And the band played Waltzing Matilda...

Hello everyone,

This morning, my children attended their first ANZAC dawn service.

Photo by Nicole

For overseas readers of this blog, ANZAC day marks the first major military action fought by the Australian and New Zealand troops. On this day in 1915, the Australia New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. Their goal was to open the Dardanelles to the allied navies.

The campaign was a disaster.

From the very beginning, there were no specialised landing craft, the disparate troops had no training, and supplies for the army had been packed in ways which made them difficult to access for landings.

The British commander who lead the campaign, Sir Ian Hamilton, believed that the navy would make further attacks during his landings. The navy, realising likely losses and fundamentally opposing the idea that tactical losses of ships was acceptable declined to mount another attack. The Turks had been allowed two months warning from the first serious navy attack to prepare ground defences before the follow-up ground landing could be mounted. They were well prepared.

Over 8,000 Australians and close to 3,000 New Zealanders died.

At first, military censorship prevented the true story being told but an Australian journalist, Keith Murdoch (father of Australian newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch) smuggled the story about the scale of the Dardanelles disaster back to the Australian Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher.

Fisher and the New Zealand Prime Minister, took the matter to the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. It led directly to the dismissal of the British commander, Sir Ian Hamilton and the withdrawal of troops from Gallipoli.

ANZAC day has since become a a national day of remembrance of all soldiers who have died at war.

For myself and my children, the concepts behind ANZAC day are hard to grasp. We commemorate soldiers we do not know, who fought in a land we've never been, to help a "mother land" we have long since left.

Yet, every year, I still try to attend ANZAC day services. Why? Because to me, ANZAC day is a day of national ritual mourning. And by mourning war, I am better able to instill (in my own small ways) peace for my children.

Lest we forget...

You are gorgeous just the way you are...

My top travel worry

Hey everyone!

I'm so sorry its been so long since I last posted. I have been travelling for work and have found it quite difficult to blog while on the road. I will be travelling on and off for a little longer so my infrequent posts may continue for awhile.

During my travels though, it occurred to me that I had a particular worry that many other travellers don't have and thought I'd share:

Number 1 Worry: that my home crafted stuff will somehow have traces of bomb-making ingredients...

Regular readers here would know that almost all of my crafting uses 2nd-hand materials. In fact, I can't remember the last time I used brand new materials to make something. Normally, this is not a problem for me. In fact, I really enjoy making stuff out of old stuff.

Unfortunately, when you're travelling crazy thoughts start spinning in your head arising from the fact that:

a. my materials have passed through many many hands before coming to me; and
b. it seems I come across too many articles citing how "easy" it is to make a bomb out of household materials.

So a few days ago, I get stopped at the airport for the random search of all my stuff. I was fine with this until the man said something along the lines of: "...traces of explosive materials...".

And that's when my confident smile slipped and quickly turned to "uncomfortable".

They scanned my handbag...

Made from an old book bought at a second-hand shop. Fabric and thread are also sourced second-hand.

They scanned my shoes....

Op-shopped shoes recovered in second-hand fabric.

They scanned my luggage...

My home crafted luggage using old curtains, an old lawn bowls bag, and op shopped thread.

Hell, even the clothes inside my luggage were second-hand!! And as I smiled my uncomfortable smile I kept worrying that "uncomfortable" was coming across as "shifty".

It was with great relief when they finally let me go and I could rejoin my workmates.

I was not alone in my worries though! As I approached my workmates at the airport lounge, I was greeted with: "Oh thank god there were no bomb traces in your stuff!!"

...yep they all know that I made my own stuff...

At least now I know that some of my home crafted stuff is safe to travel with.

I might stick with the same travel luggage and wardrobe for next few times - I don't think I can handle the worry of my other stuff coming up with traces of something that might end up deporting me... :P

I hope you are all well.

Some long weekend crafting

Hi everyone!

Well, its been awhile since I managed to fit in a bit of sewing/crafting. So I took advantage of the long weekend to do a little bit of crafting and to use up leftover pieces of fabric.

