Full Circle

| Chris Riley

I think I started this blog around 13 years ago. Its purpose was to record our travels. The title of the website: lifeofrileyow.com standing for Life of Riley on wheels. When circumstances weren’t what we expected (by way of pesky puppy who didn’t comply with our idea that any dog of ours would love a life on the road’,)the road trips stopped. I then changed the OW to stand for ‘on whatever’, so as I could keep on recording our journey through life without the title of my website becoming meaningless.

WOW what a ride the past 13 years have been, more twists and turns than the average road trip, more forks in the road of life than the average person sees for sure, and more about turns and changes in direction than is good for anyone’s health, I think you’d agree.

But here we are 13 years or so on. We’ve moved from Busselton into a lovely little (but not too little) lock and leave duplex in Mandurah. Mandurah used to be primarily a holiday or retirement destination. It still is to some degree, but it’s also now well and truly linked to the metro area in Perth, so it’s become quite suburban. It was never a place we holidayed in often, I don’t know why. Anyway a few changes of circumstances caused us to move from Busselton, and somehow or other we landed in the Mandurah area. We ask ourselves daily, “How come we never holidayed here?”. If we had, perhaps we would have bought here instead of Busselton in the first place. However, ‘no regrets’, we met a lot of lovely people in Busselton, some of whom we will remain friends with for the rest of our lives I hope.

When life on the road stopped, we resigned ourselves to short overseas holidays leaving the ‘pesky puppy’ in the care of family or friends. The holidays were ok, but they weren’t the road trips we loved. Eventually we decided to give road trips another go, only we’d created a bit of problem. We’d downsized – we were living in a unit with very limited parking, and our diesel powered Prado had been changed for a Hybrid Yaris….. But ‘no problems, only solutions’ as the saying goes.

First a swag (loved it, but needed more space to carry it and the necessary camping gear to enable using it). The swag became a tiny camper trailer, then the tiny camper trailer became an A-liner camper trailer. The Yaris went, and was replaced with a Subaru Forester. The Forester and the A-liner were a really tight fit in our little unit. There definitely wasn’t room for any van even slightly bigger, nor a bigger car more suited to towing. So we started looking for somewhere more suitable to be living.

Long story short – we landed in Mandurah. We had intended to keep the A-liner, and the Forester for a year or two, but never-the-less we still browsed. And of course, if you browse long enough, you will get tempted….. The latest rig is a 2020 diesel powered Pajero Sports, and a 2012 Coromal Magnum pop top. I think this house, this car, and this van are all going to be our last, and yes I’ve said that before. But this time you can quote me on that. It’s time for us to settle down and stop moving around, even though that’s not strictly true. Moving around for part of the year is exactly what we intend to do, only from our lock’n’leave home, and in our Pajero Sports, and with our Coromal Magnum pop top hitched up behind us.

And that Pesky puppy who stopped us travelling on our road trips a few years ago – well he’s nine this year. When we purchased the small camper trailer, with a huge amount of trepidation, we went to the vet and got the equivalent of Prozac for him. The first trip in the camper trailer was so peaceful. He was one chilled out little dog, just laying and watching the world go by. The next trip we forgot to give him a pill, and guess what, he still lay down and watched the world go by. He’s grown out of his Pesky puppiness. One or two prozacs was all it took.

We’re currently at a campsite called Cosy Corner, right beside a beautiful beach near Albany WA for a week. Paul, not so pesky puppy, and me are all having a wonderful time, swimming, walking & relaxing.

The van is certainly no luxurious fifth wheeler like we had thirteen years ago, nor is it the New Age with toilet and shower on board. It’s just a humble little unpretentious pop top with single beds, and an on board porta loo tucked into a cupboard. It’s clean, comfortable, and much nicer to have trailing along behind you than a great big box that’s bigger than the tow vehicle. I was never overly comfortable with that.

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We’re only away for a week this time. But come May we’ll be heading off for 3 1/2 months, following the sun up to see our son and daughter-in-law in Darwin. I think I can sincerely end this little post with one of my favourite sayings for when life is just dandy (and we all know life isn’t always just dandy), but at the moment, I can definitely say, ‘what a pleasure’!

