Month: March 2021

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Thoughts from the Village

It’s fifteen years since The Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne.
15 – 26 March 2006
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Commonwealth_Games.

During the year leading up to the games The Golfer and I were involved with Team Melbourne assisting organisers and their staff in various roles. The Golfer was part of the organising team getting The Queen’s Baton Relay ‘up and then off and running’ – I spent many hours with the ‘entertainment staff’ involved with the Opening Ceremony. All good fun doing a couple of shifts a week in the World Trade Centre.

Once the games started he took up his allocated position with one of the visiting teams and I began ‘working’ in the Guest Pass Centre situated right beside the main entrance to the Athlete’s Village. Nobody got in without the correct pass – press included. I refused entry to a BBC reporter one day, she was all geared up to interview a medal winner but the agency responsible for obtaining their passes hadn’t done the necessary paper work. Not a happy chappy indeed – she got her interview in the end, not in the village but outside the gate under the nearby gum trees.

I’m on another clear out mission and found a journal of my thoughts from that time
Here’s some of them

“Australia Day was great. The two of us took part in the parade down Swanston Street wearing the official uniform…..what the Melbourne Press are describing as Smurf suits. There are thousands of us running around the city and environs having fun ‘volunteering’. Only a few weeks until the games begin!”
~ ~ ~ ~

“Well, its been quite a while since a week has passed by as quickly as this last one. All I seem to have done is travel, smile at people, travel and then sleep.”

“Life in the Athletes Village at Parkville is becoming more hectic each day as teams are arriving along with their officials. I am slowly getting to recognise some of the team colours and their outfits – even a few large as life characters attached to teams – so can say Hello and know where some of them are from. Its a good job they have the country names on the back as I’m not sure if I’ll get to remember all 71 team colours when they have all arrived.”

“There are lots of visitors passing through the area where I am working – am having a lot of contact with what we would possibly call the general public (guests of the athletes and officials and Village Management) – not the VIPs tho – they are ushered into the lounge next to ours. Its got carpet on the floor and not vinyl!!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I have regained all that feeling of confidence and corny as it may sound ‘worth’ that I had whilst I was working, it is sort of taken away when you retire especially when asked what you do. Why does it seem as tho people lose interest when you describe your daily life in retirement and they realise its not a working for cash life.”

“I think about all the people I am working with in my area at the village and realise some of them would drive me nuts if I had to work alongside them permanently. Then I wonder if it is me and whether I am set in my ways having worked on my own or in a small office environment for most of my working life.

There definitely are some strange pedantic people out there and I wonder how they got on with their work colleagues during their working life.

Maybe they drove them nuts as well😊”

~ ~ ~

“Today Sunday has been HOT and very windy and not a comfortable day out at the Village. With it being a Fire Ban Day and having a Northerly blowing its been hard to reassure guests that they will enjoy their visit. Hopefully their hosts took them to the dining room to cool off for part of the time – its airconditioned in there – and allow them to recuperate”

“Loads of extra security today……………..we had a visit from Mr Howard (PM) who just popped in to say hello and have a look see. Wonder if Her Majesty will be along when she is in town?”

~ ~ ~ ~

“The look and feel of Melbourne is good at the moment.
Yesterday I took my turn at Federation Square welcoming visitors onto the Village Shuttle service, my goodness the amount of people out and about was overwhelming.

Had a little break and was able to wander round the Square, nearly got crushed in the crowd. Discovered the big hoarding with the photos taken during the Australia Day Parade. Was surprised to see little short me in the corner right on the edge (under the word centre) next to the tall fella. Someone took my photo as a keep sake 😊

As well as the crowd in Fed Square, the outside of Flinders St station and St Paul’s Cathedral was packed with people listening to the group playing by the church as well as deciding which way they had to go to reach different venues. It was windy and a bit chilly part of the time but that didn’t seem to bother anyone at all especially the kids by the thousand and their frazzled carers ( parents, grandparents or whoever). Lots of noise, smiles and laughter, had a great time and hope I’m on the Fed Square roster again next week.”

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Cats Cats and more to be seen….

Did you know March 28 is Respect Your Cat Day?

Now I don’t normally do ‘picture posts’ two days in a row
But that’s the best excuse ever to ‘replay’ and enjoy some photos from 2014 trip 😊

Where we saw many families enjoying the fresh air.
Going about their business as normal

As well as those relaxing and enjoying grassy areas in ‘parks and gardens’


There were quiet solitary onlookers content to watch the world go by







As well as those who stood on guard

Or waited patiently


Or who had found comfort in being ‘close to you’

But the ones I liked best were the ones who looked you right in the eye
and said “we own this place – respect us and it”
The ancient city of Ephesus

So many cats with no obvious home – catch, desex and release was often spoken about but we sometimes wondered if it actually did happen.
This little one can tell you it does

(These are just a few – we saw many many more during that overseas trip)
All photos will enlarge with a click.

Sharing with #Sunday Stills – Respect Your Cat

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Green travels well in life

It’s surprising how many shades of green you can find when you’re not really looking

It was there in Leunig art at an exhibition in Healesville
just up the road a bit from home

In beautiful stained glass windows – Rio Vista historic house Mildura.
A bit further from home – right on the Vic/NSW state border

And on travels really far away from home
Like in Hong Kong at Kowloon Park (2017)

Decorating windows and doors in the Old Town at Kavala – in Greece (2014)

On a little bit of whimsical advertising further away still on Fogo Island
just off the northern coast of Newfoundland (2013)

Then there’s the green you can see on the road

Or in the paddock

It shows up well on different sorts of signage.
For towns

Grong Grong NSW

For important companies

Near Moree NSW

For necessary safety information

Road condition signs near Condamine Qld

Travel up north and you’ll find a giant green tree frog on the giant Golden Gumboot.
The big green board has loads of information about the local area

Tully Far North Qld

But this is the green I’m really looking forward to seeing again
The ‘distance to’ sign at Proserpine telling me that after 4 days on the road there’s only 65km to go until I’ll see the green sign at the front gate of our Winter home 😊

Joining EC and others for this week’s Sunday Selections.
Linking an extra (green) edition to Life in Colour March.
hosted by Jude at Travel Words. 
Maybe you’d like to join in some time

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Thursday Thoughts

I have come to the conclusion that often what I think I want
isn’t what I really need at all!

Early last month I was pondering about weight/size/appearance and was convinced I had the answer. Only trouble was with lockdown exclusions being lifted and life in general slowly returning to ‘near normal’ everyone else had the same thoughts and what, from reopening mid December up to then, had been a pleasant experience at the gym also returned to the trail round the car park looking for a spot, busy busy (even early morning) packed to the rafters waiting for a machine experience . And I seemed to spend more time waiting than actually doing anything.

So after a suggestion from the GP about alternative exercise
“Try aqua classes or just walk, swim, exercise in the water ‘do your own thing’ – it’ll be easier on your back and legs”
I decided to change tack and give the local pool another chance.

A complete renovation during our months on end lockdown last year means (amongst other things) it’s squeaky clean, all leaky bits were fixed and the water temperature is actually as warm as it should be 😊

Four weeks from the day I first put my toes back in the water again…..how do I feel?
So much better in myself and definitely wishing I’d done it much sooner.
I’m not doing aqua yet (noisy and full on) but enjoying a few off peak half lengths as well as the stuff the classes do but quietly on my own. I ‘know’ I’ve exercised which is a feeling I haven’t had for a while and also may have lost a kilo along the way

Win Win all round !!


Oh and once again I’m having difficulty seeing hearing and talking to other bloggers which means I haven’t had much to say to any of you personally (on your blogs) for a little while. Don’t take offence by it…..I have to grab my chances when I can. Sometimes I think this is it….then the whole network closes down…..and it isn’t ☹️

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Good Better Best

Just doing a bit of thinking out loud as I enjoy my early morning tea…… letting you know because this will probably end up as a lot of unorganised thoughts, that’s how much my mind is wandering these days.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about the word good:-
very satisfactory, enjoyable, pleasant or interesting (source)

I’m not sure how ‘you’ would describe them (interesting maybe) but I recently learnt/discovered what I think are two really good words
Ones I hope to keep memorised remember and can pull out when I need impress other crafters…..who probably know them anyway 😊

SABLE– A common knitting acronym that stands for:-
Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.”
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

TINKING – Tinking is the process of un-knitting your work
You would do this if you made a mistake somewhere in your row, but you don’t want to rip out your work. Tinking allows you to undo your knitting and fix your mistake. Tink is knit spelled backward.
https://newstitchaday.com/tinking/

It’s possibly a generational thing but do any of you remember this ‘rhyme/saying’ that was drummed into us at home as well as at school?

Good Better Best
Never let it rest
Until your good becomes better
And your better best

Parents and teachers had a lot to answer for in those days didn’t they…….wonder if it’s mentioned these days? I did also wonder if it was just a strict 20th century way of supposedly encouraging children along but it seems it’s been in use since 1897 source.

Better is described as – of a higher standard, or more suitable, pleasing or effective than other things or people (source)

And best is – of the highest quality, or being the most suitable, pleasing or effective type of thing or person. (Source)

BUT thinking about it I still wonder….and you might have your own thoughts

Why wasn’t our good good enough
Why did it have to be better
And more to the point, why did it have to be the best
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now when you’re pottering around the internet and find a web site
that says if you add all these ingredients together

the result would be ‘seriously amazing’ – my eyes prick up.
Well actually all I look for or rather all I want is something that tastes good
But if seriously amazing is promised that’s even better!

Rummaging around the cupboards this is what I found to work with:-
Lentils – Garlic…….crushed in jar – Onion and Carrot.
Chicken stock and potato water in freezer + extra made with vegetable stock powder
Coriander – Cumin – Salt/Pepper.
Lemon – slices in freezer or commercial lemon juice
Paprika – Bay Leaves…..no
Celery – no…..not nice however cooked.
Tinned Tomatoes……which had garlic and oregano flavours but what’s a different spice between friends 😊

Looked good after cooking – see below
I mashed it up a bit with the Bamix (wrong move….didn’t look so good) – not shown
Tasted really good

What was even better was how it tasted two days later
That’s when I remembered the big pot in the fridge
The one with the leftovers that should have gone into the freezer
Leftovers that ended up being dinner that evening

They tasted so good – in fact much much better than before – in fact Seriously Amazing

~ ~ ~ ~

Do visit Denyse’s blog to see the latest edition of Life this week – it’s all good over there




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Green is the colour for March…

Jude’s (Travel Worlds) photo challenge for this year (2021) is entitled  Life in Colour  This month (March) the colour has been Green…….another of my favourites 😊.
And with St Patrick’s Day having just gone you may even find Sue (EC) and others have shared a belated bit of green for Sunday Selections which you’ll find over at her blog (Elephant’s Child) 😊.
Terri at Second Wind Leisure has also chosen Green for her Sunday Stills photo challenge

So with green in mind let’s see what I can find.
(In my archives or ‘newly minted)
Around the house and in nearby suburbs

A few groceries still to be put away, a little bit of green in the plastics drawer.
And a lone wheelie bin on the nature strip (waiting to be put away).

An old photo of our green rotary line – when the garden was fairly new in that spot.


There’s the old green painted kitchen chair we used on the Afternoon Tea Day

A beautiful sea green Italian bowl filled with a collection of seaside mementos
sand dollars, tiny bits of coral, shells and green sea glass.

