A very dear friend of mine was talking to me about her youngest child – now a grown man in his very early 50s – it seems he tells her she should ‘let go’.  She says that out of all her children he is the only one who does so. Don’t know why, she said, could possibly be something to do with his wife;  a person with few personal possessions who has fashioned their home in a minimalist style.  Because it certainly wasn’t his style when he was a young man living at home 😊

‘Get rid of it, it’s only taking up space, when are you going to use it again’.

That seems to be today’s catch cry.

And like many others over these past few years, I’ve done just that.  Moved on, passed on, given away, rehomed, knowing someone else will be able to make use of all the crockery and cooking stuff that’s no longer used – just the way we did when we were younger and short of cash to buy brand spanking new.

So what do you do when these emerge from the back of the cupboard?  Four small child sized plastic beakers with another styled as a lid to hold them together.  One set slightly larger than the other.

I looked at them on the countertop, reliving memories of the day the red ones were bought (way back in the 1970s) in a tourist shop at Glenrowan – Ned Kelly country – over 225kms/140 miles up the road from here.

It’s quite funny in that I know where they were bought – I can see myself walking into the shop,   I know why they were bought – squabbles over sharing a bottle of soft drink. ‘He/she had more swallows than me’   But I can’t for the life of me remember why we were so far from home that day !

Unlike these days when each child has their allocated water bottle,(well before water in bottles was sold at the supermarket) we’d buy a large bottle of whatever they chose…Fanta or Lemon Squash or even Coke……to share between us …..which meant those little red beakers certainly earned their keep.  Everyone knew exactly how much pop each of them was given😊

And of course as they grew in age and size…. I bought the slightly larger ones

My friend asked if they’d ever been used again.  Actually yes I said,  quite regularly a while ago by visiting grandchildren – small children being allowed a forbidden treat of fizzy drinks at Grandma’s (with parents permission – wouldn’t have done iit otherwise 😀

So here it is Monday morning again and I’m sitting with my coffee thinking about or maybe that should be wondering when it will be time.

Time to let go, that is.

You know, those little beakers really don’t take up much space, and even though they appear to be empty are actually filled with memories, and besides,  all those grandchildren are now old enough to have their own little ones so you never know when they might come in handy again 😎

Do you have things tucked away waiting?
Waiting for you to decide when the time is right?

I’ve been pottering around with this genealogy caper for several years now and the names and terms for relationships still confuse me 😊

Seeing the generations on a pedigree chart is fine, you add your name and then for your direct lines you identify your Mum and Dad and Grandparents and then as you get to know more names and dates you can add Greats plus…..if you’re really lucky ….Great Greats or 2 x Gt as they are sometimes referred to.

Then comes the tricky bit – the sideways moves aka the extended family.  Aunts Uncles Cousins…..they all get recorded elsewhere. In exercise books, scraps of paper, various family charts or maybe online genealogy sites.

Trying to place who relates to whom has always been a challenge to me  I know I’m not the brightest spark but honestly listening to / reading posts online where these family discussions take place leaves me feeling dim sometimes. There are loads of graphs and charts out there that explain these relationships but after a while all the little boxes seem to merge into one.  Until I found this one.

You and your cousin share grandparents, you and your 2nd cousin (that is a grandchild of a Gt aunt/uncle) share Gt grandparents AND you and your 3rd cousin ( a Gt grandchild of a Gt Gt aunt or uncle ….who is a brother or sister of one of your Gt grandparents) share GtGt grandparents.  Are you with me still??

Then there is Removed (see Ancestry ‘Understanding Kinship Terms’)

In cousin relationships, the term removed indicates the separation of a generation. My first cousin is of the same generation as I am, so my first cousin once removed would be either my parent’s first cousin or my first cousin’s child. Since twice removed indicates a difference of two generations, my first cousin twice removed would be either my grandparent’s first cousin or the grandchild of my first cousin (as I am two generations younger than my grandparent’s first cousin and two generations older than my first cousin’s grandchild).

The online companies who test DNA samples provide you with matches to other clients  registered with them…..up to 4th cousins and further.  Trying to find the MRCA aka most recent common ancestor  or ‘who you both are actually related to’ can be fun.  If you both have enough information to share.  Because you need to be able to go back 5/6 generations.

