turningsixty

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2010-04-28T19:37:00.001+10:00

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VALE Olive Riley (1899-2008)

2008-07-29T06:24:00.004+10:00

Thanks to Suzz (suzzwords) for this piece of sad news. I hope she doesn't mind that I've pinched it, and posted it here for posterity, an incredible elder-blogger for sure (and an Aussie to boot).

Olive Riley, the world’s oldest blogger, passed away Saturday, July 12, at the age of 108.

Her blog – or blob – as she called it, was read by thousands around the world. From her first post in February 2007, Olive documented life events and sang happy songs that gave many of her readers historical insights into what it was like to grow up in Broken Hill, Australia.

Olive Riley was an amazing woman who made a profound impact on the elder blogging community as well as her non-blogging readers.

We will miss you and remember you, Olive, and pray your inspirational spirit will sing happy songs in Heaven.

www.allaboutolive.com.au

www.nola.com

www.abc.net.au

www.telegraph.co.uk

new social network for the over 50's

2008-07-14T04:16:00.003+10:00

Found this on my travels - definitely worth spreading the word. Kind of like 'facebook for elders'. Come along and have a look..
DellaB

The new social networking site
for anyone over the age of 50.

http://www.aboutmyage.com/

"About My Age is designed as a fun and informative community for everyone aged 50 and over, whose similarities reach far beyond simply our age group.

We have designed this website to be fun and easy to use for our generational community. Membership here is FREE. The site is subsidised via advertising. We want people in their 50s, 60s and 70s and beyond to learn to embrace new technology in a safe and controlled environment.

There are a lot of things to do and see here, from discussions you can start or join in with, to stories and articles on issues relevant to our age group to keep you informed on a broad range of subjects, and even somewhere to have a whinge.

We have also listed events for you to enjoy or find someone to go with, and the directory is full of fun activities, organisations and useful links.

Read more about us… "

Lost Links - my bad!

2008-05-18T04:55:00.002+10:00

It's no excuse I know, but I have been very bad about letting everybody in on my move to the new domain. I had meant to get around all the links on my blogroll, but have been so busy keeping up with the work on my new blog about The Book, I have been remiss.

I did go to make the change on The Ageless Project (worth a visit if you haven't seen it yet), only to find that it looks like I've been removed.

Oh well, nothing like a repercussion to provoke action. Now I'll have to re-submit - I'll write and see what happens next.

In the meantime, if you are on my blogroll, and have found me, my apologies, and thank you for your patience.

A Change of Pace.. and Place

2008-03-31T05:10:00.003+10:00

It's time for a change! No longer 'turning sixty' but well and truly 'turned' - it's time for a new focus and even a new challenge. I have moved this turningsixty blog - the new address is www.dellabarkley.id.au/tsblog/index.html

... and the turningsixty website to a new location,.

The new website I have created is more a personal site reflective of where I am 'at' at the moment, and the new blog, a new challenge, called My Book Blog.

I don't really know yet what the book will turn out be about, but it is starting out autobiographically, the intention is to record and journal as I go, so the blog itself will probably end up a mix of journal notes and things of interest I find along the way.

Googling 'book blog' found some interesting characters. The idea is obviously not a new one, but then I didn't expect it to be. Hopefully, this new venture will re-invigorate me, I need something after losing the enthusiasm I had in my first year of blogging.

I have been reading around the blogs, keeping up with what everybody is up to, a bit, not as much as I'd hoped to though... nothing else much has changed for me in the last year, has it really been a year?

sexy sixties?

2007-04-14T09:48:00.001+10:00

Interesting article in The Australian Weekend Magazine, 07/04/2007, by Shelley Gare:

Do You Think I'm Sixty?

"Older women have never been sexier or more celebrated for their beauty. But should ordinary ageing mortals have to compete with the greying goddesses of stage and screen?"

You can read the article online in the archives, but you do have to register and subscribe. Shelley raises some good points about perceptions of sexiness in older women, a topic I see discussed more and more these days, and, of course, one very close to my heart.

The article first takes us to a picture spread of Arielle Dombasle, a celebrated French singer and artist -

Shelley says 'The other day I got a man to type the words "Dombasle" and "Paris Match" into Google...'

I have to suspect a composite picture, that can't possibly be a sixty-year old body?

Here are some more of the pictures that go with the article, and a few others I dug up. Funny thing, I looked and looked for some 'australian' contenders, but couldn't find any... what does that say about us?

Tina Turner

Cher,

Dame Judi Dench, 72

Joan Rivers,

Helen Mirren, 61

Farrah Fawcett, 60

Faye Dunaway, 66

Catherine Deneuve, 63

Raquel Welch, 66

Charlotte Rampling, 61

Jane Birken, 60

Candice Bergen, 60

Goldie Hawn,

Now, I am going to take a break from blogging.

I don't have any plan about how long this will be, or when I will be back, I have some other things I need to focus on for a while.

I do hope to continue with reading and visiting when I can - I really enjoy doing that, so it's not goodbye, just ciao for now, and I'll see you all at your place!

Blues Festival .. and .. Happy Easter

2007-04-06T11:42:00.001+10:00

WOW - saw Joe Camilleri and The Black Sorrows last night at the Byron Bay Blues Festival. I have come home from our one-night at the festival in absolute pain and sore muscles everywhere! I am a dancing fool, and always have been.

When I was an early teenager my sister Roberta and I used to frequent the old 'sound lounges', remember those? It was Rock-and-Roll and Jive times, and we were GOOD. We practised and practised; I was big and strong and she was tiny and strong and I could throw her around like nobody's business. We used to win lots of competitions and prizes.

Anyway, the Blues Festival crowds are there to have a good time, and they dance as one - I love to watch, we usually hang around at the back of the tent, not getting into the crush, which means that you get to see a lot of the audience behaviour, and to see everyone about you moving to the music, and then look out the back of the tent, and see the crowd outside, as far as the eye can see, and they are all moving too - very special!

