Cee’s Share Your World, Weeks 19 and 20.

Signs of winter have crept into my part of the world this week and last night really was rather chilly indeed, with the temperature dropping down to around eleven degrees Celsius. Believe me, that’s quite cold for this area!

There are definite advantages to cool sunny days though and last night we were treated to another beautiful autumn sunset, so while I share my world by answering Cee’s questions for both weeks 19 and 20, I will also share last night’s sunset with you all.

WEEK 19 ~

On a vacation what would you require in any place that you would stay? (This was a suggested question for Cee to ask, from my blogging friend Carol.)

Usually I have an automatic response to Cee’s questions, but I had to give this one some thought. Coffee making facilities came to mind, but I could go out for coffee, I can live without a television, easily, and all places you stay in have a bed….but what I really would dislike sharing is a bathroom. So that is my answer, I would require an adjoining bathroom in any place that I would stay on vacation.

If you were or are a writer do you prefer writing short stories, poems or novels?
I don’t believe that I would have the patience to write a novel, but short stories I can do, and I enjoy writing them. When I think about it, every blog post I write is a short story really. I do enjoy reading, and writing poetry too, but short stories are top of the list.

What’s your favorite song of the moment?

Oh that’s such an easy question to answer, it’s the song that is playing on constant repeat inside my head! The Australian version of The Voice is being shown in Australia right now, and one of my favourite contestants, Luke Kennedy, sang a duet of the song from Les Miserables, “I Dreamed a Dream”. It hasn’t left my head since that night! I’ve loved this song since I first heard it sung by Michael Crawford.

If you were to buy a new house/apartment what is the top item on your wish list?

If I were to buy a new home, my number one criteria would be that it had to be old. I’ve always wanted to renovate an old home, a one hundred year old home would be ideal, and I would like to restore it to its former glory.

Now onto Cee’s questions for WEEK 20 ~

Do you like winter, or not, and why?

Winter, oh how I love winter! I’m a cold climate girl. I grew up in The Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, where it actually snows during winter in some of the higher altitude towns. There are four definite seasons in the mountains, each with its own individual beauty, and during summer it doesn’t even get dreadfully hot. I love it!

Are you a listener or talker?

Definitely a listener, especially when I first meet a new person and don’t know them very well. I think that everyone who knows me well would agree that I’m a very good listener, but I can talk once I get going too!

What is your favorite juice or fruit drink?

Is there such a thing as chocolate juice? There should be, but seeing as there isn’t, I think I would have to say pineapple juice. It’s a juice that I don’t drink often, but when I do, I love it.

What do you have to be so happy about?

My four children. Sure, there are other things that make me happy (like beautiful sunsets!) a day at a time, but ask me any day, of any year, for the last twenty-eight years (‘coz that’s how long I’ve been a mother) what makes me happy, and I would consistently say my two sons and two daughters. They are the highlights of all of my life’s happiest days, and that’s every day.

Two Posts in One…or Two Countries…or Too Much?!

A church in New York.

I really have no idea where the whole of last week went to. Do you suppose I could blame my broken down dishwasher for my lack of writing time? I could if I wanted to, but really, I’m still enjoying hand washing my cups, dishes and plates every night, and even though this spare part which is on order for the repairs has already taken double the estimated time to arrive, I’m in no hurry to hassle the repair guy to have it fixed. I’m finding dishwashing rather therapeutic at the end of a long day.

The building of the new World Trade Centre.

I did spend a lot of time away from home last week actually, some time spent on work related events and some on pleasure, so while you look through the rest of the New York photos that my son Ben has given me to show you all, I will tell you about my pleasurable adventures.

Memorials at Ground Zero.

I’ve said it before, but Ben really did enjoy his eight-day stay in New York City. I would rather like to go there myself one day, although eight days would be way too much time in the big city for this quiet blogger! Ben seemed to have been quite moved by his visit to the Ground Zero memorials and seeing the new building in progress there. He vividly remembers the unbelievable news hitting Australia on the morning of 9/11 as do we all.

New building against the blue spring skies.

