Mother's Day 2024

I have just seen ungrateful women whining about a getting a bunch of flowers on facebook (whine-book). I don't get anything for mothers' day, I don't even remember when I did. I am a 60 year old mother and grandmother. Never met my so called grandchildren and I don't want to meet my grandchildren because their father is pure evil. 

I don't celebrate misery thanks, be thankful for what you have and think yourself privileged! Check your damn privilege and stop whining over a bunch of flowers ladies. 

Do not expect anything and then if something nice does happen see it as a privilege that many don't have.

Do you think women in Ukraine, Palestine or other war zones are thinking about trivial nonsense like this? I hardly think so. Get some bloody perspective in your privileged lives.   

Purple Poppy Day 2024

 https://thepurplepoppy.com.au/

Today is Purple Poppy Day in honour of all tha animals that have served in the military. They didn't get the choice to do this service they were brought in to humanities conflicts. But they have done tremendous work and at times highly dangerous work that took their lives. We must give thanks and great honour to these selfless sentient beings.

I bought the Purple Poppy Day badge last year and wear it with my family of a veteran badge. 

Our love and respect for all sentient beings is vital, no matter if they are involved in the military or a casualty of any conflict caused by humans.  

We must continue to support not just those  humans that serve and protect us in conflict, but all the animals too as sentient beings. Yes they do have souls too, I see them in spirit often. Animals just don't have the complexities that humans have emotionally but they are very sensitive, loving , acutely intuitive and know good people from bad people. Animals are always loyal to the very end because of their pure and unconditional love. We must demonstrate our pure and unconditional love to them too.

Lest we forget 

ANZAC DAY 2024

 

     This is my first ANZAC DAY without my dad, he passed away on 15 December 2023. I bought this rose last year for my dad

                                     

                                                                  Lest we forget

Binging on lovely romantic movies over Easter

 Happy Easter everyone, 

I do enjoy the vibe of Easter from a seasonal perspective, the atmosphere and the weather at this time of year is sentimental to me, remembering childhood in Scotland. Spring in the northern hemisphere is lush and green with beautiful spring bulbs in bloom, especially daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses. I fondly recall visiting my grandparents at Easter and giving both of my grandmothers bunches of daffodils and chocolates every year. I love the fragrance of daffodils and hyacinths to this day and grow them in my garden as a wonderful memory of spring in Scotland. 

In Australia these flowers don’t bloom until August, September and October; so when it comes to Easter in Australia it’s still pretty hot in the mid to high 20’s Celsius, although if you live in the southern regions, the mornings are cooler. So I like to have a day to reminisce about childhood memories and watch old romantic movies while enjoying goodies.

Enchanted April is one of these feel good movies, about a small group of women that want to have a nice Easter holiday in Italy away from the rain and gloom of post WW1 England. It’s a warm and feel good movie where a beautiful romantic transformation takes place in otherwise dull and uneventful lives of these women. 

If you have never seen this 1991 movie, I highly recommend it as a must have in your DVD collection, to watch on a day when you feel flat and need a pick me up movie to bring back the warm and fuzzy vibe. 

Above is the cover of the DVD that I have, there are a few other covers, but the cast is the same. Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson, Josie Lawrence, Polly Walker, Alfred Molina, Jim Broadbent and Michael Kitchens.

Another great favourite is Chocolate with Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche. A different world away in  a simpler time and place with a message of acceptance. There is nothing nicer on a relaxing day to enjoy these quality movies and sipping tea from your favourite fancy tea cups while eating hot cross buns, or enjoying a bottle of sparkling wine in the afternoon. 

 Make it a day of fun doing what makes you happy. I hope Easter Bunny stops by on Sunday with plenty Easter eggs for you. 🐇🐰🐰🐣🐥🐤

Warm and fuzzy hugs everyone 

Happy Spring Equinox and Autumn Equinox 2024

 Wishing everyone around the world a beautiful day and a happy Equinox, whether it’s the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere or the Autumn Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.  At the season be a beautiful, peaceful and joyful to everyone.

