Life's a Coastline LOL

I was going to title this post," Life's a Beach" but on reflection, why be so stingy when in fact I live and work and sometimes play on a goodly chunk of the Western Australian coastline,  and why be small when you can be grand, lol.

I make comment on said coastline as last weekend I got to explore just a bit more of it.  Friend Jude and I as some of you know, have this bucket list of places to go, things to do in WA as she is determined I get to experience a goodly amount of the place while I reside here.  Jurien Bay which is about 2 hours down the coastline towards Perth was on the list and has now got the big tick/line through it as being completed.

I came off four nights of night shift at 7am Friday having carefully managed sleep quotients during the week, zooming through my jobs at work and having a wee power nap around 4am,  I shot home for perishables having packed the car the night before and was on my way to Dongara to Jude's arriving not long after 8am.  Woohoo and new inventions,  - several staff have copped speeding tickets in the past week and being a lead foot occasionally  lol I thought I might just finally try the cruise control doohicky in my car.  It was with some trepidation that I had a go as I seem to recall dark stories of people using it and crashing as control was limited in case of emergencies..... I can safely report, not so in my car.  I got to the correct speed in the built up areas (70k heading out of town) then 90k a bit further out and finally 110k on the open road and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to use, being quite confident should I pass any speed camera I could say ya boo hiss and suck, poking out tongue, lol,   to that,  and be quite safe from incurring a fine and/or demerit points.  With my car, once you get to the right speed you press the side of the cruise indicator and push it down and a mere touch of the breaks, accelerator or the side of the cruise control indicator and cruise control comes off and you have total control of the car again. With such excitement of trying something new and singing along to Leonard Cohen loudly, lol I got to Jude's still wide awake and raring to go.  After some fortification of toast and coffee, I changed to Jude's car and we were off.  She drives and I am the DJ on our trips so feeling very much like Thelma and Louise (no Brad Pitt lurking anywhere though), with a Readers Digest hits of the 60's fairly blaring, we were off.

Leeman is a small township on the coastline on the way down followed by (photos beneath the writing  of each place )

 Greenhead where the CD got changed to ABBA - still played loudly, lol. 

 Jurien Bay.  As you can see, the coastline is much of a muchness all the way down.  I thought I had taken more photos but seem to have either lost them or it may have been when the batteries were too flat which is a pity but oh well, another road trip will have to happen, lol.  All the towns between Geraldton and including Jurien are based on fishing and mainly crayfish is what is caught. It is the expanse of the coastline that is impressive and my photos do not do it justice. 

We reached Jurein late afternoon after the side trips to the other townships and went straight to the bakery to purchase some fresh rolls which we then took onto Jude's sisters holiday/ soon to be retirement home in the township.  Jurien Bay has a huge motor camp right in the middle of it and tourism plus fishing would be the main attractions. We had the house to ourselves as Jude's sister and brother in law had left for Perth the day before to farewell family back to Darwin.  The house was awesome - tall ceilings and open plan with an enclosed porch, garden, games shed where there is a pool table, big kitchen,  just perfect for entertainment.  After making ourselves lunch I went to bed to get some sleep before I fell over and Jude watched some of the Australian Open tennis before having a zzzzz herself. 

On waking we decided we would have fish and chips for dinner.  Jude took me for a drive along the foreshore and about the town before we went to order our meal.  OMG, we had the single best fish and chips from Jurien Seafoods, that  I have had since coming to Australia.  We ordered a fisherman's basket - 4 fish pieces (battered, small) 2 crabsticks, 2 crumbed prawns, 2 squid rings, 2 sea scallops, $2 chips, with tartare sauce and a piece of Red Spot Emperor (a fish I had not heard of before, which we shared) with a tub of coleslaw and had a veritable feast.  We had to wait nearly an hour for our order as the place does a roaring trade, but it was well worth the wait.  The fish - all of it - was FRESH, not thawed out under a tap or thawed out at all. It melted in your mouth as you ate each morsel, perfection with each bite.  I wax lyrical but this meal was worth it and I would be severely tempted to do a road trip some other time there and back in a day just for a repeat experience. 