For a first night, they had some good acts, we really went to see Tony Joe White, that was the purpose of the trip - but the first act on was this lot:

The Sierra Leone Refugee Allstars, who have an amazing tale of ascendency from a refugee camp, and they were very very good. They play African music at a furious pace, and they dance, boy can they dance!

Tony Joe was everything we hoped, and our last act for the night was The Sorrows. We had to decide not to see John Mayer, Ziggy Marley and WolfMother... there are four main tents in all, so the very large crowd is well-catered for. And, boy, is it a motley crowd - from babies in strollers, the full range through to the grannies, AND the elder grannies - and they are ALL moving to the music.

We had the BEST time, son Craig and wife Amanda were there (they chose Ziggy Marley and John Mayer). We took chairs, we really needed those, and ate pizza and hot chips. There are dozens of food stalls, anything you could want, but of course everyone wants to eat between acts, so the queues are a bit daunting, still, you are not going anywhere else in the meantime, might as well wait on the queue, and there is always plenty to look at.

The Byron festival is renowned for it's mud... 9 out of 10 years it rains, often pours, and as many of the attendees camp around the local campsites, the mud is just accepted as a typical part of being there. Don't forget to take your galoshes!

But this year, the galoshes on show are a fashion statement - click on the picture to see the whole range of fancy styles - and if you can imagine (no camera), worn with EVERYTHING - mini skirts and galoshes, short shorts and galoshes, kaftans and high-fashion, boys and girls, old and young, all these fancy galoshes everywhere, and, guess what - it wasn't raining, not a drop, dry as a bone - damn eh - got these really fancy gumboots, oh well, might as well wear them anyway? Good fun -

Had a very busy week, friend Diane is visiting from Melbourne and came to stay a night with us. Worked Tues and Wed, Di came wed night for dinner, so Craig and family came too, stayed up till 4 in the morning chin-wagging with Di, and left for the festival (Byron Bay is only an hour drive south for us) around lunchtime Thursday.

Too sore this morning to do anything but sit quietly at the pc. Actually, it's been a very productive morning - I started out looking for some African pattern kaftans -

I've decided to move to an exotic look, and am planning to do a bit of roots decor around the house.

Well, now I have the germ of an idea, arisen because I found some stuff I want to buy, and cannot get it shipped to Aussie. hmmm.. maybe here is the 'product' I need to venture into some online selling? Might investigate that one...

Had a bit of a laugh at the end of the night, well, we weren't actually laughing at the time ( I was, but I wasn't driving, so it was a quiet little 'inside' laugh) It was daytime when we parked the car, and there are wardens who show you where to park, so we made sure we knew where the car was, so late at night in the dark, no problems finding it,

but - find the carpark exit? HAHA - First, the car windows were fogged in, so we couldn't see very much, but after we started the car and drove off we realised we had no idea where we were going, so, spent the first five minutes of the drive home in the carpark, up and down dead-ends!.

Then, to make matters worse, it was so hard to drive through the pedestrians and cyclists all makig their way back to town, on the highway - really dangerous - we missed the turnoff we needed, did a full circle, and arrived back at the festival site! Had to turn around and start for home again - got the turnoff right second time around.

And now on to the next thing - which happens at the end of April - we have confirmed arrangements for daughter Carlena and her partner Sharda to visit from Adelaide for the baby's third birthday. Magic, they will be with us for six days including flying days. I am SURE you will hear more about that as it gets closer.

I know it is only Good Friday, and I should be reflective, but I don't think I will get back to blog before Sunday, and the story does, after all, have a Happy Ending, so:

On a personal note - coping with pain

2007-03-31T10:24:00.000+10:00

There has been a bit of discussion around the traps lately about what we feel comfortable blogging (see links in my previous post). I know that when I read about personal or emotional pain that another person is suffering, I do feel a bit closer to that person, often it's an empathy, sometimes just an insight into where that person is coming from.

Much like having a good old natter over a cup of coffee or glass of wine, feeling comfortable enough to let go a little bit of tension, because that of course is what happens - the old saying - a problem shared is a problem halved. That might or might not be true, but sometimes it helps just to have a good whinge.

My whinge today is about pain - when I was younger I used to puzzle over why people put up with it - if something is wrong, just get it fixed, see a doctor, do whatever. Also, when I was younger, I played a lot of sport. As a teenager, it was athletics, which I was good at, I also played netball, and later basketball. In fact, I continued to play both of these sports - at social level - until I was into my forties. Then I switched to golf, which I really loved, though I was never any good at it. Actually, I was just pleased to be able to play at all. I'd had some radiotherapy by then which affected a lot of muscle around my shoulder, so I couldn't hit the ball very far, but I could hit straight, and just being out on the course, pitting wits against ball, and water and trees, that was where I most wanted to be.

When the opportunity came to back-step and work only part time, I thought hoorah, I can spend more time on the golf course, which I did for about the first month. Then, one day, I found I could hardly hit the ball at all, air shots, no direction, that sort of thing, and nothing I tried worked ... well, by the time I got home my neck was really hurting, so of course I thought I had twisted it or something, enough to affect my ability to swing the club.

Over the next few months I tried everything, massage, chiropractic and osteotheraphy, I even tried Bowen Therapy - but no improvement. Eventually, I went to the doctor (that's another story, my doctor despairs of me, says I never come to see him unless something is actually falling off!) and he was concerned about something I hadn't even noticed - the muscles in my back and neck were disappearing - some had actually gone altogether, leaving just holes (sounds horrible, doesn't it - but, hey, who looks at my back these days?).

Anyway, he sent me off to see a neuro surgeon, and after some really nasty testing, needles in nerve points to record activity, and a 45 minute session trying not breathe in an MRI machine - the verdict was that I have arthritic 'bone intrusions' in 2 of my neck joints. The nerves are being pinched, cutting off whatever it is they are supposed to supply, hence the atrophying of the muscles and the pain in my neck. The whole exercise cost a small fortune, which of course now I cannot afford because I am only working part-time and trying to live on a budget.

But the real problem is learning to live with the pain. If I am working a single day, or sometimes two in a row, it's not so bad, local heat and a bit of massage usually sees me right in a couple of hours. But when, like this week, I am rostered for three days in a row - it takes the whole of the next day and a mountain of pain-killers before I become human again. And I get so cranky....

There was talk of surgery - but, you know, I am not at all happy with the idea that they go playing around with nerves and bones in my neck, so at this stage I really don't consider that's an option. And, of course, no more golf. Craig and Amanda are painting in their new house, and my heart says, get in and help, but I know that I cannot, and that depresses me further.

Never mind, I am going up there later today, they say it will be useful if I can keep the baby occupied so that they can get on with it - she is three next month, and at a lovely stage, talks non-stop although I don't always understand what she is saying. We are thinking that if I spend some time with her, in a relaxed environment in her house, then I will be able to bring her home to spend some time in my house. This hasn't happened yet, she is not completely comfortable with me, which is understandable as she has only seen me half-a-dozen times on quick visits.

In the meantime, I did this...
I see a few others have found it and done it too. Quite accurate really, and a bit of fun.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Ruapehu gives us a show

2007-03-24T16:40:00.001+10:00

Apparently this has done the rounds before, so some have probably seen it already, but I think it's funny...
talk about 'caught in the act'.

The legend says it was taken in the dark,during a lightening storm, with a flash. Could be...

and - we (in Australia) worry about snakes and sharks and creepy crawly things...

The Ruapahu Lahar [New Zealand]

It was at Tangiwai on Christmas Eve 1953 that a major lahar, roaring down the slopes of the mountain, washed out the railway bridge, plunging the overnight Express train from Wellington to Auckland into a maelstrom of water, mud and rocks. One hundred and fifty-three people lost their lives in New Zealand's worst rail disaster.

On 23rd September 1995
the mountain erupted violently, leaving a solid wall of ash around the crater rim and creating a lake that was bound to breach at some time in the future, recreating the conditions which caused the fatal 1953 mud-flood.

'The Farmers Bridge on the Whangaehu River
- photo Lion Foundation Rescue Helicopter'

Last Sunday, 18th March 2007, the seven-metre high soft rock and ash dam that had penned the lake since 1995 finally gave way. The escaping water gouged out rocks and earth and other debris carrying them down the mountain in the classic mudflow know as a lahar.
Spectacular Pictures

Molly writes, in a post titled
A Bloggers Paradox

"As a person who began formally blogging in 2000, I’ve had to question, and re-question, how I use my blog, and why..."

"After years of thinking and re-thinking whether the personal should be separated from the “work” I have come to the same decision over and over again. I am me. This blog is called molly.com for a reason. It’s about me, me, and me..."

"So I’ve come to a point where I’m seriously examining the ethics of personal blogging, and just how far one should or shouldn’t take their personal stories..."

Now, I don't know about you, but I've asked myself similar, if not the same, questions. The comments make interesting reading...

I originally went to visit Molly because somebody sent me the link knowing how interested I was in all things web and design, and that's the main feature of the site, finding the above conversation was a bonus.

the move is on...

2007-03-19T11:38:00.000+10:00

Son Craig and wife Amanda are coming home from Sydney to live here on the Gold Coast - that's for new visitors, I've been on about this for a while now - anyway, the time has come, first loads being lugged up the stairs, with the help of Amanda's family - the house is great, needs work, but that's the intention, they have strong plans, which would be better if they were the same (plans). Oh well, Nana(s) might have to strengthen some mediation skills.

it's a family affair

Happy Faces

I missed my 1st Blogiversary ...

2007-03-19T10:03:00.000+10:00

Well, I don't know how I did that!
Busy with other stuff, I guess.

First Post on March 12th 2006.

"Happy Blogiversary

To Me"

the big banana ... last word on Bloglines

2007-03-16T11:27:00.000+10:00

and the answer is...

bloglines IS good! there are other blog-readers too, but I haven't investigated any, so this is not 'compared' to - just a comment on the concept and how it works.

For those still to check it out - the basics:

every time I do a new post, anybody using bloglines gets a notification, without having to come to my blog to see if I've posted. This is good for me too, because I don't post every day.

on the other hand, I can check 'myfeeds' in bloglines, and get a notification when somebody on my list does a new post.

Subscribing to bloglines is easy - finding the instructions on how to do it was not, but I think that's because I complicated things unnecessarily - I need to know how things work and am not good at following simple instructions.

I can see how, as personal blogrolls get bigger, using a reader like this would definitely save time. And help to avoid missing when somebody posts. You cannot add comments, as MissKris points out in a previous post comment; but one-click takes you to the page and the post. So that's not a problem, really...

If you want to use bloglines, and list your own blog for others to see when you post, you need to have the SITE FEED settings turned on and correct with your blog-provider. But that's just a case of clicking to say yes and adding your URL.

I am finding that most of the blogs I read have the site feed setup, so I am adding as I visit using another one-click button which bloglines has added to the Explorer bar, so I can click as I go and add.. very easy..

I have also discovered another way to accomplish a similar result, simply adding sites that have feeds to the favourites box. But I suspect this is only available in IE 7, and probably Firefox. More on that later.

That banana is something, isn't it...
it's in Coff's Harbour which is a surprisingly lovely seaside town on the coast a few hours north of Sydney.

the big pineapple ...testing bloglines

2007-03-13T19:07:00.000+10:00

BIG THINGS have always fascinated me... especially the culture of creating these monstrous structures of local features. This one, the Big Pineapple is on the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland..

bloglines? ...and more family pics

2007-03-13T12:50:00.000+10:00

It's time to do some work and find out why my blog is not 'picked up' by blog readers such as bloglines.

