After weeks of cold or wet weekends, this past weekend finally relented and dished out wonderful sunny days. After indulging in a very delicious Indian dinner on Friday night at the “local” in Vermont South (“Ammachi’s Table”, previously known as Rich Mahal), we spent Saturday first walking the little fellow, then pottering outside the house, cleaning up all and sundry.

Tress did truckloads of weeding, whereas I cleaned the Weber Q, gave the deck a scrub when I learned how grimy it was under the Q, and then gave the windows a clean. Unfortunately, I didn’t hose down the scrubs so yesterday, with another sunny arvo after we returned from lunch and St Alf’s, I connected the high pressure cleaner and hosed down the deck, giving it a second round of cleaning. As the pressure cleaner took some connecting (a connector had a broken washer/”o” ring and so the hoses were leaking), I thought I’d use it to also hose down the outdoor furniture and some other stuff.

On Sat night, we did a barbie on the GA. We had picked up some good looking ribeye the night before and the reversed sear on the GA was very good. We had some very well charred broccolini along with the steaks and they went down really well.

On Sunday at St Alf’s we did our last round of rostered communion duty for the year, and there were some budgetting announcements. It looks like more funds were needed for building upkeeps and ministry continuation. We have a couple of weeks to mull it over before responding so here’s to waiting on Him for some guidance.

It has been over 4 months since we were at Canberra; Abby and her folks were in Melbourne in August so it has only been 2 months since we last saw her and them, but it feels great to be able to see them again next weekend. There are loads more cleaning and maintenance work around the house, but that will all have to wait.

Last Friday night, Tress and I went back to that little “hole-in-the-wall” place on Blackburn Road. It’s a tiny Thai restaurant we went to a couple of weeks before and we liked the food and the folks who own and run the place. It is also just as the crow flies from our home.

On Saturday morning, it was remained very balmy – the thermometer had hovered in the high teens all night – so it was near perfect for us to do some housework, both in and out of the house. For several days now, I had been thinking about responding to the working bee call for the parsonage on Wilton Road. St Alf’s was getting a new staff member in. Ben and his family were going to move in to the house in early November. I couldn’t however, deal with having our house in such an unkempt, untidy and generally in a touch “urgh” state, so I decided to stay home and deal with the home stuff instead. We walked the little fella and then got promptly to work.

Tress gave the house a thorough vacuuming while I trimmed the very overgrown hedges on the front eastern side of our fence. They were very thick and tall and wedged as they were between the roof lining of our neighbour’s property and the roof of our deck, it took a lot of manoeuvring to get to the bits I wanted to get rid of. There were also other plants and bits and bobs that needed work and finally, when the lawns were mowed and grounds swept, it was well past 1pm and we got cleaned up and headed for lunch, before getting some groceries and then headed home.

That evening, we went for a treat at St Alf’s. The Melbourne Welsh Male Choir was to perform in a fundraisers for Tony Rinauldo’s FMNR work. They were joined by a few local St Alf’s wonderful music talents and it was a real treat to listen to the choir, Joanna Cole, Hayden Taylor, Dennis Wang, Racheal Zhou and Andrew Pemberton. Helen Petering, the music minister of St Alf’s did a lot of accompaniment (other than for the choir) and she was very good too. It was a very enjoyable evening of soaking in beautiful music, and Tony’s work got some support.

Sunday was very wet, and grey. It was a touch cold too, with a top of 13deg forecasted. It felt wintry, that’s for sure. When I looked at my tablet to catch up with the news, I saw that Bobby Charlton had passed away.

Bobby Charlton is a legend of English and world football. He played for Manchester United his entire career. He was then a director of the club. He visited the supporters’ club in Petaling Jaya in Malaysia back in the 90s’, and I had the wonderful privilege of meeting him. A genuine lover of the game, he sat down and talked to us and autographed souvenirs, and demonstrated that his reputation as a kind gentleman was true and well deserved. He kept muttering “no game… no game this Saturday…”… the weekly league fixtures involving United were obviously a key feature of his routine. I had a photo of him and I somewhere, I need to go look for it again.

