The days counting down to our anticipated long weekend away weren’t promising. Quite unwell with a throat infection, by day I tried to convince myself staying home and doing little was self nourishing, and by night I coughed. Neither the G.O. or I got much sleep. On Friday morning I dragged myself to work via a doctor’s appointment and pharmacy for dreaded antibiotics and cough mixture. But there was nothing else for it; despite rest and a repertoire of natural remedies I was getting worse, not better. I spent a bare hour at my desk preparing for 3 more days absence.
On the way home sitting in the train I thought to call the G.O. to tell him I’d escaped, noticed my phone battery was very low and my keys absent from my handbag. And concluded my mind also was absent. Trying to explain the situation to him briefly to conserve battery took quite some doing. We agreed as I had a spare key but no front door or lift swipe that I’d see if I could find the building manager or a neighbour home and get them to let me onto our floor. No luck.
I called the G.O. again and he reported he was on his way home but would return to work. I waited on a sunny bench in the park for an hour which did me no harm at all. When the G.O. arrived sanity had prevailed en route and he announced he was finished for the day. He considered packing the ute and leaving early for our drive north but lack of sleep and imminent peak hour traffic swayed him to get a good nights rest. We were in bed asleep by 7 pm.
But we were up and on the road early, crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge just after 3.30 am and by the dawn of my birthday were well along the highway. We stopped for BYO breakfast & cups of tea at a rustic roadside area, and made it to the M.I.L’s in less than 6 hours. After a brief chat with the M.I.L. and quick grocery shop we arrived home at Taylors Arm around midday to a messy garden that needed rain and a house that could do with a tidy up, but we were happy to be there to do it.
A couple of industrious hours and a well-earned shower later my birthday proper started with a glass of wine & opening of a cat adorned birthday card plus delightful, colourful gifts amassed by the G.O., and culminated in a seafood barbeque dinner.
On Sunday we pleasantly pottered, put up the Christmas tree and were visited by a Blue Tongue lizard and Soossie Cat. On Monday we had business to take care of in town, and the garden got a welcome few hours of enjoyable evening rain. All too swiftly Tuesday morning came around; time to head back to Sydney via a stop at Dad’s.
I had prepared for the drive which we have done super-numerous times, by downloading our first ever audio book onto my phone for the diversion of listening to Diana Galbaldon’s Outlander (#1) which I’ve read and we recently watched the TV series set in Scotland, enjoyed by the G.O.
At Dad’s we handed over his cakes, a bottle of his favourite oysters we’d picked up at Sandy’s Famous Seafood and a bag of Christmas gifts for the family. Dad handed over a card decorated with rubicund poppies (a flower loved by both Mum & me) in which he’d penned “sentimental 49th birthday wishes” accompanied by gifts of 2 old books; Mum’s Commonsense Cookery Book c 1963 and Nanna’s Advanced Commonsense Cookery Book -Mum’s handwriting on the flyleaf, a gift from Dad, Mum and me c 1968.
It was generous of Dad to confer these books to me. Mum’s Commonsense Cookery Book in particular bears the marks of being long used… and worrying evidence of contact with a stove hotplate!
The start of the final year of my fifth decade was simple, sentimental and splendid. My sister marked the occasion by sending me Kimberley Coffee Company teas she’d bought on her recent trip and a National Parks & Gorges calendar to tick off the months until my next birthday at which time all going to plan we will be on the threshold of stepping aside from our city-working-week-world into the next stage… of country living and caravan-on-the-road travels.
daleleelife101.blog 
After the first paragraph, I was preparing myself for a tale of disaster, but it all came good! Happy belated birthday, I’m glad the road opened up before you and T.A. welcomed you with open arms after what was definitely an inauspicious start. Hope you’re completely well again.
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Thank you 🙂 I was determined it would all come good but pleasantly surprised at how much it actually did. The lurgy lingers but I’m feeling much better.
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A very belated Happy Birthday. I’m glad it was at least celebrated well in Taylor’s Arm.I hope by now the antibiotics have kicked in and the throat is much better. Not long to Christmas and perhaps a nice visit back to celebrate at Taylor’s Arm again. Poo, not even 50 yet, you’re a sproglet.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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Thank you 🙂 I’m on the mend – hooray. And yes, TA is our Christmas holiday destination!
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Sounds like you had a wonderful birthday despite being so crook! Hooray! I hope the rotten throat clears up – I’ve been battling one too for a few weeks now. Take care and have a wonderfully festive and restful December! 🙂
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Thank you 🙂 The throat bug is going around. I hope yours clears up. Fingers crossed the G.O. hasn’t yet succumbed. December is looking good for me, seeing as I had to get much of the arrangements pre-sorted for last weekend.
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Belated birthday wishes EllaDee! Hope the throat is cleared up by now. It sounds like a lovely time. Love those Commonsense books, especially the idea of ‘advanced commonsense’. Do enlighten us in a future post! xx
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Thank you 🙂 I’m so happy to have those cook books! The advertisements of the time in the front pages are priceless -possible blog post there. I’m much improved and the weekend away did both of us the world of good.