So, back to last week. Ben and my eldest daughter Hayley had bought me a beautiful oil painting on canvas, about four years ago now, which required framing. An unnamed party had promised to have it framed for me, so the canvas had waited patiently on the shelf in my cupborad for four long years, waiting. With Mother’s Day approaching last Sunday, one day during the week Hayley had asked me if there was anything I could think of that I would specifically like to be given as a Mother’s Day gift.

9/11 Memorials.

Apparently (according to Hayley) I am a very easy person to buy for, as I like so many things and have so many interests! That’s good to know, as some people are absolutely impossible to please! So I gave her question some thought and soon remembered my lovely oil painting, awaiting a frame. Ben and Hayley are again going shares in this gift, but Hayley asked me if I would like to go with her to the framing shop to choose a frame that I would be happy with.

White roses.

I suggested we make a lunch date of it, inviting my other daughter Emma to come along as well, so off the three of us went to see a man who Hayley had spoken to on the phone.

Choosing a frame for my lovely painting turned out to be quite the memorable experience. As a general rule, I take people as I find them, but I must admit that I found this picture framing shop proprietor to be just a tad, shall we say, over the top with his comments?

Firstly, he asked my daughter how much she had paid for the painting, rude to begin with, I thought, followed by, “I hope you didn’t pay any more than $20.00 for it”!!

Brooklyn Bridge.

Throughout the course of us choosing a frame, he managed to insult the colours of my home, explained to him by my girls in an effort to have him show us the desired coloured frames, and he also laughed profusely at his own jokes…..which I would describe as sarcastic comments rather than jokes.

So whilst The Obnoxious One guffawed away to himself, my girls and I had a great old time, ignoring him, and helping ourselves to various coloured frames which we sat beside the painting.

Bustling New York.

Digressing slightly, is the above photo Times Square, can anyone tell me? Ben and his mates were in Times Square one morning and were approached by someone giving away free tickets to the David Letterman Show. All they needed to do was answer some simple USA topical questions, which none of them knew the answers to being freshly arrived from Australia, so blatant hints were handed out, they won their three free tickets to the show and had a great time applauding throughout the show on queue and laughing loudly when requested!

Central Park.

Now, back to the framing shop, where my daughters and I had made our choice of frame, being ultimately my choice, although my daughters both agreed they could see it looking wonderful where I had told them both I would be hanging my painting. The Obnoxious One disagreed with my choice, adding, “You’ll probably end up having your own way, women usually do”…..okay, is it just me? Was that rude and insulting? Although I didn’t voice the words, I did think, “You’re darn tootin’ I’ll get my way!” Geeeezzzz……..

Central Park against the buildings of New York.

Between guffaws, The Obnoxious One did relate a very interesting story, of how he had taken a recent delivery of framed pictures from a deceased estate. Almost an entire family had been killed in an accident, with one remaining survivor, and the spirits of the deceased had helped him, he claimed, with frame choices since they arrived.

I wonder if the spirits had mentioned to him the old adage, “The customer is always right”?

Spring in Central Park.

Back to the USA, and here we are in Central Park. Ben told me that the park was positively huge, and they didn’t have the opportunity to cover the whole area. I had rather hoped he would find John Lennon’s memorial area of “Strawberry Fields”, but unfortunately not.

Apparently one day, a huge crowd was clustering in an area where a celebrity had arrived, causing great excitement in the area. It turned out to be Ricky Martin, who is this year one of the judges on the Australian version of “The Voice”, and what a very lovely man he seems to be too.

Looking over the water from Central Park.

After stamping my foot in a most polite and woman-like fashion, getting my way and ordering my picture frame from The Obnoxious One, Hayley, Emma and I went back to Coolangatta for an alfresco lunch of sushi, just across the road from Coolangatta Beach. Emma passed me some chopsticks to eat my sushi with, followed by instructions on how to use them, telling me “It’s easy, mum!” I’m happy to say that most of the delicious sushi reached my mouth (apart from that one piece that dropped, then proceeded to fly across the table, nearly landing in Emma’s lap!)

Hmm….next time, I’m asking for a fork!

Katz’s Delicatessan, apparently a very famous deli in New York.

