Come live love and laugh with me
There’s an awful lot of water in the Pacific Ocean
(North and South)
*****
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At 165,250,000 square kilometers (63,800,000 square miles) in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of the World Ocean and the hydrosphere covers about 46% of Earth’s water surface .
source
(Do try to watch both of these clips)
Australia will be there….
Before….
“ …….Of all the patriotic songs of WW1, Australia Will Be There is probably the one best known to Australians. It became the marching song of the Australian Expeditionary Forces and was used to rally the troops as they marched away from home. Australia Will Be There was written in 1915 by Walter Skipper Francis. The song quotes from Auld Lang Syne in its chorus and is often given its longer title, For Auld Land Syne – Australia Will Be There.
Australia Will Be There was immensely popular. The song celebrates the nation’s freedom and declares Australia’s commitment to fight. It references the defeat of the German light cruiser SMS Emden by HMAS Sydney on 9 November 1914…….”
source
*******
And after….
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_the_Band_Played_Waltzing_Matilda
… Now when I was a young man, I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray’s green basin to the dusty outback
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915, my country said “son
It’s time you stopped rambling, there’s work to be done”
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun
And they marched me away to the war
… And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As the ship pulled away from the quay
And amidst all the cheers, the flag-waving and tears
We sailed off for Gallipoli
… And how well I remember that terrible day
How our blood stained the sand and the water
And of how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk, he was waiting, he’d primed himself well
He showered us with bullets and he rained us with shell
And in five minutes flat, he’d blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
… But the band played Waltzing Matilda
When we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again
… And those that were left, well we tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks, I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I woke up in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well I wished I was dead
Never knew there was worse things than dyin’
… For I’ll go no more waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and free
To hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me
… So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve, to mourn, and to pity
… But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then they turned all their faces away
… And so now every April, I sit on me porch
And I watch the parades pass before me
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reviving old dreams of past glories
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore
They’re tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, “what are they marching for?”
And I ask myself the same question
… But the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But as year follows year, more old men disappear
Someday no one will march there at all
… Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard
As they march by that billabong
Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Eric Bogle
The Band Played Waltzing Matilda lyrics © Music Sales Corporation, O/B/O DistroKid
Where’ve you been?
Well, when I first arrived in 1978…..
which was the year the person they call ‘our big girl’ had an elective called woodworking
(that was the year the boys had to take home economics and sewing an apron was their task – did not go down well with them I can tell you)
I sat on a little table beside her bed
Then when she moved out I went with her
All was well until she went overseas – I was returned with a ‘please look after’ note. Still not sure the back of a wardrobe fit that description.
The household here moved interstate for a few years – which I spent in a box along with other bits of ‘our big girl’s’ life. We’d been taken along because she told her Mum she might want us when she returned.
Household returned to Melbourne with me still tucked up in the box.
Many years later she came back, sorted her bits out – gave it all away, put me back in a box and asked if I could stay here until she was settled
How many years does it take to get settled I ask you??
So what am I doing sitting on the table in the sunshine?
Well, I’m enjoying the fresh air for a start. I’ve been stuck in that box in the garage for I don’t know how many years…..
Actually I’m going to have a bit of a wash and brush up, then have a little polish applied to make me look good
And then I’m going on a journey- across to Western Australia
(which is where our big girl lives)
And do you know – the funny thing is – something’s going happen
something I’m not really bothered about….
I have to be put in a box to be able to get there 🤣
Pip Lincoln ( meet me at mike’s) is back in Melbourne……well she has been for a while now…….and has also returned to writing her blog on a more regular basis.
Lovely long chatty day to day thoughts and reflections – lots of ‘yummy’ photos- and loads of interesting/fun ‘good stuff’ links in her blog posts
Try this one from a couple of weeks ago .
‘A shirt sandwich seems like a cute thing to do’.
Sounds intriguing doesn’t it, so I had a little look, and if you have a quick look, I think a few of you will agree a Shirt Sandwich isn’t quite as new an idea as fashionistas are having people believe.
I’m sure I’ve seen that way of dressing before.
