 What are these weird looking things? you may ask.
They are part of my current dilemma. Yes, believe it or not, these little creatures are contributing a small portion of what is taking up my time, my energy and my emotions right now. What am I to do with them? is the problem. My children made these when they were in Primary school. They (the children, that is) are now in their 40s and these little models that they crafted with their possibly grubby little hands represent something I cannot part with. It’s the idea and knowledge that I once was a mother of young children, I suspect. A time of unrelenting busy-ness and a the time I adored. I am packing up our house. I am clearing everything and tossing out so much that it takes my breath away and yet it is little things like these creatures (creatures?) that present a dilemma too difficult for me to handle.
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I'm back and I'm already whingeing!
There’s been a lot of discussion about our Australian govt.’s latest budget announcements, where “we” are attempting to rein in some of the money that is beings drained from the economy. One plan is to reduce the (so called) “baby bonus”, whereby parents, previously paid about $5,000 on the birth of a baby, will soon have the payment either scrapped or dramatically reduced. (Apparently a lot of large flat-screen TV sets were being bought by young parents!) ood on the govt., I say. But there have been complaints from young couples saying that they will have trouble affording to have any more babies. So? Simple: Don’t have any more if you can’t afford them! One woman was quoted in the newspaper saying that, although she had two small children, she “wasn’t ready to stop yet”. What? Her children’s names were Ransom and Havok (True!). Even if the cessation of the “baby bonus” simply stopped those women who give their children ridiculous names from producing more Ransoms and Havoks, I think it will be a job well done! I mean…Ransom and Havoc? What on earth was she thinking? Or WAS she thinking at all? Stop the baby bonus altogether, PLEASE! Well, we’ve done it! We have bought a house in the northern state of Queensland. And, in 41 days (but who’s counting?) we’ll be moving out of the house (in Victoria) in which we’ve lived for 30 years. It’s a big move to make, but if you never do things that are considered “big”, then what’s the point of hanging around?
We have loved living where we are and will miss the people, the beautiful scenery, the garden that we created, “our” forest and everything familiar. But a change is often necessary to get the most out of life and that’s what we are doing. It’s an exciting time, while also being a time of hard work and stress. But, I will continue to write as an antidote (or an accompaniment!) to all that will be happening. Meanwhile, I also await the verdict from the manuscript assessor. Will she tell me that my memoir is rubbish? Or will there be so many corrections and improvements needed that the task will overwhelm me? We shall see.  This is my favourite gum tree (or eucalypt) that I planted in our back yard about 30 years ago. I have forgotten what 'species' it is, but its beautiful white trunk is a joy to see. When it was new, it was a tiny wisp of a thing in a tube and now it reaches up to the sky. I will miss it when we move away.
We are now almost exactly 2 months away from moving day. On July 5 we will move to Queensland and stay there. Meanwhile, in just two day's time, we will set off for Queensland to hopefully find a suitable house to buy. We have been searching on-line and have found a house that we like, but, whether we still fancy it when we see it "in the flesh" (so to speak) is another matter. We will be away for three weeks and so there will be no blogging during that time. When we return I will continue to take photos of things I will miss and post them here. |
