Mamalade

A lovely sunny day. It makes such a difference. I feel almost human again. I’ve been sorting clothes for our next Jumble Sale. People will be looking for summer gear from now on. Last time we had a big clearance sale “Fill a bag for $4” and sold a lot of the winter things. At the end of the day, we kept just some of the better stuff for next winter and gave the rest to a friend who collects clothing for street people.

You hear some funny things at jumble sales. One of our helpers apologisied for being late and explained that she had to give her husband some therapy for his kinked neck.

“He lies on the table,” she explained, “and gets me to hold his head and pull it to straighten his neck – but it’s not doing him any good, because when I pull, he slides along the table!”

When I stopped laughing I suggested she needed someone there with a video camera. “You could send it in to the “Funniest Videos” show.” I said. “It would win!”

“What I need is someone to hold his feet,” she said.

Today was the final day of the Ekka. (That’s the Royal Queensland Show, or Exhibition.) I felt sorry for anyone who had left it till the last day to go. It’s been wet and cold – the kind of cold that seeps into your bones. We really felt it after having almost summer weather for a few days.

I don’t know when I last went to the Ekka. I thought I might have gone this year, but I wasn’t feeling up to it after having the flu. I still haven’t quite shaken it off. A lot of other people have been complaining how this flu keeps coming back. It makes you so tired. I didn’t even get to the last three Toastmasters meetings. I hate missing a meeting!

Last week, Frances was complaining about the admission price to the Ekka. “I don’t know if we’ll go,” she said. “It’s getting too expensive! Not unless I win that competition I entered…”

Several hours later, she phoned to tell me, “Guess what! I’ve won a family pass to the Ekka!”

It was a lovely mild day on Monday when they went to the Ekka. They spent the day there and stayed to see the fireworks at night. They must have been tired, but there was no sleeping in the next morning. It was sports day at preschool.

Miles is very proud of his ribbon with “Well Done!” printed on it. Though he didn’t win the race. Frances and her friends were shouting “Come on Miles!” So he slowed down and waved to them!

Last week our community held it’s annual festival, and as usual, we had a stall for World Vision. Mum has been sewing for weeks, (actually she never stops) and had plenty of lovely things for our stall. But our biggest seller is lucky dips. The kids love them and keep coming back for more. They all have their own method for choosing a lucky dip. Some just grab one from the top, others like to feel each one, then there was the little boy who handed me his 50 cents, then rolled his sleeves up to his armpits and asked “Is it OK if I get one from the bottom?”

Frances (my daughter-in-law) brought Miles and Hayley. Miles was a bit pale after his bout with Scarlet Fever, but appears to have made a good recovery.

Mum bought Miles and Hayley a lucky dip each. Hayley opened hers and was delighted to find a tiny teddy bear.

“That came from our place!” exclaimed Frances. (She had donated some of the small toys that the kids weren’t playing with anymore.)

“And doesn’t she looked happy to see it again,” said Mum. “You’ll be able to donate it again next year!”

“With my luck, we’ll probably buy it back again,” said Frances.

Miles stayed with me while Frances took Hayley with her to look at the other stalls. It was cold at our stall under the trees, so I took Miles out in the sunshine. Nearby, two men in clown’s hats were juggling balls.

“Let’s go and watch,” I suggested.

“We’d better not go too close,” said Miles. “Sometimes when I go close to clowns, it gets a bit scary!”

He was much happier watching the “ride-em” cars. “I’m going to drive the red one,” he said. “Ooh, look, there’s Timmy!” He waved to one of his pre-school friends in a pink car.

“Why would Timmy drive a pink car?” he pondered. Then he decided ,”It must be because he’s real bad!”

Timmy has a reputation for being a holy terror. Miles must have thought driving a pink car was punishment. (We found out later that Timmy’s favourite colour is pink.)

When Frances came back, I minded Hayley while Frances and Miles queued up for a ride. Luckily, the red car was free. Miles looked so pleased as he maneuvered it around the circuit. Hayley laughed each time he drove by.

Later in the day, I browsed round the other stalls with a friend. We got as far as the big tent where they were selling second hand books.

“The last thing we need is more books,” I said, knowing that that would stop neither of us.

“Fill a bag for $1” shouted the stall holder. It was getting late and he didn’t want to take them all back home.

We each grabbed a bag and filled it, then filled a second bag each.

“We’ll have to go back to the car, I said. “We can’t walk around with these.” One of my bags was already bursting.

We deposited them in the car and continued round the circuit. Some of the stalls had started to pack up. On the other side of the park, we stopped to look through a box of books on another stall. You never know what treasures you might find.

“You can have the lot for $1,” said the woman on the stall. I couldn’t resist a bargain like that! We emptied the box into four bags and staggered back to the car.

“We’ll have to have a book sale, now,” said my friend.

It was a good day, but very cold in the shade. The temperature was way below normal last week. We were glad to go home to a bowl of hot soup.