Just layering under a different name!
Dressed up to look very posh and trendy!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/style/shirt-sandwich-chic-cosy-style/
********
Traipsing around the WWW I came across another fad doing the rounds – among young ones – Sandwich Dressing
Sandwich method of putting outfits together
The ‘Sandwich Rule’ for styling outfits
Outfit Sandwiching – mastering capsule wardrobes
The term is certainly not new….
This slightly more up-market version one was published more than 10 years ago! .
Fashion sandwich trick
But then the whole ‘idea’ isn’t new because it’s the way most of us have been dressing. Matching this with that to come up with ‘outfits’
Monday Musings – a time to think and ponder
What are you thinking about this Monday morning?
So this time last month I was about to begin my ‘Letters and Places’ challenge. The library came good and these all turned up at the same time – but then I became sidetracked by other interesting titles and was hard pushed to get through them in the allocated borrowing time.
There was no extension allowed on Amsterdam or Eden so I’m back on the waiting list – unless somewhere else beginning with A & E turns up.
But look, there’s no hurry. I’ll just bide my time – reading something else 😊
These I did manage to read
The Brisbane Line – J.P.Powell 2020.
As WWII ravages the world and the Japanese Empire has set its sights on Australia, the Americans have come to save us. But not all soldiers are heroes and not all heroes are soldiers.
Brisbane Qld 1943 – war in the Pacific is on the go. The town is full of servicemen, many of them American. Local’s have mixed feelings about them being there. There are good ones and bad ones – on both sides. crimes committed by American troops are dealt with/investigated by US Military Police much to the annoyance of Australian. Real life ‘people’ are mixed into the storyline with fictional characters but not being a ‘local’ I didn’t realise until ‘looking things up’ later.
Historical references, murder, black marketeering, prostitution, police corruption, cover ups, minor collaboration (local/US military), treatment of coloured servicemen as well as local aborigines, venereal diseases, entertainment (dance halls/jazz), romance and even the affects of local tropical climate – a very mixed bag of topics are all found in this very readable crime novel by a new to me (female) Australian author J. P. Powell
Loved it!
The 12.30 from Croydon – Freeman Wills Crofts 1934 (republished 2016).
Also found as free download HERE at fadedpage.com
We begin with a body. Andrew Crowther, a wealthy retired manufacturer, is found dead in his seat on the 12.30 flight from Croydon to Paris.
Rather less orthodox is the ensuing flashback in which we live with the killer at every stage, from the first thoughts of murder to the strains and stresses of living with its execution
Set in 1930s Depression time. Business’ all round finding it hard – many going under. After a beginning showcasing the ins and outs of air travel, the scene changes, the storyline becomes one where you follow the murderer plotting and scheming to get his reward.
I found it a bit long winded, it went on and on in great detail at times, so was slightly fed up disinterested by the time it took another turn and the police became involved.
In the end he did get his reward – just rewards.
Arrested, tried, found guilty, hung!
******
I’m finding these days when I can’t ‘get into’ a book I often close and return it, which is what happened with the D for Darwin book I’d ordered.
This is what I read instead
Dead in Dublin – Catie Murphy 2019
I have to say the only reason I picked this off the library shelf was because of the letter D place name Dublin.
It was a bit Ho Hum – definitely not riveting reading.
You’ll have to click on the title to find the description – I’m sorry but there were too many words, too many unrelated characters, even though set in Dublin there seemed to be a forced Irish feeling to it – good descriptions of Dublin and environs though.
Promoted as a book 1 of a new Cozy Mystery series…..others may enjoy them, sadly I didn’t.
❗️Off topic – March was Reading Ireland month🍀 This👆(read at the end of the month) plus Small things Like This (read at the beginning ) were my contributions).
*****
Proving I’m happy in my second childhood a couple of lovely books from the children’s section at the library came home with me
I had thought some place names would be hard to find but Z for Zanzibar was just sitting there waiting for me to come along. .
( I cheated a little and allowed Zanzibar to be a ‘person’ and not a place )
Zanzibar – Catharina Valckx 2019.
