The Hardest Decisionhttps://www.google.com/adsense/new/u/0/pub-3691500166505297/privacymessaging

What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Why?

The hardest decision I ever had to make was to have my first little dog, Chloe, euthanised . She was old, blind and incontinent . She was a lovely little dog with a placid contented personality, and I loved her dearly,  but was wise enough to know her time had come.   I know she was an angel returning to her real home.  To this day, I love and miss her just like I love Lily and know I will be devastated when Lily’s time comes too. Losing your loved dogs is like losing a child. It is not fair that a dog’s life is so short, but I guess that’s just life. Life isn’t meant to be easy, but it is meant to be good, and dogs make life good

My Mums special disheshttps://www.google.com/adsense/new/u/0/pub-3691500166505297/privacymessaging

Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays?

When my brothers and I were younger, mum used to make Golden Syrup Dumplings for dessert on special occasions.

Nowadays, she makes trifle, and for Christmas, she makes a lot of little plum puddings that she makes using fruit cake brandy,  white chocolate, and red and green little lollies.  She gives these out as gifts 🎁. This really makes Christmas 🎄 for me.

If I didn’t need sleephttps://www.google.com/adsense/new/u/0/pub-3691500166505297/privacymessaging

If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?

First of all, I couldn’t imagine a world without sleep. I love my sleep time very much and always feel better in the morning if I have had a good night’s sleep.

I would like to think that if I didn’t need sleep, I would spend more time on my writing of this blog and my other writings.   I would like to spend more time writing ✍️ my book about Susanna , I would have the best of intentions to do this,but fear in this technology mad world I would waste time on my device’s,  particularly my phone.

Elly May Barnes,  Sandi Toksvig,  Scott Aplin and Neil Finnhttps://www.google.com/adsense/new/u/0/pub-3691500166505297/privacymessaging

Who are your current most favorite people?

I have quite a few favourite people at the moment.  Number one is Elly May Barnes  for trying to change the world 🌎 as we know it for musicians with a disability getting the chance to be recognised and successful in the mainstream music 🎶 world.  She is stunningly beautiful and spectacular in the way she copes with her disability and has become an activist for those with a disability.  As always, Scott Aplin remains my favourite, as he is just such an attractive man in every way 😍 and worked alongside Elly May to achieve her dream.  He is a beautiful and talented individual who works behind the scenes to assist those in his role as music director.

Neil Finn remains a firm favourite 😍 for all the good in the 🌎 he achieves . Recently, when he sold the rights to his back catalogue of songs 🎵 he has written, his only comment was that he ws happy for that for all the good that money would allow him to do. Neil, you are a gracious and astute gentleman,  the world 🌎 needs more of you 

My other favourite person would have to be Sandi Toksvig.   She is genuinely one of the most funny ladies on television 📺.  She is so witty and intelligent, and I could not think of a better role model to champion women’s issues.  I personally have learned so much about successful women in history from Sandi.  Her intention is to make sure successful women get written about on Wikipedia so our histories don’t get forgotten about or overlooked is amazing.  Given her career as a comedian  author and host of QI, she is one powerhouse of a lady.  She definitely is a pint-sized pocket rocket 🚀 and I love everything she does. She is almost like everyone’s favourite aunt or grannie, depending on your age.  I hope that when I get to be 66 , I am as active as happy and as influential as her.  I would love to share high tea with her and laugh so much I cry.

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Dogs, koalas, wombats and platypushttps://www.google.com/adsense/new/u/0/pub-3691500166505297/privacymessaging

What are your favorite animals?

Quiet, obviously, my favourite animals are dogs. I am totally biased there because i love❤️Lily more than anything else in the 🌎 world.   The love ❤️ Lily and I share is beautiful.

My favourite Australian animals are koalas 🐨,  wombats, and platypus.   Koalas 🐨are just so cute and I got to hold a baby wombat in my arms at Mole Creek in Tasmania.  Platypuses are just so unique and cute. I mention Platypuses because they are my brother David’s favourite animal.  You now can sponsor a platypus through a wildlife charity here in Australia, and I am considering sponsoring a platypus in Davids name eventually.

Headlinershttps://www.google.com/adsense/new/u/0/pub-3691500166505297/privacymessaging

Headliners is a totally amazing new television series here on the ABC.   It is hosted by Jimmy Barnes’s daughter Elly May, who takes after her father because she is musically talented and has lived with a lifelong disability called cerebral palsy.   She is absolutely phenomenal and is so beautiful.   She came up with the idea of forming two musical 🎼 bands, made up entitely of musicians, living with a disability to form and then performing at Mundhi Mundhi,  a huge music festival here in Outback Australia 🇦🇺.

