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Castles, Dogs and Roundabouts

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We are just back from a trip to the United Kingdom and Ireland, and my non-scientific observation is that there are more castles, dogs, and traffic roundabouts in the UK by a huge margin compared to Australia.

Traffic roundabout at Tenby in Wales

The purpose of this trip was not to make comparisons at all but to make a personal pilgrimage to our ancestral origins. After years of family history research, I had found the places that our relatives lived prior to their immigration to Australia (and the USA in one case).

Susan outside ancestors home in Newton Stewart, Scotland

We had a couple of actual addresses and we visited these houses, knocked on the door, and had lovely conversations with the current residents. They were very interested to hear about the lives of people who once lived in those places.

Michael outside ancestors home in Sandwich, England

We also wanted to see as much of the UK and Ireland as we could in about six weeks, because the trip from Australia is awful, and a real deterrent and we doubt we will do this trip again. So, it really was a once in a lifetime journey for us. Well, second, as we had flown in and out of London back in 2008.

We spent a few days in London at the beginning of this trip and visited some places we had not last time. We had done the actual version of my armchair travel exercise and we were keen to get out of the city.

Michael at the Sky Garden in London.

I had formed a loose itinerary, noting the places we wanted to see. We aimed to visit possibly two castles; however, it is hard to avoid castles, and we ended up visiting eleven up close. The most impressive to us is Arundel Castle in England.

Arundel Castle in England

Here is a list of the castles we visited in the order that we were there: (Learning about the history of these castles is something else and I have provided the links for more information:

There were other places we wanted to see motivated by those gorgeous photos seen online, such as the Harry Potter train and bridge known as the Jacobite Steam Train and the Glenfinnan Viaduct, a particular curved street in Edinburgh, Portree and the Old Man of Stor on the Isle of Skye, Eilean Donan Castle, the Dark Hedges in Northern Ireland, to name just a few.

Jacobite Steam Train traversing the Glenfinnan Viaduct, Scotland

And while we did make it to see these places and to take another iconic photo, there is a lot the camera does not pick up. Such as full car parks, queues of gridlocked traffic, crowds and queues of people, bad weather obscuring the view, no place to stop the car, and other things.

Driving through the Scottish Highlands

And while those places are not to be missed, and we chased the touristy things like everyone else, we also found lots of beautiful places and experiences in other areas that are not earmarked for the tourists. Ballintoy Harbour in Northern Ireland is one of those, and we enjoyed scrambling around on the rocks looking out towards the Atlantic Ocean and the Isles of Scotland. By chance we discover that this is where they filmed the scenes for the Iron Islands in Game of Thrones.

Ballintoy Harbour, Northern Ireland

We were blessed with beautiful Autumn weather. The sun shined, the skies were blue, and we often wore tshirts. I imagined striding across the Battlefields of Culloden with icy rain beating our faces, but it was a gorgeous stroll along the paths beside the grassy fields, under a blue sky.

Gravestone at the Battlefields of Culloden, Scotland

These are some of the highlights of our trip:

We loved meeting and talking with local people, everyone always friendly. Although we were often mistaken as ‘British’ until we clarified that we are Australian.

I never got tired of the green fields and lush forests.  

Susan walking along the Beech tree lined road of the Dark Hedges, Northern Ireland

Seeing squirrels in the beautiful city parks.

Hearing bagpipes in unexpected places in Scotland is a treat.

Looking for the Loch Ness Monster while aboard the cruise boat and hearing their theories.

Seeing the bold Harry Potter train chug happily across the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

Driving through the Scottish Highlands is breathtaking and tempts you to hike and explore.

Looking for quaint fishing villages and finding many.

Tenby Harbour, Wales

The Isle of Skye is reminiscent of New Zealand.

Walking up to the Old Man of Stor and not making it, but seeing the sea and lakes appear below the morning fog, reflecting the blue sky.

View from the trail to the Old Man of Stor, Isle of Skye

The beauty and smallness of Ireland and Scotland.

Michael and Susan at Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

The sea ferry journeys between Scotland and Northern Ireland, and then Dublin and Wales.

We spent 37 nights staying in 28 different B&Bs or hotels, using Booking.com as our guide.

