Two Weeks Down

Well Readers,

Here I am two weeks into retirement. I was thinking a fortnight ago that I'd have posted quite a few posts by now, but as usual I promise a lot but deliver little!

So what have I been up to for the first two weeks in what is the start of the rest of my life?

I did get the caravan back from Nagambie, and will definitely be going back there again for sure. After a day and a bit at home I was off again, this time to Torquay to spend Christmas with one of our sons, his wife and the two grandsons.

Setting up in the caravan park was made easy due to the fact that not many people were checking in the day before Christmas Eve. A fellow camper kindly offered to spot for me if needed which was so kind, but as I was able to drive straight through into my site I saved myself a lot of stress and embarrassment, as my backing skills are still about 1/10!

I did say to him though, that if I was in trouble I'd be asking him to back it in for me. I'm not too proud to do that.

In no time at all I was set up, but didn't put too much out as it was blowing a gale.

The next two days were filled with lots of fun with the grandsons, but on Christmas morning I discovered one small critical error....

I was using the campground facilities so that I wouldn't have to worry about cleaning my own toilet and shower, but on the last night I woke up needing to relieve myself somewhat quickly. Rather than walk to the toilet block, I decided to use my toilet for the first time, knowing full well that I had prepared it fully just in case I needed to use it.

Or so I thought!!

When I was packing up later that morning I opened the trapdoor to the toilet capsule only to be greeted by a big puddle of Number #1 atop the capsule rather than in it 😖

Apparently, what I had forgotten to do was remove the cover plate that covers the hole into the capsule when the toilet is flushed !!!!! Luckily I didn't do Number#2's as well!!!!

A quick wash down and a valuable lesson learnt.

              

I presume this will be just the first of many mistakes I'll make as I learn this caravanning thing!

A few more days at home and back in the car again for a trip to Qld.

A lot of bike riding around the roads of the old Coast was something I'd been looking forward to, but all I discovered was how risky it is up there due the amount of roadworks and the aggressiveness of so many drivers towards cyclists.. The roads were fine, it was just how unsafe I felt once I was on them, with a number of close calls.

Perhaps the greatest joy was the time spent playing with the grandsons (and also discovering that it is getting harder to get up from the floor!!)

Our youngest grandson turns one soon, so it was great to be able to really start bonding with him.

Angus, soon having his 1st birthday just loves watching his Uncle Will's dog through the glass doors.

And Henry just knows how to murder frozen yogurt in a cone with his dad and one of his great friends who we spent the day with.

After 5 days up north it was back into the car for the long drive home.

On the way up there were many places that grabbed my attention to go and visit, or to stay the night in, but as I'm now on a permanent holiday I can go back and stay there whenever I like.

I decided to bunk down for a night in Goulburn in southern NSW.

The motel I booked looked great online, but my expectations sunk the moment I pulled in.

Picture yourself in one of those low budget movies where all the bad guys lay siege to a lonely traveller who is staying in one of the lower budget motels. 

The fridge managed to keep everything warm despite being turned to the coldest setting. This bugged me the most as I was hot and thirsty after a big walk around the town in the heat and was looking forward to a couple of cans of cider that I had put in the fridge earlier.

The volume on the small tv wasn't great, and at full level was still drowned out by the old air conditioner hanging off the wall, that only pushed the warm air around. At least the ceiling fan worked, but what good it did was debatable!

Still, I wasn't complaining as I was looking forward to a good sleep after 11 hours on the road. Until the banging on the wall from next door that persisted for most of the night.

One can only guess what might have been happening in there, as I saw 4 big blokes rock up in an old van late at night and pile into their tiny room!!

There was no way I was going to knock on their door to ask them to keep it down.

Well this post is beginning to resemble a slide night at Grandpa's house where I just regale about my wild adventures that have no relevance to anyone but me- sorry about that!

But there is a reason behind that, a sort of context.

