Photo February Day Twenty Eight

Selfie

Blogging daily is not easy.

Blogging daily is harder when you're struggling in muggy weather, a little bit of sleep deprivation, a big dream at dream group that knocks you for six and makes you prefer to sit  on the couch eating fruchocs, navel gazing... Trying to be interesting and fresh is hard and I feel like I've failed.

And my novel is only 1000 words longer in length - so much for that. It will happen one day - just a matter of time - and making the time, not just finding the time.

Ah, never to mind. Everything else is ticking along nicely.

I just look at this selfie and I'm happy that I'm getting my eyebrows waxed tomorrow.

And I happy I can go back to blogging when I want to.

Thanks for putting up with me and my dodgy iPhone photos for the last month.

Pandxx

Photo February Day Twenty Seven

Full Moon from the Kitchen Window

Waking this morning to go running with Desi - the full moon hangs between storm clouds.

There is something very cool about the constant inconstancy of the moon.

Much prettier than the sight I must have looked after my run - it was like running through custard - the humidity was that bad.



Photo February Day Twenty Six

Scenes from Under the Umbrella

Two very rare things have happened today.

First up, it's bucketting down in Melbourne. An inch of rain in about three hours. It was wonderful. Proof I'm from the country at heart - rain makes me happy.

Although I wish it wouldn't rain between the hours of 7.30 am and 9 am - as it really stuffs up the traffic and it puts the trams out. I got to the tram stop at 8.05am. I walked into the office at 9 am. Normally, when it is not raining, I can walk to work in 50 minutes. Grrr.

Second rare occurence - I had an umbrella with me.

I'm normally one who doesn't have an umbrella. It has to be tipping down for me to take one with me. Most other times I just let myself get a bit damp and deal with it later. My hair is always messy so you I won't bugger that up. I don't wear that much makeup - and that can be fixed. Clothes dry in half an hour - it's just water. Unless it's bucketing down. In all the years I lived in London, I rarely carried an umbrella.

Today, the rain was sufficiently heavy, I grabbed the Manet brolly, given to me by a friend for my birthday a few years ago. 

It feels quiet strange to be standing under a brolly under people who are standing under a brolly.

Though there is a part of me who would love to experience Paris in the 1870s - what a glorious time that must have been, although the scent of damp tweed would not have been pleasant.

The scent of wet dog would have been all pervasive - not unlike the scents taken in on the tram this morning.

Photo February - Day Twenty Five

New Elephants

My colleague outdid himself.

When ever somebody I know goes to India, I ask them to bring me back an elephant.

My colleague brought me back five. Well, this little carving has one big elephant and four little ones around the base. It got through customs without a question.

I'm going to have to start to look for more places to put my elephants. The collection keeps growing.

Very spoiled am I.

Photo February - Day Twenty Four

Missing and Memories

It's been a hard weekend. 

Not that anything bad has gone down - far from it. It's just that it's been a weekend of reflection.

Weddings can do that to you.  

Maybe it's why I don't like them so much.

From the last two days of photos, you;re aware that I went to a wedding in Friday. The bride, Tori, is the daughter of my mother's best friend. Over the last forty odd years, I've spent weekends, Christmases, family functions and the like with this family. My "Aunt" and "Uncle" have been part of my family for as long as I can   remember. They took me in when I was at university, spending many a weekend evening with them getting a feel of home when my mother was in Saudi Arabia. They've always been around. When in Adelaide, I've always made an effort to go and see them.  

I've always said that if I was ever to get married, Uncle John would be walking me down the aisle - though I think that he'd have to fight my step dad for the job. 

Not that I'm getting married.

Weddings brings out so many emotions. Being in my forties, partner-less and alone, I do keep telling myself that it doesn't matter - I'm fine. The bride was in her forties showing that there is hope. I wasn't going to be attending the reception on Friday. When I saw Tori a few months ago I said I'd make an effort to come to the ceremony, not expecting an invite. I was called the day before the wedding. My uncle rang - would I like to come to the wedding? There was a last minute cancellation - the seat was paid for. I was honoured to go.

At least now, after years of attending weddings, people no longer have the bad grace to ask you when it is going to be your turn.

I've asked myself that questions a few times over the weekend, but as it leaves me all too morose, I think of other things. I have a great life. I can do what I want when I want. I had a breakthrough after the gym about home ownership thanks to one of my gym buddies who's a mortgage broker.

Just keep looking at the positives and keep moving ahead.

The day was great. After leaving work early I raced home, showered, changed and went out to Werribee making it to the ceremony with about five minutes to spare. After saying hello to the folks and a couple of other family friends, I went and stood by Tori's brother, Toph.

Toph and I are different people. Barely seen each other in twenty years - Toph's lived all over rural Australia, he captain's fishing boats. A man of few words is Toph.

After the normal pleasantries and being introduced to his new girlfriend, we stood and waited for his sister and father to appear.

We looked at each other. Tears were streaming down both of our faces.

"I'm missing your mother." I mumbled to him.

"Yep."

"She's here."

"Yep. "

My aunt passed away nearly two years ago. She should have been there.

She was there. We could feel her there.

Inside the door of the reception were the wedding photos from my Aunt and Uncle's wedding. My mother, in a younger incarnation, was smiling up the back, a newlywed recently back from her honeymoon with my father. 

The candle was lit in my aunt's memory.

I don't think I have ever missed anybody in such a total manner until this day.

I think, maybe, for the first time in my life, I am experiencing what it is to grieve.

Photo February - Day Twenty Three

 

 

And the Bride Played Cricket

 

 

Between the ceremony and the reception there were games.

 

After taking a breather with the bride's brother, his girlfriend and another family friend, where we ended up at a local winery sharing a bottle of wine (better than paying the Belgian National Debt for a glass of house white at the hotel) we came back an hour later to find the rest of the wedding party making the most of the a near perfect summer evening - complete with manicured lawns and glasses of wine (or light beer in my case)

 

 

What else are you supposed to do whilst waiting for dinner?

 

 

I didn't get a photo of the bride's footwear at this time.

 

 

Like me, she was wearing thongs. (Flip-flops, jandles, shower shoes...)

 

 

It was a hot day. We were in a garden. We're from Adelaide. What else are we supposed to wear on our feet on a hot day? Huh?

Photo February - Day Twenty Two

 

 

 

Corridor, Werribee Mansion

 

 

Have a bit of catching up to do. Friday saw me going out to Werribee Mansion for a wedding.

 

Unfortunately I got to the ceremony without having a chance to look around the old bit of the Mansion, only seeing the inside of the five star hotel corridor.

 

More on the wedding to follow.