Keys to Successful Retirement - now is our time!

Dear Babyboomers
R wrote (she is a COG  - crazy old Gal, like me) -

"I envy you your Thursdays with Liz (TWL). What a wonderful combination, a good friend, laughter and photoshop. I have been exploring photoshop elements for years now, most of the time by myself and crying more than laughing. But isn't it great? Our cats look wonderful on my patio, very compatible and happy. Remember what John Travolta said in the movie Michael, laughter is the way to true love. Three more important keys to successful retirement...laughter, love and good movies.


Speaking of which, I love your muvee! What a delightful surprise. I was out for a walk yesterday and photographed a bubbling spring on our hillside. When I got back to look at the photo, it just wasn't the same without the wonderful sound and movement. So that does it, I'm on my way to Walmart, another key to SR (successful retirement). Not shopping at Walmart, but continuing to pursue new interests, challenging oneself to go to the next level. And there it is again, the key to SR, don't retire. Start up something new...let's twist again.
Clara fication - Successful retirement - that's it!  Whatever turns you on - whatever project you take on - it doesn't have to be creative or positive or anything except what you want to do.  Because now is our time.  Yeah!!!!  How  good is that?      Let's Twist Again....LTA 
We babyboomer women and others, understand ages and stages, and now it's our turn to make the most of our time.  If we don't, we also know that no-one else will do it for us. 

Tech Stuff - Thanks for writing down the BLOGGING, COGGING terms.  I am going to display them so newcomers understand.  it takes a while to get your head around Blogger, which is (have to be careful as he might be listening) simple but not really.  Like most web stuff, it boils down to a series of simple steps, but my experience is that there often seems to be a missing link. G would say "Yes Darling", meaningfully.
And while I'm on the subject, why do they have to update all the time? Why does it have to change, like  -  can't we get used to it and feel confident and comfortable for a while? Today there was an entirely different format which does my head in but I know that is the way of the world today - yes it was an improved function but......
I am going to list the Successful Retirement stuff in my website so it is all together.

What have you bought at Walmart? Your photos are just beautiful as they are  - but you are right - we BB women challenge ourselves to go to the next level - whatever that may be - but only if we feel like it. The camera I use is a Canon - wonderful gift from the stars of "The Wedding".  I haven't even explored it's capacities YET. 
Keep laughing.  It uses the best muscles.
Not more snow......
Luv Clara

Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT


Coral Bells...March 18th 

It's 60 degrees out, and there is not a patch of snow anywhere. I walked the property, surveying the critter damages to my plantings. I found this little patch of coral bells that somehow survived the winter and the rabbits. I thought it was an appropriate place to take this photo. The weather forecast for the weekend is SNOW!







Necklace of stone and glass designed to go with tomorrow's piece.

To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page or send an email clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au   We would love you to share your creative ideas.

Babyboomer Women in the Grip of the Blog

Dear R and other Babyboomers
On Thursday at 2, Liz comes over and we play around with Photoshop. We met at a Community Evening College last year where a very officious young lady attempted to teach Photoshop in eight easy lessons with a test at the end. Liz and I didn't get it - loved what PS could do but just didn't get it - which is not surprising since it is a very sophisticated program. We felt like the naughty girls in the class just as if we were right back there with all you babyboomers. We now explore Picassa, with issues like - how do you store photos, when do you use Picassa rather than Photoshop etc.
So now when we meet, we attempt to find our way through the wilderness, usually spending much of the time laughing belly laughs at what we create. The blind leading the blind but we have fun and we are moving forward!!?? Today's effort below.

Another retirement wisdom coming up for the blueprint - we can continue to make vibrant connections with others when we engage in similar interests.

So your cat now sits with mine both adorned with your beautiful neckpieces.
Cheers Clara
ps I have to name my cat now that she is a celebrity.




Brown Cat meets White Cat (He He!)

"I have a neckpiece too."















Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT

Post Note...March 17th









Loom knit silk poncho with pottery shard neck piece.

Posted...March 16th





Neck Piece of jasper and pewter with shard pendant

Playing around with what will work - seems to be a limit - all trial and error since there is no clear blueprint here either. Also working on the Music aspect - I know where to go - when I decide to take the time- at present we have abrupt cutoffs.

Video - Just a quick one to show your fabulous work. Obviously it would need to be in order, with captions - but it would be good to go on U tube etc. with the appropriate music and challenge. Let's do it - Let's twist again like........ Let's do some marketing together.

Love Clara

Good Morning Vietnam

Visit my website at http://www.babyboomerconnections.com.au/

Good Morning Vietnam http://www.projectvietnam.com/

Good Morning my heroes - now I know that you, Graham, have arrived in Hanoi, then I can relate.
Now you are back there.

Thanks Guys, from the bottom of our hearts.

Love Clara

Project Vietnam

Love what you are doing.
•Refurbishment of communal health stations in rural areas.
•Refurbishment and renovation of living quarters at schools and selected orphanages in rural areas.
•Education programs in hospitals.
•Supply of medical equipment and textbooks.
•Construction of an orphanage building in Cambodia.
THE VISION: To meet the medical equipment, health and education needs of the people of Vietnam and any bordering country, using professional input from Australia, Vietnam and such bordering country in developing programs in specific areas to improve their quality of life.

Project Vietnam Inc. is accredited with the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and Peoples' Aid Coordinating Committee of Vietnam (PACCOM).

Mobius Strip becomes Creative - doing the intrinsic twist!

Dear Babyboomers R and others
R wrote "We have created a mobius, a continuous strand that has no beginning or end but has a unique twist to it.
Clara - What is she talking about? I googled 'Mobius' which then came up with 'Mobius Strip'.
I taught this to Year 3 in Science (learning a heap along the way). Amazing concept and yes we have created this VIA COGGING.
It all came flooding back in that Science lesson, where some got it right and others .......... so I was extremely busy doing the intrinsic twist.


A Möbius strip made with a piece of paper and tape. If an ant were to crawl along the length of this strip, it would return to its starting point having traversed every part of the strip without ever crossing an edge - and then the next exercise was to divide the strip !!!!!!????

You know that I will have to go there at some stage but not now.



A wedding ring designed as a Möbius strip. Rather lovely I thought, especially since we have a wedding coming up.

Clara says - R - http://www.toroidalsnark.net/mkmb.html
takes you to an amazing web site which describes knitted mobius strips (I am doing my research before seeing your Mobius inspired piece. Can't quite understand why she does this though.)






Escher's Version of a Mobius Strip -

He is one of my heroes.












Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT


Mobius...March 15th

R - This Mobius Scarf is loom knit and joined to make it a continuous piece with a half twist. Featured here with neck piece of carved jade beads and fossil cabochon pendant.

Möbius strips have found a number of surprising applications that exploit a remarkable property they possess: one-sidedness. Joining the ends of a strip with no half twist produces a simple belt-shaped loop with two sides and two edges -- impossible to travel from one side to the other without crossing an edge. But, as a result of the half twist, the Möbius Strip has only one side and one edge!

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Successful Retirement - draft blueprint

Dear Babyboomers

R wrote - Please tell G that I am preparing Stracotto Alla Fiorentina (page 801 in The Silver Spoon.) I'm off to lard the beef.

Clara - R, I'm sending your message to him via this blog because he's (G) on his way to Vietnam
to join a friend he was with during the war, who has set up "Project Vietnam", to participate in an aid program. More to follow.

Just need to get this success thing posted first before we move on to Vietnam. Just a beginning - this is what this blog/ site is all about - your input Babyboomers, to put together a draft blueprint.

"I have thought long and hard about the concept of 'Success' over the years and find a definition of it to be elusive - like with the word 'Love' which means a lot of differing concepts to people at various stages of their lives, depending on their age /stage/perception.

To me, 'Success held elements close to 'by one's own efforts, or a team effort ie the achievement of personal /project goals.

I compiled this when it was relevant to work goals but what I am working on now is a retirement model.

• "Goals and work ethics need to be endorsed/evolved by both management and staff, (who is the staff, who is the management? ........)
  The goals, perhaps to be replaced by the word 'Projects', whilst being challenging , also need to be realistic and achieveable. To be successful in a retirement environment requires emotional intelligence, which embraces the elements of positive relationships and appropriate knowledge.
• Above all the 'team' is the vital word, which means that the common goals take over from the individual roles of members of the team, whatever team that may constitute, when the pressure is on.
• Please add

Cheers Clara

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Granny/Nanny Bloggers get technical / Dances with Daughters

Dear Babyboomers and others
R wrote - "NOGGING, nanas / nonnas blogging (cogging) I love that. I will add it to my log of COGS. You realize there is no end to this COGGING. We have created a mobius, a continuous strand that has no beginning or end but has a unique twist to it. Perhaps the women's movement was more successful in creating liberated sons than daughters. Perhaps that is why young women today will be more successful in their marriages, and perhaps they will not even know why.


Clara - Chogger - children - it's endless. We must send it to Blogger for some extra rights such as tuition. It now occurs to me that our kids/children need our past to help them with their future. "We give them the gift of our experience" - we need not only to continue COGGING but to do some KOGGING or CHOGGING too. I haven't ever heard of the word 'mobius' so need to look it up. I agree and had already written the word 'endless' before I read your word.

If you see a few changes in the blog, it is due to my lovely neighbour who looks and sounds just like Tom Cruise (so shall be named Tom), who is an IT expert. He is one of your so called liberated sons and spends quality time with his children - "even dances with daughters - 5 and 8 ". I was a single parent with children 4 and 6 onward, so missed out on such beautiful experiences.

Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT


Thought you might enjoy seeing what you are missing. On my first attempt at Faux Forsythia my model fell over and my Hope Springs Necklace broke in a zillion pieces. There I was picking up beads midst rabbit and deer droppings. Back to the drawing board to restring the necklace. Next photo shoot was more successful.


Faux Forsythia...March 14th

In an effort to brighten a very bleak environment, I added silk forsythia to the bare branches. It just seemed the thing to do.

I wanted to work with the bright gold and as a result a happy mistake resulted with my off the shoulder "poncho". Having only two small cones of yarn to work with, I knit a long rectangle with no garment in mind. After a bit of draping and seaming I came up with a new twist to the ancient poncho. Fun!

