Miss Weasley

Miss Weasley is definitely one of my besties. She has been in my life for what seems like forever. We love each other and want the best for each of us - isn't that the essence of a bestie! From there our similarities probably end ha ha ha ha!

There have been many shared experiences which bind us but whilst I love gardens, Miss Wesley loves concrete. While Miss Weasley always looks immaculate, I love Sarong tops and crocs and makeup is definitely optional. While I cooking is my idea of fun, Miss Wesley would prefer to be running around the block. While Miss Weasley is enjoying her dinner I am going on about spice blends and what I would do different. But despite our differences, which are superficial at best, there is a deep abiding commonality between us. She is my sister in every (excluding the biological bit) sense of the world - she has taught me all I know about being a sister/sista, about womanhood, about being assertive without being aggressive, about living what you believe.

While I am very private about having my photo taken, Miss Weasley welcomes the opportunity to be blogged.

So, meet Miss Weasley one of my besties, mother to the children I love best and helped take care of when younger, inspiration in so many ways, compassionate and always fun :-)

I Was Here

The Makeover

Now anyone who has known me for more than 3 seconds knows that I hate my photo being taken but Weasley has a certain way of making me do things :-/... whoops I mean :-)

So, here are my before and after "makeover" shots - the sunburn is courtesy of a day at Steve Irwin's .... Now I haven't committed to stick with the makeover look, just to wear it every now and then instead of the 'uniform' bandana or head band... or at least consider paying attention to how I look/dress instead of taking the no makeup/hippy look as my standard dress protocol :-)

Australia Zoo

Thursday came and we went to Australia Zoo.

Now to say I am not a Steve Irwin fan is an understatement. I thought it was funny when he died (not that he died but the way he died) and it took me 24 hours to realize I was one of the few people in the world to see the irony and that the outpouring of 'affection' was actually genuine :-/

Yes he did good things but he was INCREDIBLY irritating - if you want to check out some naturalists that don't play with the animals or make me cringe check out Vince Serventy or David Attenborough or Australian of the Year 1979 Harry Butler or Jane Goodall or a hundred other equally 'important' people ... but I don't want to go on except to say that I fully expected to need my cynical hat on to find something enjoyable about not only the visit to the Zoo, but that it was the officially "Steve Irwin Day".

Anyway ....

I was actually pleasantly surprised. To get the 'negatives' out of the way ... it took me 40 minutes to get lunch and about the same amount of time to leave the carpark but I chose not to let these incidents spoil my day. Otherwise, the place was really well set up, the facilities were great, and although it was really commercial, was that unexpected (think Dreamworld))?

So these are my animal shots ....

Holiday News

Ok I am back and going through photos - just going to post them as a thought comes ....

On my first morning it was a few hours before I picked up Weasley - yes I politely called her GW but she wants her blog name to be Weasley (???? - no there is ABSOLUTELY no Harry Potter connection here) I was desperately tired and it was 6am so I pulled into the local shopping centre - no it wasn't open but I had to go somewhere! First off I needed to fill in some time and secondly, I had forgotten my shoes so I needed to get more... sigh.

Anyway, never having the blog far from my mind, and desperately trying to stay awake - I took a photo of my Coffee Club coffee and a butcher shop that just had the cleverest name :-)

You should note the cooking/food theme of the magazine that I am reading ... I noticed that while Weasley bought t-shirts, postcards and the like, I bought food magazines, cook books and kitchen gadgets as souvenirs of the trip

My First Day Of Holidays

No I am not complaining ... well maybe just a little.

Today is the first day of my holidays and I can barely move. I have worked out that if I don't breathe, or attempt anything else that involves the muscular system, then everything is ok. I spent yesterday, my day off, flat on my back for the same reasons.

Ok the whinge is over and I need to drive to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland - shouldn't take more than 6 hours. No there is nothing to complain about there, I love a drive! As soon as I can move enough to open the front door and then get the suitcase in the car.... I think I should be on the road by lunchtime. And worse case scenario, I can even drive through the night if need be. Nothing like flexibility :-) (please note the positive attitude I am now displaying)

So once I get there I just need to fill in time until I collect GW form the airport at 11 am tomorrow. She has booked a fabulous hotel for us - and a week of fun fun fun ... well and a visit to the Australia Zoo on their Steve Irwin Day (definitely getting a blog outa that!). But I do plan a stop at the Maleny Cheese Factory to replenish supplies...

