THE SEVENTH CHRISTMAS STUDY

OBSERVING THE ART OF CHRISTMAS DECORATION AND RECOLLECTING CHRISTMASES PAST.
2008 Introducing the musical and partying dimension of Xmas.	BILAMBIL SPORTS CLUB.
And the Fully Adult and Tastefully Decorated Christmas.
My own simple decorating technique.
	ON RIGHT. THE TREE AT LORRAINE’S IN WEST TWEED HEADS. ON LEFT. Sub tropical Xmas 2008 for 2.

NOW FOR THE DECORATIONS.

FROM TROVE

 

FOLLOWING UP ON PAST IMAGES

These are simply images and thoughts arising from the imagery.

This is the price of petrol in  Ulmarra on the last day of July 2009.
Each day I take my lunch at the Wide River Cafe. Not on Mondays due to its being closed on Mondays. I take the Cold Remedy , read the newspapers, chat with the Andrew and the girls and generally enjoy a daily routine which I don’t recall having before. Its not hectic in Ulmarra at lunchtimes although the BUSHFIRE BRIGADE REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS are there and were doing an “exercise’ yesterday to make sure that we were all firesafe.
Last weekend, two girls rode past on their horses and each girl carried a red rose.
While I am in the Village, I spend some time in ULMARRA BOOKS and BRIC A BRAC, chat for a while with our GentleMan BookMan and, in general, just indulge in the sheer pleasure of a book shop of this size and nature. This one is a treasure trove. I always enjoy being in the hands of an Expert, no matter what field it is in. In this shop I am guaranteed EXPERTISE in its most agreeable form.
I have lived for four years in a tiny cottage. Exquisite with wonderful views of the Bilambil Valley – but tiny. Now I live in a HOUSE. A house which my family come to visit.  Last weekend, my daughter, Kati B and I spent the evening at the card table from Dolores, playing YAHTZEE. A ruthless game night it was.

EAT MY FISH

Following the weekend discovery that we are connected to EAT MY FISH in DAISY HILL, I decided to re-locate the Fotos from May 2008. EAT MY FISH is situated in a simple neighbourhood shopping centre and is simply EXCELLENT.  We ventured into it because it was the only cafe open when we found ourselves in the Belly of Just off the M1 Land en route from Brisbane airport to Bilambil. Seeking only Vegetarian Food we were intimidated by the sign but hunger won. There was some trepidation in the waiting despite the reassuring conversation with the Chef. And then – BRAVO ! 

EAT MY FISH – DAISY HILL, BRISBANE.

10 DESIRES FOR 2009

Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning. – Mahatma Gandhi

1		Life on a big River.
	You can’t step twice into the same river. Heraclitus of Ephesus
2		Flowers and more flowers.
	The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.  ~Basho
3		More good gigs.
	Music has been my playmate, my lover, and my crying towel.  ~Buffy Sainte-Marie
4		Flame trees, jacarandas and more new towns.
	Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come. – Chinese proverb
5		Family meals and barbecues.
	He who eats alone chokes alone.  Proverb
6		Travelling and camping and  adventures.
	Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.  Garrison Keillor
7		Loved ones and beautiful people.
	Many an Irish property was increased by the lace of a daughter’s petticoat.  Irish Proverb
8		A new driveway into a new home as beloved as this driveway and this home.
	One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are, when you don’t come home at night.”  Margaret Mead
9		60th Birthdays.
	Everyone is the age of their heart.  ~Guatemalan Proverb
10		The Sanctuary of other Centuries and Old Stories.
	If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.  Pearl Buck

Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. – Napoleon Hill

10 THINGS I HAVE DONE BEFORE AND WOULD LIKE TO DO DIFFERENTLY IN 2009

 

“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through.
Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home.”

These 10 things are things which I have done or which have happened to me and which I wish had been different. Mebbe I shall handle them better this year.

