The Things You Learn

 I don't often talk about my health issues here but I'm making an exception today. I have macular degeneration which means I am slowly losing my vision. I'm lucky that in my case it has been very slow but over the past year I've been beginning to really notice deficiencies in what I can see. Macular degeneration is when the macula, which is the part of the retina that gives you clear vision through your line of sight, disintegrates meaning you lose the central part of your vision. In my case at the moment this means I have blurred bits in the middle of whatever I'm focussing on and other things are distorted. So far it's not too bad because my peripheral vision in my better eye is compensating to some degree but this isn't always the case so sometimes I can see with only slight blurring but on a bad day I might not be able see the face of someone who is only a a relatively short distance away from me. This can change quite fast so at one time I can see relatively well but within minutes it can change so much of the world is a blur. Because it's so erratic I've had to give up driving because I can't be certain that I'll be able to see consistently enough to drive safely. 

All this makes life more complicated and I'm having to find ways to live with this condition. These are things like making sure that everything is put away in the same place in the pantry for instance so that on a bad day I can still find it and insisting that nothing is left out where it can be tripped over. I'm not yet at the point where I need much assistance but things like reading can be problematic if the font is small for instance. My laptop and Kindle are a great help here because I can enlarge the font and I've put magnifying glasses strategically around the house, even carrying a small one in my handbag, to make this easier.

Largely I've been working out these things for myself but now I've had a visit from an occupational therapist who works with those who have mobility and vision problems and I can see  a whole new world opening up. One thing she suggested was to upgrade our lighting and she made her point by bringing in a lamp with a much stronger whiter light than we've generally got around here. I'm still in shock as to how much difference this made. I had thought the lighting around here was perfectly adequate but it seems I was wrong The reading sheet she had me do at the beginning of the session where I struggled to read the last lines became clear enough for me to read them, not perfectly clear but good enough. This was only part of what she suggested and we now have a list of changes to work through. Some are expensive but most are relatively cheap. Who'd have thought there was so much we could do to live with this condition.

The OT was also very helpful with regard to my back problems which have morphed over the last few months from somewhat painful which is inconvenient but manageable to very painful and debilitating. It turns out there are things out there which she thinks will help and I have to say I hope she's right. One of these is a new bed. Apparently mattresses only last seven years.  I've no intention of telling you how old mine is but let's say it's quite a lot older than that. There's also a stool that I could use in the kitchen for less standing and she says I need a new office chair (that last is not a surprise but I realise now I cannot put it off any longer). There was much other food for thought and I'm actually looking forward to my next appointment which is to be at a speciality shop aptly named The Back Shop.

Modern Warfare

Remembrance Day got me thinking. This day always seems especially poignant for me because it marks the end of the war where, apart from the tragic loss of life, everything related to warfare changed. For the first time war involved large scale mechanisation. There had been the beginnings of this back in the smaller wars of the later part of the nineteenth century but the Great War (as it was known at the time but which we now know as World War One) was when machine guns had been refined to be even greater mass killing weapons, tanks were first used, enormous ships brought soldiers in huge numbers in from all over the world to the battle fields of Europe and the Middle East, trains were used extensively for transport with temporary lines being laid and taken up and aerial warfare began. As well there was the first large scale chemical warfare with the use of gases such as chlorine, phosgene and mustard gas as weapons. It was a long way from poisoning water sources or tossing contaminated items at the enemy to infect them with disease. While it's now forbidden under the bizarrely named Rules of War quite recently the president of Syria used gas against his own people in the on-going civil war in that country and I'd be very surprised that this would be the last time.

This war was when modern warfare really changed. Although war had always been horrific in the numbers of dead and injured and disrupted lives caused by actual fighting as well as all the other problems which civilian populations endure - looting, destruction of crops and homes leading to mass starvation and murder and rape by rampaging troops full of blood lust to name only a few - the distancing that mechanisation provides makes it even easier to lose sight of the actual people involved. I'm not saying there aren't times when we have to fight to defend ourselves - obviously that can and does happen - but there's been a great change in the way we fight wars. It's no longer men armed with a spear or a sword face to face or even canon fire and arrows where there are limits to how far they can reach. Mechanisation has changed that and now we have drone strikes and autonomous weapons that put war at an even greater distance from those waging it. Even worse are the rockets which can travel half way around the globe carrying hugely destructive weapons that can wipe out entire cities. 

I grew up during the Cold War where even in as isolated part of the world as Western Australia we lived in fear of nuclear war. That these weapons and the technology to make them still exist is scary because while they do they may fall into the hands of despotic leaders or other extremists. When they're combined with weapons that are autonomous it's a frightening prospect for the future. Artificial intelligence is only as good as its programming and I for one am not convinced that we are as good at doing that as we like to think we are. 

Remembrance Day

 Lest we forget.

Pond Life

A few weeks ago you might remember that Miss Five and Mr Two "helped" their father to reline and fill the pond in the garden. I intend to stock it with local Western pygmy perch to keep down the mosquito population - they also co-exist with frogs, which is important here. 

The advice was to leave the water to get rid of any nasties for 4-6 weeks which I did. Turns out this was not a great idea without first stocking it with plants because it was soon a glorious - I joke of course - green with an algae bloom the likes of which I've never seen before in a garden pond. So now I have started over with clean water and some water plants.  

The first of these plants is nardoo. 

This is a native water fern the spores of which when properly prepared were used by our First Nations people as part of their diet particularly in inland areas. The important part here is properly prepared because it can be toxic unless correctly treated. As I have no plans of growing enough to eat I'm not particularly concerned about this aspect. 

The other one so far is a water forget me not.

I'm not at all sure if this was a good choice as it may get to be too big but we shall see. Somewhat urgently now I need to make a visit to a local nursery that specialises in all things aquatic to invest in some water lilies and pygmy perch to prevent another algal disaster.

I thought the frog which has taken up residence in the pond might be unhappy about my disruption to his home but it seems I was worrying unnecessarily because he's out there making himself heard as I write and has been doing that pretty much all day.  "Hello, ladies," he's saying. "Come and make beautiful babies." Even if a female goes to investigate she's unlikely to mate and lay her eggs there because two quite small water plants are hardly going to be enough to provide suitable anchors for them.  He, though, remains optimistic. Good luck to him I say.

Fun and Games

We've just had a busy and enjoyable weekend, something we needed after multiple serious health issues hitting in both our immediate and extended family in the last month. So we were very happy to get together for lunch with my side of the family at my niece's rural bush block to celebrate several birthdays and a wedding anniversary.

My niece is an artist and she and her husband bought what was a somewhat run down property several years ago and have transformed it into a lovely home which bursts with creativity and unexpected artworks. Every time I go there I find something new to love and much of it began as found objects they saw and have repurposed. Add in that on this occasion nearly all the family were able to get together and it made for a lovely day. The next such gathering is likely to be at Christmas and I'm sure we will still be talking to the resident turkey cock and not seeing him on the dinner table.

Virgo came with Ms Five and Mr Two - her husband was busy prepping for Mr Two's birthday party the next day - and the turkey was very popular with Mr Two in particular. He spent a considerable part of the day running after it - it was outside the yard fence - then coming back to tell us all about how the "ticken" said "gobble gobble". No matter how often we told him it was a turkey and he repeated it after us, the next time he came back it was to tell us about the gobbling "ticken".

Sunday was Mr Two's party at a local park. He chose his party outfit - his sister's Spidergirl costume from back in the day complete with a vivid blue tutu - and had a wonderful time. Mr Two is really into vehicles these days - he wanders around with at least two clutched firmly in his hands most of the time - so Virgo had decorated his cake with a selection of miniature trucks and earth moving vehicles much to his delight and that of all the other children. The guests included a number of two year olds - boys and girls - and some of Ms Five's  school friends. The party went smoothly although there was one almost escape by a two year old who was spotted just before he reached the top of the exterior fence and who later had to be removed from a tree before he was out of reach and the whole was summed up by one of Ms Five's friends who on opening her goody bag and finding a toy dump truck, the bucket of which could be moved up and down, squeed with delight before she sighed and said "This is the best birthday party ever.".

