Weariness of the Long Distance Blogger.

 

Well, another Christmas has been and gone. Gom and I have concluded we are feeling our age, and found it hard to get even mildly excited at the prospect.

Of course we did our best for our little SG, since he is still only 7 years old. I decided at the last minute, I would put up a tree, for his sake, & to make things a little more ‘festive’. We have not had one for the past 3 years, as we have gone to our daughter’s for Christmas Day. I am absolutely low key, (read, non participating) when it comes to Yuletide Decorating. However, this year, it was to be at our house, since SIL had to sleep in preparation for a Night Duty.

 

Big Mistake, about the tree. Gom grumpily stumped off downstairs to ‘find the damn thing’, after declaring he hoped I was joking, and “he didn’t want one put up!”. After much thumping & muttering & shuffling & rearranging of stored items, he was nowhere to be seen. Finally, I ventured down the stairs to see what the hell was going on.

Now, much has been written and said, here in Oz, about the importance of a man’s Shed. To be fully, shall we say, ‘well’ a man needs a shed. Even if he just sits in it, or endlessly rearranges the contents, it is vital to a man’s mental wellbeing. Gom does not have a shed, ~ which some could say, explains a lot!~ but he does have the double garage. We only have one car. So, he has got a ‘shed’, in the sense that he is totally in charge of it, and happily rearranges it just when I have located items I actually own, & still occasionally wish to use.

 

Since the Christmas Tree had been ‘stored’ since the last use, it has probably moved locale several times. It turned out, it could not be located at all! I was somewhat angered at this, but I was absolutely incensed at the suggestion “It must have got thrown away at some time”. The inference was clear- he was saying I must have thrown it away!The only person who has access to the bloody garage is Gom. He has claimed it as ‘his Shed’ so how could he dare to stand there and infer I must have somehow accidentally, or unconsciously thrown the tree away?? Very uncharitable and unChristmassy thoughts were hurled in his direction.

When I asked about the decorations he declared he had found those. Upon inspection, I don’t think they contain the family treasures we have kept since our children were small. I suspect the mysterious swine person who threw away the tree, must have also got rid of those family treasures. Ornaments I bought to celebrate our grandchildren’s births, first Christmases. Ornaments our own children had hand made, as well as some our granddaughter had made as she grew up. I think the shabby box he has kept are the rejects. I was too dispirited to examine them too closely, in case I killed him on the spot!  Sheesh! Is it any wonder I get depressed!

 

On a brighter note, our son had come from the City to stay a few days, and he brought his car, which he loves. He has recently had it re registered since it had been off the road for approximately 6 years. It is a 1962 Pushbutton Automatic Series S Valiant (for the ‘car’ people). In fact it is the third one he has owned, and is by far his favourite.

If you look carefully, just to the right of the front of his car, is the ‘dead’ brick ‘gateway’ block our car ‘killed’ when it rolled over the road. See This post.

As it happened it was persisting down with rain, as he left for home. We had a nice cool Yule, as it were, for once. It began to rain on Christmas Day, & remained wet until 28th, so, though it was damp, it was comfortable.

 

Look who came to live with me!! I had jokingly asked Secret Santa for a Golly. Wow! What a Golly I got!

As it happened my SIL drew me, & he told the story of almost being lynched in one shop when he asked if they sold ‘Golliwogs’? 

He was told,chillingly, “We don’t call them that, and we don’t stock politically offensive items!”

Well pooh to them. We loved them as kids & they are just cuddly toys, for goodness sake! Golly looks very happy on my bed, & I am sure he will love being surrounded by my TBR pile of books!

 

I was also gifted a wonderful Topsy Turvy Tomato, by friends, planted upside down in a bag, & the idea is they dont touch the ground, give wonderful fruit, and are easy to grow with great success.

Alas, I cannot show a picture, because tragedy struck on Boxing Day and the hook upon which we had hung the tomato bag, came plummeting to earth, as the hook  wrenched from the bricks. Of course the result of that was, that the poor plant was snapped off at the roots, and all that remained was a maimed stump! I badly wanted to cry!

However another gift they gave me is looking very well, so I will have to learn how to care for it.

Those who read here often will be aware I am very fond of owls, so it is perfect.

 

Not all is gloom, with the rain, we have had some perking up in the garden- though not of the vegetable variety. Here is the Ixora, which continues to flower most of the year. It has grown into the ground, through the bottom of it’s pot, so it is flourishing.

 

 

I had intended doing a post prior to Christmas to wish all my Blogosphere friends Seasons Greetings, & wish you all Joy for the Season. Now, I wish you all a wonderful New Year, with health & good fortune throughout 2010.

