Ros says she is doing very well, thankyou :)

... and that's what it's all about. It's about having the quality of life everyday. You have to be happy and you have to be enjoying what you are doing each day. It's also about being surrounded by and connected to people who care about YOU.
It's also about getting rid of all the rubbish and time wasting activities that encroach upon your day. So every day is then simplified and uncrowded. It's about stepping back and not getting caught up in "other people's dramas and adgendas" and taking one step at a time and savouring the moment. Eckhart Tolle talks about "living in the now" everyday. It's a purer sort of existence. Taking photographs of flowers can give you that "slow" appreciation of living things. Taking photographs of structures can give you that appreciation of the time taken to construct the object and the care in design by the creator/architect/builder. Everything has its own life. But it's an eternal lifeforce that takes one thing and turns it into another thing. So there is no beginning and no end. Garden waste is composted and feeds the seeds of plants to create new life. Cloud appreciation shows the everchanging canvass that is the sky. Every cloud is ever changing. Always a calming and equally exciting thing for me.

Long time no posting...

I don't know what it was that made me stop blogging. It must have been like writer's block. So wanted you to know that I am back on track. I will be blogging to my 4 x blogs daily. This is a really interesting life. No one knows what's around the corner for them. Why do we expect only good news OR only bad news. Why can't bad news turn into good news? Why doesn't good news satisfy us? Why do we need more and more of it?
I know that my art has really helped me make sense of some of the things in life. Sometimes you can't eloquently say what you're thinking, but you can get your emotions out through your art.
Bryce and I have been trying to understand why what has happened in our lives happens to us. Then we realised that every family goes through these ebbs and flows. No one can predict how life will be - rich, rewarding, full of health issues, downtimes, stressful times, easy times etc.
I understand now to "go a bit easier" and not to "expect too much" of myself or others. What will be will be. Don't fight it. Accept it. Move on. Make the best of every situation. Never stop being connected to what you believe in. And most of all - simply enjoy life and all its offerings.

Argh!!! This is all too much

...and so today I have taken a much needed MHD just to regain some peace and equillibrium back into my life. I'm doing too much and enjoying it all less. I'm really tired this last week. At least the sun is shining. Looks like a bit of Vitamin D will assist in today's recovery. I have the antenatal class to teach tonight. They have to do their appraisal of the course. Hope there is a few positive comments, and not all negative.

Bryce begins his holiday

Busy, busy, rush,rush! Getting ready to go. Nights 1 and 2 will be at Paul's holiday house at Hawk's Nest. The plan is GOLF! GOLF! and some more GOLF! Bryce has gone with three mates from his old work. This is to become an annual Golfing tradition. (This is it's 2nd year.) They decided to eat gourmet, this time. All the fellas cooked some component to the meal. Bryce reported that it was all delicious. A storm is brewing, so hopefully some golf will happen. On Sunday, Bryce heads north to South West Rocks, and stays a night there. We loved SWR and as a family we had 2 consecutive annual holidays there. On Monday Bryce heads to Ballina for 3 nights. He'll meet Kev there and spend some time with him there. Then on Thursday, he heads back for somewhere near Newcastle, where he'll meet Tony there for Golf there. And then home on Friday night. Happy and totally delighted from all that golf. Healing work.

An old photo of Ros, Mum and me

Here's Ros when she was in her early 20's. Ros got glasses when she was 12. We all wanted glasses. Lucky Ros. I remember having an old pair of mum's glasses without the lenses. That would do! This would be around the time when we all had permed hair. Ros' looks really nice in this pic. Quite soft. Which reminds me... I look forward to seeing a picture of Ros in her new hair. Long? short? Dark? Fair?











Do not adjust your glasses. It is really blurry. But it is a symbol of childhood days, Sandringham, a stay at home mother and 2 of her many children . Ros was always a pretty robust child. Outdoorsy. She had several regular friends as a kid. She invented "The Rose Club" which she would not let me be a member of! When I peeped through the Playhouse window, they were in there - making soap. Jars of slimy soap. I was envious. Wished I could have made jars of slimy soap too. Ah the Rose Club. Ros decorated a sign to hang on the door of the Playhouse. Ros played sport, and she did outdoorsy stuff! Ros learnt the piano from Molly Herbert. But she got "dismissed" because she was honest enough to say that she hadn't practiced. Ros was a perfectionist when it came to sewing. Mrs Gibbs at Sandy East didn't believe that Ros had hand sewn her "apron" hem, and so she made Ros unpick the whole thing because she insisted that Ros had used a sewing machine to stitch it. Something jumps up inside me - it's like the gross injustices of "The Shawshank Redemption". You feel like REVENGE!!
Ah! In those days old people seemed so old. They probably weren't though. They were probably our age. And WE"RE REALLY YOUNG!!!

Bryce looks forward to his week away

Bryce is going to have a weekend of golf, followed by a scattering of golf and relaxation over the following week as he travels up to and back from Ballina. Great to be able to just "be" and not "have to do". I'm looking forward to him being able to switch off for a while, and just take the time to enjoy life. It's almost a year since he stopped work and 10+ months since his cancer operation. Safe travelling :)

Ros reports a very tender scalp

Ros is having some very tender scalp moments. She has shaved off her hair as it was all falling out with the chemotherapy treatment. She has got herself a new head of hair which she wears but only for a short time. She says that her head is very very tender and the hair she puts on to wear from time to time gets very hot. So Ros will opt for wearing a sports cap sometimes. I think I would do the same, if I were having chemo. Comfort has to win over every time.
But I can't wait to see what it all looks like. So when Ros has finished her chemo, she will grow new hair which may be quite different to what she has known before. It may be curly, and may have a different, coarser texture. So that's something to wait and look forward to. I wonder how young Dougal is going. Bet he's growing! Looking forward to some updates of him too.