* Inside this smooth glossy bright yellow coat is a little child size chapter book with a story about Zanzibar the omelette making crow who took up a newspaper reporter’s challenge to do something remarkable – choosing to ‘lift a camel with one wing’.
Realising he has to find a dromedary (which only has one hump so will be lighter) he’s then helped along the way by various friends (new as well as old) plus a small skinny sock wearing dromedary so is able to perform this feat (and get his picture taken at the same time).
Back home, disappointed the reporter doesn’t believe him his cooking suffers, his friends try to reassure him he was already special to them, the photo appears and he becomes a celebrity. But in the end he decides the simple, good omelette making life and friendship are what really matters.
Using easy understandable language – with clear illustrations that describe the story and emotional content – I’m sure this is a well read story, both by adults to children and children themselves
***
And next to it on the table was this one – M for (where else but) Melbourne
Santa is coming to Melbourne – Emma Nash 2017.
* A picture book with story about young children, the lead up to Christmas Eve and how they hope Santa will visit their house. Many suburbs are mentioned where little ones are watching and waiting, not wanting to close their eyes in case they miss Santa. There’s the worry of not leaving a snack out but all ends well with an unseen Santa flying away with a cheery Ho Ho Ho
Designed to be read to young ones, maybe 4/5/6yrs who know where they live, are familiar with Melbourne and are still caught up with ‘the magic of Christmas’. Lots of colourful pages with large illustrations some of Melbourne landmarks as well as Australian native birds and animals.
***
AND – guess what – looking for places beginning with the awkward letters I came across this ebook in the library catalogue. Also found it on Project Gutenberg – HERE
A Little Girl in Old Quebec- Amanda M Douglas 1906 (Duke Classics 2015)
An interesting little story written early 1900s about an orphan girl Rose growing up in the early settlement days of French Canada (Old Quebec district of Quebec City 1600s).
Interesting because of all the historical references to names and descriptions of early settlers, place names, ways of life (fur trapping, fishing), strange weather (freezing snowbound winters), dealings with native population, wanting the new life but hankering after the old – reminding me of literature written about early settlers in the original colony in Australia.
Well maybe not the snow – here it was the ‘terrible heat’.
I think the target reader might have been ‘teen’ but it was lively enough to keep me reading and wondering what she would get up to next- as well as intrigued enough to do a bit of ‘looking up’ (the historical information). The author must have researched well to produce a short novel about life in times 300yrs previous.
Oh and I learnt a new word, a new one to me anyway
Dicker/ing – bargain, barter.
Collins gives British as well as American definitions. HERE
*****
Now here’s a little something to think about and smile.
(Nothing to think about really- reading wins every time 😊)
Sharing with What’s on your Book Shelf Challenge
You’ll find other participants HERE
Unless anything springs up and surprises me these will be the last flowers on the table for a little while. I can’t see any more ‘heads’ on the Dietes and most of pink Oleander bushes are starting to look scruffy with loads of dead flowers and the small flowering hardy Fuchsia (David?) which has been growing outside for about 30yrs now did not enjoy that recent dry spell. I see some cutting back happening in the next wee while.
And it’ll be a while before our favourite ‘this time of the year’ snack appears again – no not Easter eggs…..hot cross buns
These were the last two left in the freezer.
Cut and lightly toasted. The Golfer likes jam on his, me I’m partial to butter. Just right with coffee outside on a cloudy (not chilly) morning last week
Nothing like the coffee break on the bright sunny day earlier that same week but look you have to sit out there and enjoy the fresh air while you can, there’ll be time enough for indoors as the season continues to change each week.
Still on my ‘use it up’ quest I thought I’d used the last of the fawn leftovers but it seems I missed a few half balls and as that is definitely the last of the cream I can see a couple more patterned beanies coming up to finish it.
We stayed there long enough for me to cast on, work a few rows of rib and then for someone to say he was hungry – sausage rolls from that shop he likes to frequent are his go to.
Not fantastic- passable – edible.
The book on the table is this month’s book club read.
‘Less – Andrew Sean Greer (2017)’.
