It is a very sad day when your own children have no sympathy for the traumas of yet another birthday.
Recently in Family Category
In what seems an ever increasing rate, the years just keep rolling by, and today I am celebrating my 29th birthday, yet again...!
One of my lovely colleagues has pointed out that I am now the same age as my eldest daughter, and as a concept this seems a little hard to come to terms with..., but I shall just have to do it.
Still, it's a nice day when I have the prospect of a quiet dinner, and wine, chocolate and flowers on my desk when I arrived at work this morning.
Readers of this blog will know that I had a part to play in chosing a new kitten for my Dad back in January of this year. Eugene proved to be an outstanding choice, with a fine temperament: friendly, good looks. So much so, that Dad purchased a female kitten in about June with the intention of breeding at least one litter...
Sadly, a little over nine weeks ago, Eugene disappeared, and was found a day later, the victim of a car accident. Dad was devastated at the loss and made plans to get another one when more became available.
A few weeks ago, he announced that he thought Tatiana was pregnant, and sure enough, on Monday evening, 7 little siamese arrived in the world, nine weeks to the day since Eugene's departure,
Now, of course this raises a dilemma...Another cat would be very tempting, but I have a hurdle or two at home to overcome first!
Many days of business, means little time for blogging, so here's a quick update...
- AFL has finished for the year with my lovely Saints in fourth place, which is an improvement from 9th last year
- The Hawks were a surprise winner of the AFL grand final, after Geelong had been the form team all year long. The Hawks supporters might tell you something different...
- An enjoyable afternoon watching the grand final with our lovely neighbours...
- A small moment of embarrassment at Auckland airport involving a (very) small apple, meant that I am $200 Kiwi dollars lighter than I should be. (Plus foreign currency charges) (And the amused chuckles of my colleagues....)
- A house warming for C & Y at the weekend, with so much food left over that we had to go back yesterday to eat some more food!
- My step mother is finally home after almost four weeks in hospital following her fall of 4.5 metres in September. Walking, talking. WHich in itself is a bit of a miracle.
- Warm, dry weather at the weekend reminds us that summer is on it's way, and parched crops in the North of the state will be struggling, even more.
Yesterday my stepmother was intending to head off to Sydney for a couple of weeks, and round 9am decided to take her laptop on to the roof of the underground house that they live in, which my dad had built in the mid eighties, to connect to the aerial directly, presumably so she could check her emails before she set off.
She connected the laptop to the aerial, then sat down on the skylight, which after twenty something years had become somewhat brittle, and fell four metres into the dining area, hitting a piece of pottery and a bookcase on the way down. The fall resulted in three cracked vertebrae and lacerations which required stitching. As a result she will be in hospital for a minimum of two weeks, under strict orders not to move.
When I think of what could have happened, I think she has been very lucky not to have been injured more seriously.
As always, the dry with of my Uncle R, came forth in a telephone conversation with my Dad, not more than a few minutes after the ambulance had been called, when he said "That's a most unorthodox way of entering a house...."
My Dad, another exponent of dry humour, in yet another phone call shortly after, when asked whether she had left for Sydney said, "Well, she's about to leave the house, but there's a change of plans and she's going in the worng direction!"
On our mantlepiece two framed photographs stand, the first one of my mother and Aussie Lass and Pink Ukulele. The other includes my mother, and my aunt, D, my Dad's oldest sister. The occasion: my grandmother's 100th birthday, held in Geelong in 1993.
In this snapshot of a moment in time, D's radiant smile lights up her whole face, amd my mum smiled too, as usual, happy to be in the company of her favourite sister-in-law.
This morning, we received a phone call: at 11 yesterday evening, D's brave and loving heart stopped beating at the age of 86. She is mourned by her loving family: 7 children, and many grandchildren and great grand children.
Shared memories of a kindred spirit: love of family, passion for Australian Rules Football, in her case, the Geelong Cats, a love of reading and chatting and a welcoming home.
