Adelina's Day!

Yesterday I collected two former and two current work colleagues and we trundled down to Barwon Heads for afternoon tea for yet another work colleague who has relocated to rural Victoria.

The afternoon tea was held at the house of a dear friend and once again, another former work colleague who should have been a caterer given her lavish spread of yummy sandwiches, scones, jam and cream, home made chocolate brownies and other delicious nibbles.

The weather was deceivingly warm, the sun was in the sky and I took a walk in Chris's delightful garden where beautiful yellow/orange poppies caressed my arms as they swayed gently in the breeze.

The garden was abundant in colour and oh so photogenic on such a day but that was not the reason I had come to this place.

My purpose was to say goodbye (not farewell) to a very strong lady who has fought a hard battle and is still fighting to this day. She goes back to her homeground and will be on land with her beloved horses, dogs and cats amidst her family. I have known this lady for thirty odd years and always have found her to be delightful and with a great sense of humour even in adversity.

I wish you well Adele in this new phase of your life and I promise to come visit you when I can.

Those white cockatoos you see up the top were visiting my backyard a few months ago and smiled as I flashed the camera their way.

They actually look pleased to be there and were busy with their mates, chattering away the day they landed.

We have a wide array of birds who come to visit and in recent days its been amazing to wake up to the sounds of bird life as the sky lightens.

We have parrots who come to visit in the hot summer months......

We have maggies (perhaps an omen for next Saturday?), we have wattle birds and blackbirds, sparrows (flying mice) by the dozen, gorgeous little grey birds with a tuft of yellow on their tail feathers. We even have the cheeky little blue wrens from time to time who take great delight in checking themselves in the car rear windows and leaving a deposit each time.

You have to love this 'warming' time of the year when life begins to emerge from hibernation and the new breed of birds do exactly what their fore-fathers did before them.

Another thing I've noticed, just quickly before I go, is that of a night time, if you stick your head out the door, your sense of smell will delight in a heady array of perfumes as plants and flowers are beginning to release their scents with the warmer weather.

Once the heat of summer hits, that perfume will dissipate, but for now with the crisp coolish air hinting at a gentle warmth, the scent is there to delight and for that I am thankful.

And so it comes....

I'm really on the countdown with work now.

Only one and a half shifts left...Tomorrow is a full day, Thursday is a half clinic, half ward day and then Friday is a day in the city at the conference I will be attending, as local support.



This week also appears to be heralding the death knell of my beloved car.

My commodore sedan, purchased only 10 years ago is sounding its death rattles as we speak. PGA, as I fondly call her has been at the mechanics for almost a week now and he has just rung to tell me there is not a lot he can do to fix some major problems that have emerged as he been fixing other problems.



We purchased this car almost brand new when Chris and Merryn were 17 and 15 respectively.

This car has been with us through numerous trials in our lives, when my Dad died and when Chris died. This car has been to Porepunkah numerous times. She has been to NSW, South Australia, even QLD I think from memory. She was with me when I went up to Bairnsdale to be with Bronie when her Isabelle was born. She has taken Mum and I up to Pambula, and was an integral key to when Mum moved from Rosebud to where she now resides.

If ever I could love something inanimate, it would have to be my white commodore sedan, PGA.

Unfortunately though, all things change as we grow older and it seems I must prepare to say goodbye to her as some problems are irreparable.



Last Sunday was Murray's eldest sisters 70th. birthday. Her second eldest daughter held a birthday party for her with immediate family and siblings present.

It was a delightful day and the bonus for Murray and I was to catch up with people it has been all to easy to put off seeing when you are so busy with work.

Shirl has certainly experienced some trials in her life and seeing her emerge as a truly graceful woman from it all is one of my life's pleasures.

Shirl has 12 grandchildren and 11 of them were there the other day. It was also a bonus watching those grandchildren who not long ago were little kids, emerging into maturing adults with almost independant lives.

As for the rest of us, (the siblings that is)...we don't appear to have changed much and the biggest delight of the day apart from singing "Happy Birthday" and laughing about when Shirl spoke of "Krugers'" (in joke) was simply picking up where we left off from the last time we saw each other.

A day in a life.

