This years christmas present challenges

Charlie and Owen Penhall Dec 2010

It took me by surprise when Charlie placed a very specific order for Buzz Light Year (BLY), not one but two.  It is incredible that at the age of three he is understanding concepts and communicating in full sentences.  He knows that BLY is cool too!

I walked all over Marion Shopping Centre, dodging crowds of people to find BLY but BLY was very popular and had sold out at Big W, Target and Kmart.  By that stage I was getting tired of shopping but was determined to get what my little boy wanted.  I dragged myself to the most expensive store David Jones and to my delight found BLY with a 30% discount.  Awesome!

Later while the children were sleeping, I carefully wrapped all of the presents and placed them perfectly underneath the brightly decorated Christmas tree. I felt exhausted but excited.

The other Christmas present challenge was to stop the children opening them before the big day.  Many of my friends suggested ways of keeping those presents safe.  I visualised a baby gate totally surrounding the tree with tinsel on top.  Another friend was using a bean bag to deter her one year old son.  My mother thought I was absolutely mad.

The temptation was too great and the children were too little to understand.  As far as Charlie was concerned all presents were Charlie's presents.  As far as Owen was concerned all wrapping was Owen's wrapping.  In the end I decided to hide the presents inside our bedroom wardrobe.  At least they would be safe there.

On Sunday morning I was deeply engrossed in a phone conversation with a cousin who's having a baby and Jamie was busy too when Charlie appeared in front of me with Buzz Light Year (BLY).  To my surprise, BLY was no longer wrapped.  Did BLY break free of his wrapping in the night?  Or maybe he had a little helper like Woody? 

I ran into the bedroom to find all of the presents unwrapped and all over the floor. I found it amusing that Charlie had gone through every present to pick out any chocolates and put them in a neat little pile on our bed.  I actually thought it was funny and was not upset because how could you be angry at a three year old child who wants to open up ALL of the Christmas presents.  Bless him the Cheeky Little Monkey. 

Jamie and I re-wrapped the presents and put them in a safer place.  Times like these will be remembered.

I'm looking forward to Christmas Day.

Creative Life Writing

I'm gaining a new confidence to say out loud "I love to write". 

There's something in me that just wants to get in down on paper.  Gorgeous little stories about my life and my forebears has been a meaningful topic of late.  I've always kept a diary/journal and now I blog. 

Recently I met this wonderful lady Lindy Warrell - Anthropologist/Writer.  She runs a Buddhist meditation group and various types of writing courses.  She lives next door to my brother at Aldinga. 

When I heard she was doing writing courses I thought it would be a good idea to do the Creative Life Writing course.  I wanted to learn new ways to get my story down on paper.

Every week we focused on a different topic.  Some weeks I struggled with the concept.  As a shy person, it was hard bringing up stories about my life that were both personal and sensitive to a group of strangers.  Sometimes I found it difficult to bring out emotion, and tell the whole truth because of embarrassment and privacy. 

The practical side of the course was very interesting and provided us with insight into our own life. At each session we were asked to write short stories. Lindy would give us a few minutes to write a short story about a topic eg. write a short story about when you said yes to something when you really wanted to say no. Then one at a time we would go around the group to share. The different stories that came out of these practical session were amazing.

If we were not happy with what we wrote we were not allowed to say sorry otherwise we would have to put invisible money in the invisible money jar.

The different stories that the other ladies told about their lives were incredible.  Their ability to provide imagery to their piece and with feelings of emotion that excited the group.  Some sessions were like counselling, although we were always reminded not to council but provide a support of silence because many stories were very personal bringing up the stories of rape, abandonment, cruelty to children, physical and emotion violence, drugs, and more.  All of these things that were very personal to the writer.  Importantly, we were always reminded to keep it confidential and not discuss out of the group. 

Personally I struggled with the week we discussed emotions because I couldn't seem write the whole truth and Lindy and the other ladies knew this straight away.

Write about what we learnt here when i find my notes..................

Throughout the course, I wrote some lovely short stories and my final essay (was rushed sorry thats $10 in the money jar) but could be expanded upon with interesting feedback from Lindy and the other ladies.  One of the ladies who I adored said that I need to come more outward, give more emotion into the stories eg what it feels like to do my karate, the passion, the feeling, the emotion, and provide more of a sense to who I am as a person.  This person who is interested in all of these things, but what it is like to actually do it.  What I am like at home when I am angry, etc too.  This is definitely something I can work onto paper.  Positive feedback no doubt.  Write more about the feedback here. 

I loved all of the other ladies stories too.  They were all gifted writers and lovely ladies too with amazing stories. 

I have put my name down to do the course again next year because I will continue to grow, different stories will arise from each session about my life and Lindy will change the course outline and examples.  Some of the ladies have been doing the course more than once. 

My life story will become more outward onto paper which will be a lovely keepsake and it will help me work through different issues in my life too.  It will also help me gain confidence in both writing and public speaking too.

Nine months of...

At 34, the most important event of my life was the birth of my boys Charlie and then at 37 Owen. What an amazing thing to give someone life.


Nine months of pain, heaviness, mood swings, morning sickness and lack of sleep in exchange for the most amazing and deep feeling of love. Nothing can be stronger than that true love between the mother or parent and their child.

The first time I met them was incredible. Their little eyes staring back at me. It was like I knew them already. I just couldn’t stop looking at them. I was so happy. Remembering that feeling makes me want to have another baby.

Nine months of pain, heaviness, mood swing, morning sickness, and lack of sleep. All worth it.

I’ve forgotten that, and I have two beautiful boys to cherish.

Engagement BBQ

I'm at Ian and Jo's engagement party.  Everyone is having a fantastic time, small groups of people mingling, smoking cigarettes and laughing.  Maybe I will help with cooking the barbie, show off my multi tasking skills, in fact I can cook a BBQ better than any of those men over there, who are sculling down bears by the dozen.