My journey withdrawing from Dopomine Agonists begins (DAWS)

| Chris Riley

Anyone who suffers through Restless Legs will know how tortuous this can be. Restless legs appear to run in families. Several of my siblings, as well as my daughter suffer from episodes where they are unable to sit still in the evening. Usually they get relief by taking themselves off to bed, and going to sleep. I was able to do this myself for many years. However, at around the age of 40 my leg squirmings stopped allowing me to sleep and I would walk the floor, sometimes for hours into the wee hours of the morning. At the time I had started running. I don’t know if the exacerbation of restless leg episodes was related to the increase in exercise, and as that was around 30 years ago, I’m not likely to find out at this late stage.

I can’t remember exactly when I was prescribed Cabasor in order to start getting some relief from the ‘twitches’ through the night. I think it was around 2002/2003. It was a game changer. Some nights I wouldn’t take it and would get through the night. Other nights, my legs would wake me up twitching and jerking, so I’d get up and take a Cabasor. They seemed to work quickly, and I’d soon be off in the land of nod. They were life-saving! I literally don’t know if life would have been worth living if I’d had to keep suffering the torture of night after night restless legs keeping me awake. For those of you who can’t relate to how torturous this can be – do you ever have wake up with that whole body jerk, well for me that jerk happens in one, or both of my legs, and it wakes me up if I’m asleep. That can and does often happen around 30 – 40 times a minute, every minute of the hour, hour after hour. Sleep is totally impossible, and usually standing up and moving is the only solution. It is torture.

Several years later I was transferred from Cabaser to Sifrol, (Pramipexole), a Dopomine Agonist. Apparently Cabaser was causing heart problems. I didn’t like Sifrol. It worked, but it seemed to take several hours to become effective. This meant I had to take it each and every night about three hours prior to going to bed. I couldn’t wait and see if I was going to need any medication that night as I’d been able to do with Cabaser. I spoke to my specialist about this. He said I could return to Cabaser if I wanted to. This was at least 13 years ago. So for two nights I took a Cabaser, and didn’t take a Sifrol. They were amongst the worst two nights of my life. I lay with my legs up the wall, I ran a cold bath and lay in the bath with my legs up the wall, I did my ironing at 2am, I walked from room to room, I stamped my legs, and put my running shoes and ran around the block in the early of the morning. In desperation I resigned my self to having to take Sifrol, knowing I would have to take it each and every night.

There were warnings about the possibility of addictive behaviours on the packets. I’m not sure if these warnings were there in the beginning, but they’ve certainly been on the packets in later years. The addictive behaviours that seem to be of most concern appears to be the possibility of getting addicted to gambling, overeating, or sexual addiction (Paul always jokes that he lucked out on the last one). Well I’m not addicted to gambling, nor to sex, and over-eating – well I’ve always loved my food, so there’s no way I can blame Dopomine Agonists for being a bit of a tubby. However, I have developed an obsession with real estate. In the past 14 years, since being on Sifrol, at my insistence, we have bought, or/and sold 10 homes. This includes a block of land we intended to build on but never did, as well as a fifth wheeler that we lived in for approximately two years. Now that’s a bit obsessive in anyone’s books, and it’ has cost us a considerable amount of money, there’s no denying that. Whether or not I can attribute any, or all of those real estate moves to my medication – well I guess I’ll never know, but I’m starting to think there is perhaps a connection.

In recent years there also have also been warnings on the packets in relation to Augmentation. Again, I don’t remember if these warnings were there in the early years. My understanding of Augmentation is that the symptoms can start commencing earlier in the day, and can move to other parts of the body. This can, and in my case has happened, resulting in an increase in medication, and having to take my medication much earlier in the day. I went from taking 1 x .25milograms pramipexole at approximately 6pm, to taking 2 x pramipexole at 4pm. I went to a specialist to confirm this was okay only about two years ago. He assured me it wasn’t a huge dose. Over the past year though I have been getting symptoms in my arms as well, plus the symptoms in my legs have been kicking off much earlier, sometimes as early as mid-day. Consequently, I haven’t been getting through the night with two pills, so had started taking a third pill. That’s 3 X .25 mg pills. I didn’t discuss this increase with my GP initially – I just thought it’d be okay after my earlier discussion with a specialist.