School Holidays

 We've had a rather stressful time around here of recent months so the school holidays with visits from little people has been a welcome break.  This is what happened in no particular order.

Miss Five and Master Two called in with their Dad to ask us to go kite flying in the park behind our house. We - of course - were off with them as fast as we could. The wind was kind and Miss Five had a wonderful time. Master Two was more interested in the trucks he'd brought with him although he was distracted by a doggie friend also visiting the park and they played ball together.

When Virgo and her family went away for a few days I managed to keep Miss Five's fish happy and alive. I don't know if she'd forgive me if anything happened to them.

Miss Five and Miss Nine came and the two and I spent the morning baking chocolate chip cookies and muffins. Great fun was has by all. Our goodies tasted yummy, too.

Miss Five, Master Two and their Dad "went camping in the wild" according to Miss Five when they dropped by to see us after they got home. Despite it being very wet and windy a good time seems to have been had by all. (Her Dad said it was actually an official camping area.)

I got a text asking if Miss Five - she lives just around the corner - could "come and hang out" with us. I said yes, of course! We went out into the garden where we weeded, harvested sugar snap and snow peas for her to take home, planted seeds and fertilised the seedlings before going inside and playing silly games.

Master Two celebrated his second birthday with family - there's a party with his playmates coming later. Cake and candles were as exciting for his sister as for him - and apparently the little red wagon we gave him was a popular gift.

To the delight of Miss Five and Master Two the frogs have produced tadpoles in the frog pond. Master Two wandered out into the garden and was discovered staring at the parent frogs which were sunning themselves on the edge of the pond and yelling loudly, "Dad, Dad, froggies." (The pond has a secure cover on it so it's quite safe for him.)

Show Time

We're in the middle of the spring school holiday break here. This is usually two weeks of pretty pleasant warm spring weather and as such there are a variety of outdoor activities going on like camping holidays, visits to various amusements and then there's the big one - the Perth Royal Agricultural Show. The Show as it's generally called is an agricultural showcase when the farm comes to the city (among other delights there's a daily grand parade in the show ring of the various animals at the show grounds for judging) along with crafts, cooking displays and competitions to mention only a few of the many delights on show while many businesses - some with very few links to farming - take the opportunity to show off their wares and charities have displays like the Baby Animal Nursery with a small entry fee to raise money. There's all the fun of the fair, too, with goodies like"sample" bags which are anything but that these days and are instead expensive bags of confectionary and/or assorted rubbishy items which will fall apart in days - they were once filled with samples of goods, mostly foodstuff, that the manufacturers hoped would entice you into buying for real once the show was over. 

Nostalgia for the old fashioned Show sample bag got me wandering even further down into the delights of shows of yesteryear which were far less slick than they seem to be these days. It's a long time since I've actually visited the Show because it's more of a thing for young families and we're long past that but I'm enjoying the memories including those of where I grew up in an outer city semi rural area. Directly across the street lived two brothers and their families. They were show people, who every year went on a circuit of agricultural shows around the country with their huge trucks carting tents, rides and all the paraphernalia needed to support them during the circuit. Their descendants had still kept this up until COVID last year brought everything to a halt. I wonder if such such businesses will survive. I certainly hope so.

These folk were regulars in Sideshow Alley where you could ride the ferris wheel, the Wild Mouse, the ghost train and any number of other such rides and waste your money trying to win tacky prizes by dropping balls into clown heads or having a go at the shooting gallery. While our neighbours ran shows of the more innocent kind - they specialised in rides - back in the day there were other weird and wonderful sights in Side Show Alley - the amazing half woman half man according to  the posters outside but who was I was told by someone who paid to venture in a woman dressed one side in women's clothes and on the other in men's, the bearded lady, a strip show where women would dance briefly and remove very little much to the disappointment of the mainly very young men who went in. There would be a couple of young women in flimsy garments gyrating next to the spruiker to entice the punters, the fact that they looked bored out of their minds apparently not putting off the young and gullible. There was always a boxing tent where even more foolish young men would take on and invariably be beaten by the professional boxers in the troop. It's a good thing these days have passed in my opinion. 

My parents who thought such things were a waste of money - they were right - would never allow us to go into even any of the more innocent tents but we could spend our saved up pocket money on one ride if we wanted. Apart from one memorable time when we discovered that a large serve of fairy floss (known as cotton candy elsewhere I believe) plus soft drink and a very mixed diet of sample foods handed out by many of the displays did not go well with a ride that flung you around in dizzying circles, as well as being somewhat frugal, my brothers and I would opt for spending our money on the sample food bags over a ride any time.

As my mother came from a farming family we'd always visit the animal pens, wandering by and marvelling at huge horses, bulls with rings through their noses and goats and sheep which washed and primped looked very different from those we knew from family farm visits. We'd even trail our way by the poultry exhibit where the more exotic birds were very different from those at home in our backyard. The owners of the animals would bunk down next to the exhibits overnight and for many country folk it was as much a social event as anything else.

A visit to the Show was always a day long affair as we wandered around first one half of the exhibits then the other with a break for a brought from home sandwich lunch near the show ring. My parents considered the hot dogs and hamburgers far too expensive and unhealthy but we would finish lunch with an ice cream that came in a small cardboard bucket with a tiny flat wooden spoon. As I remember the spoon gave a slightly different taste to the ice cream but it didn't stop us enjoying it.

Mum was particularly interested in the sewing and other crafts so after lunch we'd straggle off to those pavilions, making our way first past the baked goods where participants vied to make the perfect sponge, scone or fruit cake within very specialised rules. Then it was through the sewing and other craft pavilions before going on to the flowers. 

By the time we'd made our way through these everyone was pretty much exhausted but by our parents' good planning there we were back at the show ring just in time to sit and watch the Grand Parade followed by the sheep dog trials. I'm not sure why these are so fascinating to watch but they certainly got us in. Actually it still is amazing to watch a highly trained dog work a mob of sheep. It's very much an instinctive behaviour for some kinds of dogs. Writing this I remembered a kelpie cross we had many years ago that would round up the hens if they got out and neatly return them to their yard.

There was always night time entertainment but we never got to see much of it. We were done and ready to leave as soon as the fireworks display, which started once the sun went down, was over. I mentioned that my brothers and I were somewhat frugal, didn't I, and this meant we rationed out the contents of our sample bags to last for days. Because my mother was an excellent baker we never got to eat "shop" biscuits at home so especially popular were the sample packets of Mills & Wares biscuits when we could try these luxuries. Some years these that came in a neat little miniature suitcase and this was as popular as the biscuits. After a few weeks all the goodies would be gone and the rubbishy toys that came in some bags would be broken but the memories would linger and the next year it would all be just as exciting.

Local Government Elections

 Coming home from an appointment on Thursday and seeing the vote catching signs up along the roadsides I remarked to Pisces that we hadn't got our ballot papers yet. Got home, looked in the letterbox and there they were.

Local Government elections are the only elections here that are not compulsory and many people don't bother to vote although everyone who is eligible gets sent their ballot papers. Since it's only a matter of reading the enclosed information about the candidates, deciding who to vote for then filling in the forms, putting them in the prepaid envelopes and sending them off I find this hard to understand. I suspect in part it's because these elections are local and many don't see that there's any point. 

Pisces and I don't agree. Who is voted in can have a major impact on our lives on a local level and we feel we should have a say in who represents us. We've both been interested in politics all our adult lives. It's how we met and, although we're no longer actively involved, we're still avid followers of what's going on in all levels of government - it's a rare day when we don't discuss politics - and consider our votes carefully. 

With that in mind we intend to sit down in the next few days and thoughtfully fill out our ballots. I hope that others do the same because the decisions our local councillors make will affect us for years to come.

