Hello All. 15 of us turned up this morning and it was fine and 20 degrees but sadly not a drop of rain over the past week. However, the Walk is looking good, green and lush. No mowing was required Rod Wyatt raked the few leaves on Diggers Rest and around the Contemplation Building while Mick V and Allan Wayne attended to the blowing along the paths and surrounds.
I declared it a “Look and Fix” day: that is if it looks wrong or needs attention fix it. Then along came Ted with an idea for the morning. Following is part of his memo to me this afternoon:
“Today, we took the necessary action to remove the Golden Penda hedge (eight trees in 12 metres) because their root invasion was undermining the foundations of the northern end of the Contemplation Building. This photo show the team at work completion: Rod Newham on chain saw, Ted Chitham his assistant, Alan Wayne and Mick van Burgh rubbish loaders and Ken Cupples rubbish removal driver.”
Work will continue next week to remove the stumps/roots and prepare the bed for planting a Rosemary hedge at waist height.”
Rod N was as happy as Larry with his chain saw at the ready and away they went and away went the Golden Pendas and good riddance. As Ted said the root system is destructive.
While all this was happening others attended to their duties. Bob Kyte towed the poison trailer (that Peter Brennan had acquired) and poisoned all the weeds amongst the trees and plaques. It is a great bit of kit with its own pressure pump and can be towed behind a small tractor. Bob had the whole Walk done in a couple of hours. Another reason why we want to buy machinery that helps us. No carrying a 10 litre back pack and one fill up is enough for the job. Just like Norm’s whipper snipper, it suited him, he knows how to use it, and was hard at it again today.
Ken Falvey and Dan Penman were each involved in their own areas and are doing a great job. You would think by looking that these areas had been there for years.
Ted has mentioned the boys in the photos and they certainly earned their pay today. Rod and I thought that we would be back next week to finish off the Pendas but thanks to all the job is done except for carting away some more cuttings.
Derek has got the Contemplation Building under control and it is super clean.
Trevor P, Paul S, Louis and of course, Mal, achieved whatever in the RARME Sheds.
See more photos from today’s activities here
All in all it was a productive time and, as usual a day full of chiacking and taking the p… out of each other over the aussie meaning of the word phlegmatic as a descriptor of a certain Dads’ Army member – no names no pack drills. In the Army we call chiacking camaraderie and we love it.
People, if you read the papers and listen to the news you know as much as I do of what is happening in the world of COVID 19 and especially to our little corner at DA. We have no formal directives from Comd. We have had to cancel a couple of visitor activities because of the social distance rule (impossible in a small bus).
As to ANZAC Day, we all know that Remembrance Services have been cancelled and no doubt that will apply within Gallipoli Barracks. Ted and I have had a quiet chat and we thought as a last measure that he and I will meet at dawn at the RAR Memorial Place (The Golden Soldiers) at Ferguson Park, Samford Road Enoggera and lay a wreath or two for our heroes. If anyone from DA would like to join us you are more than welcome. IT WILL NOT BE A FORMAL PUBLIC SERVICE just a VETERANS PRIVATE SERVICE with a bunch of RAR mates having a quiet gunfire cuppa and a remembrance chat at the park. Of course we will adhere to the current rules of social separation distance between people 1.5m and the limitation on numbers attending.
Till next time count your blessings and look after each other
Dave McDonald
Acting Manager NMW