 

I know there are more modern versions of this song, by Michael Buble and Rod Stewart, but who can resist the velvet that was Nat King Cole’s voice. My wish for Everyone’s New Year.

The Hideous Case of the Nightshirt.

Long ago, and far away, in another Country, (& another era, I might add) in the early 70’s, in fact, men & women wore vastly different clothing, to what they are prepared to appear in public in,  today.

Long floppy, floral patterned shirts were the flavour of the day for men. The sleeves were slightly full, the collars had long rounded ends.Paisley was big, for both men and women, back in the Day. 

The preferred whisker, or facial hair look,  was a moustache and/or a beard, to go with the longer flowing locks. Not Mullets, you understand, but just a longer look. Something resembling the Band members of  “America”, for instance. Or maybe Arlo Guthrie, Definitely flared jeans or trousers for the women, and the men. Both sexes favoured platform shoes.

 

We had a friend who sold shoes for a living. A Sales Rep? I am not sure, as they changed the title of the purveyors of the goods, to improve the image… or something.  He would appear at my door, bearing his own ‘Boil-in-the Bag’ lunches, & he would proceed to prepare his lunch, in my kitchen, while displaying his newest shoe collections. Of course, he sold me many pairs of gorgeous shoes, but they were all at discount prices, & who could resist a heavily moustacheoed man, who was happily married to one’s great friend? Who proffered heavily discounted shoes because I happened to take the display size, & so ….. well the rest is history.

Gom, and the other, lovely wife,  were aware of the periodic luncheon visits & had no qualms or worries about sisnister or devious intent. We were all very good friends & spent weekends together as well as many mid-week social gatherings, to do with either the sale of shoes or the sale of Alcohol associated products. Never a dull moment in the ‘70s, I must say. And, surprise surprise no hanky panky ‘70s style shenanigans! Just great friends.

When I married Gom, he never wore pyjamas, nor did I care. My mother was somewhat horrified, & told me she had been disgusted to find, upon marrying my father, he did not own a pair of pyjamas! I, of course, laughed about it with Gom, when we married, & worried not at all.

Some years later, when we now had children to think about, Gom decided perhaps a nightshirt might be bearable for him to wear to bed. His BIL had told him he had some, & found them most comfortable. Being as the the budget was tight- (No it was not entirely because of the latest shoe acquisitions!) – I decided to purchase cotton seersucker fabric , & make some night shirts. Gom demanded they be front buttoning, so that is what I made.  They proved to be most comfortable  & successful for his sleeping comfort.

The time came when our street became designated as a ‘Bus Route’. We were not pleased, but happily concluded the Bus Stop would not be outside our house. WRONG!

We begged & pleaded, but the stop would not be moved one way either side. The sound of the idling bus kept us awake at night, to say nothing of the stench of Diesel fuel. Our protests were like gnats f@rts to the bus company. We were victims, we felt.

We did, however, discover, that there was a maximum idling time outside our house, before the bus motor had to be turned off. If it was over x amount of minutes it was over the limit.

I went off on a holiday to the North, taking our Children, as was the way of our lives then.

Imagine my horror upon our return to be told that there had been an “Incident”.

Said Incident had involved the bus revving his motor for much longer than the ‘allowed’ motor revving period. Gom, alone & rather disgruntled, no doubt, had leapt from his lonely bed, & stumped out, in high Dudgeon, wearing a flimsy front buttoning Night shirt, to shout abuse & ire at the hapless driver of this bus “Idling’ outside our very door, so to say.

I have no doubt there were buttons which had become unfastened, as apparently the Driver was struck with some type of helpless laughter, at the appearance of this seersucker-clad… oddity, -no doubt flashing, as he ranted & raved , jumping up & down to make his points, (so to say) incoherently at the driver, whilst inadvertently displaying his ‘jewels’.

Needless to say, on my return, I was quite horrified at the thought of this scene. I found many reasons not to confront this bus driving person, nor did I venture forth when a bus was stationary outside our address. Nor did I ever use such bus in any of my travels.

I am sure the image of the Nightshirt-wearing-house-owner, is permanently burned into some bus driver’s eyeballs. I hope he enjoys a hearty laugh about it all!

 

Forever Young.

It is, after all, what we all wish.

When we are  18, and bullet proof, can fly, and already know the answers to the Universe, we don’t need counselling or advice. Good heavens, we know it all!  No one can possibly tell us anything we don’t already instinctively know.

We can read Con men. We can foil their flimsy attempts at deception. We know they are married, or in the process of separation. Or Not Being Married Anymore. Or, more importantly, wishing they were still married.

