Look Both Ways - Keep Fit and Flexible Babyboomers

Dear R and other Babyboomers
Look both ways - sooo important.  Clara - Now here I can comment. Firstly we could dedicate many posts to looking both ways. Better to have a 'Viewing Point" than a 'Point of View."  New Successful Retirement  idea to add.
Re - In Like a Lion - Out Like a Lamb - this feels like a concept I should know but have somehow missed out.  Please  explain. Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT
It's your turn for beautiful weather and I know you will enjoy it. We have had soft rain here which is a relief.
Recycling is another passion of mine. You put it together so creatively. Everything Old is New Again. You know, philosophy is maybe where the middle ground lies.
Cheers Clara



In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb...March 31st

The weather is beautiful and the forecast perfect for the weekend. Necklace of amber, stone and smoky quartz.


















It Pays to Look Both Ways...March 30th

Necklace of odds and ends, one woman's junk is another one's treasure



















To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page or send an email -
clara@babyoomerconnections.com.au
 or visit my website at http://www.babyboomer.auconnections.com.au/

Happy Easter from Down Under to Creative Wisconsin.

Dear Babyboomers and others
Easter, renewal of spirit and hope.  One of the differences between Australia  and USA, is that you generally  have a stronger Christian ethic than us.  Despite that fact, you don't celebrate Easter with as many Easter holidays as we do.  Australia has been called the 'land of the long weekend',  economic debate still rages,  but I think, it makes us fortunate for many reasons, family being one.   But, you ask,  why do I go there? 
Because R and I met up again (through Facebook) after 30 years to find that we were still the same people with the similar interests and aspirations we formerly shared.  We find that to be very gratifying and meaningful so we have been blogging ever since.  Being creatives, we find it interesting to compare our lives, as Babyboomers, and we would like to involve you in our journey. 
What evolved was a renewal of our friendship, and a fascination re where those years have taken us, and how our attitudes and aspirations have lined up, despite living in different countries and obviously having differing life experiences. 
COG - became our word - 'Crazy ole Gals', derived from Blog, but the special aspect of COGGING  came from Co-blogging, where I am a COG in R's wheel and she in mine.

We have come to the realisation that women of all ages share this aspect of supporting each other, and it is this aspect we are now exploring - how we bridge the gap, share 'Secret Women's Business' (SWB) with our beautiful daughters.  Here is a magnificent opportunity for women to blend our ideas and concepts - and teach each other, wisdoms which span the generations.
Beautiful daughters - "We give you the gift of our experience", and perhaps pass on the secrets re still fitting into your jeans.
With love, and Happy Easter. 
 Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT

Out for a Walk...March 29th

Out for a walk scarf of loom knit chenille, printed and screened because everyone needs a friend.



Clara - love you little walking friends - they are universal.
















Wild Thing...March 28th

Necklace of wood and silver

Clara - the combination of wood and silver is an  amazing contrast.

http://www.shopatnextdoor.com/




To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page or send an email - clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au
or visit my website at http://www.babyboomerconnections.com.au/

Festive Eggplant just thrown together.

Dear Babyboomers and others

R wrote "Have you ever had one of those days when you're hungry but don't want to leave home? The closest market is 20 minutes from our house. So I started with ingredients and The Silver Spoon. Just threw this together with odds and ends and page 514. Lovely.                 

Clara - G would say "How can Eggplant be Festive?  It is a designer vegetable - it is not real, like carrots and beans.  But because I am married to a creative woman, I eat it and enjoy it, but let me tell you, when I cook, there ain't no eggplant or whatever you call it  - Aubergine!!!, a made up name even."     
Clara - Yes I know exactly what you mean  - sometimes I need to just use whatever is in the frig.  When G first started to cook once a week, he used to say things like "Where are the carrots, beans, etc, why don't we have any ?????? etc;  it took a while, but when I explained that the best cooks use whatever is in the frig and that this is a measure of their culinary creativity, we moved forward.  Once a week, towards the end of the week I cook exactly this way, in order to clear the produce for the next week.

