It’s a likeness
OLIVE’S TWENTY FIRST POST
Olive
Hello everyone. Welcome back to my blob. As you probably know, I’m 107 and will be 108 in October.
I don’t see very well so I dont do any of this posting myself. Mike does that.
Also, he drives me around and now I am on my way to have me portrait done.
Mike
Are you nervous?
Olive
Nah! Why should I be nervous?
Mike
Well, maybe it wont turn out well. Make you look a freak or a fright, perhaps.
Olive
She did a bloody good one of you so I’m not worried. Take it as it comes, I say!
Mike
We’re nearly there. Here we are in funky little Patonga.
Olive
He’s been singing in the car, Everyone!
Bonga Bonga Bonga,
I don’t wanna leave Patonga. Oh, a No, No
Binga banga bonga, I just love it it Patonga
and I woooon’t go.Trouble is, he can’t sing in tune, can he?
You have a lovely voice, Katya, by the way.
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Mike
O.K. That’s true… Bong Bonga Bonga….Here we are, Patonga. As quiet as a cat in the sun.
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Gallery ahead, everyone!
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Mike
This is Jocelyn and that’s Robin back there. He’s going to do Katya while she paints you. She’s very fast so we’ll have you home soon after lunch, hopefully
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Olive
I hope it’s not upstairs for the toilet.
Mike
All level sailing!
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Olive
That’s good.
Mike
This place used to be a bakery. That’s why it’s called the Bakeshouse Gallery. They’ve still got the oven there.
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Mike
Here we go, Ollie!
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Olive
Where’s Katya?
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Mike
Robin is drawing her upstairs.
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Mike
In your day in Broken Hill, Ollie, would you’ve gone to a bakery like this to get your bread?
Olive
We mostly made our own.
Mike
But you shopped for groceries. What were the shops like?
Olive
Well, our shop had a a long counter in front of you. And in front of that were sacks with different sorts, grains and so on. And you’d scoop whatever you wanted up, there was a scoop in the sack, and tip it out it into a dish on the scales. That’s to be weighed and then, it would go into a paper bag.
Mike
Nothing was pre-packaged?
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Olive
Of course not, not in the old days. And the money went on a wire. Whizzz! right into the back of the shop, through a hole in the wall.
Mike
To where?
Olive
To a room at the back I guess where they did the countin’. And then whizzz! Back comes the change.
Mike
How did you carry eggs?
Olive
Very carefully. They was well wrapped in paper, I think. But we usually had our own own chooks. And grew our own veggies too!.
Mike
Jocelyn paints great egg shells. I’ll show you later, and great potatoes. You can almost drop ‘em in the pot for a stew.
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Olive
I’ll tell you one thing about chooks which is not widely known. Most people had two fowl houses side by side. That was so you could clean one out and whitewash it whilst yer chooks were in the other.
How’s Katya going?
Mike
I dunno.
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Mike
Tea time, Ollie! Robin makes the most fantastic Ginger biscuits. Wait till you taste these!
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Olive
That is a nice ginger snap.
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Olive
Are there visitors?
Mike
Yeah, these people have walked from Pearl Beach. They’re a bushwalking club. Just having a stickybeak.
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Olive
That’s nice
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Olive
Mike, My bottom’s hurting.
Mike
It won’t be long now. Think of Madam Calmant. That will help.
Olive
Who’s she?
Mike
I told you all about her. She was the 114-year-old French lady I filmed. She lived till 122. She used to say; “I only have one wrinkle and I’m sitting on it.”
Olive
Ha Ha, that’s very good and it’s not dirty, either.
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Mike
It’s looking good, Ollie.
Olive
Really?
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Olive
Gawd! It looks like it could talk to me!
Mike
Bonga, bonga, bonga. I don’ wanna leave Patonga. Oh, no, no!
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Mike. And So we drove home with Ollie to Woy Woy. But on the way, we stopped for a pie at Alex’s shop in Umina, sorry, Ettalong.
You may remember the wonderful pies we ate in the second or third post. Well, what a hiccup that turned out to be.
I was given a $179 fine for dropping Ollie off in a no-parking zone.
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Here’s the place where I parked ever so briefly. You can see it’s marked for parking though the poles say otherwise.