Then I started playing Dr Google…… What I read has terrified me. For years I have known there is a connection between iron and restless legs, so have always insisted on having my iron tested. With levels of Ferriten around 40 – 50, my GP has always been happy that my levels aren’t cause for concern. However recent findings suggest that the first treatment for restless legs should now be getting these levels to somewhere between 100 and 200, and preferably in the upper levels of those two. People are now being weaned off Dopomine Agonists, or at least attempts are being made to get them off it. For some, this journey has not been easy, and for some it’s proved to be impossible. It looks like it has to be a very slow journey, and I’m likely to have some days, possibly even weeks, months, or even years that will be amongst the worst in my life. Some people are put onto Opioids (Methadone or similar) as they wean off of DAs. It’s called Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome, Or DAWS. I’ve read in some cases that it’s similar to Cocaine Addiction as far as withdrawal is concerned. After the two nights I had in the early days, to say I am terrified is a gross understatement.

I’m not sure, but I think one of the problems that withdrawing from the DAs can be an escalation of addictive behaviours. Goodness, if my real estate journey in recent years is in any related to my medication, if this is a result of addictive behaviour influenced by prescribed drugs, then I could be in big trouble. Our funds are already severely depleted. We could end up homeless, and living in a tent, LOL! (I don’t think that’s going to happen).

I have spoken to my GP, and my journey with DAWS has begun. Before I start reducing the DAs, I am getting my iron levels up. Currently I’m taking 1 Maltofer 370mg Iron pill every second day. At the end of April I’m to have tests to see what my levels are. If they’re not sufficient then I gather an iron infusion will be considered. Also at bedtime I am taking 2 x .25 mg of Pregabline. And I’m still currently taking 2 x .25 mgs of Sifrol. I have delayed taking my Sifrol until around 6.30pm. My evenings aren’t great. I definitely can’t sit and watch TV, or relax with a book. I do jigsaws, or stand in front of Tele doing exercises. Sometimes we play cards, and I stand up, then sit down, then stand again…… I definitely cannot relax. However, at 9pm, the time I usually go to bed, I take the two Pregabalin, and have been manageing to sleep comfortably through the night. I didn’t continue taking the third Sifrol pill, and I have managed to delay the time I take the prescribed dose. I don’t know when I’ll be able to start reducing the quantity, or how quickly my journey off this medication will be. I do know though, that I’m going to get off of Dopomine Agonists. I just hope the Pregabalin that’s part of my journey off of this horrendous prescribed drug, doesn’t prove to be a greater evil.

You know what, I don’t trust any drugs, prescribed, or otherwise. Sometimes I think the prescribed drugs are worse than the illicit drugs. Drug companies have no scruples. They know what they’re producing, they know when the cure is likely to be worse than the cause.

The best ever storage idea for an A’van

| Chris Riley

Since buying our little Avan, Georgie Girl, we’ve looked on line for storage ideas that we can add to her. Being what I think is termed ‘a low hipped A’van’, the height of all benches is only 720cms, and consequently, all drawers, cupboards and storage are below that height. There are no cupboards near the central kitchen area that are ideal for pantry storage. Not finding anything inspiring in our on line searches, my clever man came up with his own idea, and I think it’s absolutely brilliant.

The A’liner goes up to a high peak above the sink area, and this is the area we felt was best to add some kitchen storage too. However, very little can be permanently above the 720cm line in the van as the sides need to fold down for travelling. Therefore anything on that wall needed to be removable, lightweight, and needed to be out from the curtains so as they could still be pulled across at nights.

This is what my man came up with:

First he designed some wooden brackets that could be permanently left on the van. As you can see from the shape of them, when the shelf is fixed to them the curtains can still be pulled behind the shelf.

