ANZAC DAY 2016

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Vale Karen

The below fragment of a tale was originally written when Oriel left us - I have added to it as I can just imagine our two Bright Souls indulging happily in Madcap Adventures as they wait for us in the Great Library Beyond....
****...
Death opened the door to a light and cheerful knock. The Woman standing there - bare of feet, bright of eye, dark of hair - looked up at him and asked "What happens now?"

YOUR CHOICE replied Death
"Ahhh..." She said with delight "Then there will be a Library - full of the books I have read and all the ones I have yet to read. And room enough for all my friends when their time comes as well"
*****
And there within the library – a smiling familiar face – curled happily within a large and comfortable chair and scribbling madly her latest novel.
The two embraced “What Shenanigans shall we wage upon the world as we wait for the others to join us?"
“Oooh let me think….” And with a wicked chuckle they both began to plot
****
[my words modelled upon the writing style and characters of Sir Terry Pratchett]

Lest We Forget

In Flanders fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae (1872–1918)

 They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Laurence Binyon (1869–1943)

Vale

Death opened the door to a light and cheerful knock. The Woman standing there - bare of feet, bright of eye, dark of hair - looked up at him and asked "What happens now?"

YOUR CHOICE replied Death

"Ahhh..." She said with delight "Then there will be a Library - full of the books I have read and all the ones I have yet to read. And room enough for all my friends when their time comes as well"
...

And so it was

[my words modelled upon the writing style and characters of Sir Terry Pratchett]

 

 

And when my time does come I am sure I will find a veritable mountain of books needing cataloguing for this Library-Heaven - and my friend happily curled up in her favourite chair reading her latest favourite book (and then bustling off to cook for us all)

 

Still kicking....

I know I know - I've been off lolly-gagging about the universe rather than updating vital and important blog spots.

It's that whole "work / sleep / work" grind going on over here at the moment.

But in happier memories (ie last November) - I totally walked on the most active volcano in New Zealand AND DIDN'T DIE!!!

Some suspicious characters were lurking about on our travels too!

Waving from Down Under

*pops up out of oblivion for a quick posting*

Hello all!

Just a very quick update to say that I "still aint' dead" (Pratchett reference for those in the know :D )

Currently working two jobs to make ends met - 3 days (Monday to Friday) at one centrally located in the city; and 2 days a week on the far side of the city (3 buses to reach it so a bit of a commute). The second job is a temporary 'backfill' position while someone is away on six weeks leave.  I am hoping if I make a good impression that I will be mentioned to other libraries in the Government net as being reliable and useful whenever they need someone to do a temporary coverage.

Am enjoying both jobs - very different from each other. Job one is with a teaching curriculum area; Job two - a forensic library (and no... I won't read any more of the random reports that hit my work email from now on.  First one was enough of an "eewwww" to teach me)

IN at home things. Laundry refit is almost completed.  A number of delays - mostly due to my on-going recent health dramas - have pushed the completion back a bit.  The 14th of this month will see the installation of the handmade (by my Dad) bench top - and that will be the final item.  My Dad was keen to make it from the remainder of the wooden floor panels that I have in my lounge room - so he's been labouring over it for the last month (the longest and most vital board having a major bow in it - he's been flattening it via my older brothers gym weights set)

In "going to cost me $$" renovations - I have a Contractor dropping by tomorrow to quote purchase and installation of a reverse air-conditioning unit. A very necessary thing when I will be off on holidays come November (my "once in a lifetime trip" with a friend) and my Parents have offered to come and stay and look after my cat.  Their own home is fully air-conditioned and since November over here is the end of spring in to summer - I worry about them over heating. So large financial investment about to occur that I had originally planned to do sometime next year... opps!

And since I hate having strangers enter my place if it's a mess (friends - ehhh... they can and do survive with the inevitable detritus of my busy life) - I have spent much of today cleaning and de-cluttering (mostly items that belong in the laundry but have been living upstairs for the last year due to lack of room to both renovate AND store things).  AM exhausted but it's almost done

So yes - not very exciting life but one that is productive. Being a grown up can be hard work!

Oh and in mil-support... sadly I am without anyone to support at the moment.  My last adoptee went home in early August and I decided I need to take a bit of break till my health has improved. I miss having someone to spoil and make smile so I will be looking to rejoin one of the support teams come December or the New Year (but not the group I was affiliated with 2009 until earlier this year.  Their newly acquired worship of the almightly dollar offends me greatly when always before it was "for the troops".. now it seems to be "dollars for us first"...)

Am willing to take on personal recommendations if you personally know of someone deployed and in need of Happiness parcels.  They have to be willing to have an adoptive "Nutty" Australian Auntie for the duration and not mind receiving amusing snacks once in a while *cough Musk Sticks cough*.  Contact me directly - via the email listed on my "about" page

And now I need to head off to sleep.  Much to achieve prior to the Contractors arrival tomorrow (and woe to him if he fails to arrive - I was required to swap my only day off this month to accommodate him!)

Stay safe all!

Miss me?

Sorry for the bandwidth silence - life got a little bit hectic

Three days in hospital - surgery and then another week and a half off work to recover.

It was an abscess - it formed incredibly suddenly and doubled in size during my first day at the hospital so emergency surgery was required

I'm doing much better now and looking forward to getting back to the laundry renovations in a week or two (on the last stage now - just need to install a bench and put all the cupboards together [*cough* flatpack *cough*] and I'm done)