See I told you it was FUN 😊

The new season can definitely be felt now…..the harsh heat of summer has gone and the nights are very much cooler.  Even to the point of putting on pjs, dressing gown and knitted slippers well before ‘retiring time’.

Different seasons means different vegetables

And guess what’s on the menu for tonight?  Yes, Brussel Sprouts! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_sprout

The sprout farm at Coldstream is picking !

It’s opened its sales to the public again, these lovely freshly picked little green bundles of joy are there on the road side stall by the farm gate all nicely packed ready to come home – and if the stall is bare you just ring the bell and one of the pickers comes down with some more.

I’m not enthralled by the plastic packaging, it’s a fairly slim strong bag which fits the purpose.   Trouble is trying to contain those lumpy sprouts in soft plastic doesn’t work too well when they are sold a kilo a time.  Plus these aren’t graded, unlike those that make their way from the farm to other places …..sold to national supermarket chains …..so it’ll be a mix of sizes.  Which keeps the cost (to us) down   There are times when after all the mark ups, sprouts aren’t the cheapest veg on the shelf, they do  drop in price as more arrive.  These that The Golfer picks up on his way to/from his 2nd home (oops…golf course) are a standard $5 a kilo all the time

So you win some – lose some as far as price is concerned

BUT

Straight from the paddock to the plate….that’s my idea of freshness.  And that’s what counts for me.

WordPress  blog….

Is anyone else having problems with comments going straight into the spam folder?

These are comments from ‘known’ bloggers who have commented before – not new ones that must be approved.

Most annoying.

And just for the fun of it there has been another change in my life this year.
Another social one that is.

With pleasure being the name of the game I’ve upped stumps and joined another choir.

The one I joined last year – the one I settled into so easily and throughly enjoyed singing with – moved house.  To another suburb   One much further from home.  They raised the annual membership fee plus the weekly fee which when combined with longer train travel there and back was going to make a big dent in my day as well as my small personal monthly allowance so I looked around for another option.

And I found one really close to home – a short 10 minute drive in fact!

It’s not quite as organised as some I’ve sung with (meaning the conductor may not have as many qualifications as some of the others) yet for a group of 30 retirees the quality of singing is just as good.

We have a gig coming up at the end of this month that is going to be lots of FUN

Performing at the Highland Games and Celtic Festival out here in the eastern suburbs.  How good is that!

Since our first rehearsal at the end of January it’s been Popular Scottish songs/tunes all the way.  Well mostly Scottish; Men of Harlech The Ash Grove  and Danny Boy may be heard – to give a nod to a couple of other Celtic nations 😊

Last week during rehearsal we were asked what songs we sang as youngsters on bus trips.  With no idea what was wanted suggestions included……

• If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands
• The wheels on the bus go round and round
• 10 green bottles hanging on the wall
• She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes
• Oh the grand old Duke of York
• Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree
• Row Row Row your boat gently down the stream
• I’ll tell me Ma when I come home, the boys won’t leave the girls alone

No, we get told, They are too general, I want something this particular audience will relate to.  Then our lovely pianist (of Scottish descent) started to sing this.

Oh ye cannae shove yer Granny aff a bus

Ye cannae shove yer granny aff a bus,
Oh ye cannae shove yer granny aff a bus,
Ye cannae shove yer granny, for she’s yer mammy’s mammy,
Ye cannae shove yer granny aff a bus.

Ye can shove yer other granny aff a bus,
Ye can shove yer other granny aff a bus.
You can shove yer other granny, for she’s yer daddy’s mammy,
Ye can shove yer other granny aff a bus.

So I’m sitting here with my coffee on this sunny Monday morning wondering if it’s only in Scotland where children learn (and seemingly love) a song about pushing their Granny off a bus ?? 😎😎

What strange songs did you learn as a youngster?

As it always is with life there were more changes to come this year.

This one was not so much a change in exercise routine as finding a different way

Continuing with gym visits for strength – or maybe it should be to use all those lovely machines they have, – walking the streets for endurance plus the pleasure from being outside with all the associated views (which you can’t see from a treadmill) , pool visits because I love the feeling of weightlessness and the knowledge my aches and pains will benefit from exercise in the water

AND  

this year adding the Ballet for Adults being offered by a local organisation.  I love dance in any form and this class turned up at just the right time.

