2021 - the gift that just keeps giving. And taking away from my writing. Five days after my last post - Misty - our 12+ year old doggie with a liver tumour and a difficult to treat ear infection died suddenly. We've been working through her bucket list since her July appointment, preparing for her full cancer recheck in December. We knew her time was limited, we just didn't realise how soon we would lose her. It was a week before our beach holiday (the pet friendly rental) and it took a while to get over the shock. The photo below was a bucket list day trip, keeping the problem ear dry, but letting her get her paws wet. Heaps of fun. (She did end up coming on holiday with us, after Pets in Peace returned her ashes and plaque, paw print and lock of hair - it didn't feel right leaving her home) Writing wise - I'm working on a contemporary romance and a bit of a left field fictionalised non-fiction book (cryptic, I know). I'm not as far along as I would have liked on either project, but for the first time since I started my writing journey, I took time away from writing, the computer and went on leave. The combination of the day job (in a hospital in COVID times) and losing Misty meant I wasn't in a place to write. And I don't think you can underestimate the disruption of a "working-from-home" hubby to creativity. It's hard to get deep into the romance when there's a Zoom meeting happening behind you. (Does confirm though that workplaces are the same everywhere) Sadly, I've also just cancelled this year's attendance at the Romance Writers of Australia conference, which was rescheduled to December. We have hard border closures, and while I can get to conference, my friends/roomies can't. The borders will reopen just after conference, but looking at the modelling, it won't happen before. So now, I'm looking forward to 2022 in Perth. I'll leave you with a photo of this morning's sunrise. 4.36am and I was just about to leave home to run with my running group. The remnants of yesterday's storms were out over the bay and the colour was way more vivid than the photo shows. Summer is nearly here...
Five firm favourites from my recent work trip to Perth Western Australia:
Perth, I'd forgotten how much I love you. I'll be back. I promise. Merry Christmas all. Hope you had a great holiday season! As I do every year, once the hustle and bustle of Christmas is over and done with, my thoughts turn to New Year's Resolutions. Here's what I'm thinking about as options for 2017: 1, Alphabet Run/walk: Starting with A and progressing all the way through the alphabet, take some time to explore your city on foot by walking or running 5km in a suburb starting with this week's letter of the alphabet. You get two weeks for each letter. See, there's a reason we have a suburb called Zillmere, Yeronga, Gordon Park and Eagle Junction. I am however stuck on "Q" and "U". I don't think Quilpie or Urandangie (country towns) will cut the mustard. Trips planned in Sydney and Melbourne next year, so maybe that might help me out for the tricky ones. 2. Run Down Under A virtual run around Australia - all 14080km of it. This morning I logged 6km. If I keep up this pace every single day, I will complete my journey in 2346 days, or 6.4years. Alternatively, I could do 38.6km every day and finish in 2017. Actually, 14080 is more than my car does in a year. so I doubt my legs could make it (Maybe I need to rethink.) Details here, if anyone else is interested : www.rundownunder.com.au 3. 17 in 2017 17 what, I hear you ask? Well, this is the question. 17 books, 17 movies, 17 writing marathons, 17 actual marathons - the list is infinite and that's what's so good about this challenge. You can individualise it to what you like to do. 17 pieces of cheesecake? No worries - so long as its what you've put on your list at the start. Alternatively, put 17 fun things into a jar and pick one out, then do it, with the aim of emptying the jar by the end of the year. Those are my top 3 at the moment. What about you? What are you planning for your resolutions? One of the highlights of the year for me is receiving "the Christmas letter" from my distant friends and family, so I can keep up with what's happened in their lives. But, if you're like me with no kids or grandkids to share, the Christmas letter tends to be pretty much the same every year.
So in 2016, I decided to set myself a challenge - tell the story of my year in Haiku. For those that don't remember, Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry with 3 lines and a 5-7-5 syllable pattern. It generally involves nature, and a sharp contrast/unexpected statement in the last line. Here's some of the Haiku that made it into the letter, which was posted this week. Fingers crossed the family don't think I've lost my marbles. About the Christmas season in general: Hot sticky weather Westfield carparks overfilled Frustrations explode About my furkids: Naughty puppy digs Old dog relaxes in shade How soon is dinner? As I said in the letter: there is no plan for Hubby and I to give up our day jobs in 2017 to write poetry. It sounds so simple. yet it isn't. (Read: I'm not very good at it) Do you like haiku? Does anyone want to comment, using haiku? I'd love to see them. I can't believe its April already. Easter has come and gone and I can honestly say this year I did not overdose on chocolate. Far from it. Instead I filled my weekend away at the farm with walking and fresh air. Oh, and editing. It was great.
We decided, with this monster storm looming, to come back to town early. avoiding the caravan/campertrailer exodus that always follows a big storm. Good decision, as it was a cracker of a storm. Hope you had a great Easter. As the festive season approaches, I thought I would share a few Christmas favourites from our family:
Need a break from the madness of Christmas preparations? Home for Christmas is a quick, cheerful Aussie Christmas read.
For Remembrance Day I thought I would share a recent visit to the Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum, which is one of the best museums I've visited. We were in Maryborough to get our steam train fix (also worth doing - especially for anyone who grew up in Queensland catching trains) and literally stumbled across this fabulous museum.
The Gallipoli Room was spectacular and in this year, the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, it seemed especially poignant to visit. It made me all the prouder of Home for Christmas, my Aussie Military romance. While today's soldiers will never experience what the diggers of 1915 did, their service of our country should never be forgotten. Here are some more photos I took during my visit, the first of many I suspect. Yes, I was a little fixated on Christmas messages and dog tags, because after the cover for Home for Christmas was revealed, I realised that nowhere in the book did I mention Tate's dog tags. Oops. Happy Easter! Hope you had a fabulous break, with lots of chocolate.
The Greenes got wet this Easter. Very wet. We went to the farm and for the first time in living memory, left home a day later than planned (due to a big car accident closing the road) and pulled out early the following day, before the flood we were certain was coming arrived. We'd had four inches of rain in less than 24 hours. The river didn't disappoint. By the time we left it was at 2metres (up from about 20cm) and the first of the road closures and cautions were appearing on social media. We made it home while everyone was busy nursing their children back from an Easter Egg induced comas. It's raining again now. Fingers crossed our farmers out Longreach way get some rain out of this system before it's finished. |
Fiona Greene AuthorWhen you set out on a journey and night falls, that's when you will discover the stars." Archives
November 2022
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