After St Alf’s later that morning, we were meant to catch up with Lauren Weatherlake to be part of the advocacy group for her work (and that of Amy Just) with AFES, but we missed them and will now catch up with the rest of that group in a couple of weeks. I looked to campus ministry as a source of anchoring, learning and comfort in my uni days. It gave me, in the midst of trying to navigate a path into the future, a sense of who I am in God’s sight and what He wants of me. It was a a cornerstone of those formative days in uni. When I heard about Lauren’s work with AFES a few years ago, I decided to come alongside and that has continued for a little while. So when she reached out to Tress and I a few weeks ago to be part of her advocacy group, I thought it’d be a good thing. I have been, after all, praying that God will show me how I can better serve Him.

We then headed for lunch at our usual spot in Donvale, then home before taking the little one to the Brickworks shopping center so he can get a walk. We then returned for me to do the week’s lunches before we finally put our feet up to chill.

The jabs for my so called B12 deficiency appear to have wreaked havoc with my gout symptoms and my daily morning runs have been reduced to walks instead.

Thankfully the walks have picked up pace and this morning, it was a brisk one. Even better, the sun has decided to show up and that added to a much better morning.

Laboured they may have been, but I’m glad they were done.

A short while ago, I received a message from my brother David. He told us an Uncle or ours, someone known to many as ‘”Ah Seng”, has passed away. He was the husband of Ber-Ee, my mum’s youngest sister. Their son, Long and his wife Michelle, have a lovely little girl, Giselle. Mum looked after Long when he as a little boy. He was a spunky little boy, and has in recent years, taken over his dad’s mechanic and car detailing business. They’re a decent, hardworking family and in recent years, have come to know our Lord. Uncle was only recently baptised. I last met him when I was back for mum’s 80th birthday.

I will miss him, as well as my Tua-Ee. I hope the family copes well with 2 departures in such a short period of time.

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Over the weekend, the big event in Australia was the referendum to amend the Constitution. The amendment was to create a “Voice” that will make representations to the Parliament, on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The voting was held on 14th October.

Tress and I slept a touch in that morning, then took the little fellow out for a walk before we went to look at property out in Croydon. We then went for lunch, came back, let the boys out to the yard and played a little with them, before we took the little guy out again. This time we walked to the Burwood Height primary school on Hawthorn Road, to vote for the amendment.

That night, we learned the country has returned a resounding “No” to the amendments. Most agreed our indigenous countrymen and women need a lot of support to put them in a better place compared to other Aussies, but thought the amendments, as drafted, didn’t provide enough to carve a way forward. There were too many vague and unknown outcomes from the amendments and in any event (and perhaps more importantly in my mind), our indigenous fellow Aussie need support in other ways. There were already myriads of governmental vehicles and pathways that are available that have proven less than satisfactory and an enshrined Constitutional provision in the same space wasn’t a convincing solution to many, yours truly included. Additionally, a constitutionally enshrined protection for a specific group of people that isn’t available to all other Australians, just felt, fundamentally, out of place.

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My foot (ankle particularly) played up again on Sunday morning. I can’t work out what caused it. The symptoms are gout-like, but I had done nothing that are the usual triggers for a gout episode. So when I trudged through the day with that ailment plaguing me, I got frustrated but am reminded to be grateful for what were working for me. I thought about the Palestinians and the Israelis in and around Gaza, and the spectre of homelessness, displacements, injuries, shortages of food and water and other basic essentials. I continued to be dismayed. I had picked up a book titled “My Life as a Jew” that is written by Michael Gawenda, a retired ex-editor of The Age newspaper, a major main daily in Melbourne. The Weekend Australian book review section, which read frequently, had said this was a good read. It was published on 4 Oct, and the Gaza invasion happened on 7 Oct. I thought a Melburnian Jew’s stories about his life as a Jew, presumably set a lot in Melbourne, would provide me with an interesting dimension of what’s going on in that part of the world (Gaza/Palestine). I started reading it on Saturday and so took leave from Tolkien’s LOTR, which I had been reading in recent days, following up on Tim Keller’s numerous references to it in this his podcast messages that I listen to regularly.

