09 Sunday Aug 2015
This article explains the first half of my holiday. A noisy brain, internal rules about what I “should do” instead of what I needed to do. I particularly like the point on rest not just being physical – and slthough difficult, Â stopping the mental, spiritual and emotional angst/business is necessary.
I intend to be more mindful of my negative inner talk and reverse it for the second half of my time away.
The Underappreciation of Rest in Today’s Society.
07 Saturday Feb 2015
Baked Relief is a call to arms that was born from the Brisbane floods. It started as a rallying cry from Digella’s blog across twitter and Facebook for those who still had power connected to put it to good use and bake some food for those out helping sandbagging or cleaning flood effected properties. Those that could drive, collected and delivered food to SES crews whenever and wherever they could.
Baked Relief continues to coordinate the spread of a little thoughtful kindness and support to those not expecting anything from anyone.
If you’re in Brisbane, and you are in a position to participate – putting together a box of essentials for a farming family out west to have an old fashioned smoko (that’s aussie slang for a morning or arvo tea break), then I’d encourage you to follow the link to see the particulars.
In my experience, good people don’t ask for help- they just get on with it. Farmers are doing it tough with the drought and a box of comfort from a city slicker shows we are thinking of them.
http://www.bakedrelief.org/news-1/
30 Friday Jan 2015
The Australian newspaper’s obituary for the late Colleen McCollough is a disgrace.
Two days ago we lost one of our most celebrated female authors. Throughout her life, Ms McCullough:
– earned a living as a teacher, librarian and journalist
– spent ten years researching and teaching in the Department of Neurology at Yale Medical School
– her novel the Thorn Birds has sold over 30 million copies worldwide and
– she was awarded a Doctor of Letters degree by Macquarie University.
And this is how our national paper leads the remembrance and celebration of her life, her achievements and her contribution to our nation…
Fuck whoever wrote this.
Fuck whoever approved this to print.
Fuck journalism standards in Australia.
Fuck how this paper/reporters/society values and quantifies the entire life of a woman – distilling it down to how she looked while she lived it.
Fuck them all sideways.
#everydaysexism #itstopswithme
30 Tuesday Dec 2014
2014 was a bit of a struggle. It sucked a little personally and it sucked a lot for people I know. I think it would be good to have a visual reminder of what holds my family and friends together when the tough times come around.
A friend of mine has been doing this forever – and I’ve finally got around to stealing it. Here’s her way to celebrate your wins and hold on to what’s truly important.
Every good time – anything you celebrate – grab a momento and write the date/occasion, where it happened and if you have room – who was there. It doesn’t really matter what it is – napkin, card of some sort, Polaroid photo or in my case starting Christmas, a cork from a champagne bottle. You can mix and match – or drink champers all year 🙂 Place each momento into a glass jar/bowl/vase or even novelty oversized martini glass so you can SEE IT – that’s the key.
When times are tough, you’re missing loved ones or your worries take over, you can pick out a good time and smile.
12 Friday Dec 2014
Tags
arc, Christmas, correspondence, gift, letters, organiser, penpal, planner, printable, stationery, template, tracker
Yes! Penpals. Remember them? I love letters. I love getting them and I love writing to people I hope like getting them too. Social media makes keeping in touch easy, but that contact can be reactive, quick and non-committal. It can also be a bit depressing really. I want more.
I want to write a ‘decent’ letter – you know, one that someone will pour over for a while and hopefully not find boring. Pages and pages of news and tidbits that the recipient will read over a good strong brew, they’ll  smile and exclaim at what’s been going on and they’ll want to write back a reply. That’s the type of letter I want to get! Yes I could call, text or email but a letter! with a stamp and everything – now that’s magic.
Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century. I watch period movies where people keep letters tied with a luscious ribbon and keep the parcel safe and cherished for years in an ornate box. They read and reread until parts are complete in memory. I have a lovely box I keep all my correspondence in – birthday and Christmas cards, the odd postcard, but I don’t have many letters. That makes me a little sad.
The PDF document linked below is what I’ve created for anyone to print. I use a type of planner called an ARC. It’s a discbound system and I’ve set up an A5 ARC (similar size to USA junior size) as my gift/Christmas and penpal organiser.
The document pages are set up on an A4 page so it prints 2 to a page and should print back to back with a margin big enough to be punched to fit discbound/rings or whatever type of organiser you use.