The idea is brilliant, and Elly May has some wonderful supporters in her father Jimmy, Ella Hooper, Tim Rogers and  Scott Aplin.   The idea is incredible because most musicians with a disability are grossly under-represented in mainstream music circles. Elly May, along with Tim and Ella, have to form two groups, have them practice songs as a group, and get them performance ready for Mundhi  Mundhi a few weeks away.  What I like about this program is that Elly May is not afraid to show how she manages her disability on an everyday basis.  It truly is warts and  all for her and also shows how the various musicians battle everyday life with their disabilities.  Oh, did I forget to mention that the brilliant and gorgeous Scott Aplin gets to strut his stuff as music director.   It makes for one very outstanding program, and I, for one, will be binge watching the entire series on iview over the next day or so. Elly May Barnes has definitely won a fan in me for what she has set out to achieve.   I, for one, think she is such a unique and beautiful person  😍 💕 💖.

Two historical figures.https://www.google.com/adsense/new/u/0/pub-3691500166505297/privacymessaging

If you could meet a historical figure, who would it be and why?

As I think about todays topic, I am torn between meeting two very important people in history.

Obviously, given my  Christianity, I would love to meet Jesus to thank him for the many gifts my faith has brought to my life.  To meet him would mean the second coming had occurred.  I think Jesus is the most important historical figure..

The other person I would ❤️ to meet would be Princess Diana because she was truly beautiful.  Not only was she stunningly beautiful, but she also radiated warmth from the inside and did so much good for the world’s issues.  She  highlighted different issues and showed love to the underprivileged and those in need.  She truly did change the 🌎 world and the monarchy forever. Her legacy lives on.  If I ever met her,I would express gratitude 🙏🏽 to her.

The Block Arcade, Myers Melbourne and the Queen Victoria Markethttps://www.google.com/adsense/new/u/0/pub-3691500166505297/privacymessaging

What is your favorite place to go in your city?

I have 3 absolute favourite places to go to in the City of Melbourne. My first place to go would have to be the Block Arcade on Collins Street.  I love its grandiose architecture and the shops in it. Even though the Hopetoun Tearooms are no longer there, I love the other shops,  in particular the Toy Shop with the dolls hospital.

Another must see is the Myer department store on Bourke Street, another slice of Melbourne history.  I loved as a child and young women browsing through Myer and worked there briefly as a Christmas casual worker.  Myer is famous for its Christmas Windows display that has a different story for its focus each year.  Today in Mekbourne, these  windows are being launched. I used to love relaxing in the women’s restrooms and lounge where all women who needed public conveniences could relax and chill and breastfeeding or just rest after a hectic shopping trip.

The other thing I love is The Queen Victoria Market on Elizabeth Street.   The markets are wonderful with an array of butchers,  delicatessen, fruit and vegetable, and clothing and accessories stalls. I haven’t been there in a long time and miss the experience of buying meat fish,  cheese fruit and vegetables etc.  It is also the perfect place to buy a gift for those traditionally hard to buy for. About 20 years ago, I did a foodies dream tour of the market, savouring delicacies and learning the history of the different store holders.  It was an amazing and memorable experience  and one I think every tourist in Melbourne should do.

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Midnight Oil “The Hardest Line”.https://www.google.com/adsense/new/u/0/pub-3691500166505297/privacymessaging

A couple of days ago, I watched on iview a documentary about the Australian band Midnight Oil called “The Hardest Line.”  It was amazing, a real slice of Australian history, a time capsule of the issues affecting Australia 🇦🇺.

I think every one should see this.  Midnight Oil are such a divisive band.  You either love them passionately or hate them passionately.   I am on the side of those who love them. So much of the issues and values I hold dear Midnight Oil have educated me about.  My views on nuclear disarmament,  the peace movement,  the environmental movement and indigenous issues have been shaped and formed by Midnight Oils songs. So many people of my generation would agree. So many men of my age worshipped Midnight Oil , a lot who were into surf culture loved Midnight Oils style of music.  Peter Garrett is famous for his politics and even my dad was aware of Peter Garrett and Midnight Oil.  I think my dad was fascinated a bit by Midnight Oil singing about political issues. They certainly were very unapologetically in your face about issues. Midnight Oil are known as the only top charting Australian band of the 80s that never appeared on Countdown.   When they were asked to appear on the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics,  they went away to consider how they could do that without selling out and came back with all guns firing.  They appeared in black tracksuits with the word SORRY emblazoned on them,  summing up the view that our government needed to apologise to our indigenous population for the stolen generation.  I think that was a bold move and think they did the right thing. Peter Garrett ended up being a Labor politician around the time the Labor party gave a national apology to the stolen generations.  Without Midnight Oil taking such a public stance, this apology may never have happened the way it did.

Midnight Oil are certainly a political animal, but I, for one, respect them for their politics and their very special place in Australian history.  I have learned much from them as did a lot of my generation.  When all is said and done, their music 🎶 lives on.