Receiving an invitation to his ex-boyfriend’s wedding, Arthur, a failed novelist on the eve of his fiftieth birthday, embarks on an international journey that finds him falling in love, risking his life, reinventing himself, and making connections with the past.
Let’s just say it’s weird different!.
I’ve another 2 weeks to read it in – It may get finished It may not.
********
If the truth be told I was feeling a bit low that morning
The week before I’d sorted through some boxes deciding to move on some ‘pastimes’ from years ago
Kiera’s grooming paraphernalia turned up….remember Kiera, my little brown shadow?
She was the last of a very long list of all sorts of cats we had – or should I say shared the house with us over many many years
Seeing the brushes and grooming mitt on the table had me looking to my left half expecting her to be there on the wooden bench –
sadly no, we said goodbye to her back in April 2018.
Gosh, I miss having to ‘fight for a spot’ on the table
*******
Kat hosts Unraveled Wednesday . which features Reading Crafting Chatting – you’ll find it all there – pop over, see what’s going on – maybe stay and say hello.
April in Melbourne is what I call I call a half and half month.
While March often still has lingering warm sunny days and May usually heralds early winter with cool rainy days – the thought for April (the middle month of Autumn) is ‘will it bring sunshine or will it bring rain’?.
Thinking about all those little changes that seem to happen at this time of the year we’re halfway through the month and what has happened?
The clocks changed – it’s become cooler – we’ve had some much needed rain – daylight is just under 50/50 (11hrs) but it’s dark now at 6pm so I want my dinner earlier.
Focusing on health (healthy body – healthy (happy) mind as I ‘told myself’ at the beginning of the year) has continued although Easter and the school holidays cut into the end/beginning of last and this month meaning I avoided the pool but that just meant our bundle of resistance bands here at home were used more regularly than had been happening.
The ‘happy mind’ was evident when Christmas present time turned up again. Tickets to Riverdance from our girls – don’t you love people who received the memo about giving experiences rather than gifts. And managed to get matinee seats so us oldies didn’t have to be out and about after dark😊.
As is normal these days no photography allowed during performances- the screens of anyone trying would have very obvious in the darkened Margaret Court Arena so this was just to show the girls the view we had. Three rows back, raised up from floor level – no worries of anyone’s big head spoiling the view. I did take a couple of the arena as it filled but won’t publish (faces looking my way)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverdance
Oh and don’t you love it when Melbourne transport whisks all those ‘happy’ theatre goers into town by train and then down to the tennis centre (Melbourne Park) by tram. No hassles at all – smiling faces all round
No choir during school holidays but my happy mind will be raring to go on Wednesday. We’ll be gearing up for concerts at aged care homes……age requirements mean residents must be over 65…..which is certainly not ‘old’ – in fact it be any one of us in the choir……so the ‘music/songs’ performed is slowly changing.
And even though (latest figures I found say that) ‘58% of people living in permanent residential aged care were aged over 85’ we think they would appreciate modern standards – musicals – even Elvis and The Beatles.
I’ve been told these two are on the running sheet for the first rehearsal:-
Dream a Little Dream of Me – 1931.
(Mamas and Papas 1968)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_a_Little_Dream_of_Me.
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Blue Skies – 1926.
(Frank Sinatra 1946)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Skies_(Irving_Berlin_song)
******
So far so good
Temperature tonight 8c/45f so the warm and cosy sheets will go on soon
I know it will get dark earlier and light later
let’s just hope it doesn’t get too cold and too wet
To accept this seasonal change I need be able to enjoy the falling leaves
Monday Musings – a time to think and ponder
What are you thinking about this Monday morning?
Or maybe.
I should be so lucky….
$$$$$$$
My name is Mrs. Edythe Broad, the wife of Late Eli Broad. My Husband is an American businessman, and a philanthropist (The Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation). He Died on April 30, 2021 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, United States.
I am presently sick and Hospitalized with endometrial Cancer and I am having some Funds deposited in a Bank after I sold all my inherited Estate estimated at $3,500,000.00. Please, I want you to help me to use at least %60 of the funds for less fortunate people in your region, then the rest %40 will go to you for helping me accomplish my dream before it will be too late for me . If you can, Get back to me for more information.
