Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat. ~Author Unknown

Winter is creeping in closer and closer. During one of our afternoon walks down along the beach John and I noticed just how dark it is getting, eah day the evening air rolls in slightly earlier and earlier. Yesterday afternoon by five pm it was not just overcast but quite dark as well. Although we do not use heating just yet I have pulled the doona out and enjoy snuggling down under it during the night. Today one of the boys commented that we are heading towards the end of May and that next month we will in fact, be half way through the year. Goodness, this year is passing us very fast and before we know it, it will be time to do Christmas shopping again.

At work a few of the Aboriginal boys have tried to convince me that the area in which we are building has been influenced b spirits and that there is less rainfall there than any where else in the areas. At first I thought that they were pulling my leg so to speak. however I have been amazed just how much rain falls everywhere elase in the Shoalhaven area yet no out at the work site.....very bazare/ Now the boys insist that their Grandfathers and elders have told them the story of the cursed area but upon speaking to a local environmentalist I was told that the position of the mountains and hills in the area also influence cloud movement and where the rain falls so perhaps this is the dreaded cursed spirits lol.

These photos were shot across at Greenwell Point. Even though winter is fast upon us the water ways remain tranquil there. My friend Mick reports that he caught a huge snapper there the other evening. Anyway, I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend and that you all keep warm and dry.

The Kiwis......

There is a large contingent of Kiwis that have commenced work here recently, they are form workers and actually they corrected me when I used the word Kiwi and told me to replace it with the word Maori, so naturally, I did. These proud boys are huge, broad across the shoulders, very tall and possess skin the colour of golden brown. Even though as a group they all share the same characteristics I have little trouble telling them apart. Their appetites are amazing, huge would be an understatement lol and they have a wonderful sense of humour. On first meeting them one thinks…OMG I would hate to meet them in a dark alley however, stop and have a conversation with them and they are the gentlest men you would choose to meet.
I have found their accents to be fascinating. I actually had to listen carefully to what they were saying at first. Their language is a dialect that involves restructuring syntax so sentences all end in an upward tone as though asking a question. The sound “eh” is added to the end. For example one of the boys Justin remarked that he loved Sednay Hurbur and nut meny estrillians were there eh” It was disconcerting at first however once I realized that they were from Nu Zulland I was ok lol.
Now according to these guys working in Australia (or Estrilia as they pronounce it lol) is considered a wonderful way to get ahead in life. Apparently the cost of living is much higher in New Zealand hence they can save much more when working here. The foreman of the group has resided in Australia for some 30 years. Every now and then traces of his heritage can be detected in his speech; I especially noticed it when he ordered some cappuccinos. I asked him how many he would like and he replied that he wanted sex. I did a double take and thought I must have misunderstood him.
“I am sorry, how many did you say that you wanted?”
“I want sex” Now that could either be construed as down right rude or perhaps given that 25 Kiwis (excuse me I meant Maoris) work for him, he is obviously from Nu Zulund lol. So six it was lol.

The boys spent their afternoon tea break telling me about New Zealand. They are obviously very proud of the geographical features in their homeland and regaled me with stories of the mountains, the fishing and the hot pools. Sheep play a very important role in the local economy and not matter how wonderful we may think they are in Australia, one simply has to purchase some sheep skin products from over there. They love the prices of goods here in Aus. Apparently everything is much cheaper here and often Kiwis come to work in Australia and plan to return to NZ but find it difficult to leave. I calmly explained that many nationalities share that same problem to which they roared laughing. The boys did their trade certificates together and decided to travel on a working holiday together. The five frinds (friends) arrived here and have not looked back. They enjoyed the Rugby League Test Match on the weekend and look forward to the next one although, they thought it was terrible that NZ had lost.

This fascinating Rainbow Lorikeet is named Hoover, compliments of Meryn. He visits regularly and has a deformedclaw at the end of one leg. She nicnamed him Hoover because of the way he can clean up birdseed, he cleans it up better than a vacume cleaner.

Mother's Day 2009........

Mothers Day has come and gone for another year here. It has always been a vey personal day for me, as devoid of materialism as I can possibly make it lol. I will cut a long story short by saying that when Mr J and I were first married we were paying a mortgage, trying to save for a holiday and working so that we could eventually start a family. Surfice to say that when Mothers Day came along I always found it a financial struggle to buy presents for my Grandmothers, my mother and my mother-in-law. We always managed but I do remember thinking one day that some how the true meaning of Mothers Day had become lost in the materialism of shopping in amongst crowds of people responding to mass advertising, trying to think of something that the Grandmothers and mothers needed and then how to fit in visiting all four on one day. It had become similar to Christmas in that it was a mad rush getting from one house to another but we always made that happen as well.

I think it is more the advertising regarding Mothers Day that concerns me more than anything. To demonstrate your love for one's mother you must spend xxx amount of money on them, or buy them the latest, or give as equally as all of your siblings, etc. If not you are not giving your mother what she truely deserves....you are not showing her how much you love her. Goodness, does that mean we can not show a mother how much she is loved by telling her or simply writing it in a card or making her something. Somehow, somewhere the message got switched with a shopping list.

My first Mothers Day was in May 1986, Ms K was a mere three and a half months old. On the Thursday before Mothers Day we headed off to the usual mayhem of shopping and made our purchases when I decided that I didn't want John having to stretch the budget for yet another present so we talked about it and decided that we would do something else to celebrate Mothers Day and Fathers ay for the two of us.

And so it came to be in our house that when the children were old enough to make Mothers Day cards they did so very excitedly. I still have many of their preschool cards and gifts that they made at crafty classes too. When they eventually started school the fundraising group would sell small inexpensive gifts such as tissue covers and hanky bags to which the children brought home and had to hide until the Sunday morning. I can still see the excitement and agony of having to keep their big Mothers Day secret hidden so as I would not find it lol. Alex was always very poker faced about gifts so he had no trouble pretending that he had nothing planned for Mothers Day however, Kimberly and Ben would nearly burst a bubble having to keep their secret lol. As they got older again I received breakfast in bed which was always fun.

As the children got older we talked about buying Mothers Day presents and I asked them not to, instead we decided to go on a family picnic or have lunch together. Several times when the children have been unable to meet for Mothers Day due to my working out of town, they have purchsed gifts but aside from that we have some wonderful family photos together when we have been out.

In saying all of that I had a lovely Mothers Day. Mr J and I went to the movies and had a very relaing day, Ms K arrived here tonight and gave me a book by one of my favourite authors and Mr A and I will have dinner together on Friday night. Ahhhh the joys of being a mother. Happy Mothers Day to all of you Mums!

My photos here show.....On Mothers Day a storm slowly came in over the bay. It blocked out the sun and eventually rained. That evening we had a full moon with a few dark clouds passing over.