Sunday Scribblings "Shame"

Lizzy home and friend.
You can just see in the second picture Lizzy running for cover into it's home in the rocks.

G'Day,
The Sunday Scribblings prompt this week is shame.
I thought about it last night and again laying in bed this morning.
Shame is;
Having influence on the ideas and ideals of others and not using it kindly or correctly.
Bought about by not living up to the norms that are enforced on us by others, self or the media.
Enhancing or giving the truth with a twist.
Not recognizing the last comment or lying to yourself about it.
Failing to follow the personal credo you have given yourself to live by.
Remembering a time when you didn't do the above.
Something that others give to you to keep you under their control.
Not being in control and facing the consequences.
Lots more than this too......
I could give examples for each of the points above and more from my own life experience and my observations of others.
The very first time I can remember feeling shame was when I was probably 4 years old. The boy who lived next door to us was a little monster who constantly pinched and poked and hit me when ever no one was looking. One day I lost my temper with him and picked up a plank of wood then hit him in the head with it. Boy did I get in trouble for that one. I couldn't understand that he was allowed to treat me that way but I was not allowed to loose my temper back at him. As a 4 yr old I didn't separate the ideas of anger payback and self control.
Other things I am ashamed of are that I yelled and screamed at my kids when they were little. My second 2 kids would do what they were told and were reasonably easy to get along with but my eldest was a challenge. He would stand up and yell right back in my face and never give an inch. Wonder where he got that from? Hehehehe. Stubbornness may be a bit of a family trait. I never did that to my parents though. My eldest is now probably the closest of my children to me. I guess all that boils down to me admitting that my temper is the personality trait I am most ashamed of. Throughout my whole life I have completely lost my temper, enough times to count on one hand. At the time you are quite pleased that you stood up for yourself, but then later you are not. You know when you have gone too far, then you have to take the consequences. It takes a long time for me to work up to that state but when I do , people move. Basically I am a wimp, about confrontation, well, most of the time anyway. But, I won't be pushed or bullied for long before I crack. I do lots of dumb things I am ashamed of myself for doing later, but seem quite reasonable in the heat of the moment.
This subject seems to be expanding as I write and I want to add more anecdotes as I remember them.
Like the time when I was in primary school and the teacher was bullying a student who could not spell a simple word. She asked me to go next door to the class of younger pupils and get one of them to come in and show this kid how to spell the word. I was so proud she had asked me to do a message, I felt important. Then I did the message and on the way back to the classroom I told the younger kid how to spell the word. I got in trouble for that. Foiled the cruel game by the teacher though.
Or the time when I bought home a eastern long necked turtle on one of my wanderings that I had found in a dam. The lady next door went crook on me for taking it out of the wild. I felt so bad and returned it. A lesson learned by a young animal lover.
In conclusion...............Maybe shame is a trait given us to teach us a lesson......................... Yes.

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Yesterday Pete and I went to Wagga. Pete continued on to the aviation museum at Temora as they were having a flying day and he loves that stuff. I stayed in Wagga to do some gardening at (my parents) my old family home where my son and daughter are now living. My second son now thinks of the house as his. He has been living there for about 4 years now and is in the process of designing and installing a new kitchen. We went down the street and bought a great gas oven. It was originally $5,500 worth of goods but we got it for less than half price . It included the cook top, oven, range hood and a stainless steel cabinet for it to go into. Cool eh! It was the last of its kind and reduced down to get rid of it.
I also broke up the soil, fertilized mulched and replanted the garden bed along the front fence, then moved a few other plants around the yard. Should be good, if he bloody well remembers to water it this time and doesn't let it all die. When we were younger and living there, my Mum had a reasonable garden growing. Most of that had been let go. I tried to choose tough plants that don't need much care once they are established. Lets hope.
Out the front yard here where we are living now I discovered a big termite nest. I think it is a termite nest. I was weeding in the front garden bed this morning when I noticed the old prunus tree was rotten looking in the middle. I tapped it and a bit of wood broke away to reveal a hole below the tree. I put the hose in it and it took probably 10 minutes for the water to come to the top and then it started running out through some small holes that I thought were ant holes further down the yard, about 6 ft away. Oh oh.
We have a house inspection on Tuesday so I will show the real estate people when they come here. The poor owner is not going to like me, because if it is a termite nest it will cost him money to get it attended to. I hope they are not eating the house as well. Apart from that the curtains in the house are so old that they are starting to disintegrate when you touch them. Nope! my new land lord is really not going to like me.
We also have a friend here. There is a good size blue tongue lizard living in the garden edging in the front garden bed. I have not seen many this big so it must be fairly old and living here for a long time. The pictures up the top of this post show his/ her home and a close up of it having a sunbath. Isn't it a lovely critter. This one is about 14 inches top to tail. Cool. What should I name her/ him. Larry, Lizzy, Lorne or Lucy? Hehehehehehe. Love it.
I hope if the hole at the bottom of the tree out the front is a termite hole that the treatment it needs doesn't harm my lizard friend.

