A Perfect Day

One Perfect Day

I have taken my time deciding the final resting place for my husband Jamie's ashes.  Twelve months is as long as they should reside in my Walk in Robe where they have been since I brought them home. There were times over the past year when I felt Jamie gently chiding me for keeping him cooped up when his naturally gregarious nature made it essential that his final destination should be in a place where people gather and enjoy themselves.
Over summer the Australian cricketers have been playing against England for the Ashes.  My Jamie was always an avid cricket follower; and in all the 34 years that I knew him he never missed watching a game.  He was always fair and wanted the best team to win, although I'm sure that he secretly wanted the West Indies to win when they were playing.  As I followed the cricket this summer it evoked memories for me of times gone by and I began to wonder if perhaps we could steal into the WACA (Western Australian Cricket Association), grounds and surreptitiously spread Jamie' ashes on the cricket pitch.  Obviously this was not one of my best plans and I dismissed it.

Then a friend of ours from Guyana, Jamie's home country suggested I write to the WACA and as permission to spread the ashes on their grounds.  To my great surprise and delight I received a reply from the Acting Turf Manager saying, yes, they would be more than happy for me to spread Jamie's ashes in one of their rose gardens.

Finally the day arrived Tuesday 14th January. Helen who is the wife of the man who suggested I contact the WACA and I started off early in the morning for our trip to Perth and the cricket grounds.  The whole day was filled with so many miracle moments it took our breath away.  It was as if God was saying 'I have planned this day for the two of you'.
We didn't plan our journey, however as it turned out it could not have worked out better.  Helen drove us to the Train Station where we found plenty of parking space and were able to walk straight on to a waiting train.
On arrival in Perth we had time to enjoy a sumptuous meal at the David Jones Food Hall.  Not called food court because it's meant to be a little more upmarket.  It truly was upmarket with delightful food and a variety of choices.

When we arrived at the WACA we received a warm welcome from Ros, the Admin person extraordinaire.  Initially her plan had been to show us the Rose gardens and then leave us there as she had a Meeting to attend.  However, Ros willingly spent a longer time with us, showing us around the WACA grounds  and then to the Rose Gardens so we could choose the place we thought would best suit.  Ros even took photographs for us and then before she left she held up the Urn and said, 'we welcome James to the Rose Garden at the WACA'  This was so moving and totally unexpected.  We also met completely by accident, Matt the person who had initially responded to my email.  If we had been five minutes earlier or later we would have missed him.

The Rose Gardens are situated along the Player's Walking Path, which is used by the players to when they walk from their rooms to the cricket pitch for practice.  There was a gentle breeze and it seemed to carry with it the whispering of bygone days and yet a whisper of the future and hope.  On T.V. they often show this part of the Gardens when the Commentators are doing interviews and in the background can be seen the cricketers at play.

Helen and I found a lovely red rose bush, knowing that Jamie loved his red roses.  Then I noticed a yellow rose bush in full bloom.  I remembered that Jamie loved the song 'Eighteen Yellow Roses' and had his Carer's play it often.  So Helen and I decided that it should be the red and yellow rose bush where we finally laid the ashes and Jamie to rest.

I dug a hole with a spoon I had brought from home and placed the ashes there.  As I dug I thought I could perhaps have been dressed more appropriately for digging holes and pouring in ashes with a soup spoon. Still, I felt a sense of peace and felt that somehow Jamie knew what we were doing and was happy.  He was in a place where people gathered and enjoyed themselves and where cricketers would be walking past every time they had a game on.
When we left the Grounds we walked toward a bus stop and found the Bus Driver was waiting for us having seen us walking toward him.

Once we arrived in Perth we found we were unable to go the normal way to reach our train station.  It had been blocked off because they are making changes to the Underground, so we had to turn into WILLIAM STREET and passed JAMIE OLIVER'S Restaurant, this wouldn't have happened had we been able to go the usual way to the station.  Was this serendipity, to be reminded of our Jamie Oliver WILIAMS we are not sure, but both Helen and I felt that Jamie was approving our venture and we were both so filled with wonder and delight with what this perfect day have presented to us.
Helen reminded me that today was the birthday of another Jamie she knows so she will never forget this date.  She is also a great Mahjong player and I don't think she ever missed her weekly game and yet she willingly gave that up to come with me to the WACA.

