Melbourne Pettys- Feb 2011

Went to a surprise birthday for Alyce Dudfield, back to school, Shelly Wilson gets married, Christchurch earthquake

On Friday the fourth our family was invited to a surprise eighteenth birthday party for Alyce Dudfield at the Eltham chapel. We all had to get there before seven thirty and then she was brought up under some pretence. She wondered what everyone was doing there and was very surprised. When she walked in she didn’t know what to say and looked like a deer in the headlights. We all had a good time, Vern, Marion and Carmen had basketball games to go to so they left early. Later on we took Kelsea home to Epping then on the way home after a hot humid day the heavens opened and it poured. It was hard to see driving home and the roads turned into rivers. There was a fair bit of flooding around Melbourne that night but we were ok.

Everyone was back at school and seminary on the seventh and in some ways I am happy to get back into the routine. Although it only lasted a day because after school the next day Calvin and Carmen went to St Kilda to watch a band they like ‘Two Door Cinema Club’ how’s that for a name. The tram to St Kilda is the same one that comes up here so I just had to pick them up at the end of the line.

On the eleventh Shelly Wilson got married to Awatia Croft from Perth. I took the day off and attended the sealing with Vernice. Afterwards we went to Jells Park for photos then back to the Asian Buffet on Burwood Highway. It all went very well, there was heavy rain on the way to the Temple but it stopped long enough for the photos.

The next day was the start of our Stake Conference. There was a training broadcast Saturday afternoon and then the normal session that evening that I spoke at. The next day was a broadcast to all the Stakes in Australia and PNG so we didn’t have much to do. It was good and for the most part the children were listening which was even better.

I told Rod Payne who is our Home Teacher about the bees moving into my bird box. He is a Bee Keeper and he suggested making a beehive. Then at night move my bird box to the front yard and put the new hive up in the tree in its place. When the bees wake up in the morning they will home in on the new hive and vacate the bird box. Austin and I made a new hive then when it got dark I covered the bird box in netting and moved it. The bees weren’t happy I could hear them buzzing away inside the netting when I moved it. It was a lot heavier than when I made it and climbing trees and moving was tricky in the dark. Church was the next day so when I got home I was looking forward to the results. Yes there were plenty of bees around the new hive and still more remained in the old.

On the twenty second there was another big earthquake in Christchurch. This time it was during the day and over a hundred people lost their lives. I got Vern to ring Dad to see if the Christchurch Petty’s were ok. They were fine but Nan was on her way down there to her plane was diverted to Queenstown were she stayed the night and got to Christchurch the next day.

Update on the bees - I moved the hive around to the back and had to kill the bees since both Vern and Austin are allergic to bee stings. I didn’t do too well covering the hive this time and so some got out and when I sprayed them they really got agitated and I got sung on the arm. There were a lot of bees and when I got the roof off the hive I found out why it was so heavy, it was filled with honey comb. I took some inside and we had honey on toast.

We had out post EFY youth fireside at the Stake Centre on the twenty seventh. It was for the six Stakes and the place was packed. It really had a positive impact on the youth and changed a lot of lives. The fireside was good however Elder Hoare wanted a supper so that was a logistical challenge and we didn’t get out of there under 10.30 due to a big clean up.