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 |   The simplicity of my day to day. |
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This is where I write my thoughts, feelings and my daily trials, tribulations and happy things
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| PROMPT May 10th The prompt today is very simple: Tell us a story about the person you call Mom. My mother has been dead now for many years but amazingly I discovered things about her I hadn’t known before this weekend. I had a message from my 82 year old brother in the UK. I live in Australia where we aren’t celebrating VE Day but it’s been a huge celebration in England. I’ve seen photos of friends and relations eating scones, jam and cream and cucumber sandwiches in their gardens out in the sunshine. I asked my brother what he was doing as he is in isolation and he said he’d asked our Auntie who is 88 years old if she had memories of VE Day. She told him how she, my grandma, my mum and brother had walked to the town centre where there was a huge party, a bonfire, dancing and singing as they celebrated the end of the war. I was amazed my brother had any memory of so long ago. Then she said she was staying with Mum and we three kids during the war when a soldier knocked on the door late at night and asked if he could stay the night. (Dad was away in France fighting in the war) Apparently Mum said he could and he stayed for two nights until the Red Caps came and arrested him for desertion! Can you imagine hearing a completely new story about your mother when you’re 76 years old? I was pretty blown away I can tell you. |
| PROMPT May 9th Choose an event in your life that someone else remembers differently. Describe both memories and debate the differences. Who do you think is right? Why do you think you remember it differently? I can’t bring to mind an actual event that I recall differently to anyone else. However I can understand why this may happen. It’s all to do with perspective. The only example I can give is the way my husband and his brothers viewed their father for instance. There were four sons and each one tell stories of their father, anecdotes in which they were involved and every view is different. Was this the same man we’re talking about? I think it all came down to how the father interacted with each son. John being the eldest bore the brunt of bad temper, expectations and responsibilities. The next two boys dealt with their father in totally different ways. William kept his head down and Chris rebelled. The youngest, Peter was brought up to be the apple of his father’s eye and never believed anything said about their father that was the least disparaging. Yet these were brothers, raised by the same parent in the same house. How is this possible? |
| PROMPT May 8th A list of ten values which are important to me. 1 Appreciation 2 Cheerfulness 3 Determination 4 Diplomacy 5 Hospitality 6 Health 7 Friendliness 8 Fitness 9 Devotion 10 Courage Appreciation is my top pick. Perhaps today this might be called ‘Mindfulness’ the buzz word of the times. It’s important to me stop and to take a moment to appreciate what is happening around me. It’s good for my soul. I value cheerfulness as I’m aware what being around someone who isn’t cheerful does to my mood. I’d hate to think that I’d brought someone down. I’ve always been determined, once I’ve decided on doing something, I will usually finish it no matter how easy it would be to walk away. I’ve always admired Diplomatic people, sometimes it may seem like fence sitting but there are just too many unnecessary words spoken in haste. A bit of diplomacy never hurt. My mum’s answer to any crisis was to put the kettle on. To make people feel at home and welcome. I always valued her hospitality. To value ones health is to give thanks to the miracle body we were born with. Friendliness goes without saying. I’ve proved my devotion to my husband. 55 years and counting. Everyone should have courage to simply get through this thing we call life. |
| PROMPT May 7th Start your entry today with the words: “I used to believe...” I used to believe in Santa Clause. I used to believe in “happily ever after,” too. I do hope that children still believe in these things but the world is a different place from when I was a child and was allowed and encouraged to believe. Children are too knowing these days. The age of innocence has been lost. The internet has brought massive change to the lives of our young and not always in a good way. I watched a programme on television last night where children around 10 to 12 years of age were asked a series of questions. One of them was “What’s the rudest thing you’ve Googled?” and “What did they know about sex?” It was quite amusing really but I felt a little sad too. They were funny and happy to attempt answering but comparing them to how I was at their ages they seemed so worldly. Perhaps it’s not that bad, I don’t know. |