Next he built a lightweight box out of a thin ply. It’s 900 long, 240 high, and 160 deep. He added a thicker piece of wood across the bottom for the cup hooks. There is one screw on either side to hold the box to the bracket. We have a lot of the square Sistema containers in our house. We buy some whenever we see them at half price in the supermarket. They have a great variety of sizes and they stack up on each other cleverly and securely. He kept them in mind when designing the shelf, and they fit brilliantly. Our china cups hang below the shelf, as does a tea towel, and there are still two additionally hooks not used as yet. The shelf itself holds a load of Sistema containers with our tea bags, sugar, coffee, crackers, nuts, muesli bars – loads of stuff. Our coffee perculator sits on the shelf, as does our peanut paste and Vegemite, and all at a great height to access the items easily. Our little ornament yacht sits on top and suits the triangular shape of the van. It’s nice to have a little bit of space for something that’s just for decoration. And on either side we have room for our crystal wine glasses. We use unbreakable melamine plates for our travelling dinner ware, but like most travellers, we still prefer our coffee out of proper china cups, and our wine out of a nice glass. Presto – we now have a pantry!

The screws that hold the box in place just come out and the box slips off. It rides comfortably and safely on the bed when travelling with all of the containers sitting inside it. It literally takes less than two minutes to remove what has to be removed. The cups, wine glasses and perculator travel inside a soft storage container which I purchased from Kmart for a few dollars. These sit on the floor on a piece of none slip matting along with a couple of plastic drawers when travelling. The yacht tucks under the pillow on the bed.

The little plastic drawers live on top of the drawers that hold our cutlery and dinner ware when not in transit. They’re very useful for things like glad wrap and alfoil, as well as all those other little odds and ends that don’t really have a home. We have noticed that a few people seem to use the addition of plastic drawers on top of their fixed drawers, so this was an idea we copied. The pantry idea – that was all our own. And it is brilliant – I know I’ve said that before, but I’m so happy with it that I just had to say it again.

So there you have it – the best storage idea addition that I’ve seen so far to make an A’van more user friendly, an idea that my clever man came up with all on his own. Such a pleasure to be married to such a clever man – He’s a keeper!

Dog Friendly, Flinder’s Bay Caravan Park at Augusta

| Chris Riley

For our first trip away in our little Avan, Georgie Girl, we decided we’d go again to Flinder’s Bay Caravan Park at Augusta. We stayed here only a few weeks ago in our previous Erde Camper trailer, and it was after that trip that we realised that ‘caravanning/camping’ really does put us in our ‘happy place’. That trip inspired us to go back to something that wasn’t canvas, it inspired us to get our little Georgie Girl. (Not that we don’t like canvas, in fact we do, it’s just that canvas is a little harder for two old codgers nearing their 70th birthdays). As you can see from the images below the caravan park is full of beautiful shady trees, with many of the sites having trees around three sides providing both shade and a feeling of privacy.

There’s three caravan parks in town, but during the main season Flinder’s Bay caravan park is the only one that takes dogs. I think during the off season it closes, and then dogs are allowed at Turner’s Caravan Park. I think both parks are council owned.

The park is right on the southern ocean, so the crashing waves provide wonderful background music. Several tracks lead out of the park directly to the ocean for a lovely walk down the rocky foreshore, or for a cooling dip for those brave enough to venture into the cold waters of the Southern Ocean. (Not me – if it’s not 40 in the shade, not much more than my big toes gets near the water). Dogs aren’t allowed on all of the coastline down here, but there is a dog friendly area of the beach at the eastern end of the caravan park. However, currently there are dozens (possibly even hundreds) of toxic Sea Hares washed up on shores of the ocean, and the banks of the river. These creatures are absolutely deadly to dogs, so it’s not wise to let a dog off the lead at the moment anywhere near water in Augusta. If you’ve never seen a Sea Hare, below is an image of 4 together on the banks of the river. Each would be around 20cms in length, and around 10cms across. They look like a huge piece of liver.

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A little mobile Ice Cream van that makes delicious real fruit Ice creams is often at Flinder’s Bay. Our first encounter with said Ice Cream van was accidental on our first night here when we walked down the path that led to the beach. Of course, we tried one. Yum! Today’s encounter was much more deliberate.

