Beginning the week with a smile that I hope will continue through the week.
Monday, January 30, 2017
MONDAY MIRTH
Fortunately this hasn't happened to me yet but perhaps....one day..
Beginning the week with a smile that I hope will continue through the week.
Beginning the week with a smile that I hope will continue through the week.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT
Instead of a poem today....a little fun. I've never had a rabbit for a friend, have you?
Saturday, January 28, 2017
THINKING ALLOWED
There were fireworks in Perth city to celebrate Australia Day last Thursday and it was very hot (40C = 104F) so I imagine lots of folk suffered sunburn. People congregate around the Swan River or up in Kings Park to get a vantage point to see the fireworks, arriving quite early in the morning to get a good spot. I prefer to see fireworks on the TV as I don't enjoy the noise one little bit.
There has been a lot of talk about changing the day for our national celebrations as there are those who do not look on it as a celebration at all. It is to celebrate white man landing on the shores of Australia and establishing a colony here with little regard for the original inhabitants of the land. This of course is all about our eastern seaboard where white man landed in 1788. W.A. was not settled until 1827 when a ship from the east coast arrived in Albany to plant the British flag. The English were rather afraid that the French had eyes on the west coast and needed to establish themselves before that could happen. Perth was settled in 1829 so we are somewhat younger than the rest of the country and two years younger than Albany.
Unfortunately, over 200 years ago white man tended to look upon coloured people as savages and of little worth. Apologies have recently been made by the government to our indigenous people but it was not this or the last generation that did these things. Many of us are descendants of the early settlers and many more are migrants who came to Australia for a better life. We can see the evil that took place way back then but unfortunately cannot undo any of it. We have learned a lot over the years but it has taken a long time during which time there has been much suffering.
One story about Australia day amuses me. The partner of my half-sister Marilyn is a Kiwi who happened to be born in New Zealand on 26th January (Australia Day). Two years ago he was naturalised on his 60th birthday and they had a huge party to celebrate not only Australia day but also Peter being naturalised and his birthday as well. Three wonderful reasons for a party, if one actually needs a reason. They live in the country so unfortunately we couldn't celebrate with them.
There has been a lot of talk about changing the day for our national celebrations as there are those who do not look on it as a celebration at all. It is to celebrate white man landing on the shores of Australia and establishing a colony here with little regard for the original inhabitants of the land. This of course is all about our eastern seaboard where white man landed in 1788. W.A. was not settled until 1827 when a ship from the east coast arrived in Albany to plant the British flag. The English were rather afraid that the French had eyes on the west coast and needed to establish themselves before that could happen. Perth was settled in 1829 so we are somewhat younger than the rest of the country and two years younger than Albany.
Unfortunately, over 200 years ago white man tended to look upon coloured people as savages and of little worth. Apologies have recently been made by the government to our indigenous people but it was not this or the last generation that did these things. Many of us are descendants of the early settlers and many more are migrants who came to Australia for a better life. We can see the evil that took place way back then but unfortunately cannot undo any of it. We have learned a lot over the years but it has taken a long time during which time there has been much suffering.
One story about Australia day amuses me. The partner of my half-sister Marilyn is a Kiwi who happened to be born in New Zealand on 26th January (Australia Day). Two years ago he was naturalised on his 60th birthday and they had a huge party to celebrate not only Australia day but also Peter being naturalised and his birthday as well. Three wonderful reasons for a party, if one actually needs a reason. They live in the country so unfortunately we couldn't celebrate with them.
Friday, January 27, 2017
FRIDAY FUN
Just a little fun instead of a favourite tune this time. Hope to get myself back into gear soon.
Hope you weekend is a good one.
Hope you weekend is a good one.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
DID YOU KNOW?
I am sorry but I am going to have to put the royals on hold for a while. I am having real problems with my ring finger on my left hand....it objects to me doing much typing. I am sure it will come good so please watch this space on Thursdays in coming weeks and thank you to those who have been following the kings and queens of England and Scotland.
and just for fun:
and just for fun:
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
WEDNESDAY WISDOM
'Tis a wise cat that knows just how long you've been gone....perhaps they can all count and I wouldn't put it past them.
Monday, January 23, 2017
MONDAY MIRTH
I am sure this would certainly help.
Hope this makes you smile and you continue to smile all week.
Hope this makes you smile and you continue to smile all week.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT
Always searching for something to pop on here for Sundays I came across these two little poems. I have certain blogging friends with very green thumbs who I thought may get a laugh out of them:
Saturday, January 21, 2017
THINKING ALLOWED
Well he's now in the Oval Office and the world awaits wondering what fun and games we can look forward to over the next several months. Enough said about that.
Just for fun I thought I'd pop in this picture of our beautiful kangaroo paw, our state floral emblem.
We had a particularly quiet week as no appointments and no callers and yet probably achieved far less than we should have done. Sometimes one needs incentive to get things going and when we feel comfortable the way we are it is not conducive to achieving much. Something to do with old age perhaps? I am sure if I could get around OK we would do much more but I tend to feel a burden if we go out anywhere so we stay home. The weather was up and down being in the mid 30s and the high 20s. Not one drop of rain has fallen so far this year and everything is looking so dry. Keeping the garden going is difficult with our rigid watering restrictions. Even people with bores can only use them 3 days a week, without them 2 days a week using sprinklers. Hand watering is permitted of course.
We felt for the people in New South Wales who had lost their homes to bushfires and the heat they've endured as well. Hot days with high winds push those fires into becoming wild fires and nothing in their path stands a chance. South Australia also had high temperatures....we send it to them from here....and Canberra seemed hotter to me than usual. I always think of River and EC when I see the temperatures they are experiencing. Keep cool ladies.
I won't mention bushfires in WA in case I tempt the hand of fate and we've still got some months to go before we could even begin to think we are safe. Our heat tends to continue right into April and even May so you can imagine, with very little rain, how dry our state becomes.
Guess that's it for this Saturday.....nothing of note to report.....enjoy your weekend. 😊
Just for fun I thought I'd pop in this picture of our beautiful kangaroo paw, our state floral emblem.
We had a particularly quiet week as no appointments and no callers and yet probably achieved far less than we should have done. Sometimes one needs incentive to get things going and when we feel comfortable the way we are it is not conducive to achieving much. Something to do with old age perhaps? I am sure if I could get around OK we would do much more but I tend to feel a burden if we go out anywhere so we stay home. The weather was up and down being in the mid 30s and the high 20s. Not one drop of rain has fallen so far this year and everything is looking so dry. Keeping the garden going is difficult with our rigid watering restrictions. Even people with bores can only use them 3 days a week, without them 2 days a week using sprinklers. Hand watering is permitted of course.
