Sunday, 17 November 2024

Michael Versus The Grinder, Kate's Latest Claim To Fame And Further Tales...

Here we are in the middle of November...already. Christmas is an alarmingly close 38 days away and the entirety of 2024 will be over 7 days later. Honestly, I have only just come to terms with being in this year. Wasn't 2000 just the other day? And how the hell could I possibly be 63 years old?

Remember when we were kids, counting the days until the next holidays, particularly the long summer ones. The three terms seemed to stretch interminably into the far distance. Holidays would be embraced with clothes of our choosing, activities of our own choosing, unconfined by the school walls... Even as a fish-out-of-water teenager, holidays brought relief and rejuvenation. I could catch up on sleep, become relaxed and daydream of a happy future.

With marriage, work and study, life settled into a different routine. Then came motherhood, a crazy juxtaposition being frantically busy one minute, then spending long nights awake with a grumbling baby or toddler. Alex added an added dimension after he turned four - his routine of appointments, intensive home programme, OT, physio, speech therapy, daycare and pre-primary meant days just ran into each other with me trying to stay afloat in a sea of semi-controlled chaos.

The years passed, my family grew up, my first marriage ended and I embarked on a single path. An affair with the Sicilian Sociopath was followed by a series of hilarious first dates, a four week romance with a very nice, very acceptable and exceptionally dull  bloke which ended just after Christmas 2008. All of which convinced me that there really wasn't that special someone out there for me after all.

Then, at the age of 47, I met the love of my life. The last 15 years have flown past at the velocity of a speeding superhero, particularly after we moved to Heavenly Beverley and climbed into the roller-coaster. 

Yes, our lives are not all beer and skittles. I remained enraged by the immovable stubborn and recalcitrant juggernaut that is the NDIA. These people would be incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery. All those bureaucratic organisations that have erupted spontaneously in the wake of the NDIA are supposedly there "to help". They become bogged down by their own protocols, which are inevitably not user-friendly. Some are decidedly dodgy. 

And medical practitioners fall into two categories - the pompous pricks outnumbering the patient doctors by a wide margin. Our local GP is possibly not the greatest quack on the planet, but he listens and explains, treating us accordingly

Take Michael's Watusi Quickstep with his grinder a couple of weeks ago. On a stinking hot day, Michael was working in his studio, in a teeshirt and work pants with an industrial fan blowing for cooling purposes. In an instant, the fan blew his teeshirt into the grinding wheel, which became entangled and then went rather out of control. Without uttering a sound, Michael managed to turn the grinder off when his teeshirt firmly jammed to a halt. He then appeared into the Gallery, announcing "I think I need medical attention!".

The grinder had gashed him from his navel to the top of his trousers. His left forearm had also been caught in the mayhem and was bleeding fairly profusely. I stopped the bleeding, poured the drops of death (Betadine) all over him and bandaged him up using metres of Fliximol. Neither of us considered he may need to see the doctor until the following morning when his belly had become rather tender. 

Michael escaped from this latest mishap remarkably lightly. He avoided a tetanus injection, was placed on antibiotics and the wounds redressed more suitably. Some pain relief and a few glasses of vino fully restored his equilibrium.  Two weeks later, I can barely see the remnants of this encounter. Since then, we haven't needed to use that fan yet either...I shall wait with bated breath.

As for me, I have seen enough cardiologists for the foreseeable future. What would one call a group of cardiologists? Having researched some collective names for a flock of quacks, I think a Fibrillation of Cardiologists, a Stenosis of Cardiologists or a Bypass of Cardiologists are the most appropriate terms. Over the last few months, I have met cardiologists with the personality of either an empty room or a stationary stonefish. Informative communication would be the bottom of their list of achievements. And spare me from those condescending buffoons who give a pseudo-sympathetic response, belittle my fears or tell me downright lies.  

There are of course, exceptions to this rule. Alex's cardiologist, Doctor Luigi D'Orsogna, was his physician for over eighteen years. He diagnosed Alex's heart defect in-utero and then had the guts to tell me so I could prepare for the extraordinary ride after Alex's birth. I have yet to find a cardiologist for myself that has the calibre of Luigi D'Orsogna. I live in hope...

We are lucky enough to have a handful of courteous, thorough, knowledgeable and approachable doctors whom we highly value. One of them is Scott Claxton, who began as Michael's respiratory specialist in April 2014. He now also treats Alex and me. Perhaps we could receive a family discount?!