Having spent so much time recently reading/researching/discovering things past (History of my Family) I wondered if I could turn back the clock and mentally return to a younger Catherine who loved her weekly ballet class.

Last year’s foray into Return to Yoga (for seniors) didn’t do a thing for me.  I ached for days after each class….certainly didn’t have that feeling of peace I remember from classes in years gone by,  these left me with a feeling of frustration because even though the slim young contortionist  the young woman out the front seemingly had qualifications to teach ‘older adults/seniors’ she didn’t seem to understand that some of our bodies just didn’t do the things we may well have been able to do many years ago.  By the end of the term so many had found excuses not to attend, there was an awful lot of empty space on the floor which had been covered with mats during the first week!!

Now having admitted that,  I’ll also have to admit these Ballet classes are not all ‘wine and roses’ or ‘tea and biscuits’ as some of the attending ladies would prefer to say.

They also are hard work – unlike the Yoga classes where serious was the name of the game – these are hard work with lots of laughter thrown in.

Hard work trying to make your feet turn out like Charlie Chaplin, Pliés are not just bending your knees like squats,

Something simple like sliding your foot along the ground and then pointing the toe – Tendu -is likely to give you cramp (if you try too hard!)

And you know how good your balance is when you try to Relevé – rise onto your toes (or balls of our feet in our case 

Change can be good, some change can be not so good  – what I do  know is that 7 weeks into the first term, I along with 10 other ‘mature ladies’………….wearing last year’s yoga pants along with tshirts and carrying pink ballet slippers – not a leotard In sight 😊……………leave the local hall feeling better, walking taller, more at ease with ourselves and declaring Tuesday mornings have become our ‘favourite’ time of the week.

And there’s no way we’re going to change that!

The Australian Ballet – Ballet Class as a Beginner 

Glossary of Ballet terms

Change:-  Make or become different.

 Changes happening not for the sake of change but for ME 😊

Firstly not so much a change of healer as a looking at the benefits of a different practice

After several disappointing consultations over the past few months with my (older in years, single person practice) GP which ended in him stating he had no idea what the problem was, I took advantage of the fact that we are not tied to one Dr/GP (as is the case in other parts of the world) and made an appointment at a larger practice in our area – in my mind, just for another point of view.

Not an easy thing to do as I’m usually a ‘loyal’ person but I wanted an answer…..even if it was the same one.

After the initial niceties and explanations the first words the new Dr said were….well, let’s see what we can eliminate.  Words I’d not heard from my original GP.

The upshot was that this and the follow up consultation, followed by a diagnosis and treatment that worked/cured the problem, had me thinking long and hard and making the decision to change to the new practice.  One that has several Dr’s (of various ages, levels of experience, different medical interests) available, one that has xray and treatment rooms on the premises as well as allied health workers plus specialist rooms in an adjoining building.

A difficult decision to make – but after consulting the new GP a couple of times since then I’m confident I made the right one.

So after surviving our, and I’m not exaggerating, horrendous in many ways summer I’m finally in a better frame of mind and hoping to be back here on a regular basis.  Not sure what I’ll natter about but will most likely find a joke or two here or there.  Sadly no tidbits about Kiera – who I greatly miss.  No o/s trips on the horizon either – although winter in Bowen, Far North Queensland is being mooted.  We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, meaning when the really cold weather arrives!

Bye for now….Cathy

Just a little note to say I’ve pushed the pause button

Life at Still Waters is a bit churned up at the moment so I’m having a break for while

Still waters is in recess for the time being 😎

Bye for now

Cathy

So I’m looking for something in the laundry and glance up at the windows

Oops, think it’s a while since those were cleaned 🙂

Now it ‘was’ a cloudy day outside with not much light in the laundry so I can forgive the right hand sliding one for looking dull – it has a fly screen on the other side.   But the left is a clear pane of glass!