Before I retired (it seems so strange saying that!) I was constantly being asked "What are you going to do first?", "What things are you going to do?" etc

To be honest, the first thing I wanted to do was just enjoy my holidays like every other person who was taking their holidays. In a way I was thinking that people were expecting me to be doing something amazing straight away, when all I wanted to do was just enjoy not being at work.

Last week when I was online doing some bookings on my laptop, it dawned on me for the first time that I didn't think of doing something work related. In the past, at this stage of the holidays, if I got on the laptop there would be this nagging thought "Perhaps you could just do a little bit of preparation for school?"

It was so liberating, but I also felt that I was being lazy in a way that I wasn't using my time productively. Even as I write this I still have this feeling that I should be doing something else. Breaking the habits of 38 years as a teacher might take some time!!!

Another change I have noticed has been when I've been walking through a shopping centre and I see some clothes that I like, but then have to check myself. The clothes would be nice to wear to school as a teacher, but when would I actually wear them now that I'm no longer teaching? I'll still buy new clothes, but I have to be realistic as to when and where I'll actually use them.

Another thing that surprised me the other day was when I bought a new diary and a calendar for home. One of the first things I did was mark in the school terms and holidays, something that I automatically do at this time of year, but doubt whether it is as important now. Maybe I'll use it as a guide for planning my trips away so that I avoid school holidays, something I've never been able to do in the past.

And one other thing that is dawning upon me. I've always planned my/our time around roughly ten week blocks followed by two weeks of holidays, but now I have the absolute freedom to plan what I like when I like. Although I do have some major plans coming up in the coming weeks, I've no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow, or the next day, and I'm really enjoying that.

I did buy two new bikes last year, so it's a fair bet I'll be out on the road each day. I also bought a kayak, so this morning I went out inspecting various waterways for prospective sites to go floating in the coming days.

If this wind dies down I might even hit the water later today, which is why I'm now rushing to the end of this post.

In previous posts you may be aware that I have had some body parts falling apart in recent years that have resulted in too many surgeries. My 'good' ankle is next in line for some major work and I've been hoping to put this off for quite a few months. Alas, in the past few weeks it has deteriorated somewhat, so it looks like I may need to bring things forward somewhat. But before that I'll be squeezing in as many trips in the caravan, flights to Qld to see the grandsons, getting the garden spicked and spanned, maybe writing more posts ( yeah, right!!), brewing some more beer and having a big clean out of everything in the house and shed. Sounds ambitious, but I might get there....to a point.

Then I have some big plans to attend to, something that I'm so looking forward to but will take a bit of organising if I'm to do it well. 

Stay tuned.

Another post of dribble and waffle, but it has satisfied my desire to write again.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and that this year brings you everything that you hope for.

Until my next (and sooner) post,

Cheers 😁

 That's It !!

Hi Readers,

Well believe it or not I have actually got off my lazy backside and commenced a new post! My last one was back in July I think, and I was silently disgusted with myself when I saw that.

I never like to try and make excuses, so I wont. In the meantime I have seen that the hits on this blog have continued to increase in that time, so I feel I owe it to those readers to contribute some meaningless fluff and dribble!!

A few months ago I made the decision that this year was going to be my last, and once I made that decision I just couldn't bear for others to think that I was checking out early, so any spare time was devoted to school work. Hence the lack of posts, and in some way a desperately feeble excuse!!!

So, retirement!! 

It has actually been quite a stressful decision to make, something that many find hard to understand when I tell them. Consider this Readers, what are the biggest decisions you make in your lives?

New jobs?

Buying a house?

Having kids?

Moving to a new town?

Losing family members?

I've done them all, and am not looking for any sympathy, but this is probably the last BIG decision that I will need to make in my life, so I have to get it right. And before too long our three sons will be making decisions for me as my brain starts to deteriorate beyond repair. ( I know some of you are thinking, "Hmmm, hasn't that happened already??")

Yesterday was my last day with the kids, and I have been spoilt with the absolute BEST bunch of kids to finish my career with. I will admit I busted my boiler to get them where they were at the end of the year, but gee I had a blast with them. It was so good that at times recently I was questioning my decision to retire. 

