I boldly put my favourite things here; I find in life, at least in Australia, there is a distinct type of personality who wants to find out your favourite thing so they can destroy them. They are stupid, but unfortunately very real, and rife in IT nerd world. (curious to know if this happens in an idealic country like Vanuatu? I know it happens in America, as there have been songs written about it)

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1. Walking around my huge Native garden at Rangari was my favourite thing, hard work rewarded - my cats would accompany me each evening at dusk, it was beautiful. (still getting over being 'cast out' of my home town) My garden was not finished. Gardening – good for the soul.

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​2. Ferns on the deck.

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​3. Cooking to fast music and eating good food (my fresh Apricots, Nutty broccoli, Crackling, Roast beef, Braised Brisket, Good Ceaser Salad, Hungarian Goulash, Beef Stroganoff, Butter shortbread, Double dipped dark Chocy Turkish Delight, Nice biscuits, Kingston biscuits, frozen Mars bars, Cup of coffeeeee, caramelised beef bits in the bottom of the roast pan 👌Orange jelly babies...!).

4. Swimming in the Ocean. Rockpools.

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5. Swing Ride Carousels!

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6. Watching Grand Designs and So You Think You Can Dance, and good movies on Prime Vid and YouTube whilst knitting. {I don’t watch commercial tv, don't even own a TV - they have lost the plot due to their’ weakness’, especially the ice-skating commentators}. I love autobiographies/ biographies (not criminal ones). I often wonder, (when it is not stated) - do those Hollywood people steal people's life stories? Do they wait for them to die and then make a movie about their life? Or do they sit down with them in the nursing home and obtain all the facts? Or do they have people that stalk them all their life, you know, famous ones, like the genius female chess player, takes notes as life goes on.... And, while I am at it, I like autobiographies, and not just of famous people who are celebrities, or famous and being really good at something or a part of something that’s successful, because, I’m thinking you know, if you’ve made it in life, so you have enough money to get an  architectural designed house built, then you pretty much are going to have an interesting life, and we want to hear about it. I mean like, examples I guess, “this could happen to you”! I have seen many movie autobiographies, I’ve noticed as I watch old autobiographies that were made in the 80s, they like to really embellish what has happened, they’ll say it’s based on a true story but parts of it are changed for ‘entertainment purposes’ - it’s like they don’t think we can handle the full truth, so they’ve just partly made a truthful movie. But I have noticed over the years, especially from 2020 on, and I’m glad to see, the autobiographies are, I believe more honest. Thank goodness.

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{Sidebar; I have always stated in my life, that I would prefer to have a butler, rather than a husband, lol! And one of the dancers from SYTYCD (multicultural show, as in, normal show), I assume he was a he, and black, said, I would prefer a butler than a husband, because I was white, as in a white slave thing!!!!  he was making a joke! ha ha, I thought it was hilarious, mmmm I’m a total slave driver! Although, I would really like to have someone who could come and plait my hair every time I was it.....

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7. Designing fabrics, looking at fabrics, looking at anything beautifully designed. COLOURS, Arts /crafts, looking at anyone who puts creativity in their life/ space/ clothing......

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8. Pampering - as in spa, sauna, massage, treats. (no kids yah!) When I turn retirement age, I plan on taking my pension and myself over to Thailand, permanently, and spending it all, on daily massage).