I suspect it is because I have made some changes in the template that need to be adjusted. So that's where I will be for a while - working on the template, so no more posting until I get it fixed. Sorry.

In the meantime, if you are reading this, any help you can give me will be appreciated.

For instance, did you come here via a reader program, e.g. Bloglines notified you I had posted?

Also, if you subscribe to or use Bloglines, or one of the other readers or types of readers, and you have anything you can tell me about them, please leave me a note in comments.

thanks
Della

In the meantime, here is a pic to delight the heart.
The new generation of some of the young women in our family.

Russell, on the left, is my sister Roberta's son, next to him is his daughter Lauren, his wife Tran, and then Amanda, my son's wife.

Their baby girl Angelina is with Russell's son Mason in the small picture.

Aren't they all so beautiful!

[CLICK the pics to enlarge...]

the-best-pictures-of-the-year.pps

2007-03-07T10:25:00.000+10:00

Having a lovely time right now. I cleaned the house from top-to-bottom in the days before son arrived for a resident stay for a few days. I am not one of those people with a compulsion to clean, so my housework can be best described as 'ad hoc' - so when I have made a concentrated effort to have everything shiny and bright, after the visitor leaves, I get to live in this clean house for a little while, and I do so like to live in a clean house!

Craig has gone, left at 3 a.m. Sunday morning - so that he could fit in a surf at Ballina on the way back to Sydney - his little family sounded very pleased to have him home when I rang later that night to check he'd got there okay. I am trying to get him to come in here occasionally and say hello, but he is shy. He does read the blog, and surprises me sometimes with knowing about something I am up to, when I didn't remember telling him.

I guess that's another plus for blogging, it seems to have taken the place of writing letters to friends and family in far-away places. Something I did realise while Craig was here... we were sitting out in the gazebo having a chat and checking out the garden... and Craig was talking to his sister (daughter Carlena) on his mobile phone.

They were arranging for her to come to the Gold Coast for the baby's birthday - she will be three in April, and Carlena is her god-mother - when it dawned on me... whenever Carlena comes to visit one of us now, (she lives in Adelaide, in South Australia), we will all be in the same place at the same time!

Up until now, with Craig in Sydney, me at the Gold Coast and her in South Australia, such visits have been complicated affairs, always meaning that two of us had to travel so we could all be together - we've managed it a few times though, for birthdays and special occasions, enough to know that it is going to be a BIG plus bonus of his moving up here.

Anyway, when I pointed this out to Craig, he laughed like anything, he said, 'mum - have you just figured that out? Me and Carlie have been talking about that for ages!'.

Oh well, I don't suppose it will hurt for them to start colouring me 'frail-old-mum'.

somebody sent me a power point slide titled:
the-best-pictures-of-the-year.pps

These two made me smile...

I am going to see about how I can post a link in here - haven't done that before, so I have some research to do.

There is no copywrite or other information with the file, so I cannot give credits etc., my apologies to the photographers...

I am very much a sun person, and on grey gloomy days I used to have a saying, '...but up above the clouds, the sun will be shining'...

looks like I was wrong!

Righto - this seems to be working, let's see...
to view The Best Pictures of the Year click here
(click on OUTLINE at the bottom left of the screen
to turn off the blank 'titles')

Oh - and Noel got the promotion!
So far..so good... One of the panel of interviewers told him, 'that's the BEST selection criteria he has ever seen..'

I am here somewhere...

2007-03-03T11:21:00.000+10:00

This week has just flown by. Haven't posted for a week, so here is just a bit of levity to let you know I am still here.

The test at the bottom IS amazing - it got me... how do they do this?

I have a lot of reading to catch up with, see what everybody has been up to - so focus is on that for now, hope all are having a good weekend...

At the end of this message, you are asked a question.

Answer it immediately. Don't stop and think about it.

Just say the first thing that pops into your mind.

This is a fun "test"... AND kind of spooky at the same time!

just follow the instructions as quickly as possible.

Do not go to the next calculation before you have finished the previous one..

You do not need to write or remember the answers, just do it using your mind.

You'll be surprised.

START

How much is:

15 + 6

3 + 56

89 + 2

12 + 53

75 + 26

25 + 52

63 + 32

I know! Calculations are hard work, but it's! nearly over..

Come on, one more! ...

123 + 5

NOW

QUICK! THINK ABOUT A COLOR AND A TOOL!

Just say the first thing that pops into your mind.

and .... CLICK on COMMENTS to see the result...

who invited the bloody scrub-turkey?

2007-02-25T20:09:00.000+10:00

Must confess to feeling a little bit guilty, but not guilty enough not to see the funny side too. When scrubbie first appeared I was fascinated by his never-ending scratching, and initially I thought he was just being helpful, mulching up the heavy leaf drop from all my trees. check the video action, click here.

Then I discovered the mound (nest) he was building in the next door yard, and that my leaf wasn't just being mulched it was also being transported through a hole in the fence .This was back in November last year, when I first started re-landscaping the yard and creating the gazebo garden. Scrubbie and I have enjoyed the summer in the garden together, he making a superb nest/mound and creating an environment which attracted the required female(s) and produced at least two babies that we have seen so far.

BUT .. I decided last week, as the garden planting is all but complete, that I really needed to keep my own leaf mulch and that he had to be stopped.

Since then, we have had a running battle which I am losing... every day he comes over and trys to get the leaves, he mounds them up at the fence, against the old door I found and have used as a temporary blockage - every day I go out and scrape it all away again, just far enough away to keep him busy for the day so that he will leave the rest of the garden alone.

At the moment I am not too unhappy about this, except for that it is wasted effort, but I count the hour or so it takes me as 'activity'.