Anyway, I have digressed. Following 12 months of start-and-stop respiratory and cardiac testing, we met in Scott Claxton's office last Wednesday. After a suitable period of irate huffing and puffing (pretty sure to his amusement), Scott utterly redeemed himself by slowly, carefully and clearly explaining the outcomes. Finally, I had a definitive diagnosis.

Known for my ability to hit the jackpot, long COVID was probably responsible for me developing Small Airways Disease. In short (!) my teeny weeny airways are narrowed, causing reduced airflow. Totally unrelated is developing Exercised-induced Pulmonary Hypertension. The pulmonary arteries travel from the heart to the lungs. When I exercise, the blood pressure in these arteries spike abnormally.  

Personally, I think these terms are rather dull and do not explain the inconvenience  of these two conditions. Small Airway Disease should be renamed The Totally Unsexy and Most Irritating Heavy Breathing Contest. As for Exercised-induced Pulmonary Hypertension (EiPH!), my alternative title is Up Shit Creek Without A Paddle In A Very Dark Tunnel.

The good news is that neither will likely kill me now I am being treated. My drug regime is increasing but I am actually starting to feel better after an entire year of breathlessness. I have absolutely no intention of going anywhere. I have far too much to do!

In other reports, Jef, our fabulous Belgian backpacker, has returned to the bosom of our family for the last three weeks of his current stint here in Australia. Come December, he leaves the country, completes his visa application for his third year in Australia and then waits for its approval. His car is staying with a mutual friend and his job will remain available for him upon the granting of his visa. We will look forward to that day.

Meanwhile, Sue our artist resident in Station Studio, has been opening the Gallery on Mondays and Wednesdays in the lead-up to Christmas. Her generous volunteering, along with Marion and Bec in Studio 116, means that the East End Gallery is currently open 6 days a week. Absolutely fabulous. 

Speaking of our beloved East End Artists Precinct, our collective space is looking positively spectacular. We have set up 3 Christmas tables specifically for easily finding that special gift. We are bursting at the seams with the individual, the edgy, the thought-provoking, the hilarious, the astonishing and the beautiful art pieces.

DO NOT FORGET TO RSVP (BY 22 NOVEMBER PLEASE) FOR OUR 10TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION ON FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER BETWEEN 7PM AND 9PM.

Rebecca, our caterer, is planning to have an entire Grazing Table of canapes

Michelle will be in charge of the bar with quality wines, sparkling water and a non-alcoholic punch.

TICKETS ARE $10 PER PERSON, PAYABLE AT THE DOOR, WHICH INCLUDES THE GRAZING TABLE AND YOUR INITIAL BEVERAGE. 

FOLLOW-UP VINO WILL BE $5 PER GLASS AND PUNCH WILL BE A GOLD COIN PER GLASS. WATER, EITHER SPARKLING OR TAP, IS FREE OF CHARGE. 

In this year of our 10th anniversary, we are already focusing on the next ten years. We look forward to seeing many of our guests, friends and supporters on Friday 29 November or until we close for our summer recess on Tuesday 24 December.


And what's worth waiting for...

How on earth could I possibly be 63 years old?!
 
 
The love of my life...
 
 
And to quote my wonderful friend, Mizz Jo Russell, I believe that the NDIA do not actually "give a fat rat's clacker" about their client base...
 
 
A Quackery of doctors...
 
 
The Watusi Quickstep...
 
 
Michael, with his partner, in his own version of the Watusi Quickstep...
 
 
Bugger, doing my Darth Vader impersonation again!

This is why my diagnosis took months!
 
 
 
 
 
High pressure in the pulmonary arteries means I am pushing shit uphill!
 

The fantastic Mister Jef Ver Berne...
 
 
Ms Sue Martin, alias my Fairy godmother...
 
 
Artist, designer, jeweller and caterer (!) Rebecca Buglass...
 
 
Artist, holder of an RSA certificate and in charge of our bar - Michelle Rothwell...
 
 
Into the Wind - Tich Dixon
 
 
Cam Eggers - Ant and Pussy-cat...
 

 
Here's looking at ewe - Jan George...
 

Earrings - Sue Martin
 
Firecracker Mosaic pot -  Carole Patch...

 
Goodies galore!

 
Looking eastwards in the front half of the East End Precinct... 

