Category: Share Your World

Sharing My World This Week

You can have an unlimited supply of one thing for the rest of your life, what is it? Sushi? Scotch Tape?

Well to me the obvious thing would be money, then I could buy as much Scotch Tape as I liked.  Seriously it wouldn’t have to be a fortune but to know you had a guaranteed income for the rest of your life with no fear of unemployment or the government cutting it back would be a great relief.

Teleportation or flying?

Teleportation; especially if I can do it from home and not have to go to an airport like facility to do it. I wouldn’t trade sea voyages or long distance train trips but flying and buses I would not really miss.

Would you rather live where it only snows or the temperature never falls below 100 degrees?

I’ve just experienced the latter in Singapore. I will take the snow. Well being practical living in a place where it snowed all the time would be hard too so I’d want to spend some of that unlimited money on heating and warm clothing and boots. I like a happy medium really and I think that I have it right here.

Me in Singapore feeling hot.

Untouched snow. This is about as heavy as it usually gets in Geeveston although higher altitudes will get more.

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 had a brief trip to Hobart last week. A friend was going to do some errands in Hobart and nearby Kingston and I went along for the ride. We are both from Adelaide so we spent the drive there and back chatting about places we knew, recalling as many different theatres in the city and suburbs as we could. That was fun. We went to Bunnings, a big hardware store in Kingston and while my friend was buying plumbing supplies I went to the garden department and bought myself several pots of pansies and polyanthus which were on special.

Polyanthus

Pansies

Polyanthus

Sharing My World This Week

I usually read Cee’s Share Your World questions over breakfast but yesterday I was hurrying to get ready for the Op Shop and misread the first two questions as one. My immediate thought was I don’t want a historical character for an imaginary friend. I want Doctor Who then I could visit all those decades and any others I wanted as well. Of course it would have to be a previous Doctor Who. I am not ready for a lady Doctor and don’t think I ever will be.

If you could choose any person from history to be your imaginary friend, who would it be and why?

This one has really had me flummoxed, who from history would I like as an imaginary friend because after Doctor Who I really wanted to say Mr Spock; another fictional character. Who would I choose in the real world? Not a princess, or a politician, maybe a writer, someone who would like the things I liked and make me laugh with her sense of humour. Two writers I think it would be fun to have been friends with would be Betty McDonald (The Egg and I) and Emily Kimbrough who wrote such amusing travel stories. Maybe she would take me with her on one of her adventures.

60s, 70s, 80s, 90s: Which decade do you love the most and why?

I was a child in the 60s, a teenager in the 70s, a young adult in the 80s and turned forty in the 90s and there were good and bad times for me personally in each of those decades. However, just looking at things like music, fashions, decor etc. I would choose the 60s. You could still travel on a steam train to many places that are now without a railway, it took a month to travel to Australia from England by sea; you could buy a Pedigree doll, a Barbie  or a Triang Hornby train set for just a few pounds. The scariest thing on television was a Dalek not an orange haired politician and his Korean best buddy.

When you die, what do you want to be remembered for?

I’d like to think that I had made some contribution to helping fellow doll collectors learn about their dolls and maybe inspiring some new collectors through our doll blog but I would be happy just to be remembered as a nice person.

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. 

This past weekend was a long one for the Queen’s Birthday holiday so the shop was not open Monday. As I don’t go there on Fridays I had four days to myself. I stayed at home, did a few odd jobs tidying the garage and a lot of writing and photography for our doll blog which had been a bit neglected lately. I never feel lonely spending days on my own like this. I have Cindy and Polly for company and I know that if I want to talk to someone I only have to pick up the phone or there is always someone to chat to on the internet.

Sharing My World This Week

I hadn’t forgotten about Share Your World this week. I wanted to find some of our childhood photos. Unfortunately a lot of that stuff is packed in boxes at present and the ones that I had out did not show the garments I was writing about. I did manage to find one of us from probably 1963 or 64.

A piece of clothing from your younger childhood you still remember?

I remember a lot of the clothing that I had as a small child. Of course there are photos but some I actually remember mum buying. Mum often used to shop from mail order catalogues and sometimes she would buy Naomi and I matching outfits but in different colours. I remember knitted “ski outfits” as mum called them.There were knitted leggings, striped jumpers and hats with a bobble. Naomi’s was in shades of blue and mine browns and beige. I thought hers was nicer than mine as I considered brown rather a boring colour. I still rarely, if ever,  wear brown but mum liked it.

We also had royal blue knitted twin sets which comprised a pleated skirt and a cardigan with an embroidered flower on the front. We once had our photos taken in these outfits with our two cousins who were both wearing jeans. Mum did not like jeans and we did not own any until we were in our teens.

I also had a  little tartan suit in shades of green that I loved but grew out of very quickly. Naomi, who was a very slim child, was able to wear the skirt for several years. I can still remember the time that mum bought matching “Duster Coats”, for herself and both of us to wear in summer. They were all in different shades of blue. We did not like the straw bonnets she bought to go with them very much though and I think I actually refused to wear mine. Still not a fan of hats either.