IF I DO ONE THING DIFFERENTLY EACH DAY, THEN BY THE END OF 2009 I SHALL BE IN A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE FROM WHERE I AM NOW, DOING THINGS VERY DIFFERENTLY WITH VERY DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

1	A Papier Mache man on the streets of Uralla almost next door to another WHITE ROSE CAFE in 2008.	I once owned and operated some shops. We called them the WHITE ROSE TRADING COMPANY. They were pretty good. Antiques and secondhand goods and food and books in URUNGA in the 1970s. Now with the Uranus/ Saturn opposition back, I would like to open another WHITE ROSE TRADING COMPANY, perhaps in ULMARRA on the CLARENCE. And I would like to do it even better.
	“Vision without action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare.”
2	Izzy went to University at Wollongong and now is a Learned Man. A Master. A PhD Candidate. He knows Lots of Things. Lin Yutang Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials. .	I once went to Teachers’ College but I did not go to University. I studied something I was not specially interested in because it was an easier softer and quicker option. Now I wonder about going to University when I turn 60. OPEN UNIVERSITIES AUSTRALIA is what I am considering. I do not intend to take the easier softer option this time nor to study something I am not optimally interested in. And if by the age of 60, University study seems to be a non-essential I shall not do it. If, however, walking the Halls of Academia truly appeals to me then I would like to really do it full on and do it well.
		Mahatma Gandhi As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world — that is the myth of the atomic age — as in being able to remake ourselves.
3	A backyard.	I can’t ride a bike. I ran into a pomegranate plant or mebbe a monsteriosa deliciosa bush in front of my siblings and cousins when I was a kid. That’s what I recall anyways and was too embarrassed to ride a bike again. I am by nature a tricyle rider. I don’t dance in public either although I do now dance at home. I would like in 2009 to DARE something new like riding a bike or dancing. I did wear the Xmas hat at Lorraine’s Xmas party and in 2009 – I shall try something a little more daring.
	I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree, And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more, But dipped its top and set me down again. That would be good both going and coming back. One could do worse than be a swinger of birches. –   Robert Frost, Birch Trees	Beside the Tweed River.
4	On a Countrylink Train on the North Coast Line.	Twice I left my children. I am not impressed by that. I have done a lot of leaving in my life. I need, I think, to leave less or at the very least to LEAVE BETTER. Although we are in different boats you in your boat and we in our canoe we share the same river of life. Chief Oren Lyons, Onandaga Nation
	“If you live on this land, and you have ancestors sleeping in this land, I believe that makes you a native to this land. It has nothing to do with the colour of your skin. I was not raised to look at people racially. What I was taught is that we’re flowers in the Great Spirit’s garden. We share a common root, and the root is Mother Earth.” Oh Shinnah	With Ancestors in Frederickton Cemetery.
5		I haven’t placed my parents in Urunga Cemetery where I think they would want to rest. One third of their ashes is in my wardrobe – combined one with the other. In 2009, I would like to bury each of my dead where he/she or it is meant to be.
	“When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.” Tecumseh, Shawnee	Gramma Pie at Fredo.
6		Kindness hasn’t been a natural asset of mine. Nor the ability to love the truly good and gentle people. In 2009, I shall seek to understand a little more of the Love which is biblical in nature. ie. forgiving,forbearing etc.
	PAUL WRITING TO THE CORINTHIANS. If I speak in human and angelic tongues  but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, 5 it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, 6 it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. 9 For we know partially and we prophesy partially, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. 12 At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. 13 So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
7		I have been transient in my home making. I do live, as Robbie once said, in  POSTCARDS and I make homes which I like but now I would like to COME HOME. To really make home with perhaps even a living room and spare room and a river with a jetty and security perhaps and mebbe a kitchen and definitely a bathtub. Perhaps a longterm home with a booklined study. I might perhaps move on swiftly as usual and in that case shall purchase a mobile home and travel but I would like in 2009 to try a big old gracious home on a big old gracious river where family came and study was done and PhDs were completed and I had filing cabinets and vegie gardens were grown and music was written and played and recorded and community dropped by. Lace curtains at French Windows for me.  And a skilling ( now known as a skillion). If I am to become a North Coast Academic Specialist, I shall need the Grafton Sleepout as well. And a grapevine. I have one here but I need the REAL north coast black grapes.  I am doing pretty well with this one but will do it even better in 2009.
	“Compassionate the mountains rise Dim with the wistful dimness of old eyes That, having looked on life time out of mind, Know that the simple gift of being kind Is greater than all the wisdom of the wise.” — DuBose Heyward	Hut on Rushforth Road.
8		Living with a musician has introduced elements into my life which either haven’t been there before or which I had dealt with in a very determined and singular manner. I shall look now at ways in handling things better. improved in 2008 over 2007. Good Music doesn’t mean I have to mingle with Bad Drunks. And some venues I am best staying away from. Some gigs are best seen as “WORK” and I simply let Him go to Work and don’t even attempt to accompany. Others I enjoy. I take the fotos. If Pokies are yelling at me I stay away.  2009 can see a honing of the Musical Companion’s Way of life.
	There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.  ~Minnie Aumonier
9		As well as leaving things i perhaps ought not to have left or ought to have left differently, I have also continued to do some things which I would prefer not to have continued to do. To stay in places I would rather have left and been with people I didn’t want to be with doing things I didn’t want to do.  I am pretty refined and quite ruthless at it   and have been for a long time but fine tuning in 2009 will suit me VERY WELL INDEED. Not ONE MORE lousy meal disguised as real food, O Jamoze. Not one Major internal compromise from me. If I ain’t an Elder now then when will I be one ? Let it begin right now ! Farewell to Shite.
	Truth has not such an urgent air. Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux
10		I am not sure what to do about a family who spend Xmas sticking their fingers in an electric shock machine.  I could, perhaps, join them in 2009 or simply continue to photograph them. One thing I haven’t been doing as well as I would like is taking Fotos with the eye of a Photographer. I might indeed become more conscious of what I am doing with a camera and Maybe I will get a GOOD CAMERA someplace in my 60th year !!!!!
	Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity. Author Unknown