Michael planning the day ahead, Belfast, Northern Ireland

In Blarney Ireland we met a formerly unknown distant cousin who had reached out via Ancestry DNA Matches, and we spent a lovely time with him, sharing our stories, and chatting about history.

Distant cousins at Kanturk Castle, Ireland

We are exceedingly happy to be back home in Australia, glad of the experience, and we are still processing all that we have seen and what this means to us. We have so many photos and I am still sorting through them. I will probably make a few photo stories for our own reminiscing.

Stonehenge, England

As a personal pilgrimage it was invaluable and gives more meaning to our own family histories. I will add a chapter to my story.

Map of trip route 2024

Beautiful Slow Life

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The half light of morning is my favourite time of day. I sit at the desk in my study looking out at the dawn, watching the colours appear, listening to the birds calling, and the distant traffic building.

Morning pages

I write in my journal. Not Morning Pages anymore as that habit is unnecessary now. This practice steered me through the difficult times. It helped me to sort through the things that irritated me or upset my sensitive equilibrium. With retired life, this need has lessened significantly.

I realise we are all subject to jumping into the “rat race” to be involved in this life. So, we push ourselves to achieve and acquire for decades. We rush and learn and train and work. For how many years did I wake to the alarm clock in order to rush through the day meeting all of the deadlines? It is exhausting.

Now though I love this slow life. And I have discovered some kindred spirits via the online world. Slow living is something wonderful and enriching. The Cottage Fairy offers videos on YouTube that shows her beautiful, natural, and considered life in a beautiful rural environment. The Artist Valerie Lin paints and sells her beautiful artworks online. Her videos too are pretty, precise, and mindful. These two young women offer an alternative approach about how to live in this world and not get drawn into this daily grind. I wish them well with their endeavours.

Inspired by their gentle and authentic reminders I returned to my own art. While my own “style” differs to theirs, I managed to complete an oil painting of a sunset with reflections on water on a large canvas. This topic differs greatly from my usual subjects. I often use variations of green for foliage and not the bright orange, yellow, and reds that I have used here. Of course, this scene reminds me of the many sunsets we saw when we travelled around Australia during the pandemic years.

Finished oil painting of Sunset Reflections by me.

Recently we spent a week bush-camping on the banks of a river with some other people. It was nice to get away from the traffic, signs, restrictions, tourists, and the daily news. While the others fished, I was content to sit beside the river and watch the water flow, the trees rustle, and the birds fly about. It is a treat to see Kingfishers and I came face to face with one wayward flier. A few snakes swam across the river making us careful while tramping around in the thick crunchy leaf matter.

Australian river scene

At night we gathered around a campfire, talking, laughing, and trying to identify satellites, stars, and planets in the clear night sky.

And while I soaked up the quiet and gentle sounds of the natural environment, these colours of the typical Australian bush do not inspire me. The olive-green river, and a million shades of brown and grey did not give me cause to pick up a coloured pencil or paintbrush.

Now another pause between projects. What will I paint next? I do have an unfinished painting on my easel that I want to complete. I recall the encouraging words of Valerie Lin and know that this is my work, and I can do whatever I choose. I must remind myself to NOT watch the News. Especially when there are so many inspiring and positive things in the online media world. Rich Roll, Simon Hill, Rip Esselstyn, and many others.

Grandma Life

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It was in May last year that I last wrote in this blog. I’ve had thoughts, but apart from irregular journal writing, I’ve mainly been adjusting to and assessing this “retired life”.

It has been almost five years since I retired from fulltime paid employment in my chosen career. And while I felt useful in my work, serving the community in a positive way, I am relieved to be away from the relentless and soul-sucking power plays of office politics.

In these past five years I have done things I have wanted to do: travelled Australia; “finished” and printed our family history; organised the family photos; wrote a short story of fiction; and walked in some beautiful places.

So many life goals and achievements are behind me now: getting married (still married for 41 years now); enjoying 20 years nurturing three children into adulthood; achieving two degrees and one Masters; designed four houses we built and lived in; travelled Australia; visited London, Paris, as well as other gorgeous parts of western Europe; competed in many events swimming, cycling, and running; trekked many mountains in Australia and the Overland Track in Tasmania; and fed my creative urges through writing, drawing, painting, photography, and playing the piano.