Perth Has Gone Nuts

 Why, you might ask. Well, in these plague times some things have had to change - and one of these is the AFL Grand Final. For those of you from other parts of the world AFL is Australian Rules football or Aussie Rules and the state of Victoria claims it as its own despite it having always been equally popular elsewhere. For years the VFL (Victorian Football League), made up of the Victorian club teams, enticed away the best players from local teams in the other southern states where AFL is also very popular. As you can imagine this made for some considerable ill feeling. Eventually the VFL decided to expand the competition to include other states, changed its name to AFL and now there are AFL teams located in Western Australia and South Australia which had always had a healthy local competition as well as New South Wales and Queensland where rugby league is the dominant game. The AFL in Victoria still largely runs the competition which means, despite the teams from other states, they claim the Grand Final at the MCG every year and they've signed a contract that all Grand Finals will be held there until 2059.

I have to say this rankles, especially in Western Australia, where Aussie Rules has always been the dominant form of football. We now have two teams as part of the AFL and they are have a huge following although neither has reached the finals this season but even when one of these teams does come out on top of the ladder the Grand Final is still played in Victoria. Given the distance we are from that side of the continent this means that the majority of the fans don't get to see their team in a Grand Final causing much resentment. Speaking for myself - and having been to an MCG Grand Final some years ago - I actually think we're better off watching it on TV. What you lose in atmosphere you definitely gain in seeing the match but obviously not everyone agrees. 

Sadly in this pandemic year the whole of Victoria is in lockdown and COVID is rampant there. It's heart-breaking because they had been virus free for months after a lengthy lockdown last year until the virus made its way from NSW. I won't go into how this happened but it's not a pretty story and since Pisces and I both have family and friends in Victoria it's very distressing for us and many others. This left the AFL struggling to find a venue and Perth, which is currently COVID free and has a new state of the art sports stadium, was their only option.

Western Australia has embraced the event. The teams might not be local but many local footy fans have adopted one or the other. There are decorations, competitions, fans who have somehow acquired team merchandise holding finals parties all over and huge enthusiasm with free public transport included in the tickets meaning trains and buses have been crammed with excited fans. Knowing this is likely to be a once in a life time event for most West Australians they are determined to make the most of it and at least the telecast will allow all those folk stuck in lockdown elsewhere to see it.

With that, I'll say goodbye for now because the match has started and although I'm not as rabid a fan as Pisces it is the Grand Final.

A Wedding And A Funeral In A Pandemic

 Last night we went to a wedding. Well, sort of. 

A close family member moved to Canada just as COVID first showed up in China. She had met her now husband while they were travelling and spent some time visiting Canada and getting to know him and his family. They came here to catch up with her family then headed back to Canada where they moved in together. There were plans to come back at the end of last year for a visit and then, of course, everything changed. 

Rampant COVID world wide and the lock downs and hard borders made any prospect of travelling impossible but life and love goes on even in a pandemic and even if it's in a different form than we expect. They've acquired pets, bought a house, gotten engaged and now are married. The sad thing is that none of her family - parents, brother, aunts, uncles and cousins - or long time friends could be there. It was disappointing for all but they arranged a Facebook Live Stream. With the twelve hour time difference between Ontario and Western Australia we would normally have been just about ready for bed but we watched and wished them all happiness. I have to say that the Live Stream technology is not perfect as it kept shutting down and added to that we lost the internet several times. Fortunately this disruptions were not during the important parts of the actual ceremony.

It's been good that we had this happy event because in the last couple of weeks two close friends have passed away and we have so far attended the first funeral - well, not so much a funeral as a wake since he specified that he didn't want a funeral. It was sad and touching and we were able to spend time remembering a dear friend and neighbour but COVID touched this as well. Although Western Australia is presently COVID free so those of us who live here could gather one of his daughters and his grand daughter were stuck in lockdown in Victoria and couldn't come. 

We've been very lucky here - hard state borders aren't popular with the federal government or some other parts of the country, particularly NSW where most of the outbreaks in Australia have originated and a different approach might have been advantageous to all of us - but apart from the initial several months of lockdown last year here in Western Australia we've only had a couple of brief periods when an active case in the community had needed some intensive contact tracing. This has meant we can go about our lives pretty much as we always have but as you can see it doesn't mean we aren't affected by the pandemic. 

Many of us have family and friends in parts of the country already in lockdown and worry about them daily. Pisces and I both have family in lockdown interstate, several of them in hot spots, and that's before we even get to friends. With the situation as it is we're continually amazed that there have been demonstrations by anti-vaxers and others who, despite all the evidence, believe the pandemic is a hoax and demand that everything gets opened up. In the minds of these people all these sensible steps to ensure the safety of the population are trumped by a belief in myths and conspiracy theories. 

Pisces and I were vaccinated as soon as the vaccine became available partly because we belong to a group that is most at risk should we get this virus but also because we can see the danger of our health system being overwhelmed as has happened in other parts of the world if it should become rampant in the community. Yes, vaccination won't stop us getting the virus but it will make it much less likely that we'll end up in hospital or die of it and for us those are very good reasons for being vaccinated. The health mandated restrictions that our governments are imposing whether it's lockdowns, social distancing, requiring check ins at venues or that masks be worn are all under temporary orders. They will be lifted. Freedom is not being taken away - following these restrictions is part of being a member of a community and keeping the population safe. The saddest part is that these protestors are putting the rest of us at risk by their behaviour.  I only wish they could see that.

Cleaning Up

 - the garden that is. The local council does a green waste collection once a year and it's ours this week. The weather has been kind with a succession of sunny days so we've been working at getting as much of what isn't suitable to compost out the front. This is quite a challenge (aside from arthritic hands and general "spoon" shortages) because we have a battle axe block (we're in the corner of an "L" shaped roadway). This means most of our block frontage, which is very narrow, is taken up by our driveway and the small area that isn't has a power pole stuck in the middle. Our neighbour usually kindly lets us add to her pile but this time she doesn't have room - due in part to the recent Council tree planting in inappropriate places on the verge. The situation is compounded by the fact that we somehow have to get our ordinary rubbish bins out for collection and we've taken up most of the space we usually use for that. With some difficulty we have piled everything as far as we can from the power pole. Let's hope they use some commonsense and that we're among the first to have our pile removed. 

The good thing is that we have pruned everything that needed attention. Most of this is in the form of invaders from our neighbours. This is not the fault of our current neighbours - we're very good friends with them and they are battling these nasties as much as we are. The trouble is that back in the dim and distant past someone - several someones in fact since the problem comes from two of our five neighbours - inflicted some vigorous succulent creepers on us all. They are different and both are attractive but invasive. Unfortunately both also shoot from any leaf that's knocked off which wouldn't matter if this didn't happen frequently but as they're brittle every time they're so much as touched leaves fall and we invariably miss some. They also shoot prolifically from their roots - one is actually forcing the panels of the fence apart and cutting it back just encourages it to grow more. Sigh.

On a more positive note Virgo's husband, who called in with her and the children on Fathers Day, spent some time relining the lily pond which developed a leak a while ago when the back fence was replaced. Miss Five and I had spent some time cleaning it out a few weeks back but the rocks which hold the lining in place proved too heavy for us to move. The pool relining actually turned into fun time with Miss Five and Master Two having a great time paddling in the filling pool. The water is currently maturing and in a few weeks we can put in new lilies and some local pigmy perch to control the mosquitoes. In the meantime I'm thinking about ways to restore the cool, green lushness that was there before the fence was put in while making very sure - since there will need to be coverage of the fence - that I don't create the sort of problems that I've been dealing with elsewhere in the garden for myself or my neighbours.

Edible Blossoms

 Miss Nine came over and we spent a lovely time together investigating the garden - specifically which flowers you could eat. I love to grow edibles and so the vast majority of plants in my garden, even those in the flower garden are edible and even at this time of the year we could find some flowers to try.

We began with borage flowers (proper name Borage officinalis).

