Hi There Wisewomen

I hope you have been enjoying your week, putting it to good use, and embracing the very best that happens.

MY WEEK

The Silver Century Seminar was on a week or so ago. 
I travelled by car (the traffic was bumper to bumper)
to the light rail (just missed a train).  
I walked what seemed like hundreds of kilometres uphill through the city streets, carrying a couple of bags and a huge heavy banner (I was latish). 
A few dramas occurred with microphones, laptops etc. but apart from that it turned out brilliantly. 

Lucky me, I got my photo taken with The Hon Barry Jones AO our keynote speaker and a truly wise man. 

                Barry Jones and me

After I left the building to walk back to the light rail and above me I heard the most incredible roaring sound.  Smack in the middle of the CBD, hanging between the city buildings was a helicopter.  Fortunately I had read in the paper the defence force would be undertaking training over the city.   The man in the helicopter was leaning out the side door waving his arms. So I waved back.

Well, I knew they weren’t looking for ‘real’ baddies so presumed they weren’t going to shoot me!!!!  But I am sure the passers by thought I was part of the show as I jumped up and down in my black trench coat waving my arms.  Ok, I am an idiot but you might as well join in I say!  Then I whipped out my camera and took this photo. 

I hopped on the light rail and when we stopped at a station, there was a white cat sitting as mighty as you like and probably thinking, ‘I wonder if my master is on this train?’
 

 

You could say 'an eventful day'....

ROSLYN’S JOURNEY

           Roslyn taking a break

Wow wow wow!  I am just in the process of down loading Roslyn’s mammoth journey to Turkey and Israel.  Sorry it is not quite ready yet, but it will be up very soon. 

She certainly has a way of taking us with her with her story writing and I feel like I have been on the trip too – so will you. 

If these are countries you are keen to visit, this will give you a real taste.    From balloon rides, Turkish baths, Dead Sea paddles and lots of interesting foods, her travel story is a great read.

Coming soon.

FISH DOWN THE SINK!

Our last lot of fish in our little fish tank have done well, and by that I mean we haven’t killed them, either by kindness or neglect.  But during the last act of kindness, we lost one. 

Mr G was using the fish tank vacuum to take out all the muck and a fish got sucked up.  It shot through the plastic tube and lodged in the middle which actually saved him from going down the kitchen sink.  It took us a few seconds to work out how to get him back in the tank but when he was set free he went berserk and swam upside down. 

“You’ll have to get him out” I said, “He’s freaking out the other fish”. So Mr G got the sieve and scooped the fish and within a second he jumped out of the sieve and straight down the kitchen sink hole.  He was destined for that sink hole.

I think he must have thought “Beauty, finally made it!  I’m getting out of their clutches while I’ve got a chance!” I let the tap run for ages in the hope that freshwater would help him on his way.

MY TRIP TO MELBOURNE

                With brothers Paul and Robert

I had to make a quick trip to Melbourne for the funeral of my glorious Auntie Barbara.  This beautiful woman was my late mother’s sister and I just had to be there. She was, in her day an opera singer of great note, singing for the Queen when she came out here in 1954. 

So the day of my trip to Victoria started at 4.30am!  This is not a time that agrees with me.  My elder brother Rob collected me on the way to the airport.  From the moment he picked me up I laughed.  I don’t often have uninterrupted time with him and it was truly wonderful to get together. 

I caused all manner of trouble getting through customs as just about everything I wore caused the alarm bells to ring. Having made it through there, I then got picked for random drug swabbing.  Gosh, do I look like someone who snorts cocaine!!! 

In Melbourne we hired a car and then the real hilarity began.  I know it seems odd you would get lost with a GPS system, but we did.  There was the Melbourne traffic to contend with (well, they do drive differently down there) and there was a myriad of car issues, especially the mix up with the blinkers and wipers having to be clicked on the other side to Rob’s own car.

“I hope the Melbournites understand the ‘wiper change lane system’ I’m using’ he said as we veered from lane to lane, wipers on high speed and leaving screeching cars in our wake!!  I was in hysterics, most likely terror. 

The GPS said our destination was 685 kilometres away, thankfully not!  Eventually we found the church we and had to park miles away. We abandoned the car and started running. 

Gasping for breathe Rob asked: “Do you remember anything about the car, what colour, the number plate, anything?” 

‘Nope!’  Its location afterwards was going to be interesting!

Because we made it just in time, space was limited and I ended up sitting in a row beside people I didn’t know.  The service started and I started to weep.  I wept through the hymns, the Minster’s talk and the readings.  I cried as my cousins spoke about their mum and practically wailed as the grandchildren sobbed their way through their tributes. 

But I lost it completely at the end when Auntie Barb’s coffin was carried down the aisle to music that filled the church.  The music that was played at that moment was an old recording of my Aunt singing a piece from an Opera, Mimi’s aria from La Boheme, emotional in anycase.  (Click here to hear a version of my most favourite Opera) 

Thanks to the lady who was sitting next to me who took my hand in hers and squeezed it – a lovely gesture and much needed.

Apart from catching up with other aunts and cousins, we went to my brother Paul's home as he lives in Melbourne. We had a lovely time, a quick dinner and then back in the laugh mobile, and yes we got lost AGAIN. How could we keep doing that!! I suggested we go in the Amazing Race together.  Instead of getting mad, angry or irritated when things went haywire, we joked and laughed and lengthened our lives by many years. 

So, a fond farewell to Auntie Barb, a woman whose beautiful life made a difference to so many.

DAD’S DAY

Last year - brother David, Dad and Me (brown hair, now I think I'll go back to that!)