They gasp in surprise, shocked that we guessed or ‘knew’ their secret. (Are we Witches, or Psychics??) Mostly they decided we were witches,  we did nothing to discourage this belief. I mean, how exotic was that!!

They never thought we would see the child’s records amongst their collections. They never thought we might notice childish notes amongst the detritus of  their ‘other’ life. They never seemed to know that a child’s record, might be some type of giveaway, as to parenthood.

 

Our Forever Young dreams never cam true. Nor did the young man’s, But we hope he found a truer dream, and future  Some of our Dreams came true. I hope some of his did, also.

Rod Stewart.

Fate’s Fickle Fingers…

 

Yesterday I wrote a perfectly sane and amusing- well, I thought so- post. Glossing over the ugly bits, to make them appear funny, and light reading.

I must have just accidentally hit some key, only to have the whole thing vanish without trace!

 

We have been having a somewhat trying time of various things lately, & the vanished post seemed somehow, to be the Last Straw!

I searched in vain for the lost post- haha- then took myself off to bed in High Dudgeon.

As I am now using Windows Writer to do my posts, I don’t have the Autosave feature that Blogger has. Win some, lose some. Perhaps it was a lesson to teach me to periodically click on ‘Save Draft’.

 

I have taken myself off to have a dreaded blood test, which is no biggie, just routine, but I have ‘shy veins’. They hate being stuck with any sharp objects. The bloodsuckers I mean blood takers always assure me they can find a suitable vein with no ‘digging’. Invariably they lie, & I end up having the blood taken from the back of my hand, having had holes poked in all directions. I was most amazed when this morning’s blood taker had success at finding a vein- “As big as Texas” she said. Also, & most importantly, it was not painful!

 

Our ancient Airconditioner finally gave up the ghost, & comepletely died. Yes, on the hottest day this year- so far! At it was fully ducted system, it would cost the funding & feeding of a small nation to have replaced. We are settling for something within our modest means, & are promised that this Friday it  shall be installed. Thankfully the weather has been only moderately hot while we have suffered with no great means of cooling down. We have a large room downstairs, which remains about 8 degrees cooler on a really hot day. We have spent some time down there trying to read & amuse ourselves & keep the dogs from ripping out the screen door at every passer by.

 

Speaking of our canine kids, I bit the bullet on Sunday, & attempted the massive clipping, and bathing. I managed to get Honey quite balded, much to her disgust.

 

 

 

I could not get her to sit down for me, & so this is her begging pose, as much as to say “No more! Please!”

 

Leo just will not cooperate for a photo shoot, & I am ashamed to say, he beat me with his legs, & just refused to tolerate me clipping them, so I think he will have to go to the groomer.

 

Another little stab from fate, was the shatting breakdown of our TV. We had luckily taken out an extended Warranty, so we rang up to see what we needed to do. We were told they no longer stock our model, so we could have a refund, or Store Credit. We took the credit & hightailed it off to choose another, more modern, & very satisfactory Televisual appliance. Of course, it cost more & it is not exactly the time of year for having to purchase mammoth appliances. Mind you, only the price was mammoth, (well, mammoth-ish)we chose a very modest sized TV.

 

We were very proud of our SG as he won the Class Award this year. I was taking some photos to send to his other Grandparents, & he asked if I would put him on the Blog. He is rightly very proud of himself. 

 

We had SG to stay with us on Friday night, & on Saturday morning, we thought he might enjoy looked at some garage sales with us. We duly got ready & he stood beside me, outside the garage, whilst Gom was reversing the car out onto the drive.

I am paranoid about children & vehicles, & either get them seated & belted in the vehicle, or I hold onto them to ensure no accidents happen. We were standing together when we heard a loud cracking noise. Uh oh, I thought, Gom has hit something.

I ventured into the garage to see what the problem was, & the leaf blower, had fallen off the shelf, & was now wedged between the front wheel & the bumper bar.  Gom decided he would push the car forward, so I could release the blower. Which would have been fine, except he released the handbrake, & as I released the blower, I noticed the car was gently moving!

Of course I shrieked out, & Gom tried to stop the car, with his body. By now it was gathering momentum, & approaching the doorway of the garage, which was lucky, as Gom had to leap aside. We had had no idea our garage floor had any slope. As our drive is quite steep, we could tell, it was inevitable the car was on it’s way across the road, heading towards two neighbour’s houses. Thank goodness Gom was inside the garage and also thank goodness SG was also inside, as instinct is not always wise, & I would hate to think one of them might have thought they could stop the car from rolling.

