Take a Test ‘Creative Types’

On a go-slow day at home, I clicked a link from a fellow writer and discovered this cool/cute/interesting Adobe Create personality test. It invited me to answer 15 questions. Eight creative types are on offer and once I’d completed the test I was given a full explanation of My Creative Type.

This quiz-like questionnaire gave me a joyful, colourful few minutes. I could take it or leave it, the results are rather like a horoscope, but it did give me a confidence boost.

Visionary Creative Types Test 2019 02 — ‘Visionary’ Creative from Adobe Types Test

Apparently I am “VISIONARY – A visionary combines a vivid imagination with a desire for practical solutions. Your introspective and intuitive nature is balanced by a keen interest in the world around you.” The rest is private!

The Adobe Creators say “The Creative Types test is an exploration of the many faces of the creative personality. Based in psychology research, the test assesses your basic habits and tendencies—how you think, how you act, how you see the world—to help you better understand who you are as a creative. Answer these 15 questions and you’ll gain a deeper understanding of your motivations, plus insight into how to maximize your natural gifts and face your challenges.”

“These personality types aren’t black-and-white labels. Think of them more as signposts pointing you toward your full creative potential. While there’s probably one core type that best describes you, you may change types at different points in your life and career, or even at different stages of the creative process. As a creative, you have a little bit of all eight Types inside you.”

Click or cut and paste the links:

Creative Types Test
https://mycreativetype.com/share/producer/?fbclid=IwAR2VZtjJ3U3MMYLNxyioJ6vQGX_ocWTLex5wD4Kw3iCVfZAU7M3aT59LyIQ

About the Team
https://mycreativetype.com/about/

Eight Creative Types
https://mycreativetype.com/the-creative-types/

Visionary Creative Types Test 2019 04 — ‘The Maker’ Creative from Adobe Types Test

The slick visuals are not completely computer generated because if you look closely you can see the human touches. Kind of endearing. Try it!

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

My Easter Holiday Photos

Ten images taken during my stay-home Easter break. In Australia public holidays are mainly observed on Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.

🐥 🐣 🐤 🐥 🐣 🐤 🐥

Palm Tree Palm Sunday 2019 — Palm Sunday arrives first and falls on the last Sunday of Lent, the Sunday before Easter.

IMG_20190419_153028 — Good Friday and our traditional home-baked hot cross buns are cooling before the sugar glaze.

IMG_20190417_130036 — Easter Saturday and I check on a tiny daisy plant (or weed) in the front garden.

IMG_20190416_153936 — Easter Saturday and I unearthed this little old turtle in the back garden.

IMG_20190418_093721 — Easter Sunday and we gather kitchen utensils to bake sweet biscuits in rabbit, chicken and egg shapes.

IMG_20190419_223127 — Easter Sunday and time to count the donations in our Lent Event coffee jar money box.

IMG_20190421_122247 — Easter Sunday and the dragon lamp and fishbone ferns keep guard over my potful of new basil seedlings.

IMG_20190417_121608 — Easter Monday and I discovered Dr Who memorabilia and BBC magazine from Nov 2013 with no inkling of Jodie Whittaker.

IMG_20190417_122205 — Easter Monday and the flip-side of BBC Dr Who magazine advertising a groovy 2013 event in Cardiff Bay.

IMG_20190421_102658 — Easter Monday and there are always one or two uneaten chocolate eggs hanging around.

Easter is a time to reflect on sadness and rebirth; a time when our weather is often humid with autumnal rains; a time for relaxing with family and friends.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

🐣 🐤 🐥 🐣 🐤 🐥 🐣

Nasturtium Flowers Lifespan

Nasturtiums like to grow free-range in the sun with well-drained soil but I planted the seeds in an old hanging basket under the verandah and watched their lifespan over three months from warm September mornings in springtime to steamy January afternoons in summertime.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Tea Towels and a Missed Opportunity

Before you yawn in boredom, let me explain. A local bookshop promotes a new title ‘The Art Of The Tea Towel’ by Marnie Fogg, hardback 144 pages and selling well.

That author could have been me!

Last year I posted about my cotton tea towels, their history and some photographs. Nobody, as far as I could tell, had done this before and I was rather proud of my efforts. This year Marnie’s book comes out and I’m kicking myself.

The ‘what ifs’ start – what if I had ironed my linen tea towels, what if I had borrowed my great aunt’s classic designs, what if I had posed them with kitchen utensils and what if I had pitched to a nostalgic publisher who loves tea and scones?

Would I have my name on that cover if I’d taken the initiative? Would, could, maybe…

Of course, there’s always the option of publishing my own tea towel book, but there would be the whiff of ‘copycat’ about it. I doubt the literary world is ready for another one.