You never know what you’ll see on the back deck.
Green tape measure, green grass, green tarp on a chair???
(as well as my much loved, much missed beautiful brown shadow)

Beautiful shades of green at my nearby park with it’s tall trees and windy paths

A wet day in Main Street Croydon – the whole street scape has now been ‘redesigned’.
So these green circular seats have been removed
Also the green benches on the other side of the street

It’s not too far to Hookey Park Mooroolbark with its magnificent green roofed rotunda
as well as the big bird sculptures

Down the road in another direction to Montrose where the green road sign
tells how far it is to the top of the hills

And lastly the little green jacket that was the cause of so much emotional stress
Is now in Grandma’s hands ready for the little one to wear coming home

Joining EC and others for this week’s Sunday Selections  
Life in Colour March can be found at Travel Worlds.
Linking to Sunday Stills where Green is the colour of the week

Maybe you’d like to join in some time

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Scones for the making

I’ve only ever made scones once – many many years ago.
And the least said about that attempt the better 😊

Having seen this simple easy method – and the small amount of ingredients.
You never know what might happen in my kitchen 😊

(It needs a pinch of salt as well as a little bit of milk to brush the tops)


CWA (Country Women’s Association) is similar to the Women’s Institute

Fun Friday – the day you forget the worries of the week.

Going green on Sunday – see you then!

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Do flowers remind you of people

Are there flowers in your life that are reminders of others
 People you have known during your life or have heard stories about

My mother grew Sweet Peas
No matter where we lived she would always find a place to grow them
My sister (who lived close to her) told me she was still growing them the summer she had her first stroke
BUT
Try as I may and have often done so I cannot get them to grow
No idea why, but they shrivel up and die
Autumn sowing or Spring planting doesn’t matter which
They just do not thrive

My Dad had a favourite that he grew in most of our gardens.
His gardening was usually confined to veggies but there was one small plant he always had growing somewhere in the garden
Said it reminded him of his Mum – our Granny
Over the years both my sisters have grown it as well.
It’s a real sentimental favourite with us.

That bank that runs alongside our front drive is a difficult spot and I’ve lost count of the number of plants been tried there
 The Golfer cleared more dead and dying out a few years ago and I stuck some Erigeron – Seaside Daisy – around about here and there.
Cuttings of Arctosis and Trailing Lantana (not a weed here in Victoria) thrived there as well as a ground cover Geranium (Cranesbill)

2009

Tucked away in one little corner where none of those others seemed to grow
is where I put a small pot of Dad’s favourite

The smallest flowering plant in my garden and one of the most loved
Snow in Summer – Cerastium tomentosum.
Over the next few summers it took over over that corner

I loved it – that little plant with soft grey foliage and tiny white flowers


Then my back took control of my life.
As well as me that little front garden really suffered
Because I couldn’t get down to keep things in order (trim/ cut back/weed) it really got out of hand so for the time being the slope has been returned to grass

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I’m just finishing off my first early morning cup of tea and thinking that as ‘the back’ is behaving itself quite well at the moment maybe I’ll have a go at redoing that slope.
Once Victoria has had its usual bucket load of Winter rains there’s no telling what might come about in Spring
It’s possible I’ll learn the secrets to growing Sweet Peas
But somehow I think that where that’s concerned, working this (discovered in the garage in a box of ‘might do one day’ things) cross stitch kit will be a better bet

Pop over to Denyse’s blog to see the latest edition of Life this week
Linking to #MondayMusings  hosted by Corrine at Everyday Gyaan

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There’s always one…..

A long time ago (like back in the 1970/80s ) we’d gather the children together towards the end of November to take what we called our end of year breakup photo. It was a way of knowing there was at least one record of them all together each year…..copies were made and one went into each of the grandparents Christmas cards so they could see how much they’d grown during the year. (We were here in Melbourne- they were up there in the cold and often snowy UK). Anyway as is the norm someone would try to be funny….rabbit ears, tongues out, strange faces….


We did the same when grandchildren came along and as usual there’d be one who made a fuss. Or tried the tricks their parents did like little ‘bug eyed boy’

I was beginning to think it was a rerun of those days the other week trying to get a photograph of some cardigans before closing the ‘charity box’. The office had reopened so spent time checking seams (and buttons) getting things ready to send off. Strange I know but I do like to have a record of how most turn out, especially those engineered with pencil & paper (plus a few terse words) using a design from one pattern and sizing from another.
There’s the red one with the pockets finally finished, the grey cable has been done before, the royal blue is simply stocking stitch with a purl row on the right side every six rows (hard to see in that light) while the denim blue on the end was a definite pen/paper add /subtract job.

