Then we have our neighbours. Boy, did we fall on our feet. There are only four houses on our end of the street.
On one corner is Kaye and Drew with their three teenage kids, a horse and a sheep who are bosom buddies, the occasional bullock and the dogs. Of course. When Kaye and Drew came to our first Christmas street party, they had such a good time that they rang the kids to bring more food and drink down their driveway, which is pretty long! The kids obliged and the party rocked on.
Next to Kaye and Drew are Marci and Shane, who reside on Mount Beverley, so named due to the height of the sand pad they needed to build before their house was constructed. At this end of town, we are situated on the hundred-year floodplain so all houses have to be off the ground. They have an extraordinary menagerie of dogs, geese, ducks, chooks, sheep and a large extended family with several hundred grandchildren.
We are opposite Shane and Marci, and they are higher than us, so we have this joke that they could give us scorecards if they so chose, as they could look directly into our house. We have no curtains on our front windows at all.
And next door to us is the legendary Lorna, who is high priestess and earth mother to all at Freedom Hollow. Lorna is the best neighbour ever and probably my closest friend here in Heavenly Beverley. Nothing shocks, surprises or unnerves her. She is always available with her smile and her warmth. Her cuddles are instantly soothing. The eldest in her family, she found herself responsible for an array of siblings. Marrying young, she had six children of her own and adopted "Mum" to more. She has lived in some pretty rough places. Successfully launching herself as a single mother, long before this was reasonably commonplace, she has always looked after herself and the people she loves.
She is now in her seventies, still works for Home and Community Care, cares for her beloved four acres of Freedom Hollow and has an ever expanding loving hoard of children, grandchildren and a great-grandchild. She has been on pub crawls in Bali, driven huge distances when she thought it necessary, been available for any waif (including me) turning up on her doorstep and picked up animals in danger of being euthanased. She is a wildlife and domestic animal caregiver, so she has dogs, cats, sheep, kangaroos, birds of every variety and a tame, mixed up magpie. The latest addition to her brood was a tiny kitten left to die on the highway on the outskirts of Perth. Her granddaughter picked it up, confident that Nan could save it and brought it up to Beverley. An amputation of one of its legs, a loving home and Lorna's magic touch has done the trick. Chaos is now a strikingly handsome fully grown black and white cat, albeit missing one leg.
Bentley, the maniac magpie mentioned else on the blog, genuinely believes he's a flying dog. Or cat. He wrestles on the ground with Chaos and enjoys evening feeding duty with Lorna and Jellybean the Jack Russell. Lorna will stride around her yards, delivering buckets of goodies to her various species of feathered residents. JB the dog trots on the right-hand side of Lorna. Bentley trots on the left.
This week, Lorna has shaved her head in support of the Leukemia Foundation. Along with Marci's daughter, Amanda. We were agog to see the result. Amanda, a young gorgeous mother of three, looked beautiful with her cap of red hair after the shave. But Lorna took my breath away. I have always considered Sean Connery, a grandfather, to be the sexiest man alive. Well, Lorna's up there. She would have to be the sexiest great-grandmother alive. Totally fearless, generous of spirit and prepared to try anything once, she looks stunning.
OMG, I have a sex symbol as my neighbour!
two beautiful women - before
two beautiful women - after
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