In other last-week-related-news, I decided to stop adding posts to one of my other blogs, “A Sense of Spirit”, not due to lack of interest, but rather because I am finding more and more that the posts I’m adding here at Home Life usually relate to spirit in some way anyway. It seems to me that the two blogs do not have separate purposes, so I have transferred all the content from “A Sense of Spirit” across to this blog, tagging all the posts with “A Sense of Spirit” for easy finding. Combining the two seemed like the sensible thing to do.

Wall Street.

Ben’s last three photos here of Wall Street, the Stock Exchange and the Trump Building seem to me to be very “Ben-ified” places to visit. He is, and always has been fascinated by the workings of the stock market and is the most amazingly disciplined person with money that I have ever met in my life!

Not only is he first-rate when it comes to saving money, he can keep a secret like no one else I know. As a two year old, I would tell him, “Don’t let anyone know what their Christmas present is, it’s a surprise” and that boy wouldn’t breathe a word, not for any amount of coaxing in the world!

The Stock Exchange.

I seem to have waffled on a bit today, so hope I haven’t sent anyone to sleep with my ramblings.

Please do let me know if I have labeled any of Ben’s photos incorrectly. In the next leg of the trip, he and his mates headed south to Nashville and he loved it there too. I think it’s safe to say that Ben loved his trip to America.

The Trump Building.

Finally, here are the links to all the posts I have transferred across from “A Sense of Spirit”. Please do not feel obliged to read all or any of them, they are just here for anyone who may be interested. I do, however, recommend reading “The Optimist’s Creed”, very sage words indeed. I wish I had written them!

Believe in yourself.

The Optimist’s Creed.

A Chair to Remember.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

The Souls we remain with throughout time.

A Synopsis of Spirituality.

The Car with Spirit.

Finding Uncle Albert.

A Bond that Lasts for Eternity.

Thoughts as I press my nose against the window of life.

Taking our own advice.

Mother’s Day 2013.

Happy Mother’s Day to my friends.

“The most precious jewels you will ever have around your neck
are the arms of your children.” ~ Unknown.

I write this the morning after Mother’s Day, on a cold and misty Monday morning here in Australia. There was no time for sitting at my desk yesterday, I was far too busy enjoying my four children, who all spent most of the day with me for Mother’s Day.

We enjoyed lunch together, ate way too much food, followed by cakes and coffee. My mother-in-law was here as well and the four of us girls chatted away together at the dinner table long after the meal had ended, while the boys watched football matches on the television.

What more could a mother ask?

If really pushed, I could answer that question in an instant ~ if I could have seen my own mother at the table with us, chatting with us as she so loved to do, oh, how wonderful that would have been.

I know she was here, I just couldn’t see her. She visits me often, I know, and I do talk to her, I just don’t hear her replies.

That’s the way it is though, with mother’s and their children, the bond lasts forever, nothing can ever part them, and we rejoice in the new generations whilst holding the past generations still very close to our hearts.

With the time differences throughout the world it may still be Mother’s Day in your part of the world as you read this now, and if so, I wish you the happiest of days filled with the love of your children in your heart. And even if, like me, you are too busy with your babies and are reading my wishes after the actual day, the wishes still remain. Don’t you think that every day is a very special day in the world, when we are the mother of someone?

I know I do.

So, from my heart to yours, I wish you the happiest days forever and always, days filled with the love of with being a mum. xxxxxx

My mum and me. This tiny doll stands at only three inches tall and was saved by my mum for many years after I had finished playing with it.

Cee’s Share Your World ~ Week 18.

My indoors girl, fourteen year old Phoebe.

When my blogging friend Carol answers the questions to “Cee’s Share Your World” each week, I really enjoy reading what she has to say. Sometimes her responses are definite, usually they sound as though she is thinking out loud as she comes up with her answers, and they are absolutely always fun to read! After Carol has shared just a little bit more about her world, at her blog “Wanderings of an Elusive Mind”, I realise that through her simple replies to Cee’s random questions, I have got to know Carol just that little bit better.