That side of the house is on a slope so The Golfer will have to get handy with the ladder to do the outside.  Gone are the days when I clambered up and did them myself……all the outsides are now his domain……with a little bit of visual coaxing from me standing on the other side of the window  …..’you’ve left a streak here pointing to a spot on the window 🙂

Have you ever wondered how they clean the outside of the lower deck windows on cruise ships?  The top row (Lower Promenade deck on this particular ship) – those just below the promenade –  are done with hoses hanging down the side and when possible the next level (Main Deck) are tackled with hoses and brushes on long poles.

Crew window washing MS Westerdam. Dock side Raiatea April 2016

I’m thinking I could do with a window cleaner.

But not one who just hoses the outside – I’ve tried that, just end up with streaky windows!

Not so much musings about setting the world aright but a wondering about how long something has been happening.

Now the only time we go into Maccas is when we are driving interstate. We have food for lunch in the car plus a flask of hot water for green tea but with easy parking not too far from the main roads, clean rest rooms (usually) quick service for a coffee (not everyone’s cup of tea but they don’t have the bitter taste they had years ago) the daily paper and free wifi they provide a welcome mid morning break without the long wait for service you can encounter in local cafes.

Doing a bit of ‘folder clearance’ the other day I came across these two photos taken while we were travelling up north during July last year

Now it’s possible I’ve been a little weary when we’ve stopped for a break – especially if I’ve just finished my two hour driving stint – and have not noticed these features before….but does anyone know how long (here in Australia) Maccas (McDonalds) has been offering electrical outlets, USB ports and table service??

It’s not going to keep me awake at night…..and I’ll admit it was rather nice being able to charge the iPad and phone while we read the paper and waited for our coffees….in china cups….to be brought to the table instead of having to hang around the counter waiting….but I’m blowed if I remember it happening before.

~ ~ ~  ~ ~

Monday is the day I often sit here, think and wonder about things

Is there anything trivial you’re wondering about this Monday?

Hopefully ‘not’ in my house overnight lol

It’s nearly 35c/j95f outside- there’s a very strong hot northerly blowing – which means it’s possible we’ll reach the predicted 42c/107f.  According to the BOM that’ll make it our as in Melbourne’s hottest day in two years.  Hopefully the promised cool change will arrive – 14c/57f makes sleeping so much easier.

If there’s one constant in my life it’s a dislike of extreme temperatures

Too hot or too cold you’ll hear me complaining.  I’ll survive but I won’t like it.

In the meantime – the air con is on but this is delightful

( in the privacy of your own home that is 😊)

Words for Wednesday is a weekly meme using words and/or pictures as prompts.  Bloggers are encouraged to make what they can from them.  Lissa from ‘the memory of rain’ is hosting January – these are the ones for this week

Beginning* New Year* Wonder* Ritual* Kiss* Faith*
Seven* Remember* Adventure* Miles* 88* Heart*

I wonder wonder who…..

Rosie got to the end of the row and sighed.

She tried to remember* whose idea it was for her to knit the grandchild a new pullover for school

88* stitches to a row – that child had grown so much he was almost a man. Ate like a man, her daughter, his mother kept saying. It’s no wonder* he is the size he is when you look at his father and extended family on that side.

Life for him was an adventure* he was on the go from getting up time until going to bed time. Not a quiet sit read a book child but one who was constantly moving at what seemed like 100 miles* an hour.

Hello Gran! Caught you with your eyes shut!

She opened her eyes to see a young man standing in front of her chair. I just popped round to sit with you for a while, put your knitting away, and I’ll tell you my latest news.

She welcomed the ritual* of a kiss* on each cheek followed by a long look in each other’s eyes. Eyes that reminded her of a man gone seven* years now, one she had loved with all her heart* and one her faith* told her, she would be reunited with in time.

Then she smiled, she couldn’t remember who suggested it, but she did remember who it was she knit the school pullover for all those years ago.  The now not so chubby but lean and lanky grandson sitting opposite her bursting to speak just as he did as an eight year old.

There’s this new job I’m beginning* in the New Year*…..it’s in Canada….at a ski resort!

I really should know better – know that when I’m short of time or my mood is twitchy I should just nod and pass on by rather than stop, be polite and listen to the moans and groans that eminate from a certain ‘friend’ I ocassionally see in one of the local supermarkets

Happy New Year, I said this morning- I wonder what new beginnings are ahead of us this year?

None! she said.  It’ll be the same old, same old, tarted up in a different form.  New Year’s a bit like some of these big businesses, what do they do when they’re losing money – we’re going to Begin Anew with fresh ideas they say.  Gosh they think we’re daft and haven’t seen it all before.  Her name might be Maureen but she’s known as Moaning Minnie to me 😊

Here it is only a few hours past and she’s got me wondering whether it really will be better than last year or will it be a rehash, just tarted up in a different form?

New Years Eve saw us in bed well before the witching hour which meant (thanks to early morning birdsong) we were awake a bit earlier than usual on New Years Day.

Do you remember that old saying

Early to bed, Early to rise.

Makes a Man Healthy Wealthy and Wise

Do you think it works on December 31st?

Last year wIth restraint and the help of our lovely GPs our Health wasn’t too bad, with restraint and the help of my little exercise book (and yes, digital spreadsheets) our Wealth wasn’t too bad either

New exercise book ready for 2019

It’s just the Wise bit that’s got me a little worried 😊

This was the 76th New Year my body saw in. Do you reckon I’m going to be any wiser at the end of this one?

Happy New Year to you all. Let’s all make it a good un’

Today was a quiet day.  A rather warm quiet day.  32c/nearly 90f!

Tomorrow will be a little cooler than today.  A better day to be out and about.

We spent time with one child this afternoon, will be with two more in the morning, then the day is ours.

No hot meal to prepare, cold meat and salad will be the way to go.  We may even drive down to the beach 😎

Wont be any snowmen there – a sandman or two maybe!

Here’s hoping your Christmas Day is special ❤️

I’ll be taking another little break – just until the New Year arrives.

Bye for now- Cathy

It’s that time of the year.

Summer Solstice time

The time when we are at the half way point

While those in the Northern Hemisphere are filled with hope – some of us are not looking ahead with pleasure.

It’s as if the long Summer days have only just begun and it’s all being taken away from us.

Some are suggesting the witching hour is at 9 : 21 tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we will have more daylight time than today – the day after (Sunday) we will have less

Othes told us it happened today…the 21st.  Whenever it happens doesn’t change anything

The days will become shorter and the night’s longer.

That’s the way it goes I suppose.

I’ve been absorbed with the past recently- delving deeper and deeper into my Irish past.

For a long time those records were few and far between but now along with the ‘paid’ site I belong to I’ve been accessing a fairly new site ‘Irishgenealogy‘ which allows look up and sightings of birth death and marriage registrations – for free.

It seems all of my 8 Gt Grandparents from Co Armagh and Co Monaghan ‘lost’ family to migration- as far as I can make out they appear to be some of the very few in their respective families who stayed in Ireland.

From the middle of the 19th and into the 20th century they saw many of their aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and cousins leave, some went to Canada, others to USA and others even came down here to Australia.

They’re still making themselves known – those DNA discoveries that is.

So many families of those migrants are getting in touch and introducing themselves

Pity I didn’t know of them years ago – I could have saved a fortune in hotel rooms!

Let’s just say, that trying to find something to wear (that fits properly) has been challenging

All this going away – doing nothing- eating differently

Can be fun – BUT

Getting the pep talk ….again….from the GP is not good ‘I’m not saying you’re obese, maybe a little overweight’

So as well as a change in attitude,  Santa is going to bring me – new runners, dumb bell weights, resistance rubber bands, a new pass for the pool plus determination and a bit of oomph to round it all off 😊😎

A new someone to do the meal planning and cooking would be nice but that’s the one thing I really do have to take personal responsibility for!

Well not literally but so close to.

Out with The Golfer yesterday looking at cars ………. he did have something in  mind but was disappointed….unlucky for him – lucky for our bank balance 🙂

Anyway I was surprised to see the yard we visited was almost empty of buyers only to be told by one chap ‘everyone’s down the road at the shops, we’ll be lucky to make a $ today.   With that he said he was off to his office for a cup of tea.

Coming home Maroondah Highway was chock a block, bumper to bumper at one spot; people might not have been looking at new cars but they were certainly going from one place to another – very quickly……. and as could be said ‘without due care and attention’ or acting like b…..  lunatics which was a comment I kept hearing from the driver of our car.

