Life is for the living

Hasn’t the world changed in two years? 

Well, life has changed so much - but let me take you back a while. 

Growing up in Australia, I only ever dared to dream of boarding a plane and disappearing! Flying off to explore new lands and different cultures. Meeting amazing people and learning new languages 

I mean, you were deemed ‘a bit fancy’ if you were lucky enough to go to Queensland or even head to the coast for a beach holiday, albeit probably camping and having the obligatory Vegemite sandwiches as a mainstay. Piling into the family car for the long trip with only your own thoughts and expectations and annoying siblings to fight with, the journey seemed interminable! 

For me, it was boarding the night train from Parkes with my mum and sisters and a swathe of home made corned beef sandwiches and steaming mugs of milky coffee produced from a rather large thermos (which had seen better days!) not much sleep was had and my sisters would either sneak off to other carriages to meet boys or scare the wits out of me by telling ghost stories as the train steamed through the bush on our way to Grandmas. 

My eldest sister was at teachers college so sometimes a trip was made to see her! 

To me, that constituted a holiday.

 I recall doing a school project on Syria and I couldn’t imagine what life would have been like, but dreamed of bright blue sky, crystal clear waters and delicious food. 

Unlike our European counterparts, Us Aussies being inhabitants of the biggest island on the planet have had to make substantial journeys to explore other lands. 

Being in the Southern Hemisphere has its pros and cons. As the world grappled with a seemingly unstoppable virus, Australia remained closed off and relatively virus free for a time, except for a few outbreaks and by comparison, kept numbers down. The brilliant and tireless work of scientists to give us vaccines to fight with has given us a chance. 

I guess it was inevitable though that our borders would open as we can’t stay shut off from the world indefinitely. Mind you, the handling of it all and the forward planning was a shambles in my opinion! 

Anyway…..back to the story! 

I always envied northern hemisphere dwellers. As a teenager I was desperate to see bands like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and the like, but living down under made that virtually impossible! I made do with my records, but imagined being in the front row at a concert with Ozzy Osbourne looking right at me, or seeing Ritchie Blackmore shred a few riffs.

Bands rarely came to Australia but when they did, the price of a ticket was not easily found.

I did manage to save my pennies and attended a Black Sabbath concert at the Capitol theatre in Sydney back in 1980 (I think) and let me tell you, it was awesome! It gave me a taste of life. A taste of possibilities. 

Life in Australia when I was growing up, was free from many of the struggles that other countries endured. Life was simple. Our expectations were few. As long as we had a roof over our heads and food on the table and could watch a game of footy or cricket on the weekend, we were pretty happy. Australia has always been the lucky country for those who worked and contributed. Has that changed, I wonder?

So now let’s flash forward to current dreams and aspirations 

Aside from music, and my dreams of seeing bands in places such as The Royal Albert Hall, as a train lover I also dream of crossing the English Channel by train, crossing the top of India, riding the trans Siberian railway to name a few. Imagine travelling along the Silk Road! 

I have been to Prague and walked over the Charles Bridge. I felt the weight of those who walked that bridge before me - free and captive and felt both humbled and fortunate. 

Now as I sit with my darling husband nearing what is hopefully the last few days of hotel quarantine and isolation (in Thailand, mind you as Covid has messed with our lives long enough, so it was worth the risk of travel and if we were going to catch this virus, I’d rather be in a tropical paradise! ) oh and cheers to our insurance! As we recover from Covid, my mind is filled with past and future. Of all the amazing places I’ve seen, the things I’ve done but more importantly, my mind is reaching forward to where the next adventure will take us. 

It will involve travel of many means and even though the world is struggling right now, it’s up to us to keep pushing and keep our hopes and dreams alive! 

Think about what’s next because all of this will pass and boy, we will need to be ready for what comes. 

As always dear readers, please consider my virtual arms around you all ✈️✈️✈️

We are Vaxxed! What could possibly go wrong?

I was going to begin by discussing the past two years, but let’s just cut to the chase!

