Wordless Wednesday can be found HERE and HERE.
Pop over and see what others find to say Wordlessly (or nearly😊)
A giggle a day…
‘What do you miss’ I asked her.
‘Oh I’m like Piglet, she said. It’s the hugs I miss’. The touching, being close, feeling someone’s breath on your face.
My widowed friend…the one afraid of becoming ‘one of them’ lives a fair way from me so we keep in touch by phone. We never did get that coffee and chat before the latest lockdown and as she’s a bit techno challenged the phone is the way.
‘Giggling’ I said. That’s what’s missing. Like when we’re having coffee with the others, finding something silly in what one of them says, saucy even.
I mentioned that even though I’ve always spent lots of time on my own I missed having regular things to do, there seemed to be no structure to the days anymore. Knowing the bins went out to the nature strip Sunday night so they could be emptied Monday morning was the only constant at the moment.
So after that whinge I said I’ve gone back to ‘ a drawer and a chore ‘ a day ‘ to make sure I do something productive each day besides sit on my backside doing whatever takes my fancy.
Right this moment my energy levels are not the best so if I concentrate on one drawer…..just tidy it up a little bit …..and one chore……just do one thing……something round the house, out in the garden, shopping, errands, I’ll feel better.
‘Yesterday’s chore was the bed’ I said.
‘And that gave me a real giggle…..
‘Come on, she said. Changing sheets and giggling don’t normally go together…… unless The Golfer was giving you a hand’. 😊😊
Have you ever tried to describe what happens when you shake open a sheet and instead of it floating gracefully forward and covering the bed it flies back and covers your face making you fall forward onto the bed in a fit of giggles?
No Golfer needed for that….claphanded Catherine can manage it all by herself.
Mind you I could of sworn the bed was giggling back at me as I tried to get back up.
I finished Voss the other day. At one stage he stops for a while at Brendan Boyle’s property (Jildra station) to gather further supplies before setting off into the unknown. The house is quite small and this is what Voss heard during the night. He being Mr Boyle.
“…had returned to the room which he was pleased to refer to as the bedchamber, beyond the chimney piece and which was the only other room of the house. He was blundering about a good deal, and making animal noises, and exploring the darkness for its distinctive grain. His bed, it seemed, was full of giggles.”
It’s been a hard and testing year for all and I know we are missing the big things in life but…..
what are those special‘ little’ things you are missing
mine’s giggling with the girls – I wonder what yours are
Linking to #MondayMusings hosted by Corrine (Everyday Gyaan)
It was a cold and frosty morn….
This is ‘our big girl’ – born in Norwich (Norfolk England) early February 1963
a bitter day in the middle of what has been called The Big Freeze of 1963.
And this is ‘our little girl’ who came along later the next year whilst we were living in Singapore. The hot humid climate suited us all much better lol
Anyway Our Big Girl won’t be happy if she found out I told you how old she was – but what her birthdate also means is that that like most babies born at that time (and previously) in England she was born at home.
Yes, after The Golfer rang her from the phone box at the corner of the street a midwife (very precariously because of the icy roads) came round on her bicycle and delivered our big girl right there in the comfort of our bedroom..
We laugh about it now, but because the bedroom wasn’t exactly the warmest room in the house (slight understatement) she slept in a huge drawer taken from the bottom of a big wardrobe similar to this one.
It was laid on a couple of chairs beside our bed, with the high sides protecting her, she was cosy and warm and out of any draughts – and there certainly were plenty of those in that old house.
How we survived that winter is still a mystery to me. Snow on the ground…two little ones……tiny coal fires (definitely no central heating). The house In Clarence Road was up behind the station, The Golfer was stationed at Coltishall so needed the car, which meant for me it was a walk into town for groceries and back up the hill with a pram loaded with babes and food. Certainly no taxis for us in those days!
Recently I’ve been rewatching the BBC series Call the Midwife – and even though the series was set in a place very different (both in location as well as the mix of people) to where we lived, it certainly brought back some memories of the system used ….like weighing newborns this way ….in a nappy on a hanging scale
I know it was a huge hit in UK as well as here (shown on ABC) and I believe it’s shown on PBS in the USA. Does anyone else keep watching it?
