december contemplations

Christmas and New Year are hurtling towards us at what seems like light speed; all the decorations are out, as are the crazy shoppers; the working year is winding down, and the parties are gearing up.

I feel as though everyone around me is rushing, while I’m simply standing still. Quiet. Contemplative.

2011 has been a bit of rollercoaster ride, I have been so busy that I don’t feel like I’ve had a chance to properly process all the things that have happened, and that it’s all catching up to me all at once at this point in time.

So much has changed this year. So many little blessings have come into the world this year, while some dear old friends have also departed this life. The losses still hurt, and probably will for some time to come. I have made some lovely new friends, and learned how hard it is to choose between hurting a friend or allowing yourself to be hurt.

I have been bombarded with so much new information at uni that I’m still not sure how much has been absorbed. I don’t feel like I’ve I learned enough, but I never do. One more internship, hopefully early next year, and I will have completed my diploma, then its (hopefully!) on to employment in the museum sector, which will bring a whole new set of challenges that I don’t yet feel completely prepared for.

Yep, 2012 is coming, ready or not… Here’s hoping its filled with less drama and more love.

why, brain? why?

Why is it I always seem to be at my most creative when I have other things to do?

I currently have two three-thousand word essays and a ten-minute powerpoint presentation that need to be finished and handed-in within the next three weeks, and all I can think about is craft, painting and writing! Academic motivation is currently at an all time low, and all I want to do is get started on all the cute Christmas present ideas I’ve been coming up with...  My brain even managed to detangle a lovely science-fiction type storyline that’s been haphazardly forming in my brain for the last year, all right when I have absolutely no time to sew or put pen to paper (metaphorically, of course, since years of typing has reduced my handwriting to something akin to ancient hieroglyphics).

I’ll bet anything this creativity will have completely disappeared by the time I hand in my last assignment too… Stupid brain, sometimes I hate you!

on this grey saturday...

I finally found a moment to stop by my blog, and yes, I’m feeling a little ashamed that I haven’t had anything interesting to share the last couple of weeks (or should I say months?), but uni is taking up pretty much all of my time at the moment.

It’s slightly depressing having to stay inside chained to the computer while it’s sunny and gorgeous outside, but at least the end in somewhat in sight… another six weeks and about nine thousand words over four assignments and I’ll be done with uni for another year, so standby for the deliriously happy post about that wonderful event.

smells like spring

Spring is in the air, you can smell it amongst the lavender and the jasmine, the fresh cut grass and the salty sea breeze. Many will say that it’s a lovely and welcome smell after a long, cold Winter, but I, for one, am always sad to see Winter go. I enjoy being rugged up indoors with a roaring fire, a good book and a nice hot chocolate, and I like being able to go outside when its cold and not having to worry about getting sunburned, or attacked by mosquitoes and leeches, but c’est la vie. I will simply have to take advantage of the lovely warm (but not too warm) weather to get as much done in the garden as possible before it gets too hot and I’m forced to retreat to the pool. I have added two apple trees to my little orchard out the front, and two new raised garden beds out the back. I’m thinking I might plant some onions and potatoes, but I’m not sure what else to plant… Never mind, the Springtime Flora Festival will provide the answers, as it usually does.

Now if only my uni assignments would do themselves so I could go outside and enjoy the sunshine and flowers!

This Is August

… Okay, so its been a little while since my last post, I’m sorry! Uni and family have taken up most of my time lately, and lets face it, not much can compare to the awesomeness of the Abbey Festival!

The highlight of this week was the trip to the Reptile Park with my mum, sister-in-law and nephew. It’s been years since I last visited the Reptile Park (probably as part of school excursion) and it’s still a fun place to visit, I loved it! Plus I finally got to play with my shiny new camera, oh my gosh its awesome!