As soon as the Australian Government lifted border restrictions, we booked two weeks in Phuket because Covid had screwed with us and our lives long enough…. Or so we thought 

So here we were, living it large. As participants in the Phuket Sandbox’ scheme, we filled out all paperwork, we’re fully vaxxed and dutifully followed all the Thai government’s procedures. 

No cases on the island, we were safe as houses! 

What could go wrong? 

I think we were about 8 days into our two weeks when the husband announced that sleeping under the aircon had given him a cold…. 

Uh huh 🤔 

He also mentioned that the little Thai girl was a bit fierce with his previous massage as his neck and shoulders ached….

Uh huh 🤔 

I suggested Covid perhaps?? 

Nope, it’s fine……

So fast forward to the day BEFORE we fly home. We head to the tourist clinic, pay our 6000 baht for the compulsory PCR tests and joked about the possibility of being positive 😳😳🙄

I was awoken at about 7am by the husband shouting IM FREAKING POSITIVE!!! (I have altered the wording for censorship purposes) 

And that’s when the trouble started……

It’s not easy in another country to sort out issues when English isn’t the first language. So we got in touch with our intrepid travel agent, Bart who sorted out cancelling our flights home and was a lifeline home when we couldn’t get hold of anyone else. We finally got through to our insurance, Covermore who were brilliant and immediately gave assistance and opened up a case for us. 

Then I called upon my lovely neighbour to cancel a few appointments back home - which clearly I couldn’t keep. She also called Melbourne Airport Parking to ensure my car wouldn’t get towed away…..

So much to think of and just when we thought we had everything sorted, I tested positive and so our 10 days isolation has begun again! 

In all honesty, the hotel has been amazing and is taking such good care of us, even sending someone over to Phuket hospital to pick up prescription meds for us! Over and above! 

Food is sent to our room, along with any other needs as required so really, we are safe and being cared for. The husband is fine now, me not so much but as I ramble on, I can tell my body is putting up a good fight and to be honest, it just feels like a bad cold now. 

We even have a nurse come to the door to take a swab 

So here we are in paradise, doing our time! 

As always, please consider my virtual arms around you all

Tuned In for Life

Of the many things that flow through my life, music is the one constant. One chorus, stanza or even a line from a song can transport me to another place, another time, another life.

 Is that important I hear you ask? Definitely!

As surely as time passes, music has been a true reflection of ourselves, our histories and our personalities. Our moods especially.

Have you ever heard a song and suddenly felt a warm smile creep over your lips as your mind is taken to a place where you were so happy? 

Have you ever felt tears come from listening to a song ?

I have often said that most occasions, gatherings and celebrations include food. Well, I think music is also up there as something shared and remembered.

Just as you might remember that amazing dinner you had to celebrate a birthday, you might also remember the song that was played as you felt the love of family of friends surround you.

My Mother had a beautiful voice. Mum sang in the Sydney Town Hall when she was young. I too got to play my violin at the Town Hall many years later, with my Mother in the audience beaming with pride. Mum sang all the light operas and musical operas. When I think of her singing 'When You Walk Through a Storm Hold Your Head Up High" from Rogers and Hammerstein's Carousel, well, the tears just well up. 

Music can also be a segway to making a connection when getting to know someone. Ive started many conversations with an acquaintance with ' have you heard....?' You can find out a lot about a person by their taste in music!

As I sit here typing, I am listening to Bernard Fanning on Spotify. When I think of him, I also think of Powderfinger and while I've seen the talented Bernard live - not 3 metres away, I never got the chance to see Powderfinger perform live. 

Being a child of the 60's and 70's bands like Deep Purple, Beatles, Uriah Heep, AC-DC, The Sweet and most of all Black Sabbath took me away from the tedium.

Black Sabbath especially kept me feeling close to my love, even though we were so far apart.

Songs by singers like Russell Morris have been on my playlists for 45 years and I still go to see him perform when I get the chance. 

During the year as COVID-19 put paid to all our usual activities many bands and singers have taken to live streaming concerts and performing even from their lounge rooms and what a brilliant way to keep us engaged and still able to enjoy. 

