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By Greg SPOILER ALERT: There WILL be more… This month marks two years since I started the TrennaMahney.com website. I have loved doing it. It has reminded me of so many events, incidents, feelings, from my time with Trenna. The stories Trenna and I have told and the records I have published have allowed me to relive so many experiences. And it has helped me to reflect on just how lucky we were to find each other and to spend what we considered a long time together. But lately I have found it harder to find the time and energy… Read more: Two Years of Writing About Life, Love and Loss

Regular readers: I’m sorry this one has taken so long to appear. The website was broken and I was having trouble fixing it. I’m not sure why it is working now, but, on with the story… To the Operating Room It was maybe 8pm by the time we got word that Andrew Hodge was on his way. The team of doctors and nurses that were now constantly surrounding Trenna started moving her bed to the lifts to take her to the OR. I tagged along. We went to whatever floor it was and everyone halted in a sort of anteroom… Read more: Trenna’s Heart Valve Replacement – Part 2

By Greg I thought some readers of this site may find this story interesting. In it I tell you about Trenna’s surgery to have her aortic heart valve and ascending aorta replaced. I intended it to be a stand alone story, but it turns out the memories of those times are still pretty clear in my mind, and a lot happened, so, here is Part 1 of what has turned out to be a two part story of medical success – and medical misadventure. CAUTION: If you or someone you know is facing this sort of operation and you are… Read more: Trenna’s Heart Valve Replacement – Part 1

By us both Introduction Trenna and I liked to record information about our holidays. Below is the travel diary Trenna kept on her iPad of a trip to the North Island of New Zealand from 11 November 2016 to 22 November 2016. The only time we went there, and our last overseas trip together. It was a trip that turned out like nothing we were expecting, due to an untimely and devastating earthquake. I have written a brief account of that part of the trip HERE. Trenna has obviously used the voice typing facility on her iPad to do the… Read more: New Zealand North Island – Tren’s Travel Diary

By Greg Being a carer can be like being on a roller coaster, it can be fun, and thrilling, and downright scary. Sometimes it’s all those things at once. And once you are on it it can be very hard to get off. But then again, sometimes you don’t want to get off, you just want it to go on and on as long as possible. In this Post I will try to pass on some of my experience gained from many years as a carer. To be clear, I am using the term “carer” to mean an unpaid person… Read more: Carer things that worked for Greg – the good, the bad and the ugly

Special Note: I had this Post finished and ready to publish on 21 December 2023. And then the tragic news of a mass shooting in Prague came through. I have therefore held back the story for a couple of weeks out of respect for the people who lost their life. 23 May – 4 June 2012 PRAGUE Wed, 30 May 2012 17:35:16 +0200 Hi Nance and Barb, Hope all goes well with u both. We have been in Prague now since last Thursday.  It took 30 hours to get here. Horrid! We arrived mid morning so were able to do… Read more: We’ll Always Have Prague – and the China Lady on the Wall

Mainly by Trenna Brief Intro As I am writing this it is my birthday. 66 today. 66! Back in 1998 Trenna, as usual gave me a birthday card, and in it was a poem she had written for the occasion. I really appreciated the effort she put into it. Just for some context, we both turned 41 in that year, Trenna a few months before me. We would have been married 9 years by then, and we were living in our Kensington house. If you decide to read it you will see it has plenty of private jokes. I’ve decided… Read more: An “OWED”

Photos played a very big part in Trenna’s life, especially in later years as her mobility decreased. She spent hundreds of hours sorting, scanning, dating and captioning photos stretching back to her very earliest days. I therefore take quite a bit of time and care in choosing the photos I use on the site. Below is a gallery of all the photos I have used so far. I have also created a page that displays all those photos. You should be able to find that page using the menus at the top or the bottom of any page on the… Read more: All Photos Published on the TrennaMahney.com Website

Scene Setting by Greg, Then an Extract From Trenna’s Gardening Diary Introduction This post is just a bit of whimsy This post is just a bit of whimsy I have decided to do on the spur of the moment. Today (16th December 2023) is one week before the third anniversary of Trenna passing away. And of course Christmas is approaching and a few days after that will be my birthday. It is a time of mixed emotions. Don’t get me wrong, at this time I’m handling it just fine, but I have just read something that has caused me to… Read more: 24 Years Ago in our Garden

by Greg The holiday season is upon us, so I thought I’d do an entertaining friends post. Lunch Trenna absolutely loved mixing with people, and she loved good food. And lunch time was the ideal socialising time for her. First thing in the morning she was often stiff and/or sore from the night, and her morning drugs had not had time to take effect. In the evening she was often exhausted from the activities of the day. Lunch time though, that was a sweet spot. Several year ago Trenna devised a way of entertaining friends over a meal that was… Read more: How to Stage a Trenna Lunch – with recipes

What’s On This Page At the end of each Post on this web site there is an opportunity to make a comment. I love it when people do and the comments stay attached to that particular post. That usually works well, but if you have read a Post you probably won’t come back to it so you will miss any comments that are made after that time. Often commenters/commentators have been able to add extra information or correct something I got wrong (is that even possible??). Also, occasionally people make general comments about the site, about Trenna or about me.… Read more: Everyone’s Got an Opinion

Intro by Greg, the rest by Tren Introduction Below are Trenna’s notes of a 4 day break we had in 2015. We had booked a house just outside the small but delightful town of Bridgetown, in the South West corner of Western Australia. It is about a 3 hour drive from our place. Oh, and Bridgetown can be cold! I’ll tell you up front that the story is not a remarkable one. It reminds me of a Japanese movie or novel. There are people in it, and they do moderately interesting things, but there is no real climax. But the… Read more: A Few Days in Bridgetown – 2015

by Greg Introduction (I’m back, a psychological insight, and spiders holding back Australian tourism!) Regular readers will know that I have recently returned from a holiday. I went to the UK, with a side trip to Budapest. The whole trip was great. Whilst away I checked and approved comments submitted to the website, but didn’t write any new posts. That worked fine, my spirits were high and I was busy every day. I also kept a bit of a journal of the trip so I was getting a writing fix most days. However, as I start writing this post I… Read more: Kangaroos Having Fun

Why There Haven’t Been Any New Stories Lately I am very conscious that I haven’t added a post to this website for a couple of weeks.  This is very unusual.  Since I created the website 19 months ago I’ve contributed every week, and on average about two posts per week. So What’s Happened? As I have written previously (for example, HERE), the TrennaMahney.com website serves many purposes.  One of those is to help me in the grieving process.  Grief is such a weird thing, absolutely non-linear, and quite unpredictable. By writing stories of Trenna I have kept her to the… Read more: Writer’s Block