Could I go around one more time?

But then I realised that I wouldn't be with such a great crew ( or maybe I could have done the same with the next group?) and that I was looking at the next year through rose coloured glasses.

People have often asked me, "How did you know it was time?"

For a great part of this year, I'd get half way through Sunday and then a feeling of woe would descend upon me. I started to feel really bad about the weekend ending, as it meant that I had to work the next day. And then while driving to school on the Monday I'd be thinking "Please just get me to Friday!!"

And this went on every week. I'd love my Saturdays, but Sunday meant that Monday was the next day. 

Groundhog Day !!!

And this was how I was feeling!

Readers, can I be very clear here, there was nothing wrong with where I worked or who I worked with as they were the godsend to my worries!!!

It was just the whole idea of the work, I'd just reached a stage where I felt I wasn't giving my best, and that wasn't fair to my kids.

Further to this, in recent years I'd lost a sister, a brother and my wife who all had retirement plans that were cut short by their untimely passing.

I just didn't want to retire sick, even though my body is falling apart faster than the Victorian economy!!

There are so many things that Jen and I were planning to do at the end of this year, as that was when we were both planning to retire. I've been so lucky that we travelled as much as we did before she got sick, because we created so many lasting memories that I will forever cherish.

As I said to my colleagues today, rather than feeling excited about retiring, I'm somewhat flat as I keep thinking about what was planned together, but now I have to adjust that to just myself.

So what is on the cards for me?

Firstly, many have been asking me what I'll do first? Well, firstly I want my Sundays back!!

And then in late January when for 38 years I've been thinking "H'mmm, time to get ready for school again" I'll be a free agent!!!

I bought the caravan that Jen and I had planned to do, so now I'll go and do the trips that we were looking forward to, but there will be an empty seat beside me. Someone said I should name the caravan after Jen, I like that idea.

So, after finishing at school today, I hooked up the van and have finally taken it on it's first trip. It has taken this long as soon after I bought it someone ran up the arse of my new Pajero, meaning I couldn't tow it. Then I crashed my bike at the cemetery and busted my shoulder, meaning I wasn't physically able to go camping. I got the Pajero back two weeks ago, and tonight I am camping by the banks of the Goulburn River at Nagambie, testing everything out before a bigger trip in the coming week.

Retirement Day 1

My first trip with the van

Have to keep busy if I'm travelling, so the new kayak got a workout this afternoon on the Goulburn River

A stinking hot afternoon on the river, so a few cold beers was just the remedy!

 Well Readers, that's it for today, hopefully I can now devote more time to doing something I love so much, this blog.

As I'm finishing this post I am smelling glorious cooking from the sites around me, and am embarrassed with the rubbish that I'm planning to cook for myself

Time to lift my game!!

I've got no excuses to not write posts now, so who knows what they might be about?

Please feel free to add comments, there's a link at the bottom of each post.

Until my next post ( and it won't take 5 months!!)

Cheers 😁

 From the Mouths of Kids...

Well Readers,

After starting the year in sort of good form by getting a number of posts out, interspersed by a week or two of nothing, I've since been in hibernation by the looks of things! No point with excuses, there are none worth trying!!

It's not like I haven't wanted to post, as I love doing it when I get the urge. It's just that although I've often thought "Yeah, I could write about that", I just haven't gotten around to it!!

So today while I'm having to cool my jets at a shopping centre in Bendigo for a few hours while I wait for a car to get detailed for selling, what better opportunity to get started on a new post. Speaking of shopping centres, this is definitely not the place where I'd choose to be hanging out. I have no choice as it's at the opposite end of town to where I live, so I just have to suck it up. Judging by the odd glances I'm getting at the coffee shop I'm sitting at, not many people must come and sit at these tables and do things on their laptops!

Before I get on to the focus of this post, a fair bit has happened since my last rambling from April.

