This morning there must have been something special in the air, or an alignment of the planets, or something.

At the beginning of our walk, a semi-circle of magpies stood before Rob and I  and sang to us, their heads back to make as much sound as possible.

A flock of black cockatoos called and fed in a big old gum tree – we usually only see them out in the bush because, courtesy of our greedy ways of being with the earth, they are now endangered.

And an osprey called, then flew over and around us, looking for a morning snack.

With the early morning sun shining, the first of the spring flowers peeping out and lots of birds enjoying the morning, it was a lovely start to our day.

Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of Mum’s birth in Melbourne, Victoria. Helen and Rose had invited her dearest friends and all the family to a celebration lunch at Royal Fresh Water Bay Yacht Club.

Three days before, Mum’s nurse had called me saying that Mum’s chronically infected toe looked very red and was hot. That meant that an infection was taking off again. I got Mum into the doctor’s that evening to get her onto antibiotics, then got her into hospital the next day with Fi’s help (Fi had just arrived from Tasmania for Mum’s birthday!). So Fi picked up Mum and a wheelchair from hospital on the day of her party and delivered her safe and sound to the Yacht Club, where she was greeted like royalty by us all!

And Mum does like being “The Queen” with an audience – a party girl to the end!

Helen organised a video of Mum and Dad’s wedding to be played after the main course. It showed so many loved ones who had now gone, and I sensed a huge wave of sadness fill the room as we watched that joyful occasion. But it was good to see them again.

When it came time for Fi to gather up Mum and all her presents, Mum was very tired. But she’d had a good time and we waved her off like royalty to return to hospital.

She would stay there for 3 weeks, with the photos of her birthday party that Helen printed out for her.

At 5am this morning, Mittens meowed in our bedroom doorway. Now this might not seem unusual, but we woke straight away because she sleeps in the laundry with the door shut, and if she doesn’t this is exactly what happens. And we’d shut her in the laundry as usual when we’d got ready for bed last night…

Rob put the light on and got up. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong so he got back into bed. Up again at 6 to go to work. He had his shower, dressed and went downstairs. He found my briefcase in the middle of the family room, and his mobile was not on his desk…it dawned on him that we’d been burgled! And they’d broken in through the laundry and let out Mittens. When she’d woken us they’d scarpered without my laptop which I’d left on my desk. That was the last time I ever left my laptop out!

I was up and running then. On the phone to the police, and keeping the house safe. No outings for me that day, until the police had been. I KNEW they’d be back to get the things they’d left behind. The police told me how they’d got in and how I should keep the house secure. So I did that and went to my Rotary meeting at lunch-time, with a fair idea that they’d be back.

When I returned home the burglars been back! But they couldn’t get in this time. I called the police again and they came back. This time there was nothing else they could do. Now we just had to replace our stolen mobiles.

I vowed we’d never be stolen from again!

Last night Rob and I saw “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” in 1 night!

It was a comedy performance from 3 very talented actors, getting Shakespeare’s key message across in an absolutely hilarious way including running scenes backwards! Shakespeare had a very generous view of human nature, based on a deep understanding of human-ness. I read in the AFR recently that “This is the finest insight Shakespeare has to offer us: self-knowledge and self-understanding are the essential starting points for understanding the world and daring to lead it.”

Each and every one of the plays was presented, just the gist. Because they covered the whole lot we could understand where Shakespeare came from; his extraordinary interest in all things human.

We really enjoyed it, even though most of the audience was younger than our children!

Being baby boomers Rob and I HAD to see “HAIR The Musical” when it came to town!

It was amazing to see the costumes and attitudes that were part of our youth, although more extreme than we ever managed. But now we can also see the frustration that many of our peers felt about the system they were born into, frustration that led them to speak out in the only way they could see how to.

But even though we felt that we were different (as does every generation in their teens and early twenties), group behaviour has not changed one iota over the millenia.

It was good to see that time from the distance of middle age:-)

Last night Mum and I returned from a week in Tasmania with my sister Fiona. We stayed in her amazing house that she’s building on a hillside in the southern woods of Tassie, on the Huon River.

When the idea came last January in response to Mum’s plea that she really wanted to see this amazing house before she died, it seemed so simple. But the logistics plus the preparation of Mum have taken a lot of time since. Although Fiona and I found the whole experience really, really hard work, it was good to give Mum this, her last real holiday, amongst the builders and their worksite that will be the finest testament yet to Fi’s skills as a designer in tune with the earth.

I’ll always remember the morning, halfway through the week, when Mum was starting to feel tired and thought she would not go out that day. She shuffled off to her room and was quiet. Fi and I got ourselves a cup of tea each and were sitting chatting in the wide, windowed lounge room when Mum’s black hat came flying down the stars that led to her room! We turned and looked up. There she was, all dressed in her favourite clothes and bright pink scarf.

“Well, are you two ready to go out?” she demanded! So we took her out to lunch. Despite her diabetes, her blindness, her lameness and loss of hearing, she still wanted to have a good time.

That’s our Mum!

I never thought that turning 56 would be so good!

A few days before Rob took Jeanette, Christopher and I to have lunch. Somehow the conversation turned to the impending change we were planning to make in our home office – changing from a Windows to Mac environment. Christopher quoted some prices for iBooks, the model I would buy. Jeanette whipped out the list of software on my computer which I’d emailed her a few days before. All a bit strange but then you learn with adult children to just take things as they come…

“Why don’t we go to the Apple shop and see what they’ve got?” suggested Jeanette. So off we went.

