SUNDAY OCTOBER 29     THE FINAL UNPACKING

Last Wednesday was a day of much excitement for John – the truck bearing his wood working machinery arrived. Offloading this and putting it in the shed was so easy, with a cement drive, gravelled solid driveway up to the shed, and two large roller doors to it. Couldn’t be easier.

Arranging and re-arranging shed kept John busy – and tired – for much of the week. He decided to put some of the big machines on little platforms with wheels, so they could be moved around, depending on the latest project.

New shelving was also required and acquired. Was it actually possible that the shed contents had expanded in the move?

Some shed contents

I had somewhat naively assumed there would be a corner of the shed – a considerably larger one than we’d had in Melbourne – for my gardening implements and bit and pieces, maybe even a little potting table. Not so.

A novelty for us was having a built in garage, after only ever having carports, or open air. Not only did it securely house our vehicles, but also provided some very useful extra storage space. However, after a lifetime of not having same, I did make a very firm mental note to self – remember, you must operate the roller door before reversing car out!

A built in garage

John went to bowls practice a couple of times but did not feel at home or particularly welcomed there. I think he had assumed that he would be the “big” new bowler from the big smoke – but he had totally underestimated the quality and standard of the local bowlers. Again, he was relegated to the lowest Saturday pennant side – and again, he did not play well. He did not seem to have established rapport with any fellow bowlers at that club. I suspected he may have been telling some of them how clubs were organised in the city – trying to be helpful, but misjudgement on his part.

With order established in the house, we realized that it was actually bigger than the one we’d left. There was the same number of rooms, but they were larger. So, contrary to some people’s assumptions we hadn’t really downsized, apart from having a bit less land and no pool – and John was so happy to have left both pool and lawns behind us.

To compensate dog for the lack of backyard grass, we had already developed the habit of taking her for a daily walk in a nearby area of bushland and adjacent sporting oval. The bush was great for sniffing stimulation and the fenced oval a secure area for ball chasing games where she could really be stretched out. Who needs a lawn? But I thought I might try growing some grass in a shallow plant container, so she had some to nibble on, if the need struck.