Quote of the Day:
If your number one goal is to make sure that everyone likes and approves of you, then you risk sacrificing your uniqueness and, therefore, your excellence.
–Anonymous

2009 – 10 THINGS I DID IN 2008 AND WOULD LIKE TO DO AGAIN IN 2009

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING.

1		I would like to hop off a train into the sheer joy of family reunion. All smiling. All laughing. All Glad.
	“May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk.” Babylon 5: Ivanova
2		I would like to once more lie flat backed on a camp stretcher and stay in caravan parks in places where I have never been before.
	Meandering leads to perfection. –  Lao Tzu
3		I would like to walk some more. With my Crumpler Bag. I would like a new Crumpler Bag. And new walking boots. I would like to walk.
	Travelers, there is no path, paths are made by walking. –   Antonio Machado
4		I would like to create  another fine living space with  a great desk and chair and view. Good sleeping space and all my affairs in order.  Another place of great beauty.
	we shall find a cleanly room lavender in the windows and twenty ballads stuck about the wall. Izaak Walton The Compleat Angler 1653-55
5		I would like to fill my home with more roses, especially white roses, and other old roses with ancient perfumes and colours.
	Won’t you come into my garden? I would like my roses to see you-Richard Sheridan
6		I would like to walk on many more bridges across creeks and rivers and also to cross them again on car ferries.
	A man of wisdom delights in water. Confucius, Analects
7		I would like to see more lighthouses and perhaps sleep beneath one as I once did in Kiama.
	Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time.  E.P. Whipple
8		I would like to picnic at another table in a flooded lake – or river – or creek. Perhaps on a boat. or houseboat.
	Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters. Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It
9		I would like to eat more fresh vegies from our gardens and read more books Jim or Kate have lent me. Or Jamie and Laura.
	Shall I not have intelligence with the earth?  Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself. Henry David Thoreau
10		I would like to play some more with children.
	Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator “What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”

An ant can do more than an ox that is lying down.
Quote of the Day:
The degree of one’s emotion varies inversely with one’s knowledge of the facts – the less you know the hotter you get.
–Bertrand Russell

 

LiveJournal Tags: armidale,quotes,2008,new year 2009,children,rivers and lighthouses,floods,wishes,new year resolutions,desires

10 SMILERS OF 2008

Quote of the Day:
The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.
–Anonymous

Now I am going to gather 10 smiling moments of 2008. I am running a couple of days late on my annual assessment process. So be it.