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9. Favourite Tv Show: Grand Designs, and anything architect related (should have been an architect). I’m not really sure why a lot of new homes are so small, with small narrow corridors and small doors, so that one cannot even fit the fridge or fav armchair through. All my adult life living in rentals, I’ve had the same problem with small pokey rooms. Even some homes in the upper area of the market are still really quite small, or have small pokey areas within it (non-thoughtful areas). Not being a homeowner or homebuilder, maybe it’s not my place to say "come on, make them bigger and better" I mean maybe they just can’t. I don’t know. If I were building a house, it would be single story huge, no compromise on the footprint. So, I guess I wanted to express here, my exact feelings; I loathe small spaces, I loathe them! I guess that partly also explains my stance on population - population needs to be curbed, we are way past comfortable living capacity. I mean, maybe the fact that I was from a large family too, also contributes to my beliefs; really our family home was only three bedroom, with an extension lean-to put on later, for another room. But that still only made it four bedrooms, when definitely five were needed for a 6-person family. And actually a 5th bedroom was needed too, as we always had guests staying. I guess as a child I was never too concerned about it, did not really have to much concern for anything as a child, but I’m pretty sure we could’ve done with some extra room. I feel strongly about it now. I don’t think you should have kids unless you have enough room for them, make them really count with their own space, and not just tagged along. I am going to put here, I recall watching a version of my favourite show Grand Designs, in Australia instead of the usual good UK. One lady was showing off her home, I think it was in Tasmania, can’t quite remember all the details, but she was boasting about the fact that it was all built from volunteers, with the implication that they weren’t really volunteers, but they were forced to work for her, due to the governments Centrelink activity schemes (work for the dole – total scam). Even though this house was really lovely, I was kind of outraged by the obvious slave labour, and it just goes to show you what happens in Australia; some people really take advantage and wrought the system. I can assure you, young people, no matter what their stance in life, do not have to build some ladies house for no money, this was quite a disgrace. And I believe it still goes on. DISGRACEFUL.

And I guess while I’m on the subject, I pretty much feel anyone involved in WOLFERS, WWOOFers, Woofers, WWOOF ( would fall into the same category, almost tricked into working for free, under the guise of experience!! WE HAVE GOOGLE AND YOUTUBE!! You would have to be a sucker to work on someone’s farm in exchange for accommodation or lunch. I recall one couple in the UK, even demanding money from her workers to pay for food, whilst they work for her all day long free – UNBELIEVABLE- does she have powers of brainwashing? Because, they did!! and quite happily so!! I recall doing something like 16 weeks of work experience when I was 16 / 17 at various companies, and say, out of the 16, 1 of them was helpful, insightful, and a good experience. The other 15 just wanted free slave labour. It was NOT GOOD AT ALL, and the only lesson being experienced, is MOST people will use you, and take from you, and give you nothing back in return. (My parents were so naive) If I had kids, I certainly wouldn’t be encouraging them to do any “work experience” at all, or in fact taking on jobs with below pay, as in, apprenticeships and traineeships - a total scam, unless of course I knew who was doing the traineeship or apprenticeship, and I knew 100% that they wouldn’t take advantage and use my child, I would have to be involved. So, that’s no fun at all!

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​10. Best book I read as a 20yr old ‘The Celestine Prophecy’ – very helpful.

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Favourite movies: Strictly Ballroom, 5th Element, Dirty Dancing, The Body Guard and BirdCage, I guess, plus The Remains Of the Day. I need to mention,  by the way, the movie in my iPad app, always has a cover photo with a little blurb below it, then there’s their title “Cast and crew”, but it doesn’t have any crew listed, it just has cast members, and only sometimes. The director is also mentioned, but it doesn’t have the most important person of them all, and that’s the writer of the story! I really don’t see how one could omit the writer (and or screen adapter writer).

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11. Walking around within the Sydney Youth Orchestra while they were playing, in a special gig they were doing- it was amazing. When I was younger I loved  listening to music, now, not so much, (especially with the advent of stalking predator musicians). But I occasionally do, and have compiled a list of my favourites which I'll put on a separate page. I guess if I have to come up with a favourite song, it would most definitely be Dame Joan Sutherland singing: Lucia de Lammermoor - Ardon gl’incensi (an opera "The Bride of Lammermoor" Aria in the garden of fragrant delight.) Man, that woman can sing. And no, please no relatives.

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12. Horse Riding.

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13. Growing flowers.

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14. Essential oils.

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15. Favorite quote: "We all need space. Unless we have it, we cannot reach that sense of quiet, in which whispers of better things come to us gently." – Octavia Hill

And

"When you arise in the morning think what a privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to enjoy, to love, to think. Cease the day. You only live once." - Marcus Arelious (ancient Roman emperor and philosopher of peace, via Superman)

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16. And of course, my cats: