It was our first weekend without the older fella. I had said to Tress that of the 16+ years we’ve lived in our present home, LBJ had been with us for over 15 years. So, the home was going to feel a tad different without him around. His pitter-patter footsteps, particularly in his younger days. His distinct smell. His presence permeated our home, which we continue to live in, without his shadow ghosting in and out every now and then. I continue to miss him.

On Friday night, Tress and I had a steak night at home. I got us a couple of steaks, which I cooked on the Weber GA. That smoky flavour added to the juicy and tasty experience and coupled with the thoughts that we weren’t splurging on an expensive restaurant meal, the TGIF dinner was particularly sweet. On Saturday, we took the younger fella on the usual weekend walk – a tad extended – after which we went to pick up some groceries to trial a Chinese New Year dish. Nicole and her cohort will be in Melbourne in about a week or so, and we’ve asked her to come over for a meal, along with the folks from Woodend, whom we haven’t seen for a while. So we had to think about what to prepare and decided to trial a dish or two on Saturday.

We went to a place in Knox for lunch – somewhere we hadn’t been before – before going to pick up the groceries, and then to just spend time resting. It was a nice quiet and restful Saturday, for a change.

On Sunday, at St Alf’s, we saw that Joyce was playing the piano. She was newish and we had attended her wedding in September last year. It was wonderful to see her getting into the thick of things at St Alf’s. It made me think further about what 2024 would look like for me at St Alf’s. I felt conflicted – on the one hand I thought I wanted to do more but on the other hand, I am quite contented to just drift along. I know that’s probably less than ideal but I get this sense that something needs to happen with me internally before the service thing happends. I don’t know what, so I’d probably just sit it out and “be a Mary” a tad longer. After St Alf’s we went to our usual Donvale place for lunch, and then we went home. We then took the little fella to the oval for a runaround before I started to cook the dish we had thought about for CNY – a pork rib dish that is braised with Chinese spiced sauce. It turned out ok, albeit saltier than we would have liked. Tress went for a hairdresser appointment and while waiting for the dish to cook in a slow cooker pot, I walked the younger fella again, this time across the oval to the soccer field to take in a youth soccer game. That little guy ran around the “3rd oval” while I watched bits of the game, before I took him home to attend to the cooking. When Tress got back, and after I was done with the cleaning up etc., we went to the oval again, where the little guy had yet another walk.

I wonder if these extra walks and attention to the little guy is a way of me compensating for the loss of LBJ.

It’s harder than I thought. Maybe I’ve become soft with age. More likely however, he’s been a special companion for a little while. He rode shotgun with me, up and down the Hume, when I worked in Canberra. We explored the paths and trails in the hood together, occasionally over a long trek. We journeyed much together.

I miss him already. Heaps. I feel much sadness.

Goodbye, Scruff.

An Evening Walk

Today, we say goodbye to Scruffi, aka LBJ. You’ve journeyed more with me than any other furry friend I have ever had.

Fare thee well…

Fare thee well! thus disunited,
Torn from every nearer tie.
Seared in heart, and lone, and blighted,
More than this I scarce can die.

We had been away from just before Christmas Eve and only came back middle last week. So, the house has been unattended and it shows. The house is dusty with cobwebs in a number of corners and crevices and the lawns are overgrown, with leaves, twigs and debris of all kind building up on the driveway and everywhere. So Tress and I spent most of Saturday cleaning up.

Before the cleanup however, we went to a local Chinese restaurant on Friday night for a quick dinner, after I had taken LBJ to the vet (more of that later, see below). After dinner, we went back, and binged on an Amazon Prime series till midnight. So we slept in a little bit on Saturday before taking the younger one for a walk and then headed back for the cleanup. I needed some stuff from Bunnings however, and when I went in there, I indulged in the classic Bunnings snag on a slice of white bread…

After hours of cleaning up, Tress ducked out to get some takeaway lunch from our favourite Saturday spot at Brandon Park, and we had a very late lunch (well past 3pm). The house felt clean and fresh as we finally put our feet up, after cleaning ourselves up and walking the little fellow at the oval, later that night. Our thoughts soon turned to LBJ again.

As soon as we had put our feet up, LBJ left his bed and promptly went into another fit. These seizure have become more frequent. It happened twice last week which was why I took him to the vet last Friday. Dr Jason thinks there’s a tumour that is causing the neurological messing around that has caused the seizures. That he has been walking in circles with a cocked head, were typical symptoms. We discussed options, including end of life care. I got back and talked to Tress, and thought if he went into another seizure anytime soon, we’d give it a serious thought. That was Friday night. That Saturday night seizure told us something. Late that night, he got up, had another of his accidental wee and then cried and whined before I cradled and caressed him back to sleep.

