Our Star is 18 Today!

Of course we cant believe it is 18 years since our little star came into our lives.

Here she is, brand new, minutes old.

And here she is, 4 days old, with proud Nanna.

We always felt she has been here before, & she seemed so wide awake.

And here she is, GOM's Pride & Joy.

She has been the love of his life, ever since he first laid eyes on her.

A happy girl! Nanna loved to dress her in frills!

Proud Uncle B.

Proud Uncle M.

Proud boy cousins, who never had a sister, & just loved her. She was 6 months old when she first met them.

And here, our little star decided to cut her own hair! Doesnt it always happen just when the pre-school photos are due!

First school, all ready in the new winter Uniform.

Another new school. She moved house, & Nanna had to make a uniform in a hurry!!

And when Nan was very sad, after her Mum died, little Star was such a comfort.

Little Star was 8 going on 30.

And here is Nan, Mum & Star. Growing up.

Our Star was 16 when this was taken at High School.

Here she is with her baby brother.

And here she is, on the eve of being 18, with her beloved GOM.

They are a mutual admiration society.

Happy Birthday Star, & Many Happy Returns of the Day.

Nan is usually the photographer, so I must try to get someone else on the camera today!

SO GOOD!!

No boring or indifferent pics today.

Just still enjoying last night's buzz from the concert. It was soooo enjoyable.

Bruce Mathiske is such a good guitarist, & the night was such fun. There were guest performers. One man played the Scottish Fiddle- his description. He played in his socks! I decided it was so he could enjoy his music right down to his feet! And he was so good, played Bluegrass as well as Scottish, & also some Irish, so it was fun to hear him play with Bruce, as well as solo.

Three *ahem* slightly more mature guitarists played parts with Bruce, & one sang. All good stuff. I think the whole crowd seemed to enjoy it all, & there were many ages represented.

There was also a fantastic banjo player! He was amazing, & I later asked if he had taught himself. He said he had, & he was just such a passionate great player, that it had to be. I felt sure imparted lessons could never have achieved his skill, & delight in playing. I would go again tomorrow should the chance arrive.

I bought a CD, my friends did also, so we are 'sharing'. Oh, the broad range of styles there are to be enjoyed! It is all such great guitar playing.


And tonight, there is a party to attend. It is acutally the Eve of our Granddaughter turning 18. So I had better get off this & go & try to gussy this old girl up a bit.

It hardly seems possible that it is 18 years since I watched her little being come into this world. A beautiful little miracle, & a joy to our family.

Baying at the Moon.

Last night was Full Moon.
So while I was out baying at it, I thought I may as well take a few shots of it.
This, while all the pink of the evening was still lining the clouds.

These a little later, then later again. As I howled out on the balcony.

Haha, not really, but I can always tell when the moon is full, whether I see it or not. I have the most vivid dreams which I can usually recall all too well next day. It can be very disconcerting to have the memories lingering on. Perhaps if I wrote them down, they may dissipate sooner.

While going through some old paper recently, I found an old notebook, with some of my dreams written down in detail. And, though I had forgotten about them, as I re read them, I could still see them clearly, just as they had been when I dreamt them.

My latest dream involved friends from the past. They were a husband & wife, & their 4 daughters, & 2 adopted daughters were all in the dream. I know the husband is in fact dead, & one of the daughters also died. It seemed rather nice to think I had seen them all in the dream.


This view from the balcony was taken last evening also. It is looking South, in the direction that Sydney lies. That small mound on the centre left is called Rumbalara Reserve. We see all the approaching bad weather in the slight dip between Rumbalara, & the hill to the right.

And of course, here is the 'tree' again, though it is hiding behind our palm. This was taken last night while I was 'honouring the moon'!!

********

A somewhat frenzied trip off to a shopping mall again today. A Westfield, this time. Those floors are so hard on the feet! After half an hour, I can feel my feet complaining, & then my back starts to go. This one has two levels now, & from one end to the other is a long haul! Luckily we didnt have to do the top, we found all we wanted on the lower level.

We took Daughter J, & SG. SG wanted to visit the 'toy shop'. So I took him off to the toy end of the big department store. He was quite good, & when he asked for things I just told him there was no money. So he was happy.

GOM scowls if SG wants things. But, I am a great believer in give the kid whatever it takes to keep him happy, whilst out shopping. His wants are few, really. He likes to have an icecream, as a treat, so we get a small one, in a carton, & it is mess free, & he eats every last drop, without splattering anyone, or anything. And they put a little umbrella in the top, & he loves that. And he is very happy for at least an hour. Well worth $3.20.

Later, because Nanna was on the point of collapse, we sat in the food court, & had drinks. It was almost lunch time, so SG asked his mother, very nicely, if he could have a Happy Meal. I dont approve of them, but they seem to make him happy, & the plastic looking stuff that passes for 'food' seems to get eaten. And he was very good & patient, & behaved himself the whole time.

I had a vegetarian wrap. It looked delicious. It tasted rather bitter, & looked as if they had minced the salad ingredients. Why? I was going to complain, but just couldnt be bothered. Why do so many places bugger up perfectly lovely fresh ingredients, by doing stupid things to them?? Why do they think vegetables must be tasteless, & so they add curry or something?? Vegetables are perfectly tasty & delicious just on their own.

Oh well, I guess not everything goes to plan.

At least our expedition was a success from the shopping point of view.

We all came home with just what we wanted, so that has to be a plus.

And tonight I get to go out with friends to a guitar concert. Bruce Mathiske, who I am told is very gifted, & talented. I am really looking forward to it.

Gom is not given to liking guitar music, so he will be entertaining our dog babies!

Conversations in a Family

SG in the garden yesterday. The sun seemed to blur out half the pic... soft focus again.

"Nanna, I am going shopping for plants. Can I get some for you?"
"It is alright SG, we will just get one for Mummy."


A son, "Do you think I will be handsome when I grow up?"
Mother, "Don't be so stupid"

A daughter, "Why cant I go? You're just mean"
Mother , "You are far too young. And dont ask again. YOU ARE NOT GOING"

Mother "Where did these burns in this blanket come from? Were you smoking in bed again?"
Son, "No, no, absolutely not!"
M, "Oh so the burns just appeared there? Fire from heaven?"

A friend. "Do you mean to tell us that you ate your Mother's Easter Egg? Out of the fridge? And left her a note apologising?"
Son, "Well...yes I did, but it wasnt like that... you dont understand..."
Mother, "Yes he did, and the note was covered in chocolate stains"
(This was an adult son, we are talking about.)

A husband, "Did you eat the last piece of fish?"
A wife, "I didnt think you liked it".
H, "I dont, but it was going to be my midnight snack!"

A husband, "I dont like cheese, dont cook with cheese, dont give me cheese!"
Wife, "OK, then."


Husband, "Why are there teeth marks in this peice of cheese. I wanted to have some. How dare you bite it."
Wife, " But you told me you hated cheese. And I was in a hurry, & I thought you didnt eat it."


A granddaughter, "Why is Mum always in a bad mood?"
A Grandmother, "I dont think your mother should have had children"

A grandson " My father is no good."
A Grandmother, "There are two sides to every story. You father is a very hardwoking man".

Daughter, as mother sprays her hair, " Your hair smells like Mrs B's toilet"
Mother looking at the can of spray, "Oh my gosh it is airfreshener, no wonder it smells like the toilet!"

