Blog Pieces

I hope you enjoyed part 1.  Ralph was one of the people who made being a property manager a joy. Ralph has vacated and Lauren came with me to do the final bond inspection. There’s been a shuffle around in the office and she’s going to manage the property now. I’m glad. I want to remember it as Ralph’s home. We walked into a dull box-like space with yellowing, off-white walls and an exhausted carpet. The curtains have gone and the Venetians are pulled up to give a view of the driveway from the lounge. The passing traffic is now…

I have been browsing my book Mayhem in Melbourne – Behind-the-scenes at Caruthers Real Estate. COVID has given me time to do this. It’s about my life as a Residential Property Manager, the people I worked with, the ups and downs and the fun.  I’ve been re-visiting some of my favourite characters.  It is fantastic to meet up with them again so I have taken them out of the pages to spend time with them.  These characters are a composite of people I worked with but now with their new identities they are friends I know under their new names…

UooUoo is a new word for me and these beautiful UooUoo animals are new to me too – it is pronounced You You. This is a chance for me to introduce you to a new word and of course a new animal.  It is always fun to find a new word. Not that I think I will find many uses for ooUooU Remember the Pushmi-Pullyu  ( pronounced  push-me-pull-you) from  the Dr Doolittle books by Hugh Lofting.  I always loved that word and as a child walked around reciting it but like ooUooU it was hard to find places to use…

**   This is part two of me taking you for a ride along this tram route.** Walking is my go to exercise especially now that COVID has made its home with us. A favourite walk is from St Kilda along Chapel Street into Richmond alongside the tram tracks. Last Sunday when I got to Swan Street I was hot and sticky and feeling the effects of the distance.  Coles is good place to pick up a few groceries.  I did that and scrambled onto the 78 tram as it trundled towards my home and a reviving coffee. The crowd on…

Happy Christmas and congratulations for surviving 2020.  This has been a unique year with so many struggles for so many people.  In fact I’m sure there isn’t a person in the world that hasn’t been affected by COVID in some way. Here in Melbourne we are still remembering the devastating bush fires that were raging at this time last year. The fires gobbled up many homes and there are people still waiting to get into their new homes. People died too. With all this in mind have the very best Christmas that you can.  Don’t worry about all that plastic…

Life is always interesting on this tram route – never dull moment as they say…   Last week when I was traveling  from South Yarra to Prahran on the 78 tram the only free seat was opposite a dark skinned older man.  He had a swollen eye but it didn’t look like a the result of a punch up.  It looked more as if it was suppose to be that way.  He sat very still and stared straight ahead.  I gazed passed him and out the window.  No eye contact is my go to position on this tram. Two impeccably…

The lockdown door has opened a crack with more light coming through on November 1st.  With this new life seeping towards us we have another Melbourne spring-style day. Cold wind and now in the late afternoon the sun is out and the wind lessened. To Celebrate I have poured a gin and tonic in one of the beautiful glasses I inherited from my mum.  The gin turned up when I was cleaning out a cupboard.  Not much left which is perhaps why I forgot about it but enough to celebrate.  The crystal is sparkling in the sun and the slice…

I’ve been missing for a while – it is the dreaded virus. COVID-19 lock down in Melbourne and my creativity is locked down with it. I settle into my chair and I have nothing to write. I wander around the house. I make a cup of tea. I check my emails again and again. I find something on YouTube to listen to. I go for my daily walk. I sit at my computer again. It’s no good there is nothing there. My creativity has died. Are you the same? What’s been your ‘go-to-thing’ to lift you spirits during these COVID…

I wrote this on the Sunday I heard about all Melburnians having to wear a mask when they left the house. I live in central Melbourne.  I thought about how my life under COVID-19 had changed. I came up with one huge positive.  I wrote about it……. *************************************************   In one way Covid-19 has played into my hands. I have re-learned the love of walking. Once this love took me into the wilds where I slogged for hours through bush to finally lunch by a freezing river or even spend the night in a communal hut with others who also…

Hi there This is a quick update of my progress with the Onlinebookclub. A couple of posts ago I complained that although I’d signed up and paid my money with a promotion that said they would buy a book and it hadn’t happened.  In fact nothing had happened. I have to give them their due they have now bought a kindle copy. I have had some email correspondence with a real person – a lovely lady called Sarah. No reviews yet. I’m not sure what I paid for because it looks as if I have to pay more if I…