I am ringing Dr Jason’s office shortly to ask for an appointment…

Tress and I returned from Canberra on the 1st of Jan. We went back to work for a couple of days, and then flew out to Perth. Ryan, the eldest of Andrew (my cousin) and Jasmine, was to marry Hannah. Andrew and his family have lived in Perth for a very long time. Ryan and Hannah met in London when they were both working there. I was in awe when I found out that Hannah, who was from Brissie, had wanted the wedding to be in Perth so that Ryan’s grandparents (Jasmine’s folks) could be there for the occasion. Like Andrew said in his father of the groom speech, the bride was a gem and we’re all glad Ryan didn’t stuff it up and the beautiful couple tied the knot.

The wedding was in an Anglican church in Dalkeith (St Lawrence), which was as the crow flies from the Air B and B place we stayed in Nedlands. Andrew and his family’s home is also in Nedlands, so everyone was just a few minutes away. We were all close to the beautiful Matilda Bay off the Swan River, so Tress and I started each day with a walk along the shores of the Bay. On the second day, we discovered a bakery up the road which was very good, so on the last few days, we finished our walk by stopping there for a coffee and a bite. It was idyllic and we threw caution to the wind as far as extra kilos were concerned, as we enjoyed the offerings from the kitchen of that bakery.

Other than Andrew, Jasmine and Ryan along with Haydn and Kirstyn (Andrew and Jasmine’s other kids), we also caught up with my uncle Tom and auntie Pauline, my cousins Pai Li, Carol, and HW, SL and Chris (Pai Li’s and Carol’s husbands) as well as Emily, our niece (or sorts – she’s the eldest of Liza and Sam). Hannah’s family flew in from Brissie, Sydney, Wollongong etc., so the occasion had people from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, UK, and all over Oz., congregating in the capital city of WA.

It was a wonderful visit for Tress and I. We also caught up with Andrew Chan and Dot his wife, along with their 2 boys, at a dinner with Carol and Chris. They were people we knew from church back in Klang (“KCMC”), and Carol is a cousin of mine. We heard the beautiful miracles that were the stories of those 2 boys, as well as the providential assurances that accompanied Andrew and Dot’s journey from Melbourne to Perth.

Other than the catch up’s Tress and I also got to visit Rottnest Island and see those beautiful quokkas, and played tourists in WA. A small part of me wondered if Kiddo, Mic and little Abby might one day make Perth their home. I think Tress and I would relocate to join them there at the drop of a hat.

We finished work for the year, on Friday 22 December. The next day, Tress and I drove up to Canberra. We were to spend little Abigail’s first Christmas there.

On Christmas Eve, we attended the service at Southside Bible Church, which Kiddo and Mic have been attending for a little while. They left Crossroads to be ready for their new lives and they have settled well at SBC, warts and all. After the service, we went to lunch with the Koh’s where we caught up with Desmond and SL, along with a few of Mic’s sibblngs.

On Christmas Day, I did the usual turkey. The Kohs turned up to join along and promptly took over the occasion. Tress and I were just outnumbered, and I was very happy to just soak up the atmosphere of a large family over a Christmas lunch.

Mic and Kiddo got us a Skylight smart photo frame. It’s one of those newfangled apparatus where it doesn’t just hold digital photos for display, but with an app, one can upload photos from afar, to be displayed on the frame that sits on a shelf anywhere in the world. Obviously, it is meant to hold and display photos of little Abigail and the frame now takes pride of place on a corner shelf in our lounge room.

A couple of days later, we – all 5 of us along with our doggies – packed our bags and drove to the coast. We had booked a property at Burrill Lake, as the crow flies from Ulladulla. It is a beautiful home, with loads of spacious areas. I particularly like the very large deck that sits atop stilts, surrounded by tall gum trees which meant the fauna was fantastic. Right through the 4-5 days we were there, we heard kookaburras cackling incessantly, to accompany the cacophony of other callings from birds, insects and other creatures. Unfortunately it rained half the time we were there, but when the sun came out, it was beautiful. We walked to the lake nearby, to the beaches a touch further out, and drove to Ulladulla, Mollymook and Milton little towns that were hugged by the beautiful NSW south coast. Little Abigail had her first beach outing at Burrill Beach, when the sun appeared on the second day to light up a glorious morning.

We also ate out a lot. The cafes and restaurants in Burrill Lake, Ulladulla, Mollymook and Milton were all very good and we indulged ourselves. The large deck at the property we stayed in, with the beautiful surroundings and fresh airy conditions, were only used the first day, when Mich got us some fish and chips soon after we arrived. I spent each morning reading there, but we didn’t make full use of it otherwise.

We returned to Canberra and went out for dinner on New Year’s Eve at a Japanese restaurant in Canberra city. Little Abigail caught a fever but did not complain too much. She’s just a lovely, tranquil and engaging little thing. Tress really took to her and all that attention was returned in spades and Little Abigail had loads of fun with her grandma.

We left Canberra on New Year’s Day, after a breakfast at a cafe near their home. We got back to Melbourne late arvo, unpacked, set up the fancy photo frame and I then took the little fellow to the oval for a bit of a run around. He was a bit subdued however, and wanted to come back to be with Tress. Later that evening, we put up feet up in the lounge room, caught up with photos etc., and felt immense gratitude for the wonderful Christmas and New Year’s that we had with Kiddo, Mic and Little Abigail.