As it happened our neighbours had a smallish gate pillar about 3 feet high, made of solid bricks. Thank goodness the car came to an abrupt stop, knocking the gatepost out of the ground, but halting progress of the runaway car. SG was hysterical & Gom was so upset. I think I was just so relieved we were all ok, but it was still a shocking thing to have watched, & it left us quite shattered.

Our neighbours were out as it happened, & when the young husband came home, he had not even noticed his ‘dead’ gate pillar! Gom went over to apologise, & the young man was quite surprised, but not very alarmed- plus he had had his wisdom teeth removed, so had worse things to worry about!

We could hardly believe our luck, when Gom drove the car back up our drive, the only damage done was a little paint scraped off the bumper! As there is a very steep drop to either house opposite ours, things could have been very dire indeed, so we did get off very lightly. Needless to say, we went nowhere that day, but did thank fate for small mercies.

And I confess, every time I looked at the knocked down pillar, I had to laugh to myself.

 

In other happy news, look at this Gorgeous little Soul. She is the Granddaughter of a dear friend, & I think she has been this way before, with those wise eyes.

I am still trying to pretend that Christmas is not going to happen, & there have been times I have felt sure it won’t!

 

I wonder if anyone remembers this is the song they played to wake the Astronauts on the moon, in 1969.

The Angst of Christmas Shopping…

 

Really, leaving aside my dark patch of the present, what the hell is the hoo haa, agony, & sheer distress, of people doing “Christmas Shopping’.

This year, due to various financial necessities & ‘reasons’ as Thirdcat might say, we decided to do the “Secret Santa’ thing.

This entails each person listing up to  3 choices of what they may like to receive. A monetry limit was set between blah blah & hah blah. Some drawees, decided they needed to spend the Hah blah amount.

Unfortunately, seeing we are a small family group, we all worked out who got who. I am appalled at who got my choices, which, though very moderate, &, I felt reasonable to any budget, are proving to be a little ‘off beat’. I know the person concerned is trying to do the ‘right thing’. But the agony it is causing is not worth it.

If I had my ‘druthers’ as the Americans say, I would opt for us all to just buy a gift for a needy child to gift to a tree, & leave it at that. After all, we all have enough ‘things’ to last a lifetime. We are not wanting for any creature comfort, so anything outside that, has to be just surplus to our needs, in fact, an utter indulgence!

The butterflies are quite happy with our Buddleia  shrub, though I have yet to capture any sitting on the flowers.

My vegetable garden endeavours all ended in disaster, & I may in fact, be lucky to pick a tomato or two when they ripen… always supposing they will get that far.

 

The Ivy Geranium seem almost indestructable & I still have some Oregano.

The Basil tends to come & go, due to lack of water. The Thyme, which is one of my favourites is trying to strike up random plants from a shrub I had for many months.

 

 

If you look really closely here, you may see tomatoes, but they will amount to very little, I fear.

I have strawberries the size of less than my small fingernail, …sweet, but useless really.

The Radishes I planted looked so good when they sprouted, but are being eaten by snails--- where the f are the lizards I see lazing about the garden??? I thought they loved to eat them??

I thought to buy one of those snail bait thingies, where the dogs are protected, because they are too heavy to overturn & it is a bait motel, where the snails & slugs enter to gorge & thence die. At 30% discount to leave a cost of $30 each I decided I will troll garage sales for large, heavy, ugly, ashtrays!

This morning I went to collect SG to take him for the Bus stop to school. He was delighted to find a pink feather for his sister –“She loves Pink!” I am not sure, but I think he wrecked it, so no more was said.

We were so proud of him, he got the Class Award this year, & has a love medal as a prize.

 

Encounters outside the Professional Arena

 

Alas! No pics to illustrate the post,

I saw lots of lovely bark trunks to take pics of, but I was not allowed to stop!!

We had some reason in the recent past, to engage the services of a ‘financial person’. A very pleasant male, who came to counsel, & seemingly, give wise advise.

Today, whilst out shopping in some ghastly crowded Mall, we chanced upon this person. He was extremely embarrassed upon being recognized, so therefore pretended non recognition, & skipped off to other areas, where we would not encounter him again. Why??

The fact that he was in casual garb, should not be cause for shame, surely?

The fact that he normally met us in white shirt, collar & tie is not cause for embarrassment?/ We had liked this person as he appeared- a nice genuine human, who had a life outside his ‘office persona’.

Is this an indication that he gave us sh!thouse advice? Is he ashamed of himself? I found it rather disquieting, to watch him dodge us with such lack of grace.

