Gailan and Zahara part 2
We went fishing at the wharfs in town..I cleaned my fish..but Gailan..uh uh, thats womens job! Huh..and he peeled a couple of dried up fish from the pavement to take back. Well, he got introduced to the aussie way of doing things, including cleaning your own fish! So, we lobbed back, with Gailans not so good attempts at his first ever fish cleanings..his wife Zahara said..they’ve been cleaned!..Thanks, Bill..nope, was him! Well, one stunned ex-Iraqi missus! Eyes wide open, as was her mouth, shake of her head..that was fun!
Upstairs kids were bored..so I decided to bring them home a present..it had been donated to Vinnies, and it..little keyboard organ type affair..found a new home. We..all other tenants in the units, were all starting to think that it may not have been the cleverest of presents..think a cat jumping up and down on piano keys..when they started to find a few tunes..phew!
Zahara was quite the artist..a North Hobart lot held a competition for the neatest tile picture. So they put in five or so duly painted up tiles..spiffy they were, too. Now, girlz and boys, I’m here to say that I don’t remember if she won or not..but I do remember the kerfuffle when the North Hobart lot decided to keep all of their entries😱. Apparantly they got them back..and if you look at a section of pavement in North Hobart, you will see a few painted tiles, presumably the results of that competition in the early nineties.
It was their children that told me when Rebel2 (one of my Black Kitties) was flattened on the road one night…so we buried him in the back yard, with a wee funeral..the kids were impressed!

Twenty years ago, dr google was able to find Gailan..but not so easy now. sigh..Took a lot of digging..google is like that, but eventually found traces. A neighbour in the Blue Mountains wrote about Zahara and her story, and the good times they shared. https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:14365
hit the blue -download the pdf- label…story is on page 131, but search for Gailan or Zahara.
Usually I am careful about names of people in the land of the living; Zahara has passed on, early 2010s, but Gailans whereabouts are a mystery. I hardly think he’d object to this story, however. I of course, am open to correspondence regarding this.