Now my hip is sore, and I feel my age. But I value this Grandma Life – #grandmalife. I cherish the memories I hold of my own grandparents, especially the women. I loved being in their company, soaking up the warmth, endless cups of tea, stories, and love.

It seems to me that era of basic warm circles of women is undervalued in today’s society. Who even makes tea in a pot anymore? Well, me, but … Apart from the tea-making, I hope I show my own two little granddaughters the value of this warm, quiet, cherishing, in the same way I experienced.

Still life sketch with teapot by SuesBent 2023

These days with most of my life behind me, I gladly put the “GO-GO-GO” lifestyle aside. I try to live in the beauty of a slow life – #beautifulslowlife. I enjoy the YouTube videos of The Cottage Fairy and try to soak up her slow rhythm and appreciation of small pleasures. (Although her life is about to change in a profound way with a baby on the way). I still listen to Rich Roll and enjoy his considered and in-depth conversations, although the testosterone levels can be a bit much at times.

I love regular dips in the clear green waters of Port Phillip Bay and this visceral experience always reminds me of the dips I have loved in this bay since first learning to swim as a child.

Cooking is always something I’ve loved and it’s great to have time to spend in the kitchen making healthy and nourishing meals for my husband and me.

I continue to feed my creativity with writing, painting, and piano playing. I walk and I will return to daily yoga when my hip feels better. I may have strained it doing pigeon pose with Adriene recently. Or perhaps when I trekked up to the top of Genoa Peak recently.

I read and log my journey on GoodReads. I reached my target of 50 books last year for the first time in the past eleven years. This year though I will relax and let my reading journey unravel as it will. So far, I have loved Wifedom by Anna Funder, Question 7 by Richard Flanagan, and A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

I continue to study things that interest me, so I will see what is available on Future Learn. I do lessons in the French language every day. I am also working through the daily lessons of A Course in Miracles, as well as watching some discussion online about this text. Many years ago, I attended a presentation in Melbourne where Marianne Williamson talked about A Course in Miracles. It was intense and spellbinding. Now she is a candidate for President of the US. Now there is someone who has never slowed down.

Review of 2022

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It is good to look back upon the year that was. This retired life is often free from milestones, goals, and ambition, and we often forget all that we have done.

  • This year I committed to weekly swimming at the local pool YAWA, and I stayed true to that, swimming about 1600 metres each time.
  • I walked regularly and did yoga at home in the mornings.
  • I continued to listen to the Rich Roll podcast, sometimes listening as I walked, and also often tuning in to the YouTube version. He has been consistently providing these interesting interviews for ten years now and I have listened to every episode. While I used to tune in during my commutes to and from work, now I have to make time in order to listen.
  • I have been practicing the French language using the Duolingo language app.
  • I joined the Peninsula Writers Club and while I have not attended many meetings, I did enjoy the workshops that I went to.
  • I wrote a work of historical fiction, and my autobiography to the present year. These were both great exercises for me to complete and my writing apprenticeship has broadened.
  • I read 32 books of the 50 book Reading Challenge I set for myself on Goodreads. My favourite piece of fiction was Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. My favourite piece of non-fiction was A Place in the World: Finding the Meaning of Home by Frances Mayes.
  • Time spent with my granddaughters was a lot of fun. Together we swam, cycled, drew, painted, cooked, played games, and enjoyed watching Bluey.
  • My husband and I had our DNA tests completed with Ancestry, and this confirmed my research into our family history.
  • The coronavirus pandemic is still circulating unseen.
  • I didn’t practice my piano lessons as often as I planned and hope to do more in 2023.
  • We didn’t go on any trips this year staying close to home.
  • We sold the caravan.
  • We are planning an itinerary for an overseas trip in 2023.
  • As of now I am hopping off social media. I deleted my Twitter account after subscribing in 2007. Instagram annoys me so much now that I can’t bear to be on there for more than a minute. I am not interested in TikTok. Facebook seems to be a necessary evil, but I will try not to post anything. I deleted my Strava account. Of course, I will keep Google and YouTube as these are actually helpful platforms.
Fun with my granddaughters 2022

Lockdown Life

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Since we have returned to “normal” life, after our adventures, we have been in lockdown with the rest of Melbourne and Victoria. My husband misses his weekly golf games with his mates and looks forward to when he can do that again. I am quite happy and occupied at home. We are both fully vaccinated.

