writing for fun

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…

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…

It’s taken me a while to write this post … I don’t want to offend anyone or lose a friendship… it is more that I’m writing to get an understanding of my friends who aren’t writers or readers. Writing and publishing my book ‘Mayhem in Melbourne’ has been a huge mile-stone in my life.  Yet I have at least three friends who I thought were close friends, who four months after publication haven’t read it.  I put a copy in their hands so it’s not a problem with access or the cost. When I see them, I don’t say ‘Have…

I wrote this piece about the magpies in my area during COVID-19.  I also mention them here. This piece is for your enjoyment:- it is part of my ‘Love Writing Collection’ Life with the Magpies In my post code it is the year of the magpie. There are magpies everywhere. Yelling, chortling, and talking loudly amongst themselves. They do this at full volume. I’ve yet to see a magpie whispering to a mate. My favourite park is full of them and until the lockdown they marched around the children’s play area lording it over everyone and pretending they’re in control.  …

Hi there, This is a post with apologies. My aim is to post once a week yet the last couple of weeks have seen nothing from me. Why can’t I write?  Now my book is published I find myself word-tied. It’s as if words are NOT one the things I enjoy most in life. It’s as if one my greatest pleasures that of  playing with words and working out the best way to write something has gone. The challenged to make something funny or gripping or just plain interesting has disappeared. It  this Writers Bloc? It that what I have?…