I thought I still had a copy of Jennifer Worth’s book Call the Midwife (first book in her memoir trilogy) on the shelf but it’s nowhere to be found. Shame as I was going to reread it, probably moved it on in one of my ‘clearing out frenzies’.
I’m not sure about you but I find it hard to know whether to read a book first and then see what is offered as an adaptation on the screen (tv or cinema) or do it the other way round. See the adaptation and then read to find out what the original ‘idea’ was all about. Often description in books never seems to get onto the screen and yet sometimes the visuals can turn out much better than the written word.
There are good points whichever way – how do others feel, which way do you prefer?
The BOM got it right
Winter has little ways of telling us it’s not moving on just yet.
After some great days of sunshine and warmth when shorts and T-shirts put in an appearance yesterday was a bit on the chilly side and this was the forecast last night as I was tootling off to bed…..extra blanket in hand. A low of 5C/41f!
Oh looky looky they exceeded their expectations lol. Don’t you love the ‘feels like’ note.
An hour ago when I got up at 6.30 it was 4.2c/39f……..feels like 2.2c!
Whatever way you look at it that’s b………cold!
And looking at what’s ‘promised’ for the next few days – I don’t think I’ll be going far
Thank goodness the gas heater was (finally) repaired because It’s back to tracky dacks and fleecy windcheaters weather!
Feeling lonely….
Don’t be disheartened
You can do anything if you try
Learn to make new friends….and cakes…..and tea
Wordless Wednesday occurs all over the internet each Wednesday, when bloggers let photos speak for themselves.
See what others have to say ‘Wordlessly’
– – Natasha Musing – – Wordless Wednesday – –
Ups and Downs…..
A little trip to the doctor a few months ago had me thinking
about the ups and downs in life
‘Alternating periods of good and bad’
It seems to me that for every up side I have
theres always a down side
I love to travel
and living in Australia the easiest way
for us to get to any other country is to fly
There is just one thing – I don’t like flying
So the less of the ups and downs
(taking off and landing – stops for refueling etc)
I have when traveling the better
When we arrange our itineraries we have to choose routes
that have as many direct flights as we can get
I have to get there as quickly as I can
Weight loss for me has caused many ups and downs
First of all, having the GP mention a figure to aim for
sent me spiralling down
Even tho’ I was healthy and fit
it didn’t mean a thing as far as he was concerned
So down it had to come
Same with the blood pressure.
Too high – way up in the air he waved his hands
needs to come down
This is the figure
I’m sure the figures he’s used over the years masquerade as a yo yo
I can’t count the times they’ve gone down
and then the times they’ve gone way back up again
There’s been plans made lots of effort put in
But like travelling I need a direct route.
when I don’t get there quickly enough
I am down again
(mentally emotionally that is)
So I‘ve had to pick myself up and work at it again
It’s been hard – lots of excuses made
I wanted it to happen ‘just like that’.
But the figures didn’t come down ‘just like that’.
They stayed up and I felt very down
My exercise routine and the better healthy lifestyle is working now
theres not been so many emotional downs recently
A recent trip to the doctor told me
Thankfully one set of figures has come down
the upper and lower figures are fine
Unfortunately the other figure I had to work on has not come down
as much as wanted
I’m not bemoaning the fact I don’t like something
like recording the facts and figures of food and exercise as suggested
just trying to do it the way I enjoy doing it
So there’s a lot less up and a bit more down.
Joining Corinne and others for Monday Musings
Z is for….Sunday Selections
It’s amazing what you find when you’re thinking about something else. I’d had the letter Z on my mind (yes, that book challenge) when these jumped out at me as I was going through some 2009 photo folders from an old (as in defunct) blog.
Z is for Zygocactus
also known as Schlumbergara
aka Christmas Cactus
They are hardy pot plants that seem to grow wherever you want them to
Break a piece off – pot it up in some dirt
and very soon you’ll have a new plant.
These plants were all started from cuttings
taken from friends or neighbours plants
I had them growing in containers that hung over the railing of the deck.
happy to be there most of the year.
though I did put them in the shade if the sun became too hot.
There were several plants in each of the long boxes
and if nature got the timing right
and they all bloomed together.
it looked like a ribbon of pink all the way along.
