Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween

I am one of the few people in Oz that loves celebrating Halloween and although this year I didn't go to my usual effort I still prepared the lolly bags and put a few pumpkins around.



I'm sure the seven kids that knocked at my door appreciated the small effort?



Preparing Lolly Bags



All were encouraged to join in the Halloween spirit!

And for those who think Halloween is an American, over commercialised, heap of hoohah here is a little history lesson.........
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts who lived 2000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France celebrated their New Year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the New Year the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. Ont he night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event Druids built huge sacred bonfires where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration the Celts wore costumes typically consisting of animal heads and skins and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over they re-lit their hearth fires which they had extinguished earlier that evening from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By AD 43 Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory and in the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead and the second was a day to honour Pomona the Roman goddess of fruit trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800's the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands and in the seventh century Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 'All Saints Day', a time to honour saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related but church sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain began to be called All-hallows Eve and eventually Halloween.
Even later in AD 1000 the church would make November 2 'All Souls Day' a day to honour the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. Together the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints, All Saints and All Souls were called Hallomas.
Today Halloween is a time that reconfirms the social bond of a neighbourhood (particularly the bond between strangers and different generations) by a ritual act of trade. Children go to lengths to dress up and overcome their fear of strangers in exchange for candy. And adults buy the candy and overcome their distrust of strange children in exchange for the pleasure of seeing their wild outfits and vicariously reliving their own adventures as children.
In other words the true value and importance of Halloween comes not from parading in costumes in front of close friends and family but from this interchange with strangers, exorcising our fears of strangers and reaffirming our social bond with the people of the neighbourhood who we rarely if ever see the rest of the year.
Happy Halloween :-)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Something you might not know about me………

Is that I’m a little bit ‘country’.

Yes I live in the suburbs but for the last 15-20 years I have loved my country music and country scene. It all started when dad introduced the family to Lee Kernaghan back when I was about 18 and has slowly developed into an interest over the years.

I realise that some people don’t understand or get the whole ‘country’ thing but that’s ok each to their own but for me it’s a part of who I am, even if it’s only a small part these days.

So last weekend we headed to Deniliquin for the annual Deni Ute Muster and I can say we had a ball.


Monday, August 2, 2010

Make-up



I probably should have put a WARNING with this one!


But this is ME, no frills and all. I took this photo on Sunday morning, as you can see not long after getting out of bed. I HATE this photo but it's honest, this photo is how I feel.


For the last few months life has been pretty full on! I made the extremely difficult decision to have my beautiful chester put to sleep, I still miss his cuddles. A colleague that I considered a 'friend' turned out to be not so friendly. A family rift was quickly repaired in Royal Melbourne Hospital and hearts were broken when my personal relationship came to an end.


Life's funny how it throws everything at you at once, but I am definately a strong believer in everything happens for a reason, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger and God doesn't ever give you more than you can handle, even if I do constantly ask him for strength. Last year I learnt a big lesson in Faith. Faith and hope, the faith that what you are going through is only temporary and you WILL be ok. I am testament to that! And Hope, because sometimes Hope is all it takes to get you through.


So on Sunday morning, when I felt like sh*t, I decided that 'today' wasn't about me, 'today' was about a little boys 5th birthday party. So I did my hair and make-up, and I put on my best smile and off I went to celebrate my beautiful nephews birthday in style :-)





Work In Progress

I currently have a few 'works in progress' on the go....


1. This little bargain - $3.00 at a garage sale. With a bit of TLC, an updated bag and a bit of a clean this little beauty will be great to put my knitting in and sit next to my chair.

2. A little something for someone special.

3. Me!!

I'm going to be straight up and say that at the moment I feel like sh*t! I haven't been eating properly, actually to be honest I haven't been eating much at all. My family and friends are the first to notice, haven't been game to put myself on the scales but I have noticed that my clothes are a little looser and it's not like I have a few extra kilos to spare. Some might call it laziness, or maybe even a lack of self love, but when I stand and look at my pantry or contents of my fridge I have an overwhelming sense of it's all just too hard! Some nights it may be some potato chips and a few rows of chocolate, I have been known to eat a wedge of blue cheese, healthy I know!

Anyway, food preparation is not one of my strong points and I know this area of my life is definitely a long term 'work in progress'. I have the books, I've even done the health retreat, I have the knowledge, I just lack the motiviation or as my ex-husband would say 'discipline'!!!

I guess as I say to others, take one day at a time, one step at a time and as a naturopath once said to me, when life turns to sh*t get back to basics. 3 healthy meals a day, sleep, exercise, breathe and put one foot in front of the other.





iPhone



My mobile phone contract finally finished, about 2 months after the battery had given up the ghost. So down to the Telstra shop I went just in time for their great new mobile phone deals and here it is......


My new iPhone - I love it :-)

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

RIP

Chester

8th July 1998 to 7th June 2010



Rest in peace my cuddly chubby Chester.

My best mate, my companion, my one true constant.

Forever loved, sadly missed, the best cuddly chubby Chester cat I will ever have xoxo

Friday, May 7, 2010

Dishcloths

I've been knitting dishcloths......

My sister knitted me one when I moved into my new unit and I LOVE it so I thought I would give them a go. I found a pattern that I like and I have now completed four, three which have already been given away as gifts.


Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Confession

I have a confession……….today I headed over to Westfield Shopping Centre to run a couple of errands and have a stroll around the shops. I am in my last week of my 3 weeks holiday and this is ‘my’ week were I promised myself I would do some nice things I enjoy and catch up with family and friends.

I was good, really good, had done my ‘to do’s’ at Westfield, even had a look at the fantastic iPhone that I would like to change over to when my current phone plan expires in July. I had spent not a cent, that was until I ventured into Witchery!

You see I have a couple of things on my Wish List, not many but a couple to mention are a long cardigan for winter and a pair of flat shoes for work. I have been searching for a while so when I finally came across this cardigan and it was exactly what I had envisaged it just had to be mine.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT an impulsive buyer, in fact I am not a big ‘shopper’ at all, but occasionally I will get a couple of things in my head that I would really like, and that is how I am now in the possession of a new cardigan.



Monday, April 19, 2010

My First Blog Post

When I was a kid my mum used to refer to me as Robyn Wish Wish - I was always walking around wishing for this and wishing for that. I still remember wishing for a gold (brass) bed on my 10th birthday. Unfortunately I was also blessed with 'champagne taste on a beer budget' so my wish list has always been a lot of thing which are more expensive than my salary will afford.

Take for example my current wish list which includes purchasing a place of my own, upgrading my ute, a kitchen aid mixer, not to mention clothes, shoes, jewellery, getting my ute fixed, taking the cat to the vet, getting my hair cut......the list goes on and on and on...........

Don't get me wrong I'm very grateful for the wonderful things that I do have in my life like my amazing family, very special friends, this includes the knitting group that I am so very grateful to be a part of (Jo (my sister), Nic (my besty), Julia (my sisters besty) & Naomi (Nics besty)); I have a job that I enjoy, a roof over my head, food on my table, and my health so I definately have nothing to complain about.

But I'm not going to fib, I like nice things and I know they are only things, but I figure I don't smoke, I drink very little and I am not a big 'partier'. So I have a plan, a savings plan that is, and a list, a Robyn Wish Wish list that I daydream about, because after all we all dream and wish from time to time :-)