It is now the fourth day of Spring here and it hasn’t stopped storming – ferocious rain, wind, and a very frightened sun that tries to peek out of the black sky and then withdraws again. The whole house is rattling with this extraordinary weather and I don’t dare venture out even though it is already after 2pm. I await a lull so that I can go out and tend to the birds.
Spring has sprung
It’s the first day of Spring over here and I want my heart to gallop with excitement but it won’t cooperate. Yesterday afternoon Ming and I had one of our serious talks. These always resemble the kind of discussion a grandfather might have with a small child (Ming = the grandfather; Julie = the small child).
Now it’s not particularly pleasant to be scolded by your teenage son but after much to-ing and fro-ing of our discussion, Ming finally summarized things by saying, “Mum, I just want you back the way you were. I want us to have fun again, I want you to be happy again.” (This was after he told me my office was an appalling mess).
“Is it Dad or me who is stopping you?” Ming asked.
“It’s Anthony, Ming. I just can’t seem to adjust. Come on, give me a break – he’s only been in the nursing lodge for six months. Give me a chance to breathe my grief!”
“You’ve been doing that for too long already, Mum. Please stop. We have to get this place in order – you have to help me!”
“Oh you’re not going to say that dreadful word again are you?”
“Yes, Mum. Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork!”
“Poo, poo, poo!” I retaliated (Ming loathes that word).
Anyway that was yesterday and now it is today. I just saw a blue wren and I am going to vacuum the inside veranda and it’s raining but sunny and later on I will go see Anthony and I will not cry when I get home again because if I do I will have to suffer another Ming discussion.
It’s the first day of Spring here and my heart has begun to walk again. I hope Ming doesn’t get too much of a shock!
For the love of geese and ducks
The gang get very excited when they see me.
They push the guinneas out of the way and rush towards me gleefully.
Their happy-to-see-me honking is deafening!
Their faces are alight with love….
…. of lettuce!
Spot the difference
Here are two photographs (I concede that these are not very good photographs but that isn’t the point of this game). Okay, so you know those newspaper games where there are two pictures that, at first glance, look identical and you have to find the differences? Well, here are two photos that are different from each other in numerous ways but there is only one significant difference. Can you find it?
Pathetic poetry
Today is in the dustpan
except for what we planned.
The visitors brought some sweet delights
and I stopped Godfrey’s angry bites
The taxi driver picked Ants up.
but saw my tears and asked ‘what’s up?’
I told him of our history
and he extended his hand towards me.
The days are getting bittersweet
and breathing sometimes seems a feat.
The happy cancels out the sad,
the sadness cancels out the glad.
If I were to go way back in time
I’d find a more specific rhyme.
My heart is torn away from me
and I just want to be left to be….
a bee
on a flower
in the sunshine
or else a perfect syllable.
Haikuishness
Son haiku
You’re a total brat,
but you have your angel side.
I love you too much.
Unreliability haiku
I didn’t turn up.
“And why am I not surprised?”
my friend says to me.
Hearty haiku
Edges of my heart
are broken, frayed and scabby
I don’t pick the scabs.
Joyful haiku
I watch all the birds,
and the rain blurs my vision,
but they fly freely.
Flower haiku
The roses suffer.
The camellias grow huge.
I want sunflowers.
Friendship haiku
I am a good friend
to those who forgive me all.
Those people have wings.
Blogging haiku
The blog world is weird
and magically scented.
Unexpected bliss.
Husband haiku
You were once my world
and now this world has collapsed.
Parkinson’s disease.
Moments of pure joy
- When you ring the electricity people to pay the phenomenal bill and the guy says you are in credit by over $700
- When you take one of the pillows that your blogging friend from Turkey has given you, and you put it behind your husband’s back in the nursing lodge, and he sighs with pleasure
- When your oldest niece, who is getting married soon at a castle in Scotland, emails you asking if you would write something for the wedding because she knows you can’t come over
- When you finish all the blasted paperworky, redtapey, billy, taxy crap
- When your friend comes over with a fold-up massage table and says she is going to give you a massage and you say you would rather be dead, and she doesn’t mind and gives your son the massage instead
- When the damaged wing mirror on your car that was going to cost over $1,000 is fixed in 15 minutes by your friend
- When one of the nurses looking after your husband says she read the thank you note you wrote to the staff, and loved it
- When someone you haven’t seen for decades finds you on facebook
- When you finally finish the folding but still can’t find the iron
- When, in a cupboard, you discover the gorgeous Italian boots your husband bought you years ago in a fit of extravagance, and you put them on your feet for the first time
- When your son is angry that you have run out of cereal again and you calmly show him the 10 packets of weetbix in the pantry
- When you realize that you don’t ever want to find the iron anyway
- When one of your dogs snuggles happily into your armpit
- When your son takes over all of the outside jobs but doesn’t tell you off for being behind with the inside jobs
- When you find a new makeup to obliterate the circles under your eyes
- When you laugh more times than you cry
- When you remember something beautiful
- When you think about planting sunflowers
- When you see comments from bloggers who you may never meet but with whom you are now connected
- When you find the gifts you got weeks ago but forgot to give your little, newly christened nephew and niece
- When you look at the sunset
- When you find out that the house isn’t riddled with white ants after all
- When you rediscover prayer in a feather – or two
And all of that joy happened in just 24 hours!
Anti-bullying tactics
1. Identify the bully [this is Godfrey, the godfather of ganderdom].
2. Contemplate what to do with the bully situation [Bubble and Baby Turkey contemplating Godfrey].
3. Plan out a strategy.
4. Walk away from the bully.
5. Attack the bully if need be [Baby Turkey attacking Godfrey, with Bubble supervising so that Godfrey doesn’t get hurt, but is taught a lesson].
6. Turn the other cheek [Woodroffe and Diamond demonstrating this].
7. Ignore the bully and leave him next to the rubbish bins for at least one hour!
jmgoyder 