You know at first glance these plants appear to be a jumble of gnarly old stems
each with a flower at the end
But if you look carefully
you will see that the most delicate of blooms are growing there.
Up in the Northern Hemisphere they are often called Christmas Cactus
‘cose thats about the time when they seem to flower. Not so down here in Melbourne these photos were taken in October
right at the end of our Winter – beginning of Spring
These are beautiful plants often regarded as common and hum drum looking
What do you think?
Joining in with Elephant’s Child and others for Sunday Selections
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlumbergera
Zygocactus
X Marks the spot
Rustling around in the box of books out in the garage and discovered this old one. No idea when or why it came into the house but look….it’ll be ideal for that challenge. You know the single word one I got myself into at the beginning of the year. There was I thinking X was going to be a hard one to find and it was sitting there right under my nose all the time!
Not sure about the genre though…..sci fi isn’t the norm here….but we’ll give it a go!
Thinking about the letter X – the third most rarely used letter in the English language- I found this online:-
X is typically a sign for the compound consonants [ks]; or sometimes when followed by an accented syllable beginning with a vowel, or when followed by silent h and an accented vowel [ɡz] (e.g. exhaust, exam); usually [z] at the beginnings of words (e.g. xylophone, Xenon), and in some compounds keeps the [z] sound, as in (e.g. meta-xylene). It also makes the sound [kʃ] in words ending in -xion (typically used only in British-based spellings of the language; American spellings tend to use -ction).
It can also represent the sounds [ɡʒ] or [kʃ], for example, in the words luxury and sexual, respectively. Final x is always [ks] (e.g. ax/axe) except in loan words such as faux (see French, below).
In abbreviations, it can represent “trans-” (e.g. XMIT for transmit, XFER for transfer), “cross-” (e.g. X-ing for crossing; XREF for cross-reference), “Christ” (e.g. Xmas for Christmas; Xian for Christian), the “Crys” in Crystal (XTAL), or various words starting with “ex” (e.g. XL for extra large; XOR for exclusive-or).
There are very few English words that start with X – the least amount of any letter. Many of the words that do start with X are either standardized trademarks (XEROX) or acronyms (XC).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X
Once you’ve read that you will realise X is an unusual letter to say the least….
Many people over 18 here in Australia would know of this though
XXXX (pronounced fourex) is a brand of Australian beer brewed in Milton, Brisbane by Queensland brewers, Castlemaine Perkins. It enjoys wide popularity in the state of Queensland and is commonly found on-tap in most Queensland pubs and bars.
Then theres that saying
X marks the spot
Supposedly from British army officers pinning a piece of paper
with X on it to the chest of someone about to be executed
But could also come from
a myriad of places …..a game show
something the Hubble Telescope saw
or
even a spot on a map
(like a pirates’s treasure map)
but the X our family is really interested in is this recently discovered one
The one The Golfer’s Great Grandmother Julia made
when she registered his Grandfather’s birth in 1878
These days we take reading and writing as a norm
but evidently from what we see on this copy of the birth certificate
Dh’s ancestor was unable to write her name
so made her mark (signature) with an X
I certainly hope she would be pleased with the standard of education available for all children these days whether they live in the city or country village as she did.
Have you made any new discoveries recently? Are you surprised to learn about lack of education in your family?
No sleeping on the job….
Best be wide awake for this……Sheep Counting Competition Warren NSW 1992
Where did it come from
My mother and her sister were twins. Fraternal not identical. Two eggs producing two sisters who were so very different. One blonde – one dark. One out going, talkative, loving life to the full, an extrovert – the other quiet and retiring very much the introvert. One definitely liking the drink – the other very much the teetotaller.
Children of the 1920s when money was a bit hard to come by. I love these photos of the two of them in their homemade shifts, with my grandma standing to one side, smiling at them getting to know the parrot in the big cage. Mum (the dizzy blonde with the curly hair and her drawers hanging down) is trying to open the cage, Aunty Madge (the dark haired quiet one) is obviously not that interested.