What I’m looking for is a blessing that’s not in disguise. 

Kitty O’Neill Collins

1		The verandahs of Kati B and IMMs’ house at Kalang brought some smiling moments in 2008. Big broad verandahs.  Scene of the Great Waterfight of 2008 and the TUPPERWARE party.
	Live well, laugh often, love much
2		Visits from Daughters were  bright spots and T shirts such as this one purchased in Showcase Coolangatta for an eldering father.
	“Happiness sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.”  – John Barrymore
3		Papier Mache people on the Streets of Uralla. Now – how good is that ?  There was also a bakery which sold pink marshmallows in cones.
	ALBERT CAMUS: When you have once seen the glow of happiness on the face of a beloved person, you know that a man can have no vocation but to awaken that light on the faces surrounding him; and you are torn by the thought of the unhappiness and night you cast, by the mere fact of living, in the hearts you encounter.
4		Music with Johnny Carr was a smiler. And with Scrubby and Mike F and many more. So was the new Yamaha PA and Pete Jaggle.
	Those who can’t laugh at themselves leave the job to others.
5		Water Fighting in Kalang was a Smiler. The family that plays together stays together.
	If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he lucky?  ~Stanislaw J. Lec
6		Being back behind a pool cue was a smiler.
	If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time. – Edith Wharton
7		Cheese and pineapple toasted sandwiches at Wadeville Woolies brings smiles especially when just behind the cafe lurks a recording studio in a nissan hut.
	“If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap. If you want happiness for a day — go fishing. If you want happiness for a month — get married. If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime — help someone else. — Chinese proverb
8		Surviving the January Floods down at Bilambil Blues Club was funny. Nearly washed them away so it did. Steve slept on the pool table and Jacqui was rescued by Kate and Les on Tractor.
	She gave me a smile I could feel in my hip pocket. Raymond Chandler
9		If a pink banana chair cannot induce a smile at least and even possible hysteria, then there is likely to be little that could achieve that effect.
	“We are never so happy, nor so unhappy, as we suppose ourselves to be.” La Rochefoucauld.
10		Children – always the children- for sheer joy and delight. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.  ~Berke Breathed
	“Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” John F. Kennedy

 

Man must search for what is right, and let happiness come on its own.  Johann Pestalozzi

 

10 2008 Bummers

 

The sudden disappointment of a hope leaves a scar which the ultimate fulfillment of that hope never entirely removes.

Thomas Hardy

 