By Greg This story took me longer to write than perhaps any other, but it was a tale I wanted to tell. Thinking About Trenna Trenna’s birthday has recently passed so obviously I started thinking about her. One thing that came to mind was the time she spent with our neighbour Terry, near the end of Terry’s life. Terry Terry, her husband Neil, and their young son Jason moved into the house on the corner, two doors up from us many years ago. Apart from the occasional “G’day” as we walked past each other’s houses we really didn’t have much… Read more: The Craft Group and Caring for Terry

It looks like Tren created this document on Saturday, 18 October 2014. She last altered it on Wednesday, 23 December 2015. Introduction As 1991 dawned we were just starting to enjoy our renovated house, with a new, modern kitchen, new bedroom, an up-market bathroom and best of all an inside toilet! We had been married a bit over a year… 1991 REFERENCE SOURCES Our meal calendarOur memoriesPhotos from Family + friends.Greg’s work diary’sMy personal diaryMy gardening diaryDates we purchased itemsMedical visit & procedure dates JANUARY 91 Thur 10/1 – Meeting with builder Nevis Brooks.GM in 2023: This was an early meeting… Read more: 1991

Letter by Tren, Intro and Background by Greg First, Some Background If you read The Kitchen Tapes series on this website you will find out a lot about Trenna, including that she experienced quite a lot of bullying at high school, primarily because she looked different to other people. Her thick, coke-bottle glasses didn’t help at all. Then in 1974, when Trenna was 17 years of age, Optometrist Nick Humphry prescribed some rigid (hard) contact lenses and they transformed her appearance, her self esteem, and her life. Trenna was forever grateful to Nick for those lenses, and she kept coming… Read more: Thank You & Au Revoir Nick

By Greg You may have noticed that we have just passed the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop. It wasn’t an anniversary that was on my radar, in fact, neither Trenna or I were big fans of hip-hop. We didn’t dislike it, it was just that there was a lot of other music around. That is until hot one afternoon in December 2013. Perth International Arts Festival Each year Perth has an international festival. And each year I look at the extensive programme that is printed, I’m sure at great expense, and which finds its way into my letterbox.… Read more: Trenna & Public Enemy – 50 years of hip-hop

The name on the file was “Bronchitis” but it was so much more than that. Trenna died nearly three years ago and, maybe as a coping mechanism, I have been enjoying telling people of her achievements and of events in her life. She did a lot. But occasionally I remember something, or I see something that reminds me of what she went through, and how at times it was so, so hard for her. I recently saw a file on her iPad that was named “Bronchitis”. I was expecting it to have perhaps a few notes about the condition, treatments… Read more: Chronic Illness – The Straws Accumulate

Trenna’s Diary Summaries From Her iPad (with photos) Intro and extra clarifications by Greg, the rest by Tren As I’ve said previously … In Trenna’s iPad she has written summaries of each year. As you will see from what she has written she has gleaned the information retrospectively from a wide range of sources.As I reproduce them on this site I’ll take the opportunity to clarify and expand on some of the stories. Trenna wrote these summaries (and there are many of them) to help her and I recall our many experiences. It was probably another preparation she was making to… Read more: 1990

By Greg Trenna Helps Greg’s Dad Write His Autobiography The FREE e-book I refer to is a copy of the autobiography Jack’s Luck by Jack Mahney (written with assistance from Trenna). There is a download link to it at the bottom of the page. The Tale Begins Some time around early 1997 my parents lived in a retirement village and on a weekend we would often visit them. It was nice place with plenty of gardens and lots of people to talk to. Mum and Dad liked it there. We were in the lounge room of their small self contained… Read more: Jack’s Luck (and a FREE e-book!)

By Greg My four-part series on The Earliest Days of Trenna AND Greg received a lot of positive feedback, so I thought I would follow it up with the tale of how we got engaged and then married. Well, actually it didn’t really get much feedback, but I liked it, so wanted to tell the rest of the story. You can also read a little about it in the post The Newlywed Diary. There are tales to tell in between when we first met and when we married, but for now, I’ll be taking you down the aisle – well,… Read more: Engagement and Wedding

By Greg Slim We were always going to feel a little uncomfortable in this environment. But I felt it was something we had to do – and Trenna was prepared to go along to prove that I was wrong! It was a Slim Dusty concert at the Perth Concert Hall. I cast my mind back to our house a month or two earlier. “Hey, Tren. Slim Dusty is doing a concert at the Concert Hall”. “So?” Those two letters were shorthand for, “so, what on EARTH has that got to do with me?” I knew that is what she meant,… Read more: Eric Bogle and Slim Dusty – Two Concerts We Remembered

This is the second in a series of posts which reproduce from Trenna’s iPad her summaries of years. The first in the series is here. She has left out a few months, which was probably just a case of her not being able to get around to finishing it. I have taken the liberty of adding a few bits and some photos. Trenna’s Words and Greg’s Comments 1989 REFERENCE SOURCES: Our meal calendar Our memories  Photos from Family + friends. Greg’s work diaries My personal diary My gardening diary Dates we purchased items Medical visit & procedure dates FEBRUARY 89… Read more: 1989

By Greg This post has a connection to the Menu Diaries series.  If you aren’t familiar with the series, a good place to start would be HERE.Some of the items and practices I discuss here are mentioned in the series of posts in which I explain some of the mechanisms Trenna used to cope with her Marfan’s Syndrome. That series starts here. Introduction As I have explained a few times, meals and their preparation were central to Trenna’s very being.  I suspect that sounds a bit over the top, a bit pretentious, but, I think it’s true.  For most of… Read more: Tales From Trenna’s Kitchen

A Darwin Letters Extra If you haven’t read The Darwin Letters yet, what are you doing here? The Darwin Letters start here. Introduction Once Trenna arrived in Darwin it became apparent quite quickly that she wanted to write to family and friends to tell them of how different it was to Perth, and to tell of the adventures we had undertaken. These days you would use Socials to get the word out, but of course in 1994 that wasn’t an option. At first she thought she could use our PC to write and print a newsletter to post to people… Read more: Funny and/or Clever Newsletter Titles

