Just Water!

Amongst the things that have gone right this year there of course have been some sad times plus 'things' that go wrong.

The other evening I went to the kitchen sink to peel the potatoes for dinner, the water from the tap wasn't flowing as good as it normally does, then it was discovered youngest son was running the water in the bath for his 2 year old son.  He turned those taps off, but still not enough water out of the kitchen tap.  Husband went and checked all the taps outside in the backyard, all was well.  I kept saying, no, not all is well.  Daughter in law went to her car out the front of the house, there is was discovered that her car had broken a pipe to the watering system in the lawn.  So hence the problem.  Water was turned off, husband and son fixed the pipe.  Water was collected from next door neighbours so dinner could be cooked for the 7 of us. 

Another tap outside decided to leak this morning once again.  A new tap is required.
Then before we went on holiday, husband broke another pipe by driving his 4 wheel drive over it.  That too is now repaired.  I hope that is the end of the Water problem.

Photo borrowed from the Internet

Excitement in the House!

A new born early evening of October 27, to our eldest son and his wife - a Son :)  All doing well. So now they have two children, a daughter aged 2 and their new born.
We now have 5 grandchildren.  3 girls and 2 boys.

Photo taken this afternoon with me :) My husband used his phone for the photo.

Subway

I quite like Subway, however I would rather the roll had butter spread on it because I find the roll always dry, no matter what town or city we are in.

When travelling we often call into a Subway if the town has one, and have Subway for lunch, but it becomes tiring after a while.  Sometimes we find a local bakery and buy sandwiches, or something else to eat and usually eat it in the bakery or outside in a dinning area.  We even take our lunch to a nice park that we may find, sit at the table and eat there. I have a husband who won't eat in the car :) A fussy Virgo!

This photo was taken from the car travelling down the road in Queensland at 110km...I was surprised it came out fairly clearly.

Somerset Dam, Queensland.

On our way home from Queensland we passed the Somerset Dam plus the Lake where the water is stored.

The Dam is a mass concrete gravity dam with a gated spillway across the Stanley River that is located in the South East region of Queensland, Australia.
The scenery on the way to the dam and from the dam was picturesque.

Visitors whilst in Queensland.

Whilst we were on our holiday, a blogger friend and her husband came to stay in the Apartment block where we stayed.  It was wonderful to meet them both for the very first time.  What a cheerful, happy couple.
You can visit her blog, Diane Adventure before Dementia here..

Photos taken on our 'night' out.

We two ladies.

Diane's husband on the left, my husband on the right.

WORDS ON THE WIND: New World Dreaming with ANDREW MCKENNA AND PETER FERNON 20 November 2014

New World Dreaming is the 5th story in the series WORDS ON THE WIND.

Melbourne is built on the footprints of immigrants, most of whom came through the port and docklands.

Andrew Mc Kenna  and Peter Fernon  are seasoned storytellers and in this intimate production they use music and spoken word to give expression to the lives of a few of the millions fleeing the stagnation and turmoil of old worlds to make a life for themselves in a new one.

In the 1850s Andrew’s Irish great great grandparents fled the blighted potato fields of Donegal and reached Melbourne, via India in rebellion. They arrived in Melbourne in summer, to a welcome of bushfires, wild dogs and news of the Great Melbourne Telescope gazing at the heavens.

Peter’s in-laws left Calabria in the 1950s, where the war had destroyed the established order in their village. Women did men’s work and men, especially the ones who had been prisoners of war, had glimpsed other ways of life. When the old order began to reassert itself those who expected more of life had to look elsewhere. Peter’s in-laws headed for Melbourne.

When:   Thursday  20 November.  5.30pm for 6.00pm start

Where:  The Library at The Dock: HERE

WORDS ON THE WIND is a series of free storytelling shows at the new Library at the Dock, running from July through to December 2014. Eight storytellers from Storytelling Australia Victoria have crafted six compelling tales to reflect their relationship to this part of Melbourne’s Docklands. They will explore the history and environment of Victoria Harbor, a corner of Melbourne steeped in tales of mystery and intrigue, not to mention major engineering works! 

 ENQUIRIES: Anne E Stewart on 0408 550 945 or email anne@anneestewart.com.au    

Good news!

It's been a great weekend in all.  Son got his job :) He commences this morning at 8am and finishes at 3pm, Monday to Friday with weekends off at this stage.  Times may change for next week.
Son, his wife and family have found a house to live in not that far from us, they move on November 1.
Eldest sons wife, we are counting the days for the newborn to arrive.

My husband and I brought most of the furniture to the city we live in and stored it for the time being, it will be sold, not that you get much for second hand furniture. The couple that bought the house have paid me for some of the furniture.

I had two friends help me yesterday at my late dads house in Devonport - well it's my house now which I sold in 3 days.  The settlement date is October 31. My friends, well one vacuumed up stairs, the other downstairs, then we tackled the hall cupboard, all done.  Wrapped most of the crockery which is Royal Dalton and Noritake dinner set x 2 both the same.  All that is left are the saucepan and cutlery drawers, then to be all wiped out.  I will be so pleased when finished.

