One Today

Today's the big day!! My blog is exactly one year old today, and I must say that I am as excited and happy today as on my "real" birthday. My blogging has introduced me to such wonderful people and places all around the world, and I have had so much fun. I'd like to thank each and every one of you for all of your kind words, your encouragement, your laughter and your friendship throughout the past year. I am looking forward to even more joy during my second year of blogging.



And now....for the winners of my very first birthday giveaway......




Alice C will be receiving this calligraphic rendition of my poem "The Kite" (calligraphy by my mother). I imagine, Alice, that it will remind you of your many readers who sit-look-smile while enjoying your words and photographs of global moon-lit rhyme (I am one of them!). Share on!

Jeanette will soon be listening to the beautiful music of Elena Kats-Chernin (composer and pianist), while also reading a little bit about Elena's good friend Kylie Kwong (celebrity chef, restaurateur and writer), also included is Kylie's recipe for Elena's favourite dish. The collaboration between these two women (their photos are below) reminds me of the connections one finds so often while blogging. I imagine, Jeanette, that you will find yourself creating some magnificent works of art while listening to this music, for it is fairytale magical.

The custom-written limerick has been won by Duyvken. Oh my.....this will be wonderful fun....hmm...I am already itching to rhyme "mother extraordinaire" with "nothing ever drove her to despair"...nonono....maybe....I'll rhyme "with gastro they were ill" with..ummm......"the yoyos turned out brill" ....ok, I know...I'll keep on working on it and when it has been perfected it will be yours dear Duyvken.

The custom-made sandcastle has been won by Margalit. I'm already organising a proper spring-cleaning of said castle, so as to ensure that it is kosher for Passover. I hope, Margalit, that your sandcastle will remind you that, whatever the season, there is always time to stop and build another turret on your own wondrous castled dreams.

So....that brings to a close this wonderful day. I'd like to say a special thanks to my first-time commenters (especially the anonymouses), I am absolutely thrilled to hear from you and hope to see you in my commentboxes in the future.

Passover (the unleavened bread festival...you know...those big square cracker-looking things called matzah) will start in a couple of days, so I will be very busy. I shall probably take a short break from blogging, but hope to return refreshed and ready to post some details about our family's Passover celebrations.

See you soon,

Eleanorfromthecommentbox xxxxx

P.S. Alice & Jeanette: Please email me your snail mail addresses and you will receive your prizes very soon. Duyvken and Margalit, it may take me about a week..but I promise that your prizes will be emailed to you as soon as possible.

One more sleep to go!

One more sleep....and then....we'll celebrate my blog's first birthday!!

Please feel free to pop your name into a commentbox to be in the draw. New commenters are especially welcome, as are veteran commenters, and everyone in-between :-)


While we wait for the party to begin, I'd like to introduce you to a wonderful new blog which I recently discovered. Hillary is an art researcher and consultant based in New York. She writes unique descriptions of current art exhibitions, and has gently opened my eyes to a new way of viewing art galleries. In a fabulous twist of fate, Hillary recently visited Melbourne, and her post about the NGV allows those of us in Australia to feel a direct connection to her observations.

I shall keep my commentbox closed for this post....I'll be seeing you over at Hillary's commentbox.

Good night all.

Looking back, looking forward

Once upon a time there was a travelling player (stage name - Eleanor) who travelled far and wide with her small bag of tricks. She would stop at each village, unpack her wares, and smile shyly at the passersby. Some would walk past, some would stop to chat, and others would return again and again, just because. One day she reached the Magical Forest, and she stood at its edge peering into the darkness, wondering if she should continue or turn around and return to her home.

As Eleanor peered into the vast chasm of the forest, her eyes caught the tiniest of glimmers. With a sigh and shrug she stood a bit taller, pushed her shoulders back, raised her chin, and began to walk into the darkness. Following the glimmer of light as it twinkled before her she found herself following a path of sorts, turning and bending through the dense underbrush of a foreign land. It was a land so foreign that even the sound of the wind in the leaves was indecipherable; even the dripping of a raindrop, the crackling of a branch, the scuttling of a creature, were all the unfamiliar language of an alien land.

As the glimmer of light seemed to grow larger and larger Eleanor soon found herself standing face to face with its source. She was standing in a large clearing, surrounded by a perfect circle of silvery eucalypts, and in the centre of the clearing stood a large wooden house with gingerbread woodwork and a bright blue door and 6 large windows, each of which glistened and glimmered with light. Through these windows she saw the dark silhouettes of women as they darted back and forth, back and forth, and she heard their light laughter and soft voices.

Just as Eleanor was standing in front of the house, wondering whether she should knock or simply turn around and continue on her way, that bright blue door opened with a raucous shriek and out skipped a tiny woman who looked straight at her and said, "Well, there you are, finally! We thought you'd never get here!" And with that the tiny woman clutched one of Eleanor's hands between her own and pulled her into the house, closing the door gleefully behind her. Inside the house, past the long candle-lit corridor and through the two swinging doors, Eleanor found herself in a huge, canary-yellow kitchen. There was a large red kettle whistling away on the stove, a cinnamon cake rising in the oven, and a warm crackling fire. Gathered around the large round kitchen table, in a variety of different poses, were a great many women.

But that's another story.


Dear Reader,

I published my very first post on my brand new blog on April 6th 2008. It now seems almost impossible to remember what life was like without my little blog, and without all of you in my commentbox.

To celebrate my first year anniversary I have decided to offer you the opportunity to go into the draw for a number of gifts. The gifts are as follows:

A handmade, calligraphic rendition of my poem "The Kite" (with thanks to my mother, the calligrapher).

The CD "Slow Food," by the Russian/Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin, in collaboration with her good friend Kylie Kwong.

A custom-written limerick, just for you.

A custom-made sandcastle, just for you.

So...If you would like to go in for the draw, please say so in my commentbox...you have a week before I pick the winners.