We felt for the people in New South Wales who had lost their homes to bushfires and the heat they've endured as well. Hot days with high winds push those fires into becoming wild fires and nothing in their path stands a chance. South Australia also had high temperatures....we send it to them from here....and Canberra seemed hotter to me than usual. I always think of River and EC when I see the temperatures they are experiencing. Keep cool ladies.
I won't mention bushfires in WA in case I tempt the hand of fate and we've still got some months to go before we could even begin to think we are safe. Our heat tends to continue right into April and even May so you can imagine, with very little rain, how dry our state becomes.
Guess that's it for this Saturday.....nothing of note to report.....enjoy your weekend. 😊
Friday, January 20, 2017
FRIDAY FAVOURITES
Thinking of how I love rock and roll set me scrolling through YouTube once again and I came across Twist and Shout performed by the Beatles when in Melbourne in 1964. I was a big Beatles fan way back then and still am although perhaps more of their older songs than the more modern ones. Come foot tapping with me as we listen to the fab four once again.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
DID YOU KNOW?
I am continuing the story of Edward I. We had reached the part where John Balliol had been proclaimed King of Scotland who had paid homage to Edward along with the Scottish peers.
Edward's subsequent colonialisation of Scotland led to a revolt which the English king overcame. In 1296 he deposed Balliol proclaimed himself King of Scotland, and carried off the Coronation Stone of Scone and the Great Seal. In the following year Sir William Wallace organised a fresh revolt but was eventually defeated. He retired to France, and after five years returned to wage guerilla warfare, but he was captured and executed In 1306 Robert BrUce was crowned at Scone as King of Scots, and the de facto Scottish monarchy began anew. In the ensuing war he was at first defeated but it was while Edward I was leading a further campagn to crush his resurgence that the Ebglish king died at Burgh by Sands having reigned 35 years.
Continuous warfare on the part of Edward - in Gascony and Flanders and on the French coast as well as his own borders - led to a continuous lack of funds. He made a number of questionable impositions on the country and borrowed heavily from the Jews, the only section of the population who were then allowed to make heavy financial loans. Because of this monopoly and their restricted social function which had barred them from productive enterprise, the Jews charged high rates of interest and, using other expertise in their role as currency manipulators, were involved in the common crime of clipping the coinage. This was the most flagrant inflationary act possible at a time when the gold or silver coin had a value corresponding to its initial weight in precious metal.
Soon after his accession, Edward passed legislation banning usury and encouraging the Jews to take up productive occupations, but, in the conditions of the time, there was more profit to be made out of the old vocation of the Jews and the temptations which it provided. Over the next 15 years they did not move into agriculture or manufacture - nor did they get any local encouragement. Their unpopularity, heightened by sensational charges alleging the ritual murder of Christian children, increased in authoritarian circles when Edward's rare "Parliaments" realised that the king was still borrowing from the Jews instead of making concession in return for parliamentary consent to taxation. In 1290 Edward reacted by approving an ordinance expelling the Jews from England. Consequently, in 1295, he was forced to call what is termed the first Model Parliament, summoning the representatives of the towns and rural areas as well as the lords spiritual and temporal. He wanted support to raise taxes.
With such an apparent detailed personal history of aggression, it is difficult to justify summarily the reputation which Edward earned in his own lifetime and later as a lawgiver and administrator, with the interests of the people of England truly at his heart. He is acknowledged ass having enlarged 'freedom from fear' by firm extension of public order; as having rewritten the land laws (as much in the interests of the tenants against the encroachment of the Church and other spreading landlords as to clarify his own position as primary patron); as having reshaped the organisation of the law courts; redefined the military obligations of the people with a view to speedier reaction in emergency; and as having accepted, however reluctantly, the broad principle of parliamentary consent to national taxation.
He was a man who chose to lead by personal example. In his youth he made a trunk road safe by challenging the leader of the harassing highwaymen, an outlawed knight, to personal combat. and beating him. In his old age he mourned his dead wife - the Eleanor Crosses erected from Grantham to the old Charing Cross were her visible memorial - and yes, in the cause of national diplomacy, he sealed a necessary peace treaty by marrying the French King's sister. He stamped the seal by fathering three strong children in his seventh decade.
A couple of weeks back SBS (TV) were showing some Shakespeare stories and one involved this Edward and his son. We thoroughly enjoyed them and regretted they were on so late at night. We watched them with enjoyment and slept in the following day because we could. 😌😩
As we move forward to the more 'modern' kings their stories are quite long and so much more was known about them. I will probably have to cut them into 2 or even 3 sections. Do those who have followed the royals of the UK do you want me to continue to the present day or have we had enough history for now? Your answer will determine whether I am continue or not. Thank you.
Edward's subsequent colonialisation of Scotland led to a revolt which the English king overcame. In 1296 he deposed Balliol proclaimed himself King of Scotland, and carried off the Coronation Stone of Scone and the Great Seal. In the following year Sir William Wallace organised a fresh revolt but was eventually defeated. He retired to France, and after five years returned to wage guerilla warfare, but he was captured and executed In 1306 Robert BrUce was crowned at Scone as King of Scots, and the de facto Scottish monarchy began anew. In the ensuing war he was at first defeated but it was while Edward I was leading a further campagn to crush his resurgence that the Ebglish king died at Burgh by Sands having reigned 35 years.
Continuous warfare on the part of Edward - in Gascony and Flanders and on the French coast as well as his own borders - led to a continuous lack of funds. He made a number of questionable impositions on the country and borrowed heavily from the Jews, the only section of the population who were then allowed to make heavy financial loans. Because of this monopoly and their restricted social function which had barred them from productive enterprise, the Jews charged high rates of interest and, using other expertise in their role as currency manipulators, were involved in the common crime of clipping the coinage. This was the most flagrant inflationary act possible at a time when the gold or silver coin had a value corresponding to its initial weight in precious metal.
Soon after his accession, Edward passed legislation banning usury and encouraging the Jews to take up productive occupations, but, in the conditions of the time, there was more profit to be made out of the old vocation of the Jews and the temptations which it provided. Over the next 15 years they did not move into agriculture or manufacture - nor did they get any local encouragement. Their unpopularity, heightened by sensational charges alleging the ritual murder of Christian children, increased in authoritarian circles when Edward's rare "Parliaments" realised that the king was still borrowing from the Jews instead of making concession in return for parliamentary consent to taxation. In 1290 Edward reacted by approving an ordinance expelling the Jews from England. Consequently, in 1295, he was forced to call what is termed the first Model Parliament, summoning the representatives of the towns and rural areas as well as the lords spiritual and temporal. He wanted support to raise taxes.