Warm and fuzzy hugs 🤗 ❤️🌹🪻🌷

Smudge the cat says, clean your toilet

 

Good advice, because sooner or later you will be driving the porcelain truck 🤣🤣🤣 AKA talking on the big white phone talking to god….. omg, Jesus…never again 🤣🤣🤣 

The hangover from hell the next morning. Nothing like getting maggoted or as the British and Australians say Rat arsed 🤣🤣 

Actually I don’t celebrate the murder of the Irish people by St Pat. I prefer to call it Irish Day and celebrate being Celtic. Not the brutal murder of people that refused to convert to Christianity, a religion of peace. We come in peace, shoot to kill (metaphorically speaking) 

HAPPY EASTER 2024 EveryBunny

 

Wishing everybunny a very happy Easter even if you are like me and don't do the religious side of the event. Just enjoy eating chocolate and the beautiful spring flowers if you are in the northern hemisphere.

Spring is a beautiful season of colour, so I hope everyone has beautiful weather over the Easter weekend. I hope you get to do something nice that brings you happiness and joy. I am off on a steam train for the annual picnic train again as both my husband and I love trains. Here is hoping he will be well enough to have a few hours outdoors, as we booked the train in advance before he was ill, because seats sell fast on this steam train.  

Don’t forget your fur babies like Easter treats too, doggie chocolate bunnies and eggs are available in Big W and Petbarn if you live in Australia.                                                                  

🐣🐣🐣🐥🐇🐇🐣🐣🐣

Individual little Easter eggs in a bone shaped container 

🐣🐣🐥🐥🐇🐇🐇🐇🐣🐣🐥🐥

Happy 60th birthday to my dear husband

 

Well that’s 60 years old today, wow, where has that time gone? No longer young whipper snappers, more wisdom and more time to contemplate the future whatever that may be. Just as long as we celebrate together. Even though today has been a rough start to a new decade I pray that things will improve. 

Happy birthday David xxx 🥂🍾🎂🤗🤗❤️

Happy Valentines Day 2024

 Happy Valentines Day to all those that celebrate this day. May your day be special, joyful and peaceful. 

                         Warm and fuzzy hugs to everyone from my heart to your heart.

Happy Australia Day

 I  care not if you are White Australian, Indigenous Australian or New Australian; whatever we are,  we all are Australian. We love our homeland and its culture, we are free to decide, we are proud and we are privileged to live in this wonderful country abound. We love our native animals and we love our way of life, we will honour our heritage and defend our heritage with pride. With love and peace in our hearts a fair go for all that call Australia home. We will always defend Australia and our way of life no matter our origins or religious beliefs we all are Australian.

Be honest, be proud, be respectful and true, we are, you are Australian. Defend what is ours, take not which is not yours, stand and be proud to be an Australian true blue. Uphold the rightful and speak your truth no matter how unpopular or controversial it may seem. Be humble and honest and stand true blue to our country, be proud of your values; and uphold them with pride as an Aussie that the world knows is true. Our word is our bond and our honour true blue, Advance Australia, we are always true blue. 

Happy Australia Day ❤️

Peter Alan always brings a tear to my eyes when I hear his voice ❤️ Bless you Peter ❤️🤗🤗

The widow of Mandawuy Yunupingyu, Mrs Yalmay  Yunupingu was awarded the Senior Australian of the year 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandawuy_Yunupingu

https://www.gg.gov.au/australia-day-2024-honours-list

Credit to the people that posted the music on YouTube, Bonza mates ❤️🇦🇺

HOGMANAY And New Year 2024

 Wishing everyone a Guid Hogmanay (a good new year’s eve) and a Happy New Year for 2024

Edinburgh Castle 

As a Scott I celebrate Hogmanay or New Year’s Eve  the Scottish way though I don’t do the first footing anymore, which is traditional in Scotland. Traditionally the first guest or first foot through the front door should be a dark haired man bearing goods to celebrate the occasion, such as a bottle of whiskey and some shortbread and a lump of coal for the fire. This is to ensure good health and prosperity for the coming year. 

My father was very popular at Hogmanay because he was very dark haired, so he always was to be the first foot in the family home and neighbourhood. Traditional music whether being sung by the household and their guests or records being played was always important as is the tradition meal prior to the alcohol consumption. This would usually be roast beef and vegetables or homemade steak pie and not forgetting Yorkshire pudding to accompany the meal. Yummy I loved eating Yorkshire pudding and always tried to score a big slice. 

On the stroke of midnight it is traditional to open the back door and the front door to let out the old year and welcome in the new year. Not just that, during the day the house is cleaned from top to bottom and then everyone has to change into clothes to celebrate the occasion. The Hogmanay meal cooked and ready to serve to the family and guests. The whole day is like a ritual to ensure good luck for the coming year. 