There are two ablution blocks in the park. Both are more than adequate, and are kept perfectly clean. With Seniors discount the cost for three nights is $145. It’s a lovely park, not pristine, and there’s no jumping pillows, no swimming pools, and no kids adventure playgrounds. It’s a park that feels close, (and is close) to nature. As I type this, our Mr Tilly is lying out under the trees, and there’s lots of little birds flitting all around, the waves are crashing in the background, and I can smell the eucalypt. Tills is happy, we’re happy, and in fact there are a lot of dogs here, and they all seem happy, as do their owners.

The park is about a twenty minute walk to the river. We have walked it, but we prefer to drive into the river picnic area and then walk down the river to the river mouth and back again to our car. It gives us about an hours walk and there’s so much to see on the river. Today we saw pelicans, dolphins, wind surfers, kite surfers, kayakers, swimmers, paddle boarders, and water craft of all types. As we meandered down the shady trees that line the river back we saw huge trees, Hampton’s style grand houses, little old river cottages, and of course, those ugly, deadly Sea Hares.

Augusta is a lovely little coastal town located at the south west corner of Western Australia. It’s where two rivers meet and run out into the ocean, and it’s also where two oceans meet, the Indian, and the Southern Oceans. You can read more about the town here https://lifeofrileyow.com/2019/05/14/augusta-the-small-town-where-two-big-oceans-meet/ It’s only just over an hour’s drive from Busselton where we live, but it’s a very different sort of coastal town. Busselton is a place with calm pristine waters and beaches. Augusta is place with a rugged coastline, and crashing waves. As far as coastal towns go, Busselton and Augusta are both gorgeous places, but they are as different from each other as night is from day.

We go home tomorrow after our three night ‘shake down’ trip. It’s been wonderful. A real pleasure, and we will be back this way again for sure. It’s a lovely caravan park, in an even more wonderful unpretentious little coastal town.

Georgie Girl – the first trip.

| Chris Riley

Having a few days to spare before having to sort out kitchen renovations (that’s another story), we decided we’d take our little Georgie Girl for a bit of a whirl. For our first trip in our little Aliner we headed down to Flinder’s Bay Caravan Park at Augusta in the South West of WA. More about the caravan park and town later…..

We packed up Georgie Girl with clothes and food for three nights and headed down to Augusta. It’s only about an hours drive from home, so a nice distance for a short get away. The town is just gorgeous, very different to Busselton, we love it.

We ensured we had enough Prozac for hyper-vigilant, Mr Tilly, but we forgot to give him one before leaving home. We tied him on his long lead to a tree on our site, and proceeded to set up camp. He lay down in the shade watching us, and watching the world go by. And he stayed happy and contented for the rest of the day. Maybe he’s turned a corner, maybe he’s decided this caravanning/camping caper is worthwhile after all. He was an absolute pleasure, and without any Prozac. Phew! That’s been nearly eight years coming. Below is a photo of him lying under the table like a beached whale, in the dirt, and looking very relaxed.

The van itself goes up very easily. I think it takes less than a minute to push up both sides and to connect the door. For this trip we decided we’d try out the Avan awning which came with the van. We didn’t hold out much hope for it, as most Avan owners seem to prefer using a gazebo. Another pleasant surprise, it went up very easily. We can see we haven’t fitted quite correctly, so later today we’ll try to work out exactly how it goes. It looks like it’ll add a lovely addition to our outside space when we head off to Broome later this year for our longer winter trip, so it’ll be worth nutting out exactly how to get it up correctly.

As you can see the two peaks aren’t aligned correctly. We’ll sort it out. Our plan for when we’re up in Broome during the winter later this year was to use two gazebos, one fully enclosed against the weather and the other open for breezy fresh air, with a sun shade. If the awning works well, we’ll use it for the sun shelter and will still erect one enclosed gazebo to be able to sit outdoors in windy conditions.