A granddaughter, " Do you believe in these superstition things?"
Grandmother, "Mother was a very suprestitious woman. She lived her life with a lot of nonsensical superstitions. I dont believe in any of them, they are nonsense"
Granddaughter, "But what about planting with the moon? And those garden things?"
Grandmother, "Well, that is something else. That is farmer's knowledge."

A wife "Why did you marry me?"
A husband "I dont know- perhaps I didnt want anyone else to have you."
Wife thinks, 'That will keep....'

A mother, "Well, if you have children, dont bother to bring them here. I wont want to see them, they will only look like him"
Mother's Cousin, who was witness, crying, "How could she say that to you? How could she be so cruel"
Daughter, " She is terribly hurt, because he is taking me away".

Daughter, " Why dont you get an automatic car, they are so easy to drive"
Mother, "Yes that is why there are so many accidents. People dont concentrate when they drive automatics, & they have accidents as a result."

Mother, "Why did you make these marks on the wallpaer with crayons"
Son, "Well I wanted to see what would happen".

Daughter, calling out loudly, "Mummy..... Mummy..., I do love you!"
Mother, 2 aisles away, calling equally loudly, in the supermarket. "I love you too!"

Some from the long distant past, some more recent.


But this, from today.

Mother, "No matter what happens to me, I could never come & live with you & P."
Daughter, "No, I told K (Neighbour whose mother has moved in with her & her partner, & is ruining their young lives) that I love my Mum, she is my best friend but I wouldnt want to live with her. I am sure I would lose my 'best friend' if she did."

Odds & Sods.

SG's "Plant for Mummy"

First of all, we have SG here for the morning. We also had him last evening for a couple of hours. We have been to *Bunnings this morning.


SG, "O Yay! I love going to Bunnings!" It is true. We have taken him with us before, & he sees enchantment whereever he looks. But his favourite place in the whole shop is the garden section, with all the plants.


He wanted to buy some flowers for his mother. He was adamant. We looked at the plants in the pots. He declared several to be "Perfect for my mum!" In the end he chose the one above. He was so happy & proud to bring it home in a little box.

Now, he tells me he wants to plant it in our garden, & "Mum can come & visit it!" Not for long, with my brown thumbs!

The house is finished, all painted. Looks much improved. Now GOM is painting the screen door. I am not sure why he is doing it, but I daren't ask.

He seemed to have some sort of 'brain snap' earlier this morning. He came rampaging into my little sanctuary. Started pulling papers about, ranting about, why dont I tidy it up. "It is bloody disgusting!"

"I want to have a room all to myself!" ( I will spare everyone the various retorts that sprung to mind... suffice to say 'padded', & 'locked', amongst vairous other things, came into it.)

I fired back, he has the double garage, & I am almost too scared to set foot in it. Wouldnt matter if I did, as he has everything cunningly stashed so as to be inaccessible, & invisible.


His head, by now was beginning to look like a 'target', to my eye.
I told him to get out, in more or less polite terms. I thought blue expletives, but SG was present. He was rather startled. He wondered what came over GOM.

Gom started ranting about the Hug of bears, which is, perhaps, getting a little out of hand. So I finally cracked & roared back at him.

How dare he. When he has been an untidy pig for the whole of our marriage. His clothes lay strewn about, his shoes discarded for days, socks tossed off & left. Occasionally I would 'go on strike' & leave them there...till I couldnt stand it any longer.


Huff vibes were positively dancing off his shoulders! He quivered in rage. Perhaps I was beginning to look like his target!

He stomped off out. SG asked if we were still going to Bunnings.
"Yes" snapped GOM, "And you'd better ask the old grouch if she wants to come too".

The soothing sights in Bunnings seemed to calm GOM down. He even became quite pleasant again.

And they say women are unpredictable. Sheesh!

I have concluded his new found fetishes for the pantry & his idea of 'tidy' must be his way of coping with his loss of a job- well he is 70, so he knew he couldnt work forever, but I suspect he had hoped he could. It his little power play for control.

It does come rather hard, after being the 'boss' of the house so speak. For all those years I could be responsible for it, & basically he didnt give a rats. But now he is seeking for new balance I suppose. And, being a Leo, & a natural 'leader' & being used to being 'Boss', I guess it is hard.

These are rocky times. Most of the time though, he is fairly placid, if a little obsessed over the pantry.

And in spite of 'dark thoughts' we have never come to blows.
Just the odd verbal stoush.


* For those of you not living in Oz, Bunnings is a large Hardware shop chain.

Grumpy Again.

This morning's fluffy clouds.... will they later thicken up, & produce rain... I wonder.And last evening's little red anger flares- though perhaps they denoted fine weather for today. And perhaps my anger is colouring the meaning of the picture, for me.

I just want to have a little rant! I changed plans for the computer. I got one that included, Broadband, (a version of which my friend calls 'Fraudband' which would seem a very adequate title for what I have.) and it has a mobile phone plan included.

Yes, they assured me. You can bring your current phone number with you. No problem. In someone elses name? No problem. We can change that. Yes it will work, No problem.

Now my Granddaughter, gave me her old mobile, or as some call it 'cell' phone. She got me a new number, & gave me credits, which have lasted me months, as I rarely used the phone, but have found it very handy to have, nonetheless. It was a prepaid phone, so I never suspected it could be a problem. Hah!! How ignorant am I!!

When I put the new sim card into the phone- yes, I have learnt a whole new language!- no joy with service. How puzzling! So I begin the hopeless round of phone calls, to try to find out who what or how. After screaming at the automated phone answering service, trying to make a computer understand my accent.. or something, I am finally put on further lengthy 'holds', until finally a real live person comes onto the phone.

She is really short, sharp & rather rude- to my ear anyway. She finally tells me I will have to phone the previous company & get the phone checked out for a lock on it. OK. I spend another hour or so, waiting on line with ghastly music grating upon my soul, who craves calm, & peace. Another person comes on eventually, living I think, ....but wouldn't guarantee. A heavily accented voice, with some improbable name like Haireee Turrrrnerrrrr.

Haireeee proceeds to tell me he needs to speak to my granddaughter, who of course is not here. Foiled again.

So, I decide I will use GOM's old steam version of a mobile, which is in pristine condition, due to his hardly ever having used it, & when he did, almost always cutting himself off. I got it for him to use to alert me to traffic jams, & delays when he worked a long way from home.

So, I charge up the battery, insert the sim card, & try to get mobile again. No such luck. So, once more I begin the long wearying task of phoning phone companies. OMG it is enough to turn you grey! I makes me want to beat my head against the bricks outside! What rotten thing in my past is making me now pay in Karma? Must learn to be patient, must learn not to raise blood pressure.

I finally get someone , very pleasant, who tells me there is no lock on this phone, but she cannot help me.... she will put me through to the 'prepaid' department. Where I get another extremely heavily accented person... who is so accented I can barely understand a word they utter...could this be India I am speaking with??? Bearing in mind, it never does to piss off people on the other end of the 'help line' - oh hahahahahaha, what a misnomer!!! I try to patiently explain the problem. He snarls impatiently at me, & guess what... after lengthy questions, & me reeeling off hundreds of numbers, the phone is now rendered utterly dead & useless... How did he do that!??

And I swear, I never let on that he cheesed me off to the max, I was polite, I only begged his pardon about 8 times... I am left minus a phone, but still paying for one, of course.

