"Shirt of Shirts" visits Sydney...

There is a famous shirt that was designed, and sewn with loving hands by a very dear, sweet. and caring man. This man is very talented and he has sewn many a shirt but this shirt was to be special and when he finished the shirt he decided to call it the "Shirt of Shirts". Now, because this shirt was so special this kind man thought, "How can I share this shirt with the world?" He said, "I know I can wear the shirt but then only the people I know will see it and this shirt is too special so it must be seen everyone". Then slowly an idea blossomed in his head and he exclaimed "I've got it I will share the shirt with all of my blogger friends and send it around the world."

The kind man told all of his blogger friends about his idea and they were thrilled and excited to think that they would actually be able to wear one of this man's fine shirts. So the kind man decided that in order to see the shirt each blogger would have to promise to take a picture or two of themselves wearing the shirt. There would also be a journal accompanying the shirt when it was sent to each blogger and the bloggers had to write something about the shirts adventure when it stopped at each bloggers home. This kind man not only made the "Shirt of Shirts and came up with the way to share the shirt he also decided that for each blogger that wore the shirt and took a picture, that the kind man would donate money to the charity of that bloggers choice. So, with the shirt made, the rules made and a long list of earner bloggers waiting for there turn to wear the shirt. the adventure of the shirt of shirt began.

Finally the "Shirt of Shirts" has made itself around to the other side of the world and landed in the land down under, Sydney Australis. I am proud and honoured to be a part of this great project and as the rules state I have taken pictures to show that the shirt of shirts spent a day sightseeing in the land of Oz so the following are a few of the pictures taken of the shirts visit to Sydney. Enjoy...

Here we are in Sydney near the famous Sydney Opera House

Behind me is the Sydney Harbour Bridge

There's the Opera House in the background

The city of Sydney in the background

and one more for good measure

So, there you go that is the story of the "Shirt of Shirts" and I owe the great pleasure of sharing this shirt with you thanks to this generous man

My how time flies...

...when you're not having fun. As usual I have let too much time pass since posting here. Actually it hasn't been that long but compared to others who post daily then it has been awhile. Since arriving back from my visit to the states to visit my mother I have been fast at work with my duties back here in the land down under and barely had time to think much less tend to or read other blogs. So with all of my rushing around I have had little time for fun.

Anyway, an exciting event is about to occur in my home town of Sydney. What may you ask is that event? I am happy to announce that the "Shirt of Shirts" arrived here in Australia and soon, meaning tomorrow, I plan to take the shirt on a tour of Sydney. Now for those of you who don't know what the "Shirt of Shirts" is, it is a project started by this kind and and gentle man who I might add who has a way with words over at his blog Spo-Reflections. This man is very talented so much so that not only does he have a way with words but he also yields a mean needle and thread. "Spo" as he goes by in the blogger word makes shirts. Now these shirts by many standards most would be considered a type of Hawaiian shirt. Well, one of these shirts was destined to become the "Shirt of Shirts", so called as the fabric to make the shirt contains the pattern of a multitude of colourful shirts. This shirt, as I said, has made it's way around the world and with every stop Spo has generously offered to make a donation to the charity of choice that the wearer chooses. I thought it was such a wonderful idea I just had to be very much be a part of this project.

So, with that said I will proudly wear the shirt and will take pictures of the sites the shirt gets to visit. As I said, I am very excited to be able to take part of this shirt's epoch journey around the world. As it stands the shirt has been to many locales within the United Staes but it has also visited places like Spain, France. Great Britain and Canada. Anyway. I just wanted to share this bit of news and I will in inert post pictures to share with you the photos that are taken during the shirts vista here in Australia.

Hello peeps,

Well, if isn't a doggone Christmas miracle, that"s what it is a great big ol' Christmas miracle. That is, if you can have a good ol' fashioned Christmas miracle in March. What the hell it's my blog and I can have Christmas when ever I damn well please. And what just may that miracle be? The answer would of course be that, I' m actually posting something to this blog. As life usually does, it has tangled me up in a big ol' knot. (BTW, I have no idea why I find it necessary to use the abbreviation of the word old but maybe I'm just in one of those good ol' boys state of mind. Anyway moving on...) So, back to life tangling me up in a big ol' ball. Life has indeed tangled me up and because of it, along with some just good ol' fashioned laziness, I have been severely short in the area of blog posts. I even missed the very last 12 of 12 and I loved the 12 of 12 posts. I do have, even though I don't need one, but I do have some good reasons for not posting and they included everything from work commitments to important family matters. At the end of the day the biggest web tangled bit is a family matter, which revolves around my mother's cancer.