And just like with the children once you get them together they decided to have fun. Twisting this way and that, clothing disheveled, not looking at the camera, one even turned it’s back on me – lol I can assure you the rib band on the denim doesn’t droop and hang down like that but lies flat and even.

And for your…..’ ahhh aren’t they sweet’ moment…….here are some for the baby 12 month packs. Simple raglan mix and match – white always goes well with another soft colour which is good because it’s a great way to use up some half balls. And look….. the green/white striped one came good in the end.

It isn’t only ‘big kids’ who get to climb trees

So now that all of those cardigans plus quite a few more newborn size have finally made their way to Knit one Give one aka KOGO the time has come to concentrate on finishing some of the children’s jumpers on the go. And after that…..well take a look at this delightful photo of my (sadly late) blond curly haired little sister Patsy (aged about 3) forwarded to me a couple of weeks ago…….maybe just maybe, there might be some woolies coming up featuring little bunny rabbits 💕

It’s time for another cup of tea and a think about it.

I’ve just had an (awful) thought…each of those children is now in their 50s and each of those grandchildren is in their 20s……so what does that make me???

Joining Denyse for the latest edition of Life this week – pop over and see how others fared.
Linking to #MondayMusings hosted by Corrine at Everyday Gyaan




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Family Friday…..

It’s certainly been a strange week or two, on top of loads of other happenings our internet has been what you might call ‘touchy’ so I’m saying thank goodness for post scheduling because without it Sunday and Wednesday’s would still be sitting there

Anyway there were days of forgettable weather…those middle of last month warm days a sweet memory now, daylight is fading and lights are needed from about 8pm, some nights were dominated by a very large shiny bright full moon that lit up the house so much it had you thinking a light had been left on. Middle of the nights punctuated by a symphony of weird and wonderful sounds from one side of the bed accompanied by cries of ‘oh oh bl**dy cramp’ as I leapt out of bed holding my leg in agony. My friend Mr Insomnia came visiting for a while but I seem to have shown him the door, which is good because there’s nothing worse than trying to relax and let your mind go blank hoping that sleep will come back.

At one stage I was beginning to think I was falling apart – what with the non sleeping issue, the night cramps and the funny turns. well not turns as such but wavy things in front of my eyes. The first time I thought – well I didn’t know what to think – my sight was sort of distorted, clear in all but one area, with a strange cloudy shape with jagged edges there. No pain of any sort, just this vision thing that lasted about 20 mins… thinking ‘might have to see the Dr in the morning’ later I remembered something I’d read years ago (when I got full blown migraines) about no pain migraines. Looked them up and yes, very similar so not life threatening and ‘oh well if that’s what it is I’ll put it down to experience’. When I saw the GP last week and mentioned there had been several episodes over a couple of weeks he wasn’t concerned at all – linked them to the stress of my sister’s illness and her death.

She arrived back in England last week and her funeral was this past Monday. This might sound ‘wrong/insensitive’ to some but my other sister mentioned that Patsy and the funeral director had been good friends for many years so he ‘reported’ he’d been there at Heathrow in good time for the meet and greet and made sure she was comfortable in his limo for the drive back home. A lovely lighthearted touch that was appreciated by the family

A sign of the ‘strange times’ is watching a funeral service being streamed into your living room. It felt very cold impersonal – ‘short and sweet’ and so very sad for those few allowed to be there, masked and sitting so far away from each other. Covid restrictions meant there was no gathering afterwards. That will come whenever it’s possible and she will be toasted and talked about for many an hour, day, years to come:)

But enough of the moaning and groaning- the whinging and whining.
It hasn’t al been gloom and doom ……I found Minnie
Remember Minnie?

I thought she was lost but now she’s found
and she wasn’t really lost at all.

And that’s a tale for another day 😊

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