The Voice. Hamas and Gaza Invasion. These two events in history would leave equally indelible marks alongside the passing of an uncle.

It’s easy to grab that catchphrase that says 3 Weddings and a Funeral, and guilty as charged, I did say that over the weekend. Only to Tress, however.

So a third wedding there was for Tress and I over the weekend, but not before our usual weekend routines, of sorts. On Friday night, we checked out a new place for dinner. It’s a very small Thai place around the corner from our home. The food was nice (I enjoyed the fishcakes and green curry) and the owners were lovely. These days, I no longer fret about whether a place was BYO. This drinks-free experience has brought some new dimensions for yours truly.

On Saturday morning, we slept in a touch, took the younger fella for a walk, then came back to some chores. Tress went to the hairdresser and I busied myself with the James Sterling at the back fence and other “gardening” tasks. The neighbour to our back caught me when I was on the ladder trying to reach their end of the hedges, and asked if she could borrow the trimmer to do their side of the fence. It didn’t take long for me to work out it’d be far quicker if I volunteered to do it for them instead so I tossed the extension chord across the fence, and took my extended pole trimmer for a walk around to Bindy Street. I introduced myself and after a number of years, finally learned my back neighbours’ names. The guy is Maz, and his wife is Elly. Maz and I trimmed the JS on their backyard, and although that took more time and effort out of me, the hedge did look better.

Tress then returned and before long, reminded me of the time. I quickly finished up, tidied things and showered before dropping the boys at Heather’s and we then went and got a quick lunch at FHC. We left for Yarra Valley just before 3pm and got to the weddng venue just before 4pm.

Nathan is the eldest child of Vincent and Christina, our friend from UNSW days in Sydney. They live and work in Miri, Sarawak. Nathan was to marry Marisa, her Indonesian bride. They’ve both been living and working in Melbourne in recent years and we had met them a few months back when Vincent and Christina made one of their visits to Melbourne. We also caught up with our other old UNSW friends. Ing Tung and Chin Moi were there, happy to have sold their long time home earlier in the day. I sat next to Alfred, and had a decent conversation about what he’s been up to. He’s been having some “word” experience that will likely take him to northern NSW in the coming days. He may relocate to live there, and do whatever “God leads”. We also talked about forms of ministries and service, and he told me his beliefs about a coming global food shortage and ensuing famine. It sounded like he has been on an incredible journey of views and visions that will take him on quite a ride. We also caught up again with Frank and Margaret, as well as Elijah who is a clergy with the Methodists, and his wife Amy. Chui Boon was also there and we were all seated at the same table and had a good time chatting and catching up.

On Sunday, we again slept in a little. Not having the boys at home with us meant we were freed from the usual canine related chores. We still ended up late at St Alf’s however, and took in the service with most men away at the Men’s Camp in Belgrave Heights. After the service, we grabbed lunch in a new place that served tumeric laden chicken. It was very good. We then picked up some groceries, went back for a quick cook of the week’s lunches, before I washed the cars. The drive to t he wedding venue included a stretch of unpaved road that kicked up loads of dust that coated the car, and the beautifully sunny day meant it was very inviting to be outside and washing the cars gave me the perfect excuse to remain outside for a couple of hours. We then walked the younger one, before returning to finally put our feet up. We watched a bit of a new film (“Nowhere”, about a dystopian world where a pregnant lady ended up in a container that was adrift in the ocean, with an infant to care for). We could not finish the film and had to go to bed, where I resumed reading LOTR on the kindle before drifting to zzz…

Some time yesterday arvo, we received a message from my brother. My tua-ee, my mum’s eldest sister, has passed away. She is mum to my cousin Enoch Gan, but she has been like a mum to all the cousins.

I last saw her in April, when I went back on a quick trip for my mum’s birthday bash. I sat next to her on a couple of occasions – once in a coffee shop after church, where several other uncles and aunties and my brother and Jean got together, and later on at the birthday dinner in a restaurant. She’s a very gentle, quietly spoken, and beautiful person.