New Year celebrations traditionally last a week in Scotland and I remember taking part in these celebrations when I was young, this was even after my father had been out at work all day and then came home and got ready to go out with the family to a relatives home to have a celebration there. This was great fun because I got to catch up with cousins and family that I had not seen for a while. So it was always rather exciting. It is not unusual to stay up all night and seeing the sun coming up. Often people stay overnight, just crashing where they are partying. That is a very common occurrence in Scotland at Hogmanay and through the New Year’s Day or as we Scott’s call it, Ne’erday ( sounds like nair day).

Other traditions are being given a traditional Scottish calendar which is placed in a prominent place in the lounge room. It may have the West Highland terrier and a Scottish terrier it usually has lucky white heather with a tartan ribbon holding the heather together and the border of the calendar usually has a tartan border around it. These calendars are hard to come by these days unfortunately. Then the copious amounts of shortbread that is given as a gift to the family by anyone visiting during the New Year celebrations or in the days following. 

If loved ones live overseas then they will often receive a traditional Scottish calendar from loved ones back home. Tartan is popular with Scottish people regardless of where they live and is often displayed in a Scottish household at New Year or even at any other time of the year including Burns’s night on 25th January. 

A blessing is always welcome such as Lang may your lum reek. Meaning long may your chimney have smoke in it. Which is, may you be blessed with a long and prosperous life. 

The traditional song to bring in the New Year, Auld Lang Syne  ( for old times sake) written by Robert Burns is a very emotional song in Scotland. But sign is definitely not pronounced Zine, this is not a German word it is a Scottish word meaning sake. So please pronounce it correctly as it is offensive to Scottish people when it is mispronounced like it has been made popular by Americans. This song is not just sang at New Year, it is sung whenever someone is leaving the country or going away for a period of time. Below is a historical article on Hogmanay and the 400 years ban on celebrating Christmas in Scotland until the 1950’s. 

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/The-History-of-Hogmanay/

Please enjoy your New Year celebrations wherever you live and stay safe. Have a backup plan for getting home too. Keep your phone fully charged before you head out to party. Oh, and yeah, don’t forget electrolytes for the hangover from hell. The more dehydrated you are the worse the hangover. 

New Zealand, of course is the first country that brings in the new year to the world and I am sure the younger members of the country will be get ready for tonight’s celebrations. Enjoy your festivities En Zeds 🥰 

                                                 Lucky Heather

Miss Ruby wishes everyone a Merry Christmas

 Miss Ruby wishes everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year. It has been a difficult year for many people around the world but we must have hope for the future. Please be that hope to be a guiding light to others. 

Toblerone Cocktail

https://www.liquor.com/recipes/toblerone/ 

OMG, These are to die for, I first tried these many years ago and fell in love with them. They are way too easy to drink! Great to have during the silly season or anytime you want to indulge in a decadent cocktail. 

I could go hog wild with these and some nice chocolates 🤣🤣🍸🍫🍸 lock the front door and pretend no one is home. Give the cocktail a go, I guarantee you will love it. My other love is Frangelico or a drop of Glayva (pronounced Glay Vah) a delicious Scottish liqueur. 

If you like Rum Balls I have a recipe from the internet here to share. There are way too nice, I pigged out on these last year. I think I ended up making three lots, lol. 

https://psychictarotreadingwithalexfulford.blogspot.com/2022/11/rum-balls-recipe.html

Happy Halloween 2023

 

Happy Halloween everyone, the start of the silly season begins. Halloween has its origins in Scotland and Ireland hundreds of years ago, before America was discovered and is a traditional pagan tradition.

Yet very few people actually know this because it has been over commercialised by the US. The true meaning is no longer relevant. There was no trick or treat in the old Celtic celebrations that is an American concept, Samhain is the true origin of Halloween. You will notice that I don’t have a pumpkin picture here, because traditionally it was turnips that were carved and much harder to carve than the pumpkins. It was only when the Scottish and Irish people went to America that the pumpkin was adopted because it was much easier to carve. 