1		The LINDEN LEA estate on which we live lost its longterm security and is to be put up for sale.
	God rules straight lines with a crooked ruler
2		Izzy’s gigs with Paspalum and at Jamieson’s and Bilambil Blues Clubs collapsed.
	This could be a Bummer. Then again – this could be a good thing.
3		All our kids lived a long way from where we were.They still do.
	Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh. Henry David Thoreau
4		The horses were removed from the paddock adjoining the Mad O’Brian’s house in Armidale. I liked those horses. I think they were connected with the O’Connor Catholic College.
	A man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dreams. Yiddish Proverb
5		We didn’t move into our very big colonial home on the Clarence with bookroom and study and separate sleeping. We remained compacted in a small area with more clutter than I like and some obstructions to our studies and Izzy’s PhD.
	When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us. Alexander Graham Bell
6		The various options Izzy had for running,working, studying, new houses, perfect musical environment, friendships- all dwindled into nothingness. In fact – I was probably the one thing which sustained him. Ah he also suffered STARWAGON disappointment.
	The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. – Winston Churchill
7		Luffley Cafe didn’t evolve into a regular weekly gig. Just for now Izzy doesn’t have and Izzy and Friends gig at all which means some of his favourites don’t get an airing. There is a song which features a Tangerine which hasn’t been sung for a long time.
	We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
8		Austlit Contracts ended and so therefore did work at UQ. PhD candidates became casual bus drivers and musos. Centrelink deemed PhD candidates as not worthy of Centrelink Assistance in any form even if they are willing to work. Centrelink will approve coffee making courses and aromatherapy but not detailed study of our Australian history. Bummer too was the lack of assistance from the new LABOUR Government specifically the Minister for Ageing – Justine Elliott, our own local member. Bummer it has been to live as a couple on a reduced disability pension for one and to receive only the $1000 Xmas gift despite the Partner being without income. Telstra came good after the town rally and the petition and TODAY TONIGHT being called in but not so CENTRELINK or Ms Elliott. Bummer for an old Socialist it is. Too scared of Centrelink to follow through on the Appeal as well.   Grey and Powerless. Vodafone Mobile Internet was somewhat of a bummer – Great at home quite often but travelling – well – forget it !
	Sometimes the littlest things in life are the hardest to take. You can sit on a mountain more comfortably than on a tack.
9		The only real bummer we struck accommodation wise was the Caravan Park at Byron Bay on the Ewingsdale Road. It sucked bigtime. High rates. Inflated promotion on the Website. $200 deposit. Account taken even of the teaspoons and dodgy as. The Foto to the left is at Casino at the Glen Vila Resort which was delightful as was the Gateway in Grafton. Neither of them presumed we would steal a $200 teaspoon and their amenities and facilities were clean and top quality unlike the experience in Byron.  Taree and Grafton accommodated us very well. One accommodation bummer in a year – not too bad.
	A poem is but a thought, a mere memory caught at play. From hand onto paper, bleeding thoughts emerge.
10		Children in the back seat of a Star Wagon and  needing emergency toileting – now that was a problem.
	Frederic Chopin Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.

 

Quote of the Day:
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.
–George Bernard Shaw

 

Technorati Tags: bummer,disappointment,quotes,regrets,discouragement

2009 – DAY 2.

Quote of the Day:
Men achieve a certain greatness unawares, when working to another aim.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

2008 – THE YEAR THAT WOZ.

I shall take a look at 10 things I did in 2008 and consider them. Then I shall take a look at 10 things I would like to do in 2009 and see what happens. Using Fotos as per usual.

1		I did a bit of sarong wearing and eating from our own vegie garden. Shared a lot of meals with Izzy.
2		I took a look at the deserted Terranora Resort and faced back to the South to Mt Warning. That’s it dimly in the background and our property Linden Lea on the nearer ridge. There was a song on Coast FM in 2008 and the line I liked was ” you promised you’d be here whenever it snows”. A tropical poem it were.
3		I ate a lot of bagels. Most of them were from the BagelHouse . Some were from the Black Bear Cafe in Bellingen at the surprising cost of $7.50 for 2 takeaway and the best were the ones Izzy baked in The Cottage.
4		I visited Bellingen 4-5 times because Kati B and IMM have moved there. It is the birthplace of my children. We ate brekkie at the Old Butter Factory amongst other cafe experiences and Kati B is working in what was once the Boiling Billy – scene of her year 10 work experience.  The Boiling Billy is now named THE BLACK BEAR.
5		I drove almost daily up and out of this driveway. It is the Cottage Drive.  It leads to the main pine tree lined driveway and down the sealed road with speed humps.
6		I went to one Convention only this year but I did wear the purple hemp shirt and baggy khaki pants a lot. I had some kindly comments from womenfolk about my hair as well.
7		I lived for a time in AUCHENFLOWER, an inner suburb of Brisbane. At Beryl Mortimer’s, we lived.
8		I went to OYSTER POINT and other villages on Moreton Bay. Sometimes we travelled in the Star Wagon and sometimes we travelled in the Charade. One of my 2 encounters with the Police in 2008 was on Moreton Bay and the other was down here in Tweed Heads West when I flashed the high beam to warn oncoming traffic of police presence. Bummer ! Both were in the Charade. Hmm!
9		I spent a lot of time on Kate’s verandah and a lot of time with my children and grandchildren. Those times are happy times.
10		And I did a lot of cemeteries and reading of historic newspapers and documents and hunting through the 19th century in Australia with my Companion and Helpmeet. Did a lot of music gigs too and that woz 2008. I am becoming an expert on the Northern Rivers of NSW.