Alligator

Crocodile

Tasmanian Devil

Koala

My nephew with a Dingo pup

Rock Wallabies

Patting a Wombat

update

Still feeling the Abbeylove, but I figured it'd last a while because I had such a great time!
I'm in the process of uploading most of my photos to my Flickr account, which can be found here
I would also like to thank the Abbey people for giving my blog a lovely plug on their facebook page. I just discovered the previous post alone has been viewed over two hundred times, which is all sorts of amazing, so thank you Abbey! I'm more than happy to spread the Abbeylove because I had such a great time!
Going to spend the rest of the week getting my internship report finished (*groan*) and preparing to go back to uni next week for what will (possibly/hopefully) be my last semester before venturing out into the "real world" of employment and all its associated responsibilities (yay?)... I wonder if the Abbey people would be willing to keep the festival going all year 'round so I could just go live there instead?

medieval awesomeness

Still on a massive high after a fabulous weekend at the Abbey Medieval Festival in Queensland, their reputation as the biggest and best in the southern hemisphere is well deserved!

My week of frantically sewing enough Medieval garb for three people (myself, my sister-in-law and her son) paid off on Saturday when, looking pretty swanky, we set off for the Festival (about an hours drive, with a stop for petrol and coffee, that drew many a strange look from people who didn’t know there was a Medieval festival on hehehe).

We arrived just after the gates opened at 9am, so the carpark was pretty packed and the line pretty long. We were advised to buy our tickets for the joust as soon as possible because it usually sold out pretty quick, good thing we were warned because the line for tickets was massive (and it was indeed sold out by about lunch time). We opted to see the last joust of the day so we could do all our walking around and then sit for a bit later on in the day.

First event of the day was the opening ceremony and parade, which took place outside the castle and was commentated by the Abbey Herald (one seriously amusing dude… or should I say lord?). At this point my camera died, luckily my sister-in-law had one and I had a backup for the next day.

I must say I love the reenactors, I’m a massive stickler for authenticity and its good to know I’m not the only one! Heaps of groups participated (not sure the exact number), including the Society for Creative Anachronism (yay! my group!)

After the parade we did a bit of wandering to familiarise ourselves with all the different camps (grouped by time period mostly) and then came back to the castle to watch the Birds of Prey demonstration, followed by an archery competition and then Fire Power (different types of cannon, including a smaller hand-held precursor to the musket, very cool!), then it was off to hear a lecture on Prince Dracula (the historical figure on whom the vampire was based on) and finally the joust (which was awesome!).

An early night and a long sleep later and it was back to the Festival for day two, which was definitely more relaxing since we didn’t have to keep checking that we hadn’t misplaced my nephew (as much as I love the boy, his attention span is shorter than mine!). Breakfast was coffee and churros, oh my gosh, so good! Everyone should try churros!

My backup camera, borrowed from my dad, lasted through the second opening ceremony (which I wanted to see again since I missed getting pictures of the first time because of my crappy camera), but decided to error shortly after, so we were back to one camera for the day… I currently hate cameras.

After the parade we went back to the jousting field to see the Warriors of the Steppe who were putting on a demonstration of horseback archery and combat, it was amazing! We had a lovely chat with the riders (and their horses) afterwards too.

We then wandered into University Hall for a lecture on Medieval Feminine Hygiene. I figured immediately it would be about periods and so on, but apparently a large number of men thought it was going to be about washing, perfumes and cosmetics and so on. The mass exodus from the tent once they’d been set straight by the lecturer was quite amusing, as was the actual lecture! Ahhh the things you learn!

After a good giggle it was onto the Turkish Oil Wrestling, which was exactly as awesome as it sounds! Definitely a more novel use for olive oil!

This was followed by a demonstration of Morris Dancing (I blame Pratchett for my desire to see this, unfortunately, they didn’t do the stick and bucket dance). My sister-in-law now wants to give Morris Dancing a try. You go girl!

Hours of perusing the various camps and the market stalls followed. We had a lovely long chat with the Vikings who had their own village a few suburbs away, my sister-in-law and I were even invited to join the village because they were short on fair maidens. Ah flattery, I love it! I bought a lovely copper cloak pin from them which I love, been after one for ages!

I also got a lovely cross decorated with Celtic knots, although I can’t decide whether to put it on a necklace or a rosary. Hmm.