Clara - Fun / functional / funky / featuring Babyboomers best feature - shoulders. Love the off side draping which helps to create a fabulous layered look. ps you did a great job putting together Hope Springs Necklace - It looks better than ever.

Cheers Clara

Technical stuff - all you need to do to set up a similar 'muvee' /video as per yesterday, is to first download a free Google program called Picassa. Once you have done that I will guide you through a few simple steps. One other tech point was which Tom suggested that I download Google Chrome as an alterative to Internet Explorer which I did and found that Blogger worked better even allowing me to cut and paste within the program which I hadn't been able to do previously. He suggested that I keep both going for a while until it becomes obvious which one works best.

To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page or send an email - clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au

Successful Pram Moms Down Under

Dear Babyboomers
R wrote - "What goes around comes around" might be appropriate here. I see more and more young women who have chosen to be successful stay at home moms, stroller moms. Would that be pram moms down under? There are days that my store is filled to capacity with strollers, children and moms. Young women, coupon in hand, looking to economically outfit themselves for a soccer game or the PTA. I am always encouraged by this. My own daughter is definitely following this path as she prepares for her son's arrival. Yes, a boy! This will be a new venture indeed. I'm thinking along the lines of like grandmother, like grandson as I make room for a crib in my studio!

Clara - Wonderful news! Now you can become a nanny COGGER, a NOGGER!!! I am already a nonna of three with the count between G and myself being 12. My daughter also is looking forward to this path down the track if all goes well. I, too, find it encouraging to see all the proud mums pushing prams. Perhaps they will be more dare I say, 'successful' at marriage than our generation, without the history of the women's movement. I do ask myself how did this influence my expectations, and how did we expect the guys to catch up with us, given their conditioning.

I found a piece I wrote on Success (very subjective word)- will post it tomorrow. I did it!!!! First of many videos - I love them - they make me happy and I feel clever and successful.

Cheers Clara

Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT

Clara's Cat
Hi, what's your name? I like your neckpiece.











Hope Springs Eternal...March 13th
This may not look very hopeful, but for me it is like the first daffodil of spring. My stone cat has only recently emerged from his four month hibernation under three feet of snow. I adorned him with a neckpiece of faux amber, glass and brass beads with a pendant made from a vintage button my mother gave me.



Lunch at Balmoral


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Our daughters don't even know they have been liberated.

Dear Babyboomers
R wrote,"I tested the waters today by trying to enlist my 30 something employees in a discussion of the the women's movement. Nothing, nada, zip. I fear we have done such a great job of liberating our daughters that they don't even know they have been liberated. In fact, it seems the most important items on their agenda are Facebook (their faces), the latest episode of Housewives of Orange County and how they look in a pair of jeans. I long for a meaningful discussion of a great book or a critique of a movie rather than a reality show. It seems that I have become an old model rather than a role model. Invisible to most everyone. And yet it is this invisible cloak that has liberated me. I can spend an entire day absorbed in my work without even a glance in the mirror. For me the blueprint to retirement is not to retire. I plan to spend every precious moment creating, designing, reading, recording, expanding. I hope we will be cogging for a long time to come."

Clara - I doubt if you will ever be invisible - your creativity and energy will rule that one out. However, "and yet it is this invisible cloak that has liberated me", is a very liberating concept to me. It takes me beyond my ego, my self as I present to the world, to a deeper level, where I can just be 'me'.

Our daughters are not really as different as the 70's feminists expected they would be - 'You've come a long way, Baby', appears from my observation of successful women, to put a lot of pressure on them to juggle work with family life. No doubt, however, if they choose this path, the climate is more supportive and their partners more aware of sharing the load. We should make sure that our daughters are taught this aspect of history in order to help them develop a perspective and if they choose to, take important aspects from the lesson and apply it to their lives

'Life is not a series of isolated ponds and puddles;
It is a river which flows from the past to the future
Only in the most literal sense are we born on the day we leave our mother's womb
In the larger, truer sense, we are born of the past - connected to it's fluidity,
Both genetically and experientially"......

Our children have grown up in a different pond, but it is all connected. They inherit what has evolved before their time, then like us, have their opportunity to make the most of it in order to survive and grow.

The process of writing has given me a new perspective (not always comfortable) where in looking to the past, patterns do emerge:- Creativity - always a different way of looking/thinking ; Enhancement of self and environment - (I love to decorate) ; Love of great food ; a passion for preparing food - creatively yet with health ; and wine (not always great but quaffable) ; Joyful appreciation and love of children, in particular facilitating their creative development ; and in latter years a love of writing, having fun with web pages which allows me to express the many ideas I/others have to share (children's books are on the agenda.)
Above all, the need / appreciation of loving stable family / friendship relationships emerges with prime importance. I have a need to be authentic and hope that my voice is true.

ps - the word 'successful' is one which today seems to refer to women who are out there in the work force. Society needs also to value highly the success of stay at home mothers for their stable contributions to the well being of the next generations.
Cheers Clara

http://www.shopatnextdoor.com/

Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year...

Loom knit cardi with hand printed birds, worn with flower necklace.

Bird Bath...March 12th


Hand printed as well. Is there no end to your creativity?

To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page or to send an email click on clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au

I was a woman moving silently through the women's movement.