Irregardless of your physical fitness, coordination or agility: If you could be an athlete what would you do?   Remember this is SYW, dreaming is always allowed.

Well maybe if I’d had fitness, coordination and agility as a child I’d have been more interested in athletics but as it is even dreaming I’m really not interested. I never wished I could do sport better so I’d probably pick something more like table tennis or ten pin bowling which I enjoy even though I am bad at both.

In a car would you rather drive or be a passenger?

I do enjoy being a passenger because I can look at the scenery. I used to navigate for David and still do if Naomi and I go on a long trip. I quite enjoy doing that.  It would be nice to drive myself around though as I could be more independent.

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 went out for coffee with some friends as I do every week and two of them had photographs of themselves when they were in their twenties. It was fun to see how these guys looked in the nineteen seventies with long hair as both were in their mid-fifties when I first met them.

Sharing My World This Week

If you were to pack a basket for picnic lunch, what would be in your basket?

I might take cold chicken or ham, tomatoes, cheese, hard boiled eggs coleslaw and potato salad.  There would also be some crusty bread or rolls, maybe some fruit cake for later on and apples and bananas. I’d have a thermos of hot water for tea and of course milk, sweetener for Naomi, and salt and pepper, also for Naomi as I don’t put salt on my food.

If we’d decided to have a BBQ instead of a regular picnic I’d have sausages and either lamb chops or beef patties and onions and potatoes. I expect we’d also have a bottle of Coke Zero as Naomi likes it. I’d stick with tea or coffee.

On a vacation what you would require in any place that you sleep?

Air conditioning, a soft mattress and a comfortable pillow, a shower with decent pressure that is easy to step into, tea and coffee making equipment, drinking glasses, a fridge. Those are the necessities. Free Wi-Fi would be very nice too.

For some reason it seems to be really hard to get all of these things in a budget hotel we get some but not others. I think in future we are going to stop at more expensive hotels. Cruise ships have spoiled us for roughing it.

If you were to buy a new house/apartment what is the top three items on your wish list?

Well we are going to buy a new house but in fact we want an older style house. I guess top of the list is that it has to be big enough for us, our pets and our collections.

So my top three would be:

• Size – That the house has two large bedrooms, not one huge one and two or three that are the size of shoe boxes and that there is space we can use for the dolls, toys and our hobbies like a big rumpus room, extra bedrooms or a studio and a big enough back yard for our three dogs to run around in.
• Character-by this I mean that it retains some original features. We would love a retro style kitchen with timber and laminex cupboards and a wood fired oven as well as an electric one for example. Many older houses that have been modernised have colour schemes that are so neutral it is as if the personality has been painted out of the house. Of course you can change colours but you can’t put back features that have been taken away, at least not on our budget.
• Convenience – for me this means that there is public transport with a regular service to town nearby or that I can walk to the nearest shops. As a non-driver it is important to me to retain my independence. I don’t want Naomi to have to take me everywhere I want to go.

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. 

This was a pretty quiet week for me. I went to the Op Shop; I played with Cindy, played with and photographed dolls and read old magazines. I do want to share a story about something that I appreciate about living here though. On Friday night I went to a fundraiser for a local family whose little boy needs frequent trips to Melbourne for medical treatment. My friend Karen’s husband and 8 year old son Braydan both had their heads shaved to raise money. I thought that this little boy was very brave and generous to want to do this for another child that he had never met, they go to different schools, but it was his own idea and he was determined to do it. His efforts added about a thousand dollars to the fund and while I don’t know the final figure our small community has raised several thousand dollars altogether over the past couple of months.

Sharing My World This Week

If you were given $22 million tax free dollars (any currency), what is the first thing you would do? (This is just a dream question, remember anything can happen in SYW.)

Well dream world or real world that’s an easy question to answer. The very first thing I would do after I’d finished doing the happy dance? I’d give half of it to Naomi. $11 million would be more than enough for me to live comfortably on. Then I would arrange things so that I would have an income from the interest and would never have to worry about fulfilling obligations in order to get the measly government allowance again. I wouldn’t have to tell them every time I wanted to go on holidays or move. I would be officially retired and free. After that I could start thinking about spending it, what I would do, where I would go and who I would like to help.

In what do you find the simplest of joys?

At the risk of sounding repetitious because I always say this, my home and pets.

What would be your ideal birthday present, and why?

I really feel now that I have just about everything I want but I guess for me the ideal present is always going to be hobby related. A vintage doll I’ve been looking for or doll house items or maybe a book that I’ve been wanting to read. When it comes to things for the house like appliances I really prefer to buy them myself. I like to research and wait till I can find the exact model I want but I also like surprises so I don’t want ask someone to buy me such and such appliance, model so and so. Of course money is also a good present but there is no fun in trying to guess what’s in an envelope. I like unwrapping stuff.

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

This past summer I replaced some of the plants along the back fence that were struggling with several new rose bushes. I picked ones that would grow tall and screen the fence but at first several of them didn’t look as if they were doing very well. I kept watering them and they gradually recovered. Now, as winter is approaching they are all still flowering and I’m really enjoying them.