Whilst in the fish and chip shop, as you do, Jude bumped into a woman she knew from when she lived on a station as their respective children were growing up.  It transpired that Cathy's son owns and runs the local (and only from there to Geraldton) crayfish pot making factory and she invited us to come for a look the following morning.  So after a leisurely breakfast of cumberland sausages (yummy), free range eggs on toast with orange and feijoa jelly on toast (my contribution from NZ, lol, and also delicious I might add) we set forth for the day.  As I had gone to charge up my camera batteries earlier that morning, there was a pfffffft sound and small bang and the light went out. The power point still worked  but the charger seemed to have died so first port of call was to buy a new one.  We stopped by the local Better Electrical which we found was closing down and yes they had a charger but it was $47 and only charged two batteries at a time even though it only took 15 mins so I thought I would try somewhere else first as it was not exactly what I wanted.  While Jude was chatting to the manageress (Jude would talk to a post when she is out, lol and strikes up conversations with just about anyone) I wandered round the store which also had some furniture on sale as well.  I happened to go past the shelf with two or three dvd recorders on sale and my eyes lit on a Sony HDD recorder at a huge reduction and I made the decision on the spot to get it.  So saving $47 I spent $315 which was $235 of the price before that and when I got to the till, the manageress said that it had started at $849 originally.  I couldn't get it in the car quick enough, lol,  (this was another tick off my bucket list of things I have wanted for ages).  We then wandered to the hardware shop next door and I was in luck there - a four battery re-charger for $36 so all good and on our way to the crayfish pot factory.

Cathy and her friend Murphy (they have been friends for 57 yrs and reminded me of sister Kay and friend Viv,- same amount of time) showed us around.  I had imagined that crayfish pots were knotted rope type things but no, today's pots are made of wooden slats onto a metal frame that have anodised thingies covering screws to delay rust and other metal bolts welded on to deter seals from helping themselves to the crays that are caught.  Cathy said that fishermen on the whole were extremely superstitious, some only using pine slats, some jarrah, some karri, some were ok with nail gun nails, others would only have a certain type of screw, etc etc.  Who knew.......  She showed us the furnace that they make the anodised thingies (think about 3" square sinker type things) that I wondered  would pass health and safety.  It was surrounded by corrugated tin, seemed pretty open and just in a corner of the shed. She said it gets to temps over 1000o which seemed pretty amazing to me.  

It was nigh on lunch time by now so we decided to go get some things for dinner from the local IGA and instead of driving further down the coastline to another attraction Jude thought I needed to see, we decided to call it a day and headed back for sustenance and an afternoon of tennis. It felt so nice to just relax and just what being at the beach should be like in my opinion.  We both wanted to watch Federer play the Australian Bernard Tomic, a relative new comer, and it was a good game with Federer going on to the next round.

Sunday, again after another of Jude's cooked breakfasts, we cleaned up, repacked the car and were on our way to visit Jude's son who works on a farm in the middle of nowhere half way inland between Jurien Bay and  the Brand highway.  Before we turned off Jude found another place she wanted to show me which was 7k's off the main road over the bumpiest gravel and dirt road I had been on since Tardun.  We got to the end of this road and it wasn't the place she thought so back again and on the way out we passed a place where they mine salt from this lake.  There was not much water left - the lakes fill when it rains and as it is a salt pan, the lakes are salty and as they dry out, the salt left behind is gathered. There were wetlands across the road from this and it was all part of a huge national park.  

 On arrival at the farm we found Jude's son drenching and inoculating 400 head of cattle. He had been up since 4.30 and it was on midday when we got there.  He did the cattle in bunches having purpose built the yards below with gates that slid across the race to block off groups of cattle, with a crusher in the oldest bit to hold each beast's head as he injected them in the neck.  The temperature was in the late 30's so it was hot work.  We stayed at watched for awhile and then had lunch with him when he took a break, before heading back home.  