Dear Babyboomers of all ages

R wrote, "Well C, you out did yourself with this picture. My heart just jumped. I actually have dreams about the niddy noddy, quite complex ones in fact. It was my salvation at the time and I guess still is. I'm in a bigger, newer version today, but I still have my place to go. I never really entered the work world in the traditional sense. I never encountered all that you write about because in fact I created my own perfect job where I was chief, cook and bottle washer. No glass ceiling or harrassment for me. I took all the things I love; fashion, design, photography, marketing, writing and created a job. Then I hired myself. In my heart I know I'm the only one I could have worked for. I was a woman moving silently through the women's movement. C, I really need a loom to lean over and a cup of coffee to continue this discussion. It is so complex and I fear a topic that has gone by the wayside for alot of women, young and old alike. I will continue my crusade to enlist COGGERS to join us in our virtual niddy noddy world. Cog on!

Clara - I had actual, not virtual goosebumps when I read this. R, I need a loom to lean on too. Your description is powerful and inspiring, where you demonstrate that you have achieved what most people dream about ie creating your own perfect job and hiring yourself, thereby the job becoming an extension of you.

It brings up the eternal question in my mind - "What am I going to be when I grow up?" ...............

Perhaps a writer........... Maybe I am already doing it by being a COGGER, where I can pull together the strands of my life, and create new ones, such as photography and marketing. Who would ever have thought that i would find so much pleasure/passion in doing this - it's all about communicating - with the computer being the very clever tool.

Great to see signs of Spring. How quickly it happens. Autumn is glorious here - the humidity has gone, the sun still hot with welcome coolness in the air. Great for gardening, not that these need much looking after. Cheers Clara

Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT

Spring Showers Bring Flowers...March 11th

Neckpiece of copper and faux amber.

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Bright and Creative Women of the 70's Enjoying Retirement

Dear Babyboomers

R wrote "I never thought of myself as a liberated woman but more as a lucky woman. I set up my first little shop back in the 70's when most women were just starting to think about working outside the home. I always said it was more of a women's center than a shop. We gathered around tables and talked over looms about much more than spinning and weaving.

Just recently a woman came into my store and purchased one of my knit shrugs. As the sale progressed we discovered that she was an old customer from the niddy noddy. She said "the niddy noddy ascended on Waukesha like shining light, only to disappear too soon." I thought about that alot. It did disappear as all the bright and creative women went back to school and out into the workplace. There was suddenly no time for the crafts that had brought US all together. I miss US."


Clara - The Niddy Noddy was a shining light and I have missed it ever since. Yes it was much more than a shop - it was a chance to communicate with other women whilst working on a craft, such as women have done for centuries.


http://www.babyboomerconnections.com.au/ Excerpt from my site re Babyboomer women communicating by blogging or better still cogging.



"What we have to pass on to the next generation, and to the world situation, is valuable.

Women, traditionally, have met and communicated, in groups to make a quilt, or meet a community need.
We "liberated" ourselves but have we really? We still yearn for the old fashioned / meaningful chat especially when we are older, because, being 'herd animals' we need the village spirit. We had a foot in both camps, our mother and father's generation giving us our basic roots with the Women's Movement changing the whole scene."

I too, consider myself to be lucky, not only to live in this time when, as women, we enjoy having many choices, but I sometimes wonder if we have also given up some precious aspects, which fortunately we can now enjoy in our retirement - if we do it right!
Cheers Clara

Unable to copy photo - "Singing in the Rain"



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Questioning the Values we Absorbed - pleasant and pretty

Dear Babyboomers
Once I get started on this ie Women's Movement, I have to keep going because it is 'History in the Making" and we were there........ I need to take it through to its conclusion.

What should women have done?
One value which I absorbed, and still has credence was that "If you were pleasant and pretty that you would be OK / rewarded." I almost edit the "rewarded'" aspect but realised that this was all part of the Set-up / Payoff. The movie "Stepford Wives" depicted women / society who went along with all this stuff which in retrospect could be beneficial to both partners in a marriage; but at the same time the feminist movement in the late sixties and seventies was happening.
Educated women fought to separate their identities from the idea of motherhood, knowing that until the two came to be seen as wholly distinct, they would never be taken seriously - and in any case , who wants to be defined by only one aspect of their life?

The Women's Room' by Marilyn French, published 1977, (I actually bought it in a second-hand book store recently) questioned the traditional role of women. Like the main character, Mira, a conventional and relatively submissive young woman who ended up in a traditional marriage and encountered male-female power politics, I had expected to have an equal voice in my marriage.

Young educated women of that time were right on the cusp of change - largely educated by women who endorsed the Women's Movement, and nurtured by home-maker mothers, influenced by the changes and independence the war forced on them. Women needed to move forward from the war experience - and they did - rejecting stereotypes, exploring new possibilities, challenging old limitations and insisting on defining themselves. Women, after realising this independence, wanted to achieve beyond child-raising, home keeping; to where society valued her in a paternal society.

This is still the way it is - but society doesn't value the most important contribution - ie bringing up healthy, well adjusted children to secure the future - not only for them but for past and present generations.

When money became the goal, real values were diminished and women started to think that they needed to adopt the principles in order to be valued. She also demanded the same rights as men, to be able to own property, the ability to borrow money for whatever reason. Women didn't just want to become men - to grow balls - all they needed was to feel that they had the ability to operate in the world with the same rights as men.