I await your positive response before we proceed.
Yours.
Mrs. Edythe Broad
*****
My name is Carlos Slim Helu, A philanthropist, the CEO and Chairman of the Carlos Slim Helu Charitable Foundation,i have decided to secretly give {$2,500,000.00} Two Million Five Hundred Thousand United Dollars, to randomly selected individuals worldwide. On receipt of this email, you should count yourself as the lucky individual. Your email address was chosen online while searching at random. Kindly get back to me with your full address at your earliest convenience, so I know your email address is valid.
Regards,
Carlos Slim Helu
$$$$$$
Isn’t it strange the way people are willing to give you all that money
And isn’t it sad the way people are still falling for these scams and losing so much of their own
(Sadly Carlos Slim Helu and Edythe Broad are real live persons)
Scam 1 – Scam 2
Sometimes – the people- the paper- and the pooches have a place
Simple pleasures always please!
Ranges at Olinda
A Leadbeater’s Possum and Powerful Owl – Mooroolbark library
Painted at the end of 2023 by Jimmy Dvate but last week was the first time I actually saw and photographed them.
Because of the disruptive road works in Montrose between now and ‘early 2025’ (replacing the beautiful roundabout with traffic lights….least said about that the better!) I’m now using Mooroolbark as my ‘local’ .
Other walls were painted at the same time – hopefully I’ll get to them soon.
They really do look better when enlarged – so much more detail is visible
Click/ tap or finger slide to enbiggen
Sami hosts Monday Murals and if you would like to see more – follow this link.
The rain that we hadn’t seen for many weeks came visiting in bucketloads on Easter Monday – (in big big big bucketloads that caused oodles of problems) so all thoughts of outdoor work went on hold.
No worries , that delightful rabbit hole aka YouTube offered up some
‘very different ’ viewing options.
Looking for something else this is what I stumbled upon.
Possibly an acquired taste but you can’t help but watch/listen to them
Enjoy 🧶🧶🧶
https://m.youtube.com/@StephenWest
I’ve mentioned before my little habit of scribbling down bits and pieces from books I’ve been reading (words/phrases/place names) intending to look further and then not being able to remember where they came from.
I’ve just begun reading Starting over – Marcia Willett (1997) a very gentle book about beginnings/endings in the lives of some English people connected to each other and this (👇in bold ) turned up.
…..Robert was determined that Pippa’s inadequacies should not queer his pitch….
No idea what it meant but I had a vague recollection I had heard/read it before.
But where??
Luck was with me this time😊 – looking for something else the answer turned up – part of a sentence- not on a scrap of paper but in ‘notes’ ….
….Because her arithmetic, which was abysmal always queered her pitch…
and I’d even noted where I found it.
Tea is so intoxicating- Mary Essex (1950)
Another very English book I read last November!
Obviously that’s as far as I’d gone or I’d have remembered that it meant ‘spoil someone’s chances’ or something similar.
How well known is it – are any of you familiar with it – use it even?
******
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/queer-someones-pitch
Are often parted
I say he should have kept it in his pocket
They tasted revolting different.
(No, that’s not the real date – it’s to remind someone when my birthday is😊)
Those pandemic years we spent away from everyone else, trying to entertain ourselves meant in some homes many of the ‘old’ board games came out of the cupboards where they’d languished, forgotten since the children grew up
Jigsaws reappeared, rekindled interest meant they were so highly sought after, that during those early times when we were able to shop large stores sold all their stock.
I know some friends and their families pooled theirs and had borrowing rights to them all. A bit like shopping the unworn for a few years clothes in your wardrobe those puzzles that hadn’t worked on for a few years became like new, never seen before ones
Find the Word / WordSearch and Crossword puzzle books also sold out quickly, Anything that occupied your mind went off the shelves quickly….so did TP which we laugh about now but wasn’t a laughing matter at the time
I hadn’t had any of those puzzle books for quite a while plus I’d given all our jigsaws away – so Spotlight made money from me on the amount of yarn I bought. Early days when they’d give warnings of lockdowns I’d go scurrying off down the road (along with what seemed like every other crafter) coming home with far more than I intended and was very glad of it when l/downs became longer.
