Blessings In Shades of Orange

I was going to write about a quote from Charles Dickens in 'A Christmas Carol.' I planned on it all week. Then my husband came home with orange Tiger Lilies for me. I placed them in a long black vase. Tehy were so beautiful I wanted to try and capture the image with my paints.

Last night I sat down and blocked in the painting. Then this morning I sat down and while sipping coffee and chatting with my husband, I started to lay down color. When I looked up to get my bearings with the painting I noticed something was off. A closer inspection showed me that one of the buds was incorrect. It was fuller now - more open. I made the adjustment and continued on.

A few minutes later I looked up and the setting had changed again. While I was concentrating so was the flower. It was slowly opening up to display its full glory. A game started. If I stared nothing happened. If I looked down for a few minutes - it opened more. In two hours it was fully open.

I marveled at the miracle that was happening in front of me. Well, almost in front - if I squinted. Nature was sharing a special moment. I was suddenly grateful to be able to live a life that allowed me to sit patiently and watch nature work her wonders. And even more grateful for a husband who allowed me the time and space to try and capture that wonder in the best way I know how.

When I think about all the special things I wish for my loved ones at this time of year - my family and my friends - I think that moments such as these must be at the top. I wish for you all the wonder that is life and the ability to enjoy every moment. Make the small times count. Never discount them. They are what makes life worth living.

Merry Christmas to you all and a safe and happy holiday season. Thanks for stopping in and for all the support you have given me. May you be blessed.

Christmas Thoughts - Homemade

It's The Holiday Homesick

It's the holiday season. I thought I was doing pretty good considering I am frustrated, still in pain, and can't keep my foot down for long. Then today, I was having some female friends down for coffee. This means two hours of chatter and solving the world's problems. I had put out a few decorations, set the table in the barbie area with holiday tablecloth etc...and put some Christmas music on for background. I had everything ready and then sat down with my foot up to wait.

'I'll Be Home For Christmas' started to play and suddenly - tears fell. The Wee Welshman was at work. The dogs were lolling about and I was going through tissues at an alarming rate. It happens every year. Generally, on Christmas Eve around midnight. I will put out all the lights, put some of my favorite holiday music on low and sit there in the soft glow of the Christmas tree lights speeding down memory lane. Niagra Falls.

I wait until the WW is in bed. I also wait for the kids to go to bed if they happen to be home for the holiday. This year - it has all been a bit to much for me. The waterworks started early. I don't want hubbie to see this because he thinks I am very adult about the whole homesickness thing. And I certainly didn't want my girlfriends to see it. Sympathy was the last thing I needed this morning. I needed a butt kicking.

All my family is alive and basicly well. My friends are the same. We have heaps to be thankful for. Tears are really not necessary. There is just something about this holiday and how much I love it. I miss doing it New England style. I want Currier and Ives and Norman Rockwell. I want to see a fire in the fireplace, smell pine, hear little children plot, put cookies out for Santa, attend a Christmas Eve Church service where I have to bundle up and my nose is red from the cold. I don't want to melt from heat if I bake too much.

Christmas makes me a kid again - every year. I think I better go put out our stockings just in case Santa can get through all the smoke from bush fires run amuck.

Another Look At Our Gel - Oh To Be So Relaxed!

When 2 Dogs Go Out Walking - Guess Who Does The Talking?

Learning To Be Friends

  

Taffy Under 12 Weeks

  

Catching Up

I need to say I am sorry to everyone who has been kind enough to respond to my last post and never heard back from me. I still can't keep my foot down long enough to write much although I am checking my emails. I work in my studio and there is no good place for me to prop my foot up. It dislikes being down at the moment. Better days are coming though.

Yesterday my friend Traci was down visiting and we decided to weigh Taffy. She has done so much growing that she is really leggy at the moment but she also feels really heavy. For all you Americans - she weighs 28 pounds and she isn't even 12 weeks old at the moment. For all you Brits etc...she weighs 12.72 kilos. Incredible!

Fortunately, Taffy is gentle and has the sweetest nature. On top of that she is really smart. She likes routine and responds well to a soft voice command. We have lucked out with this puppy. We love her to pieces.

Thanksgiving was lovely. Tony had his coronation/pledge of allegience and became an Aussie and then we had nine people to tea. So for the first time in 11 years - we celebrated Thanksgiving. I mean to every year and every year it falls apart. Our son and his partner were here and I never stopped smiling. Plus, for the first time since I was a child I got out of all the cooking and dishes. lol!

I just finished reading, 'The Diary of A Young Girl' by Anne Frank. I have been reading it every year since I was about nine. I love the book. And I am ever impressed by what an excellant diary it is for someone that young. We blog and journal but few of us come up to the standards of that book. Of course, what she was journaling was done in dramatic times. Yet, any girl even in the 21st century can relate to much of what she writes. I am humbled by her efforts and I always hope that someday I will be able to write that way. And I always end up feeling devastated by the huge loss of life and in particular - Anne's.

I hope that the grand reunion of many of the Circle went well and look forward to reading about their visit. I really wish I could have been there for the sole purpose of spending time with such lovely women. The older I get the more I love my female friends.

Well, my foot is sending out warning signals so I am off to elevate it. I have been trying to design labels and logos for my soap and cards. It is slow when you can't sit long enough to really format your ideas. But they are coming along and I have several versions good to go. I have also been printing out some of my drawings as cards. Working out all the bugs on cheap paper. Soon, I will be able to start using better quality paper. I am also crocheting together the 140 circles I made for a bedspread. On top of that, I am roughing out a few paintings for gifts. So I am making decent use of this down time. But, I feel a scream coming on as I am longing to be outside roaming the bottom 40 with the dogs and wading at the beach. Patience - patience - patience.

Thanksgiving

American Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays - especially since I always had a four day weekend with it. Since moving to OZ I haven't celebrated it. I have had good intentions but it has never worked out. This year it is happening - by accident.

Our son is arriving on Wednesday night with his partner. He has to be bestman at a wedding up North on Saturday. He told me he was telling anyone who wanted to see him to come here as he doesn't have time to run around visiting people. I said that was fine but reminded him that I can't have the foot down for more than 5 minutes so I can't be cooking. But it is important to us that our children always consider the family home as theirs - no matter how old they get or where they move off to. So I told Tris to invite down anyone he wanted for whatever he wants. That would be dinner for nine.

On Thursday night, which is Thanksgiving in America, it is dinner for nine. And our son, who is a great cook, is doing the meal. And his parnter is really good at dishes. We are subbing salmon for turkey.

Thursday is also the day on which hubbie takes his pledge in Hobart to become an Aussie. Our council never got their act together. Taking Foodkitty's advice I sought out help and we managed to schedule it for when our son is here. He is delighted and so is hubbie.

So on Thanksgiving we will have lots to be grateful for. Our son's visit, hubbie becoming a citizen and me not having to cook for a mob. Let the celebrating begin.

Taffy all worn out from a hard five minutes. 

Taffy with blue eyes 

Taffy again all tired out 

Taffy under 8 weeks 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FG

I am spreading the news - Happy Birthday to our FG. May you have a blessed day filled with joy. Hugs and kisses!

Just a quick note to let you all know that I am mending but it is very hard to keep my foot down long enough to blog. The important thing is that I am recovering and being well-looked after. Bless my hubbie and my friend on the hill.

Other big news - we got a new addition to the family. Her name is Taffy. She is just 8 weeks old and she is a Bermese Mountain dog. She is tri-colored; black,tan and white. Smart as a whip already and a real cuddler. This could be a problem later on. lol! The wee Pugsley has his nose out of joint but he will survive and already has decided she can follow him around outside. Good thing too, she outweighs him and towers over him. Our timing was a bit off but it was a surprise for me from my hubbie.

I'll be back when I can sit a bit longer with some stories. Thanks heaps for all the good wishes. I really aprreciate them.

Hugs to you all!

Hi Ho Hi Ho - This is my 6th attempt

I am off to the hospital at 6AM tomorrow. This will definitely be my last post for a few days. I am taking the laptop to the hospital with me so hopefully, I'll get some writing done before the surgery. I am never lucky enough to be first.

Hubbie made sure that I had a lovely day today. He took me to the local school fair where I showed great self-restraint by avoiding all the great food. I did make up for that by indulging at the 2nd hand book stall, though. Yes!

We took a ride along the shore route from Cygnet to Kingston which I love to do. Then we bought scones and went to Kingston Beach to eat them. Heaps of people were out and about walking their dogs and their children. The surf was up a bit and we made up conversations for the seagulls. I always enjoy letting others know exactly what they are thinking. Takes a bird brain to know a bird brain.