Women, those who are able to progress along these inroads, remain few in number. The few who do attain high positions still have to deal with traditional attitudes towards women: the belief that they are less capable than men, sexual harassment and public focus on their appearance and their family responsibilities.

For the majority of women, things have changed even less. A natural order remains to put pressure to get married and have children, and once women are in this position it is very difficult for them to exercise freedom and independence. Within a marriage, women take most domestic and child rearing responsibilities.

It is more possible for women to lead interesting and fulfilling lives these days than it was until the 1970s, but for women who choose this path it is a long and difficult one, and the vast majority do not get to exercise their newfound freedom.

ps I still try to be pleasant and look pretty.

Cheers Clara


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Babyboomer Women Influenced by Women's Movement

Hi R, and other friends
R wrote - For some reason I have never been a good lister (is that a word?). Maybe it's because I don't like being told what to do, even by myself. Now my husband, HE likes lists, especially grocery lists. He also likes to dictate while I dutifully take the dictation. It must be the boss, secretary relationship between men and women that he revels in and I rebel against. Another problem with lists is I lose them. They just seem to disappear. Never the less, I will start a list of COG words for you.

Clara says:- Thank you. There is, as usual, so much of what you write which triggers my jostling ideas, but the winner today has to be the relationship between men and women, since I have just read another article re Germaine Greer, from SMH 'Call to a New Generation' - Gabriella Coslovich.

I would like to state my position re the Women's Movement. I am not a women's libber or against men, nor do I believe either gender is better or more important, just different. However, we were young adults in 1970 when Greer's 'The Female Eunuch' was published, and we lived and were no doubt influenced within this climate of change for women.

Paraphrasing this article - Germaine wanted the book to provoke, polarise and galvanise, "...if it is not ridiculed or reviled, it will have failed it's intention", she wrote in the introduction. She incited a generation of women, US, to ponder the significance of their lives, challenging concepts of marriage (domestic servitude), the nuclear family, the obligation to breed, and the culture of sexual harassment. She encouraged women to study, to become doctors, pilots and even fashion designers, stating that being successful was not incompatible with 'femininity'. 'The Female Eunuch' was then and has remained symbolically important, giving a generation of women, US, the impetus for change.

Greer monopolised the limelight with her brash behaviour but it was left to other second wave 70's feminists, such as Eva Cox, leading spokeswoman for the Women's Electorial Lobby, and it's current chairwoman, to effect changes such as domestic violence and sexual assault laws, equal pay legislation, no-fault divorce, unpaid maternity leave, child support and anti-discrimination laws. Cox says,"...she had her role to play and she played it well. Greer galvanised, others organised."

I now see how different we were from previous generations of women, but did we realise how different our underlying idealism and expectations were? How much influence did the movement have on our expectations of our men, who were probably bewildered by the difference from their motherly example of domestic goddess / slave and their wives, US!

Cheers Clara






www.shopatnextdoor.com.
< Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT

What a Difference a Day Makes...March 9th

Necklace of copper and jasper with shard pendant

What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours. I feel a song coming on. Necklace of copper and jasper with shard pendant.

Clara - Where has that sun gone? The background is wonderfully bleak and your piece very significant and bold in the foreground. What is shard?






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Stuff I haven't done YET that I would like to make time for

Hi R and other BB friends

R wrote -
"Yet", what a great word. Three little letters that mean so much more...at a future time. I think YET should be added to our COG - Crazy Ole Women, list of words. It's the perfect word for a retired boomer...your extra time, your excellent time, your easy time...something like that. I'll work on it. COG on.

Clara says - I hadn't really thought about the word "Yet" yet, but it's truly a great word since it is filled with hope for the future. As well, it allows one to still have time to realise ambitions, dreams, unfulfilled desires - with one fabulous word it is all there in the future just waiting to happen soon, or when I get around to it. So it it my VERY best word - YET! What am I going to be/do when I grow up/have time to be myself?
We could devote an entire COG to it, "Things we haven't done YET"

ps R - we need to keep a log (not blog) of COG list of words. I'm not good with lists so perhaps you could do that. G says that if I made a list at the beginning of the day then I might get more done. !#@? I will be responsible for keeping the Positive Retirement Blueprint. Do you know what, that is another retirement factor here ie Make lists if you want to, but some days let the creative flow happen. We have spent our lives with TO DO lists - now is our time for the TO BE time, which doesn't necessarily need a list unless it is something like, 'Stuff I haven't done YET that I would like to make time for"

Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT

Berry Nice...March 8th
I wish you could hear as well as see this photo. Our marsh is teeming with every bird imaginable. A veritable symphony, a cacophony! Necklace with pewter pendant.
Clara - it is berry nice to experience spring with you. A warm, dramatic neckpiece, heralding the spring. Perhaps we should wear more symbolic pieces as part of our reflection of the changing of seasons. Nature knows when Spring is coming, just like the groundhog. I had a framed card on the wall for many years which said, "Faith is a bird that sings in the dark, knowing that the dawn will come." There were times when I needed to know that.

More practical matters - you can probably video from your camera and upload it, just as you can upload photos. Then, even if it was upside down, as most of mine tend to be when the wrong prompt is chosen, you can hear the cacophony, an excellent word. I am just about to try this, as well as attempt to listen to all the saved stuff on "How to Use Blogger".



We need to make cogging user - friendly for me and you and our friends.

Cheers Clara




















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Healing the chasm between nature and civilization.....KH

Hi R, and all........ plus KH, my latest follower,

R wrote -
Thank goodness you are back because you are one of my projects. We are having a bit of a warm up, however I am still floundering around in the snow to take my photos. Can't wait for the big melt. I have several new projects at hand. One is to inlist interesting friends to set up blogs and become coggers. So far no takers, but there is some interest. You will see that you have a new follower..KH. She's a good friend and a wonderful artist but freaks out at the thought of cyberspace. I actually set up her blog for her. She had to go to the coffee shop to see it because she has no home internet. But I'm not giving up....once I set my mind to something...


Clara says - Hi R - thanks for making me a project- this is very exciting stuff! I know once you set your mind to something, that it will happen. I don't have a product/beautiful artwork/pieces to sell (Yet). I feel a need to connect the dots re the past / present / future and would love to attract an interested following re positive ideas for retirement with the idea of 'creating a positive blueprint.' Since we have been cogging, there have been incredible ideas for 'positive retirement', that I knew were there but not verbalised.

Down the track, I would be OK with introducing valuable antiageing products/focus for our age group which on a Price per click, could maybe help to meet 'my wants rather than just my needs in the future.'
Meanwhile, I am having so much fun being a 'cogger'.


"There is an underlying theme that seeks to heal the chasm between nature and civilization."...... KH

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Hi KH

Welcome to cogging in cyberspace , which is actually code for 'communication with like minds' or 'Crazy ole Gals' I know it feels foreign, to begin with as every new activity does, but you realise that with R on your case you have no choice, so I hope this is the beginning of a fabulous journey.
Love your thought - provoking images especially of course the UNTITLED, which becomes an instant challenge.

'Fantasy Reflected'...........'Mirrored Desire'..........'Jump to Comfort' etc
I would be very happy to link to your site, Cheers Clara





















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Projects can be the answer to happy retirement.

Grevillea - my favourite Australian flowering bush - click to make larger

Queen Mary 11

Dee Why Beach


It was windy today so the surf was rough.

Swim between the flags!

Hope this warms you all up there in Wisconsin.

Visit my website at http://www.babyboomerconnections.com.au/


Hi R and other BB friends
I'm back........... having been released from the kitchen. All went well but I am not going near the stove today. We had fun talking about Italy, mainly, as MOG spends considerable time there, has been taking Italian lessons for 20 years and was interested in Bella and Umbi's life in Tuscany. G's lamb was delicious - he enjoyed your husband's interest in 'The Silver Spoon', which, by the way, is a favourite of MOG.

G took me to lunch at Dee Why which is one of the Northern Beaches known for it's great surfing beach where you can actually be in line with the surfers rather than in front - great for photography, (but not today.) On our way back, we stopped at Georges Heights, Mosman, to see the Queen Mary 11 come into Sydney Harbour. Friends of ours went for a cruise on the Queen Mary - amazing stories - they went to 4 balls on the ship so had to take 4 Cinderalla dresses!


Speaking of which I am so much enjoying the beautiful backgrounds to your work and your descriptions.

You say "My project is taking me out to places I would only have looked at from afar, or through a window" this statement includes two elements of my developing philosophy of living happily and productively in retirement.
One is project - replacing the idea/concept of goal setting, which doesn't really work when you are changing pace and direction - better to have projects which enable us to have something to work towards, to feel engaged in, to feel excited about.

The other from your statement is....... "taking me out to places', which is also the philosophy of getting out there and doing rather than being a passive observer which can tend to happen. Whether or not, the places are distant and foreign, or near but on a deeper level, is immaterial. The important element is exploring new horizons.

Love Clara


Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT

Sunrise...March 6th



Neckpiece of Agate and Copper.
I took this photo this morning at sunrise. The form is perched on the edge of a deep ravine with the sun filtering through the trees. It was very beautiful. My project is taking me out to places I would have only looked at from afar or through a window.

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Italian Menu - Dessert, Dolci

Hi R and other friends
Today, I am going to actually do all of this stuff rather than talk about it.
I started the day off well by cooking up the left over veges before going food shopping, making a basic vegetable sauce with garlic, leeks, celery, carrot, tomato, tomato paste, white wine, S & P, then froze it. Alvina will be proud of me.

For dessert, Dolci, I'm going simple, with Stuffed Peaches, Pesche ripiene, as my experience of Italy has been the abundance of glorious fruits. I could 'wax lyrical here' whatever that means, but will leave it to another day when I can show some photos.

PESCHE RIPIENE

to serve 4
4 firm yellow peaches, halved, sprinkled with lemon juice
1tbsp lemon juice
75 g 21/2 oz crumbled amaretti
1 egg yolk
50ml/ 11/2 oz floz Marsala
8 blanched almonds ( I used flaked almonds which I roasted in the oven and sprinked on top when serving)
1/2 cup white wine
butter for greasing

Preheat oven to 175C/350F and grease a baking dish with butter.
Combine amaritti, egg yolk and Marsala
Fill the peach halves and press one almond into the centre of each.
Place peach halves in baking dish, next to each other, pour white wine around them.
Bake for 20 - 25 mins. Serve hot or cold.