 
Pups - Sheila Monahan...

 
Jennifer Hill - Colours of the Pilbara ...

 
Deb Robins - Augusta Paperbarks ...


Red Robin - Marion Luck...

 
Marion...

 
Marion's students - Annie...

 
Denese...


 
Bec's little pots!
 
 
Hello everybody from Kate with Huey, Dewey and Louie!

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 
 
 





Friday, 15 November 2024

East End Examiner Issue 6

 

The East End Examiner

15 November 2024



Welcome to the 6th issue of the East End Examiner. I apologise for the lateness of this edition, and will try to be on time next week..


The East End Examiner supports endeavours occurring in Beverley every week, also with York and Brookton.


Have an artistic, tourism, holistic, philanthropic or performance enterprise to promote? Need volunteers for a not-for-profit or community organisation? Have a challenge or problem that needs solving, preferably through consensus?


Advertising of news, issues and events is FREE OF CHARGE in the Examiner.


Please send details of your enterprise, news or events to thewifofsif@gmail.com or if you wish to receive this weekly tome!

  • The East End Gallery has welcomed Huey, Dewey and Louie back into the East End Gallery. Be sure to spot our gorgeous baby Meerkats for a bit of fun.

  • The Beverley Community Garden is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings. Tomato plants are $2 each..

  • Please continue to support Sharon Williams and Rosalie Pech Eva and the Friends of the Brookton Railway Station on Facebook. The Brookton Railway Station has been saved from demolition! Now the REAL work begins...

  • Jive Rock ‘n’ Roll contines at the RSL Hall on Fridays from 7pm.

  • The fabulous DEAD FINISH Museum continues to open on Sundays until the end of November.

  • Ms Jodie Edom Nolf’s Beverley Meditation Group continues every Tuesday from 7 pm, located at Shop 2, 116 Vincent Street. To contact Jodie, please call her on 0415 369 405.

  • And also drop in to see Jodie’s magical Vincent Street Emporium...

  • East End’s raffle continues until 29 November. To check out the prizes and get your ticket please call into 116 Vincent Street!

  • Please welcome the current Artist-in-Residence, Fenella Dexheimer, who arrived on 4 November and is at the Station until 2 December..

  • Beverley Station Arts is open Thursdays-Sundays 11am – 3pmor if the signs are out on the pavement.

  • Voice of the Avon” 101.3 FM, based in York, is seeking volunteers, including presenters. Want to be a radio star? Become a volunteer of your radio stationVoice of the Avon 101.3FM!
    Connect with like minded people on air and in person and become one of the family.

  • We have a range of volunteer opportunities. Maintaining the station, connecting with sponsors, to presenting on air!
    Our volunteers keep 101.3FM on the air providing a vital service to our community
    live and online via Radio Garden.

    The Voice of the Avon 101.3FM radio station broadcasts to the whole of the Avon Region which includes Toodyay, Northam, York, Beverley, Quairading, Meckering, Tammin, Cunderdin,Brookton, Pingelly, Bakers Hill, Goomalling, Clackline and Wongan Hills.

    Contact radio6ycr.committee@hotmail.com for more information! We would love to hear from you!

  • ADVANCE NOTICE – the East End Gallery will be holding our 10th birthday CELEBRATION on Friday 29 November from 7pm – 9pm in the Gallery. This is a catered affair with a bar (also accommodating non-drinkers). Tickets are $10 per person, payable at the door. For catering purposes, please RSVP by Friday 22 November – 0414 255 781 or drop in!

     



     



.

Wednesday, 6 November 2024

East End Examiner Issue 4 - 6 November 2024


Welcome to the 5th issue of the East End Examiner. My journalist skills are once more being put to the test!


The East End Examiner supports endeavours occurring in Beverley every week, also with York and Brookton.


Have an artistic, tourism, holistic, philanthropic or performance enterprise to promote? Need volunteers for a not-for-profit or community organisation? Have a challenge or problem that needs solving, preferably through consensus?


Advertising of news, issues and events is FREE OF CHARGE in the Examiner.


Please send details of your enterprise, news or events to thewifofsif@gmail.com or if you wish to receive this weekly tome!

  • The East End Gallery will be OPEN this Friday for late night trading until 7pm.

  • The Beverley Community Garden is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings. Tomato plants are $2 each..

  • Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance will be held at St Mary’s Church Beverley on Sunday 10 November at 10.30am. All welcome.