I grow these mainly for the bees and they are actually pretty small as you can see from the bit of finger visible on the left of the flower. Miss Nine loved these when she was a toddler insisting on going out to pick some as soon as she arrived. They are supposed to taste slightly of cucumber - we weren't convinced of this - but they do make a lovely addition to summer drinks. We decided they weren't all that exciting, though.

Then we moved onto the heartsease, also called Johnny Jump Ups from their propensity to appear all over the garden (proper name Viola tricolor), also small but pretty flowers the bees love. 

We nibbled and decided they were pretty bland but would look lovely in a salad.

Next stop was the nasturtium bed (properly Tropaeolum majus). They are also known as Italian cress I'm told.

These were much more interesting with a mild mustardy taste and a slight and pleasant peppery aftertaste. We would both happily eat these.

The calendulas (proper name Calendula officinalis) are looking lovely. They have a lot of names - pot marigold and common marigold (from Mary's gold) the most common.

They, too, had a pleasan flavour which we would try again.

We decided to leave the sweet alyssum - also called Sweet Alice or Sweet Alison (properly called Lobularia maritima) to the multitude of bees although I'm told they are good eating, too, and add a sweet and peppery note to a salad. 

Although she wanted to we couldn't try any roses because they're not in bloom right now. Next visit perhaps.

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I've Been Sick

and it's entirely my own fault I have to say. As someone who has had chronic ill health for more years than I care to mention you'd think by now that I would have learned to pace myself. Nope.  

What happens is that I feel quite good - by my standards that is and if you're fit and healthy you'd probably not agree. For me this means my aches and pains aren't causing me too much grief and I have enough energy to be tempted into tackling some of the mountain of tasks around here that really need doing. In this case some sunny days after weeks of rain and cold enticed me out into the garden and I took to the vegetable garden planting, weeding and digging. None of these are things I can't or shouldn't do but (as I should know by now) they're all things I should only do in small amounts. Of course, I neglected that aspect, didn't I, and even more foolishly I kept pushing myself even when I knew I had reached my limits.

Inevitably I ran out of "spoons". Worse still, I had tried to borrow against those I needed for the future which is both stupid and has a high cost. If you don't know about "spoon theory" it was devised by Christine Miserandino as a way of explaining what it is like to live with chronic illness. The "spoon" stands for each measure of energy you have available to you every day and "spoon theory" is about how much you have and how you use it. If you're fit and healthy you have enough "spoons" to do whatever you need and want to. If you are chronically ill the reality is very different. You can read Christine Miserandino's essay on "spoon theory" here.

The result of this folly was that I ended up exhausted to the point that I would get up, feed the cat, have breakfast then fall back into bed and sleep for most of the rest of the day before having a snack and going back to sleep. Pisces, having lived with me for many years, is used to this pattern but this time I had so depleted myself that it went on for longer than usual. The other side effect is that exhaustion increases all the discomforts that come with my illness so that although I'm in bed it's not restful. Chronic pain is not something that it's easy to live with at the best of times and lying in bed actually exacerbates it. 

Eventually my body managed to find some sort of equilibrium, enough at least for us both to enjoy the round of visitors that come with Fathers Day. Unfortunately that doesn't mean I'm completely back to my normal self, just that I have enough spoons for me to do the essentials of life - which today means do the washing, change the bedding and water the potted plants. By the time I've had lunch in a few minutes - one of the frozen mealsI keep on hand for times like this - I'll have reached my limit and will have to go and have a snooze so I can find enough spoons to bring the washing off the line later. It's frustrating but that's life.

When the World Goes to Pot I Look For Distractions

Here, in no particular order, are some I've found lately.

I love the bright splash of colour nasturtiums bring to the garden. These arrived uninvited about a year after we moved in here but they were so colourful I was happy to have them stay. Over the years they've colonised a number of shady spots and drape themselves over the garden walls. They sometimes get a little invasive but it's easy enough to pull out what I don't want - and the leaves and flowers make a tasty addition to a salad.

In just twenty minutes the birdbath, which is just outside my study window, has been visited by two ravens, a willy wagtail and two wattle birds. They've bathed so enthusiastically that I'll need to go out and refill it.

Over the last week the motorbike frogs have been having fierce vocal duels and occasionally resorting to physical violence, something I've never seen them do before. I suspect it's each wanting territorial and breeding rights. When Miss Five and Miss Nine visited over the weekend they were fascinated watching their antics as they splashed around in the frog pond.

The Spanish bluebells are in bud. Any time now the pots of them will be a mass of blue.

The coriander and spring onions are all coming up. I love fresh coriander leaves but the spring onions are for Pisces since I'm not a fan of raw onion.

I spent some time yesterday sorting my vegetable seeds and cleaning the seedling containers. The forecast for tomorrow is fine so I think it'll be a planting day. Yay!

Miss Five and I spent some time cleaning out the damaged fish pond last week. Now it only needs a new liner (bought today) for me to make it fish heaven - and it might take some of the pressure off the frog pond, too.

And last but by no means least the blueberries are a mass of flowers. Fingers crossed that this means a bumper crop.

What are your distractions? I'd love to know.

More Birds

It's nesting season for a lot of birds around here and so the bird population is more visible than usual as they go about collecting nesting materials and getting food for hatching chicks. As well Miss Five and I spent some time over the weekend scrubbing out the birdbath which is now attracting even more visitors. Sadly I have no photos with my phone being the only camera I have at the moment and any fast moving little brown birds are gone before I can even think about getting it out. So these are the birds visiting or otherwise seen in or from my garden in the last week. 

The willy wagtail is a frequent visitor - it nests in next door's hedge - and a constant delight. These handsome little birds (which look like they're wearing a tuxedo) will take on any comers that venture into their territory. This little fellow sits on the fence when I'm working in the garden jitty-jittying like crazy - unfortunately I don't understand willy wagtail so I'm not sure what it expects me to do. Their Noongar name is jitty jitty and it's certainly very apt.

The birdbath is very popular with the wattle birds - both red wattle birds and what I think is a Little wattlebird - which feast on nectar and insects. The red wattlebirds are quite aggressive towards other birds which wisely wait until they have finished bathing.

The New Holland honeyeaters like a bath, too, but I have yet to see the brown honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters there although I see them elsewhere in the garden. I'm torn about the singing honey eaters which are helpful as far as insect control but are far too fond of attacking the grapes just before they ripen. They can wipe out most of the crop if I'm not careful about covering the bunches up.

Although I know black swans frequent the wetlands close by I've never seen one in flight until the other day when one flew over here. 

Flocks of red-tailed black cockatoos have been flying over and feasting on my neighbour's Silver Princess eucalyptus. I'm not sure exactly what they are after - it's too far away to see - but they come at two different times of the year and fill the tree chattering loudly.

The southern boobook owl has been calling most nights of late. They sometimes come and sit on the arch over the steps in our garden and visit the huge marri tree in our front yard.

The ravens are always around, of course, and have now removed all loose coir from the yard.

We have a clan of Australian magpies which nest in the park we back on and they often visit. Magpies have a bad reputation as they can attack people - and do some serious damage - during nesting season but those near us are completely at ease with everyone and go about their business whoever is in the park. The theory is that the birds which attack have been interfered with or hurt in some way so as long as the local people behave well we're unlikely to have any trouble.

Pink and grey galahs also frequent the park and they call in here from time to time. Their antics are very entertaining as they amuse themselves on the TV antenna.

There are many other birds that I hear calling among the trees and plants but don't actually see so I can't identify them.

Along with the native species we have several exotic ones, some more welcome than others. 

Kookaburras (introduced here from the eastern states about a hundred years ago) find the garden arch a good vantage point to hunt from and prey on the frogs and many lizards we have here. I don't encourage them.

Rainbow lorikeets are beautiful but aggressive and have driven out the native ring neck parrots by taking over their nesting sites. I'm not a fan particularly as they can wipe out a fruit crop in next to no time.

