Hello, it’s Winter

Hello 🙂 How is winter going for you? I know I haven’t been doing my blog of late. There just doesn’t need to be enough hours in the day! Things just seem to be a bit hectic. I think I might have to decree 3 day weekends and then I might have more time to myself! Lets see, what have I done since we last spoke? Well, I had a three day weekend in Mudgee. I went to a star party with friends, which is about astronomy. We went up to Mudgee on the Friday and just did a bit of grocery shopping. My girlfriend, Anna’s daughter was arriving with her partner on Saturday, so there were friends of Elyse from her university days that she was catching up with. These friends are such nice people and made the weekend another great time had by all. Lots of food and a yummy glass of red, then off to see a very pretty night sky on Saturday and we got to see some beautiful stars and planets. Great company, great weather and another great star party.

Christiane and I went down to Canberra for the day on the long weekend. We went down to Cockington Green and spent some time walking around the grounds. It was sunny and cold but it was a long day. We had lunch down there with another friend of mine, open fire, yummy food and good company. I got to spend time with my youngest daughter.

I finally got to have lunch with my beautiful girl in Leichhardt. I recommend pasta and coffee at Joey’s. Definitely worth the drive into the city.

I have just gotten back from Fiji. What a great week! It was the best weather and so relaxing, just to see the markets and the siteseeing was just amazing. My girlfriend, and some wonderful friends Victoria, met up in Fiji and we spent a really great time. They are such great company, great fun. We got to snorkel and enjoy some restaurants. We were lucky enough to visit a remote primary school up the mountains. The students ranged from pre-school to year 8. 62 students all up plus the teachers, cooks, ground keeper made up less than a 100 people who managed to live a simple and happy life. The students were just gorgeous and it was such a privilege to visit this school. We needed the permission from the chiefs of the villages for us to enter. I had the best time and hope that I get a chance to go again.

Well, I have had just the best few months to say the least. I will try to get a bit more blogging and less travelling (you know I don’t mean that). I hope you have had a great weekend. I do miss having warm feet in Fiji 😦

Enjoy your week, I know I will 

Cate

 

Good morning World ;-)

Good morning,

How has your weekend been so far? We have had the most beautiful weather for May! All my neighbours were out yesterday, grabbing some sunshine, sitting in the back yard with their children, other neighbours were washing cars and catching up with the other people in the units. Everybody just seem to be outside catching a few rays. It has been a really busy time over the last few weeks, I just haven’t had the time to sit down and write my blog. I actually missed doing this. Talking about the things that have happened over the week or weeks. Time just slipped away. I was supposed to have lunch with my youngest daughter yesterday, but she cancelled unexpectedly. We were going into Norton Street, Leichhardt and it would have been a gorgeous day sitting there with a cup of coffee and a bowl of pasta, that had been the plan. Never mind, we have made a different date, so it will still happen, so, still something nice to look forward to.

I had a great Easter with my girls, lots of eating and chilling out. I made lunch for my mum which I wasn’t sure if she would eat it. It had lots of middle eastern seasoning rolled inside a lamb flap which I put with cous cous done with pistachios and sultanas. She said that she like it, I know I did, then I made a vegetable curry called Rajma which my neighbours had taught me how to cook. I don’t think my curry came out quite as nice as the boys but it still had lots of flavour and it was fun to try. Then on the Easter Tuesday, I went down to Canberra for 5 lovely days. To say that I had a great time is an understatement! It is truly a really lovely place. The people were so nice and don’t get me started on the restaurants. There was just so much to choose from and so little time to enjoy, I want to go back. I have a couple of friends that live in different parts of Canberra. To go across Canberra only takes about 20 minutes, so I got to see the old and the new parts of Canberra. Their markets are really great fun and the walks around the centre are just beautiful. We were so lucky with the weather and the last 2 days the chill started to creep in, it was just crispy and gorgeous. The wood smoke when we walked up to the pub or restaurant, late in the afternoon was bringing back child hood memories, the crunchy leaves, the colour of those leaves. I just fell in love with Canberra. Thank you Canberra, for making it such a great break. A few years ago, I was going out with a guy from Orange in New South Wales. When we first starting going out, I was staying at a motel in Orange and we would have dinner in town. Orange is one of the prettiest towns that I have ever seen with the autumn colours and they have a lot of pride with their community. I saw a lot of Orange atmosphere in Canberra, it reminded me of the colours and the way the town was set out. The only difference was the people. In Orange, the people, especially for a country town were not as friendly, they seemed suspicious of me saying hello! I love talking to people, so I always smile and say hello. With Canberra, the people actually said hello back. I was even talking to a woman in Kingston who happen to be promoting some new wines from the Orange region! So thank you Canberra for some really lovely memories and for actually having a shop name “Plonk”. Best variety of beers in Australia. 🙂