Whilst travelling into the city the other week with my other half, Melbourne was a very wet city indeed. We travelled very early in the morning and I managed to capture this distorted sunrise vision through a rain-dropped windscreen as we joined the queue along the freeway

Thought I might as well start the Christmas countdown although I don't mean to scare anybody. I have my own countdown you see.

One week and a half ago....8 days to be exact, the boss went on leave and muggins here had to slide into her role as acting unit manager of a very busy unpredictable birthing unit.

I am feeling a little swamped (understatement) at this point as I have so much to do each day, plus extra she has left me that I have not had time to contemplate.

I just wish I had one day without interruptions, a day where I could close the door and just do what I want to do, alas and alack, the busy ward with all its issues render me putting things aside and catching up, and just doing this and that and going to meetings and remembering to draw breath from time to time.

I have 8 shifts to go with one of them a study day in the city. I have been approached via email to act as a local contact on that day which means I get to meet and greet people, ensure they have nametags and booklets and all that kind of stuff you get when you attend a workshop. The bonus for me is that the company running the workshop have reimbursed my costs to attend so I consider myself most fortunate indeed.

Do you like my hands?

These hands represent some of my colleagues. They also represent the tactile emphasis we have in our roles as midwives in our busy unit.

Our job entails not only catching babies as they come into the world from the security of their mother's uterus. Our job also implies touch, a form of communication many of us in this world take for granted. We touch our colleagues, we touch those babies, we touch their mothers, we even touch their partners and their families from time to time. With that touch comes an element of faith and trust. What some forget is that we, as people, are only human and errors are made from time to time. I am not writing about life threatening errors but merely minute errors in the broadest of sense. I find it dismaying and disappointing when some people within the community will not grace us with an element of difference. Whether we like it or not, we are all subjective to our own knowledge, even if we believe we are objective and we can never be 100% accurate on anything that we do that requires use of senses such as touch and smell.

There are days I wonder why I do what I do when faced with conflict and ever-growing issues...but there are times such as when I took these photos I know why I do what I do.

I am a midwife to work with the wonderful people that work around me and for this will always be grateful.

Life is beautiful

I've nearly completed week one of 'being the boss' and I am amazed at how quickly the day goes.
Mind, the boss asked me to do a whole heap of stuff on top of the normal day to day stuff and I haven't even looked at the extra yet!
What with payglobal, holiday requests, sick leave, phone calls, keeping tabs on ward happenings and meetings....I am one busy little bee.
A few staff colleagues have been rather unwell this week too for one thing or another. There are a few nasty bugs floating around and I know they wouldn't take the time off if they could help it but it's not much fun trying to work in our environment when you're crook, so they're better off tucked up in bed after all.

The one thing I am not comfortable with is not knowing what is happening in the real world outside the office.
I know the ward is humming along, because I can hear the phones, I can hear staff talking and I know they are very busy. I make it a point to try and get out to see what's going on but I get so caught up with desk stuff it's impossible sometimes.
Yesterday I commented to someone about this very same thing and they replied that I just had to trust them. Of course trust is what we are all about in our job and every midwife has to trust her colleagues. We'd be a sinking ship if we didn't.

My Mum is improving. She is so much better than she was even a week ago. Today she had to present to the medical day procedure unit for an infusion of a medicine to improve her osteoporosis. I am so out of the loop with all this stuff. We get caught up in our own little world, mine being childbirth and the changes within medicine are ongoing all the time. It really is incredible the advancements in some fields. Unfortunately though it is not the same for all areas of medicine, but for now am grateful my mother's quality of life is improving again as the weather warms up a bit and winter passes.

I logged on to my emails today and was quite chuffed to have received an email from Andrea Robertson,(a well known childbirth educator) asking me if I would care to assist on the day of a conference I am going to in October. Why they asked me I don't know but nevertheless I am more than happy to help with name tags and paperwork etc on the day. A bonus is that they will refund me my deposit for the day so who am I to quibble.
Thank you Andrea.

Last week I attended a brilliant conference which was all about wellness in nursing.
One of the speakers was an incredibly energetic woman, who also happens to be my age but looks far far younger, by the name of Amanda Gore. Amanda travels all round the world, lecturing on relationships within workplaces and how to get the best out of your colleagues and yourself.
I was so impressed with Amanda's presentation I called her to tell her so and today I received this in the mail after we spoke as a result.















