consuming the future

Do you think we can change the way we live?

As a society, we have a voracious appetite for the newest, biggest,brightest, loudest. Throw away the old one(whatever condition it may be in) and replace it without thought.
Our status in the world indeed seems to be only determined by what we own (or appear to own thanks to large personal debt), who we know and what schools our children attend.

As a young adult, I knew that this wasn't right, but didn't change my life to reflect these thoughts. I'm sure I didn't want to appear to be different than the people around me that I called friends.

Times have changed and my slightly odd, environmentally conscious views are now those of the mainstream. These opinions, if not actually practised, are at least considered by many on a daily basis. There is hope that we will question what we do before it's too late for all of us.

school holidays

It's school holidays in Melbourne and I have had a week off work. A week to spend with Frothy,Oz, my family and friends. I go back to work tomorrow, physically tired but mentally refreshed. I've spent a couple of quiet days with my boys and managed to see a few good friends. Frothy and I also had dinner with my parents after spending a great day with my sister and her girls.

Unfortunately I don't spend much time with my sister, we both have very full and busy lives. This usually leaves little time just to catch up to have a chat, but on Friday we took our children to Scienceworks. It was one of the most enjoyable days I've had in a long time. Our children had a lot of fun together exploring the many interactive displays and just spending time with each other without the grown ups looking over their shoulders.

I look back at the days and hope to be fortunate enough to have many more like them.

making changes

Oz rides his bicycle to work every day and he has been doing this for a year now.
There were many reasons for that original decision - improving his general health and fitness, reduced impact on the environment and less reliance on a car were all positives to making this choice. I supported him from the start and I've been thinking for awhile that I should be putting 'my money where mouth is' and make more of an effort to do the same.

Now it is my turn. The boys have bought me a bicycle! Not any old bicycle but one that I would be proud to be seen riding(shock horror- I have been converted!). It is specifically built as an urban commuter, perfect for riding to work (or the pub) and on weekends along the many bike trails in our area.

I'm taking up the challenge to only drive to work once a week(if at all) and hope that in twelve months time my fitness has improved as much as Oz's.... we'll see!!!!

red is best ?

Oz was planning a cycling weekend with friends and(being a good wife and all that) I offered to drive the support vehicle. Our son, Frothy decided to stay at a friends house that weekend, his only comment was 'I'm not going to hang around with those(you) crazy grown-ups!' This left me childless for a whole 24 hours, how exciting!!

Saturday arrived with clearing skies(early fog)this is winter in Melbourne. Suprisingly everyone turned up at the meeting point on time, a challenge for a group of people coming from all over. We loaded two support vehicles with some luggage and a sizable amount of food. The third vehicle was turned into a moving esky,soley for the transportation of an even larger amount of alcohol. Hopefully our livers were going to survive the weekend.

A short stop for morning tea(beer), a lunch stop at Launching Place (more beer for those not driving) and then on to our destination, Warburton.
Mrs G and I unpacked the worst of our luggage and left the cars at the caravan park so the others could get organised when they arrived (after another pub stop). We decided to walk into town for afternoon tea.

Replenished, we returned to find the group unpacked,showered and ready to party(suprise suprise), the new drink of choice was now red wine. We thought it was time to join in!!!
Dinner was at the local hotel where Oz and Dale(Mr G) serenaded the locals with songs better left at the camp fire. Back to the cabins for after dinner drinks(more red) and sleep?(constant snoring from several very inebriated individuals).

No suprise Sunday was a very subdued affair, much quieter than the day before!

I have almost recovered and a week later, I managed a glass of belgium beer
for second breakfast (definitely another story). Maybe a glass of red with dinner?

seeing the trees

We decided to have a weekend away, to make the most of our winter, and to enjoy a few (cold) days by the sea. Great small town, fantastic accommodation, even better company and lots of red wine made for an excellent time.

Apollo Bay sits on the southwest coast of Victoria and at the edge of the Otway Ranges, it has an abundance of breathtaking scenery and natural beauty. We took the opportunity to do a walk through a surviving remnant of beech myrtle forest. The Otway Fly, a tree canopy walk, many meters above the forest floor also provided a chance (especially for me-very scared of heights) to see things from another perspective.

Without knowing it, we had left the best until last. A small group of Californian Redwoods planted in the middle of nowhere, now 68 years old. Beautiful, alien trees rising out of the bush as we rounded a bend in the road. Even now, two weeks later, I find it hard to describe these magnificent trees and what it was like to walk amongst them.

My place in the world seemed suddenly very small and insignificant.

A new start

A friend has left her partner, after twenty years.

'A hard decision?' No, she replied. 'Any doubts?' None at all she said.

She looks rejuvenated, literally like a weight has dropped from her shoulders, and is happy again regaining control over her own life. A transformation almost.

Abuse can take many different forms, be it subtle or aggressive, but it always has an extremely negative outcome for the victim. The evidence of a lowered self-esteem was there to see if you looked. Comfort eating,mood swings, excessive alcohol consumption, prescribed substance abuse and later, diagnosed depression all pointed to something very wrong. Yet no-one asked the hard question 'Why'?

As friends should we barge in, or should we be quietly supportive and wait until they are ready to take action? Could we really change events or is it up to the person to make those choices when they are strong enough to take charge themselves?

We seem, these days(even with our friends) to keep people at arms length. Have we, as a society, always been like this or is this a recent change? If the situation had worsened for my friend would anyone have intervened?

I like to think that someone would have.

Wardrobe Refashion

Sometimes there is an opportunity to put your 'money' where your mouth is and I have found something fun(maybe) and environmentally conscious to participate in. I say maybe because I have taken the pledge for six months and could be very a long time when you realise what I have signed on for!!!

Wardrobe Refashion is about taking a pledge for 2,4 or 6 months not to buy any new clothing(except underwear and work clothes). It allows for the purchase of preloved, handmade or renovated items. You also have a 'get out of jail card' so you can indulge in something new every two months. I have always been fairly conservative in my clothes shopping, buying classic pieces and supplementing these with cheaper in-season items but I have become more disillusioned with 'store bought' over the last few years and I can never find what I want.

Wish me luck!!!!!

Grumpy old ......

People appear in your life in many shapes and sizes, differing opinions and orientations. I believe that every person can add something to your life in some form or another.

I work with people all day within a small community and this theory has been proven time and again, often by only a few words uttered between 'Good Morning' and 'See you next week'.

After nearly twenty years no-one has been able to disprove my pet theory - until recently.
I will spare you you the details, there is little to say, except that I have never met anyone that I wanted to scream 'do something,anything!!!!!!' to before.Maybe my theory should be expanded to include that there a few people are here only to infuriate, annoy and frustrate others.

As I tested my new theory, my husband in his eternal wisdom, said only ' why do you think I call you a grumpy old ...'

See we have all learnt something today.............

New friends?

I sit here, with the roar of conversation all around, these are my husbands friends not (yet) mine.

Discussions of many things take place, again proving that (just about) everyone has something worth listening to if you take the time. The ride, the accident,the purchase of new bikes, and the planned weekend away are all examined over the first cups of coffee.

As the breakfast continues the noise reduces to a pleasant hum and the topics shift to the more intimate ones of marriage, relationships, children and friends. These conversations take place quietly, generally with kindness and sympathy.

I am glad that I made the effort to be here today.

a dog's day

I have a dog, an old grey smelly dog.

He is gentle and kind and quiet.

A comfortable place to sleep, someone to sit near and the occasional treat is all that is needed to make him happy. Gone are the days of persecuting our two cats or running around the backyard all day or barking at crows.

He is asleep at my feet now, content in his old age, just to wait for dinner.

A good day for Mums

Today is Mothers Day, and in years past, this was a day to celebrate motherhood (and all that implies). A day simply to remind us to say 'thank you' to our mums.

As with all special days found on our calendar, it has now become a mixture of rampant consumerism and commercially driven guilt. Bigger is better, the larger and more expensive present seems to be what is important.

I think that for most mums what they really want is someone to genuinely and sincerely say 'I love you', once in a while.........

.........and maybe not just on Mothers Day.

Anothers view

People's lives are rarely what they appear to be, more below than what can be seen on the surface. In some people you hope there is more to the person than the obvious, with others you wonder how they manage on a day-to-day basis.We all re-invent and dilute our memories, to reduce or remove the impact of certain events, but at what cost?

Today we visited my mum, to have afternoon tea and to give her a small Mothers Day gift. She was very suprised and pleased to see us. She looked very unwell, was extremely vague almost disorientated. She had forgotten the arrangements I had made with her on Thursday.

It was heartbreaking to sit there, watching her and listening to her stories, all the time wondering how many times she had reconstructed the past to make the present livable.
I can never truly understand my mum's view of her world, all I know is that she has often been sad,disappointed and isolated within her lifetime.

I don't want the same for me.

Small things

For me, and probably for all of us, it's the little things in life that leave a lasting impression.
A smile, a 'hello', a 'good morning' is all that is often needed to make someone feel better.

Courteous gestures are now the stuff of legends, vaguely recalled from the dim dark past
(generation ME has now matured into adulthood) and the words 'please' and 'thank you' have also reached mythical status.
Vainly we (some parents) are trying to teach the newer generation some old-fashioned values, to have manners and to understand that in addition to 'I' and 'me' there is also 'we' and 'us' and 'you'.

Yesterday was an example of the majority believing in 'I' rather than 'we'. Frothy's school was having a working bee, just a general tidy up to make the school look it's best for Open Day. Nothing on the list of chores was difficult, a couple of hours of help was all that was required to make a real difference.

Most parents obviously didn't think beyond 'its Sunday' because only the usual suspects appeared to help - yet again.

We were there for about four hours(including an excellent morning tea) enjoying the work together, proving that although we are declining in numbers, some still understand that there is something greater than themselves.

A village life

Another Monday, another full day at work.

Busy
Menial work
Smile on cue
Remember names
Hope they are well
Next.

Balance

Do we ever get it right?

What do you include in your life?

Family, friends, work are the first that come to my mind.The environment, good health, cooking, books, gardening, fabric, sewing and a good bottle of wine (I almost forgot!!!) are other items which must be added to my compilation. (As I write, I know there is something missing, a dark shadow looming at the edge of my thoughts........)

In the vain hope of attaining domestic bliss, five different monthly meetings (work and committees) little athletics (summer months) volunteer work(which I still do occasionally) more work whenever they rang(often early morning) have recently been deleted from the 'have to do' list on a regular basis. I am also looking for a new job that will a better fit into my refurbished life.

Unexpected disturbances(read child husband etc.) will impede this latest attempt to have any control but I am learning to say no......

Sometimes......

Suddenly the darkness takes shape, briefly forgotten, never finished and the bane of my domestic life, housework. Maybe tomorrow it will go away.

It is ANZAC Day

It is pre dawn in Melbourne, a story is being told to 35000 silent people, the atmosphere is one of respect and reflection at the Shrine of Rememberance.
As the ceremony progresses and dawn breaks, there is a change in the mood of the crowd. The emotions are now visible in the surrounding faces and comfort can be found from strangers displaying similar feelings. I stand close of my husband and son and silently hope that all our soldiers have found some sort of peace, in life or death.

We meet up with a close friend for breakfast afterwards and I am somewhat subdued, my thoughts turning to the meaning of ANZAC Day and the questions that war, in any of it's forms throughout history, brings.

It rained yesterday.

Rain

Saturdays forecast: cloud increasing chance of thunderstorms 16-21

The bureau of meteorology has forgotten the R word. You won't actually see that word in print anymore on their website.
Maybe they don't for the fear of being engulfed in abuse or maybe they don't want to raise our hopes anymore. Either way, I don't think anyone in Melbourne would actually believe them.We have been disappointed too many times, like a small child who no longer believes everything their parent says.

It's been awhile since we have seen anything vaguely resembling the R word and now we have little water and less hope that our gardens will survive after another dry winter. Lawns have long died off and only the truly obsessed has planted any annuals (petunias etc) in the last year.

This is only a small symptom of a greater problem, we have been in drought for many years now. Even now as the most naive become aware, the federal and state governments are sticking their heads in the sand (which will be all we'll have left soon) and doing little as possible except squabble amongst themselves.Drought has an ever expanding impact on all aspects of our lives.

We may be living in 'The Lucky Country' but we certainly having haven't been looking after it.

Thursday ?

My day started early, couldn't sleep, sick of dreaming all manner of odd things that made no sense not even to me.

The day started out grey, subdued and peaceful.
Suprisingly it was still warm outside, more like a summer dawn than an autumn one. A group of rosellas bright crimson and blue swept over the backyard landing in the gum tree next door, quietly chattering amongst themselves. A currawong and a magpie greeted the morning in unison making sure we were awake. I hand watered my new plants, still in their tubes, with the run-off from the hot water service mentally organising the day ahead.

A small boy (Frothy) appears at the back door, fuzzy from sleep hair sticking out at odd angles
holding one of his beloved stuffed toys. We hug each other and go into to make breakfast together. The day has started well........

The world according to the Froth Monster

Let me introduce a major influence on my dyslexia - my son - who henceforth shall be known as Froth Monster.

The Froth Monster is so named for his emergence from a bubble bath one day looking like some previously undiscovered creature. Very pleased with himself, big toothless grin spread fom ear to ear, bright blue eyes shining with laughter.

Seven now, teeth now, faded blue eyes, the laughter of madman in training and a lopsided sense of humour. He has the uncanny ability to infuriate, suprise and delight at any given moment, often all three simultaneously driving both me and my husband to distraction.

Yesterday when we discussed school lunchbox options, his directions were very precise -" a small container of tiny teddy biscuits, not a medium one like today, I don't need that many extras(read junk food), two pieces of fruit and a wrap with exactly the same things in it ...........please" This is the way of the Froth Monster.

Begin where you are

Today I have no idea about anything.

I work two eight hour days, Monday and Tuesday, and at least three hours a day for the rest of the working week. The job itself is not difficult either mentally or physically. It's close to home and my sons school but it saps me of me and I often feel disconnected from everyone and everything by Tuesday evening.

Previous attempts of retreating into sleep have failed miserably. I'll certainly be awake again at a very early hour of the morning, feeling even more dispirited.
A promising new book, started last night, is sitting on the table next to me,maybe reading a few pages is something that will renew my enthusiasm for life in general. Here goes........

Another day in domestic paradise

Here goes!!!
As for most new bloggers the first entry is not a good indication of where this will all end up but the first post must be written.......

Sunday - the best day of the week
Pretend to sleep late so I qualify for a cup of tea in bed, many thanks to husband who makes this in the vain hope of getting me out of bed before lunchtime. Nice try dear but no cigar.

Eventually I get organised to do my volunteer work at our community plant nursery. This nursery was set up 25 years ago to promote the use of indigenous native plants in local gardens, both commercial and domestic. The area in which I live has only approximately one percent of the original bushland left within it's council boundaries,something which renders me speechless through anger and disbelief.It horrifies me that in such a beautiful part of Victoria, at the base of the Dandenong Ranges,there will nothing left for the next generations to enjoy.