  • The Beverley Agricultural Machinery Museum will be OPEN this Saturday 9 November at Avondale Farm between 9am and 3pm. This is the final opening for 2024.

  • Please get behind Sharon Williams’ Change,org petition to SAVE the Brookton Railway Station or join their Friends of the Brookton Railway Station on Facebook.

  • Jive Rock ‘n’ Roll contines at the RSL Hall on Fridays from 7pm.

  • The fabulous DEAD FINISH Museum continues to open on Sundays until the end of November.

  • CWA Community Morning Tea on Wednesday 13 November. FREE of charge.

  • Ms Jodie Edom Nolf’s Beverley Meditation Group continues every Tuesday from 7 pm, located at Shop 2, 116 Vincent Street.

  • To contact Jodie, please call her on 0415 369 405.

  • Jodie is expanding her horizons, launching the Vincent Street Emporium. Drop in for a look-see!

  • Studio 116 and East End Gallery’s raffle continues until 29 November. To check out the prizes and get your ticket (only 100 will be issued) please call into 116 Vincent Street.

  • Please welcome the current Artist-in-Residence, Fenella Dexheimer, who arrived on 4 November and is at the Station until 2 December..

  • Beverley Station Arts is open Thursdays-Sundays 11am – 3pm.

  • Voice of the Avon” 101.3 FM, based in York, is seeking volunteers, including presenters. Want to be a radio star? Become a volunteer of your radio stationVoice of the Avon 101.3FM!
    Connect with like minded people on air and in person and become one of the family.

  • We have a range of volunteer opportunities. Maintaining the station, connecting with sponsors, to presenting on air!


    Our volunteers keep 101.3FM on the air providing a vital service to our community of approximately 77,000 people and an innumerable number of people online via Radio Garden.


    The Voice of the Avon 101.3FM radio station broadcasts to the whole of the Avon Region whichincludes Toodyay, Northam, York, Beverley, Quairading, Meckering, Tammin, Cunderdin,
    Brookton, Pingelly, Bakers Hill, Goomalling, Clackline
    and Wongan Hills.

     
    Become a volunteer today! Contactradio6ycr.committee@hotmail.com for more information! We would love to hear from you!







Hurtling Towards Our Celebration...

Maybe time flying is a geriatric phenomenon. When I was a child, I would count the weeks until the next school holidays, which was always agonisingly slow. I loved the learning part of school, but I was the butt of bullies and longed for the relative peace of aloneness three times a year. Then came other periods when I longed for time to fly - waiting for pregnancies to be over, waiting for winter to end, waiting for our building's subdivision to be completed, waiting for medical appointments or pathology results. However, as I have been increasingly ag-ed, these episodes of slow time are becoming fewer and fewer.

Which is really the point of this post. Ten years ago, after much blood, sweat and tears (!), we had renovated enough of the Forbes Building to tentatively edge towards opening...a gallery...We had already decided on a name - East End Gallery - but as we procrastinated and farnarkelled (stalling for time!), a friend and mentor took us Firmly By Hand and demanded we set a date.

Tim Burns, a true eccentric and Murray Cook, a true gentleman, are both artists and were living around York in 2014. Murray still is but I actually have no idea of Tim's location at present. Anyway, Tim announced we would open the East End Gallery and find as many local artists as we could to fill the space. He promised to bring "the crowd up from Fremantle" with extra artworks. Michael's pristine and just finished in the nick of time studio and workshop would serve as a venue for eating, drinking and convivial conversation. We set up a string of trestle tables with mismatching chairs along with a BBQ, a wading pool and Tim's enormous three panelled painting of his property for added drama.

And thus on 19 December 2014, the East End Gallery was born. We were elated, exhausted and overwhelmed all at once. Our building was overflowing with creative souls. My first sale was a chaotic affair as I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing.  Tom de Munk-Kurkmeer pointed out that the Gallery was the entity that was responsible for the commission, rather than the purchaser! I was so bloody green...A thousand pardons, Tom.

Over the next eighteen months, Michael wrangled the rest of the Forbes Building into her current condition. With the help of his XO Gary Schouten, a great deal of colourful language and plenty of hard slog, we were able to extend the Gallery's space to 150 square metres. Finally, in March 2016, Michael declared he's had enough.