And the Fraudband crawls along, because I have used my quota, in the first week or something ludicrous. One cheery soul told me in every other country in the world, what we call Broadband, is their normal speed! How come we lag so seriously behind...

Could it be that Telstra has a strangle hold on things.

And yet... I am 'lucky'. Friends have much worse tales to tell, & have had to resort to the Ombudsman to get some sort of satisfaction... which is still not forthcoming.

No wonder I am grumpy!!GGGGGRRRRR!!

"Toothache"

This rather threatening pic was taken last evening, after the feathery clouds. This was about 6pm. I am not sure why I like it, but I do. This morning has dawned clear & totally cloudless. Lovely & crisp without being too cold.

I have been thinking about the events, that, in our family, we call 'toothaches'. They are things we have witnessed or done, that come back to haunt us, & can often be the cause of anguished regret.

I am sure everyone has some of them, in their life. Sometimes quite small occasions, that just niggle at the edge of the memory, just like an ongoing tooth ache.

I have a small one from High School. I had a friend, M, with the same Christian name as mine, & we were always together, always sat together in classes, & spent all our luch breaks etc, together. We thought we were pretty smart, ~ she was good at maths, I was hopeless, so any questions directed our way, by the teacher were answered by M. And any questions directed our way, concerning English & poetry, were answered by me.

We had nicknames for all the teachers- I guess that is usual. We had lockers where we kept our books & during the dash between classes, we would go to the lockers, & get out the next required class books.

The 'toothache' occurred at the lockers. We were both crouched down, laughing about one of the teachers, & I made the comment that she was 'insipid'. A voice behind me, said loudly, "She might think you are insipid too!" I was shocked. It was the English Mistress, -not the one we had been criticising, but it made me stop & think carefully about criticism, & how much it might hurt someone. I am not sure why it has remained a toothache, but I have never forgotten it. I guess it was a valuable lesson.

There are other toothaches, which my daughter & I talk about. Some are my personal ones, & there are some that are family aches. I have one from when my brother came to stay with me, BC -before children. I was, in fact vastly pregnant & GOM was still the Happy Young Husband. One evening I made some dessert or other- have forgotten what it was. But there was whipped cream to go with it, & my brother was enjoying it hugely, & dived in for more. I snapped at him to "leave some for HYH". His face fell & he finished his dessert quietly. The toothache comes from the fact that later, when HYH came home, he didnt even bother with dessert. A stupid little thing, but it has stayed with me forever. My brother probably doesnt even remember it. I asked him once, but he said he had forgotten.

Once, while on holiday, we witnessed a result of an accident. When I say a result, we had heard a screech of brakes, & heard a thud, & when we looked there was a man lying in the road. He had apparently been hit by the car, & he was sprawled out with his arms flung ahead of him. And there, by one hand, was a hamburger, with one bite taken from it. I can still see it. Somehow it made it seem worse. And no, I dont know if he was alright, as he was still on the ground, appearing to be unconscious, when we hastened away, not wanting to join the crowd of ghouls.

And when I told our children that story, they wished I hadnt, & my daughter tells me it is still a 'toothache' in her memory.

Most of my toothaches involve my family or friends. I dont let them engulf me, but from time to time, they stab me in the memory, just like the root of a tooth dying.

When my children were young, one of their favourite books was "Frog & Toad are Friends". We all loved that book, & I would read it repeatedly to them, until they learnt to read it themselves. My 'toothaches' remind me a little of that book.


I will go away & shake myself I think! I seem to have got a little glum here, & it was not what I intended.
***************


In my last post, there is a comment from Henri, who is my Beloved Brother, & he mentions the " Cyrils". That is what BFJ & I used to call the 'duds' who came courting, or the ones who didnt turn out to be what they seemed.



BFJ & I used to go dancing. We would rather go dancing that go to the movies with a boy, some times. And quite often we would be asked by a partner if they could 'take us home.' Looking back, it was quite a risk I suppose, but times were different, & most men were basically just looking for a girlfriend. We met a lot of very nice men, dancing. One of our girlfriends met her future husband at a dance. We were lucky really, because young ones these days only seem to have Pubs or Clubs to meet other young ones.

Inevitably, we would strike the 'Cyrils'. The ones who smelt funny, or the ones who tried to 'take liberties'. Or the ones who had seemed sober & nice, but must have sneaked outside to drink, to get 'courage', & they would be positively drunk, by the time it was time to leave. Then we would make hasty changes to plans.

One night BFJ agreed to go home with a 'Cyril.' She said he seemed nice, they duly went to supper together, then returned to dance some more. She said, then she suddenly noticed he had all this thick hair sprouting from the top of his shirt collar! Above his neat tie. She couldnt take her eyes off it, it mesmerized her! She decided he must be some sort of werewolf, & so she suddenly 'discovered' that she had forgotten she had agreed to go home with me.

We both had our share of Cyrils. And BFJ used to often stay at our place, & we would have my mother in fits of laughter describing our 'adventures'.

Ah those memories make me smile!

Happy Birthday, Best Friend J

Happy Birthday to my Best Friend J. I wont give away her secret as to how old she is, but "J, whoever thought we'd make it!"
So this is a photo of my favourite camellia for you. We have had some lovely rain, & the flower is still wearing the drops.


And the next pic, is the Wild Blue Yonder.. haha, a destination we set out for, all those years ago, perhaps. I took this pic about 15 minutes ago. After all the rain, & leaden skies, this is the evening look, at 5pm, our time, which is Eastern Standard Time in Australia. I dont know that that fact is very interesting, but there it is.




And here is a rather blurred pic of a little miniature rose, which is really a very pretty colour. I just cant seem to get a clear pic of it, no matter how hard I try. It is growing in a pot, & survives in spite of me. I have a gorgeous perfumed, little yellow one too, but it will not photograph for me, using my little camera. As you can see, the rain has kissed this plant too.

We are currently having the house painted. As it is brick & tile, there is not a lot of painting to be done. It was a dingy brown, with dull cream trim, or vice versa! We have chosen a deep green, to replace the brown, with a rich cream & it is looking nice. Our ugly old front door looks quite transformed! I was a bit shocked, after 9 years of brown! We will be getting new rich cream railing for the balcony, so it will look much better than whitish rust!!

Then, all we have to do is try to reach some agreement over the back garden. The painter declared it 'very nice'. It is not really, but there are some Birds Nest Ferns, which are loving the rain, & some flourishing bromeliads. But...the lovely green effect is mostly achieved by weeds, haha! And, though it is Autumn, there are some confused bulbs, planted long ago, when I first thought I would surround myself with beloved daffodils, & jonquils, which have come up, & one is about to flower. It is either a daffodil, or a narcissus, poor little thing.

We went to a Fete this morning, a fund raiser for the 'poor countries' organised by some church. Who have Missionaries. I gave, & felt a hypocrite, since I dont, & wouldnt, support their religious cause. Leave them alone I say, -but, I do approve of the 'missioners' or whatever they call themselves, providing houses & clothing, & education, so perhaps, not such a hypocrite.

There was really nothing to excite me in the wares for sale. I did buy some fabric, a book to read, & CD of Classical Piano -Chopin. The last one I bought at a charity affair had no actual disc inside! This one does, but I have not had the chance to listen to the soothing tones yet.