I clicked on the ignition button to light the barbie, in fact two BBQs.  I piled on beautiful fat sausages, marinated shaslicks with chicken, mushrooms and capsicum about thirty of those and some beef ones too, big t-bone steaks, and burgers by the dozen. There was so much meat piled up on each plate, easy.

Turning everything, geez I'm so clever.  This is going to be absolutely delicious and I'm helping my friends at this very important engagement party. 

OMG the BBQ has exploded into flames, everything is on fire, its to hot, black BBQ meat, shaslicks, sausages, steaks all on fire.  OMG how embarrassing.  I could see all those faces staring at me. 

Parting ways with my son at child care

Tears welled up in my eyes.  I couldn't believe that I would feel this intense feeling of guilt and abandonment when leaving my little boy at childcare. 

Friends had talked about their own experience leaving their child in care with strangers for the day so they could go to work but I never really understood how they felt.  It just didn't connect with me until I was put in the same position.

So Charlie's first day was harder for me then him but at the same time I felt so sad and he knew something was going on.  He grabbed my leg and kept hiding behind me from the ladies and children.  Such a little sensitive soul my little boy. 

We encouraged him to sit with the other children around a small table to have breakfast and then when he wasn't looking I sneaked out through a door into another room and left him.   I couldn't bear to see him upset that I had gone. 

In the car I cried.  I felts so bad. 

It's been more than a year since I first parted with him and he still cries and I cry a bit inside too.  They tell me he is okay about five minutes after I leave playing with the other children.  He is fine.  I'm not completely fine but he's in good hands. 

Parting ways with my my little boy is hard sometimes.

Charlie's 3rd Birthday Party 2010

Caleb, Charlie and Mia

Personally I think having a birthday in between Christmas and New Years celebration is one of the cruelest things you can do to a child.  All they want is to have a party with their friends, but when you have a birthday then people are usually away on their annual camping holiday or have something else on. Something like that anyway.   So this year we celebrated Charlie's birthday six weeks early on Sunday 14 November at the park at the MV rail mini trains at Morphett Vale. 

It was such a fabulous place to have a kids party.  We managed to get a spot under a big gum tree with some shade, and there was a big wooden table we used for the food.  So it was a massive park, with a creek, playground, RC track nearby, public toilet and about 50 metres away the mini steam trains. 

 Everyone was really generous by giving Charlie really beautiful gifts.  Most of the gifts were trucks, trains, cars, a harmonica, art and craft stuff, to tum tennis, and a Thomas DVD (and more).  We put all of them under a big gum tree and opened most of them when we got home.  He loved his new toys.

The food was devine.  Diana made 160 sausage rolls, Auntie Helen curried eggs, Dad 50 cream horns with cherry's on top, Tania yummy chocolate crackles, Renae a sweet twist, and Chris the amazing Thomas the Train Cake.  There were sandwiches, fairy bread, dips and meats too.

You should have seen this cake.  It was incredible.  Everyone was in aw of the cake.  Chris never does things in halves.  He is totally intelligent and a perfectionist.  He made the most amazing cake I have ever seen.  It was a Thomas Cake (of course) with the most incredible detail.  All of the kids gathered around the cake and were all very polite too.  None of them touched it or anything. They all waited quietly until we sang Happy Birthday and started cutting it.  Most of the kids came back for seconds and thirds. 



The Amazing Thomas the Train Cake





So after lunch and cake we all had rides on the mini steam and diesel trains.  Those are actually scaled down versions of the big trains.  They use coal and diesel to fuel them.  The track they run on is about 1.2 kilometres, and you can have as many rides as you want.  The kids and adults loved them.

So we had an awesome day.  Charlie enjoyed getting spoilt with presents and playing with his friends too.  So a big thank you to everyone for those beautiful gifts and helping out, and just coming along.  Love you all.  xx

By the way, if you ever want to go ride cool trains the details are on the MV rail website http://www.mvrail.org.au/

Also, my girlfriend Renae who runs her own card design business did the invitations.  They looked really awesome too.  If you want to check out her card design website "Cherry Bliss Designs" see http://www.cherrybliss.com.au/

I want to be Laura Ingalls-Wilder (Little Prairie on the House)

The Ingalls Family

Growing up did you ever have an idol or wish to be just like someone on TV. 

At the age of three years, every night on television at 7.30pm Fat Cat would wish all the children a good night with a kiss. I would be tucked into bed by mother and she would always read me a children’s story. “Good night my dear.” she said as she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Looking back I clearly remember that night. Unbeknown to me my parents had been devising the most scandalous plan to put me to bed without having watch my favourite program “Little House on the Prairie”. They had failed to tell me about my program and had turned down the volume on the television.

Despite this, I could still hear the familiar music coming down the hallway from the lounge room. Oh my goodness, how could they do this to me. How could they not let me watch LHOTP my favourite program and my favourite little girl Laura Ingalls-Wilder. HOW DARE THEY!

My little footprints could be heard coming down the hallway. My parents looking at me as the tears streamed down my cheeks and I was so sad I could hardly speak. With my bottom lip quivering “I I I I want want want to to to watch watch Little Prairie on the House.” (actually my parents insist I was screaming). My parents both having found this amusing and also feeling a little bad allowed me to stay.

Little House on the Prairie followed the lives of the Ingalls family who lived in a quaint little house on the banks of Plum Creek in Minnesota during the 1890s. It always started with the same music as Ingalls children ran down a steep hill through long golden grassy plains that surrounded their home.

Often narrated by Laura who at the time was a little girl just like me, the story showed her daily life and she often pondered on her future and the lessons learned.

I loved Laura. I wanted to be just like her. She was my idol and I loved those 19th century outfits. Those dresses that covered your entire body from neck, down the arms to your wrist, in tight at the waist and a long flowing skirt down the ground. They were usually a plain brown or blue colour and the girls wore little white pinafores over the top. Often having won breaking the chicken wishbone I would secretly wish for an entire wardrobe of LHOTP clothes. Bring them on!

