JaM-Meeting old friends for the first time.

I am still being slack with my posts but my days are filled with study, the garden and hand quilting quilts for Christmas presents. There is a little stress that I have done nothing else towards getting organised for Christmas. Thank goodness for Jody and JaM or I would hardly ever get in here to let you know I am still around.  So really nothing too exciting to write about until this morning when I found out just how small the internet has made this world of ours...............

For almost 20 years I have had a penfriend in the UK. We started writing when our children were all in Primary school and have shared the ups and downs in our lives via letter and now through email. In those 20 years she has moved from England back to Scotland, our children have grown up and moved out, her husband passed away three years ago, and we have not lost touch for any serious length of time.
Elaine's children are scattered all over the world now. Her son lives in France, there is a daughter in Istanbul another still lives in Scotland and her youngest daughter is living in Australia at the moment. She keeps contact with them via Skype and we realised the other day that we could do that too.
So this morning we Skyped. It was the best hour and a half I have had for a long time. We chatted and laughed, talked about serious stuff and silly stuff and just enjoyed each others company.  I was worried that maybe we wouldn't have anything to talk about when face to face but the time just flew and there was still lots more to talk about but it was crawling towards midnight over there and she had to get up and go to work tomorrow.  We are planning to make this a regular event and we are hoping that in 2014 she may come over to visit her daughter and visit me too. We have always said that one day we would meet on an island half way between here and there, no husbands or children, just us, so maybe that really will happen soon.

JaM-Ranting about this and that

I am so happy that Jody missed JaM and has started it again. Hopefully it will get me back on track to posting a little more often than I have been of late.

So this week I am going to have a little rant about this and that because there are things going on in my little world that I just can't get my head around.
First there is the matter of House and contents insurance. Not mine, it was pretty much the same as usual. No, it is my neighbours. He lives in a very modest house that isn't worth a fortune and he is on a pension. A few weeks ago he got his House and Contents renewal notice and it had gone up from the previous year by $6000. No that isn't a typing mistake it was $6000.  Why would it go up that much? Because the insurance company has decided that he lives in a flood zone. Never mind that he has lived there for over 30 years and has never even looked like he was going to be flooded out,  they decided it was a flood zone after glancing at a map and seeing where the creek was. Anyway after getting letters from the local shire and the Water Catchment authority to say otherwise they still knocked it back because he had to have records dating back 100 years.
And they say 'We're there for you" Needless to say he is now with another insurance company who couldn't believe his story. The same company did it to my Mum too,  adding $3000 to hers because she may be subject to flooding from high tides in 25 years or so. She is now insured by someone else........

When I left school and started to apply for jobs I wrote a letter and put in a couple of written references and my birth extract. Short, simple and to the point. Today I handed in a couple of job applications to Workways. It included the application letter that had to be written to a specific formula and that briefly addressed a minimum of three of the Key selection Criteria, two pages that specifically addressed the Key Selection Criteria, my Resume that was several pages long, copies of Certificates I have attained, copy of my Police check and one also had  a four page form to fill out as well. Each application took a minimum of a day to write, cost money in regards to the police check and aren't even for permanent full time jobs. It is unbelievable just how much work goes into presenting yourself to a prospective employer and then you have to jump through a whole lot of other hoops if you manage to get an interview. I wonder sometimes if it is all worth it?

Miniature violets

Yesterday Edna arrived with my Birthday present which she had finally found in the back of her storeroom. It is the most gorgeous miniature tea set and a sweet saucer, all with violets to go with my ever increasing collection. The tea pot is only 7cm high. She is getting very good at finding something just a little different for my collection.

Herb posy

For something different (and maybe as a deterrent to Atticus chomping off the tops) I picked the heads of some herbs this morning and popped them in a vase. Parsley, chives, sorrel and  coriander.  It looks really pretty in a vintage jug on the kitchen bench.