More on this later, I have been giving some thought lately to 'elder fitness' and been listening to and reading some interesting material. So, okay for the exercise, but I have to find a permanent solution.

I've taken the chance, while I was out filming scrubbie's activities, to get a few shots of my developing garden spaces - I am very happy with the results, it's my own little piece of space and peace and begins to look as I intended.

from the gazebo -
big mango tree in the background

bush garden

inner sanctum garden

tucked happily into the little herb garden, the cuttings I brought back to make the Calurla geranium garden are doing well, even started flowering - great, but I suspect they may be pelargoniums?

Work for me tomorrow - I've had a lovely weekend, I hope everybody else has had too, we've had great weather, nothing to whinge about except housework, cleaning for the big arrival on Thursday.....

and yet more Calurla photos...

2007-02-22T21:26:00.000+10:00

Nothing comes to mind today to blog about, so it's a good chance to show some more pics of our recent trip.

our hideaway holiday spot at Calurla.

The spectacular mountain views are here

and you can hear the beautiful evening birdsong here

Now, as you can see:

'gardens to the left of us...'

'my favourite tree...'

'barbecues on the balcony...'

'but please don't feed the dogs...'

The owners have 3 dogs, they are all beautiful and well-behaved. They love company and they do seem to know just when there is likely to be food around. It's hard to follow the 'rules' and not give in to this very beseeching look.

Only 7 more sleeps and my son will be here, just for 3 days this time - he's bringing the first load making the big move, moving with his family from Sydney to live on the Gold Coast, an exciting time, I am really looking forward to having them here. They'll be here permanently from about the first week in March, and their new home is less than a ten-minute drive away.

childhood memories - a bit about my mother - and, finally, The Book Meme

2007-02-18T08:55:00.000+10:00

it's RAINING!

Shades of winter - it's persistently coming down outside, and there is a lovely fresh breeze blowing gently into the house... I've done a few leisurely chores, and now I get to sit and play in blogland. My first stop was to DesLily's place to pick up a copy of the book meme that excited me, a week or so ago, I plan to complete it, so you should find my answers at the bottom of this post...

BUT ... while I was there I came across Melli from Insanity Prevails who posts with the Photo Hunters... which looks like a lot of fun, I'll go back later for a proper look.

Anyway, Melli has posted a picture of an old treadle sewing machine for the Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt - Antiques. Well, this brought back such memories that I just had to leave Melli a comment, and while I was writing it, of course I thought hey I should blog this - as one does - and then, also of course I really went on a trip down memory lane. About my mother... she truly was the most amazing person I have ever known. If ever I did decide to try and write a book, it would be about my mother.

Mum was born, in Yamba on the NSW north coast, in 1905, second last in a family of about 8 kids.

My sister Roberta did write some things about her, in her own autobiography but, I think, very unfairly...

with my dad.. Roberta on
the stool, I'm the 'bump'

The memories stirred by the sewing machine post are from the period in the 1940s, just at the end of the war, we were in Townsville and our household consisted of a very mixed bunch of people. There was mother (no husband at this stage), an elderly lady called Nellie who I think was just a friend mum had taken in, there was a man called Jack and his wife Maisie, they were there for her to help with us kids while mum worked - Jack worked at the meatworks.

And us kids. Mum had adopted the daughter of a relative when she was 7 years old; she was my 'oldest' sister and was 12 years old when I was born. Her name was Desma, and we remained close until she died a few years ago. She was also my favourite sister and I miss her a lot. Next came Roberta, at least she was the same color as me (Des was white), and we should have been closer, being less than 2 years apart in age, then me, born in 1945, followed by my younger sister Leonie, born nearly 3 years later. Added to this assortment, from time to time, was a collection of 'children refugees' - they would come because they had no where else to go, and some stayed just a night or two, others were with us for months.

Mum worked as a laundress - usually in 3 or 4 places at a time, she would leave the house around 3 o'clock every morning, and I do mean every morning, go to the first job, hotels, boarding houses, that sort of thing, and do the rounds to get the washing done and on the line. Then she would come home and see us kids off to school, as it happened she also did the laundry at the school, so we would see her at various times of the day, in the yard next to the school, hanging out washing. Then in the afternoon, she would re-do her rounds, taking the washing off the line, folding and ironing at each place. We girls were called in to help at this stage, after school, it's where I first learned to iron, all those starched tablecloths and serviettes (remember them? in the fancy hotels?).

At nights, mum worked at home - she had laundry customers who came to the door with clothes to be cleaned, and came back to collect and pay. Bundles and bundles of brown-paper wrapped parcels, each with a little note saying the name and how much. I remember the Wirth's circus crew were regular customers, when the circus was in town.

It was quite exciting to have them come to the door, we would get tickets and later see these same performers doing marvellous acts in the ring.

Mum had a Singer treadle sewing machine, which lived in the big old kitchen and was in constant use, repairs from her myriad of jobs, and of course making clothes for all of us.

She was still using the machine almost up until she died at the age of 92 in 1997. I put dibs on the machine, not for the value, for the memories, it sits, waiting a restore job, in my back shed.

This picture was taken in Adelaide, in the late 1980s, it's probably my favourite photo of her.

UH-OH ... what happened to the book meme?
Oh well...

aah... to be continued?

later...
here it is, appropos of nothing really, but I did very much enjoy thinking about it... thanks again DesLily..

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
mass market paperback, definitely.

Amazon or brick and mortar? (buying on line or in a store?)
Amazon (or the Co-Op Bookstore) - if I am looking for a specific book, a text, or on a recommendation, otherwise I use the local book-exchange, it's the cheapest way to get the number of books I read.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Any bookstore, no favourites.