I hope you find it useful :). Happy letter writing.
07 Sunday Dec 2014
28 Monday Jul 2014
Posted in living
I love articles like these. They jog my head out of the status quo and back into thinking proactively.
It’s said that you are most affected by and mirror the 5 people you spend the most time with. If those 5 people are happy to chug along without driving or striving, then it’s up to the individual to break their own mold.
4 Keys To Mapping Out A Better Career Path | Fast Company | Business + Innovation.
27 Sunday Jul 2014
Posted in living
A good checklist to keep in mind. In short – feel the fear and do it anyway.
26 Wednesday Mar 2014
I find it tough to stay positive through the drudge of my real-life workday. Staying mindful of what I want that would be better for me gets a little lost in the knee-jerk required to fix the perpetual drama of the day. And none of which adds to me achieving my goal for a more inspired life.
So this morning, I began with deciding on one small step I can do today that keeps my mind out of the humdrum and reminds me of my bigger picture. I plan to do it at lunchtime so it’s scheduled and is something I’m now looking forward to. Usually any break I take out of the office involves crossing off a chore on the to do list.
What’s your one step on the road to what you really truly want? Big dreams come true one little piece at a time. Chip away at it.
26 Sunday Jan 2014
24 Friday Jan 2014
It’s been a big week – spending hours battling the annoying with an especially high volume of stupid, so today I’m making it all about me.
As reward for surviving this week without putting anyone in a headlock – and in preparation for a weekend of hard yakka in the yard, today I am:
– buying a coffee and avocado toast for late brekkie – this is a luxury!
– spending my lunch hour in an art store, then buying something lovely for lunch – double luxury
– shopping after work for some nice foods for the long weekend (which besides gardening, will be spent bbqing, cricketing and sleeping ‘cos Australia Day)
What a rebel. Does everyone else live a life that includes little rewards all the time and it’s just me being mean to me? I don’t seem to do the nice things often. I don’t spend money wantonly ‘cos need it for a rainy day – don’t waste a lunch hour wandering ‘cos errands to run etc. I think most people have a list of “needs to do” and we never set it aside to do the nice things. I know for me it’s a case of “I’ll do the nice things when I’ve finished the “. And that sucks. When I was a kid I thought being a grown up meant I could do what I want when I want. And it is, but I still don’t do it. Maybe I’m the stupid one, but not today.
30 Saturday Nov 2013
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Just watch.
14 Thursday Mar 2013
You have to go the extra mile to celebrate a birthday. You just have to. It’s the best opportunity to have a group of people all working towards the one goal – to make the birthday boy or girl smile and laugh. Special – that’s how they should feel. Special.
This was the epic-birthday-cake-from-left-field-can’t-beat-it-OMG-extravaganza we got for my Mum. She certainly wasn’t expecting it. Pastry, custard, toffee and sugar sweet flowers all in little packages. A dessert and cake in one. Brilliant.
Happy birthday, Mum. Love you.
27 Sunday Jan 2013
The current weather radar for Australia Day is looking pretty grim for the east coast. A downgraded cyclone has lashed up north and now the coast gets the water and the wind. From the Far North down to Central Queensland is already flooding with the coastline communities just north of Brisbane copping a shellacking from tornadoes!?!?!? We never get them near the coast. Weird times. Weird weather. Buckle up, cos its been a mild summer and I think we’re about to get the sting in its tail.
28 Friday Dec 2012
A belated Christmas check in with you all. I hope you had a sane day/s with your family. If not, I hope you were safe and warm and fed and at peace. I fear more and more people don’t have “somewhere to go” during the holidays. I hope if you weren’t with family, you got a smile from someone.
Our family’s Christmas venue changes each year – and that’s ok. What ties us to the years before is what we do on the day. Â We make sure we do the little things each year to celebrate the season and the beginning of a new year.
It’s a simple as:-
And the best Christmas gift of all – a cracking storm that dumped enough rain to fill the tanks and back up the down pipes.
Here’s cheers to you and yours.
