February 1997 - April 2014
Goodbye, Binky.......you will be much missed.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Off again soon!
On Wednesday we will be heading off in our trés flash new (to us - it's only four years old, we bought it a couple of weeks ago) car and our little 26 year old caravan to Canberra. We've been attending the National Folk Festival for nearly 20 years now, and this will be the 13th year I have volunteered to work in the office - Kevin is working as a driver, shuttling performers hither and yon, and festival goers up and down hill, in a little bus. We both enjoy the work, and 20 hours' work gets us each a free festival pass and free camping for ten days which is an added bonus. While there we will be able to visit our son and his wife before they head off to Asia on their delayed honeymoon and after they return, before heading back home ourselves.
This was taken a few years ago, last time Easter was in late April. Every year I look at the colours on this tree as it's an indication of how far into autumn we have come - some years Easter has fallen so early that the tree is still very green, as it was last year. I don't put pictures of people on my blog without their permission but I don't think these folk are recognisable.
The day after the last blog post I sent away for a copy of Dorothy Grace's death certificate, to see if the mystery of her birth can be unravelled. Another thought that I had forgotten also popped into my head - some years ago I met Nadine, my mother's cousin, who was born after Gracey died. I remember that she was a little shocked that her Auntie Laura may have had an illegitimate son, Norman, as a teenager, and suggested that perhaps another sister - she named Ethel - may have given birth to the boy and for some reason wasn't able to bring him up, so Laura took him in. I am now wondering if she had the children mixed up in her mind, and Gracey was actually the child born to Ethel but brought up by Laura? My grandmother Edith left her first husband and was divorced by him (probably the cause of some scandal in the early 1920s) and moved here, taking a job as a cook at the local hospital. Her two daughters, Lily May and Elsie, were taken in by two of her sisters, Laura and Emily (Auntie Em) as it would be difficult for her to work in a town distant from family support while bringing up two young girls. There was no government help in those days.....if your family couldn't or wouldn't help, you were on your own.
Those old names are becoming popular again, aren't they? Laura.....Edith......Ethel......Emily......even Lily May and Elsie, although I haven't heard of many baby girls in recent years being named Edith, Ethel or Elsie. Grace is back on the top 100 baby name list, but I don't think Dorothy has made it for several years. Neither has Mavis, which was my mother's name.
More milestones are gradually being passed for the shoulder. Exercises are continuing, and we are now up to lifting.......slowly and not very high yet, but it is happening.......one kilogram, or nearly two pounds. I can put my hair up and even braid it in a single braid at the back of my neck again. After we come home from Canberra I will try playing guitar, it's more of a stretch than playing ukulele and so far hasn't been ~ quite ~ manageable. Earlier this week I even had a go at driving the trés flash new car, but that is still an uncomfortable stretch - however, it shouldn't be long until that is possible, too. Tomorrow the shoulder and I have an appointment with Anna The Nice Young Physiotherapist, and I hope she is pleased with its progress over the past four weeks while she was off gallivanting around Europe. Even the pain which was making life so difficult for quite a while has abated, although sometimes there is still a dull ache.....but I can cope with that.
"All well-bred persons will conduct themselves at all times and in all places with perfect decorum. Wherever they meet people they will be found polite, considerate of the comfort, convenience and wishes of others, and unobtrusive in their behaviour. They seem to know, as if by instinct, how to conduct themselves, wherever they may go, or in whatever society they may be thrown. They consider at all times the fitness of things, and their actions and speech are governed by feelings of gentleness and kindness towards everybody with whom they come into social relations, having a due consideration for the opinions and prejudices of others, and doing nothing to wound their feelings."
Remember those words, when next you venture out into society.
Enjoy your days!
The day after the last blog post I sent away for a copy of Dorothy Grace's death certificate, to see if the mystery of her birth can be unravelled. Another thought that I had forgotten also popped into my head - some years ago I met Nadine, my mother's cousin, who was born after Gracey died. I remember that she was a little shocked that her Auntie Laura may have had an illegitimate son, Norman, as a teenager, and suggested that perhaps another sister - she named Ethel - may have given birth to the boy and for some reason wasn't able to bring him up, so Laura took him in. I am now wondering if she had the children mixed up in her mind, and Gracey was actually the child born to Ethel but brought up by Laura? My grandmother Edith left her first husband and was divorced by him (probably the cause of some scandal in the early 1920s) and moved here, taking a job as a cook at the local hospital. Her two daughters, Lily May and Elsie, were taken in by two of her sisters, Laura and Emily (Auntie Em) as it would be difficult for her to work in a town distant from family support while bringing up two young girls. There was no government help in those days.....if your family couldn't or wouldn't help, you were on your own.
Those old names are becoming popular again, aren't they? Laura.....Edith......Ethel......Emily......even Lily May and Elsie, although I haven't heard of many baby girls in recent years being named Edith, Ethel or Elsie. Grace is back on the top 100 baby name list, but I don't think Dorothy has made it for several years. Neither has Mavis, which was my mother's name.
More milestones are gradually being passed for the shoulder. Exercises are continuing, and we are now up to lifting.......slowly and not very high yet, but it is happening.......one kilogram, or nearly two pounds. I can put my hair up and even braid it in a single braid at the back of my neck again. After we come home from Canberra I will try playing guitar, it's more of a stretch than playing ukulele and so far hasn't been ~ quite ~ manageable. Earlier this week I even had a go at driving the trés flash new car, but that is still an uncomfortable stretch - however, it shouldn't be long until that is possible, too. Tomorrow the shoulder and I have an appointment with Anna The Nice Young Physiotherapist, and I hope she is pleased with its progress over the past four weeks while she was off gallivanting around Europe. Even the pain which was making life so difficult for quite a while has abated, although sometimes there is still a dull ache.....but I can cope with that.
"All well-bred persons will conduct themselves at all times and in all places with perfect decorum. Wherever they meet people they will be found polite, considerate of the comfort, convenience and wishes of others, and unobtrusive in their behaviour. They seem to know, as if by instinct, how to conduct themselves, wherever they may go, or in whatever society they may be thrown. They consider at all times the fitness of things, and their actions and speech are governed by feelings of gentleness and kindness towards everybody with whom they come into social relations, having a due consideration for the opinions and prejudices of others, and doing nothing to wound their feelings."
Remember those words, when next you venture out into society.
Enjoy your days!
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