Just before Christmas I called my mum to check-in with her to see what was new on her end of the world and also to hear what the families" Christmas plans were and what specifically she was doing for Christmas. I worry about my mum, especially since dad passed away in 2006. I know mum is a strong women and that she can take care of herself but I know, through personal experience, what it is like to suddenly find yourself all alone after your partner-in-life passes away. And it is especially hard during the holidays after the loss of your spouse. Anyway, I thought all I was going to do is get an update on the holiday plans instead I got an ear full, which later became a head full, of my mum telling me that her cancer had spread to her lungs. Mum had a fairly large melanoma removed in 2006 and for all concerns she had nothing else to worry about, boy were we wrong.

So since my last post, that particular part of my life (that being mum's cancer) has taken over my every thought and has made life extremely difficult trying to find enough time to spend with my mum. The biggest problem is of course approximation. With mum living on one side of the world and me on the other, it makes it really hard to get over there to be with one another. It's not like I can just call her in the morning and ask her if she would like to meet me for lunch somewhere, because no matter how hard we try or how much we would love to have lunch with each other, it's just not going to happen. So what to do? Mum was offered a cancer treatment, actually the only one of two treatments available, that she can take to help slow the cancer's progression. Mum's doctor has been very specific in telling her that this treatment is not a cure and for that matter there is no cure for her type of cancer period. Saying all of that I decided that I needed/wanted to be with my mum whilst she went/is going through this treatment. The actual treatment consists of four individual IV infusions over the course of twelve weeks, one infusion every 3 weeks.

After talking to my boss I was able to arrange some time off to fly back to the states to see my mum and to help her in anyway I can during the time that I am here. I also wanted to be able to give my big brother a small break from helping my mum whilst I am here. Mum is handling the treatments and more importantly the side effects from the treatments, pretty good so far. This specific treatment is not the traditional chemo because traditional chemo does not work on the type of cancer mum is currently battling. In fact as far as mum's treatment goes this is her only option and once these four doses are done and after she has a new PET scan to see if the treatments had any affect on the spots on her lungs and to make sure the cancer has not spread they docotor will let her know if she can have another round of the treatments. If they find she needs the treatment again she can have one more set of four infusions and then that"s it she can't have any more. It should be noted that each one of her infusions cost $30,000. That's right Thirty Thousand dollars for a grand total of $120,000. We have no idea how much mum's insurance is going to pay and how much they are going to expect her to pay. We will,cross that bridge when we get there. We will just take this one thing/day at a time. The biggest problem is that I am going to have to go back home and go back to work soon. My boss/work has been extremely generous letting me have all of this time off especially seeing that I have actually only worked there for 2 months so far. But I need to go back shortly before they give my job away. I'm not completely sure when I have to leave I'm just waiting on an email from my boss.

That kind of sums up what's happening in my life but I just wanted to catch up with everyone. I also wanted to mention that I am going to take part in a shirt around the world for charity event started by one of my blogger friends. This blogger actually makes his own Hawaiian print shirts and I have to say he makes some really cool shirts. He has a real knack when it come to choosing the fabric he uses to make the shirts. So, I am apparently up next to receive the shirt. All I have to do is take a picture with me wearing the shirt, then post the picture on this blog.I will then post the shirt on to the next person in line to wear the shirt. So they can do the same thing on so on. 30 people have already taken part in this little project and as an added bonus there will be donations made to various charities for every person who wears the shirt. If my calculations are correct close to $3,000 has been donated. Now that, is a very special Hawaiian shirt and I'm happy to be a part of the fun.

That's all for now, just be on the look out for pictures of me and the shirt. I'm sure I will look stunning in the shirt and I'm even more sure that by the time the shirt arrives I will also have something else to write on this blog especially some good new about mum. Fingers crossed... Until then take care and be safe...

12 of 12 November 2011

Hello blogger people, well another month has passed and as usual I have had nothing to say. So, thankfully I still have the 12 of 12 project where I can share a little part of my world with you. I don't know what I'll do when this project ends next month. I guess I'll have to think of something before January comes along.