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I just wanted to get Ollie out of the car and into a comfy pie pozzie, and then I’d relocate the car around the corner. But the parking police were too fast for us.
Bam! Gotcha! It’s useless to argue of course. They were quite unimpressed that a 107-year-old lady wanted a pie and had to disembark nearby.
But then, Alex the pie maker appeared…….
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………………..and said; “That’s not right! Nobody’s paying $179 to eat one of my pies!” and he plunked down the plastic. (Our folding cash is all plastic. It’s to get our kids ready for credit cards, I suspect.) …………………………..
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I’m still inclined to go to court and argue the case ‘cos I don’t want to take his $179. But what a headache it will be!
Meanwhile, Ollie loved the pie. She’d worked up quite an apetite.
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Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
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35 Responses to “It’s a likeness”
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May 17th, 2007 at 2:27 am
That’s a good likeness of Miss Olive. Very nice.
Your exchange on the ride to the studio has me thinking that a few short podcast versions of Life of Riley posts might be most interesting.
Perhaps this has been discussed before, but it would make sense since I believe you already record your conversations prior to transcribing them.
Just a thought. Thank you for the updates!
Mike, you are right be we are not up to it yet. Just getting this far, pictures and words has been an effort. I’m going to need help with podcasts. I’m a senior too and way out of my previous comfort zone aleady. Mike the helper.
May 17th, 2007 at 3:34 am
Another great post Olive & what a fabulous picture. Such a great likeness.
Helen, am I allowed to tell that you contacted the BBC and they are curious about Ollie? Thanks for doing that. We’ll see what happens. Mike the helper.
May 17th, 2007 at 7:23 am
What a wonderful, newsy post this is, and I LOVE your portrait, Olive. How nice to have that to live on after you! Sorry about the parking fees, Mike, they ought to have given you a break since you were just depositing Olive.
Maybe the cops will discover the post and be embarrassed. I have some sympathy for them. It’s a terrible job facing angry people all day, folks getting back to their cars 20 seconds too late. At the least they should scrub those seductive lines off the road in front of the pie shop.
The two cops involved would be from the Woy Woy police station if anyone wants to tell them. Mike the helper
May 17th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Great story, Mike and Ollie. You are sorely tempting me to make the trip up the highway to poke around the Central Coast. It looks like you two are having enough fun up there to share it around.
Robyn, be warned I choose the most charming and most funky spots which is Ollie’s taste too. Most places suffer from the usual ugliness. But Patonga is quiet and lovely. You saw the story of the Cockatoo ferry perhaps. That’s lovely too. Plearl beach is also fantastic, and the little hall at Wastaffe, where I show movies once a month, has been beautifully restored.
The beach at Bateau Bay is a National Park and the Avoca theatre which is still with us, despite the nasty expansion plans, should be visited.
They show good movies. There is no other little theatre like it in Australia and somehow we have to convince the owners, who are usually selling tickets and welcoming patrons, that they have a jewel in their hands not a development site.
“Just extensions, that’s all we’re doing,” they say disingenuously. Not true as can be seen from the site below!
http://www.avoca-beach-theatre-story.org.au Mike the helper
May 17th, 2007 at 8:26 am
That portrait was excellent!!! I was thinking the same as Ollie: it really looks like it could talk to her. It’s so real and so well done
Mike, it’s really nice that you give Ollie the chance to see all these wonderful places and enjoy such funny adventures. By the way: sorry for the fee. You know how cops are sometimes. Lots of kisses for you all.
I just spoke to Jocelyn and Robin who dont have a computer and so can’t see their own story on the blog, but who are urging us to fight the fine. So, I think we will. You try to get an old lady a pie and it costs you $179. Ridiculous!. Mike the driver
May 17th, 2007 at 9:29 am
YUm that pie looks good!!! I hope you liked your portrait Olive to me it looked great.
Olive proclaims herself satisfied, Louise. Mike the helper
May 17th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Hello Olive and Mike. Sometimes where commonsense and compassion has gone! That fine is so frustrating. I am impressed with the generosity of the shopkeeper, though. The painting looks great. How did Katya’s portrait turn out? Lynne from Bulli
katya’s turned out well too. Thanks Lynne. Mike the helper
May 17th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Another delightful installment! The portrait was top-notch too. I see Ollie chose a smart blue suit, and Kat a bright scarf. Excellent choices, ladies.