That’s the way they were all their lives. Aunty Madge (below L) quietly and politely waiting her turn. Alice (my mum) ‘quick’ impatient, impulsive, outspoken, always wanting to lead, never wanting to be left behind. Sometimes known to bite her tongue when she saw things she didn’t like but decided that wasn’t the time to let people know. Not quite sure what it was the photographer was doing she didn’t like but her tongue was obviously being bitten lol
They grew up ‘motherless’……my grandma died when they were just 7 so an aunt helped raise them as well as their two brothers. All mum ever said was ‘it was was fun when her father was around, not so the aunt’.
So come the time of WW2 what does a very high spirited young woman do when advised by her father (a career soldier mentioned in dispatches for bravery during WW1) that women do not go to war but take the overnight boat from Belfast to Heysham and enlist in the WAAFs. Yes she ran away from home to join the Air Force.
Aunty Madge bided her time and was ‘allowed’ to work in a munitions factory where she found a husband and lost the tip of a finger. Mum spent her time dodging bombs on an airforce camp, packing parachutes and dancing. She ‘reacquainted’ herself with Dad (who she had known in Belfast) and the rest is history.
During this time of lockdowns and restrictions I’ve been trying to do something different for a change – I gave up on ‘teach yourself crochet’ because I just couldn’t get a grip on manipulating the wool in my left hand – so dug out some cross stitch that’s been on the go for a fair while.
A little something for The Golfer, ( a sampler of historic buildings in Colchester which is where he was born and bred) supposed to have been a surprise birthday gift a couple of years ago it never got finished in time and has been loitering waiting patiently for me to rediscover it. Yes I know I should have rolled it……..I’ll have to wash it so hopefully the crease will come out when it’s ironed/blocked before framing.
I know my love of song and family was passed down from my father, the thrill of dance came from both parents, my delight in knitting was given to me by my mother who ‘was a whizz with the needles’ but I’ve often struggled wondering where did my interest in needlework come from.
https://cranethie.com/2017/06/23/putting-it-all-together/
I certainly didn’t inherit the sewing machine gene – that delight was passed on to my next sister and I don’t ever recall mum with an embroidery needle in her hand.
But see this lovely embroidery hoop and floor stand – it was given to me years and years ago – by Aunty Madge! Unbeknown to me my quiet patient retiring aunt shared the same interest and thought I might like it. It’s great for large pieces, I can adjust the height and angle of the hoop or remove the hoop and use it on my lap. Perhaps as she had no children of her own she had silently (Invisibly) gifted me with her passion for threads of all sorts.
Linking to Monday Musings
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📘 Short and Sweet…..
This challenge I set myself of reading books with one word titles has been interesting.
They’ve come from friends, op shops (charity), cruise ships (drop & swap), book clubs, a box in the garage and of course the library.
There’s been some newish releases…..others oldish as in middle of last century. Because it was the title that mattered I’ve read some previously unknown authors.
The content has been very different – like I said I’ve looked at the title not the back of the book
Recent ones have included……
- Heaven – Victoria (V.C.) Andrews ……about a young girl who’s mother died, her stepmother died, then her father sold her and the other children, there’s her ‘first love’, life with her ‘new family’ and the quest to find her sisters and brothers as well.
- Promise – Tony Cavanaugh…… has a retired Victorian homocide cop solving what seem like young ‘runaway’ murders but are actually ‘snatches’ up in Noosa. Lots of detailed descriptions of the crimes also the thinking and planning by the murderer.
- Yesternight – Cat Winters….. set in 1920s, a child psychologist employed by an education dept comes to ‘test’ children in a very small one room school. She actually there under false pretences to interview one of the students who ‘has episodes where she believes she lived a previous life’. As well as the main storyline about the child and reincarnation, it covers social issues such as attitudes to women’s sexuality, feminism, job discrimination, problems of returned servicemen.
All the previous books have been set in modern days and written in language I could understand….no grabbing a dictionary or looking up online needed.
‘The long awaited box’ from the library arrived the other day with another one to go towards the challenge. I’d taken to looking in the catalogue for books beginning with xxxxx and came up with this one for V…….Voss by Patrick White written in 1957, set in 1840s Sydney about a ‘secret passion’ between an explorer and a young women.
