Melbourne Cup Race Day

WEEK 6

Wudinna – Travel, Food and Fun

Each year on the first Tuesday of November, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia plays host to the Horse Race that stops a nation – 5th November was that day.  

It is the richest handicap race in the world and today they celebrated their 149th Melbourne Cup.  A magnificent day, with sunshine and blue skies above.   Flemington Racecourse was superbly groomed, with roses galore, every where the eyes roamed.   Congratulations to the Gardeners and groundsmen for such a perfect display . Fashions, both Ladies and Gents abounded in both color and style – always a highlight of this Carnival. Champagne flowing, with superb food, for those who chose to celebrate in style!

The winner was a horse from Gympie, a small Queensland country town, not far from where I live on the Sunshine Coast. So much excitement, with an Australian– bred horse winning this prestigious race.  The last Australian-bred to win was in 2009.

The horse’s name is ‘Vow and Declare’ and ‘no’ I did not place a bet on him!  Amazing how words have different meanings to each of us and ‘vow and declare’ was a saying that my Mother used regularly, especially if she was making an important point to us, generally reprimanding!

Particularly something quite special that crossed my path today is that Lexus are the major sponsors of this prestigious race.   It is quite powerful for me, as my DMP is quite clear that I have a Hybrid Hatchback Lexus, in the driveway of my new home. A few moments later on screen was an attractive girl, wearing a beautiful blue outfit – the same colour blue as my Lexus!

It took my breath away and the wonderment of my DMP was so very real!

Now I am really excited!

My First Blog Post

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Bushfires

Blog for Week 8 –

These past couple of weeks in Australia, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland, we have experienced horrific, damaging bushfires and they continue still. Smoke haze is constant.

Many people were evacuated from their homes.  Lives have been lost, homes and property burnt to the ground and quite sadly, stock and wildlife, including our treasured Koalas and Kangaroos have either been burnt severely or perished.

This has affected 1,000’s of people and has had an enormous impact on their day-to-day lives. It will take a long time for normality to return for them – so much to rebuild. 

 100’s of Firies (Firemen) were flown in from all over the country, leaving their families and work commitments behind them, to help those in need, all without concern for their own welfare.  We thank them sincerely, intensely and from the bottom of our hearts.  We are so very grateful for their personal commitment, giving to others.  They are the true heroes of this disaster and a great many of them are volunteers.   Let’s not forget the aircraft bombers, with dumping huge amounts of water constantly, as there has been no rain to help. More heroes!

In situations such as destruction, have you noticed how people come together and genuinely help each other – this is a wonderful thing, as we are all equal

  Giving, keep on giving!

Week 7

Short but very sweet – I was shopping on Monday in a well-presented Asian shop for a few items.   

The Australian lady in front of me at the checkout, had chosen 4 perfect brown pears, secured in the netting to protect them and 3 mangoes.   I had often wondered about these pears, their flavour, texture and more. So politely I asked her what they were like.  Her eyes lit up and she replied –  ‘beautiful, crispy and very juicy’ with quite a passion.  I was intrigued and made a mental note to buy one next time round.

As she finished her payment and was ready to leave, she turned to me, gave one of her pears and a warm hug to go with it.   I was truly surprised by her gesture and gratefully accepted the pear and her kindness.    Then she was gone.

I had spent the morning shopping, giving kind comments, smiles to shop staff and shoppers, with no effort – then I was given this beautiful pear in return!   This simple gesture from a total stranger made my day!

Give more – get more!  

WEEK 5 – A busy and quite intense week! Have really enjoyed working on my Press Release – amazing how it just came together! Marco Polo has been a little challenging – technology & lack of patience on my part, but for sure and certain I will win out with this Gremlin! Huge thanks to the Fab Davene – your patience with me is incredible and I am so very grateful!

My First Blog

This is Dorothy Boutwell from Sunshine Coast, Queensland.  Australia

Simply, I’m a single Mother and Grandmother of several beautiful grandchildren, all scattered across this amazing country.

I continue to be a working ‘girl’ to always keep the brain and body in movement in a direction that is specially laid out for me.   Finding the real me, is fascinating, exciting and very stimulating.

Big smiles from me to you!

MKE – Week 4

So here I am, way behind, sadly lagging in my ‘honour’ commitment to my MKE Blogs – in particularly to myself.   Various health reasons, but now well on the way to sharp and shiny! 

I missed reporting for Week 1 (confused), really enjoyed writing my Week 2 blog, Week 3 disappeared into the wild blue (my color) yonder (no excuse), so now it is the real thing, just must be – totally 100% commitment.

I have been so very grateful to magical Mark J for his words of wisdom, from a recent email he delivered to my mailbox

“No denying the Law of Growth.  What you think about… grows.  No way around it.   If you think love, joy, bliss, health, strength, power, harmony, perfection happiness… see you feel better already just reading these words.  So, what you think about GROWS.   What do you want to grow in your life.  That’s what you think about.  Simple as that.   Now, look up at the ceiling, really look up – no, wait read this first.  OK, NOW look up and smile… Are you doing it…  Let go of your stupid EGO it’s not doing you any good.  Just do it.   OK, here are your next instructions…  Look Up, smile the biggest smile you have… Show those teeth… Now try to feel sad…   Can’t do it can you?  Good, you’re learning”   Good Luck – Sending love and light!   To add to this, if I am outside and the ego sets in, I look up at the beautiful blue sky,

 Works equally as well!  

Week 1 Masterkey – Flying Sky-High

Mid-Air Flying from Perth, Western Australia (West Coast) to Brisbane, Queensland (East Coast) on Wednesday 9^th October ’19.  It never ceases to amaze me where & when we have the occasional ‘blinding flash’ of life experience.   During this sky-high flight, at this point of the journey, flying above the arid, dry, rocky, red dirt and saltbush earth below, known as the Nullarbor, I was looking out of the window and it came to mind that far below me is where I was conceived, born and spent the early years of my childhood.  My sensational Father worked on the East-West train line and with his young wife, my amazing Mother and myself (cute kid) –  we lived in a very basic Railway Cottage, no power or running water.   These very early years for me are not within my memory, well not in my conscious memory, just photos to go by, lucky me!  

Earie, spooky, strange, yet warming feelings engulfed me.   I have flown many times and also driven these plains, but this is the first time I have experienced such feelings as I did.   Interesting isn’t it!   Perhaps my Subby is telling me something?

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.