I was obsessed and I was a little girl just like Laura.

Adelaide railway station dining room - lessons learnt from Nanna

Adelaide Railway Station dining room 1928

I have always valued the lessons learnt from the lives of my grandparents and ancestors. In particular, this story reminds me of my Nanna growing up during the depression and the importance of equality between people and fighting for what you believe in. It also helps me to remember the importance of appreciating what I have.

Recently when we visited the National Railways Museum at Port Adelaide I found an old photo of the Adelaide Railway Station dining rooms displayed in the rail history exhibition. I was so thrilled. It instantly took me back to my child's eyes peering up at Nanna as she told the story of her waitress job at these same dining rooms during the 1930s.

The photo was lovely. The dining room tables set beautifully with white table cloths, white crockery and silver, cruet sets and eucalyptus in vases decorating the centres. Young women stood around in the background dressed in a uniform, black dress with a white apron and little white hat on their head. Immediately I started to look for Nanna because maybe she was there but I didn't recognise anyone. I later found out the photo was taken when the Adelaide Railway station first opened in 1928. Nanna would have only been 10 years old at the time.

So the story Nanna told was about how she got the job at the old dining rooms. Being one of seven girls and two boys, she left home at a young age to earn money and provide half back to help her mother. There were waitress jobs available at the Adelaide Railway station but when her mother (my great grandmother) found out they were only employing Catholic girls she was infuriated. She was so angry that she went to see the manager and threatened that if they didn't employ her daughter she would report him to the government. So Nanna was given a waitress job and board. Nanna's family were Protestants and at the time there was quite a lot of opposition between Catholics and Protestants. Times were tough during the depression too, so they would have had to fight for what they wanted.

Hearing this story about their willingness to speak up for what they believe in, their strength and determination has helped shape the person I am today. Their experiences have been passed down through the generations and made me believe that all people are equal and that people should be considered on merit not their race or faith.

One of the main things Nanna always mentions about working there is they used to serve prawn cocktails. Only the rich could afford this type of luxury, and it was hard times then during the depression. It’s amazing that this memory has stuck in her mind. So I've been taught to always eat all the food on my plate. I still feel bad to waste any food. Waste not, want not!

So there are lessons to be learnt from others before us, passed down from one generation to the next and it has helped me learn many good things. It’s just fascinating to hear the old stories too. Fancy finding an old photo of the Adelaide Railway Station dining rooms. It definitely took me on a brief journey back into time.

Desiderata - desired things by Max Ehrmann

I love this poem.  It encourages us to try be at peace with ourselves despite the many the challenges that we face in our daily life because it's still a beautiful world isn't it. 



'Desiderata - desired things' by Max Ehrmann (written in 1929)


Go placidly amid the noise and haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.



As far as possible without surrender

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,

they are vexatious to the spirit.



If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain and bitter;

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.



Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs;

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals;

and everywhere life is full of heroism.



Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love;

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment

it is as perennial as the grass.



Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.



Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.



Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be,

and whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.



With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

American Tribal Style Belly Dancers



Cinnibar Red Dance Collective - ATS belly dancers

At the Willunga Folk Festival today Mum and I were very impressed with the folk dancers, singers and musicians.  My favourite was the Cinnabar Red Dance Collective an amazing group of contemporary American Tribal Style (ATS) belly dancers. 

ATS is an elegant belly dance style created in San Fransisco about 20 years ago and incorporates various other dance styles such as Flamenco, Egyptian, Indian and Oriental.  It was explained that the various movements are learnt like the alphabet and then used to create the vocabulary of movements and cues.  There is no choreography as such as it is created on the spot.  How fantastic to enjoy free movement.

Rachel - belly dancer

The women were absolutely stunningly beautiful with a mixed age group.  They wore the most magnificent black flowing dresses with red, black and white frills, and beautiful tribal belts with tiny coins that jingled as they moved their hips. They were adorned with impressive tribal jewellery like silver earrings, headpieces, bracelets, anklets, and wore tribal head pieces and red and white roses in their hair. They had zills or otherwise known as finger cymbals are tiny metallic cymbals in their hands.

It was lovely to see these beautiful women dancing, it gave me a feeling of encouragement and embracing being a woman.  It made me feel strong and proud of them.  They chanted Lu Lu Lu with a hand above their mouth which is a middle eastern chant that women use as a compliment like well done to each another. 

To help set the tempo there were some men playing percussion too.

I would love to learn this one day.  They looked like they were enjoying it so much. 

To read more about American Tribal Style Belly Dance see their website http://www.cinnabarred.com/

Owen's bronchiolitis - 10 days in Paediatrics at Flinders Medical Centre

Owen 6 months playing in the activity center

We've been home a week now since Owen's 10 day admission to the Paediatrics ward at Flinders Medical Centre.  It was a surreal experience spending those days watching little Owen fighting the bronchiolitis that had taken all of his energy and smiles.  It felt like we had lost time.

Usually Owen is a happy baby but we always know when he is unwell because he is not happy either laughing or smiling.  But that is pretty rare and its not the sort of thing you want to happen to your child either.

After our walking tour at the Kuarna community centre at Bedford Park, Owen started really struggling to breath.  He seemed to be so miserable too.  We were celebrating Michael's 27th birthday with the family at Diana and Chris' that night.  Owen was crying the whole time.  When people started to leave we had a good look at Owen and good see that he was very sick, so we rang the Health hot line to speak with a registered nurse.  After determining that he was struggling to breath, his whole body was moving, the skin was being sucked in around his ribs, and neck.  The RN advised us to take Owen to hospital straight away.  It was an emergency.

