MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to all the lovely Lords and Ladies of the land!
I hope it has been a wonderful few days off for all of you - Christmas blessings to you all.
From Lord Arek and Lady Renata

I shouldnt be working so hard!

I should be enjoying myself shouldnt I?
I shouldnt be worrying about where the next dollar comes from and were I will be heading in a years time?
I was supposed to be looking at a comfortable, easy road to my last working years.
But that has gone belly up and now I am one of the rest of the mob in the colonies where we need to get out of our comfort zones and explore the unknown realms of running your own business.
I am looking forward to the high expectations that come with untapped potentiality of tomorrow - that how I need to view it "untapped potential" because in fact, that is what it is.
Each day can and will bring new opportunities I just have to look for them.
Would a secure job, easy work, comfort zone living be more appreciated as I head into my 54th year of life?
Yes.
But thats not what I have.
I have insecurity, hard work and am constantly pushing outside my comfort zone.
I strive to swallow my anxiety and push through even though I love what I do right now it still raises issues about my feelings of self worth, made especially more vulnerable by being at an age where I am no longer "young" and sexy.
So I am working hard, every day striving to anchor myself  - lets see how this goes.

Halloween is coming

I am a bit of a fan of Halloween and all of the kitchy stuff that goes with it. I love that even though it really isnt our festival and it is about summer going and winter coming which is back to front for the Colonies we still allow ourselves to enjoy the ghosty and ghouly night. I have always made sure that I have lollies for trick or treaters and this year I am holding my very own Halloween party complete with fancy dress. I am very much looking forward to it. Are you doing anything for Halloween?

Another year older but not much wiser!

Well there goes another year.
Now I am 54 and hell, when I was 18, I would have thought that 54 was close to death!
Now at 54 I am going, hell, I still have so much to see and do.
So health and happiness are the most important things.
I am over buying clothes, gadgets, things...which come and go, wear out and become obsolete.
Experiences are gold and if I had my choice I think I would travel and see the world, experience the world - eat bread, cheese, drink wine and relax in parks and gardens all over the world.
I would see the pyramids, climb the Eiffel Tower, see Yosemite and the Grand Canyon.
I would go to the Tower of London and visit Glencoe (of course) I would go to Marrakesh and my list goes on and on.
But at the moment these are just dreams and they may stay dreams but I remain postive that I can make some of these things happen.
I am alive and well and therefore anything is possible, even at 54!

Jealousy is a curse

But I have to say I am VERY jealous of a friend who is planning a trip to England and Scotland next year. I also wish that I could go but that is very unlikely now that hubby is not well and about to lose his job.
So I have to be content to listen to my friend tell me about her plans and trip details and seem extremely excited for her!
It s going to be hard, and I AM very happy for her but I would till love to make that trip at some stage myself.
I'll just keep hoping.

Footy's big weekend

Well life has come to a standstill in bonny old Newcastle in the glorious state of New South Wales as it is footy final day. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the liquor shops are doing a roaring trade as well as the frozen meat pie section of our local supermarket.
I, myself, will not be taking part in this local ritual as I am not  footy fan. I will be spending this afternoon with family partaking in a birthday party - somewhat slightly more of a cultural affair.
To those who enjoy watching some pigskin being kicked around a large field by burly men who wish each other a swift descent into hell - I wish you fun.

You learn to adjust

When life sends you lemons you make lemonade...right? Or do you just open the bin and throw them away?
Whatever you do each decision has consequences. Sometimes we can be so unprepared for what the Universe throws our way. One day we can think the world is fine and spinning quietly in the right direction, and then the next day everything changes.
It can be something as simple as a fall, or just by walking outside and being in the wrong place at the wrong time and being involved in an accident, it can be that your house burns down, or you lose your job or your kids get sick or the dreaded "c" word or war.
We are all a walking time bomb of turmoil that sees us walking on a thin tight rope between "all good" and "chaos".
We all have burdens. We all have problems and issues that can have a huge dramatic impact not only on us but our whole family, our friends, our community.
Its a miracle any of us survive and live long enough to be happy.
Mostly we just adjust, a little here, a little there..sometimes huge adjustments but always changing.
That is one constant.
Nothing stays the same.

