THE BEAUTY THAT STILL REMAINS (April 2017)

I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains. 

 Anne Frank

Anne Frank at School  (Photo source.)

I read The Diary of Anne Frank about 40 years ago when I was teaching it to a year 10 class. It is about a teenage girl in Amsterdam in the Netherlands during World War 2. She was Jewish and her family was hidden in secret rooms behind where her father worked, in order to save them from the concentration camps of the Nazis.

After 2 years her family was found by the Nazis and she was taken to a concentration camp with her sister. She died here soon after from Typhus.

Her father was the only member of the family who survived until the end of the war. He returned to Amsterdam, found Anne's diaries and had them published. They were translated into many languages and read all over the world.

I don't know if the quote above is taken from her book, but it is a sentiment I try to live by. 

But another quote I came across, is by writer, Anne Rice. "To write something you have to risk making a fool of yourself."

The last few weeks I have been a bit down, and as usual when I am not feeling great, I decide not to continue with my blog, because I must be stupid to think people will want to read about my boring life. Today, as I was thinking I might start again, even if it is a bit stupid, I came across Anne Rice's quote and I thought, that even though I write in a very small way, I can take that risk. You have to take risks all the time. So this post is just a quick hotch-potch of the last few weeks. I began writing it - decided I was going to stop - then decided I was going to continue. It is a great record for me to look back on even if nobody reads it, and it makes me look at the positives in life. That was my initial aim in starting it.
 

A Plethora of Birthdays 

Several weeks ago weeks ago was Mum's 85th birthday. My grand-nephew turned 3 the next day. So my lovely niece and her equally lovely husband hired a house for the weekend at Wombarra, and had a 'party' for Nanna and Patrick.

This was the Treasure Island cake they shared, complete with volcano.

Below is the Treasure island cake with the volcano alight.

Here we are playing 'Pin the badge on Chase' from Paw Patrol. (I have deliberately not shown any faces.)

Two weeks ago was Kasey's 30th birthday. Kasey is Peter's  beautiful daughter-in-law. We had a great family get together. All the little cousins had a lot of fun. Peter has six grandchildren now, and I am so lucky to be able to share them with him.   

The cake was decorated with fresh flowers.

 

Kasey looked beautiful as always in a sparkly pink dress. And two of the little cousins enjoyed watching the candles on the cake being lit. As always I don't put faces, especially of the children, but I have caught a side shot of Kasey here and I hope she won't mind.

Last week it was Ruby's birthday. Ruby is one of Peter's 6 grandchildren.She turned 5 and we had fun at the MacDonald's party room at Engadine.                                                       
Ruby's Mum Kasey, cake maker extraordinaire, made her this unicorn cake. Not only did it look fantastic, it tasted delicious, especially the icing.(Always my favourite part of the cake!)

  
  I haven't forgotten Beth's birthday. She is Peter's youngest daughter and child and turned 29. We had a lovely lunch  at a hotel in Sylvania, but for some reason, sadly, I didn't manage to take any suitable photos. (And no! I wasn't drunk.)
    
                  
Decorating

I continued my budget decorating in my 'Scandi-Christmas' style. I can make it as 'over-the-top' as I like because I can. I bought the tablecloth below at Vinnies for $2 and think it suits my theme quite well. I have virtually no budget at all so am viewing it all as a big challenge and a chance to be creative.

And with added bananas for Peter.

In the garden

Rain and more rain... and the appearance of toadstools everywhere. Below is a selection from my front garden and footpath.

I also have some beautiful bark on the tree on my footpath.

Craft

These polymer clay toadstools are cooked and all ready to be used. I am very slow at getting around to all the things I want to get done.

My crochet cardigan continues to grow. Before I go any further I need to weave in the ends, which there are many of, because the wool kept on breaking as I unpulled it from another cardigan I had started knitting many years ago.

This is how the actual cardigan is supposed to look when it is finished.

 This is how the back of it looks at the moment and I have probably woven in two thirds of the ends.

   
 It looks dreadful now, but I'm sure it will all come up ok when it's finished and pressed.

Poetry

I came across the poem below by Louis Carroll and really liked it. Any poem about boats make me think of my brother and my lovely Peter.
 

Photo source

 A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky

by Lewis Carroll

A boat beneath a sunny sky,

Lingering onward dreamily

In an evening of July —

Children three that nestle near,

Eager eye and willing ear,

Pleased a simple tale to hear —

Long has paled that sunny sky:

Echoes fade and memories die:

Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,

Alice moving under skies

Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,

Eager eye and willing ear,

Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,

Dreaming as the days go by,

Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream —

Lingering in the golden gleam —

Life, what is it but a dream?