Mother’s Day was my next biggest and bestest day! My youngest daughter wasn’t able to catch up with me, but she rang and wish me a happy Mother’s Day, which I was happy with. I had lunch with my Mum on the Saturday, so that left me free to have time with my daughters. My eldest daughter and I caught a train into the city. The plan was to go to the Aquarium, but by the time, we walked down through Darling Harbour, and walked around it was getting too late. It was such a beautiful sunny and warm day, that everybody was out and enjoying the weather. We were lucky to find a reasonably quiet restaurant and they were serving a Mother’s Day lunch with a glass of bubbles. Now who am I to say “No” to a glass of bubbles???? So I had two!  Ahhhh, the things some mothers have to do!!!!! Then it was back to Paddy’s Markets and the Asian grocer and restock my cupboard and buy new bowls. Then it was home time and a lovely soaking bath, glass of red and an old movie. Best Mother’s Day. Thank you Christiane X. I hope you all had a great Mother’s Day and spent it with the ones you love.

Sometimes life throws a couple of curve balls, which in my case, my family have thrown them. My girls have got my back in regards to these curve balls. I have had a few tears and I am angry. I don’t get angry very often and thanks to this anger, I have lost a bit of sleep. Until I can speak without saying something that I will regret, I will hold my tongue. If what I have been told by my family does happen, it will probably break what family I have left into almost no contact. Which is a very sad thing, but it is not my doing or my choice. I have disagreed with this plan since the beginning. I have spoken to my girls about the situation and how sad that my family is getting smaller and smaller. But, as they have pointed out, this will not always be the case. My family is the non traditional type. I have always said all along that I have been blessed the most amazing friends. I am actually having lunch with one of them today in Cronulla. My friends accept me just the way I am, warts and all. Thank you for that. I am still hurt, that I will lose what is left of my family, but I know that I have my girls and my friends and that I am not alone

Autumn is Coming

Hi everyone. I hope you have had a good week. My week has been hectic and busy and just a tiny bit stressful. My glass of red wine on Friday night, was very much deserved. It is amazing, that since I started working, I have always enjoyed a glass of beer or a bourbon on a Friday night. It was a ritual that I have been doing since I was 18 years old. It was always finding who was going to the pub, then either meeting them up there or everyone just walked up to the local pub in the city and either stayed for one drink depending on their plans for the evening or finishing at closing time, a little bit worse for wear. There is no way I could do that now, the body just won’t be in it, which is probably a good thing. I just don’t bounce like I use to. Anyway, now it is nice to come home, pour myself a lovely glass of red, and relax. Have something easy for dinner and chill. What I do miss, is having people over for dinner. I use to love to entertain, cook something, set a nice table, have good company sitting around, laughing and enjoying and relaxing. I have some great memories of different parties and get togethers, including BBQ’s, Christmas in July’s, Australia Day’s, Christmas Day’s and birthdays. Or because, it was Sunday and it was time to have friends over, just to finish off the weekend. Many of the friends that we would have over for different functions are still my friends today. I still find their friendship still important even after all this time. All our children have grown up and are now young adults. Where has the time gone? I ran into some friends while I was doing the shopping this afternoon. They still make me laugh and I still enjoy their company. Life has been good and kind to these lovely people. Steve, I have known since we were both 16 years old. He is my eldest daughters Godfather. To watch him talking to her this afternoon, laughing and joking, is something that I love to watch. She enjoys his company as much as he enjoys hers. I only found a photo of him with her at her Christening this afternoon. I didn’t intentionally go to find it, I was actually cleaning out my beside table and came across it. That photo was taken over 26 years ago! Again, where has the time gone?

Well my friends, I wish you all a happy and safe week. I am planning on making a turkey risotto and yes, a glass of red will also be part of the plan. I hope life is good to you. Even though the weather hasn’t been sunny and warm, I must admit that I am looking forward to Autumn and then Winter, trying different recipes and getting stuck in my craft. I have some wonderful plans coming up and I wish everyone a great week. Enjoy

Cate

Perfect Sunday Afternoon

Good afternoon and how has your weekend been? I have had a lovely weekend, catching up with one of my girlfriends for lunch yesterday. The day just flew. I have known this lovely lady since we were in kindergarten, we were best friends in high school and then when we left school like all good teenagers we went separate paths. Fortunately, technology gave us a helping hand and we finally caught up with each other about 10 years ago. We text, facebook and when time permits we catch up for lunch and a glass of wine. She is one of the most beautiful ladies that has been in my life. 

So far, this has been an amazing year! It has evolved into one of the most positive 3 months that I could never have imagined happening. I am slowly changing direction and trying a few new paths, which I never would have done without the support of my eldest daughter and the love of both my girls, who only see the good in me. It has been a time of realising that what I perceive of myself, is not necessarily the opinion of others. I have become stronger, more confident and I have finally found a direction that I would like to see where the path takes me. My life so far, has been finding love. Finding that special man that will make me complete. I have been on Online Date websites. I have gone out on a few dates and even had relationships which just never seem to go the way I imagined. Broken hearts and many tears later, I find that I am in a good place and there is no man attached to that happiness. Don’t get me wrong, I would still like to find that man (and by the way hurry up) ;-}, but I don’t need him to complete me. That has been a lesson that has taken me many years to learn. My eldest daughter, has just gone to university. She missed out when she finished  Year 12. She was so disappointed. Her dreams of acting and playing music, just didn’t happen according to the plans that she had in her head. Mind you, she still managed to get in NIDA and takes classes and learn things, but it just never went according to her plan. She is now studying Business Management, which will take 3 – 4 years. One of the assignments that she is doing was survey of women in a certain age group which she asked a variety of questions regarding health, ageing and lifestyles. The women who she sent this survey to was an amazing revelation! Even in this day and age, with the technology and resources that are at our disposal, we still have a very poor body image of ourselves and low self esteem! Why do we do this to ourselves??? When I look at my girls, I see nothing but strong,  gorgeous women who have achieved so much in their short time on this planet. If you ask them, they will tell you that their skin looks awlful today,”I look like shit Mum”!!! And yet, I don’t see it! Everyday, I tell my girls how beautiful they are. Yet, they don’t see it! I went shopping this morning for a new long sleeved TShirt. If I could pick it up off the rack and take it home without trying it on, I would be so happy. Why? Because once I get in that fitting/changing room, with the bloody worse possible lighting, I hate the reflection that is staring at me in the damn mirror. As you can see, I still have a bit more to go as far as learning that the woman that I am staring at in that mirror, is pretty damn hot! 

Ladies, we have so many opportunities, a lot more than our Mums and Grandmothers. They had the best of choices for their time, now we have ours. And we most certainly have plenty of options. I don’t want to waste another day procrastinating about how bad I look. I want to smile and the person at the train station to smile back. I want to talk to a customer on the phone, and ask how is your day been? and mean it! I want to hear that person laugh, just like I want to hear myself laugh! Did you know that laughing is a great stomach muscle exercise??? Go on, go and have a good hearty laugh and tell me that your stomach muscles are not working!!

Have a great week and don’t forget to laugh and smile. That is my plan

Cate