To celebrate Easter, I made these little rabbits for my children. They've been named (L-R): "Chicka Cha" and "Terra".



This little pouch bag I made about 30 mins before I had to go out to dinner and listen to a band...and realised I didn't have a little bag that I can sling over my shoulder to carry just my keys, cards, cash and mobile phone.



Oh and after shopping at Oxfam for some Fairtrade chocolate this weekend, I was inspired to make this bowl using macrame string, paper strips from old magazines and modge podge:



It feels good to get back into it...I now have a jacket I am altering for a friend and I'm thinking of making something "winterish" for me.

I would love to hear what you are making at the moment!

Spending is also cultural (no-spend week fail)

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry for not updating on Wednesday. Yet again, real life and work got in the way of my blogging. :)

So, in my last post, I predicted that the hardest part of my no-spend week will probably be at work. And I was right...

See, at my work, its become habit for a group of us to regularly shout each other coffee or snacks.

Let me digress a bit and explain "shouting" in Aussie culture (Aussie readers - feel free to skip this whole paragraph)... Shouting is basically buying something for (usually) a group of people, with the expectation that they will return the gesture. Shouting is in many ways almost like a group ritual that serves a practical purpose (its often easier for one person to order something for everyone). Its also a way to reinforce group identity and bonds. Its very rare to shout a group of people you have no real connection with. The shout ritual can (and often does) go round and round for a long time. At the end of the day/event/session, whoever did not take their next turn, will often be the first person to shout the next day/event/session. People can sit out a shout - provided its not their turn to shout. Like many cultural habits, the shouting ritual is not overtly stated or made obvious...indeed, I'm sure some Aussie readers may cringe at my use of the word "ritual" to describe "the shout" as it makes it more formal. Nevertheless, the shout does carry with it a very strong group expectation of participation.

At my work, our shouting ritual has been happening since November 09. On Mondays, its usually my turn to shout. Instead , I turned up with my Oxfam Fairtrade coffee beans and I made coffee for anyone who wanted a coffee.

All of which was appreciated but nevertheless, I felt that everyone was a bit confused... and I realised that the shout was not about the coffee or the time it took to make the coffee, but the whole demonstrable thing of actually going to a cafe for the group and buying something for them.

However, I managed to get through the next few days without spending anything until Thursday (day 6 of no-spend week)...and that's when it fell apart. We had 3 new starters in our team, and very quickly, a lunch at restaurant was organised to welcome them. Also, I had forgotten when I started this challenge, that I had also agreed to go out with my friends on Thursday night (yet again as part of a new ritual of getting together on the first weekend of each month).

So I weighed up the pleasure I get from participating in the group(s) and the benefits of the no-spend challenge and I decided to break my no-spend week a day early. Though I do note that if I had started my challenge when I said I would, then I would not have had to break it.

So what have I learned this time round? That spending is sometimes a necessary part of participating in a group. And sometimes my needing to belong outweighs my needing to save... I guess like all things its all a balancing act.

"Balancing Act 2.5" Photo by Bitzcelt

Incidentally, Gina said something along these same lines in her comment to me in my last post. As she said, its when spending becomes the substitute for generosity (as opposed to using spending to be generous) that it becomes a problem. Thank you Gina for writing something I needed to read!

So that's my no-spend week fail. Despite spending on day 6 though, I *did* manage to save $100 more than my normal weekly savings. That's not too bad. Though, of course still a long way off to get that digital SLR I wanted (price: $1,600)!

You may want to read what's happened to my other no-spend buddies!

Alison's gotten a blogging award (congrats Alison)! I also like your new blog look. Would love to hear how you went.

Tara's found that her no-spend week has reinforced her social bonds. Almost the opposite effect to what I had! More things for me to ponder.

Eef's enjoying no-spend activities and pondering on all sorts of things. BTW eef, I love your crocheted black kitty! You are very talented.

Anyway, I hope you are all well and enjoying the long weekend! See you next time!