RADICALLY TRANSFORM THE WORLD

I came across this quote on Facebook. It was put there my my daughter's long term partner. He and I differ radically on many things especially religion. I am a Christian and he is an atheist but in the end we are looking for the same things in the world - social justice; a more people caring government; a narrowing of the gap between rich and poor.

I dream of a world where everyone is honest. Where I can leave my bike at any location not locked up and find it there when I return. Where so much packaging doesn't have to be tamper proof, and bags don't have to be searched as we leave shops because people don't steal things. Where we can leave our house doors opened and not locked. Where people take responsibility for their own actions and the grave problems we have with drugs and alcohol do not exist. A world where respect for one another as individuals is paramount.

Wishful thinking will not make all this happen, but we can do our part by acting with integrity and honesty. By being realistic but seeing the best in people, and assuming the best about people. By treating everyone with respect.

For quite a few years I worked with teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds, many with behaviour problems. They didn't want sympathy. They wanted empathy and respect, two qualities which would go a long way to radically changing the world.

Half a century ago Eleanor Roosevelt made the statement that, "when you adopt the standards and values of someone else... you surrender your own integrity {and} become, to the extent of your surrender, less of a human being." 

So it seems if you want to radically change the world you need to stick to your values no matter what, and live in hope that someday things will change.



The past week

Below is a praying mantis I spotted in my herb garden, on the oregano. The leaves are about half the size of your smallest fingernail, so you can see how tiny he really is.

We went for a walk on Towradgi beach and these tumbleweeds were covering the bank. They look like giant spiders massing down the hill.

It was very misty on the beach and very beautiful.

Peter's second eldest son turned 39 and we had a picnic under the trees at Engadine tennis courts.

Writing and posting my blog again is part of getting my life back on track after some health issues earlier in the year. I still have some doubts but am trying to make this one thing I do each week. I have been reading a book entitled The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan which has been very helpful.






Interesting sites


1. Beautiful cottage in Lithuania

Photo source

 Click here to checkout this beautiful little cottage in the countryside of Lithuania.


2. Scientists tapping algae and plant waste for energy

Photo source

Scientists are exploring the huge potential of single-cell organisms such as algae and bacteria in the production of energy. Click here to read more.


3. Five countries hold 70% of the world's last wilderness

Photo source

Just 5 countries hold 70% of the world's last untouched wilderness and  according to research urgent international action is needed to save them. Click here to read more.

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.
  

JUST BE YOURSELF

This simple quote holds a lot of meaning. Conformity for the sake of conformity can crush the soul. You don't have to look like everybody else. You don't have to think like everybody else.

No point living a double life. No point pretending you're a round peg when you're actually a square peg. It takes too much energy. No point comparing yourself to other people.

I come from a family of square pegs and managed to produce a couple myself. I think the quote above is really good advice for everybody. Better to be a square peg than a sheep.
  

A piggy picture.

Peter had a birthday on the 9th July. It was also his son-in-law Ben's birthday, so we had a little family birthday party for them both at Berkeley.

When I say 'little', nothing with Peter's family is actually little. Peter has 5 wonderful children who all have  great partners, and then there are 6 grandchildren. Ben's parents came as well as his 2 nieces and my 2 daughters came too. Peter has a small house. All in all there were 25 of us. But Peter's family all dig in and bring food and Peter does all the pre-cleaning and tidying, so this makes things very easy.

Peter doesn't see his grandchildren very often because he lives about an hour's drive away from most of them and they are all busy. So I always try to make it special to come to Grandpa's place. 

I am trying to make some traditions.

I decided to decorate with a woodland theme. I don't really think the photos do the setting justice. I was quite please with the effect.

These days when there are so many people we use disposable 'crockery' and 'cutlery, although I know this is not very 'green'.
I happened to have some blue plastic plates already so used these and it looked quite good.

I added balloons and flowers and pine cones. There were a few ceramic frogs dotted here and there.

I will add to these limited decorations each year.

The grandchildren decorated some hedgehog biscuits by dipping them in chocolate and walnuts and adding eyes and noses. I pre-made the biscuits and then provided melted chocolate, crushed walnuts and blunted kebab sticks to 'paint' on the eyes and noses. The only problem was that although the biscuits  were supposed to be shared for dessert, each child made two biscuits and wanted to eat both of these themselves.

The picture below was what we were aiming at but the kids did a pretty good job since the eldest was 7 and the youngest was 2. We will make them again next year. If you are interested you can find the recipe here.

I tried to do activities that all seven children can do as I'm sure that even if I chose more age appropriate activities for some of the younger ones, they would want to do what the older ones were doing anyway.


The kids also decorated the birthday cakes - one for Grandpa and one for Uncle Ben.

 Peter was extremely worried about getting icing on his carpet. But I spread a plastic tablecloth on the floor under the kids' table and they were very good. No mess at all.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of people as I was just too busy organising food to be taking pictures.


On Sunday we had a second celebration at Menai club. Megg cooked another 2 birthday  cakes.

Basically the same people attended as the day before, but with a few of Ben's friends added in.

The next day Peter and I headed off to Umina Beach for a short stay.

Peter and I spent five nights at Umina Beach in our caravan. Winter is a great time to go caravanning by the sea. There are very few people around and the rates are cheap.

Ours is the Hiace van still attached to our caravan.

While we were away I played around with some of the special effects on the camera on my phone. This was the walk down to Umina beach from the camping area.

Umina Beach at Sunset was very pretty.

Below is a photo taken at the same time as the one above and from the same position on the beach, but facing west. It almost looks like there is a bush fire behind the trees.

Peter and I visited Patonga, a pretty little village not far from Umina. It has a lovely little harbour.

This is the shadow of Peter and me looking out to the beach at Patonga

  


Patonga is a pretty little village not far from Umina. They make the best fish and chips. Lovely and crunchy.

After lunch Peter and I took a bike ride around the village. 

Here are some of the ubiquitous Central Coast ducks at Patonga
 

We visited Davistown a couple of times - once to see Peter's cousin and then again to ride along the foreshore. We always stop at the Little Teapot Cafe and I always have their delicious apple crumble and Peter has the burger with the lot.

The tide was low at Davistown as we rode our bikes along the shore. 

On the way back to Umina from Davistown we called at the pie shop at Ettalong which had been recommended to us.

It was a beautiful day so we sat outside. My spinach roll and Peter's steak and onion pie were delicious. We shall make this another regular stop on our trips to the Central Coast.

Sadly we had to come home on Saturday as I had to start tutoring again on Monday.
On the way home this car drove past us with a dog enjoying the ride. He had his head out and a pair of goggles on to protect his eyes.

Interesting Sites

1.

 World's tallest skinny tower

Photo source

The world's tallest skinniest tower is in Brighton, England.

 Click here to read all about it.



2.

 Coral reef sculpture

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Artist Courtney Mattison  has crafted a large-scale ceramic coral reef installation to celebrate the exotic beauty of coral reefs while highlighting the threats they face.
Click here to read more.



3.

Film to end tradition of slaughter of whales

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Sea Shepherd has been working to shut down the Grindadrap in the Danish Faroe Islands since 1983. The Grindadrap (literally translated as “the murder of whales”) is considered a cultural tradition in this small group of rugged islands located halfway between Scotland and Iceland.
Click here to read more.

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