Happy Christmas Everyone!

Well here it is, and I’m sure that you have all been waiting with baited breath for this newsy-Christmas greeting to arrive!  We both hope that you haven’t been sitting by the post box waiting for your paper version with illegible writing to arrive because I’m afraid, that once again, time has gotten away and it’s just too darn late to post it!!

So this is about as good as it gets! 

Pikey

Go get yourself a cuppa, a piece of Christmas Cake and sit back and enjoy!!  The gentleman up above of course is Pikey, dressed up as a Christmas elf… what can I say??   I had planned to get some photos of Evan and myself and the canines, equines… but, you guessed it – time has beaten me and you will have to wait and read the blog site after Christmas where I plan to put up some photos of us, the dogs, the horses etc etc.

Like everyone it seems, 2011 has been a very challenging year for us.  Evan had a life changing experience with June of this year by suffering a heart attack – not a serious one –  I mean he managed to get out of bed and feed the horses, cut wood, sort out the water to the horses before going to hospital …  but it certainly made us both stop and look at our lives to find out what was important and what we can do without.  It also showed the strengths of our many friendships and the love of the people around us – a simply amazing experience for both of us and one we will never forget.

Ruby

2011 was a year of finding my voice when it came to the travesty of Coal Seam Gas Mining in the Darling Downs of Queensland – Australia’s Food Bowl – mind you its not restricted to Queensland in any shape or form.  As a result, The Black Cockatoo Blog (and FB page)  was born  to communicate information to the people. It keeps me very busy …  as well as working locally as an Office Manager, looking after Crazy Horse Marketing clients and the Massie Lodge residents: leisure time is often sitting on the lounge with my trusted laptop … working!!    It was also a year of finding my passion for photography…finding the beauty in our surrounds and trying to capture it through the camera. Adding fuel to the fire was some success in a couple of shows…so that has also fuelled my love of picture taking.  I have come to the conclusion that if I could make a living out of taking photographs, I would be in heaven!

Evan continues to run Gallopers which has evolved from a bloodstock site into something completely different – a one stop website with all the racing information that you would ever need to follow the races. Gallopers also has an ever growing popular presence on FB. Evan’s knowledge of horse racing is outstanding and the “Gallopers Good Thing” is running at 50% winning strike-rate  this month.

Matilda

Evan continues to represent successful senior Jockey - Damien Robinson (based in South Australia) and Victorian Apprentice, Chris Pace – who is currently out of action injured.   Evan still gets up in the middle of the night to watch his beloved Liverpool FC – you know, there are something things that will never change!!

So, there you have it in a nutshell… we’re both hoping that 2012 will be a year of new endeavours and a year  of following our passions and hopefully making a living out of the things we love to do.  There will still be dogs and thoroughbreds – hopefully Jimmy is on his way to a comeback after injury and a very long spell and Harry will go out into the racing world and show us the potential that we think he might have. Remembering that there are never ever any givens when it comes to Thoroughbreds – that is one lesson that we both learnt very quickly when we moved to Massie Lodge.

Bessie Merle (minus Christmas getup!)

So, from Evan and I, we wish you all a very happy and family-filled Christmas Day and may 2012 be the year that realises all your dreams and wishes!

It Really Is Getting Close To Christmas…

Today in the mail we received our first Christmas family newsletter today… and I think for the first time in many years I didn’t baulk, raise my eyebrows, or think how totally ‘over-the-top’ it was. I think I actually welcomed the news.

My mother was one of six siblings, she was the only girl and there is no doubt in my mind that she was the black sheep of the family, not because she took my father’s surname nor by the outlandish things that she did, but more by her very strong sense of character and will that made her stand up to her father – who was very strict – but not unlike many of the men of that time.

She passed away in 1998 after a very long battle with a rare form of cancer – but I do truly believe it was on her terms to go when the time came and not the disease – but that was her, a woman truly in control of her life, and her death, and strong in every sense of the word.

I remember vividly having a conversation with her during her illness at the beginning of 1998 - the conversation that no-one wants to have with a loved one who is terminally sick – oh, how we both cried together and hugged each other!! It was the conversation where I told her that it was ok for her to leave.

My mother being the person that she was kept going until her body decided to give up – due to a tumour in her groin that had opened up and had become necrotic, her groin artery burst. My first thought on remembering that memory today was the amount and the bright colour of the blood that had spilled out. The ambulance arriving and then being told in the hospital that I would have to learn how to clamp the artery in case it happened again. While I stayed at the hospital until she was stable, she then sent me home to “clean up” while unbeknownst to me, she organised her departure and I believe it was totally on her terms.

A month or so after her funeral when I was clearing out her room, I remember coming across one of her journals and while at first I felt abit awkward to read her private thoughts, it gave me a huge insight into her when she was a young girl. I wasn’t really that surprised at what I read; her brothers had joked many times about her strong will and assertiveness and to see her words come to life in her large looping handwriting made me understand just who she was, her dreams and what she wanted to do with her life.

Years later I met Evan and my life began.

My uncle once said to me, “You are the spit of your mother” - at the time I didn’t realise the significance of those words… but now I know it’s her strength, will and dogged determination that make me who Iam today.

I caught up with my mother’s extended family finally this year – at the funeral of one my Uncles - and it made me feel so awkward in the realisation that I hadn’t seen these people in years and that it took an “occasion” – albeit a sad one - to be together again.

I still miss my mum and more so at this time of the year - I guess you never really get over losing a parent especially when they are such a strong influence in your young life, but it takes a family occasion like Christmas to bring the memories to the surface again.

Christmas for us this year will be quiet – but that’s ok. We will bring out the Christmas Tree, hang the wreath on the front door and adorn the living room with tinsel. Every year I toy with the idea of Christmas Cards…but usually lack of time dictates and it usually ends up being an e- newsy letter – like the one I received today, figuring that it will mean more than a store bought Christmas Card.

My brother Neil will come up to Massie Lodge and will spend time with Evan and I, the Massie Lodge canines and equines. We will exchange a few presents, eat some good food and drink some good wine – and with all the hype and commercialism that normally surrounds this time of the year, when it comes down to it, to me, this is what the true meaning of Christmas is.

The Greatest Show on Earth