Today was a day of reminiscing peppered with plenty of laughter and enjoying true friendship. I will remember it as a time when we finally placed Jamie's ashes in a place he loved.  With so many incidents that happened during the day we could almost imagine him with his cheeky grin saying, 'Well done girls, I'm proud of you.'
Tonight I received an online magazine and the title of one of the issues was WHO WILL SCATTER YOUR ASHES.  I can only hope that whoever that will be feels some of what this glorious day has been for us.

Day Two

Margaret River Surfing

DAY TWO

I arose to birds singing and a couple of sheep baaing.  Have a quick stroll around the property, and admire the tall Karri trees surrounding the grounds.Not to photograph at the moment so I left Rentia to make breakfast. She makes us  a lovely meal of bacon and eggs and coffee.

We sit  outside on the verandah for awhile, feeling the warmth of the sun on our backs, hearing the Kookaburra laughing watching the Jacki Winter flying and trilling from his branch, we make several attempts  to take  a photo but he flies away speedily as soon as we approach.. Rentia looks through her bird book  so we areable to look up what the bird with the black bill and black eye liner is called.   In the distance cars are travelling or turning in from Caves Road. For a moment there is silence then the cacophony of sounds start up again.

After breakfast we find  we have locked ourselves out of the house and I ask the land lady to come and let us back in to the house.  She doesn't want to leave us a spare key so she walks over to the cottage with me. I go inside and Rentia is met with a barrage of questions from our hostess. Finally we escape to set off on our holiday adventure  exploring  the wineries and the beaches which this region is  famous for.
First stop is  Xanadu, a pleasant winery with restaurant.  After a brief stop we move on to Redgate where we find we are the only visitors. Only one woman is serving and she is constantly being called on to answer the phone, welcome other visitors and assist with the wine tasting. We decide we probably wont go back there.

Following the Winery visits stop and being fortified we drive to Prevelly Park and follow the coast line as far as we can. We watch and photograph a group of surfers catching the breaks far out in the ocean, and discover the family beach  with its own special allure. Glennys considers a dip in the ocean but finds she has a whoos of a companion with her on the day.
We drive past a gracious little old church at Prevelly and then we are on our way to Gracetown  We walk under a canopy of trees and visit the memorial for the collapsed cliff victims, at the same time talking and eating our fast melting ice creams.

Then off to the last and the most impressive winery at Laurance Estate.
We meet lovely and friendly staff as well as the Owner.We gaze at the Chandeliers made of made of many wine glasses.  After a quick but memorable visits to the  toilets we walk outside and visit the lovely  rose gardens, olive trees, and water fountain with cascading flowers.

After a simply gorgeous day with Rentia doing all the hard work driving again we set off for Smith's Beach.
As we drive past the entrance I note the unit Jamie and I had stayed in, it was a surprise birthday present for him when he turned 60.

Sunset on Smith's Beach

Smith's beach is wide and long.  The sand as on all our beaches is soft and white. The day has been hot and it is still warm even though it is  late in the afternoon so there is a second top up of sun cream for both of us.
A family arrived with a dog which obviously knew its way  around and wasn't going to be kept back waiting for it's owners.  It rushes hastily past us and runs a kilometre along the beach, swimming and enjoying the crowd.
We see a lovely young couple on the beach and discover she is from France and he is from Sydney.  They had a towel wrapped around themselves and were holding each other in a soft warm embrace.  It is a moment suspended in time, a moment that wont be repeated so  Rentia takes  a lovely shot of them.  They were happy for her to send them a copy as a memory of a perfect day.

Back  home to relax over a Wild Turkey then Rentia cooks another tasty meal. Squash with fresh thyme and lemon drizzled over it, onion cheese tomato and cous cous.

After dinner Rentia finds an enormous huntsman spider on the ceiling.  Guess who stood on a chair and caught it and took it outside to the sound of Rentia calling 'you will fall be careful' and 'it might be dangerous, don't get bitten.'

Later on in the evening, we find a cockroach which wasn't so easy to catch, mainly because I can't stand the sight of them and don't ever want to go near them. This time it is Rentia's turn to remove it.

 I am happy to report Rentia moves from her bed on the floor and we both spend a comfortable last night.  Early in the morning we pack up the car and head for home. With happy memories and many photographs.