Time to get re-acquainted

It's been a long, long time since I posted on this blog. A lot has happened. We have been back from overseas for two years. Our involvement with WAMA (Wildlife Art Museum of Australia) has accelerated in the last twelve months. It's an exciting project. More of that in future posts.

The most exciting news for me, today, is that two days ago my friend David and I managed to secure tickets to the Prince 'A Piano and a Microphone' tour - next week - at the State Theatre in Melbourne. The four shows for Melbourne are limited seating (about 2,000) and all shows, as well as the four shows in Sydney, sold out within an hour. Prince playing a selection of his songs on a piano. No guitars, no band. Just the Purple One, his custom-built piano and a microphone. And probably some smoke effects. David and I are experiencing the sort of 'facepalms' 'OMG' excitement that is so unusual for us both...not.

So I thought this was a good subject to re-start this blog with. It has to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. The tickets were expensive. It didn't stop us though. I had a similar (but not so incredibly excited) buzz when I went to see the Jean-Paul Gaultier exhibition at NGV last year.

So, what can I add as an appropriate picture?

what happened to 2014?

Well, there you go. A whole year and more gone and no blogging. I've just ticked myself off. I want to keep this blog as a record of our activity at home and we have some interesting updates.

Back in late 2014, Peter and I came upon a display in the community space, just a couple of doors from our favourite cafe. Pete recognised a couple of people he hadn't seen for a long time.

The display was for the yet-to-be-completed Wildlife Art Museum of Australia. WAMA's patron is none other than Glenda Lewin (nee Smith). Within a very short time we were both captivated by the passion and vision of Glenda and her team of volunteers. Needless to say we are now volunteers.

After a couple of events for WAMA we realised that we now know why we're still in Stawell.

WAMA has brought many people together and many of them are old friends and acquaintances. Now we're making new friends and the immediate future looks bright and promising. We also have plans to go back overseas in 2017, but there's much to do before then. Now I will pause and pop in a few pics.

On Volunteers' Day we spent some time outside making clay seed pods and worms

Neil Macumber, Maryanne Jess and Glenda Lewin

Pete pulling out deadly nightshade on the WAMA site

It's been a long time

I've neglected this blog for a long time. May, I think. Shortshanks and Longshanks keep me busy, especially on our trip. Things need a bit of tidying up here so I'm gonna start tonight. I'm in the kitchen of Little Pudding Cottage in Looe, Cornwall.
For starters I'm going to put up some photos of me. There have been some big changes in my life this past twelve months. Time for indulgence.

a celebratory cup of tea

Yes, he did it! Paul Longster made it to the start of the Everest Marathon yesterday, complete with chest infection, and completed the course in 8 hours! That ain't bad folks, as the winner did it in four hours! Now we're waiting for results and pictures of course, and we know that Paul has a three-day trek out before he can fly home! What an inspiration!

Here he is:

haven't been here in a while for a cuppa

What a pathetic title! I am a bit ho-hum glum, one week after my radiotherapy treatment finished, and I have been incredibly sore, tender and VERY red, particularly closer to the armpit. The nurse gave me a pot of Sorbeline with Lignocaine to bring home (she knew something I didn't) and it has been a blessing.

I am trying to keep motivated by thinking about tasks to do with our big trip overseas in less than three months. We're quietly putting a lot of stuff away so the poor people who take care of our place while we're not here don't have to dust so much. I wouldn't want to dust it. I don't want to dust it; I'm not a great duster. 

So, at the moment we're thinking of our friend Paul in the UK who is about to compete in the Tensing-Hilary Everest marathon (tomorrow). It's been a tense time as many people have been airlifted out as they are too ill to compete. Paul had a cold, but the latest news is that he's higher up and feeling better. So my energies, mostly mental ones, are with him on Everest, supporting him for something that he has wanted to do for a long, long time. I will post again about this when we get some news.

Now for that cuppa...

coffee with friends

I have had my first week of radiotherapy, and I'm home for the weekend. It was a full-on week as on the first day it was a media event and I was interviewed for WIN news (Ballarat) and for the Ballarat Courier. I won't go into it here, but it was exciting, nerve-wracking and ultimately a great thing to do. The staff were all excited about the new equipment and space. The new Cancer Centre doesn't open officially until July.
I had a couple of dinners out with friends, which was nice, and  a day out with two Davids.
More of this soon with some pictures.

a time for us

I heard a young man sing tonight on TV in a show called The Voice. It's compelling viewing, manipulative and thoroughly enjoyable and a real tear-jerker. The young man (30 I think) sang 'A Time for Us' (Un Giorno Per Noi) from Franco Zefirelli's 1960s Romeo and Juliet. I fell in love with the song, the movie, the young actors, everything about it at the time. I was a teenager and like most teenagers developed a crush on Leonard Whiting (Romeo) and Olivia Hussey (Juliet). The song stayed with me forever. Tonight it was sung with a conviction, heartache, turmoil and absolute power. All the judges banged their buzzers and turned around. But the first to do so was Ricky Martin, who only had to hear three notes to commit himself. It was spine-tingling.
His name is Luke Kennedy. Remember that name...