With so many pictures and the casual and irreverent dialogue, it was almost like a real life comic book! Nice work, Mike.
And yes, I’d go ahead and go to “traffic court” if it’s not too late, and describe your scenario to a judge. Your fine can’t be any higher, and you may just get it reduced or dismissed, considering that your brief stop was in the service of Gracious Olive! Maybe you could also obtain a “handicapped badge” to hook onto your rear-view mirror, inside the car, for just such a stop?
(Your folding money is really made of plastic? Guess it can be put through the wash without worry, eh?)
Yes, Robert, our money is a plastic of some sort, unrippable and washable. I think it’s quite a good idea. It does not feel slippery either and seems to move through the fingers no faster than any other currency . We’re definitely going to contest the fine. Mike the driver
May 17th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Dear Olive and Mike the Helper:
I love reading the updates on your “blob”. My grandfather lived to be 98 1/2 years old. I certainly wish blogs and the internet existed while he was still up and active. I hope that your blogging inspires others to document the history of their elder family members and friends in their own native lands.
$179 for a parking ticket to drop a senior citizen off to get a pie? That’s just too harsh. If you set up an “Olive Fund” I will contribute. (I think Paypal does conversions from USD to other currencies.)
Best regards and keep on “blobbing”,
D. Belfiore
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Hi, D. Don’t worry about helping with the fine. We are going to contest it. Olive will be fomidable in court, I’m sure. Mike the helper.
May 17th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Hi, Mike. After I read your answer to D. Belfiore my mood improved positively. Why? I try to figure out the scenario: Ollie complaining in front of judge at the Court. And I try to guess the face of the judge while listening. If it will ever happen please try to have it filmed and I bet the movie will become very popular in Youtube in seconds.
May 17th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Hi Olive and Mike. There’s a great story about this blog in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age today. You can read it at http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/seniors-circuit/2007/05/16/1178995169216.html
Thanks for that info. Etta. And thanks also for a timely reminder. I see your name and remember that in the last post I’ve located Alex’s pie shop in Umina when actually it’s in Ettalong. So, if it wasn’t for you commenting and the amazing co incidence of your name, Etta Long, that error might have remained. many thanks. Mike the helper
May 17th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Hi Olive,
This is the first time i’ve read your blob- i read about you in the green guide article and i have to say you are one incredible lady. In all my 16 years (which hardly sounds like anything at all to you i’d bet) i have never met someone as sharp as you are past the age of 80! i am also super impressed with your tech saviness- ive tried to teach my middle aged mother the computer world and i recon she understands less than you do!
keep up with the blob- i love it!
Nicola
Nicola, So glad you discovered Ollie. She’s not doing the typing herself, you know. What’s amazing is that she’s excited to use this technology to tell her stories of the past and her adventures of today. Also, its hard to get one ’s head around the idea that she was born two centuries ago in 1899. Mike the helper
May 17th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
I loved the portrait Olive and I’m still really enjoying your blob! I think the police should be thoroughly ashamed…..they ought to be honoured that Olive has graced them with her presence! lol! Keep up the good work …..
Karen UK
Thanks, karen, cheer for us in Court. Mike the helper
May 17th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
This blog is beautiful. Congratulations
Hi Azima, thanks for the kind words. Mike the helper.
May 18th, 2007 at 1:17 am
I surely will Mike…..let us know how it goes!
Karen UK
May 18th, 2007 at 2:06 am
Dear Olive,
I, too, am an admirer of your blog! I would love to hear your thoughts on why more older people don’t blog.
(I am doing an MA at Bournemouth University and doing some research on ’silver surfers’ and the web.
Regards,
Liisa
Hi, Liisa. I am thinking about your question ever since one of our readers in the US discovered how old I am, and expressed surprise that I’m so plugged in to blogging. Actually , I’m still very much at my limits everyday but somehow have overcome fear of the computer and it’s manipulation. It’s very much a mind set I think. Once I decided that it was do-able and I would learn, it began to be a lot easier.