I remember celebrating her 80th, back when Tress and I went to see Sim in Nov 2019. I’m forever grateful for an aunt like her. She’s had a hard life earlier on. Her late husband was ill for a long time and passed away many years ago. Mental health can wreck such pains on loved ones and Enoch’s late dad, lovely person that he was that I remembered, suffered immensely from that ailment. It finally took his life, long after he left behind a trail of sad outcomes. My tua-ee, Enoch and the uncles, aunts and cousins were resilient however, and they pulled through. Enoch is now a successful surgeon in Singapore, with a flourishing family of his own. Tua-Ee had, in the last couple of decades at least, lived what appeared to be a happy and warm life. At least that’s how I’d remember her.

It was that time of the year again – the last Saturday of September, when the Big Dance of the AFL takes place. Last year, we went to San Remo, just off Phillip Island, where we watched Geelong decimate the Swans and it was a foregone conclusion from pretty early on. This year, Tress and I were at Portarlington. We headed there late Friday morning, after dropping off the older fella at Heather’s. We took the younger one with us and as usual, he was a bit stressed and strung out, even though it was a relatively short trip. The traffic was busy however, and we were caught up in a crawl from as early as the Westgate.

Portarlington is a beautiful little town on the Bellarine Peninsula. It is well known for its mussels. We stayed in a neat and tidy little AirBnB place with a bit of a waterview so it was very restful. On Friday, we wandered around town, had lunch in a local bakery, then checked into our lodging. We then took the little guy for a walk around the block, before getting back into town, just a couple of clicks away, for a wonderful dinner in a “The Little Mussel Cafe”.

On Saturday morning, we slept in a touch, and then took a walk with the little guy that eventually became a longish walk into the township. It was a beautiful morning, and the walk, the pier, and the town was a touch busy, with holiday makers making the most of the Grand Final Parade long weekend, getting ready before the game started at 2.30pm. It was a very warm day, with a high of 30 deg expected, and it was feeling that way. On the way back, we stopped at a local fresh seafood shoo and bought some fresh oysters and cooked prawns, all set up for the game.

What a game it turned out to be. We were thoroughly glued, and many later said it was one of the best GF ever, and I had to agree. Coming off a very lopsided and therefore uninteresting GF the year before, The Pies and the Lions exchanged leads numerous times, with the game never more than separated by 2 goals. The 100,000 plus crowd, mainly of the Pies persuasion, didn’t seem to faze the Lions and it went down the wire, with the Lions kicking the last goal to bridge the gap to 4 points, but the Pies held out to wing 90-86. As a neutral, it was quite a game for yours truly. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Helped a little of course, by the very good oysters and prawns, washed down with an ok bottle of zero sparkling rose that had been chilled from the day before.

We went back to the mussel cafe for dinner, walked through the town a little, before heading back to chill and wind down. I had been plagued by a continuing coughing fit and a swollen ankle that looked and felt like a gout episode for about a week, but the downtime appeared to have helped, as I felt both ailments abating through the long weekend.

We got home early Sunday arvo, and headed to lunch in Donvale, where we again bumped into Ronald, Cat and Andrew and Winnie, our longtime friends from our church in Klang. We chatted a little, had lunch and then headed home for some housekeeping chores. Our neighbour’s ornamental pear trees are beautiful, but they leave a lot to clean up. Tress and I picked up the older guy from Heather’s and then went about enjoying the warm conditions as we tidied up, before taking the little guy for a walk at the oval. He seemed more at ease and much less tensed to be in familiar surroundings and that made me feel heaps better.

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We have been enjoying pics and video clips of little Abby doing numerous things, including at the Floriade festival. It has been immensely joyful for me to see her growing so well. I’m so grateful Kiddo and Mic have been such great parents, and I have been praying that they will both continue to stay well and build this beautiful family. I hope they look after themselves well too, as little Abby is going to want both parents healthy and fighting fit for the next couple of decades. It is going to be so important, in my mind, that they both prioritise their own wellness so as to be primed to give Abby their best.