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!!