Reasons why

I love autumn for many reasons. One is the word itself. Roll it off your tongue, pretend you are Scottish as you do so. Inflect those vowels and consonants.... such a delicious word 'autumn'.

The words remind me of the turning of the seasons, the colour of leaves just before they fall from the trees making gorgeous colourful patterns on the ground before changing to brown.

I have a love of the north eastern country of Victoria and this time of the year is when it is all so beautiful up there. What I wouldn't give for a cottage and land with some golden ash and maple trees up there if only to watch those trees as they change their colours.

I love autumn for it becomes legal tender to wear those winter scarves that have been busting to get out of your drawers and wardrobes. You know the ones...the wrap around pythonesque tight scarfs of subdued and bright colours with matching gloves and mittens that say "Hey, it's our turn now! Be off with you singlets, shorts and thongs!!!"

Not only for my self indulgent colour and clothe fantasies do I love this season though..... A very big part of why I love this part of autumn is the wee fruit one can purchase fresh for a few short weeks. Imperial mandarins would have to be one of my favourite fruits of all time. Please don't get me wrong. I love bananas and peaches and nectarines and mangoes, oh, the list could go on and on (did I mention mangosteens?) but alas, my favourite is the pungent sweet smelling citrusy easily peelable mandarin which breaks into segments and melts in your mouth. I could eat a few in one sitting they are so delicious and sometimes I do when they're available.
They are one of the reasons I love this time of the year apart from the hot chocolate necessity every now and again......

Have you ever tried hot chocolate with mandarin flavouring? Neither have I but I bet it'd be delicious too. Must try and invent something with exactly that flavouring!

A Lad's Tale

Once upon a time, there was a boy.
This boy lived much like any other boy.
He was a baby and he grew.
He went to school, studied (sometimes), played (a lot), much like other boys and eventually grew into a man.
As a child he frequented a hospital because he did not grow so well and consequently from time to time had to experience multiple tests to see if 'they' could find out why he didn't grow so well.
He would have his occasional times of despair and frustration as a result of having to go to hospital but the majority of time saw him as a well balanced well-adjusted boy who coped with a few significant differences in his life.
This boy was loved by his family, by his friends and virtually all who knew him because of his smile, his eyes and his humour.
He was a warm endearing kind of person who lived a normal life. He had pets, he had a sister with whom he shared two parents and he lived in a home when not at school.

As this boy grew his problems became more pronounced and unfortunately, hospital times lengthened and were more significant as he aged.
He became well known at the hospital he frequented, once again because of his smile and humour, not to mention his willingness to chat to people and his warmth and friendliness towards others.
He became a mentor of sorts with other children and other children learnt through him how to cope with hospitals and illness and doctors and staring people.

His relationship with his sister was a typical one. There were no preferences in this family with both parents going to great pains to ensure both children were equal, both in love and ensuring they travelled the path towards adulthood with its boundaries, in a similar pattern.

As children, there were holidays with camping, fishing, swimming and generally having good times being the priorities. There was lots of laughter and sometimes tears but most importantly, there was lots of love.

There were occasional squabbles..... a little bit of in-house fighting you might say but no more than in any other home.

And so, the boy grew. He went to primary school and excelled. He went to secondary school and excelled also, especially in friendships, mateship and a desire to continue his education despite developing problems that he found restricting from time to time relating to his 'not so wellness'.

Such was the boy that friends he had made through primary and secondary school stayed with him all his life. People remembered him from many years after meeting him and would often ask after him if a mutual aquaintance realised their connection.

It was while he was in university where he was enjoying and exploring his life as a newly made man that our story changes for it was during this time, in his second year of tertiary study that his body was unable to sustain his life and so he died quickly and peacefully leaving behind a grieving collection of family and friends.

It is ten years to this day that this boy left this planet.
It is ten years to this day since I have seen his smile and have heard his voice.
It is ten years to this day since my eyes have alighted upon his beautiful face.

It is ten years to this day that a pain in my heart, so fierce, so full of impotent frustration was created.
Albeit, that pain has diminished with time, but on this day I revisit this pain with relish for it brings my memories of the boy flooding back.

I can still hear his voice and see his smile. I can still hear him as he teases his sister and chuckles and yells and eats and talks....
He is still with us all in spirit, his impression is that great.

How quickly time passes.

I think it was the fourth of July....

