2011 rolls to an end.

And so another year comes to a close in the colonies.
I wish things could have been different on many occassions, as one does upon reflection, and that I could have made smarter, wiser choices.
But,
the Gods had a giggle instead and chose to leave me writhing in my own stupidity many a time for way too long.
As this year closes I remember many that have passed close to me.
My beautiful puppy Maximus who died very early on in the year leaving a black hole...a void that was hard to stomach.My little muse was gone and I found it impossible to go back to painting as he always sat at my side and inspired me.
Then my poor mum who had suffered with dementia passed - her last months were a total misery and in a way it was a blessed relief that it was over for her.
Later my father in law passed very suddenly...when they found him he was sitting in his car with the motor running. He had just finished shopping. A shock to the system for the family but he was here one minute and then..not the next..literally.
Business has been flat and I have probably spent more of the family treasures than I have earned.
Therefore no exciting and exotic holidays this year!
The Lord of the Manor has had massive issues with his health with a work related injury that has caused him to be in pain and discomfort for most of this year.
Therefore,
if the Gods grant, we DO hope that 2012 will be better for us.

I also hope that all that have followed my blog will continue to share in the adventures of our lives in 2012 and that we are in with a huge chance to high tail it to Scotland next year ...I might have to think up some pretty exciting adventures though... so stay tuned.

Twilight Zone!

Usually there is a strong feeling between Christmas and New Year that the next few days accumulate to just a lost week...many facilities in the Colonies close down, friends and family are either too close for comfort or too far away, money is in short supply due to loose spending and the inability to earn due to holidays and so we all bunker down and eat plently of leftovers from Christmas and await the promise of the New Year when overnight many of us feel that we can reinvent ourselves...yes..
Come January 1st we start our resolutions with determination and good will with the hope that they may last just a little longer than last years did.
We finally allow ourselves to stop the copious overeating and drinking that was totally allowed between Christmas and New Year and we begin it all again.
meanwhile..for now..
enjoy the twilight zone when we are neither in the year of 2011 nor in 2012 but await it with the hope of a child on Christmas Eve that maybe this time the Gods will be kind.

Tis Christmas in the Colonies

Its that time of the year when all stops are pulled out and cattle are slaughtered and the grain is prepared to make sure the Christmas table is full to overloaded with the abundance of all that there IS in the colonies.
People turn into wild things in their attempt to obtain the ultimate gift at the last minute when it seems to be somewhat of a rite of passage to find oneself at the shopping complexes on Christmas Eve just for the heck of it.
And indeed this is where I also found myself this morning asking the eternal question " what in the hell am I doing here"..
But in the end I intend to indulge as much as I can, as is the rightful thing for every Lord and Lady to do.
Maybe we do not have snow, nor quail and guinea fowl nor full pigs on spits with a apple tantalizingly sticking out of their snouts but.....food is everywhere and in spade loads.
So my wish for all of you is to enjoy wholeheartedly and to remember that most of the rest of the world will be lucky to have anything at all on their plates. They will be happy to still be alive by morning as in many cases they will be displaced, afraid for their saftey, living in fear of death, disease and starvation.
We are indeed too blessed to know how good we have it and therefore so often we forget.
Lets not forget.Lets remember and be very happy.

Tis baking day at the Manor!

It is now only a few days left till Christmas and as is the usual yearly tradition - the Lord and Lady are cooking and baking in a frenzied manner at the Manor!
I am making very traditional Polish fare - good solid food to meant to put kilos on the thinnest skeletal frame but the bucket load and especially substantial to see through the cold winter nights of eastern Europe at this time of the year.
Pity we are on the East Coast of an Island where it is hot and humid and the only thing that this food will do is make my cumbersome hips even more enormous!!!!
But never the less....
Lots of potatoes, butter and onions making the kitchen smell divine!~

and the Lord is baking loaves of sourdough bread which may not even get to cool down in this household before they get devoured with lashings of butter ( again ) and thick chunks of Polish sausage and mustard and the occasional pickled gerhkin.
God I love Christmas!

Visiting Goulburn

Last Wednesday I had the delight of visiting the wonderful country township of Goulburn on a flying visit. It is only four hours down the highway by horse and carriage and a most wonderous trip as long as the GPS is talking to you! We were visiting a work colleague to get some tips on business ventures for 2012 as one is want to do to upkeep the Manor nowadays.
I was quite blown away by the amount of historic buildings that still remain upstanding in the township. These pictures show the Anglican and Catholic Churches in the centre of town and also the Old Court House. We visited the cemeteries which hold the most gob smacking array of headstones I have ever seen - so many hand carved into the sandstone - much of this history is missing here in our hometown of Newcastle. We have tried to wipe it away and forget about it but in Goulburn they delight in hanging on to the precious past.Sending a cheerio to Louise from Goulburn Ghost Tours who gave us a private tour of the Brewery and the girls Orphanage - a look into the past! We will be heading back in February for more.

