The rainbow never sets

irregular member, but gradually I became more involved and later I took on the convenership of the Kiama group for two years. This slow conversion towards justice in the world went hand in hand with my concern for peace, as I realised that there can be no peace without justice.

I also publicly supported John Kerrin, a local Labor candidate standing for election in the seat of Robertson, which caused some upheaval in the congregation, but I managed to weather the storm.

I soon realised that if I didn't take regular days off, I would never get any time off and I would work myself to the ground. So Mondays were reserved for my own enjoyment and relaxation. The best way to keep away from working was to go outside. There was a large space behind our back fence which looked like another building block. Part of it belonged to our block, the other part also belonged to the church which they wanted to sell. I marked the border where eventually a fence was erected. Our Mark found some weekend work on a chicken farm with Mr. Orange nearby. He gave him an obsolete chicken shed. This was erected along the fence line, with a run towards the side fence. On the opposite side was plenty of ground for a vegetable patch.

I hoed it all myself and found that this hard physical work was a good way of relaxation, apart from achieving some good crops from the garden. Lindsay Clifford, then Principal of Albion Park Primary school, entered into a friendly competition with me, over as to who was going to get the first ripe tomatoes. He usually won by a week or two, and I came first only once. But we always managed to get our first tomatoes before Christmas. Mrs. Duncan gave me some Loganberry plants, which also grew well in my garden. I grew enough vegetables to meet the family's need during the growing period. I loved my Mondays, but quite often my day off was filled by a funeral or some other emergencies. Alison was a wonderful help taking all calls on a Monday, sorting out true emergencies from those which could wait a day.

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While we were still in Indonesia, Gerda had sold our parents' house at Collaroy. Our share had been put into a fixed term deposit with the bank. Unfortunately, by the time we returned from Indonesia, property prices had risen in Sydney to such an extent, that all we could buy with the money was a batchelor flat in North Sydney. It had a lovely view of the harbour, though, and it brought us a regular rent. As we didn't need the money we could make plans for the future. With four children growing up we wanted to have something more substantial to give them for the time when they wanted to launch out by themselves. I didn't trust banks and life insurance companies, as all they were interested in was making profits for themselves. We decided that property in Sydney would be the best

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