The Swing of a Pendulum

 Oh my goodness.....is it really another month since I last posted??! All I can say is "Crikey's" and I know a few of you will chuckle at that as crikey's is one of my favourite words! So with much thought here goes.....all about the "Swing of the Pendulum"! Pendulum seems like the perfect word right now......moving forward and backwards (or maybe side to side ), with the force of gravity...well maybe with what life throws us is a better description! While I was deep in thought with the word pendulum I came across this meaningful yet simple poem from a retired academic Julian Scutts who has a fascinating repertoire of literary analysis......Folklore, Goethe and Romantic Poetry amongst other fascinating topics.... 

MY OLD CLOCK (Source)

Sometimes fast

and sometimes slow,

the pendulum swings

to and fro.

Is it early?

Is it late?

Let's leave our cares 

to time and fate.

My grandparents had the most wonderful grandfather clock similar to this one and I can recall being hypnotised by the swinging pendulum.....maybe I am feeling nostalgic but how I would love one of these clocks.......the wonderful deep chime and the slow tick, tock, tick, tock,........

Photo Source

I have touched before on one of our daughter's struggles with mental illness and I still to this day struggle with the stigma and judgement of others and especially the lack of medical understanding of it all. So how fortuitous that just last week I captured Wade and his Mum swinging on a pendulum........he is always looking out for her as you can see in his face......

I am still on the pendulum of being grateful for life, but also knowing life will never be quite the same after cancer stole part of my anatomy, stole my hair (and just last week I had my first haircut post chemo to remove the crazy chemo curls....but after a week those crazy curls are back!!), stole the feeling in my hands and feet, stole my ability to create new work, stole my ability to escort my William Morris Tours and unexpectedly stole some of my patience and tolerance of others. 

Wikipedia tells us a pendulum "is a weight suspended from a pivot so it can swing freely" Can we really swing freely? With time I hope to find balance on this pendulum and swing freely as I wait for the "end" (hopefully!!), of treatment...two more lots of surgery with one in just under 3 weeks. A few weeks ago we drove the four and a bit hour to Robe for a few nights away where one night we celebrated 43 years of marriage in front of a cosy fire......

The scenery and fresh air always clears the mind........

A visit to Robe must include a visit to Mahalia Coffee that is not just a roasting house but a place of other temptations.......

We also had a surprise visit while in Robe from Judy and friends who drove a couple of hours to visit us! It was such a special treat as we nattered over a fish and chip lunch......thankyou so much for coming...it was just wonderful to see you all again xxx

Some weeks back we had a couple of lovely hours wandering the streets of Port Adelaide and the historic buildings always delight.........

We noticed on the wharf there are plans to build a new Rydges Hotel and the banner shows the design. The pendulum is most definitely swinging in the right direction with my tick of approval with the architectural design reflecting the heritage of this historic area........

More sights from our amble.......

Since I last posted I had a very positive swing on the pendulum when Emily raised over $5,000 for the Cancer Council's Biggest Morning Tea! I will be eternally grateful to so many friends who made this possible....thankyou does not seem enough and I know it is going to such a great cause.....

A couple of posts ago I shared some wonderful miniatures created by a couple in the UK and my order for the spool holder arrived last week. I cannot comprehend the patience and skill to create something so tiny and you can see I needed tweezers to place the spools on the holder. I also placed a small pin beside them to give some perspective....... 

I am so thrilled with it all and the bonus is it doesn't take up too much room on the shelf!!......

So as the pendulum continues to swing we cherish moments with family with Wade and Maisie counting as they play hide and seek with us all........

So I am going to conclude with some wonderful news! Emily finally received her genetic testing results and she is free of the BRCA2 gene mutation. We are of course ecstatic as it means it has stopped at her generation. Our other daughter still needs to be tested at some stage down the track so for now we will celebrate this milestone......as the pendulum continues to swing! I hope it is swinging back and forth in the right way for you x