Forum Discussion
Doing what you LOVE to do - before, during & after BC! What's YOUR favourite?
Hi guys
I am really lucky in that I have 2 BIG passions that consume a lot of my time ..... and (no surprise to some of you ....)
Ukulele Playing - this was a library gig we did last year .... (I am 4th from left, front row.) Our ages range from the 50s - 80s. Every 4-6 weeks we play 'gigs' at 4 Nursing Homes - and we practise weekly at another nursing home ... so I guess you can call us 'volunteers'?? Some of our members are older than the people we are playing for! LOL
and
Kayak Fishing - I love nothing more than hitting the lake with a bunch of buddies.
Yesterday, I was getting cabin fever from lack of fishing (wet & windy here for the last week), so I grabbed a warm jacket
& walked the edge of the Boat Ramp .... I was busted off on the first fish :( (a good sized Flattie from the power of it's head shakes!) then dropped the next few that spat the hook .... then finally landed another nice one, that came home for dinner!!
So WHAT IS IT that puts that 'gleam in YOUR eye' - is it Golf (I play it badly), Playing Bridge (never tried it - I think you have to be 'serious' to play Bridge), Singing (that goes hand in hand with Uke Playing), Community Groups/Volunteering, Tapestry, Running (I couldn't run round the block to save my life!), ..... that gets you out of bed quicker in the morning if you know you are going to 'do it' ........
How has your surgery/treatment impacted on you doing 'YOUR TIME" stuff? Have you had to stop doing it or can't do it as often due to your treatment? Do you find you find you are still expected to do EVERYTHING ELSE at the expense of 'Your Time'?
Prior to my surgery, my uke group were amongst my greatest allies - I had to tell them straight away as we were gearing up for a big performance at the Blue Mountains Uke Festival - and I didn't know if I would be there for them!! After my surgery, I was back playing again 2 weeks later - but was very mindful of where my uke sat - as it was right across the affected boob!! The Blue Mountains gig was 3 weeks after my surgery - and luckily, I made it!! 4 of my Uke group have had BC & were able to offer info & support.
My Fishing Buddies were also an immense support to me as well (as indeed they were when Hubby was going thru his cancer in 2010) - I've caught up with a fair few of them since I was diagnosed & it has just been terrific. A bunch of my kayak fishing ladies had also had BC and were a wonderful source of info & advice!
Part of my philosophy to recovery is to try & keep 'busy' with 'stuff' so that your mind is kept active & is a 'happy thing' compared to what we are going thru daily just now (Hmmmm - tho I REALLY should be decluttering our home - but that doesn't excite me as much! LOL)
SO, let's get a list going of all your favourite pastimes ..... then, if anyone on the forum is living near you or passing thru - you may be able to share your passion with them to help them 'while away' the time!!
I am really lucky in that I have 2 BIG passions that consume a lot of my time ..... and (no surprise to some of you ....)
Ukulele Playing - this was a library gig we did last year .... (I am 4th from left, front row.) Our ages range from the 50s - 80s. Every 4-6 weeks we play 'gigs' at 4 Nursing Homes - and we practise weekly at another nursing home ... so I guess you can call us 'volunteers'?? Some of our members are older than the people we are playing for! LOL
and
Kayak Fishing - I love nothing more than hitting the lake with a bunch of buddies.
Yesterday, I was getting cabin fever from lack of fishing (wet & windy here for the last week), so I grabbed a warm jacket
& walked the edge of the Boat Ramp .... I was busted off on the first fish :( (a good sized Flattie from the power of it's head shakes!) then dropped the next few that spat the hook .... then finally landed another nice one, that came home for dinner!!
So WHAT IS IT that puts that 'gleam in YOUR eye' - is it Golf (I play it badly), Playing Bridge (never tried it - I think you have to be 'serious' to play Bridge), Singing (that goes hand in hand with Uke Playing), Community Groups/Volunteering, Tapestry, Running (I couldn't run round the block to save my life!), ..... that gets you out of bed quicker in the morning if you know you are going to 'do it' ........
How has your surgery/treatment impacted on you doing 'YOUR TIME" stuff? Have you had to stop doing it or can't do it as often due to your treatment? Do you find you find you are still expected to do EVERYTHING ELSE at the expense of 'Your Time'?
Prior to my surgery, my uke group were amongst my greatest allies - I had to tell them straight away as we were gearing up for a big performance at the Blue Mountains Uke Festival - and I didn't know if I would be there for them!! After my surgery, I was back playing again 2 weeks later - but was very mindful of where my uke sat - as it was right across the affected boob!! The Blue Mountains gig was 3 weeks after my surgery - and luckily, I made it!! 4 of my Uke group have had BC & were able to offer info & support.
My Fishing Buddies were also an immense support to me as well (as indeed they were when Hubby was going thru his cancer in 2010) - I've caught up with a fair few of them since I was diagnosed & it has just been terrific. A bunch of my kayak fishing ladies had also had BC and were a wonderful source of info & advice!