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Love the MIL’s present, the blue tongued lizard, the day lilies, the harbour bridge, and we’ve got a flask like that too. Sounds a fine long weekend, sometimes it’s worth the effort. Hope you are feeling better.
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The M.I.L.’s present has the cats amusingly baffled, looks like but doesn’t smell like the real thing! Fortunately we were mostly prepared and packed to go, the only question was if I was well enough to travel, but I was determined to. And the few days of sunshine & fresh air benefited me greatly.
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Now, first things first – are you Dale? If so, thank you for your support of the TA fb page 🙂
Secondly – glad you got better in time to go away for your birthday!
Thirdly – happy birthday 🙂
We’ve gotten more rain, lots of lovely storms and things are glowing green again. The rivers aren’t full yet, nor anywhere near it, but I’m hoping and praying that we’ll get much more rain. A summer here with dry rivers is not fun.
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Yes! EllaDee is an anagram of my first and middle names, created for blogging to keep private & “public” personas separate so my own name isn’t so much all over the ‘net. Thank you 🙂 I was better enough to travel and enjoy my birthday… would have been tragic otherwise…
I’m so pleased about the rain, I love the thought the garden is being watered, and being able to turn taps on without thinking quite so much about it.
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Happy Birthday darling! I shall celebrate with a cup of Australian tea! Wonderful our lives are even with a cold.. hope you are feeling better
c
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Aha! Excellent. Thank you 🙂 I am sipping with you, but lemon myrtle tea which is assisting my recovery I’m sure. Life is good regardless.
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have a gorgeous day Mrs.. . c
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Happy Birthday EllaD! And I hope that infection is gone for good so you can enjoy Christmas. 🙂
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Thank you 🙂 Me too but I will enjoy Christmas and holidays regardless. Change of scenery works wonders.
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lol – can’t agree more!
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Let me add my happy birthday wishes too! How many birthdays begin with a cup of tea by the side of the road, and then go on to have such good company, a wonderful collection of birthday goodies, topped off with a glass of wine and a seafood BBQ? Did I read correctly that you hope to have stepped out of your Sydney life into your Taylors Arm one close to the end of the year? You will certainly need the calendar to help you measure those milestones.
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Thank you 🙂 End of 2015 is the plan… a plan that we have been working on for a few years now. About this time each year we have an idea of where we’re at but we let it simmer until first quarter new year for proper consideration. We’ve had to extend a few times due to changes we’ve made and also external circumstances. At the moment there is nothing we can foresee that would require an extension.
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Belated happy birthday, fellow traveller through life.
I’m going to nag – get yourself some Echinacea. It helps ward off infections, especially colds and coughs. Archaeo-man and I’ve been doing 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off in winter and when travelling since 1997 (touch wood) and have not had a cold, sore throat or cough. You don’t need to take the whole of the recommended dose – just a little works the magic. And if you get a cold or chesty cough take the max does and it helps.
Love the cookery books – looking forward to some commonsense ideas to add to my simple food collection! M
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Thank you 🙂 And the nag is welcome. I’ll put Echinacea on my shopping list and start taking it this weekend as the lurgy has returned. We’ve taken it in the past it’s just that we so rarely get sick -it’s been years since I had a respiratory bug.
Simple food is the only thing that comes out of my kitchen!
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Sounds like a great weekend. Hope you are feeling better. Happy belated birthday and good to hear Soossie is doing fine.
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Thank you 🙂 It was a great short break and precursor to our longer break just a couple of weeks away.
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It turned out nice after all. Happy Belated Birthday. Hope you’re feeling all better now. Happy Hugs.
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Thank you 🙂 I was determined to be well enough to enjoy my birthday and a long weekend we’d worked hard preparing for. Fresh air and sunshine work wonders.
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Happy after-the-fact birthday! May this year and all to come be glorious!
Passing along the cookbooks was a nice and thoughtful gift, I think. I like that kind of gift-giving. 🙂
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Thank you 🙂 Dad’s been gradually handing such things on, and I’m always a happy recipient 🙂
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So glad that your birthday was such a nice one, especially given that it’s start was anything but promising. Leaving early the next morning, after a good night’s sleep, was probably the best medicine for you. Those cookbooks were such a wonderful, thoughtful gift. It’s very special to be able to read your Mother’s notes alongside the recipes. I know all too well. 🙂
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Thank you 🙂 A weekend away and a BBQ dinner by the G.O. are for me the best gifts, and value added to make me feel much better. I’m still smiling about the cookbooks.
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So glad your birthday weekend went well! Sorry to hear about the throat infection. My brain gets mushy when I’m sick and the simplest things become major tasks. Hope you are all recovered!
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Thank you 🙂 The lurgy lingered and lingered but finally succumbed to the holiday treatment!
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