September 1993 Indian Banquet Wednesday 1 September. We started the month with one of Trenna’s Indian (mini) banquets. Lamb Kheema, Brinjal Bartha, Mango Chutney, Basmati Rice, Papadums. An excellent meal that Trenna describes as “Really fab! [I] put extra spices in [the] Kheema.” We had it again on the Friday and Tren was still raving about it. Kheema is a very simple dish using minced (ground) lamb or beef. As it has some “greens” in it (you add frozen peas towards the end of the cooking) we sometimes had it just with basmati rice and papadums. But that wasn’t the… Read more: The Menu Diaries No. 19

More Details Arising From The Kitchen Tapes Intro by Greg, Lyrics by Trenna Introduction Trenna had quite a nice study desk when I first met her in 1987. It was very solid, and had one of those inlays on the desk top that look like green leather. It has three drawers on either side, and it is solid. It was one she bought new, so it is no antique, but it is still a nice piece. It made it’s way to Kensington when Trenna moved in with me, and I still use it today. In the left hand top drawer… Read more: The Mill Point Road Song Lyrics

Introduction In Trenna’s iPad she has written summaries of each year. As you will see from what she has written she has gleaned the information retrospectively from a wide range of sources. As I reproduce them on this site I’ll take the opportunity to clarify and expand on some of the stories. Trenna wrote these summaries (and there are many of them) to help her and I recall our many experiences. It was probably another preparation she was making to tell her story, or knowing her, making it easier for me to tell her story. I have pasted below her… Read more: 1988

Life in 500 Words – 4 Minutes of Fame for Trenna & Greg Note: The recordings I refer to in this piece formed The Kitchen Tapes series. It starts HERE. Introduction The ABC is Australia’s national media and broadcasting service. And on the ABC Radio National station on weekday mornings the Life Matters show has been running an interesting segment entitled Life in 500 Words. I have listened to quite a few and there are some fascinating stories told by listeners. The idea is that you write a piece of about 500 words, record it into your phone (MUCH harder… Read more: Trenna’s iPad

Diary Entries From 2 April to 6 April 1982 – The End of The Trip The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE. Friday 2nd April Place: San Francisco Weather: cloudy and sprinkling Got up at 6 am can you believe that! Caught the bus to San Francisco downtown. We had to get to Fisherman’s Wharf which became quite involved. It took us three buses to finally get to Pier 39.  We bought our tickets for Alcatraz Island. It was a five minute boat trip. Luckily it wasn’t longer as the water was extremely rough. We had a very interesting and fun tour, what… Read more: The USA Trip Diary – Part 9

Diary Entries From 12 March to 1 April 1982 The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE. Friday 12th March Got packed for Las Vegas. We went to The Suburban Mr and Mrs Wijnhamer, Jim, Tony, Toni and me. It took us about five hours to get there. When we arrived we couldn’t believe our eyes, the entire place was a mass of beautiful lights it looked like one big gigantic carnival. We booked into our motel at about 11 pm and then headed for Circus Circus a gigantic casino. It was fantastic. I cashed $20 into silver dollars and started on the dollar… Read more: The USA Trip Diary – Part 8

Notes by Trenna, Intro and Extra Information and Stories by Greg Introduction This is another in the “Rough Notes” series. It is a term I made up for this website and describes several documents on Trenna’s iPad where she has accumulated information to help in her effort to tell her story. This one is just a list of some landmark events from the 1980s. I have used them as a prompt and have added a number of stories and clarifications of what she was alluding to. I have also included some photos from the 1980s. You can see Trenna’s Rough… Read more: Trenna’s Rough Notes on the 1980s Before Greg

Diary Entries From 17 February to 10 March 1982 The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE. Wednesday 17th of February Caught a cab into downtown Dallas. We saw the Ewing Boulevard but not any Cowboys. Dallas is definitely not as glamorous as it is made out to be on telly. Date: 18/2/82–21 –/2/82 Place: Dallas – Los Angeles Weather: 70° F – 86° F and humid Thursday 18th February We took a tour to Southfork Ranch. Which was great. We took some photos by the pool and in front of the house. We saw Larry Hagman’s house. Most of it was covered by… Read more: The USA Trip Diary – Part 7

Diary Entries From 25 December to 16 February 1982 The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE. Date: 2/2/82 Place: Chicago Weather: too bloody ridiculous for words Note from Greg in 2023: For context, from what I recall from what Trenna told me the background to the Chicago visit was as follows.  Toni had met a nice, attractive sailor, Wayne, when he was on shore leave in Perth.  They went to Chicago to catch up with him.  However it turns out that he had left the Navy and got out of shape and was way less attractive.  It also turns out that he lived… Read more: The USA Trip Diary – Part 6

Diary Entries From 25 December to 1 February 1982 The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE. Date: 25/12/81 – 30/12/81 Place: New York Weather: cloudy and cool Friday 25th December, Christmas Day. Unfortunately not a white Christmas but certainly a different Christmas from Perth. My presents included three jumpers, one pair of slippers, one bag, powder and a ticket to the Broadway show The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. My Chrissy meal was totally different, too.  A typical “ding” meal with spaghetti, ravioli and the like. The day was rather uneventful. We didn’t go out but it wasn’t bad. Wednesday 30th December We… Read more: The USA Trip Diary – Part 5

The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE. Diary Entries From 26 November to 14 December 1981 Date: 26/11/81–2/12/81 Place: New York and Boston Weather: New York not bad. Boston cold. Thursday 26th November. Thanksgiving.  Everything is closed as it’s a public holiday. Bart drove us to Brooklyn Heights where we had a lovely view of New York at night. Saturday 28th November  Caught the bus to Boston. Stayed the night at the Ramada Inn. Sunday 29th November.  Moved into a beautiful house just out of Boston. The woman who looked after us is called Rockeema.  She’s 74 but she’s really young in character.… Read more: The USA Trip Diary – Part 4

The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE. The Day by Day Descriptions Start… Diary Entries From 22 October to 15 November 1981 22 – 25 October 1981 New York Weather:  fine and warm We arrived in New York 22nd October. We caught a taxi from Kennedy Airport to Toni’s aunt’s place which cost us 30 bucks. Toni’s aunt is very nice. She [Toni] also has three cousins Bart 22, Antoinette 18 and James 12. We slept two doors down from them at the old ladies place. Her name is Tessie. She is as deaf as a doornail.  The room we sleep in is… Read more: The USA Trip Diary – Part 3

