100 Things

This book is a unique insight into a man on a mission - or should I say 100 missions. It is the story of a huge bucket list to make sure that this man has no regrets in life. Sebastian Terry an Australian tells his story with humour, adventure and compassion. Some of his crazier schemes include, marrying a stranger, acting in a Bollywood movie, visiting a death row inmate, participate in a medical trial, set a Guinness world record, catch a thief, be a jockey, represent a country at something, go to Timbuktu, be a matador, live on a dessert island for a week, get shot, publish a book. If this doesn't get you interested nothing will. There are still many more to achieve [100] and it is a fascinating ride.

 Fund raising for Camp Quality is a big feature of his travels. Camp Quality is an amazing charity that helps kids and families affected by cancer. The website is www.campquality.org.au.

One email to Sebastian that stood head and shoulders above the others was from a concerned mother in Melbourne about her ten year old daughter being bullied at school. This not only resulted in a talk from Sebastian at this girls school but it prompted a flurry of emails from people throughout Australia asking him to give a talk at their schools, workplaces and social clubs. So with this amount of interest Sebastian organised a speaking tour.

His next project was to buy a stranger lunch which he did. Not only one but two homeless people. Sebastian stated that, "There are moments in life that stop you in your tracks and put things into perspective." This one makes you think.

There are many heart warming accounts in this book and well worth a read. It is funny, sad, inspiring and a real treat.

What's on your list?

Pinterest and Me.

The Pinterest web site is a fascinating one with thousands of pictures and loads of information to look at. I love Pinterest and spend many happy hours pinning the pictures into my many boards. I scroll through  putting things of interest into categories to look at later. I try new recipes, learn German, do genealogy, look at flowers, jewellery and animals, follow feminism and atheism, have tips on household cleaning and organisation  and travel tips. There are so many topics that you can follow and look up. It is an endless supply of entertainment and delight. Great for anyone stuck at home or wanting to kill some time , bored or looking for information. I have nearly one and a half thousand followers and counting. I enjoy seeing what other people are pinning and what is in their boards. Art is another of my interests and there are plenty of artists and their works to follow. Philosophy, poets, entertainment and cakes all get a look in. Try it you just might love it like I do.

Meeting My Cousin.

At the end of last year I flew to Tasmania to reconnect with my second cousin that I had not seen for fifty three years.Well this was wonderful and what a thrill. It all started when I went on ancestry .com as a beginner not knowing what I was doing. I found the family tree with a familiar name attached and sent a message. This eventually led to us talking on the phone. We had a lot to catch up on so I decided to take a trip over to visit. I had never been to Tasmania before. We are both New Zealanders and have lived in Australia for over thirty years now. I had been Carol's bridesmaid when I was ten years old and she was twenty as a bride. I wore a lovely deep copper gold bridesmaid dress, my hair done up in a bun on top of my head with a piece of the material from the dress wrapped around it. On the front of the dress at the base was a lace horse shoe which added a nice touch to the dress. My sister was the other bridesmaid in the same colour as me. There were two older bridesmaids who wore the same dress only in a brighter gold shade. The dresses complemented each other nicely. I still have the photograph of when I wore my bridesmaid's dress.

 When I arrived in Tasmania I recognised her immediately and we instantaneously hit it off. We discovered over the next few days how much we had in common. I stayed at her house underneath which was a self contained unit where I settled in for the next few days. The view from her place was amazing with the river and hills in the background. I did not want to leave.

We had a wonderful time together and Carol showed me the Gorge and we had a walk through the gardens, over the swinging bridge and enjoyed an iced chocolate at the coffee shop as the peacocks wandered around between the tables letting out their screeching cries.

We entertained some friends of hers from New Zealand and cooked them brunch before they departed on their flight to Queensland. 

Another day we visited a small place called Mole Creek. [conjures up tales from Beatrix Potter.] My neighbours had recently moved there and we saw their new house and garden and had a cup of tea.

 

We visited a winery and enjoyed a lovely lunch with of course wine as an accompaniment. 

The other reason for my visit was of course genealogy which we both love and have made family trees. So of course we did this on the computer in the evenings and tried to get back further and fix any queries that we had. We talked and learnt a lot about each others family and life which was very enlightening

The time went all too quickly and it was soon time to return home. Had an early flight to Melbourne and back to my usual routine. Would love to return or have Carol over for a visit. That will be another blog.

We had a great time in Tassie driving around the countryside seeing all the sights. We stopped on the way to Mole Creek for lunch at a nice coffee shop.

We visited Mole Creek to see my next door neighbour that had recently moved there .

 

My DNA Story.

Finding a huge interest in genealogy and loving it I decided to take it one step further and have my DNA tested. I had found a lot of German, Scottish and English ancestry so it came as a bit of a surprise when a week before getting my DNA results I stumbled upon a large amount of Vikings. What was going to turn up in my DNA?

Here are my results. They were divided between north and south Europe. I was not shocked to discover that I was 100% European although something a little bit exotic would have been a nice surprise.

 Here are my north west European results. 90.7%

Scandinavian 60.9% Hence the Vikings

Scottish 20.8%

English 9%

Here are my south European results. 9.3%

Iberian 6.7%

Italian  2.6%

I have not found any Italian ancestors yet bit many Hungarian ones so that well may be the reason.

So this is who I am. A mix of European. This was a fun exercise and one that I would recommend.

How to be Lazy.

This is so easy, you don't even have to try. Follow these easy instructions and see what happens...

1 Don't get out of bed.

2 If you do get out of bed stay in your pyjamas all day. 

3 Start a good book. That will do it.

4 Make a nice cup of tea or coffee.

 5  Sit outside in the sun with no 4 for a while. That should do it. 

 6 Put a good movie on. Add popcorn or chocolate if preferred.

 7 Retire.

 8 Start something on your computer. eg. Pinterest, You Tube, Genealogy, or some shopping.

 9 Invite a friend over.

 10 Get a cat. Watch what the cat does and follow.

  See how easy it is. Now enjoy being lazy. 

If in doubt just add wine.