Festive Aubergines  - to serve 4
Preheat oven 180C - 350 F - Brush an ovenproof dish with olive oil.  Slice 4 small eggplants lengthways without cutting all the way through (cut off the stalk first).  Place alternate slices of tomato (4 large),  and mozzarella cheese thinly sliced, (250 g/9 oz) between each eggplant slice and the next.
Mix together, 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped), parsley and basil and sprinkle over, drizzle with olive oil, S & P.  Cover with foil - bake 45 mins.  Serve with juices on top.  
Chow Clara        

Looks scrumptious

 
To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page or send an email - clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au
 or visit my website at http://www.babyboomerconnections.com.au/

Technology - we love you when you work - at other times you bring me out in a rash.

Dear Babyboomers
You probably think that I am a Tech Head - nothing is further from the truth!
I embrace Internet / Blog because it is a marvellous tool for communication.  However, I struggle with the technology and  it would not be possible for me to do it without my darling troubleshooter who, doesn't and won't involve himself in my stuff, but is always there to sort out when things don't work in a general sense. But he is in Vietnam.  I actually can't even send emails or love messages to him or to my COGGERS,  so things are desperate.

So, now when I  try to connect via email - it ain't working even tho I have spent most of my day attempting to get there.
Technology - we always feel  on thin Ice - we love you when you work, but we are confused when suddenly you seem to change the rules or go sideways.  But, you are there and we need to move with you - we don't need to know everything - just what works to help us to achieve  Successful Retirement. (and where is spellcheck for blogger?)

Had a great day re wedding stuff and an evening  at the Rowers listening to music, with a few dances as well.  SR involves connecting with family / friends of all ages, live music and energy and having fun.

I adore the hammered pewter - it must be physically demanding - love the big pieces - great to make a statement for Babyboomer women.

Cheers Clara

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

On Thin Ice...March 27th
Yes, that's ice in the birdbath. We went from the 60's down to the 30's. At least there's sunshine today.
Neck piece of jadeite and hammered pewter links.











To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page or send an email - clara@babyboomerocnnections.com.au
or visit my website at http://www.babyboomerconnections.com.au/

Flood Lake Eyre ...... Listen to the Patriachs.

Dear Babyboomers
Revisiting the 60's - by two nerds
R wrote  - Ah the 60's. In all honesty my current 60's are more exciting than THE 60's. I graduated from highschool in 1964 and went on to college at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. It wasn't till my senior year there that things really started to heat up. I can remember seeing the famous Bascom Hill lined with white crosses and watching the protests on tv from my apartment. But for the most part I made my way quietly through the whole thing. In all honesty, I couldn't afford the luxury of being involved. I was too busy going to class, studying and working to support myself. Nary a whiff of tear gas reached my nose. In retrospect we now know that a very small (15%) of the students participated in the protests, those being wealthy students from the east and west coasts who had the time and the affluence.




Clara - We just went on with our lives, regardless, focused on our future, me with teaching, you with Uni, as it needs to be for young people.  At the same time, however, our young men, were subjected to a lottery which decided whether they remained focused on their future plans or whether they went to a foreign land to fight an unpopular war.   Whether the decision to involve was based correctly or morally, is for the historians  to decide.   However, we needed/need to give total support for those who followed the directions of the government at the time, wherever that may have been and history must reflect that.

That was then, this is now - we are the matriachs, and have much to contribute as do the patriachs (our guys)  re following article, which I include (I know you will question the relevance).  G has always said that the answer to Australia's water problem is to 'Flood Lake Eyre".  I could not let him miss this  - he reads the SMH, the HUGE, size wise, serious one, from cover to cover so this is for you Darling.  And it so fabulously Australian - we have visited most of these places mentioned.

Re - A wide brown land - listen to your patriachs - they give you the gift of their experience.  Ignore at your/our peril.  They have been there and have the knowing.  This is where we need to return to, in order to find the answers to the future.
Passionately Clara 

Outback ready for good times to flow
By Nance Haxton

Flooding brings out waterbirds  Queensland floodwaters are slowly making their way to South Australia, bringing great excitement to outback towns.

