Who Cares Who I Love....

Love is Universal - 


The images are by Canadian Artist Steve Walker, 


the song was produced for the


Matthew Shepard Foundation



Nuff Said

Monday Haiku

Last weeks winning "Hobbyist" was Cat Wrangler "Pam" and thanks again to "Moi" for hosting and her wonderful appraisal and writeup of entries for last week.


This week "Troll" having done with the Rapture is back hosting or Maybe it's "Moi" again so head on over to both houses to work out where to leave your entry to play...


This weeks theme is...

"CLICHE"


Here is My entry...

High heeled and lipsticked
Can I be such a cliche?
You betcha Dhaaarling...

Naked Plankers????..... Bonkers I'd Say....

Just get yourself as stiff as a board Dhaaarlings

And get an admirer take a photo of you in an amusing position or place

[via]

Princess so wanted to become famous... Emulating the above pose

 I'd even wrangled a houseboy for the occasion Dhaarlings...

what do you think?....

Back Story "Here"

Meet Eliza "Here"

Mr Beasties New Fruit....

Hello Dhaaarlings...


I have a scoop for all of you!


Those of you that know and love our fellow 


Infomaniac Bitch 


"Beast"

most famous for his "Sconning" and "Kipper Surprise"


will be most pleased and excited to know that 


Mr Beastie... has apparently traded in his Banana's for a new fruit...

Oh Mr Beastie...

I can't wait to see the new glamor shots.....


Can you Dhaaarlings?...

Swimming with the fishes...

Jelly Fishes Dhaaarlings....

JELLYFISH LAKE, PALAU from Sarosh Jacob on Vimeo.


Make yourself comfortable Darlings.... 

[via]



Might I offer you a "Mai Tai?"...

Houseboy!... Hurry up with that pineapple!

Haiku Monday

[Via]

The Scrumptious Moi over at "Bite the Apple" Is back hosting Haiku Monday 

this week. The last winner was Karl at "Karl's Korner" who is providing  the prize for this weeks winner...

This weeks theme is...

"Hobbies"

Here are some of mine...

Patchwork Quilting...

[via]

Kaleidoscopic

fabric pieces, cut and sewn

Masterpiece complete

[via]

~oooO0O0Oooo~

Making Jams and Preserves

wash peel core and slice

fill syrupy jar and seal

mouthwatering wait

~oooO0O0Oooo~

 Figs gently simmered

add sugar and turn up heat

Cool... lashings of jam

Fare Ye Well.....

Bill Hunter: Actor

Farewell Mr Hunter


One of Australia's most recognized and well loved actors has made his final exit from showbiz.


You will be missed Bill.

I once met Bill while working at my brothers store some years ago.


Always  fan of his work.. imagine my surprise to look up form the counter to find him standing there waiting to be served.


"Hello... how can I help you?" I blurted...


"Just a packet of smokes(Brand name) thanks mate"...


"You were great in 'Pricilla'" I ejaculated....


"Thanks" he replied "How much for the smokes?"


"Oh sorry... $10.50 please"


He handed over the cash, picked up the packet from the counter, smiled and said "Thanks mate" as he left the store...




My one and only brush with greatness...


RIP Mr Hunter...

Sorry To Disappoint Dhaaarlings....

A birthday in the bush....

Hello Dhaaarlings...

Princess and the Empress took a trip to the bush recently 

To wish a dear family friend a happy birthday...

The Empress made a special cake

for a Special Birthday...

It even lit up!

Our friend was so pleased that we got a tour of the garden to celebrate

Succulents abound as they are very hardy in the harsh summer conditions

As do Gum Trees...

One of which was covered in masses of lovely pale pink blooms

 This year they even managed to grow and harvest some Pumpkins

And Rainbow Chard/ Silverbeet...

It is such a contrast after years of ravaging drought

We came home with bags of Quinces and Grapefruit the size of baseballs!

So I'm off to find some recipes Dhaaarlings and to fire up the preserving pan...

Happy Birthday Ms Melba....

Hello Dhaaarlings...

[via]

Australia's original Opera Diva


Dame Nellie Melba (Ger) 


would be celebrating her 150th Birthday today


She was really quite the superstar of her time... touring the world regularly playing all of the greatest opera houses and giving Royal Command Performances

"Melba was known for her demanding, temperamental personality. John McCormack, on the night of his London debut, attempted to take a bow with her on stage, but she pushed him back forcefully, saying "In this house, no one takes a bow with Melba." 


When recording with lesser studio artists, she would never try to hide her contempt for them, once dismissing tenor Ernest Pike as "one of the bloody chorus".


