Sunday 29 June 2008

Sunday Scribblings post

Vision

The sense of Vision
To see
The world and its colour

The sense of hearing
Nature's music
Birdsong and laughter

The sense of smell
For flowers
Food and warning

The sense of taste
to nourish us and
enjoy our nourishment

Gods treasured vision
to us all, to use
and protect.

Friday 27 June 2008

G'Day,
Here it is Friday morning and I have not posted in here for a week.
I haven't had the best of weeks. On Monday I got an email from my cousin Ruth in Sydney to say that her brother Joe had lost his son to suicide. Lee was between my 2 sons in age so he would have been 25. His Dad Joe is the same age as me and we were great mates as children. We were called the terrible twins. I haven't seen a lot of him through out our adult lives as we married and lived too far apart (his ex- wife didn't like me) but I still remember fondly the antics we got up to as children and teenagers. Lee was his much loved eldest son. I can 't imagine how Joe must be feeling at the moment. It is so so horrible. I know when my own son tried to suicide how horrible it was, and the aftermath, luckily he didn't succeed. I have been rolling it over in my head ever since. Why does this happen to our young people? I don't understand. I know in my late teens and 20's that I wasn't always happy, but I never went to those lengths.
Sadly it is not uncommon, especially in small country towns. There were many occurrences while I lived in Junee. Such a waste. I remember an analogy I told a young bloke who I worked with years ago when he was thinking about suicide that life was like a half finished book. You don't want to put it down until you get to the last page and see what happens next. And I know from my own experience that things can get bad but they always change and improve later, if you just hold on. Ah well! Suicide is so final and you can never turn back the clock no matter how much you might want to.
This week past has also been a bit hard because we went to look at a house on the weekend that was nice and a good price for Canberra. When we got home we did our maths and worked out that on Pete's wage alone we can't afford the repayments so I will have to get a better paying job. I hopped on the puter and looked around and sent an email to a nursing home that was looking for workers. The lady rang me back and arranged an interview for Tuesday morning. On Tuesday I told Brett my present boss, what was happening and he said he had arranged another small school for me to do starting in the new school term and I felt terrible because he was relying on me and I might let him down. He has been nothing but nice to me. But I would prefer to work back in aged care and it would probably be less strenuous for me as well. Best thing I could think of was if the nursing home people could just let me work in the mornings. But I will have to wait and see. Things are so different here work wise. Employers actually need and want you as there are not enough people to go around who are willing to do these sorts of jobs. Not like in the country where unemployment is higher.
My daughter has spent this week here with us in Canberra. It is her end of 1st semester break at university and I had arranged several dentists appointments for her. Both her and my son have colds so have been lying low and snuggling into warm beds for as long as they can. Both are still there this morning. She is such a sweetie and a cuddle bunny. This visit she has even been helping with the housework unbidden. Isn't it amazing what living away from home can do, he he. I like it.
This morning while I was laying in my warm bed I was thinking about when I was a child. We lived in Sydney for about 5 or 6 years on and off. My primary school was about 4 blocks down the hill. There was a shop on the corner and a butcher, hair dresser and T.V. repair shop that never had anyone in it. The shop in the next street down had a great selection of novelty lollies and in those days you could scavenge empty drink bottles and take them to the shop and get 5 cents each for them so that was our pocket money. You could get a good sized bag of lollies with 4 bottles. And we were pretty much in the middle of everything we needed. We were on the border of 2 suburbs that are now quite up market. Waverley and Bronte and just a few minutes walk to Bronte, Tamarama, and Bondi beaches as well as the shopping centres of Bondi Junction and Bondi road. We lived in a block of 4 quite large army owned flats and I used to run around with the girl who lived downstairs. Her name was Lisa, I can't recall her yucky brothers name but I did not like him much. We used to go down to Bronte beach and the park behind it where we had great adventures. There was a creek running through it where we used to play and catch tadpoles. We knew every inch of that park and renamed the trees and rocks, pools and bends in the creek to suit ourselves. Well, the creek was more like a drainage ditch but we loved it anyway. The northern bank of the park was very steep and covered in wild nasturtiums that we used to pick bunches of and take home to our Mums. We also picked the banksia flowers and climbed the trees and crawled through big cement pipes at the top of the waterfall that echoed wonderfully. All forbidded nowdays. We would go down to the beach and climb around the ring of rocks at the southern end of the beach that form a protected swimming hole and collect shells and starfish. Also amongst the rocks were tiny blue ringed octopus that were deadly, but we didn't know it then. We used to poke them with our bare fingers, because when you poked them they would flash their bright blue rings and try to get on you. Someone must have been looking after us.
Parents today would have been horrified at our antics, and today you would never let your kids run and wander about by themselves like we were able to. We must have been ferals by todays standards, but we thought of it as just having fun. Today it is a necessary part of parenting to keep a tight watch over your children. What did you do when you were 10 and 11 years old?
O.K. enough of my ramblings for today.
Bye
Love Linda.

Sunday 22 June 2008


G'Day,
Just a short post tonight to follow up on the rules of an award I was sent by my blogging friend Merle at http://merle-3rdtimelucky.blogspot.com/
The award was my very first and in the spirit of such things I am following the rules, which are.
1.Select 5 blogs you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material and contribution to the blogging community.
2.Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to their blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each winner has to show the award & put the name & link to the blog that has given them the award.
4. The winner & the one who has given the award have to show the link of "Arte Y Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of the award.
5. To show the rules.

The Blurb.
This award is dedicated to many who nourish and enrich the spirit, creativity, camaraderie, joy and above all art of blogging. I wish that the prize is entertaining to all those bloggers & to bloggers who day to day share this space, and enrich it a little more each day. Arte Y Pico.

I don't know how to put up links onto the post but if you go to my favourite reads list at the top of this page you will find them.

I choose to pass this award on to;
Robyn, who is entertaining ang loves her home and garden.
Annie who shares her love of wildlife.
Krissie who an artist.
Martha who is a talented photographer. And
Granny Smith, who is a great lady. I don't have a link in my favourite reads list to her blog but you can find her through the Sunday Scribblings site which is posted on my list.

So there you go, I did it. Thanks again Merle for choosing me.
Good night all.
Love Linda.

Friday 20 June 2008

I Promise....

G'Day,
Sunday Scribblings post for this week is "Happy Endings."
Today I took some pictures around my yard with the idea of doing a post about waiting for spring, so I thought I could work the idea into the happy endings prompt.
I don't much like winter, even though I know that the winters in Australia are not as harsh as in other parts of the world they are quite cold enough to make me complain about being cold and having aches and pains which are stirred up by the cold.
I am looking forwards to spring and the new life it brings. It promises to give me snowflakes.



And... I think these could be either Spraxias or Fressias. I'm not sure which.













There will be Italian parsley galore..












And I promise you some spicy Radishes....














And Carrots... Nope hold on!
That's the Radishes again.












We have a hardy salvia that is flowering it's heart out happily because it does not like the warm weather unlike me.













And a pretty native shrub thingy whose name I don't know that is covered in bud and is threatening to burst into flower very soon.













And here is a lovely Daphne in a big pot in glorious full bud waiting for it to warm up to put on its late winter show. Enlarge this one to see the rain drops. They have been a rarity during the long term drought we are suffering.














And freshly popped out into the light is a patch of Daffodil, or maybe they are Jonquils. I didn't plant them, I hope they are Daffodils.














There is the promise of some nice clumps of tiny blue spring stars. I have had to move a lot of the pots around that came with me from my garden in Junee because I have been discovering tiny shoots popping up that I never knew where there.
Spring promises to return in just a few short months as she does each season. Magically, wonderfully. Promising continuation of her new seasons life.









But not yet...It is winter. And it is time to stay inside and enjoy a nice fire to keep me warm.












Though winter does have it's wonders.
These lovely Cyclamen have been flowering in my kitchen window for 5 0r 6 weeks. They are starting to slow down a bit now.