ALMOND AMARETTO CREAM
Serves 4
300ml / 101/2 fl oz thickened cream
3 tbsp icing sugar
250g /9oz mascarpone cheese
2 tbsp amaretto liqueur or almond essence
Beat the cream with 1 tbsp icing sugar until soft peaks form. Stir the mascarpone with the remaining
sugar and fold into cream until combined.
For a lighter alternative substitute the cream with greek yoghurt.
Serving - Serve Amaretti Cream separately. in a glass dish or ramekin, sprinkle with toasted almonds. Place peaches and the glass dish on a larger plate (dinner size), sprinkle with the almonds, and decorate plate with 2 Amaretti.

Off to Fourth Village, our local Italian food supplier el grande.
Caio!
































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Italian Dinner - Roman Lamb with Roasted Vegetables

Hi All
Time to get really serious.
Roman Spring Lamb comes from Silver Spoon, remember The Bible of Authentic Italian Cooking, which transformed G, who is cooking, what has become his signature dish.
Traditionally there would be Prima Piatti - soup, pasta, risotto pizza, or bread. G insists that we don't need pasta and since he is cooking the lamb, I am going along with this. One of the downsides of having a husband in the kitchen is that he becomes extraordinarily bossy. If I was serving pasta it would be Bella's Walnut Pesto Pasta - another day.
Secondi Piatti: - Roman Spring Lamb
Contorni: - Roasted Vegetables with Pesto Dressing
-
ABBACCHIO ALLA ROMANA
Serves 4
1kg / 2 1/4lb, leg of lamb
plain flour, for dusting
3tbsp Olive Oil
3 fresh rosemary sprigs
4 fresh sage leaves, chopped
i garlic clove, crushed
175ml/6 fl oz white wine
5 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 potatoes (opt)
Salt and Pepper




Chop the leg into pieces. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Dust lamb with flour, heat oil in lrg roasting pan, seal lamb over high heat (10 mins). Season with S & P, add herbs and garlic. Add wine and vinegar and cook until liquid has almost evaporated. Add 150ml/1/4 pint boiling water, add potatoes, cover and roast in oven for 30 mins or until tender.
For an even tastier alternative, omit the potatoes, and when lamb is almost ready, transfer 2-3 tbsp of the gravy to a small pan, add three boned and chopped anchovies and cook over low heat, mashing the anchovies with a wooden spoon. Pour sauce over meat and roast for a few minutes before serving. Garnish with Rosemary sprigs.
ps - G goes for the tasty alternative without the potatoes which will be served separately.



ROASTED VEGETABLE WITH PESTO Serves 4
440 g parsnip, peeled and quartered
600g sweet potato (kumera) peeled and quartered
800g fennel, quartered
800g potatoes, peeled and quartered
2tbsp olive oil
16 sprigs thyme
sea salt and black pepper
500g cherry tomatoes
220g green olives
baby spinach leaves, to serve


Preheat oven 200C / 390F. Toss veges (except for tomatoes and spinach) in oil and seasoning, and roast for 35 mins then add tomatoes for a further 5 minutes. Serve with spinach and pesto.
Pesto Dressing
4 tbsp choppped mint leaves
4 tbsp chopped basil leaves
1/2 cup finely grated parmasan
4 tbsp olive oil
Combine ingredients



Salad Refresher I can never quite get used to the way pasta is served first as the Prima Piatti before Secondi Piatti or salads served after. This one comes from the book 'Irresistible Italy' by Bill and Patsy Rowe, who we were lucky enough to meet when we were in Tuscany. The book features Bella's and Umbi's farming estate, Podernuovo, near the medieval village of Casteldelpiano. (They are my SIL and BIL who are coming to dinner and this is Bella's recipe! Hope I do it right)


FENNEL AND ORANGE SALAD Serves 6 (probably enough for 8 as a refresher)
1 bunch curly endive (or rocket)
1 small fennel bulb, cut into thin strips
3 oranges, peeled and segmented
1 red onion, sliced
20 black olives

Orange Dressing
3 1/2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp fresh fennel leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp sugar
Freshly ground pepper to taste.

Dessert, Dolci, tomorrow - Have to go and get a life!
Cheers Clara

Creating Excitement - and Hogging

Hi All those Babyboomers out there in Cyber Space
R wrote "My husband is getting in on this. I think I'll call it HOGGING. Did I mention he's an industrial psychologist? So he says you do this to yourself because you NEED to hold yourself to a higher standard. It's all about risk, the possibility of failure creating the excitement.
Course he is also half Italian and can remember his grandmother, Flomana Rosana, stringing homemade pasta through their house and not allowing Josephine Rosana Donatelli (his mom)to cook it."


Clara - HOGGING - I love it! I enjoyed your husband's comments - thought provoking - I hadn't thought of it that way ie by taking risks I am creating excitement for myself. Perhaps positive retirement could include more risktaking.

What wonderful lyrical names - Flomana Rosana...... Josephine Rosana Donatelli ......Josephine needs to finish with 'a' - G's Italian is simple; it just includes the 'a' after most words. I can feel a song ........