With such an apparent detailed personal history of aggression, it is difficult to justify summarily the reputation which Edward earned in his own lifetime and later as a lawgiver and administrator, with the interests of the people of England truly at his heart. He is acknowledged ass having enlarged 'freedom from fear' by firm extension of public order; as having rewritten the land laws (as much in the interests of the tenants against the encroachment of the Church and other spreading landlords as to clarify his own position as primary patron); as having reshaped the organisation of the law courts; redefined the military obligations of the people with a view to speedier reaction in emergency; and as having accepted, however reluctantly, the broad principle of parliamentary consent to national taxation.
He was a man who chose to lead by personal example. In his youth he made a trunk road safe by challenging the leader of the harassing highwaymen, an outlawed knight, to personal combat. and beating him. In his old age he mourned his dead wife - the Eleanor Crosses erected from Grantham to the old Charing Cross were her visible memorial - and yes, in the cause of national diplomacy, he sealed a necessary peace treaty by marrying the French King's sister. He stamped the seal by fathering three strong children in his seventh decade.
A couple of weeks back SBS (TV) were showing some Shakespeare stories and one involved this Edward and his son. We thoroughly enjoyed them and regretted they were on so late at night. We watched them with enjoyment and slept in the following day because we could. 😌😩
As we move forward to the more 'modern' kings their stories are quite long and so much more was known about them. I will probably have to cut them into 2 or even 3 sections. Do those who have followed the royals of the UK do you want me to continue to the present day or have we had enough history for now? Your answer will determine whether I am continue or not. Thank you.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
TUESDAY CHAT
I had Paul our tree man here last week as there is much more pruning to be done to keep us safe. I planted lots of trees over the years because I love trees but they grew larger than I thought they would. Maybe back then we looked after them too well. 😄
While in the front garden I noticed a plumbago I'd trained to grow up a nearby eucalypt (gum tree) had really taken off and is now producing blue flowers nearly at the top of the tree. This is a photo I took of it but you may need to enlarge it to actually see the blue flowers high up in the tree.
Also we have a fiddlewood that has always been rather confused. I've often said we seldom see much in the way of autumn colours in our city but this fiddlewood decides in early summer that it will produce autumn colours in its leaves and then by now (mid-summer) it actually drops leaves as most deciduous trees do in winter. This shows the tree this week with some branches quite bare.
Actually a chap that used to work in our garden tended to be very heavy handed with the shears and when I asked him to 'prune' the fiddlewood he cut it right back to the stump. I feared the worst but it coppiced and now once again stands about 10-12 ft high. An apple blossom hibiscus really suffered at his hands and has been battling over the past year or two to regenerate but it's slowly getting there. He gave the impression that tidiness was more important than beauty in the garden. I prefer a bit of a wilderness which to me looks much more natural
Another reason we decided not to let him loose in the garden any more was his poisoning grass without telling us before he actually did it. When you have cats that eat grass it is a dangerous thing to do. We also lost a crop of grapes about 3 years back. They hang over our fence from next door and the same fellow cut them all off even though you could see grapes forming. This year there are a dozen or more bunches which look as though they are going to be delicious. We just hope our neighbour keeps up the water to them as we are lacking rain right now and everything is very dry.
P.S. Added at last minute....Daughter saw her doctor yesterday and has thyroid problems....swelling etc. I recommended the endocrinologist that operated on my parathyroid in 2014 and she will be seeing him on 25th Jan. If anyone can help her he can....I had a lot of faith him. More news of that at a later date when we know more. Seems goitre may be the prominent thought. Just thinking positive thoughts on her behalf.
While in the front garden I noticed a plumbago I'd trained to grow up a nearby eucalypt (gum tree) had really taken off and is now producing blue flowers nearly at the top of the tree. This is a photo I took of it but you may need to enlarge it to actually see the blue flowers high up in the tree.
Also we have a fiddlewood that has always been rather confused. I've often said we seldom see much in the way of autumn colours in our city but this fiddlewood decides in early summer that it will produce autumn colours in its leaves and then by now (mid-summer) it actually drops leaves as most deciduous trees do in winter. This shows the tree this week with some branches quite bare.
Actually a chap that used to work in our garden tended to be very heavy handed with the shears and when I asked him to 'prune' the fiddlewood he cut it right back to the stump. I feared the worst but it coppiced and now once again stands about 10-12 ft high. An apple blossom hibiscus really suffered at his hands and has been battling over the past year or two to regenerate but it's slowly getting there. He gave the impression that tidiness was more important than beauty in the garden. I prefer a bit of a wilderness which to me looks much more natural
Another reason we decided not to let him loose in the garden any more was his poisoning grass without telling us before he actually did it. When you have cats that eat grass it is a dangerous thing to do. We also lost a crop of grapes about 3 years back. They hang over our fence from next door and the same fellow cut them all off even though you could see grapes forming. This year there are a dozen or more bunches which look as though they are going to be delicious. We just hope our neighbour keeps up the water to them as we are lacking rain right now and everything is very dry.
P.S. Added at last minute....Daughter saw her doctor yesterday and has thyroid problems....swelling etc. I recommended the endocrinologist that operated on my parathyroid in 2014 and she will be seeing him on 25th Jan. If anyone can help her he can....I had a lot of faith him. More news of that at a later date when we know more. Seems goitre may be the prominent thought. Just thinking positive thoughts on her behalf.
Monday, January 16, 2017
MONDAY MIRTH
I too have often wondered the same thing.
A smile to begin the week and may it remain with you all week.
A smile to begin the week and may it remain with you all week.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT
Most of you have probably seen this poem many times but it always brings a smile to my face along with so many memories of times 'back then'. I found it on Facebook during the week so thought "why not share it?"
Saturday, January 14, 2017
THINKING ALLOWED
Sorry I missed the royalty post on Thursday but it's been a funny old week and I just didn't get to it. Next week for sure I'll be back with the rest of the story I began last week.
Now I am going to ask you a strange question. Is it possible to be delighted and yet sad at the same time? 😊😢
On 9th January my 4th great-granddaughter arrived on the scene, the daughter of my son and her husband are the parents. I have told the story of how Steve decided on 2 January, 2002 that he wanted nothing further to do with our family (or his father either) and how his daughter and her partner flew to South Africa to marry quietly and avoid any family problems here in Perth. Not sure what that was all about but I do know my son did not like the lad his daughter was seeing for some reason. This is my d-in-law with the new baby.
