Old Government House

This Lady spent an afternoon leisurely enjoying a glass of good white and a civilised BBQ in the lawns of OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE at Parramatta SYDNEY last Saturday. Very swanky indeed.
This is one of the oldest homes left in Sydney- circa late 1790's and I am sure the walls would have many a story to tell about the good old days of the colonies when convicts were chained in leg irons and flogged to do the bidding of the Governor.
We took part in a ghost tour of the home after being served a most wonderful lunch and heard the stories of the souls that still seem to haunt this building -strangely still there even though many are buried overseas.

It was a totally wonderful way to spend a glorious afternoon out and I had a most brilliant time.
Of course I immediately felt at home on the property and could pciture myself strolling through the gardens back in the 1800s as a Lady would be want to do.
Ah for those halcyon days when someone else would do the washing and tend the garden!!

Its been a big week

This little Lady and her Lord had a big week in the Colonies.
A new automobile to replace the old horse and carriage has been the highlight.

I am very excited. It reminds me of my very first car that I bought all on my own over 30 years ago.
All I wanted to do was hoon around in it driving for hours around the roads of the city feeling such ultimate freedom in being able to get away from the family home and parents.
Now I am a lot older and wiser and will take very good care of this investment as it is to serve me in my business as well as private use.
I am also now fully fledged "going it alone" in my business - no longer in partnership with no one to hold my hand and make me feel safe and secure.
It was the LORD'S birthday party yesterday at his niece's property on the Central Coast - it was a most wonderful afternoon with too much food and very good company.
And today I have spent a fortune on the Princess for her school needs.
Seems like the money needs to be printed more quickly as we are using our supplies up too quickly!
But, life is very good at the moment.
Change is change but we always find ourselves having the ability to make choices.
Life would be much harder if we had NO CHOICE.

Going Bald for the Cause

I made a decision today - to do the World's Greatest Shave. I will be shaving my head in a months time and in the process hope to raise around $1000 for this cause. I did this for the very first time about four years ago and loved every minute of it.
I raised $1000 together with a friend - she also raised $1000.
It was very scary to have my hair saved - the first time I was almost bald.
But, it was totally refreshing not to have to think about what I would do with my hair for months afterwards.
I now have a friend who has been through breast cancer so  I have seen her personal struggle.We all have a friend or family member who has been through it.
I am shaving my head because I CHOOSE to not because I HAVE to.

In that I find great joy and for that reason, because I have a choice ...I do choose to step outside of my comfort zone and do it. Its my way of doing just a little so that my life is not just a "shallow self serving affair".

When life serves you lemons ..go make lemonade!

Being thrown lots of lemons lately. Lots. Life in the colonies has become challenging with my working conditions changing and readjustment needed. As I have been collaborating with a dear friend for the past few years on projects close to our hearts it makes the changes especially hard. Sometimes changes are required to save friendships. Thats what I am hoping for anyway because it would be really tough to lose a business and a friendship as well. Working two small businesses which were both starting off from scratch proved a bit much and to top that off both of us have had deaths in the family and illness all adding to the stress to succeed and to keep money coming in. But, better for each of us to work on one project and do it well rather than both of us sink into the mire of indecision and feel that we are both missing out on fullfilling our dreams.
So I will continue to support my (ex) business partner in all that she does but she now has free reign to lead the business in whatever direction she sees fit and she has done the same for me.
For that I am very grateful.
Now its all a bit scary to proceed " on my own", but I will give it my best shot.No one to hold my hand anymore.Wish me luck.

A Wet January!!

Well its been raining on and off all January with indespersed moments of humidity and heat.
Glorious colonial weather.
I am trying to imagine the first settlers surviving in weather like this in the conditions of 1800's Australia.
Women in full length petticoats, jackets and boots and men in dapper shirts and vests!
That would have been tragic - imagine the heat stroke!!!!!
There is many a tale of women catching their dresses in the flames of open hearths and going up like a Roman candle - there was no medical team to rush to their aid 200 years ago.
Fancy falling into a river dressed in petticoats and all the trimmings?
Thank the Lord for thongs ( flip flops ) t shirts and shorts for both men and women....oh and whoever invented the washing machine should get a Nobel prize.

Just when you get settled ...things change.

Sometimes it can be hard to accept change.Sometimes it is needed but we try to avoid it because it disrupts our schedule. This year has not started well - no, not from a health point of view...phew - all is well in the Manor on that level.
But in the way of persistant small niggling changes that seem to shift one's own axis for a while.
Instead of spinning off in one direction you are made to stop the wheel and then pick up enough momentum to spin the other way.
It seems that I cannot get into the flow of 2012 without the bloody wheel stopping again.
Good thing that I have the Good Lord Arek my beloved husband to keep me laughing and focusing forward...
oh and also the dream of laying prostrate in the glens of Glencoe listening to the wind rustling through the trees hopefully sometime soon..

This country is still rough around the edges...

This selected pic says it all about living in the colonies!Australia is a melting pot of the rest of the world.Naturally it is still tough and rugged - mother nature still has a handle on this place - she rules. Droughts at one end of the country and floods at the other end. The centre is scorched dry with a huge rock in it.
So many walks of life, so diverse, so much passion - you CAN do anything you want to , you can strive to be anything you want to be, even a Lord and Lady!
Being stuck on an island though makes us forget what is going on in the rest of the world. We are hidden away and isolated and often belittle what we have - but its only because the woes of there rest of the world are not in our face - we just see them on tv.
We have things in the bush that can kill you.
We have animals that fight back.
And with the amazing array of religions, customs and cultures that are settled and live side by side I think overall we are pretty tolerant.
So this is where I am right now, and I am grateful to be here.
Happy Australia Day.