Bookmark or dogear?
I have favourite bookmarks, a drawer full of them - I also have cards I've made with specific prayers printed on them, which I don't use often enough, only when I want something.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
random, but really, by size and shape so the bookshelves look good. (remember, I am an obsessive perfectionist)

Keep, throw away, or sell?
Have kept some very special ones, not many, I swap not sell, and hand-on, not throw away.

Keep dust jacket or toss it?
Definitely keep.

Read with dust jacket or remove it?
Remove it, to keep it pristine.

Short story or novel?
Novel first, but I like collections of short stories and have been known to read magazine short stories, even serials, when they used to do serials. I was a dedicated customer of the Readers Digest collected stories series.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Both, equally. I recently enjoyed the Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Never read either.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Chapter breaks, always one or two too many.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
Oh, this one's easy "dark and stormy night" - this was my mother's...

Buy or Borrow?
I try really really hard not to borrow, or lend - that is, books I intend to keep. I have several copies of my sister's trilogy book, and these I lend to people who want to read her books. I have done this before too, with other books I want to keep, but also want to lend, some books are like that, so I keep a 'lenders' copy.

New or used?
I don't buy used books to keep, but I do read a lot of used books.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
I do buy on the basis of a book review, and sometimes on a recommendation, don't browse though, except of course in the book-exchange.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
No, no cliffhangers please -

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?
I love the indulgence of having a read in the morning, but it doesn't happen very often. Afternoons in the sunny window, or even preparing to have my 'nana nap' - but far and away mostly at night, every night -I hate the books 'you can't put down' - I deny myself sleep to keep reading.

Stand alone or series?
I love series, epics that cover generations.

Favorite series?
Can't even think of any, let alone pick a favourite. These are not books I keep, and quite often I read out-of-order, or re-read - it doesn't bother me reading backwards, or forwards, I am character driven when reading, and have a good memory while I am engrossed in the books themselves, but don't ask me about authors, those I don't recall very well at all. I love tales about pioneers and settler families and struggles overcome.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
How would I know that?

Favorite books read last year?
I've been reading a lot of Morris West lately, and I really enjoyed Ben Kozel's book 'Five months in a Leaky Boat' intrigue in the first, adventure in the 2nd.

Favorite books of all time?
The Drifters (James A Michener), no doubt - but there are a lot of 2nd's, I think closely led by Pappillion.

soapbox - addressing selection criteria

2007-02-16T04:14:00.000+10:00

Remember my scrub turkey story? with the video? The daddy scrub-turkey who has pillaged my back yard and taken all the leaf mulch across to his nest next door?

Well, I have finally decided enough is enough, and I really needed to get some mulch back around the garden, particularly the new plants I have put in. So we have had to block his exit path, or paths as it turned out, as soon as we blocked one, he created another, but I think we have finally convinced him there is no point gathering it all up if he cannot get it out of the yard, and I've taken a chance, and done some composting and mulching.

Well, guess what.. I looked out the window the other day, and who should be under the avacado tree, scratching away as if his life depended on it - no, not the daddy turkey, but the BABY...

... only not such a baby any more. We haven't seen him around much, I was surprised at how much he has grown. There is at least one other, a smaller version - we've been worried about their survival in this very urban environment, but it seems as though we could end up with a 'family'.

SOAPBOX

Whatever happened to promotion? As in job promotion?

For instance, the place I work employs a lot of people, over a thousand altogether, with offices in 3 different cities, and a huge workforce here on the Gold Coast. There is a constant buzz - people jostling for positions, trying to 'get-ahead'. There is a funnel towards the top, of course, and not everybody can get through.

I actually never meant to stay there, I took a part-time job while I was studying, that was over six years ago... I got lucky, I suppose, I was offered a position in the training team, I did that for 2 and a half years, and enjoyed it - hard work - long hours - and a lot of satisfaction... I quit that, and the senior position that went with it, to reduce my hours and take the first step to full retirement.

So I can sit back now, work my 3 days, and watch the antics. There is always some group or other going through the motions, preparing for interviews, doing skills tests, the big wait to see who got the 'job' - the frustrations and disappointments, it's good to be out of it really.

I can remember the days when it wasn't so hard, you did your job, showed your ability, and with time and patience, your turn came and you were offered the next step up the ladder. Not today though, today it's all about having to apply for that 'opportunity' - redo your resume, address the 'selection criteria' sit through panel interviews, judged by people who should already know your abilities, asking silly bloody questions about 'What would you do if?' -- 'Tell us about a time...' --

But it's that 'selection criteria' that really gets me going. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you probably haven't had to apply for a job in the last ten years. I've done a few myself, not many since I've been pretty well settled, but I've done more for Noel. Well, not done for, of course, he is perfectly capable, but 'helped' with... and that's what has brought on this little soapbox...

Noel has been given an opportunity to apply for a more senior position. Now, he is more than well-suited for the job, he has spent the last 3 years proving his ability, there is really no-one else to touch him for deserving the job, but, no - he has to 'apply'. So, we've spent the best part of this week, burning the midnight oil, filling in page after page of 'demonstrating' proven skills! How bizarre... if the managers don't already know what you've been doing, and how well you've been doing it - what's the point?

Day off today (Friday, my time)... and, I plan to spend the day, umm.. in the garden... finishing the composting and mulching. Unless it rains, of course, it has been raining a bit, which is why I want to get it done now, get the benefit...

Oh, and I did do some work towards 'the new career' - started a new beta-blog 'MyWorkPlace'; currently researching what to put on it - looking for examples of on-line portfolios and resumes, this is new ground...

what do I want to be when I grow up?

2007-02-12T18:04:00.000+10:00

There is a good discussion going on over at Ronni Bennett's place, Time Goes By (there always is!). Ronni blogs quite a bit about ageing, and ageism, and has links to others who blog on this important subject. Some fascinating people to meet. This particular discussion is about how we look as we age, and how important, or not important, how we look is anyway?