I also told how my daugher-in-law Dianne had kept in touch with me throughout the past 15 years letting me know how they all were and sending the photos from time to time. I've appreciated her so much for doing this for me but the one thing I'd been dreading was news of one of their 2 children producing a child. Di emailed me at the end of December to tell me their daughter Jess was expecting a baby within a week or so. I was of course delighted for them and eventually received a photo of the new baby along with an email from Di saying that Jasmine had arrived and weighed 8lb 3oz. This is my son Steven with Jasmine.
The sad part for me, of course, is the fact that I will not actually see the baby or be able to hold her and if I pursued the matter I know I would only cause trouble in their little family. I am sure that now Jess and Ryan have their baby, Steve will feel more benevolent towards his son-in-law, or at least I hope so for everyone's sake.
Although I had anticipated this event taking place I still find it very difficult not to be part of the celebrations of the birth of Jasmine. I know Di will send me photos as the little one grows up but it will never be quite the same as being part of the family as a whole. Am I silly feeling this way? I didn't see Steve's two children grow from young teenagers to adults and this has hurt me rather a lot over the last 15 years. Jess was 15 when I last saw her and she is now 30 and James was 13 and he is now 28.
Apart from the above which I guess has occupied my mind more than anything else this week, we had some more hot weather, I saw my endocrinologist on Wednesday and he seems reasonably happy with me with just an adjustment to my insulin and I see him again in May. Phil and I visited our podiatrist on Thursday and our feet smiled again and of course our lovely Jenny cleaned the house Thursday morning so it too is smiling once more. We will miss out in two weeks time as her day here falls on 26th January which is Australia Day and a public holiday. Phil and I will just have to be extra clean and tidy during that four weeks. 😇
I do hope this didn't come over as all doom and gloom as I am delighted to have another great-granddaughter......but with reservations as mentioned above.
Hope everyone will have a great weekend and rest up before facing the new week on Monday.
Now I am going to ask you a strange question. Is it possible to be delighted and yet sad at the same time? 😊😢
On 9th January my 4th great-granddaughter arrived on the scene, the daughter of my son and her husband are the parents. I have told the story of how Steve decided on 2 January, 2002 that he wanted nothing further to do with our family (or his father either) and how his daughter and her partner flew to South Africa to marry quietly and avoid any family problems here in Perth. Not sure what that was all about but I do know my son did not like the lad his daughter was seeing for some reason. This is my d-in-law with the new baby.
I also told how my daugher-in-law Dianne had kept in touch with me throughout the past 15 years letting me know how they all were and sending the photos from time to time. I've appreciated her so much for doing this for me but the one thing I'd been dreading was news of one of their 2 children producing a child. Di emailed me at the end of December to tell me their daughter Jess was expecting a baby within a week or so. I was of course delighted for them and eventually received a photo of the new baby along with an email from Di saying that Jasmine had arrived and weighed 8lb 3oz. This is my son Steven with Jasmine.
The sad part for me, of course, is the fact that I will not actually see the baby or be able to hold her and if I pursued the matter I know I would only cause trouble in their little family. I am sure that now Jess and Ryan have their baby, Steve will feel more benevolent towards his son-in-law, or at least I hope so for everyone's sake.
Although I had anticipated this event taking place I still find it very difficult not to be part of the celebrations of the birth of Jasmine. I know Di will send me photos as the little one grows up but it will never be quite the same as being part of the family as a whole. Am I silly feeling this way? I didn't see Steve's two children grow from young teenagers to adults and this has hurt me rather a lot over the last 15 years. Jess was 15 when I last saw her and she is now 30 and James was 13 and he is now 28.
Apart from the above which I guess has occupied my mind more than anything else this week, we had some more hot weather, I saw my endocrinologist on Wednesday and he seems reasonably happy with me with just an adjustment to my insulin and I see him again in May. Phil and I visited our podiatrist on Thursday and our feet smiled again and of course our lovely Jenny cleaned the house Thursday morning so it too is smiling once more. We will miss out in two weeks time as her day here falls on 26th January which is Australia Day and a public holiday. Phil and I will just have to be extra clean and tidy during that four weeks. 😇
I do hope this didn't come over as all doom and gloom as I am delighted to have another great-granddaughter......but with reservations as mentioned above.
Hope everyone will have a great weekend and rest up before facing the new week on Monday.
Friday, January 13, 2017
FRIDAY FAVOURITES
I'm not a huge fan of Willie Nelson but I do like this song Ole Buttermilk Sky and Willie seems to do a good job of it so I thought "why not?" As usual I found it on YouTube.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Monday, January 9, 2017
Sunday, January 8, 2017
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT
Thinking about the 3 very hot days we had last week had me of course thinking about our Australian summers so I went seeking poetry of that ilk. I found this little Austrlian poem which rather took my fancy.
EARLY SUMMER by Charles Harpur
"Tis the early summer season, when the skies are clear and blue;
When wide warm fields are glad with corn as green as ever grew,
And upland growths of wattles engolden all the view.
Oh! Is there conscious joyance in that heaven so clearly blue?
And is it a felt happiness that thus comes beating through
Great nature's mother heart, when the golden year is new?
When the woods are whitened over by the jolly cockatoo,
And swarm with birds as beautiful as ever gladdened through
The shining hours of time when the golden year was new?
I am definitely going to try and look at our hot summers through the eyes of a poet and perhaps I won't long for winter quite so much!
EARLY SUMMER by Charles Harpur
"Tis the early summer season, when the skies are clear and blue;
When wide warm fields are glad with corn as green as ever grew,
And upland growths of wattles engolden all the view.
Oh! Is there conscious joyance in that heaven so clearly blue?
And is it a felt happiness that thus comes beating through
Great nature's mother heart, when the golden year is new?
When the woods are whitened over by the jolly cockatoo,
And swarm with birds as beautiful as ever gladdened through
The shining hours of time when the golden year was new?
I am definitely going to try and look at our hot summers through the eyes of a poet and perhaps I won't long for winter quite so much!
Saturday, January 7, 2017
THINKING ALLOWED
I know it is going to be hot again but those two days in the highs 20s were such a relief after those THREE hot days......37C, 41C and 41C (99F, 106F, 106F)......were just a bit for most of us to tolerate. Apart from my birthday on Monday I hardly stepped outside on Tuesday and Wednesday. Just long enough to check my frangipani were doing OK and then back into the airconditioning.