Memories of an afternoon on the farm in the Wimmera, when the Cats were playing the Saints, and the game was so close that neither of us could bear to be in the room where the radio was, so to relieve the tension, we walked down to the creek, and talked, sheer enjoyment for both of us. Later on, having mastered the technology of the video recorder, she would record the Cats games, and only watch the close games after she found out the result.
Before the age of the Internet, to read one of her letters to my parents was like hearing her talk, a rapidly written stream of thoughts, which made you feel she was in the room with you. She will be sadly missed by her wide circle of family and friends.
Be still my soul, the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgotten, love's pure joy restored
Be still my soul, when change and tears are past
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
Catharina AD von Schiegel
An exciting weekend for Pink Ukulele and Y, who moved into their new home on Friday. It is so much fun to see their excitement and pride in their new abode, and to hear their plans for the future. Chickens, fruit trees, garden beds. But first, some small maintenance tasks to make the place more comfortable. And anticipation of many family gatherings in the future.
I was looking forward to a quiet weekend, but I should have known that it was not to be..., firstly because we had a work outing to the footy, with good seats, meal and the Geelong/ North Melbourne match...
And then an outing with the Princess and Y, followed by Middle Eastern lunch in Sydney Road- delicious falafels for me, and meaty stuff for the others...yumminess...
Then an offer from my Dad, to buy me another cat, and discretion being the better part of valour, have kindly declined the offer, for now...The history to this offer is that he has bought himself another kitten, after the success of Eugene, earlier this year, and the breeder had two others, not yet sold, with equally lovely natures which led to the offer.
Sunday another outing to the footy, but my Saints are causing me some grief, but not to worry, a very nice outing with our lovely neighbours, followed by dinner, and a few drinks- a really nice way to end a Sunday on a long weekend...
Monday saw a sleep in, then a visitor from the country, amazed at the array of period style fittings that can be obtained if you know where to look...
Too soon, Tuesday has rolled around again, and back to work for another week, happily a short one!
Last winter I gave up trying to knit, because Coco would only leave the flashing needles alone to play with the wool, which was just as bad. Who wants to knit with wet, cat saliva soaked wool? (let alone give away a garment without a thorough washing)
A couple of weekends ago, I got a box of knitting needles out, and left them open on one of the beds upstairs, and over the course of several days she scattered the needles over the bed and on the floor. The fascination of springy knitting needles, and the clicking noise as they move against each other provided plenty of enjoyment.
She has now learnt to sit on my knee while I am knitting, and to ignore the needles, but if I am silly enough to leave the knitting out, or even in an unzipped bag, I will come back later and find the knitting off the needle, and on the floor, needles scattered and stitches unravelled.
Perhaps it is Coco's way of saying "You can knit, but I know it's really a new way of amusing me!"
A few weeks before Christmas, I received a phone call from my step-mother, saying that my Dad was very distressed, because his beloved Siamese cat, Caruso had been bitten by a snake and had died. My mission, then, was to find a kitten, not to replace Caruso, but to become a new member of the family.
And, so commenced a search for a suitable kitten.
One web site lists hundreds of cats available for sale and to give away, and my heart strings were pulled more than once by a well written advertisement.
In my research, I discovered a number of cat breeders and owners in and around Melbourne. What sets them apart from the rest of the population is that they are absolutely besotted by their little charges and who are absolutely delighted to find other people with a similar obsession.
I left home yesterday morning to inspect a candidate, not too far away from home, cat basket in the boot of the car, with my promise to G echoing in my head, that I would not buy another cat for myself...
The seal point male proved to be healthy, alert, friendly and absolutely gorgeous, so a phone call was made to my Dad and he arranged to meet the breeder in Ballarat today for the handover. I made an immediate connection with D, the owner, who initially a little shame faced about sharing the bed with her cats, found a kindred spirit!
It was extremely fortunate that there no other kittens available for sale, otherwise I might have well ended up with another one. (And G might have had to be heard to complain even more loudly about not enough room in the bed!)
People meeting for the first time suddenly relax if they find they both have cats. And plunge into anecdote. ~Charlotte Gray