Laughing doves and spotted doves were released in the early 1900s in South Perth and have spread widely. They cause no damage so we get along - and, as I once saw when a falcon shwooshed by my ear with one in its claws, they provide an additional food source for the birds of prey.

You can find out more about our local birds at the Lake Karrinyup website (Lake Karrinyup is about a five minute walk from here so the birds we see often come from the bushland there.)

Magpie-larks

The GP sent Pisces for a scan yesterday. As COVID restrictions meant I couldn't wait for him in the building I stayed in the car with a book. I'd been sitting there for a while when I heard loud noises from the roof. We'd parked under a tree so my initial thought was something was falling from there. Then I saw this handsome fellow through the windscreen. The picture would have been better if I hadn't been afraid he would fly off and had waited until the car in the background had gone. But, hey, it's better than nothing. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 This is a magpie-lark otherwise known as a mudlark, peewee or peewit, proper name Grallina cyanoleuca.  They're very common over much of the country and not at all shy. They pair for life and it's not unusual for the males to attack their reflections in car side mirrors or windows as they are strongly territorial. You can tell this one is a male because of his black head and white eyebrow while the female has a white face and no marked eyebrow. 

The noises went on and when I got out to look his mate was up there pecking at the bases of the roof rack. With the roof of the car an area of mystery that I never visit I assume she was after spiders those being the only creatures I can imagine would set up home there. She was not all fazed by my attempts to get her to move on while he pottered around on the hood investigating the slots near the windscreen. The noise was irritating and as they do have a bad habit of pooping on cars I banged on the car windows for a while and eventually they decided enough was enough and flew off. It was an interesting interlude, though.

And Yet Another Cold Front

It's past now and it looks like we're going to have warmer and sunny days for a few days but as the front passed over there were ferocious winds, heavy rain and even some hail. It ripped the door of the garden shed loose at one point and it was sheer luck that I heard it happen and we were able to go out and secure it before we lost it altogether.

It did some damage in the garden, too. The snowflakes (the among the earliest of the bulbs to flower in the garden - only the common jonquils beat them coming out in June) which had only just opened are now battered to the ground and the bearded iris flowers have been shredded. On the other hand the pak choi and kale seedlings I planted in the vegetable garden a fortnight ago are looking very healthy as are the two kinds of parsley planted at the same time and the snow peas and sugar snap peas, which came up over a month or so ago and had been sitting looking sad ever since, have taken off after the sunny days. In a break in the rain  - the wind was still vicious - I scurried out to check them half expecting to find a wrecked tangle on the ground and was delighted to see they are climbing up the wire on the fence.

Along with the wind it's been chilly - very chilly  by our standards - to the point that we actually put the heater on during the day. This is something we rarely do preferring to layer up our clothing and keep warm by being active. I had a couple of days when I wasn't very well having overdone things of late. Long term chronic health issues mean I should know how to pace myself but every now and then I push myself too far and the consequence is I have to spend a day or two resting. In this case it's meant going to back to bed after I'd done the essential tasks where at least I was warm. Kitty likes these days I have to say and he curls up beside me purring like a tiny engine.

It's Djilba

 This is the Noongar season which coincides approximately with August to September - the Noongar are the First Nations people indigenous to this part of south western Australia. Djilba is a bit of a mixture with cold clear days and warmer rainy periods. There are six Noongar seasons which makes much more sense than attempting to shoehorn our weather into the traditional European pattern of only four seasons. In that system we'd be still be in winter with spring another month away. Now there's more recognition that this really doesn't work and it's becoming common for the Noongar seasons to be acknowledged.

This is the time when the wildflowers burst into bloom creating spectacular carpets of colour. Last weekend we visited family on a bush block north of here and along the way we could see they are just starting to come out. Then this morning I noticed the first of my kangaroo paws are open. 

As you can see from this not great photo those I grow are the red and green variety (Anigozanthos manglesii) which is our state's floral emblem. They tend to be less tough than than the hybrid varieties commonly found in gardens (they're very prone to a fungus called "ink spot" for a start) but I like their rich colours so I persist. There are still some places in the hills to the east of the city where they can be found en masse and it's a lovely sight. As I live close to the coast - not their preferred location - I settle for a few pots to give me a taste of the bush. I have to say that they aren't all that easy to come by with only a couple of nurseries producing them. Still I think they're worth the effort, don't you.

Gardening

 Pisces and I had a routine GP visit yesterday and on the opposite of the road is a garden centre which just happens to sell my preferred potting mix and has a popular cafe which serves up a pretty decent cup of coffee.  So when Pisces suggested we drop in there on our way out I didn't take too much persuading. It turned out to be a really good decision because the potting mix, which is usually a little expensive but worth it, was on special. Yay!

We sat and had our coffee - which was good - then I thought I'd go and see if I could find some cat grass for my indoor kitty. I usually rotate pots of this but when I went to do the changeover a couple of days ago I found ants had moved into the pot outside recuperating. We're already having ant problems inside so I had to dump that lot and start afresh.

This garden centre, which once was one of the busiest in the area with a huge stock of plants of all kinds, has shrunk dramatically in recent years with much of the land being sold off for housing. Their focus now is mainly on pots and indoor plants and gardening items that go with them but they do still have a small selection of seedlings and among the herbs I found the cat grass. I'm not quite sure how it fits there but, hey, they had what I needed. I loaded up my basket and then noticed they had some of the vegetable seedlings I wanted so I sent Pisces off for another basket and this is what we ended up with - a small veggie garden in a box.

The weather hasn't been kind enough to let me plant them out yet and it will mean I have to disrupt some of the heartsease - sometimes called Johnny Jump Ups - (Viola tricolour) that have self seeded all over the vegetable patch. 

I love these dainty little flowers and plant them and other edible flowers along the vegetable garden bed edges and this year because I wasn't able to work in the garden for such a long time they've spread out a bit. I haven't minded because a bare garden which would usually be producing food is a sad sight. Since it's late to be putting in any winter crops my box contains pak choi and kale along with some parsleys - plain leaf and curled - all of which will last into spring along with the already sown sugar snap and snow peas and the volunteer lettuces.

Now if the rain will just hold off for a couple of hours I'll get some planting done. I can't say I'm hopeful. We're on the verge of the highest rainfall recorded here for July since records began being kept and the forecast for the rest of today and all of next week is for yet more storms and rain. 

Street Trees

 Our local council has a plan to put in a large number of street trees. I applaud this decision - the more trees the better as far as I'm concerned - but I have to question some of their placement decisions. 

We went out a while ago to find orange crosses along the verge all the way up the road marking where the trees for our street are to go. While many of them will add a lovely note to the streetscape - they're planting almond trees which will look lovely for a short time in Spring though why you'd plant deciduous exotics I have no idea - I'm somewhat staggered at exactly how they think trees will grow in some of the places they propose. We, for example, have a battle axe block which means we have a very narrow front verge - when the driveway is taken out of it it's around three metres across at its widest and that space provides our only access to the rear of the block. As well we have a huge marri tree in our front yard, the canopy of which shades the verge.  So we were somewhat surprised to find they had marked a spot for a tree in the middle of this minute space. 

This will not only block our access to the backyard but will also (unless this is a very odd almond tree) obscure our view of the road and make backing out of our driveway very hazardous - that's assuming, of course, that the tree will thrive there. This is fairly unlikely because we are also in an L-shaped corner of the road which means in the summer, even with shade from our tree, this area gets a huge amount of reflected heat from the large expanse of road in front of it. In the many years we've lived here the only things I've managed to grow there are gazanias and osteospermum daisies and, extremely hardy as these are, both struggle to survive the summer, by the end of which they look very sad indeed. Actually almost dead is a better description. I'm a gardener who likes to take on growing challenges - usually fairly successfully - but this area defeats me.

So I rang the council to find out exactly what was going on which is when I discovered the tree we're getting is an almond.  I confess I laughed out loud when I heard this. Apart from the inconvenience to us in having our access to the back yard blocked, the possibility of an almond tree surviving let alone thriving in these conditions is pretty much nil, something I tried to explain to the woman I spoke to. The only answer I got was "They will have considered that.". Really? In the event that it does survive we will, of course, then have to contend with the danger it presents when we have to exit our driveway. 