I loved playing music as well and learned to play not only Violin, but Cello, bass guitar, rhythm and lead

guitar and had a bit of fun with a 12 string guitar, although my small girly hands had much difficulty stretching across the frets, I can tell you!

The first record album I bought was in 1975. It was Cosmo's Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival. About 2 weeks later, I bought Machine Head by Deep Purple. And so my love affair with music began. I was stood waiting patiently for the record store to open the day ACDC released their first album. I dutifully handed over my hard earned $5.95, took it home and played the hell out of it. I would shut myself in my bedroom and regardless of who I happened to be sharing my personal space with (either my grandmother, my mother or one of my sisters) 

The door would shut, the record player would be turned up and I was lost in that world coveting and consuming every written word on the album cover and if lucky enough, there might be inserts with songwords or pictures for me to devour and then, armed with newfound knowledge I couldn't wait to start up a conversation with someone - anyone who might also share my passion.

Of course when I was much younger, there was a weekly publication of the lyrics from all the songs in the 'Top 40' . I think Albert Music published them and I coveted them as well. Learning all the lyrics and singing them to myself over and over. 

I also adored the radio and 2SM or 2UW were always playing in the house. i loved ringing the radio stations and was often on air to announce the next song and one night I announced the birth of my niece! I knew latest songs by Paul McCartney and Wings, Pink Floyd, Sherbert, Skyhooks or Ted Mulry Gang and even met HUSH by chance in a record store.

The funny thing about HUSH, was that many years later while I was working in the meat room at Coles Hurstville, one of the new butchers put on a cassette of songs his Dad had been working on in his garage. I recognised the voice immediately, realised the butchers surname rang a bell and sure enough, his dad had been in the band, all those years ago! 

I hope music, its memories and where it takes you offers comfort and love.

As we emerge from this second wave of the dreaded pandemic here in Victoria, I am looking forward to being able to once again sit in a pub, drink in hand absorbing the vibes.

as always, please consider my virtual arms around you all

P <3

How to be Happy without even trying

How did I get here? 

Thats a very broad question. I mean, I do know HOW I got here, but after almost 61 years of earthly habitation, of weaving in and out of peoples lives, of learning, failing, loving, hurting and exploring, I can't help but marvel at the complicated, twisted and convoluted chain of events that led me here. 

Right here

to this exact point in time

There is a whole lot of 'if only' statements regarding that old chestnut of 'chasing happiness' 

You know.... 

'if only i had money, i would be happy' 

'if only i had stayed I would have been promoted'

'if only i had left I would be happy'

'if only I didn't get sick'

you get the picture?

There are many who believe our lives are mapped out in some kind of pre-designated universe plan.

Others (like in the terminator movies) believe there is no future but what we create ourselves and that our future is in our hands.

Well, what if it was both, or neither for that matter?

Followers of my ramblings will no doubt be familiar with my waffle entitled "which door do I go through?" in that, I spoke of the choices I made, which steered my life onto a completely different path form what I had anticipated.

For the most part, I believe we all are seeking happiness in some form among other things.

That of course is dependant on our goals, likes, dislikes and capabilities. To be loved is probably up there, along with successful career, good health, family etc

It is so hard to quantify success. Believe me, I have tried. It is equally as hard to quantify happiness.

I remember reading once about a guy who won the lottery. He vowed he would never work again, would do many charitable things, go on holiday, buy a better house and car etc.

Of course the needle on his happiness scale would have been high on the Richter scale, but apparently, after he had completed his bucket list, he felt lost and disengaged. he went back to work and began to behave just like the rest of us poor slobs. 

His happiness needle returned to its normal level and that elation and euphoria subsided.

He felt he needed to go back to work to feel normal again. 

It wasn't about the money after all

Lesson learned

Now it may seem bizarre, but our levels of happiness are on a kind of sliding scale. 

For example, a precious event, like getting married or a birthday party usually sends our happiness needle up - fantastic! but it will always slide back down to 'normal' and similarly, when disaster strikes, our needle plummets and so we tend to live in a series of peaks and troughs as events come and go. 

