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/