I love the soft images of this poem. It reminds me of the first 10 years of my childhood. We lived near the beach and the days I remember were like this. Playing by the sea, feeling that life would always be the same - there were so many years ahead. As young children my brother and i 'lingered in that golden gleam' - life was stable and happy and safe and far away dreams of the future were hazy but also 'gleaming'. But life changes - the seasons change. 

Long has paled that sunny sky:

Echoes fade and memories die:

Interesting sites

1.

 Mural bars of New York

Photo source

 Click here to visit some bars with wonderful wall murals in New York.

2.

 The last meal on earth.

Photo source

  Click here to read an interesting article entitled 'The Last Meal On Earth'. It is about the decline of the Bluefin Tuna and their popularity on the dinner table, especially in Japan. 

3.

Invaded by flowers

Photo source

This is a beautiful article. Click here to read about a town in Poland that decided to cheer things up after WWII and never stopped.
  

THE JOY IN MOTHERHOOD AND OTHER SNIPPETS(February 2017)

The joy in motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times, but amid the challenges there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

M. Russell Ballard

I love quotes. Since I was a young teenager I have saved them and written them down. Now when I come across them in my reading, and I find they say something to me, I save them for my blog. I have a system of writing them up where I never know which quote I will come across on the next post I do, and now on my blogs, even though I consider it terribly self-indulgent, I have been commenting on them from a personal perspective.

This quote on motherhood made me really think about what it was like being the mother of two creative children, who just didn't fit comfortably into mainstream schooling or life.

While I love my children more than anything in the world, motherhood has not always been easy. It has been a long, long road. Dealing with childhood depression in both my daughters in their early years was very difficult. Seeking and fighting for professional psychiatric help for my children, in the early 1990's, when there was far less awareness, became a way of life. My husband and I home-schooled our younger daughter right through high-school. In year 9 my elder daughter was the only child in NSW to be enrolled in High School part time and home-schooled part time. We knew this because at the time my husband worked in head office for the Department of Education.

I don't remember ever falling out with my daughters, even in their teenage years, although we did have occasional disagreements. They are both artists and we fostered their creativity as much as we could. With depression raising its ugly head in both my daughters at an early age, I made the commitment never to give up on them.

Thanks to their genes, every day is a battle. I know because I share some of these genes.

Motherhood has held many moments of joy for me. There have been hard and frustrating times, and there still are. But now my daughters fight their own battles and I will always be their to support them.

For me, 'the shining moments of joy and satisfaction' come when I see the caring and compassionate individuals my daughters have become. I am very proud of them and I admire them greatly for not just giving up. I would like to think that their father and I have played at least some small part in them becoming such wonderful women.

Last Sunday Peter and I went to a 50th wedding anniversary. The beautiful cake below had a photo of the bride and groom 50 years ago. It was edible - made of icing.

Peter's elder sister and her husband have been married for 50 years and it was lovely to join other close family members and friends to help them celebrate.

A trip to Helensburgh on Wednesday to attend a medical appointment, saw us driving through quite a bit of fog on the top of the mountain.

January, in New South Wales,  Australia, has been a heat wave month, and it looks as if February is going to be the same. It is great to have some cooler weather for a few days.

On Friday morning I had coffee with my lovely friend J at Wollongong Harbour, or Belmore Basin as it is officially known.

Again, it was a grey day, but lovely sitting outside to sip coffee and catch up. We met at church a few years ago, and although J has moved on to a new church, we have a lot in common and keep in touch.

She brought me some resources for tutoring and some other bits and pieces which I really appreciated.

Tutoring has started again and I love working with my students. A year 11 student is beginning Ancient History and when I worked with him yesterday I was surprised how much I could remember from my teaching many years ago. I will enjoy studying this again to keep up with my student. 

Craft

I have begun crocheting this cardigan with some wool I have had for years.

The cardigan is growing slowly.

You can find the pattern for the cardigan here. 

It is an American pattern so double crochet actually means treble in English and Australian crochet.

In the Garden

Decorating and gardening have taken a back seat to some other things so far this year, but little by little things are taking shape.

Blue glass containers were ideal for some potted succulents at the front of my place. I plan a colour scheme of blue and grey out here.

My container gardening has been spurred on by an article I read here.

On Saturday night I plan to cook a vegan dinner for my family. It is to celebrate my daughter's birthday and she is vegan. Her birthday was actually about a month ago but she wanted to spread the family occasions out a bit, after Christmas and New Year.