I was reminded, recently, of how difficult it can be, sometimes to make friends. BFJ & I met, when our 'chips were down' as they say. We forged a life long friendship which has stood the test of time, with many ups & downs.

It is like putting on a lovely old pair of comfortable slippers, to spend time with BFJ. ( A nicer analogy would probably be to say it feels like lying in a hammock, in the shade, with gentle breezes, & warm air all about.) I feel so comfortable, & can show warts, inappropriate hairs, wrinkles, zits- in our youth!- you name it. It is very rare to find someone who is so comforting & comfortable. To be able to say one or two words, & have your friend know exactly what you are on about. To glance at each other & laugh, & both know what the laughter is about. As a person who doesnt make 'close friends' easily, I have valued our friendship, above, & beyond all price.

When Gom & I lived in the Hotel in Australia, I was a 'fish out of water'. It was not my way, to go & drink in the bars. It was not my way, to sit & drink an evening away. The smoke bothered me, the noisy band deafened me, the drunken behaviour did not suit me. It bored me. But, if I did go down for a drink now & then, I was a 'condescending bitch'. If I didnt ever go down, I was a 'snobbish bitch'. I couldnt win, & realised it quite early, so preferred to keep my own counsel, & occasionally appear ...but mostly stay away.

But we did make some friends, & I found a friend who didnt drink, & we spent evenings, & weekends out with her, & her husband, who was GOM's friend. We went to other places to spend weekends, & I was comfortable in her company.

Then the world turned, our lives became other lives, & the friendship petered out.

But BFJ will always be my friend, & I will always be there for her.

Lonely Treescape

This was last night's lonely 'tree' scene.



Who would have thought that today's sky would have been leaden & overcast for the whole day. And yet, when I first looked at 5.30am, it was a soft pink cloud that greeted me.... Soon to be replaced by full, dull, grey clouds.

I have spent the whole day without internet access.

It shocked me, how much I missed it! I so look forward to each early morning to read my mail, catch up on blogs, & read any comments I may have had overnight. As Joyce said in her post, I had no idea how much impact the friendship of the blog community would make to my life!

I was so disconcerted, I did all sorts of cleaning !! and some food preparation! Gasp!!

I was 'lording it' over the kitchen! GOM told me to get out! He was terrified I might have made permanent return~ I might see him doing his random checks of the shelf order, in the pantry, ...or catch him checking 'useby' dates! He told me to see if I could get the internet access restored.

I have been very fortunate to have been given "The God Delusion" to read. Plus, I am still reading 3 other books! Plus we have been given copies of a TV show called "Deadwood" which, leaving aside the language question, is very addictive...we cant stop watching episode after episode. Which all makes for a poor sewing record, ....& poor blogging record. But, hell, we need to see what happens next. And I hated History lessons at school!! Who knew it could be so captivating.

I have recieved such sad news from a cousin, who, like me, was besotted with her little boy dog, Phyn. He had a birth defect, & had to be put to sleep. She is devastated! As I would be. But he was a purebred dog. My cousin was assured it was the only way to go...devastation, ~ he was their 'little boy'. Our dogs are cross bred, & seem to be so robust & healthy.. I am crying for little Phyn, he was a gorgeous little dog. Life can be so cruel.

He was so loved! And so treasured. It just doesn't seem fair at all.

Fifi commented on the fact that so many bloggers are quilters, & she wondered why....

I dont have the answer, but for my part it might be called 'procastinating'. Hah!! I blog when I should be sewing or ... heaven forbid, doing housework!

I would rather walk over Canetoad bodies, or sunken cakes, than do housework!!

An Astrologer, who once did my chart, declared, I would "rather not do housework, you think someone else should do that". I roared with laughter! How true!

Other Lives.

Two more Teds of the Hug, just 'test driving' the quilt top.... which is still not backed or quilted... slinks guiltily off into the chair by the computer.I did actually make a start on a table runner, but Murphy or Sod or someone who is charge of stuff-ups, came for a visit. So it is on the back burner.

We had some friends to visit yesterday, which was very enjoyable, so who cares about sewing mistakes!

I have always been very interested in 'crafty' activities. I once won a Highly Commended for a Peg Doll competition with a Radio Station, when I was about 10. When I heard my name read out, over the radio, I was so embarrassed, I blushed & felt 'naked', & I decided never to enter competitions again. And I have largely kept to that decision.

But I lead a fairly 'sheltered' childhood compared to some others. I can remember seeing into other lives, & being stunned & amazed.

No one ever got really 'drunk' in our family life. At Christmas our Grandmother would have her one sherry & get giggly. Our Uncles would drink beer & get very merry. Our mother went occasionally to the races for a day out, & she would come home smelling odd, & seemingly happy, but we didnt have to witness drunken behaviour, in a real sense.

A new family came to our little town, & moved into a house near where we lived. A new Primary School had opened just down the road from where we lived, & the parents in this family were the Headmaster, & a Mistress in the new school.

The family was a blended one, with the mother having 2 daughters, from her previous marriage, & the father having one son, who lived with the family, & 2 daughters, who lived with their mother.

I became firm friends with the eldest girl, who was R. An odd thing about the family was the fact that the father's name was L, his son's name was L, & the younger sister of R, was also L. So it made for confusing times, & so they decided to call the children Big L & Little L, with the father being the shortened version of the name.

The mother was C, & she was a very artistic woman, who was skilled at many crafts, & loved to paint.... & drink alcoholic beverages. L the senior also loved to drink alcohol. The children lived in chaos, & tried to absent themselves when they could to avoid the drunken brawls which were apparently part of their daily life.

C offered to teach R & I how to paint on silk, & so I took myself along with fabric, for the lessons. It was lovely, & I felt a great sense of achievement when I finished. But I was a bit stunned at the state of the house, on my first visit. There seemed to be washing lying all over the house, empty beer bottles, & dirty dishes. And the two faces of C were very disconcerting! She was so charming, & delightful when she taught R & I how to use the paints. She had a pretty face, & a tinkly laugh.

Then she left the room, & we heard this 'devilish' voice from hell, screeching from the next room! Shrieking at Big L, to get the dishes done, get the washing on, do this, do that! Along with rounds of cursing, & swearing, the like of which I had never heard before! I was so shocked at first I started to laugh, nervously thinking it was a joke.

But then I saw the faces of my friend & her sister, & realised it was no joke. It was almost impossible to believe it was the same woman, when C returned to the room, all charm & smiles again. And each time I went to the house, I would witness the same sort of thing.

And that was my introduction to the home life of R. She told me at school, that life was like that all the time at home, & of course the alcohol accelerated it all every evening, when both parents got blind drunk! Who would have ever thought. They presented such a happy public face. I never told my mother, for fear of not being allowed to go back.

R had suffered Osteomyelitis, in her hip, & so she caught a bus to & from school, but the brother, Big L, used to ride his bike, as I did. And he used to infuriate me by insisting on riding beside me on the way home from school. I dont really remember why I hated him riding along side me, but I dont remember talking to him much, so it cant have been the conversation. I was never keen on physical exertion, as my face always went beet red, in Summer, & it would stay that way for hours afterwards. Perhaps I was embarrassed at my beet red face.

I had another very good friend from early childhood, & I often stayed at her house, but nothing like that ever went on there. The worst things that happened there were usually caused by us, playing music too loudly. Or when we got older, sneaking her father's car, to go to the beach or down to the local Coffee Bar, to sit in the gloom, & perhaps sneak cigarettes, feeling 'sophisticated'.

