Auntie, Sister. Grandmother, Great-Grandmother,
Mother and Wife of German Descent
I've lived in Australia since 1959 together with my husband Peter. We have four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I started blogging because I wanted to publish some of my childhood memories. I am blogging now also some of my other memories. I like to publish some photos too as well as a little bit of a diary from the present time. Occasionally I publish a story with a bit of fiction in it. Peter, my husband, is publishing some of his stories under berlioz1935.wordpress.com
Apr 7, 2013* SOMETIMES THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO SAY, NO WORDS TO FIND. YOU TOSS AND TURN AT NIGHT, HOPING FOR SOME REST AND COMFORT. YOU STAND UP VERY EARLY AND WHAT YOU SEE AND HOPEFULLY EXPERIENCE, IS A DIVINE MORNING GLORY, BLOWING AWAY ALL YOUR FEARS, NIGHTMARES AND TROUBLES… BLESSED BE; ALTHEA )0(
LYRICS: Leonard Cohen- Morning Glory No words this time? No words. No, there are times when nothing can be done. Not this time. Is it censorship?Is it censorship?No, it’s evaporation.No, it’s evaporation.Is this leading somewhere?Yes.We’re going down the lane.Is this going somewhere?Into the garden.Into the backyard.We’re walking down the driveway.Are we moving towards….We’re in the backyard….some transcendental moment?It’s almost light.That’s right. That’s it.Are we moving towards some transcendental moment?That’s right.That’s it.Do you think you’ll be able to pull it off?Yes. Do you think you can pull it off?Yes, it might happen.I’m all ears.I’m all ears.Oh the morning glory! As Always: I don’t own anything except my humble imagination. If there is a problem, please, contact me?!
In this video, I show you how I restore photographs using Adobe Photoshop. Whether you’re working to repair cherished family portraits or if you’d just like to see historical photos shine again like new, this video is for you! My non destructive editing method broadly involves using Photoshop’s crop and healing brush tools, along with some subtle brightness adjustment using a curves adjustment layer. I made a companion tutorial where I colour the restored photograph. Which can be found here if you’re interested: https://youtu.be/SKgEP-TlAm0 More can be found about the original photograph here: https://www.loc.gov/item/2016708602/ To see colourised pictures, including the one featured in this video, you can follow me at the following: https://www.instagram.com/jbcolourisa…https://www.facebook.com/jbcolourisat…https://twitter.com/jbcolourisation#Restoration#Photoshop#Repair #’Restore #Fix
Auntie, Sister. Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Mother and Wife of German Descent I’ve lived in Australia since 1959 together with my husband Peter. We have four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I started blogging because I wanted to publish some of my childhood memories. I am blogging now also some of my other memories. I like to publish some photos too as well as a little bit of a diary from the present time. Occasionally I publish a story with a bit of fiction in it. Peter, my husband, is publishing some of his stories under berlioz1935.wordpress.com View all posts by auntyuta
catterelEditDear Uta, you are making a huge adjustment in your lufe, and at a time of the year when we all tend to feel a bit pessimistic. You seem to be coping very well under the citcumstances, and as you go through the various stages of grief. What is important in life is to have someone to love and a reason for living – a sense of purpose. From my personal observation of residents in Old People’s Homes, when these were missing the people gave up and died. You have a loving family and friends even if you can’t visit. But I think you are very capable on the computer and can skype or facetime or zoom with your loved ones. You also seem to me to be an optimistic and cheerful person at heart. So much of your life centred on Peter in the last years and it must be very difficult to fill the void left by his passing, but if see this as a challenge I am sure you will eventually find a really worthwhile cause to devote your energies to. And do let others pamper and spoil you when they want to – it helps them to feel good, too. A big hug to you my friend.Reply
auntyutaEditThanks for your big hug, dear Cat. You are right, probably I am a cheerful and optimistic person at heart. There are lots of things I can still enjoy. I just cannot cope with all the dreary stuff. I need someone, who can sort all this out for me. All my children tried to do their best for me. But it is too much for them too. Owning a house that has been not exactly well looked after for a number of years, involves so much work that I am not suited for. Renting a well looked after and maybe somewhat smaller place might perhaps be better for me if there is nobody who can actually live with me in my house. I am the sole owner of the house now, but it is only a headache for me. On the other hand I do love the surroundings of the house, close to nature!I feel a bit like I live in wartime again, wartime when actually most things are put on hold. But somehow it does not make sense to me, since there are a lot of people being newly unemployed because of the virus and some businesses being made redundant, but when it comes to reliable trades people, you can count yourself very lucky indeed to find good, reliable people that work for a reasonable price. Where on earth do I find reliable people like that who do not overcharge? I have no idea. I do need help with that, but so far nobody has come up with any real help. I hate myself for not being able to do a bit more, and then it is hinted, I could perhaps do more if only I put my mind to it.At 86 I feel I am definitely quite close to the end of my life. So really, do I now have to learn to cope with all this stuff that I never in my whole life needed to do before? This computerised world is not my world. A rich person would just employ somebody for doing all these administrative jobs. Maybe I should be such a rich person – Ha, ha!!Thanks again for your lovely hug, dear Cat, and for your very thoughtful and compassionate comment! Wishing you a very HAPPY EASTER with all your loved ones!Reply
auntyutaEditCat, I agree with this what you say in your comment:“What is important in life is to have someone to love and a reason for living – a sense of purpose.”Reply
auntyutaEditI wamt to write another reply to you, dear Cat. That is, looking at my reply to you from 2nd April 2021, I feel, there is much that I can say to that now! Outwardly, a lot of things have inproved! For instance, there are wonderful improvements to my house and backyard. Also my health improved a lot after quite some struggle. So, I should be really happy now! – Wrong!! – Why wrong?Right Cat, didn’t you said this: “What is important in life is to have someone to love and a reason for living – a sense of purpose.”Well, I say it is alright for me to love a lot of people, but really nobody is now very close to me in my life. – Actually, I find it good, that nobody is going to miss me for very long, when I am gone. So, I would say, the people I love, are definitely no reason for me to go on living. A good reason for living would be my desire, to write an autobiographical novel. I know, I cannot rely on it, that I get actual support in doing this. So, it is totally up to me to find the determination to do it all on my own as best as I can. In conclusion, I say, writing could give me a reason for living as well as a sense of purpose. I cannot see, that there is any other purpose in my life right now. However, I often feel, I would not mind at all, if I could die in an instant at any time! I feel, there is no need to say good bye to anyone!
I made today a few new comments in the original blog and copied it here.
Go to the original blog if you want to have a look at some more comments from April 2021!
We are in the midst of HOLY WEEK 2021. So tomorrow is GOOD FRIDAY, a holiday. Sitting in front of my house in the early morning sun – this is what I am looking forward to for tomorrow.
I am not looking forward to asking someone for a lift to the MEDICAL CENTRE. Do I really need a change of the dressing on my lower leg? We’ll see.
Sitting in the sun. This is all I am longing for . . . .
Last Sunday I returned from my two weeks holiday at my son’s place in Victoria. With the help of one daughter and one granddaughter I was able to go to the MEDICAL CENTRE on Monday and on Wednesday. I was able to use the ROLLATOR, which was really a great help. Right now, I do not feel confident to walk with my walking stick!
This post makes me think a bit, what my relationship to the German language is right now. Do I miss, speaking German? I find this is a question, I probably cannot answer very well. Maybe I should try? 🙂
After over 300 posts, I found the secret to always having something coherent to say/write and not make you suffer while reading my ramblings.
Here it goes…
When I don’t have anything to say, when it’s hard for me to express myself (wanting to do it, of course. The nights I don’t want to do anything, well that’s another story), the great trick is to write my thoughts in Spanish, and then translate them to English.
That’s how simple this is.
When you’re bilingual (working on being trilingual), there are ideas that are easier to communicate in my native language, the one I’ve been using on a daily basis for over 30 years. For the record, I’ve known English since I was a child. I’m fluent, but the expertise, naturalness and thinking speed will never compare to my mother tongue.
So, we stayed at our holiday ‘camp’ at Sussex Inlet from Friday, 21st of October. to Sunday, the 25th! 🙂
Caroline, my youngest daughter, turns 44 in about six weeks. She was at the holiday ‘camp’ with her whole family right next door to me: A 16 months old baby was one of the family: This was so good! 🙂
I stayed with my daughter Monika and her partner Mark. Monika turns 64 in less than six weeks. The twins, Monika’s sons, stayed in another unit with their families: It was so good, to have Monika’s grandsons around! They are absoluely lovely kids. 🙂
On Saturday, one of Monika’s daughters stayed with her friend in our camp just for the day! So these people were number 16 and 17, and I was number 18! I hugged them all, and they hugged me! A lot of hugging all around. 🙂
Uta with daughter Caroline and grandsons Ryan and Troy (the twins!). It was a wet morning.