If you’re staying home why not let the kids play bobbing for apples and watch a couple of movies. Make some decorations for afternoon craft like paper lanterns with red or orange coloured cellophane inside to look like flames. Paper chains or orange and black crepe paper twisted together and stretched across the walls looks great to set the mood. Kids love the excitement of making decorations for Halloween and dressing up, so if they are staying home tonight they can still have fun. Keep the paper decorations for next Halloween too. Halloween parties are always fun to do at home with a few children and is another traditional way to celebrate Halloween. Look on line at traditional party games and food that were popular in the old days , you might want to do a mix of traditional and modern celebrations. 

Most importantly just have some fun and enjoy the festivities. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

Iconic Aussie Christmas decorations

 

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/blinky-bill-bauble-4-pack/p/288806. Blinky Bill Baubles 

 

Big W have Aussie iconic Christmas decorations on sale now, so get in quick if you like these treasures. Lovely pieces to hand down the family as keepsakes. It’s wonderful to see a new generation of children enjoying the delightful Aussie characters loved for over 100 years. 

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/may-gibbs-hanging-tree-ornament-leaf-babies/p/288818

Alex turns the big 6 0

 I officially turned 60 today what a hoot. Lol, it’s more like the big 6 oh or D’oh! I am now one of the Golden Girls.🤣🤣🤣 I am somewhere between Rose and the granny, Estelle Getty’s character in the Golden Girls on the Richter scale. I had a great day today but I take the age thing as no biggie. It’s just a number to tick off on our to do list as we stumble through life after all. So on with a new chapter of life, with  plenty of spark in me to keep everyone amused for another couple of decades easily. 

I don’t celebrate my birthday in the normal manner I prefer to celebrate nature and the spring season, and I feel lucky to be born in September to enjoy the seasonal change. What is one day compared to a season to celebrate after all? The flowers are beautiful and the birds are singing and there are fresh green leaves on the trees as they awaken from their hibernation. A fresh new world awaits us as every season and invigorates the soul. ❤️

My simple philosophy is just live and enjoy the splendour of nature in its glory, by getting outdoors and breathing in the air. Grounding yourself by standing or sitting in the garden with your bare feet on the ground and feel the earth energy coming up through you. This is what I did first thing this morning and the weather has been perfect. Thank you nature for making this day special. 

I am wondering what lies in store for the next ten years and praying that the years will be kind. After all the truly hard yards have been done. I will do my best to make life as peaceful as possible as I evolve into a wiser person growing older gracefully. Ok, well maybe not that gracefully 🤣🤣 because that just wouldn’t be me. I am more of a politically incorrect individual but with a good heart and a wicked sense of humour. So I think that I am more likely to lean towards being like the granny on the Golden Girls. So let’s see what happens eh? 

Springtime is reinvigorating for me

 I don’t know about other people but I find springtime so reinvigorating. I enjoy the flowers in my garden blooming and especially when I have scattered seeds from the previous season. Sometimes I forget what seeds I planted or rather scattered. At the end of the flowering season I gather the seeds in marked envelopes and store them, but sometimes I scatter a few at the same time. If it’s poppies, blue cornflowers and nemesia then it’s a long wait. But the delight when they bloom makes up for the long wait. It’s terrific and invigorating for me, the soft colours mixed with bulbs and long strappy leaves of agapanthus. 

Before the heat of summer hits, it’s nice to enjoy the spring flowers in delicate textures and the sweet fragrance wafting through the air. I always dream of having a secret garden where only I can go and enjoy the flowers, however reality dictates otherwise. It is an ongoing process to achieve a particular look that for a very brief period looks like a botanical fairy tale. Still it is mine to enjoy and appreciate an art form of my own personal signature that means something special to me, but it has a spiritual purpose too. Because humans are both part of nature and creators both in the physical world and in the spiritual or non physical world of imagination and creation. What we think, we create. As above and so is below, literally. 

The Australian summer can be incredibly hot and that means using a lot of water, so to create a garden with colour and texture one has to think carefully about what to grow and save water as much as possible. Then backfilling and creating an effect to give the illusion of depth, like a meadow or a country garden in suburbia is what I am trying to perfect. Older Australian gardens are usually a generous size unlike modern gardens, older gardens are great for creating a country garden or even room gardens. Mine is an old 70’s size garden that had gone through many transformations, from a basic backyard when we moved in to several styles of a cottage or country garden. Allowing for children to grow up and play in, thankfully they were pretty good and didn’t trample anything. Years later I am still trying to create a garden that all that I have to do is turn on the hose and that’s it, I am close to achieving that goal. 