You may remember that for many years we had a large cage with dozens of zebra finches in our back garden. We now only have 4 left (a girl and 3 boys)....the rest had suddenly disappeared and, on looking, Phil found a tiny hole at the bottom of the cage from where they must have made their escape. We only hope that enough of them left together and perhaps were able to look out for each other. You would never have suspected a little bird would escape so easily but escape they did, poor little blighters.
Yesterday afternoon our granddaughter Aimee came for afternoon tea and with her she brought 2 white zebra finches and a little quail. She had been breeding finches and she too had some escape leaving her with just the two left plus the quail. We decided it would be a good idea if her birds went in with ours and then she could concentrate on her budgerigars although she is not breeding them right now. We always enjoy Aimee's company and have a good chat and a few laughs.
The rest of the week was very quiet with me concentrating on playing lots of scrabble online and also working on my Facebook farms. I know I probably spend far too long on the computer but as I can only spend short times doing jobs in the house it has become my companion and my contact with the outside world. Phil is wonderful to be with but I think it important that two people have different hobbies (he loves to read and listen to his classical music) so as not to get on each other's nerves. I too enjoy reading but I don't find it comfortable doing so in the daytime so usually spend an hour reading after I go to bed. We both read in bed and he sometimes far longer than I do.
I hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend...keep cool if it is hot and keep warm if it is cool and in particular stay safe.
You may remember that for many years we had a large cage with dozens of zebra finches in our back garden. We now only have 4 left (a girl and 3 boys)....the rest had suddenly disappeared and, on looking, Phil found a tiny hole at the bottom of the cage from where they must have made their escape. We only hope that enough of them left together and perhaps were able to look out for each other. You would never have suspected a little bird would escape so easily but escape they did, poor little blighters.
Yesterday afternoon our granddaughter Aimee came for afternoon tea and with her she brought 2 white zebra finches and a little quail. She had been breeding finches and she too had some escape leaving her with just the two left plus the quail. We decided it would be a good idea if her birds went in with ours and then she could concentrate on her budgerigars although she is not breeding them right now. We always enjoy Aimee's company and have a good chat and a few laughs.
The rest of the week was very quiet with me concentrating on playing lots of scrabble online and also working on my Facebook farms. I know I probably spend far too long on the computer but as I can only spend short times doing jobs in the house it has become my companion and my contact with the outside world. Phil is wonderful to be with but I think it important that two people have different hobbies (he loves to read and listen to his classical music) so as not to get on each other's nerves. I too enjoy reading but I don't find it comfortable doing so in the daytime so usually spend an hour reading after I go to bed. We both read in bed and he sometimes far longer than I do.
I hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend...keep cool if it is hot and keep warm if it is cool and in particular stay safe.
Friday, January 6, 2017
FRIDAY FAVOURITES
I have long enjoyed this song and heard it sung by several people but never before by Frank Sinatra. I found his version on YouTube and thought I'd share it with you and see what you think. It's always good to have the lyrics and they are included here which to me is a bonus although I think this is one song I do know the words to.
Thursday, January 5, 2017
DID YOU KNOW?
A new year and back with English royalty again. Once again from Kings and Queens of England and Scotland. The story of this king is a long one so I will do it in two parts.
PART ONE
EDWARD I ...... 1272-1307 (Known as Edward Longshanks)
Born at Westminster Palace on 18 June, 1239.
Succeeded on 16 November, 1272 as King of England and Lord of Gascony (a diminution of Aquitaine to its northern territory; later he was accepted as Duke of Aquitaine after paying homage to the King of France); Overlord of Ireland, for which he paid homage to the Pope; Overlord of Scotland (for which he refused to pay homage to the Pope) and King of Scotland from 1296; Overlord of Wales, and King after 1282, when Wales was annexed into the territories of the English Crown.
Eldest son of his predecessor Henry.
Married: 1) in 1254 when he was 15 and she was 10, Eleanor of Castile, daughter of Ferdinand III King of Castile and Leon; she died in 1290. 2) Margaret of France, daughter of Philip III (Philip the Bold) King of France, and sister of the then regnant Philip IV (Philip the Fair); she survived him and died in 1317.
Children: of Eleanor: Eleanor, Joan (died 1265), John, Henry, Julian (Katherine), Joan of Acre (born 1271, died 107), Alphonso, Isabel Margaret, Berengaria, Mary Alice, Elizabeth, EDWARD Beatrice, Blanche. of Margaret: Thomas, Edmund, Eleanor.
Died: of dysentery at Burgh-by-Sands (past Carliste (on the Solway Firth) on 6 July, 1307 aged 68, having reigned 35 years.
Buried: Westminster Abbey,
Profile: Very much in the cast of his grandfather's brother, Richard Coeur-de-Lion, Richard was outstandingly tall and lithe with long arms and legs. His hair was silver-blond until it went surprisingly dark in adolescence and eventually turned bright milk-white. He wore it at shoulder length and kept a clipped beard, His speech was impulsive and indistinct. Though he had a self-depreciative sense of humour, his face was notably lean and stern; he inherited his father's drooping eyelid. His sparse cultural interests were music and architecture.
Edward was, in the eyes of his father, literally a Godsend, since Henry, through lack of desire had delayed his marriage until he was 28, and was then disappointed and indeed alarmed when three years passed before Eleanor was pregnant. The boy was named after Henry's patron saint, King Edward the Confessor, whom the Pope had canonised with that title lesa than a century after his death. (Before Edward "the First" there were, in fact, three Kings of England named Edward - the Elder, the Martyr and the Confessor).
In the same manner as Edward's own nomination of his heir as Prince of Wales - Wales being disputable territory at the time - Henry had created Edward Lord of Gascony at the age of 12. Two years later as part of his busy intriguing between the desultory lootings of minor military campaigns in France, Henry arranged Edward's dynastic marriage. Alfonso X had recently acceded to the combined thrones of Castile and Leon. Alfonso had claims on Gascony. Edward was betrothed to Alfonso's half-sister Eleanor of Castile, daughter of his lately-deceased father Ferdinand III and by this alliance took over Alfonso's claim to Gascony. Edward sailed to Bordeaux and went on to Burgos, and the boy-and-girl marriage took place, It was an exceedingly fruitful union and a rare, devoted companionship. Eleanor travelled constantly with her husband and bore him campaign-children in Roue, Acre in the Holy Land, Bordeaux and Caernarvon, Most of their 16 babies were girls and some survived them - though Joan of Acre died in the same year as her father. Edward's eventual heir was his 14th child, born in the 30th year of the marriage. Edward, however continued to beget children well into his sixties.