BACK FROM KATI B’s 30 BIRTHDAY

Following a Christmas which was surprisingly pleasant – I took off South to Kati B for her 30th and for Xmas with The Kids. I live on the ‘glorious’ Gold Coast/Tweed. Gateway to the Tourist Destination of Australia. Foto to the right is said Gateway. The Portal. A few years back, the astounding decision to close the railway line from Murwillumbah to Casino was taken and now we all hop onto assorted petrol consuming coaches and hurtle through the countryside, in an out of wee villages and along narrow roads to meet at Casino Railway Station and take the XPT to destinations South.  I have a curious addiction to Public Transport. I have even been known to willingly purchase and consume the Railway Hot Meal option.  The last one I had was labelled – BEST USE BEFORE 2011. Now, there’s a comfort.	WAITING FOR THE  COUNTRYLINK COACH AT TWEED CENTRO. SALUBRIOUS INDEED.
	Once on board the Coach, the economic sanity of the coach use is evident. Wedged in,we were. They didn’t even show us a video this time. In fact they didn’t do any of the usual friendly greetings. Ah well ! Casino saw me on the train and in the Day Sitter. First Class on my pensioner voucher. The Gentleman at Murwillumbah Railway Station has specially booked me into the DaySitter. He is truly a GentleMan, the Countrylink Man at Murbah. I like to get my tickets there. The entire station sits there immaculate and unused except for his small booking office. Be that as it may, he takes time to make sure the seating suits me and is without fail courteous . I do not however think I will take the Day Sitter again.

 

 

Quote of the Day:
Houses should be more like ovens. Self-insulating and self-cleaning!
–rdude
(while cleaning room)

SPIRITUALLY HYPERVENTILATING

 

THE YEAR OF 2008 heads into the Christmas Furlong and an unfamiliar panic rises within the Soul. The Loo blocked up and re-fed unpleasant substances up through the drain holes in the bathroom. It has happened before but was no more pleasant than previously. We stuck the hose up the pipes and flushed Caustic Soda down the Pipes and after a bit the Clog of Unpleasant Substances broke free and sailed merrily down to the Septic Tank and all smells disinfected in the Bathroom. The Nerves are however RAGGED. Partially because the STAR WAGON is also clogged up. Down In Murwillmbah at Mr Whittle’s. It does not look like a hose of strong flowing water is going to have the same effect on the STAR WAGON. A Sense of Impending Doom is upon me and this time it is upon Izzy too which is rather disturbing. He has gone off to YESTERBEATS Rehearsal to regain his wits and I am not even attempting to regain mine. They are lost and far gone. Next we have the Partial Dos coming without prior notice to show “Prospects” over pre-sale of Property. No more naked swimming in the pool for me, I guess.  I did obtain the $1000 Centrelink Gift which I did not expect to get. I paid the $82 fine for Dipping headlights at Oncoming Vehicles. Now the brief period of Wealth  looks like dissolving into Automobile repairs and Relocation of HomeBase. Unemployment endures and is not restricted to just this PhD Candidate. Now an acquaintance Doctor is about to train as casual bus driver. I shall look for Meaningful Quotes and Associated Images to stay Calm and Serene. Breathe deeply 3 times and put a smile in your mind – they told me years ago in Sydney when affairs were messier by FAR.

