Tag: Share Your World 2019

Share Your World 2019: 8 July

Sharing My World This Week

As we have the option of answering these questions in a seasonally appropriate way I thought that I’d comment on both summer and winter in my answers this week.

  • Are you a Summer person?   A Winter person?   Or one of the other seasons suits you best?

I’m definitely not a summer person. I didn’t mind the hot days so much when I was younger but now I hate extreme heat and humidity. Summer in Tasmania is usually cooler than the other states but we seem to get more hot days than we used to and of course, there is always the spectre of bushfires. I don’t mind winter so much although the rain and the grey days can get a little depressing sometimes. I really prefer spring and autumn, spring for the flowers and blossoming trees and autumn for the foliage. It’s probably the nicest weather we have as spring can be windy.

  • What is your favorite summertime clothing?   
A selection of clothing for sale at the Op Shop.

I don’t really wear dresses and skirts much and certainly would not be seen in shorts, nor do I like cropped 3/4 length pants on me. Mostly I wear jeans or if it’s really hot lightweight summer pants and a v-neck or scoop neck, short-sleeved T-shirt. I have some 3/4 sleeve T-shirts that I like a lot and I wear these for three seasons out of four with a cardigan over if required. Now it’s winter so I’m wearing a long sleeved “spencer” under a sweatshirt or knitted jumper (sweater to my American friends) and sometimes a fleece vest over that. Australian homes tend not to be centrally heated so layers are good. I do have what Tasmanians call a heat pump and the rest of Australia calls a reverse cycle air conditioner which keeps my living room, dining room and kitchen warm but the rest of the house is pretty cold at this time of year.

  • Do you find yourself eating out more during the summer?  Or making ‘cold food’ like salads and stuff you can heat in the microwave?

No, I eat out about the same amount all year round, hardly at all. I do have salads more in summer, coleslaw, potato salad, pasta salad are what I have at home although I might get a Caesar salad if I eat out. I’m not a huge fan of lettuce. If it’s really hot things like quiche and cold meats are good. At this time of year though it’s pasta, Shepherd’s Pie, stews and casseroles.

  • Do you like watermelon?   What’s your favorite summertime treat?

I do like watermelon. I didn’t when I was younger but now I do. I also like rockmelons. A favourite summertime treat would be cream or ice cream with strawberries, raspberries or blueberries. A favourite winter dessert would be a steamed pudding with custard.

Ice cream stall sign

Are you thankful it’s finally (sorta) dry and warm?

Well, it’s neither here but that’s OK. It’s dry and warm inside.

We get a bit of fog here especially in winter time.

Share Your World 2019: 1 July

Answers:

Would (or do) you stop to help (presumably) stranded folks by the side of the road?

As I don’t drive it’s a bit irrelevant for me so I’ll tell you what David used to tell me years ago and I think that it is probably still true. He said that if you were driving in outback Australia and saw someone broken down on the side of the road you should stop and help them because in isolated places it might be hours or even days before someone else came by. The unwritten rule was that the person needing help would put their bonnet up as a signal that they hadn’t just stopped for a break. Of course, the level of help you can give varies. David was mechanically inept and couldn’t even change a tyre but in those pre-mobile phone days, you could at least offer to take the person to the nearest town or to report their problem for them. Today with phone coverage more widespread perhaps it’s no longer necessary and certainly not for a woman alone in a city if she doesn’t feel safe. I can recall us stopping for someone at least once and people stopped to help us when we were in difficulties.

Stuart Highway NT
Most of the road to Uluru looks like this. Photo David Jensen c1983

Do you think the world is less mannerly today than in past times OR are we just more touchy and manners are as they’ve always been?

Yes, I certainly do and I do think mobile phones are responsible for a lot of that. When people ignore those they are with in order to talk or text to others what message does that send? I hear the way that children speak to their parents, and vice versa sometimes, and they don’t have a nice way of speaking. I think it is rude when you are on some kind of tour and your view is always being blocked by people taking selfies. It’s possible that I’m more sensitive to bad manners than when I was younger but I am sure I wouldn’t be if it hadn’t become more prevalent.

Selfies on the sampan

What happens if you’re scared half to death, TWICE?

If that ever happens to me I would like to tell you but I might be dead.

If ALL the world’s a stage, where does the audience sit?

Circling the world in space ships? A new take on theatre in the round.

Share your thankful comments here.   It’s a gorgeous day most places, so celebrate!