Michael's own artistic journey stuttered and stalled from time to time. His own body needed significant renovation due to wear and tear, his collection was haphazardly organised and he lost his mojo on several lengthy occasions. Summoning courage to push his boundaries again and again, Michael has surged into probably the most creative period of his life. Each of his sculptures is showing his progression in skill, technique and imagination. I might add that I have somewhat improved in my role as Front-of-House too...

And we have continued to grow and grow and grow...From our fledgling  wobbles, we now have in excess of 100 artists. We are also so fortunate to have two outstanding artists join us permanently. Rebecca Buglass and her Mum Marion Luck have established Studio 116 within the East End Gallery. Bec is an exquisite jeweller, designer and silversmith and metal creator. Marion is a long-standing painter who is also an experienced teacher and facilitator. Marion's Mum, Lindle, makes intricate earrings and Bec's daughter Ruby is a talented photographer (at 13 years of age). That makes four generations of incredible women all within the East End Gallery. How lucky are we?!

Which finally brings me to our CELEBRATION, to be held on Friday 29 November between 7pm - 9pm. This will be a catered affair with a licensed bar. In addition, there will be a non-alcoholic punch and mineral water. The food will be served on a grazing table with gluten-free and lactose-free items (if required). The entry cost is $10 per person and will entitle you to an initial glass of wine, glass of punch, unlimited mineral water and the grazing table. 

RSVP is required by FRIDAY 22 NOVEMBER. Please let us know NUMBERS AND DIETARY REQUIREMENTS BY 22 NOVEMBER.  

Attendees can let us know through calling Kate on 0414 255 781, through Facebook or by emailing us at - thewifofsif@gmail.com

Above all else, we want our artists to be honoured on 29 November. That means we want our artists to receive remuneration for their spirit, their bravery, their passion and their stories. We have been supporting and promoting our artists for ten years. All of them have a connection to the Wheatbelt, a connection to us, or both.

We have had artists come and go over the last decade. However, a large percentage of our artists have hung in with us, year in, year in. As far as we are aware, there is no other Wheatbelt gallery that has a similar number of artists. Who also support us. 

So, we should not be surprised that the East End Gallery continues to thrive. Maybe not as financially secure  as we would like, but orchestrating our Gallery has never been about the money. Michael, as an award wining sculptor, has always been about the initial idea, the story and the quest. He prides himself on striving for the excellence of his craft, for exquisite detail and for the joy of history that his sculptures portray.

We are looking forward to 2025 and beyond with delighted anticipation. We know we are here to stay for the duration. Join us in this journey, become one of our artists, a guest or supporter, promote the East End Gallery and support our mission by becoming an owner of one of our original artworks.

Thank you.

 
Farm Track - Claudia Woeltjes...

 
Into the Wind - Tich Dixon...

Paintings, cards, glass, eco-printing, pottery and wood...

 
3-D artworks, photography, wood, schist and drawing...

 
Nightwatch - Carollyn Rhodes-Thompson... 

 
Standing Leaf - Laura Probert...

 
Ant and Kittycat - Cam Eggers...

 
Jan George - ewe...
 

Christmas Tree - Cam Eggers with Roberto the artist meerkat...
 
 
Metal art, keyrings, cards, paintings and necklace sets...

 
Earrings and mosaics with felt pods...
 
 
Club chairs with art!

 
Cubes of art...

 
A jalopy, pottery, glass and our Christmas table...

 
Contemplation - John Firth...

 
Earrings - Irene Perry 
Earrings - Daisy Bear
Cards - Alis Starink
Cards - Di Mainwaring

 
Gone Potty's golden mugs

 
Christmas cheer!

 
Cards, a lamp, potty and recycled material...
 
 
Where's George - Sharon Williams...

 
Prints of country, prints of cities... 

 
Michael Sofoulis - Unhinged...

 
More cubes...

 
Some rather grim nursery rhymes - Kerry Scally...

 
Rebecca Buglass...

 
Len Zuks - Bird in Flight... 

 
Lindle's earrings...
 
 
Ruby's photograph...
 

 Marion's paintings...

 
Jane Gates - Jack's Wheatbelt Beans...

 
Ian Kay - Sydney Heads
Daryl Storer - wood-turning...
 
 
Death in Paradise - John Firth
Harry the gecko - Jan George

 
Up Hill, Down Dale - Gracie Courtney
Horse and cart - Doug Whiting

 
Magda is back for a limited time only!