I remember my first 'real' boyfriend's house, where I used to stay at the weekends. He had 3 brothers, & they lived in a very small house, so I got to sleep with his mother, because they didnt have a room without a male in it. Luckily I really liked his mother, & she liked me, so we didnt have a problem. I went out with that boy for almost a year, until he went to work in another town. I remained friends with his mother for years.

Looking back, I suppose we did have quite a sheltered childhood, & a 'safe' one, even though we always felt the lack of our father so hard.

It really opened my eyes when I met the School Teacher family.

The Secret Rendezvous

Before GOM & I knew we were to be together, I had another 'boy friend'. I will call him G. We had met quite accidentally one night when out in a 'crowded bar' situation. I looked up, & here was this man watching me. Our eyes locked, & I felt a thrill, a small tremor of 'recognition'.

Our eyes kept returning to each other, throughout the evening. As we were both with other people, the chances of talking were nil. However, he passed close to me, & passed me a piece of paper. I thrust it into my bag, & carried on with the evening. The next day, my mind kept returning to those brown eyes dancing at me across the room. I took out the piece of paper with a name, & phone number.

Normally, I would never have bothered to contact someone like that. But something kept him in my mind, it kept nagging on my consciousness.
I should explain here that GOM & I were not in a 'serious' relationship. We were flirting around the edges I suppose you might say. Perhaps neither of us wanted to admit that this was "IT". He would stand me up every now & then, & I would go out with others.

So I gave my brown eyed admirer a phone call. And he was happy, & arranged to meet me. And so began a secret, mistimed, 'love affair.' It was an unrequited 'love affair'. We never did sleep together, & in the end I think we were both comfortable with that. He used to laughingly 'put the hard word' on me, & I would laughingly refuse. He would cuddle me, kiss me, & take me back to my 'real life'.

I can remember feeling giddy with excitement when he would be waiting at the end of the lane, after I finished work, & he would whisk me off for long drives & we would sit & watch the passing parade by the river. And we laughed at the same things, & seemed to think the same thoughts. We would say exactly the same thing, at the same time. And we seemed the perfect match.

He would 'kidnap' me for lunch, & we would drive up into the hills, & sit & laugh together. We never seemed to run out of things to say to each other. It was almost as if we had to cram it all in, before it was too late.

But... he was still in a marriage. It floundered along, -for the 'children's sake'. At first I felt horrified, & guilty to be seeing a married man. He never spoke badly of his wife, & admitted it was probably his fault to a large degree, that things didnt work. It didnt seem to 'count' in our relationship really, as we were truly, just friends. But what friends. I think a friendship such as ours comes along once in a lifetime. It seems harder to have a male/female true friendship, than it is to have a female/female great friendship.

We spent many happy times together- always laughing. His marriage eventually ended. By then I was committed to GOM, who still, occasionally 'stood me up'. On those occasions G & I would go out together. He would take me off to strange places, & we would go for wonderful meals together in out of town destinations, just to be together.

I knew that if ever I needed someone, he would be there for me. And I would always be there for him. I missed him terribly when we didnt see each other, or speak for long periods of time.

GOM & I married, & for the first few weeks of marriage, there were times when I had that 'trapped', "What the Hell have I done?" feeling. I guess GOM may have felt it too.

One day at work, I recieved a phone call. It was G. He was in town for some conference, had a day free- would I come for lunch? I couldnt resist, & felt the old excitement flood through me. I caught a taxi off to meet him at the huge new luxury resort where he was staying. It was so good to see him. We had a long long lunch, neither of us stopping to eat much. We just laughed & laughed, it was like drinking too much wine. Time seemed suspended, in a golden seperate world. We got later & later, & suddenly I realised I should be home, cooking tea for my new husband. A panic sticken trip in another taxi, home to my little flat.

And though I had never physically betrayed GOM, I somehow felt just as guilty.As if the secret bond G & I had was worse. It was invisible. It was like some pain, no one could see it, but it was still real inside. And I also felt sick, as I think if GOM had discovered where I had been that day, he wouldnt have been forgiving, or understanding. And I knew I didnt want to jeopardise our marriage.


Eventually GOM & I returned to the Southern City to live. G contacted me. We occasionally would meet to talk, catch up. He had a new girlfriend, & of course I was now married. We still seemed to get a tremendous lot of pleasure from each other's company. He came to the Hotel, & GOM knew about him by then. Knew about our long time friendship, had in fact known I went out with G when he stood me up, but he never knew about the secret rendezvous. We all became friends. G & his new girlfriend came to our house for parties. We still felt the spark of the love we had for each other. GOM was aware, but he knew it was no threat to him. G's new wife was not so sure, & I always felt she held reservations.

Over the years, we saw G every time we returned to the Southern City. He had married & had a daughter. I never met his daughter. But we kept in touch, until one year we went back for a holiday, GOM & I. And when I rang G, I was told he had died. It just broke my heart. He was too young, too good, to be gone. He had almost died once before. He was left almost crippled, & it seemed a miracle had saved his life, that time. He must have run out of miracles. And there is a hole in my heart forever.

But I am so glad I had the chance to love him.

Random Thoughts

A dull overcast day, with small falls of rain, which are not enough to do good to the garden, but just enough to stop outdoors being the choice.

I was reading an article in a Sunday Magazine, "What makes Women Happy?"
Someone had interviewed several women & they had given their stories on what made them happy.

I didnt read all the answers.
But when I saw the headline, my first thought was, it was like asking "how long is a piece of string?" Surely, no two women -or men, for that matter- would give the same answers.

I have always been the girl who asked the inappropriate questions.
On being told the story of how a distant cousin had been found at the bottom of a cliff, alive, with his horse, which had apparently fallen with him, my first question was "What happened to the Horse?"

I hasten to add the family had already told us the cousin couldn't remember what had happened, & couldn't remember falling, & he had lost his sense of smell, but was otherwise ok.
My Brother understood my question- it was on his lips too. And we were both disappointed to find no one knew what had happened to the horse, whether it had lived or died.

I find I get infuriated at news items on TV, that make a big fuss & todo about something, then dont deliver any answers. You are left with more questions than before you heard the 'story'.



And here is a pic of a new bear for the Hug. He has obviously lost his belt & trousers somewhere along the line, & so I suppose I should make him some more. He looked forlorn, & perhaps a bit guilty, in the reject bin at a garage sale, so home he came with me.
The Hotel we used to live in was called the Grenadier, & one of the bars was known as the Bearskin Bar, & had a real Grenadier Guardsman's Bearskin hat on display. The Bearskin got stolen one night, & there was great consternation over it. It mysteriously reappeared, & we never did find out who took it, but it was suspected some wag had done it on a dare, & it had quite a sentimental quality with the patrons, who all seemed very glad to see it's reappearance.
I am thinking I will call this bear Gren.


And here is Leo, taking his ease outside on the sunlounge. He will sit still more for photo ops than Honey tends to, so it is not that he is the favourite, but Honey wont always oblige. They have both just been flea treated. We seem to have had a problem with fleas on them, & it is odd, as we dont usually.




And here is another bear found yesterday at another garage box of unwanteds.
She has a label which says she is called Jennifer, & she came from an Airport Shop in Thailand. So she is a well travelled little girl. I thought she called my name.

