A late start to the blog this week and to be honest, I was struggling to summon the motivation to get it done since there was nothing in particular that I felt like chatting about. But I'd have been so mad at myself for missing a week so here I am. A sunny day, a cold day, snow on the ground, lack of sleep, upset tummy and a cold beagle refusing to leave my lap which makes for a difficult time in typing.

I've got the music playing loud to keep myself on track....and awake. Today I'm rocking out to "The Main Event" with John Farnham, Anthony Warlow and Olivia Newton John. For those unfamiliar with this one, it was a concert featuring these amazing Aussie icons back in the late 90s and it covers some of their classics with an orchestra. Stunning music and so beautifully done with the vocals and music - I think it's on iTunes so if you get the time, check it out!! It's a little old fashioned sure but it really is wonderful if you are in a mellow mood and need something to uplift your spirits.

Speaking of uplifting, I'm amazed I can type now - Bernie Beagle Bum loves music and he is as happy as a clam nestled in my arms while I sit at the computer and type. His bum is on my right leg and the upper half is draped over my left arm close to my wrist. I'm so uncomfortable but wish it was possible to get a photo of this because its honestly a miracle I'm still able to type. It's nearly 5pm which is doggie dinner time so this might provide me the chance to remove this 24lb weight from my lap. Back in a flash!

Okay, fur kids are fed and I've hopped back on here with my chair shoved as close to the desk as possible so Bernie cant hop up again. I love my little man but sometimes need to have a dog free moment!!!

Like many others, the winter is taking such a toll on me and I am about to shoot that damn groundhog for suggesting we have 6 more weeks of this ahead. My head is full of ideas but the body is slowly getting through the days without much excitement. This is the first winter that I've suffered from bad skin issues on my face - just dry and flaky skin / red patches but it makes me feel gnarly. Since I try to use only cruelty free products, it's been a task to find something to combat these winter afflictions and sadly I've had to resort to vaseline which is so not on the approved cruelty free list. Makes me feel guilty but its the only thing that seems to get my skin halfway normal.

And for the record, Bernie is back on my lap. He is so funny, he just LOVES listening to music, loves it when I sing to him and when we dance around. It was how we first bonded after he joined our family - I struggled to adjust to the addition to another dog in the house, especially when Abby and I had settled into such a routine. So Bernie and I were at odds in the beginning and finally one day in my frustration, I just took a breath and let it go - I danced around the office to Katy Perry and Bernie skipped around me in delight and we just finally clicked. I learned to stop what I was doing and just enjoy the moment with our little farter and we've been much happier for it.

So I guess I've wandered totally off topic since the photo above has got nothing to do with dogs, music or shitty weather. Time for me to explain the photo....

Earlier this week I got a call from my Mum whom I guess has been feeling a little nostalgic of late. As the years whizz by, it gets so much harder to be in a different country from my darling Mumma and I wish there was some teleportation machine to get me back home in the blink of an eyelash. A long arse flight home every few years really just isn't that awesome and its never enough time to spend with my parents and friends. And since Mum has been feeling nostalgic, she's been feeding me nuggets of information that were either long forgotten or unknown until now. Example, she says the other night "Do you remember Cassie?" and I was baffled as to who she was talking about. No wonder I don't remember Cassie - firstly, I was about 3 when Cassie came into my life and secondly, Cassie was an imaginary friend who only stuck around for a few years!!!! So Mum tells all this to me with great gusto and regrettably I had the phone on speaker which meant the MOTH heard all of this and just about wet himself laughing. I admit, I was getting a good laugh out of it too - no wonder I had an imaginary friend considering my only other option was my feral sisters!!!!

Then she discovered that someone on her side of the family tree has written a book which will be published soon that tracks some of our ancestors which was a very exciting discovery since I know so little about that side. The paternal side of the family is well documented back to the late 1700s but the maternal side has been a bit vague and sadly all the people who could give us information are long gone - but someone out there in the extended brach has some knowledge at least and I'll finally be able to get to know a little more about some of the Turner side.

The gentleman in the photo is Archibald Campbell Turner - after a quick Google search, I was able to find this photo and some information after Mum had told me her father was named after a relative who served in WW1 - given the dates, location and information provided, it would stand to reason that he was probably my Poppas uncle. Not going to lie, delving into this information is rather emotional and makes me wonder more about that side of the clan - I struggle with tears when looking at this mans photo and reading the only information about his short life that anyone will ever know and I feel it's important to take that information and make sure that others in the family know of him long after I'm gone.

Archibald was one of three children, possibly the eldest? Parents were James and Martha Turner.  And one of his two siblings was my Pop's father I think. He was a Private in the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion. Born and raised in South Australia, he went on to work as a laborer in his later years in Perth, Western Australia which is where he enlisted in 1914. He embarked on 6th June, 1915 from Fremantle on the HMAT Geelong AT and records show that he served in Egypt, Gallipoli, Belgium and then France which is where he died of meningitis at age 30. So sad when you stop to think about it - so many men like him, dying in a foreign country so far away from family and friends. And yet this still is happening even now in a different era, in different countries to so many people.

My heart aches for this man, for his family who suffered greatly at the loss of this beloved son and brother. And now I know of him, I'll always remember him.

Anyway, time to draw this weeks blog to a rather somber close. While I'm excited to find out more about my maternal branch of the family tree, I will always have a tinge of sadness for the ancestors on that side and for the heartache they endured - as the doors open to more information, I wonder what I will find out and whether it will be good, bad, sad. And maybe it will encourage me to look further into it all and see what else I can discover on my own.

And on this coming ANZAC Day and every one after, I'll be sure to light a candle and wear my pins in honor of this ancestor, Archibald Campbell Turner - Lest We Forget.

"Last night I had the strangest dream I've ever known before
I dreamed that all the world agreed to put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room, the room was filled with men
And the papers they were signing said they'd never fight again

And when the papers were all signed, and a million copies made
They all shook hands and bowed their heads and grateful prayers were prayed
And the people in the streets below were dancing round and round
While swords and guns and uniforms lay scattered on the ground

Last night I had the strangest dream I've ever known before
I dreamed that all the world agreed to put an end to war"

- Johnny Cash (originally by Ed McCurdy)