Historical tour to Betley

Get your dance cards out, boys and girls, and mark down the date Monday April 16th at 10am for another wonderful history tour with the Goldfields Historical and Arts Society.
There will be a fab sight-seeing tour lead by the ever-knowledgable historian John Tully of in and around Betley - which was originally a farming area named Middlebridge and was named such as it was in the middle of crossing places to everywhere else.
Transport will be the usual combination of community bus and private cars meeting outside the Dunolly Museum, BYO picnic lunch (save time and pick up a scrumptious ham & salad roll from Dunolly Bakery!) and there may be a small charge for the day.
Contact John Tully for bookings & further details 0428178669

A couple of paintings I prepared earlier...

Here's a sample of them, two that are finished and which I'm almost satisfied with, click on the images to embiggen em.

Actually, the scenery one isn't quite finished, the rocky cliffs need a touch and the billabong in the foreground needs a tweak..as do the trees...and the clouds need a dash of white...and....and....

I'll never threaten Picasso, Renoir, Tom Roberts or Drysdale but it makes me happy.

I wuvs you, too xxx

Thank you for all your supportive words, emails and phone calls, I really appreciate it.
I'm still feeling blah but a chirpier blah than the previous week.
If that makes sense.

Am currently painting like a woman possessed - which could explain the pea soup and speaking in tongues thing after midnight but that's another tale - and am starting to get my happy on via acrylics, water colours and several different styles.

It's the little things that are poking holes in my heart... while I absolutley adore Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries it's with a bitter-sweet enjoyment as Dad enjoyed all of Kerry Greenwood's writings, particularly the Phryne Fisher and Corinna Chapman series', and I know he would have loved seeing Phryne brilliantly brought to life by the very talented Essie Davis.
The same with Tim Winton's cloudstreet - Dad read and re-read the book several times and would have been equally glued to the idiot box and impressed with the quality of the adaptation.
Crap - I've had to close the browser tab to cloudstreet as the narrator's voice has set me off into tears again.

Now, I hope to get around to all your blogs soon but I've got to get my arse into gear as I've neglected the Dunolly History blog by accident and need to post up some doings from days gone by, then running around like a chook with my head chopped off for doctors, referrals and jumping through hoops for the Feral Teen's mental health stuff.
Just to keep me busy and off the street!
Thank you again xxx

Dog of a life

The bitch has me by throat a lot these days.
The Black Dog, who is a snarling, ravenous bitch.
So much has she wormed into my brain I'm now riddled with doubts; doubt if I gave my Dad the excellent care everyone says I did, doubt if I've made the right decisions for my children, doubt about friendships or acquaintences, self-doubt and panic attacks over the most bizarre things.

There are days when I just want to sleep forever, there are nights on end where I get no sleep at all, other days I cannot stop bawling my eyes out til I look like some red-eyed demon, Hell there are days I could open a vein.
Sometimes, it's all just too painful.

Poltical Footy Dream Team picks

Ye gods, is anyone else as over this political bollocks rubbish as I am?

For overseas readers - our government is casting votes to again choose or retain a PM/leader of the governing party.
Kevin Rudd, who got shafted then voted out in 2010 as Prime Minister is challenging to take back the position, but it's become damn ugly politics.
Cos they are imploding as a party, the Australian Labo(u)r Party are devouring themselves in a hunger of individual self-interest rather than being a cohesive political party steering our country.

So, I thought I'd throw together a dream team of politicians, past and present, to hypothetically take over the ballsed up mess.
From Australia and the other side of the ditch, from a whole range of political parties.
Even if it means digging up a few graves....


Julie Bishop
Pig Iron Bob Menzies
Malcolm Fraser
John Curtin
Bob Brown
David Lange
Nick Xenaphon
Amanda Vanstone
Gough Whitlam
Frank Crean
Penny Wong
Malcolm Turnbull
Natasha Stott Despoja
Paul Keating
Sarah Hanson-Young
Joseph Lyons
Barnaby Joyce
Julius Vogel
Jack Lang
Don Chipp

On the interchange bench I'd sit -
Father Bob Maguire.
Cos he'd go in at intervals to keep the lot of them on track and to sort them out with commonsense.