For quite a while now I have been “bumping into” Cee around the blogging world and have often thought I would like to join in with Share Your World. This morning, after seeing the questions and reading Carol’s answers, I have decided that today is the day, no more procrastinating. I’m not sure when the “week” begins and ends for Cee, so I’m assuming that Week 18 began on the day that Cee added her post with the questions, which was Monday, April 29th, allowing me a couple of days still to join in. If I have the rules wrong, I do hope that Cee will set me straight.

So here goes ~

What is your favorite animal?

Oh, that is an easy question. Even though I love many different animals, my ultimate favourite is most definitely cats. During my entire life, I think I have only been without a cat (or cats) in my world for a total of three years. To me, a house is not a home without at least one cat to share it with. My children have often joked that as I grow older, I will probably become the crazy cat woman, with cats all over the house. You may be right, kids!

Miss Tibbs enjoying the sun this morning.

What is your favorite comfort snack food?

Chocolate! No question about it. And if the chocolate is dark (my latest delicious discovery), coffee or mint flavoured (or both!) all the better.

What subject would you like to study in depth, if given the time to do so?

Linguistics and English literature. I love reading, books, crosswords, the context and meanings of words, the written word. I even love pens, pencils and paper, being the instruments with which to write those words. And when computers and the internet became readily available, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven! Words and writing fascinate me, I love written communication of any kind and I enjoy the play of the meanings and context that words can be used in. Gee, I could write a blog post for that answer!

Just one of the many bookcases in my home.

What object do you always have with you when traveling and why?

It took me a minute to think about that. My initial response was a camera, although thinking back, I haven’t always owned a camera. So, when I cast my mind back and thought about what it is that I always place in my packing pile first, when preparing to travel, it’s a book, or books. I have never in my entire life travelled without a book. Why? I can’t travel with my cat! Cats and books are my two absolute essentials in life.

Well that was fun, thanks Cee! Now I’m wondering why it has taken me so long to Share my World.

It’s my birthday and I’ll be in a mood if I want to.

I’m a creature of habit. I could blame my star sign for this fact if I really wanted to. They say that those born under the sign of Taurus the Bull are predictable creatures. I can be sometimes, but not always. Many years ago my mother had an astrological chart made up for me, based on my place of birth and actual date and time, the grand conclusion being that my personality is heavily influenced by the sign of Libra the Scales, meaning that I like balance in my life. According to the Wise Astrologer my mum met way back when, I have more of a Libra personality than Taurean, however I remain a self-confessed creature of habit. Is that the Taurean side of me, or the Libra? I often question myself.

So, being the creature of habit that I am, one of the first things I did this morning was to check Facebook. Already I had received a few happy birthday messages, yet pleased as I felt to be thought of, I didn’t feel inclined to reply. Not yet, anyway.

Adam needed to be extracted from his cosy bed (again) and rushed off to school on the last minute (again). His father complained that he refused to get out of bed on time (again). Big brother Ben complained that Adam thumped him in the stomach as he walked by, just as Ben was taking a mouthful of hot coffee. (Don’t you make a habit of thumping Adam every time you are within thumping distance of him, Ben? It’s your brotherly thing that you always do.)

Father continued to ask Adam if he was ready to leave yet, when obviously he wasn’t. Ben continued to drink his coffee. Adam continued to dither.

Adam rarely complains, but makes a habit of doing so, constantly, when his father is about. Father complains, constantly, about anything and everything. Ben hardly ever, if ever, complains.

Do I want to go out for dinner tonight, husband asks. The dishwasher is broken, it would be easier, I am told. Easier for whom, I wonder. There are enough left-overs from last nights dinner for tonight. Besides, left-overs always taste better than they did when first made. And he knows I prefer to stay at home at night, so why think I would want to go out to dinner on my birthday?

Yesterday was a great day. I took photos at Point Danger, standing atop the lookout, gazing across the blue/green ocean, watching keen surfers catching the waves, seeing a boat or two navigate the bar of the Tweed River, which leads out into the ocean. I bought cappuccino at the cafe across the road and read my book, sipping coffee, as I awaited the arrival of my two daughters, mother-in-law and best friend, who were joining me for lunch.