The library had various systems going for borrowing pick ups/returns and for other mental stimulation the big WWW came to the rescue.
Notice no cooking or exercise/yoga classes for me – someone (another blogger) suggested something much more pleasurable…..online jigsaws plus online crosswords….
I think I downloaded every available app for them plus any other type of puzzle or game going and for weeks on end these were a godsend my standbys for entertainment or keeping the grey cells working.
I still enjoy my daily workout – jigsaws now on this one app only
and crosswords on these sites
HERE- https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/puzzles
HERE – https://lovattspuzzles.com/online-puzzles-competitions/
HERE – https://www.seniorsonline.vic.gov.au/services-information/crossword
HERE – https://www.mindfood.com/thinkandwin/puzzles/crossword/
Yes, they all have similar layouts but not the same daily puzzle
And yes, they’re all fairly easy – I want fun not hard work😊
*******
Are there any Covid ‘get by’ routines you’ve carried on with
or has everything for you returned to the way it was before ?
Monday Musings – a time to ponder and think
How can it be possible to end up with more than you began with
No, not stitches on a knitting needle 🧶
Chocolate!
I’m not taking away from the relevance of the day
But what a fun post for the Friday before Easter
Fun Friday – the day to leave all the worries of the week behind you
Three weeks you say – yes, it’s been three weeks since I mentioned knitting
I’ve been thinking you might think that’s all I do
So I haven’t said a word about it for three whole weeks
But just in case you have been wondering what I’ve been up to
With my knitting that is
I’ll tell you that….
I finally finished the 4yr old which ended up being one of those ‘seemed like a good idea at the time but my heart really wasn’t in it’ things
I had a lot of fun knitting this the first time round and perhaps it was a bad choice for the ‘challenge’ but look nothing ventured nothing gained. And I certainly wasn’t going to rip it out and start something easier
And as I’m still in my ‘make something simple’ by ‘using it up’ mood it means I’ve just about finished a classic style boys jumper which by adding stripes of various sizes means I’ve just about used up all the Grey and Royal Blue left overs. It does look very ‘boyish’ but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be worn by a girl
And the book Women of a certain rage – Various authors edited by Liz Byski 2021.
Blurb:- This book is the result of what happened when Liz Byrski asked 20 Australian women from widely different backgrounds, races, beliefs and identities to take up the challenge of writing about rage.
It was an op shop (charity/thrift) find, spotted and almost grabbed off the shelf after another person ‘pinched’ the car spot I was after. Saw the empty space as I drove into the car park, had my blinker on but she came in the other direction and just snuck in – I thought she was going to drive past so I could move in – but no, she just turned her wheels and snuck in there, right in front of me!
Settle down Catherine it was only a spot in a car park – it wasn’t your fault there wasn’t another one to be seen and you had to drive around looking for one. Rage does terrible things to your blood pressure 😡
******.
Last week I parcelled up these as well as a few other similar newborn sets plus everything else in the ‘box’ and dropped them off at a collection point so hopefully by now they’re making their way across town to the charity HQ. .
I’ve just noticed in the photo that many of the stitches on the blue cardigan look like they’re going ‘any which way but where they’re supposed to be’ – they don’t look like that in real life.
Trying to block acrylic yarn often results in a flat out of shape garment so better to not try than end up in tears.
So what are you up to.
‘What’s on your needles’ as the saying goes.
Have you been sewing, knitting, crocheting or making anything you’d be willing to tell us about? And have you come across any books you’d like to tell us about?
Sharing with Unraveled Wednesday . hosted by Kat
Many – well if the truth be told, an awful lot – of the people I associate with these days are in the older age group.
So when the person I’d spent most of Thursday morning with – sitting side by side on her small couch, talking laughing discussing (heads close together) – rings Friday morning and says “now I know why I was feeling a bit off” followed by “I’ve just tested positive” I knew I’d have to make some decisions.
