It was my birthday and I cried because I wanted to


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** In a sad note today, we have heard the little boy passed away peacefully this afternoon (Wednesday Nov 25). There are no words, except to say we are thinking of him and his family.

With my four-year-old at a not-for-profit community preschool, I sit – not very well admittedly – amidst a wonderful preschool committee. Not so long ago – about 8 weeks ago actually – our committee heard about the sibling of one of our preschool children. The seven-year-old had once attended our preschool but was diagnosed with cancer early this year. Now, after several months of treatment, they stopped it. It wasn’t working.

I wonder at the power of empathy and if humanity listened to it more would the world be a better place?  For myself, after I heard the news I would just start crying at odd times. I have shed tears all over the place, and I don’t even know the family. And it wasn’t just me.

It very quickly became obvious to us all that we had to do … something. After all, though nothing could fix this, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps there is some small comfort in knowing that your community cares.

So, the preschool committee kicked into gear and this is the result. Continue reading

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Date Night in Taree

(WARNING: no pics. Just thought you should know, as apparently all highly successful blogs should have pics. BUT there is riveting, action based video).

Speaking of meat (oops. Bec H started that conversation 3 months ago… Nonetheless, I take mine medium rare thanks), Dougal and I recently enjoyed our first date night in… in…, actually I’m not sure how long it has been, but it has certainly been a long time (I read about those couples in magazines who say ‘they make sure they have an evening to themselves once a week/once a fortnight/ one a month/ once every six months, with great astonishment. Who manages to DO that??!!).

Date night came about because my parents were visiting for a week, so it was then or never. Not quite ready to opt for ‘never’, our first night plans dissolved into exhaustion, as a day in the paddocks fixing fences in the rain led to us piking. After another day in the paddocks (at the end of which we discovered we had been fixing the wrong fence, let’s not go there right now), our window of opportunity was quickly shrinking so we somewhat reluctantly, but determinedly, set off on a dark, cold, rainy Wednesday night, for a 35min drive to Taree. Continue reading

Two Becs Do The World Cup – Bec C’s Full Brazilian

“Bec C’s Full Brazilian”?? AHA! Got your attention now haven’t I? Except that it’s not what you think…

Bec H may well be galivanting across the Americas for the World Cup, from airport to airport, queueing in queues, cursing with currencies… But I get to experience the World Cup only 3 hours drive from our little farm, in the depths of Artarmon, Sydney, Australia. No 30 hours of flying for me. In fact, unlike Bec H witnessing the World Cup first hand, I get to come home in between gigs. Can’t do that from Brazil…

I’m desperately trying to gain a bit of kudos here, but I do of course realise I’m treading a thin line (it is, after all, hard to compete with Brazil!). That said, I have actually scored myself a pretty good little job for the duration of the World Cup (who would have thought – the Two Becs’ involved in the World Cup?!). I’m job sharing with a friend on SBS’s excellent, almost-daily live World Cup entertainment show “The Full Brazilian”, hosted by comedian Jimeoin. Continue reading

The Princess and the Bug

Bugs. Life is full of them. The good ones…

bee pollenAnd the bad ones…

DSC_2697One bug’s not so bad. Thousands…? Not so good. Excuse me while I have a little itch just thinking about them.

Bugs are the bane of my summer living. I should be acclimatised by now, swiping them off my fevered brow without a second thought, but quite honestly, the feeling of one bug on my skin is magnified 20 times so that I begin to imagine I have stepped into some kind of Hitchcock horror movie, where I am eventually devoured. Yes, in terms of bugs, I am a little like the Princess and the Pea Bug. Continue reading

Sundried Linen and Living Flora

bec's verandahI was talking with a friend yesterday, as we sat outside my house on the verandah in soaring 30 degree temperatures (yes, I realise this photo isn’t actually my verandah but is Bec H’s and that’s her in the foreground, but it’s so good I just had to use it anyway. Photographer: Dougal), and she mentioned having seen an ad for a bed and breakfast up north, promoting none other than ‘Sundried Linen’.

Of course, I almost choked on my iced water. “Sundried Linen”?!! Continue reading

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

DSC_2103 Despite having only a few Christmas trees to select from in the paddock this year, I am very happy with the tree we were allocated sight unseen. And really, thank god we weren’t turned away at the gate (as were some. Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode with the Soup Nazi, who refused to serve some hapless potential clients, thus furthering his own popularity as ‘to be served’ signalled ‘to be good enough’. Not that we were ‘good enough’ – we just happened to have heard of the hail damage and so rang a few days beforehand to ‘bags’ a few trees).

In fact, this year’s Christmas Tree has enabled me, for the first time, to be glad we have a small house. Our tree, every year, is squashed into a narrow-ish space between the sideboard and the fireplace. This year the positive effects of such confinment means that the tree still looks incredibly luscious and full. Continue reading