We arrived at Emergency Flinders Medical Centre around 10pm and by 1pm were admitted to Paediatrics Ward.  They had determined he was seriously ill with bronchiolotis a condition caused by a virus in the lungs.  Because his work of breath was hard, his oxygen levels in the blood, they determined his saturation was too low at around 90%, respiratory rate, and heart rate were elevated to dangerous levels. Respiratory rate at around 70 breaths per minute normally no more than 30 and his heart rate was around 170 beats per minutes normally no more than 130.  The virus had put his whole body under stress.  They put him on two litres per minute oxygen via  a nasal tube to assist with his breathing.  The virus wouldn't allow the deeper part of his airways to transfer oxygen into his blood.  He also had a temperature of 39. They did an xray too. 

They tested for the type of virus but two days later it came back negative.  Their is usually not a lot they can do when its a virus causing this problem.  They can only provide support through oxygen, panadol and fluids.  It just determines how long baby will be in hospital. Owen also had an intravenous canula put in his hand so that they could give him fluids for a few days.  This meant that I wasn't to feed him normally, only comfort feeds, so that his stomach wasn't full of milk and making pressure on his lungs.  I was so upset when they put the IV line (gelco) in his hand, I nearly cried but Owen was fine.  He was connected to a monitor to check these via a probe attached to his foot. 

It was awful to see him hooked up to all these machines, and lying there lifeless.  There was absolutely nothing I could do for him, except cuddles of course.  But he was in the best hands ever.  The nurses and doctors were absolutely fabulous.  For the first four days they were in every hour to do their observations.  These were recorded on a graph.  They checked saturation, respiratory rate, heart rate, and temperature.  There were also some others things they did too.  After four days they did two hourly obs.  There seemed to be a cycle in his obs depending on whether he had been feeding or sleeping. 

Luckily for around eight days we had our own room.  I was so tired on the first few days I hardly remember anything.  I spent some time watching a few movies, reading, going for quick walks to the sports oval nearby.  As a breast feeding mother I was provided with all of my meals too. 

On the night that Owen was admitted Jamie was to go to Sydney early in the morning for a server and desktop installation for one of their major customers. I decided not to tell him that we had been admitted until around mid day not to interfere with his work. He was so worried he decided to come home to see Owen that evening. Jamie also had to do a trip the following week to Hobart for the same customer.  Diana and Chris cared for Charlie on the days Jamie was interstate for work. BTW the nurses enjoyed the Crispy cream donuts from Sydney airport.

Doctors visited us twice a day and the Professor visited us on the weekend.  I was impressed to see him working weekends.  He was a lovely man. 

We missed Charlie because we didn't see him for quite a few days because we didn't want to expose him to any bugs in the ward.  There were all sorts of nasty viruses in the ward. 

The Paediatrics ward had recently been refurbished with an ocean like a big fish bowl.  They had a fish pond in the nurses station where the children could view the fish through a hole in the side of the wall.  All of the doors were glass with different marine life imprinted on them like clown fish, starfish (ours), dolphins, fish, sharks and sea grasses.  There was a play area for children and a laundry for parents to wash cloths.  I washed clothes most days.

On around day eight much to my surprise my BF Renae's little boy Jai was admitted to the ward too.  He was very sick with bronchiolitis.  It was good to have the support of a friend at the ward, but how are the odds of having a close friend in hospital at the same time.   Pretty rare hey! I felt sorry for Renae and Jai because they were put in a share room with four other babies/mothers and she had no sleep that night.  After they found out what Jai had they put him in his own room straight away because he was so contagious.

After day eight they started to reduce Owen's oxygen from 2 slowly to 1.5, then 1.0, then .5 and then nothing.  He seemed to be working very hard with his breathing but they thought that he would cope ok. He respiratory rate, saturation and heart rates were better but not completely back to normal but he would be ok at home as long as we kept an eye on him.  The Doctors were confident I would be able to see the signs of another relapse if that was the case.

By day eight they had also moved me from a single room to a share room, with a young lass suffering from anorexia.  She was lovely girl.  Very sad to see her fading like that.  The whole time she talked about her fashion design and was doing small paintings and putting them in frames bordered with beads. I hope she is going to be okay.

So we left on day 10.  I found the support from staff amazing.  The whole environment was ideal for supporting families with sick children.  You are not made to feel that you are costing them money. 

It was pretty rough watching Owen suffer but I knew he was in the best hands ever so this relieved the stress of the situation.  We were happy to see Owen be back to his normal self again, that is of course smiling and happy.

It was nice to go home.

My yoga practice

I have been doing a combination of Hatha, Iyengar and Vinyasa for about five years since giving up my karate practice.  I decided to begin yoga as a new form of exercise to replace karate.  Despite practising karate (Kin Bushi Rye) for five years and getting my black belt, I realised that I was growing tired of the injuries, aches and pains and that as a woman I would like to do something more feminine.   So my goal now is to continue with a combination of walking and yoga to provide me with what I need to remain healthy and fit.

During my recent pregnancies I had a break from yoga too as I neither had the motivation or energy to engage in any sort of physical activity (continuous morning sickness will do that to you).

I have been doing yoga with a few different instructors not far from home.  Unfortunately a few of the instructors have finished their classes because of time, money and other influences in their lives.  I have really admired all of them.  They are nurturing types and totally amazing people.  My current instructor is Ann who is lovely and a little quirky too.  We practice at Trott Park Neighbourhood Centre only five minutes from home.

When practising my yoga, I feel the energy, emotions and angle of every movement in my body that helps to realign everything. It creates a flow through the body, an energising and relaxing to every part of my body and mind.

I tend to prefer classes with a teacher who can talk me through the different poses, and the energy of the people in the class is present too. I love the meditation side of it and the way it totally relaxes both the mind and the body. I remember one session being so relaxed in meditation that I heard myself starting to snore and also another time whilst sitting upright in a meditative position remaining in this removed state of consciousness for at least 25 minutes and not having any concept on time. It was just incredible.

Believe it or not Yoga is the ancient science of life that originated in India around 300BC.  So its been around a long time.  It is a practice of relaxation, meditation and stretching to realign and relax every part of the body.  The types of yoga include Hatha, Vinyasa, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Bikram, Hot Yoga, and Kundalini. 