 The cattle he was working with looked to be yearlings with some older beasts. The had been trucked down from a station at Marble Bar which is in the north west,  to fatten up for buyers such as Woolworth's for example.  I asked about water as the surrounding area was dry as dust and they had artesian wells on the property and plenty of water for stock.  There were feeders out in the paddocks as they are fed pellets to supplement any grazing that is about.  

We were not far from Eneabba when we got to the Brand highway, so stopped for a toilet break and an ice cream before the last leg to Jude's and then for me back to Geraldton.  I got back just after 6pm tired but really pleased to have achieved so much in such a short space of time.  We definitely plan on going back to Jurien Bay, and next time without side trips on the way down, we will try for Cervantes and the Pinnacles then (with my camera fully charged, lol).  The trip home was to Roy Orbison, Elvis and a CD called Summertime with all the songs having something to do with Summer so the time flew in the car.

Yesterday was the dreaded house inspection.  I was here this time and met with the property manager who is lovely.  She was thrilled with everything and said she wished she had more tenants like me.  (Yay).  I have been putting a lot of time into the gardens and back lawns and the place looked great, and inside sparkled, having done all the floors at 11pm the night before when I got home from work.  Hence, I have had nothing to do this morning so am writing this while the weekend is still fresh in my mind.  Have Thurs/Fri off  and working two 12 hour days on the weekend - am hoping the kids want to go to the pools at least one if not both days to keep cool.  Speaking of which, it is time to move for today's shift so will close now and say goodbye :)

When is a snake not a snake ........

Answer:  When it is a legless lizard or skink in WA.  Hello people and Happy 2013 :):).  I mention the aforementioned possible snake as I had one of those uniquely," I must be in Australia" moments on Sunday morning.  In my post Christmas spring (summer) cleaning /pre house inspection mode, I was putting the sliding screen door at the side entrance to the games room/kitchen area back on its runners, and then sweeping up accumulated leaves/flowers etc that had gathered where the screen door had been resting on its side, when, after the second scoop of said leaves onto the side garden ....... a small (4 inch, roundness of a number 12 knitting needle), possible snake,  shot out of the remaining leaves and wriggled snakelike  backwards and forwards on the footpath in front of me (me with bare feet at the time).  I am amazed that after over 50 years of my life without sight nor sign of a live snake as NZ (does not have them), my first thought on seeing the wriggling movement was not eel, but SNAKE.... followed by OMG if this is a baby one, where are the others (they lay multiple eggs don't they).... and where is Mama?  And yet, again it was so small, though I am reliably told that a small snake will kill you just as fast as a large one, hmmmmm.

 As I pondered my dilemma, I heard my as yet unmet neighbours moving and talking outside so after 5 minutes thinking am I going to feel dumb about this, I moved with the possible snake still in sight,  closer to their place (we share a drive) and yelled out,  would somebody mind coming and looking at something for me.  Paul (or call me Bones) immediately came over and I said as a   Kiwi I wasn't sure what I was looking at but was this a snake?  He did not immediately  fall on the ground helpless with laughter but a chuckle did ensue as he said it was not a snake but a skink or legless lizard - if I should see something about a foot long, yellowish with a stripe behind its head - that is a snake (right, I am getting close enough to spot a stripe so to speak,).  Panic over, the skink by now had moved near a crack in the wall and scuttled away, Paul (who hunts pigs and has them strung up under his back porch, slightly screened so not totally confronted by what looks like the killing fields for porcine creatures) went back to his, and I resumed my day, laughing at yet another Australian wild life interaction.