The Diary Commences By Trenna The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE. [GM:  Just so you know. In this series Trenna does mention spending the night with a man … a few times.  Nothing explicit is mentioned.] [GM: at the start of the “My Trip” diary that Trenna was using it had a section for “En Route”.  These are the entries written there.] En Route/Going There 20/10/81 Left Perth Airport at approximately 12 midnight, about six hours late. First stopover was Singapore. Approximately 4:30 am. For about an hour. Next stop, Bombay, what a dump! From here on it was… Read more: The USA Trip Diary – Part 2

Well a year has passed since I first started TrennaMahney.com. Six months ago I wrote about the progress I made (that is HERE) and I thought I’d provide an update. Statistics There are now 143 different Posts on the site. That is about 50 more than six months ago. Together the 143 Posts add up to more than 270,000 words. Me I am noticing a bit of a change in my approach and attitude to the site. I suspect it is about my progress in the albeit non-linear grieving process. I absolutely am still enjoying working on the site, writing… Read more: One Year of TrennaMahney.com

How it Happened This bit by Greg. The Diary is by Trenna Second Time Overseas In this series of posts I will be revealing Trenna’s “Trip Diary” from October 1981 to April 1982. It was actually the first of two trips to the USA. The second was with me, 31 years later in 2013. This 6 month trip to the USA happened well before I knew her.  It sounds like it was a fantastic adventure, and one I’m sure helped her to grow and mature.   It wasn’t Trenna’s first overseas travel, she had been on a cruise to Singapore,… Read more: The USA Trip Diary – Part 1

… And the Original Reason For the Trip, Concluded By Greg I hope you have enjoyed reading the Japan Travel Diary, and the photos I added from our trip. Once we returned to Perth Trenna set about writing an email to our friend Wayne, who had shown us around one afternoon, and with whom we had a very enjoyable evening meal in Yokohama. Trenna loved seeing Wayne, who she had a soft spot for, and set about writing some Haiku to commemorate the times spent with him in Japan. I had forgotten about the Haiku, but I recently contacted Wayne… Read more: The Japan Travel Diary – Part 5 – Seven Haiku

August 1993 Yummy Stuff Wednesday 4 August. We had our friend Ken (Eggs) over for dinner and had satays, which we would have made from scratch along with the Sambal Badjak – a chilli sambal. Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 August. “Bellissimo!” was the Neapolitana Sauce Trenna made to have with pasta. It is a good recipe. The next day I had leftovers as it looks like Trenna went to lunch with Helen to celebrate Helen’s 36th Birthday. They went to Mamak Malaysia in the city, which was owned and run by Helen’s then husband, David. No Conference Dinners for… Read more: The Menu Diaries No. 18

The first part in this series is HERE. RETURN TO TOKYO DAY 12, Tuesday 7/4/15 We arrive back in TOKYO @ 9:05pm. Walked down stairs to Marunouchi Line (M17), boarded train (M14) Kokkai-gijidomae Station, walked 435m to Capitol Hotel room # 2715 next to our previous room but interior layout in reverse! Confusing! DAY 13, Wednesday 8/4/15 When Greg went to pay for our breakfast (as this time it was not part of the package) there was a bit of a mix up. They asked if Greg wanted to be billed to our room but Greg said he wanted to… Read more: The Japan Travel Diary – Part 4

To read Part 1 of this series, click HERE. TOKYO – KYOTO 4/4 – 7/4 DAY 9,  Saturday 4/4/15 Checked out Capitol Hotel before noon! 7 nights accommodation plus 2 hamburgers – total ¥367,223  (AUD$4,215.11) We were able to leave our larger red bag here – FREE! We walked, carried & pulled 435m+ from hotel exit to Kokkai-gijidomae Station (M14) to Marunoucchi M line, 3 stops to Tokyo Station (M17). Take lift 1 floor, go through ticket gate, up the escalator, walk to the right side. Train departing @ 12:30pm from Tokyo Station.  NOZOMI BULLET TRAIN TO KYOTO ¥28,220 for… Read more: The Japan Travel Diary – Part 3

Poems by a Teenage Trenna This series starts HERE. He Loved Her to Death (17 November 1972) He held her hand, Oh so tight He came to visit her every night Alone they were, in a world of machines She was really ill, had something wrong with her genes When he kissed her, his tears wet her cheek She was dying, she was terribly weak As near he could, he lay close to her But each movement she made, it would really hurt Then silence was broken with a piercing cry He cried, “Oh God”, don’t let her die The… Read more: Angsty Teenage Poetry #3

To see Part 1 of this series, click HERE. Day 4, Monday 30/3/15 Chilli Con Carne not so good for brekky.  Wayne had sent the train stops to get to Tokyo Tower. 11:17am set out and bought metro tickets. ¥170 each. (Roppongi-itchome) train station.  1:05 pm meal at the serve yourself and weigh it place. (Organic House deli and cafe)  ¥935 1:38 pm Starbucks tea and coffee whilst looking for Tokyo Tower ¥810 We came across a little park where people were eating their lunch. The park displayed a variety of indigenous plants from the area we were looking at… Read more: The Japan Travel Diary – Part 2

Tokyo and Kyoto in March and April 2015 – Cherry Blossom Time Intro by Greg, Diary Mainly by Trenna, But Bits by Greg If you want to go straight to the diary, click here. Introduction The Japan Travel Diary (which was done entirely on an iPad)  itself doesn’t have an Introduction.  I just wanted to set a bit of context and to let you know what to expect. By the start of 2015 we knew that Trenna’s brother’s oldest daughter was to be married in Europe and that we were invited to the wedding. Trenna and I were both keen… Read more: The Japan Travel Diary – Part 1

Poems by a Teenage Trenna The first instalment in this series of angsty teenage poetry is HERE. Friends (14 August 1972 – Dedicated to A Friend) Friend, is a word you’ll hear or use nearly every day But do you really know the actual meaning of the word Is it to be kind to someone and talk to them? No, a lot more! A friend is someone who is comforting in times of sorrow A person who has always time to listen to you Someone who is eager to lend a helping hand A friend is someone who likes you,… Read more: Angsty Teenage Poetry #2

By Greg Introduction I think Trenna’s Darwin letters to my parents convey a lot of the colour and light of our two year stay at the top of Australia. If you haven’t caught up with them I suggest you start them HERE. There were a few stories from that period that weren’t covered by Trenna’s letters, so I thought I’d cobble together a bunch of them in this post. Decision to Go We moved to Darwin so that I could take up the role of Manager, Student Administration at the Northern Territory University (NTU). It had been quite a good… Read more: The Green Salad Sandwich Maker, and Other Darwin Stories