The benefits of yoga include flexibility through stretching, balance through holding poses, better circulation to organs and muscles, a relaxed mind and body, a positive outlook on life, feeling happy, some quiet time, better muscle tone, better breathing, reduced pain, stress reduction, mental calmness, and better body awareness.

The different asanas or otherwise poses we do include Mountain pose (Tadasana), raised arms pose, Warrior (Virabhadrasana), Extended Side Angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana), Pyramid Pose (Parsvottonasana), Salute to the Sun (Surya Namaskara), Salute to the Moon (Chandra Namaskara), Child pose (Balasana), Downward facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), and many more.

I have found Iyengar yoga quite interesting as you tend to use props to assist in attaining ideal alignment, even if the body is not yet open enough. You can use a roll shape pillow called bolster, foam block and a strap to attain a perfect position whilst being supported. 

All of my yoga instructors have been into alternative natural health and therapies, and also Bowen therapists and remedial therapists. They are healers too.

I hope to be able to attend my yoga practice at least once a week but hope to do more once things have quietened down with raising to small children.  I've been attending on Thursday mornings and also Saturday mornings when I can.  I think its ideal to go at least twice a week, but if you do it once a week you can really feel the benefits although a few days before you the next practise you feel the need for more again.  I've been doing some yoga at home to help alleviate aches and pains too.

So I really appreciate and love yoga and all of the benefits.  It's just amazing. 

My long term goal is to gain a deeper level of yoga by understanding and knowing about the philosophical background and history of yoga to prepare and deepen the spiritual practice.

For more information about yoga see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga
http://yoga.about.com/
http://www.yogajournal.com/
http://www.yogaindailylife.org.au/

The circle of life

Fred and Alice Lindstrom at Rosewater a1950

It's been amazing putting together the pieces of my grandmothers family history.  Its been great hearing the old stories and looking at the old photos of my grandmother and her sisters as young women.  They were all such beautiful girls, and just natural stunners the lot of them.  They must have had so much fun too. 

In 1995 I started writing notes while my Nanna Jenkins talked about her past. A lot of it focused on the Mayo family who lived at Port Augusta and also past Hawker in a hut along the Wonaka Creek.  I loved listening to these old stories and staring into the old photos in her album.  I wrote like mad.  Took it all in, as much as I could.  I formed some sort of connection with the past into the present.

At the time I decided to send a questionnaire to Nanna's brothers and sister so they could write me old stories and I could compile a family history of sorts with information about their own children.  I few of them responded, the old reliables but the ones who may have a little secret or two, or just weren't really interested didn't.  

I still kept listening to my Nanna throughout time, and loved every minute of it. 

Then when I had my first son Charlie in 2007, I thought it might be a good chance to do some family history research.   I met up with Nanna's nephew Ray Hayward because Nanna's eldest sister Eva had a lot of history collected throughout the years.  She kept close ties with the Port Augusta family too.  Too bad I hadn't asked her more questions before she had died in 2004 around about the time of the bad Tsunami. 

Lindstrom Girls a1940

So from Ray, I took down first names, some second ones too.  Then started looking in the phone book for relatives and put an add in the Port Augusta paper asking for Mayo descendants to contact me. I did a few calls who were relatives so they were able to help me put the pieces of the puzzle together.  These were more distant relatives, probably 3rd and 4th cousins.  So that's where more self discovery began. 

I travelled all over the state visiting people, helped to organise a big group to the Wonaka Creek hut for a bbq reunion, reunited long lost relatives, uncovered hidden hushes, and identified people in old photos, and most important made new friends.  Throughout these travels I was blessed to be given the Mayo family bible more than 130 years old.  I collected information for more than 700 people in my database and thousands of old photos and stories. 

Since then I have started compiling the Lindstrom family book, who are my closest relatives in the Mayo family.  The book is dedicated to the memory of Fred and Alice Lindstrom. It will start with an early history about the Mayo family at Wonaka Creek.  There's a lot of information about the family written by a local reporter.  Also, some more information about the Lindstroms, Fred and Alice's life story and that of their children, photos and descendant charts.  There will be an descendant index at the back and a gallery.  I'm going to have it professionally bound and printed.

Lindstrom family picnic at Blackwood a1945

I've been talking with all of the cousins who are also very excited and most of them have now provided me with a lot of things to make a beautiful keepsake.  So hopefully I will have something to give to my Nanna Jenkins and Auntie Betty in the next few months.  My Nanna will be 93 years old in December 2010.  She's in a nursing home now, and her memory is fading.  This is so important to me, to treasure her memory and that of her beautiful parents and siblings.  They were just amazing people.  It sad to think there are only the two of them left. 

They've been passing away over the past 20 years or so.  They were all lovely.  Sometimes I wish I had more time with them.  It was lucky to know such wonderful people and hearing their stories though.  Sad to see them go but unfortunately that is the circle of life.

The Lindstrom family a1980

Some beautiful writing about Mothers

My cousin Kathryn (she is a gorgeous girl) sent me the below beautiful writing about Mothers.  I don't know who the author is but I value what has been said.  They have touched my heart and brought a smile to my face especially when I reflect upon my own life experiences.  Please enjoy.  xx


Mothers

Real Mothers don't eat quiche

They don't have time to make it


Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils

Are probably in the sandbox


Real Mothers often have sticky floors

Filthy ovens and happy kids

Real Mothers know that dried play dough

Doesn't come out of carpets


Real Mothers don't want to know what

The vacuum just sucked up


Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'

And get their answer when a little

Voice says, 'Because I love you best.'


Real Mothers know that a child's growth

Is not measured by height or years or grade...

It is marked by the progression of Mummy to Mum to Mother.....



The Images of Mother


4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mummy can do anything!


8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mum knows a lot! A whole lot!


12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't know everything!


14 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother? She wouldn't have a clue.
.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mum? She's so five minutes ago.