Once upon a time when I was very young and very impressionable, I went out on a date with a boy to a party somewhere in Essendon.
He took along a record...yes a 331/3 rpm record that he had bought, and played it at said party.
Two things came to me that night that have remained with me forever.
Firstly, and the most impressionable, were the magical sounds that I heard when he was able to play his record. I had not heard that music before, having been brought up on Slim Dusty and Mario Lanza interspersed with 'A walk in the Black Forest'. Am sure you get the drift!
The music transported me to a new world.... A world of trumpets, guitars, piano and a burgeoning rock sound that was literally to me out of this world. The album cover didn't give away much as it only depicted an insignia which was new to me. No pictures, no descriptions of the band inside....just lots of writing which I read in between allowing the music to reach my very depths of soul.
The second impression of the night was that I realised that night that it was not to everyone's taste as there were so many groans and complaints as the music played on and on. The boy I was with and I had to stand and defend the music playing as older members of the party wanted to stop it and play Led Zeppelin or Steppenwolf or Cream or someone else anything but what was playing.

Following that night, I began to hear the music on the radio when I was supposed to be studying and each time it thrilled me more and more.

I had begun working that year in a full-time capacity so not before too long I was able to go out and purchase my very own version of this wondrous music as the boy had long departed and I had some little money of my own.
Much to my joy, the band that created this music churned out a number of records, each with their distinctive sound and rhythm over time and I progressively purchased these records when I could and created quite a collection.

A day in a life.

Yesterday was the climactic result of a few months preparation for something I, with the help of colleagues and friends, planned as a surprise.

Joe is a G.P./obstetrician I have worked with for a number of years and recently he was made to step away from his obstetric practice and focus purely on his GP work because of hospital politics. I might add at this point that Joe has always had an excellent work ethic and has always loved working with pregnant/birthing women and many of us have experienced working with him in a team capacity with great joy.

Yesterday gave us the opportunity to thank him in the form of a celebratory party in a local hall and party we did.

Great music was provided by Dean, who shared his love of 70's, 80,s, 90's and 2000+ music with us all. There was the nut bush, the bus stop, even the chicken dance to be done with wonderful participation...

There was a number of people who came to share their thanks to this great man. There was food galore, lovely sausage rolls and vol au vents, pizzas and dips.... Enough food for a feast, and that was just the savouries.

Dessert comprised of slices and trifle and little cakes and one big big big cake for Joe to cut. He will be well and truly sick of chocolate mousse cake by the time it's done.

I just want to thank everyone for their participation, their food and their fun. Am I right in thinking the kids had a great time too?

At the end of the night we had to clean the hall and restore it back to its former pristine cleanliness and there were many hands to make light work of it all.

Thank you thank you thank you everyone for making Joe's night such a special one.

A Friday Story.

I'm having a lunch break right now and have the urge to blog, to tell my tale (not that its very inspiring). So, for what it's worth, here it is.

Every month nowadays, I begin by making a solemn promise to myself (and to Chantelle), that I will complete the FMS photoaday incentive.

I usually begin with great guns as I have today, but somewhere along the lines of "oh so much happening in my life" (you know the story) I fall by the wayside and forget for a few days, a week even, and before you know it, the month has gone and it's time to start over yet again.

What I want to attempt this month is to blog with my photo, to explain my little touch of supposed creativity so that I can verbalise what I see pertaining to the day.

I suspect I will run out of time as usual but while this burst from my inner brain lasts, I will do what I can to write daily until I become distracted yet again.

I love to blog and I love to take pictures of my life so why not combine the two!

The photo I have posted for today for some reason will not come up yet on my phone. Whats the bet as soon as I close this it'll appear but for all good intents and purposes I shall upload another only for the sake of including a photo I have taken with today's words.

L= Light for me on this day 1st. March.

When my light photo for today is really accessible, I will swap pictures but for now, this photo demonstrates what it was like a couple of weeks ago up north in not so sunny, but very warm Porepunkah when bush fires were not that far away around Harrietville.

So, there you have it reader. A smoky sunlight it is!

Do you think life is a test? If so, what are we testing for?

Life is what you make it don't you think.
Many face adversity at different times and at different stages of their lives.
Many find those adversities insurmountable whilst others manage to scramble down the mountain on the other side and prepare to face a new day.
It's funny how some can cope, whereas others cannot, and life stops for a brief millisecond as a result.

