I have always loved and related to old houses and antique furniture.

The only new house we have ever lived in was a mid-century box shape on stilts at Broulee, a seaside village on the South Coast of NSW. We had some happy times there in our holiday house with four of our six children, but as you can guess, life became too busy with weekend sport, etc., so we let it go (at a good price).

The most exciting house we ever lived in was “Blue Haze”, a 16th century thatched house in Berkshire, UK, not far from Oxford. It comprised three farm cottages formed into one house, set in a large formal garden. It oozed history. It had a fresco on the wall of an upstairs bedroom where the Catholics used to hide from Cromwell. It had the original four poster bed in it. The locals had many stories about who used that bedroom but we kept it for guests from Australia who came to stay. We were very poor living on Frank’s Fellowship allowance but rich in accommodation.

Right now we live in one of the oldest cottages in Benalla, “Barkly Cottage” in Barkly St. When we decided to down size on to flat ground, we sold Market St with its lovely outlook over the park and looked for a smart villa with a courtyard garden – nothing to be found in Benalla at that time. When I walked into 66 Barkly St with its pretty front garden, I felt a sense of “I’m Home” come over me! The front bedroom was derelict, every window and door seemed to need attention, but the newer part of the house was in good condition.

I saw the courtyards on either side, while the ancient grape vine hovering over one of the courtyards offered a piece of Tuscany for outside dining in hot weather.

The backyard was an uneven paddocks of weeds. My idea of a courtyard had grown beyond all expectations and now is too much for us. The back is now landscaped, but needs little kids to play on the huge flat lawn.

The front bedroom is now a study with bookshelves filling the wall. Peter Maher did the renovation over a 12 month period. He built cupboards and shelves, fitted them in place both in the study and other rooms, then turned painting the exterior along with general maintenance to exterior cladding. The kitchen remains dated but a joy to work in with its lovely timber benches.

The history of Barkly Cottage is interesting and goes back to the original Crown Grant of the land to James Swords in 1853. The Blackburne family lived here with nine children!

One of the interesting and well known occupants was Lorna Blair, residing here between 1962 to1981. By this time the block had been subdivided from 2023m2to 927m2. I sometimes feel her spirit in the house.

NOW

On Wednesday 22nd September I was in the kitchen at 9:18 am when I heard a tremendous roar. Suddenly everything started vibrating, until it became more violent. The house shook, a strong wind blew inside the house (nothing was open to the outside). I thought a helicopter had crashed on the roof. The floor rose and fell in waves. Yet we don’t seem to have any damage.

At 9:20 am I wondered if Lorna was disturbed in her grave.

NOW really, during an earthquake, you don’t want to be sitting in a kitchen of a house with home-made bricks and with the original hand-made glass, and wonder about its history!

At 9:20 am it had all stopped. We were lucky, and amazed that even the old chimney is still standing.
​
Thank you Lorna!


Valerie Dunin
​September 2021

​Is it possible to channel Leopold Bloom and Ivan Denisovich? Can I make my life interesting enough to compare to these two gentlemen? Can I write what is happening in my life and not divulge til after halfway through that I am Jewish? Can I write the complete description of one whole day where the best I can hope for is to not get ill?  I know it's possible to describe the events of one day, but what are we to make of it?

Lots of things still happen. In spite of all the worry we have not yet come to a complete standstill.

In a way we have reached the living standard of the 19th Century Aristocrat. Our lives have become exercises in doing nothing. We indulge in ritual to keep up medication. We spend more time on dressing. And are things worthy of consideration where we are only at the periphery of events. Can we ever describe things truthfully?

We might well ask – what is going on with the world. Can we possibly say what is happening?

How could we put the minutiae of what is happening in the world in a bottle.

At this particular time on our planet we are immersed in a great argument over whether a worldwide pandemic is legitimate. We have a substantial minority who believes that the Covid 19 virus has been hoisted on the world by a Deep State of elite figures headed by Bill Gates amongst others in order to increase their own power. Indeed the previous President of The United States advised that the pandemic was a hoax and the illness infecting the population was nothing more than a mild flu. We have close family members who believe passionately that they should have the right to refuse a covid vaccine. We have family members who passionately believe that vaccines produced by pharmacy manufactures are only experimental and are therefore dangerous to the public. We are told by others that the Pharmacy Companies are taking advantage of the situation and are enjoying great profit taking from the manufacture of vaccines.

We have friends who passionately believe that there is a worldwide push to unite the forces of the left in a conspiracy to take over the world and shut down the much cherished freedoms enjoyed by individuals up to this point. The virus which supposedly originated in China has been hoisted on the rest of the world to hasten this takeover. The deep state is infecting everyone who accepts the vaccine with a miniature chip that can then track that person for the rest of their life.

After the virus spread amongst the general community we have been subject to a series of lock downs. The public has been confined to their homes to stop the spread of the virus. So far this has been relatively successful. Australia has an advantage in that it is an island with secure borders and each state has the power to shut the borders tight. This has led to complaints in some quarters. Self interest has generated most complaints. The Government has however been able to convince the public that considering the bigger picture is the most responsible tactic in dealing with the pandemic.

On an individual level some of us have enjoyed the lock downs more than others. Anyone who previously enjoyed watching Television has been able to indulge themselves without feeling an enormous amount of guilt. People who were previously accused of wasting their lives watching television have had their revenge. Except it has transpired that unfortunately there is a limited amount of worthwhile TV to watch. The suppliers of streaming services have had a bonanza but even this source of enjoyment is close to drying up. No one knows what will occur when this happens.

Sometimes people have been able to experiment with things they often thought about but did not have the time to indulge in previously. People have been able to spend more time on the preparation of food and have been able to make slight charges to their diet. Hopefully for the better.

If I were to channel Ivan and Leopold I would say my day is this.

I get up and feed the birds. I try and commune with both Cockatoos and King Parrots. The Cockies re introverted and uninterested in me. The King Parrots are much more friendly and appear much more intelligent but are intimidated by the Cockies.

I indulge myself in long showers because there is no hurry to be anywhere.

I prepare myself a vegetarian breakfast that I hope includes all the required nutrients for a healthy body. This procedure takes approx an hour but I have the time and I listen to the BBC as I am preparing the ingredients. The Micro wave oven makes this an easy exercise. What did we do before we had microwave ovens.

I check the daily TV guide and set my recording box up to record anything worth while that is being transmitted on that day. I have the ambition to not watch what is on TV at the moment but to watch what I have considered worth watching on TV. Hence I record a number of programmes in order to watch at a later time.

I have a leisurely breakfast catching up on what I have recorded over that past few days or even past few weeks.

I sometimes have a post breakfast snooze. This can be guaranteed to always fill up my energy tank.

I cannot get through all these rituals before 12 noon.

In the afternoon I might go out and inspect the garden. And consider what I should be doing for its upkeep.

But I can always claim that the lock down says I should be inside and return to the safety of the lounge with its relaxing pillows.


Neville Gibb
​September 2021