Soon we were standing in front of a row of Mac notebook computers…

“Which one do you like?” asked Rob. Was that his famous smirk that he tries to hide when he’s trying to keep a secret?

“That one!” I announced, after asking a few questions about each of them. But I thought we were just putting plans together.

Still I didn’t twig!

Until Rob pulled out his credit card and Jeanette and Christopher laughed.

This was my birthday present!

Jeanette and Christopher came back to our place and helped me set up and use my new macBook.

It was sooooo nice:-)

That’s why we were on Dusky Dolphin on the following Sunday, 4th March, with a macBook! But what I had been looking forward to for weeks was not a macBook but the eclipse of the moon on the morning of the day I turned 56.

We woke early and were on deck by 6am to watch the full moon setting towards the mauve of the west horizon. A strange shadow slowly moved from the top and across the face of the moon, until the whole moon disappeared into the pink in the west just as the sun rose in the east. What a lovely gift!

A challenging sail, time to play with the macBook, time with friends in a new anchorage at the end of the day (and Rob whipped them into singing “Happy Birthday”), phone calls from family and friends. What a lovely day!

Yesterday was the last “bash” with brunch at the zoo. Tristan and his family were back from New Zealand and we all met for a barbecue and walk around the zoo. Tom’s birthday had been celebrated while they were in New Zealand, so we sang “Happy Birthday” to him too. Elwyn had sent pressies via her friend who had visited London a couple of weeks before. Tom loved his drink bottle with “T” for “Thomas” on it, a bright red Ferarri shirt and Ferrari sticker to put on the back of his hand (that’s absolutely the only place for stickers in Tom’s opinion) and little backpack. We wandered around part of the zoo, and especially enjoyed the sun bears who had just arrived from Cambodia through the Save the Bears charity. One had been a pet, and was OK, but the other had been hog-tied in the back of a restaurant, ready to have his paws chopped off, one by one, as customers came in and ordered bear paw soup. Of course he was terrified of open space, as any person would be in the same situation. I couldn’t stop the tears flowing as a guide told his story. But here he was safe.

It’s sad to see animals behind bars, but if they weren’t they would be dead. Extinct maybe. As we drove home I pondered on this new view of zoos, as sanctuaries. We would visit much more often, and in doing so do our bit to help…

It has been a most amazing birthday!

Yesterday we gathered – Rob and I, Jeanette and Christopher, Tristan and Blaine, Tom and Thea – at the Zoo to celebrate Tom’s and my birthdays.

With all of us bringing things it was not a hard task to put on a barbecue brunch. Gorgeous sunshine to sit under and eat together!

Then a wander around the Zoo. Our children come here often, and guided Rob and I around to the more recent work. It is wonderful to see the effort being made to house these creatures in something approximating their natural environment. The sadest and also the happiest place was the sun bears. Two enclosures have been made for these new additions to the Zoo, rescued from tiny roome in the back of shops in Asia where their bile is extracted daily. One had had rehab before coming here and was adjusting to the space and light quite well, but the other was freaked out. Through tears I watched this little creature who, through no faulty of his own, had had no liberty to enjoy the sun on his face or fresh air in his lungs or space to explore until now. But at least he now had the chance to learn how.

What a world we live in!

But it was a special day to share with our lovely family.

Last Monday, my 56th birthday, Rob and I were on Dusky Dolphin, anchored at Woodman Point with several other yachts. An eclipse of the full moon was scheduled for 6:30am, so of course we were up early to see it!

At 6 the glowing gold/silver orb was setting into the shimmering mauve/blue of the western horizon. Then it was less of a circle, then even less, then even less, until we could see nothing of the moon by the time it reached the now-pink horizon.

What an amazing gift to share with Rob:-)

Last Tuesday was my sister Fiona’s 50th birthday – a real celebration that this incredible woman is coming into her own as a property owner and designer. And she’s been a good friend during my times of trials.

On Wednesday Mum and I had our usual lunch together, and as is becoming usual chatted about our forthcoming trip to Tasmania to see and stay in Fiona’s new house for a week. It will be good to spend some time as friends, because we spend a lot of our time together with me taking care of Mum (in tandem with the rest of our family!).

Last Friday I had lunch with Donna. We met when Elwyn and her son Keeley were at kindergarten, which makes our friendship about 26 years old! It was good to remember some of the fun and learning experiences we’ve shared. Donna is the most amazing person, the way she never, ever seeks victimhood, even when life is really, really tough for her.

That afternoon I called Aunty Judy for her birthday. Widowed twice now, these times can be lonely for her, and I wanted to let her know how important her friendship is to me and chat about my visit to her in September. She’s always the same, lovely person, through it all.

That evening we had Grant and Ann here for dinner, to celebrate Grant’s birthday the following Sunday. This is an extra special event because Sunday is also Tom’s (2nd) birthday!

Rob and I spent a quiet weekend together, going to see the movie “Miss Potter” and just being quiet, including seeing an exhibition on Antarctica with our bubbly Jeanette and thoughtful Christopher. It’s always good to spend time with my best friend, Rob, and what a joy to share time with our children as friends!

Elwyn called from London – she’s back from India. It’s so good to connect with her as a person rather than as a daughter, and what a person she is!

And this morning I had breakfast with Kerry. We met when we were studying a certificate in group leadership together in 2000, and have been friends ever since.

Friendship is the most special thing:-)