Blue tongues are harmless, they do have a dark blue tongue, hence the name, they eat snails and slugs and bugs so they are good to have in the garden, they puff themselves up like the one in the picture above is doing to make themselves look bigger and more fierce when they are scared. Lots of people keep them in tanks as exotic pets but you have to have a license to keep them. We have to keep an eye out for it and make sure Rufus does not discover it when he goes out the front yard.
Bye.
Love Linda.

Here's to you!

G'Day,
As promised on my last post I am back to pass on the "One Lovely Blog Award" which was given to me by my friend Merle.
Here's the rules.
1. Accept and post the award. Yep! already did that one.
2. Post the award and tell who it's from. That one too, see last blog entry.
3. Pass the award on to 15 other people who blog. Coming up.
4. Notify them. O.K. I can do that.
Here Ti's.
To share this award with me I choose.
1. Bimbimbee, because she really does have a lovely blog.
2. Shadow, the best poet and a very talented lady.
3. Sorrow, a fellow potter and kind lady.
4. Granny Smith, because she is great.
5. Krissie, my sand groper (W.A.) friend.
6. Dee, a very clever writer and regular S.S. participant.
7. Sophie, a new blogging friend.
8. Old Grizz, just because I like him.
9. Wolfie, clever bloke in Canada.
10. Tony, another clever bloke from pommy land.
11. Brad, a great potter, gardener and my very first blogging friend.
12.Wildlife Gardener, what a great artistic blog and garden she has.
13 Mountain Mumma, because everyone should know someone like Bev.
All of the above are on my side bar as my favorite reads. I am a bit silly when it comes to puters, or that is my excuse anyway, so..... I am not putting the links to them on here again because they are all on my sidebar. Click on them there and they will take you straight to their blogs.
AND.........I know ........I can't count either. Hehehehehe.
O.K. now I am off to visit the awardes and let them know.
Bye.
Love Linda.

One Lovely Blog Award

G'Day,
Look at that I got an award.
Given to me by my friend in Sheparton, Merle, of "Third Time Lucky" blog.
Merle's link is on my sidebar, look her up, she always has a story and a joke to share to make everybody smile.
Ah how nice!
Thank you Merlie Girl.
I will fix up the rest of it next session.
Print the rules and who I am going to pass it on to next.
See my side bar?
Ah nice.
It is late and Pete has gone to bed without me, I better go too.
Goodnight.
Love Linda.

People

People.

I need people
People who are friends not just friendly
People who are here not obsessed with there
People who I can trust to share me with
People who are
Just are

Sunday Scribblings "Junk"

G'Day,
The Sunday Scribblings prompt this weekend is "Junk".
Well, as you know I just moved house a few weeks ago so I know all about Junk. I had a lovely cull and throw out early this week. I took about a dozen or more plastic shopping bags to the salvation army store in Tuggeranong and a large box of matching crockery that I had collected years ago, a bit at a time from the supermarket. I never had any of it out of the box so it was never used. My junk is reborn to be used by someone else who may need it more than I. The rest of the stuff was books and lots of my pottery that had been hoarded up for years . It never sold in the potter's club shop in Wagga and, well, lets face it, how much do I really need to keep. The fun is in the making not in storing it up for.........one day, for whenever, whatever, whoever.
Junk.
We all carry junk from our past in our head
Past hurts and tears, past fears and dreads
If we weigh it all up it's time to let go
Let the bad balance out with the good

