Is anyone up for a chat?

Doolhof · ‎27-07-2015

Hi Everyone,

Sometimes it is great to have a place where you can just have a chat about something not related to your mental health. So here is the opportunity to have a general chat about anything and to maybe find a "friend" to help make the day feel brighter.

Occasionally I connect with people on the forums and a lovely friendship develops, but it may seem to others that they are not welcome to join in the conversation. This is not the case.

So here is an opportunity for new friendships to happen.

Maybe you would like to share your favourite holiday destination, or place you would love to visit. If you could have any animal as a pet what would it be? What is your favourite flavoured ice cream?

For me right now I would love to be somewhere warm! We have been experiencing some rather cold weather where even the chooks water is freezing over during the night! Somewhere with a beach and warm sea to swim in would be lovely!

My favourite ice cream flavour would be Jaffa in one of those crunchy cones! I would love to be eating one down at that tropical beach paradise followed by a lovely fresh coconut and maybe a beach massage as well.

I will be dreaming about this as I drive around today for work listening to Meatloaf. Maybe I should be listening to The Beach Boys instead, but I don't think I have any of their music on CD.

Hope you all have a great day,

Cheers from Mrs. Dools

Woody96 · ‎01-08-2015

Hii

Guest_2350 · ‎01-08-2015

Good afternoon!

What a lovely topic 🙂 I am smiling now!

We had a beautiful day here with temps in the 20s!

I also love listening to classic and instrumental music, my favourite is the piano. I am listening to piano jazz at the moment and there are some nice uplifting songs! I never learnt to play an instrument, but if I had the choice jow it would be the piano.

I love walking and have just come back from a walk through the country side. Now I got a glass of wine and sit on my favourite brick pier overlooking our garden and fields - we have plenty of chairs and benches, but I love my brick pier 😉 Sometimes I sit here in the morning eating my breakfast in the sunrise. I watch our sheep play and the parrots in the garden.

I have a pet rainbow lorikeet who is always with me when I'm home. He is climbing around on me at the moment, exploring the outside and nibbling me from time to time when he wants a cuddle.

One day I would like to get a dog, a dog that I can take running and that is always next to me, I love to have a Weimaraner, Jack Russel or South African Ridgeback. Better all three of them 🙂

I also love water, I would love to live at the ocean. I grew up at a big lake in Switzerland, only a few hundred metres from the waters edge. When I was a teenager I used to meditate at the waters edge. Here we have a beautiful little pond with goldfish and a waterfall, my husband build a little paradise for us.

My favourite flower is "bird of paradise" - a symbol for a very happy time in South Africa where I lived in my mid twenties. We have them in our garden.

My favourite ice cream used to be Straciatella, but I don't think you can get that in Australia and I am now lactose intolerant so I eat frozen fruit instead 🙂

I will go back inside now and do some colouring in at the fire.

Thanks for making me smile! I wish you all a wonderful evening! x

Guest_2350 · ‎01-08-2015

Hello All,

I really loved reading this post and it made me smile.

I love listening to classical and instrumental music, especially the piano. I used to work weekends on classical concerts and I always had the opportunity to meet the musicians and listen to the concerts. I never learnt playing an instrument, but if I had the choice I would learn the piano.

My favourite flower is "bird of paradise" and my favourite ice cream used to be Straciatella, but I don't think you can get that in Australia. I have a pet lorikeet who is always with me when I am home. One day I would like to have a dog, a Weimaraner, Jack Russel or South African ridgeback - or all of them 🙂

I grew up at a lake and I love being at the ocean. I love mornings at the ocean, when the waves are high and drown out any noise and the tide has just gone out and I leave the first footsteps in the sand. It reminds me of winter and leaving the first footsteps in the snow, something that I always found special.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend x

BKYTH · ‎03-08-2015

G'day all. No Mary I didn't hear the programme you mentioned. Today I attended a concert at the Nambucca Heads Art Centre held by students From the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Overall it was excellent but the guitarist featured played pieces that were slightly beyound his ability..................But it was a rare treat for this neck of the woods. I must admit yggy that I have fantasies of performing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto no1. The sheer power and physicality that the instrument affords could be utilized to its to its fullest in such a piece - In those fantasies I have received rapturous applause and standing ovations upon each performance. But my heart lies with the instrument that Beethoven described as a "miniature orchestra" the guitar. Quite a remarkable statement by Beethoven since in his time the instrument has virtually no repertoire and was dismissed as little more than a parlour toy. An old stone house with a very old, and perhaps neglected, piano in residence. In such places I find that which is necessary to write my best short stories - A pursuit I began in an attempt to communicate to the ever expanding numbers of Psychiatrists I was confronted with. Alas, they too, fell on deaf ears and were as impotent as the conversations which had preceded them but they did achieve some literary acclaim for me which was not what I sought. I imagine the instrument offered forth the best that it could summon Lauren even if your hands were not educated to the task. Philip.

Mangof · ‎03-08-2015

Hi Mary,

yes I agree the Jacaranda is one of my favourites, the long extending branches full of beautiful blue flowers is just magical. And when seen in mass is breathtaking.

i find that having flowers in our home lifts my spirits the vibrant colours reminding that beauty is constantly in front of us I have just planted 3 azaleas and look forward to seeing the grow and blossom.

ive always wanted to do a floristry course but never quite had the nerve to do so. Maybe one day. I love to garden wether it be flower or vegetable it's so relaxing and seeing or eating the fruits of your labour is awesome. When you spend a lot of time thinking finding beauty in colours and shapes, heavenly scents are what makes me smile and means so much.