On the first day of the school term I was driving to school and was just feeling like absolute crap  (Sorry for the use of that term, but it is the most accurate). I was honestly thinking of turning around, going home and quitting on the spot. I just couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. Once I got to school I started to pick up a bit (must have been the banter with my colleague, more about that later), but still felt like a 2 out of 10.

During the day my colleague came in to see me about something when the kids were out for recess, and he saw that I was doing a COVID test. He asked if I thought I was positive, which I wasn't. As I still haven't had COVID, I was wondering if this was what was wrong with me, as I didn't know what it would feel like. So I soldiered through the rest of the day and hit the sack as soon as I got home.

The next day was the same, I just couldn't figure out why on earth I was just feeling so rotten. More COVID tests, still all clear. Home that night and straight to bed, too sick to even cook. It was nearly as bad as a "Man Cold" !!!

Well, around 10.00 that night Armageddon hit with all its fury!!

I woke with massive stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhoea and anything else that wanted to make me feel awful. This continued until around 10.00 the next morning, by which time I had called in sick.

By the time I found myself crawling across the floor with my head in a bucket and in so much pain I thought to myself "Something isn't quite right here", so I dragged myself up to the emergency department at the local hospital.

To cut a long story short, I spent two days in The Base Hospital before being transferred on the third day to St John of God where I had my appendix removed. That explained the belly ache!! Then it was two weeks off work to start the term, hardly the start I was looking for. 

Following this little episode I had a few nervous weeks of waiting as the surgeon said that he was "very concerned" about some tissue samples that he was sending away for analysis. Thankfully after three weeks they came back all clear, but after recent history in my family I was starting to get a tad worried. All good now!

It's a bit of a running joke in my family, and just about everywhere else now that I can't stay out of hospital, or not have something going wrong with my body. Admittedly, many of them are my own fault, but the appendix??? I did nothing to cause that one!!! 

Now to the point of this post.

Last Friday I was out on the oval with my class and three other Gr 5 classes having some sport and a general tear about the place on the last day of school before our two week holiday break.

We ran the kids through some races in preparation for our upcoming athletic sports, and after all the kids were finished, a few started chanting "Teacher's Race, Teacher's Race" until it reached such a crescendo that we couldn't dodge it. Except me.

My other 3 colleagues dutifully lined up, but I didn't, as I can't even hobble let alone run after my ankle surgery from 18 months ago. Sadly, running is something I can't do again.

Anyway, as more and more kids were calling out my name to join in, my refusals were falling upon deaf ears as most of them were probably unaware of my situation. What made it worse was the fact that I take so many of the sporting activities in our weekly session, even though I can only join in very meekly. They probably assumed that I could run.

What this made me realise is that the kids will often come out with things that are so mindless or so insignificant, yet they can still have a massive impact. I know that I can't run, or join in like I used to, but just hearing them calling on me to join the race only emphasised this even more. They weren't doing it to embarrass me or force me into it, they genuinely wanted all 4 of their teachers to have a fun race together. The other three did, and boy did I wish that I could be a part of it. Well, not after the two male teachers acted like total flogs in the race!!! Well won Amy👌

Just some innocent voices that really made me realise my own mortality!!!!!

And while on the subject of my bung leg, a couple of kids in one of the younger grades came up to me on the yard last week and innocently asked ,"Mr K, how come you walk funny?"

They weren't being rude, it was just the natural curiosity coming from some kids who were genuinely interested as to why I often "walk funny".

I definitely have good and bad days with my leg, some days I'm able to walk fairly normally while at other times I limp considerably, especially around hills and steps, or after I have been sitting down. This is where they have obviously paid attention to my "funny walk". What they don't notice however is that every step feels like an electric shock is going through my foot due to the nerve damage. I still don't know if it will stay this way or gradually fade away, I'll find out more in a few weeks. In the meantime I'll just take it one step at a time (pun intended!!)

Just another example of a purely polite and inquisitive question from some kids who had noticed something and took it upon themselves to find out the answer. 