It’s not particularly gorgeous here. It has been blowing a gale and raining since yesterday but it’s winter so to be expected. I’m grateful for rain as well as sunshine because we need it to fill the dams ready for next summer. I’ve seen some jonquils in my garden that look like they are getting ready to flower and they will add a patch of colour to the winter garden.

New jonquils August 2018

Share Your World 2019: 17 June

QUESTIONS:

If you were suddenly injured or died, are your bedside table drawers ready for someone else to go through them?   If you care to share, what’s the most unusual item someone might find, that might be potentially embarrassing?

Timber panelling in a bedroom

My bedside table drawers are boring, a couple of pairs of compression socks, cough lollies, a tube of stuff for relief from insect bites, some beads, tags from clothing for the size or laundry information. The only thing I’d be embarrassed about is how uninteresting they are.

What keeps you going?  (However you might interpret that is correct.)

Finding pleasure in the small things in life.

Share a photo or a sentence about ‘your favorite thing(s) (credit to Judy Dystkra-Brown in response to this:  ttps://pilotfishblog.com/2019/06/08/lens-artists-photo-challenge-49-favorite-things/   )

If we are not counting people or animals then I guess my favourite thing in life is my “stuff” and of my stuff, my dolls mean the most to me.

Some of my larger dolls.

At the end of the song “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M.,  where did they all go?

I know this song but I can’t recall if I’d ever seen the video before. I watched it twice and still couldn’t decide where they were all going. All I can say is that they looked like they were being called to go somewhere but there was no joy, eagerness or even curiosity in responding. I wouldn’t watch it a third time as I found it too sad.

What are you grateful for right now?

I’m grateful for my home and although I love spending time with others I am also grateful for the days when I can stay home and enjoy it with just Polly and Cindy for company.

Share Your World 2019: 11 June

Sharing My World This Week

What do fish do all day?   What thoughts do you think they have?  (Credit to the awesome Teresa and her Fibbin’ Fridays for this one)

Swim, obviously, and if fish think I guess they think about what they are going to eat or what might eat them.

Fish in a pond, Singapore

What celebrity would you have as a SPOUSE, if you HAD to choose?

Nope, never given it a thought. I don’t see celebrities lining up to ask for my hand so I think the likelihood of having to choose is zero. I was quite happy with the husband I had anyway; don’t ever want another.

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve ever broken?

Well, two things come to mind. Several years ago I accidentally broke a pane of glass in our front door. It used to stick in damp weather and I gave it a harder than usual tug and a pane of frosted glass just shattered.  I forget how much new frosted glass would have cost but too much for us, we had it replaced with plain glass.

The other thing was my Nikon Coolpix L120 camera which got broken in Sydney after our first cruise when I dropped it while trying to carry my luggage to my room. I think the camera was between $200-300 new but worse than that was that David had given it to me one Christmas, quite unexpectedly, because I hadn’t said I needed a new camera. I was so sorry to lose it because it happened only a few months after he died. I still miss it sometimes.

Nikon Coolpix L120s5s

When was the last time you slept more than 9 hours in a stretch?  Why?

I can’t remember. I practically never sleep that long. Usually, I wake up automatically after six hours or so although I may drop off again especially if I know I don’t need to go anywhere or do anything in particular that day. Sometimes I might wake up because I have to go to the bathroom and sometimes Cindy wakes me to let her out. She’s a good dog; she doesn’t often wake me up in the middle of the night but she’s getting older too. I generally sleep about 6-7 hours no matter what time I go to bed whether I set the alarm or not.

An Attitude of Gratitude!

Share something you were really grateful for this year (so far):

With nearly half a year gone I have to say that the thing I have been most grateful for this year is that my town was saved from the bushfires, my house did not burn and I had friends who were willing to take me and my pets in when things looked the worst.

Smoke from nearby fires discolours the sky.

Share Your World 2019: 27 May

Sharing My World This Week

Do you consider yourself a pessimist or an optimist?

I used to consider myself an optimist for most of my life but the past five or six years I’ve become more of a pessimist. The stupid people seem to have the world in their grip and I sometimes feel the only way to outwit them is to die but of course, that’s probably just what they want.

Can War ever be just?

Probably not, sometimes we think we’re going to war for the right reasons, to defend our homes and families or protect weaker people; but who decides when we should go? Politicians; and they have their own agenda and the power and influence through the media to convince people to do what they want without necessarily telling the real reasons.

