So much said in so few words....

Alabaster

LIKE this alabaster box whose art

Is frail as a cassia-flower, is my heart,

Carven with delicate dreams and wrought

With many a subtle and exquisite thought.

Therein I treasure the spice and scent

Of rich and passionate memories blent

Like odours of cinnamon, sandal and clove,

Of song and sorrow and life and love.

Sarojini Naidu 1879-1949

A GIFT

Marilyn Jones in 'Swan Lake'

Marilyn Jones OBE

One of our very own, Marilyn Jones, has been awarded the Green Room Lifetime Achievement Award for her service to dance. She has been described as "the greatest classical dancer Australia has produced". Congratulations, Marilyn.

I remember following Marilyn's career when a young girl, her romance with Garth Welch, her wedding and the wonderful career they shared as principal dancers.

At the age of 69, she has rejoined the Australian Ballet for her first performing role in 12 years. She will dance Clara the Elder in the Sydney season of Graeme Murphy's Nutcracker. Marilyn and Garth danced together in the Australian Ballet's production of Nutcracker in 1963.

In 1991 she set up the Australian Institute of Classical Dance to promote new choreographers and guide teachers and students. The Institute recently brought together eight young composers from the Sydney Conservatorium with eight first-time choreographers.

OLD PHOTOS

Me 1977

Here I am, jeans rolled up, picking up shells - nothing's changed! I remember that day well; my 12yo son took the photo. Hard to believe he will be 44 this year and my daughter 46!

I'm slowly scanning some of the old photos into a folder in My Pictures. I very rarely bring the albums out, so thought I'd create a screensaver that I'll get a lot of pleasure watching whilst doing the worst job in the world, ironing!

RELUBBUS MOOR

Relubbus Bridge - Stanhope Alexander Forbes 1929

Penlee House Gallery, Penzance Cornwall

Happily one of my favourite programs is back on TV - the English production, Grand Designs. It is a repeat but I so enjoy the shows, I'll watch two or three times. The last program was about a young couple restoring a pile of rocks to the former glory of a medieval farmhouse which had been in the young man's family for centuries. The site was in the Brecon Beacons National Park, a mountain range in South Wales. This program was made in 2001 and I'd be most interested to know whether or not they toughed it out. The position was to die for; the view magnificent but they would be living without electricity and so exposed to the elements.

Their story brought to mind a little stone cottage close to our hearts. This story is about my husband DMJ and his beginnings.

DMJ was born at Bodriggy Maternity Home, Hayle, Cornwall. In 1941 his Mother was evacuated from her home in Plymouth and sent to Relubbus Moor, St. Hilary, Cornwall. His father was in the navy and was on a ship somewhere (in fact he was on five ships during the war and they all went down). The little cottage DMJ went to after birth was called 'Rose Cottage' and Minnie Jenkins (soon to be Aunt Min) took them in. They lived there for four years while WW2 raged and it was there, near the Relubbus Bridge, that little DMJ threw his first line into the River Hayle.

Many moons later....

In 2005 DMJ took his first trip back to England since 1949 when he arrived in Australia on the H.M.S. Ormond with his parents. His host in England, as a surprise, drove him down from Stoke-on-Trent to Relubbus to re-visit the cottage. When they arrived, after directions from the local historian, they found that the cottage was under quite extensive renovations and additions.

Aunt Min used to shoot at blackbirds from one of the top windows.

DMJ found a little piece of slate at the site and brought it home as a souvenir. As yet I haven't visited England but it is my dream to do so. When the trip is planned, Rose Cottage will be on the agenda. We'll go and knock on the door to hopefully find out about more of the history. We plan to drive all over Cornwall, King Arthur territory and the lakes district and, perhaps, visit the district where my ancestors lived, Cheriton-Fitzpaine in Devon.

MY PIANO

I learned piano from the age of seven until sixteen, just after I started work as a secretary in a large firm. About this time, as I was earning, I caught the train with a friend every Saturday night to the Canterbury Town Hall where up and coming rock stars of the future played for peanuts. We had a fantastic time and, as I wanted to dance better than I did, I'd skip piano lessons and cycle down the road to my friend's house, where we'd push the furniture out of the way in the lounge-room and rock and roll. She was an excellent teacher (Merle, where are you?).

I was feeling really bad about deceiving my parents this way and one day bought some 'modern' sheet music to take home to appease my Mother, as she'd been nagging me to practise more often (my music tuition was in the classical vein from the very beginning and I was feeling like a change). We had a large entrance hall where the piano sat, after being moved out of the lounge-room when the television set had taken over that domain. I walked in the front door and got the shock of my life, the piano was gone!

Mother explained to me that she'd had a letter from dear Mr. Blake saying that I hadn't been attending lessons; so she sold the piano. It was a Pianola, actually and many a happy family get-together was spent around it before the days of TV. I can't blame my Mother now as I think the real reason was money; my brother need specialist care and an operation. She was a stay-at-home Mum and so we were a one income family.

One piece I loved was Beethoven's 'Fur Elise' and I played it very well. Over the years I would play the piece on tables and desk tops; I never forgot it and, about twelve years ago, after many years of work, I decided to treat myself and went looking for a piano. I found an old beauty, a three crown Ronisch, made about 1905. It cost me $3,600 but worth every cent, it has a wonderful, rich tone. The crowns signify that Ronisch was the appointed supplier of some royal courts such as Saxony, around 1870, Sweden-Norway 1890 and Austria-Hungary 1901. The arms of the courts are stamped inside the piano - a bad photo follows.

The day it was delivered, I sat down and played 'Fur Elise' through to the end; a few stumbles but I was elated! I practised a lot and now can play reasonably well at Sixth Grade level. I had accomplished eighth Grade as a young girl but now find some pieces far too difficult, as my hands aren't as flexible and I make such a mess of trills!

An amazing revelation came from my Piano Tuner. The piano moved with us to the country, so I decided to get it tuned. The Tuner said that he knew the piano and used to tune it at the Uniting Church in Blackburn; it had been there for decades. He had tried to talk them out of buying a new one. My dear teacher, Mr. Blake, used to set up concerts, the performers being his students. I remember very nervously playing a piece on the white baby grand in his loung-room; the audience being fellow students and parents. The next year commanded a larger venue and we played in the Sunday School hall at the Methodist Church in Blackburn, later to become the Uniting Church! So it may very well be that I performed my second recital on the very piano I bought so many years later!