A new camera with a real need for a Scottish Highland

We have recently bought ourselves a new camera which just helps us take incredible pictures. Now all we need is a wonderfully picturesque Scottish Highland forest so that we can go crazy and take thousands of beautiful images..oh so wish we could make it happen.

Ah its Spring..

Spring in the Colonies is something to be warm the cockles!
Every morning the birds are chirping.
The leaves on the trees are unfurling in iridescent greens..
The sun is still bearably warm and toasty.
All is good with the world.
The flies and mozzies have not started their destruction of the serenity of both our days and nights
and living in Newcastle NSW allows me to drive past a sparkling ocean and see the migration of the whales on my very doorstep.
What more could I want right now?

The wind brings out the crazy people..

Have you ever noticed how the wind seems to bring out the crazy people in the township?
If its not the full moon then its that windy day that seems to blow idiocracy into people's behaviour and they start doing silly things.They get narky in the supermarket car park and drive around and around and get in people's way. They buy stuff and then return it holding up lines of people who JUST WANT TO GET OUT OF THE SHOP.
They make rude signs from their cars when they cut you off on the roadway.
They cant seem to form complete sentences when they talk to you and have a vague look in their eyes like their brains have been sucked up into a gigantic vortex...
Hmm yes..avoid going outdoors on windy days.
Today is a wind day in the colony.

Is it finally getting warmer?

Can I start to believe that it is finally getting warmer?
It seems to me that this winter lasted much longer than three months.
Its been cold and bitter in this part of the colony.
I am so glad to see the sunshine and feel the warmth.
As I write I hear the cockatoos and magpies outside, the day is clear and the flies are returning.
I am very blessed at having the strength to get through each day and even though I stress at little hiccups along the way I have the support of my wonderful husband to get me through and to slap me back to my senses.
I know of a person who looks at this very same day from his hospital bed and knows that for him there are not too many left to enjoy as he has an inoperable brain tumor.
This thought brings me back to a sense of perspective that, even though I may whinge and complain and carry on about trivial things my issues are nothing compared to what this person is going through.
I dont know how I would cope with such a predicament.
So today I am grateful and looking forward to what the day brings and will take time to say "its good to be alive".

You can live so close to a place...

Its strange that we often dont know whats in our own backyard.
Hubby and I went for a drive yesterday in our little corner of the colony and discovered a beautiful little wetland area only ten minutes from our home. We knew the park was there but had never ventured down the pathway to explore it.
What a joy that we did.

Originally an old brickworks which closed in 1977 it was a smelly dirty site for over 85 years which was recently rejuvenated into a peaceful and beautiful wetlands.

The site was renovated in 2007 and has walkways, BBQ areas and play areas for children where once so many men worked and created bricks for NSW building projects. What a great use of this site. It pays to discover what is so close to home.

shhh..quiet its trials time!

It has begun.
Trials.
The time of woe and angst for all Year 12 students.
I remember, a long time ago, in the dark ages when we used slates and chalk at school (smirk) I did the Higher School Certificate too.
Somehow it was not such a big deal -we just did it.
There was no fanfare, no needing copious amounts of support and incentives.
We were not allowed to go into a melt down nor did we cram till 3am.
The best thing was that we knew that the end was nigh - no more school with the class full of idiots that you had been forced to spend the best years of your life having to endure their infantile stupidity.
Well that was my case anyway.
I had been stuck with a class full of girls who spent their lunch breaks talking about the techniques of applying lip gloss and who they were intending to get on to during the up coming weekend while the "weird ones" of which I was a member tried not to mention weekends at all.
My daughter crammed last night with the light in her room still on at 2.30am.
She left today stressed and anxious while I kissed her on the forehead and told her to do her best.
For me ...these next few weeks will signal the last weeks of me having any children at school.
I hope she does well.