Long before he was 20, Edward was overlord of Ireland and responsible for the good order of Gascony and of Wales, where he ruled the Marches as Earl of Chester. He was not conspicuously successful as a general, and somewhat overplayed the role of a spoilt and roistering princeling predominantly interested in the ostentasious combats of set tournaments - though these demanded high skill and personal bravery. many dozens of knights could be killed during a single staged jousting match, and there were no favours for princes. When he was 24, though he had originally admitted the justice of his godfather's, Simon de Montfort's, constitutional struggle against King Henry III, Edward rallied to support his father. As the leading general on the royalist side in the civil war he eventually defeated Montfort. His subsequent pacification of England was statesmanlike and authoritative, as High Steward he was virtually his father's Regent after 1268. From 1270 until 1274 he was abroad on a crusade to the Holy Land, followed by a state tour of Europe and a re-conquest of troubled Glascony. However, he had succeeded unchallenged to the English throne on his father's death in 1272.
Edward was a mature sovereign at the age of 35 with an extreme devotion to personal and political integrity. His abiding principle, which is carved on his tomb in Westminster Abbey, was pactum serva, "keep your word", and it is fair to say that he mainly kept this code except in the numerous exigencies of war. Edward devoted his long reign to the shaping of England as an integrated state of repute within Christendom, and even beyond; he exchanged personal missions with the King of Persia, a Mongol Tartar and not a Moslem. In this quest to create a state he faced difficult local problems which he met by strong and arbitrary means. Controversy is still valid over his treatment of the Scots, the Welsh and the Jews.
In his attitude to the outlying territories of England, Edward was a strictly conformist feudal monarch of his time. Where he paid homage to a higher lord, he expected strong fealty from his own feudal dependents in turn. When he faced running revolt, and finally a war for outright independence in tribal Wales - then a far smaller pocket of territory than its geographaical area today - he occuped Gwynedd, Anglesey and Dyfed after ad pincer operation from the land and the sea, and annexed Waeles to the English Crown. The last Welsh Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, died in battle, and Edward symbolically presented to the Welsh people his own baby son, born in Caernarvon, but did not create him Prince of Wales until he was 16. Ironically, Wales bequeathed to England a powerful weapon of future british imperialism, the Welsh long-bow and Welsh bowmen using it. Edward;s appreciation of this weapon and his deliberate encouragement of its use throughout England made the long-bow arrow, which could penetrate four inches of oak, the most accurate and efficient weapon before the development of gunpower.
The conquest of Wales did not bring instant pacification. Too much unregulated power had to be delegated to the despotic Lords Marcher, whose vast estates ram from Chester to Monmouth and far to the west, and whose bloody quarrels eventually toppled the royal dynasty. War in Scotland was no more constructively successful. The kingdom of Scotland centred on the fat Lothian lands of old Northumbria rather than on the Highland glens, had become deliberately orientated towards the Norman-Saxon civilisation of territorial and ecclesiastical feudalism, rather than observing the tribalism of the clans and the simpler church administration of Saint Columba. Its centre tended to be Sassenach Edinburgh rather than the Celtic capital at Scone. On the death of Alexander III of Scotland, a second cousin of Edward's who had married Edward's sister Margaret, the crown of Scotland passed to Alexander's granddaughter Margaret, 'the Maid of Norway' at the age of three. In 1290 Edward carried through the betrothal of the young Queen Margaret to his own heir Edward, when both were aged six. An eventual marriage would have led to a peaceful union of the lands of England and Scotland, but the maid died almost immediately, shipwrecked on a voyage to Scotland for her coronation. There was a multiple dispute over the succession. King Edward, as overlord, stepped in to arbitrate with a remarkably balanced Commission which deliberated for 18 months, and awarded the throne to John Balliol, who paid homage along with the Scottish peers.
I definitely will leave it there as my hands are objecting to further use right now so next time I will continue with the history of Edward I who to me seems not to have been too bad a king. 😊
PART ONE
EDWARD I ...... 1272-1307 (Known as Edward Longshanks)
Born at Westminster Palace on 18 June, 1239.
Succeeded on 16 November, 1272 as King of England and Lord of Gascony (a diminution of Aquitaine to its northern territory; later he was accepted as Duke of Aquitaine after paying homage to the King of France); Overlord of Ireland, for which he paid homage to the Pope; Overlord of Scotland (for which he refused to pay homage to the Pope) and King of Scotland from 1296; Overlord of Wales, and King after 1282, when Wales was annexed into the territories of the English Crown.
Eldest son of his predecessor Henry.
Married: 1) in 1254 when he was 15 and she was 10, Eleanor of Castile, daughter of Ferdinand III King of Castile and Leon; she died in 1290. 2) Margaret of France, daughter of Philip III (Philip the Bold) King of France, and sister of the then regnant Philip IV (Philip the Fair); she survived him and died in 1317.
Children: of Eleanor: Eleanor, Joan (died 1265), John, Henry, Julian (Katherine), Joan of Acre (born 1271, died 107), Alphonso, Isabel Margaret, Berengaria, Mary Alice, Elizabeth, EDWARD Beatrice, Blanche. of Margaret: Thomas, Edmund, Eleanor.
Died: of dysentery at Burgh-by-Sands (past Carliste (on the Solway Firth) on 6 July, 1307 aged 68, having reigned 35 years.
Buried: Westminster Abbey,
Profile: Very much in the cast of his grandfather's brother, Richard Coeur-de-Lion, Richard was outstandingly tall and lithe with long arms and legs. His hair was silver-blond until it went surprisingly dark in adolescence and eventually turned bright milk-white. He wore it at shoulder length and kept a clipped beard, His speech was impulsive and indistinct. Though he had a self-depreciative sense of humour, his face was notably lean and stern; he inherited his father's drooping eyelid. His sparse cultural interests were music and architecture.
Edward was, in the eyes of his father, literally a Godsend, since Henry, through lack of desire had delayed his marriage until he was 28, and was then disappointed and indeed alarmed when three years passed before Eleanor was pregnant. The boy was named after Henry's patron saint, King Edward the Confessor, whom the Pope had canonised with that title lesa than a century after his death. (Before Edward "the First" there were, in fact, three Kings of England named Edward - the Elder, the Martyr and the Confessor).