You may wonder why I was on high snake alert.  First of all the temperatures at the moment are prime snake lurking temps. Secondly,  two people in Geraldton  have been bitten by snakes in the last fortnight and last night a work colleague told me of his barking dog yesterday who had found a metre long snake in the back yard, so not wanting to have an up close and personal experience with a snake myself, I am wary about the great outdoors of my back yard, and  the garage, finding myself  looking for tell tale signs of wiggly lines in the sand as I go to the compost bin at the back of my garden  each and every time.

Summer has finally struck with temps in the 40's down to mid 30o Celsius over the last few weeks.  Further up the coast towns were on high alert over the past week for cyclones coming in , that resulted in a spectacular lightening show here the weekend before and finally thunder,lightening and rain on Sunday evening in Geraldton.  The upside to that is I did not have to water the lawn or garden that day, the downside was that immediately post rain, there was an outbreak of flying ants and grasshoppers/locusts (large) are appearing.

I note today that we are halfway through January already  as I check my diary.  I had a lovely Christmas with the WM and family.  We all went to midnight mass at the cathedral on Christmas Eve.  Gerard picked me up early as the choir were singing Christmas carols before the service which provided a lovely start to the festivities.  It was 3am before I finished my preparations as I had worked the few days before Christmas, having Christmas and Boxing Days off this time round.  I woke with a start at 7am, flying round loading gifts and food in the car to be round at the WM's place by 7.30am  where gift giving had just begun.  I loaded up all my parcels from NZ as the family have become accustomed to sharing my joy as I open each one.  They were not disappointed as I oohed and ahhed at the undoing of each parcel.

Bronwyn went to make pancakes for breakfast however as they had no golden syrup or maple syrup, Gerard did a Macca's run for hotcakes and hash browns instead so was an easy start to the day  (and what you can do when you run two Macca outlets,lol).   I shot home to skype family mid-morning here as they were sitting down to lunch at sister Kay's and to make some phone calls before returning for our Christmas lunch at 2pm.  We had roast pork, roast chicken and veg with baked ham (mine), crayfish and prawns with several salads to choose from as well and sat outside with trestle tables up under their back porch area.  It was a unanimous decision to save dessert which was in effect dinner later that night. New board games were played in the afternoon followed by watching the dvd "The Sapphires" in the evening. It was a lovely day with Bronwyn's sister's family in attendance (six extra adults) along with me and their six so lots of laughter, sharing of meal preparations etc which is what really makes the day.

Boxing day we collectively decided to go to the movies that evening. Half the group went to see " The Hobbit" and the rest of us went to see "Les Miserables".  What an experience that was!  It would seem I am lacking in the area of big shows as although I knew of " Les Mis, " being a huge show, I neither knew the story line or anything about it.  I went mainly because I wanted to see Hugh Jackman in the role and thought it was time I got a bit of culture at the same time, lol.  WOW, it was brilliant and totally riveting.  The WHOLE movie is SUNG - over two hours long. I found myself on the edge of my seat and totally entranced by the whole experience.  It is not a pretty movie, lots shot in grim surroundings, darkish, with the un-pretty poor.  Russell Crowe does a great job as does Ann Hathaway with some wonderful bit parts with the inn keeper and his wife who provide some comedic relief to the grim story of pre-revolutionary Paris.  I have found myself humming one of the main tunes since as it seems to have lodged into my head.  Gerard has downloaded the music from the film on his ipod so at some stage I will get him to put it on mine.

In between Christmas and New Years of course I have been working.  When not at work, I have had my little lad to stay several times for one or two nights at a time so have been kept fully occupied.  He helped me decorate the place before Christmas and then the week after came with much excitement to receive his gifts from under the tree as Donna had left things behind for both us on her last visit up.  At work I have been spending hours at the local swimming pool, usually tucked up with a book while the children from work and  have been at lessons or just playing for the fun of it.  It means we are out of the house, they are gainfully employed in healthy activity and I am chomping through my library books, lol.

Post Christmas, as I have taken decorations down and put the Christmas tree away, I have been back cleaning and sorting.  I have gone through drawers, cupboards, mopped floors, polished furniture, cleaned windows, weeded gardens and caught up on laundry so am feeling very virtuous with my start for the new year.  I have a you beaut diary that I compose lists of things to do for most days and am enjoying ticking things off as I proceed.  I have to pick my moments of business and tend to have a siesta the afternoons I am not working to cope with the heat - especially the humid heat post the rain.  I am down to sleeping at night just in night attire on top of the bed with the fan on in the ceiling non stop.  For all that I have only had the air con on about half a dozen times at its truely hottest when sitting in a darkened room has you perspiring like a tap.

This weekend I hope to go to Jurien Bay which is down the coast on the way to Perth.  Jude's sister and husband have a place there and though they will be in Perth, they have said Jude and I are welcome to go stay.  This is another place on my bucket list so am looking forwards to it.  I am doing four night shifts in a row this week, so sleeping throughout the day and will hopefully be awake enough to drive to Dongara at then end of shift Friday morning and then Jude and I will set off.

I hope all of you reading this had a great festive season.  My new years was spent watching the fireworks go off in Sydney on the telly before going to bed just after midnight as I had work for 12 hours the following day (which was spent at the pool) so win win for me, lol.  :)

Christmas and other things.

Christmas is both the best and the worst time of the year I think.  Best because it is an excuse/reason to reconnect with friends and family and to be able to share with them. Worst because Christmas always needs to be one more month away, lol.  With the best intent in January, I tell myself, this year I will be organised.... and yet.... work, visitors, and the" must dos"  in life seem to get in the way, lol.  I tend to buy things during the year for Christmas with the thought I will be ahead of the game, but constantly find a trillion things for one person and still struggle to find something that fits for the others.  As an exercise in speed organisation, I spent several harried days at Glenfield Mall in Auckland (while on my "holiday") sifting and sorting, managing to get the whole NZ contingent sorted and wrapped before I left - no mean feat indeed.

 Last Saturday we had the Tardun Christmas get together - not at my place this time but at the Brentwood Olive Grove about 15 mins south of Geraldton.  This place was on  Jude's and my  bucket list to visit and when she found out that this weekend is the last time they will be open to the public as a cafe, she fixed a date and amazingly it worked.  Due to the casualness of the invite and response she had only booked for 14 when 20 turned up and full marks to the staff who squeezed in an extra table and chairs.  We responded by liberating most of our water glasses for other guests and stuck to our drinks - in taller glasses and so the world goes round.  Need I say that the food was exquisite.  I ordered the Mediterranean platter and on reflection supposed it really was a shared thing, heh, heh, but as I had no breakfast and had not planned on much dinner, it was yee har instead. OMG it was divine.  Two small dishes of caramelised  onion dip and hummus, hazelnut stuffed green olives, a long green pepper stuffed with couscous, two vegetable samosa type things, marinated mushrooms, slices of warm turkish bread, preserved artichokes and capsicums in oil, and a couple of other interesting mixtures of I know not what,  but exceptionally tasty.  The serving was large and I managed every finger and lip licking bit of it. However, if that was not already enough, I soared into orbit with dessert  and felt at this point I had died and gone to heaven.  Way beyond OMG, lol.  I had an enormous home made meringue covered with lemon butter delivered on a bed of whipped cream.  The lemon butter was what I would have called lemon honey at home and pow, the zingyness of the lemon flavour with the sweet of the meringue was absolutely divine   Anyone with a spare pot of lemon honey/curd in the cupboard, go create this straight away, lol.

Feeling just a tad replete and after much laughter, catching up, reminiscing and several hours later, we exchanged gifts with those we would not see again before Christmas and I hitched a ride back with the WMH to flop on the couch at home.  Donna had arrived the night before with her lad and I had picked up "my" lad for the weekend,  so as I recounted the day to everyone, the boys asked if they could have a candy cane of the tree - yes and pass one round to me and Donna too. You know there are just some days you should quit when you are ahead.  I was biting on my candy cane with the few teeth I have left when crunch and that sickest of sick feelings that something was not quite right.  I removed myself to the bathroom, and spat out into my hand candy cane and a massive piece of filling!!!!!!  I also think I have nearly broken the tooth from its moorings because if I touch it the wrong way it feels like it is going to come out of its socket.  So far, it is not hurting so am trying to work up enough courage to find a dentist and then to cope with what ever verdict will come - it will come with a four figure price tag as my teeth are in a parlous state and then there is the trauma I usually go through - am needing this like a hole in the head and at the end of my proposed visit I may well be looking at just that - no teeth at all, lol.

Speaking of teeth, again the few I have left are mainly the sharpened front ones and they certainly were working well  on Monday night!  I had a real estate person ring me on Wednesday  last week saying they had a prospective buyer to show through and would the next day be ok. No, I said, I will be sleeping (on night shift) and will be sleeping Friday as well, Monday afternoon will be ok as I will be at work.  All good.  On Monday I get back here at just after 11pm and went to walk through the front porch door only to find it locked!!!!!! You have to be joking I thought - the only key I had to get in was the front door  which was behind said locked door.  A quick check about the place and of course post burglery earlier in the year, the house is locked down tight as the proverbial fishes bum. Blood pressure was starting to do a slow burn and while thinking what to do I went to txt the WMH to see if he was still up  only to find a txt from Emily his daughter earlier saying that she had gone back home when she couldn't get in also,  so just drove round instead.  Luckily  Gerard was still up and thankfully while I was seething and fanging about useless, poxy real estate people, he found me a phone book and I rang the rental people and the real estate agent only to get answer phones!!!!! Arggggh  - of course all my emergency numbers were locked in back at mine.  While contemplating what to do - break a window to get in and sort it out, ring the police to see if they could break in, rip some soft toy to pieces, lol, the phone rang and it was the rental people.  I explained the situation and was told to meet the person at the office in 20 mins - they had to get dressed and travel in from out past where I work.  Phew, as Gerard had a total house full, with one couch to spare which I could have used, but after an exhausting weekend and 10 hours work, I just wanted my own bed.  So, at quarter past midnight, with two sets of keys in case one didn't have the right key (?) I was back into my own house.  I got in yet another sliding door into the sun room this time as the porch door had been snibbed from the inside from the prospective buyer thinking I had left the place unlocked - ya think!  As I relayed to a colleague yesterday - do people not know  farm rules over here - if a gate is shut you leave it shut, if it is open you leave it open, It is the same with flaming doors!!!

Once in bed I took some time to de-stress with a few games on the laptop and probably fell asleep around 1.30 2.00am to be woken by the phone at 8am by the real estate agent profusely apologising as he had just got my message.  I was ALMOST able to see the funny side of things by then, but 8am, come on, still the middle of the night for me, lol.  He totally redeemed himself however when I finally got organised and left for work, and yes out of the now open porch door, to find a parcel wrapped up in Christmas paper which was a basket of goodies and a card apologising for the day before.  A very professional and appropriate response and they will also get the bill for the call out so all is well with the world once more.

I got back last night from work at much the same time to find two new parcels at the kitchen door from NZ so yay - they have gone straight under the Christmas tree and will wait with anticipation to see what is within.
I have got a good amount of Christmas cards done and dusted.  Had a bah humbug moment with them too - went to print off my Christmas letter to enclose with most of the cards  and sod, sod, sod, the printer would not print.  Cleaned the nozzle - several times, changed inks and got everything going except the black. Shot up town to buy some more black ink and even that would not work so figure the nozzle must be clogged good and proper.  Was just going a pale shade of puce with frustration when I had a eureka moment - print it in a colour.  Tried a dummy run with blue and bingo it worked.  Another yay moment and then to double side a three page letter which is the smallest update I could manage, lol.  Several dummy runs as it had to print all the page ones, then be manually taken turned upside down or whatever to do the page 2's and lastly another run for page three.  Unfortunately, the printer hamsters were on the fritz too, so it took forever as I had to cancel and reload the job numerous times.  Flipping technology.

Speaking of technology or maybe it should be electronic/mechanical?  my fridge might be on its last legs.  It is an ex-Tarden model of unknown years and is temperamental in its closing doors habits.  I went to get something out of the icebox/freezer on Friday to find a mini thaw and refreeze had occurred that now prohibited the door being closed properly at all. Damn, I only cleaned it out the week before.  There was nothing for it but to do another quick defrost, de-ice and get it sorted before the weekend.  All done,with everything in neat and tidy, I finished, cooked dinner for Donna and the boys and retired from the kitchen for the night.  When Donna went to get water out of the fridge the next morning she noticed it wasn't very cold and then not long later checked to find I had not switched the sodding thing back on - another arrrrgh.  Luckily the freezer food was all ok but did not trust some of the fridge things so another clean out of food stuffs while I am thinking I may just throw money in the air - it will have the same effect as I had to throw out chicken I had cooked the night before - one thing I would not trust to keep.  Then one of the boys hung off the fridge door while I was cleaning it which I think was one too many things for it and now if you do not give the door a good slam, it will not seal properly.  Am keeping a bare minimum of things in there and eating mostly at work with the shifts I have this week, so will see how I go. Will not buy a new fridge regardless though may have to look at the prices of a second hand one.  The other fridge I had from Tardun I had given to the WM and family ages ago and that also died in the last few weeks so no replacement there.

I have tomorrow and Friday off so that will be my next flurry of last minute cards, gift wrapping and sorting out things like enough meds to get me through Christmas, maybe the tooth, and two lots of catching up with folk for Christmas coffees.  I missed the Christmas work dinner as I had to work night shift last week,  but was more than happy with that.  The Tardun Christmas and the actual day which I will spend with the WM, WMH and family will do me. I am having Christmas and Boxing day off this year and plan at this stage curling up with a good book on Boxing day, hopefully in the sunshine, on the couch in my sun porch with maybe a few carol CD's on in the back ground.

I have not watched the news on tv for weeks now, occasionally get a newspaper and listen to the news on radio to and from work and was floored by two tragedies over the past week.  The first was the woman who committed suicide after a prank call from a Melbourne radio station to the Duchess of York while in hospital.  The DJ's pretended to be the Queen and Prince Charles and the woman who died put the call through and gave out some information I think.  I am so over "it is just a joke" mentality that is often the excuse to cover bullying and mean acts.  The two DJ's are devastated but too late when it has cost someone their life - hopefully the entertainment media that passes for news etc these days will take a good long look at themselves.  The two concerned thought it was ok because it had been cleared by the legal department!!!

The other tragedy that bought tears to my eyes was the shooting of the children at school in the States.  What utter, utter horror and too horrible to imagine for the families of those killed. I think I picked up at paper at Maccas when I went for a coffee and to faces of the children killed was what bought tears to my eyes - all so young, cheeky and full of life when they were taken.  I believe the outcry on gun control is in full swing - and some mention of mental health.  The frightening thing is many of us work with damaged children, young adults who could so easily do same and the lack of support for anything to do with mental health is huge.  Australia and New Zealand have had their own multiple tragedies - each one that occurs leaves an indelible mark - the pain for those left behind is incomprehensible especially with the randomness these events occur to ordinary  people going about their daily business expecting to return to their homes and families at the end of a day.  I briefly caught a clip of President Obama bought to tears by the school shootings and you would have to hope something will come out of this event to prevent it happening again.

It is time to get moving for another day at the salt mines.  School finished yesterday for our kids so I am thinking there will be lots of beach time in the next week.  We are having lovely fine days and warm weather but there is still a lot of wind blowing.  I thought my washing and the tent the boys put up to sleep in on Saturday night, would all end up in the neighbours as the wind was so strong over the weekend.  Gotta fly :)