This was our first time at Sussex Inlet. Caroline was six and the twins were still five. The rain lasted only for one day. After this we had beautiful summer weather again. When our son Martin came to visit with his wife Elizabeth the Inlet looked gorgeous in lovely sunshine.
It was March 1985 and in July Martin and Elizabeth had their first child, a boy named Tristan. After daughter Monika’s twins, Tristan was to be our third grandchild. The following grandchildren were all girls. Monika’s three girls and Martin’s two girls. So we have eight grandchildren ; the last one of them was born in 1997. In the meantime we are also blessed with three great-grandchildren.
After having experienced Sussex Inlet for the first time in 1985 we went back there lots of times. The children and grandchildren always loved it. Only our first born child, daughter Gabriele was never able to join us at Sussex Inlet because she needed an Iron Lung to sleep in for the night.
We were happy that our youngest daughter had the company of the twins. The three of them did get on very well together. When people saw us with the three of them, they often thought they were triplets! The twins would ring their mum from a public phone near the office of the campsite. The place was still called a ‘camp’ but it had newly built units which could accommodate up to eight people each.
In March 1985 the unit we were in had only just been built. Everything looked brand new. The best thing about Sussex Inlet was that it was very secluded. We called it our little paradise.
This was our first time at Sussex Inlet. Caroline was six and the twins were still five. The rain lasted only for one day. After this we had beautiful summer weather again. When our son Martin came to visit with his wife Elizabeth the Inlet looked gorgeous in lovely sunshine.
It was March 1985 and in July Martin and Elizabeth had their first child, a boy named Tristan. After daughter Monika’s twins, Tristan was to be our third grandchild. The following grandchildren were all girls. Monika’s three girls and Martin’s two girls. So we have eight grandchildren ; the last one of them was born in 1997. In the meantime we are also blessed with three great-grandchildren.
After having experienced Sussex Inlet for the first time in 1985 we went back there lots of times. The children and grandchildren always loved it. Only our first born child, daughter Gabriele was never able to join us at Sussex Inlet because she needed an Iron Lung to sleep in for the night.
We were happy that our youngest daughter had the company of the twins. The three of them did get on very well together. When people saw us with the three of them, they often thought they were triplets! The twins would ring their mum from a public phone near the office of the campsite. The place was still called a ‘camp’ but it had newly built units which could accommodate up to eight people each.
In March 1985 the unit we were in had only just been built. Everything looked brand new. The best thing about Sussex Inlet was that it was very secluded. We called it our little paradise.
Last Weekend, that is from Friday the 21st of October to Sunday, the 23rd , I with a lot of family members, spend some time at Suseex Inlet again! Even though it was raining a lot of the time, all of us still had a very good time. I took lots of pictures. Hopefully, I’ll be able to publish some of these pictures pretty soon! 🙂
MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS is the enchanting tale of a seemingly ordinary British housekeeper whose dream to own a couture Christian Dior gown takes her on an extraordinary adventure to Paris.
Disadvantaged and vulnerable people “bore the brunt” of Australia’s COVID-19 pandemic response, according to a report.
Key points:
The review has found that governments were making decisions in a “fog of uncertainty”
It received submissions from more than 350 people
Many of Australia’s border closures and lockdowns were the result of policy failures in quarantine and contact tracing, the review also found
The privately funded reviewhas condemned Australia’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that government health measures and policies lacked transparency and further entrenched existing inequalities.
“Governments and public servants were making decisions in a fog of uncertainty,” the review said.
“But, looking back, we are persuaded that significant mistakes were made.”
It found disadvantaged or vulnerable groups — such as low socio-economic families, people with disabilities, aged care residents, migrant communities, women and children — were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 policies.
The review was funded by three philanthropic organisations: Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation, the Paul Ramsay Foundation and the John and Miriam Wylie Foundation.
It was ledby Western Sydney University Chancellor Peter Shergold, along with businesswoman and former University of Wollongong Chancellor Jillian Broadbent, University of Queensland Chancellor Peter Varghese and 2021 Young Australian of the Year Isobel Marshall.
It received submissions from more than 350 people, including health experts, public servants, economists, business groups and community organisations.
The review was sharply critical of taxpayer-funded economic policies — such as JobKeeper — arguing big businesses were favoured while casual and temporary workers were left without financial support.
“Failing to include a claw-back mechanism for businesses supported by JobKeeper was a design fault,” it said. “It was fiscally irresponsible and unfair when other groups in society were excluded from economic supports.”
It also argued that many of Australia’s border closures and lockdowns were the result of policy failures in quarantine and contact tracing, and could have been avoided.
“Rules were too often formulated and enforced in ways that lacked fairness and compassion,” it said.
“Businesspeople were often allowed to travel across borders whilst those wanting to visit dying loved ones or newborn family members were not afforded a similar opportunity.”
The review argued that schools should have stayed open, particularly once it became clear they were not high-transmission environments.
Disadvantaged and vulnerable people “bore the brunt” of Australia’s COVID-19 pandemic response, according to a report. (News Video)
“For children and parents — particularly women — we failed to get the balance right, between protecting health and imposing long-term costs on education, mental health, the economy and workforce outcomes,” it said.
“The social and economic costs were likely significant.”
It also warned of the “perils of overreach” when it came to implementing and enforcing COVID-19 public health measures.
The review found many Australians — particularly those living under strict and extended lockdowns in Melbourne and Western Sydney — felt they were “being protected by being policed”.
“There were too many instances in which government regulations and their enforcement went beyond what was required to control the virus,” it argued.
“Such overreach undermined public trust and confidence in the institutions that are vital to effective crisis response.”
It claims to be apolitical and states that its terms of reference “were not dictated by a politician”.
The review states its submissions were received voluntarily and participants were given “complete confidentiality so they were able to speak freely”.
catterelEditDear Uta, you are making a huge adjustment in your lufe, and at a time of the year when we all tend to feel a bit pessimistic. You seem to be coping very well under the citcumstances, and as you go through the various stages of grief. What is important in life is to have someone to love and a reason for living – a sense of purpose. From my personal observation of residents in Old People’s Homes, when these were missing the people gave up and died. You have a loving family and friends even if you can’t visit. But I think you are very capable on the computer and can skype or facetime or zoom with your loved ones. You also seem to me to be an optimistic and cheerful person at heart. So much of your life centred on Peter in the last years and it must be very difficult to fill the void left by his passing, but if see this as a challenge I am sure you will eventually find a really worthwhile cause to devote your energies to. And do let others pamper and spoil you when they want to – it helps them to feel good, too. A big hug to you my friend.Reply
auntyuta EditThanks for your big hug, dear Cat. You are right, probably I am a cheerful and optimistic person at heart. There are lots of things I can still enjoy. I just cannot cope with all the dreary stuff. I need someone, who can sort all this out for me. All my children tried to do their best for me. But it is too much for them too. Owning a house that has been not exactly well looked after for a number of years, involves so much work that I am not suited for. Renting a well looked after and maybe somewhat smaller place might perhaps be better for me if there is nobody who can actually live with me in my house. I am the sole owner of the house now, but it is only a headache for me. On the other hand I do love the surroundings of the house, close to nature!I feel a bit like I live in wartime again, wartime when actually most things are put on hold. But somehow it does not make sense to me, since there are a lot of people being newly unemployed because of the virus and some businesses being made redundant, but when it comes to reliable trades people, you can count yourself very lucky indeed to find good, reliable people that work for a reasonable price. Where on earth do I find reliable people like that who do not overcharge? I have no idea. I do need help with that, but so far nobody has come up with any real help. I hate myself for not being able to do a bit more, and then it is hinted, I could perhaps do more if only I put my mind to it.At 86 I feel I am definitely quite close to the end of my life. So really, do I now have to learn to cope with all this stuff that I never in my whole life needed to do before? This computerised world is not my world. A rich person would just employ somebody for doing all these administrative jobs. Maybe I should be such a rich person – Ha, ha!!Thanks again for your lovely hug, dear Cat, and for your very thoughtful and compassionate comment!
Wishing you a very HAPPY EASTER with all your loved ones!Reply
AuntyUta 
