August 1999

Hi All

I thought I'd make this a web page, so it will be easier for you to get, as well as easier for me to set up. I had a web page at Uni briefly, but it gave away too many trade secrets! By the way, there are no links from my main page to this letter deliberately, so people can't see it unless they know it's there.

Well, I'll start with some pictures :here are Jenny, with Luci (upside down), Laura, and the pond - it was supposed to be a picture of the pond after Jenny had spent ages rebuilding the path around it. We had planned to have a beautiful water feature, cascading waterfalls & gold fish everywhere, but when we acquired the girls, the goldfish we had mysteriously disappeared (could have been the kingfishers, to be honest) we gave up on the fish. The dogs have a habit of paddling in the fish pond on a hot summers' day, which doesn't do the waterlilies any good at all. So we have settled for a more robust setting, with pathways around the pool, and we hope to make the pool frog-friendly as well - hence, it's currently drained while we get rid of the gambusia, a little fish that eats frog spawn but doesn't eat cane toads, which is sad, as toads are a real pest around here.

Next, we have the two dogs in the Land Rover. They rather regard this as their personal taxi, so it's never difficult to get them to pose like this - although it's even better to get them both with their heads out the window - doesn't seem to be possible for them to maintain the pose when I have a camera in my hand, Laura tends to nip Luci till she goes back into the background. Laura's my dog, she won't have much to do with anyone else unless they are holding a bone or a smacko (dog treats to you Poms). Also, no-one else is prepared to tolerate the dog hair that covers you are covered in once Laura has been close to you.

These next two pictures are really for Norma, to try to change your mind about coming out here. There is not a snake, rat or spider in sight, just one very cute dog (Laura) that seems to be in most of the pictures that I ever take. Bit like the way that my cat Poof used to be in most of the photos I had of Greenford. Anyway, this first one is from the north west of the house, the next from the north east, i.e. both of the front of the house, but from each side. The back of the house is more difficult to photograph as there is a wall around the back. However, the first picture (the top one with the pond) is in the back garden, facing away from the back of the house & the swimming pool. By the way, we also have no Mad Cow disease or any other rubbish like that! A good eye fillet is getting expensive now, at $17 a kilo (say £3.00 per lb), petrol has doubled in price this year to about $0.80 a litre (£0.32 a litre), which everyone complains about of course, although I think this is about half the amount you pay.

The pool isn't too photogenic at this time of the year, it's nearly the end of winter, and there is an ugly cover on the pool to keep the leaves out of the water. This second picture, though, to get back to the point, is looking from near the front gate to the front door (hidden behind the high camellia hedge). The two huge Royal Cuban palms may have to come out soon, they are too big to be that close to the house, and when they shed a frond, if it lands on the roof it leaves a dent in the sheeting (it's a flat iron roof). So the chain saws might be running later on this summer - it's music to my ears!

It's a huge house, even by Australian standards, about 30 metres wide, and an irregular depth. We have 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, laundry, lounge, dining room, office, music room, rumpus room, snooker room (with table!), and a well stocked bar. It's set in 2½ acres of land, but we could only afford it because it is located on a major road. Those years at Greenford mean that I just don't hear the traffic at all, so we bought a bargain. It cost us $305,000, say £120,000, when we bought it five years ago. Jenny & I each had our own houses, mine with no mortgage (thanks to the time in Yemen), Jenny's with just a very small balance left. So we sold our own houses and pooled resources. It took years to find a house we both liked, and could afford, then a year to sell our two homes before we could have this place. First thing to do was build a workshop, of course, with 3-phase power being installed later.

Here is a nicer picture of the pond, plus more of the surrounds, plus a demented dog (Lucifer) & Laura looking aloof. Jenny really is very proud of her garden, she takes a lot of time to get it just so, and has long term plans for practically every nook and cranny. We built a shade house last year (the opposite of a green house, keeps things cool enough while they are developing) and this is always full of cuttings as well as more exotic plants. Jenny is trying very hard to cultivate orchids, but can't resist the temptation to water them, which is fatal to them. My eldest brother Tony, who lives just a few miles down the road, has a huge collection (100's) of orchids, he just has a natural talent for growing them

And here are the girls again in the old Land Rover, this L/R is the one I inherited from Dad, it's nearly identical to the one you remember from the "old days", but has a rear power take off to drive the pump, and a lot less power in the engine as it's a low compression head. But it never lets me down, and starts first kick as long as it's cold. Parts are getting a bit hard to get hold of now, which is a pity. It needs a rebore at present, I'll wait till I have found a new head at the right price before I rip it apart, preferably before summer arrives - it's just too hot to do anything in the garage then

My garage here is quite something, as you can imagine. In hindsight I would have insulated the roof, but it's too late to do it easily now. It is a steel shed, 20' by 40', 10' high at the doors, three phase power, permanent airlines all over the place, but no pit - I don't fancy opening up a pit to find some critter has made a home in there. I have an engine crane instead, but you still have to lie under the vehicle to get the engine or gearbox out - but it's not something I do all that often nowadays. My car is too new to do anything to myself, as most people like me have found - the cost of the special tools is far too high, so it has to go to Mr Honda to look at. They dread the times I darken their doors, as if it isn't done perfectly I bring it back, as many times as it takes.

It's now Tuesday afternoon, and the Web site is now up & running as of 10 minutes ago - it's a hurriedly cobbled together affair at present, it's planned as a long term project more than anything else, to be improved on as & when I have the time & the inclination. But I'll probably keep the newsletters on the site for quite some time, as I get in contact with more folks that I have lost touch with. So, more later, my target is one major update each month.

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