Had I been able to locate him, I would have forced a greeting. (could it be, that I am a b!tch??)

**********

In other news, we have learned our Male GP has suffered an aggressive form of Prostate cancer. He is hopeful it is under control, & his wife, also a GP we see, tells us the news is all good.

I have recently lost a relative to this hideous disease, & so we are hoping all is going well.

 

********************

I am grappling other personal demons at present.

You know what they say… Life is a bitch… & then you either marry one… or your turn into one!!

Apologies to my friends who neither like nor wish to read, of profanities!

Long time gone. Past encounters.

I do not like this conversation..

 

I am tired of this conversation I am lately having with myself.

I am trying to change things around in my life, to somehow restart the sewing  spark. Or even the writing spark would be nice. Indeed, any spark at all !

Apparently I am not a very ‘Motivational Speaker’ judging by the results!

 

Gom has had his annual checkup for his hearing aids. I did not accompany him this time.  I did not tell, of his latest trick, which is to remove his aids, remove his spectacles, and sit, with his ears & eyes closed. As though to shut out his world.

Which includes me, of course.

This fact comes around in my self talks.

Somehow, when we were young, the thought of retirement was attractive. It would give us time to pursue things we had no time for, when we were busy earning our crusts and crumbs.

Travel was one of my dreams. It is lucky we did do some travelling, when there were funds available, and the body was able.

The likelihood of travel now, is about zero. It is not Gom’s fault, that he is losing his sight, so why do I feel cheated?

I need to change the way I look at things, myself.

 

As I sat,in our car,  waiting for the test to be completed, I read my trusty book, and contemplated the passing parade of various types. Most of which were perfectly normal and nice looking people.

Then, I heard the raucous screaming, screeching foul language. A couple, who appeared to be drug affected came screaming, and swearing,  up the street. It was just after 3 pm. Parents were collecting their small children from the nearby Primary School.

This hideous couple, stopped to screech at each other, right where children were crossing the street. The woman’s shrilly voice berated the male for his F…ing this & F…ing that. Pointing her finger, waving her arms about, while the dopey male whined '”But Babes… But Babes”…

Then they turned & did it all in  reverse, going down the street again. They seem to lose all sense of decency, of dignity.

I felt tempted to leap out of the car, & give them each a good slapping!! Though I am sure their drug fuelled fury would have seen me beaten to the pavement! That is not really what I have in mind, when thinking of changes!

Recently, one of my Nephew’s had an ‘80s Party to mark his 30th Birthday.

Today is my Beloved Brother’s birthday- sadly it it not his 30th!

In honour of his birthday here he is as he appeared at the Party, AKA Willie Nelson!

Happy Birthday Bro!

 

Technorati Tags: Buddy Holly,Fools Paradise. BB Birthday,Self talk.

Have you seen this person??

 

You must have seen this person. Mostly a female, but sometimes a male. They have dyed their hair in clumps & stripes. So when one is sitting dreamily contemplating the Passing Parade, one is fooled into thinking one has just seen a high cat passing by one’s vision!

A very Elevated Tortoiseshell cat, in fact! One sneaks a second look, sniggers ~almost~ as one realizes it is just another middle aged Breakout Artist, wishing to assert His/Her freedom of choice!

 

I used to look upon such things with jaundiced eye. I used to think to myself, “What the hell was s/he thinking?”

Now, while I could never do such a thing myself, I secretly admire her/his guts. Not so much on the young set. On the older set~ definitely!!

Why should the young have all the fun, after all?

 

Now I see, on older persons ‘Cankles’  ankle tattoos. I also used to think, a little sneeringly, “What the Hell was this person thinking??” Surely, when the ankles are really no more recognizable as such, why would you draw attention to these swollen body parts?

Now, I judge no more, & think to myself, if it makes them happy, so be it.

Life is, after all, rather short.

 

In light of recent personal events, here is a Passionflower. I have been told this is a Passionfruit vine, but I am unconvinced. The leaves are not the same as previous Passionfruit  we have grown.

Yesterday, whilst engaged in conversation, with a half sister, we discussed how much be both detest cartoons.We reminisced about how we had loathed the cartoons at the movies, when we were young. We both disliked- intensely- Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Cops, all those pie-in-he-face Slapstick ‘comedies’.

We never thought them funny, in most senses of the word. Certainly, never humorous!!

I love this sister, my full brother & I both love her. We wish we had known her growing up. We were raised separately, and grew to adult-hood not knowing each other, until we we met, at almost, middle age.

We have so many points of similarity. So many habits are recognizable. We have such fun, discovering how much we have in common, in spite of our different upbringing. Nature or Nurture??

We have other siblings, not familiar to us. Raised in another life, perhaps with completely different expectations. It is nice to know we love them too. We do feel a kinship with these brothers & sisters. We mourn the one who died. The sister we have never met is missed.

This is a source of some of my joy.

Such a pretty ring. So hard to photograph.

When I say, Do you Know this Person? I think I mean me. The greying, slowing person who composes this blog…

 

 

I cant find the labels option on this post format? I am trying out Windows live Writer…

Labels are: Do you know this person. Life is short-yes?

Benefits

I am finding the uploading of photos, in the order I choose to be very difficult, with the new formatting of Blogger.

Am I alone in this? Or is it more complicated  confusing, than it used to be?

I am so lucky to have friends. Look what I got this week! A wonderful gift, from a friend, who knows just how to make me happy! I LOVE this book! I has some brilliant quilt patterns. The Instructions are marvellous, & I am sure I will be making more than one quilt from this great book.

There was the added bonus of these magazines... which I did not have already! There is a quilt in one, which I am about to cut for.

Several other brilliant ideas, which never go amiss, as we Quilters know!

We have had SG -Small Grandson- staying for a few nights.

He was a model guest & an absolute delight to have.

Here he is showing Nanna his Nintendo DS. He spent some time assisting his Grandfather to play Mario, and though Gom's eyesight is failing, he made a great effort to get the hang of it all!

Now, this is where it gets a little strange in the posting 'compose' mode.

On my screen, I see the Christamas stocking first.

However on the preview I see the Reality pic of the back yard garden is the next.

See the giant Phallic Symbol tree, belonging to our Neighbour?

It houses Indian Myna bird nests, & we hope he has trimmed them so that they are frightened away... somehow I doubt it.

According to the Preview, the next pic is my lovely Cousin's jump start on Christmas!

Lovely Bright Red Stockings. I think my other lovely Cousin, her sister, is going to have them on her stall. Good luck!

Preview indicates the next pic is the beautiful quilt my Beloved Cousin J made, to gift to the Hospice, which I understand, is where here SIL passed away. It is called Promise of Peace. The Hospice intend to hang it in the "Quiet Room", which I feel is very appropriate. I love the soft colours.

Last but not least, how sweet is this!

What sweet little bundles of love, complete with labels!!

If you are lonely, or bereft, please consider adopting a pet. They all deserve a chance at life, & can often save lives, just by being so loving & giving, to owners who may have been in despair.

The plainest looking pet, can give love & devotion that can far outweigh the 'face'value!!

Do You Think???

Do you think, there are times when you miss someone, who has died, and passed out of your life, ... you miss them soooo much you dream them back into your life??

I think this must be true. Because I keep dreaming of my friend, who is gone.
I keep holding his living body in my dreams.
I keep feeling his living body, the warmth, the joy, the life force.
His vital, living being, ... I feel it still, in my dreams.
I enfold his physical body. I crush him to my warmth with love and affection.

We were never physical lovers, yet I feel his presence. I feel his body, his being.
Which goes against all I believe of how we are.

His favourite song for us...

Mary Hopkin, Those Were The Days My Friend.

So what have they been doing on Blogger??

So, while I wasn't paying attention, they have changed blogger all around, & now I can't tell WTH I am doing! Grrrrr.

I find it very disconcerting to have the cursor in the center of the page before I begin to type.

I have also been having   fun tedious trouble getting the photos in the preferred order for posting.

Today this gorgeous girl, light of our lives, is 40 years old.

As I have previously stated, she has been both our Rainbow, & our Pot of Gold.

I am quite dismayed to see the old photos are becoming damaged.

I used to take our children for regular photographs at an excellent outlet called "While-U-Wait" and in about an hour you could collect as many prints as you chose.

Since we lived in the South Island, & my relatives all lived in the North Island, I found this service affordable, & an easy way to keep the rellies updated with growth progress.

My photographic skills were seriously lacking in those days, with many a missing head or legs.

Bless the advent of Digital Cameras!

This happy shot was taken when our baby returned to the nest after a year of 'Overseas Experience'.

Natally speaking this is another busy month for our family.

This gorgeous boy, my nephew,  turned 30 on Monday. I think he was about 4 when this was taken.

Here he is today, all grown up, and still a gorgeous man!

It was also Honey's 9th Birthday, and next is my sister, then Gom's sister -not that they are on friendly terms, but I still think of her. Then it is my Beloved Brother's birthday.

I was looking forward to having a real rant today. The subject matter was to be "UGLY PEOPLE".