The Avan is small, so our intention is to use it basically as just a bedroom, and to transport our gear. We want to get back to outdoor living when away from home, just like it was in the early days when we were in tents. We loved our tenting years, caravanning, though convenient, just isn’t quite the same. So, we’d like to get to somewhere between the two. 

Next came our first disappointment – Paul connected the water, but so far he hasn’t been able to get the pump to work. Perhaps it needs a new pump. Paul tried to work it out yesterday afternoon, but after an hour or two decided that’s a job to be looked at when we get home. We have a tap at our door, so we can get water for the kettle and washing up etc. It won’t be a hardship for three days.

Our van, being 23 years old, doesn’t have a hot water system fitted. Maybe one day we’ll get one fitted, maybe not. Although it was a pleasant convenience in the fifth wheeler and the New Age, not having it doesn’t seem to be a problem at all. In fact, it’s one of those things that makes it feel more like we’re camping.

We both slept soundly last night, and as always when camping, it was an early night. Paul slept on the double bed with Mr Tilly, and I slept on the single (cafe dining converted to single bed). The double bed isn’t big enough for two old codgers and a dog, plus we don’t want to climb over each other when nature calls during the night. At nearly 70 a really good nights sleep is becoming more elusive, so the convenience of our own bed when away from home seems to ensure a better night’s sleep.

We noticed a few drips of water coming from the peak in the roof this morning. There was a lot of condensation over night, but with all the windows opened in the van, we shouldn’t have been getting any inside the van. Maybe the seal needs some attention, another little job that my man will look at when we get home. I’m sure it’s nothing major. Gee, I’m pleased to have a partner that’s a very clever and capable ‘handy man’. I feel so sorry for women who have partner’s that hardly know one end of a screwdriver from the other. Sometimes though I wonder if Paul doesn’t wish he was one of those useless types – he’s always so busy. Part of him loves the busyness, but I’m sure there’s sometimes just a little part of him that just wants to sit down with a good book while someone else does the hard work. As I type this though, he is relaxing with his book. What a pleasure!

‘Georgie Girl’ comes home

| Chris Riley

We went up to Perth and picked up our little Avan (Georgie Girl) on Saturday. It was around 4pm when we arrived home, so with an hour or two of daylight left, we set about emptying her out, and starting to give her a good clean.

Every storage compartment was full. There was crockery, cutlery, pots and pans, a gazebo, an awning, multiple hoses, absolutely loads of stuff. It was a bit like a lucky dip as we dragged everything out. Deciding what will stay and what will go was a job for later.

Everything out, we started to give her a good clean with sugar soap and water, a microfibre cloth, and an old toothbrush to get into all the nooks and crannies. We did what we could Saturday night, including taking all the cushions inside to clean. Using some carpet shampoo mixed up in a bucket of warm water, and a microfibre cloth, we did what we could to clean and freshen them all up.

Sunday morning we rose early and started again. Paul unclipped all the rubber backed curtains. They are turquoise in colour, but were looking very dull, almost grey really. Realising they’re no doubt as old as the 23 year old van, and possibly hadn’t ever been cleaned, we didn’t hold out much hope for them. Nor did we hold out much hope for the upholstered cushions to be anything but ‘replaceable’. Were we ever in for a pleasant surprise!

By three pm, and several changes of water in the bucket, she was all back together. The outside had been given a quick wash, a cat’s lick and a promise really. The inside walls, ceiling, and floor had all scrubbed up well. The curtains had survived their wash, and had been re-hung. They looked so much better than we’d expected them to look, and the upholstery on the cushions was looking brighter, and smelt clean and fresh. Friends arrived, and we sat around the little table and on the L-shaped lounge with champagne drinking a toast to the arrival of our little ‘Georgie Girl’.

After our friends left, we made up the beds and we slept there last night to try her out. We slept well – She’ll be just fine and dandy, and we’re looking forward to many years and many miles of travel with her.

We’re very happy, and are looking forward to this blog getting back to its original purpose – that of recording the ‘life of Riley on wheels’. I can sense my writing mojo may be about to return!

Introducing ‘Georgie Girl’

| Chris Riley

We’ve done it – we’ve bought an old Avan.