Intro by Greg, Poems by a Teenage Trenna Another Kitchen Tape Extra Trenna’s School Era Poetry Book Trenna loved reading, and she loved writing. She also loved, a lot, but for many years this was very often unrequited. She tells in the Kitchen Tapes, HERE, of the dozens of love poems and letters she wrote to Murray Malski. Trenna also kept a notebook during her high school years and wrote poetry in it. Whilst Trenna was alive I was aware of it, and she spoke occasionally about it, but not in any deep emotional way. In the Kitchen Tapes she… Read more: Angsty Teenage Poetry #1

Tuesday 5 November 1996 20/288 Casuarina DriveNightcliff 0810 G’day Mum and Dad Nov 96 Greg has accepted a job offer at Murdoch University, and has agreed to commence working there on Monday 2nd December 1996 – less than four weeks from today – YIPPEE!!  So we’re packing our bags, and aim to fly out on Saturday 30th November 1996 – 2 years, 2 weeks, and 2 days after the day we first arrived in Darwin.  Although we are very keen to return to our home in Kensington, we reckon that our time up here, although perhaps a tad too long,… Read more: The Darwin Letters – The Final Letter, No. 14

Friday, 9 August 1996 20/288 Casuarina DriveNightcliff 0810 G’day Mum and Dad,  W ell, how are you getting along down there? We hope you’re both fighting fit. We’re fine.  Thankyou for your letter of 21/7 Mum. It sounds like you’re getting some interesting items through your shop. Mum, keep your beady eyes off our breadmaker, we intend enjoying it’s yummy results for many years to come. Of course Dad if you haven’t bought one by the time we return to Perth, you can borrow ours to see if you like using it. This time it’s our turn to be impressed by the TV News… Read more: The Darwin Letters No.13

By Greg This is just a short anecdote to cover an incident at Craig House that I don’t think made it into The Kitchen Tapes recordings. As those oral histories were never completed that isn’t all that surprising. We both just ran out of puff. A Picnic For the Kids “Now everybody – pay attention!” Matron was her usual stern self, or maybe even a bit more on edge this morning. She continued. “This picnic is organised by the legatees, the people who support you. EVERYONE is to be on their BEST behaviour. Best manners – and no kicking balls… Read more: The Keaver Stich-Up – a Kitchen Tapes Extra

Saturday, 4 May 1996 20/288 Casuarina DriveNightcliff 0810 G’day folks,  How’s life down there in sunny Perth? We hope you are both well. We’re just spiffy. It’s “The  Dry”! There have been a number of unequivocal signs to verify this. Firstly, on Thursday evening  21 March our balcony was engulfed in a hovering swarm of dragon-flies which according to Margie is – a sure-fired sign that “The Dry” is on its way. Then, I bumped into the first couple of  enthusiastic, straw-hatted, sneaker wearing, camera toting, ‘visiting parent’ types, keenly climbing our  apartment stairs, breathlessly chirping about how lucky we were… Read more: The Darwin Letters No. 12

This is the fourth and final chapter in this brief love story. The first part is here. Camping at Pemberton By Greg But First a Detour As usual Trenna was ready to go when I pulled my Toyota Corolla Station Wagon into her driveway in Girrawheen. Unfortunately Girrawheen was the exact opposite direction to our final destination but I was so happy that she had agreed to go with me I couldn’t have cared less about the travel. It was Monday 1 February 1988, just 5 days after that lovely sleepover. We had both been able to arrange a week… Read more: The Earliest Days of Trenna AND Greg – Part 4

By Greg Two-Year Anniversary I’m publishing this post on 23 December 2022, exactly two years from when Trenna passed away. I debated with myself whether to put anything on the site to commemorate the specific day, but then recalled an idea I have been meaning to get around to for a long time. The Eulogies A “Celebration of Trenna’s Life” was held on Friday 15 January 2021. I gave the main eulogy but I also asked Trenna’s sister Nancy, and Trenna’s friend Helen to talk. All three eulogies in written form are already on this website. They start here. However,… Read more: Eulogy – The Movie

[GM: Warning: This post does mention suicide.] Tuesday 13 February 1996   20/288 Casuarina DriveNightcliff 0810 “ Birthday Greetings, Mum! ” G’day folks,  How are you both? Staying out of the hot sun no doubt! Sorry we missed you on Sunday, Mum.  We’re well, although leading relatively mundane lives at the moment. Notwithstanding Greg of course being extremely busy at NTU with enrolments – he’s at work by 8.00am and doesn’t get home until gone 7.00pm on some nights. It’s the inauguration of the computer system he’s been working on over the past year. So, he and his staff are experiencing the usual… Read more: The Darwin Letters No. 11

This is the third part of this tale of love. The first part is here. A Step Backwards, and a Big Step Forward By Greg I Nearly Blow It I almost stuffed the whole thing up about a week later. Just think, the 30 best years of my life may have been completely different. This website would have never existed…. Trenna had invited me to a picnic at Walyunga National Park, and she was making all the arrangements. Walyunga is about 35 minutes drive from where Trenna lived. I had driven to her place and then she had driven us… Read more: The Earliest Days of Trenna AND Greg – Part 3

By Greg This story was inspired by the picture above, which Trenna had captioned “Us, happy and relaxed @ Crowded House gig”. Concerts One thing I wish Trenna and I had done a little more of together was attend concerts. In the 1970s and some of the 1980s Trenna and I had, seperately, attended concerts by a LOT of international acts. However, once we were together, for many years we tended not to do that. That changed in 2010 when Crowded House gave a concert at Sandalford Winery in the Swan Valley just to the East of Perth. It would… Read more: Crowded House – Happy and Relaxed

Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that this post may contain an image of a dead person (I don’t know if it does or not). Tuesday 5 December 1995  20/288 Casuarina DriveNightcliff 0810 Dad , “ H a p p y B i r t h d a y t o y o u . . . ” Howdie Dad and Mum,  We hope you, and the rest of the clan are well. We’re both fighting fit. Its good to hear that you are doing so well at all the art & craft stalls Mum. Don’t over do it though… Read more: The Darwin Letters No. 10