Images during lockdown life 2021

These are some of the things I have been doing:

  • Family History Research

After decades of saving bits of information, stories, and photographs, I am finally compiling it all and see an end in sight. A bonus has been the remote access to the Ancestry Database. This has allowed me to fill in lots of gaps and extend my tree.

So far, I have found 22 ships that our ancestors arrived on, mostly from England, Ireland, and Scotland, one American, and one German. Three convicts on my side and one convict on my husband’s side.

Some of the ships my ancestors arrived on emigrating to Australia

I have one mystery that I cannot solve, and he is a key ancestor. I have found him in England and found him in Australia, but I don’t know when he arrived exactly somewhere between 1851 and August 1853. Perhaps there is a major misspelling somewhere that has not translated well into the digital files.

The excellent course I completed online through Future Learn has added a richer dimension to my research. I know what I am doing. Genealogy: Researching Your Family Tree, Future Learn UK.

  • Exercise
    • Walking within the five-kilometre restriction. This can include a solid upward walk with views of the bay. Logging these on Strava gives an added interest.
    • Cycling along the foreshore track now and then.
    • Unfortunately swimming at the local pool is not allowed at the moment. We look forward to when we can go back there regularly.
  • Creating
    • I finished an oil painting that I had on my easel for too long. Marg’s elephant at Salvia Court. And started a new painting.
    • Cooking lots of yummy food that we then have to share between the two of us. Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue Pie, Apricot Sour Cream Tart. Practicing for when our family can get together once again.
    • I practice playing my piano occasionally.
  • Media consumption
    • Reading The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes. His interpretation of those early years offers only stories of flawed humans, on all sides of the equation, trying to survive on this Earth. There are no heroes in this tale.

Stories from Mick & Sue’s Aussie Adventure

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Mick and I set out on our exploration of Australia in December 2019 and visited all states except for the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania. During this time when the pandemic caused havoc around the world, we hopped borders when we could. After seventeen months living in our caravan we were ready to head home.

Here are the stories from our adventure.

Retired Life

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So what have I been doing since I left Library Land?

It is amazing how fast each day goes by and I fill the days with things I love to do. Such as writing, cycling, walking, knitting, sketching, playing my piano, reading, listening to music and podcasts, taking photographs, yoga, making healthy plant-based meals, and more. #retiredlife

retired_life_activities

Leaving Library Land

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After 24 years in the industry I have left the Land of Libraries. It has been a busy, interesting, and rewarding time that has passed by in the blink of an eye.

Back in 1996 when I began my first job in a public library there were still card catalogues about. The automated library system used DOS and I remember using the keyboard prompts to operate the green cursor on the black screen. The World Wide Web was just emerging and Hotmail soon became the wonder of communication. Mobile devices were still a long way off. Social Media and ebooks were not things yet.

Now Google is the place everyone goes to for information; not a book in a library. Amazon is where people go to buy books either in print or as an ebook. We all carry our computers in our pockets for 24 hour connection. We go to iTunes for music, Netflix for movies and TV, and news is sent to us.

I have done everything in libraries: helping customers, handling the books, system administration, website design, reports to local and state government, presenting to groups large and small, social media, photo setups, organizing events, author talks, book launches, trivia nights, school holiday activities, budget management, recruitment, staff management, moving large collections, cataloguing, buying shelving and furniture, making ads, videos, and promotions, and much more.

My career highlights have been:

  • Involvement with the IFLA Global Vision
  • Involvement with the Victoria’s Libraries 2030 strategies
  • Library Manager at a regional library service
  • Presenting at a School Libraries Association of Victoria Conference
  • Presenting at a Red Cross Conference
  • Being involved with the Public Libraries Victoria LibMark Special Interest Group and helping to organise and deliver the Annual Conference.