Anyway, lets get to it shall we. As usual I have to give credit for the 12 of 12 project which was the creation of this man (aka Chad Darnell). 12 of 12 is of course a way for people from around the world to share part of their life and their world with other people from around the world. This month I once again had a little walk around my fair city and this months photos reflect little bit of the summer that we are starting to enjoy here on the flip side of the world here in the southern hemisphere. As an added bonus I'm actually going to give you a baker's dozen and add a thirteenth photo. The actual rules of the project are to take 12 photos of your day on the twelfth day of every month, but this month I just couldn't decide which last picture to get rid of so I could have an even 12. So, forgive me this one little time by allowing me to cheat just this once. With out further adieu here are this months photos. Enjoy...

We start our day/walk strolling leisurely through Hyde Park wondering just exactly where my day/walk will take me.

Now I took pictures in the past of a building, the QVB (aka Queen Victoria Building), which they turned into a shopping mall. Well outside of the building there is this little statue. This is "Islay" the beloved dog of Queen Victoria and the story of Islay is this:

Islay is a talking dog statue. He is mounted on a wishing well. It’s a sandstone circle with a bronze cage on top with a likeness of Islay made of bronze in front. Now since Islay can talk every once in a while you will hear him say: “Hello, my name is Islay. I was once the companion of the great Queen Victoria. Because of the many good deeds I have done for deaf and blind children, I have been given the power of speech.” Visitors are asked to donate coins by throwing them into the wishing well. All of the proceeds benefit deaf and blind children.

This is just a nice picture of the tower that sits on top of Sydney's original town hall I thought it looked nice looking through one of the many Jacaranda trees which are in bloom in the city at the moment. If you don't believe me about the Jacarandas then you will by the time you finish looking at my photos.

Now, this really has no significance other than I thought it was just something out of the ordinary that I would share with you. I'm almost certain that Mickey Mouse doesn't look like that if I remember correctly. Hmmm???

Summer is here in Sydney and as you can see everyone is out enjoying the weather. This photo is down at Darling Harbour which sits on the other side of the city. If you go over to the other side of the city you will find Sydney Harbour where the Opera House sits.

I don't have a panoramic lens so I can only show you part of downtown Sydney as seen from Darling Harbour. When you have a city with four million people in it plus tourist, you have to expect it to be big.

One of many fountains that are flowing freely around the city. As you can see the kids are enjoying the moment.

Here are some more of those Jacaranda's as I promised and another part of downtown which sits to the left of the other picture I showed you of downtown Sydney.

Oh look, more Jacaranda's. I can't help myself I think they are beautiful and with all of the other trees with their green leafs it's just a nice contrast, that is if you like purple.

This fierce creature is one of two that sit outside the entrance to the oriental gardens down in the city near Darling Harbour.

Okay, I promise this will be the last of the Jacaranda photos, but this one also has a fountain. :-)

These guys sit over the entrance to a pub/bar in the city called "The 3 Wise Monkeys". Nice to see that they are in to the Christmas spirit with their festive little hats.

And last but not least my number thirteen of my bakers dozen. I just thought it was interesting so I took a picture of it. If you can't guess it's the windows outside at an all day laundry.

Well, that's all I have for you this month so I hope you liked a picture or two. I can't promise that there will be a post between now and the December 12 of 12 but hey who knows maybe I'll be inspired. Take care...

12 of 12 October 2011

Hello peoples, yes it's 12 of 12 time of the month and for me it's the closest thing to a post you're going to get at the moment. So, all I can say is enjoy the pictures. I just walked around the city once again this month not unlike past months. I hope that this months pictures are varied enough to pass as totally different pictures from past 12 of 12 pictures. As always I have to tip my hat to the creator of this project, a man how goes by the name of Chad and you can visit his site here You can also check out the list of other people who participate in 12 of 12. There are some brilliant photographers out there so please take the time to have a look at some of the other participants. I'm sure you will find something to your liking. Until next time as I said ENJOY...

(p.s. - I don't know what's wrong with Blogger but, some of the photos can be accessed in there larger forms by clicking on them and others can't. Beats the heck out of me. I've tried fixing the problem but have had no luck so my apologies in advance.)

To start out just a bit old Sydney and a convenient water supply on a hot day.

Captain Cook played and important role in the discovery and colonisation of Australia. Captain Cook charted the Australian east coast in his ship HM Barque Endeavour. Cook claimed the east coast under instruction from King George III of England on 22 August 1770 at Possession Island, naming eastern Australia 'New South Wales'. I currently live in the state of New South Wales in which the city of Sydney sits.