So tired...

Gee, it's nearly the end of March, nearly Easter, and what happened to term 1? It was BUSY, BUSY, BUSY, and I seem to be learning new skills (all at once) and time is shrinking. The only big carrot I have is the knowledge that we're heading overseas in August. Can't believe the amount of snow in Cumbria at the moment! Unbelievable. We are counting the months, weeks and days, but before then a lot has to happen, including my radiotherapy. For which I don't have a date yet. Sometime in April...maybe.

We watch lots of TV programs about the UK, and at the moment there's a program called Wainwright Walks, which follows some of the Lakes district's fell walks/climbs, made famous by Alfred Wainwright about 50 years ago. We've since added a few things to our list of things to do. We'll also be going to the Orkneys, and have managed (the brilliant Laird Peter) to have a weekend package stay at the Stromness Hotel while their Blues Festival is on. Wow!

I'm already getting toey, so I'm not going to say any more. I made an executive decision today at work which has relieved my tired brain tremendously. I need to do more of that.
That's enough for tonight.

just some piccies if they work

Just some piccies of our market stall last Sunday in Halls Gap for the Jazz weekend. 'Our' being my sister Margie and me. Had a great time! I'm the one wearing the black hat and my sisters are standing together.

Pinker than a flamingo's legs

It's been a while. I am three weeks post surgery no 2. I feel good, but still fighting some soreness and pain. I was hugely entertained by a period of fluid developing in the 'space' in my breast. The first thing I knew about it was in the shower. I heard a high sort of hum and realised that it occurred every time I let the water pan across the surface. Mm. Then when I moved (braless) there was a distinct gurgling. Disconcerting to say the least. That has subsided, so there goes my party trick.
Now I'm facing up to a visit to radiology/oncology on Tuesday, where hopefully I will be discussed the hows and when of my radiotherapy treatment. I've also been told I'm hormone receptor positive, which means I may have a separate treatment for that with medication. We'll see.
Meanwhile...
I've been making my scarves and Margie and I decided to sell our wares at tomorrow's market at Halls Gap during the Jazz Weekend. We have an early start to get ourselves a good spot. I've already sold one scarf to my lovely friend David as a gift for a mutual friend. He took me for a drive yesterday to visit our friend and she was thrilled with the scarf. We had homemade scones and tea on arrival, and a late lunch, finally leaving for home late afternoon. 
Now I'm giving my thoughts over to another dear friend who is in hospital in Ballarat, and about to undergo surgery on Tuesday. Keep positive Kaz.
Here's the beautiful scarf David purchased yesterday.

Knights in blue satin...

I have one more day before we head to Ballarat for my second lot of surgery. We are going early as the weather is going to be around 40 degrees, and we've booked ourselves in to the Regent Multiplex Gold Class cinema to see Les Miserables. HOPING that the theatre's airconditioning doesn't break down as Cinema 1's did when we went to see The Hobbit! That will be our wedding anniversary/Pete's birthday treat. Then Friday morning 7am we front up to admissions, the weather outside will be cooler, and I won't know much about it. Oh well, it'll be good for Pete. I've been mucking around with material and a shibori technique and here below is one example, one I'm quite proud of. I won't be able to do any of this for a couple of weeks or more after Friday. There it is!

Time for pictures

Just a late-night look at some pictures of things I've been working on.

and a little collection of furry friends who reside amongst the stuff...

Let's lap up some cooler weather

After some incredibly hot days and the awful news of bushfires in Victoria, NSW and Tasmania, it was lovely to have a cool one yesterday and a pleasant, bit warmer day today. Last week we travelled back to Ballarat for results of surgery and sentinel node biopsy. The BEST news is that the cancer cells haven't travelled, so given the all-clear there, and the only hiccup is that I have to go back next week for second surgery (in the same incision) to 'clean up' as pathology suggested that not all margins were clear.
I am ok with this as I want to make absolutely certain that it's all gone. Apart from having to go back to work this week I have been doing a fair bit of textile work, as much as I can manage most days with a couple of wounds still healing and causing pain. Speaking to a friend yesterday in the supermarket reminded me that to go through my particular breast cancer experience is to somehow have been given a ticket to explore the great unknown and to experience as much as possible. So if I have a New Year's resolution, part  a is to leap off into the unknown, exciting world, part b is to advocate breastscreening for women 50+ and to  remind younger women to be aware. Now all I need to do is to make something pink.

Happy Christmas Day

It is Christmas Day evening, and I am tired. We've had a lovely day with family, sharing food, laughter and pressies, and remembering those who are no longer with us, including Pete's dear Mum.
I have had my surgery, and am currently very sore and bruised, and impatiently waiting for the dressings to come off. Now I wait for a pathology report on January 3, and what ongoing treatment I should have.
I've had lots of messages, and lovely cards and gifts, and for everything I am very grateful.
Good night.

In the pink

Christmas isn't far away, and since I last blogged I've been for a routine Breastscreen, had the call-back phone call, been back for more scans, ultrasound and ultimate biopsies, and voila! I have Early Breast Cancer. Those words, initially scary and scarier, I now find easier to say, and easier to tell those I care about. It's been detected early, I've read the pathology, I've met my McGrath Breast Care Nurse, I've got a 'Care' package, and I've got a whole new respect for everyone involved with the care of women with breast cancer. I am having surgery this Friday, after a fairly scary visit to radiology on Thursday in Ballarat in which I will have radioactive dye injected into my right breast, and hopefully I will be back home for Christmas.

The responses I've had to my situation have varied greatly, but all have been tinged with shock, concern and love and affection. I am surrounded by warriors, and most importantly, my Rock warrior, Peter, previously called Laird Peter in this blog, is by my side and is the most incredible, loving, caring, protective and funniest person I could ever have with me to keep me sane, focused, happy and on track on this unexpected journey.
That's enough for now. The only thing left to say is: pink takes on a whole new meaning.

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree

Christmas trees. Here's a very special one, the one that I published a pic of a few nights ago.

The little figures were painted and decorated by my delightful students, and they decorated the tree.
I am very proud of them.

In the pink

Goodness, it's a month since I last posted! Gee! Have been busy though, and as is usual at this time of year there are lots of things happening, breakup parties and last days of class/school, etc. openings and all sorts of things that distract one from doing work and blogging.
Today, for example, we had an exhibition 'opening' of my Intertwine students' artwork and another teacher's students' photography. It was set up in Intertwine's new space, not far from us and right next to Cato Lake in Stawell. I was very proud of my guys. I might put a pic here as I am so proud of them.

this is a painted pillowcase

On Tuesday we had our last class for the year and they had an opportunity to decorate our UB Stawell Campus Christmas tree with their own beautifully-made decorations. 

I am going to leave it there for tonight. There are many things to think about, and lots to do so I will be back another day.

All Hallow's Eve with a dram of whisky

This may be my last post for Highland Titles' blog competition, but I am addicted to blogging now so will continue doing so. I have just been reminded by Laird Peter that I may also be addicted to single malts of the isles and can hardly wait to get reacquainted!

We ARE counting the months, weeks and days until we return to Scotland. I think we have been driving our family and friends mad with enthusiastic plans and more plans for the trip. They probably would like us to go tomorrow so they can regain some peace.

Laird Peter has just shown me his latest Scotland Magazine with a lovely pic of Dunnottar Castle which apparently inspired the latest Disney movie Brave. Now he wants me to find out where it is! He is waxing lyrical and we both understand each other so well that we really don't need to discuss it, we just KNOW.

Today the weather has been quite warm, as it should be but tomorrow (or even tonight) will see a cold front come through and of course because I will be in Ballarat, it will be colder and will rain on me.

I am a little tired of having Halloween pushed in our faces, all scary masks and silly pumpkins. Oh dear. All Hallows Eve for me and him, and a little dram of something Scottish thank you. I have just posted a couple of silly pics on my facebook page, and thought I should add one here. It is of dolls and puppets, and I can proudly tell you that my Mum made some of them over 40 years ago. They are all due for new hairdos - and hair! My sister Ell gave me a bag of goodies from the Pomonal craft market where she sells her spinning and wool and knitting and was quite excited about the contents. Several packets of gorgeous doll hair of many colours and styles, and guess where they'll be used!
So here they are, in my little room, and I'm heading off for a wee dram with his Lairdship.

To Highland Titles, thanks for the opportunity and idea to start blogging, and we look forward to visiting our plots in 2013.

In reflection

I'm going to paste something I wrote a couple of days ago on my facebook page. I had cause to think quietly about life and friends on my way home from Ballarat on Thursday night:

As I sat on the train on Thursday evening, watching the sunset across squelchy paddocks, it occurred to me that sometimes we have to stop for a bit, take a big, deep breath, and remind someone we know/love/respect how much they mean to us. We have been reminded quite often of late, just how precious life is, and it can be gone in a flash. I'm not sad, just reflecting on life, love and the joys of friendship.

There you go. That's all.
More another day.

a late evening postscript with pictures

Just a few pics I've found on my pc. Here they are, from our UK trip three years ago.