Taking stock..

Another year underway. Five days old already.
This beautiful little boy has come to add to our family.
He is the precious first grandson of a loved cousin, & his wife.
He was born on 2nd January, 2009.
We wish him a long healthy & happy life!



We have been having hot weather, which is extremely enervating. The humidity saps the life out of me, & I just want to cringe in the cool air of the Airconditioner.

There has been much contact by phone with friends & rellies in New Zealand, & a small lump of homesickness, for family, & those friends we hold dear.

I have promised myself a 'stock take' of sorts.
Some of it is a mental taking of stock.
Some of it will need to be a material taking of stock, which I must say, I am not looking forward to.

While we didn't get a lot in the way of 'stuff', for Christmas, the evergrowing piles collections might need a little culling, or pruning.

I hasten to add, this will not include fabric! In fact I am intending getting a little more, ~just as an incentive to keep sewing, you understand! Haha.

These 2 little bears seem to have begun a New Year courtship.


Russell came into possession of a very nice bike, all shiny & wonderful, so he leapt onto it, & cycled over to see Annabelle bear.

Annabelle was sitting on the bench, just hoping that Russell might come to visit, seeing he now had some transport.

Here is Russell's wonderful cycle. It is a Western Flyer, authentically reproduced from the the original model, first made around 1950.

I wish I had the space to display all the knick knacks in similar vein to this cycle.

I used to imagine I would one day have a room just for the dolls with their tea parties, & the bears & their antics.

I have been dreaming about these things & wonder what it means.

I don't do resolutions. New Year's day is just another day in my calendar. I did feel some sort of hope at the thought that this might be a happier year for the world, but on a scale of things, there is much that will not be improved, though we might all wish it could be.

I recently rewatched a programme on TV , called "The Girl in The Cafe". It gave such hope, yet somehow I felt a measure of despair. Real life is never so satisfying in matters of wrong being somehow 'righted'.

I think there is a lot of hope out & about, that somehow Obama will achieve miracles. The reality, as I see it, is that he is about to receive a poisoned chalice, & he will have a major struggle ahead.

As my grandmother would say, you cant get blood from a stone.

We are being told we will need to tighten our belts. Economic cuts will be necessary, we must all take a share of 'having less'.

From a material point of view, that could be a really great thing. I watched with horror the TV reports of all the 'stuff' being dumped at the doors of charity organisations. A lot of it pure rubbish, & the dumpers should be ashamed of themselves. At the end of the day though, don't we all have 'too much'.

It makes us wasteful, & the young are so heedless of recycling or making do. If it has a small tear, or a split seam, they toss it away. They have no concept of mending, or repairing.

I watch the oldies around us when out & about. They have beautifully laundered, & maintained clothing, that is obviously years old, not in shabbiness, but in styles which are now gone, but is in lovely condition, & they dress with pride. They buy themselves the cheaper cuts of meat, the seasonal vegies. They know how to cook, & make do, yet still seem to know more about nutrition than the average teenager.

It is a worrying thought for the future. How healthy will today's teens be, in their old age?

Groan!! I must really be sounding old! I am perhaps feeling a little 'old' tonight.

I was going to 'make hay with a big stick' today. Didn't happen. Probably wont happen tomorrow either, since it is tipped to be high 30s again.

Gom offered to run me a bath of cold water, tomorrow, to soak in!

Here is a pic of Gom, in his 'Kingdom' of green glory, relaxed & happy on New Year's Eve.

The Verve, Catching the Butterfly.