We need the normal, so that we can recognise what isn't.

So we look forward to events in our lives to make/keep us happy and engaged.

We have dreams, expectations and plans all in an effort to attain happiness and contentment.

Which brings me back to my own personal scale of happiness.

I have had some super happy times in my life, many dreams, also disappointments

BUT

The biggest thing I have learned is its not about the happiness itself

Its about the EXPECTATION

Like anything we do, be it work, relationships or health, we put in the ground work and we set our expectations, our expected result.

What I have learned is 

                               To Avoid Disappointment, Lower Your expectations

Im not saying to not strive or push the universe, because it is human nature to test our limits, but just think about your happiness when you exceed the limitations or expectations you put on yourself. 

More sustained happiness perhaps, just might mean less disappointment 

Only you are in control of your own happiness needle. it is no one else's responsibility and you truly cannot blame others.

Now back to me....

After my accident in Thailand cut short my own career, my disappointment was understandably huge. My expectations were smashed so Ive had to rethink my own goals and expectations and honestly?

I have sat back and taken yet another good, hard look at life and realised what I actually need to be happy is precious little.

The world has evolved and societal changes, especially over the last 40 years have seen huge leaps in human expectations and fulfilment. 

So I guess I am trying to pull back a little, take stock of what is truly important and lower my expectations, especially now as we come to grips with a spiralling and non discriminatory virus forcing us to stay close to home. 

I share each and every day with chronic pain and while I don't expect to wake up pain free one day, my hope is to find relief. 

I wake up every morning next to the man I adore.

 I am safe, I am loved and I have a voice and that, my dear readers, makes me happy.

I would love to know your thoughts

in these very strange and uncertain times around the world,

please consider my virtual arms around you all

Phillipa

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

For those of you who have returned to some type of normality either by retuning to work or being able to move around without too many restrictions I say hurrah!

For the rest of us (mainly Victorians) we are enduring a potential second wave of you-know-what and are looking for alternate and safe ways of amusing ourselves!

I guess the MOTH (man of the house) and I are pretty lucky as we have a very large project right in front of us, namely setting up our home.

For us this is quite a novelty as being in our 60's and having lived several other lives, we have moved house and reconfigured our lives many times over.

This is very different as this is a promise we made to each other back in 1977 when we were young, in love and thought ourselves invincible.

This home represents all the dreams that went awry, as well as all the years we had apart. As a teenager in love, there is only here and now and consequences don't exist. The mere whisper of them could make all your dreams evaporate into thin air.

So here we are in Central Victoria, in the middle of a pandemic and nothing but time on our hands. Uh huh...

We are both collectors and lovers of anything vintage (including ourselves) and so our biggest task has been finding homes for all our beloved possessions.

The MOTH prides himself on having a keen eye for a bargain and so every trip to an op shop results in a boot full of treasures. Let me list some of his penchants (in no particular order):

uranium glass (it glows under a black light) and depression or vaseline glass

bud vases and other glassware

bar ware, including cocktail glasses, shot glasses etc

19th century china

Antique French anything, including lace

Tiki mugs and indeed anything tiki related

Some of my most sought after items include:

Crystal vases and bowls

Ice buckets

Lacquer ware

Poker ware

Glass dishes with panoramic photos in the base

Antique fabric 

Antique clothes

Vinyl records

We both collect West German Pottery as well.

Now this became a thing when we first started putting our collections together. I had bought my Mother a West German vase back in 1979 and when she passed away, I took ownership and care of it and loved it. The MOTH owned a very similar vase and we discovered it was from the same batch! 

Definitely a sign from the universe!

We also love old furniture and restoring and giving new life to old pieces is giving us plenty to do. We tend to go looking in the second hand shops when we can and gather up possible projects to keep us occupied.

We have recently refurbished an old 1980's buffet and hutch for the kitchen. It has gone from a darkly stained, dreary piece, to a chalk painted beauty. The leadlights in the doors really pop now and the MOTH had some beautiful old ivory looking knobs that he had kept in a box for years and  I just loved them, so they are now proudly adorning the buffet.