But nature it doesn’t work like that in reality, weeds turn up and spoil the fun. Sticky weed in particular in the past few years has been rampant in Canberra. I had never seen it in Australia until then. It was something that I remember from childhood in Scotland, when we used to stick it on our friends for fun. But over the past five years or so I have seen it growing in my backyard in winter and spring. I haven’t been able to eradicate this nuisance in my garden. That on top of ever present dandelions grrr! Right in amongst my flowers  and after three years with rain the dandelions have good roots. It kind of spoils the fantasy of a botanical fairy tale. But it doesn’t dampen my spirit of imagination, to enjoy the simple pleasures of the garden in springtime. 

This month the weather has been reasonably warm to enhance the flowers of the season and I will have an abundance of bluebells this year to add to memories. I often think of the bluebell woods in my hometown in Scotland except the ones that I grow are Spanish bluebells. Scottish bluebells are a different species and I can’t get them in Australia but that doesn’t matter it’s the beauty of nature and how I can create a gentle serene atmosphere. Soft nodding flowers in various colours and rich foliage are the look combined with fragrance that can live on in memory as a delight for years to come. A thick carpet of scented violets spreading through my garden every year adds to the creation. The sweet fragrance on a warm day is heavenly and gentle. Enjoy your springtime everyone savour the moment and beauty of the season.

Warm and fuzzy hugs 🤗 

Alex 

International Cat Day, I missed it again, D’oh!

 Damn! I find out after the event 😳🤪 I do this every year, so I have finally stuck it in my google calendar for 8th August with it set to annual reminder and for International Dog Day on 26th August too. Just as well or Miss Ruby would have something to bark about. So for what it’s worth……happy belated International Cat Day to all kitties big and small. Meow 😻 

                                                        Garfield 

                                                         Miss Daisy 

                                               Slinky 

                                             Tolstoy 

Daisy and Garfield’s baby photo, it was not easy to get a photo of them together because they were usually scraping. Daisy was a very small cat and two weeks older than Garfield but Daisy was the one to wallop Garfield. He was a big kid and very cuddly but he was always up to mischief, his sister was more serious and laid the smack down on him often. 

RECIPE: ANZAC biscuits

 As ANZAC Day is approaching here is a recipe for traditional ANZAC biscuits. This came home from primary school with one of my children decades ago. I have no idea where the recipe came from, no doubt from the good old Australian Woman’s Weekly. 

1 cup of rolled oats1 cup of plain flour 

1 cup of sugar (I use brown sugar)

3/4 cup of coconut 

125 grams  (4 oz) of butter 

2 tablespoons of golden syrup ( our measurements are different to US measurements but but not sure about Canadian measurements)

1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda 

1 tablespoon of boiling water 

Combine oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl. Combine butter and golden syrup in a pan and stir over a low heat until melted. 

Mix soda with boiling water then add to melted butter mixture. Add to the dry mixture and stir. Place tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking trays. You can alternatively use baking paper instead of greased baking trays. Allow room for spreading. Cook slowly in oven for 20 minutes at 150 centigrade. Remove from oven and loosen when warm, then cool on trays. 

NOTE This is Australian/UK metric measurements so if you live in the US please google the translation of these measurements into your country’s measurements or the recipe won’t work out. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_biscuit. Historical account of the biscuits 🍪 

ANZAC DAY 2023

 

It is 105 years since the end of WW1 and 78 years since the end of WW2, it is now 50 years since the end of the Vietnam war and in between these wars other wars and conflicts  have happened. War and conflict is still with us and always will be. Please do not let the RSL or ANZAC Day die out. 

Every life lost matters, both human and animal lives. Uphold the principles and values of what this means to our nation and our people. To allow this to fade away would be unthinkable and unacceptable to those that gave their lives and freedoms so that we can live. War will for ever be the curse of humanity never forget that. 

Educate the youth of our nation, teach them honour, dignity and respect. Teach them to respect all life. Including the animals caught up in war and conflict. 

Please support our services and keep our RSL's running as the place for our service men, women  and their families to meet and to honour the memories of those that are no longer with us.

Lest we forget!

https://www.canberraclub.com.au/

This is the link to the Canberra Services Club for those that are interested in visiting and joining.