So by the time we got home I was dry in the mouth and couldn’t get the kettle on fast enough.  Out of nowhere as I gathered up cups and other bits and pieces together I was ‘plagued’ by this little childhood ditty running through my head.

Tea Time, Tea Time.
Come and get your tea
Bread and Butter, cakes and jam
For me me me!

I’ve ate my bread and butter
Drank my cup of tea
What is left for supper time
Wait and see!

With no cakes in the house The Golfer jokingly made a jam sandwich for us both, which had us laughing and talking about running in from school starving and Mum putting jam sandwiches on the table, reminding us to ‘not eat too much and leave room for your dinner (or supper in some parts of the country)

He asked me if I knew there was a special day to remember Fairy Bread – sandwiches (for children here in Australia) made with bread, butter and 100s and 1000s – those little coloured balls used to decorate cakes.  Seems it’s celebrated every year on November 24th.  Well, you  live and learn something every day I said.  And then told him about our own special sandwiches Dad use to make us when we were little.

Bread Butter and Sugar – similar to Fairy Bread without the colouring lol

We didn’t often have butter (best butter my mother always called it) in our house but when we did Dad would say it was a treat for his little ladies. He’d chop some into pieces (to warm and become spreadable) pour some sugar into a glass bowl, make us a cup of milky tea and then let us get on with our special little tea party.

I must be feeling in need of comfort this morning because look what I rustled up for myself – just for old times sake 🙂

So what special memories does food have for you?

It’s often the silliest simple ones that have me close to tears
What about you?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Excuse me I must go and enjoy my memory – my tea will be cold
and as we all know, there’s nothing worse than a cold cup of tea!

And here is my first little Ted!

Finished and waiting for the next delivery date.

There may be more to come

But this one will always be special 😊❤️

Yes that is the question……but first let me explain.

It’s been about four months since I used the library – what with going up north earlier in the year – having company when we got home – and then going off again for a few more weeks, it wasn’t necessary.  I did read during this time but not borrowed library books – well, that’s not quite true, I did borrow from the Bowen library but I didn’t take any up from here – library books that is.  As well as the few paperbacks I took to read on the cruise (and left in the book exchange) I wasn’t short of reading matter because there was a library onboard plus the book exchange cupboard and I also had books on my iPad.

And that was a very long winded way of relating the reason why I visited my local library last Saturday morning for the first time in over 4 months 🙂

With only a few letters to go I’m determined to finish the author A-Z challenge I started at the beginning of the year – these last four K, Q, V, & Y are what I call odd ones (given myself permission to forget about X)  so it was a quick look down the shelves to find something that fitted the bill and also appealed.

Job done, four books in hand it was on to the self serve check out desk.

Not our library but similar check out machine.

These were introduced quite a few years ago now and at the time they were resisted by lots of the members who still continued to lined up to see if the librarian would do the deed at her desk but now are used as a matter of course.  The librarians do (willingly) assist some of the older members but once shown how just about everyone does it themselves.

Account found, books on the sensor pad, attached to account, all finished except for the paper slip with names and return dates.  That’s when I noticed an extra dialogue box on the screen.

Would I like this emailed to me?

Oh decisions….decisions 🙂

Now we’ve had downloadable books (digital books/eBooks) for what seems like a long long time ….we might not like the paperless books but these days nobody gives them a second thought.  But this was something new…….something I had to think about

That paper receipt with the book and return date information often serves as a bookmark – trouble is it often has a habit of losing itself so unless I’ve marked the returns date on the calendar I have to chase it up online at the library site.   If all that information came by email I’d have it right there in my inbox – but I’d lose my handy little bookmark.  The one I often mislaid in amongst other little bits of paper lying about on the table next to my chair!

Knowing my habit of putting things down and promptly losing them

Knowing I actually already have oodles of bookmarks I could use

I chose the paperless option 🙂

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And here we are on Monday, the day when I sit and muse about life and happenings.

I’m wondering if I’m still a resistant old stick in the mud who dislikes change….. because I had to actually think about the book name/date option or was I just confused because I hadn’t been around when that option was introduced?

What about you – are you changing your ways as new alternatives arise or do you still like things the way they were?