Sharing My World This Week

List things or events that changed your life?

 Well, I think that the one thing that changed my life more than anything else is coming to live in Australia as a child. If I had stayed in England my whole life would have been different. I’d have gone to different schools, got a different job and visited different places. Maybe I would never have seen Australia. Certainly I would never have met David.

The other thing that journey changed about me was that it gave me a love of ships and travel which has never left me.

Castel Felice, the ship that brought my family to Australia.

Complete this sentence: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s…

A Jindvik target drone, these were operated by the Royal Australian Navy mainly for crew training exercises. This one is at the Aviation Museum in Port Adelaide.

Jindivik pilotless aircraft – Aviation museum Port Adelaide.

What genre of music do you like?

I like rock and some pop music from the sixties, seventies and eighties but I also enjoy some jazz, some blues, soul and even some classical music at times. I like musicals but not opera.  The only type of country music I can listen to is bluegrass. I find most modern music which Naomi and I have started to call “Millennial Music” quite boring and repetitious.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.

I’ve just returned home from holidays and while I’ve seen some amazing things and appreciated being able to travel and see another part of the world I think what I appreciated most was seeing my home and pets again.

Super Trees, Gardens By the Bay , Singapore

Sharing My World This Week

What is your earliest memory?

The earliest memory I have that I know is my own not something I was told is of looking down from a bridge and seeing the railway line and trains below. It was in Clacton on Sea and the bridge was on the way to the local Recreation Ground.  My grandparents lived in Clacton and we used to visit them for a week or two every summer. When I was about six or seven I was puzzled that I could no longer see the trains when we went over the bridge as the guard rail was too high for me to see over. I asked mum why this was as  I knew I had seen the trains before. Mum told me that my grandfather used to lift me up to see them when they looked after me before Naomi was born. I was two years old. I suppose it says something about me that I remember the trains but not my grandfather lifting me.

Clacton Station in more recent times courtesy of Wikemedia.

Which way does the toilet paper roll go? Over or under?

These days I’m not too fussy but it should be over so that you can do the little pointy fold at the end.

What makes you feel grounded?

I think I have a strong sense of place. I always feel grounded at home with my own things and my pets around me. I feel part of the community I live in. I don’t think I could be a transient  even though I like to travel I need a home to go back to.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

Last Friday I went to Hobart to do some errands, new shoes and a few other small things I needed for our holiday as well as getting my hair cut. When I arrived I saw that there was a cruise ship in port. Passing a local coffee shop that always welcomes cruise passengers with a chalkboard sign I discovered that it was Explorer of the Seas . It’s just over two years now since we cruised on her so after I’d done my shopping I went down to the waterfront to say hello. I have a bit of a soft spot for this ship even though we’ll soon be sailing away on a much larger one.

Explorer of the Seas, Hobart 16 March 2918.

Sharing My World This Week

If a distant uncle dies and you were always his favorite and leaves you $50,000 (any currency) in his will, what would you do?

Well first of all I’d be surprised. Secondly, I’d think how I could best put it to good use. That amount of money, while it would not buy a new house, would certainly mean we could buy a better house or do any repairs that were needed to whatever we bought.

If I didn’t need it for that I guess I’d spend some, a holiday for Naomi and I, some new toys, save some for a rainy day and give some to deserving charities or individuals. I know a couple of people that I’d love to lend a hand to if I had the means.

What sound or sounds do you love?

Birds, I really enjoy listening to the birds when I sit in the garden, the kookaburras laughing in the gum trees near my house, the little birds, wagtails, finches and so on who hide out in the apple tree and chirp away, even the harsh cries of parrots, crows, gulls and the plover family tell me that nature is all around me and are certainly better than my neighbours taste in music.

CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

taken by User:Benjamint444 using Helicon Filter.

Steam whistles on trains or boats, thunder and the sound of waves crashing onto the beach are also favourite sounds if mine.

What’s your middle name?  Why?

My middle name is now Eileen and there is s story behind that. Mum’s name was Eileen Carol and she was always known as Carol. Grandad got the names the wrong way round when he went to register the birth. I was named Eileen Vanda but always known as Vanda. I quite like the name Eileen now but as a child I got annoyed by schoolmates asking if they could call me Eileen instead of Vanda. I like my name and didn’t want to change it. When I went to apply for my first passport I was dismayed to learn it would be issued in the name of Eileen as that came first. I was eighteen and in a fit of contrariness I went and had my name changed to Vanda Eileen by deed poll so I would never suffer this annoyance again. So I am Eileen after mum and Vanda because mum wanted an unusual name and during her pregnancy read a book where the main character was called Vanda.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

Our holiday trip is drawing near now and last week we went to Hobart to pick up our tickets and other paperwork. We certainly smiled a lot about that.

Travel diary and note book, my sister knows me well.