Rest in peace, Bello

Yesterday our white cat died as a result of being hit by a car. It was a shock, of course, and his absence is being keenly felt. When someone dies it is their absence that takes over our thinking....... no Bello waiting at the door when I come home, no Bello telling me it's 5 p.m. and time for dinner, no Bello claiming my chair at the computer...... 

Bello 'belonged' to our whole family - he lived with me from a kitten, then became too aggressive towards my dear old Dad (very territorial about 'his' chair) then became a 'clinic cat' and lived at my son-in-law's practice where he and his nurse cared for him on a daily basis, then he went to live with my daughter and eventually back with me. He was a cheeky boy, an adventurer (which was dangerous as he was deaf) and when approached gently was very loving......

Family history

About 5 years ago my Dad and I went to visit Nhill in north western Victoria. He was born there in 1917 and spent the first 4 years of his life there. His father and older brothers had helped to make the road that goes through there to Adelaide. His aunties had run the local post-office and his grandparents had lived there on a property. Their house is no longer there, but we went to the site and found some broken china-ware sticking out of the ground. I collected it and have placed it in a frame which is now in my home. The pieces remind me of the many meals the family would have shared in those early days - our own archeological dig!

Family visit

It's been lovely having my sister, brother-in-law and nephew visiting for a few days from New South Wales.He had a lot of fun with my other little gems Claudio and Eva.

A wonderful day!

I'm always so proud of my daughter and today was no exception. She and her sister crafters held a wonderful market inThornbury. It was wonderful to visit her with our family from N.S.W. - her aunty, uncle and cousin who has been a part of our family since he arrived from China last year.

Small world....

when I was a child it was almost unheard of for people to travel overseas. Perhaps because the Second World War had forced so many to go for reasons other than enjoyment. And it was very costly. Migrants came to Australia to flee oppression, get work, raise children in a safe place, but very few left the shores.

And now everyone I know seems to be travelling..... a friend recently visited from Scotland, another friend is on a visit to Spain and Ireland, other friends will be visiting Oz from Hong Kong where they choose to live at the moment, a work colleague is leaving for Hong Kong and Japan next week - and I'm off at Christmas with my grandson to Hong Kong.

It's a wonderful thing!

Ronan Keating - If Tomorrow Never Comes

It's easier to love the whole world than one person

Celebrating the Chilean miners' escape from beneath the earth, I started to speculate on the celebrations world wide. Of course we were all happy for them and their families and friends. Universal joy...... but what if...??? What (hypothetically) if we knew them personally and we knew things about them which meant we didn't like them much..... what if we knew one abused their family? or one was a bully? or one was a thief? and the like... It seems to me that it is much easier to love the whole world - at a distance - than to love someone we know well.

Spring-time in Melbourne

I am very blessed and fortunate to still live in a home with a garden. Spring is a lovely time despite the blustery and changeable weather..... I love my lavender and banksia rose......

my favourite places

The Giant Buddha on Lantau Island, Hong Kong is a sort of pilgrimage for me whenever I visit this wonderful place.

I'm so looking forward to taking my grandson there at Christmas so he can experience something of the wonderful Asian culture.