MENTAL ILLNESS IS REAL.

No cast.

No Blood.

No Stitches.

REAL.

Wherever you bring them up their hearts will lie.

Gosh, thrown here by accident.
Facebook is quite the timesuck.
Still, I live in a rural area and get to chat with my friends from the city.
Which perhaps brings me to my topic. Wherever you bring them up their hearts will lie.

It's true.

At home (in the city), I dreamt (monumentously, romantically) of this life I now lead in the country. Sure I've got an apron, I've got 3! I've even got frickin gumboots.

But, no. My brownies may sell madly at the cake stall but I AM WRONG.

The tradesmen get a beer and an open ear. OOOOhhhh. No Scones.

The shopping is done on whatever day I please.

My tomatoes are still potted (and growing, NER) tho' well out of season.

My Grandma left me NO pickling jars. Pardon. NO PICKLING JARS.

I get up when I want. The boy knows not to wake me.

God forbid, I am STUDYING.

My music is loud (tho' within time constraints)

No matter what I do, I'm the local "witch". The churches here still believe gay people go to hell. Not only am I down with gay people, they visit me. (All forgiving, etc, etc)

It doesn't matter that the townsfolk LIKE to come to my home.

That matters NOUGHT.

It doesn't matter that they leave curiously buoyed above their malcontent.

It doesn't matter that my mother was born here.

That my Grandparents lived here for 50 years.

Because they are HOME.

And as soon as I can, I will go HOME.

So, as I said, Wherever you bring them up their hearts will lie. :)

I have no witty quotes, just the hiccups.

And the joy that comes from knowing I can still "key" while drunk.

I miss being anonymous. Facebook scares me. If I was clever I would only write with a view to the audience, but for someone with a stifled daily voice, this is hard. So I return. To Mission:Absolution. Clearly my mission hasn't been absolved. But someone else as witty and moreso intelligent than me has absolved their own, so I'm stuck.

Here I am.

I was right about Tori. Her album comes out in May. And Tate comes very, very soon, but not without a "Momma" to fetch her. Of course the girls will turn 5. That is beyond my control. But at least I got a phonecall. Lily managed, amongst her incessant giggling, to tell me she loves me 250. Don't you LOVE small children's grasp on numbers. They got no concept of the economy.

Me? Yep. doing that reading. And that (***)forsaken research. If intuition meant ANYTHING, I'd have a degree already!!

I found lotsa people on Fac&book and (Egads) they found me. But nothing compares to shooting the shit with myself. It's healthy.

And having said that - Rony- so is cake decorating.

Still queen of irony.

And BACK. Watch This Space.

"If someone offers you a gift, and you decline to accept it,

the other person still owns that gift.

The same is true of insults and verbal attacks."

Steve Pavlina

My dear blog has become a faceb@@k widow, but it still feels like home, and you gotta go home sometimes. xxx

Smile!

Verse- Allan.K. Chalmers

Photographer - Norman Leslie

Image - Drankal Lhamo, age 6

100% of the revenue generated from the sale of this card will go toward building a school for the children from Kharnang in the Tibetan province of Yushu, China.

See www.tibetsupport.org for further info.

After

It's always ok
after
the yelling the hair tearing
the swearing
the swelling
the never's the can'ts

IT's OK.

Always. After

:)

F'in HOT.

TIS" all.

WAR. Can we just NOT, PLEASE.

I WAS ONLY NINETEEN (REDGUM)

Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing-out parade at Puckapunyal

It was a long march from cadets.

The sixth battalion was the next to tour. And it was me who drew the card.

We did Canungra, Shoalwater before we left.

And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay.

This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean.

And there's me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens.

God help me, I was only nineteen.

From Vung Tau, riding Chinooks, to the dust at Nui DatI'd been in and out of choppers now for months.But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers

And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub.

And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
And nighttime's just a jungle dark and a barking M16?

And what's this rash that comes and goes Can you tell me what it means?

God help me, I was only nineteen

A four-week operation When each step could mean your last one on two legs
It was a war within yourself
But you wouldn't let your mates down till they had you dusted off
So you closed your eyes and thought about something else. Then someone yelled out "Contact!"; and the bloke behind me swore We hooked in there for hours, then a God almighty roar

And Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon,
God help me, he was going home in June.

I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
Till the morphine came and killed the bloody row
And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real.
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel

God help me, I was only nineteen
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?And what's this rash that comes and goes can you tell me what it means?

God help me, I was only nineteen...........