18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!


35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mum's opinion.


45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mum would have thought about it?


65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mum.


The beauty of a woman

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,

Because that is the doorway to her heart,

The place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,

But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she

Shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Nothing beats a cup of tea with Nanna



Nanna and Owen September 2010

Nothing beats a cup of tea with my Nanna. 

I've just returned from my bi-annual visit with my Nanna Jenkins at Mount Gambier in the south-east.  Nanna has been in a nursing home for nearly two years.  I don't stay at her place anymore.  We used to have such good times at her place.  We would always sleep in the bed together at a night time and enjoy the days. 

At the nursing home we just sat around enjoying the moment.  She loved playing with the boys.  Charlie went straight for the lolly tin, so we ate at least half that during our first visit.  The lollies were a real hit. 

Spending time in Nanna's room

I tried to see her everyday. Its a bit harder with the boys, so by the time I had got them and myself ready I could only be there for an hour or two and one day I spent the whole day with her.  I enjoyed just hanging out with my Nanna, chatting and drinking cups of tea. 

Nanna's short term memory has deteriorated but she still remembers who I am and other close relatives too, although she gets the boys names mixed up a bit but that doesn't matter. Every now and then she asks me if her husband Tom is there.  This time I responded with a no and then changed the subject that her son Tom will be at a party tomorrow for Zac's eleventh birthday.  I often change the subject now when she asks who is living and who is dead out of her family because she mourns each time she is reminded about a death especially her sisters.  I always remind her that they had such good times and are all so lovely.

Charlie giving love to Owen


Nanna gave Owen a little teddy bear that had a green and white scarf and matching hat.  It was really cute.  She enjoys giving things to the boys especially lollies and teddys.

Nanna has made close friends with the other ladies in her area.  Their names are Dawn, Jean, and Jessie.  There was a new lady Irene that arrived on a day I was there.  I think they are lovely and we all talked together in the sitting room.  There were some other ladies there but they seemed to be sticking to themselves. 



Jessie

We also spent some time with Mary Dermody who is related to Auntie Marie.  She is lovely and was happy to play with the boys.  Mary Dermody was a Hayes, and  her brother was Jack Hayes Auntie Marie's Dad.  Mary's daughter is her only child a red head Jeanene. 



Mary Dermody playing botchi


I shared some bakers delight bread and dried fruit as a treat as they can't get out from the nursing home very often.  An old man came walking along, so I offered him some fruit too.  He took the biggest handful you could imagine and it was great to see him enjoy the fruit and try fit it all in his mouth in one go! 




Charlie playing botchi

 

On the Tuesday all of the oldies were gathered in the activities hall to play bocchi.  It's a game where there are two teams the red and the blue.  The aim is to throw their ball at a white ball and whatever team has a ball closest to the white ball is the winner.  They are pretty good at it and they all enjoy this activity.  It even gets a bit competitive but they laugh a lot too.  When we first arrived the lady who works at the nursing home asked me to introduce the children.  They were all so thrilled to see the boys.  Then the lady took baby Owen around to each of them.  It was like show and tell.  It was amazing to see the happiness the two children gave them.  Charlie played bocchi too. 

Botchi in the activities room

On the last day we had a little party in Nanna's room with some yummy food, ginger ale and lemonade, some bakers delight bread and dark chocolate coated ginger.  I wouldn't be surprised if Nanna didn't eat her lunch after that.  We sat around talking and playing with the boys.

My Nanna and I are very good friends.  I said that to her and she agreed that we were good mates and that she had raised us since we were little ones.  I think that has definitely strengthened our bond. When Dale and I were growing up she often had us at her place.  The little things have stuck in my mind like cuddles and laughs, hot baths and fresh hot water in a jug to rinse the soap out of our hair, cheese on toast, sausage rolls, the big lolly tin, cream puffs, hot milk before bed, cuddles, card games, fruit trees, playing in the garden and more.  She was a lovely Nanna to us when we were kids.  I'm so glad we are great friends now and she now knows my two boys. 

It was wonderful to spend time with my Nanna at her nursing home and I'm so happy that she is happy and cheerful, and cracking jokes at every opportunity.  She is lovely and I love her dearly.  I'm trying to cherish every moment.

The walking history tour of North Terrace, Adelaide

This may actually sound sad, but I realised the other day how little I know about my own city and history. 

This week Charlie, Diana, Owen and myself caught a train from Seacliff to the city.  On days that Diana has Charlie they often catch the train into town just for fun.  I wanted to experience his experience I'd heard about so frequently even the part where he goes "toot toot" all the way into town.  I hadn't caught a train in many years and it was so easy just walking from Diana's house on Maitland Terrace to the train station.  Also, I wanted to see "The Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize" being exhibited at the SA Museum.

When we arrived at the train station in the city I was immediately reminded of my Nanna Jenkins who worked an the Railway tearooms as a young girl.  We walked past the donut shop that a friend is constantly talking about and then up the ramp onto North Terrace.

That's when I realised how little I knew about my own city. 

We stopped to look at Parliament house where you can go watch politicians in the House of Assembly and can do tours to learn about the history of parliament house, and how parliament works. 

The South African War Memorial Adelaide

We saw a statue commemorating the South African War otherwise known as the Boar War from 1899 to 1902 and in memory of those who fell.  I'd seen that statue a thousand times on my way into town to collect some lunch but never had a close up.  It's a beautiful big statue of a soldier on his horse and has a plaque explaining its purposes and the names of soldiers who died at the war.  After doing some reading I found that at the time people were dedicated to their Queen and the Empire so it was South Australian's way of contributing towards the Empire.  Its been there since 1904 and is made of bronze.

We stopped to look at the gentlemans' house on North Terrace.  Its been there for the prestigious society men since the beginning of Adelaide.  It still stands there today for that purpose and apparently you can do tours. 