Now I don’t shy from a challenge but I think it’s going to be a ‘long’ read, the language is ‘set to the time period’, filled with old fashioned rarely used words and phrases. This is what confronted me on page 1
It was now the young woman’s duty to give some order. In the end she would perform that duty with authority and distinction, but she did always hesitate at first. She would seldom come out of herself for choice, for she was happiest shut with her own thoughts, and such was the texture of her marble, few people ever guessed at these.
It took me a little while to understand what was meant by the texture of her marble.
First ‘never heard of it before’ phrase I came across was hugger-mugger. Confused- jumbled – muddled.
Which is obviously not that unknown because blow me down if Helen doesn’t use it in her latest post at The Venomous Bead
Yes I’m thinking this book will be read in short bursts in between others 😊.
I was thinking…..
I was thinking early this morning.
As I sat outside on the back deck enjoying the warmish air
Give me a chair….a book….and some sunshine.
And I’m as happy as Larry
It really doesn’t matter where I am
Give me those three things
And the rest of the world …..along with all it’s problems
are far from my thoughts
What/Where are your ‘happy’ spots?
Well, would you look at that….
Is what I said to myself when I spied this lot down near the washing line.
Seems I didn’t get round to clearing them all up
Well would you look at that, I said to myself when I noticed the orange blooms on the Clivia – they were moved last year and have settled In well.
Oh bugger, would you look at that, I said to myself.
when I noticed the green tips on what last week were bare branches.
That rotten Oak tree of next door’s is having the last laugh!
Linking to various sites:- Bethere2day – My Corner of the World – Natasha Musing –
And just like that…
Someone I spoke to up at the shops yesterday was complaining she’d been robbed. That the virus had taken her life from her. She’d started this year with high hopes of all sorts of things and they just haven’t happened. It had aged her, she had nothing to look forward to!
I think we’ve all – at least here in Victoria- been knocked for six with the news that this Stage 4 hard lockdown won’t be finishing at the end of this week. Two more weeks were added…..but some restrictions have been eased. And after that there’s a sliding scale of easements…….depending on different factors. Lowering of new cases for one.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-06/victoria-coronavirus-easing-restrictions-roadmap-daniel-andrews/12634332
Not enough for my acquaintance- what use is two hours exercise when I can hardly breathe for one wearing a mask? And taking an hour off the curfew, giving us an extra hour of ‘allowed time’ is no use, I won’t be going anywhere at night. I want to go to the other side of the city and that’s not allowed either. That 5km ruling is still there……. I wish this was all over and done with so I can do all the things I want to do
Oh yes, for some it’s going to be a hard road back to where we came from. I’m not happy about the way things have panned out but it’s not going to finish ‘just like that’. Kylie (eclectica) mentioned people ‘wishing it was over’ in her post road tripping My mother’s words on wishing came to mind…
There’s no point in wishing your life away…..get out there and live it. Warts and all!
Another of life’s little pleasures…..
I had an old friend who used to comment about feeling old because she had checked her calendar to see when her next visit to the podiatrist was. ‘Only old people do that’ she said.
She was the dear friend who died suddenly last year ….I laugh now when I recall it because often I have the same thing on my mind – not the getting old part – but the visiting the podiatrist bit.
A few years ago I wrote a post about life’s little pleasures ….– https://cranethie.wordpress.com/2013/08/06/one-of-lifes-little-pleasures/ – ……as well as having a bath , I must confess, strange as it may seem, visiting the podiatrist is also one of my favourite pleasures.
At the moment with it being winter I shuffle around indoors in socks and knitted slippers but during the summer I go barefoot most of the time (or wear thongs/flip flops) Of course this means I do untold damage to the soles of my feet.
I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never had ‘nice’ feet; a few years ago during my time of wearing ‘mandatory closed toe shoes’ I began to get corns between my toes….. I know, TMI….changing shoes didn’t seem to help so thats when my visits to the Podiatrist (or Chiropodist as they used to be called) began. Now I have regular appointments and actually look forward to them
We begin with a little chat and the initial examination of my feet, then out comes the cleaning swabs as well as all the tools of the trade and we are away and running…..well not literally – not far off a gentle stroll 😊
Toenails are trimmed because like lots of oldies I find it hard to reach down there; little toes don’t bend these days or come apart far enough for me to manouver the clippers and my toe nails are becoming so thick I can’t even clip the ones I can get to!