I recently recovered 6 old dining chairs that belonged to the MOTH's Nan. I had a quote to have them done for $660, however I found a scrap of beautiful fabric in an op shop, got some new foam cut from Clark Rubber and redid them all for $60! They were a lot of work, but totally worth doing. 

As we spend pretty much 24/7 together, we are finally able to relax and do the simple things and as it is pretty cold down here, a sleep in followed by a leisurely breakfast and conversation is the norm. 

We have even gotten into the garden (what?? I hear you say?) and pruned all the standard roses and have started planning out how we want the yard to look, come spring and summer.

It may sound a little mundane, but after working hard for the last 40+ years, and searching for each other I reckon we deserve a little down time and a chance to 'smell the roses' so to speak.

I finish with a little thought that has been rolling around in my head for the last little while.

Happiness comes from within us. All the pretty things around us are great, but are possibly superfluous when you sit and hold the hand of the person you love.

Have a fabulous week and as always

Please consider my virtual arms around you all xx

Surviving the Lockdown

I am writing this from my newly appointed study/sewing room. Ok, so its basically a multi-tasking room. The MOTH has an equally well equipped study at the other end of the house.

All this new found space is proving to be very handy as living in Victoria means more stringent social restrictions.

Which leads me to the topic of this ramble: surviving the lockdown!

For the most part, most of us have been relatively homebound since March this year and we are all dealing with restrictions, changes and frustrations that would test even the best of us.

Personally, Ive been quite restricted since May 2019 when I broke my arm and shoulder so I had no choice in the matter when it came to being housebound and curtailed, however the MOTH was used to getting up at ten to five every morning in Sydney and driving an hour and a half to get to work.

All that changed when covid19 made its unwanted entrance and the world as we know it, has changed so much.

As all our plans of travel fell through, we bought a big house in country Victoria and that has meant big changes to our normal routines.

I am not working and the MOTH is working less due to less work around and he is working from home which means the getting up time is more like 9:30, followed by a leisurely breakfast before the computer fires up.

It also means that the never ending list of jobs around the house is getting some attention and what was a cold, beige expanse of living areas etc, now resembles something far more desirable and the choice of comfy, inviting lounging areas and cocktail sipping corners abounds!

Added to that, we have some awesome neighbours who love nothing better than to down garden rakes and head over for a cuppa and cake!

For many people, these past few months have been hard. So many businesses have been closed and the small country town we live in, resembles a bit of a ghost town from Monday to Thursday as most of the shops are only open for the back end of the week. Even then, there are still some tight restrictions on how many can be in a shop and let me tell you, queuing outside a shop in 10 degree weather is frustrating!

Anyone who knows me, knows I do a lot of cooking, however the MOTH and I do love our breakfasts out, or coffee and cake, so having a lovely big walk in pantry, I decided to stock up on staples. There are still restrictions on quantity buying though as people still panic buy!

In order to survive in this new order world, we have all been compelled to make changes in our lives. Terms like 'social distancing' didn't exist until now and it can be a challenge, especially when queuing or not going in for the hug when seeing old friends.

Buying more things online has been a bit of a challenge for me as i am tactile and I much prefer the interaction with humans as part of the buying experience. Although, I must say, I do enjoy getting parcels delivered! 

I do think we have managed the whole thing reasonably well, all things considered. For those who are socially awkward, introverted or shy, its been a bit of a godsend as their behaviour is now considered normal and acceptable, while those extroverted souls really have to hold back at times!

For me, I am quite happy to sleep a bit more, move a bit more slowly and take stock of what we have and how lucky we are to be in a safe place. I love spending extra time with the MOTH  and although the waistlines are suffering, cooking comfort food has never felt so good.

Lets enjoy our 'time out' from the crazy and revel a bit more in our own backyards for a while longer.

As always, consider my virtual arms around you all

Cancelled by Misadventure

Roughly 18 months ago, the MOTH and I were engaged in a rather animated discussion about 'what to do next'?