Then we stopped to look at the many plaques on the footpath remembering great South Australians like Sir Henry Ayers (business man, banker and parliamentarian) 1821 - 1897, Sir Richard Baker (lawyer, pastoralist, and parliamentarian) 1841 -1911, Robert Barr Smith (business man and philanthropist) 1824 - 1915, Jean Lady Bonython (community work for women and children) 1891 - 1977, Sir Donald Bradman (cricketer and businessman) and many more.  There are a lot of places named after these people like Ayers house, the Barr Smith Library, Bonython Park and Sir Donald Bradman Drive. 

 The most interesting plaque for me was David Frederich Dallwitz (Jazz musician and artist) born 1911 and has only just recently passed away in 2003.  I knew this because the Dallwitz family are friends with the Penhall family.  Jamie is friends with Nick Dallwitz the grandson of David Dallwitz who has passed his legacy to his children and grandchildren who are amazing talented artists and musicians to this day.  I've been to his old house at Seacliff which is wall to wall from ground to ceiling of the families amazing paintings.  I like the idea of having paintings on the walls like that.  The old house is like a rabbit warren, with many rooms and parts to the house upstairs and downstairs where the who family lived.  I've seen David Dallwitz's paintings which are incredible.  Some of them stand 6 feet high from floor to ceiling.  His whole life was dedicated to art, teaching and exhibiting his work, and he is represented in the Australian National Gallery, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Art Bank, and the University of South Australia.

Mary Lee

Another was a statue standing out the front of the Governor's house was of Mary Lee  1921 -1829 who devoted her life to the improvement of social and political conditions for those who suffered the most, in particular those that affected women.  She also was a major influence in gaining the right for women to vote on 18 December 1894 and the first in the world to be able to stand for parliament.

Matthew Flinders 1774 to 1814

There was a statue of Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age and probably most famous for his exploration of the Australian coastline and promoting the use of the word Australia.  He was considered an important explorer of Australia and has a number of landmarks named after him in South Australia include the include the Flinders mountain range and Flinders Ranges National Park, Flinders Chase National Park on Kangaroo Island, Flinders University, Flinders Medical Centre, the suburb Flinders Park and Flinders Street in Adelaide. The statue is made of bronze.

Spirit of Compassion

We stopped to look at the National War Memorial commemorating those who served in the First World War. Opened in 1931, the memorial is located on the corner of North Terrace and Kintore Avenue.  Memorial services are held at the site throughout the year, with major services on both Anzac Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November).  Inside the memorial are the names of soldiers who fought and died in WWI.  Diana has seen Sandor Stolz's name before, I had a look but couldn't find it.  On the outside of the memorial is the Spirit of Compassion as a winged spirit of womanhood holding the body of a dead soldier, and a the Fountain of Compassion. 

Spirit of Duty

On other side of the monument facing North Terrace is the Spirit of Duty with three people a girl, a student and a farmer that represent the abandonment of the symbols of their craft and unprepared for the war to come.

Venus

In Prince Henry Gardens the statue of Venus Adelaide's very first statue, and a copy in Carrara marble of Canova's Statue. The pedestal of Sicilian and Kapunda marble.


Next a statue of King Edward VII King and Emperor 1901 - 1910 and his mother was Queen Victoria.  Hewas King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India. He was the first British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was renamed the House of Windsor by his son, George V.  Before his accession to the throne, Edward held the title of Prince of Wales and was heir apparent to the throne for longer than anyone else in history.  During the long widowhood of his mother, Queen Victoria, he was largely excluded from political power and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite.

Robert Burns 1759 to 1796

And what city wouldn't have its own Robert Burns statue which stands out front of our State Library.  Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, Robden of Solway Firth, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply He was was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide.

Then to the SA Museum to see the Waterhouse Natural history art prize.  Now that was incredible to see too.

It was such a lot to take in such a short walk. Actually I feel a little ashamed that I don't know more but I suppose I can't remember being taught about this at school or by my parents and life goes by.  The only history I really know well is that of family.  Looking at the positives, this little walk has given me a motivation to learn more.  There are some tours available, so will look into that and I'm sure some friends will be interested too.

Owen's first word is "Car"

Charlie and Owen playing trains August 2010

First thing this morning Charlie, Owen and I were sitting on the bed.  I was getting ready to feed Owen some milk when he looked up at me with a big smile and said "car".  I screamed "his first word is car Charlie, his first word is car" and Charlie was very impressed.

Charlie loves playing with his cars and trains, and they are a very important part of his life.  Charlie has been making a real effort to introduce and make them Owen friends too.  It's so cute seeing them play cars and trains together.  Charlie grabs a car or train to tell Owen all about it, the colour and type, its name and shows him different jumps and driving techniques with the occassional car engine and train toot noise.  Owen is always very attentive to his big brothers car advice and has a big smile on his face.
  

So listen all, write it down in the books, on the calendar, and let all the friends and relatives know. Owens first word is car!

Owen is five months now.  He's no longer that little new born baby, who was all floppy and totally relied on me for everything.  I mean he still relies on me for everything but he is different now. 

Owen is controlling his body by rolling around on the floor, lifting his arms and legs, grabbing hold of things like his feet, rolling over onto his stomach and lifting his head, straightening his arms to hold his body off the ground, and moving his bum in the air nearly into Adho Mukha Svanasana (down dog).  Owen is blowing rasberries, smiling and talking the baby talk constantly and is a very happy little baby.  No signs of teeth yet but they will come.

Charlie and Owen are spending a lot of time playing together.  Charlie usually tells me "Mummy go away" so he can play with Owen. I try not to feel left out.  It's incredible they are only little but already asking for some privacy from their parents.  It also makes me wonder if Owen will learn things more quickly from his big brother like pulling everything out of my bedroom cupboard, and off the benches. They are going to be into everything.  I will remain calm, take a few deep breaths and leave the room.  So fun times ahead! 

It is so fabulous to see these changes taking place.  I am so blessed.

And by the way did I tell you, Owen must be one of the smartest babies I know because the word car at five months is amazing!