Knowing Eric Shacle, who’s the worlds oldest elctronic jounalist most probably at 87, has helped. But Eric professes not to be able to do what I can now do, and has an “I can’t go much further attitude.” I think he’ll probably change that.
I very much enjoy being able to take a photo for instance and know that with a few steps, I can get it (1) out of the camera, s(2) saved into My photos, (3) into photoshop for cropping and color balancing, and then soon afterwards, (4) into a new post on the blog.
But ask me how to wrap text around that same photo, instead if just having text and photo alternating as i now do, and I’m lost again.
Going that extra step seems as mysterious and remote as did the things I now know so well. But, of course the difference is that now I think, “well. that must be easy too actually, just a matter of further learning like before.”
The worst experience is something going wrong, not knowing why and losing loads of confidence in the whole business. But that is happening less and less these days. I seem to be more tuned to the computer’s moods and vagaries. Mike the helper
May 18th, 2007 at 2:07 am
Nice reading as usual, Mike and Olive. Very realistic portraits. What skilled artists they are. I think if I had received such a large fine that I would have left my car there for the rest of the day just to try and get my money’s worth.
By the way…those pies sure do look good. I wish there was some place in Florida where I could get my hands on one of them.
Have a nice day and I’ll be looking forward to the next post.
Eric
May 18th, 2007 at 8:13 am
A very nice portrait and good likeness. Will Katya let you show us hers?
That pie maker was very kind to offer to pay your fine. He definitely deserves a “Gracious Olive” certificate in my opinion.
You should definitely contest that fine. You weren’t parking, just stopping briefly. I think any judge with common sense will see it that way.
Your wishes are our command, Christina. Mike the helper
May 18th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
That portrait is beautiful! As for the parking tkt. I think you should fight it Mike. It is terrible that you can get that tkt when you were just dropping of a 107 yo lady for a pie.
May 18th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Dear Olive and Mike…
Love the portrait of Olive!!
The police should hv been more considerate .. or maybe, they hardly have the chance to issue tickets there, thereby took every opportunity to do so!!
Hats off to the pie maker .. & the pie looks super delicious!! Love this post ..
Have a wonderful day!!
May 18th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
an exceptional beautiful painting Olive,It was like looking into mirror……. And so sorry about the fine, I think you will have “Buckleys” of getting out of it… My daughter is disabled and I did the same thing, basically opened the door for her and the ticket was on the windscreen.
I love the area you talk about, I took my dad to the pie shop last year I think it was his last outing, before he went into a full time nursing Home. He has advanced dementia, had a few strokes and now cannot walk. It is very sad at 80 he is young, compared to Olive..
Keep up with the blobbibg Olive, you have some interesting stories…
May 19th, 2007 at 5:21 am
Dear Olive:
I just wanted to you to know how much I love your blog. You are an inspiration to us all. Particularly loved the photo of you with the portrait (it’s a pretty good portrait, isn’t it? you must be pleased). And it does look like it might talk to back to you.
As for the traffic police, I guess they are the same the world over. Out to make their quota for the day, no doubt.
Will look out for your next post, now I know about you and the blog.
Barbara, from Toronto, Canada
Barbara reports in an email that at first she had trouble leaving a comment. I wonder if others have difficulty too? Thanks for persevering Barbara. Mike the helper.
May 19th, 2007 at 7:29 am
Olive I’m not as old as you but I remember those whizzers that went down the wire at Balls on the corner of Swan and Church Streets Richmond. The containers were filled with money and the bill and whizzed to a lady with red curlers who sat behind a raised counter. She’d empty them, put the change in and then whizz them back. She was like a cartoon character with things flying back and forth to her station. I was a gangly 14 year old then and one day while I was standing there, at the low end, laughing at the lady with red curlers, I forgot to duck and ‘wammo’ right in the head. I think she had a good laugh that day. Lotsa luv Olive.
May 20th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
A wonderful portrait of you, Ollie. Katya’s was pretty good, too.
You must have a wonderful time with those two looking after you..isn’t that lovely?
Oooh aaah, a big parking fine. $179 is a bit steep. Fundraising exercise, you reckon?
Have a wonderful week, Ollie, Mike and Katya.
No, Robyn,the pie man gave us the fine money. I was going to fight it, thinking him to give his money back, right being on our side. But the prospect of going to court……..I just wrote a check. As for the painting. it was back in patonga this afternoon for some touch ups. Jocelyn insisted. Mike, tired of the affair.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:08 am
How delightful to sit for a real portrait and not just a snapshot. The artist’s eye always adds a secret something that a camera cannot capture. Jocelyn did a great job; your portrait has rhythm and energy just like the energy you have, Olive.
Jocelyn has a bit of a tinker/touch up yesterday, Kristen. I’ll post the result tomorrow. Mike the helper
May 21st, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Hello Olive- I am so pleased to have found your blog. It is wonderful that you are taking the time to share your experiences with us both old and new.
Hi Sarcasmom, How do we read that name of yours? Is is short for sarcastic mum? Anyway, thanks for not being sarcastic about our humble efforts. We love doing this for everyone, Ollie and I. Mike the Helper.
May 21st, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Hello Olive & Mike! I am a first time reader and have so enjoyed your travels through Patonga and the painting of your fabulous likeness! This is an utterly charming “blob” and I will be back again and again! Thank you for the smiles!
Thanks for your very kind comments, Melli. I wonder how you found it. Mike the helper
May 22nd, 2007 at 2:12 pm
What a wonderful post! It was great watching the paintings evolve. You must be very pleased with your portrait, Ollie….it’s wonderful.
You made me hungry with the picture of that pie! I love pies!
Thanks, Lee. where do we send the pie? Mike the helper
May 22nd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Hello Mike and Ollie,
Here in the USA, your ‘blob’ was the featured Kim Komando’s Cool Site of the Day a couple months ago. I put it into My Favorites, and check back now and then and catch up from where I leave off.
My father will be 97 in July, and many years ago he and my mother had a best friend named Ollie. He still drives, lives by himself, and loves to play cards, is a voracious reader, and is still sharp like Ollie.
The portrait turned out wonderful! I’m glad that Ollie is feeling better, and that you do this for her Mike. Those approaching 100 and those over, like Ollie, that still are ’sharp as tacks’, need all the mental stimulation they can get to keep them that way, and trips for them to look forward to. Others should be so lucky to have someone like you in their lives, as does Ollie.
Keep up the good job Mike, and best regards to Ollie and your family too.
Sandy-Wisconsin, USA
What a great response, Sandy. Yes, I’m sure Ollie needs and thrives on the stimulation. She spoke about getitig ready to die tonight but in such an amusing way that it was, well, very stimulating. In fact we spoke of so many things that my head spins as what to transcribe of the next post.
Mike the helper. P. S, Best wishes to the old fella, your Dad, I mean. Has he looked at Ollie’s blog. What does he thinK?
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Fantastic!!!
Kind Regards
Thanks, Bernardo. Mike the Helper.
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:26 am
It’s great to see this post! Great portrait..and I just have to go to Australia some day to have a pie!
I would also love to see Olive in court…I’m sure the fine won’t stand up. Good luck challenging it!
Bubba, sorry to disappoint. But I decided to pay. Running the blog for Ollie takes so much time and money too, that I decided to, yes I’ll say it, cut and run. Mike then helper
May 25th, 2007 at 2:29 am
No Mike, my father has not looked at the blog. He only comes over to my house once a month for his hair cut and he finds that the print on the screen is too small for him to see, like Ollie. I’ve not told him about this site, but I will now.
Sandy-Wisconsin, USA
We’ll be interested hear how he reacts, Sandy. Mike the helper
May 27th, 2007 at 7:14 am
I love your blog :)!!
June 24th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
If anyone is interested and would like to know more about Alex and his fantastic pies click here: http://qwert.net/H/19258×133045/9617/a0.htm and more about the beautiful Patonga gallery click here: http://qwert.net/H/120271×14181/9617/a0.htm. I hope the links work but if they don’t go to qwert.net. and have a look around.
Thanks for the research, Simon. Hve not tried them myself as yet. Mike with help from Simon.
January 12th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Hello Olive and Mike,
I just stumbled on your website whilst doing some research for a translation. I loved this account and the photos. The portraits of everyone were great.
Good luck for the future.