I was sad to leave the festival because it was so much fun. Definitely going back next year! in the meantime I will be shamelessly plugging it to anyone and everyone I come across… By the way, their website is Abbey Tournament and they can also be found on Facebook here

Check it out because its so so awesome!

Abbeystowe Castle

Weapons of the High Middle Ages

Inside a Shuvani Romani tent

Campsite of the Cottereaux (Company of the Dagger)

Outside the Jannissary Barracks

Sir Justyn's wedge-tail eagle

Archery competition

Jousting

Jousting

Turkish Oil Wrestling

airport blogging

blogging from newcastle airport, on my way to brisbane to party medieval-style at the Abbey Festival with my sister-in-law after a week of sewing garb like a mad woman, should be fabulous! ^_^

sepia tones

half way through my internship now, still alive despite week after week of early starts (pretty sure I'm running on nothing but coffee)
currently going through old photographs of The Rocks, they're absolutely fabulous! cobbled roads and horse-drawn carts, women in long dresses and men in suits and tophats... I love old photos!
looking forward to having my work put up on some buildings too, there will be many pictures when this happens!

a vivid end to the week

Hurray! Week one of my internship survived, and enjoyed! I didn’t exactly enjoy the 6:30am starts, or the long commute into Sydney, but the gorgeous Baker’s Oven Café on George Street cured me of my morning grumpiness with a large cappuccino and fabulously friendly staff.

My week has consisted mainly of research. I’m pretty sure I’ve read everything there is to real about early colonial bricks and Peters Ice Cream.

I am also loving Trove, an online initiative by the National Library of Australia to digitise, and make searchable, a number of resources, such as books, newspapers, pictures, objects, letters, maps and websites. It’s absolutely fantastic, especially if you love old photographs, like I do!

Check it out here http://trove.nla.gov.au/

My week finished with a lovely dinner out with my mum, and then a wander through The Rocks and Circular Quay to check out the Vivid Sydney lights and displays after work… I won’t lie, I was expecting it to be a little tacky, but it was actually amazing and beautiful. Photos can’t really do it justice since everything was constantly moving and changing, but I tried…

farewell semester one!

Goodness, gracious! Last day of semester one today! It seems like only yesterday I was looking at thirteen weeks of study, study, study and essay writing... I'd probably be more excited if I didn't still have two essays and a presentation to complete, but at least from here I can see the bright shining lights of spare time cresting the horizon of somewhere in early July. Until then my weekdays will be spent interning for the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (currently researching methods of brick production in early to mid nineteenth century Sydney, which is exactly as interesting as it sounds! But at least I'm generally inside, hidden away from the crazy Sydney weather!), and my weekends will be spent doing assignments.
On the brightside, early July brings my birthday, which means quality time with my lovely friends and family (and yes, I'll admit, presents!) and a trip to Brisbane to visit my brother and his lovely family... My sister-in-law and I have plans to spend a weekend at the Abbey Medieval Festival, decked out head to toe in Medieval garb, watching jousting and archery and partaking of Medieval shenanigans! Should be fabulous fun, many photos will be taken, I promise! xo

newsflash!

The world hasn’t ended yet!

Anti-climax of the year.

Personally I was looking forward to it, especially the prospect of the dead rising, I’ve always wanted to have a go at zombie slaying, so I was a little disappointed with the all mighty fizzer we got instead.

Plus I still have to finish my assignments and hand them in. Epic disappointment, the apocalypse would have been the perfect excuse not to!

Someone needs to take the guy who came up with the entire idea of this most recent apocalypse aside and explain to him that if he spent less time doing math, he’d probably be a little less keen on the idea of the world ending, and to stop getting everyones hopes up!

missed

welcome back blog! I missed you while you were gone, missed being able to access the insights and creativity of the many lovely and talented bloggers who I follow. A recent trawl through a number of craft sites has bolstered the number of crafty blogs I follow, and I'm looking forward to having a go at some of the projects they've suggested (I particulary love the people who post instructions, tutorials and patterns, there is nothing worse than a lack of information on something you'd love to try!)... In other news, I have two major assignments due in the coming weeks, so my self control will be getting a darn good workout as I resist said crafty blogs in favour of research and writing.
Have I mentioned I miss having spare time?

you've got me wondering...