In the same manner as Edward's own nomination of his heir as Prince of Wales - Wales being disputable territory at the time - Henry had created Edward Lord of Gascony at the age of 12. Two years later as part of his busy intriguing between the desultory lootings of minor military campaigns in France, Henry arranged Edward's dynastic marriage. Alfonso X had recently acceded to the combined thrones of Castile and Leon. Alfonso had claims on Gascony. Edward was betrothed to Alfonso's half-sister Eleanor of Castile, daughter of his lately-deceased father Ferdinand III and by this alliance took over Alfonso's claim to Gascony. Edward sailed to Bordeaux and went on to Burgos, and the boy-and-girl marriage took place, It was an exceedingly fruitful union and a rare, devoted companionship. Eleanor travelled constantly with her husband and bore him campaign-children in Roue, Acre in the Holy Land, Bordeaux and Caernarvon, Most of their 16 babies were girls and some survived them - though Joan of Acre died in the same year as her father. Edward's eventual heir was his 14th child, born in the 30th year of the marriage. Edward, however continued to beget children well into his sixties.
Long before he was 20, Edward was overlord of Ireland and responsible for the good order of Gascony and of Wales, where he ruled the Marches as Earl of Chester. He was not conspicuously successful as a general, and somewhat overplayed the role of a spoilt and roistering princeling predominantly interested in the ostentasious combats of set tournaments - though these demanded high skill and personal bravery. many dozens of knights could be killed during a single staged jousting match, and there were no favours for princes. When he was 24, though he had originally admitted the justice of his godfather's, Simon de Montfort's, constitutional struggle against King Henry III, Edward rallied to support his father. As the leading general on the royalist side in the civil war he eventually defeated Montfort. His subsequent pacification of England was statesmanlike and authoritative, as High Steward he was virtually his father's Regent after 1268. From 1270 until 1274 he was abroad on a crusade to the Holy Land, followed by a state tour of Europe and a re-conquest of troubled Glascony. However, he had succeeded unchallenged to the English throne on his father's death in 1272.
Edward was a mature sovereign at the age of 35 with an extreme devotion to personal and political integrity. His abiding principle, which is carved on his tomb in Westminster Abbey, was pactum serva, "keep your word", and it is fair to say that he mainly kept this code except in the numerous exigencies of war. Edward devoted his long reign to the shaping of England as an integrated state of repute within Christendom, and even beyond; he exchanged personal missions with the King of Persia, a Mongol Tartar and not a Moslem. In this quest to create a state he faced difficult local problems which he met by strong and arbitrary means. Controversy is still valid over his treatment of the Scots, the Welsh and the Jews.
In his attitude to the outlying territories of England, Edward was a strictly conformist feudal monarch of his time. Where he paid homage to a higher lord, he expected strong fealty from his own feudal dependents in turn. When he faced running revolt, and finally a war for outright independence in tribal Wales - then a far smaller pocket of territory than its geographaical area today - he occuped Gwynedd, Anglesey and Dyfed after ad pincer operation from the land and the sea, and annexed Waeles to the English Crown. The last Welsh Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, died in battle, and Edward symbolically presented to the Welsh people his own baby son, born in Caernarvon, but did not create him Prince of Wales until he was 16. Ironically, Wales bequeathed to England a powerful weapon of future british imperialism, the Welsh long-bow and Welsh bowmen using it. Edward;s appreciation of this weapon and his deliberate encouragement of its use throughout England made the long-bow arrow, which could penetrate four inches of oak, the most accurate and efficient weapon before the development of gunpower.
The conquest of Wales did not bring instant pacification. Too much unregulated power had to be delegated to the despotic Lords Marcher, whose vast estates ram from Chester to Monmouth and far to the west, and whose bloody quarrels eventually toppled the royal dynasty. War in Scotland was no more constructively successful. The kingdom of Scotland centred on the fat Lothian lands of old Northumbria rather than on the Highland glens, had become deliberately orientated towards the Norman-Saxon civilisation of territorial and ecclesiastical feudalism, rather than observing the tribalism of the clans and the simpler church administration of Saint Columba. Its centre tended to be Sassenach Edinburgh rather than the Celtic capital at Scone. On the death of Alexander III of Scotland, a second cousin of Edward's who had married Edward's sister Margaret, the crown of Scotland passed to Alexander's granddaughter Margaret, 'the Maid of Norway' at the age of three. In 1290 Edward carried through the betrothal of the young Queen Margaret to his own heir Edward, when both were aged six. An eventual marriage would have led to a peaceful union of the lands of England and Scotland, but the maid died almost immediately, shipwrecked on a voyage to Scotland for her coronation. There was a multiple dispute over the succession. King Edward, as overlord, stepped in to arbitrate with a remarkably balanced Commission which deliberated for 18 months, and awarded the throne to John Balliol, who paid homage along with the Scottish peers.
I definitely will leave it there as my hands are objecting to further use right now so next time I will continue with the history of Edward I who to me seems not to have been too bad a king. 😊
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
TUESDAY CHAT
Already the 3rd of the month....my how time flies!! I think as we age time really does seem to go more rapidly and we feel we have nothing to show for its passing.
Lunch went well yesterday and I am sure everyone enjoyed themselves. K and B gave me a frangipani in a pot (Dark Knight...a lovely deep red...see above picture) and a lovely card; C had no idea what to get me she bought a meal she had cooked* which I thought a lovely idea and the two little girls gave me a card they had made; A and C gave me a great card with flashing lights and music as well as some chocolate. Phil of course gave us all a delicious lunch. We spent 2 hours really enjoying each other's company and the two little girls are so well behaved which is a credit to their mum. They eventually played with iPads which kept them amused. (*C bought the meal in a freezer bag and it went straight into our fridge when we got home...the meal, not the freezer bag).
It was a very hot day (37C) but tomorrow will be worse with 39C and then 38C on Wednesday. Thankfully we get a couple of days in the high 20s before returning to the 30s again. I am sure some of our hot weather will find its way eastwards so watch out over there and keep cool.
After we got home Phil and I just relaxed which we seem inclined to do more as we age. Tonight we watched two extremely interesting documentaries on SBS....one about the 3 royal cousins leading up to WW1 and then a second doco about the mother of Prince Philip. We had no knowledge about this lady and a more fascinating story I've not heard before. She was a woman whom I am sure her son would be very proud, and his wife too, our Queen Elizabeth.
I have been saddened to hear that our queen is ill with this dreadful cold she contracted just before Christmas. Not to attend either the Christmas or New Year church services is so unlike her and I imagine her medical people are keeping her quiet and looking after her really well. My thoughts are with her and her family at this worrying time. When you are 90, as our queen is, to be ill can be very serious.