Speaking of G he has risen to the occasion by offering to cook his famous Roman Spring Lamb (next blog)which will take away some of the pressure (but may lessen the risktaking and excitement.)


'Out of Africa' is simply stunning. It would look great with neutrals.



Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT
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Out of Africa...March 3rd

Necklace of Batik Bone and Brass



























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Tuscan Menu- dinner

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Hi R and other BB friends
I have to stay focused, I have to stay focused, I have to stay focused - I can feel a song coming on........
I can't decide what to cook because future MOG spends a heap of time in Tuscany also - the standard feels too high and I feel immobilised. Why do I do this to myself when other options were sensibly suggested? Why do I still have to prove myself?

I ADORE Italian cuisine - I used to think that it was ordinary and traditional; which are the very aspects which make it so special - honest, fresh and satisfying.
"Take the best ingredients, the freshest available, and preserve their unique character to the greatest extent possible during preparation"...The Italians - Luigi Barzini - on how to uncover the secrets of vera cucina italiana, genuine italian cuisine.
However, do you know that food is all they talk about in Italy and it is your ability to cook pasta just right - el dente - that separates the women from the girls? In some households, the grandmother is still cooking and her daughter is still not considered capable enough to take over. Obviously, this is serious business - I find these days that I can still jump through hoops but only if I decide that I want to jump through that particular hoop and I am picky as to which one.

OK OK - But what about the menu?

On arrival - drinks - and nibbles - a plate of lovely olives with some almonds roasted with thyme.

Antipasti (before the pasta)
Prosciutto with figs (or melon) and balsamic dressing

Combining sweet salty Italian proscuitto with figs or melon is an all time classic which works every time.
To serve 4
4 large or 8 small ripe figs
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (caramelised optional)
extra virgin olive oil
12 thin slices Italian proscuitto (Australian is more salty)
150g fresh Parmesan cheese, broken into craggy lumps.

Take each fig and stand it upright. Using a sharp knife, make 2 cuts across each fig, not quite quartering it, but keeping it intact. Ease the figs open and brush with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Arrange 3 slices of proscuitto on each plate (hold from the middle and drop it) , with the figs and parmesan on top. Sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil and plenty of crushed black pepper.
Next course to follow tomorrow.
Cheers Clara

Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT
Proud as a Peacock
Necklace of Turquoise, Serpentine and Brass

What is serpetine? I am amazed by the variety of elements you include in your pieces.








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Serious Dinner Party - Tuscany Style

Hi BB friends
Serious dinner party stuff tomorrow - with the wedding happening in May, MOG, Mother of the Groom, is coming to dinner on Saturday evening. I have the go ahead to do Italian, even tho Bella and Umbi, my sister and brother in law, who have a farm in Tuscany and are the ultimate 'foodies', are coming.

Stand by for the fabulous menu!!!!!
Cheers Clara



In the Pink... March 1 ......Loom Knit Wrap with Necklace of Pearls and Copper









Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT

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Clara says - This looks so pretty - almost heralding spring. Is that a ray of sunshine? Love the combo of strong metal and pearl in the necklace, with the soft draping. Babyboomers would like the sleeve to be slightly longer, this piece being an ideal garment, with the soft layering providing our necessary camouflage.





























































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We've Come a Long Way Baby! But have we?

Hi R and other BB friends
R said - "Everyday in my store we spend hours helping women of all ages find the perfect denim jeans. The pair that makes their butt look great. The pair that slims their thighs. The pair that makes them look taller. The pair that minimizes their waist and on and on. It's a very serious business. What does this say about all of us? We've come a long way baby, but we have a long way to go?" ........... Perhaps this can be the topic for 2010.

Clara says - I keep wanting to tell you all about the new lipstick I have found which is kiss proof, coffee cup proof, with a little sparkle and is finished with lip gloss. Or how we had a fun time dancing at The Rowers last night.
But - other topics keep taking over.

The statement "We've Come a Long Way Baby" provokes me to respond now.

An article in today's www.theaustralian.com.au "Greer Failed to Understand Women" suggests that forty years after 'The Female Eunuch', that women have not borne out the author's vision.
Which to me is a relief - Nowra, an essayist and playwright, argues that Dr Greer must be disappointed in the world of contemporary women, for it does not resemble the model she envisioned. Women are, for the most part, married, live in nuclear families, in the suburbs, with a capitalist orientation. Nowra concedes that the book, "changed many women's lives dramatically" and that "countless women read it, and left their husbands. Re-reading it, he says, is like opening a time capsule - one is immediately struck by how much the Western world has changed for women. It's just not the way Dr Greer imagined."

Dr Greer wanted women to give up the "fripperies' - shoes, pretty clothes, and makeup - which they indulge in now more than ever.
Much more to follow about our Germaine.

Re - the Crown Jewels, which look sensational, especially when they adorn ......the easter bunny?

My grandfriend - male, 4 1/2 - after the discussion of how he came out of Mummy's tummy, said, "When did I come out of Daddy's eye?"
I'll leave to figure this one out.

Love Clara







Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT



Crown Jewels...February 27th
Crown Jewels...Wire Bracelet with Quartz Charms

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