Art workshop with Cat Leonard

Last Monday Tania, Renae, Sarah, Sandi and me met at Cat Leonard's house for a painting workshop.  The aim of the session was to create a painting similar to Cat Leonard's style. 

Cat's style to me is contemporary pop art illustration.  I'm not sure how she would explain her style and I should have asked her but it has a lot of beautiful bright colours and free thick confident strokes.  Cat's house has beautiful bright paintings all over the walls and she does a lot of portraits of famous people like Johnny Depp, Jimi Hendrix, Ned Kelly, Marilyn Monroe and Nick Cave.   My favourite painting was of Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas.  I was lucky enough to be given a photo copy of the painting.  Thanks Cat!

To prepare for the day we chose a portrait photo that had a lot of contrast in the light and dark colours.  I decided to paint a portrait of my cousin Tehlia Lauerman who is absolutely stunning.  I had decided to move away from doing my kids, because I do lots of things for them, so wanted something for me. 

The night before I prepared by background on the 40 cm by 40 cm square canvas.  I added gold, green, pink and blue metallic paints and using a tissue made a swirling design.  The next day at the workshop I drew a grid on the photo and translated that as a chalk grid onto the canvas.  Using the grid and a charcoal stick I drew the eyes, eyebrows, mouth, nose, and an outline of the face and hair.

I started by painting the eyes, eyebrows and mouth using thinker black strokes.  I applied the white paint for the eyes and teeth.  The side of the face, cheekbones and chin were accentuated by a black area of hair, and the remainder of hair was applied using a fan brush with purple, gold and black coloured paints in long confident strokes.

For the shaded areas on the face, around the nose, and cheek I used the green and purple coloured paints with a little medium to get some definition and bring the facial features out of the canvas.  The mouth and eyes were touched up with a little paint to give more detail eg pink colour to the mouth and white reflection in the eyes.

Cat had provided me with instructions as I put the picture together.  She was so calm and helpful.  She managed to work her way around the group to help everyone too.  It was just the right size group for her tuition.  Little Owen was a pure angel and Cat would help me by holding him when he was a little unsettled. He fed twice, sleep and watched us girls paint.  We had a break in the middle of the day to have lunch. Everyone brought a different plate to share.  We all had a nice cold beer too.

At first I felt critical of my work but the next day realised how good it actually was.  My cousin Tehlia and her sister Aleasha loved it too.

Sarah Gold did a blue Harriet (her daughter), Tania did Ashleigh (her daughter), Renae did Jai (her son), me did Tehlia (my cousin) and Sandi did the scary looking drag queen out of Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Everyones paintings were really awesome.  Well done girls and most important thanks to Cat who so fantastic.  I hope I can do another workshop with Cat Leonard.

Superwoman snow expedition

A view of Mt Hotham from Ettamogah Lodge

Having dinner with the girls last night was a good chance to reminisce about old times.  The old snow trips came up in conversation, and we were screaming in laughter about the funny things that happened on these fabulous holidays.

So it would have been at least 10 years or more since Sarah Dixon and I snowboarded together. 

The whole trip was a hit. We would usually do a convoy of cars and a mini van with 18 friends and stay at the Ettamogah Lodge right on the Davenport trail in the Mt Hotham snowfields.  It was actually quite a good place to stay, cheap and very well located right in the middle of Hotham. 

We would get up every day to have a big meal, and then snowboard down the Davenport Access trail down to the Village lift. The day was spent snowboarding, and after falling over a number of times, eating, and drinking. At night in groups of six people we would cook a shared meal and talk. After that we would go out for drinks at the Hotham pub or just go to sleep because we were so tired. In between all this we would hang out at the lodge, build snowmen and make snow angels.

Sarah and I spent the whole trip together because we were about the same level at snowboarding so we could keep up with each other and have a good laugh.  If you couldn't keep up with the others then you would probably all meet up again at the Hotham pub or cafe for hot chocolates and beers around lunch time. 

Sarah and I will never forget the fun times we had.  We followed each other around the different snowboarding courses, falling over a number of times, and laughing our heads off and enjoying delicious hot chocolates at the bottom of Slalom Gully at the Snake Gully Hut.  We were actually not too bad at snowboarding especially considering we were so new to the sport, in fact Sarah was fantastic considering it was her first year. 

I'm not sure why we thought we were so good because when we talk about what happened we were actually really terrible at it.  For instance,  at the Play Ground trail Sarah had over turned a sharp bend in the trail and disappeared over the edge of a steep hill.  Brenton and I went to see if she was okay and there she was down the side a steep hill trying to climb back up using her hands but the snow keep giving way and she would end up sliding further down the hill.  In the end she had to take off her snowboard and use it with both hands to climb back up to the top. 

Another time when negotiating the same part of the Play Ground trail, around that same bend Sarah had fallen over to stop herself going down the same steep slope.  At this point I was at the bottom of the hill waiting for her.  I watched her as she got back up and then accidentally let go of her snowboard. It came catapulting straight down the steep hill towards a cliff.  I had to  move really quickly, like you do with a snowboard strapped to your foot, and launch myself like 'superwoman' onto Sarah's snowboard to stop it going over the edge.  When we think about it now it was so funny, and we always cracked up laughing.

On the last day, Sarah and I were determined to make the most of the fresh powder available on Blue Ribbon.  Despite feeling very tired from the previous five days snowboarding we still attempted to do the trail but found ourselves falling over a number of times, getting stuck in the soft snow and in between the small trees.  We didn't know if we were going to laugh or cry.

So throughout the years, Sarah and I have been reminiscing about the funny little things that happened on our snowboarding trip.   We always laugh about Sarah's sliding down the side of the mountain, and her accidentally letting go of her snowobard to watch as it went sliding down the hill and then me having to save it from the cliff by doing a big jump just like superwoman.

So I feel lucky to have these wonderful memories and something that has bonded our friendship. 

Great times and great friends.