This led me, of course, to some deep and meaningful dwelling on the subject, but it also took me on a few sideroads, one of which is not about how I look (fine, thank you for asking...) but about what I want to be, and whether I still actually want to be anything.

Jane Fraser

And then I found this article in last weekends Australia Review section. It's journalist Jane Fraser (love Jane's work) talking to Posie Graeme-Evans, as the article says: "Historical novelist, television producer, songwriter".

I have never heard of her before, but I do know some of her work, it seems. Posie is the producer of the very high- rating and award-winning series McLeod's Daughters. One of the interesting things in the article is about her mother, Eleanor Turton, who published her first novels before World War II, when she was 21. She has just published her last book six years ago, when she was 87.

Posie is quoted as saying,
"The longer I live, the more grateful I am,"
and, "We live in a world that judges you as a failure if you haven't got everything before you're 30, but getting old gives you some sort of balance in your life."

Posie Graeme-Evans

I must go and have a look at how old Posie is - the article doesn't mention it.

Now, let's see, if the mother was 87 six years ago, then I guess Posie is unlikely to be under 50? I tell you what - take a look at the photo - now SHE looks GOOD!

Posie also says, "I live as much as I can in the present and I have only two speeds, stop and go..."
Combining the frenetic world of television producing with the solitary past-time of writing novels must be some challenge, but apparently it works as an antidote, I can see how that would be.

So, to my own new career, and what am I doing about it? Procrastinate, probably, as I have been doing for a while now. I did decide a year or so ago that I wanted something I could do from home, but I had forgotten the bit about 'hundred-miles-an-hour' or 'full-stop'. Posie reminded me. I am no longer sure that I will be motivated enough to work from home... I enjoy nothing more than pottering around in the yard, and if I was home all day, every day, that is what I would do, I think.

But in the meantime, I do have to make some progress, and so I have decided to put up some sort of a 'work-related' presence on the web. I am going to bite the bullet and start with a new blog, using blogger beta... Peter will be pleased! I need to find a name for it first, wouldn't want to register something I would hate later.

And, I HAVE decided what I want be, I want to be an editor. That's handy, given what I have been studying - bugger if I'd decided I wanted to be a lawyer or something. Mind you, I did always want to be a lawyer, that would have been my chosen profession if there had been any option back in my schooling days, I was born too soon, I reckon. I know, there are female lawyers around my age, but not from my background, I wouldn't think, but then again, my sister got a Doctorate from Harvard Uni when she was in her forties - nope, can't blame life and luck, I guess I was just too busy swanning around and having a good life!

Now I need to find a course, or something, an apprenticeship? And some work, but I don't feel ready for that yet. I am off to join the Queensland Writer's club, been meaning to do that for a while, and to have a look around the colleges, see what I can find.

time to cut the grass...

2007-02-10T09:12:00.000+10:00

See more detail

I have gnomes...

2007-02-08T11:31:00.000+10:00

I must have needed some retail therapy, I went looking to buy some garden solar lights, not for light, they are not much good for that, just for decoration, a feature. I guess I must be a closet gnome person, cos now I have these in my garden. They work well too, I left them in the sun all day yesterday, and when I was up at 2.00am this morning they were still glowing brightly. So cute, my little twins (I hope they like sand!).

Actually Noel said he would buy me solar lights for Christmas, but the ones I wanted, I couldn't find. He says he HATES gnomes, but hey, it's MY present.

I also bought these:

The Thai goddess candle holder and the nude lady figurine are both quite small, about 6 inches high, and the Buddha goddess sits among my tubs and baskets garden by the back door.

And, I finally finished the re-do of the blog layout.

The new beach scene you see at the top of the page is MY beach, well, it's Tugun Beach, where I live... the pathway down to the sand is one I walk often.

I live, as the crow flies, less than 500metres away, the sad thing is, we are not crows, and there is a major highway between us and the beach, so it's not quite a leisurely, look at the scenery stroll, but once on the beach there are miles and miles of beautiful sand and ocean to enjoy.

You can click here to see the full picture.

- mixed bits -

2007-02-05T15:38:00.000+10:00

Don't ask! - aren't they cuties?

I've decided to start making a scrapbook. We were up in Brisbane yesterday, for a birthday celebration - Noels grandson turned 5 and his grandaughter 3, both in the last week - Robbie has just started prep school and I was telling their mother about when my daughter was at primary school and how she loved to get certificates. I have a little collection of them, somewhere in the boxes and boxes of cards and keepsakes and a lifetime of memorabilia.

Whenever I am digging around in the boxes I think, 'oh boy, wouldn't the kids love to see this, or that', but I also think that nobody will bother to go through all this lot (when I'm gone) - and I wonder if it's really worth keeping? But if I lay it out for them, like photo albums, perhaps there will come a day when they enjoy having a look through - probably even one day with me - that would be fun.

There are cards, of course, birthdays and Christmases, and funny drawings they did as kids, locks of hair, chookies first tooth, old concert programs - that sort of thing, and at the same time I'll do the job I've always meant to do, and throw out anything that doesn't need to be kept, I am definitely a hoarder, I also have heaps of stuff that nobody could ever possibly be interested in.

I've just had a bit of a let-down. When I decided to look for work I could do from home, and while I've been doing the Professional Proofreading course, I subscribed to a newsletter from a group called Freelance Work Exchange, who every day sent an email showing ideal jobs that could be applied for and done online, the jobs all sound just great, although of course I am not naive enough to believe all the rah rah - I did think that there was some possibility of finding something. Of course, I had to sign up and pay, of course, to get access to the jobs - and about a week ago I took the plunge and did just that, not a lot, but more than I have to just throw away.