Part 1 of this series is here. Slow Progress By Greg Postscript to Part 1 Trenna had apparently shunned me at the end of our first date, yet she said she was fine with me calling her? I replayed the evening over and over in my mind. It had seemed to go so well. The conversation had flowed so easily. And through pure chance I had brought her favourite wine to take to the restaurant. Apart from the end, the only part that wasn’t magnificent was how hot that Indian food was. It was a warm January night and the… Read more: The Earliest Days of Trenna AND Greg – Part 2

Tuesday 26 September 1995  20/288 Casuarina DriveNightcliff 0810 G’day once again Mum and Dad,  How are you both after your trip to Kal? We hope you enjoyed it. Did you see some interesting sites? How did the local bus route and service compare with Darwin’s? Isn’t it around this time of the year that Kal has the racing round? We are well, although we both feel that the cancellation of our Tassie holiday has taken some of the shine off our life in Darwin – we were ready for a break! Greg has many work responsibilities weighing him down at the moment, but these should be alleviated… Read more: The Darwin Letters No. 9

How We Got Together by Greg Relief I can still remember it clearly, really clearly. I took Trenna’s hand and looked into those enormous brown eyes. “Do you like me?” It sounds pretty stupid now but I had to find out what was happening inside that complex brain of hers. I couldn’t believe how well things seemed to be going between us. She didn’t answer immediately. Instead she took a sip of her glass of Moondah Brook Chenin Blanc, her long slender fingers with beautiful nails letting the glass linger near her lips. She sort of tilted her head to… Read more: The Earliest Days of Trenna AND Greg – Part 1

A note before Tren starts: There is about a 4 and a half month break between the following letter and the previous one. I suspect that there wasn’t one written in that time. That period includes a lot of “The Dry” when we were way more active, but during this period my parents visited and Trenna’s sister Barb visited. Our friends Lorraine and Neil also arrived to live in Darwin, Lorraine had landed the job as my boss at NTU. We were involved in settling them in. Trenna also had a short-term contract to work at the University. So all… Read more: The Darwin Letters No.8

Trenna’s Writing on the Subject – And Plans to Write About Herself Mainly by Trenna, Brief Intro by Greg Introduction This piece of writing by Trenna was on her laptop computer (not her iPad) and appears to have been commenced on 21 July 1997, and further work done on it in 1998. It looks like she did most of the work, but never came back to it. The first part is very orderly and polished, the later part looks more like a draft, plus a few extra notes. It’s even possible that it was more complete, but parts got accidentally… Read more: Meals at Craig House

Tuesday 21 March 1995  20/288 Casuarina Drive Nightcliff 0810  G’day (hopefully) Mum and Dad,  We hope you are both well. We’re pretty good, and we’re looking forward to  your visit. Well this letter has taken considerably more effort to write than any previous one to date, that’s for sure. Mind you, it’s not for want of trying  on my part. Our computer is trying my patience just a tad. I think that it wants to be superseded. This letter has been created and typed six times, under six different names, in six different formats, and they have all subsequently disappeared into the ether. The computer… Read more: The Darwin Letters No. 7

Monday 13 February 1995 20/288 Casuarina Drive Nightcliff 0810 ” HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM! “ G’day again Mum and Dad. We enjoyed our chat with you both on Saturday. Hope you’re still going good. But rest assured, I won’t let the mundane get in the way of me telling a story or two We’re both slowly recovering from this wretched flu virus. We thought we might be able to get out and do a few things this weekend, but as it turned out, we were basically just lounge lizards. Greg’s been boning up on the college that he’s going to in… Read more: The Darwin Letters No. 6

By Greg I’m very keen for this website to be an accurate representation, or at least sample, of Trenna’s life. So if I become aware of an error, I will try to correct it. I discovered one recently when I was working on a soon to be published story about Trenna and my earliest days together. I was was telling the story of how I had dedicated a song to her when I was the guest presenter on a community radio station. I said the song I had dedicated to her was “Baby Let Me Bang Your Box“, by Daddy… Read more: I Was Wrong – It Wasn’t That Song!

By Greg and by Trenna A Little More on the 1973 Diary The Post The 1973 Diary – Part 12 contains the last of the daily entries in Trenna’s hand written diary. However, towards the back there is a section for “Accounts”  where Trenna has put some figures down.  I don’t know for sure, but I suspect it is an attempt at budgeting.  Good on her for trying when she was just 15 years old. When she was with me she was a good budgeter and money manager. This is what it said: And on the next page, this: Extra… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Extra Bits

Tuesday 17 January 1995 20/288 Casuarina DriveNightcliff NT 0810 G’day Mum and Dad, Sorry we missed you on Sunday, Mum. How did you and Deb do at the Markets? Is this the first time you have sold stuff there? I can’t remember if we ever did get around to going to the Cannington Markets, I know we had intended to. How do they compare with other markets? Greg’s going very well at work. His bosses seem very impressed with him so far. He’s also in the process of applying for his boss’s job, which he has to hand in by… Read more: The Darwin Letters No. 5

By Greg NOTE: This post does contain some reference to an alleged sexual assault. OK, so I confess. I don’t have absolutely all the details of this, but I know a fair bit. I always imagined that in due course, in our many long rambling conversations that more details would emerge. Some did, some didn’t. And as a result I have been working through a bit of a mystery. If you have read either the Kitchen Tapes series or The 1973 Diary series you will know that after Trenna left school she went to business college, and that a short… Read more: Why She Left Girlock in 1975

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time By Greg 1970s music blared from the two tacky speakers inexpertly mounted in the from door cards and dodgily connected to the cassette deck. The old Holden was stationary in a deserted clearing near the Canning River, not far from Perth. The women were drinking Brandavino from the bottle, each sipping, girding their loins to help swallow the sweet fortified wine. Then wiping the dribbles from their lips. It was a welcome break from long sessions of tongue kissing and fending off wandering hands. The boys took the opportunity to open… Read more: Underage Drinking and a Police Chase

Monday 19 December 1994 20/288 Casuarina DriveNightcliff 0810 Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! Top End Greetings to you Mum and Dad, and also to anyone else who reads this letter. Not another letter, we hear you cry! Don’t worry though, we’re sure the novelty will wear off very soon, and you’ll be blessed with a simple phone call. But in the mean time, here we go again…How are you going? We hope your throat has improved Mum, and that you are not over doing it. Christmas at Debbie’s sounds like the ideal place to be, we’ll be thinking of everyone… Read more: The Darwin Letters No. 4