 She enjoyed singing with Enrico Caruso, but considered him coarse and uncultivated; he would play practical jokes on her, on one occasion - whilst singing the Puccini aria Che Gelida Manina ("Your Tiny Hand is Frozen") - pressing a hot sausage into her hand.


 She jealously guarded her position as prima donna, in the process earning both the enmity and the awe of many colleagues. Emma Eames' memoirs describe Melba as a wicked force who frustrated opportunity after opportunity for Eames; Eames also averred that when playing Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, Melba, when singing the jewel song, "would have hung the jewels off her nose if she could!" 
Titta Ruffo, Rosa Ponselle, McCormack, Luisa Tetrazzini, Frances Alda, and others also described their unpleasant experiences with Melba. Mary Garden, another rival, wrote "I never saw such a fat Mimì in my life. Melba didn’t impersonate the role at all – she never did that" (Melba's dramatic skills were once described as being limited to indicating emotion by raising one arm - and indicating great emotion by raising both); but continued, "but, my God, how she sang it."

[via]

Australia's "First Dame of Divadom" in every sense of the word... 


Well before the likes of the singular named Divas of today


This Bird Could Sing....

Toward the end of her career Melba gave what turned out to be a series of "final" concerts... Each was expected to be her last public performance.


This generated a popular colloquialism..


"More farewells than Melba"....


   often muttered in frustration by a disgruntled, watch checking and toe tapping husband.... while waiting for the wife still busy doing the rounds of goodbyes when leaving a party or gathering...


(My father was a great one to mutter this on many an occasion)








Happy Birthday Nellie....

Now Showing at "The Palais"....

Well not every Wednesday for me of late Dhaaarlings... things have been a tad busy around "The Palais" in recent weeks but are slowly moving toward normality again... With Boxer handing the hosting mantle to "Joanna Cake" while undergoing renovations and world tours... For the past few weeks this is the first chance I've had to participate with the new hostess... 
My apologies Joanna...




This weeks theme is something to do with a
Huge Grunt... erm.. I mean...


Hugh Grant... and his beloved fringe...


Tho not one of my favourite... ahem... "Actors"  I find his range of emotion quite limited and the roles that he tends to play fall in to the category of


 "Up himself fop with a very English accent, bumbling his way through romantic trysts, relationships, and very silly situations with his fawning mannerisms and overdone doey eyes, generally making a giant arse of himself and expecting forgiveness by the end of the movie... The characters in the roles he attempts to portray....never fail to disappoint and get right up my goat!!!" 


Did I just say the bit about getting up my goat out aloud?


 Well he does Dhaaarlings!


Need less to say... I cannot abide the fool!


His never changing fringe is about the only thing about his acting that remains constant and believable on screen.

Off screen he's probably a lovely boy....

Oh... I forgot this little episode...

{via}

And this...

So Dhaaarlings.... Check out the following and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...

Hugh Grant playing Hugh Grant in all of them.... I rest my case Dhaaarlings...




And here...
 I present for your enjoyment my choice for the next contender...


I can feel the bile rising already...











Happy MCW!

Something to Ponder...

Food for thought...

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.
One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.
His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.


The men talked for hours on end.
They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation..
Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and colour of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.
Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by.
Although the other man could not hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.






Days, weeks and months passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.

She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.
He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.


It faced a blank wall. 

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. 


The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.



She said, 'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you'.

Epilogue...


There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. 


Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.



If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy. 



'Today is a gift, that is why it is called The Present .' 


The origin of this tale is unknown... but as I read this.... It occurred to me that sometimes we really don't have a lot to moan about... and I do have quite a lot to be thankful for.


I think I might start writing a thankful journal... just to remind myself.

I'm singing a rainbow.

Hello Dhaaarlings...


I've been thinking lately how sometimes one stumbles across a song that is often sung to children...


Then find that it had it's origins in more adult themed originals...


I give you the following to consider...

This Angst ridden number about a love gone wrong..




It's weird how this has been turned into a kids sing along song....










Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy huh?


I think Not!

Colour Your Day...

What colour is Your Day Dhaaarling?

Mine has been cold damp and Grey...

[Via]

A Day to Remember...Mother...

Whether they are still with us or have passed...
Mothers day is a day to remember and honour our Mother... Not that a day doesn't go by when we don't think of them in the hear and now... or recall a memory that lives on within our hearts...


Whether we like it or not we all have one. 


So however you spend your day... at some stage make some time for Mum.


 Be it a Phone call, visit, a meal out somewhere nice, a family gathering, sending flowers and a card... book her a day at a spa... for mums that have passed light a candle, say a prayer, look through an old photo album ... Just to say thanks for the time that we had together..


. 

But whatever you do don't miss the opportunity to say "I love you Mum"


We never know how much time we still have to share...

Every day is Mother's day around here... 

And don't you forget it Princess!