Heavenly Beverley : The Long And Winding Road...

This is the story of us.

Happy and sad, the expected and the unexpected, extraordinary, infuriating, surprising and always different. And embark on our next adventure.

In 2025, Monday evenings usually begin with "Australian Story" at eight o'clock on the ABC. Most of the time, the show follows ordinary people who may face quite unforeseen challenges. There is not always a happy ending for those portrayed. However, there is often a dogged resilience in these people and, occasionally, with persistence and sheer force of will, they do indeed, triumph over adversary.

This week's "Australian Story" followed a couple who met through an online grief and loss support group for those who had lost their partners through sudden death. Laura and Col were not looking for love; they just embraced the chance to share their experience with somebody else who instantly understood their situation.

Then, they fell in love.

How soon is too soon to find love again after the loss of a partner? Col and Laura began their relationship nine months after Col's wife Sheree had died. He and Laura explained this issue beautifully "Love can co-exist"...

They continue to revere the partners they have lost, live on acreage together and have successfully integrated Laura's daughter with Col's sons. Recently, they welcomed their own baby boy.

Their previous partners, Sheree and Laura's husband Stuart are seamlessly part of all their lives. However, Col recognises his decision to begin his relationship with Laura lost him friends, who were unable or unwilling to understand his journey.

This was Michael's story.

He began a relationship with me, six months after his wife Joan had died. He was terribly lonely and searching for companionship without judgement. His children and some friends completely rejected him when we became a couple.

I had come from a background of being abandoned or abandoning. I was rejected by my mother on multiple occasions, not for hours or days, but years. My darling Dad abandoned me (and my brothers) by never protecting any of us from her. And I stayed in a very bad marriage (for both of us) because I didn't want to abandon my then husband. All I ever wanted was "the happy ending".

This was my story.

Almost sixteen years ago, like two orphans, we found each other. I tried to facilitate reconciliation with all four of Michael's children but they have never been interested. He has five grandchildren he has never seen. Although we are so fortunate to have my boys, Callum and Alex, Cal's gorgeous wife Bronwyn and our two divine grandies, Imogen and Violet, they are Michael's his flesh and blood. Their existence in our lives is absolutely wonderful, but there is a constant sadness that is ever present in Michael's psyche.

As we began our long and winding road together in 2009, we would snatch short interludes when we were both free. Because I was forbidden to come to Michael's house by his children (with whom he was desperately trying to maintain a relationship), we would meet at a park close by and share a bottle of wine whilst watching the dogs gallop around on the grass. He would spend a few nights a week at my house, which caused further friction with his children. After a Christmas apart and a bout of bronchitis, Ruby his Beagle arrived to live with my dinky little duplex. When his health collapsed after a year, he moved in with me and we have never spent more than a day or two away from each other.

Arriving in Heavenly Beverley in January 2011, Michael slowly began to heal, as much as PTSD allows. First, we had the project of renovating the House that Rocks and planting half an acre of garden. Then came the acquisition of the Forbes Building, followed by four and a half years of a lot of sweat, some blood, a few tears and the odd tantrum. With absolutely no plan, the concept of the East End Gallery evolved into a glorious reality. The final piece of this path was building Station House with our jungle courtyard, van Gogh colours and Dory the fish emblazoned on the front wall.

There have been a few changings of the guard. Ruby the Beagle, Sascha the Weimararner and Pip the Jack Russell are all playing happily in that big doggy oval somewhere in the universe. Ruby and Suey, the fickle fairweather felines are probably ignoring each other and preening to whomever is passing by.

Dogs Stella Bella and Lexi Pooh, with Chop the cat and Red the parrot, all hold court at Station House. We can't imagine what life would be without them but we know that we may potentially outlive our current crop of furry and feathered babies.There may be other canines and felines in our lives, as we have every intention of being in Station House for as long as possible.

Our plans for 2025?

Michael's head is filled with endless possibilities for new sculptures. His latest piece, CAST Away, sold after only a few weeks and he is close to finishing his next work. When he is creating, his intensity is incredible to watch. His mind and body are one with his entire artistic focus narrowed to the objects in front of him. He usually plans each sculpture within the confines of his brain and uses a high table to finalise the arrangement. His skill in knowing when the balance is right, both in weight and in the number of artifacts, is truly a joy to observe. For him - "less is more" remains the mantra of his art.

We are staying put this year, delaying our next adventure to the North West for 2026. So, we will spend a whole winter in Heavenly Beverley. If you come to Station House during a cold spell, be prepared to remove most of your clothes as you enter, because we dislike temperatures below twenty five degrees...

There will also probably be some form of surgery for me during 2025. My hole in the heart is rather similar to our Italian dishwasher, Fabio, who works only when he pleases. Usually not more than two nights in a row. My ASD (Atrial Septal Defect) had been as silent as a mouse for over sixty years. Come COVID and I developed Small Airways Disease (SAD) as a consequence. I believe this change was the trigger for the ASD to finally awaken, which then caused the Pulmonary Hypertension to emerge. Over the last seventeen months, I have lost fitness, become fatter, tire easily and am breathless to some degree all the time. I hope this problem ASD is closed fairly soon, as the size may be relatively small but the bastard has been packing a sizable punch.

That is my focus at the moment. I want to get better. I want to be able to walk the dogs, fossick with my beloved Michael and have energy to be the best Front-of-House I can be in the East End Gallery We want to return to the magic of the Goldfields in spring. I want to free Michael of all other distractions so he can give full rein to his sculptures and the stories they tell. Maybe, just maybe, I will finally self publish our book.

Oh, the possibilities!