Yes GW is also bringing the computer so I will have blog time - probably not the luxurious joy of actually reading everyone else's blogs (that pleasure will be awaiting for me when I get home) but certainly documenting my own adventures.

So, keep an eye out for the new wardrobe and I promise I will be thinking of you all as I do whatever it is I am doing for the next week :-)

A Gentleman?????

Some days I hate feminism! Yesterday was one of them.

I went to Bunnings to get bits for the bbq, including getting the gas bottle filled. On getting my replacement the 'gentleman' (who was closer to my age than my previous post) just looked at the full bottle and asked where my replacement was. No offer to carry it to the car, no anything. Just a flick of the eyes! So I picked it up, pinched a nerve in my back and somehow managed to get it to my car.

What happened to guys carrying things to the car - and if he like me, wasn't comfortable, there was at least 10 other staff within 20 m of us!

Now I love Bunnings and this isn't a post that is meant to launch a tirade on the ethics of the store (lets not go there) or any sort of boycott. This was one guy on one day.

So, ignoring my pain during the said bbq, missing work last night and still having great difficulty in moving (more so than yesterday), I ask myself (yes I belong to a 'therapeutic community') what could I have done differently....

I could/should have asked for help, I could/should have not blamed feminism.

And after I meditatively put that forward part of me still screams ' what sort of man is this when he doesn't carry my gas bottle!'....

A Special Young Man

I had the privilege of meeting the incredible Mr R yesterday. This young man is just amazing. For a start he chose to come and have conversations with an 'old person' like me (how many teenage guys want to talk to an 'old' - read "age-of-parents") duck.

And then when he started talking he was confident, articulate, an excellent listener, amusing and witty. He is obviously not only intelligent (he discussed a wide range of subjects including inserting philosophical comments on many of them), but he is comfortable in his own skin (again how many teenagers really fall into that category).

Mr R likes music no-one else does (not that I have that problem - everyone loves Meatloaf ha ha ha), or maybe I should say music that isn't todays Top 40. He admits he is random. He has great friends. He has no problem in standing out from the crowd. He can cook (was going to do a roast last night). He didn't swear or make sexual comments (eg hey look at the arse on her!). He sees the world in his own way - and that is ok. Later on he carried things for me. He volunteered to help with the washing up. He is a gentleman.

I meet a lot of people Some become friends but most just float off into their own worlds. Mr R made an impression that few others have made. An absolute pleasure.

Anony's Birthday

I 'met' Anony through her fabulous and inspirational blog and on Halloween night (which happened to be her birthday) she came through various blogs, including mine, in a fabulous costume trying very very hard not to be nice.

Now I have asked (very nicely and politely I might add - waiting patiently of course) for a birthday blog with photos but as none is forthcoming I will do my own.

So, welcome to Anony's birthday :-)

This was her cake







These people are representative of her guests








And this is the birthday girl herself (with un-named partner)!





Happy Belated Birthday Anony :-)

Blessed and Maya

I think I have oft mentioned here my fabulous friends but I just feel I have been particularly showered with friendships and the blessings that friends bring.

Of particular mention is Miss A, King B and Miss K. And a woman who I haven't seen in 18 months but always makes me smile, the inimitable GW with whom I will be holidaying with from Wednesday.

Miss Maya has been quoted as saying “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel".

If I did a feelings check right now I would have to say 'loved, appreciated, nurtured, supported, and joyous'. If I get another nap and a decent nights sleep I will even feel awake (ok its not a 'feeling')...

Thank you one and all :-)

Waves

The weather wasn't startling yesterday but the waves never let me down :-)

View from the Jetty

I love looking at water in all its different forms - this is the ocean from the jetty at Coffs Harbour. Yesterday it almost looked like a piece of jade had been sliced and polished. Sigh ....

For Miss K

Who goes way and beyond RAKs .... I was going to 'send' you a bunch of flowers but today you deserve a whole field of love and thank yous :-)

Who Was 'Ere?

Monkey Business in San Diego

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 9, 2007

---

All of San Diego is sure to fall in love with its two newest residents: Mali and Tutapenda, baby bonobo monkeys born at the zoo there.

It's not just because they're completely adorable (month-old Mali even giggles like a human baby). They're part of an endangered species and their birth is a cause for true celebration.