16 July 1973 To The End Of The Year Monday 16 July Sue woke me at 7.30 and I very unwillingly got out of bed. Had breakfast and then got dressed and left for work. It was really cold walking to work so instead of taking 15 minutes it only took me 10. Today a new girl is starting her name is Eileen she is about 21 and it’s pretty hard to understand her as she is Scottish.  Today was a pretty lazy day but I’ve been squashed up in one corner of the desk so as to make room… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 12

The Actual Letters… or at least the first of them Welcome to the third instalment in this series. I’ve changed my mind several times, wrestling with how best to present this series of stories from when Trenna and I lived in tropical Darwin. I’ve now decided I will do it by publishing, in the order they were written and sent, the letters Trenna wrote to my Mum and Dad. We later found out that my Mum and Dad, once they had read the missives would then pass them around to their fellow inmates at their retirement village. So you aren’t… Read more: The Darwin Letters No. 3

Coping with Marfan Syndrome, Heart & Lung Failure, AF, Visual Impairment, Chronic Pain and a Few Other Problems By Greg Introduction If this post interests you there have been three others on this topic. All with things that Trenna tried to help her or my life as we coped with her multiple medical conditions. I don’t think for a moment that every tip or anecdote will be useful, but I certainly am hoping that people living with chronic illness or disability will be able to pick up a tip or two, or perhaps be inspired to think of alternative solutions,… Read more: Marfan and Other Chronic Conditions – Things That Worked for Trenna – Part 4

1 – 15 July 1973 Sunday 1 July I awoke at 9.00 when Beth was knocking on my door, but I didn’t get up until 11.30. I had lunch with Beth and I lied again about Friday night. After lunch I talked to Beth while she did her ironing and then I watched TV. There was a really good movie that had Hayley Mills in it. I had seen it before. Then I had tea and after tea I had a shower and washed my hair.  Then I tidied my room which was in a complete mess. After that I… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 11

Advice Trenna Got on How to Put Weight ON Regular readers will know this, but…. although I mention several specific brands in this post I do NOT get any financial or other benefit from them. I name them just to help you understand what I’m talking about. If you find this post useful or interesting you might want to check out three other posts: Marfan and Other Chronic Conditions – Things That Worked for Trenna; Things That Worked for Trenna -Part 2; and Marfan and Other Chronic Conditions – Things That Worked for Trenna – Part 3 . Marfan People… Read more: Marfan Weight Gain

Coping with Marfan Syndrome, Heart & Lung Failure, Visual Impairment, Chronic Pain and a Few Other Problems By Greg If you find this post useful or interesting you might want to check out two other posts: Marfan and Other Chronic Conditions – Things That Worked for Trenna; and Things That Worked for Trenna -Part 2. As the name suggests yet another instalment in a series of posts that tell the things Trenna tried in an effort to make her or my life a bit more bearable. As with the others, the tips and tricks won’t work for everyone but hopefully… Read more: Marfan and Other Chronic Conditions – Things That Worked for Trenna – Part 3

All of June 1973 Tuesday 5 June I got up at 7.20 and went down to breakfast. I left for work early as I had to stop at a chemist and buy a packet of Modess. I walked through the dental hospital on my way to work and went to the toilet. Work was pretty well much the same. Pat didn’t come in because she was sick. I found out that work is having a cabaret next Friday, but I doubt I’ll go. Got home and Sue wasn’t home, when she got home she told me she was leaving and… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 10

The Last Three Cardioversions Introduction Trenna had 14 cardioversions in all, all performed in Hollywood Hospital in Perth’s Western suburbs. They were performed to “shock” her heart back into rhythm and whilst at first they worked pretty well, and lasted quite a while, by 2016 they were becoming increasingly less effective. Eventually Trenna and her cardiologist agreed that it was pointless continuing with them, and that Trenna should try just living with atrial fibrillation (AF). Trenna managed, that is to say she stayed alive another 4 and a half years, but really from this time onwards her decline in physical… Read more: Medical Records – Cardiology No. 6

All of May 1973 May 1, 2 and 3 GM:  There were no entries in the first few days of the month. Friday 4 May I woke up at 6.45 then got up and had a shower and washed my hair. I went down to breakfast.  Work was pretty good. In the morning I had plenty to do, but I wasn’t being rushed, but after I had lunch I was really piled up with work. I didn’t leave work until 5.05 as I hadn’t finished the filing.  As soon as I got back to GFS I finished my packing and… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 9

July 1993 Ox Tail Stew Takes 2 Days to Make, Peruvian Stew, and Delicious Panthe Kowshwe, Plus 3 Recipes Wednesday 30 June. The previous two days we had old standards but on this Wednesday Trenna has prepared Ox Tail Stew! I feel a little guilty that I don’t remember it. Trenna’s comment is interesting, “took about 7 hours of cooking over 2 days, the smell was overpowering but the final thing was great.” Saturday 3 July. We have grilled porterhouse steak, oven baked potato skins and a finger salad. She seems to be saying that the potato skins were “Truely… Read more: The Menu Diaries No. 17

16 – 30 April 1973 Monday 16 April I got up at 7.30 and then went to breakfast. Sue and I had breakfast with Ruth and Marg. I got dressed for work and then left. I seem to be doing a lot more filing out the back and I could bloody kill Cheryl for making me do it. I was glad to get home. We had tea at 5.30 and then we went up to Ruth’s room and talked about what we all used to do last year. How Ruth used to live at Swanleigh and the things that she… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 8

1 July 1992 – 30 June 1993 Summary of All the Previous Year’s Meals – with Statistics and Links to Some of the Recipes! Introduction In the last entry of The Menu Diaries No.15, here, Trenna speculates about what meal we were having the most often. Well as it turns out, and as I now recall, a few days later Trenna did the research to work it out! Here’s what she found. Restaurant Meals It looks like I had 14 restaurant meals and Trenna 13. The Rumah Batik, at 7 times was far and away our most popular diner. As… Read more: The Menu Diaries No. 16 – Special Edition!