THE SPIRITUAL BROWN PAPER BAG.

QUOTES AND IMAGES TO EASE THE HYPERVENTILATION.

“Laugh at yourself and at life. Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity, but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain, cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective that seemingly terrible defeat and worry with laughter at your predicaments, thus freeing your mind to think clearly toward the solution that is certain to come. Never take yourself too seriously.” Og Mandino

MORE 2008 the YEAR THAT WOZ

We were to attend a party at Jiggi this year so we did a reconnaissance run. That’s how we found WADEVILLE on the Murwilllumbah-Kyogle Road. Wadeville Woolies they called it. General store and accommodation. Very impressed by Wadeville we were. Reminded me of FRIED GREEN TOMATOES or the former RALEIGH TRUCK STOP. Wadeville Woolies had its own recording studio in a Nissan Hut  down the back.
2008 meant a lot of cemeteries for us. Then again, our first date was to a Cemetery. The NORTH TUMBULGUM HISTORICAL CEMETERY. We didn’t know at the time (2007) that it was the burial ground of quite a number of my Bell connections. The Mcleods and Dinseys and others. 2008 saw us in the South Grafton historical Cemetery. I don’t at this time know of any relatives interred there but ….	SOUTH GRAFTON.
We ate  a lot of bagels as well. Izzy baked some as well. The home baked were quite definitely better than the Bagel House which are better than the other brands. Simple plain bagels. I didn’t even know what a bagel was till recently.
We have also been to CHILLINGHAM. Due to Izzy not knowing the area and my not having explored for ages we have done a goodly bit of exploring during this year of being based in Bilambil. Chillingham we went to en route to Natural Arch out on Numimbah.
And when I come home in the afternoons, I have before me, the pine lined driveway. Its beautiful. Its home despite my not feeling home here anymore, the driveway always soothes my soul.
2008 saw Izzy  finish his 2 year contract at AUSTLIT as a research assistant on the ST LUCIA Campus of UQ. He still maintains that the sandstone is fake.  I rather like the Campus of UQ but he at not time took a fancy to it.

2008 THE YEAR THAT WOZ – CONTINUING

	Young Poppy took to the camera with the same enthusiasm and expertise as she did when a baby living in Kingscliff and is well trained by her NANA. Mind you, her ability is inherited and natural. On the left she shows us the interior of the Canambe Street Refrigerator.
	Equally evocative is Poppy’s Interior of the Armidale Cupboard. Mad O’Brian often builds the cupboards for the Canambe Kitchen. In 2008 he turned out a fine Kitchen Table, created in the Back Shed down past the apple trees and blackberries.
	The year didn’t pass without strife and Regrets- we had a few – including  the end of the JAMIESON’S Restaurant  era for Izzy and most of his friends. End of Bilambil Blues Club as well for Him and Scrubby. New Worlds DID however open up for both of them.
	2008 led me into complex and labyrinthine paths of Family History and the 19th Century on the North Coast of NSW. I had known of Granny Bell and the Invalid Mr Bell for years. She is buried with the LEGEND IN HER LIFETIME on the headstone. Rather fancied that so I did. I knew, too, that her name was MARY ANN MCNEILL. Now I know a great deal more !