Interested in my meagre effort (I even designed my own) click here:
https://thoughtsbecomewords.com/2017/10/01/teatowel-of-ignominy/

Interested in Marnie Fogg’s selection, click book cover:

Both links explain the versatility of a tea towel and its usage in today’s world.

So, writers, you can guess the moral of this story.

I’m slinking off to find a handkerchief to dab at my eyes…hmm, handkerchief. There’s another drying piece of serviceable domestic textile…

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

IMG_20180519_111152 — Tea Towel “Ayrshire Cattle Society” © By appointment to Her Majesty The Queen, suppliers of kitchen textiles, Ulster Weavers Home Fashions Limited, Belfast.

IMG_20190428_100040 — My well-used Scottish tea towel but I’ve never tried the Haggis recipe.

Happy Christmas, Readers and Writers

IMG_20181204_123500 — December 2018 courtesy of Red Tractor Designs http://www.redtractor.com.au/general-store/

We celebrate on Christmas Day in whichever way the universe imparts to us, but my wish is that you experience a safe, happy, holy, calm and peaceful Christmas 2018.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Pets Stop People Travelling

Australians really love their pet pals – one in three won’t go on holidays because it would mean leaving their pet behind. A recent survey examined the lifestyle of 1,000 pet owners regarding the impact pets have on their travel habits. I found the results interesting.

National Seniors and Trusted Housesitters research demonstrates that with 5.7 million households owning a pet in Australia (over 13 million people) roughly four million people choose to stay at home rather than holidaying due to concerns about their pet’s well-being.

Apparently those who did take a break (69%) said they had felt guilty when leaving their pet behind, while over one-third of Australian pet owners (36%) have turned down a weekend away, citing being unable to arrange pet care as the reason.

Pets often disrupt their owners’ social lives, with 18% of respondents having regularly missed social engagements in favour of staying at home to ensure their pets were cared for. Of those surveyed, 6% avoided going on dates, choosing their pets over romance.

When it comes to Australian pet owners who regularly take holidays, 29% opted for a trusted pet sitter versus putting their pet in a boarding kennel (21%), while 35% of pet owners organised friends or family to care for their furry friend.

One in four participants said they would never travel overseas or interstate without their pet. Presumably this pet is a dog and the owner is wealthy!

In a British study of veterinary experts conducted by Trusted Housesitters UK, 100% believed animals responded better to a new carer than a new environment, as animals were particularly bonded to their home. Is there bias in this result?

I’m not making any pronouncements for-or-against. I’ve loved and cared for every one of my darling pets and by making arrangements in advance, none ever stopped me from travelling away from home. But the guilt was there.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Old-Fashioned Board Games

Mature people from the 20^th century may feel a twinge of nostalgia when reading the words ‘board game’ . I have visions of crouching over a cardboard square with family or friends, munching snacks, rolling the dice and moving discs, cards or tiny symbols around the board to shouts of glee or great annoyance depending on who was winning.

A board game has a goal each player aims to achieve. This means instant winners and losers. No reboot, no power-up, no regeneration, no second tries unless you’re a four year-old and burst into tears. Any game of chance has pitfalls, but when you flip that top card and see what you’ve got, it sets your mind racing not your thumbs.

I’ve played Halo, Assassin’s Creed, Grand Theft Auto and other equally absorbing, equally time-guzzling computer games which controlled my moves even if it didn’t feel like it. My Virtual Reality experiences offered yet another form of ‘visual involvement’ and the feeling of taking another step down the ladder to human isolation.

With an old-fashioned board game, the players’ moves are initially controlled by the dice and random Lady Luck. Thereafter, players can take a certain amount of responsibility for their movements and actions without the use of screen projections. They can survey the limits of the board and plan their course using opponents body language.

To tweak youthful reminiscences, I have compiled a list of my favourite board games for you. Scraps of paper and a pencil (for scoring) are optional. I’ve added some photographs of our boxed sets which have survived two generations. Regrettably I can’t seem to locate Trivial Pursuit! At one stage, maybe 1985, there were two big blue boxes on the shelf for special nights.

Ah, those fun-filled nights of comfy clothing, junk food, fizzy drinks and overheated face-to-face discussions <cue Back To The Future soundtrack>

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

MY MEMORY LIST––I’M SURE THERE’S MORE

Cluedo
Scrabble
Monopoly
Tiddly-Winks
Trivial Pursuit
Snakes & Ladders
Chinese Chequers
Mastermind
Pictionary
Draughts
Shipping
Mouse Trap
Blankety Blank
Chess (of course)
Escape from Colditz
It’s a Knockout
Quandary
Mahjong
Risk
the list goes on…

SPECIAL MENTION: ‘War of the Daleks’ (from early days of TV series Dr Who) which I never played but would have love to––players moved tiny Daleks around the board, obviously saying ‘Exterminate, exterminate’. There are newer board games like ‘Time of the Daleks’ and electronic interactive TARDIS versions.