Here is a closer look at the white mini version.












This sweet little potted Hebe has not stopped flowering since late summer.













And this succulent is about to burst into flower. It is a special plant for me as it hasn't flowered like this before. I was given a tiny leaf from a very special lady who was a patient in Junee hospital for many years whom I loved. She is gone now, June Herbert. I used to call her Junee Junie. We used to sing and joke around together until she got too sick and couldn't talk out loud anymore. My memory of her. This plant and Junie must approve of Canberra. It is happy to be here and is thriving in its new spot.
I Promise.. New Beginnings...Happy Endings.......And Spring.....Ta Da!!!!
Bye Love Linda.

Wednesday 18 June 2008

G'Day,
This morning I have been sitting here quietly, cuppa beside me and little fan heater blowing on my back, reading and visiting blogs. There are some really great blogs out there. Making mine look a bit boring, but that's just me.
My blogging friend Merle has given me my first blogging award , I am so chuffed! Now I need to ask my grumpy son how to display it on my page, if he is in a good mood he might oblige. He usually gets annoyed with me for not being able to work things out for my self, then I get upset and all hope of achieving said task flies out the window.
I followed a link on Merle's blog this morning and found a cat lover with a sense of humour in Germany. I miss my Boo kitty so much. I even bought a cuddly furry cushion last week which I sit on the lounge patting. But for some reason the firefox thingy kept wanting to close so I gave up. I will try again another day when I have time to play.
Last Sunday was the open day at Canberra potters society so I went along in the hope of meeting and making new potting contacts. I served soup, wandered around pestering people, glazed a little Raku bowl and had it fired which turned out quite nice. Helped some kids make pots. Had a go on the wheel because I wanted to try what I saw someone else doing that I hadn't seen done before. Picked peoples brains in general as to what other pottery type things there were around here. I am optimistic but time poor. Which brings to mind the idea that you always make time for something if you want it enough. I am hopeless with names but I met some nice people. One name I remember is Jane Crick. I sort of had previous contact with her through emails while in Wagga potter's club as she does workshops. I really liked her and she invited me out to her place at Gundaroo. She has a Tuesday morning weekly get together, I don't know how I can manage that but I would sure like to go.
Yesterday was Michael's birthday. He chose to go out to dinner at an Indian restaurant we had found and enjoyed previously in Dickson. Taj Agra. We were not disappointed. I came home feeling yuck though, because it was so nice I over ate. We had a banquet that had 3 courses. Mum and I shared a bottle of Riesling that was good too but we were unable to finish. Yum! Though as I have experienced previously, wine is not a good idea with hot foods as it encourages you to drink more to dampen the effect of the spices. He He.
Yesterday morning I took Mum for a CT scan at Canberra Hospital. She has had some pain in her back and the Dr has been checking it out. The ultra sound we had a few weeks ago showed something on one of her kidneys, which needed further investigation. Dr said it could be cysts, stones or, worst scenario, a tumor. She, and I too, have been worried and she is very touchy at the moment with me so I have been on tip toes with her. Which means I have to agree with everything she says, no matter how wrong and silly it is, just to keep the peace. Which means I have no personality.
My camera has been out of action, it is fairly new and I am annoyed because to my knowledge nothing untoward has happened to damage it. I will have to find a camera shop somewhere to have it looked at. I can't remember seeing one around though. The manufacturer probably planned that it would die shortly after the guarantee runs out to make us suckers buy a new one. Greedy people. reinforcing our disposable society. Cars, white goods, excess packaging, all making money for them and cluttering up our landfill sites. Whinge whinge!
Our house in Junee is sold and will be gone to a new owner in just a few weeks. She has signed and paid the deposit, we just have to sign papers from our side. There is still stuff in the shed over there that will have to be out shortly. I am still sad and missing the house I loved.
Alright I had better go and do some house work. And I can smell toast.
Bye. Love Linda.

Sunday 15 June 2008

Auntie Marion,

G'Day,
This weeks Sunday Scribblings prompt is Guides. I decided to tell you about my Auntie Marion.
Auntie Marion was my father's only sister. She was a real old fashioned lady who lived in Merriwa in the hunter valley which was my Dad's home town. She was a real special old lady and I like to think I am a bit like her in some ways.
I loved her, she was beyond worrying about the latest fashion and she always looked clean and tidy but chose to wear what she liked in her own style. She had amazing long hair which she wore plaited down her back, the only style I ever saw her wear, even in photos of her when she was young.
She lived in Merriwa all her life and knew everyone and their business and inter-connections in the area, which is something I always thought was special because moving around as I did as a child I wanted that.
I think some of my tastes come from her because she loved to fossick around collecting rocks and bits of mis shaped wood and animals, which she kept around the outside of her house to decorate her garden.
She lived on the river bank in an old slab hut that her husband built for them as newly weds and her yard was full of chooks, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, dogs, piglets, sheep, birds, mostly caged parrots of different types which she taught to whistle and talk. The house was a big novelty to visit as I could do things that I loved like collect the eggs, feed the animals, talk to the birdies and explore along the river bank. When ever I went there the first thing I used to do was go out and check the animals and the yard to make sure nothing had changed too much, because everything else in my life changed often.
Her house though was something special. It was made from hand hewn 1/2 rounded off slabs of wood, probably about 12 to 15 inches wide that were positioned up and down instead of cross ways along the walls. There was caulking between the slabs, then many layers of old newspapers were pasted on the inside of the walls for insulation then that was covered by wall paper. The roof was tin and the ceilings inside were draped with calico. In later years the local school children used to visit her house and small acreage on school excursions to see" how things were done in the olden days", which she used to laugh about.
My auntie was a hard worker and used to sell eggs and poultry to the towns people after killing and dressing them herself. She raised pigs and sheep for other people for Christmas. She always won prizes for her pickles and jams and cakes at the local show. I still use her mustard pickle recipe. She also did the washing for the town pubs and her clothes line used to stretch proudly across her yard. It was made of tall sticks stuck upright with heavy rocks and wire, laden with snowy white sheets flapping in the wind. A challenge on days of wind and rain to keep everything out of the dirt getting them on and off the line. She also used to clean and house keep at halls after parties and for local people around the town and clean the church. I learn't lots of things off her.
In the afternoons when I was there she would sit out on the front veranda with me between her legs and she would brush my hair in the sun, which I really loved. I used to have nice hair, wavy and shiny, coppery coloured then, it was the only thing at that age that I dared think was nice about my looks, and I think she knew I needed a bit of a boost. Auntie Marion was the sort of person who took in lame ducks, animals and people who needed help. That was one of the things so special about her. She would never turn some one away if they needed her.
When she was a child, being the eldest of the family and sister to 6 brothers the towns people used to say she would grow up lop sided because she always had a baby on her hip lugging it around and looking after it. She only had one child of her own, who still lives in Merriwa.
Oh there are so many stories here. I used to love playing with her grand children, the eldest one was only a few years younger than me and we got along well, we used to hang around down the river and climb around the rocks and make dams between the little runnels through the rocks, but we used to get in trouble for going down there as it was though of as dangerous.. The toilet at her house was out in the chook yard and was a wooden hut with a pan which I was scared to go out to because one of her roosters used to chase and attack me. Auntie Marion chopped its head off and I got upset because I thought it was my fault it got killed.
So many lovely memories.
Auntie Marion died of a heart attack and was buried on my 10Th wedding anniversary. She gave me a photo of my Dad and his twin brother when they were 6 yrs old which I cherish. I also have some of my Dad's early school books and Sunday school prizes and his very first job reference which was as a cabin boy on the railways, given to my by her. I also have a white damask table cloth that was my grand mothers which is yellowed with age and brittle but I keep it for sentimental reasons, my grandmother died before I was born. A plant that I have kept growing and dividing which has moved with me to every house I have lived in and is still going strong, a big aspidistra. My treasures.
It is strange, but when I was at her house I always felt watched and protected by something, I often wondered if it was her mother, my grand mother watching me.

Tuesday 10 June 2008

G'Day,
Today it rained. Woo hoo!. I heard on the radio on the way to work this afternoon that there had been 11 millimeters at the airport and there was still more rain falling then. Good stuff.
I wasn't feeling the best today, indigestion that wouldn't go away plus the aches and pains that are always there. I just wanted to go to bed for the afternoon and catch up on some rest. But that didn't happen.
I went shopping this morning, with Mum. She wanted to buy a steam mop and I had to restock on meat. I really find this difficult. I am sure it is much more difficult and tiring to be trying to shuffle around at 1/4 of a mile per hour than it is to walk around at my normal pace. Add to that not being able to walk two steps away without being called back to see some new discovery she has made, which results in her having a good look around at everything she does not want to buy and me missing everything else I might have wanted to look at. Why do I do this to myself? Shopping is her favorite pleasure and how can I take that away from her. She shouldn't have to miss out. She wouldn't understand if I wanted to go by myself, and would get upset with me, so I am trapped. I know there will come a day when she can't go shopping anymore, so for the moment I have to take her and put up with it. Can you remember a cartoon from years ago of a bear who goes crazy and runs around in circles with its tongue flapping out making silly noises. Well that is me.
On the weekend my daughter and her partner Micheal came for the weekend. I got her a dentists appointment for the Saturday afternoon, which resulted in appointments for next fortnight to have fillings done. Anyway last weekend was the Queens birthday long weekend which is when you are allowed to legally let off fire works in this state. So, we did. We started off on the Saturday with a couple of bags in the back yard which upset charlie the cockatiel because one of the crackers flew up under his cage and smoked him out. Another cracker took off and hit the back window with a bit of force, luckily no damage was done. This is a rented house so that was a bit scary as I was worried about another bill we don't need. Another flew up onto the roof. On the Sunday we got some more crackers. The second lot were much more interesting and we let them off out the front of the house where they couldn't cause any trouble. There were some good rockets amongst them. The two Michaels played fire bug setting them off with the rest of us watching from a safe distance. Rufus was locked safely inside the house, but the noisy crackers that were being let off in other places around us didn't seem to bother him too much anyway. I wouldn't buy any of the noisy ones, much to the boys disappointment. I was surprised by the price of the better fire works, judging by the amount that were set off by other people around us, they must have paid hundreds of dollars for them. In N.S.W. fire works have been banned for many years so being able to play with them was a big novelty for all of us. In the news here today there was a bit of talk about people being stupid with them and that maybe fire works will be banned here too. Lots of people have been fined for not obeying the rules etc with them this weekend.
On the Monday I had to drive Annie and Michael back to Wagga (6 hr round trip) so I have not had time to catch up on some rest. Today would have been lovely to sneak back into bed too, because of the rain. Ah well, maybe later in th week.

Friday 6 June 2008

Home.

G'Day,
Here is my little addition to the Sunday Scribblings prompt "Night"
Gazing at the night sky is a way of getting your place in the universe into perspective. Have you ever stared at the stars and though how minuscule we all are in the universe. A mere speck of dust on a tiny planet in a infinitely huge universe. The stars in the australian countryside are clear and bright and beautiful when you look up at them away from the city lights.
In the mid 80's we lived in a tiny town of about 400 people out the back of no where called Urana. We lived there for 6 years. While there we used to make a fortnightly shopping trip into Wagga and visit family. Traveling home across the plains to Urana late one winter's night Pete woke me to look at the sky. It was amazing. There were beautiful flashes of coloured lights across the sky. Aurora Australis. Very very rare in our part of the world. Something I had never seen before and am unlikely to ever see again. We woke up some of our neighbours and they went out of town away from the town lights to have a look but by the time they got out the lights had already gone. We also watched Halley's comet pass over head in clear view while we lived out there. We used to get up in the early morning after setting the alarm clock to the best reported viewing time to watch it. Something I will most probably only see once in my life time.
O.K. the rest of this post is about where I am up to now.
Tonight we had a phone call from Cynthia, the real estate agent who is selling our Junee house. Cynthia is also married to Pete's brother's best friend and I am friends with her Mum who is a ceramic artist in Wagga, we have known her for a while now.
There has been an offer made to buy our house and after a few phone calls back and forth we have agreed on a price. So, subject to all paper work going through smoothly my beloved first home is gone. I know I should be happy or excited, but I'm not. I feel sad and as if I have lost something special.
The very first place we ever owned and the only house that I have spent more than just a few years living in during my whole life.
The place where my children grew up.
I was happy there.
The soil that I fed and dug and planted and which I took such pleasure in the outcome of.
I am being sentimental but I miss it.
The good side of the sale is we can now move forwards towards getting a new home and not renting. I am a bit nervous about that too, because the price of homes in Canberra is much more than in Junee and we will probably never get our new home paid off, but have to look at downsizing after retirement. But that is O.K. I guess.
The person who is buying the Junee house is someone I know, and I am pleased to have her bring up her little boys in it. I got to cuddle her boys when they were tiny babies just a few days old, she bought them in to work to show them off. She worked at the hospital as a nurse while I was working there, I didn't spend a lot of time with her but I liked her anyway, she is a good person. I will still miss my house.
I guess what I am doing here is rationalizing, weighing up the pro's and con's of my move here to Canberra. I have always tried to move forwards and never go back for things I have left behind. You get like that after a lifetime of moving around. Junee was where I lived for the longest I have ever stayed any where in my whole life, 18 years. I loved it because I wanted my kids to know people and not solve problems by moving away throughout their childhoods. To not live in the city, but in the country and have the freedom to roam about a bit where it is relatively more safe.
Since moving here I have seen a big improvement in my sons outlook. I told him today that I was proud of the progress he has made in just a few months. He has suffered depression for many years. He has now gone to the doctor and is taking medication for depression which is a big step for him as it was a struggle to get him to even go to the Dr before here. The medication has taken effect and he is moving forwards, he is hopeful in his job and wants to get his drivers license soon. Which is all positive.
My husband was also hating his job. So far so good in that department here also.
What else is good about here.
You can get medical help quickly. I got into a dentist with one days notice last week, in Junee there was a wait of 2 months or more. I got into a doctor with a few days notice when in Junee there was at times a 2 week wait to get an appointment.
There are lots of shops to choose from here and look around in, but I am not sure if this is good for the bank balance.
There is more wildlife here than in Junee as it was a farming area. The bird population is specially more noticeable. It is great how there are birds everywhere right in the middle of the city, some of which are rare, like the Gang Gang cockatoos I saw at the Anzac day march in the city, or the black cockatoos I saw flying above my house or the tiny bright blue fairy wrens I saw today in the shrubbery around the office where I was cleaning. There were fairy wrens at Junee but they weren't often seen in town, no gang gangs or black cockatoos.
My new boss seems keen to hold on to us as his employees, in Junee the supervisor was a power pussy.
The house here is newer and bigger than the house in Junee, but it is not mine. Ah well, maybe soon I can remedy that.
This weekend is a long weekend. The Queen's birthday. We get an extra day off work anyways. On the Queen's birthday long weekend they let off fire works. It is funny but, it is illegal to let them off at any time other than this weekend and you have to have a licence to do so, but you can legally purchase them in this state. In N.S.W. you can't even buy them and have not been able to for any years. The Queen's birthday weekend sees many poor puppy dogs in terror and running away from home getting lost and hit by cars because of the fire works. Reminds me of the children' s story where the animals are scared because the sky is falling down.
My daughter and her boyfriend are coming to visit tomorrow, after I go and get them and play Mum's taxi service. Annie has a dentist appointment over here. She had orthodontic work done over the last few years and now her wisdom teeth are threatening to push her teeth back to where they were before, so they have to come out. I miss my baby and can't wait to see her and give her a big hug. Last time I saw her I discovered she had a tattoo. I wasn't impressed, but now I am used to the idea, even if I don't like it. It is her body. It is of a fairy with a devils tail. I guess it is quite artistic, it was just a shock seeing it for he first time.

Sunday 1 June 2008

G'Day,
Today I went out for lunch with Mum to Dickson where there is a strip of all kinds of restaurants. There is many types of Asian and Indian foods and Turkish, Italian, etc. And the chain food places like Subway and KFC. We had Yum Cha. Very nice it was too.
Then we drove round to the Film and Sound Archives and spent the rest of the afternoon dawdling through there. The archives consist of a collection of Australian radio, film and T.V. history. They preserve and repair old films etc. One of the things in their collection is all but 17 minutes of the worlds first feature length film. It is a Ned Kelly film, no sound and of course no colour made in the very early part of last century, I can't remember dates. Mum enjoyed it as did I. I think it bought back some nice old memories for her of early film and advertising. There were clips of early radio broadcasts, she even piped up in the middle of the presenters presentation that her Mum used to play piano for the picture theatre in Menindee before they had any sound to accompany them.
Something else that Mum knew about, that we saw there, was a radio announcer from the early days called Jack Davey. She used to be his housekeeper for a couple of years in Sydney. She said he was a bit of a pig and a womaniser. He was originally from New Zealand.
Got me thinking about the stuff we see and experience through out our lives. The changes we go through along the way.
Mum was born in 1922, the first of her 6 siblings and one adopted child,(their cousin) to be born in Griffith, N.S.W, in a place called bag town, (that is what the houses were made of) which was later renamed Hanwood and is now famous as a fruit and wine producing area. Her parents were early settlers there. She grew up singing and dancing and bike riding. She even held the Australasian women's record for road racing on her bike for many years before some one beat it. Her mother was a music teacher and taught them all to sing or play an instrument for the family dance band, "The Rhythm Aces". She was known for her lovely voice. She was quite the tomboy and tells many happy stories of those days hanging out with her brother and her great mate, my uncle Wally. When she was young she was picked out by some talent scout bloke from Hollywood who wanted to take her back there with him, but her parents said no way. Her first marriage was at 17 and a disaster and she moved away to Sydney in the war years. She was at Bondi beach and had left there just minutes before hundreds of bathers were swept out to sea by a freak wave. She was also there when Sydney harbor was attacked by mini submarines which sunk a navy ship there. She recalls the sirens and search lights and the harbor lit up by explosions. Fate must have had more in store for her to live through all of that. She bought up three daughters, often through difficult financial times. With an absent first husband and a second husband, my Dad, often away from home with his work.
She now has three grandsons and five grand daughters, three great grand children and two great great grandchildren and another due in august this year. Quite an achievement. Even though she drives me mad, you can see from my writing today that I am proud of her. We are quite different, but the same. She talks non stop, I think quietly without it all tumbling out of my mouth. Discussing the minuate of life annoys me and I can get a job finished while others are still discussing how it should be done. She loves a drama, I steer away from them as much as I can. We don't think alike, thank goodness. We do look alike, though I am a bigger build than her. We have aches and pains in similar places.
I wonder if I will be around that long and if so in what condition.
She is 87 in November this year, still mobile and doing quite well for some one her age.
For some unknown reason the blogger site had decided to not recognise my password even though it has not been changed so I have not been able to sign in here for the last few days. All is fixed now.
Tomorrow I have to face up to my boss Brett and tell him that the cleaning jobs I have been doing are too tough for me and I want to cut back. I am dreading it as I feel like I am letting him down but also that I am getting older and can't afford to be knocking myself around with hard work. I want to ask him if I can cut back on doing the school I have been cleaning on Thursday and Friday nights, as by the end of the week I can barely move and am walking like a 90 year old. For the last two weekends I have been over tired and been in pain with my back. As I now have arthritis I need to take more care of myself. I don't think he will sack me but I don't think he will be happy about it either. I am a chicken when it comes to stuff like this. Wish me good luck.
O.K. gotta go now and cook some dinner as my dearly beloved will be home from work soon.
Bye Love Linda