Having had Covid once I’d rather not experience it again and even though vaccinations are all up to date…..’had she passed it on or not’…..was the question uppermost in my mind
If she had how soon would I know?
It was over 12 months since that infection (Dec 2022) and the virus has mutated several times since then. I read that with the latest variant it could be just a couple of days or maybe up to 5 days or even more
So even though the guidelines these days for ‘close contacts’ say, carry on as usual but wear a mask I thought it best, just in case I was shedding, to err on the side of caution and cancel a few bits and pieces.
The lovely Celtic Festival was on yesterday – Sunday.
Standing side by side with other retirees, singing away, breathing out and possibly spreading the dreaded virus to all and sundry didn’t seem the right thing to do. So I gave my apologies and stayed home
Today (Monday) is my aged care ‘volunteer’ day.
Testing negative on the day is fine but if it’s during that pre positive time when you’re infectious and could shed it’s definitely a no no – no go!
Tuesday morning is pool time – we’re not packed in tooth and jowl (and silly as I might look walking laps wearing a mask in the water I could do it ) but in fairness to the others I’ll give it a miss.
Same as the knitters group planned for the afternoon – mask or no mask kitchen table gatherings are close contact gatherings and I think best avoided. There’s always next month.
I’ve decided Wednesday’s choir rehearsal is out as well as Thursday evening’s craft. I might be (as one friend put it) overreacting and nothing come of it but I’d be disappointed with myself if it did and I caused harm to someone else.
Yes it’s one of my busy weeks ‘out of the house’ but I have plenty to occupy me at home
Lots to do….apart from housework that is – all was well this morning- no symptoms, negative RAT test result – but it’s early days yet
Is Covid still doing the rounds where you live? .
Are people taking it seriously or are they like my friend and think I’m overreacting?
Live and accept she said.
Monday Musings – a time to ponder and think
Earl and The Golfer are similar in many ways
This being one of them😊
Does this sound familiar to anyone else??
Oh and still no rain!
This was the forecast yesterday evening when I was preparing this post
Yep – no rain…..but getting colder overnight.
It’s time to close the doors and windows
Pull up the blankets and find the Hot WB for my toes
After what seemed like months and months of rain when we thought La Niña and her rain clouds would never go away it’s been nice not to have to cart a brolly around all the time
But it’s becoming obvious that we really do need it – the rain that is
Most of my plants can cope without it – now they’re starting to miss it. Everything is becoming dry and brittle.
Agapanthus (possibly one of the hardiest plants ever) are even starting to die off round the edges
And as for the grass….
Yes I know it’s not a necessity- some would say it’s definitely not necessary in today’s suburban house blocks
This patch in our back ‘garden’ has never received special treatment over the past 50yrs.
It gets watered when it rains – cut when it grows- never fed.
Normally it looks green and ‘healthy’
Doesn’t look like that at the moment 🙁
We’re nowhere near the pray for rain situation, Melbournes water storage levels are fine but last time I checked the one closest to us – Maroondah Dam at Healesville (30kms/30mins away) – it was only 64% full.
So a little bit of wet would be good.
https://www.melbournewater.com.au/water-and-environment/water-management/water-storage-levels#
Monday Musings – a time to ponder and think
I know November is the month for Novella but as February is a short month – and there were several time consuming things to do which I knew would limit my reading time – I thought maybe I could use the tail end of month (then flow into March) for reading several short stories, something that could be finished in hours, written by new to me authors
These I have read
Our Souls at Night – Kent Haruf 2015.
The book blurb said – A spare yet eloquent, bittersweet yet inspiring story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together to wrestle with the events of their lives and their hopes for the imminent future.
A story that begins with a mature age woman asking her mature age male neighbour to sleep with her. Not in a sexual way, just to keep her company during the night. That’s different I thought.
Set in a small town filled with ‘all seeing- all knowing’ people it follows Louis and Addie’s life with their ‘nightly meetings’, the discussions (thoughts, feelings , secrets even) about their previous lives, reactions of friends and family, then finally the affect their children’s lives have on them.