What to Recycle with REDcycle

This post is not going to bore you.
It contains essential household information.
I’m recycling and happy to do it!
Here’s the REDcycle list of scrunchable plastics.

YES PLEASE!

Biscuit packets (outer wrapper only)
Bread bags (without the tie)
Bubble wrap (large sheets cut into A3 size pieces)
Cat and dog food pouches (as clean and dry as possible)
Cellophane from bunches of flowers (cut into A3 size pieces)
Cereal box liners
Chip and cracker packets (silver lined)
Chocolate and snack bar wrappers
Cling Wrap – free of food residue
Confectionery bags
Dry pet food bags
Fresh produce bags
Frozen food bags
Green bags (Polypropylene Bags)
Ice cream wrappers
Large sheets of plastic that furniture comes wrapped in (cut into A3 size pieces)
Netting produce bags (any metal clips removed)
Newspaper and magazine wrap
Pasta bags
Plastic Australia Post satchels
Plastic carrier bags from all stores
Plastic film wrap from grocery items such as nappies and toilet paper
Plastic sachets
Potting mix and compost bags – both the plastic and woven polypropylene types (cut into A3 size pieces and free of as much product as possible)
Rice bags – both plastic and the woven type (if large, cut into A3 size pieces)
Snap lock bags / zip lock bags
Squeeze pouches with lid on (e.g. yogurt/baby food)
Wine bladders – clear plastic ones only
Please make sure your plastic is dry and as empty as possible.

NO THANKS!

Plastic bottles
Plastic containers
Any rigid plastic such as meat trays, biscuit trays or strawberry punnets
Adhesive tape
Balloons (of any kind)
Biodegradable/degradable/compostable plastics
Blister packs, tablets and capsule packaging
Blow up pools and pool toys – plastic or PVC
Bread bag tags
Christmas tinsel and Christmas trees
Coffee bags
Cooler bags
Disposable food handling gloves of any variety
Drinking straws
Film negatives and x-rays
Foam or polystyrene of any kind
Foil / Alfoil of any kind
Food waste
Glass
Laminated materials and overhead transparencies
Medical waste materials
Paper and cardboard
Paper post packs
Plastic/clear vinyl packaging from sheets and doonas etc
Plastic packaging that has contained meat
Plastic strapping used for securing boxes and pallets
Powdered milk packets, made of foil
Rubber, rubber gloves, latex
Tarpaulins
Tin cans
VHS Tape
Wet plastic materials as mould is a problem for us
Wine bladders – foil based
Wrapping paper and cardboard, ribbons or bows

The “NO” items should be recycled in the usual way. Please note the REDcycle Program has been developed for post-consumer household plastic. Participating supermarkets are not obliged to accept large volumes of commercial plastic waste. Please visit http://www.redcycle.net.au/

Well, it might have been a bit boring but I bet it was helpful!

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Too Much Junk Mail

I received this junk mail stuffed into my real mailbox this morning. It’s a weekly occurrence and enough is enough!

In this photograph there are seventeen leaflet/brochures of varying content, page size and thickness (and weight) which supposedly contain sales, discounts and bargains.

IMG_20181001_141056 — NOT an advertisement for any of these companies!

The seventeen companies are Chemist Warehouse, Coles Supermarket, Coles Health & Beauty, Woolworths Supermarket, Aldi, BigW, hotel Christmas bookings, weekend Nachos, BUPA Dental, Target x 2, Viking Cruises, Harvey Norman, Amart Furniture, Beacon Lighting, Winning Appliances, Repco Car Care. Surprisingly, no real estate agent’s calendar.

I have worked in the industry and selling themes start way before holiday time or special days but I’m sure the delivery in my area has ballooned. And the distributor must want to get back home early because often there are four or five double-ups.

The local newspapers are heaved onto the driveway in plastic sleeves to stop water damage, with a latex band around the middle for good measure. They, too, share the junk mail bounty cunningly hidden between the inky pages.

Newspaper Trees Collage — Newspaper collage How To Make A Collage by AndreutzaVio https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/402931497894964026/

I enjoy print media so will read the local news––I have given up reading any of the junk mail. It goes straight into the recycle bin. What a waste! In school break times when letterboxes are not cleared, paper escapes to fly around lawns and roadways.

If thousands share my philosophy of “When I want something I’ll research it myself” that’s an awful lot of junk mail being unread and pulped.

It will probably recycle back to my letterbox, time and time again, as some other company’s special offer.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

IMG_20181019_091216 — This columnist has a completely different take on junk mail – she loves it!

My Mandarin Tree Growing Project

You are invited to follow my pictorial efforts in home-growing mandarin trees with no experience and limited resources. Nothing by the book, just me planting seeds and hoping Mother Nature does the rest. I’m not even sure if you have to dry the seeds first!

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward