July 2021 – Jared Diamond Books

Ute Toolbox Gift

Posted under Aluminium on July 26th, 2021 by admin

So I’ve just spent my first night in my new home. My housemates and I had a little housewarming party with four of us and our partners, and it was a really nice way to ease ourselves in. I feel really comfortable with my housemates and I know they’re going to start to feel like my family. It’s going to make the transition from living in my family home to living away from my family easier.

Anyway, I don’t know why I keep being so emotional in my blogs. This blog isn’t supposed to be about me and how I feel about moving, it’s supposed to be about praising my friend and thanking him for helping me move my mattress.

Because he was so selfless and did such a good job, I’ve decided to put money towards his next ute upgrade. He wants to add premium aluminium ute canopies to his truck and I am going to help him do it. He’s one of those people that does everything for nothing and never asks for anything in return, and so I want to show him how appreciative we are (and I am) of everything he does for our group of friends.

I know it may seem weird that I’m spending money on an aluminium ute canopy as a thank you gift when I refused to spend money on a moving truck to move my bed. The difference is that this is to thank my friend, rather than spending money on myself. I care about my friend and I want him to feel important, and if that means thanking him with a professional ute toolbox upgrade in the Melbourne area, then I am happy to do that.

I hope he likes his surprise. I’m going to ask if I can borrow his ute over the weekend and of course, he’ll say yes. When I return it’ll have a brand new ute toolbox on it. I know he won’t be expecting it and I’m really excited to surprise him.

Memorial Climbing Roses

Posted under Garden on July 19th, 2021 by admin

My sister went through a tragic loss one month and two days ago. The month has gone by in a blur. It somehow simultaneously feels like it has always been this way, and that it just happened yesterday. If you’re wondering what happened, her twenty-five-year-old son died. In fact, he died unexpectedly on Mother’s Day. My beautiful nephew, her beloved son, woke up feeling ill and went back to sleep. He never woke up.

I still can’t get my head around it. How can someone so full of life be here one minute and gone the next? They became worried when he didn’t turn up to Mother’s Day lunch. It was just the worst thing in the world, and it hasn’t gotten any better a month on… not that I would expect it to.

As soon as it happened she asked us not to buy her any pretty dwarf roses or any flowers at all, for that matter. As much as she loves flowers normally, she didn’t want people to spend money on them. Instead, she asked anyone who wanted to buy flowers to donate the money they would have spent to charity. Even in the absolute darkest moment of her life, she was still thinking about other people. She, her son and her family did not deserve this.

As her sister, I took a bit of liberty with the rule. I decided to buy her something that she could grow and look after over the long term. There were climbing roses for sale at my local farmers market the day after my nephew died. I felt like it was a sign. My sister can plant the climbing roses near a fence in her yard and look after them. She can channel all her sadness into looking after these flowers, which will grow beautiful and strong just like her son. Every time a new rose blossoms it’ll be her son saying hello and letting her know that he’s okay.