Part of my philosophy to recovery is to try & keep 'busy' with 'stuff' so that your mind is kept active & is a 'happy thing' compared to what we are going thru daily just now (Hmmmm - tho I REALLY should be decluttering our home - but that doesn't excite me as much! LOL)
SO, let's get a list going of all your favourite pastimes ..... then, if anyone on the forum is living near you or passing thru - you may be able to share your passion with them to help them 'while away' the time!!
184 Replies
- Nothing beats travel in my book @Sister hope you get the opportunity again .
Broome & Darwin are on my wish list , hopefully our next adventure will be Southern Spain in October !!
Photography is a big part of my travels & I love my photo books ,they take me back to great times !
Here a couple of my favs from Tanzania - I would dearly love to go travelling again. I can't see it happening, though. My husband has an aversion to camping now and 3 kids in school for a few years yet. Back in our early days together, he pulled the back seats out of his Pulsar and we went up the middle to Darwin and then a loop of the Kimberleys and back down through the Hammersley Ranges, south and across the Nullarbor. Almost all of it in a 2-man tent (fly cover off so we could see the stars at night. We did hire a tiny Daihatsu 4wd (all the big ones were taken by the mines) at Kunnunurra to do the Gibb River Road and the Bungles. Oh well, one day, maybe...
- Oh dear @"Annie C" - we may be twins .... the other half is on at me EVERY DAY about clearing out 'my stuff' .... he is currently giving away HIS! I've suggested we wait til I am more sure of my medication & effects!! He keeps forgetting! He tells everyone I have a sore shoulder! :(
Hmmm ... Maybe we should just move downstairs and live there - leave 'our stuff' upstairs! LOL ALL of it will come in handy, 'one day'! LOL xx - @arpie
Will be good to meet you. We will still be here. Not going anywhere - we love our little piece of paradise. Besides we have 25 years of "good stuff" (read junk) that will "come in handy one day." - .....We were gobsmacked that he was throwing a stick into the river for his little dog to fetch. ....
Thick as two planks, some people! :( Hope they aren't still parked there after the 'wet' starts ...... GORN!! :(
We'll never actually know how many people get taken by crocs etc over there, as I recon there may be more than we think! :( People that haven't advised families & friends of their travel plans .... people are only 'reported' missing or taken by a croc if someone else is already there to see it happen!!!
I'll get up there one day .... and catch up with you! ;) - @arpie
You are right about the guy likely to be an ex local! There are idiots every where. 3 months ago we were picnicking at our favourite "secret spot" on the Lennard River some 100 kms up the Gibb River Road
( best picnic spot around) when we came across a tourist camped at a bend in the river in his caravan (how he got it into that spot beats me). We were gobsmacked that he was throwing a stick into the river for his little dog to fetch. He didn't get the reference to "croc bait"! - @Joannie ... thank you - he never took a backwards step & even now .... still going forward!!
@"Annie C" - what a F**CKING IDIOT!! EVERYONE knows about the croc problem!! It almost looks like he's reaching out to it .... baiting it, encouraging it to attack!!
He won't be a local for much longer, if he keeps behaving like that!! :(
Hey @CarmelS - I hope you are able to retire as soon as you can - I thoroughly recommend it! I was lucky enough to 'sort of retire' at age 50 - and have had surgery after surgery for 2 shoulders, and BC cancer as well as other medical incidents - so wondering if I'd ever have been at work!!! Get out there & have fun whilst you still can!!
You can even catch up with @"Annie C" up in the Kimberley - and I am sure we have more members elsewhere where you are travelling ..... always good to meet up with locals! ;) Maybe we should start a 'travel group' where we can network our members?? - Before BC it was all about work & mortgage & kids. Since BC diagnosis I pushed hubby to get his 4wd with a bit of inheritance from his Grandad instead of reducing mortgage. We would never go get a loan for a truck !!!! I was not particularly interested in 4wding. Slowly I came around to it. He is a very careful & meticulous person & doesn't go out to break his car doing boy stuff ! We like to see the country & some out of the way places.
When I went back to work after treatment, it became all about saving for the next big trip. Kids are bigger, the eldest is in his own place, the next is nearly finished apprenticeship & youngest is in Yr 10 now. If we could afford to retire we'd pack the truck & be off (we're only early 50's !!) I feel we may become grey nomads as soon as we can......I can't wait !!
We are heading back over to WA via Qld & NT next year. Honestly I am already getting excited I loved being there in 2015. We saw a lot, from the southern coast zig zagging to the Kimberly via the Canning Stock Route.
WA was the most suprising place for me, I didn't go with any preconceived ideas but I didn't know how beautiful it is. Next year Derby (& Broome) are on the list as well. We won't have the child with us so are very much pleasing ourselves (& the other couple we travel with)
Love it !
Carmel - @arpie might be a good idea to leave the kayak at home when you visit the Kimberley.
This advert appeared in the local paper this week. It is not only aimed at tourists but locals as well. The guy in the boat is a local.
Kayaks, Crocs and Kimberley Tides don't mix well! Dingies and crocs don't mix well!
The photos were taken by the Mary Island Fishing Club while out in the King Sound catching mud crabs for the Mud Crab Races.
Thought of you when I saw the advert.
Take care
Annie