I make sure there is plenty of vegan food at all our family get-togethers, but once a year, for Jade's birthday, I make the meal completely vegan. Jade has been vegan for over 20 years so I am quite skilled at vegan cooking, but this time I will try some new dishes - vegan lasagne, potato and rosemary pizza and Golden Rice Pudding with Turmeric, Ginger and Pink Peppercorns. I haven't quite decided on the rest except for a chocolate tart with an Oreo crust that is requested at every meal.

The plan is to have an evening playing a new version of Trivial Pursuit, but at the moment another heat wave is on the way and the forecast for Saturday is a maximum of 39 degrees and a minimum of 28 degrees, so I am not quite sure as to whether we will postpone the evening for another night when it is cooler, as I don't have air-conditioning.  We shall just have to wait and see.

Interesting sites

1.

How to choose plants for your home

 

 Click here to see a video with some useful information about how to choose plants for your home.

2.

 Ice in Northern Canada is breaking up

Photo source

 One of Canada’s most northerly communities reinvents its relationship with a thawing landscape. The ice around Nain is breaking up. Click here to read more.

3.

Sailing through garbage

Photo source

I sailed from LA to Honolulu with Danish nonprofit Plastic Change to finish a global survey on ocean plastic. Short answer: The Pacific plastic problem is probably worse than you thought.

Read to the end of the article to read the scary information about microplastics.Click here to read more

2017 WEEK ONE

This quote links up with the current popular idea in psychology about 'being in the present' or 'mindfulness'. Often we are distracted and not enjoying the present moment, but I thought it was a bit much when I did a course recently about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and the homework given was to be mindful when you are doing the dishes and concentrate on every aspect of the process so you can really appreciate it - the shapes of the dishes; the feel of the water etc. 

I couldn't really see the point of this. Isn't it better to escape with your thoughts somewhere else when doing something so tedious and mundane as washing dishes? I do not enjoy doing dishes so why not make plans for the next craft project, or picnic or whatever, so that that experience becomes richer from the planning. At the same time I can 'escape' from the tedium of dish washing.

I think it is really important to appreciate the small moments in life because this is what life is made of, but there are just some moments I really can't enjoy. In fact there are times when I look forward, such as when my car has broken down, and I just think, "In a couple of hours this will all be over and everything will be back to normal and what seems like a big problem now will be solved." I must admit that while I wait for the NRMA I am in the moment playing 'Words With Friends.'

So on with 2017!

The first day of 2017 was spent at the Wollongong Botanic Gardens with some of Peter's family. (Please note that I have not shown people's faces so as to maintain their privacy.)

The duck pond was a highlight.

Going through the rain forest section was fun.

The oriental bridge was unusual but not ideal for a stroller.

Two cousins found a 'tent'.

Orchids in the greenhouse.

Grandson number 1 in the cacti house

Number 1 grandson outside with giant Cacti.

On 3rd January Peter's elder daughter came down with her two beautiful daughters and we went for a bike ride at Stuart Park.

We had lunch at Diggies and I had the most delicious mussels in wine sauce with sourdough bread.

I must cook some mussels again. Peter doesn't like them but they are high in iron and low in calories.

This was the view from our table, out onto North Wollongong Beach

My Vietnamese mint grows at a great rate and threatens to take over my garden so I picked a lush bunch and placed it in the kitchen window where I can pick the leaves at whim.

These sprayed candlesticks turned out well. I bought them at Vinnies for $5.

This is before:

This is after:

I have plans for them

Happy Birthday

Today is my wonderful daughter's 37th birthday. Life has been a bit of a struggle for her but she had always acted with a lot of integrity and never tried to take the easy path. Much of this is due to the support of her partner who is also her carer. I am not allowed to talk about her on this blog (which she prefers not to read) so if nobody tells her she won't know that I have told you that if you would like to see some of her artwork Google Jade Pegler. She is in the stable of artists at http://www.gallery9.com.au/ You can see some of her last exhibition at Gallery 9 here.

Here is just one example of her work from her last exhibition.

Rhiannon's garden

My daughter Rhiannon and her husband are gradually establishing a garden. They are up to their second raised veggie bed.

I love watching the progress they make. You can follow their progress here on You Tube.

And in deference to many of my family members I will leave you with this.

Interesting sites

1.

Solo Mountain Climber has no fear

Photo source

It is all to do with the amygdala. Click here to read more.






2.

 Automated car park

Photo source

Click here to view the video of this automated car park.




3.

 Vavasseur's cats

Photo source

Raphael Vavasseur does beautiful but unusual paintings of cats. Click here to see more.