Lunch was fun. The food tasted great (as always) and we chatted constantly. Later, when home, my family arrived for dinner, and the dinner I had prepared yesterday, even though freshly prepared and not at the left-overs stage yet, still tasted delicious. The house was filled with ten people, three dogs, two cats and a bird, all of whom wished to get their two cents worth into the conversation.

Chaos reined supreme; all was well with the world.

So why am I feeling so melancholy today then, I ponder.

Once the complainers, non complainers and those in between had left me all alone in a peaceful house, I ate breakfast, put on a load of washing and read a chapter of the book I had been reading yesterday over coffee, the book which is taking me far too long to read, as I never seem to find any time to read lately.

My plan for today was to go to a very large book shop on the Gold Coast, so large that it is on two levels and has an adjoining coffee shop, yet I’ve wandered around the house from room to room, chore to chore, wearing my denim jeans and white and grey mid-season jumper. It’s a grey kind of day today. There have even been a few spots of rain. That’s okay though, I like the rain.

I read a few more pages of my book, this time whilst sipping Chai Tea. I also read an article on the internet ~ “What age is middle-age?” they ask. “Why does everyone and everything have to be labelled”, I ask? The comments were quite interesting (I didn’t leave one myself, if you’re wondering) and I noticed that a couple of forty-ish year olds regarded themselves as feeling worn out, haggard and having reached middle-age. I’m past the forty-ish stage, and I’m here to tell anyone who cares to listen, age is a state of mind. As your children grow older and begin to leave home, you begin to feel less haggard and worn out. You become younger. Your life becomes your own again. You can put yourself first. You can do the things you want to do, instead of the things you have to do.

Today, even though thus far I am not doing what I had planned on doing, the day feels like a grey kind of day and I’m in a “mood”, I’m okay with all that. I don’t get into “moods” very often. It isn’t even a bad mood that I’m in, just simply a mood. Even though I don’t feel inclined towards conversation, my mood prompted me to write, even if the writing is simply about my mood.

It’s my birthday, so I guess I can be in any mood I wish to be today.

Having pondered my mood, I feel that I am in a reflective state of mind. I’m very comfortable with my company and thoughts today. So long as I don’t consider anyone else (in my real-world life) today, I am at peace.

Who knows what that means! Yet I don’t need to know. I believe that I will enjoy my birthday much more when the collective population of the world can quit labelling people, according to their age. I am not feeling the way I am meant to feel, (according to my age). I do not have a great desire to become a grandmother (which apparently I should, according to my age).  I do not wish to wear my hair cut short and allow it to grey gracefully (which I should, because I am at that age).

Tonight, I will be the odd person, as I wish to eat my left-overs from last night, warmed up, whilst wearing my comfy pyjamas and dressing gown, in front of the TV, watching a DVD that my daughter gave me for my birthday. I will not be getting dolled up to the nines, because I “should” want to, and go out to dinner, because it’s the thing to be done on one’s birthday. And I will wash the dinner dishes, because, heck, I enjoy washing my dishes! Who needs a dishwasher anyway?

While I’m at it, I may even polish my coffee table and clean the kitchen windows. And I will do these things, not because I’m “middle-aged”, but because I like to do these things ~ always have, even when I was in my twenties, and no doubt always will. (I even enjoyed having my birthday dinner at home, back in the middle ages, or whenever it was that I was in my twenties.) Yet silly me denied enjoying these menial tasks, thinking I wasn’t a very “cool” person if I admitted to such wild and crazy things.

Today, May the Second, Two-Thousand-and-Thirteen, is my birthday. I will spend the day doing the things I want to do. I will not wear a label of my age. I will not cut my hair short, nor go grey. I will enjoy eating my home-cooked dinner tonight and I will enjoy washing my dishes. I will turn a deaf ear to anyone who wishes to complain. I may even take a vow of silence for the day. And I will apologise to no one.

I will, however, contemplate the question “why must we live through a number of years on this earth, before gaining enough wisdom to simply be ourselves?”

The rain has become heavier, the grey day continues, and I’m enjoying my moody day.

Blissful, Enchanting April ~ Part 2.

