Letter From The Other Side, from Cynthia.


Dear Del.

In a bid to save the small amount of sanity we have left, Teddy and I are going to have a few days away next week.

Our last two attempts at a break away were dismal failures.

During the first one Teddy caught the flu’ and coughed and sneezed his way to a Guinness Book Of Records title in four days his nose becoming ever redder and shinier while his body sweated and shivering in turn. He has always been prone to extended sneezing episodes and while I try as hard as I can, the peculiar contortions of his face when in the throws of the fit always make me laugh. The dogs just go out of the room as the mighty explosions issue forth but then they have better manners over such things than I do.

The second time we tried a holiday I booked a pet-friendly house in Ballarat. The owner assured me on numerous occasions the place was fully fenced and suitable.

I had stipulated an escape proof fence for the dogs and a single story building.
We did all the usual packing and preparations one does, drove ourselves and two very excited dogs all the way to Ballarat to find the place not only had a spiral staircase, it possessed less amenities than we have had when camping and the fence purported to be dog proof had a hole big enough to let a small moribund pony through it.

We looked about, swore a good deal at the false representations of the owner put the bemused dogs back into the car and drove home all the while composing an email which turned out to be one of the most irate emails I have ever written to anyone in my life.
Well, we may be silly but we are hoping this will be third time lucky.

Again we have booked a pet friend house. This time it is the original settler’s stone farmhouse on a four thousand acre farm near the Grampian Mountains. The farmer has six hundred acres set aside around two houses he lets out. I trust a farmer when he says a fence is dog proof because when you have a few thousand sheep and the bush has big wild dog problems, the fences have to be dog proof.

The glossy brochures say we will have lots of the usual wildlife and it will be interesting to see our spaniel, the city slicker’s reactions to kangaroos, emus, wombats and possums. I suspect our country girl; a cross breed German shepherd Basenji will not be at all interested unless the snakes which are very active in autumn decide to come into her area.

After last week’s storm we may even have water in the river where they can dog paddle.
However, after the last couple of debacles I will not get my hopes up too far as I have learnt over the years, disappointment in life is always lurking nearby.

Everything except our food is provided and if we keep putting food into our bags at the rate we are we shall need a refrigeration truck to follow us up there. We will be some distance from shops however and as Teddy is a type 2 diabetic and I have a few health issues I have to have investigated when we return, we both need separate diets. I have checked the size of the fridge and it seems to be adequate.

At the moment I can not eat bread, dairy and quite a few vegetables and fruit. I’ve found it is extremely boring to live on rice and not much else.
The upside is I can fit into slacks I haven’t pulled up past my knees for years.

Maybe while we are up there I can forget the specialist I have to see on the Monday after we return. I haven’t met him yet. If he is one of the pompous types some hospitals foster it will mean an ominous beginning to our relationship.
The dogs have almost as much in their bags as we do- food, toys, towels, treats, beds, various first aid things and grooming brushes.

Teddy will be taking THE TELESCOPE which seems to be accompanying us everywhere we go at present, plus he is packing a couple of fishing lines and his lap top will have to come of course because he plays chess with a dozen or so people most days. So he has his priorities set. I doubt if the idea of packing any changes of clothing or filling up the car with petrol, stopping the mail etc have occurred to him at all. The practicalities of daily life pass him by and holidays mean just deciding to go somewhere and getting in the car don’t they??

We shall be in touch when we get back Del, in the mean time we are going a-roaming where we can watch birds, smell the gum trees and get away from the telephone and the looming federal election.

Wish us luck on our third attempt in three years,
Love from your ‘flower child’ friend,
Hay, Ho, Hay Ho, It’s Off to play we go’
Cynthia