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She’s old, 23 years in fact, but she looks to be in reasonable shape. She’s small, so she fits into the available space we have in our unit. At the moment, she’s pretty well lacking in any character, as are most of the Avan Aliner’s. Hence, the older van – it seems more appropriate to be adding our own stamp to an older van, than it does to a newer, more expensive one. Not to mention the cost of a newer one in the first place.

The interior of Avans are quite cold and characterless in appearance. It’s going to be a challenge to transform this one into something that has warmth, style and character. We will be picking her up next week-end. Be sure to watch this space as she shed’s ‘her dowdy feathers and flies’.

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2024 draws to a close

| Chris Riley

As 2024 draws towards its end I can’t help but feel relieved. What a year, not one I hope to repeat anytime soon that’s for sure. As anyone who knows me well, I’m very adaptable to change (with the exception of changes to technology). 2024 though has seen more changes than even I can adapt to easily.

First we sold our home of 2 1/2 years in Nova Village. Thank goodness we moved into ‘one of those places’ whilst we were still young enough to recover from both the experience, and the financial loss. That’s not to say those places aren’t well suited to some people, it just didn’t suit us. At the time we sold the real estate market was at the peak of the biggest real estate boom I’ve ever seen. Finding a house, any house at all wasn’t easy. Fortunately we found a place to rent on a periodical lease whilst we looked for a place to buy. We knew the rental propert was going to be short term so we needed to pounce on anything remotely suitable. Houses were going under offer before they were even listed. It was manic!

We did find a place that suited both us, and our budget, and moved in on Paul’s birthday, the 8th of May. We’ve done a few things to it since, but at a much slower pace than is usual for us. We’ve both been tired from the two moves, not to mentioned our strapped finances after our estimated loss from the move out of the retirement village in excess of $300,000.

Our enthusiasm for home renovations has been unusually slow, but is recovering now though I’m pleased to say. We’re making plans for how we can really put our own stamp on this little villa to make it our own. I’m sure I’ll have a few changes to show you in 2025, but let’s just see the back of this God-damned awful year first.

 Above is one change we’ve made so far. The kitchen needs a bit of makeover, it’s been designed poorly, but for now Paul has built a small half wall across the end of the kitchen so as to give us a place to put our microwave, and we’ve painted the dark drawers white. (I only do white kitchens).

Below is an image of one of the planned changes to come. A double Velux roof window into the kitchen – with one window opening. It will provide ventilation and light, as well as giving a sense of space by adding some height to the low ceilings.

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We did manage to fit in a couple of little holidays this year. I went to Bali for a week with a small group of ladies from my walking group. Then Paul and I flew up to Darwin for two week break from the winter.

We bought a swag, tried that out in the forest, and loved it. Carting it along with enough camping gear in our little Toyota Hybrid though wasn’t easy. We had a tow ball fitted to the car, and looked for a light weight trailer. The most suitable one we found happened to be camper trailer – which created another dilemma for us. Anyway long story short – the camper trailer won out. Out with the swag, in with the small camper trailer, which we tried out with Mr Tilly as soon as the weather permitted.

What a nightmare that was. We’ve since decided no more mobile homes for us until Mr Tilly goes. He’s such a stress freak when away from home. He’s only 7 1/2, so that’s a good few years away I should imagine. We have still kept the camper trailer, but have removed the tent section. The trailer is very useful for our little home hobby business.

Ah – now there’s another little snippet of news for you. You may remember Paul has upcycled a lot of furniture in the past. It’s become somewhat of a hobby now. Much of our own  furniture is old pine furniture that’s been saved from land-fill with an up-cycle, and we’ve done quite a bit for friends as well. We decided a couple of months ago to try to put our spare time to good use, and try doing some up for sale. We hate the throw away mentality of the world today, so prefer to re-cycle and up-cycle for ourselves wherever possible. This has evolved from that.

We look for furniture pieces that are around 15 – 30 years old. You know the old dark stained rubber wood or pine pieces that were popular, the pieces that are now being discarded, often to land fill, as the owners replace them with the latest furniture trend. After many, many hours of sanding, filling, repairing and painting we move them on via the local face book market place. It’s become a bit of a labour of love, with enough profit to allow keep us investing in a few more pieces that we can save from the scrap heap. It gives us a sense of purpose, and we both love seeing the old transformed into something new.

