I Have A Dream!

I often plan unattainable events - designing property to live in if I had £mega-millions. What charities to give chunks of that money to, etc, etc. I don't try to win that kind of money nowadays, too scary! Recently I started another dream - going to Oz, meeting most of my lovely Bloggers, then settling down near one of them. This dream is crazier than any others! For the simple reason that I cannot travel more than 2-3 miles!

Where to start? Having the money safely in a Bank Account (or three), the next step is to arrange for my very first passport at age 63. That means a journey to another county!! After discussing my plans with Australia House, I am given the appropriate visa. The next step is consulting a Blogger in the area where I'd like to have my 'forever home', and arranging to buy a property there with basic furniture, not taking what I have already - except for some crockery, cutlery and cookware. cushion covers, bedlinen, curtains, lots of books, electronics, dvds, cds, cassette tapes, videotapes, cat bits & pieces, photos, pictures and special ornaments. They will not travel with me, have a very busy time before emptying the boxes at my new home.

I didn't want to fly to Oz, know there will be lots of flying once there, so planned to take a liner. Easy, no! No current direct liners from the UK, could go to America, transit that country then board another liner to Oz! Don't really want to go by freight carrier, but am not a cruise person so that may be the only option. As long as I can get to Perth! There eventually and after grillings by Customs and Immigration, my first port of call is an hotel, where I regain my land-legs for several days before contacting a special Blogger - Peggy of cake crumbs & beach sand. After a few meetings over several days as and when convenient - marvellous coffee and cakes, cute lunches - we take our leave of each other, and I 'jump on a plane' and visit with another Blogger. Then, back to Perth, for the last time. Goodbye Perth!

Off to Sydney, thank goodness the wildfires are over, it is terrible to see the damage they have made as the plane approaches Sydney airport. Still have the palaver of getting through Customs and Immigration, especially because I am not carrying lots of clothing, etc! No quick meetings with Bloggers here, flying is still a new form of travel for me - and I shall be very happy when I alight from the final plane in a few weeks' time! I contact some family whom I've never met before, but 'know' from Facebook. Making the most of the shops in Sydney, meet up with with a special Blogger - Sonia of Life, Love and Hiccups! We are both nervous, so it takes a while to get past the initial pleasantries and 'warm up' to each other. There is another Blogger, who is a very busy woman, to meet, but I decide to go to Melbourne first where more lovely Bloggers await my call from the Hotel once I've recovered. Am shown some lovely parts of the city, and I'm so happy I decided to spend more than a week here! Back to Sydney - gosh I've put a lot of flying behind me, and pleased I only have one more flight! Decide I must take the opportunity to visit Bondi Beach! Have seen it so often on tv it is all very familiar. I'm not swimming, surfing or paddling - just enjoying the vibes from this iconic place. Also visit that other icon - Sydney Opera House, nothing on the programme I'd like to see though. 

I'm taking my time in Sydney, need to get furniture and other items for my new home, and love shopping with Sonia, an avid home-maker, who shows me lots of  lovely shops. Once we've finished shopping, and I have met up with the busy Blogger - another special person, as they all are! -  it is time to say goodbye to Sydney and head off, by plane, to Brisbane. Last airport, thank goodness! A bit too old to get used to all of this, glad I decided to hire car and chauffeur for the last part of my journey!  The penultimate Blogger is just as lovely as the rest, and I'm so very happy I've taken the opportunity to meet so many! Final shopping, including food for the drive to Cairns, and for my new home. Yes, I could have flown instead of taking two days - no more planes, too fast for me really. Want to savour the countryside at a decent speed!

At Cairns I receive a very big, warm greeting from Alicia, of 365 Moments of Gratitude Project and her lovely family. We have been in regular contact for some time now, she even assisted me in finding a suitable property nearby, acting as my Agent, and arranged some basic furniture, plus every item I need in the kitchen - good, a dishwasher! which I am delighted to see - although not as nice as finally meeting this remarkable woman and her family. There is even the opportunity to foster-to-adopt a kitten in the near future. Luckily I kept some of the items I had in England, and had them shipped here. Once all the purchases in Sydney have been delivered and unpacked and I'm feeling very much at home I shall go to see the kitten - the perfect way to meet the new feline in my life! No doubt there will be others - I'll be the Pommie Crazy Cat Lady in Cairns! It has been an incredible journey and I am so very happy I was given the opportunity to enjoy the rest of my life in this beautiful country.


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Virginia Kop/Kop's Kattery

26 October 2013
My Mother's Birthday 1925

MOON

The Blogfast Club

MOON

Silvie woke with a start, not knowing how or why. Her room was much darker than normal as the window was boarded up to stop her looking at the Moon - much closer than normal and brightly blue - the Harvest Moon!