Think about the people you love most in your life, what do you do for them?

I would never let someone I love go without if I could help them. I wouldn’t let them struggle alone when I could support them.

Are you health conscious?

Am I health conscious? No, I try not to be excessive in what I eat but I don’t enjoy exercising. I like to walk but I never enjoyed playing sports and find repetitive exercises boring.

Gratitude, Thankfulness, Wonder, Awe and Joy!   

I’m grateful for my pets, my garden and the creatures that visit it.

This is the space where you share, if you’d like to, something that falls into those categories.

 I hear so many stories of people who are homeless, living in vans or sheds or renting houses that are so expensive they can barely manage. I am thankful that  I have a home of my own.

The house on the highway.

Share Your World: 20 May 2019

Some Silly Questions:

Is it better to suspect something (bad or hurtful) and not know or to have your worst fears confirmed by sure knowledge?

Sometimes one and sometimes the other.  I can be a bit of an ostrich and sometimes prefer not to know things that seem scary to me. It’s probably better to know and take steps to deal with a problem but if for example, someone doesn’t like me, do I really need to know that?

What makes you laugh aloud?   Crack up?   Laugh until your sides split?   When was the last time you had a great big belly laugh?

Never ask me “when was the last time you did so and so” because unless it was in the last week or so I probably won’t remember. Naomi and I often have conversations where we both end up laughing out loud over some silly thing, don’t ask for examples, I can’t think of any.

I also find there are some books that make me laugh out loud. That tends to make people look at you funny if you are on the bus. Whenever I read Gerald Durrell’s “The Picnic” or “My Family and Other Animals” I always laugh out loud. Emily Kimbrough’s travel stories usually have the same effect.

Do you suppose Noah had woodpeckers in the ark?  If he did, where did he keep them?   Apologies to the Darwinians in the crowd…this is merely for fun, okay?

Well, if he was taking two of every kind of creature he had to didn’t he? And there are still woodpeckers.  I guess he had an onboard aviary as you would not want all those birds flying around pooping on everyone. Did they have wire in Noah’s day? Could two woodpeckers do major damage to a sturdily built ark in 40 days and 40 nights? Maybe God just told the woodpeckers to be good. (I believe in evolution but I like the story of Noah’s Ark even though it’s totally impractical.)

Why is “Charlie” short for “Charles when they are the same number of letters?

In this case when people say “short for” I think they really mean that it is an informal term for the name Charles. Chas would be short for Charles I guess.

Thankful, Joyful, Grateful

What happened in your world this past week that made you feel thankful, joyful or grateful?

It was my birthday yesterday and I received a few cards, yes some people still send them, and good wishes from friends and family.  I was grateful they remembered. We had a nice sunny day on Saturday for our big sale at the Op Shop which I was thankful for as I was working outside. It was a really pleasant day until I got home and turned on the TV for the election results. I haven’t felt joyful since.

Some of the things we were selling.

Some things we had for sale.

Share Your World: 13 May 2019

Questions:

What social stigma does society need to get over already?

There are plenty but I’m going to say poverty. There are many people who are poor through no fault of their own and people need to stop judging them without knowing their circumstances.

What was the last photo you took?

I took a batch of photos of dolls I was fixing up to go back to the Op Shop. This was the last one of the batch.

The last photo I took

 When was the last time you snooped and found something or found out something you wish you hadn’t?

So long ago that I don’t remember what it was. I don’t look at other people’s phones or read their mail and I try not to overhear conversations that were not meant for my ears. If people are saying bad things about me I don’t need to hear it.

What’s the most comfortable bed or chair you’ve ever slept in?

The last bed David and I bought was to replace an ageing queen sized bed. That one was very comfortable but he had broken the wooden frame three times and frankly, I had got tired of mending it.  I also got tired of trying to sleep in the 30 centimetres or so left when he was fully spread out. I know it was 30 centimetres because one night I measured it.

So I convinced him we needed a larger bed. We bought a king sized bed with a pillow top mattress and it was so comfortable. I was sorry to let it go but it made no sense to me to keep it after he died. It was just too big for me alone. I sold it to some friends and they loved it.

King sized bed.

 

Can being grateful change Your World?

Yes, I believe so. Being grateful puts things in perspective and reminds me that no matter what is going on in my life there are good things in it. If I only focused on the negative things I would be unhappy a lot more often.

One of my second to last batch of photos.