A Random Act of Kindness From Across The Globe

As much as I know that this will annoy my dear friend Stella, I am going to put her photo here.

She will totally hate this photo being here, but she will just have to accept the fact that I want to pay her a tribute for being such a great friend, & for always being here for me, even though she lives on the opposite side of the planet. We met 14 years ago (at my wedding) & have just been "together" since, despite the differences in time zones. Apparently we are quite similar according to those who know us both quite well, which I am really happy about, because I very much admire & love her. She is warm, kind, intelligent, feisty, funny, gorgeous to look at - the entire package really.

Stella in her allotment in the UK

We have had a hard few months here in our family, with the poor health of some of our loved family members being the main concern, with all that that involves.

These are the beautiful flowers she & Peter sent last week, just to be lovely. How lucky am I to have her in my life? A good friend is a true gift & we need to take care of all our friendships. Sometimes they do take work, sometimes they are just easy, but if they nurture your soul & enhance your life then they are worth it.

Our Beautiful Fishtank.

The fish tank - from the lounge room

This is our fish tank, which lives in the wall cavity in between the dining room & the lounge room. When we first moved into this house all that was there was a series of bits of wood, which made the room look a little bit like a prison cell. After a few months of contemplation we decided to put a fish tank in there & we thought we were so BRILLIANT. However, it turns out that the people who built the house had a fish tank there too - the second owners ripped it out & put the bars in. We are the third owners. It also turns out that we know both lots of previous owners - so much for country anonymity!

The fish tank - from the dining room.

Obviously we had to get the tank made up to order from a local glass shop. It took them four goes to get it right. The first one leaked straight away, the second one bowed out when the water was added & the third one exploded out into the dining room after a night of water sitting in it. Thank goodness there were no fish in that one at that point, & thank goodness we weren't sitting there eating at the table. I cannot tell you the mess it made - shards of broken glass, 80 litres of water & thousands of tiny black stones all over the floor, but at least it wasn't into the lounge room, which at that stage had carpet in it. The tank is a source of joy for us, it's just so peaceful to sit at the table, having a nice dinner & a glass of wine, contemplating this mini lake with family & friends.