Hi There Everyone,

Well  a great big Happy Birthday to Lana last week and she certainly heralded in her special day with fanfare.  Looking fabulous and obviously ready to get back to partying hard, she had a fine old time.

Isn’t it fantastic to get to our age and just want to have fun?  Birthdays are a fantastic time to let down your hair. 

If you have a special Big “O” birthday why not have a special Big ‘O’ party.  Fancy dress, party games, lots of things starting with “O”, Good luck thinking of things starting with O although ‘Opal Orangutans and oranges' spring to my mind!!!!

     I'm getting older - so what!!!!

My birthday is this week, and ‘no’ I am not going to get depressed.  Hey, it’s just another day as the clock ticks over.  But what a simply fantastic weekend this past weekend was!   We had Chinese New Year and Valentines Day all wrapped into one. 

I have never really ‘celebrated’ Chinese New Year except maybe meeting friends at a Chinese restaurant.  But a friend was telling me that they always celebrate it. 

The family descend, food is prepared or brought in, decorations such as lanterns and streamers are hung around the house (all in a red and gold theme mind you).  Small red and gold packets are given to the children or unmarrieds and filled with money, hopefully shiny new coins or notes straight from the bank.  Getting married in their family has its downside on Chinese New Year, as it is the sign for the red envelopes to halt! 

What do you do?  Do you head into town and enjoy the celebrations., have a slap up Chinese meal or not take much notice. 

Roslyn's Head Splitting Adventure


Roslyn has written in with another look into her world while travelling in India. 

What a drama though.  After finishing her treatment at the Ayurvedic Clinic she found herself in all sorts of bother when she split her head open and found herself being transported to the local hospital!!!!

You mustn't miss out on this instalment as Roslyn describes all the hospital drama and some of the excitement she experienced while out and about.

Click here 

WEDDING UPDATE

My darling daughter has sent me the photo of the wedding dress she selected when she and her friend went out shopping.  Yes, it is beautiful and is perfect for the seaside wedding and she will look absolutely gorgeous.

But what about the mother-of the-bride!  What in the dickens do I wear?  Do I go overboard and wear the thing I might have always dreamed of when the wedding is Church and fancy reception venue.  Do I wear a sarong and pretty thongs?  Should I play it down or play it up? 

Well the news is girls I have selected my look and I am not telling til you see the photo after the ceremony.  I will say though that I have been my usual creative self, which will probably terrify my daughter if she reads this!!!!! 

HOUSE RENOVATIONS

The cement rendering has been done and what a joy it is to have the face of my house scrubbed up.  We had a charming Bosnian man who speaks little English doing the job.  The only downside to the whole affair is Mr G came home at lunch time, hit his head on the back of the van door, split his head open and landed on the ground.  And he wasn’t even doing the cement rendering for goodness sake!!!

I was at work so he dragged himself off to have his head glued back together and was looking very sorry for himself when I arrived home from work. 

Next step is the guttering!  Yipppeeee

BRAD AND ANGELINA

What on earth do you make of all of this?  They are in love?  They are separating.  They are suing!   Is all of this a plot by the newspapers to get Brad back with Jen?  Have they got the power to actually do that!

Jen must be loving this. ‘I want my ex-husband back’ she’s probably thinking!!!!!!!  Ordinarily I would say that all of this is newspaper talk and nothing more. 

But do you know what!  Years ago I almost wrote to Prince Charles and Diana telling them how terrible the newspapers were and we all knew they were deliriously happy.  Well I was wrong about that!  Was Camilla the leak I wonder.   This is the thing that just has me on edge with this newspaper talk though.  Do I believe them or not? 

You know half the stuff you read in the magazines is written by the staff trying to drum up sales.  Do you know what the latest Woman’s magazine had on the cover? 

I kid you not!   It said:

Brad and Jen in Secret holiday in Portugal. 

Flick over the pages darling and find out that the holiday was taken early in their relationship and this was the first time photos had been published!  What!  Now I don’t know about you but that is definitely manipulation and as a consumer we are being played as fools. 

Why not write about what is current.  Write about interesting stories?  I don’t know about other countries, but here in Australia the same old stories crop up in most of the weekly and monthly magazines all at the same time!!!  Aren’t any of them original!

And if there is no ‘purchase buying headline’ they make one up:

“Brad and Jen in secret holiday in Portugal” 

Got me that time!!!!

AUSTRALIAN BUSH
FLOWER ESSENCES

Gigi               Ian              Lana

I have just received a beautiful book to crit.  It is written by Ian White,

HAPPY HEALTHY KIDS
From Conception to age 7 with Australian Bush Flower Essences.

So if you have kids or grandchildren and you think that the natural way is the best way for them to gain improvements in their wellbeing and overall health, this book will be just what you are looking for. 

Ian explains how to use the book and then how the Australian Bush Flower Essences work.  Then the chapters roll on from pregnancy to 7 years old, looking at problems at every stage and suggesting plans to overcome childhood issues.  There are many personal stories from users of the essences and suggestions and so much more.

This book is packed and the reader will learn about the essences that are perfect for premature labour, healing scars, baby’s sleep problems, bedwetting, dealing with childhood diseases, coping with starting school, school learning issues and so much more. 

The one thing that strikes you about this book is the cover.  Honestly it is so fresh and inviting and the three kids on the front look such a picture of health and if they are anything to go by, healthy, happy thriving children are are your fingertips.  Learn about these essences and use them to create balance and improvements in your children's or grandchildren's lives.

To buy this book click here

To read our interview with Ian White click here  

HAIRIFFIC

I am back on hair again.  I have a love/hate relationship with hair.  Do you?

One pearl of information I discovered on my research - did you know that Japanese women wash their hair on average twice a day!  Well, you know their hair always looks fabulous, but having the time to do twice daily washings staggers me.

My hair is dry and apparently it depends on how much oil my sebaceous glands produce that will make a difference.  I am obviously coded not to make much.

Dry hair contains too little moisturiser caused by the sebaceous glands producing too little sebum, harsh sunlight, frequent washing, hairdryers and straighteners, and hair age (that is hair that hasn’t been cut for a while).  When this happens your hair can lack shine, feel rough, break and tangle. 

So what do you do with all of this straw?

A good dry hair shampoo and conditioner.

Cut down on blow drying.

Avoid bleaching, straightening and perming.

Have a regular hot oil treatments (you can pick them up at the supermarket)

Trim split ends.

Looks like I am ready for a few hours at the hairdresser!

Click here for something about hair

THE ROAD

We recently saw the movie The Road.  What a stunning movie in the true sense of the word! 

The world decides it has had enough and erupts leaving very few humans alive.  The story of the man and his son trying to survive is mesmerising and if Viggo Mortensen doesn’t win an Oscar for his performance I will eat my hat. 

The film is a dark tale and appears grim.  But the story is a triumph of real survival and potentially a position that you could find yourself.  What would you do?  Could you remain ‘one of the good guys’ or would you tip over into being evil?   Exactly how far would you go to stay alive?  This a movie for those who like their movies to be mentally stimulating and gives plenty of scope to talk with friends afterwards. 

Five stars from me.

Check out the trailer here....

LANA’S WISE WEEK

Lana is back on track so it seems.  Hurray.  Her birthday week sounded fabulous as she rushed from one eating extravaganza to another……
All the best for another wonderful year Lana.

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK

How about viewing your life this way from now on:

“Life is no brief candle for me. 

It is a sort of splendid torch

which I have got hold of for the moment

and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible

before handing it on to future generations” 

George Bernard Shaw

Lift your game everyone;  it’s never to late to turn your candle into a ‘raging torch’. 

Until next time,