2008 THE YEAR THAT WOZ

	Well its not over yet but its heading towards OVER. It woz a year when Izzy learned a good deal about the critters of the North Country. North for us New South Welshmen anyways. He was educated in the DOS technique of snake elimination. That doesn’t come naturally to a Buddhist and hasn’t as yet been necessary but the Spade is here. Purchased it in Murwillumbah for $9 from the Op Shop near the Old Pool.
	One of said snakes passes through once each year and we don’t raise a shovel to him at all. he tries to climb the palm and we face each other off. He ( or she) drops into the long grasses and the annual acquaintance is done. The first year I was here I took fright , due to being a little traumatised at that time by other matters. I rang the Former Husband who is an expert and he told me the snake was most likely just passing through. Turned out to be true.
	Iz planted the Vegie Garden in 2008 despite the tenuous nature of our tenancy and our stated intention to move to the CLARENCE. He has had gardens before on the ILLAWARRA but the sub tropical experience is new to him.
	I visited more hotels than I have visited in my entire life. This one is BRUNSWICK HEADS HOTEL. I like this one. Izzy plays there with the HILLBILLY BLUES BANDITZ. I still have hours to fill in there while they play music but its not as tough as some of the others and so far I have managed to jag other people I know and can talk with. We were there for the opening of the OLYMPICS this year. Big Screens came on as the Banditz wrapped up and we sat down for the OPENING CEREMONY.
	Due to the limitations of my camera setup – I MAKE DO in these night time situations. At Brunswick, I rest said camera on an empty schooner glass which once held coca cola and change the settings so  I achieve rather odd effects of motion and lighting on a dark night. Much like the Pentax once took at the ROLLING STONES CONCERT at Randwick Racecourse in 1973 or thereabouts.
	2008 saw Big Changes for the 30 Year Olds. Cassi Pom and Kati B – the cousinly twins – threw their lives into the whirlwinds. Cassi Pom left Sydney and took off for LONDON. Kati B left Sydney and took off for Kalang via Bellingen. The Uncles took them out for a Birthday and Fare Thee Well at a fine restaurant in the City.
	The KNOX girls came north for a visit. New Territory for all of us. The Round Table came from one of the shops on LaTrobe Terrace in Paddington where we lived in 2007. It lives outside at The Cottage and we eat bagels and drink white tea there fro breakfast.

CLAY DJUBAL and PETER KNOX

One enormous project that has been underway at UQ and several other Halls of Academia is one by the name of AUSTLIT. The site tells us this: AustLit is a non-profit collaboration between twelve Australian Universities and the National Library of Australia providing authoritative information on hundreds of thousands of creative and critical Australian literature works relating to more than 100,000 Australian authors and literary organisations. Its coverage spans 1780 to the present day.

I am not actually writing about AUSTLIT. I am writing about 2 of the researchers involved in the Project.  Peter Knox and Dr Clay Djubal.

I am not actually writing about them either. Not in any Intellectual manner. I am inclined to honour them instead for their baking abilities.  Dr Djubal arrived at The Cottage on The Hill one fine day all the way from Brisbane and supposedly for a hard day’s work with Peter.  He was, in fact, bringing SCONES. With cream and jam. The lads did appear to deal with some degree of business activity but the highlight was MORNING TEA. Peter is a BAGEL baker but failed to produce any on this occasion. BRAINY, BEAUTIFUL and gifted BAKERS. 

I HOPE THAT I DON’T FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU

BRIAN RALSTON

GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART

THE PEOPLE OF THE MOUNTAINS AND THE SEA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fbJNHAdbkg WHERE SOME OF  MY GRANDCHILDREN ARE

AUSSIE XMAS

FANCY RESTAURANTS

THEY have gone to a Fancy Restaurant for Katrox’s Birthday. How pleased Izzy would be.

FOR ALL OUR LOST TOMORROWS

FOR ALL OUR LOST TOMORROWS

Through all the long strong seasons of the moon
I’ve wandered wistful, yearning for his touch.
In all the empty spaces placed in front of me
where he can never be, I mourn.

For all the poems he will never share,
for secrets, songs and sounds he’ll never know,
and for the moon that shone in glory when he died
I’ve cried the many months since he was gone.

Through all the bright bold silvered nights
the moon has dressed in loveliness he’ll never see,
and all our lost tomorrows wrapped in sorrow
I will still love him tenderly.

KATHLEEN EARSMAN 2004

RALEIGH RUMBLING NO 13 TODAY

Hey. This RUMBLE has sneaked up on us ! It is TODAY. Best bring your own food or starve. We are NOT organised AT ALL. 12-5 pm. RALEIGH HALL.