Screenshot

That’s not all though – you may remember a good few years ago I wrote a post on the Bunbury Farmers Market.  It’s a place we love to shop at, and a place I worked at for a short time. It was a fabulous place to work, and a job I enjoyed immensely. Unfortunately the travelling distance did prove to be to great, so I didn’t stay long. When I left though, I said, “if ever you open a place in Busselton, I’ll be back”.  Guess what – a new Bunbury Farmer’s Market opened in Vasse, a suburb of Busselton, this month. And guess what else – yes, I’m back there working as Food Presenter once again. I’m in my element!

Bunbury Farmer’s Market

I’m thoroughly enjoying it again. It’s a wonderful, business, and quite unique for Australia. It’s grown to be quite big, so much so that I believe it attracted the attention of Gina Rhinehart, who has now invested into its future growth. I hope it doesn’t grow in way that changes what makes it so special. At the moment there are of course quite a few teething problems, but on the whole it’s running fairly smoothly. I’m a bit torn. I love working there, but I also find breathing new life into an old piece of furniture very rewarding. The furniture – well that’s really a two person job, and one which Paul and I love working on together. As we move towards the start of another new year, I’m sure my way forward will become clear. Let’s see where 2025 takes me…..

The Devil’s Advocate

| Chris Riley

Yep, that’s me, ‘The Devil’s Advocate’! I often go out on a limb saying what other’s either dare not say, or dare I even say it, other’s dare not even think it. Social conditioning is such today that the right to freedom of speech, a right considered ours if we live in a democratic country is no longer a right – that is if you dare to think any misogynistic thoughts, or any thoughts such as ‘toughen up Sunshine’, or ‘just get on with it’.

I woke early today and couldn’t get back to sleep so did something I never do, I went into the living room and turned on morning TV. The first item was about Australia’s shortage of teachers. Apparently today’s kids are misogynistic, sexist, homophobic, bully’s……… And guess what the teachers aren’t getting the support they want from the board (or whomever it is that deals with teacher’s problems), so they’re leaving the profession. WELL DAH!!!! They’re kids, and just like kids from every generation, some will always push boundaries. Admittedly today, in some instances, it is harder to reign in bad behaviour without the inappropriate punishments that were available to teachers when I was at school.

So, here I am, playing Devil’s Advocate. And before you all start yelling at me, I’m not directing this at  the really, really bad behaviour, as no doubt there is enough of that in schools, just as there is in any workplace. I’m directing this question at any behaviour in any workplace, my question is “why does every little slip of voiced misogynistic, or homophobic, or sexist, or racist behaviour need to be addressed to the perpetrator?” Sometimes is the victim at the receiving end really a victim, or have they just grown up feeling a little to entitled to perfect behaviour from everyone around them. Quite honestly, I’m sick to death of feeling like I’m treading on eggshells everytime I dare to think, or voice an opinion that isn’t supportive of some minority. Why can’t someone say occasionally, ‘toughen up Sunshine’! I’m not advocating a return to last century’s mindset. I just think we’ve gone too far the other way. Can we please, please reach a comfortable balance where freedom of thoughts and speech allows for some of those spoken words to sometimes be not censured by political correctness, a comfortable balance were battles are kept for really bad and unacceptable behaviour, and a comfortable balance where sometimes we can actually to say to someone, ‘toughen up Sunshine’.

Let’s get the balance right between what it’s reasonable for someone to be able to shrug off, and what’s totally unreasonable and unacceptable behaviour, and let’s pick our battles accordingly. Teacher’s are leaving in droves apparently, and I get that some have probably left for very good and justifiable reasons. But are some leaving because all their lives mummy, or daddy, didn’t dare say, ‘toughen up Sunshine’, did mummy and daddy fail teach their child one of the fundamentals lessons of life, ‘shit happens – deal with it’, it’s not always someone else’s problem.