11 February 2023

There is always a lot of effort and preparation required to run a Bunnings BBQ. The substantial amount of “kit” needs to be brought out of storage, cleaned and checked. The sausages and bread need to be ordered the week before. Other stock items such as drinks and sauce and napkins need to counted and fresh supplies purchased to bring stock levels up to our required levels. The day before the big event, it all starts to happen.

The onion peelers and cutters move in and set to work preparing the ten kilos of onions. The drinks are put on ice in the eskys, the sausages and bread are collected….

Oops. Despite having confirmed our order, something went wrong at Woolies Kambah; no snags! The people at Woolies were magnificent in their efforts to supply our needs and pulled out all stops, raiding all their available supplies and making sure we were “set”. Thank you all so much.

With the snags safely in the pre-chilled freezer and the bread in the tubs, all that was left was to pack the trailer and car ready for an early start on Saturday.

As promised, Saturday was clear and hot, even by 8am when we sold our first sausage sandwich for the day. Fortunately for all the men who came along and worked tirelessly to provide a great service to the public, selling 800 sausages and heaps of cold drinks, there was a light breeze blowing all day which kept the temperature down in our gazebo. 

Highlight of the day was a change of fare for the workers. In their efforts to fill our order, Woolies had given us some mixed packs which contained hamburger patties was well as sausages. As Bunning has strict rules about what we can sell at the BBQ, naturally the patties became lunch for eight of us. What a great idea! We must keep that in mind for next time.

2nd February 2023

We had a pharmacist from Cooleman Court Pharmacy come to visit for one of our guest speaker sessions. Members had been putting together lists of their prescriptions and questions about those medications for a few weeks prior, so we were well prepared for our guest and looking forward to comments and explanations. As it turned out, the principal pharmacist, Brad, who we had been expecting, was called interstate at the last moment and a brand-new pharmacist, Ash, was given an hours notice that he was “on”. Ash came prepared to talk about prostate cancer, always topical, and was a bit surprised to be handed a bundle of medications and questions. 

Ash handled the situation brilliantly, abandoning his plan and taking up the new challenge, answering all and sundry question with clear and helpful answers. It was fantastic to see so many men taking so much interest in their health and the treatments that they had been prescribed.

Ash must haver felt like a doctor at a party!

Our many thanks to Ash, and to Cooleman Court Pharmacy for providing this very worthwhile service to the members of the Weston Creek Men’s Shed.

26 January 2023

Something new for the Shed; a great idea had been put forward that we celebrate Australia Day with a breakfast BBQ for all members and their better halves. Australia lived up to its reputation weather-wise and turned on the perfect show : bright clear blue skies and lovely warm weather. The cooks turned on a feast of bacon and eggs and buns. Coffee and tea and fruit juices flowed freely and the large gathering all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Some lucky ladies were given a personal guided tour of the premises, the workshop and gardens. All of our ladies enjoyed being included in the event and appreciated gaining some insight into where their blokes get to and what they do in the name of “secret shed business”