The best Xmas pressie an Aussie can get
01 Friday Jun 2012
I’m looking forward to moving in to my own place – but the thing I’m most excited about is painting one single wall in a room.  That’s all.  It’s the only thing that would make me happier in the place.  Strange by true.  It’s currently a happy and bright blue colour – a cross between Valleys Diehard and French Royal – but it’s too bright for my idea of a bedroom.  My perfect bedroom is dark and cosy – so paint will be the order of the day.  I don’t want fancy shmancy, no tricky techniques, just a deep and calm colour.  I was tossing up a purple, but think I’ll go a dark storm grey … kinda like this…how exciting. 🙂
28 Monday May 2012
For those playing along, I’m wending my way through the maze that is home ownership. What a stress-filled time it is. I’m certainly learning a lot about what people are comfortable with – and what I’m not comfortable with. The biggest shock of late has been the barefaced bluff made by real estate agents – even in answer to my direct questions. It’s quite confronting for me to have someone persist in fudging vague information about something when I’m standing there looking at it. Unbelievable. Weak. Entirely unimpressive.
24 Thursday May 2012
Tags
Today’s lesson is that we’re never on our own, never really the first at anything. Someone has always gone through what we find ourselves faced with. And there’s a comfort in that. If other people can deal with my problems and come out the other side then so can I.
We’re not “Pat Malone”. Someone has done it before us. The context might be different, but the experience is the same the whole world over. And you know what, others come through it with less support, less resources, less education, health, wealth and security then we’ve got. Being mindful of that gives a perspective that is priceless. Hang on to it.
24 Thursday May 2012
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This photo makes me smile every time I look at it. He doesn’t care he just ate chook poo or rolled in a cow pat…but I did :). He just wanted me to stay outside and play with him…and I did that too. 🙂
20 Sunday May 2012
Wow.  What a shitfight house hunting has been.  A thoroughly demoralising process.  I’ve suffered long – as have all the people around me 🙂  But finally today, a victory.
I’ll be writing all the notes I can about all the hoops I’ve had to jump through and the reasons why the process has been a nightmare. Â Most importantly, I want to document how to beat the mongrels at their own game. Â I want to be prepared for the next time we do battle.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t “get a bargain” – I am sure I paid more than I should have for the home I’ve signed for. Â But I feel like I spent so long figuring out the rules of this game, that it’s like I started from scratch again just recently.
Now I know there’s a month or so of documents, finances, filling in forms and boxes to tick – not to mention the boxes to pack. Â But soon, it’ll be over – for a while anyway.
20 Sunday May 2012
I love family get togethers. My family gathers for a meal every fortnight to catch up and share what’s going on. Â It’s not a long amount of time, given the travel distances, but it’s a good time. Â It’s so we can all connect in to each others lives. Â Otherwise, we get too busy with all the “have to do” to really know how each other is going. Â It’s not enough to just trust they’ll tell you if they need something.
09 Wednesday May 2012
Today was Mothers Day down under. The second Sunday of May. It’s a beautiful drive out to where my parents live – takes around an hour and a half. Coffees in keep cups, pressies and flowers on the back seat and we hit the road early. We time it so we’re just in time for a cuppa…once we get past the big puppy.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks my mum is the sweetest woman in the world, but I’m the only one who’s right 🙂 She must be amazing to have raised such fine kids – ha!
Here’s to the women who raised us – no matter what title you give them. I hope you got to give yours a hug too.
09 Wednesday May 2012
09 Wednesday May 2012
05 Saturday May 2012
28 Saturday Apr 2012
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When was the last time you had a jelly tip ice block? It’s nice to revisit the flavours of your childhood every now and then. Do it.
24 Tuesday Apr 2012
22 Sunday Apr 2012
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So, embroidery project #2. Â Alice in Wonderland theme needle case.
Designed by me. Â Encouraged by my Mum. Â Amusing all. Â Let the swearing begin!
18 Wednesday Apr 2012
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I spent a lovely evening celebrating a significant milestone for a family member. Â It’s really enjoyable to see the wonderful people someone you know has gathered into their circle. Â The conversation was cheerful and fun, with everyone there for the same reason – to celebrate a great person’s time with us all. Â We all know about the ups and the downs – but the room was full of those grateful to have shared it all.
I’m atrocious with small talk – I’m a little awkward and shy.  It takes me a while to read the room and pitch “me” accordingly.  I’m always surprised, and very grateful, for a table full  of strangers who are sooooo easy to talk to.  No-one really knew each other, but to figure out how we all fit the jigsaw of the birthday boys’ life was hilarious.