Water flows to Lake Eyre
Floodwaters are also making their way to Lake Eyre down the Warburton Groove.The lake has filled completely only three times in recorded history; the last time was in 1974.

But even a partial filling brings great excitement, and as local pilot Trevor Wright explains, it also brings the birdlife.
"It's really caught me by surprise. I never expected that we'd have two years in a row like this," he said.
"I think with the breeding season they had last year ... this year we're going to have a lot more water birds than what we've had previously.
"Having flown around the lake this morning where the water is, that's one of the things - especially pelican numbers - that's really surprised me."
While some townships are cut off, others are enjoying the unexpected boon. Oodnadatta roadhouse owner Adam Plate says the economic boost has spread far and wide throughout the outback.

"What we have as a result of rain is quite a lot of road traffic, millions of locusts [which] have eaten all the trees to pieces and mosquitoes which attack us," he said.
"I guess we'll be affected by the fact that [the] Simpson Desert, which is normally crossed from around about now - it's open for travel from Birdsville east-west, which carries traffic up to Ayers Rock or through Oodnadatta - that will be cut because of the floods ... west of Birdsville.
"So people wanting to cross the desert are going to be thwarted until quite late in the year and I guess that's going to change the way [they travel].""I don't think they're going to end up in ... the middle of the desert, having to drive back 400 kilometres, but you never know"

To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page or send an email -
clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au
 or visit my website at http://www.babyboomerconnections.com.au/

Babyboomer Women - You've done your best! Time to please yourself and discover what satisfies you.

Dear Babyboomers
R wrote - Re the 60's - The closest I came to being a flower child was wearing a pair of bell bottoms that I made from a wild sunflower patterned fabric. Two big yellow flowers landed on my butt. So no doubt your daughter would lump me into the nerd category along with you. 
Joie de Vivre wrote - So, if I have a ‘recipe’ for successful retirement, It’s do whatever it takes to value yourself enough to know you’ve done your best and now it’s time for you to please yourself and to get to know, deeply, what satisfies you. Then go do it! Can you hear the retired therapist in that?!!     ..............Curves and an ocean dip and cauliflower soup done so far today – now for degustation at a new Bellingen restaurant tonight with a game or two of tennis beforehand.
Clara - it's great to hear from Joie de Vivre - "Old therapists never die they just ..........

Fabulous  Recipe for Successful Retirement - Immediately added to the COGGERS list and I think it needs to go on the frig.  I know the friends I have who are enjoying their own time at last, have found or are exploring to discover what it is, that is deeply satisfying.  Personally, I love to share ideas and that is what I am doing. The process of that sharing, and what evolves from it, is deeply satisfying to me.
 
The term COG evolved from the concept of Co - blogging.  R and I had both set up separate blogs to support our websites   - R for http://www.shopatnextdoor.com/  with mine being http://www.babyboomerconnections.com.au/ 
So I am a COG in her wheel and she in mine, which is what women have always done to support each other. It would be great if we could find some more COGs (crazy ole gals) to contribute towards 'Successful Retirement' (the blog, the book, the E- book, the movie, the .....etc), even if it is an occasional visit/comment. Few would be crazy enough to have our commitment but who knows?  Let's Twist Again! Cheers Clara
 
Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT

Ball and Chain...March 26th 
 Perhaps you are wondering if my project has become a ball and chain around my neck. Actually it's just the opposite. It has energized me and unleashed creative ideas that I look forward everyday to explore. Pearl and chain necklace. 
 








From Pillar to Posted...March 25th

Loom knit drape neck dolman with "Stranded" necklace












To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page or send an email - clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au
 visit my website at http://www.babyboomerconnections.com.au/

Reconnecting with good friends. So what were you doing in the 60's?

Dear Babyboomers
R wrote - Did I mention to you that about the same time we reconnected, I also found my best friend from highschool? Unlike you, she only lives 45 minutes away in my hometown. We've been spending time together getting to know each other again, reminiscing about our childhood. It's been so great to have a close friend who remembers my family, especially my mom. We share alot of common memories as well as fill in what the other one has forgot. We laugh alot just like we did 45 years ago. Yesterday we just drove around our hometown, looking at places we lived, where we went to school, where we worked. "SR has so much to do with having good friendships. Connecting with people you connect with."