Inside were these...


















It was like opening a suprise show-bag from the Royal Melbourne Show!

I shall list the items individually and I plan to use them at work.
They consisted of:-
2 books, 'The Gospel Of Joy' and 'You Can Be Happy'
Two DVD's, 'Lead Out Loud'(The secret skills of authentic leadership)with workbook and 'Live Out Loud', (The secret skills of living life to the fullest),plus a 6 audio CD set 'Whats The Difference That Makes The Difference? (The secret skills of life balance)'.
Also included were 10 little men figures, 2 pairs of rabbit ears, 4 pairs of happiness glasses and the piece de resistance .....a magical fairy wand.

My mission now is to become the Chief Fun Fairy at work...My aim, to put the Heart and Joy back into business.

I shall keep you posted on my accomplishments Fair Reader!

When the party's over...

I've just worked a very pleasant shift at work but feel quite shell shocked in the aftermath of last week.
We ended up having 197 births for August of this year...There are now 197 extra people residing in or near where I work and live.
For every birth there are two parents...one could say that 2/3 of those babies are living with 2 parents...so lets say 130 of those babies have two parents living with them. For the others, there are 67 single parents minimum.
Maybe half of those newborns have siblings...at least one, if not two...so we could say there are approximately a minimum of 200 siblings living with those babies.
197+130+67+200 = 600 odd people directly involved in the all those births in just one month.
That equates to a hell of a lot of people in my reckoning.

Our unit has only 28 beds with a 4 bed overflow in heightened times.

No wonder we were all bushwhacked after such a frantic month.

I certainly don't expect it to end.Far from it. In fact I know this will only get busier as time goes on. I am just curious to know where we are going to obtain the extra midwives and obstetricians from to accommodate such increases in our birthing numbers.

I am looking to retire in or around 10 years. I presume there are many others around my age who will do likewise.
Not that I think I am irreplaceable by any means but who will replace me when I am gone?

One for the customer AKA the customer is always right!

Today was a day like any other.
I wasn't working today and felt a little lethargic so made myself get up, do stuff, then get out of the house.

A couple of months ago I travelled to a factory outlet shop with a friend and purchased a couple of items of clothing.
One shirt I bought I rather liked...I could wear it with jeans, dress up pants or a skirt if I wished.
I loved the colours and it fitted well with my sense of 'style'.

The top was worn twice and being the pedantic person I am...a bit of O.C.D there too no doubt I washed it gently in between wears as I just love the perfume and feel of freshly laundered clothes.
Instructions on the label said to gently handwash, hang away out of the sun and iron with a warm iron.
This I did without question.

Not two weeks ago, I brought it out of the wardrobe for yet another wear and put it on thinking I looked tres chic and all of that.
Halfway through the evening, which was a group mingling of sorts I actually felt the material fray in my hands.
To my dismay I looked down at a front panel and saw a gigantic rip...it appeared that the material had just disintegrated, and so, for the remainder of the evening I clutched my bag in front of me to hide the tear.
You can imagine my dismay when I returned home and gave the top a closer inspection and found throughout the fabric a number of areas that were just holding it together so to speak. Any pressure on the remaining intact material would cause it to separate and create even more tears.
Initially I was at a loss as to what to do. I felt the store would not listen to my complaint (past experience made me think this) but I actually emailed the company and stated my case. They replied with a reasonably terse..."Well, we will have to leave it to the manager of the store to decide". No apology about their material quality or anything, and so today I took the bull between the horns (figuratively speaking) and took the top back to the store.

The lady I spoke to could not have been any more pleasant than she was and very gracefully apologised for my inconvenience...(I had to travel 40 kms. to get there I might add).
I was given a choice of a refund or a replacement and I took the replacement as I do love the shirt and its colours so time will tell if this one will deteriorate before my eyes also.
The long and the short of this story though is that even if you feel disempowered and that you have no rights...you actually do have the right to state your case and make a complaint...even in the nicest possible way.

