Selfless selfies.

Selfies with no make-up, please can we stop now? Donate to cancer, yes, but endless mug shots of your naked mugs, no. Self less selfies perhaps, people actually putting money into a donation box, photos of people helping other actual people out, or just a photo of your dog. Yes, that would be preferable. 
The idea, commendable and If we laid it out bare and uncovered as was the intention then yip, the notion of no make up is great. But enough already and are you all actually donating? I'm not so sure.
 We shouldn't need a gimmick to promote cancer awareness, we are all aware, in fact we are all scared to death. Just give if you can, help if you can and support all the time. And as for no make-up, heck women it's not like you need it and my only hope with all of this nonsense is that women see that, are empowered by it and feel braver to ditch the slap more often.

Appropriate footwear.

Thank goodness that I live in a place where I hear a more pork every night and thank goodness that after being in the big smoke I can return to this. No matter how hectic my day has been or how frazzled I have become, red lights, rude people and running on empty…. there is the journey home. Buildings give way to paddocks, people give way to sheep and the sky get's a bit wider.
My dog greets me with a tail that makes his whole body wag, the pony neighs and the trees are just where I left them. Gumboots replace shoes and the routine that comes with living in the country takes over. Time is measured by who needs feeding first and if it's a good day then we all just forget about the chores for a while and head for the creek.
 The stresses of the day have no place here and even if they were considerable they become irrelevant, reserved for the world on the other side of our gate.
I will leave the cities for others, the wanting things that are not needed, the striving for things that will always be just beyond reach. You can keep your huge mortgage and mod con envy and you can go on believing that I am missing out on something by living out of town.
I can step in and out of your world with ease, but those very expensive and ridiculous shoes that you covet, well they won't last a minute in my corner of the world.

Extraordinary anyones.

I have met the most extraordinary people in my life so far and I still have plenty of life left to meet more. I chat a lot, to people that I know, barely know or don't know at all, I find out all sorts of wonderful stories because I, myself am willing to share mine.
People are fascinating, especially the ones who live in far reaching places, have dared to do what others wonder about and couldn't give a hoot what anybody thinks. The quirky people, the people on the edges, the well travelled or the elderly. The lady that gave me her painting that I fell in love with, but couldn't afford, the caretaker of Kapiti Island;  a man who has the shine of life in his well worn eyes because he found out what it's all about a long time ago.  My wonderful, crazy friend who sold her house in  Florida to buy a motorbike, my favorite hermit, who is the most educated man that you could ever meet. They all make up the essential part of life, living…. and they're all so busy doing it that they don't have time to be concerned about the constraints that the rest are doggedly constructing.
 Share your embarrassments, triumphs and failings and you will find that people offer you something of themselves. Don't be a closed book, don't judge or categorize because in my experience people are not usually what they seem. The best kept secrets are those stories that people actually want to tell, if you just give them time and half a chance. Turn over rocks, take a different path and talk to anyone, because those anyones are extraordinary.

Please don't make me cringe.

There's something that I don't understand, it's a turn of phrase that is used often,  it's cropped up a lot lately and well I just don't get it. Excuse me for being pedantic, but I think it's time it was addressed.
'Me time', what the heck is that? Why is it so yearned for and am I the only one who cringes when it is uttered?
Let's break it down, 'Me time', I guess it literally means time spent on ones own doing exactly what one desires to do. But, well, why? Firstly, it's kind of presumptuous to assume that you deserve to be pandered to and well for me personally to be alone would mean that someone else is lumbered with my kids…..hmm anyone keen?
 And then there is the question of what exactly you are supposed to do during 'Me time'. I can't even think about the words pampering and relaxing without feeling nauseated, call me odd, but I have 3 kids, a husband and a small zoo, I don't expect to 'chill out' (another hated phrase) anytime soon.
Is it a generational thing?  I suspect so, I'm pretty sure that 'Me time' was not said in our grand parents time. We have all become so incredibly feeble and needy. 
We all expect so much from life, but maybe 'Me time' should become 'Spend more time with the kids time', 'turn off the bloody telly time' or here's one to ponder 'Go out and do something that's not all about you time'.
Rather than me, think we. Think community, think collective, think beyond and bigger than just yourself. It's too big a world to be spending so much time thinking inwardly. If you have time to take time then put it to good use and if you find yourself saying "I just need some me time"…...cringe, pinch yourself hard and get back to the real world……fast.

The quirky zoo.

When the ducks quack at my house I know it's 4 o'clock, ponies start neighing at about 5pm and the dog goes nuts at about 7pm. My minute hand ticks around my animals, a few other things too (children, work etc) but predominantly, my animals mark my time.
They are all rescued, or were given, and none of them are normal. My horse has crooked legs, the pony thinks she is a dog, the dogs have issues and the ducks, well the ducks quack….a lot.
I'm not sure how it happened, I swear I am not one of those ridiculous animal people, or smelly cat ladies, but, well, it seems that I have acquired a zoo. They are high maintenance, quirky and a constant source of entertainment, pooh and work.
I feed them, cajole them into going back to where they should be and pat them and tell them they are lovely. I do whatever it takes to get my chooks to lay, to persuade the discarded sheep dog to please not round everybody up and to prevent the ponies from eating themselves into oblivion. I put up fences, I take them down, I get electric shocks daily. I spend a considerable amount of time lugging buckets of water, sometimes in my pajamas. I scratch behind ears and throw sticks.
What do I gain from all of this? A sore back and an endless source of compost, those are givens, but quite a bit more as well.  I ride my horse, through vast paddocks of green cut through by shadowy creeks and I feel free, I run with my big dog who has more energy than the All Blacks and I feel alive, I laugh at the ponies and admire the ducks; my chooks lay the best double yokers that nature can buy. They make life seem less serious and fundamentally about the simple things. A dusty track through a valley, a hill to be climbed, a jump for my daughter to conquer. Our animals provide us with a different way, an adventurous, humorous and grounding way. A way of life I guess, with a soundtrack of quacks, neighs, clucks, squeaks and ear splitting Hunterway barks.

I will be telling you noteworthy things that have been running around riotously in my head, whimsical thoughts from the dark depths, some philosophical nonsense and some good old fashioned banter.  A turning of a key and opening the door kind of action. To you, a communication of sorts, an ongoing starting where we left off conversation.