we chose Boswell. That name (and the plaque) actually moved with us when we relocated a few years later to Maleny.

After 17 years, we decided that the name truly belonged with the house so when we came here we decided that a new name was in order. As we have walked many of the streets in this historic town it became obvious that most of the house names were ‘………Cottage’ or ‘………….House’. Others were clearly a nod to the origin or occupation of the earliest residents.

Once again, we needed something unique to us. I was not sure that ‘Pembroke’ was what I wanted but a nod to my Welsh heritage was rather appealing. We had visited Wales, including Pembrokeshire, in 2014 and had discovered a tiny brewery called ‘Caffle Brewery’. Sadly, it is now closed but I just love the sound of the word. The meaning is somewhat debatable. Google throws up various meanings, including, to argue, tangled, confused or generally in a muddle. One thing is for sure – the origin is from Pembrokeshire. We have a rural view over a paddock towards the golf course so we chose ‘Caffle View’ for the name of our home.

A close-up tells the full story.

Worth the Wait

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Some things just take time.

We moved into this house 4 months ago and one of the first things we did was to order some furniture for our large loungeroom. We were advised that the wait time would be over 3 months as it is all custom-made.

There was great excitement on Thursday when the furniture was delivered. There is a 3 seater sofa and two super-comfortable armchairs and footstools. The chairs are able to both swivel and recline for maximum comfort.

Although it is somewhat dictated by the placement of the television, we have yet to decide on the exact configuration of the furniture in the room. There are also pictures to be hung and decisions to be made about other pieces of furniture it is definitely a work in progress.

Meanwhile, we are making some adjustments to the location and positioning of other items and furniture. Watch for more details in upcoming posts.