The innocence of a 5-yr-old

Michael, this is one of the photos you sent but I was unable to save it in that format, so found it elsewhere.  I showed the pics to Emma without vetting them first, which was a mistake, but I needn't have feared, as when she saw this one, she commented happily, 'And the penguin went swimming by...'

Oh, Infogenium, you say the nicest things! :-))

A day in the country

On Thursday my sister and I met at Bowral, a beautiful town in the southern highlands of NSW, for a one-night-high-tea deal at a lovely old guest house.  It really was quite delightful yet all I could do was wish I was home again!!!!  I really am most peculiar.

Here is the place, overlooking the golf course:

Why do I do it?????

I still have BBC Radio 4 (sometimes 4 extra) on all night and am constantly amazed at the Lords, Baronesses and other titled persons who appear in discussions.  To us here in Australia it's like a fantasy - we can't bring ourselves to believe this kind of thing actually happens!  And at the present time!!!  Although the British queen is our queen too, we don't really think about her much, except to gawp at the ceremonial occasions such as this one yesterday.  And I have to admit I love all the extravaganza as much as the next person.

We have very few rich or 'grand' people (and Lina and I lived with the wife of one of the richest at boarding school years ago when she was a teenager) and there is nothing like the British upper class lifestyle going on here.  I'm still addicted to The Daily Mail and am always struck by the contrast between the haves and have-nots in UK.  Mind you, the most comfortably off Australians who live in grand houses in the leafy suburbs with harbour views never stop whingeing.  And we have lots of poor people, too.  But, since nobody here would think of getting round in a tiara or lives in a rambling mansion comparable to those in Europe and UK, the difference between the haves and have-nots is not so marked.

Mind you, I'm also still addicted to online jigsaws and the things I enjoy doing most are castles and those unbelievable European and British country 'houses'.

Winifred, you make a very good point about why we should all buy things...:-))

Stuff

If I were to reread what I've written on this blog (and I never do), I'm sure the topic of 'Stuff' would occur over and over again, as it is the bane of my existence!

When I moved here two and a half years ago I threw out masses of stuff and I still haven't unpacked everything, yet I go on buying more!!!!  I took this pic a week or so ago when I was tidying up just a couple of drawers of tops - and there are 21 drawers in my bedroom as well as a walk-in wardrobe with hanging space for blouses, dresses and pants and shelves for shoes.  If I live to be 250 I won't get round to wearing all the things.  For example, I have eight pairs of gloves - make that nine - 25 scarves + the three beautiful new ones I got for my birthday, and two wraps.  

The same goes for every category - too many dinner sets, too much bed linen, too much cleaning stuff, far, far too many books...

For a person who considers herself NOT to be in need of retail therapy I'm utterly ashamed. Truly, I have no need of anything (except food) for the rest of my days.

The purple V-shaped pillow is a new purchase to ease my aching bones.  And the electric blanket (which you can't see) is new, too, for the same reason.  (I have three hot water bottles!)  Yes, Winifred, being warm is comforting and Lina, you say you are just a few years younger than me - try 21 or so...

Please note Muffy curled up as I was doing this - what a contrast in human and cat lives.
She needs NOTHING (except food and water) and is so content she purrs so hard she dribbles.

By the way, I gave up on Pennytel and now have a new phone and new number.  (Philip kindly passed his landline over to me.)

Life sure wasn't meant to be easy...

I am trying to get my phone to work by following email instructions from PennyTel and am stuck because they tell me to check my credit card statement for a deduction they've made and enter this amount before I can proceed, but IT AIN'T THERE!!!!!!!  I've checked half a dozen times, each time entering my account number, password, and doing that stupid thing where you have to type in some weird letters.  I am sick and tired of all this baloney. 

Oh, for the good old days...