And here she is in the clothes she was wearing, which have had a wash. They dont seem particularly feminine to me, so she just might get a new skirt in pink, perhaps.

And now, I am going to do some more reading, or perhaps watch some DVD entertainment.

Gom made threatening noises about getting out his Whipper Snipper to 'trim up the weeds'. I always tell him not to disturb the peace on Sundays. It seems just as I am enjoying the peace & quiet, some neighbour will start up some infernal machine! GRRRR.

There was some talk of somone trying to introduce a law to prevent the use of such noisy appliances between certain hours. Of course it was pooh poohed. But I could see the merit!

In Search of Our Roots.

In 1996, my Beloved Brother & I set out to visit the area our Maternal Grandfather came from, & the location where he was born, in New South Wales, Australia.

He had often spoken of Eden, & told us many stories of Australia when we were children, including tales of Bunyips & also he used to tell us not to linger in the toilet for too long, or a snake would come to bite our bottoms! I lived in terror for years.


I say he was born in Eden, but my brother is sure he was born in Wonboyn, which is very close to Eden. He had certainly lived & worked around Eden, which was largely a fishing town. If you were not a fisherman, you were a timber worker. And he was a timber worker, but of course knew about the fishing, & had often told our mother & her brothers about the stories of the fishing, & the Killers of Eden.



I was lucky to have previously visited Eden with our mother & one of her Aussie cousins. My BB was keen to visit it, & see it for himself. Our mother had a very old postcard of the wharf at Eden, & we were surprised at how little it had changed in all those years, since her grandmother had posted it to her son.

My BB & I got a Rental car, which we picked up & I drove initially. We decided to take the coast road down the State, & it was quite pleasant weather. We were a little later getting on the road than we had planned, but set sail in great style, full of anticipation. Fortunately we get along very well, & we did have many laughs along the way.


We stayed at a somewhat disastrous Motel the first night of our trip. It was in Bateman's Bay, which is counted as a 'desirable holiday destination'. I wont go into all the details, but the unit we were assigned had no airconditioning, & a large squeaky ceiling fan stirred the hot air, should we need cooling. It was a very basic unit, but had tea/coffee making facilities, & a bathroom.

The bathroom must have had some sort of drainage problem. It seemed ok on first inspection. But the first time we used the toilet, the stench that rose out of the room was unbelievable. It smelt as if a thousand other people's excrescences were just waiting below, to release their foul odours upon our night air. It became suffocating. We flung the window open, we turned the fan onto high, hoping to blow the reeking rotten stench out of the unit. All to no avail. As we tossed & turned in the fetid air, & fitfully dozed, I heard my brother declare "It wasnt me! I am a Clean Man!"


We had to trudge over the highway to a Club to find food, & dodge flying traffic to get back to the stinking motel. We couldnt wait to leave the following morning, & chose not to remain for any sort of breakfast. It has left us with a permant dislike of Bateman's Bay, which is probably unfair, but there you go.


On we travelled down to Eden, where we found a nice Motel, close to a Club. We were greatly amused to see signs in our unit asking that fishermen please not clean their catch in the units, but go to the area provided. We liked Eden, we thought it a pretty little place, & we went down to the Wharf area to see for ourselves the postcard picture we had always known. We collected some stones, & shells from a small beach there, & sat & enjoyed the lovely mild stillness.

We dined handsomely on the most delicious fresh fish at the Club in the evening, & walked back to our Motel. We had a good night's sleep, with no unpleasant odours disturbing our slumbers.

Australians may be aware of the story of the Killers of Eden. They were Killer Whales, (Orca) who used to help the fishermen to round up whales. Our Grandfather had told his children stories of the 'killers'. There is a Museum in Eden, which has the skeleton of the leader, "Tom" as he was known, & he has worn teeth, where legend has it he towed the boats with rope, which wore his teeth down.

This excellent book tells the story of the 'Killers of Eden', & I would recommend it as a great read. There are photos of the killer whales, & they all had names given to them by the local fishermen. The 'killer whales' would herd the whales into the bay, Twofold Bay, & alert the fishermen that the whales were there, by splashing their tales & fins on the water. Their reward when the whales were killed was the tongues, which the fishermen would cut out, & throw to the 'killer whales'.
Our mother had tried for years to obtain the book to read, & we were able to purchase it from the Museum. We were greatly intrigued with the museum, & all it had to show.


We visited local potters, & purchased some beautiful pottery. We really enjoyed our stay there. We went to the Cemetary at Aslings Beach, hoping to see relatives graves, but an old man told us the sea had been very high & a lot of the graves had lost their marker stones, & a lot of information had been lost. We never found any relatives to our knowledge but some of the names were familiar to our family. We purchased 'friends of the cemetary' membership, & were promised newsletters. We still await some!


We drove on, to Wonboyn, & there, my BB was siezed by some sort of brain snap. He became determined to reach the Lagoon, which seemed to be only accessible via a rutted, rough track up through large Gum trees. Up a steep incline. Some grinning fishermen assured us it 'wasnt far'. We became acquainted with our first 'Composting Toilet" which was supposed to be environmentally friendly & non odourous. I dont know what went wrong, but the odour would not let one linger!

And, we never did reach the mythical lagoon. I became extremely alarmed, as we rose in perpendicular position, & hung precariously off the side of the hill, & reminded my BB that our Rental car was not insured for any damage on non metal roads.. haha, let alone deeply rutted bush tracks. So eventually he abandoned his dream, & we managed to get out into relative civilisation again. I say relative, as we needed some petrol, so stopped at a 'friendly, local, little petrol pump'. Never make assumptions about the 'locals' being friendly! Or helpful. It appeared to be a 'steam operated ' pump, & we were cursed for being ignorant, & dumb, for not knowing about such antiquated pieces of equipment.
As I recall I think it required hand pumping to prime it....


And so we left that somewhat desolate area, & proceeded down to the State of Victoria, where we stopped at Cann River, & were most impressed by a wood carver's, lifesize, wooden motor bike, & various other works of his art.

We travelled back into New South Wales, & on up through Bombala, (more rellies lived there, but we didnt stop) Nimmitabel, which is another blog for another day! And on to Canberra, where we spent time at the National Art Gallery, & were greatly amused to discover the huge ball sculpture of the world, which hung outside the Gallery, was made my a New Zealander! And we visited The High Court. And laughed at many things & events. All for other tales.


****
EDIT. My brother has reminded me, we stopped at Fairymeadow which is a suburb of Wollongong, on the way down, & it was in fact on our return trip that we stopped at the Evil Motel at Batemans Bay.
And it was Cann River, not Cass.

Tagged by Tanya

Tanya has tagged me to do the :Gotta Get 'em Goals" list.


"The rules are that one needs to "list and write about the top 5 to 10 goals that you gotta get so you can truly say you have achieved your wildest dreams in life. These have to be your best, most exclusive, and over-the-top goals that you can pick off your goals list."


As a lot of my life/lives have been lived, I have had some very different dreams, & goals along the way. I am not quite sure how to do this list. I have been pondering it for some days.

Do I go with past, realised goals?
Or do I go with new, unrealised goals?
I think I will settle for a bit of both.