By ugly I don't necessarily mean the ugliness of the physical kind, though that can be a factor, however, that is often a unfortunate side effect.

Random observations,

Whilst waiting at the Bus stop with SG, a large vision resembling a sack of pumpkins, accompanied by a rather unfortunate cringing child. I immediately nicknamed the pumpkin vision Mrs Oxenslat.

It proved an apt name. She stopped close behind me, & proceeded to bellow out in unintelligable screeches, what sounded like "Looka this bitch! Muz beadyejob, whaddya reckon? Same as moin-same colour"

I am sure that is not what she actually said, but her shrill twisted tones were beyond interpretation... to me anyway.

SG & I froze on the spot. I may have even cowered a little, expecting a gigantic thump, from a pumpkin limb.

The people she was apparently addressing, Mr & Mrs Limp & Shrimp, were waiting across the road at the opposite bus stop.

Mr & Mrs Limp & Shrimp froze too, looked aghast, then attempted nods, mutters & grunts. I am sure they had no more idea than I did, what Mrs Oxenslat had actually said.

Yesterday, we took SG to the local Village to get bread.

Mr Seedy was striding about, accompanied by a nice looking lad, I took to be his son. Out in the carpark, Son of Seedy was stainding waiting patiently with a trolley containing some goods.

Next thing Mr Seedy barrells up to the boy, snarling "For F***'s sake get a bloody move on!"

The poor boy. I noted he didn't flinch, so I guess that is a normal way to be addressed.

What are these monsters doing to these innocent children?


We have SG staying for a couple of days, while his parents are away together. This morning we took him down to catch his regular bus to school.
The bus almost zoomed right on by, but he stopped in front of our car, & SG got on board. Imagine our consternation, when the bus paused, then did a U turn, & roared off with SG, going in the wrong direction!

We remained, anxiously waiting to see if the bus would return. I walked to the corner to see if it was at the other stop. Just as I was panicking, it came around the corner, the bus driver waved, & SG waved & off it went, to collect other little passengers along the normal route!
I wonder what that was all about!

Now it is November..

How relaxed should we be?
I would say this is Nirvana, in Relaxation!!

I love the way the tail is just laid there, to designate total trust!!
"I will just lie here, & you will just admire, & adore me!!"

I won't go into the horrible threats that have been made against this gentle Girl. An old, sicko, whose idea of animals is to torture them..
Please send positive vibes for Sweet Mindy!!

Edited to add, Mindy is not my cat~ wish she was!~ she lives in New Zealand and belongs to my cousin J.

We have been having some threatning looking skies. I must say, they are tame compared to last year's skies.
I have been revisiting last year's posts, & am dismayed to realise how many no longer comment.
Am I boring? Am I repetitive?

The tree, once referred to as the Coffee Table Tree, still remains.The site of it's home is now for sale for $900,000. It is scary to think it is to be sold to the highest bidder.

Even if I could afford it, I would never bid for it. It is Heritage listed. Therefore, can never be re~created, or effectively remodelled. Is that why there is no photograph of the kitchen??

The bedrooms have individual fireplaces. Not a modern advantage?

Nor even a modern option?

It is sad, to think that it may not be sold, nor respected, as local lore would expect.

I suspect most folks herabouts, could not care less, nor would they bid on such a deadend proposition.

The skies above it all, give nothing away.

Why would they?

Time stands still for no man.

I show my age here, with this really old Jukebox song from my youth.

Russ Hamilton, Rainbow.

Surprise Reactions

It is now over fourteen years since my mother died. I find that very hard to believe.

I cried, at the mention, or thought of her, for five years after her passing.

There are times when I still miss her desperately.

I can remember her telling me the same thing, about her mother.

I guess, we never, ever, get over the loss or our mother, if we had a close relationship.



My Beloved Brother has just had a series of surgeries. Not related. But one of those 'patches' ~ or 'batches'~ which seem to attack us from time to time.

He is recovering, well, from his second surgery, which was less serious than the first.

He mentioned that he keeps 'smelling' our mother with him. In his vehicle. In his house, in the Hospital, both before, & after his surgery.



I know what he means, & I too 'smell' our mother in times of stress. Or even, in times of relaxed contemplation.



After our Mother had died, & I had returned to my home in Australia, I was driven, you might say, to plant growing things.

I was beyond the age to have babies.

I longed for living things. I longed for new creation.

I longed for a baby to cuddle. I would wish my children would produce more grandbabies, for me to cuddle, & confirm, the continuity of life.

I am told this is not unusual.

It is all about the primitive urge to produce life, to keep on living.



Reproduction. Such a Primitve urge. We really have little control over ourselves, if we think about it.