Was I offended? Of course not. I was pleased that hat they felt hat they could ask me.

At least hey weren't as "rude" as my class last year who would jokingly hide or put out of reach my crutches, walking stick or mobility frame!!

Enough of me banging on about my limbs.

While I was thinking about this post, it made me realise how deliberate so many of my kids are in greeting me each morning, or saying goodbye at the end of the day.

I'm not talking about a flippant "Hi Mr K" or ""Bye Mr K", but genuine and sincere interactions where they actually came up to me and say it. If the morning has been a rush (or when I may have come to school thinking I have COVID!!) just to experience an interaction as simple as this is enough to make one alter their mindset and focus on the effort that child has made, rather than on what piddly other thing I may have been fussing about. Like school work!! 

There are 3 or 4 in particular who hang about at the end of the day while most rush out just to say "Thanks Mr K" and it always warms my heart that they take the time to do this. If the day has been crappy, it's just the best tonic to finish up on and make me look forward to the next day. To go and tell another teacher about this when it happens also magnifies the impact that it has and it's something that I just appreciate so much. I don't ask them to do it, or encourage them to do it, it just happens naturally from them.

It does however make me realise that I need to reciprocate it and make them feel as special as it makes me feel when they do it to me.

Another recent comment I heard from a child came from our nearly 4 year old Grandson, Henry. Totally innocent, but clearly stemming from the fact that he is starting to notice more things about me.

I did mention a similar time where this happened around a year ago when he was looking at some photos, but when this happened last week I could tell that he has definitely noticed some things and maybe has been thinking about them.

We were having one of our regular Facetime calls and discussing my upcoming visit to them later this week. Out of the blue he came out with "Where's Gran?", clearly in reference to Jen. Before I could answer, his dad quickly stepped in by saying "Remember Henry, we have talked about this many times", and he was happy with that and started to talk about other things. Talk about saving me from an awkward response, thanks Sam!!

But it did reinforce that out of the mouths of kids can come the most innocent things in their own mind, that can be mind blowing for us as adults as we try to explain it back to them. As he gets older I need to realise that he will question many things in his own innocent way and that I will have to be prepared for the unexpected!!

And that's okay !!!

My procrastinating has continued and it's two days since I started this post, so while I'm waiting to board a flight I thought I'd finish it. And how perfect is the timing!

As I sit here having a coffee and a toastie (I tried the Maccas toastie and it was magnificent!!) I can't help but hear the excited chatter around me.

There is a family sitting behind me with 3 young kids, around the ages from 5 -12 and from what I can gather this is their first trip away to the Gold Coast in Queensland. I'm trying not to eavesdrop, but the level of excitement is too hard to ignore.

Overseas readers, you'll need to know that this is a very popular holiday spot for thousands of people from my state of Victoria who flock there at this time of the year to escape the Winter. It is also the venue of so many theme parks.

After one asks, "Will we go to Sea World?", another asks "What about Movie World?" and can we go to the beach EVERY day?". As mum and dad say yes to each question and show websites to the kids, they just keep getting even more excited.

This really took me back to the times when Jen and I took our 3 boys on numerous trips to the Gold Coast back in the day and experienced exactly what this family was going through right now. Amazing how so many memories were triggered just by hearing some excited chatter from a few kids. If they are on the same flight as me and sitting near me, I may as well just suck it up, as it was maybe 20 years ago that our family was subjecting other travellers to the same thing!!

Another flippant comment from a group of kids at school last week also resonated with me.

I have a colleague in my Unit who is often teasing me good naturedly, and he gets it back just as quickly from me. Or even more!! It is all just good banter that we don't wish to offend the other with, or take offence.

Often we say things in front of the kids that are totally acceptable and they get a giggle from it.

Anyway, last week after one such round of comments, a group of kids were laughing about it with me when this teacher left the room. Then all of a sudden they started with "We know you tease each other a lot, but we know that you are really good friends"

How perceptive were they? And they nailed it!

This person cops it mercilessly from me every day, but whenever I need to confide or seek support, he's my go to as I have the utmost respect for him. And the kids obviously notice this.

So what this has taught me is that the kids are taking notice of us even when we think they aren't. So I'd better be extremely careful!!!

On another topic not related to this, we received some great news recently in regards to my older brother who was diagnosed with leukaemia late last year. A few months ago I was selected as the donor for his bone marrow transplant, and the latest news from two weeks ago is that it has been very successful and that he is well on the road to recovery.

It has been a very emotional time for me as we weren't able to achieve the same result for Jen, but I am so happy that he is on the mend. Well done Tony 🙏

Well I better get this posted before it takes me another two days to get my act together.

As adults, let's just be aware of what kids do come out with from time to time, as it could be something that just makes us laugh, or could also be something that really makes us change our lives a little.

Even with my poor hearing I'll be staying vigilant from now on!!

Until my next post,

Cheers

😀

 Topping Up

Hi Readers,

This is a bit of a nothing post really, but my thoughts were jolted on Thursday when I was housebound and needed to do something to keep myself occupied.

Have you ever started something, then added a bit of your own flavour to the point where you just keep adding extra and then just lose control?

It has been a habit of mine for years, something that my wife and sons often said was a pretty bad habit due to the consequences that often eventuated.

Let me explain.

I'd often start a job, usually a small job, but eventually it would become a huge job. I'd keep "Topping Up" as I tend to describe it. I'd find more things to add to it, or make it bigger than it necessarily needed to be.

At one of the houses we owned a few years back, if i noticed that the small patch of grass around the clothesline needed a mow, I'd quickly get the mower out of the shed nearby and get the job done. Ten minutes at most. But as I'd be putting the mower away I'd notice the rest of the yard around the other side of the house (about the size of 3 tennis courts) and wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to mow that as well. And trim. And possibly rake and weed. Then create a bonfire. See how I just kept topping up and usually this would take 3-4 hours.

At our last house Jen started painting some trims and mentioned that we should perhaps paint the room, and could I help. No worries, but once I started I just couldn't stop. I spent the rest of that day painting that room, then giving it another coat, and as things turned out, spent the rest of the week from early morning until late at night painting every room in the house non-stop for days. Even when Jen would suggest taking a break I'd be so pig headed that I'd just barrel on because I "Just wanted to get it done and dusted"

That's where I first started to get problems with tendons in my hands and elbows, just by overdoing things. Too much topping up!! My own fault for sure.

Meanwhile, Jen and the boys would just be rolling their eyes at my stubbornness and refusal to just do things patiently rather than so impulsively!!

This also happens when I cook, as I have this amazing ability to not stick to a recipe! Jen would always put one in front of me if it involved anything new that I was thinking of cooking, and that would potentially be put in front of her. She was a master of wandering past and casting a quizzical eye over proceedings, and adding her own suggestions. My reply ? "I'm following your &^%$%^& recipe!!"

But when it came to 'scrap nights', where everyone basically made something for themselves, my go to was always "Pasta Surprise"

I just love pasta, and anything and everything would go into it. If it wasn't nailed down, wasn't toxic or rancid, it had potential. And, as always, there was the standard tin of baked beans, chickpeas, or both. The rest of the family were always offered some of what I created, but for some reason I never did get to share with them!! And the joys of grabbing everything from the spice rack!! I treated that baby like it was my own chemistry set. To this day I still create Pasta Surprise, and as recently as last weekend two of our sons were joking about it with me while I was visiting them in Qld.

Another example of my "Topping Up" has probably returned to bite me in the bum.

From the age of around 15 I always liked to go for a run. Even when I was playing footy I'd go for runs on non training days. I just loved it.