I too enjoy classical music well music in general, Vivaldi four seasons is some of my favourites, music and nature mixes so well don't you think peaceful, non intrusive and calming throughout my life these two things alone have brought me through many tough times and throw in chocolate or a blissful cup to tea and I'm in bliss.:) it's great to be reminded what makes me happy.

thanks everyone

Doolhof · ‎03-08-2015

Hello Everyone,

This certainly is a refreshing chat! I too like the Jacarandas. There are some streets in Adelaide that are lined with them and they look gorgeous when they are in full bloom.

We moved to our current home just over two years ago. It was a wonderful surprise to find that three very small trees in our garden are actually Jacarandas! We have a few different types of grevillea as well. Some of them have such amazing flowers, when you view them close up they are so intricate.

Thanks to some local farmers, we now have some sheep on the property as "lawn mowers". The farmer will check now and then to see how the grass is holding up to ensure his sheep are still being well maintained. I went down to see them this morning. I'm hoping they may become a little friendlier if I keep chatting with them!

One of my clients listens to a classical music channel rather loudly! The sound reverberates through his home as I am cleaning and assisting him. Some of the music is wonderful. I don't really have much of an idea as to what I am listening to, but do enjoy some of it.

I'm not into some of the operatic music and singing, more the singing! Some of that hurts my ears. Ha. Ha. A bit like some of the Asian music and high noted singing. Maybe it is just that particular pitch that my ears don't enjoy!

Years ago I attended some classes where we learnt all sorts of relaxation techniques, one being visualisation. I was surprised that my mind took me to a still pond and not to the ocean which I loved so much as a child. I am hoping to return to some mediation and relaxation techniques. It has been so long since I have made the time for such activities.

Three days a week I try to visit the local swimming pool. Sometimes I have the 25 metre pool to myself. I love the calming feel of the water as I huff and puff my way to the other end of the pool! Ha. Ha.

I hope you all have a good week.

Cheers for now from Mrs. Dools or Lauren

Mangof · ‎04-08-2015

Hi everyone

hope your week is going well.

Lauren how lucky to have 3 jacarandas in your garden I can imagine tree lined streets in jacarandas how beautiful! At the moment I am doing mindfulness techniques online with A great teacher Jon Kabat-Zinn he has some very simple online video classes that have really helped me in doing meditation. Likewise music while cleaning the house has been great to lately I've been listening to the pan flute or music I haven't bothered about in years it certainly creates a lovely atmosphere and takes the mind off worrying or overthinking all the time.

I woke early this morning while laying awake i listened to the wind in the trees and the birds waking to another day how simple yet beautiful .

have a great day everyone

find something today that makes us smile 🙂

BKYTH · ‎04-08-2015

My favourite recipe for Chai consists of Cardamom: Cinnamon: Cloves: Black Pepper: Nutmeg and Ginger. Green Cardamom is an essential ingredient in indian Chai . While Black Pepper sounds like an unlikely ingredient I like the after taste that it gives. You can make Chai with water or milk or a combination of each. I prefer 75%milk with 25% water. In relationship to exercise I am reminded of a statement I once read about work "I love work I could sit and watch it for hours". I feel much the same about exercise. I keep hoping a study will come out detailing the health benefits to be derived from doing that - Perhaps I'll have to write one myself and could probably get it published in a New Age magazine where you seem to be able to get away with anything. Three young Jacarandas. Struth. I hope they are not too close to one another otherwise in time they will be competing with each other for elbow room. One of my favourite things to do is to buy sick plants from nurseries, the ones they are selling cheap, and restoring them to health. I bought a Lavender about seven months ago which was in dire straits and slowly restored it to its natural glory. It is really healthy now and growing well. When spring comes it will really flourish and I am looking forward to a wonderful flower display. In diagnosing why a plant is struggling and determining the means necessary to restore it to health has taught me a lot about plants. and in many ways, about life itself. Philip.

White_Rose · ‎04-08-2015

Hello Everyone

I wrote a reply here early today, then clicked on to another page before posting and so I lost my words. Cannot believe I did that.

Jon Kabat-Zinn is a great teacher of mindfulness. I have several of his books. To me, mindfulness and meditation go hand in hand. Have you read his book, Wherever You Go, There You Are. Good stuff.

Today I have lazed around. Wrote some replies to people at BB, bought a birthday present for my grandson, Pictionary as he asked for it, read some Marcus Aurelius, Meditations. He was the last Emperor of Rome and wrote a remarkable book. His sayings are so relevant and modern. Amazing.

How do you folk go watching TV programs and films? I used to enjoy watching Cold Case and seeing the old wrongs solved. Made me feel good and that people cared about justice. Now I just get upset because I find it becomes far too personal. Is this silly? Do other films etc do this to people?

Mary

Guest_2350 · ‎05-08-2015

Hello All,

Mary, I don't like watching a lot of TV either. Anything that is too realistic and scary for me, I do not watch anymore. It makes me feel bad.

It is very interesting that you mention Marcus Aurelius. I learnt Latin in school and we spend a bit of time translating, but I have rarely touched literature from that time since. I do have a few old books in my library though, I might dust them off and have a look inside.

I was thinking about nice things to do to keep me occupied when driving. I bought an audio version of "The best German poems" and a Italian language course. Even if I spend 10min a day thinking of something else that interests me, it will be a great start!

I love jacarandas as well. When we moved to Australia I was amazed to see those amazing trees, a sea of blue flowers! I love all colours and flowers and also the colourful parrots in this country!

Have a lovely day, Yggy