Well, I have found, I believe, that they are a total sham!. I went into the forums, hoping to talk to the people already there, to get some hints and see how others went about applying for and getting jobs. There was nothing there except people complaining, many were asking 'where are the jobs?' - many have applied over and over again and gotten totally NO result - others were calling for the successful ones to come forward and tell us, but NOBODY did - not one single person had posted in the forum about having had success. I did notice that the forum was 'new' - posts only since last October, and the administrators kept telling us, be patient, it can take a few months before you get the first job, and I could understand that, but it didn't look good!

I forgot to go back and cancel at the end of my first 'cheap' week, and today I find I've been billed at the full rate for one month. So I went back for another look, a last look before cancelling my 'membership' - it's a monthly billing thing and I don't want to get caught for another month's payment - and the forums are shut-down; off-line for maintenance.

What a hoax! What a bunch of scammers! I am so angry! It's not even the money really, I was so optimistic - they promised so much - and I know there must be genuine sites where I could find work, but now I'll be reluctant to try another. Rotten shits! I wonder if there is somewhere I can complain?

Tony Joe White;
On a happier note, we found some new music a few months ago.

Peter from Holtieshouse was playing a song called 'Poke Salad Annie' on his blog, and I followed it up and found Big Geez, at The Geezer Music Club and listened to some more. Noel especially likes his style and has since bought several albums and DVDs, and yesterday we discovered that he is to play at the Byron Bay Blues Festival.

Son Craig has been asking for a while if I wanted to go, they go every year, and I did once before join them for a while, but until we found this, we weren't - but now we are, we have tickets already, just for the one day, and we wont camp, we'll drive back that same night, it's only an hour away.

Very exciting, can't wait to see the man live. We don't really do concerts, although we did see the Eagles a few years ago, and the Bull sisters last year. It's one of the things I miss most - I used to love doing the music festivals, and the live concerts, these day it's all DVDs for us.

on a personal note - a story of success

2007-02-03T11:03:00.000+10:00

I can't believe it... I have just finished adding the last bunch of newcomers to the blog, and redesigned the blog along the way, well, almost, I still have a few things to fix - and I find I've already got another list of new blogroll additions. I just can't help myself, I see a link or a comment that attracts me, and I just have to go and have a look.

This month seems to be all about Blog Awards - CONGRATULATIONS to Peter from Holtieshouse, Peter has made it to the 2007 bloggies finals in The Best Blog from Australia and New Zealand. If you are in Aussie you can still vote, but quick... it closes today (their time). GOOD LUCK Peter!

I also forget to do housework, I can spend hours and hours outside, shovelling sand, laying pavers, weeding and planting and watering, but when I look around inside, it all seems just too daunting, and I need to have a little lie down. Perhaps I should start taking photos of in the house, that might motivate me?

What got me thinking about this, I DID do some vacuuming yesterday, and I was rushing about trying to get it done in a hurry (so I could get back to the blog, what else?) when I thought 'hang on, what if I was ENJOYING doing this, like I do in the yard - after all, it's just work, same as..' so I slowed down, put my mind into a different set, and waltzed about like I was having a good time. It worked. As they say "if you ACT enthusiastic, you'll BE enthusiastic!" Anybody else use that one? I picked it up a long time ago, got it from a Dale Carnegie course in empowerment psychology and sales techniques.

That was another really good time I had... it was in the late eighties, when I was working as the Computer Manager at a quite large firm of accountants in Adelaide. I got lucky with my career, I think it was more the times than good management, and it certainly wasn't about schooling and education.

I sometimes tell people, 'I left school at fourteen', and joke '... and that was reform school!' But it's not actually a joke, at thirteen years of age the system decided that I was an incorrigible and sent me off to live with the Good Shepherd nuns for a while. It was good though, they taught me to do shorthand/typing and that was really the start of my career. I never looked back, at age 16 I got my first job as receptionist/secretary for a local real estate company. I have studied a lot over the years though, learning the tools to do whatever job I was doing at the time.

But about the Carnegie; because I was a manager in the firm (quite a feat in itself for a non-qualified female of 'exotic' appearance, in those days)... we were all sent to do this Carnegie course, it lasted for 3 months, once a week, and it involved a lot of competition - we had to learn things, and do things, and be leaders and speakers, and motivate others. And in every category or exercise there was a little prize, and you got your name on the prize board. Now, there were more than thirty of us when the class started, and I think about 5 or 6 females.

A large part of my job involved working with the clients, from very small business with one or two staff, to some really big companies, with multi-departments. My speciality was in computerised accounting systems, and I extended this to systems analysis and design. Great stuff .. big job, but the relevance to the story is that I was very used to dealing with men in business; I would give presentations to management, reporting on existing practices and making suggestions for how to improve or renew. So the tools I picked up during the course were invaluable, and I still use many of the techniques I learned then, when I need them.

But the best part of all, is something I will go and have a look for now, and see if I can show you.
Yeah - I found it, I tell you what, this blogging sure gets you back into the storage boxes, doesn't it...

The thing is, I cleaned up (well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, and I'm bragging, but I did do well).

My name was DELLA MAJOR back then, after each category activity we all got to vote and the one with the most votes got their name on the board. The Highest Achievement Award was also a 'category' on which we all voted.

Not bad, considering my minority status in this group of high-octane, achievement oriented blokes! A work-colleague that was with me on the course was really p****d off with me too, he just thought he was the best thing since sliced bread, and expected to win, he never really forgave me either, and was a part of the reason I eventually left to start my own business - but - that's another story...

Now, I have some pictures for you to look at:

from the Passion-for-Pixels newsletter (you'll also find them on the links in my sidebar - this has got to be the BEST photography site I have come across):

If you haven't had a look at this site yet, it's really good, you can look as a guest, or load your own photos, and there are active forums where members help each other, and critique - it's a place I certainly wish I had more time to be at.

Sorry I cannot show you some of the entries (copywrite), but it is worth a trip to have a look.

The picture is one I thought good enough to upload to the 'for-fun' gallery.