We went and had coffee with friends. Then came home and I broiled sea trout fillets for us. Just some lemon and a bit of butter and it was lovely. Although I am sure that I just made Foodkitty shudder. lol!

Spent most of the evening going over notes with hubbie, talking with the children and packing. Now I am just finishing up computer stuff.

Not a very interesting entry, I know. I do have some stuff that I want to write about though. Thank goodness for laptops. I will get that done soon.

TTFN for now and I hope it is a great week for everyone.

I'll Be Back

Tomorrow I have my surgery so I just wanted to say good-bye and I'll be back as soon as I can. My hubbie made sure that I had a lovely day today and that helped me to relax.

We went to the local school fair where I showed great self-denial by avoiding all the fattening stuff on offer. I made up for that by enjoying myself at the 2nd hand book stall - I am no saint.

After we left the fair we took one of my favorite drives along the shore route from Cygnet to Kingston. We indulged in freshly baked scones and went to Kingston Beach to eat them. The surf was great today. Heaps of people were out and about walking their dogs and their children. I always find it very relaxing at the beach. Plus, we get to make-up seagull conversations.

We had coffee with friends and then came home. I broiled sea trout with just lemon and a bit of butter. It was lovely although I am sure Foodkitty just shuddered. lol!

I have spent the last few hours giving hubbie notes, talking to my children and putting together what I am taking to the hospital. I packed the laptop so hopefully I will do some writing.

That is it for now. Not a very interesting entry but I do have some stuff in mind to write about and that will appear when I get home. Everyone have a great week.

TTFN

October 30th and counting

I received an updated surgical date. I'm going in on the 30th instead of November 8th. I have gone in to serious nesting mode. I have a long list and a short list and the short list keeps getting bigger becuase I am shifting things from the long list. lol!

I am pleased to be even a week earlier as it means getting started on healing faster. I have been in quite a bit of pain and even though I know the pain is going to get worse before it gets better - that is fine. You have to crack some eggs and all that. At least it will be an end to this awful cycle I currently enjoy.

Yesterday we were in soap making mode yet again. This time it was for kitchen use. You add coffee grounds and it gets rid of kitchen smells.Last week it was for gardening hands. We are getting this down to a science but there are still heaps of variations we want to try.

Yesterday I met my first Blue Tongue Lizard. And a fine fat fellow he was. To make my life perfect the bird is back flying in to the window. I am sure her mate is out there cheering her on. lol! I am not superstitious! I am not superstitious! I am not superstitious! Or stuperstitious as the case may be. lol! Did I spell any of those right, FG?

Had good news about hubbie's Chron's now being inactive. So the hernia in his incision from the surgery to remove his illium can be fixed. I called and expected to be told they couldn't get him in to the surgeon until next year and they gave me an appointment for the 31st. That is perfect as hubbie will be visiting me in hospital anyway and the doctor is in Hobart Private hopsital. So things do work out.

I have already applied for my handicap parking sticker. The doctor wanted me to get a permenent one but hubbie told him that I am sure that I will be fine after the surgery has healed so we will just hold off on that. I was so pleased. My biggest champion.

I think I may have screwed up some addresses im my book so if Foodkitty gets Leolady's mail and vice versa - sorry! I am a bit rattled. I'll be back soon.

Fire - Fire - Burning Bright!

Due to lack of sufficent rain fall and heaps of undergrowth, combined with early high temp - all of our area of Tassie and a great many others - are under a complete fire ban. We have already had several days of raging fires. While we are fine right now, I am concerned about other friends in Tassie.

I hope that everyone is well and not under threat from the fires. I figured I would post and let people know we are okay in our council area.

Several states on the mainland are also battling heavy winds and high temps resulting in fires. It is going to be a difficult summer. What upsets me most is that a number of the fires, including those here, were set. It is one thing to have nature strike a blow and quite another to have MAN strike.

Library Rivals

Recently I found out that the population of all of Tassie has now swelled to 480,000. Seems we are no longer a big secret. But, given the fact that we are a whole island - that is not exactly over-crowding.We benefit from the fact that there are still so many small towns.

I mentioned before that our libary allows us to order from any library in the state, visit and take-out stuff from any library and return to any library. I love it. Plus, for towns with no library they have the book bus.

This is all wonderful but it does have it's moments. For instance - several times I have returned a book only to find it is continuing to appear on my receipts or a letter or email saying it is overdue. And it never happens in the small branches. Only the big ones.

I have to take my problem to our branch. It is the closest place for a face-to-face. There is a real rivalry going on between the branches. It can work to your advantage.

I was ordering some books by James Frey when I figured I better see if anything needing renewing, I can do all this on the net. That is when I noticed the dreaded overdue book. I was 99% certain I had returned it but - took the house apart anyway. Sure enough, no book. Even checked the car on and under the seats. No book.

We went down to the branch and I made small talk with the lovely ladies and then mentioned my problem. They asked if I had returned it there but I couldn't remember. They checked their shelves and I checked. Then they got on the phone to the other two branches I use. All the time muttering about how terrible it was when these branches made mistakes and how many had been made recently. In perfect library whispers, of course. Sure enough - there was the book in the biggest of the other two branches. And the branch were not even offering an apology. They never do.

Our ladies were apologising all over the place and still tutting about how awful it was. I can always count on these ladies for anything I need. Just whisper the names of the other 'terrible' branches.

And So The Plumber

The plumber came and did a perfect job and we had the new high pressure hot water system. But no hot water yet. They had booked the electrician - our regular guy. He was supposed to be here at 10AM. He arrived at 1PM.

As he was having coffee with the wee Welshman, I asked if I now had hot water. Reasonable question, right? Robbie looks at me like 'hopeless female' and says in a few hours. Gives the wee Welshman the 'women' look. Wee Welshman dips his head not wanting anything thrown at him in public. Okay. I made a joke about expecting Robbie to be capable of instant hot water just like the kettle. What I was really asking was, 'Are you sure it is all done?' Wandered away happy and thinking about how much I would enjoy myself washing off all the excess grout my hubbie left behind on some tiles this morning - needing hot water of course.

Four hours later - I fire up the tap and get - 5 minutes of cold water. I meekly present in front of the wee Welshman and tell him in my sweetest voice,
'Either Robbie screwed up or he FAILED to turn the hot water circuit back on.' Now guess who is rolling HIS eyes?

He rushes out to the circuit box and low and behold - the hot water is not turned on. But what do I know? My subtle question trying to nudge Robbie about if he turned it back on was a dumb question. And I now have another four hours before I can enjoy a bubble bath. Maybe I can delay payment on the upcoming bill - tell him I forgot to turn the computer on.

At 1:00AM I finally had hot water.

And Another One Bites the Dust

1. What's your opinion on sex without emotional commitment?

I was always committed - if only for 10 seconds.


2. Do you bite your toenails?

GAG!

3. Are you a jealous person?

Depends. Mostly I like to keep what is mine to myself. Some things I won't share.

4. What are you allergic to?

Spring and autumn. One medication. Mold - hugely.

5. What books, if any, have made you cry?

Quite a few. Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, To Kill A Mockingbird, Little Women, Chicken Soup for Animal Lovers, All Creatures Great and Small, The Crucible and so on and so on...

6. Does it get annoying when somebody says they'll call you, but doesn't?

Only if they say they will call if they are gonna be late and they are late but don't call.

7. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Chocolate, but if rum and raisin is at hand, then that or ammaretto fudge almond - or all three together.

8. If someone you had no interest in dating expressed interest what would you say to them?

Thanks but I'm not thinking of dating anyone right now.

9. What would you rather be doing right now?

Floating in a hot bubble bath.

10. What song lyrics, if any, are stuck in your head at the moment?

Counting Flowers On the Wall - it's been there for days.

12. What did you dress up as for your first Halloween?

My mom dressed me as a rabbit.

13. What's your favorite TV show, now or in the past?

Crime Investigation channel and all the Law and Orders. Midsummer's Nights Murder, Kath and Kim, League of Gentlemen, Little Britian, Creature Comforts, South Park. I usually have it on while I am drawing,painting or crocheting. I am a listener.

14. Do you get along better with the same or opposite sex?

Now it is the same sex. I find I want women around to talk to more, now.

15. Can others make you cry easily?

Yes, although I try to present the opposite.