Not easy to do, I know from lots of life experience that it isn't. Some things just stick. But you gotta try not to hate and let things run off your back and away from you without them getting to you too much.
Today I have been downstairs in the rumpus room going through boxes and boxes of old family photos. Sorting them out. I put them into different piles. The pile of pics of the kids going through their different age groups was by far the biggest. Making me smile, laugh and melt when I looked through them. Bringing back sooooo many memories. Pictures of beloved family members long since passed away. "Oh I must send that one to my cousin Ruthy who lost her son, Justin, a couple of years ago".
Then there was the box with all the old school reports, newspaper clippings, birthday and anniversary cards, bits from school plays, certificates and scout awards. I guess some would consider all the silly stuff I have collected over the years to be Junk. It is not to me though.
One persons Trash is another ones Treasure.
That is all I can think of today for in here.
So I will go back downstairs to the rumpus room and to sorting my Junk.
Bye.
Love Linda.

Spring at last.

G'day,
Ahhhhh! Spring at last.
I get to take pictures of pretty flowers and share them with the world.
The house we are in now has better soil that the previous one did. It has a more traditional old fashioned garden that I am sure I will love as this, my favorite season progresses.
I get to bring pretty flowers inside to perfume my spring air with posies like the one above. It contains escalonia, freesia and lavender.

Out the back in a line along the dividing fence are about 6 camellia plants. They are nearly finished their spring flowers. Here are a couple of examples of what is left.





There are a few azaleas flowering around the yard. A white one, this dark pink and a few others that are struggling and not in flower.
This is an escalonia in the back yard.
Lavender with wings, out the front.
Freesias galore. Tough little good value plants with an exquisite strong springtime perfume.
More lavender in teh front garden again.
Don't know what this little thing is but it is pretty. It is tumbling over some rocks at the edge of the driveway out the front, in full and glorious flower.
And below, pretty delicate little lily of the valley just starting to open up near the front door.
If you breathe in deeply you can almost smell spring from my pictures where ever you are, can't you? Lots of little diosma in flower too in the front bed, and little dianthus waiting to pop open in a week or so and show off their pretty flowers and perfume the air as well.
This morning I got out of the house and had my first mammogram. Nothing wrong I just thought it was time I got checked. Pete is on night duty for 4 days so I stayed out so he could sleep.I got a loaf of Vietnamese bread for lunch and brought it home. The Vietnamese make great bread. The french taught them how. I reckon it comes in second only to wood-fired Italian bread as the top bread there is. There is a little baker shop in the nearby shoping centre with all sorts of mouth watering cakes and Vietnamese breads. I resisted the cakes today. A few days back I didn't manage it and was very badly tempted. I must stay away from there when I am hungry. Hehehe.
Time to get ready for work, bye for now.
Love Linda.

Mushrooms

G'Day,
Ohhhhhh! Look at what we found in the park just a while ago when we went for a walk. Aren't they beautiful. There were lots more too but we couldn't carry them all and we didn't need to take more than this anyway.

We walked into Woden and sat down at Babar's cafe and had breakfast. These will get used for tea tonight. I will have to go and buy some steaks to have with them.
The mushies I found the other day I ate for lunch. I fried them up in a lightly greased pan with a small chopped onion and some black cracked pepper then had them with toast.
Beautiful.
This puter is really annoying at the moment. It is taking 5 minutes to load each page. Pete is going to ring Telstra up and complain. The puter as been like this since last week. This is not what we pay for. Not good enough.
SO. A big raspberry to you Telstra!!!!

Sunday Scribblings "Things that go bump in the night"

G'Day,
From ghosties and ghoulies
And long legged beasties,
May the good lord deliver us.