This continued well after I stopped playing footy, and I was fortunate enough to run a number of marathons. For those who know me, I do not have a runner's body, but that didn't stop me. It's only now that the effects of all those hours on the road have come to haunt me, to the point where I can no longer run, and at times just walking can be challenging. My fault, and I'm not complaining. I clearly remember some days when I might have only 30-40 mins to spare for a run and I wouldn't go, as it wouldn't give me a long enough run. Today I'd just kill to go for a 20 minute run!!! 

So what happened on Thursday that prompted this post?

After two days laying on a hospital bed last week with little food, then a day and a bit of fasting this week for a medical procedure I was going to have, my thoughts were continually turning to food, and what I was looking forward to most.

I started to think of the foods that we would regularly have but that I haven't cooked since ending up on my own again. Usually I just considered them too laborious to make as there would be too much effort required and they were too much for one person.

For example, roasts.

I know that sounds weird, but I hadn't cooked a roast since I lost Jen, even though I love them just as much as anyone else.

The closest I have got is buying the occasional "Batchelor's Handbag" from the supermarket which is fine, but they just don't cut it as a 'home cooked roast'

Well Readers, Thursday was going to be my big day. I'd pumped myself up to cook a lamb roast, dutifully headed down to my nearby supermarket only to find that they had not one lamb roast for sale. Only a sign saying "Temporarily Unavailable"

What? Had I missed something in the news? Were there no sheep left in Australia? Didn't they know I'd been willing myself for this very moment for nearly a week?

Not to be outdone, I perused other samples of what I could classify as a roast, and settled on a small pork roast.

My limited roasting skills meant that I had a vague idea that to get crackling, the outside needs a bit of oil and salt. No problem. That little sucker had more salt on the outside than what is in the Dead Sea!! And didn't that crackle taste so good!!!! And didn't I feel sick after polishing most of it off 🤢 🥴 Too much topping Up on my part!!

Anyway, the rest of the roast was a sizzling success, as were the spuds that I roasted in the air fryer. And this is where I "Topped Up" again, assaulting the spuds with just about every spice from the spice draw!! (I've moved on from a spice rack to a spice draw - more topping up !!)

Now the real point of this post.

I made a slice.

My first one I think. 

I knew I was going to have visitors later in the week, so I went ballistic and industrial!!

I like eating slices, so I guessed that qualified me to make one, but my problem was that I was putting together my favourite parts of all the slices that I liked. 

Some non-negotiables:

• chunks of teddy bear biscuits
• maltesers
• peppermint slice
• a biscuit base
• a chocolate top

So, after looking at a few recipes for the different parts of my "Slice Surprise" and assembling the 'ingredients', off I went.

Lesson #1 that I learnt - Hold the little tubey thing on the blender when mincing biscuits for the base. Biscuit crumbs do escape easily!!

The next hour was like a massive science experiment that would have resembled the building of the atom bomb.

I worked out the biscuit base just by adding melted butter and crumbs together just like one does when mixing concrete powder and water - just find the right consistency.

Base done. I think.

Now for the Rolls Royce of the slice, the actual guts of the whole thing.

I googled how to melt the chocolate, and that sort of worked - I did the pot over hot water thing on the stove. How the water ended up everywhere over the stove top still puzzles me. I had a bowl full of chopped up maltesers and peppermint crisp, and big chunks of teddy bear bickies.

Just throw it all together and add the chocolate and the job is done. Or so I thought.

It was still too dry, what was missing??

I did see condensed milk mentioned when I was browsing online, so I just kept adding it until I had the right consistency, just like Rapid Set concrete!! Was two tins too much??

Lesson #2  Never under estimate the power, relevance and importance of a measuring cup. And a recipe.

Anyway, after paving the bickie base with my chocolate asphalt it was into the fridge and now just to wait for it to set.

There was a fair bit of "Topping Up" throughout this and I was amazed with my restraint. Not one baked bean or chickpea to be seen!!

Later that afternoon I had to quickly visit two close friends, so I carved a slice out of the tray for each of them (I couldn't cut little pieces as it hadn't set yet) and delivered them a pizza slice sized piece each of my slice, with a warning that it was my first one and would probably make a better door stop.