After a check on the corns ……which are now under control but do tend to regrow due the shape of a bone on the opposite side ……. it’s then time to attack the dead skin on the heels and balls of my feet.
That’s when the little electric sanding tool appears – well that’s what it reminds me of – my foot man Bill starts it up after most of that skin has been shredded off with a teeny tiny scalpel and gently smoothes out all the rough edges. After creaming heels soles and toenails they all feel as smooth as a babies bum.
Then it’s massage time – ooh that feels good – and once he’s finished I leave with a smile on my face because there’s nothing like walking from his rooms with nicely creamed soft feet. Amost like walking on air.
Gosh, thinking about is putting a smile on my face – wonder when my next visit is??
Unfortunately not just yet – the clinic is closed. This dreaded virus has put paid to that outing for the time being. Thankfully I’m not going out that often to wear closed in shoes so the little horrors aren’t giving me grief…..as long as I remember to pop the little gel pad between the toes
Do you have any of life’s little pleasures you’re willing to share ?
I’d love to hear about them – please 🙂
Seen in Mooroolbark…..Sunday Selections
Mooroolbark, Victoria.
Hookey Reserve Charles Street
January 2018
One of the nearby suburbs Mooroolbark has a community brochure called Living Today which highlights lots of interesting bits and pieces going on in the area. Way back in 2015 it had an article about an installation in Hookey Park….the open space/play area dedicated to a local identity John Hookey.
Large metal native/indigenous bird sculptures called The Flock were going to be placed in the park and after seeing this page and associated article I had it in mind to take a look see next time I was over there at the library……right next door 🙂
Of course you know what happens when you say that – yes it was over two years before I remembered to go (or should that be put my camera in the car when I went)
You will probably need to use the two finger pinch/spread method to enlarge the article
It was a bright summer’s day when I finally saw them, some perched up high on poles keeping watch over the neighbourhood …
Others big and bold in amongst the greenery
Just the places you’d often see them….
Close by….
Once the library reopens I am planning to have another look at The Flock. I’d go sooner but it’s out of bounds at the moment because of ‘you know what’ 😊
Joining in with Sue at Elephant’s Chid for this weeks Sunday Selections
https://www.weekendnotes.com/hookey-park-in-mooroolbark/168376/
What on earth….
What on earth is that…he said
Oh that’s my appointment book……Said I
Why on earth there…..
So it’s right in front of my face! Where I can see it! So I don’t forget like last time …..
OK….but which Friday…..
🧶 It’s Wednesday
Yes it’s Wednesday again, the first Wednesday in a new month,
The first Wednesday in September 2020.
Which means it is the first Wednesday in Spring
A wonderful Wednesday 😊
It also means it’s been a whole month since I last spoke of any knitting I’d done. Truth be told there’s not a lot actually been done. I finished off the teddies and the fingerless mittens and that was it for a couple of weeks. These little crossover cardigans are always welcome for the mothers’ and babies packs so I set to and finished the pink one in a couple of days…..and it shows. I know it was acrylic yarn I’d had for a while but I’m definitely not happy with how it looks. It might look neater after a very light blocking…..that remains to be seen. Hopefully the blue has knit up more evenly.
An ‘old style’ crossover cardigan for newborns very similar to the one my ‘firstborn son’ wore many (many) years ago.
This is the book it came from….just another from my stack of favourite tried and true pattern books. Look at the way the mother has been portrayed….I wonder how many of us sat around in a floating nylon negligee cooing over a baby in a cradle. Some might of…..I was too ‘busy’ trying to catch up on precious sleep or taking advantage of a sleeping baby by pegging washing on the line 😊
And for some reason my reading slowed down.
I’m waiting for a new ‘delivery’ of library books so rummaged through a pile out in the garage discovering an old 1993 Anita Shreve….Where or When....like Rebecca last month its ‘time in the sun’ has arrived lol.
It’s been a very long time since I read her….hopefully I won’t be disappointed.
Of course being the first Wednesday of the month means it’s ‘Show and Tell’ time better known as Yarn Along over at Ginny’s. Do pop over to small things to see what others have worked on this past month.
Still Waters 