A friend on Facebook recently posted a status asking anyone who has, or knows someone who has, suffered from depression to repost said status in support of Depression Awareness Week. I’m not knocking that friend as she’s one of the most beautiful people (inside and out) on the face of the planet, but this status made me wonder a few things:

1). Just how many people who actually suffer, or have suffered from depression would admit it, especially in the social and very public sphere of Facebook, and

2). And how many people would actually aware of friends who were suffering, or had suffered, from depression.

I’m sure many people would like to think they would be able to spot when a friend is hurting, but from personal experience they generally don’t.

I can’t claim to have suffered from “depression” as I never actually sought a professional diagnosis (I didn’t want to have my head shrunk, or addled with drugs) but I did survive a pretty dark period and this status made me wonder if anyone actually noticed. Were my mood swings just that, mood swings? Was my laughter so genuine that they had no idea I was so numb inside that I would take scissors to my skin just to make sure I could still feel? Could they see it eating me up inside? Did they know?

I don’t think they did, and that’s not their fault; they’re not minder readers; and my problems have always been my own to fix, even when they seemed too big to tackle… So now I wonder, how can anyone else claim to know when their friends are suffering similar dark feelings? Is it societal? Have we been taught not to look too deep, for fear of what we might have to deal with? Or worse, take responsibility for fixing?

I have no answers.

Years later that time is still a painful, and frightening, memory, (that I'm still not 100% comfortable talking about) but at least I survived it, and can offer this advice: if you are suffering, you can beat it. Will telling someone help? I don’t know, but I wish I had: just hoping that someone will see through you to heart of your pain and miraculously make it all better is unrealistic; but if I'd told someone, at least I'd have had someone by my side for the tough battle ahead.
If you’re not suffering, then take a closer look at your friends, pay attention to random mood swings, or if they become withdrawn and isolate themselves; listen closely to what they say and even closer to what they don't say... especially if they’re stubborn buggers like me.

on this day...

I am grateful for:

- having handed in my first essay as a postgrad. I’m not confident that it’s that great, and writing it was stressful, but having finished I feel back into the swing of it and am much more confident in my ability to tackle the other four.

- having use of the staffroom in the department building at uni, there is nothing better than free coffee, especially when it gets you through a long lecture late in the day (and its free, woo!)

- my dog, shes so cute and her love is unconditional… although right now I think it might have something to do with the fact that I’m eating my dinner, and shes giving me a look like shes never been fed and is fading away… but at least she’ll still love me when I’m finished eating (with her help, of course)

- my mum, for many reasons, including that she made the dinner I’m currently eating: minestrone soup with toasted Italian panini (olive tapenade, fresh tomatoes, bocconcini cheese and a sprinkling of thyme, all toasted in the oven).

- knowing that its going to be okay… my personal little world has been unbalanced of late, and for a while there I did fear that the darkness that, years ago, I had to fight long and hard to banish from my life, was going to return and consume my ability to be happy and comfortable in my own skin… but I feel it ebbing away again now, it'll take some time for it to go completely, but at least this time it only took weeks to overcome, instead of years, and I'm going to take as a good sign. It’ll try and come back, but I’m confident I have the strength within myself to banish it again. I just wish everyone knew that they had the strength within themselves to create their own happiness.

Off to the conservation labs at the Australian Maritime Museum tomorrow! Should be an interesting learning experience, and I’m really looking forward to it!

quickie

… would just like to say that assignments are annoying… that’s all I have right now to validate my continual waste of blogspace... come back spare time, I miss you!

relief

enjoying a very welcome southerly and a little sprinkling of rain, its time summer went into hibernation so those of use who actually enjoy the cold weather can come out of our air-conditioned lairs
hot weather + uni study = torture, bring on the cooler months!

baking

Oh my goodness it was hot today! It pushed 40˚ at my place for hours on end, and this heat is suppose to continue for the rest of the week! I am not a person built for those kinds of temperatures; my skin is so fair I burn in the shade. I much prefer the colder months. Come back winter, I miss you!