Lunch went well yesterday and I am sure everyone enjoyed themselves. K and B gave me a frangipani in a pot (Dark Knight...a lovely deep red...see above picture) and a lovely card; C had no idea what to get me she bought a meal she had cooked* which I thought a lovely idea and the two little girls gave me a card they had made; A and C gave me a great card with flashing lights and music as well as some chocolate. Phil of course gave us all a delicious lunch. We spent 2 hours really enjoying each other's company and the two little girls are so well behaved which is a credit to their mum. They eventually played with iPads which kept them amused. (*C bought the meal in a freezer bag and it went straight into our fridge when we got home...the meal, not the freezer bag).
It was a very hot day (37C) but tomorrow will be worse with 39C and then 38C on Wednesday. Thankfully we get a couple of days in the high 20s before returning to the 30s again. I am sure some of our hot weather will find its way eastwards so watch out over there and keep cool.
After we got home Phil and I just relaxed which we seem inclined to do more as we age. Tonight we watched two extremely interesting documentaries on SBS....one about the 3 royal cousins leading up to WW1 and then a second doco about the mother of Prince Philip. We had no knowledge about this lady and a more fascinating story I've not heard before. She was a woman whom I am sure her son would be very proud, and his wife too, our Queen Elizabeth.
I have been saddened to hear that our queen is ill with this dreadful cold she contracted just before Christmas. Not to attend either the Christmas or New Year church services is so unlike her and I imagine her medical people are keeping her quiet and looking after her really well. My thoughts are with her and her family at this worrying time. When you are 90, as our queen is, to be ill can be very serious.
Monday, January 2, 2017
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!
Today I am 85 years old and I am celebrating having been allowed to live for this many years. My only complaint about today is it is going to be 37C (99F) in Perth but with airconditioning everywhere I am sure I will keep cool. I often threaten to have my birthday in June but have as yet not been able to convince the rest of the family. 😎
Phil is taking us all to lunch at the nearby Kardinya Tavern. It has good food and a great free salad bar which very few restaurants have these days. I am looking forward to getting together with the family once again.
When I think back over the many years I have walked this earth I can't help thinking of all the changes, especially technological, that have taken place during that time. Some of them I am very grateful for but these days there are many I don't even understand. I enjoy my desktop Mac computer but apart from that there is little we have that we didn't have years ago. We do have a mobile telephone which is only switched on if Phil goes out and he or I need to contact each other, or it goes with us when we go out together in case of emergencies, car breakdowns etc.
We of course first had television in Perth in the latter part of the 1950s but it is far less enjoyable these days than it was back then. There was such a diversity of wonderful series and Phil and I often sit and talk about them and try to remember as many of them as we can. I doubt the TV stations can afford to buy new shows and this results in constant repeats and repeats of repeats. I think with DVDs and all these other sources of films etc the television stations are struggling to afford good shows from Australia, let alone the UK or US.
Otherwise my life goes on, albeit slowly, and I am determined to try and keep it going as long as possible. We recently learned that a medication we both take for diabetes has been trialled on animals giving them longer lives. It has also been proven to help prevent some cancers. The name of this medicine is Metformin and it was the subject of a report not only on Catalyst but also in an article in our local newspaper. Our endocrinologist tells us we must continue to take it regardless of any other medications we are on. Phil and I may have begun taking it too late in our lives to be much help but perhaps it is helping us live just a wee bit longer which, at 85 and 87, one can only hope for, despite all the aches and pains that plague us from time to time.
P.S. We had a very quiet New Year's Eve. We watched a couple of episodes of Poldark on DVD and had a small amount of red wine with our meal and at midnight a small glass of muscat. I'd intended to go to bed soon after midnight but there was an English soccer game on TV and Phil decided to watch to the end of the game. Unfortunately the result was not the one we had hoped for but that's sport for you. He's not a fan of soccer (much prefers our Aussie Rules) but personally I think he was too lazy to get up and go to bed. A very late night meant sleeping in on the first day of the year and just virtually doing nothing except get our meals. Oh yes, I did strip the beds and wash the sheets!!! Phil of course hung them out to dry and with today being to hot he was able to bring them in early this morning.
Phil is taking us all to lunch at the nearby Kardinya Tavern. It has good food and a great free salad bar which very few restaurants have these days. I am looking forward to getting together with the family once again.
When I think back over the many years I have walked this earth I can't help thinking of all the changes, especially technological, that have taken place during that time. Some of them I am very grateful for but these days there are many I don't even understand. I enjoy my desktop Mac computer but apart from that there is little we have that we didn't have years ago. We do have a mobile telephone which is only switched on if Phil goes out and he or I need to contact each other, or it goes with us when we go out together in case of emergencies, car breakdowns etc.
We of course first had television in Perth in the latter part of the 1950s but it is far less enjoyable these days than it was back then. There was such a diversity of wonderful series and Phil and I often sit and talk about them and try to remember as many of them as we can. I doubt the TV stations can afford to buy new shows and this results in constant repeats and repeats of repeats. I think with DVDs and all these other sources of films etc the television stations are struggling to afford good shows from Australia, let alone the UK or US.
Otherwise my life goes on, albeit slowly, and I am determined to try and keep it going as long as possible. We recently learned that a medication we both take for diabetes has been trialled on animals giving them longer lives. It has also been proven to help prevent some cancers. The name of this medicine is Metformin and it was the subject of a report not only on Catalyst but also in an article in our local newspaper. Our endocrinologist tells us we must continue to take it regardless of any other medications we are on. Phil and I may have begun taking it too late in our lives to be much help but perhaps it is helping us live just a wee bit longer which, at 85 and 87, one can only hope for, despite all the aches and pains that plague us from time to time.
P.S. We had a very quiet New Year's Eve. We watched a couple of episodes of Poldark on DVD and had a small amount of red wine with our meal and at midnight a small glass of muscat. I'd intended to go to bed soon after midnight but there was an English soccer game on TV and Phil decided to watch to the end of the game. Unfortunately the result was not the one we had hoped for but that's sport for you. He's not a fan of soccer (much prefers our Aussie Rules) but personally I think he was too lazy to get up and go to bed. A very late night meant sleeping in on the first day of the year and just virtually doing nothing except get our meals. Oh yes, I did strip the beds and wash the sheets!!! Phil of course hung them out to dry and with today being to hot he was able to bring them in early this morning.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT
Just a little craziness to welcome in the new year of 2017 My sincere wish is that it will be happy and peaceful for everyone, everywhere....well, one can always hope can't one? To my blogging friends I hope 2017 is very kind to you and yours and treats you really well.
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