The Elders and villagers had warned all the girls who were between 11 and 16 years of age to keep to their darkened rooms for the week the Moon visited every 13 years. Whilst crops flourished under this Moon, any maiden looking at it was instantly transfixed and became shells of their former selves. These poor souls were taken to a special part of the forest to live their lives out with no recollection of how they had been before looking at the Moon. They could not speak, sing, dance, or do anything except eat one meal a day which was provided for them.

Whilst Silvie loved life too much to want to be one of those people, she knew she had to see the Moon very soon, before it went away again. If caught trying to remove any part of the boarding, she would be locked in a windowless room for the rest of the Moon's visit. That she didn't want either, as her only human contact would come from her Mother pushing food and drink though a small hole in the door until it was safe for her to be released. "I wonder why I feel that I MUST see the Moon?", she mused quietly to herself. During the time before the Moon's arrival, she had experimented with as many tools as she could find and had selected a pointed file as being the quietest and quickest one to make a hole in the boards. She was aware that two of the floorboards had been adapted to make a noise if she trod on them, but she had discovered that her chair could straddle them safely if carefully positioned.

Checking the time on her clock, she decided that there was sufficient time to make the hole before the household started to wake. Carefully moving the chair, Silvie started using the pointed file to make a start on a portion of the board which seemed to be the best place to start. It was a really slow business, seemed to take hours just to get the hole started, but when she looked at the clock she was relieved to see that mere minutes had passed. "Keep going, Silvie, there is ample time", she said, listening in case there was any noise in the house at all. As the file bit through the wood, she could see a little blue colour behind it - "nearly there, So close, so very, very close to the Moon. Surely it cannot be much longer now until I know why I must see it?" 

As the hole grew larger, and the blue streamed into her room, Silvie was transfixed, but then she saw the spirit of the Moon, holding out his hand, saying "Silvie, you were promised to me many years ago. Come, take my hand and we shall leave a message for your family so they do not wonder where you have gone. I have waited for you for aeons and now we are together there will be no more maidens lost each time the Harvest Moon appears. From now on, the maidens are safe and we shall come every year to enhance the crops." Hand in hand, the pair walked to the Blue Moon and disappeared into it.

After several years passed, the villagers were so thankful for the safety of their maidens and the regularly fruitful crops that they held a festival on the first day of the Harvest Moon and were sure they could see Silvie with the spirit of the Moon dancing amongst them, along with several smaller shapes signifying their offspring.

Virginia Kop/Kop's Kattery
12 October 2013

The new challenge is a story - about whatever you like! Enjoy!

    

Bracken - Full Steam Ahead!

Bracken has fully adjusted to being an 'only' cat with arthritis to slow her down at times, which seems to be under control with her daily dose of medicine. The manufacturers did extremely well to get the taste suited to particular palates - on the sweet side - and it mixes well with the Ocean Fish Pate she gets every morning. We changed up from evenings so she could be more lithe during the day and I think that has worked well. 

She gets annoyed when I breathe at times while she lies beside me. And, boy, she hates me texting then as well. At times she wants my hand touching her, two minutes later she has changed her mind! Then I get the love times - her head on my hand, then one leg lies over my arm [albeit an occasional claw is misplaced and jabs straight into my arm!]!!! Bliss, but arthritis in MY fingers/hand often make this a much shorter time than she is willing to give - the left hand would be better, but she won't lie there, has to be on my right side. So, I let her lie as long as I can manage before disturbing her with apologies as the hand HAS to move away before I want to scream with the pain. Of course I tell her why I am moving my hand away, does she understand? I do know she understands a lot of what I tell her - can stop her chasing birds, give her a time limit for last time outside of an evening [she often comes in early and feels resigned to being locked up for the night at a time when she would dearly love to frolic in the moonlight], still need to work on getting her to stay still when I want to move past/over - 'don't move' is currently the best command. Cats are notorious in moving the wrong way - a wheelchair-bound friend said that no matter how often they nearly ended up under the wheels her cats just didn't realise what was the right way to move. I even hired a wheelchair for a week while I was in London to test this out for myself - it is true, unfortunately, all four cats decided the wheels were interesting!!

Cats are a bit like humans - people stop to speak on the narrowest part of pavement, not worried about how others cannot get past or they'll block a shop's doorway - Bracken often lies in doorways or thereabouts, then when she decides to move, which way? - yes, straight into my feet!

RIP - The Blogfast Club???

Is it alive

or is it dead?

Is it worthwhile 

or a lost cause?

Do we beat our heads against a brick wall

or walk away from it all?

