02-15/16-2025: Nearing Departure

Saturday we leave Rylstone and head to Somersby where Lou’s sister-in-law Marilyn lives. While we were waiting for Margaret to arrive for pickup, I snapped a photo of Lou and Christine. Banjo didn’t want his picture taken so he looked away.

It’s about a 4 hour drive to the Central Coast, which is where Lou used to live before moving to Rylstone two years ago. Margaret, per usual, is combining errands today on the drive. We’ll be delivering some roosters and she’ll check on the mowers she dropped off in Lithgow a few weeks ago. Clare has to bring the 3 newest goat kids with us because they are being bottle fed and there isn’t anyone to do that. They are so cute. So, we’ll be pulling a trailer with roosters and goats along with us. Banjo gets to join us on this trip, too, but he gets to be in the car.

After several stops for picking up 2 of 3 pieces of equipment, delivering rooster, stopping at a cake supply place and the Big W, we arrived at Marilyn’s. She lives in Somersby on a beautiful 50-acre property. Her husband Michael died during our last visit. She also has a special needs adult daughter, Sandy, so she has had so much to deal with. And, she just received news from her closest sister Joan that her sister has cancer and is in very serious condition. So our arrival, though planned, comes at a difficult time. We’ll all stay at Marilyn’s for the night. Originally, Christine and I were staying 3 nights and then Marilyn would drive us to the airport on Tuesday. Instead, we’re booked into the Sydney Hilton for Sunday and Monday and will get ourselves to the airport.

Saturday evening, Marilyn had made reservations at a Thai restaurant and several of the family will join us to celebrate Clare’s birthday, which is the 26th, and our departure. We got a huge surprise upon our arrival because both Gloria and her husband Alex were there. Alex is undergoing chemotherapy and will be having some surgery to target the chemo next week. We didn’t expect him to come because he needs to be very cautious to avoid infection. It was so lovely to see them both. They are certainly going through a rough time, but they have 5 sons who are very attentive and involved in helping Alex get the treatment he needs and supporting Gloria.

Brother Len and his wife Sandy were there. Len is such a pip and Sandy is a lovely woman. We enjoy them very much.

Here’s Marilyn and her daughter Sandy Lee.

Another attendee was a woman named Margaret Contini Gjerdrum. We spent some time with Margaret during past visits. She is an old friend of the Caruana family. She is an American news junkie and wanted to talk about Trump. I spent most of the evening discussing politics with her and she’d like to continue the conversation after we get home. I’m sure we’ll have some interesting discussion. I suggested that she wean herself off Trump news and find something better to do with her time. All that stuff is so anxiety producing.

Here’s Lou with Margaret Contini.

In celebration of Clare’s birthday, her mother made her a cake which came out to the table. We all sang happy birthday and did the tradition hip, hip, hooray 3 times. Clare will be 21 on the 26th of this month.

And then another cake came to the table, a Clare Creative Cakes masterpiece!

The details on this cake were absolutely amazing. The suitcases are the exact color of our suitcases. All the little post cards are actual replicas of photos that Clare has taken during our stay. The airplane had a Delta logo on the tail piece. There were so many things to see on this cake. Truly stunning and amazing. I had the scary job of cutting it. Margaret shot a video of me doing it, and my face was hilarious to see. I was scared to death that the globe would land on the table as I was cutting it. But after a few slices, I got the hang of it and I was able to get slices for everyone out of half the globe. The other half we took back to Marilyn’s. It was a very nice evening and I think everyone had a nice evening.

Sunday I went for a walk early in the morning just to take in Marilyn’s beautiful property.

After breakfast, it was suggested that we take a quick visit to Somersby Falls, just a couple of miles away. Christine and I had been there before, but Clare and Margaret hadn’t, so Margaret, Clare and I went to the falls. I’m glad we didn’t take Christine or Lou as there were a whole bunch of steps, some quite slippery with either moss or sand. There are actually 3 falls which are referred to as top falls, middle falls, and bottom falls, not very creative names. We headed to middle falls. There wasn’t much water in the creek so the falls were not gushing, but they were picturesque.

We then decided to go ahead and walk down to bottom falls, which was quite a trek down. But all the steps were worth it. It was really nice, and an amazing thing was seeing this old gnarled tree just growing our of the rock face near the falls.

The climb back up was easily handled by Clare and Margaret. I, on the other had, keep getting in touch with what terrible shape I am in, because I huffed and puffed all the way up all those steps. But, I’m glad we went to see the falls. It was a nice outing.

Back at Marilyn’s, the countdown to having Lou, Margaret and Clare leave was approaching. Margaret, Clare and I finished a Phase 10 game we started last week. Before the game, Margaret presented me with a pack of Phase 10. I was so touched because she had read in my blog that I wanted to get the Phase 10 game. We then finished packing, fed the kids their bottles. Christine went for a ride with Marilyn around the property in the 4-wheeler. And, we took a bunch of photos.

Then we all decided that we would go to Palmdale, the beautiful cemetery where Lou and Margaret’s parents are buried, as well as their brother Michael and sister Angela, and brother-in-law (Marianne’s husband) Alan. All of use walked from one grave to another telling stories and giving remembrances. In some ways, that was a peaceful way to end our time together. Palmdale is a very beautiful place and it was pleasant to be with family there.

We then stopped at a cafe for lunch. And finally, it was time to depart. I think we all had difficulty keeping the tears at bay, without much successful. We’ve had such a wonderful time with Lou, Margaret and Clare. We can’t thank them enough for making our stay so joyous and memorable. Margaret clocked 5,700 kilometers, or 3,500 miles, these nearly 5 weeks driving us to so many wonderful places to visit. We love these three so much!

Then Marilyn and Sandy drove us into Sydney and dropped us off at the Hilton. That was a bit challenging because the one way street the Hilton is on was blocked off just before we got there, so we had to drive around several blocks trying to get to the hotel. But Marilyn managed it. It was sad to say goodbye. It was such a nice thing for Marilyn to do especially given her current worry about her sister. Thank you, Marilyn!

Our room at the Hilton is on the 40th floor, but unfortunately, we can’t see Sydney Harbor. We do see a bit of water through the buildings, but we are enjoying looking out the window at the city. We are in a corner room so we see both west and north.