Much to my surprise, I got messages before I got home that they had munched into it straight away and that they were still breathing and functioning normally.

Success!!

The next day, Jen's Dad, brother and nephew visited and they too wolfed it down, and took as much as they could back to Melbourne.

And when our son Lachie came to visit last night, he too devoured it and has so far lived to tell the tale.

There's my contribution towards cholesterol, tooth decay and diabetes for the next few years!!

Enough of the shenanigans Readers, what I'm trying to say is that we can sometimes risk everything by simply trying too hard. Topping up too much.

I could have killed my slice by simply overdoing what I was putting in to make it "better"

I know I've killed a few 'Pasta Surprises' in the same way, and also myself when trying to eat the blessed things out of just being stubborn and convincing myself that they WILL be good. Eventually.

Lesson #3 - Never under estimate the potential of baked beans or chick peas!!

I've just got off the phone with one of my closest friends who rang (as he regularly does) just to check in on me. We have been mates since we were about 10 and every time we talk he leaves me with someone to ponder, and today was no exception.

He ran into an old school mate recently who is from a well known Melbourne legal family known for their philanthropy.

My friend said that this family have a motto of "Give While You're Alive", and the two of us had a great chat about this as we believe in it so much too.

I was thinking how this could relate to this post, and I can see quite a number of ways that it is relevant.

I'd assume that most of you Readers would be regular contributors to various charities or causes. For me it is the Leukaemia Foundation, Peter Mac Hospital and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Maybe one day I might just win the RMH Lottery and snag a new house!! Really, that's the last thing on my mind when I buy their tickets as I just know how much that money helps others, having experienced it first hand.🙏

I was also taught by Jen to always support the sellers of The Big Issue when we are in Melbourne as these are people who are really doing the best to help themselves.

Rather than just hand over some money for the magazine and walk away, she encouraged me to stop and chat with them for a while, something that I have always appreciated. This in a way "topped up" the donation and adds more to the interaction for both of us I hope.

I'm yet to find any of these people reluctant to engage in a chat, if anything, it is more the opposite. So many people just dismiss and ignore them, just as I had always done, and I am forever grateful for the great discussions I have had over the years with many of these sellers, and the way that they respond so happily when someone gives them some time.

Similar causes could also benefit from a 'top up' from time to time, and I'm embarrassed to say that often I need to slap myself for not doing it more regularly. For example, driving through town and the Salvo's or Fire Services, SES, Ambulances or whoever are collecting at the traffic lights. There's always a few coins in the console, so a token gesture is made. Probably not enough to make a difference, but also an amount that doesn't affect me at all. On these days, could I perhaps be better prepared and organise to have some cash in the car so that I can make a more respectful donation that I can easily afford? Or keep a better amount in the console just so that I'm prepared for these collectors at random. Time to top up the console!!

I hear you saying "We don't use cash anymore", and to a point I agree. I carry a few notes with me all the time and I think they'll still be in my wallet at the turn of this century, as I just don't use them. Is it time to give them to my next worthy cause? Perhaps.

Just one caveat here though Readers. Sometimes when stopped at the lights here in Bendigo on a weekend there are regularly collectors gathering money for a variety of causes, some well known, others so obscure. Most wear a vest advertising their cause, and on a number of occasions I've been left wondering "What on earth is that cause" or it might be an organisation or cause that I don't support. (eg On one occasion it was for a political party, a cause I don't donate to. Another time it was for an anti-Mosque group, another time for one of those redneck socialist groups)

Just because they are collecting does not necessarily mean we are obliged to donate, especially if there are conflicting issues that we may have with that cause.

Anyway Readers, a bit of a ramble as always, but a time for you to think about the times that you "Top up", either generously, or, like me, stupidly and recklessly!!

Would love to hear about some of your own examples, especially in the kitchen ! Just hit the comments tab below to become instantly famous anonymously .

Until my next post,

Cheers 😁