It’s been a while since I’ve been genuinely shocked at how late the time was when we had to start thinking about leaving… Â That’s a testament in itself.
09 Monday Apr 2012
It’s weird how all the imagery for the “big” Christian holidays are from the northern hemisphere. Â Easter – rebirth, spring, etc – when we’re heading into winter and hibernation. Â I reckon we time the chocolate fest best though – get a good head start on the winter spread and whack on a lump of lard before it even starts cooling down. Â It’s still 30 degrees celcius outside, but the chocolate is cool as I like it best out of the freezer. Â Anyway, happy easter to you. Â I hope you caught up with family and friends, warmed through a few hot cross buns and had a nice cuppa with a choccie for afters. Â Our family has a big fry up breakfast and then roast for lunch (a late one thankfully). Â Too much food, way too much. Â But lovely to see everyone anyway.
09 Monday Apr 2012
31 Saturday Mar 2012
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Ok, so I didn’t make my piece of ticking material into a pillow – Mum did. But I did do the lines of stitches embroidered across the material. Â My first “sampler” of sorts. Â The next one is a doozy.
17 Saturday Mar 2012
16 Friday Mar 2012
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One of the many things my mum has taught me is a love of handmade things. Â It doesn’t matter how “professional” they are in their execution, the only thing that matters is it’s made with love by someone thinking of gifting a piece of their time/love/skill/supplies to another.
To this end, Mum thought a funny gift for Christmas one year was some material, needles and thread for me to learn how to embroider.  Hilarious woman 🙂
So one day a month, I go with my mum to her group afternoon session of crafty ladies. Â We sit and stitch (lots of different types of needlecraft) and I listen. Â The women are amazing. Â All full lives of families, friends, travels, work and most importantly, they talk about their plans for the future. Â I love listening to them. Â They make me laugh, they help me learn and I always have a better sense of perspective for my life when I leave.
13 Tuesday Mar 2012
THE PLAN
Whoever said looking after chooks was easy has never done it. “Just chuck out some feed and collect the eggs”… as if!Â
Chooks need military precision! They need routine. And if they don’t get, by God, they’ll let you know about it. This is the mudmap I do when looking after Dad’s chooks. Do I overthink things? Probably. But what if one naughty hen pecks another and that one flies into the next pen with some others it’s not meant to mix with? Disaster! The boys have names, ‘cos they’re easier to distinguish. The girls in age groups for now.
10 Saturday Mar 2012
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 My parents have got the greenest thumbs. This climbing rose is gorgeous.
10 Saturday Mar 2012
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Aaaaand, stay there!
 Well done, Puppy! That goanna didn’t know what was on his hammer and he didn’t come down that tree for hours – ha ha.
08 Thursday Mar 2012
12 Sunday Feb 2012
26 Thursday Jan 2012
Aussies aren’t the only country that bbq meat for an easier meal – but we hang our hat on the practice. Â We hold dear our outdoor lifestyle so fervently that we give ourselves a special day to use it.
En masse, we throw some snags, onion slices and steak on the grill, rustle up some salads and slap it all between the sides of a hamburger roll liberally smothered in tomato sauce (NB: not ketchup). Â We play some games in the backyard – usually scratch cricket – so that everyone, no matter the age or ability, can have a hit, run, catch or bowl. Â If you’re very lucky, you have a dog on your side as a ring-in fielder.
Some Aussies have a pool to cool off in, some are near the ocean, but we play, we eat, we play some more and we cool down however we can. Â The point is we do it together. Â We stop all the running around, the “have to do’s” that get in the way and we make the effort to spend the day together, talking, laughing, eating and drinking.
The Australia Day public holiday has such a different feeling to it than the Christmas holiday. Â Less emphasis on presents and the need to give everyone something meaningful or “good”. Â Less tradition to adhere to on what to eat, how to eat, how to spend the day. Â Australia Day is easy-going. Â It’s the day we spend being how we think we are. Â Relaxed. Â Connecting. Â Having a laugh. Â Enjoying the moment. Â No worries.
I know that this day holds historical echoes that are unpleasant and that some find upsetting because it feels unresolved and unacknowledged. Â Regardless of the day you get to do it, joining your loved ones together with a no fuss, no baggage, no bullshit event – just to catch up and relax – is a gift I hope you receive too.
20 Friday Jan 2012