Think of Alice as she slid down the big rabbit hole after the rabbit. She might very well have crumbled into a big hole and become vegetative if her personality had shut down.
The story would just not have been the same then would it...

What about Tiny Tim from 'A Christmas Carol'. Here was a boy who used crutches every day of his life, but still smiled and encouraged others to take his lead all the time. Tiny Tim never gave in...hey, sounds like a slogan there!

Those who are taking the time to read this are probably wondering what I am on to write such drivel. To tell you the truth, I've just had a cranberry and ham roll for lunch with a little bit of diet coke to wash it down. I'm waiting for my next patient to arrive and was pondering about the meaning of life in my terms and thought I'd record my fleeting thoughts for posterity, hence the reference to fictional characters.
Truth be known though that perhaps Lewis Carrol and Charles Dickens based their stories on real life people who were strong and courageous and used them as role models to reassure people that they could climb on top of the dung heap and shout victorious!

Well, my next visitor is awaiting my presence so I shall go and do my duty.

More pondering next time.

An early morning's ramble.

Haven't been here for a while yet again.
Sometimes things just get in your way and it's very easy to ditch what you're most comfortable with in order to feel like you have a sense of order in your life.

Not a lot has changed for me.
I still live in Werribee with my husband and still work at the local hospital as a midwife. I do now though work in a GP's clinic locally as a practice nurse which is a little different to what I've done for many years. This job is currently three 8 hour shifts a fortnight and I love it for the opportunity it gives me to talk to people of varying ages for a change, both women and men, as I do their care-plans and referrals to allied health, their dressings and their diabetes assessments. I also get to immunise children up to the age of four which provides a bit of entertainment when I get to blow bubbles of distraction to stop their cries of shock and dismay.
I work in the clinic with two GP's, one of which I have known and worked along side for a very long time now. He is a delight and has a wicked sense of humour occasionally and I feel it an honour and privilege to be his colleague.

We now have two dogs, Stuart and Noni who are both border collies. Stuart is a traditional black and white boy and a real woose, whereas Noni, the girl, who is decribed as being a lavender colour is a dog with determination in her eyes, especially if you should have a ball in your hand for she has the instinctive belief that balls are for throwing and her objective in her life is to fetch and fetch and fetch. She will actually hand the ball back to you sometimes, but her ploy is to throw it at your feet and look at you with a "throw that ball" attitude until you weaken and comply with her unspoken demands. I love them both dearly as they have very individual personalities and we often go down to the local beach and neither of them object to the water, in fact, the wilder the weather the more fun it is!

My daughter still lives at home. She is now a child-care worker with not only a Certificate 3 in child-care, but also now a Diploma in early childhood, and will soon be undertsaking an advanced diploma. I like to think she'll eventually look at completing a Bachelor in Early Childhood and Development, but only she knows when and if she will attempt that, as there are many other distractions in her life these days.

At the end of last year (2012), she obtained the distinction of being awarded the honour of 'Best overall worker' within the childcare company she works for and her reward was a trip for two to Port Douglas with accomodation, flights and car hire, no to mention an extra weeks leave to take this well-earned holiday with Kieran (her boyfriend).

Mum still lives not 5 minutes away from us but for how much longer I'm not too sure as she's going downhill at the rate of knots these days.

The 'village' she has been living in for the past 8 years or so is a lovely place with cute cottages and beautifully maintained gardens etc., The not so lovely aspect of her village though is the rate in which people either leave to go to nursing homes or die and this is is happening more and more as the population ages.

Mum herself is gradually declining and is becoming quite confused about a lot of things. At the moment she's quite convinced someone is tampering with her clocks as the time of day is not what she expects when she opens her eyes.
She forgets to eat and needs encouragement to drink fluids on these hot days occasionally, and this morning just gone when I was there, I was convinced she hadn't showered which is so unlike her. She was insistent that she had showered, but knowing daughters do know the difference between a freshly showered Mum and an unshowered Mum, that I do know.
This week my sister is coming down from her place of residence and our task (aka battle) is to take Mum to visit a couple of nursing homes to see what they're like and hopefully trigger her interest a little.
Somehow, I doubt the interest trigger will happen and she will blatantly refuse to even try one out under the premise of respite but at least we can try.

Well thats enough for now.
I shall blog again soon hopefully reader and may the force be with you!