Back home

Wayman came home from hospital yesterday. It is fair to say it is not his favourite place.

He felt confined and frustrated and just wanted to be home.

He immediately put on his work boots and went outside and started dead heading the roses!

Cassie is here, and has promised to help him today, but I fear they will be finished before she is out of bed!

I checked on the veggie patch and discovered that there was quite a harvest for me to collect, as I haven't been in it for a week.

The gum leaves on the celery are there symbolically. They are in everything I pick, I think I will name the veggie patch "gum leaf corner" or something equally as silly. Any ideas??????

Wayman has regained some calarity in his speech and while his balance is compromised, he is managing the stairs well and seems to be very capable of doing all he wants.

Thank you for praying for us, we continue to take this journey a day at a time, and trust that we will live honouring our God through it.

A new challenge

Wayman was admitted to hospital on Saturday, following a severe headache and an escalation in difficulty with his verbal skills.

A CT scan has revealed that there has been a small bleed into the tumour. The anticoagulants he needs to be on to avoid more blood clots increase this risk.

Cassie is flying home, so she is here while Wayman is still able to communicate with her.

She arrives on Wednesday.

As Wayman improves he is finding it difficult to be confined in hospital.

Praise God he has a private room.

Pray that we will know when to bring him home.

Pray that I will compassionate and patient as I navigate this new part of our journey.

Praise Him for his word that sustains us through this time.

A chicken or an egg?

This morning I had a call from a dear friend in Sydney who hasn't seen Wayman since his diagnosis.

It occurred to me following our chat that I need to give our friends an update on Waymans current statis.

This week he is having his fifth round of Chemo and consequently he will spend a lot of time sleeping over the next couple of days.

Physically he does feel weaker especially in his legs, which is a great frustration to him. But he is still able to do a lot in the garden

We have many gum trees on the property so collecting the bark that has come down with a thunderstorm was a job to be done today.

One area that is a challenge for us both is his tendency now to interchange words, or his struggle to find a word he wants to use. This causes me to be overly protective of Wayman when we are in the company of other people, and I see them struggling to understand a sentence where for example, he uses chicken instead of egg. Wayman knows he means egg, but we had a very confused waiter in Clare when he was asked to make scrabbled chicken for breakfast! Wayman handles it well, and sails on, but I am finding it more challenging.

Please pray that I will be helpful without being overprotective.

Pray also that Wayman will stay positive as he faces these challenges. Pray that he will find purpose in the days here at Elmbrook as we spend more time at home.

Jonno of Bridgy

Today I needed to discover what had happened to the car that we had abandoned on Monday.

Time to meet Jonno of "Bridgy".

I ventured into Bridgewater and found the busiest mechanical workshop I have ever been in.

There seemed to be dozens of men in blue overalls, crawling over and under cars inside the building and on many that spilled out into the yard. Grease was in plentiful supply.

I thought I fitted in fairly well in my dark blue top, but I think my white leggings were a give away. The men gave me a wide berth.

Jonno was in charge, and he seemed to know who I was without an introduction. He let the men in the workshop know who I was. I wondered why.

He clasped his hands in an interesting way, particularly for a mechanic and invited me into his office.

I looked around his workshop and couldn't see my car.

I became a little anxious.

He then explained the diagnostic techniques they had employed to try and find out what was wrong with our car. The process had been extensive.

My anxiety level increased.

Then he told me what they had found.

I had run out of fuel.

Now this was a most humiliating discovery. It has happened to me before, about 35 years ago, and the RAA man just gave the side of my car a bang that resounded with a hollow ring indicating an empty tank.

Today with computers in cars you need to investigate the problem much more extensively.

The men in the worksop were suitably sympathetic in a condescending sort of way.

In my defence, the fuel gauge was faulty and was stuck on 3/4 full.

Funny about how long I had driven on 1/4 of a tank of fuel!

Jonno had parked my car out on the road, ready to go, where it wouldn't be in way of the real work. He was attentive and pleased to be of assistance.

So my final word on this episode is:

Ladies wear white whenever you are planning to break down, or visit a garage, in my experience it brings out the best in friendly RAA men and highly efficient diagnostic mechanics.

A friendly RAA man

Wayman and I headed off on our little trip to the Clare Valley on Monday morning.

We got as far as Lobethal, about 7 minutes from home, and our car died. Something I haven't had happen to me for a looong time.

So I called the RAA. [read NRMA for Sydneysiders] Then we settled down to wait, expecting about an hour.

15 minutes later a friendly RAA man pulled up in his trusty van and announced we were lucky, as he was going past on his way to the next job, so he slotted us in.

Mrs Turner has locked her keys in the car again he said so I had to come through Lobey.

He took one look at our car, and what the warning light on the dash was saying and announced Nope, can't do much for ya, but Jon at Bridgy is the place to go. Where do you live?

I told him.

Great, I'll drop you home, get your spare car, you can take that one away [I had explained we were heading up country] and I'll arrange a tow to Jonnos place. You can leave the keys on the front wheel, pity for you to have to wait, don't know how long the truck will be.

He was delightful getting me organised in his van, apologising for the mess, I explained I was a farm girl so not to fuss, but I must admit I held the seat belt away from my white blouse to avoid the grease!

He took another call from the RAA on the drive home, and it was clear he knew half the people in the hills.

Luuvly house, knew the bloke who used to live here!

Mrs Turner is just down the road, don't worry I haven't kept her waiting too long.

Wayman and I repacked the second car, left the keys on the wheel and drove off.

That night I rang "Jonno" and he had the car and was organising to look at it.

Sweet.

The wonders of living in a society that is still innocent and trustworthy.

One last party post

So many people did so much to make Waymans night one he will remember.

He has spent a great deal of time this week, thinking back over the night, hoping he managed to speak to as many as possible, and contacting those he may have missed.

I have spent time trying to collate some memories for us all.

I have a file with copies of the speeches, and various aspects of the night.

[ I didn't keep the labels for the ladies and gents portaloos, even though they were in theme!]

Cassie did a wonderful job of the printing and Steph delighted in co-ordinating the decorations.

After the event these are very disposable things, so I thought it might be good to post a sample of their work, to help us remember what they did.

Steph chose a black and white theme, because she thought it was masculine, the fact that Collingwood are these colours was totally a coincidence!

Our caterer excelled in producing a sit down dinner for 90 people from our garage.

If you live in the Adelaide Hills I would highly recommend Nicole from

The Olive Branch

cafe and catering

Balhannah Junction

olivebranchcafe.com.au

We are taking a very short driving holiday to visit the town where Wayman grew up this week, a little town called Robertstown between Eudunda and Burra.

Birthday pictures

Waymans birthday party took place in perfect weather, so we started with drinks at the pavillion.

Then we asked our guests to walk the old railway line to the rec room.

Wayman enjoyed the walk with his friend Col

I was quite flattered that many took a detour past my vegetable garden....

then I remembered that I had nothing to do with cultivating it, and that since I have been in control, it has become rather over-run!

Stephanie was in charge of the decorations and paper lanterns were the featured item

We had a few anxious moments working out the numbers, but we all fitted in the room

The three young people on the left grew up with our girls, and it is wonderful that they now share this memory with them

we ended the night with dessert and coffee under the fairy lights on the front lawn

The evening was a magical one for Wayman and I. Our friends and family celebrated with us as we acknowledged Gods grace and mercy in allowing Wayman 60 wonderful years.