The sun is finally shining on the colonies..

It has been a record breaking week without rain in my little part of the colonies. The Lord and I have been able to venture outside and enjoy the warmth of the sunshine on our skins even though there is still a bite in the air in the early afternoons.
Somehow the sunshine makes things look and feel brighter and more achievable and this winter for us has brought life changes and difficulties we so are glad that this winter is almost over.
Also as I do some tour guiding in the city the rain has been horrid for my business and for local businesses that depend on tourism coming to the area as there have been weeks on end where we have not been able to go out due to the weather and tourists and visitors have stayed away.
So now as we slide into the back end of the year I am hoping that things stay warm and clear.
The Lord has been taking it easy and allowing some healing to occur within his sore and battered shoulder and is thanking the Gods for drugs that keep the pain reduced.
He is also getting used to the idea that at least for now he will be accepting the role as a house husband and true Lord of the Manor until his shoulder issues resolve.
So life is moving along slowly but surely.

Another fine Scotsman leaves his mark on the Colony.

Well it seems that there is a huge connection with this part of the world and many great Scottish people.
William Arnott (1827-1901), biscuit manufacturer, was born on 6 December 1827 at Pathhead near Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. He was apprenticed to a baker and confectioner and, with his younger brother David, followed his family to Australia. He prospered until the two great floods of the Hunter River in 1857 brought disaster. The new building he had put up in 1856 was flooded and he had hardly recovered when he was flooded out again in 1861. In 1862 he was forced to compound with his creditors and in 1864 there were more floods. In February 1865 one of his creditors demanded full payment and in April his wife Monica, née Sinclair, died; he had met her on the voyage to Sydney and they were married in 1850.
Arnott moved to Newcastle in 1865. By September he was established in Hunter Street, Newcastle, and quickly built up a successful business, helped by his second wife, Margaret Maclean, née Fleming, whom he married at Morpeth in October. The move to Newcastle was made possible by loans from friends but he repaid all his debts within twelve months. In the next few years the name of Arnott became famous for bread and cakes but especially for sweet and plain biscuits and ships' biscuits, in which there was a big trade with the growing number of ships in port. Thank you Mr Arnott for your great biscuits - you used to give your broken ones away to the poor in Newcastle.

Here is a picture of Mr. William Arnott

You can see the tip of Mr Arnott's headstone here- this is all that is left of this fine man's burial site.

Let the sun shine..let the sun shine in!

We ARE living in the colonies, but we may as well be in the hills of Scotland as its been cold, wet and dark for weeks now.
As much as I hate the summer, I am looking forward to a bit of warmth.
This afternoon, despite the rain and cold, I went for a historic walk around an old local suburb called Mayfield here in Newcastle.

The suburb used to be known as Newcastle's "TOORAK" which is a well to do suburb in Melbourne. So it was well known to be a placed for the rich and industrious of Newcastle. As the city itself grew, so did the surrounding coal mines and the "Hill" area where all the rich people lived was always dirty with coal dust coming in the windows and doors. So the well heeled wanted to move out to an area close by with good views and space.

And so began the wealth of the Mayfield area with families that started huge businesses, like soap and candle making, Arnott's the biscuit maker and the Winn family that had stores in Newcastle amongst those to make the move.

"Bella Vista", shown above, is now a function centre but belonged to the manager of the BHP which was situated just across the way not far from the best dressed people in town. When the BHP opened its doors and started functioning it dirtied up the whole neighborhood and again these families moved on even further out of town, many to a place called Toronto by the lake.
It was a wonderful afternoon looking at all the places that are now worth millions each, places little Ladies like myself can only drool over.

and so the changes continue...