I did...and I got my shirt back intact.
So, ladies and gents...this was a win for the consumer!

Mad Mouse

Did I tell you the story of my encounter last week with a rodent who believed my place was (note... WAS) his place?
Well, it goes like this...

It was a Saturday and I was oh so busy tidying up the pantry after dinner.

We knew of the existence of a mouse in the house...their usual trail (mouse poo...uuurrrrggghhhh) was evident at specific places within, and both my husband and daughter had sighted a little black thing scurrying around also.

I had to go into the pantry for something and as I opened the door, there was a movement just to my right, then I felt something plop onto my shoulder.
Sure enough...a bloody mouse thought he and I were best buddies and decided to say hello, but my scream of primal fear put paid to any long lasting relationship between he and I and off he ran down my arm, jumped onto the floor and hurried away out of sight...probably deaf by now.
By then, I was doing a little war dance also....I had an attack of the shakes and when I get a fright like that I tend to utilise these dance steps....a bit like a staccato drum stick that can't stop....
It was then I decided it was real live war so off I went quick smart down to the supermarket for some anti mouse stuff and consequently bought out the whole shop's worth of Ratsak and mouse traps.
Once I arrived back home I laid bait and traps every which way...I tell you it was like walking a mine field until I calmed down and realised that the pervading smell of peanut butter AND cheese would attract him wherever it was so I culled a few of the deliberately laid baits and waited.
Sure enough, the very next morning, there was a deceased mouse in one of the traps and even though I usually have a buddhist like mentality, this was one enemy of the state I was quite comfortable in getting rid of.
Just to be on the safe side, I left a couple of the traps and some of the bait around where any other self respecting mouse might chance upon it.

The mouse in the trap it just so happened was a light brown in colour and unsuspecting me thought perhaps Mus and Mez were a little colour blind, or maybe the shock of the springing trap or my scream might have made him go blonde all of a sudden so I was confident that was the last we would see of mice for this winter anyhow.

Fool that I am now it seems, for only last night as I was watching Packed To The Rafters, or Doc Martin, or Modern Family or Outnumbered...I have forgotten which, there in front of my very eyes I saw said BLACK mouse run along the wall in our rumpus room and with a twitch of his whiskers looked at me and I am sure he laughed...probably thinking..."thanks to you I am deaf, but I am not blind. I see you and now I don't have to put up with your prissy little human screams anymore"!

So, once again, out ready and armed are the mousetraps and the ratsack...hopefully to do their thing yet again!!!

(To be continued)

The Life and Times of a Tired Midwife...

"Well, that's another day over", I said to myself as I walked out of the ward today. Throughout the course of the day I tried to remain happy and smiling even when I got my head bitten off by an irate husband...Can be a bit difficult as you can guess.
What a day...full when we started at 7, overflowing by 10. We even had to admit a woman who had presented bright and early for a caesarian section, into a consulting room for the time being until we had discharged a postnatal mother and baby and had a spare bed to put her in.
The weekends have always been traditionally quieter at work than the week days as we usually do not have any elective admissions to deal with. This weekend however was the exception to the rule. Last evening there were 7 women in labour during our shift and each of the 3 midwives who were working with me had to care for two labouring women each which is well against midwife/patient ratios. We survived though yet again, with 6 or 7 births by the time we left to go home...I lost count after a while.
The one positive about such busyness is that the time goes quickly...sometimes much too quickly, but home time arrives and you're off out the door before you know it. To be honest, there are times at the end of the day I feel like I have been cheated of my days work due to the speed of time.
In a few weeks our unit manager goes on leave for three weeks and she has asked me to cover while she is away. It is a job I do not relish as the job comprises of meeting upon meetings, lots and lots of computer work (emails, not facebook or blogs!!!) and counselling staff through these hard busy times we are experiencing. In the past when I have temporarily taken the job on I have felt very frustrated as I'm constantly aware of the pace in which my colleagues are working and am unable to contribute because of those alternate responsibilities. I suppose I will do my usual thing and be darting in and out of the office trying to create a compromise for stressed staff who are becoming very tired of their workloads.

