I would have to choose Nanny, my father’s mother. She lived with us in a separate granny flat until my early teenage years and was always good for a treat. She even let Santa know one year that we wanted a swing set, which he delivered on Christmas morning.
If you could be a tree or plant, what would you be?
As an Australia I love Wattle. It booms in early Spring and it looks glorious when in full bloom. Wattle is our national floral emblem as well as the colours of Australia—green and gold. For more information on see my previous post attached.
What would be your preference, awake before dawn or awake before noon?
Many years ago it would have been sleep to noon, however these days I get up early and a sleep in for me is 8 o’clock.
Would you like to sleep in a human size nest in a tree or be snuggled in a burrowed spot underground?
Being a bit claustrophobic I would choose the human size nest as long as there no wind to destabilize it.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
Last week I got to catch up with a girlfriend of over 20 years in our annual date although this year we are working on making it more frequent. This week I am looking forward having a day off on Friday—my first for 2016.
If one of your late ancestors were to come back from the dead and join you for dinner, what things about your family would this person find the most shocking?
Back in the day, there was a saying that children should be seen and not heard. In our family all members are heard particularly around the dinner table. Our guests, particularly our children’s friends, frequently state that they can’t wait to see where the conversation at dinner goes to this time. There are many things that surprise them:
That we eat together regularly
The topics of our conversations—anything is possible
How animated our conversations get and that everyone joins in
The laughter created is very welcoming
Once they go over the shock of not having a nice quiet meal with the family, I think my ancestors would get involved with some horror stories form their own time to add to the eclectic mix of conversions on the day. It is common for us to continue our crazy conversations all night by staying around the table chatting or while we play cards together to finish the evening. The following acrostic poem describes our conversations well.
It has been over two months since our last coffee catch-up and life has been pretty busy.
If we were having coffee I would tell you I’m feeling a little confused. I began preparing this post as I usually do, by adding links to earlier posts. However, this time, with my new WordPress version the result is a little different. I don’t know if it’s the same for everyone or only WordPress.org blogs. My next question is can anyone re-blog my posts now as this has been a problem in the past and it would be great to have it changed.
If we were having coffee I would tell you about Berry Christmas. My sister and her family do an excellent job of hosting the event—decorating their home in theme colours, preparing gift bags for everyone and organising and preparing food. We had a great day reconnecting as a family—sharing the joys and dealing with the dramas of the past year. Christmas is definitely my favourite holiday, although because I live in a different city south of my family on Christmas day it takes 3 hours to get there. I don’t enjoy the travel but Berry Christmas was worth it.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that over the Christmas period I was initially frustrated that my blog wasn’t working because of problems with my Jetpack. I tried to fix the problem, however when I couldn’t and Jetpack staff where on vacation I decided to surrender to the moment and use my time more efficiently doing other things.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I enjoyed my husbands and my date to the city over the Christmas New Year period. We decided to catch the ferry into Sydney. The trip along the Parramatta River takes about an hour and it was a glorious day. As it had been several years since we had caught the ferry we enjoyed every moment. We then had lunch at a little pizza restaurant at the Rocks before spending the afternoon wandering around Sydney’s Botanical Gardens. We saw many places I had never been before. It was a great way to round off 2015.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I was that my first sugar cookie Christmas tree worked out so well. I iced it a blue-purple to match our berry theme and at the end of the day most of it was eaten.
If we were having coffee I would tell you about the champagne fountain trial on Christmas Day. The science of what was the best way to do it kept many people entertained and in the end they were proud of their working efforts.
If we were having coffee I would tell you about the huge moon on New Years Eve that was as mesmerizing as the Sydney Fireworks. Unfortunately, I choose not to take my camera as I am not good at photographing fireworks—a rookie error I won’t make again. The fireworks were fantastic and our viewing place, a hill, is only a 10 minute walk from my house. While we couldn’t see the fireworks coming off the bottom of the Sydney Harbour Bridge we could see the top of it through the trees. We could also see the fireworks going off up and down the Parramatta River and from the other side of Sydney. At times it was like 360 degrees of fireworks. Once the live fireworks have ended we went home to watch the taped version on television and catch the ones we missed.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I enjoyed the second week of my holidays being a full-time writer. I spend many hours everyday working on the last stages of editing of my book. With the amount of work I did I was hoping to finish it but no I still have work to do. It is getting exciting however, as it nears completion and the next part of its journey begins. Just when I thought I had the chapters in the right order, I decided to rearrange the early chapters again and to my surprise the order I have changed it to is my second order. I think my lesson is trust your gut.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I was on Christmas Eve to win the hamper at the local bottle shop. I had gone in the draw after buying two bottles of champagne for an early family Christmas party a few days earlier. It was fun investigating my laundry basket full of goodies and deciding who to give each item to.
If we were having coffee Iwould ask you what you have done and how you have been since we last met. Let me know in the comments what you have been up to.
After weeks of preparation the Coates Hire Sydney 500 starts today at Sydney Olympic Park. I was lucky enough to spend a few hours yesterday watching the last practice event. I took many photos from various angles and vantage points however in the end photographing cars speeding at over 200 kilometres an hour isn’t easy to get right.
The action continues off track down the centre with many displays and car style shops and merchandising vans. There was literally something there for most tastes.