To say we're not happy is putting it mildly but there's apparently nothing we can do about it. We're getting a tree no matter what and will have to learn to live with it. The silly thing is that had they placed the marker approximately 30 centimetres to the right it would be in the minuscule garden bed - still almost certain to die because of root competition, shade and heat stress but causing us less inconvenience. We're not the only ones who have complaints about placement. In one instance a eucalyptus - one that grows to be huge - was planted under the power line into a house and we noticed that a tree is to be planted directly on top of a solenoid that controls the sprinkler system of one of our neighbours. 

Interestingly, our cross has all but disappeared due to the heavy rain and severe winds we've suffered over the week since since it was put in place. That's what happens when you spray something on loose leaves and a winter gale hits. It blows away. But I'm sure they will have considered that.

I Heard a Raven

It's not that unusual around here because we have a number of Western ravens (Corvus coronoides perplexus) living in the area. They nest in the big trees in the park behind us and in the taller garden trees and while I tried to find a photo most of those I found were of the Easten raven which, although similar, is not the exactly the same. You can see the only photos I could find here. Sadly they're not available under a Creative Commons licence so I can't use them and the local birds are not obliging enough to let me take a photo. While they are handsome birds, ravens tend to be unpopular because of the mess they make as they haunt places like shopping centre car parks and school yards and anywhere really where people congregate so they can raid bins and pick up scraps. Their loud, harsh calls don't endear them either.

Personally, although I don't like them attacking the small denizens of my garden - they are largely carnivorous - I do admire them for their intelligence. They come into the garden to drink and bathe in the birdbath and to dunk and sometimes leave to soak hard crusts and other such things they steal from rubbish bins. I could do without the soaking because the birdbath turns to a messy sludge which has to be emptied and cleaned frequently but you have to admit it's clever. People also dislike their bin raiding. If someone is foolish enough to overfill their bin and leave even a tiny gap the ravens will flip it open to scavenge and they are messy creatures. Because of this we find bones they've collected scattered around the garden from time to time along with all sorts of scraps they drop when finished with. 

My little dog hated them. They would sit on top of the internal fences and stare at her until she could stand it no longer and had to rush at them determined to get them out of her space. Knowing they were out of reach they would just gaze at her as she barked frantically. Then they would flap lazily onto the clothesline and stare some more. They are large birds and can be quite intimidating so I didn't blame her for her dislike. 

But back to the raven that started me on this track. What was unusual was that it was on the paving outside the family room door, calling loudly, not something that often happens as they usually keep their distance, preferring to look down on from a height. I looked but it was raining and I couldn't see much. Then I noticed it was pulling apart a handful of coir lining from a hanging basket that had fallen down in the gales we had just had and that with the rain, which had been pretty continuous since, I hadn't been able to clean up . Interesting, I thought. Then off it went with some coir in its beak leaving bunches of fibre all over the paving. Next thing I knew it was back with its mate - ravens usually pair for life so I can be pretty sure they were a couple - who inspected the area and what he was collecting presumably to give her approval for it as a nest lining before leaving him to his gathering. By the time the rain stopped and I could go outside he had been back multiple times, leaving nothing for me to clean up.

Someone commented on a blog I follow that the raven's call is like a small child's cry. I can't say I agree with that. I hear it more as loud and raucous although they do sometimes murmur quietly to one another. Listen here and see what you think.

 

Oh No Where Did They Go?

 I'm talking about my Google Groups which I suddenly realised had disappeared when I wasn't getting any emails from them. Truth be told since most of them are just sitting there - or I should say were just sitting there -and haven't been active in a long time it could be quite a while since they were actually in place. I don't think I'll miss most of them - see the just sitting there remark above - or that anyone will miss me but there is one which I do interact with - it's the missing emails from that which alerted me - and I definitely want to be kept in touch with those in it. This is a group of fellow writers and we work together at critiquing and writerly advice so it's pretty important. Writers without honest feedback are not going to be able to give of their best, are they.

Fortunately the members of this group are also in contact in other ways so I reached out to one to get her to see what had happened. Bizarrely she found my email address was wrong - it was one I've never had or used so I don't know how it got there. She corrected it and I was invited to join the group. Great, I thought, I'll see if it's the same problem with the other groups.

Sadly this didn't work because the password I now use and any others back quite a way don't connect with either my current or the incorrect email. Oh well, as I have no more ideas as to what's happened or why, I don't think there's much else I can do. It's disappointing but there you go. Much as I love the internet the problem with anything online is that you don't have a physical way of connecting when something goes wrong - and in this case it has gone drastically wrong. Sigh.

Plants You Don't Expect To Find In A Winter Garden

I found these summer veggies - all volunteers - as I was weeding.

I didn't think to take this admittedly pretty awful photo of a French bean plant before I'd picked the handful of beans it had produced. I've actually already got more from this plant than from any of my beans last summer - and there are more to come. I like that there's a little Johnny Jump Up - Viola tricolour - nestled in near it. I grow them and borage for flowers for salads and to encourage the bees.

                         Then I discovered this optimistic capsicum. 

And finally this is one of three tomato plants.

Who knows - since it already has buds and if it survives the rest of the winter cold - I may get some early tomatoes.

And The Storms Are Here Again

It's winter so only to be expected but cold and wet is never a very enjoyable experience, is it, however much we may need the rain. We have just had a couple of sunny but by no means warm days, though, which let me get out into the garden. It's been badly neglected in the last few months due to my health problems and then recuperating from surgery so it's going to take a while to get it back to how I'd like it. Pisces is not a gardener so although he'll willingly do things like dig holes and lug heavy things around for me anything else waits on me. 

With my having finally been given clearance to dig, prune and plant I took the chance of the sunny days to dig over the vegetable garden and put in a few seeds - spring onions, coriander, and sugar snap and snow peas if you're interested. I sorted all these out during the last rainy spell and I still have a whole pile of seeds that need to into seed raising punnets sitting in a box near the family room door which were supposed to be planted as well. I bought some seed raising mix and my intention was to head off to the garden centre and invest in a a mini glasshouse to put them into so that they would benefit from any sunny days without getting too chilled. 

Then we went into a four day lockdown after someone who had visited Sydney came down with COVID. Our state government has no hesitation in imposing such short, sharp lockdowns which give time to trace all contacts and isolate them. We've had a few of these and although they're not ideal as far as businesses are concerned and cause general inconvenience, it's probably the safest way to prevent community spread and they have widespread support within the state. Western Australia has had very few instances of COVID and by and large life here after the first major lockdown in 2020 has been pretty much as usual. No masks but social distancing is still encouraged - albeit not carried out all that strictly by everyone I have to say, with complacency creeping in - and we are supposed to check in with an app or sign in whenever we go to the shops or other businesses so that if an outbreak occur it will be easy to trace any contacts and this is working well. Vaccinations are somewhat of a vexed question due to failures at the Federal level and some controversy about the Astra Zenica but are ramping up.

The lockdown has now lifted although there are some restrictions on numbers and masks are mandatory outside the home so my plan for this morning was to head for the garden centre. I'd been keeping a watchful eye on the weather forecast and it was for rain and a possible storm later in the day so it seemed that it would be okay and although it was dull and grey when I got up my plan still seemed feasible. I made my coffee and sat down to drink it - and there was a vivid flash of lightning immediately followed by thunder and the heavens opened. They stayed that way all day. Oh well, planting can wait a bit longer

I've Been Wondering

 about the current obsession with big backsides. Having been somewhat buttock challenged all my life and growing up in a time when a common question from my women friends was "Does my bum look big in this?" whenever I went clothes shopping with them - not something you'll ever hear from me - I'm amazed at the change. Now it's fashionable to have a big butt and you can have surgery where you get implants  - of either your own body fat  or silicone ones - to have the rear end of your dreams.

