Today we popped over for the
9.00am volunteers meeting to see what work we had been assigned. Will was assigned the mezzanine area – sweep
the floor (back in familiar territory I thought!), detail a few cars (Rolls
Royce, T-model Ford, a Chev or two etc.), sweep the floors and clear the back
of the trucks in the Buntine shed. Kate –
“Oh, no jobs for you today, but be here at 10am for your induction.” Hee hee I thought for 30 seconds then said “If
it’s OK I’ll help Will for a while,” the washing was already hung out, the dishes
already washed and the shopping sorted. Why not spend some time helping.
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| The Indian |
So off to the mezzanine area I
went – funny how some days you are just flooded with memories. The night before it was memories of Grandma
and going down her cellar (spooky, but I never wanted to say no when I was
given the chance) to get a jar of salted beans- BRIGHT green, preserved as fresh
as the day they were picked in a mountain of salt – not quite like the pale
items that flowed out of the tin of beans I’d opened – but enough resemblance
to make me think of her home in Phillipson Street. Today the memories were of Grandad as I read
the Furphy’s quote on the door (where we had to sign out the cleaning items) – ‘Good
better best, never let it rest until your good is better and your better is
best’. Then when we were off to ‘detail’
the cars on the mezzanine floor and memories of Uncle Roy flooded back. I honestly can’t say if Rolls Royce and old Fords
were his things, although I think Kyle has inherited some models of these types
of cars– but these beautiful machines had me thinking of him. Will also pointed out that the old motorbike
I was wiping was the same as in the movie ‘The World’s fastest Indian’ – which made
me think of my sister who had insisted we watch it – which I’m glad we did as
we both enjoyed it immensely.
I took a deep breath as I
sprayed Windex on the windscreens hoping I wouldn’t cause any damage to these
expensive old car’s ducos or paint jobs.
When we left there at 12.30pm the cars windscreens, white walled tyres
and soft tops were looking better than we arrived not to mention the floor – so
we felt pretty good about our day’s work.
We also checked out the International hearse as instructed and Will
decided how he would go about pumping up the tyres then it was time for home
for lunch.
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| A Chev |
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| Rolls Royce |
After a bite of lunch in the
van we decided to go for a walk – well, I decided to go for a walk and Will
agreed to join me on his bike. A walk to
the Stuart Hwy and just beyond was lovely – sunshine warming our face (wishing we’d
applied sunscreen) in a long sleeve t-shirt was good for the soul. A nana nap and a read of a book followed as
well as the mandatory ‘happy HOUR?!?!’ which saw Will cooking the already
prepared patties and vegies for dinner.
A further read of books, a bit of blogging with the heater well and
truly turned up saw an end to another pleasant evening. (Temperature is a little different to last
year – we were down to one doona and never used the heater once, but at minus 1
this morning the heater was turned on at around 6am as we cuddled close
together under both our summer and winter doonas!) The afternoon clear blue sky made up for any
short comings of the mornings temperatures – welcome back to the Territory.
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| Kermit - as Vina calls him with his knees around his ears as he pedals |
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| Home among the gum trees- love the blue sky |
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| Our van is beside the Buntine's Truck |
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