G'Day,
           Not much of a blogger of late.  I haven't been in here much. Which was somewhere I chose to release my creativity in the past.
 Ah! the joys of parenthood, laced with the results of becoming the parent of a parent, and savignon blanc mixed with those stresses.
 Explanation?
My Mum is now 90 years old and has been living with my husband Pete and I for the last 6 months. Taking turns as her carer over the last 12 years or so since my Dad died. She has been increasingly difficult to handle. Hence the comment " Parent of a parent." Increasing hearing problems which she refuses to acknowledge.  Resulting in complete self absorption and regularly occurring tantrums. Today was a classic example. I tried to talk to her and reason to no avail, resulting in her admission that it was all my fault for being selfish and not giving her everything she wants and her own way at all times. Or; words to that effect. Today I asked her to put in her hearing aids, which was very obviously an enticement of my abuse and her tantrum. The latest of a probably fortnightly occurrence of her tantrums. So she hides in her bedroom after telling me what she thinks of me and refuses to eat, drink, or communicate despite my attempts to placate her. I know the drill and the resultant behaviors well now. AHHH, I just want to scream!!!!!

On a brighter note. I recently enjoyed a trip to the other side of the country to Western Australia to visit my sweet daughter Annie and her partner Jesse.  They live at Kalgoorlie which is a gold mining town in the central south of the state. They moved there about a year ago, even though she left home several years ago. Western Australia is just that tad too far away to be seeing each other on a regular basis and I miss not having easy access to her. I hadn't seen my baby in nearly 12 months.
I am so proud of the two of them. Being so young and making the step of home ownership at their ages. A proud achievement.So, the above pic is of the mining museum at Kalgoorlie. it was once a real mine, as the derrick at the fore front or the museum attests.
While we were there we purchased a hire car which enabled us to drive around tow and make several side trips. One of which was outside or Kalgoorlie to a small mining outpost of Ora Banda. Interesting place. Ostensibly being a mining outpost consisting or not much else than a local pub. We went there to have lunch. Very interesting. Most interesting to me though, on that trip was the marvelous diversity of vegetation in comparison to the bush we see back here on the eastern side in Australia which is mostly cleared farmlands and very different vegetation. The trees over there, absolutely marvelous. The salmon gums with their pink/ orange smooth bark and leaves which seem to sparkle in the sun. And the slightly smaller gimlet. Another type of eucalyptus which has a bronze colored bark.They also seem to sparkle and reflect the sunlight, I guess to reflect back the heat that is endemic to that harsh outback landscape. The understory of plants in that area is wonderful too, although at the time we were visiting, the famous western Australian wildflowers were not in full bloom, we did have a lesser display of flowers to ogle over. They are so different and diverse compared to what there is on the eastern side of the country.
While we were there, another side trip was to a viewing area of a huge salt lake which encompassed another mining town. Amazing place. Red soil and rocks glimmering in the sun overlooking a huge flat salt pan. A place called K