17. Are you picky about spelling and grammar?

If I am reviewing and now when I am writing although not when I write in my journal or send email. I sometimes even correct my errors on IM. Mostly I am hopeless - ask FG.

18. Do you pay attention to calories on the back of packages?

Yes - I need to.

19. If you could be any type of fruit what would you be?

A luscious ripe cherry.

20. Were you a "planned" child?

There are only 15 months between me and my older brother. I was an anniversary celebration mistake. And my mom admits it.

21. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Uh - 10?

22. What was the last thing to scare you?

The possum outside my window and it's heavy breathing. Five minutes ago.

26. Have you ever been attracted to someone physically unattractive?

Yes, but not grossly unattractive. Especially if they had a sweet nature and were really funny.

27. What personality trait is a must-have in the opposite sex?

Must read and enjoy sharing good book and MUST have terrific sense of humor.

28. Do you enjoy traveling via airplanes?

Tell me where and when and I am on that plane.

29. Would you ever date someone covered in tattoos?

A few tats are good. Not a whole body full.

30. Have you ever dated someone out of your race?

Yes.

31. Do you believe that the guy should pay on the first date?

If they asked me out - yup!

32. Are you currently wanting any piercing or tattoos?

Yes - one more tat. then I'll have two.

33. Which do you make: wishes or plans?

Wishes and hope I get a nice surprise that becomes a good plan.

34. Can you speak any languages other than English?

Very basic Spanish and Latin. Italian sign language.

35. What is your favorite salad dressing?

Basalmic {?} vinegar.

36. Have you ever fooled around with someone and not remembered?

Possibly - I know my car ended up some places I don't remember driving. Back in the early 70's.

37. Have you ever dated one of your best friends?

Just my husband.

38. Has anyone told you a secret this week?

No, but it is early in the week.

39. When was the last time someone hit on you?

12 years ago unless you count my husband who hit on me in his own way 10 minutes ago.

40. Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture?

Take. Never happy with my photos.

41. Do you wear slippers even when its not cold outside?

Soft but thick socks - sometimes 2 pair at a time.

42. If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Make it a junk food and it could be chocolate - I guess.

43. How many siblings do you have, and where are you in the rank?

Four. I am second in line.

44. What's the sweetest thing you've ever done for someone?

You'd have to ask them.

45. When was your last road trip?

Over a year ago.

46. Name 3 schools you went to?

Calf Pen Meadow, Our Lady Of Mercy Academy - Lauralton Hall, Penn State University.

47. Name 5 things in your Purse/pockets/wallet:

smokes, meds, wallet, cell phone, mints

48. Three names you go by?

Lin, LaLa, Daaahling

49. Who is in the house with you?

Hubbie and the dog. Possibly a field mouse.

50. What are you thinking about right now?

Getting the circulation back in my right foot which just went to sleep.

Over to you, FG.

Under The Knife

I’m back under the knife again. I saw my surgeon today and low and behold – the bone is not growing around the metal. The metal is not staying in place.

This accounts for all the most recent painful bouts and the fact that I can feel the metal under the skin. Some days I want to yank it out with my bare hands.

There is a relatively new procedure that consists of mixing a powder with your blood then inserting it to the area that needs to regenerate bone, securing it with the tissue and muscle. The powder promotes bone growth within a few hours of insertion.

The procedure was trialed for spinal injuries about seven years ago. It went so well they began using it for difficult fractures and now they are using it to cause bone fusion to strengthen weak areas.

On November 8th I go back in. They will remove the metal and do the powder. Back in the ‘cam boot’ for 8 weeks again. In hospital for 3 days and 2 nights. That isn’t too bad but I am always anxious to get back home as I don’t ever trust them to let me back out once they get me in.

The first two weeks will be totally non-weight bearing and then I can start putting some weight on it but will need the old crutches yet again.

Good thing I didn’t give the cam boot to Tony for a new sculpture. I am heartily sick and tired of being sick and tired. And I walked in to that office today certain that I was going to be told that everything was healing fine and the pain was just soft tissue damage.Certain I was going to be told to be patient and wait it out.

You can’t imagine how relieved I am to know that this is not all in my head. And just think of a whole two weeks where I can catch up on blogging. lol!

Let's Go FG

Off to New Zealand with FG. My team lost by one point. Sigh!

Passers-By

Today, while waiting for the wee-Welshman to finish up his second round of a white blood cell scan at the hospital, I was asked for an opinion. You can not imagine my surprise as few people really want the opinion of a Yank these days. Of course they didn't know I was a Yank until I opened my mouth.

A local reporter was doing the 'Passers-By' column. That is where you ask someone for their opinion about a current topic. Just needs to be a few lines. The great thought-provoking question was, 'How will you spend Grand Final Day?' American translation is 'Super Bowl Sunday.' Be still my brain. AFL fever abounds.

Before engaging my brain I blurted out this witty remark, 'Laughing at my son when his team goes down - the Swans are gonna win.' My first thought after that was dumb answer. The reporter loved it. Evidently, no one else had responded that they were going to rag on their immediate relatives. She replied, 'Good answer - Go the Swans.' I almost blurted out, 'Damn straight!' but stopped as I was afraid she would print that as well.

She snapped my photo for the quote. It ought to be beautiful as the wind was blowing my hair all over the place and I had not an ounce of makeup on. The Welshman rousted me too early and only gave me one cup of coffee - no way could I put mascara on and actually get it on my lashes. Hopefully, she found witty people with better responses to publish.

I told Tony about the little interview. Now I am in for it. Hopefully, the radiation they injected him with will act like Kryptonite and he will forget. He is currently in bed glowing in the dark. Perhaps no one we know will recognise me. Or even better - no one will buy the Sunday paper. At least I have the solace of knowing my son will never see the quote. He lives a full body of water and half a country away. And if my team doesn't come good - I am moving to New Zealand.

I Got Mad Today

Letter I wrote and sent to the newspaper on hubbies behalf, today.


After many years of enjoying the benefits of living in Australia I made the decision to apply for citizenship.I filled out the paperwork, attended the interviews, and passed the security checks. I received a letter telling me that Australia was pleased to accept as a citizen. The letter stated that our local council would notify me when the ceremony would be.

Wanting to be sure everything was in order I took the letter straight to the Huonville Council. They copied the letter and told me I would hear from them in about 6 to 8 weeks saying when the ceremony would be held. Weeks went by and no notification arrived.

This past weekend all over Australia people were sworn in as Australian citizens. I never received any news from our council.

Today I called the council. After flipping me around to four different people, I finally got to speak to the person in charge of setting up the ceremony.

I was told this person had been on vacation for the last two weeks and was swamped. I was the only person needing to be sworn in and besides the Mayor was too busy until November.

The decision to give up my British citizenship and become Australian was not made lightly by me nor should it be by anyone. We are constantly encouraged to become Australian citizens. This decision on the individual’s part should be treated by government employees, be they Mayors or clerks, with respect as well.

If the council could not be bothered holding a ceremony for one person they should have referred me to the next closest council or to the Hobart City Council. I am sure that more than one person was due to be sworn in there.

I am deeply disappointed in the failure of the council to see an individual tax paying resident as worthy of a follow-up effort. And on a higher level to see that person’s decision to become an Australian as so unimportant that they could not at least offer them the opportunity to be sworn without a ceremony or to be sworn in with other individuals by another council holding the ceremony.

T. Young
Cradoc

Near Disaster Averted

My husband's parents called last night. They were ten minutes away from a wall burning down when they caught the problem. Dad went to turn off a light switch and found that the switch was hot. He went and turned off the circuit breaker and called my husband's brother, who is an electrician. He came down and sure enough the wiring was bad. He fixed it but told them that ten more minutes would have set the whole wall on fire. What if they had not caught it or worse - had gone to bed? It shook me up and certainly shook hubbie up. He made a joke about it with his father but it sent us thinking. His parents are 84 and 86.

I am the daughter of an electrician and have a brother and two nephews who are electricians. I have a seriously healthy respect for electricity. I have heard a heap of horror stories in my time. All's well that end's well though. Thank God!

I had good news yesterday. My oldest nephew is coming to Australia in March of next year. First he is going to do the Overland Tour and see the Outback. Then he is off to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. He comes here for ten days on April 20th and then does four days in Melbourne. He will certainly take in a lot of the different sides of this beautiful land. My nephew is a world traveler. He works until he has enough money and then off he goes.

He just spent three months in Africia. Did heaps of wildlife viewing and saw Silverback Gorillas up close. How incredible! In November he is off to Istanbul and then here. What a lot of incredible stories he will have to tell. He is also the first relative who will be visiting us. I am very excited.

Last night watched a wonderful movie called 'Japanese Story.' Toni Colette stars in it. It was so good it made me cry. I think she is one of the top actors in the world. Her range is unsurpassed. Anyway, I won't give the story away but if you haven't seen it - it is well worth watching.

I have been polishing all my brass and copper. Still have to have a go at my pewter. About three times a year I start my nesting phase and I just have to have a go at the polishing and window cleaning and cobweb removal. This will pass and hopefully soon. It is hard to keep things clean when your husband is banging around and putting down oak flooring. I'm getting really tired of being a work in porgress. lol!

Thanks Leolady and Foodkitty for the addresses. Let's all get to updating the blogs. I miss hearing news about what is happening with you all.

Agony Aunts, Creature Comforts and Wallabys

An incredible thing is happening with my hubbie. In the last year he is turning in to an Agony Aunt. Women are telling him their problems. Crying on his shoulder about broken hearts and lousy relationships.

I don't mean that it is incredible as if I am astounded that any woman would want to talk to him. Just that lately, it seems all the women want to talk to him about their broken hearts. Usually, Tony is the one to call when you want to laugh and have fun.

This new role began when he was visiting his mate that was dying. Then it extended to some old friends from his teenage years, then an old friend here. Now it is extending to women at work. Tonight he came home and once again stated how glad he was to be happily married and in particular - married to moi.

He explained that one of the women he works with had had a sad run with men and lately had found someone she was really happy with and they had even talked marriage. Today, at work, the woman got a text message saying it was all over and the guy never wanted to see her again. No explaining. Just the shaft. The poor woman did her best to hold it together but by the end of the work day she fell apart. She asked Tony if he wanted to go to the pub and have a drink but he declined. Told her jokingly that he wasn't allowed and besides he couldn't afford drinking at the pub. Bottom line - he then worried about her state of mind. He tried calling her best mate who also works with hubbie. We tried for 3 hours to reach the woman and couldn't get her. Hubbie thought she would go and check on the woman in distress if we could reach her. I was proud of him for having so much compassion.

My hubbie is a lovely man in my eyes. He can be a bit pragmatic and generally says exactly what he is thinking. I figure that is good because you always know where you stand with him but some people don't like it. This is a new gentler side of him. He is always that way with me but it is lovely to see him caring so much and becoming such a good listener that people are telling him their problems.

At the same time, it is lovely to be married to someone who tells me he is happy he has me and how lucky he feels. The feeling is of course mutual. He was saying last night that more and more he sees how good is to have a wife that cares about what he thinks, feels, wants, and watches his health. We don't want to take each other for granted. And that is so easy to do when you are caught up in the little or big dramas of everday life.

I try to stay aware that hubbie is also an attractive man and I am seeing that other woman find my guy as sympathetic and gentle as I see him. And you know, that is a good feeling.

Another little thing I wanted to talk about was a great little British treasure called 'Creature Comforts. We sat there tonight watching it and laughing our heads off. It is great and all my friends that get UK TV should have a look at it. I love the British sense of humor. It is done in the style of the Wallace and Grommit (?) characters. They interview real people about different subjects and then make these animals to suit what the conversations are about. They apply the voices to the characters. It's really funny. Birds talking about flying like they are jet pilots etc...

Finally, I spent quite a bit of time today watching my resident Wallabys. They were outside our bedroom and my studio windows. They are such gentle creatures. Fluffy and brownish - grey. Beautiful dark brown eyes. They were grazing on the new grass. They are welcome to every bit they want. I love to watch them and I love that they feel so comfortable so close to the house. Perfect peace descends on me while viewing their activities.

Mary Kaying

A friend of mine had never done a Mary Kay party. She felt she was sorely lacking in knowledge so I said we should do one. I hadn't done one in years and they could be fun. So we hooked up with someone and did the party.

Last week we did the facials and then this week we scheduled the make-up party. That is the one I really consider fun and as I told her - you get your colors done and then you at least know what you could look like in make-up. Neither of us wear much make-up anymore. I have long since adapted to country life and like the effects of a BIT of color from the sun. I no longer bake.

We had heaps of fun and now know what we should be wearing. There were only 5 people but it was just the right size party to keep it from being tedious. As I was applying a sheer foundation - I hate heavy make-up - I suddenly realised that my face had gotten very dry. Now, I have never had to do more than a quick wash with soap and a bit of moisturiser. Suddenly I saw patches of dry and the foundation didn't look smooth. I almost jumped up and ran screaming in to the yard. I felt OLD for the very first time.

My girlfriend and the rep noticed my sudden look of a trapped deer in the headlights.
The rep stepped in right away and started telling me what I needed to do to restore the delicate balance. I will get right on that. But it was such a shock. I have always taken my good skin for granted. My mom has beautiful skin and so do my sisters. Of course they have a regular beauty routine. My mother is the Oil of Olay Chairman of the Board. I used to laugh and say I was fine. Now the years of my mom saying moisturise are coming back to haunt me. I felt like bursting in to tears.

I am finally going to have to stop buying the cheapest stuff I can get away with and start shopping in the more expensive range. I still want to run screaming in to the night and I still want to burst in to tears. It better pass in a hurry.

We scheduled another facial party for two weeks away. Dry skin - get thee behind me! Rise Mary Kay and walk again!

Contentment?

I mentioned that Tony had been away for five days. He went back to the mainland to visit his parents and be sure they were okay. He also went to a rugby reunion. Many of his teenage friends were going to be there. These are people that Tony has remained in contact with most of his life. I really wanted him to go and enjoy himself. These opportunities don’t come along very often. After having gone over to visit his friend that was dying twice, I wanted him to have a happy reason for getting together with old friends.

Off he went. His father had been invited to the reunion as he was a past recording secretary and finance secretary of the club. Tony went with his dad and his friends and they had a really good time. Tony ended up dancing up a storm with the wives whose husbands were too busy drinking to dance. He said that one guy was so drunk he ended up dancing with a chair. Whatever floats your boat.

I guess I was a wee bit jealous that other women got to dance with my husband when the only dancing I get to do is a slow dance around the sunroom. My right foot just won’t co-operate with anything faster. But I do have a husband who believes in spontaneous dancing with his wife when he hears a song he loves and thinks is romantic. So I can’t really complain.

Tony called every day and sometimes twice a day. I knew where he was all the time and what he was planning on doing. And he always told me he loves me and misses me. Plus, he is interested in what I am doing. Doesn’t just give me lip-service.

I admit that I was gratified when he came through the door, grabbed me in a big hug and declared he was NEVER travelling again without me. He noticed everything I had done in the house while he was away, checked out my drawings, and the number of circles I had crocheted and listened to my worries about family and friends without falling asleep. And I know he was exhausted. Lol!

As I listened to him talk about his friends lives I started to worry that maybe he regretted his current life. I asked him. He said no. He wouldn’t want their lives. Nor their relationships with their partners. He told me he must be pretty stupid because it turned out that friends he thought had great relationships were screwing around on their partners or turning their backs on them. Some no longer communicated with each other. One had a wife that had breast cancer and double mastectomy and was screwing around on her.
He couldn’t fathom it. And again, I was grateful. Grateful to have a husband who lives with someone with a chronic problem that curtails his life on a regular basis but loves me just the way I am. I am a very lucky woman – I think. My husband heard every word of his marriage vows and he lives by them. Not grudgingly. Just considers them matter of fact.

I’m glad to have him home. A few days once in a while apart makes you appreciate each other all the more, in my experience. I am content with my choice for a partner and so is Tony.

I'M Back - I Hope!

I have been off the site for a while. First of all I changed my Internet contract in an attempt to be economic. Of course, I shot myself in the foot. Halfway through the month of August I had used up my quota and I finished up at 125% of my usage. Ouch! And of course, it would happen when Tony was away for five days on the mainland and I had all this free time to surf the net and write. I ended up working around the house instead.

So I have sorted out my usage and gone back to unlimited downloads and now I can get back to writing and surfing. In-between doing all the other things I need to do.

Spring is here and the yard is filling up with daffs, jonquils, hyacinth, and daisies. The fruit trees are either budding up or in blossom. It is really lovely. The wattle trees are loaded with flowers in all shades of yellow and my ‘Happy Wanderer’ vines are massed with purple flowers. The contrasting colors are a visual delight.

I have also been crocheting circles. I have 120 at the moment. I am going to make a very colourful bedspread when I am done making circles. I just have to figure out the best way to connect them.

