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Part 2 – All God’s Creatures

All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.                                        ~ Cecil Frances Alexander 1818-1895 And ALL are most dear to my heart, where many battle daily for supremacy over all the beauteous things that make my life worthwhile.

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Antiques take Priority?

What wondrous possibilities today’s technologies present to us. To think I came from a time of being taught typing at school on a manual ‘Imperial’ typewriter that can now be viewed in museums. What an amazing thrill when I used my first ‘electric’ model – a ‘Remington’. It was SO fast I thought I’d never… [Continue Reading]

Imperial typewriter

There’s Poetry in Motion and in ‘moodling’ too.

Funny how a ‘moodling’ type brain meanders along diverse pathways, especially as it matures. (Now isn’t that a nice, polite way of saying ‘ages’ or ‘gets old’ or ‘starts wandering’?) For me yesterday, it went a little like this – Some days ago I was offered various submission possibilities to a site called Christian eBooks… [Continue Reading]

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Ahh… memories

The Barbra Streisand song suggests how beautiful memories can be… some so painful to remember, others impossible to forget. And whilst I’ve been writing of farming memories, and favourite things, and childhood memories, sometimes there’s a photo that captures my imagination – or a verse – or a thought. Can you see why the one… [Continue Reading]

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Is it, Mum?

Hmm… would that you could – Start a NEW day, a NEW chapter of your life, with ALL the accumulated wisdom of your years. But of course, that quality was gained dearly: – by hard knocks that flattened you – temporarily or long-term, – by experiences, both good and bad – and every nuance in… [Continue Reading]

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Barely up for it…

  Despite rumours, I haven’t ‘snuffed it’ or ‘lost it’ – I’ve just been incredibly busy on my writerly pursuits, plus the steepest learning curve of a multitude of new things, and been totally neglectful of my websites and other places. It’s a vast technological world out there I find – to my delight/dismay (substitute… [Continue Reading]

"... and she ends with - I Love You Ted!"

Let’s Raise a Glass to Old Friends

I am in the process of another short-short story in my Memoir, this one about some memorable dairy cows we have known – at this moment I’m calling it – ‘To All the ‘Girls’ We’ve Loved Before’.  And another that is still in early draft stage tells the saga of becoming dairy sharefarmers before we… [Continue Reading]

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Kangaroo Rescue

  BRAVE BEGINNINGS Part One in the series OLD McLARSEN HAD SOME FARMS An excerpt… Now, after the chase of that dignified old man roo, I felt a whole lot less sure this was the sort of adventure I wanted. I understood the increasing numbers were a problem. I accepted that shooting by good marksmen… [Continue Reading]

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I LOVE MY SCOTTISH ANCESTRY… still

Firstly, in this ‘born again’ version of a post from over a year ago, I must start with a serious note. A few days ago it was the anniversary of the death of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, ‘The Young Pretender’,  in Rome, in 1788. After leading the ’45 rebellion,  Stuart slid into a life of… [Continue Reading]

Scottish kitten

Click Go The Shearers – Initiation

BRAVE BEGINNINGS Part One in the series OLD McLARSEN HAD SOME FARMS An excerpt… Today’s shearers have been apprenticed and achieved all the required book learning and degrees.  Some will even have had some ‘hands-on’ experience in mock shearing sheds and maybe some out in the real world.   But yesterday’s Shearers received their qualifications,… [Continue Reading]

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The Agony and…

not much ecstasy yet. Told you about the dreaded editing process that continues in between my children’s e-book series. Told you I’m not a marketer’s armpit, but I try – and try again – and read some more and try to learn some more.  I spread the word through Facebook and Twitter and here on… [Continue Reading]

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Another Mother’s Day

For Australians and others,  Mother’s Day is the second Sunday in May… and that is when I officially celebrate my day, as a mother and grandmother. But I celebrate another day for my Mother.  It’s a quiet, intensely personal remembrance of her birthday – today, 20th March.  Had she lived, she would have been 101… [Continue Reading]

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I Hate Fireworks

Sorry Folks (NOT!) I am the original New Year’s Eve Grinch. I admit this freely. I’m grinchy and grumpy about Halloween, also – and Opening and Closing Olympic Games and the countless other ceremonies that can seemingly only be celebrated with explosives. New Year is meant to be the time for shrugging off old (usually… [Continue Reading]

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The First Day… not of the year, obviously.

But I was flying high as these kites, because it was the first day of my 7th decade – a glorious, sunshiny day with only a few wind clouds high above. Certainly felt like the words from Robert Browning’s famous ‘Pippa’s Song’ – ‘God’s in his Heaven, All’s right with the world” I sincerely had… [Continue Reading]

Kites at Pt. Mac.4

No Credits for Edits

This is Ted’s idea of Editing… looking closely at himself from a different view Sometimes when I’m ‘moodling’ I dream of those days of innocence when I simply wrote as I felt… having searched the deepest recesses of my grey matter, collected and written down my memories – all in my own words, just the… [Continue Reading]

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A Wake up Call?

I had my usual 3+ hours awake in the wee small hours of yesterday morning, and it didn’t register that it was Saturday.  I returned to bed, slept some more, and for a second time continued to vaguely think it was Friday. And I was thinking that I didn’t have a story ready this day… [Continue Reading]

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The Bush Gymkhana

BRAVE BEGINNINGS Part One in the series OLD McLARSEN HAD SOME FARMS An excerpt… The initial impression of a Bush Gymkhana is a kaleidoscope of colour and movement as horses and riders compete. The sounds are of encouraging shouts and whip-cracking; horses neighing and whinnying as their galloping hoofs make the ground vibrate.  From the… [Continue Reading]

The Bush Gymkhana 1

Boat People of Yesteryear

Today is International Migrants’ Day – and in Australia, the 18th December 2012 has begun.  We see the new day some hours before most Europeans and Americans.  Not a bad thought to run with, when we Aussies know only too well that we’re considered somewhat backward about many ‘brave new world’ developments. First, last or… [Continue Reading]

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What day was this again?

It’s Scotch Tape Day, a celebration of the invention of engineer Richard Gurley Drew   – a moisture-proof, transparent product to seal cellophane wrap. The first grateful users were grocers, bakers and meat packers. It’s also Backward Day, or as some call it yaD drawkcaB. No matter from which angle you check it out, it’s designed… [Continue Reading]

Beautiful start to a special day.

Is a Change as Good as a Holiday?

Well, in a word… NO! But fire season in Australia and owning a farm and animals, makes a holiday at this time impossible for us to consider. We could never stop wondering and worrying and be able to enjoy ourselves. And even if there is nothing specific you can do in the worst scenario, we… [Continue Reading]

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Really…

There are no other words. I believe I've said it all. … [Read More...]

Part 1 – Hiraeth means Home

Hiraeth, (pronounced here-eyeth], is a Welsh word that has no direct English translation. The University of Wales, Lampeter attempts to define it as homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the lost or departed. It is a mix of longing, … [Read More...]

Mothers and Babies

Excerpts from Chapter Six - 'A Little Honey called Candy' - in 'Old McLarsen had some Farms' Book One - Brave Beginnings' Poor little mother Candy—she was hardly past her own puppyhood. Far too young for this painful experience. It's the one bit … [Read More...]

What day was this again?

It's Scotch Tape Day, a celebration of the invention of engineer Richard Gurley Drew   - a moisture-proof, transparent product to seal cellophane wrap. The first grateful users were grocers, bakers and meat packers. It's also Backward Day, or as … [Read More...]

Really…

There are no other words. I believe I've said it all. … [Read More...]

Small Folk Tales have a new home – ceedee4kids

The Kids Are Gone!

It's true - you can seek them here and seek them there, but you're not going to find them anywhere - … [Read More...]