We enjoyed the challenges

They kept the brain busy

But there must be an easier way

To have a club that works well

Even thought the leader left temporarily - or not

The other members could have carried on!

New to blogging
with limited skills
We try to learn all we need
but it isn't easy at all
So people do we call a halt to the club or do we
start a new group for those who wish to write can go?

MERRY

The Blogfast Club

23 September 2013

Fictional 

Merry was playing with friends when she heard the noise coming from her home - the sound of heavy furniture being thrown around with no concern for it. Merry longed to go to see what was happening, but she had been told not to return home unless her Mother came to see her in person.

She didn't like the sounds, nor the sound of her friends laughing as they played with their flower-balls. When David, her best friend, asked what was happening at her home, she had to tell him the truth - she didn't know and wasn't allowed to go there. They decided to sit by the old oak in the centre of the meadow, it was their special place where they spoke of joys and sorrows, and sometimes of their future - they were nearing the time when they were expected to speak of their intentions towards each other, or other people. Merry and David had discussed this often, and decided that they wanted to live together for the rest of their lives. There could be some opposition to their plans as a newcomer to the area, Jessica, was obviously infatuated with David  and had made her feelings known at several social events.

Unfortunately, Jessica was of a higher echelon who were normally allowed to have what they wanted and it was clear she wanted to have David as her life-partner. After several meetings with the sage, David had been told that he really should be taking Jessica as his life-partner, but there were precedents for him to refuse her and choose Merry. That way would mean problems for them both, and they may have to leave this community until amnesty was forthcoming. There had been many meetings of Merry and David with their parents and it was finally agreed that they would go with their hearts and, if necessary, both families would leave this village and make a new life for them all. They knew of several hamlets which were suitable for their needs and were not bound by the same restrictions. However, all knew it would be difficult to leave this community where the families had lived for centuries. Even those families not affected by Jessica were talking of leaving too if Merry and David did, for both they and their families were held in high esteem, and no-one wanted to lose their favourite couple.

Suddenly, the noises from the house stopped and Merry's mother came rushing over to the meadow, a wide grin on her face. 'Oh, Merry, my darling Merry, and David, we may be without some furniture for a while, but none of us has to leave! In fact, Jessica's papers were fake and she must go to the Kraken! Your union is the very best news for us all. On the day you accept each other your true forms will be revealed - as happens every time.  It has been many, many moons since the village has been honoured with a mermaid of the highest status! Normally these events are not stated until afterwards, but the actions of Jessica and her retinue caused such mayhem in every sense meant the news had to be imparted. Yes, Merry, you are Majestic Mermaid Merry!! And David will be your loyal Merman.'

Virginia Kop

Kop's Kattery

Next challenge will be issued soon.

PEOPLE WHO ARE INSPIRING!!

Unfortunately, the muse left me before I could start this entry for The Blogfast Club. However, I am taking a different slant on this than I originally thought would happen.

In the course of the last 17 months [roughly], I have 'met' some people who have inspired me in different ways, and, in no particular order as each is special in her own way :-

Cake Crumbs & Beach Sand

Kate Says Stuff

Little Cottage, Big Life

Alicia's 365 Moments of Gratitude Project

Life, Love and Hiccups

Techie Mum

Two Point Five Children

Phenomenal Woman

Caramel Living

with Grace and Eve

The Little Green House

Surviving Four Children

Clockwork Comfort

Odds & Ends Quotes

I am sure some of the newer Bloggers I've discovered through the Club will be added to this list in the near future!

And the limited response to the 'Evening' - Non-fiction challenge means I have no idea what is happening next with the club.

After some thought, I have decided that the next challenge will be fiction story, prompt of 'mermaid'.

Virginia Kop/Kop's Kattery

EVENING

A non-fiction Narrative Post

For the Blogfast Club

By Virginia Kop, Kop's Kattery

[With apologies to Meat Loaf!]

It was a hot summer night and we aren't happy about noise emanating from several alcohol clubs. Since the law prohibiting smoking inside shops, business, etc, our summer evenings are being eroded by noise. When young women are out imbibing alcohol they have very shrill voices and cannot talk at normal levels, so out they come for a cigarette break, some access doors are left open and as well as the voices we have blaring music. Luckily karaoke seems to have got lost - and long may that last!

I'm not against people having fun, but don't think I should have it forced upon me. Where I live is reasonably far away from most of the premises, and they have access to a car park at the rear. Logic should be telling the owners/managers that if they restrict the smoking area to the car park they are saving neighbours from the cacophonous  assaults on our ears and letting us live quiet lives on a warm summer evening!

Or a decent spring or autumn evening!