“Suddenly to be transported to that place where the air was so still that it held its breath, where the light was so golden that the most ordinary things were transfigured – to be transported into that delicate warmth, that caressing fragrance…..” ~ The Enchanted April, Elizabeth Von Arnim (1922).

Mount Warning in all its glory.

The month of April really has been the most enchanting month, with the sun’s rays losing the harshness of summer, yet the cooler winter air has not yet arrived. More and more flowers are breaking out in bloom as each new day arrives, the breeze is the gentlest I have felt it in a long time and the birds flittering around the garden are just happy to be alive.

I’m happy to be alive; I wouldn’t want to miss out on a single day spent in the garden at this most beautiful  time of year.

Prince of Orange.

“Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity.” ~ Lindley Karstens.

A favorite in the garden, my Tibouchina tree.

The bees are buzzing, the butterflies are fluttering, and oh how I love to get my hands in the soil. I can feel  a trip to my local garden centre is imminent, and I’ll probably arrive home with way more plants than I intended, but that okay, there’s always room for just one more beauty in the garden.

No shortage of lemons.

During the last couple of weeks I have made two Lemon Meringue Pies, which is Ben’s favourite, as my lemon tree branches are overloaded, almost to breaking point, with huge, juicy lemons.

If there’s one thing I enjoy as much as gardening, it would have to be picking freshly grown fruit and vegetables straight from the garden and bringing them indoors to devour with my family.

Crazy clouds on a fine day.

“In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.  My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.  The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.” ~ Abram L. Urban.

Blooming Dahlias.

Tomorrow, when the month of May is here, I expect the weather will begin to cool down somewhat and by June we will all be wearing warm jumpers again for perhaps two or three months. These photos belong to April though, and needed to be shared before we bid April goodbye again for another eleven months.

This has been the most Enchanting April I can remember, ever. Did I say that about last April? Perhaps. But that’s okay. I will probably go into raptures over my garden and the wonders of nature all over again next April as well.

A lone Kookaburra.

“….April came along softly like a blessing, and if it were a fine April it was so beautiful that it was impossible not to feel different, not to feel stirred and touched.” ~ The Enchanted April.

Three for dinner.

I’ve spent so much time in the garden lately that I have hardly found any time to read at all. I have come across more books written by Elizabeth Von Arnim though, including “Elizabeth and her German Garden” and “The Solitary Summer”. Being the keen gardener that she was, it is little wonder that Elizabeth was able to describe the beauty of the gardens at San Salvatore in “The Enchanted April” so poetically.

Mind your manners now….

“It pleases me to take amateur photographs of my garden, and it pleases my garden to make my photographs look professional.” ~ Robert Brault.

Butcher Bird.

All of my regular feathered friends continue to visit me for their breakfast and dinner each day. Their little in-built timers tell them all to arrive at around 7 am each morning, then again at around 4:30 pm. The Kookaburras dominate, the Magpies seem to rank second in the chain and my sweet little Butcher Birds are left to clean up the dregsy remains. (We don’t let the Kookaburras and Magpies know it, but I usually take out a little something extra for the Butcher Birds after the others have left.)

Drooping seed pods.

My hours spent in my garden will always be blissful. It doesn’t matter at all whether I am watering the garden, feeding the birds, digging out weeds or planting new flowers, my garden transports me to another world, a blissful world, an enchanting world…..

…..an Enchanted April.

Smiling Gazanias.

If you missed Part 1 of my April gardening photos, you will find them at “Three Hours of Gardening Bliss ~ Part 1″.

Psychology of Colours ~ Naturally Blue!

In the year 2000 I started up a machine embroidery business in our local shopping centre, inheriting the brightly coloured shelving and cupboards from the previous business that had been there. Whilst I could cope quite happily with the bright yellows and the vivid reds in the shelving, that royal blue colour simply had to go! How could I arrive at work each day to be greeted by that colour? It would be downright depressing!

If you look carefully, you may just see a tiny lighthouse, away in the distance.

What seemed to me to be a rather odd reaction, (from myself!) could have had some psychological bearing on it. My new shop was to be a fun and uplifting colourful business, and that deep blue colour was way too conservative for my liking!