The major reason though for my smiles today though is my Mum. It was a real joy to walk into her little cottage this afternoon to find her busily sorting out her beloved collection of tapes she has amassed over the years. This is a sign she is on the mend after a few horrible weeks of pain and major discomfort. I have even promised I will take her out for lunch tomorrow if the weather remains bright and sunny so she can absorb some vitamin D for a change. She even had a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit while I was there which was a contrast to her recent loss of appetite and resultant nausea.

Another reasons for my smiles is to read wonderful comments I received both on here and on my facebook site from loved friends and family.
In case you cannot tell, I do love to write and find this blogging very therapeutic for my soul.
When times are hard I have found writing about it most cathartic and it helps me understand the way I think and helps me to rationalise why 'things' happen at different times in our lives.

Reading has always been one of my most favourite past times. To me there is nothing better than curling up with my version of a good book. I love how a story can transport you into another realm and will take you away from reality for the term of the novel you have become involved in.
I would love to write stories but I am a perennial procrastinator and am very good at deflecting and putting off necessities in my life.
For example, a few blogs back I spoke about the collection of bits and pieces I acquired in order to create my hand for the quilt we at work are to create. I shamefacedly have to admit that the poor bits and pieces that are readily awaiting my tapestry are still shut away, yet to see the light of day.
I keep on thinking that I will do it tomorrow and perhaps tomorrow I will...It's like joining a gym and becoming that regular organised person that gets her moneys worth out of the subscription....that's not me I'm afraid...there are a number of local gyms I have joined with such good intentions only to lose interest half way through.
Perhaps that's why everyone is so very different...I am a deflector of the major kind...others get their 'stuff' and do it...perhaps its to do with mojo...who knows...the funny thing is that I smile and get on with it all...and nothing phases me too much in life. Even those horrible gob smacking occurrences that make you question why we experience what we do, I digest and take on board.

Once again, I say ..."Such is life"...to quote a now deceased bushranger, and wish you all a methodical organised life...unlike mine!

Shops, mothers and other things

Time to write some more. I haven't put any words on here for a while as I have been quietly distracted with my unwell mother and that other place in my life called work.

Mum has been crook with a winter ailment. At 86 years of age I guess she is entitled to feel unwell when the temperature drops and it's bitterly cold outside. Just to side step for a moment we in Victoria have experienced mammoth snow falls in the highlands and so the temperature even in Melbourne has been the lowest for this winter season for many years. A bonus to the lousy weather though is the rainfall which has given the water catchment areas a reason for celebrating for a change.

This last week our water restrictions have been eased a little, but the free for all days of sprinklers and water slides in the backyards are long gone and I resume are never to return.

I am wondering now if we will be given consent to use our bores again as the council forbade us their use a couple of years ago due to the falling water table. The local market gardeners south of us utilise theirs I am sure constantly but we being the good citizens of Wyndham have abided by the rules and bans and as a consequence our bore mechanics have collapsed. It'll cost us a few dollars to repair once the ban is lifted to be sure to be sure.

Today I think I saw a glimmer of improvement in Mum. It seems she does improve when surrounded by family members but I am hoping some warm weather might make her feel a little less sore than she has been feeling of late.

Unfortunately, a side adjunct to her pain and discomfort is horrible nausea and some vomiting, which makes an already slender frame even less resistant to further weight loss.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I trekked up north yet again to our beloved hideaway for a couple of nights.

The worst thing about going up there is having to come home again. It would be so easy to live up there permanently and there are times I am sorely tempted to look at permanent accommodation, but we have many commitments home here, so I dare not tease myself with the concept too often.

Mind, it is an enjoyable past time looking in the local real estate windows when we're up there.

I have, in recent times taken a liking to photographing shop windows whilst away and I will share some with you, reader, today....

These were both taken in a town known as Nagambie which is on the way to a bigger town known as Shepparton. I love the feature of the Bushells doors...talk about utilising the new with the old....

This next pic was taken in Beechworth on a chilly winters day. The cat was obviously enjoying the warmth in the window. Can't say I blame him with such cold days as we've been experiencing.

Nothing more spectacular to say except that life goes on, babies continue to be born, work gets busier and time escapes us.

There is a lot to be said in the phrase 'Carpe Diem'...seize the day.