1 April – 15 April 1973 Sunday 1 April   I got up at 8.30 and had breakfast. Thank goodness I didn’t have a stomach ache this morning. We went to Janette’s Sunday School.  At first we all just sat in the hall and sang songs.  Then we all broke into classes but no one came to Mr Nelson’s class so only 2 of us were in his class.  I only had one April fool joke played on me. We went home at 10:30 and had some supper. Jan and I made some little cakes with brightly coloured icing. We had… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 7

16 March – 31 March 1973 Friday 16 March I got up at 10 to 7 and had breakfast. Today I don’t have to go to BC. It’s now at 10.20 and I haven’t done hardly anything except Mrs Cole locked me out of my room by mistake.  I’ll meet Julie and Sue for lunch. We had a rather expensive lunch at Petite. Then I walked Sue and Julie back to Edwards, then I walked back to GFS.  I listened to my transistor and packed my bags to go to Janette’s. After that I had a rest for about 40… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 6

June 1993 Drama with the Cannellonis, Green Olive Puttanesca Recipe, and the Appearance of the “$” Sign Wednesday 2 and Thursday 3 June. “Drama!” I remember this. Trenna was making the cannelloni tubes as well as the filling. The “Drama” was getting the tubes to stay together. Her poor eyesight wasn’t helping. It was a bit of a mess. As she suggests, I think from about this point on she continued to use her own fillings, but bought the pre made, dried, ready to fill cannelloni tubes. It must have been about this point she started putting the red “$”… Read more: The Menu Diaries No.15

Trenna’s Birthday, 11 September Trenna had no recollection of ever having a birthday party as a child. I found that hard to take as my family always made a big deal of my birthday, even though it was just 2 day’s after my little sister’s birthday and just 3 days after Christmas. So when I met Trenna I tried to make birthdays a bit special. Where possible, and it almost always was possible, I would take the day off work and spend it with her. And that was what I did on Tuesday, 11 September 2001. 11 September 2001 We… Read more: 9/11

– Racism in Perth in the 1970s By Greg I recently published Part 5 of The 1973 Diary. In the Comments section, at the bottom of the post our friend Helen has written “I think once Tren met the Gibson sisters and moved into Bey Apartments her life changed dramatically and she had to grow up quickly“. The Gibson sisters were “the Twinnies” (Sharon and Joyce), and their older sister Rose. In the Kitchen Tape recordings Trenna didn’t cover moving out of GFS to Bey Apartments, or, a while after that, moving out of Bey Apartments. I think it was… Read more: Why She Left Bey Apartments

By Greg 9 March – 9 September 2022 This website has now been live for six months so I thought it about time to make some comments about how it has been going, how it has evolved, and what I hope for the future. I would greatly appreciate constructive feedback, either by commenting on this post, below, or by using the Contact Greg form. A Story Well Told Around the time I was starting the website I was enjoying a superb homemade, wood fired pizza at my friend Paul’s place and he was letting me sample his home brews. It… Read more: Six Months of TrennaMahney.com

1 March – 15 March 1973 Thursday 1 March  Got up at 7.00 had a shower and breakfast then I met Julie and Sue at 8.30.  BC was the same as usual. I met Julie and Sue at 4.15 we talked then I walked Sue to her bus stop, we were really being stupid.  I got home at 5.15. There was a message for me to ring Jan. I had tea and at 6.20 Jan rang me and asked if I wanted to go to Putt Putt.  They picked me up at 7.00. Mrs Nelson bought me a really nice… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 5

By Greg This post relates to the Menu Diaries series.  If you aren’t familiar with the series, a good place to start would be here. Some Feedback The other day I was talking to a friend who likes the TrennaMahney.com website.  I asked for some feedback, and this is what she said. “I love all the stories about what Tren got up to – there’s lots of stuff I didn’t know.  I don’t read those Menu things though… I’m not really into food all that much”. Well, I thought, that’s fair enough, not everyone is going to like everything.  And… Read more: Why You Should Read The Menu Diaries

15 -28 February 1973 Thursday 15 February Got up at 7.00 had a shower and breakfast. Left for BC at 8.15. Met Julie and Sue at 8.40.  BC was the same as usual. Met Sue at 4.20 after waiting for about 15 minutes. She said Julie had to leave BC early, and she had just seen Murray Benton and was hiding from him.  We went and had a drink. I asked for a Sprint and I got Frist.  Then we went and looked in Myers and had a real laugh about some of the clothes they had in there.  It… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 4

May 1993 More Pool Prep, Pork Meatballs again, Another Big Banquet, and Something Fishy (a recipe) Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 May. I would have made this one. Pork in Black Bean Sauce was one of the recipes from the Chinese Cooking class I had taken some years before. Sunday, 9 May. The ‘Slaving” Trenna is referring to was to get our backyard ready for the building of our swimming pool. Lots of plants needed moving, temporarily potting, giving away or in a few cases, composting. It was several weekends of really physical work, that we both did. Tuesday, 11… Read more: The Menu Diaries No.14

When I woke up my eye was still blind and I could have cried 1 February – 14 February 1973 Thursday 1 February  When I woke up my eye was still blind and I could have cried. BC was pretty well the same as yesterday.  I hurried home and put my Levi’s on and then went out. “with your looks and my money we could do things” I rang Nancy but she had already left work, went to GPO to ring Janette.  At 6.30 I crossed my name off til 10pm, went out again.  I was walking along the Mall… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 3

15 Year Old Trenna’s Own Words 15th – 31st January 1973 – The Start of Business College, and arriving at GFS Monday 15 January It was the first day of Business College.  I got up at 7 and Uncle Frank drove me in to town. I got there fairly early and went straight to the office.   I had to fill in a form, then I was given my timetable.9-11am – Bookkeeping11-1pm – Typing2-4pm – Shorthand My bookkeeping teacher was new and we got to know each other pretty well before the rest of the class arrived.  I didn’t have any… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 2

A Kitchen Tape Extra By Trenna’s sister Barbara, with an introduction from Greg Introduction In 2018 Trenna asked her sister Barb to jot down her memories of Craig House. Barb is six years older than Trenna. It was at exactly the same time as Trenna and I were recording Trenna’s stories and I have no doubt it was as part of Trenna’s research in preparation for writing her own story. Barb subsequently sent the notes that appear below, and when I contacted her yesterday she told me she is happy for them to go on the website. She also added… Read more: Barb’s Craig House Memories

1st January – 14th January 1973 A brief intro and rave from Greg, then a transcript of Trenna’s first diary. Intro In the Kitchen Tapes Trenna mentions that she kept a diary for the first time in 1973. As it turned out there were many days she didn’t diarise and the 1973 Diary was the last she did regularly until until 2006. Trenna and I partly transcribed the 1973 Diary when our interest was piqued by the recordings we made in 2018. I am now finishing the job and am delighted to be able to publish this interesting insight into… Read more: The 1973 Diary, Part 1