I’ve also been working on some greeting card designs. I had several family members who needed to receive a card last month so they all got homemade ones. I was pleased with the results. I will continue making them.

I was of two minds about renewing my membership with WC but I talked with Tony and Mary and decided to renew it. I just haven’t been getting any writing done and felt it was a waste. The solution is to get down to business and make time every day for some writing. Besides, I would miss some people if I wasn’t
reading their journals or blogs.

Well this entry isn’t meant to be anything but an update on where I have been. I will write something better - I hope – in my next entry.

It's Time To Resurrect This

"There Are Too Many Saviours On My Cross"

A dramatic spoken reading written and performed by Richard
Harris on his album, "Slides" copyright 1971 by ABC Records.

This was written with regards to the fighting in Northern
Ireland which was particularly bloody around that time.
I think its application is much more universal.


There are too many saviours on my cross
lending their blood to flood out my ballot-box
with needs of their own.

Who put you there?
Who told you that that was your place?

You carry me secretly naked in your hearts,
and clothe me publicly in armour, saying
"God is on our side,"
Yet I openly cry
"Who is on My side? Who, tell Me who?
You who buried your sons and crippled your fathers
whilst you buried My Father in crippling His Son."

The antiquated Saxon sword, rusty in its scabbard of time,
now rises.
You gave it cause in My name,
bringing shame to the thorned head that once bled for
your salvation.
I hear your cries in the far-off byways, and your
mouth pointing north and south,
and my Calvary looms again, desperate in rebirth.
Your earth is partitioned but in contrition
it is the partition in your hearts that you must abolish.

You nightly watchers of Gethsemane,
who sat through my nightly trial delivering me from evil,
now, deserted, I watch you share your silver.
Your purse, rich in hate, bleeds my veins of love,
shattering my bone in the dust of the Boxside
and the Shaghill Road.

There is no issue stronger than the tissue of love,
no need as holy as the palm outstretched in the
run of generosity,
no monstrosity greater than the anger you inflict.

Who gave you the right to increase your fold while
decreasing the pastures of My flock?
Who gave you the right? Who gave it to you, who?
and in whose name do you fight?

I am not in heaven,
I am here, hear Me.
I am with you, see Me,
I am in you, feel Me,
I am of you, be Me,
I am for you, need Me.
I am all mankind, only through kindness will you reach Me.

What masked and bannered men can rock the ark
and navigate a course to their own anointed kingdom come?
Who sailed their captain to waters that they troubled
in My font, sinking in the ignorant seas of prejudice?

There is no virgin willing to conceive in the heat of
any bloody Sunday.
You children, lying in cries on Derry streets,
pushing your innocence into the full-flushed face of Christian guns,
battling the blame on each other,
Do not grow tongues in your dying dumb wounds speaking My name.
I am not your prize in your death,
you have exorcised Me in your game of politics.

Go home to your knees, and worship Me in any cloth,
for I was never tailor-made.
And who told you I was? Who gave you the right to think it?
Take your beads in your crippled hands.
Can you count My decades?
Take My love in your crippled hearts.
Can you count the loss?

I am not orange, I am not green,
I am a half-ripe fruit, needing both colors to grow into ripeness,
and shame on you to have withered my orchard!
I, in my poverty, alone and without trust,
cry shame on you and shame on you again and again
for converting Me into a bullet and shooting Me into men's hearts.

The ageless legend of My trial grows old, and the youth of your pulse,
staggering shamelessly from barricade to grave,
filing in the book of history My needless death one April,
Let Me in My betrayal lie low in My grave,
and you in your bitterness lie low in yours,
for our measurements grow strangely dissimilar.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, sullied be Thy Name!

All Australian Boys Need A Shed

We have had a busy week. Lots of things to do around the house. Tony is building a studio for himself up in a double garage we have.

As you enter our property, about 100 yards off the road, off to the right side we have a double garage that is extra long. Next there is Tony’s original shed, also double garage wide sized, then a path towards the back of that shed. Behind his original shed is my old art studio with a kindling wood shed attached to it. We use my old studio for storage. To the left of those sheds is an area where most of the fire wood is stored.

Past the path is a single garage that is actually yet another shed for Tony, also extra long. Here he repairs things and stores tools. Next to that is a small shed that is called ‘Lin’s Smell Works.’ I start plants there or strike cuttings. Tony has a small water tank attached to the back of that shed which lets me have a direct water source piped in to the shed.

These sheds don’t look like master pieces. Like many country Australian sheds they are put together with old timber Tony scavenged by tearing down other buildings. Windows we found at salvage yards suffice in these sheds. They are big and old and they let in loads of light.

Tony loves to restore old furniture that’s why he needs a clean area. The other sheds work for sculpting, carving and storage. This new area will allow him to work ‘clean’ and provide a special place for him to pursue his music.

One of the funny things I learned about Aussie men was that ‘all Australian men need a shed.’ In fact, I was told this. It amused me big time when I first got here. Then I realised that it is a big part of Aussie culture. A place where men can be men and women enter only on request. I don’t enter Tony’s sheds unless he requests my presence. He generally stays out of my studio in the house and my ‘nurturing shed’. He does need to enter the studio when he wants a DVD or video or book as I have them all on this humungous bookcase he built me. It takes up a full wall and I need a ladder to get to the top. Lol.

On top of Tony building his new shed we are completing what I like to call, ‘Our work in progress.’
This is our home. It started out as a small cottage.
Every nail has been hammered in to it by my husband.
One it consisted of two bedrooms a living room/dining area and a small kitchen. One bathroom and an exterior laundry shed.

Now you enter into a huge enclosed barbie area. Loads of windows bring the outside in. The floors are oak and walls are pine. There are two doors leading inside. One leads to the sunroom. A huge entertainment type area with loads of windows and two sets of French double doors. The back doors lead to a small deck which leads to a lovely little laundry with it’s own deck. The second set of French doors leads into the main part of the house. We have a dining table that seats 10 out there, a couch and chairs. It is a really lovely place to entertain. No TV out there. Just a stereo system and cds galore.

The main part of the house consists of a kitchen
I love, small dining area for just the two of us, living room, study/bedroom, master bedroom, and my studio which is also really a bedroom. There is also a bathroom with a mural by yours truly, shower/bath etc…

Most of the floors are oak with area carpets, one area is real tile in Santa Fee colors, and the walls are pine. There are vaulted ceilings and loads of color. We have exposed beams. It is a comfortable sprawly kind of place. We are comfortable sprawly kind of people and it suits us. This place wouldn’t suit everyone. You need some imagination and creative bent to enjoy it.

I have brass plates, copper, pewter, original paintings and photography on the walls. Our kitchen has Cyprus pine counter tops. A pain to keep clean sometimes but I love them.

The house is built with love and imagination. Nothing traditional about it. We love it because we have built it together after Tony’s initial structure. It has taken 11 years to make it what it is now.

The property is landscaped but more in the cottage garden style. Lots of trees. All kinds. Most of it is left for the wildlife to thrive in. There are just under 6 acres. It is a little slice of heaven.

As much as we love this place it is too much work now. Tony has Chron’s Disease. He takes it a day at a time. It won’t kill him but it has changed his ability to work flat out. Raised his frustration level. I have a permanent problem with my foot that can’t be corrected and limits me from wandering as I once did.

It breaks my heart but once we finally have the place exactly as we imagined we are going to have to sell.
It’s now a fact of life.

It's Just One Of those Songs

I don’t know exactly why but my life is not complete without background music. I see things happen and a song pops in to my head. Someone mentions something from the past and another song starts playing. Tell me about something that IS happening and an old song creeps in. Try and write and a song lyric fills in the plot. Music – music – music – the song fairy strikes yet again.

And the songs don’t just play one line. Usually they run the full course. The worst times are when they stick there. OCD here I come.

Take a certain someone who enjoys tormenting me by bringing up things such as; 'The Song That Never Ends'. Or what about the insanity created by 'Kum-bai-ah' or however you spell that song? The list goes on and on and on. I can’t stop them invading my brain.

Ask me where I was in 1972 and my brain shuffles through the top 10 hits of the day. Remember the Beatles? Shit – I can’t get the songs out of my head.
The day I saw the movie ‘Help’ was the day my mother was hit in her car – twice! Once by a kid on a bike who stove in the side of her car and the other by a guy who ran a stop sign while she was taking the kid who hit her to the hospital. That song took on new meaning that day.

It is a weird fact of my life that I am going to hear music when there is none playing until the day I die. I have come to accept that. I wonder what will be playing when I take my last breath. ‘You’re Gonna Lose That Girl’, ‘Daniel’, ‘Wildfire’, ‘Alone Again Naturally’, – nope - just got it:

'I’m not scared of dyin’ and I don’t really care. If it’s peace ya find in dyin’ well then – let the time be near. If it’s peace ya find in dyin’ and in if dyin’ time is near – then bundle up my coffin cause it’s cold why down there – crazy cold way down there. And when I die- and when I’m gone – there’ll be one child born in this world to carry on – to carry on.’ Blood,Sweat and Tears

Shit – a Gershwin tune just came on. Nothing stays with you like Gershwin…A fine romance that’s what this is…I’m going round the twist.

To Sleep Perchance To Dream

My eyes are so tired they are watering tonight. This probably won't be a long entry. Hubbie had a restless night and was talking to me. So everytime I started to drift off he would say something and I would wake up again.

I just spent the last few hours trying to research some stuff and it included lots of scrolling. My eyes have had it. Sigh!

I have to tell you all how lovely it has been to make some new friends here. For every entry I have received positive feedback and I really enjoy visiting your bogs in return.

On a positive note regarding another entry; my friends are settling their differences and that makes me very happy.

To Leolady - thanks so much for all that information you sent. I passed it on to two people. I felt warm all over that you would take the time to send it to me. Big kiss for that.

I am very glad that I have lighted here. Thanks for pointing the way FG. Big kiss and hug to you.

My sister just came on IM and she is blinking that she wants to talk so I am off for now.

Just An add On

When I was growing up and I really wanted something I realise now that it was generally my father who had me go for it. He was the one who pushed wings on us while it was generally my mom saying, 'You'll shoot your eye out'.

As a parent I try to be aware of that. My children are older. They were older when I inherited them. Their father did all the hardest work - on his own. But they still check here first when they are going for something new. And I try very hard to remember that they need to be encouraged. And as much as I may fear an outcome - I need to let them try with no vestiage of my fear landing on them. As a parent I think it is one of the hardest things we will ever do. And I am grateful that my father was aware that we needed those wings. Because hopefully, we are passing them on to our children now.

TTFN

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

This is not about what you think it is from the title. It isn’t about owning a weapon. On one level it is about being a child and wanting something beyond reason and the probability that you will never get what you want. And the certainty that whatever it is you desire will probably not be good for you. On another it is about the parent who helps gives us wings.

One of my favorite movies is called, ‘A Christmas Story’. The story is about a little boy who only wants a ‘Red Rider Bebe gun’ for Christmas. He worries about how he will ask for it in such a manner that the present will not be refused out of hand by his parents.

The boy thinks of every possible way to convince his parents that he should get the gun. He tries to enlist the help of his teacher and finally even gives in to asking Santa. At every turn the response is, ‘You’ll shoot your eye out.’ His frustration grows and grows.

Finally Christmas arrives and while he receives a number of excellent gifts there is no ‘Red Rider Bebe gun.’ When his parents ask if he was happy with all his gifts his resignation is complete. He responds in the affirmative with a sad little smile. Then his father points to a gift well-hidden behind the tree. It is the longed for Bebe gun. His father had listened and bought him the gun. He remembered wanting one at the same age and getting it.


Of course, the boy begs to use it and his mother tells him to go ahead but to be careful, ‘Don’t shoot your eye out.’ He runs outside and takes careful aim. When he fires at the target the gun jerks back, hits him in the head and knocks off his glasses. At first he thinks the dire warning has come true. When he realises he is okay he tries to find the glasses and steps on them breaking the glasses. A fate worse than death awaited any child who broke his glasses or lost them. I did it a few times myself. So I know.

The boy has to invent a story about what happened to his glasses so his parents don’t go ballistic and take away his gun. He tells them that an icicle fell and hit him. A plausible story because back when we had winters that cold, it did happen. It was a constant warning from our parents not to stand underneath an icicle.

His mother accepts his story and they have a happy Christmas. The boy reckons it was the best gift he ever received or ever would receive. No other gift he ever receives matches up to that one.

I watch that movie and I am back in time. I remember winters that were that cold and all the snow. I remember the anticipation and preparation leading up to the holiday. And I remember what it felt like to want something that badly. It was a wonderful innocent time but it was one where in retrospect we were powerless. Subject to the decisions made by parents older and wiser. Subject to warnings about what would and would not be good for us.

As a child there was a purity to our wanting. And in our belief that our strongest desires would come true if we just believed enough, even if our desire wasn’t good for us. As adults that purity is gone as is our belief that we can make all things happen if we just try hard enough.

We now know we have to slog to get things. Slog hard. We have to make them happen ourselves. And we have to make the decisions about what is or is not good for us.

In this day and age, I long for the simplicity of those childhood beliefs. And sometimes, when I’m wanting something badly that might not be good for me, I hear my mother’s voice saying, ‘You’ll shoot your eye out.’ Just like the boy in the story I’m glad that I had a father who understood and when it was really important to me, he never told me, ‘You’ll shoot your eye out.’

Traci's Marvelous Sand Bags

My friend Traci has been doing a great job of changing her lifestyle for a while now. She is my most inspiring diet example.

It's not that Trac was so much over weight but she has MS and every extra pound is a problem for her. She works at keeping herself going. And she had gained a bit of weight - probably 30 pounds she didn't want or need.

We chatter like magpies when we are together. I knew everything she was doing to help her get rid of the weight. It has been 18 months now that she has been at it. She has haunted health and diet websites, searched the local library from top to bottom, and polled anyone she thought looked like they had lost weight. And she made up her own dieting tips. They are good and sound tips. I am reaping all the benefits of Traci's hard work. I should have started when she did but I had too much crap going on and not enough motivation. She is a great cheerleader though and yesterday she showed me one of her favorite inspirational pieces.

Traci got a bunch of baggies and hit the sand pile they had on their property. She took along her trusty scales and she weighed out 1 kilo or 2.2 pound bags of sand and closed them up. Then she made some 500 gram or 1.1 pound bags. She takes them out according to her weight loss for the week and feels the true loss she has achieved. Sometimes she puts them on her stomach or under her arms or on her thighs so she can see just how unattractive all that extra is. I was rolling around laughing when she showed me her bags. And we laughed even harder when she started putting them all over her body. We must have been a sight for the husbands.

Then we got enough bags out for my current weight loss (the one Tony keeps looking around the house for)- 'I still haven't found it, dahhhhhling. You did a good job losing it.' Very funny man - not. It felt great to heft those bags and put the loss as something tangible in my mind.

You don't always see a weight loss at first. Even though the scales swear it. Or even if your clothes feel a bit baggy. But try lifting those sand bags and you will be doing the dance of joy. And it's heaps better than going down to the butchers and asking for smelly old fat in kilo bags. I am going to make some of my own and not have to worry about freezing them. And when I am all done with them I can start to fill up the whale pond or make my own beach.

In my dictionary under inspiration it says, 'see Traci.'

Down But Not Out

This will sound nuts but I can't figure out how to answer your comments one-at-a-time and I am going nuts. I have checked every help think on comments etc... but I am getting nowhere. So instead of blogging, I am off to study questions and answers again. I am such a novice at this computer stuff. No matter how much I think I have learned. Hope it is a great weekend for you all.

TTFN

Let's Be Careful Out There

The Internet is a wonderful way to make new friends and help run your life. There is a true information highway, banking at the touch of a finger, shopping, mail, and business opportunities. People can work from home in ways they never dreamed of before. You can get your education on-line. In my case, it allows me to be in instant contact with family and friends overseas making me a bit less homesick. But for all the wonderful things that happen there are ways that the Internet can be a disaster.

I have just watched what happens when miscommunication occurs between two people that considered themselves the best of friends. And it is really very sad. They met on-line. And that is how I met them.

The gory details are not important. What is important is that life on the Internet can seduce you in to a false sense of well-being. We enjoy meeting new people and we start to share the details of our lives. We feel we have made a connection. We form fast attachments and email furiously back and forth. Sometimes we even get to meet in person. But mostly this all happens while we are on-line in the comfort of our own home.

Often we find ourselves spending more and more time on-line so we can spend time with these new friends. They can become more real than the people around you. Gradually, you can become more and more intimate with these friends.

It is easier in may ways to be friends on the Internet. Easier to share the intimacies when you are not looking in to the other person’s eyes or reading their body language. Perhaps this makes us feel safer because we are not being ‘judged’. It is individual for everyone.

There is danger in allowing friendships to develop so quickly. I am not being cynical. Friendship needs to develop over time. Shared experiences. Not just entering a contest together or sharing a joke on IM or email. In some ways Internet friendships are like reading a book by a well-loved author. We fall in love with their characters and the lives they live. We relate to their experiences because maybe we have had a similar life experience. We want to keep the book and read it again. But we can’t live there. And we can’t live on the Internet.

Not being in the same room or even in the same town. Not ever sharing a meal or seeing how a person acts around others. Never seeing another’s environment or their friends and family – all these things affect who a person really is. And without them we can really only guess who the other person is. So we run the risk of being disappointed. And hurt and hurting the other person back.

I am not saying that we should never make on-line friendships or that they are bad. I have been enriched by the many new friends I have made on-line. Yet, I have taken it slow. I try not to make demands on these friendships or put expectations on them that the other person may not be able to meet. I try to enjoy the people for who I perceive them to be and hope that they will enjoy knowing me. I try to be clear about what I think they are trying to communicate. And I take it slow. That is important – taking it slow.

Two of my friends didn’t do that. And now they are angry and hurt. They are disappointed with each other And disillusioned. And it is very sad to see. Because I am sorry they are hurting and I like them both.

The lesson here is to take advantage of what the Internet can offer but do so with your eyes open and tread carefully. We can have friends all around the world or even across the street – on-line. But we need always, to be aware. And never make more of life on-line then it really is. Opportunity but not the most important thing in our lives.

the Little Saboteur

I recently read through a book about something we all carry inside us that the author called our little saboteur. I feel in love with the concept straight away. You might call it a good angel and a devil. It is the thing inside us that tries to control our ability to change for the better. Getting rid of our self-destructive tendencies.

I used to imagine this as the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. But that denotes evil to me and that is a battle we have ongoing but on a different level than a saboteur.

So I decided I needed to keep my concept of ‘evil’ but add the concept of also having a little saboteur. This is the little being who stops me when I am working at change. Sometimes the being interrupts my creative flow as well. Mostly it hovers around the edges waiting for an opportunity to sabotage my taking care of myself and hubbie. Double whammy for hubbie as he doesn’t know about his little saboteur yet let alone mine.

That little being is individual to everyone. Only you can give it substance and form. I have mine pictured clearly. I call him Sabbie and I have decided he is male. He is small and almost weightless for which I am grateful. The only time he takes on weight is when he is trying to do me in. Then he feels like a boulder!

He is shaggy by nature being generally unkempt. He changes in color from pink to firey red with some serious blue tones thrown in for good measure. The colors deepen as he grows in strength. When I have him under control he remains very pale.

He pops up when I am deciding on vegetables or something gooey. He creeps around when we are out for the day and need to decide where we are going to eat. He screams at me when we are shopping for food.
And let me think about exercise and he is yelling bloody murder.

I’m slowly learning to drop him in his tracks. I send him away as quickly as I can when he makes himself known. In the past two weeks he has gotten easier to banish but I know him. He will be back at it just when I am feeling my strongest.

I think that the trick to making him vanish is to name him, welcome him, and learn to laugh in his face or give him a good swift kick so it takes him a long time to climb back up to my shoulder. Laughing is best though. He hates it when I laugh at him as he is so serious about what he does. It slays his ego.

You really need to be comfortable with him though. If you can’t name him, give him a place and keep him in it – you can’t defeat him.

I wish everyone would grab hold of this concept and run with it. Introduce yourself to your own little saboteur. Tell him you are a nice place to visit but he probably wouldn’t want to live here on a regular basis.

He is going to fight you kicking and screaming but if you laugh and really mean it – you can win.

Just When I Thought

Just when I thought I had it all together I find I am still fumbling around here. Must be old age creeping in or spolied by the old site. lol!

It has been good to hear from everyone. I noticed that some of the comments I said to post have not been posted but there was only one from leolady in the comments moderate area. Sigh!

I think it is really good to be able to come here and just post. No mucking around. No games, no contests, no little groups to keep up with. Just pure writing for the sake of writing. I think I am getting weary.

I don't mean to make it sound like my other site that I visit is bad, It's not. I have grown there. I am just tired of fussing around and not getting anything done.

Anyway, on to better things. I have heaps to do in the house today. Hubbie is filling in at work so I am alone. I enjoy this time since he is actually retired on disability due to illness. When he is up to it he goes in to his old job. This is good for him as he sees old firends from work and he keeps his hand in. It picks him up. He misses working outside the home sometimes. On the other hand he enjoys setting his own pace and doing whatever he wants in a given day. It has altered my life quite a lot though. So I enjoy the minutes I get to myself. Saves me having to stay up late to write. On the other hand, I do my best stuff when it is late. lol! I have always been a bit of a night owl. Now that the kids have left home I don't have to worry about how late I stay up.

I hope that FG has recovered from her 'Deep Purple' haze. lol! And that leolady has a great vacation. I'm glad that everyone liked my book suggestion although a little bird told me leolady won't get a chance to read on her vacation. lol! A good time will be had by all - I'm sure.

TTFN - off to the housekeeping wars.

Falling In Love With A Story

I would think that most people who write a blog are readers as well. Or working at becoming a writer. And to be a good writer you have to be a reader.

Due to the high cost of books in Oz, I haunt 2nd hand shops. My finds are generally wonderful. I will search for older books and stories set in specific time frames. Sometimes I find an author that really sets my spirits to soaring.

I found one such author recently. Her name is Ruth Parks. She wrote 2 books that I now consider treasures. The first is called, 'The Harp In The South' and the second is 'A Poor Man's Orange'. The setting is after World War II. The people are Australians or Australian immigrants living in the slums of the city scratching out a living. They are so alive and rich that you feel you know them. I ended up feeling as if they were family. I didn't want the stories to end. And the stories stay with you long after you have closed the book. I have adopted Ruth Park's people and feel blessed to have found such a wonderful writer.

When you find a writer and a story like hers you are given one of the greatest gifts you can ever hope for. I wish you all such finds.

TTFN

A Good Time Was Had By All

We had a lovely evening tonight. Tony's friends from work arrived and we watched the rugby. Sadly, Australia lost to New Zealand and the screams filled the rafters. lol!

But I made a new friend. I already knew the man and his girlfriend was delightful. She sincerely loved our house which always puts you in good with me. Our house wouldn't suit everyone. It is a country cottage run amuck. But Dannie loved it and we hit it off.

I am really pleased we managed to have the guests because last nights tea did not sit well with hubbie and he was up almost all night. He told everyone at work that I tried to kill him. The man is very samrt. You can never put anything over on him. lol!

TTFN

Figuring things out!

I am still trying to weed my way around here. I say weed as I have been pulling out my errors and deleting them and it reminded me of all that I need to do in the garden beds. It is winter here and that always shows me things I need to uproot.

I have a daughter who has an Associates in Horticulture. She tells me anything that doesn't belong in a specific spot is a weed. That being the case - in my cottage type gardens where overrun is the by-line - I need to do lots of weeding. lol!

I am grateful she has that degree although it has nothing to do with what she currently does for a living. She is now getting ready to begin her 3rd degreee. Crisis Management is her current forte. lol! I think we just rolled back round to my garden again and the stress level I am giving myself trying to adjust to this site.

I used another site for so long that I have to totally retrain my fingers and brain and read directions again. If all else fails...

Tomorrow I am hosting the Rugby Union match between Australia and New Zealand. Normally I get out of watching it because my husband (a die-hard Rugby Union man) doesn't find me much fun to watch it with. I am drooling over all those lovely legs running around in shorts while he is yelling at the winger. That was his old position. He played until his knees gave out at 36. He even played for Australia briefly. So Rubgy Union is very important around here. Especially if Wales play.
They call it football - where are all the helmets, padding and postions I know and recognise? Where is my favorite quarterback? Well, at least they have it all over the Yanks in the great butts and legs department. Back to drooling again. lol.

So I need to make snack food and be sure that I have spent some time mediatating to be calm before the game starts. Fortunately we have vaulted ceilings so all that yelling is unlikely to blow the roof off. Pray for me.

TTFN

The World's Two Best Diet Reasons

It came to me the other day what the world's two best reasons are for starting a diet. The first one is a flat out shocker. Our son sent us his video camera as he no longer uses it and he thought we would like to get some video for hubbie's parents and my mom. Of course we would and like any kid with a new toy I went to town. I videoed anything that didn't run out of the frame. It was a trial run. The only running that happened was me. Screaming in to the night when I saw myself on playback. My hubbie had taken his turn with the new toy as well. Weight Watcher's point system just came out of moth balls. lol!

The second great diet impetus was my trying to balance our budget with the current cost of gas. To run the car we are going to have to give up food. We live in the country. It costs lots of fuel to go anywhere. There will be drastic changes in the 'let's take a drive to nowhere' philosophy we currently entertain. And the extra money has to come from somewhere. That would be the food budget. I guess it is the most flexible item we have.

We could win on several levels here and the way I see it, as long as I keep playing that video feedback and cutting back on the food budget we are bound for the thin look.

TTFN

Success!

I'm not sure why this wouldn't work for me yesterday but today I managed to cut and paste my story. I put it in Word first.

'A Rose By Any Other Name' gratified me in several areas. It let me write down what I was thinking about life in Oz and it was my first published piece. A local paper but a published item. I was very proud.

The language battles still exist althought they are fewer and far between. We often watch 'UK TV" and I love the British sense of humor. They also do a hell of a mystery. I still find myself asking Tony what they just said but not as often. I get in to trouble with a hard Scottish accent but as my appreciation of other accents grows, so does my ear.

Perhaps the biggest problem still existing is when I identify myself on the phone. People think I am saying everything but Linda. They think I am Wendy, Belinda, Lindy, or Linny. Hello! This never happens in person. And when it is an automated message and I have to speak to move on I always get transfered to an operator. I don't mind because I usually want an operator anyway. But I have to correct them because they keep calling me by whatever name they think I said.

Life in Australia is special. They are wonderful people generally although there have been one or two I wanted to deck. But then, there are loads of Americans I want to deck so I guess it evens out in the end.

I have a few more stories that I want to add and I will over the next few days. I hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. And maybe I will be inspired to write some more. I have been wanting to do that for a very long time.

TTFN

A Rose By Any Other Name


I'm an American who has been adopted by Australia. I love Australia if for no other reason than she adopted me in spite of my roots and my accent. An accent, by the way, I personally do not believe I possess.

Australians are generally very open. They either like Americans or they don't. Those that do are unfailingly friendly. They are glad to meet you and happy to converse. I appreciate this quality because even after nine years on Australian soil, I have a lot to learn. I think that if you want to know about people you should go directly to the source, so I am always pleased to meet an "American friendly" Australian and settle down with a cuppa for a nice long natter. (As I mentioned, I have been here for nine years.)

Probably the first thing you need to do in any foreign country is to either arrive knowing the language or to get yourself a translator. My knowledge of foreign languages consists of two years each of high school Spanish and Latin. At 50 years of age, I have never been to Spain (but I kinda like the music) or Rome nor am I Roman Catholic, so I find that what is left of this knowledge is as useful to me as the mini-skirts I wore when I gained the knowledge. However, if you ever want to translate the first paragraph of "Caesar's Gallic Wars”, sing Christmas carols or bless yourself in Spanish or Latin, I'm your girl!

I wasn't worried about arriving in Australia unable to speak the language because I had it on good authority that Australians spoke English. Since my mother and the American school system spent the first eighteen years of my life correcting my usage, pronunciation and articulation of English, I was pretty sure that was what I spoke as well. I felt I had it made in the shade! No communication problems for little old me. Besides, I would have my very own cuddly personal translator. He stood in front of a celebrant and promised to love, honor, cherish, do windows, remove Jurassic Park spiders, throw himself in front of snakes and translate for me. It's the part where he always falls asleep when I make him watch the video. His job was to help me over the odd hump in the language road. Wrong!

First of all, my translator was born in Wales (the land of lyrical speech and the longest words in history unpronounceable by anyone not genetically predisposed) where he spent the first four years of his life. He spent the next 12 years of his life in London. That is a total of 16 of the most formative years of his life in the language department. Granted he had been living in Australia for a VERY long time but he still hung out with a lot of Welsh and Irish mates and his parents have never lost their accent.
.
Second, I failed to take into account that just as there are speech variances from region to region in the land of my birth, the same is true in Australia. Especially when you live in Tasmania! Consequently, I have spent the last nine years of my life in the pursuit of a happy medium. It was so bad for a while that anytime I had to fill out a government form I was unsure if I needed to check yes next to the box where it asks if you need a translator or if anyone in the house speaks a foreign language! For example: say the word aluminum and then ask me to say it. It is always worth 10 minutes of hilarity around our house. You say toe-ma-to and I say toe-may-to.

I am gaining ground finally. I'm not exactly sure when the transition started but I can now move from Australian English to American English with lightning speed. The realization that I am now fluent in a foreign language came to me the other day when after making four locals calls and making myself understood in Australian, I then phoned my mother in America and made myself understood in American. The conversation went something like this:

"Hello"

"G'day, Mum"

"Linda?"

"Hi,Ma! How ya goin?"

"How am I what?"

"How are you?"

"I'm good, I got the test results back from my physical and I am very healthy!”

"Good on ya, Mum!"

"Errr, right...how are Tony and the kids?"

"Good, Tony has been feeling a bit shagged lately but he's right now. Tris is back to playing footie in his spare time. Vic was also a bit crook but she is right now."

"Excuse me?”

"Sorry Ma, Tony is tired, Tris is playing football, and Vic was feeling a bit off color."

"Oh, well tell Tony not to work so hard and tell Tris to please stay in one piece and maybe Vic needs to see a doctor. Give them my love, please."

"No worries Ma, I mean not a problem!”

"What else is new?”

"I played gofer for the sparks the other day and the excavator just arrived to make a road through the bush and hopefully get rid of some of the bracken."

"Excuse me?”

"Sorry, I played gofer for the electrician, and the excavator is making a new road through some of the woods and taking out some of the ferns."

"Oh, that should be good."

"Yeah, I reckon the drive will be about a kilometer long when the excavator is done. Oh...I've lost a little over 4 kilos...hang on a minute as I want to get a cuppa."

"Linda, what did you just say?”

"Sorry again...I estimate that the drive will be almost a half mile long and I've lost almost 9 pounds. I'm pouring myself a cup of coffee."

"Linda?"

"Yup!"

"When are you coming home for a visit?"

"Ma, I was there only last year!"

"Yes, but I think it's time for a refresher course in the English language!”

"Habla ustedes Espanol?"

Living In Australia

I said that I would start to post about what life is like for an American living in Australia. I am a few days late with that but my intentions are good. lol!

I can think of no better way to start than by posting a short story that I wrote and had published in the local community paper. It is about the difference in language. We come to an English speaking coutnry thinking that we will have no problem communicating, as we speak 'English'. I put that in quotes as there are so many varieties of English. When I would visit another state or live in another state in the USA, I would call my mother and with-in minutes she would be asking when I would be speaking the 'King's English'. Quite a hoot coming from a woman who lived in New England. Her relatives arrived from Ireland on America's shores in the very early 1800's. Of course she really meant when was I going to start talking in a proper New England accent.

Well exactly the same thing happened when I moved here. On a much bigger scale. The following is the story as it appeared in the paper. I hope it is enjoyed by all. If you have already read it - hello Val - you can certainly give it a miss this time. lol!

Ooops! I lost it be right back.

This may take longer than I thought. The computer is not letting me cut and paste. I wrote an article on computers as well. I may have to publish that one. lol!

For reasons unclear to me I can not cut and paste the story. All help would be gratefully received.

Settling In

I have been thinking about the things I would like to post and lots of ideas came to mind. I thought first, that maybe some people would like to read about what is like to be an American living in another country. Then I thought maybe I should post some art work with comments on individual pieces. Then I thought I would post some of my drawings or caricatures. Now I have decided that this should be a combination of all the different parts that make me who I am.

So in the next few days, I will start to post different things that tell about me. I hope that if anyone pokes their head in here they will give me feedback on what they see. I appreciate feedback. I suppose most people posting blogs would appreciate feedback. So any and all feedback is welcome as long as it is polite. lol!

I'll be back.

This blog is a first for me so people will have to bear with me until I get things right. I have written on a writing website but I feel the need to move forward and concentrate more on my creative nature and play around less. I need more discipline I guess.

A friend steered me in this direction and I am grateful. She always has such good ideas and is an inspiration. Thanks, Val. You are a wonderful addition to my life.

I will keep this post short until I have looked at everything I can do to set myself up properly. For now, it is enough that I have begun.

I'll be back.