Make the most of what you have, when you can and take time to STOP and smell the roses.

You may return to a physical place in your life, but you will never return there in the same emotional time and place. So, from me,...enjoy the moment!

Its a Saturday night...

Its Saturday evening. I've just finished another shift at work. No one is home as Mez has gone back to Edithvale and Murray has gone to the football and its 10:27. He'll be home soon I guess and hopefully Collingwood has won yet again. Another step closer to the finals...not that I really care who wins but I know he'll be happy.
Am tired yet again. Seems to be a bit of a habit this exhaustion of late.
I relish my bed and its dreams even if they are a tad weird at times.
I am thinking that perhaps we need a new mattress as I wake up with so many aches and pains lately. The mattress is only a couple of years old but its already beginning to feel a little worn.
I am hoping tomorrow to accomplish a few things. We're off to brekky with our lovely neighbours and friends Jim and Fay.
I then plan to go to Spotlight to gather some resources for my hand.
Long story there.
Recent times at work saw a hoarding put up opposite our main desk as extensive renovations are being performed at work. One of the staff had the bright idea to decorate the hoarding with hand prints so quite a few of us decorated the wall with hand outlines drawn with marker pens. Even one of the obstetricians complied...and the plan was to gather as many hand prints as we could. I was even thinking of creating dot motifs as in indigenous drawings, but alas, that all went rather awry.
Next thing we know we got a very perfunctory email from admin telling us we were very naughty...we had to leave the hoarding alone as the company doing the renovations did not like our decorations and so our rudimentary form of decoration was swiftly painted over by maintenance staff and we got a stern ticking off.
As a consequence, a couple of us put our heads together and hit upon creating a quilt with all the pieces created by staff. One stipulation was that each section had to incorporate a hand outline and the creativity I have already observed is amazing.
I am a bit of a dud when it comes to art work...I never did very well at school and when it comes to creativity I fall way behind...I leave that to my friends and colleagues I'm afraid.
I have my piece of material...I now have to hit upon my own bit of originality and I think I will buy some paints from Spotlight tomorrow and do my very own dot painting.
Hands are a symbol in midwifery...they imply touch and trust. They imply gentleness, caressing and love and hopefully my hand will do just that also like the others I have seen so far.

My husband has just returned home... I hear his car engine and soon there will be a key in the door.
I will leave this for now and give you a step by step photographic exhibition once I get started...hopefully tomorrow.
PS. His beloved team won by the way!

When things go bump in the day.....

Just a quick one before I disappear off to do chores and things.
Today has been an upside down kind of day. Started out with great intentions which fell flat half way through.
Was walking over to my Mum's but had to do a U-turn and come back home about halfway there which was very frustrating.
I tend to shoulder these things though and get on with it. Not too much thought goes into disappointments because I realise nowadays its a wasted sentiment.
There's so much else to think about and procrastinate about (like paying bills), so I make all these further plans in my head and shelve the bits that would ordinarily get me upset.
Am off out to dinner tonight to say Bon Voyage to a dear workmate of whom I am very fond of.
Hopefully it'll be a good night and I wish him well on his journey to Europe.
Am back to work tomorrow for one shift then will traipse into the city for a 2 day conference fully sponsored by my union (ANF).
I decided to become job rep this year mainly to gain more understanding about our work conditions and rights. Our unit is going through monumental changes at the moment and I feel we need clarification on many things. This conference in an annual get together of all job reps. We listen to the wants of other nurses and midwives throughout the state and add ours in too if there is time.
Every workplace has its wants I am sure and we are not alone in presuming our workplace has some good and some appalling work conditions.
At least though I have a job with a reasonable income so I really do have no cause for complaint.
I will say this though that we nurses and midwives are severely underpaid when I know a 14 year old boy who umpires soccer gets an hourly rate greater than mine!
I have been hearing noises throughout the house in the last 24 hours, almost to the point of me getting up to check whats making the noises.
Murray and I were sitting down in the rumpus room yesterday evening and I could hear sounds emanating from the kitchen like I am hearing now but on inspection there is nothing to be seen.
Funnily enough I'm not frightened, more curious as to whats causing the noises....