I have worked with some great people and excellent teams. I have also worked with some less than satisfactory people and poorly functioning teams. It has been a profound learning journey that has been satisfying intellectually and ethically. This work gives back to the local community and is appreciated every day.

For me it is the perfect time to step away. I feel the continuing decline of public libraries and wonder how long they will operate on goodwill. For me a “community hub” is a poor replacement for what was a Library. My soul feels the affront.

On my first day away from the industry I was surprised to feel that at heart I remain a Designer. This was my first love, first pursuit, and I have dabbled over the years as a hobbyist. But I also applied the design thinking, creativity, project management and problem solving skills to all that I did in my work in libraries.

Reflections of 2018

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Once again, prompted by Chris Guillebeau of The Art of Non-Conformity, I look back on the past year to recall what went well and what didn’t go so well.UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_8651

What went well:

  • My days that I spend with my granddaughter are filled with exploration, discovery and fun. We walk, read, swim, play, tumble, ‘cook’, sing, draw, and play the piano.
  • Our new granddaughter arrived in November and the calm I feel when I just sit and hold a baby is so full of love and peace.
  • A warm holiday in the sun at Noosa with my husband, where we caught up with family.
  • The 2Cellos concert in Melbourne.
  • MOMA exhibition at the NGV with my daughter.
  • Returned to Portland for the launch of their refurbished library. Caught up with colleagues and friends. Remembered how far it is to drive there!
  • Netflix
    • Secret City
    • The 100
    • The Bodyguard
    • The Killing
    • Line of Duty
    • Animal Kingdom
    • Lots of others
  • Books read
  • Podcast favourites
  • Author Talks that I organized as part of my work at Frankston – the highlights:
  • Completed the Branching Out Certificate with the State Library Victoria.
  • Local champion for the Libraries Change Lives campaign and attended the launch at North Fitzroy Library in September.
  • Finished my personal Family History Scrapbook.
  • Continue to enjoy retreating to my house, surrounded by native birds, I feel like I live in a bird aviary. The sea breezes carry the sounds of the sea to blend with the birdsong.
  • Playing my piano.
  • The team of people I work with are supportive and dedicated.
  • The recruiting process for new staff is an experience I enjoy, especially when the results are beyond expectation.

What didn’t go so well:

  • Work continues to be unstable, changeable, and challenging. This is partly due to the changing nature of public libraries and how people consume media. Also state and local government priorities change in response to community needs.
  • I have little free time due to work commitments and the daily commute.
  • I have not exercised enough.
  • Road cycling is not something I do much of now.
  • I had several Basal Cell Carcinomas removed from my neck.
  • A winter cold resulted in a persistent cough that has been hard to shake.
  • I have not done enough yoga, meditation, or walking.

Author A. (Alec) S. Patric

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Alec Patric spoke at Frankston Library this week as part of the Australian Library Week events. And despite the small number of people in the audience, it was a lovely event. Maybe because of the small audience it was more of a conversation rather than a presentation. Alec Patric

Alec appears as a dedicated and humble writer who loves his craft. Growing up in the then barren western suburbs of Melbourne he sought enrichment through poetry. Becoming a ‘writer’ was a foreign concept in that era in that community. Working on weekends in his dad’s engineering factory he found beauty in words.

The conversation at the library meandered lyrically, involving us all, we spoke of poetry, literary fiction, genre fiction, winning awards, work in the local book shop, Black Rock White City, his soon-to-be-released collection of short stories The Butcherbird Stories, immigration, book clubs, libraries, the writing life, and more.

When Alec observed that fiction novels are the zeitgeist of society, I understood completely. This is a notion I have explored on occasion, my thoughts flailing about trying to reason why fiction is important. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas is a perfect example of a story that portrays a particular, time, place and culture: ‘the spirit of the times’.

The conversation about literary fiction brought the novel Eucalyptus by Murray Bail to mind. A book I love and is hard to place into a rigid genre. Alec was aiming for a literary page-turner with his book Black Rock White City and by receiving the Miles Franklin Award in 2016 for this novel, he obviously succeeded.

He mentioned the Long List for this year’s Miles Franklin Award and this has prompted me to have a look at those books. The one that appeals at first glance is From the Wreck by Jane Rawson.