According to Becky Kier, senior nursery keeper at the San Diego Zoo, "They're actually the most rare of all great apes. There's been some speculation that they might become extinct in the next 10 years if we don't do something about it and protect them."

Bonobos -- also known as pygmy chimpanzees -- are our closest living relatives. "They have just about 99 percent of the same gene makeup, DNA makeup, as humans do," said Kier.

Some of their behaviors are uncannily human -- when Mali is tickled, she reacts just like a human infant, said Kier.

"They giggle when you tickle them in the right spot, (but) it doesn't sound like a baby's giggle, it's more of a breathy chortle ... but they stick their tongue out and close their eyes, almost as if they're asking for it."

Bonobos are the smartest primates -- second to humans, of course -- and are raised in a matriarchal society. "In the bonobo society the women rule," said Kier. "There's usually a main matriarch and her sons will stay with her and her troop their whole lives."

Bonobos are only found in the wild in one place: the Republic of Congo. There, they are hunted, the babies sold. Because of that, bonobos are so rare that only five zoos in North America exhibit them.

"The San Diego Zoo wants to raise awareness about the bonobo," said Kier. "We're trying to get the word out for more people to care about them."

For more about the San Diego Zoo's Great Apes Awareness Week, click here.

From CBS News.

RAK and Shirley

I was a bit flat last Sunday. No reason in particular, just a bit flat. By lunchtime I was tired of walking around the house sighing heavily with no-one noticing so decided to do something a bit more positive.

I recalled a wonderful RAK by Miss A (with her very fabulous hair) in lending me a copy of Shirley Valentine. So I fired up the computer, made myself a chilli chocolate and settled down....

Oh I love this movie! I have seen it half a dozen times but probably not for 10 years or so. What a delightful pick me up on a Sunday afternoon. Yes there is probably a little bit of Shirley in all of us but her attitude to life - including conversations with the ever-faithful 'wall' - is so refreshing - especially when 'we' have spent the morning heavily sighing to ourselves!

Pasta Night

I made a variation on the lemon pasta theme last night - I had the juice and rind of two lemons, a little sour cream and a good handful of chopped walnuts.

This was served with a very simple salad of baby spinach leaves and a fresh tomato, sliced into wedges.

The pasta was probably the worst batch I had ever made - probably something to do with not having a rolling pin and having to use a balsamic vinegar bottle instead :-/ but if I called it 'rustic' in appearance, it still tasted ok - even without the sauce :-)

Power to the People

For those who aren't as passionate about politics as myself, or for those who who have been asleep over the last three and a half weeks, we have an election coming up - November 24 to be exact.

I worked at the last election and was amazed by the amount of people who approached the 'tablecloth' which was the voting paper for the NSW upper house and complained about the size of it! Ok so there was some definite 'alternative' options there - like the Australian Horseriding Party and the Free Our Suburbs Party - but, overall, isn't it fabulous that we live in a country that means EVERYONE is free to form a party, or run as an independent.

Ok so the form was the size of the alleged tablecloth, but you only had to mark above the line (if that was your choice - I did have one voter who, like me, marks EVERY box) but isn't a tablecloth an indicator of how 'free' we really are, how democratic we are? Would people prefer to not being able to vote? Or to turn up and only have one choice?

We have sent our soldiers around the world to fight for this 'freedom' - to East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan as a starter. As a nation we are supporting the right to have your say, for our version of democracy.

Please turn up to vote on the 24th. Donkey vote if you want - you have that the right and the freedom.

So many people in this world never have the choice....

* Okay, I have strong opinions about Iraq, and please don't connect my inclusion of our soldiers there as any form of support for that abomination of a war .... please read this as a support for the freedom we have to vote and the celebration of that freedom

The Delightful J-Bear

I love technology - I am away form many of my friends but there are moments of sunshine that make it ok. The delightful J-Bear and I have just been chatting on MSN - she went me a file, I sent her some photos.

I was there in the hospital when this young lady was born and she is now growing up so fast. She, her brother and her sister have a very important place in my heart...

Love the modern world ... now just gotta get a webcam - yes I am getting a webcam :-/

I Got A Present :-)

The wonderful A was going to lend me this book but today he gave me a copy of my very own :-)

This is the most special present! Part of me is a little overwhelmed, part of me wonders what I did to deserve it but most of me is very very grateful.

Thank you A....