Sydney Tower - Centrepoint is Sydney tallest free standing structure. It is one of those towers you can go up to the top and get a 360 view of Sydney and like most other towers there is a restaurant for a lovely candlelight dinner or even a wonderful sun afternoon. It is also part of Sydney newest shopping mall.

A very tall flowering plant but unfortunately that's all I know and all I am able to say about it. Next picture please...

Just a pretty lateen hanging in the park near the food festival. There are lamps and twinkle lights all over the place. It makes for a very pretty night time experience whilst attending the food festival.

The city is a flurry of displays and exhibits and festivals and lets just say it's all happening here at the moment. This little display is part of the awning the is over one of the entrances the the Sydney Food Festival.

At this time of the year there is a project called Art and About that has all of this art displays and exhibits along with other types of performances. this is just a part of a larger installation. If you go to the website it will explain this piece.

It's almost summer here in the land down under and all around the city they placed all of these containers for flowers to celebrate this time of the year. So there are displays like this everywhere with colour to fill your eyes and imagination..

One of many lovely parks to sit and read a book or eat your lunch, since this in the middle of the city

A lovely statue that if I am not mistaken is the goddess Athena. I could be wrong because it looks like she wants to talk and negotiate a treaty.

Just the ground floor of another old building shopping centre not unlike the one I took last time at the Queen Victoria Building. We have regular modern malls but these are just way cooler.

Another month gone...

Update: I just realised that the post previous to this is about the same topic. Not only am I not posting to this blog but now even my none posting explanation posts are becoming repetitive. Man I need to figure this out because I'm about to remove my self from my bookmarks. I don't even want to follow my self. I mean I can bore myself in lots of other ways besides having to read my own lame attempts at writing a cognitive and some how fulfilling post. Anyway, moving on...

So as I was saying another month gone and I have not posted anything for yonks (Australian for: a really long time). I know I've posted about this before and I'm sure I'll do it again. I don't know why I seem to have lost interest in my blog. In reality it's not so much a loss of interest as just not knowing what to write. I know many of you over the past said I shouldn't worry about rather I post or not. And I shouldn't worry about what I write about. You also said that it didn't matter what I posted because it's my blog and it is up to me as to what I post. This is all very true, not to mention very kind of you to say, but I still don't feel right about not posting.

It just seems that other things have taken over my time and the blog has suffered through lack of attention/posts. It's sad because when I started this blog some 6+ years ago, I loved posting but then again it was all new to me and it also provided a great way for me to let my family back in the states know how and what I was up to here in the land down under. Since everyone I know is on Facebook, including my mother, I seem to find it just as easy and a lot more simple to type in a one sentence communique and be done with it and move on to the next thing. It's all just a bit lazy don't you think?

Now, don't get me wrong, Facebook provides a really a great way to communicate but at the end of the day are we just buying into the next latest, greatest, need to have/do fad? Remember when blogs were all the rage? Are we really that fickle? I suppose in some ways we are. We are very much a throw-away society. If it breaks don't get it fixed buy a new one etc. All said and done it doesn't come anywhere near to explaining my lack of motivation when it comes to posting on this blog. So, I guess the best I can do for now is to go off and ponder this some more and when I find some more clarity I'll come back and let you know what I find out. In saying that I hope I can find a little something to post before that because it could be a really big gap in between posts waiting for me to answer the big "to post or not to post" question and I'm sure you will get very bored waiting to hear my brilliant revelations. Of course that all depends on if I actually get/have and brilliant revelations. We shall see... Oh and I'm not going to promise but I would love and will try to post another batch of 12 of 12 before the year is out. Once again we shall see...

I just don't know...

...what to write that is. I seem to be in a void as of late. I'm not writing anything here. I'm not writing anything on Facebook. I missed this months 12 of 12. I'm not even that much interested in the Internet except to check my email and I don't even get that many emails. Of course that could be because I don't send that many emails to anyone else. I wish I knew what my problem is. I am not depressed but I'm as they say just "flat". I got nothin'.

It seems my biggest accomplishment every day is my walk. I've been walking as part of my weight loss regime but even that has come to a halt. I lost 13 kilos (29 ponds), but even that has stopped I need to lose at least 10 more kilos but it's just not happening. I go for a two hour walk everyday. I walk down onto the city and walk through the shopping mall looking at all the things I want but can't afford to buy. I've been looking for work but I can't even get a part-time job selling bed linens to old blue-haired women. When I say part time, I mean casual work filling in when some one calls in sick or they just need an extra hand for the day. It's far from a permanent job and as I said I can't even get that. I suppose maybe I am a bit depressed.

I shouldn't be depressed. I mean I live in a beautiful part of the world. I have a very loving, giving and caring husband, that has stayed with me for almost 13 years. I really want for nothing. Sure, there are things that I would like to have but, nothing I really need. We have a nice place here in the city and a home that we rent out in another place in another city. Both of them are paid for so I'll always have a roof over my head. So why am I whining. Once again I don't even know what to say.

I've got to figure this out but I'm not sure where to even begin. So, I guess I'll get ready for my walk and I'll think about what and where to from here because I'm really tired at being at a loss for words as well as at a loss for what/where my life is headed. Wish me luck...

12 of 12 for July 2011

Hello all 12 of 12ers and to any one else that possibly reads this blog. As you can tell by the title of this post it's that time again for me to dazzle you, or at least amuse you, with 12 photos taken on this 12th day of the month. Now this concept was the brain child of this man. So we thank him for his ingenuity and creativity. Once agin this month I take you around me little part of the world. Most people call it Sydney but currently I call it home. So, here are this months photo and I hope you enjoy them and maybe one or two catch your eye.

This is part of a permanent art installation these tiles cover an entire building. All of the tiles contain different messages relating to the gay and lesbian community.

Like the above mentioned art installation this light post sits in front of the building.

An interesting sculpture sitting in the park in the city.

Another piece of art work within the park.

We may be in the middle of winter but that doesn't mean we can't have a little colour along side the cold temperatures and rainy days.

I don't know how old this sign is but I thought it was interesting sitting on top of one of the main tunnels leading to the city subways/trains.

Another form of transportation in the middle of the city. We need more of these in the city and less cars.

The top of the QVB (Queen Victoria Building) which is a lovely three story shopping mall. One of several shopping malls in downtown Sydney.

The interior of the QVB building, this picture doesn't do the building justice and unfortunately you have to actually physically see the building to take it all in in it's entirety to thoroughly enjoy it.

One of hundreds of sculptured mouldings that cover many of the older building in the city.

It's lunch time and a very busy city as we all sramble to get our food and do it all in a half an hour.

It may be cold but kids just don't seem to feel it an this one is having too much fun in this fountain.

That's all of the pictures for this month. I hope you enjoyed looking at them. Come around next month and see what else I can find to show you.

12 of 12 for June 2011

Well, well, I've finally made it back to 12 of 12. I have to tell you that not only was it raing all day which made it extremely difficult to take my pictures but then for some reason there was a computer malfunction and I don't know if it was between the camera and the computer or if it was a problem with iPhoto but I finally got these pictures up the long way around and I didn't even get to put up the ones I really wanted but none the less here are June's 12 of 12. Enjoy... (I'm also sorry to say that they aren't in order as I'm tired an frustrated but there here) Oh and one more thing I have to thank this man for starting the 12 of 12 project.

The entry marker to Hyde Park in the middle of downtown Sydney

The tree canopy the runs from one end of the park to the other

This lovely fountain is on one end of the tree covered walkway and the war memorial is on the other end

Yet another fountain in the park. It'a bit of a rain/water/fountain theme this month what can I say it/I was wet all day

This is this month's guess what it is picture....

The main Apple store in Sydney

This lovely, quaint, little fountain can be found in Martin Place near the Central Business District downtown...

This statue of a boar is supposed to bring you good luck if you rub it's nose and as you can see it gets a work out but can't say that it's done much for me, because I have tried. Hey it can't hurt...

No real reason for this picture other than as far as fall/winter changing of the tree/colours this is about the best you'll get in the city...

I mentioned the War Memorial earlier and here it is... I just checked all the pictures and I don't know why this one came out so small, but hopefully you can see it well enough.

This statue is in the centre of the memorial. I wished they had cleaned up all the junk down around the bottom. It's a bit disrespectful not having it tidy in my view...

...and last but not least I thought this was a cute way to keep people from parking in front of your garage. Something tells me it works... Well that's it for this month. Hopefully I will have my mechanical breakdown fixed but the time July set rolls around. Take care and I'll see you soon