Well one thing that you can always bet on is that nothing stays the same forever.
And our little princess just announced that she has exactly 39 days left of High School before the best days of her life ( which she wont realize until she is much older ) are over...
and so will begin the battle that is the Higher School Certificate and then she will be unleashed onto the greater world - into a world she is very unprepared for (thanks to her over protective Ladyship) where she will undoubtedly learn the lessons of life on her own skin all the while surviving on two minute noodles and cereal in her first year at University.
The Lord of the Manor says that it is best that she learns to stand on her own two feet and that as money does not grow on trees around our neck of the woods she will have to learn to fend for herself. I do wish that I could make life less of a struggle and that I could keep on protecting her.
I wish to give her what I didnt have.
I wish that I had been protected by my parents - they thought that protection meant control and by controlling my activities that they were protecting me. As long as they could control the environment that I found myself in it would be easy.
But it wasnt.
It made my journey through life painful.
As parents we need to let our children explore their environment but allow them to have a soft place to fall, a place where love will always be available for free, not just received as long as they do their parent's bidding.
So, I will also learn the lesson of letting go and hoping to all things in heaven that my baby has more joy than grief, more success than failure and more love than pain.
And I promise to catch her if she falls.

The Roller Coaster Ride Continues...

Some times we have moments in life where we need to just clip on the seat belt and hold on for dear life as the ride we have chosen to be on speeds up and gets a bit out of control.
And so, we seem to have chosen the craziest ride in the amusement park that is our life in the colonies!
As I breathe in I see our life having changed so much over the last two weeks now that hubby has been booted out of work into retirement - at least for now.
His health is no better but there is a weight off his shoulders as the decision to stop work was made for him rather than him having had to have made it if you know what I mean. Now he can rest which is what was terribly needed and look at what he can do to resolve his shoulder injury.
We have to learn to adjust to living on a very reduced wage.
That safety net of a constant income is, for now, gone.
And as much as I do understand that all will be well, I dont like the feeling of insecurity.
This included picture is of our liquid amber that is in our front yard - it refuses to drop its leaves even after every other tree in the neighbourhood is standing naked and bear for weeks. It's stubborn, just like everyone else in our family!!

Did I say up shit creek?

Last week we were up shit creek without a paddle and this week we just lost our canoe!
The Lord has just lost his job due to a medical injury that has occurred as a result of 26 years of hard continuous work.
It was decided without consultation to retire him.
Nice!
It looks like we need to dig up the Manor flower gardens and start planting potatoes and pumpkin to see us through!
I will have to let the staff go - oh goodness how will I manage!
But on a serious side, it is not a good time in the Daniel household.
Compensation or any payouts are now a dream of the past - even if you get cut in half the O'Farrell government sees fit that one half of you can still crawl to some sort of work, and thats where you will die -even though the Lord is not good now, we hope that with rest he might be able to get himself sorted and be able to do something in the future, although at present, his specialist has deemed that he will never return to full time work again.
I pity those poor bastards that have lost a limb or are in constant pain and now due to changes in policy they face being left to suffer with no help from anyone.
Workers Compensation?
A joke!

I have dreams..

I do.
I dream that my kids are always safe and sound. That they find love and happiness in their lives and that the path ahead for them is easy and care free.
Have I spoilt them?
Yes I have although I have had different results in doing so - but I experienced my mother's love in a very detached and awkward way. She had had a hard life herself and really didnt want the complications of children but there was no pill back then. So she managed to have two.
So I have spoilt both of my girls. Showered them with protection with the hope that they will remember that I care.
Thats the memory I want them to have of me - that I loved them.
I dream for my husband to be happy with his life. To be pain free which is difficult for him right now as every day he suffers from a shoulder injury that makes him have sleepless nights and can make him sad and sometimes cranky.
I wish it would stop and that he would get better and that every day could be fulfilling and enjoyable.
I have dreams for myself too but often they dont matter as much cause what matters is that my family is happy, healthy and safe.