Yes indeed, if such things do exist.
I reckon that for every myth, superstition or legend there is something imagined or real to be discovered and explained.
How's that for fence sitting.
Hehehehehe.
No really!
I have personally experienced some stuff that is unexplained.
The hairs on the back of your neck stand up, your scalp prickles and you walk away wondering what just happened. Trying to flick off the switch that has just been triggered until you are at a safe distance and you can analyze the situation.
Was that my imagination, or the wind or....or what?
Or was that hysteria caused by the last person you spoke to, who talked about what had happened to them and it has influenced you.
I guess if your mind is open to such things you will find them, or do they find you?
My maternal grandfather was an undertaker and he used to say that nothing dead is going to hurt you and you are safer in a grave yard any night than you are out amongst the living. Well words to that effect anyway. That didn't stop my uncles playing pranks when they were young. One of the old family stories they laugh about was of a young man who was a family friend and prone to getting spooked. One night he came to visit and coming through the back yard my uncles had set up a trap for him. A coat and clothes set up on the clothes line with rubber gloves filled with custard for him to walk into in the dark. He freaked. Well, as you would if you were that way inclined.
My son David, when he was a teenager used to hang out on Saturday nights with a group of boys from school. He set up a prank one night out at the cemetery. The boys had one of those big ugly full face monster masks. The prank involved telling spooky stories to the girls then they would drive out of town, to, then around the cemetery. David closed the gates behind them as they drove in and when they turned around to exit they would discover the gates shut. When they stopped to open the gates, he ran out of the bushes to the car wearing the mask and frightened the girls. The result; screaming and clutching by the girls and much hilarity from the boys. Brats. Country kids. Funny though, if you weren't their victim.
Junee, the town where we were living at the time, is notorious for supposedly having the most haunted house in Australia. Monte Christo. It is an old mansion originally owned by the people who held and developed most of the land surrounding the town. It has been the subject of many T.V. shows and studies. Junee being a small town is a place where everybody knows each other. Some of my workmates and friends grew up with and were friends with the people who restored the house. They talk of many sleepovers up there with the owners children and never being scared there, despite the stories that the owners have used to capitalize on and build the homes reputation.
I guess I am still a swinging voter on whether I believe in ghosties or ghoulies, and things that go bump in the night.
But.............sometimes things do happen, that leave you wondering.

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This week I have had off work. It has gone so fast. You wouldn't believe how fast. As the saying goes, time flies....... I have just 2 days left before school starts back for the new term.
Today I did almost nothing. Lovely. I really enjoyed it. All I did was a few house cleaning jobs, cooked dinner early, made a slice, used up the worm juice from my worm farm putting it around the yard. Lovely. Nodded in front of the little heater sitting at the table. I also went for a walk to explore my new area. There are grassy walkway areas between the suburbs here that go for miles. We are 12 km along the walking track from the city and 2km from Woden town center.Yesterday I turned right at the end of the street and walked into Woden town center with Rufus our doggie. I sat down at a cafe and had a pot of tea and came home. On the way home I found some mushrooms growing in the park and grabbed a handful of them which I bought home and cooked for my lunch. There were lots more if I had something to carry them in, but I didn't have anything with me. The spring cold snap we have had during the past week must have tricked the mushies into popping up out of season. Yum! The walk took me half an hour each way, yes I am a slow walker.
This morning we turned left and walked for a half hour in that direction. There are some really nice houses up that way and some really nice gardens to go with them. Flowering abundantly to match the season. We came across a cranky magpie who dive bombed us in a park. He he. He/she wasn't bothered about me being in his territory, just Rufus.
My daughter rang today and she wants to have a 21st birthday party. Fine with me. I am happy to oblige with that. My boys interest was very limited in their 21st birthdays. My little braticus, my youngest baby is turning 21 in a couple of months, I must be getting old.
That's all folks.
Nothing profound or intelligent here.
Good night.
Love Linda.
.

Japanese Gardens at Cowra

G'Day,
Today was Peter and my 29th wedding anniversary. We had wanted to go down the coast but it was wet weather and as most of Canberra likes to disappear to the coast on long weekends we decided that we would avoid the traffic and rainy beaches and head inland to have a look see at the Japanese Gardens at Cowra. We haven't been there for several years and as it is spring time we might see some of the trees in blossom that the gardens are famous for. Most of the trees had finished flowering but it is still worth the visit. We had a lovely day out together.
Anyway the picture above is of a good sized huntsman spider that was above the kitchen window at our Macarthur house, the one we just moved out of last week. Big one isn't she. I think it is a she because the boy ones have a skinnier body.
This is some of the canola that was in full bloom between Cowra and Boorowa along the way. Very pretty. Spring has the earth in her fresh green clothes for a short while and she is showing the beauty of her best and brightest colours.
The above picture is taken at the gardens looking out of the display room at the international peace bell.
Look at this big urn, what a masterpiece. Being a potter I can see just how much expertise and time and work must have gone into a piece like this.
These are ornate helmets, sitting on little brocade cushioned stools.
Wow, the Japanese are really the master potters. This is a bronze covered pottery urn. Beautiful.
Ko-imari bowl about 14 inches across. Oh to be able to decorate like this.
Here is the story of the bowl pictured above.
Wet gardens.
Iris with rain drops perched round and perfect on its leaves.
The gardens were built to commemorate the Cowra Break out. During ww2 there was a prisoner of war camp nearby this spot which held 2000 Japanese, 2000 Italian and 1200 Indonesian prisoners of war. The Japanese were taught that to be p.o.w.s was not living and that they should try to escape. They rioted and over 240 of them were killed along with 4 of the Aussie guards.