Another Day

Just finished work and I am knackered today. Work has been pretty busy of late with more and more women coming through our portal doors with complex issues for us to deal with. The place seems to be shrinking and this is a result of all the building works going on outside our doors.
Just last week we lost two of our two-bed rooms, a passageway, our staff toilet and a common-sense access to where most of our computers lie, not to mention our fax machine. We have gained the beds elsewhere, but at times they seem to be miles away, especially when you have to walk the full distance between the main area of our unit and where these beds are now located.
We will gain access once again at the main desk to our fax machine when it is relocated, but, one would think this could have been done before the area was boarded up wouldn't one!
Some of the staff are displaying symptoms of fed-uppiness and are bickering a bit which historically was not something we have had to deal with in the past.
Seems a shame that all of a sudden tempers are beginning to flare up as our resources are becoming more stretched and staff are becoming more and more stressed with the workloads.
I have always loved working in this unit and have felt a cohesiveness between everyone, but even I have felt like throwing the towel in in recent times.
I am only 56 and should be above all the issues and squabbles, but funnily enough I feel like this place is in a sense, home, so when the place is restless, like the natives, I too am restless and discontent.
One more shift to work then I am on two days off so I will get some rest and distraction away from the place which'll do me good.
Monday will see me start at a gym again for the umpteenth time.
I am sick of feeling fat and unco-ordinated and desperately need to do something about my increasing girth so gym it is and I'll be in the company of good friends so what have I to lose.
The irony though is that Tuesday I am having lunch with friends, then dinner with friends...so what I burn on Monday will be replaced on Tuesday...unless I have soup and salad twice in the one day!

Ada

Have just taken my Mum for yet another injection of 'Lucentis' into her left eye as she has macular degeneration.

This mother of mine has had 20 or so of these injections spanning the last three years and each time we go I am amazed by her courage and fortitude.

Every time just before, she always says, "I hope this is the last one".

She knows damn well it won't be though as the doctor has explained to her she must continue with them in order to retain any sight. Mum is blind now in her right eye so to remain independent (living alone) she must submit.

Given that she is now 86 I am proud of this strong loving woman with whom I share a wonderful friendship.

In recent times I have dabbled in a bit of holistic therapy for myself, such as meditation, massage and so forth.



One meditation group I went to was conducted by a woman who claimed to be a white witch. She was quite sweet and always interesting to talk to but had a habit of referring to the place where we meditated as haunted which always put the willies up me.



Sometimes when you take a perfectly clear photograph, you know theres no interference, yet, when you produce the pic elsewhere it has little orbs of light within? Well, my mediating white witch told me that those little orbs of light are extraterrestrial beings or spirits who have passed on...


A few years ago my husband and I went to a ball at Werribee Park and I took some photos both indoor and out.


Once such photo will give you an expample of what I mean about the orbs...as demonstrated here......






Not two minutes later, I took yet another photograph of the same spot. The night was clear, there was no smoke nor was there any haze. There was nothing in the surrounding atmosphere to cause what I saw when I produced this next photo on my computer.



I will always wonder about what it was that caused this shape. Was it an atmospheric condition.....was it an entity or even a spirit as was suggested by my meditator.

I would love opinions so please feel free to tell me what you think!

My best friend and I recently paid a visit to the Melbourne Zoo following cancerian birthdays we both had.
Here are just a few photographs of the day.


Looking a bit fed up and tired at the end of another long day

Fresh from the water

Birds of a feather...

Please don't eat the daisies

Are you lookin' at me?

A stand alone pelican

Follow the leader

Peering through a fence of steel

Beautiful colours, alas part of his wing was missing.

Passion through a guilded cage

The places to visit whilst up here are never-ending. There is no constant, each place is changed whenever we return. These particular photos portray the end of winter and a gentle re-emergence into spring. My Mum loved the wattle tree behind her and the cattle tromping down the pathway is a rarity indeed.

Different times of the year display vastly different colours and hues up north.

Autumn is a significant time primarily because of the changing colours of tree foliage.

Some of these photos were taken not long after the devastating bushfires of Feb 2009.

Porepunkah

This is where we go to get away from it all. A mere cabin up in the highlands of Victoria, far from the frantic pace of the city.