1. Marriage.
Coming from a broken marriage, I suppose I gave my utmost to try to stay married, & have a happy marriage. As we are approaching 41 years together I suppose it could be said that goal has been achieved. We have certainly had our share of ups & downs, & no one thought it would last, as we are very different people, from quite different upbringings. Had anyone told me I would have spent a great deal of time working with my husband, I would have said "Impossible". But somehow we made it work. So I count that as a goal achieved.


2. Children.
I strove to be a good & loving mother to my children. They tell me they had wonderful, happy childhoods. We did a lot of things together with them. I was rather a non joiner as a child- never picked for sports teams..which suited me down to the ground! I tried to encourage my children to think for themselves & not to feel pressured to be 'the same' as everyone else. If they wanted to play sport, I encouraged them, but if they didnt, well, that was also fine by me. I always tried to be fair, & possibly hugged & kissed them too much. My own mother was not demonstrative when I was a child, so I guess I overcompensated with my own children. And now I am a grandmother, I overindulge my grandchildren - but not too much. I try not to undermine their parents.


3. A Sense of Joy.
This one is hard to explain, but I think it has always been my goal to see, or find a sense of joy in each day. The small things, like a flower, a child's smile, a patch of colour. Notes of music, a pat from a loved one. The small hand of a child, reaching up to hold my hand. Two dogs that make our lives filled with love & the joy of living that only dogs have. All that is going to come out sounding sappy, but it is a daily goal.


4. Contentment.
A sense of contentment with my lot, is a recent goal I think. When I was younger, I would 'want' things. I view things from a different perspective now that I am older. I can see how lucky I really am. We have our own home, we have warmth & airconditioning for the horrible hot summers. We have plenty to eat, drink. Clothes to wear. Friends to share our good fortune. Family who I love dearly.


5. Self Comfort.
Now this one will sound stupid, perhaps. But most of my life I felt not quite comfortable with myself. Too fat. Too thin. Too unfit. Too spotty. Too much hair. Not enough hair. No curls. Too many curls.
Now, ..oh the liberation of stopping worrying if I am too fat, too old, too unfit, too picky. Now I just go with the flow. I dont worry about 'what others will think'. Someone once told me, to be so obsessed with 'what others will think of me' is just a form of vanity & arrogance. I can see the wisdom of that now. Most people are so busy thinking about themselves, they dont worry about me at all. And some days, they might be glad they are not me, or dont look like me, so that will be a benefit to others! I can be seen as a shining example of 'how not to be'.

6.A New Car.
Now here is an old goal. Once our employer used to give us the use of his shiny red Jaguar car, every time he went overseas. We loved to have the use of it, the luxury of it's lovely leather seats, to ride about in it's comfort. GOM promised me that one day, we would have a shiny new car. And one day we did. It was shiny & red, & it could hold 6 children & 3 dogs, & it was a large station wagon, & it was truly a wild goal, to have actually reached. I am ashamed to say, I loved that car. I loved to drive it fast along the straight country roads. I loved that it was so comfortable, so new, so ...OURS. We sold it when we came over here to live, & I dont get sentimental about cars now. I just remember the lovely new red car we once had. And I feel glad we had it.



7.Travel.
I always had goals to travel, & over the course of my life, I have travelled a lot. I still have a goal, to travel to Canada one day. Who knows if I ever will. It doesnt seem possible, it is a wild goal to have. But strange things can happen, & if you dont have a dream, you cant have a dream come true.


8.Handcraft skills.
These are old goals, which I pretty much conquered early in my life. As I am left handed, & my mother was not, I got told quite a lot that I was 'cack handed' & I was awkward. Perhaps it made me more determined to learn how to knit crochet, & sew. I even taught left handed children how to crochet, & a left handed neighbour. I was just a little disappointed my children & grandchildren are not left handed. I am proud to be left handed, & DONT regard it as a handicap!


My list of goals perhaps seems selfcentred & small. But I cant solve the world's problems. I cant feed the starving.
I try to recycle as much as I can, in my little world. I try not to waste. I try to make others feel better, or feel good about themselves.

I try to be positive, a daily goal for me, having suffered almost numbing bouts of depression all my life.

I try to bring a ripple of hope, from my small drops of hope for others.




How does one write all that without sounding like some fatuous twit??
Sometimes it is much easier to hide behind idiocy, & laughter.

Frustrations.

Here are the 'babies'. Leo has been giving Honey a hard time, wanting her to play with him, & challenging her to try to get the lion. She just snaps at him to leave her alone.My Beloved Brother rang me from Auckland to have a chat, & Leo could be heard growling & carrying on like a spoilt child, demanding my attention. My brother is not really a dog person, & each time has very colourful, & inventive suggestions as to what I should or could be doing with Leo. He hasnt met Leo in real life, but hears tales of his various misdeeds.

One of his milder thoughts is to have Leo stuffed, & mounted upon wheels to be pulled about where ever I want. Of course he doesnt mean it, but I play the outraged dog lover.

He has met Honey, & she is a good little quiet dog, so he doesnt have suggestions for her.

I thought I would post my favourite camellia. I love the colour of this one. These are the weeds which come in abundance, & flourish, & seem to feel they were invited! I dont know what it is, but it covers the ground so thickly, & lushly, it almost seems a shame to pull it out. I once told GOM that I would rather look at the green of weeds, than see bare bald earth, & it is still true, to an extent.

Here is another shot of the favoured pink camellia, it is clearer than the first one, but the colour seemed too light.

We are trying to get some quotes for new railing on our balcony. It seems to be almost impossible to get people to :

A, Turn up to quote.

B, Suggest a price less than the cost of a small Third world country!

C, Send out the quote after having measured & discussed.

Initially, GOM did the phoning & begging for people to come to quote. Of his 3, one turned up, & declared a ransome would be appropriate payment.

One has never been heard from again, & we presume he must have fallen from a balcony somewhere.

One came & measured & made fatuous suggestions about stainless steel, & wire, & glass panels. On being told that would be ridiculous on this older style of house, he whisked off, saying he would post the quote. We are still waiting, 3 postal days later.

So I tried to T up some quoters, by telephone.

One is supposedly to turn up this morning.

One laughingly took my name, address, & phone number, & promised someone would 'get back to you, to arrange a time'. I am still waiting, 3 days later.

We are also wishing to get the house painted. As it is brick & tile, the painting does not amount to a great deal. But it is two storied, & so GOM cant possibly do it. Besides I would have nightmares & live in terror of him plummeting off the roof, so for my peace of mind, contractors are preferrable.

We have had quotes from all 3 who turned up to quote, & they are all much less than the hideous ransome for the small railing. Two quotes are very close, & one is suspiciously low, so we wont go with him. We dont want the paint washing off in the first shower of rain, which has been known to happen. Besides the dearer quotes named the paint brand they use, so would seem wiser choices.

We really need to get the railing done, as it is rusting badly, & I have heart palpitations every time someone goes out onto the balcony. To say nothing of the eyesore it has become.

Fairly recently, we had a new, large, patio awning erected in the back yard. I just realised the cost of that was far less than the suggested price for the small balcony rail....how can that be?

GOM has just brought me a cup of coffee. I rise much earlier than he does, & I have one cup with my breakfast. Then he makes me another when he has his breakfast. I have tried to tell him the industrial strength he makes, bring tears to my eyes, & a terrible bitter taste to the mouth. Stupidly, I am always shocked to discover he has forgotten I dont like it strong.

Still, I suppose it is the thought that counts.

What the??

What is going on with Blogger. It seems to have reverted back to the old blogger? How very odd. And how very frustrating.


This is, I hope, because I cant see it, a pic of one of my Camelias which are finally flowering for me. Last year they had about one flower each, & I was very disappointed, but this year they seem a lot happier. Perhaps the rain we have had, has coaxed them into bloom.


We are having our Grandson for the morning today, & we had him last evening. He is such fun, & does make me smile, with his cute ways. He had a bath here, & afterwards went running out to the lounge, holding his towel up high.
"I cant let anyone see my boobies" he said, clutching his chest, & letting his towel drop.

It is looking like a nice day here, so we might take SG & the dogs to the waterfront. He loves to explore & examine the little shells.

He is a fussy eater, as I have mentioned before. He does love Macaroni Cheese, so his mother provided that for his tea last night. I can remember it was one of my favourites when I was a child, & my Grandmother made it beautifully.

GOM tends not to like Pasta, so I usually only make it when we have visitors for a meal, since I still seem to suffer from the old 'making enough for a family'.

I often have fish when GOM has steak, because I strongly dislike red meat, & GOM likes it. I dont mind, but there are times when cooking 2 or 3 differing meals in the evening are just a pain.

And the Pantry Vandal strikes unexpectedly, & I cant find my ingredients. I was making a fish dish which I do for myself, on Sunday evening. I love all my vegies, so I lay the fish fillets in a dish, with a few drops of Sesame Oil, so they dont stick, & then layer the vegies- whatever I have on hand, & usually plenty of greens, such as Zucchini, beans peas, broccoli & finely sliced carrot, & some times spring onions. I use a Ketcap Manis sauce & a dash of Soya & Mushroom sauce or Oyster sauce, sometimes a little chilli, or some Chinese Five Spice, & seal it all & cook it slowly in the oven or microwave, depending on how hot the day is.

Imagine my (silent) rage, when I discovered the Sesame Oil had disappeared! Vanished! Deep in the pantry I could be heard plotting the rearrangement and/or removal of various appendages of the GOM. Some were going to be tastefully displayed on the now-to-be-replaced balcony railing, as a warning to other males not to tinker with women's Pantries! Some might have formed a necklace or even a hat!

However, just as I was about to burst forth to roar, I found the Sesame Oil, in a very unlikely location. And I simmered down, but cant help wondering what sort of joy or satisfaction GOM can get, by endlessly rearranging the contents of the Pantry. I have learnt to look in ludicrous places for my cooking dishes. I have learnt that odd things seem to end up in the fridge. But the Pantry is a major bugbear. I have to keep reminding myself it is not a major fault. I suppose it could be said it is a hobby.

He rather likes me to get in here on the computer. He realises a 'few minutes' can turn quickly into hours. And it gives him free reign in the mysteries of the Pantry.
Another of his recent passions, is rearranging the freezer. If I want something I ask first. Now we have another freezer downstairs, so he can amuse himself down there, restacking & piling.

Yes, marriage is give & take. You never know where or what is going to happen next. Well, in our marriage, at least!

GRRRR!

I tried to edit the previous post, to tell of the spectacular ending to the day yesterday.

We had a massive Thunderstorm, complete with thunder lightning, & heavy rain.
It would not have been imaginable in the morning, with all that wonderful mild warmth, & blue skies!

At Last!! The Beach!!

As you can see from the pic taken yesterday, I got to walk on the sand at the beach, at last.
It was one of those beautiful days, just perfect. The warm temperature, the lack of humidity, & a gentle breeze, almost no clouds. I can believe in magic on such a day. There were plenty of swimmers, and the Life Guards were out, on patrol. I walked down the beach alone. GOM preferring to sit on the sand & watch the passing parade.
I breathed the wonderful salty air, & was just in heaven.

I had suggested we go to a Market which is always open at the weekends at one of the beaches. It was a long time since we had visited the market, & it had changed a little since our last visit. A few new traders, some secondhand & "interesting Olde" shops. Nothing really appealing to us, but we wandered about enjoying the sights. We were a bit disappointed at the lack of handcrafted items. There seemed to only be the LOLs crocheting & knitting baby clothes.
Since I am now a LOL & can do that myself, there was nothing I felt compelled to buy.

I did buy some homemade fudge though, for GOM & I to savour. Delicious, & very fattening I would imagine. Still, the portions were not large.
The stall holder had samples of her fudge flavours on display for sampling. One young lad obviously regarded it as his personal smorgasbord, & proceeded to eat his way from one end to the other. As he was about to finish the stall holder snapped at him, & finally his parents chipped him for being greedy.
It was all I could do, not to clip his ear!


Here are some of the cast-offs from the ocean, along the walk on the sand. The sand looks more golden in real life, I dont know why it looks so grey in my pics.
There are no exotic shells to be found on these beaches, but small children -& me- find them fascinating. I think of the creatures who once inhabited them, & wonder what became of them, to have left their homes abandoned.
I paddled my feet in the lovely warm seawater, & dug my toes into the sand. It was a free treat for me. I love to see seaweed, & fancy a necklace for a mermaid made out of the 'beads' of this seaweed.

When we were children, we used to spend a lot of weekends at a beach we called the Mount. It's full name is Mt Maunganui, & Ali Honey has posted of it before, & so have I.

It really was a wonderful beach for children & adults of all ages. There is an Ocean side & a Harbour side, so it is wonderful for surfing or just paddling.

We often used to visit an old Great Aunt & Uncle, who lived close to the ocean. The old man used to go fishing in the wild ocean, standing on the shore, & he would take us with him, over the sand dunes to the ocean side where he fished with a contraption he called a Kon Tiki. He made them himself, & they were a tin box like structure, which the waves would carry out to sea, on his long line, & the fish would get trapped in the box assembly, which would be baited, & when he hauled them into the shore, we would see the fish inside. They were very successful devices for catching fish, & there was always fish on the menu at their place. He would gut & clean the fish on the beach, & the screaming gulls would be in heaven. Sometimes he would take them home to clean, & he used the guts for fertilising the garden.

I can remember going with him on kelp gathering forays, after there had been bad weather. The beach would be covered with huge mounds of kelp, ripped from the ocean floor, & cast up on the sands of the high tide line. He would cart it home, in a homemade cart, & would use it for fertilising the gardens. He grew vegetables & some flowers, & considering the land they lived on was just sandhills, he did have quite a wonderful garden.

Our old Great Aunt suffered from rheumatoid Arthritis, & she was 'chair-ridden' poor old soul, so she couldnt go down to the beach, & spent her life in the chair in the corner of her lounge. She could still knit, & I remember her poor hands with the fingers bent double into the palms, & I dont know how she still managed to knit.

She was my Grandmother's youngest sister, & she had snapping brown eyes. Some of our cousins were scared of her, but really she was a lovely old lady, with a great sense of humour. After her husband died she had to be put in a home, & spent the remainder of her days trapped in a bed, surrounded by old women with dementia, & so she had no one to talk to.

Perhaps the saddest thing about her condition was, it had not affected her mind, & she spent lonely bored days lying in her bed. My mother used to visit her regularly, & would always try to take her some of her favourite food. She could be very acid, & quite savage at times, but now, I wonder she was nice at all, as the pain of her arthritis must have been dreadful. At least I have modern drugs for my pain.

I must go down to the sea again....(one of my mother's favourite poems)