My ‘Photo of the Week’ Pictorial
Readers of my blog often go straight to my current post which detours Photo Of The Week on my Home page. I’ve gathered together some of my favourite shots—just in case you’ve missed a couple!
♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward
Category: Domesticus
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.
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/
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.
🐥 🐣 🐤 🐥 🐣 🐤 🐥
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
Happy Christmas, Readers and Writers
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 20th 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.
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.
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
Thoughts Become Words 