With that in mind, it should come as no surprise for you to read the following passage about dark blue ~

“Dark blue is the colour of conservatism and responsibility. Although it appears to be cool, calm and collected, it is the colour of the non-emotional worrier with repressed feelings, the pessimist and the hypocrite. Dark blue can be compassionate but has trouble showing it as its emotions run deep. Dark blue is a serious masculine colour representing knowledge, power, and integrity, and is used quite often in the corporate world.”

So that’s why the dark blue colour wouldn’t work for me in my new store, my new feminine shop, where I expected to (and did have!) great enjoyment in choosing embroidery thread colours to match with articles of colourful clothing, to be added into logos on caps and shirts, and my favourite part of the business, choosing colours for adding designs and monograms to bath towels.

The colours of nature.

Blue is a colour associated with peace and tranquility and its presence creates a calming atmosphere. Think about the last time you sat beside the vivid blue ocean or a blue river, doesn’t the whole atmosphere of the blue waters make you feel calm? I know it has that effect on me. And when Mount Warning appears to have a tinge of blue haze, overpowering the green trees, there’s nothing quite so calming.

During an early mist morning, the colour blue overpowers all the other colours of the valley.

The colour blue suggests devotion, loyalty, trust and honesty, encourages self-expression and is also regarded as a spiritual colour.

Did you realise that blue is the most universally liked colour out of the whole colour spectrum? Perhaps the reason for this is that blue is regarded as a non threatening colour which promotes calmness.

The blue sky likes to overpower the white fluffy clouds sometimes.

People who favour the colour blue are slow to trust others, preferring to get to know a person before they trust completely. They also wish to be trusted themselves, and beneath their outwardly confident persona may lie a person lacking in confidence.

Blue loving people are usually genuine and sincere, prefer to enjoy the company of a close set of friends, are sensitive and caring towards the needs of others but also need their “alone” time, to reflect and contemplate their lives. Blue is a colour associated with meditation.

Four Galahs with not a care in the world when the sky is so blue!

Blue people tend to be guided by their heart, can be sensitive, emotional and sentimental and cry easily over sad movies. On the other hand, they enjoy order in their lives, cannot work amid chaos and can also be stubborn and set in their ways.

They have a thirst for knowledge and wisdom, are friendly and approachable people and have an ultimate need for inner peace and harmony in their lives.

A happy Butcher Bird, singing out loud to the blue autumn skies.

I wonder if any of you, who would name blue as your favourite colour, can identify with any of these characteristics? Although I wouldn’t claim blue as my favourite colour, when I see the colour blue in nature, a bright blue sky on a sunshiny day, the gradual changes of the colour blue as it reaches down into the depths of the ocean or even blue flowers, I can feel quite overwhelmed and emotional by the majesty of nature.

All of my children are blue-eyed, and I think it really goes without saying that when I look into the varying shades of blue in their eyes, I can simply melt like butter!

The Blue Willow.

Another object of my deepest affection when I think about the colour blue is the Willow Pattern design I have loved since my childhood days. Seeing my Willow dinner set in my cupboard gives me a sense of comfort and security. (Wait a minute, security is one of the characteristics associated with the colour blue!) There is a story to the Willow pattern design, which goes like this ~
“Koong-She, a mandarin’s daughter, loved her father’s secretary, Chang. Father, having arranged a marriage with a wealthy suitor, shut her in a terrace house, to be seen close by the temple on the right of the plate. Chang rose to the occasion and rescued the maiden, although hotly pursued by the father across the bridge.

The couple lived happily, almost ever after, in Chang’s little house across the harbour. However, eventually the frustrated suitor found them and burnt the house down while they were sleeping. True love never dies, and Koong-She and Chang arose Phoenix like from the ashes, in the form of two doves.”

There is a poem of the Willow pattern story, which apparently many children learn at school, although I didn’t. Fortunately though, I do have a copy of the poem ~

“Two pigeons flying high, Chinese vessel sailing by, Weeping willow hanging o’er, Bridge with three men if not four, Chinese temple, there it stands, Seems to cover all the land, Apple tree with apples on, A pretty fence to end my song.”

A Brahminy Kit, soaring through the great blue sky.