The past 4 odd years have been nothing short of a whirlwind

We set up cohabitation, travelled, wined, dined and danced ourselves silly, met a heap of great people and generally had a blast.

Now the MOTH has had his share of poor health - but I will get back to that  

So during the course of the conversations and amongst the grandiose plans set out before us, two were a standout:

1. Buy a pub and semi retire (sounds great, huh?)

2. Sell up and travel the world - yes....backpack at 60+ years of age

And so the discussion continued over the weeks and months. Great lists were made showing pros and cons of each path, discussion was had over the Universe making the decision for us but all the while and at the heart of it all was the pure thought that we wanted to be together.

Explore together

Discover together

Make our own path together

Love together

And although we can never recapture all those years we lost, we can sure as hell live every day from here on in making the most of what we have!

A Country hotel came up for sale out at Cassilis, about 40 minutes from Mudgee in NSW.

We even drove up there and did an inspection. It was everything we wanted! A magnificent old two story sandstone building on and acre of land, with other buildings and the freehold price was definitely do-able..

We did our sums, we investigated and we almost put in an offer, even though there was some work to be done to get it open again, I could see the MOTH sitting in an old chair out the front, shooting the breeze and chatting to the locals. Remember, I was still recovering from surgery on my arm and shoulder too so we didn't know what that was going to look like down the track.

 Well, the temptation to travel proved just too much!

Finally travel won out and so began the planning (I had done a fair bit of investigating and reading about overland travel whilst convalescing) 

We didn't want to put time limits on our trip, so the start of the journey would mean buying 2 x one way tickets to Bali and spending a month or so in Ubud just to decompress and slow down (a large task) 

From there, the plan was to work our way through Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam etc ending up in Nepal with some time in Kathmandu.

from Kathmandu, we were hoping to travel by train through the top of India, then eventually fly over to England, set up a base and travel out to places like Egypt, Morocco, Spain etc from there, including travelling around England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. 

From there, the European leg would begin. we had already been to Paris and Prague and definitely wanted to go back.

Like I said, a trip of a lifetime, backpacks in tow!

Now packing up your life is harder than it sounds, especially at our age and especially as we are both collectors and basically have a lot of stuff!

I hired another small storage unit near us and began carefully packing anything we didn't need out and slowly but surely filled it.

Selling stuff was easy and so I began sorting out what we needed as opposed to what we could turn into cash.

Then we worked out where to eventually store all our stuff and hired a large storage unit near my Son, so I knew everything would be safe, then we decluttered the apartment and put it on the market.

Three things happened, almost simultaneously:

1. The apartment sold

2. The MOTH was rushed to hospital with chest pains

3. COVID19 hit

As it happens, these events changed EVERYTHING for us

Suddenly, my darling MOTH was having life saving major surgery and all thoughts of travel escaped my head.

I almost lost him

He was only saved by two quick thinking specialists 

They ruled out any travel for 6 months

Meanwhile, the apartment sold and we needed to find accommodation, but also

It was at this time that restrictions were coming into force regarding travel for the covid19 outbreak

Australian borders closed and we decided that our travel plans would have to wait and we would need to purchase somewhere to live

All our belongings had been carefully packed away into storage for the duration.

We were in a panic to say the least. The MOTH, now on a plethora of meds and recovering, was in no state to deal with it all, so we quickly decided to buy a house in country Victoria. We needed to get out the the city, he needed to rest and recouperate and we needed some security.

Currently, there are no plans to allow overseas travel to start up again so here we are, living it large, rattling round a huge house.

Ive got to say though, we are, as always making the most of it. 

I guess you would call it nesting. 

I am restoring old furniture and he is putting in new light fittings, building a beautiful stacked stone wall to put in a slow combustion stove and we are turning this house into a home.

We have some amazing neighbours - a totally unexpected bonus!

Afternoon teas and impromptu dinners have now replaced our dance parties - but Im ok with that!

Who knows if and when we will be able to travel again, but in the mean time life is looking pretty sweet!

In the meantime

Please consider my virtual arms around you all