Today I am to meet the plumber to replace the rubbers at the back of the toilets. So again I travel to Devonport being 5 days out of 7.  Can't stop in the house as the beds are in storage.

Today the two girls played outside for a while as the grandson aged 2 had his afternoon sleep.  These children have the bluest of eyes and long eye lashes.

Miss 8 year old and two of her dolls.

Below, miss 6 year old with her bubbles.

Storytelling at the Clunes Booktown for Kids 31 Oct - 1 November 2014

Clunes is a little gold mining town that has been given a new life as a place famous for its bookshops and festivals. In April 2012 Clunes gained international Organisation of Booktowns membership becoming the 15th international booktown and the only booktown in the southern hemisphere.

Booktown for Kids covers two days - a schools day and a family day. There are workshops, readings, a Children's Village of Lost Trades and more ...

Storytelling Australia Vic's Jackie Kerin will be telling stories and running workshops on both days

You can see  the full program HERE

David Ambrose visiting NSW and Byron Bay Feb/Mar 2015

David Ambrose is visiting  NSW next Feb/Mar, in the Sydney area and also around Byron Bay, and would like to be able to do one or two storytelling shows maybe w/shops and generally meet up with some Aussie residing tellers. He is a founder member of the Tales From Beyond The Border Storytelling Company, with fellow storytellers Megan Lloyd, Francis Maxey and composer Peter Stacey.

I have directed him to Humph Hall (thank you Jo Henwood) but if any of you have other contacts that might be useful - please email  davidambrose@beyondtheborder.com and let him know.

Also a word from David: 'If anyone would like to know what I look and sound like in performance , here is a link to a short clip promoting ‘Words On The Wing', the show I recently put together with Austria’s Karin Tscholl. (Don’t want to confuse people. I’m not suggesting this  show is available; it’s just that this is the only video I have to hand just now that shows me performing) :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ9oGJ8tuUI'

If you live in the Northern Rivers area, perhaps you could let the Northern Rivers Writers Centre know. I suspect a visit from someone so knowledgable of oral traditions, would be a of great interest.

The tales he tells come from Wales (his mother’s country) and from the World, from the mists of Celtic Britain to the deserts of Arabia to Russia’s distant steppes…. you may hear the ancient legend of Llyn Y Fan Fach, or the tale of the sleeping King Arthur in the cave. You might also hear about Ivan’s Inn, The Syrian Woodcutter’s Wealthy Sister, or David's rollicking version of the French fairytale Puss In Boots...

David is also an experienced host of Storytelling Circles, and welcomes the opportunity to sit round a hearth or a campfire and exchange stories, jokes and songs with anyone who has a tale to share….

David is a wonderful storyteller, has an elegant mind and is an all round lovely bloke. NSW, you are lucky, he is coming your way.We in Victoria, envy you having the opportunity to hear him tell.

Jackie Kerin

Jack and the Beanstalk: pillaging, invasion and hidden worlds 12 October 2014

In June 2014 the Australian Fairy Tale Society was launched and part of the vision of the Society, is to see Fairy Tale discussion and performance groups gather several times a year, around the country: The Fairy Rings.

The inaugural Fairy Tale Ring, organised and hosted by the wonderful ethereal Louisa John-Krol, took place in the Fitzroy gardens on the first hot day of Spring.

Toby Eccles opened the gathering by a masterful telling of Jack and the Beanstalk, the most well known version having been collected in Australia by Joseph Jacobs in the 1860s then published in the UK in English Fairy Tales. Toby describes his version as having an ‘Australiana twist’. With themes of drought, images of sandy wide verandahs, meals of bread and dripping, and all described in Toby’s broad, soft Australian accent and colloquialisms, Jack’s adventures sat well in thelandscape.

 

Toby was followed by Zeinab Yazdanfar, with Aaron Shepard’s version of a tale from Iran, The Magic of Mushkil Gusha (Australia School Magazine May 1997 and Cricket August 1998). A version also appears in World Tales by Idries Shah. Zeinab’s first language is Farsi and she read the story, in English. As listeners we felt privileged to witness a new friend taking her first steps to becoming a re-teller of folk tales.

It was a joy to listen to Cindy-Lee Harper telling two stories given to her by a Wiradjuri elder many years ago. CL herself has a heritage that can be traced back to the Pyemarriner People of North East Tasmania and while not identifying as Aboriginal, she has explored this connection in her storytelling and work. In recent time CL has been enjoying writing more than telling and you can read one of her stories that illustrates her connection to the Pymarriner HERE

Louisa followed with an improvised and collaborative telling of Cecino the Tiny from the anthology World Tales by Idries Shah. With Tiahna whirling and spinning her hula hoop into the story impromptu, it was both engaging and very funny.

Thank you to Toby (and his family), Louisa, Teena, Jackie, Lylah, Cath, Zeinab, Cindy-Lee, Lucy, Tiahna and Mary-Lou for rocking up to tell, listen and foster a new storytelling venture in Melbourne.

You can follow Louisa’s adventures on her glorious website HERE

pics from north to south: Toby, Zeinab, Cindy Lee, Tiahna, Louisa