| PROMPT May 6th Write about an object you own that has negligible monetary value, but is priceless to you. This item sits in my garden. It’s unrecognisable from its original form. It’s a grey lump of concrete, indiscernible from any old rock but it makes me smile when my husband always replaces it after digging in the garden bed where this thing resides. When our son was eight years old at school the kids made concrete statues for Mother’s Day. He presented me with this foot tall Donald Duck painted in all his blue and yellow finery. Donald was a back door stop in the house for years, eventually being relegated to outside. Bits of him were knocked off until only his head remained. It is this that still keeps watch and will never be thrown away by me. |
| PROMPT May 5th Find a local news story that makes you feel something. Share the story along with your opinion on it in your blog. The best news in our neighbourhood is that we have had no new Coronavirus cases for six days! The relief I feel from that news is tempered by the news from around the world where the death tally continues to rise. Especially for me personally is the news from ‘home’ in the UK. Although I have lived in my adopted country for so long, many of my family still reside in England. My heart breaks to hear their suffering. |
| PROMPT May 4th Describe your cooking or baking ability. What was the last thing you cooked/baked that you were proud of? Are you a recipe-follower or freestyler? I’m renowned for my fruit cake. I take it wherever a cake is called for/requested. Actually it’s the easiest recipe ever, foolproof and delicious but I keep that a secret. I used to cook much more than I do now. Feeding a family of five took up a lot of time and effort. Now feeding just the two of us is much easier. I usually veer off the recipe rules, substituting something else for a missing ingredient. There have been a few disasters but overall not that many. The one thing I’ve never had success with is bread making.Since Coved 19 people have decided they all are master bakers. Sourdough is the IN thing. Of course that caused a run on flour supplies, then people realised the importance of yeast which was nearly impossible to get hold of. There must be tons of flour sitting in cupboards all over Australia just waiting for the weevil invasion. We eat our rarely, even when that was possible, I begrudge paying top dollar for something I could have made at home. |
| PROMPT May 3rd What do you do you relax and unwind in the evening? Paint us a picture of your ideal relaxation I find the only thing that really relaxes me, without any need for any input from me, is to listen to a podcast. The ones I usually prefer are interesting conversations between a great interviewer and someone who has a really good story to tell. My favourite podcast is called, ‘Conversations with Richard Fidler’ on Radio National Australia. I’ve always found the sound of voices more relaxing than listening to music. I must have loved being read to when I was a child although I can’t actually remember that ever actually happening! A glass of red always helps the relaxing process too of course. |
| PROMPT May 2nd What one fictional character would most like to meet and talk to? Why? What would you like to ask? I have felt like this fictional character often over the last few weeks. Robinson Crusoe. Cast away on an uninhabited island. I’m sure we’ve all felt a little like this lately or perhaps we wished we could have a bit of time alone from the inhabitants who are our fellow castaways. What would I ask Robinson? 1. Hi Rob, how did complaining to God about the unfairness of your predicament turn out for you? 2. Have you some good isolation recipes to share? 3. Do you find the conversations you had with animals stimulated you enough? I’m myself have discovered Lucy, my dog, is a great conversationalist. She agrees with everything I say! 4. I need advice on looking after my hair now it’s past my knees. How did you manage without your hairdresser? 5. 28 years was a little more than you bargained for, are you still sane.🤪 |
PROMPT May 1st Tell us something uplifting! We need good news now more than ever. What is something positive that happened or is about to happen in your life? What has made you smile recently? Hello everyone. I’m back for another month of blogging. I’ve still been reading some of you entries though. April has been full of challenges, the most difficult has been getting my husband’s surgery done. It was cancelled at least three times owing to the virus and getting psyched up and being let down again was super stressful for us both. Anyway I’m able to report the operation has been done and he survived! He’s now the proud owner of a new Mitral heart valve. All I need to do now is to look after him and get him back to his usual self. I’m learning a lot about myself and my nursing skill as well as my patience as I run around after him. 🥱 We are counting our blessing here in Western Australia as we seem to have dodged the Covid 19 bullet to a great degree. Social isolating is easing, we are allowed to gather in groups of ten. Having said that, John needs to keep away from everyone until he’s completely well. There have been many things to bring a smile to my face. Get well cards from friends, the kindness of neighbours and the love our family have shown to both of us during the last few weeks. I feel blessed. |
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So sorry you're dealing with all this. 