(It's in my play list if you want goosebumps)

Watching Kenyans Dance.

A new age is upon us. A much needed paradigm shift. A bountiful recognition of our unity. I couldn't be prouder of my fellows right now.

Finally,

F Mc Gucken FINALLY.

We're in this together.

I would like to thank Mr Dubya for being the one who woke us'll up.
(Dang, didn't we misunderestimate that guy ;)


HALLELUJAH !!!!

The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace, and the brightest thunderbolt is elicited from the darkest storm.

Charles Caleb Colton, 1832

What does HD mean to you?

I've just been reading all mothery stuff. Including a post by blog.cjanerun.com at http://segullah.org and dudes, I guess my mother checked if I was breathing before I could speak (Guess) but after thet PFFT. I read about people wanting their teenage children to knock on their door to let them know they are home. Understandable. I never even had a key. And more than once I slept on the deck with a beach towel coz she was so scary.

Universally, she just sent me an email, HMMMMMMM. Thankya Lord.

Anyway. To the point. IT"S MY BLOG AND I CAN BRAG IF I WANT TO ..........

HD.

High definition?
Hayden Davies?
Hopefully Dyslexic?
Highly Dysfunctional? (well yeah)

OR

OR

HIGH DISTINCTION?????

Thankyou Santa, I'll have three o' those :)

Miracles: You do not have to look for them.

They are there, 24/7, beaming like radio waves all around you.

Put up the antenna, turn up the volume - snap..., crackle....

This just in -

every person you talk to is a chance to change the world"

(hugh Elliott)

A Present for 2009 from The Lady of The New Buds

Nurture Tenderness

The Lady of The New Buds Speaks....

"See how my garden has grown about me? See how my children, the darling buds, clamour for my attention?

They cry at night and can be so touchy during the day!

I must shelter them from harshness and keep them in a safe place, till they are strong enough to branch out..... even then, my watchful eye will look out for their care.

You see, so many people see the beauty, and do not understand where it sprang from; the rich loamy soil. The sweet water poured into this earth, the minerals of the natural realms, the light of the Sun and the shining sweetness of the crystal moon have all anointed my garden with their blessings.

And then there is me.

So many see my garden, and wonder at it, but they do not see the work and care that has preceded my domain.

It's beauty is a result of love, care, natural growth and attention to each and every one of it's inhabitants.

When your growth appears around, from the seeds you have planted, take time to tend this garden.

Enlist the assistance of like-minded souls, and just as you would not feed these tender buds poisons and pollutants, do not feed your ideas the opinions and energies of those who are not in integrity.

Stay true to the vision of your creation and truly take a little time each day to tend this garden, be it of love, ideas, little ones or creative endeavours until they are robust and begin to grow into their own energy.

For now, it is the tender time, the time when the buds are most at risk from the frost of rejection, the poison of judgement and the choke of cruelty.

Be vigilant, and you too will have a garden for all to enjoy and love.

Many will feel you are fortunate indeed to have created such a beautiful Eden, but they will not see the care you have taken to grow this.

But I have seen. I have seen it all"

(Lucy Cavendish - from the Oracle of the Dragonfae)

(Artwork: Orchid Woman and The Bud Nurturers by Sharon McLeod)

TWO GREAT BIG FAT WORDS

ESSAY SUBMITTED

I'm gonna sleep like a little princess tonight.

God Bless xx

2009

A brand new year. So symbolic. What will we make of it??

Lisa will become a "Momma", and rightly so.

Drevo will fall in love (cop that)

Shaz will weave the ins and outs of her life and finally make a decision she can live with. (you heard)

Lily will be 5.

Ruby Cate will be 5. (and Amy may, just MAY post for those too paranoid to be on f#*ebook!!xx)

Rony will play the go to game of 2 little kids while being a complex intellectual (kudos)

Tori Amos may record a new album (my guess)

Alyabeth An will flourish. (and MAN she deserves it)

Lizzi will be noticed. (hallelujah!)

Sal will get pregnant.

America will change. (and so to the rest of the western world)

Nie Nie will get better.

We will all get that bit more REAL (yay) about life and finances and doing what we can to make a difference.

Me? A kid? Well it's all a bit differential. Dreams say soon. Gut has always said 33. So not this year. I'll read a whole heap of books, this I know. I'll study. I'll plant stuff. I'll work my ass off at APPRECIATION. I'll blog. I'll lose weight. My China Girl? she's years away. But still kinda here, if ya know what I mean.

I'll just be proud to make it through each day.