It’s hard to describe how I feel about this short quickly read book. A great deal is conveyed in few words – I suppose it boiled down to ‘are our lives truly our own?’.
Enjoyable but a ‘bit flat’.
The Christmas Guest – Peter Swanson 2023.
Oh dear, I thought after reading the first couple of pages – it’s written in diary style. Not my favourite- but after reading 49 pages of a young girls life it then changed and did it ever change.
The build up to Christmas in the country with a uni friend’s wealthy ‘county folk’ family along with all the stereotypical description of villages/villagers came to a sudden halt. To be followed by a twist to the tale that (to me) was a bit of a let down.
It was an ok read by an unknown author- a library shelf pick ( thin brightly coloured book) so I’m not sure what I was expecting. Possibly because it was so short the story/plot didn’t seem to have much depth.
What I did take from it was a quote from L.P.Hartley’s The Go-Between – a book I’ve never read “…..the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” Oh so very true.
It’s now on my list of winter reads for up in Bowen (a classic a month 😊)
Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan 2021
Set in Ireland the mid 1980s it’s a very short story that begins with Bill Furlong (the local ‘coal man’) wondering about his life past and present. What he’d been- what he could’ve been- and where he and his family might go.
The reaction of his wife to what he discovers at the local convent baffles him and that’s where the storyline changes.
It becomes even more reflective- life wasn’t easy for most, he has misgivings about not giving what he’d been given as gifts to others who didn’t have what he had. The toing and froing in thoughts and attitudes of the towns people towards the church, its place in the town as well as the nuns’ treatment of young single mothers continued to confuse him.
A final decision is made that brings an ending I didn’t consider.
And on p.68 I smiled when I saw a little saying my mother would often use . . (buying something he didn’t need) “as he didn’t like to go back out (of the shop) with one arm as long as the other”
Plus this little number – a library shelf pick that’s been a delight
I’d rather be reading – Anne Bogel 2018
Gosh, that’s going to be a short story I thought when I picked it up. Then discovered the additional title “’The delights and dilemmas of the reading life”. Not a novel but little ‘essays’ about books, reading and readers.
Thoughts from the author about recommending books you think others should read, Reader’s confessions! Bookshelf organising. Rereading – yes or no. Finding something different hidden in the story or discovering it wasn’t as good as you thought the first time.
That sort of thing…..not as bland, boring or ordinary as it sounds. Lots of smiling and head nodding went on
Right at the end a ‘chapter’ on recording what you read.
Do you remember everything you read? I know I don’t. Keeping a list reminds me what I read and when but there’s often a blank look on my face when I try to remember what some books were about. Plot lines, characters, settings – all seem to be a mystery at times
There can be fun convos at book club when someone mentions a title, cue various questions from others….’was that the one where ***** or was that set in *****’
One little clue and you’ll hear ‘ oh yes that’s the one where such and such happened’. It’s good to have reading friends who think and act like you😊
*******
And finally I’ll begin this soon
Checkmate to Murder – E.C.R.Lorac 1934 (republished 2020)
Who fired the fatal shot that snuffed out the life of miserly old Folliner during a London blackout? Was it the beautiful artist Rosanne who lived next door, the old man’s Canadian soldier nephew or bumptious Special Constable Verraby, whose eyes registered deadly fear?
I’m hoping it’s as good as the last one of hers that I read
*****.
And looky looky here at what I’ve got
At the end of last month’s post I was musing on ways to encourage me to read more……”maybe take the easy way with children’s books, short stories/novellas, even A-Z of places in the title”……so I set about making it happen. And as you can see the library delivered- all at once unfortunately 😊🙁
Guess what I’ll be reading over the next month??
A Cold Death in Amsterdam – Anna de Jager 2015
The Brisbane Line – J.P.Powell 2020
The 12.30 from Croydon – Freeman Wills Croft 1934 (republished 2016)
No Roads to Darwin – Rex Ellis 2016
The Eden Test – Adam Sternbergh 2023
*****
Sharing with What’s on your Book Shelf Challenge
Still Waters 