Am I in the Scottish Highlands?

Well I am truely enjoying the colder snap that we are getting in the colonies right now.Usually we are boiling in our own skins coming up to the Christmas season but as I look out the window I see grey clouds and rain settling in for the day and they say that it will continue for the next few days - respite!
As well we know, for those of us that have been through a summer in this great southern land, when it starts to heat up we will truely know that we are alive!!
So, let me indulge in the crisp morning air and the ability to sit without a fan and air conditioner blowing constantly to make life liveable.
Ahhhh!!!

I DO LOVE HARRY POTTER!

 Did you know???
http://www.glencoescotland.com/p/v/harry-potter/

A very nice little understated Manor!

Now this is a Manor house!
We visited Vaucluse House in Sydney yesterday built in the mid 1800's.
It is well worth a trip if you are in the area - it is beautiful - just perfect as a small abode for us "titled" people.

Mmm...yes I could live here in comfort!

And every Manor House HAS to have a moat to keep the snakes out!!!

Converting the peasants one at a time!

Well..... today I feel that I can say that I have converted one of the local peasants into desperately wanting his very own piece of GLENCOE WOOD.
Woo Hoo! Good job...( I say whilst patting myself on the back )
He got so excited as he was talking to me that I thought he might drop his pick and shovel there and then and run to the nearest laptop to forward his details and buy up...

So I am hoping that Mr L...will soon become Lord L. and be totally swept up in the good that he is doing in securing this beautiful piece of the world  for the future of us and the planet.HIGHLAND TITLES.....LOVE YOUR WORK!!!

Woodland Creatures

Our Manor House was graced this afternoon with a flying visit from a little woodland creature - a duck.
Now you must bear in mind that we are smack in the middle of suburbia so to find a duck appear in your backyard is about as rare as winning the lotto...there I was sitting at the laptop when I see a small pair of legs waddle past requiring me to take a second look......
yep...a duck.
Now what do we do?
We rang the local ranger who suggested that it might not be a good ending if he was to come and pick it up as you see we were not sure whether it was a wild or a domestic duck...it could have ended up in the Ranger's pot for Christmas!!!
But by the time we had left it some water and bread it had dissapeared as quickly as it had magically appeared.

So much to do and an overwhelming ambivalence to it all!

I sit and ponder that Christmas is but a few weeks off - yet, to battle the heathens in the shopping centres is by far too high a moral price to pay.
I cannot bring myself to do it.
I would rather slash my wrists - the carry on in the car parks as shoppers victoriously "win" a car park space is enough to turn anyone into an alchoholic.
Normally sedate people turn into red eyed monsters who are willing to rip off your front bumper bar with their bare teeth for the spot closest to the front doors of the shops.
And it is set to get much much worse.
So much for the spirit of Christmas.

So everyone is just getting money - there...the shopping is done.
A highly respectable gift from a Lady anyway.

Supporting the Scottish Economy

My husband, Lord Arek, decided that he should help support the Scottish economy in the best way he knows how this weekend - as a dutiful wife I must sit back and watch.
I am sure that there are other ways of going about it but MiLord says that would not be nearly as much fun!
Indeed!

For the Historically inclined.....

For many Glencoe will always be associated with the massacre of 13th February 1692, but the area’s history stretches back long before the clan name of MacDonald became associated with the area. Indeed the MacDougalls were here until the 1320's when they were evicted by order of King Robert The Bruce, in favour of Clan MacDonald who had supported him in his quest for the Scottish Crown.
While no upstanding evidence survives of the very first settlers in the Glen, the shores of Loch Leven would have provided resources a-plenty for hunter-gatherers some 6-8,000 years ago. 
Around 4-6,000 years ago a more settled existence of farming would have been seen along the shores and in the glens, which continued into historic times.  More recent land-uses have either destroyed or covered over the remains associated with these prehistoric and early historic peoples of Glencoe.
But there is no reason to suppose that archaeological material is not awaiting discovery in the area. Indeed there are one or two interesting sites in the glen which may even date back to the Bronze Age (4,000 years ago). On the north side of Loch Leven, workers digging in the Ballachulish Moss in 1880 found a large carved wooden female figure, encased in a wickerwork shrine, which had been set there over 3,000 years ago (The Ballachulish Goddess).  Now in the National Museums of Scotland, this most unusual find provides a glimpse of Iron Age ritual and religious beliefs.