On a (somewhat) brighter note, I completed my enrolment for my Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies today. Although the schlep to the campus was unpleasant in the heat (Sydney lacks both shade and adequately air-conditioned public transport… with the exception of the Tangara trains, I even found myself able to forgive them their seats which feel as though they were carved from concrete, a sore backside is a small price to pay for aircon!), I love going to the University of Sydney; the old buildings are so beautiful and graceful (and slightly Hogwarts-esque, especially the Great Hall).

The day presented two blessings in the form of being able to get a lot more paperwork out of the way than I thought I would be able to, and not having to have a new photo taken for my student ID (because no one looks good in 40˚ heat!).

Now I just have to survive my subjects (The Museum Context: Information & Collection Management: Artefact Studies: The Ethics of Cultural Property: and an internship… because I know you were dying to know). The workload has increased from the undergraduate level, and I’m wavering between excitement at learning new things, and pants-wetting fear that I won’t be able to handle the workload and will fail miserably. You never know what you’re capable of until you try, though, and I will be trying my hardest because I not only want to do well, I want to be able to get a good job in a museum where I can pursue my passion for the protection and conservation of artefacts for future generations.

I’ll leave off here, because I have brownies in the oven (baking being another one of my many passions ^_^). Stay cool in this horrible heat.

I love my sunburnt country

Happy Australia Day, Aussies!

This year we celebrate 223 years since the arrival of the First Fleet. I also, personally, celebrate 223 years since the arrival of my convict ancestors, and that my family has been a part of this country right from the very beginning.

So, on this; the one day of the year when public displays of national pride having nothing to do with sporting events; let me share a few things I love about my country…

- the bush, because of all its beautiful and unique flora and fauna, most of which is only found in this country

- the ocean: Great Barrier Reef, need I say more? If you’ve never seen it first hand, I highly recommend it, because nowhere else on earth comes close.

- koalas, because they’re unbelievably cute and always pee on tourists… without fail… every darn time.

- cricket. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I have three brothers so I never really stood a chance of avoiding it. It’s fabulous when we’re beating our arch-rivals, the British, and when we’re not, there’s nothing like a nanna-nap on the lounge, in front of the tv, on a hot summer’s day. The terminology is also helpful when seeking to confuse non-cricket-fans, or anyone not from a Commonwealth country.

- Federation, and the fact that our country was formed through debate, consultation and voting, rather than bloody conflict. Most historians will claim this was deliberate, but I’m not most historians, and I say it was because we were lazy, and still are today. Why fight when there’s an easier, less strenuous way? Being lazy (or laid-back) is the Aussie way. We even have the beer helmet so we don’t have to keep lifting those wickedly heavy stubbies and cans all the way to our mouths. Need I argue on? Well I won’t. I’m too lazy.

Stay safe and look out for your mates.

more hours in the day, please!

So much to do, so little time!

I blame craft. It’s entirely too enticing, the possibilities are fantastic and endless, and my craft room is a testament to this. So many projects half finished, so many yet to be started.

The fact that I have the attention span of a goldfish at times and a tendency to be easily distracted, especially by shiny things (ooh shiny!) probably doesn’t help, but neither do craft sales, especially when fabric and patterns are on sale. How could I resist? I only have so much self control, and most of that is holding cravings for coffee and chocolate at bay. Now there’s the mad rush to get as much done as possible, before the university semester starts and I have absolutely no spare time whatsoever. But of course, I can’t do one thing until I’ve finished ten others. It’s frustrating and overwhelming, but on the bright side, I’m never bored!

Another strange phenomenon is people assuming that just because I spend most of my time mucking around with a sewing machine, I have anything resembling skills and talent. The requests for random items of clothing I can handle, as I treat each project as a learning experience, but the offers of payment are a little strange, anything beyond the cost of the materials seems like highway robbery to me. A brief stint in retail must have broken my brain, getting paid to do something that’s amazingly fun and creative feels wrong. Hopefully practice will make perfect. Both with the sewing machine and taking people’s money ^_^