Of course, while you may end up with a bum that meets the current fad of bigger is better that you feel you've always missed out on, you may also end up with other problems, too. Fat harvested from somewhere else in your body is generally regarded as the best option and involves having liposuction of fat from areas where you don't want it which is then inserted into your derriere and is apparently less likely to cause rejection because it's your own body tissue. I'm told it can then build up a blood supply of its own as it heals - over about a year - which makes it function as any other part of your body although as with any surgery you could get an infection or blood clots and there's also something called a fat embolism. The overall result is supposed to appear more natural although apparently sometimes the fat can be reabsorbed leaving a less than ideal result and you may need top ups.

The other option is silicone implants which are permanent and like any surgery there's quite a list of things that potentially could go wrong including the wound incision splitting open - eeep! - as well as an assortment of other problems. There are the same surgery risks as with fat grafting as well and you may end up with a less aesthetic and natural result.

With either option the process is going to be painful and according to one source you can't sit or lie on your back for three weeks post operatively and full recovery is considerably longer. Then there's the cost which is enough to make your eyes water as both these procedures are regarded as cosmetic so the patient has to cover the bill.

That said I'm not suggesting for one moment that anyone who feels being under endowed in the lower regions is affecting their life, has the large amount of cash required to spare - one clinic I looked at charges from $10900 for fat transfer and from $17900 for silicone implants - and has weighed up the risks should not have such a procedure. Although I don't know anyone who has had these implants I do know women who have had breast implants when, for instance, their boobs have shrunk after having children and restoring their body in that way makes sense to me. Breasts are an important part of how we see ourselves as women after all so wanting to have that appearance is quite a driver. 

The problem I have with the current trend for augmenting your buttocks is that these arguments don't apply. Unless you've had some sort of catastrophic injury it's hard for me to imagine that there's a need to enlarge artificially what is already the largest muscle area in the body. The driving force seems to be wanting to remake your body into what is currently a fashionable shape. Given that is something likely to change given the volatility of fashion I have to wonder how wise the decision to permanently modify your physical body is. 

Drawing attention to your rear end is hardly new, though. Through out history we've admired different body shapes - for example by present standards many of the dancers of the Edwardian burlesque stage were overweight - but before now we haven't actually altered our bodies. We've used clothing to get the effect we wanted. Just think about the wide skirts of he Victorians which along with corsets accentuated the small waists they aspired to or the bum rolls of the 16th and 17th centuries which were used to accentuate the backside and again make the waist seem smaller while the bustles of Edwardian women padded out the backside combining with corsets that narrowed the waist. Then there were the chest flattening undergarments of the 1920s while later - in the 1950s - in came the opposite in the form of padded bras and elasticised undergarments used to force the body into the fashionable desired shape. 

I suspect part of the reason we're looking to other options like body modification is that our clothing now is much more revealing. I'm wearing jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt at the moment and even if I wanted to pad my rear there's really nowhere to hide the fact that that's what I'd be doing. As I said I am definitely light on in the butt area but I'm not tempted by bodily augmentation to deal with it. There seem to be too many unnecessary risks for me to go down that path. I'd rather take a more natural approach and spend time on some muscle toning. I know I won't end up the same as some of the fashionable "influencers" who were born with a very different body shape than me but to be honest I don't really want to and I'm content to stay as I am.

Family History

 I've carefully avoided going down the rabbit hole of family history for many years. I was fairly sure that once I started I'd be hooked. I might have been right.

Since going through my mother's memorabilia I've spent most of the last few days trying to organise what I found there ready to hand on to any family member who might be interested. I already had a box with photos and other information that my mother had collected which is sitting in my living room but it isn't in any real order and it's been one of those things I've been intending to work on at some time. Now I'm in the process of some serious decluttering it's probably that time.

Some years ago a relative arranged a family reunion of the descendants on one side of my maternal great great grandparents so I do know something about that side of the family - at least back as far as my great great great grandfather who was born in 1774 - that's the only fact I know about him so it's just begging for future research - and for now I'm not heading there.

I knew that his son, his wife and oldest son, were among the earliest British settlers in what was then known as the Swan River Colony - theirs is one of the family bibles I found in the boxes. I decided  - while trying to not get trapped into historical research too much - hey, I have a degree in history so this was always going to be risky - that I should at least make out a direct line of descent from my ancestors to my children and grandchildren as well as what items each box now contains - and because I couldn't help myself I also thought I should check out a few dates on offical documents. It'd only take a little bit of time, wouldn't it.

Four days later and the line of descent is finished and - let's be honest here - I've had a lovely time trawling through passenger lists, censuses and other documents about the early days of what is now Western Australia, many of which were really not relevant but fascinating distractions. Given how carefully records were kept I was surprised - well, maybe not - at how many errors there were in the official documents. I was following the paper trail of both my ancestors and my great great grandfather's younger sister and her family who came here a month or so later - they nearly died as the ship they were on was wrecked just as it reached the colony (but that's another story) - and the discrepancies amazed me. Names are wrong - Hannah is Anna in an early census document for example, sometimes a name is spelled multiple different ways - in different places there was Harriet, Haryet and Harriett all referring to the same person - while dates of birth and even places of birth are at times wildly incorrect. The family bible was my saviour in this because there everything is listed clearly and I was able to put together the information I needed.

The trouble is - and I was afraid this would happen -  that I'm now itching to get into the box of documents in my living room and put them in order, too. I'd like to think I could do a little of this every day but, honestly, it wouldn't go that way, would it. I'd just keep finding things that are interesting and follow them and I simply have too much that really must be done at the moment. So, for now, they will just have to stay where they are and I'll have to resist the temptation to lift the lid and have a poke around. Sigh. At least I know where everything is now.

For Your Pleasure

 a bearded iris in my garden. I found this beauty when I went outside to hang out some washing this morning - it's been raining or cloudy all week so sunlight's been in short supply. Since my recent surgery I have been strictly forbidden to do pretty much anything in the garden so a flower like this, capturing the light, is a lovely way to lift the spirits. The good news is that, as of now,  I've been cleared to get out and garden to my heart's content so - as long as there are gaps in the rain - the garden is where you'll find me for the next few days. 

Yesterday - and Today

 My first mistake yesterday was in getting up. The second was staying out of bed. I'll just give you a few examples of why pulling the rugs over my head, stuffing my fingers in my ears and singing "La la la la" loudly would have proved far more sensible.

I got up and wandered out into the kitchen where I immediately felt crunching underfoot. The night before I had torn open a sachet of sweetener, spilling it on one of the benches and the floor in front of it  - as I thought. We'd cleaned up but unfortunately without the main light on hadn't noticed it had spread rather more widely due to the fans we had on to heat the house Not a great start but after twenty or so minutes of sweeping, washing and wiping the kitchen was again pristine. Phew - and I hadn't even had my coffee yet. 

The next step was to feed and medicate my cat who needs daily meds due to a health problem. I got everything ready and took it into the laundry where he eats - and the smell of cat pee was overwhelming. Somehow he'd missed his litter tray, hit the wall behind it and drenched it and the floor around it with a copious flood. Another twenty minutes later and order was restored. Still hadn't had my coffee. Dammit.

We finally got to have breakfast and I went to the computer to pay some bills. The bank website wouldn't open. Okay so I'll try again in a few minutes I thought. Nope. And again. Zilch. Again - nada. by now it was 10:30 AM and I won't tell you about the rest of my day except to say it did not improve at all.

I have to confess that I was more than a little wary about this morning - but it turned out to be far more interesting and enjoyable.

The kitchen was clean, my coffee was delicious and when I went to the bank site it opened and I could pay my bills. Pisces went off to get the car serviced and I decided to tackle a couple of boxes that had been sitting in my office since my father passed away some years ago. I had packed one at the time so I knew it held some family history information and memorabilia that I thought needed better storage away from the ravages of silverfish which are far too common around here. My decluttering has freed up a lot of plastic storage tubs so this seemed a good solution and I had a lovely time going through all this. Nothing is particularly valuable so there'll be no going to our local equivalent of Antiques Roadshow and finding we're suddenly rich but it tells a part of the story of one side of our family and that's important.