Clara - That makes it  about 1965 - that makes for a lot of catch up! How wonderful to  still have so much in common. Did you find her through Facebook, like you found me (30 years later). I wish we lived around the corner - so many of my wonderful friends have moved away which is why I need them to COG occasionally ie Crazy Ole Girls connecting.
Were you Hippies or Rockers, did you protest against involvement in Vietnam or fight for Women's Rights?

60's Decade of Social Upheaval

Young people challenged the traditional values of their parent's generation and actively opposed the decisions of the government.

Women demanded equal rights - the Vietnam War galvanised women who protested alongside their male counterparts. Realising that they were not treated as equals by fellow male students and activists, they started to form their own activist movement that sought their own liberation. The contraceptive pill allowed women greater freedom in relationships and also allowed them to plan their lives more.

Others called for racial equality and a new consideration for the environment, with demonstrations against conscription and the nuclear industry.  Advances in communications technology meant that revolutionary ideas and voices of dissent could rapidly be transmitted and received around the world.

Radical changes in society reflected in new fashions, hairstyles and styles of music. While rock 'n' roll retained its popularity, the rise of hippie culture permeated mainstream fashion and music.

 

Vietnam War - thanks Guys, sincerely. My Darling was in Vietnam and is revisiting as we speak.

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

 or visit my website at www.babyboomerconnections.com.au  for more of the 60's.  What were you doing? I think we were fortunate to be part of this dynamic period of change.   My daughter said, "You were so lucky to experience the sixties, Mum -but how come you were such a nerd? .

Cheers Clara

ps - those close to me at the time, like your best friend at High School, would not have said that!
I am late tonight because I have been to a concert of Renaissance Music.  Beautiful - young singers creating exquisite harmony with voice only.

"It's Not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." Abraham Lincoln

Dear Babyboomers

"It's not the years in your life that count.  It's the life in your years"......Abraham Lincoln. How true at this time of our lives.  Since I have been exploring the concept of "Secrets of Successful Retirement", and sharing it with you, retirement has taken on a more positive note. Instead of feeling like a 'has been' there has been a shift towards making the years count.  Whatever that means to you, to me or to others.

Listing a few concepts gathered so far, to make the years count.
7/3/10 - 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

9/3/10 - "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.  It allows one to still have time to realise ambitions, dreams, unfulfilled desires

13/3/10 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.

Which seems to be a good time to show what 'Not retiring means to Renotta. Love your beautiful hat.  Why don't we bring back more hats, Babyboomer Women? Why don't we all decide to wear an 'image enhancing hat' this week whilst we are stranded between seasons. We would love to hear your ideas on making the years count.
Cheers Clara

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

http://www.shopatnextdoor.com/

Chain, Chain, Chain March 24th

Chain, Chain, Chain...I love this chain. I made a three foot long chain of some of my favorite beads with links of hammered pewter wire.

Hat Trick...March 23rd

Loom knit wool, felted and reconstructed into a fanciful hat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Stranded...March 22nd

Stranded between winter and spring. Six foot strand of beads woven back and forth to create this multiple strand necklace. Copper, pearls, turquoise, jasper, serpentine.

 

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

You can never have too many cookbooks plus handy hints from Clara

Dear Babyboomers
R wrote  - B (Husband) says you can never have too many cookbooks. There is always the trunk of your car or the basket on your bicycle to store them. Although he prefers that you stick with Italian as that is the true food of the earth. I am looking forward to my little herb garden this summer with fresh basil, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Oh dear, I feel a song coming on.

Clara - these are my favourite Italian cookbooks.

Plus there are other unconfessed stashes, apart from the magazines under the couch.  There are two large folders with recipes cut from magazines, Good Living etc, then there is an envelope folder with cut out recipes ready to be filed or put in the Recipes folder on the net. 
One of the aspects that bother me about this (and G brings it up occasionally) is that one of the symptoms of ageing (ie apart from the dreaded upper arms and emerging gigantic hairs on the chinny chin chin)  is that some of us collect newspaper articles or tie up bundles of magazines and keep them.  Can you ask B if this is the next step please as I may need to buy some more string. 

Re - Silver Spoon - the recipes are relatively simple but the methods cater for the Italian housewife of the past whose main role in life was to cook perfect pasta (many would not trust a new wife and would remain sceptical  that even after many years, that their precious son was being fed as well as she fed him. A whole new concept of MOG Mother of Groom.) 
Now I, Clara, on the other hand, have some handy hints to bring this splendid book up to date. 
Firstly, I rarely cook a chook, preferring thigh pieces for their ease and juiciness.(Sorry but what can I do without Spell check? Talk to Mr Google) 
Here there could be memories of Dad decapitating a beloved hen.  I was attached to all of them as I fed them their steaming aromatic mix each morning, the smell of which remains with me; and had names for them all.  BUT - OK it was Christmas.  Alright I didn't actually see him do the deed but saw the outcome ie a headless chook running around the yard, which is really spooky. It may seem two-faced when I say that we didn't mind playing with the dismembered feet of the unfortunate chook and learnt some biology by pulling the emerging sinues(?) to delight in how the feet closed  and opened.
OK - Chicken pieces which I would cook in the oven. Oven - a whole new subject.  I love ovens!!! Why is this so?  Because even though I am passionate about cooking I also choose to have a life.  The oven allows me to do my thing with the food, occasionally sealing and reducing the wine content or drinking it, adding herbs, sauce etc, then wop it in the oven which then takes over then I can do other things.  (I haven't forgotten about Time Management, just haven't had time).  G cooks a fantastic meal once a week usually from Silver Spoon and follows the recipe ; let me tell you SNAGS, coming home to the fragrant aroma of reducing wine with garden herbs has to be an aphrodesiac (?)!!
But he has learnt from me - and wops it in the oven to finish the magical process.

Moving on with our recipe - I know my BIL, brother in law Umburto from Tuscany, would disagree with me here, but I usually reduce the oil or butter, not quite as much as I used to because I know it adds so much flavour - however I still like wearing tight jeans.  If you sear in a little butter and oil the flavour is still there and (sorry Umbi) I don't believe that adding too much more is worth the extra trip to the gym or whatever one does.

I question removing the garlic - a true Italian surely would not do that and complete my critique by saying where are the herbs?
My philosophy on herbs could go on for ever but another time and place.  Enough to say "Why just do it if you can overdo it?"
I wonder if there is a can of baked beans in the pantry - to me creating wonderful meals is an act of love and G is in Vietnam.
Cheers Clara

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

Meal Supremo takes over from Vienamese Cuisine

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

R wrote -
Clara,

So you're probably having tea and crumpets and I'm having a glass of wine while I cook pollo alla ratatouille, page 924, Silver Spoon............

Our meal was supremo! Served on a bed of pasta with parmesan. Lovely. Lots of left overs for tomorrow. Tons of food and I halved the recipe.
Love
Renatto and Roberto

Clara - luv your new names!

Chicken Ratatouoille
Pollo Alla Ratatoutille
Sounds like to serve 8
2 oz butter  - 6 tblsp olive oil -
2 onions  - quartered
3 courgettes - (zucchini)
2 aubergines - (eggplant) cut into cubes
3 red or yellow peppers - halved, seeded and thickly sliced
4 tomatoes, peeled, quartered
Chicken pieces -  whole chicken divided up
2 garlic cloves  S & P
Heat half the butter and half the oil in a pan, add the courgettes,aubergines, and peppers. Season w  S & P - Add tomatoes,  and simmer for about an hour.

Heat remaining oil and butter  in another pan and add chicken and garlic - stir until golden brown - and cook for a further 30 mins .  Discard garlic and add to the vegetables

Prago xxx



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

Reluctant Blogger asks Questions ? Why 'Should I Contribute?' Why Do You Use Pen Names?

Dear Babyboomers and Rita  - Have Your Say!
Comment from a valued friend......
Good lord woman ! Have you set that site up? And who are you talking to??     
It’s marvellous!   
Go ahead and transcribe whatever you wish.

I have the feeling that I ‘should’ make time to join in this activity/connectivity/blog you have going but I can’t quite get with it inside myself. How do you know who you’re talking with if you’re all using pen-names? How do I contribute anyway? (IF I ‘got with it’ ?)


Welcome VF (Valued Friend) - Thanks -  No 'Shoulds' - you taught me that -  Love your questions....

 Who am I talking to? ....... To others in my position - the GFC has reduced my limited super - bugger - and I would like to draw you into where I am at - and unashamably down the track when we attract like minds, I am going to do a bit of Affiliate Marketing which interpreted, means that  hopefully there will be sufficient like minds so that when I get Mr Google to suggest a few products that will enhance our lives that there maybe some income; if you click on some antiageing product - etc,  Price per click  - perhaps 30c per click which may help to meet my wants rather than my needs.
Which is one of the reasons I am blogging - the intrinsic reason is that I  love connecting with all you guys out there, and want and need to contribute towards 'Successful Retirement', whatever it means to you.


 The web is a marvellous  place to speak your piece  to other like minded women  or  SNAGS - but - I don't put myself in a position where my "Identity could  be taken over...... because I know that no-one else could cope with being me so it is purely protecting others".
I would love you, and like-minds out there to contribute ideas towards what I call 'A blueprint to successful retirement and beyond' but you need to have your own voice/identity -  I would be out of order to assume you would be prepared to publish a lovely personal comment.  Which is why in acknowledging the amazing capacity we have to communicate, it is also necessary to feel safe in saying your piece which may mean anonimity (where are you Spellcheck?)
Cheers Clara
To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page or send an email - clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au or visit my website at www.babyboomerconnections.com.au

Babyboomer Women relating to Marilyn French book 'The Love Children'

Dear Babyboomers 
R wrote - Started Marilyn French's last book, The Love Children. So far so good.

 http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ review this as follows

The Love Children (2005)
A novel by Marilyn French


Marilyn French's 1977 novel The Women's Room epitomized the feminist movement and became one of the most influential books of our time. Now she has captured the complexities of life for the daughters of the Women's Room generation in her highly anticipated new novel The Love Children.


It is the late 1960s in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Grateful Dead is playing on the radio and teenagers are wearing long hair and blue jeans. Jess Leighton, the daughter of a temperamental painter and a proto-feminist Harvard professor, is struggling to make sense of her world amid racial tensions, Vietnam War protests, and anti-government rage. With more options than her mother's generation, but no role model for creating the life she desires, Jess experiments with sex and psychedelic drugs as she searches for happiness on her own terms. In the midst of joining and fleeing a commune, growing organic vegetables, and operating a sustainable restaurant, Jess grapples with the legacy of her mother's generation.

Clara - Can't wait to read it - sounds great -  set in the era we are revisiting especially with G being in Vietnam.  Love your mobius scarf - silk screened with a photo - I had a Silk Screen Cottage Industry in the 80's but my mind boggles at being able to silk screen knits. 
Still haven't forgotten Time Management or Looking in Mirrors.
Cheers Clara



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

In Ruins...March 21st
Continuous Scarf silkcreened with a photo I took of indian ruins in New Mexico

http://www.shopatnextdoor.com/

To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page or send an email - clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au
or visit my website at http://www.babyboomerconnections.com.au/

Vietnamese Cooking - the basics

Dear Babyboomers   (Warning - this post will most likely contain spelling errors - Blogger, in their wisdom, have removed Spellcheck along with the Video function.?????????  Not a happy blogger but others feel the same so hopefully these functions will be restored.  I was in the Spelling Remedial class at College in the days when spelling was important and only squeaked through in the last session - I used to spend so much time studying the spelling demons- perhaps this is why I didn't have much awareness of Vietnam.)

Re - Cook Books
R -  I have been searching for the dish you cooked from 'The Silver Spoon - and have just found it.  Florentine Beef Stew - Straccotto Alla Fiorentina.   We were really happy that you and B (Husband) have adopted this bible of Italian Food  too.  The recipes are always deliciously simple. By the way I received a lovely thank you note from future MOG after the Italian dinner so please tell B it was worth the risk. 

There are so many fabulous books out there which guide us re cooking and eating.  Can I ask B, why it is that even though I have heaps of Cook Books, and am confident re producing great food, that I somehow desperately want to still buy YET another one, which looks to be exactly what I have always wanted and needed.  This is the only area where these symptoms show through strongly.  Do I have a syndrome? There is absolutely no more room on the book shelf and the other day I was guilty of storing some cooking magazines under the couch so things are getting desperate.

Now that I have confessed I feel better and ready to start on  Dinner Party, Vietnamese Style, since it is obviously topical and G might be encouraged to pick up a few local hints (or at least buy me a regional cookbook).  it's good also to plan when you don't have to deliver.

I love Asian food and could eat it every night. 

Gỏi cuốn - Summer Rolls are a good example of tangy, crunchy.
Recipe tomorrow
Vietnamese cooking style has taken the lighter aspects of Chinese and Thai cuisine, and combined them with the subtlety of the French. It's all about mixing tangy heat with herbs, crunchy salad vegetables and seafood.
Wikipedia - Vietnamese cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of Vietnam with fish sauce, soy sauce, rice, fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables all commonly used. Vietnamese recipes utilize a very diverse range of herbs, including lemongrass, mint, Vietnamese mint, long coriander and Thai basil leaves. Traditional Vietnamese cooking is greatly admired for freshness of the ingredients and for the healthy eating style.

The most common meats used in Vietnamese cuisine are pork, chicken, fish, and various kinds of seafood. The Vietnamese also have a strong vegetarian tradition influenced by Buddhist values.  The cuisine of South Vietnam has historically been influenced by the influx of southern Chinese immigrants, French colonists and other nationalities.
The basics include:-
Herbs - Basil - (Thai basil is available from Asian Grocery stores), Mint (Vietnamese Mint is really easy to grow and is quite peppery) but the ordinary varieties will suffice.
Sprouts - Mung-bean sprouts add crunch - they have a short shelf life so ensure there is no browning.
Green Mangoes  Should be hard to the touch - an unripe mango - the harder the better, can substitute.
Fish Sauce - an essential condiment

Ready to go - 
More tomorrow with extra local hints from G
Cheers Clara

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Good Morning Vietnam

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

G wrote Hello Darling - Always great to get your thoughts on return from dinner in the evening, Na Trang is very busy this weekend as they have a big celebration on as part of Vietnam 1000 year celebration with Ho Chi Minh centre stage. much loved father of modern Vietnam. Ian and  a couple of the others from past years projects have special invitations to attend, so tomorrow we all 7 do this then move on on Sunday to Vung Tou.

In answer to your question - The beer is quite good, in Hanoi they have 2 - 3 kegs on the side of the footpath; they put in the top valve then a tap and pour the beer straight into your

glass, Fresh and cold, I don't know how they get it cold.
In Na Trang it comes from the traditional tap on the Bar, a bit more upmarket. 

Other than that, the way they do things on work projects, deliveries etc is as different to our world as is Venice, except it's all done on bicycle!!

Clara - We could sell  both cars and just ride bikes.  1000 year celebrations - mind blowing.  My knowledge of Vietnam is mainly in the context of the Vietnam War and even then that is scant.  I began Teaching  in the mid 60's, and perhaps the busy process contributed to me missing out on a lot of background so this is a great opportunity to extend  my knowlege and do some googling.


How is the food?  Is it very spicy and hot?  Are the French bakeries still there or indeed is there much French influence?  How does it feel to be back there after all this time?

Keep safe Darling



Members of 7RAR disembark from a landing craft at Vung Tau for their second tour of duty in Vietnam, February 1970.

Already a popular resort before the war, Vung Tau came to be used by Australian and American servicemen as a rest area.

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Recording first time baby says 'Granny'. Granny or a Nonna like me?

Dear R and other Babyboomers out there,

R wrote (she is a COG - crazy old Gal, like me and is going to be a granny soon - yeah!!!) -


- I'm toying with the idea of a camcorder, perhaps as simple as the kodak Zi8. I like the idea of the external microphone to capture sounds like, yes, the first time baby says granny! Didn't find one at Walmart, so the search is still on, with that being half the fun. I use a nikon D200 that was a gift from B back a few years. I love it, and admit to also not beginning to use all its features. I need to get back to the basics of depth of field and all that good stuff again. So much to learn. My problem is not what to do with my time, but how to find time to do everything I want to do. So perhaps we should add time management TM to our SR list. I often feel like a jack of all trades, master of none because I love so many things. My blog project has been great as it pulls everything together for me. There is much to be said for having a full plate. No time to wallow in the mire. Now that leads me to .....

you guessed it... Come on Baby light my fire, now is not the time to retire. List of words that rhyme with retire:


admire, buyer, dyer, dire, fire, higher, hire, liar, mire, plier, sire, tire, wire
Feel a song coming on?        Clara -   .....Your Energy I admire........
Talking about recording Grandchildren's first words, are you going to be a Granny, Nana, or a Nonna like me?
The name I chose for myself in this role , which I know suggests, correctly, that I was struggling somewhat with the whole concept, ..... was 'Nonna". Why not "Nana" which was the traditional name for the role in my family? Probably because I was in denial at the time and could not yet relate to the image/stereotype. I was not ready for the role; circumstances were complicated.   I am now really comfortable with the role-name as it allows paternal grandmothers to be 'Nana" and be different from me the 'Nonna'.


Nonna is of course, Italian, for grandmother (grandfather is Nonno) and even though I am not Italian, I feel that I have a soul / mindset that embraces what it means to be a nonna. The extended family is still alive and well in Italy and in Europe. People don't travel to the extent that they do from Australia, NZ or USA. I believe that children grow well in an extended family situation and recent studies suggest that children who have influence / caring from grandparents are ahead of the rest.


My grandparents were there for me or at least the grandmothers were. By the time I had any real awareness the grandfathers had passed away as many of them did in those days - silent sufferers who probably ignored symptoms until it was too late, except for Great Grandpa (paternal) who lived to 100 and received a telegram from the Queen. He said to me as we were about to move on to Australia "You are so fair that you could be an albino except for your eyes." Sometimes grandparents talk like that, as though you are really not there and that you are like a family specimen to be examined for your attributes etc.


A cot in your studio sounds lovely.  Using discarded broken pieces from another life as in today's piece, Flotsam, is a beautiful concept. Not only 'Everything old is New Again' but more than that when 'discarded, broken' becomes beautiful.
Cheers Clara
ps - I am not ignoring your TM - Time Management - just haven't had enough time.
Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT




Flotsam...March 20th

Flotsam, discarded odds and ends. Pottery shards are just that, discarded broken pieces from another life. A land fill of sorts that pops up through the soil much like the first green shoots of spring. I decided to finally make something of my favorite shards in hopes that they will last in time in someone's collection, rather than become flotsam.

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Good Morning Vietnam

  Hi guys
G wrote - I can't send photos as all the computers here are old models, don't have card readers, if I find one I will send a few. We are in Na Trang today which is a small coastal town known for it's fishing and pearl industry. The pace is much slower here so easier to appreciate. I am finding it hard to get a good sleep, the beds are Futons, bloody hard mattress, hard to get comfortable, however its all clean -  good otherwise, can't complain for $25 a day. The beer from the bier hoi (beer hall) is regulated to 4000 dong which is about 25 cents a glass, you just have to sit in the gutter with the locals to drink it, very social here??

Clara - Looked up Na Trang  - Looks like a fusion of the past/present.  It must feel strange being back there under different circumstances.

Futons - the bed from Hell  - why do they do it?  Is the beer good?
Love Clara









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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.