Funny bloke, peeking in windows. Pete.
Every where you look is a scenic picture waiting to be captured.

I loved the way the plants which are ones we see commonly in gardens in our part of teh world were carefully sculptured to fit the theme and landscape.
Up the hill and down the same hill.



The Japanese theme fitted in with the big old eucalypts indigenous to the area.

Above. Me ringing the peace bell. Why does that man coming down the path not have a jumper on it was back to winter temps today?
The above pic is on our wedding day, were we that age once?
My DH is itching to have the puter back, he says I have been hogging so it I better go.
Poor old fella better humour him since it is our anniversary.
Goodnight.
Love Linda.

Sunday scribblings "First Kiss"

G'Day,
I am back. Telstra mucked us around a bit but we finally have internet coverage again after the move. We have been in this house for one week today. Not everything is sorted yet and there are things to unpack, sort, and repack still. Some of my potted plants have not been moved yet but hopefully this weekend.... ah well, at least I have the luxury of doing some of the move like that. We are midway through school holidays and the school holiday special cleaning is over, so I have the second week of the holidays off work, apart from the 2 private houses I clean, so I will be able to spend some much needed time at home and action it all.
It is raining here, not that we don't need rain, but this weekend is a long weekend and our 29th wedding anniversary and it would have been nice to have pleasant weather to go somewhere.
Back to Sunday Scribblings:
First up a big congratulations to Laini on having her latest book published, and I love the illustrations.
The prompt this week is in honor of her book.
I am sure everyone remembers their first kiss, their first proper romantic kiss anyway.
Mine. I was 13 at the time. I used to go for walks to exercise the dear old dog we had when we lived in Singapore, her name was Skippy and she was a Labrador, crossed with god knows what. Down behind two rows of houses where I lived in Changi was a grassy lane with a creek running through it. It lead to a sort of cement lined pit where the water from the creek used to pool and the women from the local kampong used to go down there and do their washing so I used to like to walk by there and sticky beak at what they were doing. I had met a Malay boy called Rahim and he would tag along with me on my walks and we would talk as we walked about, whatever, don't remember now. Anyway one day we were down the lane sitting in the long grass and he was telling me about the ring he wore on his finger and he took it off to show me. I had a look and tried it on my finger and when I passed it back to him he dropped it in the long grass. As we were searching for it he squatted down on his haunches and I thought, the way young kids would, "Hmmm that is a very unstable position to be in, If I just give him a little push he will....yep, he did, Hahahahahah". When I had finished laughing at him he stood up and grabbed hold of me and kissed me. Oh, how exciting. I was dizzy and lost my balance. Probably lack of oxygen, maybe I forgot to breath. He he.
Well things developed from there and we used to see each other most afternoons after school finished and on the weekends when I was allowed. We would meet at the shop on the corner and share a drink sitting on the steps out the side of the shop. I always had some excuse to go for a walk down to the shops. I guess Mum knew I was meeting someone down there but she couldn't have been too worried, she should have been though. Rahim was my on and off first boyfriend for most of the year and a half we lived in Singapore. He really was a bit of a bastard and I have learned a thing or two about what I am willing to put up with since then. He was very vain and thought of himself as quite the romeo. I wonder what he is up to now. Probably up to his umpteenth marriage. Hehehe.
I had lots of different kisses until;
My first kiss with my husband came about four years later. It happened on the front doorstep to my parents house when he was dropping me off one night after a date. We clashed teeth and all I could think of at the time was oh yuck, because he had yucky teeth that needed fixing up. Apart from my first kiss with Rahim, my husband to be, was definitely a big improvement.
I still get lots of kisses.
But you don't want to know about that do you now?

Goodnight.
Love Linda.