The other box I knew nothing about - it had just been handed to me already sealed up when we did the final clear out - and it turned out to be full of surprises.

What was in it had obviously belonged to my mother. Some of it I remembered from my childhood but some was a complete mystery - like the collection of teaspoons collected in their travels. There was a brooch I had never seen her wear - a shiny red bird completely at odds with her taste, a locket with a photo of my father aged about twenty, assorted brass paper weights, trinket containers, the glass beer mug in the photo on the left - Mum never drank beer in her life, some tea cups and saucers from a tea set that had belonged to her aunt according to the note with it (the cup and saucer in the rather blurry photo are from that), a toy china tea pot she had as a child, and some fittings for an old Aladdin lamp, plus odd souvenirs. 

There was also a whole collection of odd china and old fashioned cut glassware  (the glass sauce jug with its saucer shown below are just some examples) like those I remember from visiting an elderly great aunt as a child. Aunty was a traditionalist and visits to her house were like stepping back in history - to a time of kerosene lamps for lighting, a Coolgardie safe to keep things cool and with no refrigeration meat preserved in brine. It was fascinating and a little daunting I have to say but I am glad to have experienced something that most of my contemporaries haven't.  I already have an Aladdin lamp inherited from her so the fittings may yet come in handy. 

The oddest things were a woman's lace decorated cotton nightdress and knee length underpants. Whose they were and why they were kept I have no idea. There were notes with some of the other items, too, but not with most so, important as they must have been to her, I know nothing about them.  

Despite the gaps in my knowledge it was a lovely way to spend a day and I intend to use some of the china and glassware. It seems a bit sad to leave it all packed away again or to send it off to an op shop. I'll have a talk to the younger family members, too, and we can decide what should be done with it all.  Who knows some of them may find it as interesting as I do.

Music!

 in particular the pipes and drums of Scotland. I've always loved these and a friend of mine has been sharing a lot of videos of various bands recently. These've ranged from massed pipes and drum bands at various Highland games and gatherings to performances by individual bands. Because I've been watching so many along with her I've been paying closer attention to how a band works - and it turns out (unsurprisingly) that there's a lot more to it than individuals blowing on bagpipes in unison or bashing away on a drum. It's really all quite technical as well as spectacular. The drummers in particular make me wish I'd learned to play the drums when I was younger. They are so dramatic especially in marching bands where their flourishes add to the spectacle. The whole experience has reminded me of something I'd all but forgotten in these COVID times - my travel bucket list, a major part of which includes visiting Scotland and Ireland.

Here for your delight - assuming you love pipe bands as much as I do  - are some of the massed pipes and drums I've been enjoying. This was the Beating Retreat display after the 2019 Dufftown Highland Games and is particularly spectacular with its rows of drum majors at the front and so many pipers and drummers. Keep an eye out for the tiniest drummer at the rear with a drum to match his or her size.

It's A Bit Chilly Here.

 as low as 7° C some nights recently. Yes, I can hear the snorts of laughter from those of you in colder climes. I know by your standards this isn't all that cold but for Perth, Western Australia, it's exceptionally nippy for this time of the year. It's supposedly still autumn - a time when things start to cool down and we have some rain but not usually such low temperatures. 

The thing is the cooling down isn't usually so early or so dramatic and we're not set up for it yet. Well, truth be told, we never are quite ready for it. Winter always seems to catch Perth folk a bit by surprise. It's probably down to the fact that we have pleasantly warm temperatures for most of the year. That said, while average maximum temperatures are mostly low thirties in summer, we do get heatwave spikes of 38-39° C not infrequently these days so not always so pleasant. Then winter arrives and we're suddenly forced into digging out woolies, track pants and boots - and in my case fingerless gloves so I can type - plus change over from lightweight summer blankets to winter ready quilts and doonas. 

It's not as if we don't know this is going to happen at some point but when the maximum day time temperature was 30° C only a week ago a drop to an overnight low to around 7 or 8° C is a bit of a shock to the system. We've actually had the heater on in the evening, something I can't remember ever doing before earlier than mid June.

Then just when things had got a little warmer - the overnight temperatures having reached the teens - last night we had a succession of storms - lightning and thunder that made the house shake as well as heavy rain - the last has continued all morning. Sigh. I don't think we can delude ourselves any longer. Winter is here albeit a little early.

Do You Really Want To Know This Before a Medical Procedure?

 On a blog that I follow one of the bloggers shared that she was about to have surgery for the first time - and she was very nervous. She was obviously hoping for support and encouragement, something I can identify with. Even having had as many surgeries as I have - and it's a lot - and with complete confidence in the surgeon I still feel quite nervous as the time approaches because things can go wrong. 

My first thought was that the many other followers of the blog (who are generally supportive and thoughtful) would do their best to make her feel confident and better able to cope - and about half of them did just that. The others weren't as empathetic as they regaled her and her readers with all the things that had gone wrong for them with similar surgeries. I stopped reading when I was about half way through them. 

Honestly why anyone would do this? The last thing someone needs at a time like this to hear horror stories but there's always a group whether on social media or anywhere else people meet up - sometimes quite a large number of people, too - who feel compelled to share just what you don't want or need to hear at the time. 

This urge to share the worst seems particularly strong when it comes to medical matters. When a woman nears the end of pregnancy there's a rush of people wanting to tell her exactly how awful it all was for them and what went wrong in how their birth was handled. Mention you're having your tonsils out and you'll be regaled with stories of how they couldn't stop the bleeding or their throat was so swollen that drinking or eating was impossible for days or the sedation made them throw up for hours and the list goes on. Why? By all means share these kinds of stories once the operation is over but not beforehand.

In the past year four of my friends have been being treated for cancer. It's been life threatening and life changing for them and they've wanted to share their experiences of chemo, radiation therapy and surgery (and I have to say that some of it has been harrowing). I've been more than happy to listen because they are my friends and I care about them but had I been about to undergo treatment for the same thing myself hearing how the treatment had been very painful and resulted in permanent damage for some of them would have been frankly terrifying.

So my message is choose the time when you share what can or has gone wrong with a medical procedure carefully - and here's a hint - it's not just before someone is to undergo the same procedure.

Mothers' Day

 Because it's Mother's Day this weekend we've had the usual barrage of advertising of suitable gifts. Many are simply ludicrous. I cannot imagine why anyone would think that a vacuum cleaner (the house is filthy), a circular saw (get on with some heavy work), digital scales (you're overweight) or a posture trainer (your posture is terrible) would be appropriate gifts but I have seen them advertised. 

My family has never subscribed to the need for gifts for Mother's Day. I appreciate a bunch of flowers or a plant - the cymbidium Virgo gave me seven years ago is an annual delight - but other than that I'm just happy to see my kids on the day.

There is one thing I really do not like, though, and it seems to be increasing. This is the sending of personalised text messages and emails from companies where I've been obliged to provide a phone number or email address to use their services offering me ways to give my mother special gifts for Mother's Day. Quite apart from the fact that I wouldn't want to give the kinds of gifts they offer, my mother passed away some years ago. I cannot buy her a gift and go and see her however much I want to. 

As a result Mother's Day for me is a day of conflicting emotions. I'm very happy to see my children but it's also bittersweet because it reminds that my mother is gone. To have this avalanche of personalised messages only adds to that feeling of loss. That companies don't understand there are many like me who are motherless is distressing and, yes, I can suck it up and get on with my life but I shouldn't have to. Send out your advertising if you must or not (which would be preferable since I'm unlikely to buy anything you mention when it intrudes on my space as this does) - but don't send me messages saying Helen, here are some suggestions of gifts for your mother. It would be easy enough to phrase it differently. Leave out the salutation and make it generalised because in its current form it's a hurtful reminder that I have lost someone very dear to me.