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY go to all the dads, and potential dads, everwhere in the world, especially to my own, who is still in hospital battling his battle.

He is making very small progress towards returning to his hostel, a long slow journey for him.  Meanwhile, having him just down the corridor at work means I can visit him a couple of times a day. Now that is an up!

AUGUST Osage County

A Play by Tracy Letts

Well, what a Play!  Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant.  The Stephenwolf Theatre Company from the USA arrived in Sydney to show us how acting is done. 

And the story, if you think you have a dysfunctional family, do not fear, this family will have you feeling like yours is boring!!! 

The story goes:

‘Ageing poet Beverly Weston goes missing, his wife, three daughters and extended family are brought together to deal with the crisis.’

That is the story in a nutshell. The three hours is rivetting, one drama happening after the next.  If you get a chance wherever you are, this play is thought provoking, hilarious, sad, full of drama with woven intricacies that have you wanting more. 

I found this perfect description in the SMH:

‘The Pulitzer Prize-winning script by Tracy Letts is a literary masterpiece, puckered with zingy one-liners and padded with profound observations that linger well past the curtain call.

This is a true ensemble work and it is the cumulative, dizzying effect of the whole that makes it so spectacular. ’

So it is not just me who is singing its praises.  I will certainly be on the lookout for more of Mr Lett’s work.

Check out a trailer for the USA

 

ELECTION RESULTS

Surprise, surprise, the Australian public couldn’t decide who we wanted for the leader. 

Gillard, Abbott or 'informal' polling the same!!! Ha! I quite like the idea of a free for all government though! 

The weeks grind on as the three Independents slog it out to see who they want to run the country.  The pressure would be enormous.  The three men seem such nice intelligent chaps you wish they could form a little party themselves and run the country their way.  We wait with baited breath!

MY AUCTION JEWELLERY

I finally received my $1,200 piece of jewellery from Bidz.com  which I paid $50.00 + postage of $19.00.  So a princely amount of $69.00.   Ummmmm. 

I am not sure I am entirely happy with my piece.  Look, it is OK but not something that is a thousand dollars worth!  So $50 is probably what it is worth. 

It is made of Onyx and diamonds in 10K white gold.  10K gold looks a bit like pure tin to me!  Maybe I am just being picky but I think silver would look better than this.  The diamonds, it is true they said they were around ‘J’ quality.  Since diamonds range from 'a' to 'z', ‘j’ diamonds seem very lack lustre.  Onyx are just little black stones. 

Maybe I chose the wrong item.  Maybe everyone knows 10K white gold looks a lot like tin.  Maybe everyone steers clear of ‘j’ diamonds because they are dull and lifeless and this is exactly why this item was on the auction clear house!!! 

Hey, stupid me for not working that out!!! 

All is not completely lost though I like it enough to wear it and I’ve had my ‘fix’ at the auction website.  In a way I am glad I am not besotted with it because I would end up with mountains of unnecessary jewellery!

HAIR SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER
FOR HAIRLOSS OR FINE HAIR

I paid big money.  Well, I was worried.  You notice your hair is fast disappearing and you know ‘bald’ is not sociably acceptable for a woman – YET! 

The men sure got that look sorted, accepted and regarded as ‘with it’ – more so than having half a head of hair for goodness sake. 

I found a hairdresser who told me that there was a shampoo, that everyone who had this problem, bought.  It was horribly expensive.  It is called Nioxin Cleanser for Fine Hair.  I bought the conditioner too.


From the beginning I thought it smelt odd.  I would have to say very chemical with a touch of mint or something like that added.  I used this product for weeks and weeks and weeks. 

I was paying for an improvement and it seemed no better, in fact I noticed something bizarre about my head but it didn’t stop me using it.  When I noticed this same look on someone else, that is when I immediately abandoned it. 

You see, I was at my seminar and a middle aged lady was sitting in front of me.  She had dark chestnut dyed hair which appeared thickish around the bottom of the bob, but sprouting up off her head was a very sparse thatch.  I could see almost through it. 

But the one thing that was blindingly obvious was something I had noticed about myself too.  A mirror like surface to the scalp.  This unfortunately makes it like foil wrap shining out brightly between any gap in the hair.  Her scalp was sooooo shiny it was mesmerising and had such an amazing unnatural reflective quality I thought maybe this was the idea of the product. 

'By creating an illusion of reflecting any hair in this glassy surface, voila more hair!!! 

Because her hair was sparse, I naturally assumed she was using this product (I did not ask her though that would have been a bit too rude but the evidence was obvious to me). I immediately ceased using the products myself and I think instantly my hair/head looks a million times better. Shiny hair yes, shiny scalp NO!!!

It made me realise how we can forge on taking or applying this and that because we think MUST be improving things because it says so on the label.  And the more it costs the more we plug on with hope.  We can end up ignoring the very signs our body is telling us that things are not right. 

Just be careful is all I can say.  Let YOUR body judge your products and if anything seems odd, give it the flick.

LANA’S WISE WEEK

    Lana with Gail O'Keefe

Lana tells me she has been madly busy, so good on her.  That’s what we like to be at our age.  Find out what she has been up to here.

QUOTATION

Martha Nussbaum is my quote writer this time.  It is about being honest, trusting and open.  This can work against you, but for the trouble it could cause, the joy of being ‘a good human being’ is worth the pain.

Maybe work on being Sunflowers who may give hope for a stronger spine.  Bright sunny faces looking to the giver of life, defiant and proud, might make it all worthwhile.

Have a fabulous week, until next time

Love