The Human Condition, seems bound to want to reproduce.



I planted pots with lots of plants. I grew from branches of wonderful plants existing in the garden. I had lovely success, & I rescued plants from 'Death Row'.



This Brunfelsia was one such rescue. I took it from a seedling in our rented garden.

I look at it now, beside this Strelitzia, which we bought, & planted, when it was very very small. How proud it seems now.

This strange & slightly Magical plant is flourishing in our garden. I cannot find the name of it, though I have searched the Internet. It is a very pretty pale pink & I love it for living in spite of me!!

Here it is beside another Brunfelsia, which a kind neighbour gave us, when we were redesigning our garden bank.

As I was out there, taking photos, I saw these holes in the bank under the Maple. I hope they are from Cicadas, hatching out.

I hope they are NOT funnel web spider lairs!!

When we redid the garden, we were advised there were several Funnel Web spider lairs! I am such a coward...

I really have no idea what these next plants are. I bought them at a Garage sale, & they have continued to live on the bank, in the shade of the Grevillea, & various other trees.

The slugs seem to adore them, so they never get very large, or vigorous!

I suspect that death, will always awaken an urge to live on, & we will contine to follow that urge throughout the ages.

Joan Baez, Luba the Baroness.

Green Springy Bits... and Pieces.

This has thus far, been a very odd Spring. It has been the wettest October for blah blah blah. You know the story, every day there seem to be some new record of the hottest, dryest, wettest etc...

The green things seem to like all this rain.
The Basil is flourishing!

Lunch out was without incidence of bums or other annoying appendages. The fish was so fresh it was fantastic.
The lettuce are delicious.

SG came for a day.
"Nan" he said, "My tummy is sore. I think it is my body telling me it is missing school!"
"Oh?" said Nan doubtfully...
Then there was a popping noise.
"Oops" said SG.
"Ah," said Nan, "I think your body is telling you it needs a poo!"
SG raced off giggling. "Yes!" he said.

Why do my violets thrive, so?
With narry a bloom.
But I see they are now minted!

I have not tried the blood & bone.
I have been told dogs will try to eat it, and will become very ill, should they do so!

All this rain suits the strawberries. At least they are flowering.
I just hope we get enough sun sometime soon, to set the fruit, and ripen the berries.


It seems a most curious thing.. the larger more vigorous plants do not seem to be flowering, or doing much growing.
However the smaller ones, are positively flourishing!

Attending a fund raising Rumble sale, Jumble sale, call it what you like.

Looking at assorted rubbish donated goodies. Grabbing a couple of good quilting magazines. Upon asking the price, from a young girl clutching bags to contain the goods, the girl is accosted and accused of "Taking our bags! Look, you've got our bags.What are you doing?"

The poor girl, blushing deeply, meekly tells the accuser, that she is a volunteer, & she is, in fact, helping!

She places my magazines into a bag, & I make my way round further tables.

I overhear several b!tch sessions taking place, about how 'disorganized things are' and how 'someone should have told her' 'what does he think he is doing' 'who told her she could..', etc etc.

Always the same story in every club or gathering.

It is partly why I remain a non joiner.



My cooking is benefitting greatly from the herbal growth.

This wonderful Oregano, was a gift from friends. It died down but has made a splendid comeback! I love it in salads too.

There is a chive plant in there too, doing it's best to survive.

On clickage, you can see a little pink flower on a shrub- well I thought it was a shrub, but it is turning out to be much larger than I anticipated.

It is growing up to the Maple, & the Allamanda is desperately trying to beat off competition on the fence.


You are now looking at a $20 mushroom!!

Doesn't look like much of a mushroom does it?

The story is, I bought a mushroom garden in a box, some time ago.

I did all the right things, & sat back to watch my garden flourish.

Except... you guessed it... it did not flourish.

Thus far, this is the one & only mushroom to appear.

I know it must be my fault somehow, but I am beggered if I know how, or why.

In the Supermarket, a woman was having a very lively discussion about the merits of various packages of meat..... which was fine. Until I noticed she was totally alone! She seemed to be talking to the meat! No, she did not have a mobile phone in her hand or anywhere that I could see.

She seemed quite unconcerned, when she noticed that I had noticed her. She made her choices, them moved on, to talk to the breads, and bread rolls.



Here for your viewing pleasure is a delightful photo of young O, with his proud Dad. They were at the local Tractor Show.

Peas in a pod?

His mother, had a wonderful time, watching people's faces, as she told them she has named her son after a tractor!






Not for any particular reason... just that I love Bob Seger.

Roll Me Away.