Treats and indulgences can take many forms. Share yours with us!
I love Disney so going to Disneyland is my favourite treat. Unfortunate, living in Australia means it is many years between my indulgences. I hope you enjoy these photos taken at Hong Kong Disney in 2012. They brought a smile back to my face.
Many countries celebrate Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. If you could dedicate a holiday to a more distant relative, who would it be — and why?
Why limit ourselves to one type of person. Let’s celebrate diversity and all the special people in our life—whoever and whatever they are. If I had the power I would add Special Person Day to the calendar. A day for everyone to thank and celebrate the special people in their lives. Every has someone who is important to them. No one gets to judge and I have added some options that may already have another day because if they are your special person they shouldn’t miss out because of a generic day. There are no rules — your person can be:
Aunt
Brother
Cat
Charity Worker
Child
Dog
Fake Relatives
Father
Friend
Faithful Companion
Grand parent
Health Care Professional
Mother
Neighbour
Nephew
Niece
Partner
Religious Leader
Sister
Support Person
Travel Companion
Uncle
Work Colleague
Let’s have fun with this idea. Leave other ideas in the comment section and let’s see how big this list can become.
Of all the technologies that have gone extinct in your lifetime, which one do you miss the most?
For me, technologies have been a great addition to my life however I think they have been at a cost. It’s the art of communication that I miss. The planned time to communication what is going on in my life with family and friends in personal or by personal letter.
I love sitting down regularly talking one to one with others, getting to know them or keeping in touch on a personal level. The problem is everyone is so busy these days that this doesn’t happen regularly anymore.
I used to love the anticipation of waiting for an expected letter in the mail, the joy of reading about their lives and thinking about what to put in my letter in return mail. The motivating factor for me was remembering the quicker I wrote back, the quicker my next letter would come. Email doesn’t have the same excitement for me as although I still receive them, these emails get lost in my sea of daily emails and I fail to reply quickly.
Christmas cards are another nearing obsolete way to communicate I enjoy. Last Christmas we were away so my excitement of receiving regular mail that weren’t bills and hearing about family and friends lives didn’t happen. Neither did our Christmas letter telling them and reminding ourselves what happened in our world during the last 12 months. I find this a great memory jogger and as all the family is involved in its creation, we know it is an accurate record for our future.
While technologies continue to advance us in so many ways let’s make regular plans to make dates with the special people in our world—even a 5 minute “how was your day catch up” can make a difference and may open the doors to longer more personal conversations.
For your blog do you basically use Mac or Windows applications. What type of device laptop, desktop,tablet, phone or pad?
Most of the time I write my blog from my main Windows 8 computer which has a big screen and is easy to read. When I travel I write on my lap top also Windows 8 but it is much smaller and more difficult to read. When I was in Canada for 6 weeks I got very used to it and it wasn’t till I go home that I realised how much easier my desk top is to use.
If you were to treat yourself to the “finer things” what would you treat yourself to?
If I were to treat myself to the finer things in life I would choose a weekend away of luxury at a day spa in the country with a girl friend. French champagne, strawberries and seafood would of course be on the menu. I would also like some 1:1 time with a good book and an open fire is to be included.
Can you change a car tire?
I can change a tire and have done so on a busy highway although these days I would most likely call the NRMA road side assist to do it for me. My reasoning for this is that if I have to pay them $500 plus dollars a year to be a member they can earn their money. I am also getting older so I am not happy to be roughing it in the dirt anymore.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
Last weekend I was happy to get some serious editing done on my book and to print out the first part in book form using Pressbooks. I am one proud nearly published author motivated to move on to the published stage. This week I am looking forward to catching up with family—having some laughs and a few drinks.
I love Australia’s beaches in winter. The smell of the salt air, the crash of the waves and the feel of sand under my feet. It all adds up to total relaxation for me. These beaches—Nelson and Blenheim on the South Coast of New South Wales are joined by Jervis Bay National Park. As a result I had a memorable, mindful bush and beach walk—my favourite ways to connect with nature all in one afternoon
…for tomorrow we die. The world is ending tomorrow! Tell us about your last dinner — the food, your dining companions, the setting, the conversation.
If the world was ending tomorrow I would choose to go camping in the Australian bush with all my family. Not glamping—glamourous camping with all the modern conveniences. Camping à la natural. No electricity, no showers and dig your own toilets. I love getting out with nature, listening to the sounds of the bush and hopefully seeing a koala or possum in the trees. We have never had a problem with snakes as with over 20 people we make too much noise.
The food would be a bush BBQ that we begin preparing in the afternoon by collecting a massive amount of wood to keep us going all night—waiting for the world to end. Included on the menu is:
bacon
capsicum
corn
damper
green salad
mushrooms
potatoes
rissoles
rocket salad
sausages
steak
After dinner as we continued to chat and drink champagne and beer by the fire I would introduce S’mores to the family. I would get everyone to cook their marshmallows over the fire while I prepared their chocolate and biscuits. We don’t have graham crackers in Australia so I would use the best substitute I could find. Once the marshmallow is cooked I would join them all together and watch everyone’s enjoyment.
The spontaneity of sitting around a campfire is the best. Nothing is or can be planned yet the memories last forever.
